Revenue and profit rise at Belvoir Group
Revenue and profit are on the rise at Belvoir Group, the property franchise and financial services group with its Central Office in Grantham.
According to interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2023, revenue at the business increased by 3% to £15.9m. Meanwhile Belvoir posted a 10% increase in profit before tax to £4.4m.
The period also saw the acquisition of BMA Bristol Ltd, a financial services business comprising 21 self-employed advisers and a lead-generating website.
Dorian Gonsalves, Chief Executive Officer of Belvoir Group, said: “The outperformance of our business model continues to reflect the entrepreneurial nature of our franchisees and self-employed financial services advisers, who remain entirely focused on maximising the opportunities presented in all market conditions.
“With 58% of their revenue derived from a strong recurring lettings market, our property franchisees have been able to offset the impact of the reduction in UK housing transactions. Meanwhile our financial advisers are mitigating the lower level of new purchase mortgages by servicing demand for remortgages and other related products from their substantial client banks.
“Our resilient business model and our proven growth strategy underpin the ongoing success of the group’s performance and consequently, the Board confirms that the group is trading comfortably in line with management’s expectations for the year ending 31 December 2023.”
Belvoir Group acquired MAB (South West) Ltd, a financial services business, last week.
Move to new premises offers space for company’s expansion
Relocation to business premises on The Point Business Park in Lincoln will give UK data measurement systems & electronics firm, HGL Dynamics Ltd, a new base from which to expand its operating division and recruit to accommodate business growth.
HGL’s move to its new Lincoln base at The Point Business Park follows the firm’s purchase of the freehold of Unit F – a 503 sq m (5,415 sq ft) detached, two storey, self-contained office building, with parking – through Eddisons incorporating Banks Long & Co, who acted as the sole agent on behalf of the vendor.
HGL – whose client base varies from household names in the aerospace & industrial gas turbine sectors to classic car restorers & drone manufacturers – has been based at Lincoln’s Lindum Business Park for more than ten years, but the firm has outgrown that space.
Julian Howden, Principal Mechanical Design and Production Engineer, said: “In logistical terms, we had reached full capacity at our original Lincoln site. The move to Unit F at The Point gives the team scope to design a floorplan and layout for improved flexibility, efficiency and ergonomics.
“Our Lincoln operation currently has a headcount of 16, but we have plans to recruit to meet business growth and our acquisition of Unit F gives us the space to do that.”
William Wall, who led Eddisons’ agency negotiations with HGL, said, “It’s a testament to the vibrancy of Lincoln’s business scene that companies like HGL are keen to reinforce their presence here by investing in property and recruitment.”
HGL is due to move in to Unit F at The Point Business Park later this year following a comprehensive fit-out programme.
FSB draws up Christmas wish list on behalf of SMEs
The FSB wants Government to start thinking about its Christmas policies following the latest Small Business Index results.
The research shows that small firms in retail and accommodation and food sectors had a far lower confidence reading than businesses from all sectors, at -38 points and -36 points respectively, against an all-sector finding of -14 points in the second quarter of 2023.
The UK’s largest business group has released a Tinsel List of policies – following a challenging three years of dealing with Covid-19, energy hikes and soaring interest rates and inflation.
Policies in the Tinsel List include:
- High streets must be easily accessible, with available parking, and increasing park and ride. Local transport must be reliable, affordable and well connected – and the Government must ensure its Pothole Fund is fairly allocated.
- Raising the VAT threshold from £85,000 to £100,000 could spark growth across the economy. Many firms halt trading near the end of the tax year to avoid hitting the current limit and incurring additional costs.
- The Small Business Rates Relief threshold should be increased to £25,000 to remove 200,000 small firms out of the rates system.
- Cheaper energy costs – energy firms should more widely adopt FSB’s proposal to allow small firms that negotiated their contract at the height of the energy crisis last year to be able to ‘blend and extend’ their contracts to take advantage of lower, wholesale prices. Lower energy bills will allow firms to keep their prices low for consumers.
- Reinstate tax free shopping for international visitors, to add £4bn of GDP through increased retail and tourism, secondary spending and small producers – and signalling that the UK is open for business.
Late announcement of early delivery allowance is a bitter pill for sugar growers
British Sugar’s announcement of an Early Delivery Allowance for this year’s crop has come far too late to enable many growers to change their plans to benefit from it, says the NFU.
NFU Sugar welcomes the scheme which it has been calling on British Sugar to introduce for months. However, the organisation is disappointed that British Sugar waited until just days before the campaign begins to announce it, given that an early start to the 2023 campaign was known about since January.
The NFU says that executed correctly and planned in advance, the EDA would have had the potential to solve British Sugar’s perennial challenge of slow beet deliveries early in the campaign. In addition, it could also have spread contactor workload more smoothly, helping growers wanting to lift early maintain beet in their rotation.
Michael Sly, NFU Sugar Board chair, said: “Many growers will have sprayed crops recently, many harvesters will be undergoing maintenance with staff potentially absent or working elsewhere in the business in September, and many hauliers will already be committed to other work. All of these will prevent growers from delivering beet early who could otherwise take advantage of the EDA to service British Sugar’s need.”
NFU Sugar was not given the opportunity to agree the details before British Sugar announced the EDA. As discussions for 2024 are ongoing, says the NFU, it is essential British Sugar executes the EDA in future contracts in a timely, planned and appropriate manner so that all parties can reap the benefits.
BRM Solicitors appoints new director for Sheffield Dispute Team
BRM Solicitors has appointed Lewis Hastie as a director of its Sheffield-based Dispute Team.
Lewis joins the firm with more than 14 years’ post qualified experience, specialising predominantly in contentious probate cases and acting in contentious Court of Protection proceedings.Strengthening both the Dispute and Private Client teams, Lewis joins at a time of expansion for the departments.Lewis said: “I am very excited to be joining BRM, a firm that is expanding quickly and is fully committed to providing the best possible service for its clients, really going above and beyond for them.
“I look forward to bringing my strong experience in contentious probate and contentious Court of Protection cases to the firm and positively contributing to the firm’s vision for the future.“I look forward to working with the team and helping to expand its growing client base, building on the excellent progress it has made.”BRM director and head of the firm’s Dispute Team, Rob Cooke, said: “Lewis brings a whole wealth of experience to the team having worked in contentious probate for a number of years.
“It is immediately evident that Lewis really cares about getting to know each of his clients and prides himself in building long-lasting relationships – a value that BRM holds at the heart of the firm.”
Golf day raises over £5,000 for Sheffield young persons charity
The annual Nicholas Associates Group (NAG) & CSP Systems golf day has raised over £5,000 for a Sheffield-based charity which will benefit young people.
Now in its third year, the beneficiary for money raised from the 2023 golf day will be Endeavour, a charity which aims to enrich the lives of young people through education and adventure.
Held at Wortley Golf Club, the golf day attracted over 120 players from 30 local businesses and supply chain partners who played in a team competition with a number of individual prizes.
The winning team was The Business Village, Chris Goddard from B&B Vehicle Contracts won nearest the pin on hole 9 whilst Graham Jamson from Coster UK won nearest the pin on the 16th, and Ryan Hopeley from D&G Utilities won longest drive.
Commenting on the success of the day, Joanne Wilson, group marketing & communications manager from NAG, said: “This is our 3rd joint charity golf day with our suppliers CSP Systems. We chose Endeavour because their mission to empower young people is very closely aligned with our own values and ambitions to enable people to be their best. We are pleased to support Endeavour to create opportunities and support for more young people to develop skills, knowledge and confidence to enable them to fulfil their potential and create a positive future.”
Andy Bethel from CSP Systems said: “We have expanded the number of teams taking part, which has, in turn, increased the amount raised. The day was a fantastic success, and we hope to build on this for next year. Thanks again to Wortley for hosting our event so professionally.”
Ed Thatcher, CEO of Endeavour, added: “It has been great to welcome Nicholas Associates Group & CSP Systems on board as a corporate partner. We really appreciate their support and also the opportunity to meet other potential partners through their golf day. It is vital that we continue to expand our partner network. Being part of this golf day has been a great opportunity to raise our profile and hopefully engage with potential new corporate partners.”
Leeds records strongest prime office rental growth outside of London
Prime rents across the UK’s office markets recorded notable increases since the start of the pandemic, with occupiers’ flight to quality driving a supply/demand imbalance for best-in-class office space, underpinned by access to high-quality amenities, space on standout floors, and strong sustainability credentials.
According to CBRE research, Leeds has recorded the strongest prime rental growth of the 10 city office markets analysed outside of London and the South East. The city’s prime rents stand at £37psf – reflecting an increase of 23% since the start of the pandemic (Q4 2019 to Q2 2023). This represents the strongest prime rental growth of any major office market in Europe, excluding the London West End core markets of Mayfair & St James’s.
Berlin’s prime rent growth since the pandemic stands at 16%; Milan at 15%; Paris at 14%, followed by Amsterdam at 9%.
By comparison, in the same period, Bristol (21%), Liverpool (21%), Edinburgh (19%), Birmingham (19%) and Manchester (18%) recorded significant prime rental growth. The trend is continuing into H2 2023, as evidenced by Glasgow prime rent reaching £39.50psf from the pre-Covid level of £32.50psf.
Rental value growth has also been exceptionally strong in some South East office markets, most notably Oxford where prime rents at the end of Q2 2023 reached £63psf, an increase of 70% from the level seen in Q4 2019. The increase has been driven by the lack of prime stock available and the huge growth of the science and tech sector, fuelling demand for office and lab space.
Despite overall take-up outside of London declining year-on-year by 13%, demand for the best quality space was high across the whole of the UK in H1 2023. Two of the three largest deals in Q2 took place in newly completed space, led by RE-defined taking up 36,300 sq ft of new space at Louisa Ryland House in Birmingham.
In tandem, the supply of new, grade-A space remains at critically low levels in some markets.
Simon Brown, head of UK Office Research, said: “One of the consequences of the supply/demand imbalance for the best quality space has been rapid rental growth at the prime end of the market. Deals transacted since the start of this year have set record high benchmark rents in most cities and many city office markets are recording prime rental values ahead of pre-Covid levels.”
Matt Willcock, executive director, office investor leasing, at CBRE, added: “Beyond London, our major city office markets are outperforming many of the major European markets – Berlin, Milan, Paris – in terms of prime rental growth and values. While broadly speaking take-up may have slowed, it’s clear there is healthy demand from occupiers seeking new, high-quality sustainable office space that enhances connectivity and wellbeing in a collaborative environment.”
Figure 1: Percentage change in prime rental values, Q4 2019-Q2 2023, UK and select major European office markets.
Yorkshire sees one of the strongest rises in start-ups in the UK
Despite companies across the UK continuing to struggle amidst rising interest rates and stubborn inflation, business confidence in Yorkshire and the Humber appears to be resilient with levels of start-ups in the region in July higher than those in much of the UK.
The latest research from the UK’s insolvency and restructuring trade body, R3, which is based on an analysis of data provided by CreditSafe, shows that the number of new businesses in Yorkshire and the Humber rose by 6.5% between June and July 2023. After a year of challenges and economic uncertainty, levels remained consistent year-on-year with an increase from 4,383 start-ups in the region in July 2022 to 4,452 in July 2023 (a rise of 1.6%).
In fact, of the 12 regions and nations surveyed, only Northern Ireland saw a stronger rise in new businesses with a 21.4% uplift month-on-month; and only Wales experienced a fall in start-ups (down by 1.4%) since June 2023.
Another indicator of economic health, levels of insolvency-related activity (which includes liquidator and administrator appointments and creditors’ meetings), also showed a positive picture with Yorkshire and the Humber among the six regions and nations seeing falls since the previous month. The most marked decrease was experienced in the North East (-18.8%), followed by Scotland (-14.3%), Wales (-12.8%) and then Yorkshire and the Humber (-8%). In contrast, the highest increases last month were recorded in Northern Ireland (+14.3%), the South East (+12.6%) and the South West (+9.9%).
Eleanor Temple, chair of R3 in Yorkshire and a barrister at Kings Chambers in Leeds, said: “The economic climate remains very difficult with both businesses and individuals being forced to tighten their belts in the face of higher interest rates and inflation.
“However, it is encouraging to see that entrepreneurship appears to be alive and well with the percentage of new businesses launching in July increasing month-on-month in almost all regions and nations. It is also good to see Yorkshire’s legendary grit with the region among the strongest performing both in terms of start-ups and insolvency related activity.
“However, after five years of lost growth, there are still real fears that the UK economy may slide into recession next year with output remaining lower than its pre-Covid peak. As we head into the winter, it is vital that directors continue to adopt a cautious approach, keeping a close eye on their finances and seeking professional advice as soon as any problems become apparent.”
Transformation of eight storey office building into residential scheme nears completion
Work will complete on a new multi-million-pound build to rent development in the heart of Leeds city centre in the next two weeks.
The development, known as Q Three Residence, has seen a former eight storey office building transformed into 133 studios and one-bedroom apartments on Westgate, close to both Leeds Town Hall and the city’s financial district.
The scheme will be owned, operated and managed by Leeds-headquartered property company, YPP Lettings and has been designed by Brewster Bye Architects.
In addition to the fully furnished homes, Q Three Residence will offer communal areas with open lounges, workspaces, a private dining room and choice of gyms, including a health suite for women. There will also be a concierge service and ultrafast Wi-Fi.
A spokesperson from YPP Lettings said: “This is another exceptional development from YPP Lettings that is ideally located just a short walk from the railway station, the universities and the city’s main retail and business areas.
“As a result, we’ve been inundated with enquiries and have already agreed a healthy number of lettings, with the vast majority being taken by young professionals and students, which will create a fantastic community. There are now only a couple of studio apartments still available, and the one-bedroom apartments are also going fast.”
Andrew Chapman, a director at Brewster Bye, said: “Q Three Residence has seen a 1980s office building repurposed and transformed into a hugely impressive residential development and there’s no doubt it’s going to be a special place to live.
“We’ve specifically designed the scheme to combine high quality apartments with superb communal areas and as work approaches completion, it’s exciting for everyone involved in the project to see our designs becoming a reality. The apartments on the upper floors are another genuine highlight, and we’ve devised these to maximise their far-reaching views across the city centre and beyond.”
FSB report urges Government to invest more in small firms
The Federation of Small Businesses has called on the Government to kick-start economic growth by investing more in in small firms.
The report, titled The Tech Tonic, looks at the types of new ideas and technologies small firms used to drive productivity as well as the barriers they face against the backdrop of scaled down government support.
FSB Policy Chair Tina McKenzie said: “The use of technology and innovation is a major force in economic growth, which is exactly what our country needs right now.
“The pandemic has shown how quickly start-ups and small businesses are to move with new ideas that change the economy, often up against large incumbents. These small firms are keen to keep that legacy alive but are also facing scarcer government support – cuts to R&D Tax Relief Scheme for SMEs, the scrapping of Help to Grow: Digital Scheme, and downscaled support for Growth Hubs.
“The reduced government support is down to a top-down approach to innovation policy overlooking the potential of 99% of the total business population. Becoming the next Silicon Valley won’t crack the productivity puzzle, if we can’t also encourage all firms to adopt new technologies and improve their process. Innovation must be for the many, not for the few.”
Earlier this year, the Government made cuts to the R&D Tax Relief Scheme for SMEs. Business support and funding to encourage tech adoption by small firms have also been significantly reduced in the past years.
FSB’s research shows seven in ten (69%) small firms have introduced a new form of innovation in the last three years. This includes the development of an entirely new product(s) to their market (25%), significantly improved existing or new product(s) (38%), and better staff and customer experience (25%).
Small firms with new and improved products say increased turnover or profit is the main catalyst for change, followed by their desire to diversify their business. Those that have introduced new or enhanced staff and customer-facing process are mostly motivated by the need to increase business resilience and automate.
The average cost of introducing any types of innovation over a three-year period amounts to over £27,000 for a small firm, and the changes on average increase revenue by 14.8%, says the FSB report.
But barriers remain for small businesses aspiring to go further with their tech investments and innovation.
Two-fifths of small business owners say they don’t have time to develop new ideas or adopt technologies to innovate their business, while 28% identify affordability as a barrier. A further 17% feel that they lack the know-how to implement changes.
Half of small firms say additional government grants would encourage them to innovate, and 46% say extra tax relief would do so.
There should be non-financial incentives as well, with close to a third (28%) of small firms seeking help with implementation. More than a quarter (26%) want better information and advice, and a similar proportion (24%) say they need more suitably skilled staff.
