Plans to transform the heart of Grimsby have been given a boost with the appointment of a specialist development management organisation to lead the project. Queensberry, a nationally recognised regeneration specialist has been brought on board to drive the “Future High Streets” town centre project forward which will create a mixed use cinema and leisure space and a new market in the centre of Grimsby. Queensberry will coordinate the whole project, from overseeing the work to progressing planning applications, developing the business plans, through to the construction of the new facilities. Queensberry has been working in partnership with local authority clients for over 10 years. They are currently working on a number of urban regeneration schemes that are transforming places including Barnsley, Sheffield, Doncaster, Nuneaton as well as several in London. Cllr Callum Procter, Cabinet member for Economic Growth at North East Lincolnshire Council, said: “I’m delighted to have Queensberry on board to help us really push on with our plans to transform the heart of the town and build on the great work that’s already been done at St James’ Square and Garth Lane.” Charlotte Dunlop, Asset Manager at Capreon, the asset managers for Freshney Place, said: “With their vision, knowledge, and extensive credentials, we are confident Queensberry will drive the successful delivery of this exciting town centre project.” Paul Sargent, CEO, Queensberry, said: “We can’t wait to get started on the scheme with Freshney Place and the Council. We have a huge amount of experience of working with local authorities and understand the challenges that lay ahead. We recognise that Grimsby has its own personality and we will work closely with the Council and the community to restore civic pride and deliver a sustainable long term future for the town.” This decision means that the Council, in partnership with town centre regeneration specialist, Queensberry, will now progress to the design and consultation phase, with plans to consult local residents and businesses to be announced in the coming weeks. Earlier this year, the government awarded £17.3 million for the Future High Streets Fund bid from the Council and the owners of Freshney Place Shopping Centre. The project will provide a leisure-led scheme for the centre of Grimsby town which incorporates a new market and food hall alongside new leisure and retail units and a new cinema. The overall aim of the project is to provide a new space for people to enjoy the town centre’s day and evening economy. The scheme will be delivered through the removal of some of the 1960s and 1970s buildings and retail space at the western end of Freshney Place.

Most entrepreneurs dream of growing their businesses from strength to strength. Of course, trajectories of success can vary wildly. Many companies have been focused more on survival than earnest growth recently. However, it’s to be hoped that 2022 will yield more optimism. Consumers are itching to spend, and many sectors will be keen to grasp every opportunity possible to make up for all the lost time. A strategic expansion could be well-timed here. Nevertheless, if you’re a company director, you’ll still need to go about things reasonably. You’ll find some ideas that are worth contemplating further after the jump.   Developing a New Building Many businesses have gone fully remote or undertaken some form of hybrid working. Therefore, if you’re going to operate within a workplace, it should be a magnificent statement about what your firm is capable of. Developing a new building for your business could give you more space to work in, situate you somewhere more exciting, and generally revitalise your company. Even the building architecture can send a powerful message about your firm’s significance and stature. Building your own state-of-the-art commercial property will allow you to create a uniquely mesmerising base too. To maintain the best standards possible, working with expert design building services is crucial. Innovative companies like Arup bring greener futures to all of their building developments, improving your reputation. They will collaborate with you closely to ensure all of your needs are met and strive to deliver cutting edge scientific and industrial facilities.   Doubling Down on Delivery Online shopping reached new heights of popularity during the pandemic. Moreover, these consumer demands aren’t set to fade away any time soon. Still, while businesses found success here, things didn’t always go to plan. A common complaint in 2020 was that deliveries sometimes arrived late or went missing entirely. The logistics here are tough to straighten out, and not every firm can make things work here, overpromising instead of (literally) delivering. Therefore, it’s a good idea to improve your delivery methods while your competitors either refuse or fail to do so. Expand your vehicle fleet and hire more drivers. Alternatively, you could hire a courier service to handle certain orders as well. Remember, there are lots of customers who won’t trade with a business again if their delivery is compromised in any way, so getting things right is vital.   Flourishing in Digital Marketing Even with an impressive business premises and a capable delivery system in place, it all needs to be advertised clearly. Digital marketing can play an instrumental role in making that happen. You can recruit talented staff for your efforts in search engine optimisation, pay per click advertising, and a host of other digital marketing related efforts. Additional hires in things like video production and content writing may also be prudent, giving your customers something exciting to engage with online. If you feel too much pressure here, a digital marketing agency could alleviate some of the stress. That way, you can be sure as many people are seeing your business as possible while you attend to other matters. Digital marketing has helped many enterprises survive the pandemic, but in 2022, it could help yours thrive.

Small businesses are something that many people strive for. Owning your own company and building it from the ground up is certainly something to be proud of! Much like when managing any significant project in life, small business owners face a whole host of obstacles in their lifetime, some tricker than others. For the most part, they are easy to overcome, but other obstacles are a bit more challenging. Interested in finding out more about these common issues and what you can do to tackle or avoid them yourselves? Read on for more. Financial Issues This is a suggestion we feel confident most people reading this and beyond have experienced at some point or another. Particularly when you consider the financial implications of the pandemic, this is an obstacle that many small businesses have had to endure. Financial issues relating to small businesses do not just include the money generated by the sale of products and services but also extend to include the likes of the money spent to run a company. Monitoring the income and outgoings of your business and tightening your belt wherever necessary will help to overcome this. Assess whether you are overspending in areas of your business and whether there are cheaper options for doing something. Human Resources (HR) HR is a significant part of your business and has an impact on the day-to-day running whether you realise it or not. As is to be expected from such a significant part of your company, you will be faced with a wide variety of obstacles and issues. Administration in some form eats into your precious time and inefficiency is something we are all guilty of from time to time. Having an inefficient workforce, including yourself, is what you want to avoid as much as you can. While you might feel uncertain about how to go about something like this, you are not out of ideas; there is a significant range of performance management tools out there, which can be used to tackle a whole host of HR-related issues. Build an efficient workforce using this management software, and rest assured you will be doing what you can for the well-being of your employees and your business as a whole. Uncertain Business Landscapes This is not usually something that would have to be considered, but following the uncertainty of the last eighteen months, we felt it was worth a mention all the same. Businesses big and small have all been impacted by the pandemic in some way or another, and there have been several uncontrollable factors cropping up. The ever-changing business landscape is something that impacts businesses and is often something that can be hard to predict. While nothing stops you from estimating what could be happening in the future, you seldom are accurate in your estimations, especially if there are other factors to account for, like a pandemic, for example. That being said, monitoring your own success, keeping an eye on what competitors are doing, and remaining flexible in your approach are all key suggestions for ensuring your current and ongoing success.

The first share of the £19.1 million awarded to Brighouse through the Government’s Towns Fund is now being put to work to help revitalise the town centre. In summer 2021, the Government announced that the Brighouse Town Deal Board had been successful in its bid to the Towns Fund for projects over the next four years. The first part of the £19.1 million grant is now being released, meaning Calderdale Council, working alongside the Town Deal Board, can appoint a professional team to take the project proposals to the next stage of development. The projects will build on Brighouse’s unique events, compact town centre, good accessibility and range of independent shops. To move forward, full business cases are needed by June 2022 for each of the projects that are part of the Towns Fund package: transforming key public spaces including the canal side and Thornton Square; making it easier and more pleasant to get around the town centre and to local shops and businesses; creating spaces for events and for people to meet; boosting walking and cycling facilities; transforming the market and improving local training to build skills, particularly in manufacturing and green technology. A professional team will be appointed to work on the business cases after a six-week tender process, which is expected to start before Christmas. The Brighouse Town Deal Board’s regeneration work is already having an impact, with the completion of new ‘parklets’ in Brighouse town centre in summer 2021. These new pedestrian areas with benches, plants and trees have transformed parts of the town into community spaces for people to stop, rest and enjoy whilst shopping. They were funded by the £750,000 boost from the Government’s initial accelerated funding in 2020 for all areas working towards a Town Deal. Cllr Sophie Whittaker, co-chair of the Brighouse Town Deal Board, said: “After the fantastic grant news this summer, we’re eager to get started on making a difference in Brighouse. This is already a town with a strong, distinctive identity and sense of community. We believe the proposed improvements will build on its vitality and help it to recover from the pandemic and thrive. It will be an even more special place to spend time, shop, enjoy heritage, socialise, walk and cycle.” David Whitehead, co-chair of Brighouse Town Deal Board, added: “The funds that have been provided by the Government will be put to good use to revitalise the town centre, improving the shopping experience, and hopefully leading to increased visitor numbers to the area. This should impact and benefit the local economy, encouraging even more independent and quality retailers to invest in the town centre.” Cllr Jane Scullion, Calderdale Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Strategy, said: “Building vibrant, sustainable towns is an important part of our work to support local places and businesses as we continue with our inclusive economic recovery. We also want people to have hope for the future and to enjoy their local area. The initial release of money from the Towns Fund is a key milestone for Brighouse and its people, marking the start of an exciting period of regeneration.” The Towns Fund proposals are part of the Vision Masterplan for Brighouse town centre, which provides the framework for its future regeneration.

Yorkshire Building Society is giving all its colleagues an early Christmas gift this year with an extra day off for Christmas Eve. As Christmas Eve (24 December) falls on a Friday this year, it means that colleagues will receive a full five-day break over the festive season as they will return to work on Wednesday 29 December. It also means customers will need to plan ahead if they need to contact the Society around this time as the Society’s branches and call centres will be closed during these dates. Customers that are registered for online account management will be unaffected by this announcement. This is the second year that the Society has given colleagues Christmas Eve off and recognises the immense challenges of the last two years where its staff have gone above and beyond in their roles. As key workers they have kept the vast majority of branches open throughout the pandemic and call centres have remained open to provide essential financial services to customers. 1,400 staff also switched from office to home-working. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the Society has focused on supporting its customers and colleagues. It has prioritised keeping members in their homes, ensuring their savings are safe and looking after colleagues’ health and wellbeing. Stephen White, Interim Chief Executive of Yorkshire Building Society, said: “We wanted to do something that recognised the extraordinary couple of years that our colleagues have been through, and hope that by giving colleagues Christmas Eve off again this year and providing an extended break to relax and spend time with family at home shows in part my immense gratitude to them. “Since March last year, our response to Covid-19 has been to focus on the key priorities of keeping members in their homes, making sure their savings are secure and accessible, and looking after our colleagues’ safety and wellbeing. Without the massive efforts of our colleagues none of this would have been possible. I also hope customers understand why we have made this decision to recognise our colleagues in this way after this unprecedented year.” The mutual has also offered colleagues unlimited dependents and carers leave at full pay and anyone who is shielding, unwell or needs to self-isolate and cannot work from home qualifies for paid sick leave at their full salary.