Specialist business property adviser, Christie & Co, has sold Upsadaisy Children’s Nursery in Sheffield.
Upsadaisy Children’s Nursery is an Ofsted-rated ‘Good’ day nursery setting that caters for up to 75 children aged between nought and four years. It occupies a property with great outdoor space on Bellhouse Road in Sheffield.
The setting has been owned by friends, Karen Green, Shelley Whitworth, and Clare Quince since 2016 and, after working in the sector for many years, they decided to sell to take a well-deserved retirement.
Following a confidential sales process with Vicky Marsland at Christie & Co, and with funding sourced through Lawrence Roberts at Christie Finance, it has been purchased by Nurtured Childcare, a growing group in the North of England.
Karen Green, former owner of Upsadaisy Children’s Nursery, says: “We acquired this former Sure Start building in 2016 after it had been closed for three years. Starting off with six children, the nursery has grown over the past eight years to 160 on roll.
“Our vision was to provide the local and wider community with an excellent Early Years provision and, along with our fantastic staff team and beautiful setting, we hope that we have achieved this. We are happy to hand over to Nurtured Childcare and wish the team every success for the future.”
Craig Brennan, CEO and Founder at Nurtured Childcare, says: “Nurtured Childcare is a multi-award-winning group of nurseries operating across the North of England and Upsadaisy is exactly the type of setting we wanted to add to our group.
“A fantastic staff team, large outdoor area, and well-established in the local community. This is our second site in South Yorkshire, and we are very proud to be able to continue the good work of the previous owners. We already have plans in motion to develop the outdoor play area which will double the footprint.”
Vicky Marsland, Director – Childcare & Education at Christie & Co, says: “We had multiple viewings within weeks of launching this confidentially to market, which were followed by three strong offers.
“Whilst this process was not without its challenges, with the help of Christie Finance and the continued patience and hard work of my clients, we were able to achieve a full asking price offer. I wish the sellers all the best in their future endeavours and look forward to seeing the further growth of Nurtured Childcare in the future.”
Lawrence Roberts, Director at Christie Finance, says: “I am so pleased to have been involved in this transaction, supporting Craig and his team in purchasing Upsadaisy Nursery.
“Having an experienced operator in the sector is a positive element to sourcing a competitive funding package at present, and I am delighted that Craig and his team have added another nursery to their portfolio. I wish them all the best for the future.”
Upsadaisy Children’s Nursery was sold for an undisclosed price.
Rotherham Council to approve updated plans to transform Dinnington and Wath
Rotherham Council Cabinet is set to approve updated plans for two projects that will transform Dinnington and Wath.
Feedback from the public has helped to update plans to restore the cultural heart of both town centres and create better public places. The plans will be considered by Cabinet on Monday 29 July.
The £8.9 million library and public space project planned for Wath will include:
- A new state-of-the-art library, for learning, working and making
- New commercial spaces to attract business
- Improvements to green spaces
- Improvements to the Biscay Way car park
- The proposed project at Wath includes demolition of the existing library and the creation of a brand-new library to create a modern, inviting, and inclusive community facility. The library will be equipped to support skills development locally with purpose-built learning, working and making spaces.
Major regeneration of Mexborough planned
A major regeneration of Mexborough is planned, with approximately £24m earmarked to bring significant improvements to its town centre.
Mexborough has been allocated circa £24 million in funding from City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) and from Levelling Up Fund round 3 (LUF3).
The Mexborough Masterplan has been developed over the last few years and now is the opportunity to see that delivered, bringing real improvements for residents and businesses of Mexborough.
There is currently a public consultation open which will run until Friday 26th July. City of Doncaster Council (CDC) is seeking the views of local residents, businesses and visitors to Mexborough.
The current plans include:
- Street and shop frontage enhancements, including upgraded CCTV and street lighting.
- Celebrating the town’s heritage and future with new public art.
- More green and social spaces, including a new ‘pocket park’ with trees, planting and seating areas as well as landscaping at the site of the former flyover and the bus interchange.
- Relocation of Bus interchange to bring buses into the town centre and create additional car parking on the former bus interchange.
- Improving access into the town centre for vehicles including buses, by creating a new junction from Greens Way on to Station Road and Bank Street.
- Reallocating space on part of the dual carriageway to provide a safer environment for pedestrians and cyclists, including upgrading the crossing facilities and adding trees and landscaping supporting a reduction in speeding and providing a safety buffer. This will also enable the junctions at each end to manage capacity and not be over saturated as occurs on occasions now.
Leeds aerospace distributor buys six acres of land
A Leeds-based distributor to the international aerospace industry is scaling up its operation and pioneering innovation, with the purchase of approximately six acres of land to bring its office and warehouse space onto one site, laying the foundation for its new Innovation Hub.
Aeroservices operates in over 100 countries and offers a range of services including maintenance and new component development.
It recently purchased land in West Yorkshire to build its new Aviation Business Park and bring its UK warehousing, in-house maintenance operations and research and development (R&D) offering under one roof. The acquisition was supported by a funding package from Lloyds Bank to support Aeroservices’ next decade of growth plans.
The business is investing in a new ‘Product Innovation Lab’ where it will work on market-leading projects with the University of Leeds and other leading academia in the UK. More widely, its R&D work will focus on automation and robotics as the company looks to maximise productivity and efficiency in aviation sector.
Bringing its capabilities onto one site will allow Aeroservices to scale up its operations and sell more to other businesses directly. To support this, the firm is planning to invest in a fleet of electric vans for delivery, as well as triple its workforce over the coming years.
The business is also looking to invest in solar panels and other energy-efficient technologies for the new warehouse and office space, as part of its wider sustainability plans.
Mashood Akmal, CEO at Aeroservices Limited, said: “Innovation is at the heart of Aeroservices, so this expansion will help accelerate our research and development and place West Yorkshire at the centre of the aerospace sector map.
“We’ve been with Lloyds Bank from day one and following recent support to help us adapt during the Covid-19 pandemic, we were confident they were the right partner for our latest growth plans.
“Purchasing the new site is the first big step towards our wider Aeroservices Vision 2030, and Lloyds Bank has been instrumental in making that happen. We look forward to continuing to work alongside them as we build and develop our new Aviation Business Park.”
Tony Buchan, relationship director at Lloyds Bank, said: “We’ve supported Aeroservices since it was founded, and it’s great to be working together again, this time to support with plans to invest in its R&D offering and scale up its operations by bringing its various capabilities in-house.
“Aerospace is a key sector in West Yorkshire and the business is a great example of the leading innovators that are making the region their home.
“We’ll be by the side of the business from day-one to completion of this project, and beyond. And will be on hand to provide additional support, from new opportunities for growth through to advice around sustainability.”
Mayor urges government to back Harrogate College rebuild
Elected Mayor of York and North Yorkshire earlier this year, David Skaith has recently written to the new Secretary of State for Education requesting an extension to the time limit attached to the Department for Education’s (DfE) funding for the £22m rebuild at Harrogate College.
The Mayor’s letter to Bridget Phillipson is being supported by a host of other influential figures including Tom Gordon MP, the recently elected Member of Parliament for Harrogate and Knaresborough, and David Hughes CBE, the Chief Executive for the Association of Colleges. A number of local headteachers, employers and organisations have all also added their signatures in support.
Designed to upgrade the college’s facilities so they can meet the area’s current and emerging skills needs, the campus redevelopment was due to start this year and complete in 2025. However, the launch of a Judicial Review has knocked the timetable back, jeopardising the DfE funding.
In his letter, Mr Skaith said: “I’m writing on this occasion to request an extension to the funding timeline for Harrogate College to complete the much-needed rebuild they have planned through your Department’s Further Education Capital Transformation Fund.
“North Yorkshire Council had granted the college planning permission…and preparations were being made for construction to begin. However, an application for Judicial Review has been made by a local individual opposed to the rebuild. This is highly unusual given the new college is being built on the current site.
“The council remains confident that the project will still be granted planning permission, albeit at a delayed pace. This delay does mean, however, that the funding underpinning the rebuild is now threatened as a result of the expected completion date being delayed until September 2026.
“Missing this valuable window of opportunity to redevelop Harrogate’s only general further education college would be a damaging outcome for local people, employers and the regional economy.”
Principal of Harrogate College, Danny Wild said: “I’m immensely grateful to David Skaith and others who have signed this letter supporting our planned rebuild.
“I hope the levels of local and regional support for the project are recognised by the new Secretary of State for Education and our request for an extension to the funding timeline is approved.
“The redevelopment of the campus will present new opportunities for training and education that will help deliver the growth aspirations for North Yorkshire. Losing this valuable opportunity to redevelop Harrogate’s only further education college will have a long-term detrimental impact on our local people, employers and the regional economy.”
Local MP, Tom Gordon, who has also separately written to the Education Secretary to urge for an extension, said: “Colleges, and the valuable work they do training our workforce and opening up opportunities for people of all ages, are close to my heart.
“We are very fortunate to have a great college, serving the area, here in Harrogate – but in a rapidly-changing world it simply cannot afford to stand still.
“Harrogate College needs this redevelopment to ensure it has the facilities to keep delivering the evolving skills our region needs as we go forward – particularly in the rapidly growing green skills sector.”
The redevelopment would see the main college building replaced with a sustainable, modern property equipped with a host of facilities including a mock hospital ward and digital technology suite.
The proposals would also see a new renewable energy technology centre opened on the campus, to help the college expand its work in the fast-growing sustainability sector.
Sheffield Forgemasters seeks planning for new facility in Sheffield’s Meadowhall district
Engineering specialist, Sheffield Forgemasters, has submitted a pre-planning application for a landmark 30,000m2 machining facility on brownfield land in Sheffield’s Meadowhall district.
Located on a 16-acre plot at Weedon Street, the new facility will form one of the world’s most advanced large machining facilities, to support the Ministry of Defence-owned company’s manufacture for the UK defence programme.
With work on the site planned to start in Q4 2024, the building will cover a space equal to 12 olympic-sized swimming pools and will contain 17 new machines, including some of the largest and most advanced five-axis Vertical Turning Lathes ever produced.
Gareth Barker, Chief Operating Officer at Sheffield Forgemasters, said: “The pre-planning application covers an ambitious new project, to create a facility which will deliver some of the world’s most advanced, large-scale machining capabilities.
“Creating this new facility on derelict ground, which was once part of Sheffield’s engineering past, is an amazing investment for the city and for the wider UK, which will create highly-skilled engineering jobs for decades to come.
“The building is set to become an iconic landmark and the sheer scale of the endeavour is actually larger than construction of the UK’s largest open-die forging-line, which is underway on our adjacent Brightside Lane site.”
Plans for the new machining facility detail a main building with a circa 272.5 x 110 metre footprint, standing 32 metres tall, located close to the River Don and designed to complement the historic look of the company’s existing buildings.
Adjoining the main construction is a second, proposed 3,500m2 building, with a state-of-the-art test-house facility and a dedicated training area, to transfer vital skills to the next generation of engineers.
Gareth added: “The scope of what we are creating in the centre of Britain’s industrial heartland is truly monumental and will not only de-risk supply for the UK and trilateral AUKUS defence programmes, it will provide some of the most technologically advanced and rewarding working facilities for our employees.”
The machining facility is set to be operational by the end of 2028 and will deliver unmatched levels of speed, accuracy and efficiency for the manufacture of large, highly complex, nuclear-grade components.
All of the new machines are bespoke to Sheffield Forgemasters’ requirements, and are already being designed and built by machine tools specialist, WaldrichSiegen.
Both the company’s new forging line and proposed machine shop will service defence and also commercial work in sectors such as civil nuclear power, creating a new generation of engineers and designers trained to work with Industry 4.0 technologies.
JLL acted on behalf of Sheffield Forgemasters for the site acquisition and planning submissions.
John Good Group opens new offices in Hessle
John Good Group has opened its new HQ at Quarry House on the Hesslewood Office Park in Hessle.
The opening of the purpose-built office was marked by the company’s Annual General Meeting, where John Good Group welcomed the Good family shareholders and wider stakeholders to the new building. The event was also the first AGM of the modern era, attended by three generations of the Good family.
CEO Adam Walsh said:“The official opening of Quarry House is a significant milestone for us, celebrating not just a new office, but the culmination of two years of transition and growth. Quarry House, alongside our beautiful Hesslewood Office Park, provides the perfect environment for our team today and for future generations of employees and business partners.
“Quarry House is also a testament to John Good Group’s commitment to sustainability and investing in creating a working environment that prioritises both well-being and performance. Every choice was considered from multiple perspectives including commercial, employee experience and sustainability. The project team, led by our Chief Financial Officer Ben Norman, with input from Julie Ornsby, Steve Pullen, Darren Howden, and Michelle Taft, have done a superb job. They should be congratulated for what they have delivered for the business and their colleagues.”
The newly-constructed Quarry House is a cornerstone of the Group’s Fast Forward plans, which emphasises strategic growth alongside commitments to People, Planet, and Performance. The design of Quarry House was guided by a sustainable and local-first philosophy, using nearby suppliers to support the local economy. This sustainable approach includes locally-sourced timber, recycled fishing nets repurposed into a boardroom carpet, and reclaimed materials from a Canary Wharf building for raised access flooring.
South Yorkshire football ground to continue as ‘MEPS International Home of Football Stadium’
Sheffield FC’s ground will be called ‘The MEPS International Home of Football Stadium’ for the entirety of the upcoming campaign.
Partnerships Manager Dylan Ralph said: “We are thrilled to retain MEPS International as stadium sponsor and a major partner of The Club.
“We’ve also got some great content and brand activations planned, so keep your eyes peeled for that.
“We look forward to welcoming all of our supporters to The MEPS International Home of Football Stadium in the season ahead, with hopefully plenty to celebrate.”
Joe Rugg, Commercial Lead at MEPS International said: “We’re thrilled to be renewing the naming rights of the MEPS International Home of Football Stadium.
“Steel and football lie at the heart of Sheffield’s heritage, and as MEPS International celebrates its 45th anniversary in 2024, it feels poignant that we’re able to maintain close ties with a such a historic and enduring sports club that is also such a globally-recognised symbol of the city.
“We’re proud to see the MEPS name displayed at the stadium and can’t wait for another exciting season to get under way.”
Bradford-based food group expands further with a slice of cheesecake market business
Bradford-based Regal Food Products Group Plc expands further with acquisition of artisan cheesecake makers Love Cheesecakes.
Based in Lancaster, Love Cheesecakes specialises in handcrafting over 100 premium cheesecakes for wholesale, food services and the hospitality sector.
In 2020 Love Cheesecakes appeared on TV show, Dragons’ Den, giving the artisan bakery a step on the online ladder. The bakery now also holds a strong online presence through several ecommerce platforms in which it operates. With a strong focus on gifting, the service allows customers to indulge in doorstep desserts at home.
Since the acquisition of Just Desserts Yorkshire in 2022 and more recently Love Handmade Cakes, the Regal Group have strategically focused on growing and developing their desserts range in the food service and wholesale market.
Younis Chaudhry, CEO of Regal Food Products Group said: “The acquisition of Love Cheesecakes will further strengthen our chilled desserts portfolio allowing us to give customers a solid offer across all ranges and price points.”
“With a catalogue of over 100 products, there will be plenty of opportunities for new product developments, giving us the platform to bring a whole new range of exciting flavours and combinations to customers old and new.”
“As a group we have the resources and infrastructure in place to bring Love Cheesecakes in line with our vision and family of dessert brands and look forward to integrating the bakery and its assets into one of our existing manufacturing sites.
“This strategic step will further strengthen our growth and open up opportunities in the chilled desserts category.”
James Asquith, founder of Love Cheesecakes adds: “This acquisition marks an exciting new chapter for the Love Cheesecakes, promising tremendous growth and innovation. I am confident that Regal Food Products Group’s expertise and resources will take the bakery to new heights, reaching even more customers and continuing to deliver the quality and values we as a business stand for.”
Housing association Chief Exec calls for political unity over homebuilding
The chief exec of Bradford-based Manningham Housing Association has urged politicians from all parties to support more housebuilding following the announcement in today’s King’s Speech of proposed changes to planning laws and the introduction of housing targets to boost the delivery of new homes.
Lee Bloomfield said: “The country has endured a deepening housing crisis for many years which has curtailed life chances and stunted economic progress in deprived communities.
“Sadly, successive governments have backed away from their housebuilding commitments after encountering opposition either within their own ranks or from local pressure groups.
“I welcome the measures outlined in the King’s Speech aimed squarely at delivering the homes we need in Bradford, Keighley, and elsewhere – but we have been here before.
“This time must be different which means Ministers sticking to their policy pledges and standing strong in the face of the inevitable challenges to new developments.
“That task will be greatly helped by politicians from all parties accepting the need to build new homes, rather than habitually opposing local housebuilding for political gain.”
Founded in 1986, Manningham Housing Association manages more than 1,400 homes for over 6,000 residents in Bradford and Keighley. Over 80 per cent of residents are of South Asian origin but the association proudly serves all of those in need.
