Siemens Mobility names Director of Asset Management

Stuart Pearcey
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Siemens Mobility names Director of Asset Management
Siemens Mobility, which operates a plant in Goole, has appointed Syeda Ghufran as the new Director of Asset Management and Assurance for Customer Services.
Syeda brings a wealth of expertise to her new role along with her strong background in the rail industry and a track record of success. Prior to joining Siemens, Syeda was the Fleet Engineering Director at Hitachi Rail and became the youngest, and first female, Engineering Director at Scotrail in 2018. She is highly skilled in maintenance optimisation and digitalisation. She will leverage her knowledge and experience to optimise maintenance processes and harness digital advancements to drive efficiency and effectiveness in asset management. Sambit Banerjee, Joint CEO of Siemens Mobility and MD of Rolling Stock and Customer Services said:“We are honoured to have Syeda join our team, her experience and expertise will undoubtedly drive success and further strengthen the company’s commitment to customer satisfaction, safety, and innovation. Syeda’s appointment reflects our unwavering commitment to service excellence and delivering the highest standard of customer service. We achieve this through the talent and expertise of our people.” Syeda said: “I’m excited to join Siemens Mobility at a time when the company has ambitious plans to transform rail travel and transport in the UK through strong investment, new product offerings in rolling stock, infrastructure and digital. “I am looking forward to working on our fleet reliability improvement plans, digital asset management and the development of new traction products such as our Verve platform which will help deliver de-carbonisation plans for our customers.” Siemens Mobility trains make up almost a quarter of UK passenger trains and e320 Velaro Eurostar trains.

Plans confirmed for Dewsbury Arcade to become first community-run shopping centre in UK

Tess Egginton
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Plans confirmed for Dewsbury Arcade to become first community-run shopping centre in UK
Last month, the Arcade Group – a community business formed specifically to lease and manage the Dewsbury Arcade, once it is reopened in 2025 – undertook fundraising to make the arcade the UK’s first community-run shopping centre. Thanks to backing from local people and businesses, their ambitions will be realised. The Dewsbury Arcade is a Grade II Listed building, which has been a focal feature in Dewsbury town centre since the Victorian era but has stood empty for more than seven years. The arcade is a key focus of the Dewsbury Blueprint, which lays out Kirklees Council’s ambitious plans for the future of the town. For the Arcade Group’s plans to be financially viable, they needed to singlehandedly raise upwards of £75,000 in investment to fund initial start-up costs. They achieved their goal, through a combination of more than £50,000 investment from local residents and organisations, and match funding from Co-operative UK’s Booster Fund.  Based on this success, Kirklees Council also awarded a further one-off investment of £25,000 (previously agreed by Cabinet in January 2022). Thanks to the Arcade Group’s fundraising success, Kirklees Council have confirmed they will be taking on the lease and management of the arcade once it reopens. Any member of the public or local business who invests in the arcade receives shares in the business side of the arcade. Through this community share group, local people will then be able to elect board members and have part ownership in the business. This means that, once work is complete and the arcade has reopened, anyone who’s invested will be able to have a say in how it’s run. The aim is for the arcade to be returned to its former glory, attracting more footfall in the town centre and supporting the local economy. Kirklees Council’s ambition, together with the Arcade Group, is to fill the reopened building with a range of independent local traders, along with a great food and drink offering. Once restored, the arcade will have 16 small shop units, four larger spaces, and six upstairs studios suitable for artists, offices or event spaces. Work to restore and refurbish the arcade has already been fully funded. The aimed reopening for the building is 2025.

Government launches grant scheme to support UK’s smaller abattoirs

Stuart Pearcey
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Government launches grant scheme to support UK’s smaller abattoirs
The government has launched a £4 million Smaller Abattoir Fund to boost the sustainability and efficiency of red meat and poultry smaller abattoirs across England. The Smaller Abattoir Fund will award capital grants from £2,000 up to a maximum of £60,000 to help support smaller abattoirs across England improve productivity, enhance animal health and welfare, add value to primary products, and encourage innovation and investment in new technologies. It will support the purchase of a diverse range of capital investments, including items such as cold storage units which can expand refrigeration capacity for processing, allowing abattoirs to increase production rates and help remove the waiting times experienced by many farmers for getting stock processed. The Fund also drives forward the government’s commitment to advancing animal health and welfare standards, including funding to improve facilities for stressed or fatigued animals to recover from loading and transport operations. The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) will email all eligible smaller abattoirs directly within the coming days, outlining the application process. The smaller abattoir sector has an important role in maintaining British food security and ensures a competitive route to market is available to farmers, especially those who supply local butchers and farm shops, for a wide range of meat products. They make it easier for farmers to get their products to market, protect animal welfare by maintaining reduced journey times to slaughter, provide a route to market for farmers who rear rare and native breeds, and offer wider social and economic benefits to rural communities. Farming Minister Mark Spencer said: “England’s abattoirs are critical to livestock farmers who provide their high-quality products to local butchers and farm shops up and down the country.

“This £4 million fund will not only help smaller abattoir and mobile business owners to innovate, invest and improve standards, but it will give farmers, particularly those who produce native and rare breeds, more stability in getting their products to market.”

Second phase of demolition prepares ground for nuclear manufacturing at Sheffield steel plant

Stuart Pearcey
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Second phase of demolition prepares ground for nuclear manufacturing at Sheffield steel plant
Phase two of a demolition project has started at Sheffield Forgemasters to make way for the UK’s largest open-die forging line. Unused buildings on the site, north of Brightside Lane, are being removed as the second phase of work gets under way to create space for a new 13,000-tonne Heavy Forge and its 12,700 sq m housing. Victorian-era Forge and Foundry buildings will make way for the new facility, creating one of the most efficient open-die forging operations in Europe and the largest in the UK. The demolition will eventually expose the whole footprint of the new facility, which will dominate the skyline adjacent to the Meadowhall train line. Much of the structure earmarked for demolition has been out of use for years, and a secure partitioning wall is in place to fully isolate working areas of the plant from the building site. Remediation works have included removing internal steel structures, stabilising the ground, pile-driving and removal of any contaminants. Phase two of the demolition will remove all remaining above-ground structures at the excavation site before more than 25,000m3 of spoil is excavated for foundations to support the press, with 4,500m3 of existing concrete to be crushed. The project is governed by exacting environmental standards, with all spoil from the site graded and recycled as far as is possible. The multi-million GBP project is estimated to see completion of the foundations in Q1 2025. The new facility will service defence and commercial work in sectors such as civil nuclear power.

Streets Chartered Accountants covers crypto tax reporting, the full expensing tax break, and more in new news roundup

Tess Egginton
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Streets Chartered Accountants covers crypto tax reporting, the full expensing tax break, and more in new news roundup

Streets Chartered Accountants covers crypto tax reporting, the full expensing tax break, the importance of recognising colleagues during the festive season, and more in its latest monthly news roundup.

It is all change for cryptocurrency tax reporting, but help is on handOn the 29th of November His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, HMRC, launched a new campaign to pursue unpaid tax from crypto investors. The campaign seeks to encourage individuals to come forward and disclose any unpaid tax on crypto assets including exchange tokens, NFTs and utility tokens. In part, the approach highlights their concern that many crypto assets owners are seemingly unaware of the responsibility and requirement to disclose and report taxable gains.

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Staff are not just for ChristmasIn the run up to Christmas many business directors, owners and managers will hopefully have or be looking at potentially sharing in the festive spirit through making gifts to their staff and/or even having a Christmas party. A bit like family and friends gifting, the nature or choice of a gift will mostly likely be based on what might have been given in the past, even the same gift each year along with affordability of the same. To a great extent when it comes to businesses the decision as to what they give their staff may in part be pre-determined by the tax treatment of any gifts.

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Making more than an entrance, with Stuart Burlton

This episode of The Streets Sessions features Stuart Burlton, MD of Make An Entrance, the UK’s largest manufacturer and retailer of coir matting and direct sales logo matting. Find out how this inspirational family business has changed from a sales and marketing operation to that of a leading manufacturer with plans for international reach. The episode also takes time out to learn more about Stuart’s role with the Federation of Small Businesses as a member of its scrutiny body as well as his passion for supporting the Federation.

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Tax breaks including full expensing, capital allowances and help with funding for equipment and machineryThe Full expensing tax break for Limited Companies, which allows businesses to deduct spending on new and unused machinery and equipment from profits, was made permanent in the Autumn Statement. Companies can write off the entire cost of investment in one go, giving rise to a tax cut of up to 25p for every £1 invested. For example, a company incurring £1.5m on new machinery can deduct the entire amount in the tax year of purchase, potentially saving £375,000 in tax if taxed at the main Corporation Tax rate of 25%.

Transformation at Leeds City Station reaches next milestone

Tess Egginton
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Transformation at Leeds City Station reaches next milestone
The transformation of Leeds City Station’s main entrance is reaching its next milestone, with demolition works coming towards the end and construction due to begin in earnest in the New Year.
The Leeds City Station Sustainable Travel Gateway scheme is being delivered at the same time as essential maintenance work by Network Rail to reinforce the underground structure below New Station Street, which supports much of the station above it. The previous cycle hub and rotunda steps outside the station have been demolished and a total of 13 iron beams – each weighing as much as 40 tonnes – are being removed to access a huge underground space known as the Mill Goit, a man-made channel off the River Aire which took the stream to power a nearby mill. When the station was originally built in 1869, New Station Street was built as a bridge over the Mill Goit. Piling works are now beginning which will allow for the Mill Goit to become home to the station’s new cycle hub, and for wider construction to begin. This includes the two passenger lifts providing access between New Station Street and Bishopgate Street, and the pedestrian improvements which will create a much-improved and more people-friendly gateway to the city centre. Delivering the Sustainable Travel Gateway scheme in tandem with the maintenance works will reduce longer-term disruption and provide value for money by reducing the need for further works at a later date. The £46.1m Sustainable Travel Gateway scheme is being delivered by Leeds City Council on behalf of Network Rail as the landowner, and in partnership with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority. The scheme is funded and being delivered through the Combined Authority’s Transforming Cities Fund programme, which is aimed at making it easier for people to walk, cycle and use public transport. This week colleagues from the Combined Authority, Leeds City Council and Network Rail were given a tour of the works by constructor partner Balfour Beatty. Councillor Helen Hayden, Leeds City Council’s executive member for infrastructure and sustainable development, said: “It’s amazing to see the scale of work involved in delivering these schemes, which will create a safer and more people-friendly gateway between the station, the city centre and the wider south bank. “We thank everyone for their patience as we work towards construction continuing into the new year, and completion in 2025.” Paul Buchanan, Balfour Beatty’s Project Manager, said: “Today marks yet another milestone in the transformation of Leeds City Station, with demolition works nearing completion. “We now look forward to starting main construction, working closely with Leeds City Council, Network Rail and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, to bring the new gateway to life and provide an accessible and vibrant new link between the station and the wider city centre.” The Sustainable Travel Gateway scheme will create a much improved and more people-friendly environment that can accommodate growing rail passenger numbers and ensure people can enter and exit the station safely. The scheme will see:
  • New Station Street pedestrianised, including the section which meets Boar Lane, with outdoor seating, rest areas, and landscaping.
  • The taxi rank located to Bishopgate Street with a large and well-lit shelter and room for six vehicles, allowing for kerb-side boarding to help people with wheelchairs or assistance dogs to board more easily.
  • Two 21-passenger lifts from Bishopgate Street to the station entrance on New Station Street, providing step-free access between the two streets.
  • A high-quality cycle hub with electric charging points and storage for all types of cycles.
  • Environmental improvements to Neville Street and Dark Neville Street including enhanced lighting and road surfaces. Works on the east side of Neville Street have been completed, with works on the west side of Neville Street and Dark Neville Street currently on-site. Once completed, these will offer safer routes for pedestrians and cyclists.
  • Installing high quality cycle infrastructure on Bishopgate Street and Neville Street.

New deal at historic Yorkshire mill

Tess Egginton
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New deal at historic Yorkshire mill
Maze Recruitment Group, a Yorkshire-based education recruitment specialist, has moved to the historic Sunny Banks Mills in Farsley, near Leeds. Maze has taken space in the 1912 Mill at Sunny Bank Mills, where Yorkshire Television’s Emmerdale and Heartbeat were filmed. Maze joins over 100 other companies which have moved to the renovated mill complex during the past 11 years. Nicola Wilson, the Managing Director of Maze, explained the reasons behind the decision to relocate to Sunny Bank Mills. “We set up our business in 2020 initially working from home but the plan was always to open our own office in the Leeds area. We’re now in the second phase of scaling our business and have been looking for suitable office space for a while. “Our new offices in the 1912 Mill are perfect, and we now have the right space to expand. We love the amenities at Sunny Bank Mills – the gym, yoga rooms, eateries, pub and so on. It’s a little community all in one place. The grounds are lovely, the woodlands, local parks, the outdoor area and the fact Sunny Bank Mills is dog friendly was a bonus. “The landlords William and John Gaunt are lovely and have been very welcoming and very transparent. Free parking is always a plus and value for money in comparison to the offices we were looking at in the city.”

Another partner joins Andrew Jackson Solicitors’ real estate and property team

Tess Egginton
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Another partner joins Andrew Jackson Solicitors’ real estate and property team
Kirsty Barsby has joined Andrew Jackson Solicitors LLP’s real estate and property team as a partner, strengthening the firm’s client services offering across the region and beyond. With over 18 years’ experience across a broad range of property matters, Kirsty’s clients operate across several sectors including hotel and leisure, residential and commercial development, property investment and the healthcare sector. Kirsty regularly advises on property sales and acquisitions including overage, option and promotion agreements and development transactions from site set up to disposal. She also advises clients on landlord and tenant transactions, secured lending and refinancing and assists regularly with corporate support work. Geoff Phillips, partner, and head of the real estate and property team at Andrew Jackson, said: “We warmly welcome Kirsty to Andrew Jackson Solicitors. Our real estate and property team remains busy, and I know that Kirsty’s depth of expertise and proactive approach will ensure that we continue to provide the highest standards in service and value for our clients.” Kirsty added: “I’m very happy to have joined the team at Andrew Jackson Solicitors. Their commitment to providing clients with an outstanding service mirrors my own and I’m looking forward to working with both new and long-standing clients.”

Road tanker manufacturing company fined £200,000 after gas asphyxiation

Tess Egginton
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Road tanker manufacturing company fined £200,000 after gas asphyxiation
A tanker manufacturing company has been fined £200,000 after a worker collapsed from gas exposure before the same fate befell a colleague who went to check on him. On 18 March 2020, a worker at Tasca Tankers in Wakefield entered a metal tank to carry out some welding work. A few minutes later, a second worker looked inside the tank to check on his colleague and found him slumped at the bottom. After shouting for help the second worker went into the tank and also collapsed. Emergency services rescued both employees after entering the space with breathing apparatus. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the company had failed to ensure safety of their employees while working in the tanks, classified as a confined space. When inside the tank, the employees suffered asphyxiation resulting from inhalation of argon gas leaking from the welding torch. This resulted in a hypoxic brain injury that left the first worker in a coma for more than 12 days and on waking suffered a loss of memory, the inability to walk, talk and move his left arm. The worker has had to learn to walk and talk again. Both workers continue to suffer long lasting physical and psychological effects of this incident. At Leeds Magistrates’ Court on 1 December, Tasca Tankers of Unit 5, Diamond Business Park, Thornes Moor Rd, Wakefield, West Yorkshire pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £200,000 and ordered to pay £7,060 in costs. After the hearing, HSE inspector Louise Redgrove said: “Two employees very nearly died in an incident which was foreseeable. “The company had previously received related enforcement action and yet still failed to identify work was taking place inside confined spaces. This incident could so easily have been avoided if the company had ensured robust controls, effective training and emergency procedures were in place and current.” This prosecution was led by HSE enforcement lawyer Jonathan Bambro.

2024 Business Predictions: Lee Thatcher, head of cloud at CloudCoCo

Tess Egginton
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2024 Business Predictions: Lee Thatcher, head of cloud at CloudCoCo
It’s that time of year, when Business Link Magazine invites the region’s business leaders to offer up their predictions for the year ahead.  It has become something of a tradition, given that we’ve been doing this now for over 30 years. Here we speak to Lee Thatcher, head of cloud at CloudCoCo. In 2024, the cloud computing industry will continue to focus on security and modernisation. Many organisations have moved their infrastructure to hyperscale cloud providers but have yet to fully embrace Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) or Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) offerings. Addressing this educational gap and emphasising the value of multiple vendor offerings will be critical. These trends build upon the need for secure and modernised cloud environments, aligning with the changes observed over the past year. The surge in AI adoption has so far had a limited impact on the cloud computing market. However, it is expected to have a more noticeable influence once the offerings from major hyperscale cloud providers become more widely available and commercialised. As these providers continue to invest in AI capabilities, businesses will increasingly leverage cloud platforms for AI-related workloads, driving the growth of cloud-based AI applications and services. It’ll continue to be about AI for the foreseeable future. The widespread adoption of AI applications and services will continue to gain momentum, enhancing the capabilities of cloud platforms. While it may not see massive uptake until major hyperscale cloud providers fully commercialise their AI offerings, AI’s significance in the cloud computing landscape will continue to grow, driving innovation and transformation across various industries.
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