Site remediation paves way for new residential development in Huddersfield
Urban Group (York) Ltd has won a significant contract from Yorkshire Housing to deliver 22 new homes in Newsome, Huddersfield.
The site, off Hart Street, sits by a former mill. Urban Group is currently carrying out the remediation phase of the project prior to commencing infrastructure works on the development.
The scheme comprises a mix of two and three-bed semi-detached affordable homes, as well as associated landscaping, access, roads, and sewer installation. The development will complete in spring 2024.
Rick Long, head of Housing (Construction) at Urban Group, said: “The team is delighted to be working with Yorkshire Housing on this exciting development.
“The initial phase of the development has proved to be challenging. Prior to commencing works on site, a flock of ducks had taken up residence on the former mill ponds, and a small number of fish had also found their way into the ponds. The ducks were given time to leave the ponds of their own volition, whilst the fish were humanely re-located prior to the ponds being drained.
“We worked closely with Yorkshire Housing and architects, Brewster Bye, during the planning process and look forward to delivering a successful and high-quality development which will help to address the shortage of affordable housing within easy reach of Huddersfield town centre.”
Anthony Askew, development manager at Yorkshire Housing, said: “We’re delighted to be working with Urban Group (York) and Brewster Bye, and that this project is now underway.
“When complete, this site will provide over 20 families with high-quality affordable homes and brings us closer towards our plans of delivering 8,000 new homes over the next few years.”
Government plans to simplify employee share schemes to boost business growth
Schemes offering people shares in their employer are set for a shake up as the government explores changes that will help boost business growth, supporting the Prime Minister’s priority to grow the economy.
In a new call for evidence the government wants to hear views on Save As You Earn and the Share Incentive Plan as it seeks to improve the schemes and expand their use by making it easier for businesses to set them up and offer them to staff.
This comes as an HMRC evaluation report shows that 81% of businesses say these schemes help boost their business, with almost three quarters of these saying it has helped them retain and recruit staff. 31% of businesses which are unaware of these schemes say they are too complicated to set up.
Victoria Atkins, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, said: `”Employee share schemes are an effective way to boost motivation in workforces by giving people an extra stake in what they do – and they offer a boost for business. Growing the economy is a priority for this government and one way to make this happen is by making these schemes as easy as possible to set up.”
The two schemes up for review are:
- Save As You Earn (SAYE): this allows employees to buy discounted shares in their company if they save money each month for three to five years.
- Share Incentive Plan (SIP): this allows companies to help their employees to purchase shares directly in their company or offer them as tax-free awards.
Hull company described as ‘fantastic’ after rebuilding historic suspension bridge
Hull-based Spencer Group has been hailed as ‘fantastic’ for its work to completely refurbish and rebuild the Union Chain Bridge linking England and Scotland – one of the world’s oldest suspension bridges.
The bridge crosses the River Tweed from Horncliffe in Northumberland to Fishwick in Berwickshire has a single span of 449ft (137m) and was the longest wrought iron suspension bridge in the world when it opened in 1820.
Ted Cawthorne, Honorary Treasurer of the Friends of the Union Chain Bridge, which was formed in 2014 and has more than 700 members, said: “It’s been an incredible job by Spencer Group and we’re absolutely delighted to have the bridge back. It’s a vital link between the communities on either side.
“The bridge is an important part of the local scene, so we’re very pleased to have it back fully installed and in use again.
“It looks wonderful and even more elegant than it did before. There are some differences that have been made during the restoration, with some necessary modern interventions, but that’s just a sign of this remarkable bridge moving with the times.
“It’s a terrific achievement and it means a great deal to us to have it restored and fit for use for another 150-200 years.
“The remarkable thing is that many of the original components are still intact, which means they will be up to 400 years old by the time it might need another restoration.”
Union Chain Bridge, which is both a Grade I listed building in England and a Grade A listed building in Scotland, is credited with being a catalyst for bridge innovation. It influenced the design of many other famous structures and remains the world’s oldest suspension bridge still carrying traffic.
A funding bid was submitted to the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) by Northumberland County Council, Scottish Borders Council, Museums Northumberland and community group the Friends of the Union Chain Bridge, amid concerns about the condition of the bridge.
Spencer Group worked closely with the Friends of the Union Chain Bridge, along with other community groups, the two councils and Museums Northumberland to keep them informed and updated throughout the delivery of the project.
Mr Cawthorne added: “Spencer Group have been fantastic and have engaged with us every step of the way. We couldn’t have asked for more.
“It’s been a privilege to have them in the community and working with us. They’ve been marvellous and they’ve really integrated into the community. The team has been very approachable and all of them have been very friendly as well.”
Team17 names new CEO
Yorkshire-based video games label Team17 has appointed Steve Bell as Chief Executive Officer.
Steve will join the Board on 4 September 2023 as Group Chief Executive Officer Designate, formally assuming the role of Group Chief Executive Officer from 1 January 2024.
Debbie Bestwick MBE will continue in the role of Group Chief Executive Officer until 31 December 2023, working closely with Steve in the initial months of his appointment to ensure a smooth transition and hand over and will then join the Board as a Non-Executive Director on 1 January 2024.
Steve joins from Iris Worldwide Holdings Limited, a global integrated marketing agency specialising in brand and digital marketing strategy, which he co-founded in 1999.
Steve has amassed extensive digital marketing expertise, having held senior leadership roles since co-founding Iris in 1999, including the role of Global Group Chief Executive since 2021.
Managing over 1,000 employees in 14 offices around the world, Steve has overseen Iris’ work with some of the biggest, most creatively driven and technologically advanced global brands and has been instrumental in developing and delivering Iris’ commercial and M&A strategies.
Prior to co-founding Iris, Steve worked for the advertising and retail agency Arc Worldwide, spending over five years working across a number of high-profile integrated accounts.
Chris Bell, Non-Executive Group Chair, said: “We are delighted to have attracted a candidate of Steve’s calibre to Team17. Having worked with some of the world’s leading brands, Steve brings a wealth of commercial and digital marketing experience to Team17, and we look forward to leveraging this expertise as Team17 moves forward to its next stage of growth.”
Debbie Bestwick MBE, Group Chief Executive Officer, said: “As a Board, we have run a rigorous process to find a new Group Chief Executive and we are delighted to announce Steve as my successor.
“Steve’s experience as a co-founder of a people-centric business means he understands the importance of our vibrant and inclusive company culture which remains the cornerstone of everything we do across the Group.
“I look forward to working with Steve through the handover process, and to supporting him and the broader team thereafter in my role as a Non-Executive Director.”
Steve Bell, Group Chief Executive Officer Designate, said: “I am thrilled to be joining Team17. The company has an incredible track record and I’m excited to help build on the Group’s strong foundations to continue its impressive growth trajectory.
“I look forward to working closely with the Board, Mark (CFO), Michael, Julia, Tim and Emmet – the Group’s divisional CEO’s and their broader teams to bring even more compelling games and apps to players, alongside driving further momentum by supporting the Group’s successful organic and acquisitive growth strategy.”
Aceso names new risk account handler at Leeds office
Growing employee benefits provider Aceso Health and Group Risk has made a new appointment in its group risk division, based at the firm’s Leeds HQ.
Carole Lennon joins Aceso as a group risk account handler and has more than 20 years’ experience in the financial services industry.
Aceso group risk director Paul Collin said: “I’m really excited to welcome Carole to our team and the whole Aceso and Attis family. As always, we continue to focus on building a team that reflects our fresh approach and innovative customer-focused ethos.”
He added: “Group risk is something that increasing numbers of employers are looking to provide, to protect both employees and their business. It covers death in service, as well as helping with costs involved if someone if severely ill or off work sick for a long period.
“With the current problems that all sectors are experiencing in terms of recruitment and retaining valued and skilled talent, these kind of benefits are becoming more relevant than ever for employers and can make a huge difference to employees.”
Aceso has grown from two employees in 2020 to a team of nine, with further hires planned over the coming months.
Administrators appointed to Lincolnshire food manufacturer
Lincolnshire food manufacturing business Plant and Bean Limited (P&B) has fallen into administration.
Founded in 2019 and based in Boston, P&B operates in the alternative protein sector, manufacturing for the likes of Quorn, Princes, and Wicked Kitchen.
Like several other businesses across the sector, P&B experienced significant inflation across its cost base, primarily increases in food and energy prices. The business also suffered from several operational issues which resulted in periodic interruptions to production.
Following the appointment of James Clark and Howard Smith from Interpath Advisory as joint administrators on 31 May 2023, the company is carrying out limited trading while the administrators explore options for a sale of the business and its assets. The administrators have retained approximately 25 employees to assist them with ongoing activities.
James Clark, Managing Director at Interpath Advisory and joint administrator, said: “Businesses across the food and drink sector, and especially those in highly competitive sub-sectors such as alternative protein, are facing immense pressures at the moment, with rising costs impacting profitability.”
He added: “Over the coming days, we will be working with key stakeholders to explore the possibility of a sale of the business.”
Hull employment model is emerging as blueprint for change, says MP
The chair of a new All Party Parliamentary Group on modernising employment delivered a strong message to the country’s serviced workspace sector about the opportunities offered by remote and hybrid working.
Emma Hardy, MP for Hull West and Hessle, told the annual conference of the Flexible Space Association that technology can be used to turn redundant retail units into residential and co-working space and let people do meaningful and rewarding jobs without leaving the places they love. She said her “Work Hull Work Happy” project was emerging as the blueprint for change and businesses are coming on board to drive the venture. The MP was invited to address the conference by Freya Cross, the current chair of FlexSA and Head of Business & Corporate at The Deep, which houses more than 40 firms and 250 staff in its business centre in Hull. Ms Hardy revealed that Work Hull Work Happy emerged as a result of her involvement in supporting workers through redundancies at BAE Systems in Brough, where people in research and design were allowed to continue in their jobs as remote workers. She said: “Without this new option, they would have been required to relocate and, no doubt, many would have faced a difficult decision. Not only was this avoided, but BAE discovered that by offering remote working they were suddenly able to recruit talent and skills that had been previously unavailable. “This started bells ringing. If we struggle to bring jobs to Hull, can we instead, through remote technology, bring Hull to the jobs?” Ms Hardy highlighted the changes triggered by the pandemic, with the increase in home working and the move towards conducting meetings over Teams and Zoom. She said: “That is how my office now functions, with a morning Teams meeting and time shared between homeworking and my Hull office. I am one of the only members of parliament to actually have no staff in London whatsoever. They all work hybrid from my office in Hull. “I am acutely aware of the challenges facing the city of Hull and the region. The city ranks high on the Index of Multiple Deprivation. My own constituency is 20th out of 533; North Hull 25th and East Hull 31st. But Hull also has an extensive network of high-speed fibre broadband, unmatched by any other UK city, with full fibre, ultrafast connection available to 98.8% of properties in Hull North, 97.6% in Hull West and Hessle, and 97.4% in Hull North.” The FlexSA membership now extends across more than 1,000 sites nationwide including serviced, managed, co-working and shared accommodation and Ms Hardy highlighted the potential for expansion. She said: “We have high speed fibre broadband, talent, our people used to working remotely but we don’t have the spaces hybrid working. The other thing about Hull and many other cities is that high streets are changing. “What’s the future of a high street in a place like Hull? People aren’t going out to shop in the way they did before. Many of the shops are starting to close, what’s going to replace them? You can only have so many cafes, that’s not the answer to everything. “My vision is to be able to walk down the high street and instead of seeing empty shops I see co-working spaces and creative areas. Instead of having empty shops you have people living and working there. It offers people the chance to be social and it’s still affordable.” Ms Hardy said the new APPG is focused on modernising employment and hiring to solve some of the UK’s most pressing labour market issues. It will work to make hiring in the UK the fastest in the world by ensuring the process is fully inclusive. It will also harness the latest technology to reduce barriers to hiring, and protect workers from fraud and discrimination. She added: “Modernising employment and hiring is essential to maximising good job opportunities for all, to make best use of the available talent in the UK, and to promote the regions of the UK as destinations for workers to work flexibly and remotely.”Planning permission granted to transform underused Rotherham site into “fantastic” public space
Planning permission for Rotherham Council’s public park along the River Don, Riverside Gardens, has been granted.
Plans put forward by the Council include a pedestrianised walk through from the flagship Forge Island development and a public space which will be suitable for a wide range of ages.
Using a mixture of soft and hard landscaping, Riverside Gardens will be a gateway to the heart of the town centre. It will offer residents a place to socialise and relax close to new amenities such as the Arc Cinema, a 69-roomed hotel, and a range of restaurants and bars on Forge Island, which is being delivered in partnership with nationwide placemaker, Muse.
It will offer residents a play area for children and a range of seating so that they can enjoy views along the river.
Following on from the success of the nearby fish pass on Masbrough weir, the scheme will also support local wildlife by providing bat boxes and a tunnelled sand martin box along the river side.
Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion, Cllr David Sheppard, said: “Riverside Gardens will transform an underused site to fantastic public space which will allow residents to connect with the river and nature. It will be a great addition to the green spaces in the town centre, providing nearby residents with a space where they can meet and feel the benefits of nature. I am glad to see that the riverside, home to some of our favourite wildlife, will be easily accessed and enjoyed by all members of our communities.”
The scheme will be funded by the Future High Streets Fund following on from the Council’s successful bid for a total of £12.6m for numerous public realm schemes in the town centre.
Riverside Gardens will complement the wider Town Centre Regeneration Masterplan to bring major investment into the heart of Rotherham’s cultural and leisure quarter, and town centre housing.
Along with the Riverside Gardens scheme, other redevelopments in the Master Plan will begin soon. Other out of use buildings which overlook Riverside Gardens will also be redeveloped as part of the Culture and Leisure Quarter which supports the needs of residents.
Rotherham Council’s Assistant Director of Planning, Regeneration and Transport, Simon Moss, said: “More and more people are choosing to move into the town centre, thanks to the fantastic range of housing available at the nearby Westgate Chambers, Milford Rise, Westgate Riverside and Wellgate Place.
“With increasing numbers of people coming into the town centre, it makes business more viable and we are already starting to see new and independent businesses investing in Rotherham.”
How to make a personal guarantee work for your and your small business
Being a small business owner in 2023 is a high stakes game – a truth revealed by a new survey showing that a third have put their home and life savings on the line for their business by signing a Personal Guarantee for a business loan.
If their business fails, they risk losing everything. Furthermore, 15% of those surveyed anticipate becoming a personal guarantor for a business loan within the year. The findings of the survey by Purbeck Personal Guarantee Insurance demonstrates how difficult it has become for small business owners to access funding without taking the serious step of signing a personal guarantee.
The survey also found that while half of small businesses plan to secure new finance this year, about half are borrowing to ease cash flow or to pay off existing outstanding debt.
Todd Davison, MD of Purbeck Personal Guarantee Insurance said: ”In today’s turbulent economy, it will come as no surprise that small business owners are seeking additional finance but it has become increasingly difficult, since the pandemic, for a small business to find funding without a personal guarantee requirement. It is vital that business owners fully understand the risks of signing a personal guarantee and importantly how to mitigate them. This can range from sharing the risk to using personal guarantee insurance to help settle the debt, should the business fail. So far in 2023, we have seen more SME owners apply for personal guarantee insurance to mitigate the risk of business failure, than at any time previously.”
Five ways to make a personal guarantee work for your business
- Before signing a personal guarantee on a loan seek independent advice from an accountant, solicitor or personal broker who can advise on ways personal risk might be cut.
- Establish if the personal guarantee can be shared amongst co-directors so the risk is not shouldered by one person.
- Ask the lender if a time limit can be agreed for the guarantee or a cap on the amount, but remember, if interest rates rise, costs added to the debt can mount up.
- See if there is the option to guarantee part of the loan meaning that settlement of the debt is sought first from the company’s assets, before enforcing the guarantee.
- Consider personal guarantee insurance to mitigate the risk which means that, in the event of a business failure, 80% of the loanwill be settled by the insurance rather than the business owner’s personal assets.
Barnsley pharmacy sold
Specialist business property adviser, Christie & Co, has sold Stone Pharmacy in Barnsley.
Stone Pharmacy is a well-established, 100-hour community pharmacy that is run under full management with a locum Pharmacist, and dispenses an average of 22,000 items per month. The business adjoins Garland House surgery in the South Yorkshire village of Darfield, which is circa six miles east of Barnsley and circa 14 miles north of Sheffield.
The pharmacy has been owned by experienced operators, Khuram Akhtar and Mohammed Ali, trading as MEDS2U Ltd, for the last seven years, and was recently brought to market to allow the pair to pursue new ventures both in and out of community pharmacy.
Following a confidential sales process with Christie & Co, the business has been sold to existing operator, Livesey Healthcare Ltd, which owns another pharmacy in East Lancashire. The company’s owners had previously locumed at Stone Pharmacy and recognise that, with a hands-on approach to service, they can grow patient numbers and expand the service offering.
Khuram Akhtar, former owner of Stone Pharmacy, says: “The business at Stone Pharmacy has been a fantastic enterprise for many years for us. With limited competition and a position central to the local community we have always enjoyed the support of the nearby population and are pleased that it is now in the hands of experienced operators who can build on that foundation with the expansion of new services.
“We wish the new owners and the pharmacy team the greatest of success. My business partner and I now look forward to concentrating on other ventures both inside and out of community pharmacy.”
Mohammed Balal, director at Livesey Healthcare, says: “We are looking forward to this new challenge and to serving the community of Darfield. Stone Pharmacy offers me and my fellow directors a solid platform to grow the business further thanks to the hard work of the previous owners.”
Jon Booth, director – Pharmacy at Christie & Co, who handled the sale, says: “Stone Pharmacy was sold for a premium price considering its status at the time as a 100-hours pharmacy contract. This was down to its very high volume of items underpinning the success of the contract but also, from the point of view of a new hands-on operator, it offered plenty of growth with the provision of new services.
“With the recent announcement of changes to the 100-hours contract, we anticipate the market for former 100-hours contracts will gain further momentum.”
Stone Pharmacy was sold for an undisclosed price.
