Rescue specialist makes Doncaster new northern HQ

Tess Egginton
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Rescue specialist makes Doncaster new northern HQ
A confined space, rescue, training and utilities specialist has established its new northern base in Doncaster to address national provision for its 24/7 services. Rescue 2 Ltd has taken 13,000 sq ft at the newly constructed Jubilee Park, built alongside Platinum Park by developer Priority Space in partnership with HG Sites to satisfy the growing demand for smaller industrial occupiers in the region. Interest in the units, named in honour of Queen Elizabeth’s 70 years on the throne and Doncaster being granted city status, has been high, with 50 per cent of the units now under offer, let or sold, leaving eight units remaining from 1,759 sq ft to 29,790 sq ft. Rescue 2 Ltd joins new tenants PPE provider Skanwear, which recently upsized its operations in South Yorkshire with a move to a 16,000 sq ft unit at Jubilee Park, plus other occupiers Jones Electrical, Dynamic CCTV and Assured Group. Ashley Goodlad from Rescue 2 Ltd said: “With sites in both the South and the North, we are strategically positioned to elevate our services across all regions. Our dual presence allows us to scale our services to meet corporate demands on a national level. “We set the required gold standard across the industry. Our can do attitude, ability to scale up with quality and provide bespoke, necessary rescue, utilities, training, and management provision, can now be offered to clients across the country.” Priority Space director Lee Buchanan said: “These new units are very well-placed in Doncaster with excellent connections and provide businesses with the space and facilities they need to expand and invest in growth. “We are also delighted at the news that lease negotiations are underway on Doncaster Sheffield Airport and that the airport could be reopened in 2024/25, which would provide a huge boost to the local economy and will make Platinum and Jubilee Park even more appealing to occupiers, with an operating airport on the doorstep of the scheme.” Cllr Glyn Jones, Cabinet Member for Business at City of Doncaster Council, said: “It is great to see companies expanding into these excellent new industrial units. “These units, being available for sale or let are exactly what is required in Doncaster at this present time, and offer a quality opportunity for businesses new to Doncaster or who want to upgrade their facilities. “There is still confidence in our economy and Business Doncaster with the help they can provide look forward to helping bring more new investors to this site.”

Associate director of investment appointed at Town Centre Securities

Tess Egginton
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Associate director of investment appointed at Town Centre Securities

Leeds and London based property investment and development company Town Centre Securities PLC (TCS), has appointed Jacob Ziff as associate director of investment. Jacob, who joins from investment brokerage firm Clifton Agency, will focus on creating a strategy for property investment and to assist managing the existing TCS property portfolio.

After graduating from the University of Leeds in 2019, Jacob joined West End based CWM, where he worked in retail agency and lease restructuring, gaining invaluable experience predominantly acting for various occupier clients.

Following his tenure in retail agency, Jacob moved across to Clifton Agency, where he focused on UK-wide commercial real estate capital markets. Last year, Jacob also completed a Master’s degree in Real Estate Investment & Finance and the IPF Diploma at the University of Reading.

Jacob said: “I am honoured to follow in the footsteps of my family by joining TCS. It’s a tremendous opportunity to continue the growth and success of the business and I am eager to leverage my skills and experience to create a new investment strategy and enhance the existing property portfolio.”

Edward Ziff, chairman and Chief Executive of TCS, said: “Together with all my colleagues, we are thrilled to welcome Jacob into the business. He has a strong background in real estate investment and agency, and coupled with his dedication to professional development, I am confident that he will play a key role in managing and enhancing our property portfolio.

“Welcoming Jacob into the business, who joins my oldest son Ben and daughter Charlotte-Daisy, marks the next phase in taking TCS forward. Sixty-five years ago, my father laid the foundation for a business that has since become a stalwart in the property industry. With Jacob’s arrival and his experience, we are confident that he will contribute significantly to the ongoing success of TCS and help shape the future of the company.”

Strike threatened at University of Lincoln as over 220 jobs put on the line

Tess Egginton
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Strike threatened at University of Lincoln as over 220 jobs put on the line
Staff at the University of Lincoln are poised to take a stand against “brutal cuts,” with a consultation over potential strike action having begun.
The cuts involve over 220 employees, including one in ten academic staff, according to University and College Union (UCU). Cuts include the phasing out of the fashion degree and ending specialist support for widening participation students in the foundation studies centre. The centre’s teaching team have been notified their jobs are at risk. Despite the most recent accounts showing that in 2022/23 the university ran a £3m operating surplus and had £46m in cash reserves, a directive was issued last week, underscoring the necessity to slash the budget by £30m by the end of the 2025 financial year, the UCU notes. Some cuts have already been made with modern languages provision being shut down and eight staff losing their jobs. UCU Lincoln acting chair Dr Rob Dean said: “It is simply impossible to slash so many jobs without severely impacting current students, future students and diminishing the university’s vital role as a cornerstone of regional education. “Furthermore, not only are many people in danger of losing their jobs, but we are also extremely concerned that those remaining will be left with unmanageable workloads. “Without a transparent assessment of past decisions and a commitment to accountability, there is a risk of perpetuating the same errors, endangering the institution’s future stability. “However, the impact of this extends beyond the confines of academia. The local economy will also be affected. In a small city like Lincoln the number of proposed cuts threaten to undermine the socioeconomic fabric of the region, exacerbating existing challenges and inequalities.”

Kyle starts new role as tax director to lead Azets’ NMW service line

Stuart Pearcey
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Kyle starts new role as tax director to lead Azets’ NMW service line
Leeds-based Kyle Newton has been appointed as Azets’ employment tax director to lead its National Minimum Wage service line. He’ll be helping clients nationwide to implement NMW processes and controls to manage compliance and navigate complex HMRC enquiries. Kyle, who is a qualified chartered accountant, brings a wealth of experience over 15 years from a variety of roles at BDO, Deloitte and PwC. With his experience including internal audit, one of Kyle’s focuses is supporting businesses with implementing robust controls in a practical manner to reduce impact on day-to-day business. He has joined Azets’ as new NMW rate changes, including increases and an extension of the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over, came into force at the start of April. He said: “The National Minimum Wage is commonly misunderstood. It is much more complex than a simple hourly rate and is made up of a number of components. “With an unprecedented increase to the NMW age rates and business budgets stretched, many businesses are faced with a difficult challenge of balancing cost and maintaining day to day business. HMRC enforcement activity continues to increase, for example with its most recent regional enforcement campaign targeting 10 geographic regions and the most recent naming and shaming round (round 20) highlighting HMRC’s continued focus to enforce to the full extent of the law. “Many employers remain unaware of the potential pitfalls where they could be underpaying workers and with the likelihood of HMRC knocking at their door increasing, they could be faced with a 200% penalty and public naming and shaming, on top of paying the arrears, additional employer pension contributions and additional employer National Insurance Contributions. “Now more than ever it’s really important to consider taking proactive steps. With Azets accelerated growth and the firm supporting more and more SMEs, which is HMRC’s current enforcement focus, this is a perfect time to join Azets and I am looking forward to supporting clients across Yorkshire and the UK.” Partner Richard Whitelock, who heads up employer solutions services for Azets in Yorkshire, said: “Kyle has a proven track record in both employment taxes and NMW advisory matters. He comes with impressive experience and a deep technical understanding of the NMW regulations and employment tax legislation. “He will be a valuable addition to our team providing employment tax advice support in Yorkshire and leading on our newly launched National Minimum Wage service line nationwide.”

New rules say tips must be given to hospitality workers and not held back by employers

Stuart Pearcey
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New rules say tips must be given to hospitality workers and not held back by employers
It’s to become law that employers may not hold back tips given to staff. That’ll be the effect of a new Code of Practice that will have legal effect under the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023. The Act and secondary legislation make it unlawful for businesses to hold back service charges from their employees, ensuring staff receive all of the tips they have earned. The measures are expected to come into force on 1st October 2024, once they have been approved by Parliament. The Government says many hospitality workers rely on tips to top up their pay and are often left powerless if businesses don’t pass on service charges from customers to their staff. This overhaul of tipping practices is set to benefit more than 2 million UK workers across the hospitality, leisure and services sectors helping to ease cost of living pressures and give them peace of mind that they will keep their hard-earned money. Business and Trade Minister Kevin Hollinrake said: “It is not right for employers to withhold tips from their hard-working employees. “Whether you are cutting hair or pulling a pint, this government’s legislation which will protect the tips of workers and give consumers confidence that when they leave a tip, it goes to the hardworking members of staff.

“The secondary legislation laid today reinforces our commitment to legally protecting our low paid workers and ensuring a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.”

Tipjar CEO Ben Thomas added: “Hospitality and service industries are part of the fabric of our culture and a cornerstone of our economy. We are honoured to have consulted with the Department of Business and Trade as they have developed this important Code of Practice clarifying employers’ responsibilities as they pass tips to their hard-working teams.

“As a business that exists to help employers distribute tips on the same principles of fairness and transparency, we are confident that this Act will support millions of tipped workers across the UK, and level the playing field for businesses across these sectors. We’re excited to support employers in leveraging the opportunities this will present, as we build a more fair and transparent future.”

Yorkshire firm named amongst UK’s top ten export award winners

Stuart Pearcey
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Yorkshire firm named amongst UK’s top ten export award winners
Yorkshire company SimVenture has been named by the Government as one of ten winners of this year’s Made in the UK, Sold to the World Awards. Based between Selby and York, SimVenture supplies software to education institutions and workplace training providers in more than 20 countries, who use it to help educators and trainers bring business learning to life. It offers business and entrepreneurship learning tools, on which learners can make decisions, deal with consequences, and work in an authentic way. Peter Harrington, SimVenture Co-founder and CEO, said: “We are dedicated to leveraging advanced learning technologies to positively impact lives worldwide. Winning this award validates the investments and risks we’ve taken over two decades. This prestigious recognition will fuel our growth and expansion into new global markets. “With recent contract signings in the United States and Algeria, we anticipate significant growth for SimVenture in both the education and corporate training sectors, further solidifying our position as a global leader in EdTech innovation.” Now in their second year, the awards celebrate the international sales success of SMEs across the UK, and provide a stepping stone for further growth and opportunity. Minister for Exports Lord Offord said: “We’re proud of our British exporters and these Awards highlight some fantastic businesses punching above their weight and selling UK-made products and services around the world.

“I hope the winners serve as inspiration to others looking to get onto the exporting ladder and encourage more businesses to showcase the incredible talent and innovation of UK businesses selling abroad.”

Hunslet’s Cockburn Sports Hall to be reborn as healthy living centre

Stuart Pearcey
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Hunslet’s Cockburn Sports Hall to be reborn as healthy living centre
Dudleys Consulting Engineers is helping with delivery of a £3.4 million community hub transformation project in the Hunslet district of Leeds. Preparation works have started on the site of the Old Cockburn Sports Hall which is being redeveloped by Hamara Healthy Living Centre.  The project will see the demolition of the former dilapidated 1960’s building and construction of a state of the art, 10,615 sq ft mixed use leisure, health, and wellbeing facility. Hamara (an Urdu term meaning ‘Our’) is the largest ethnic minority organisation in the voluntary and community sector in Leeds. Working within the community sector, employing 36 people, Hamara currently delivers several different strands of work including: Health Promotion, Youth Activities, Older People’s Services, Saturday Supplementary School, Learning Disabilities, Education and Employment & Training Programmes. The new Cockburn Centre is to become a sustainable local community business operating for the benefit of local neighbourhoods, and will be led and operated by adults with learning disabilities and supported by local volunteers. New facilities will include a multi-use sports hall, fully accessible changing facilities, equipment storage space, an external hard surfaced multi-use games area, a seated café, community hub, halo and training room, a viewing gallery, and offices. Hamara has worked tirelessly to secure grant funding from various parties, including The Football Foundation, the Department of Levelling up and Housing and Communities – Community Ownership Fund, to enable delivery of the important community project. Dudleys assisted Hamara with securing planning consent and is now consulting alongside architects Studio RBA, services consultant Shearstone, project managers Spring & Co, landscape architect Urban Green, and main contractor NU Construction, on the delivery plan which is expected to start this summer. The award-winning practice is providing value driven Civil and Structural Engineering services to include environmental impact from a localised mining history and protected landscape. Peter Dixon, Director at Dudleys said: “Supporting charitable causes is a fundamental part of our business ESG commitment and we have previously assisted on many church community and railway preservation projects.  It is exciting to see progress on site for the new Cockburn Centre and we look forward to working with the team to provide value engineered, technical expertise throughout.”  

Garden Centres Group wins retail company award for second successive year

Stuart Pearcey
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Garden Centres Group wins retail company award for second successive year
Yorkshire Garden Centres Group has won the Retail Company of the Year Award at the British HR Awards. Head of People and Culture Neil Barwise-Carr said: “The HR awards celebrate organisations and individuals that are driven by delivering a world-class people experience, so we’re proud and delighted to have won this award on behalf of our great team.” Yorkshire Garden Centres beat industry giants Heron Foods, Holland & Barrett and Selfridges to win the Retail Company of the Year Award for a second time. Nate Harwood, Founder of New Possible and British HR Awards judge said: “The British HR Awards celebrate the talented, dedicated, and passionate teams and individuals who are fueling thriving workplaces across the UK and beyond. I’d like to extend my congratulations to all the Winners and Finalists.” The British HR Awards is powered by New Possible, a next-generation employee insight platform. New Possible helps leaders build healthier organisations by providing meaningful insight that can drive real change. The Yorkshire Garden Centres group is made up of garden centres at Tong, Tingley, Otley and Bingley as well as the recently acquired Dean’s York and Scarborough.

Walker Sime names UK Director of Quantity Surveying

Stuart Pearcey
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Walker Sime names UK Director of Quantity Surveying
Leeds-based construction consultancy Walker Sime has apppointed Gareth Robertson as the UK Director of Quantity Surveying. He joins from CBRE where he was Senior Director and Head of Cost Management for the North of England. It was in this role that he led and grew the cost management team over his four-year tenure. Having collaborated with Walker Sime on various projects during his time at CBRE, Gareth shared his admiration for the consultancy’s reputation, track record and approach, citing a strong alignment with the company’s vision and his own personal values as his reasons for joining. MD Duncan Firth said “Gareth’s appointment marks another pivotal moment in our growth. With his wealth of experience, growth mindset and alignment with our values and culture, we are confident his leadership, personality, and skills will increase the rate of our growth.” Gareth says he will be picking up the baton with the already strong QS team, continuing the great work already being done and collectively moving the service line forward. “I will be rolling up my sleeves immediately and leading our team on several high-profile instructions,” he said. Alongside his responsibilities as the UK Director of Quantity Surveying, Gareth also joins the new-look Executive Leadership Team at the firm. Gareth will extend his expertise over Walker Sime’s offices in Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool. The company has provided quantity surveying and project management services to several prominent projects including The Barnum and the University of York’s Institute for Safe Autonomy, New Victoria and Civic Heat Network in Manchester, Dock Branch Park in Birkenhead and Liverpool Waters.

Housing association agrees new funding with three lenders worth £284m

Tess Egginton
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Housing association agrees new funding with three lenders worth £284m

Savills Financial Consultants has helped Great Places Housing Group secure three new deals worth a total of £284m with Santander, NatWest, and ABN AMRO.

Funding of £109m and £100m has been agreed with existing lenders Santander and NatWest Bank, respectively. New partner ABN AMRO has lent 25,000-home Great Places £75m. All loans are revolving credit facilities (RCFs).  

All three RCFs contain sustainability-linked performance measures which see a reduced interest rate in the event that Great Places meets agreed energy efficiency targets on new and existing homes.

The housing association will use the funds to continue to deliver its commitments to customers to invest in existing and new homes in communities across the North West, Yorkshire and Derbyshire. Great Places’ current plans include further increasing resources to improve property conditions and customer services, as well as the ambition to develop around 9,000 new affordable homes during the period 2020-2030. 

Mike Gerrard, Chief Financial Officer at Great Places Housing Group, said: “We are delighted to continue and develop our relationships with NatWest and Santander and welcome ABN AMRO as a new banking partner.

“We received strong interest from the banking sector for this transaction and it is pleasing to move forward with sustainability-linked funding. Thank you to the Great Places team and Savills for their insight and support.” 

Mike Roche, Director at Savills Financial Consultants, said: “There were a significant number of moving parts with these deals, so it is a testament to the Great Places team that they have been able to handle the process so diligently.

“The Savills Financial Consultants team has really enjoyed helping Great Places secure this increased financial capacity at the right pricing to help deliver their aims.”

Jane Johnstone, Senior Director, Housing Finance, Santander UK, said: “We are delighted to have supported Great Places in providing this sustainability-linked facility.

“This funding will ultimately facilitate improvement in existing housing provision and the continued development of much-needed, new, affordable homes. We are proud to work together with providers such as Great Places in this critical sector.” 

Martin Skinner, Relationship Director at NatWest, said: “We are a major lender to the UK affordable housing sector and are delighted to continue to support the important work of Great Places in providing much-needed social housing to the region.

“The RCF structure, coupled with sustainability-linked performance measures, will lead to more energy-efficient homes across the North West, Yorkshire and Derbyshire.

“We are proud to have announced that in 2023 we completed nearly £3bn of new funding to help more people and families have access to housing. We support around 200 housing associations across the UK and are proud to announce our ambition to provide a further £5bn in funding to support the housing association sector by the end of 2026.” 

Rutilio Merien, ABN AMRO’s Head of UK Coverage Real Estate, said: “We are delighted to start this partnership and provide Great Places with new funding facilitating its commitment to develop new homes as well as improving existing ones.

“ABN AMRO is pleased to further support the social housing sector and the inclusion of ESG-linked KPIs in our facility with Great Places resonates very well with ABN AMRO’s purpose and strategy. We look forward to building a strong and long-term relationship with Great Places.”

Alice Overton, Partner at Devonshires, said: “We are delighted to have advised on these transactions and to have supported Great Places in achieving its energy efficiency and wider sustainability ambitions.

“Great Places approached this with dedication and commitment, and the team was a pleasure to work with, alongside Savills, all resulting in a great outcome for the business.”

The transaction was also supported by Addleshaw Goddard and the valuation team at Savills. 

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