National Awards the Next Stop for High-Flying Grantham Business

Staff at leading Lincolnshire sign manufacturer Viking Signs will find out on January 27 if theirs is the UK’s best small manufacturing business. The Grantham-based firm won a place at the national Make UK Manufacturing Awards when it was named Make UK Midlands & East SME of the Year in October last year. Managing Director Darren Joint will be at the awards dinner at East Wintergarden, London on Thursday to find out if Viking Signs has won the national award, along with his parents and company founders Simon and Michele Joint. “Winning the Midlands and East Manufacturing SME of the Year was a fantastic achievement for the whole Viking Signs team,” he said. “To be considered as a national winner of this prestigious Make UK award is a huge endorsement of all the hard work my team has put in over the last few years and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of them! “We believe that our manufacturing on demand model offers huge advantages in terms of speed, service, choice and contribution to achieving net zero. If being shortlisted and maybe even winning this award gives us a platform to share these advantages with our UK manufacturing peers then it’s a double win for us.” Since he became MD in 2007 Darren has grown Viking Signs 20-fold and the business now offers the UK’s largest range of safety signs, manufacturing more than 50,000 signs and labels every month on demand, for free next day delivery.  

Bathroom brand cleans up with £13m cash injection

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A major bathroom brand is set to boost turnover and headcount by 50% and triple its warehouse capacity following a £13million cash injection. Easy Bathrooms, headquartered in Birstall, is a one-stop-shop for bathroom fittings and fixtures, including baths, showers, mirrors, railings and tiles, employing 670 people across the UK. It sells to consumers through its nationwide store network, as well as to tradespeople, such as housebuilders and hotel developers, under its sister brand Cubico. Now, with the support of a £13million finance package from Lloyds Bank, the firm is set to open a new, custom-built 330,000 sq ft warehouse in Wakefield. As well as tripling its storage capacity from 15,000 to 60,000 pallet spaces, the move is paving the way for the creation of up to 400 new roles across warehousing, distribution and support functions. The move comes as Easy Bathrooms celebrates the opening of its 100th store, with its rapid expansion set to boost turnover from £62.3million to £95million year-on-year. Looking ahead, the firm will continue its store roll-out, initially focusing on the North East and Scotland, and will invest in its in-house design capabilities ahead of a full range refresh. Last year, it opened 32 stores, and it expects to match this rate of growth in 2022. Laura Green, financial director at Easy Bathrooms, said: “Over the course of the last two years, the home improvement sector has boomed, and we’ve seen demand for our products soar. Like all businesses, we have been pushed to adapt quickly to constantly changing conditions during the pandemic, and for us this meant accelerating our expansion plans to ensure we could keep up with growing customer demand. “Our new premises gives us the capacity we need to stock the biggest and best range of products for our customers, and help us operate with maximum efficiency unlocking further growth as we move into the new year.” Mark Butterworth, relationship director at Lloyds Bank, said: “Easy Bathrooms is an instantly-recognisable, trusted British brand, and we are excited to support the team as they embark on this next phase of their growth journey. “A leading local employer in Yorkshire, they are a prime example of a brand that has expanded at a pace that is impressive, but still sustainable, tapping into market demand without sacrificing the quality they are known for.”

LDC grows Yorkshire team with two hires

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Mid-market private equity firm LDC has expanded its team in Leeds with the appointments of Sophie Isaacs as origination manager and Ana-Maria Garaba as investment manager. Sophie joins from BGF, where she spent three years as an investor supporting the firm with its origination, investment and portfolio management activities. Prior to that, she was a corporate finance manager at Deloitte where she worked on LDC’s investment in leading technology platform NBS. Ana-Maria has worked for Lloyds Banking Group for five years, most recently as an associate director in the Group’s Strategic Debt Finance team. Before joining that team, Ana-Maria was on Lloyds Banking Group’s Emerging Leadership Programme where she focused on mid-market commercial banking. The appointments follow a busy 12 months for LDC’s team in Yorkshire, which completed transactions with a combined value of more than £475million in 2021. This includes the firm’s investment in manufacturer of electronic security products and services Texecom, and its exits of steel framing provider Sigmat and pest control product manufacturer Pelsis. Looking ahead, Sophie and Ana-Maria will help the team to increase its support for mid-market businesses across the region. The private equity firm recently committed to investing in at least 100 SMEs nationally over the next five years. Dan Smith, partner and head of LDC in Yorkshire, said: “We are actively looking to support more business leaders across Yorkshire and are excited to welcome Sophie and Ana-Maria to our growing team. Between them, they bring a suite of skills and experience that will help us to deliver on our commitment to back more management teams to realise their ambitious growth plans.”

Pandemic has cost many Yorkshire cities more than half a year’s worth of high street sales

Covid-19 has cost some city and large town centres in Yorkshire more than half a year’s worth of potential takings since March 2020. This is according to Cities Outlook 2022 – Centre for Cities’ annual economic assessment of the UK’s largest urban areas. Central Leeds is worst affected, losing 39 weeks of sales between the first lockdown and Omicron’s onset. Businesses in Sheffield and Bradford city centres are also among the worst hit. Huddersfield’s city centre lost the fewest weeks of sales (12 weeks) in Yorkshire during the pandemic.
Where have city and town centre businesses lost the most potential sales during the pandemic?
Rank (Regional) Rank (National – out of 62) Place Weeks of lost sales
1 10 Leeds -39
2 25 Sheffield -31
3 28 Bradford -29
4 43 Doncaster -24
5 44 Hull -24
6 46 York -22
7 55 Barnsley -14
8 56 Wakefield -13
9 60 Huddersfield -12
  Nationally, Covid-19 has cost businesses in city and large town centres more than a third (35%) of their potential takings since March 2020, with central London, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Cardiff worst affected. Across the 52 city and town centres studied, 2,426 commercial units have become vacant during the pandemic, against 1,374 between 2018 and 2020. High streets in economically weaker places have been less impacted by Covid-19. Meanwhile in economically stronger places, business closures increased during the pandemic. This suggests that the Government’s Covid-19 support successfully stalled the decline of many struggling high streets but was less effective in economically stronger places due to higher rents and a lack of custom from office workers. That said, while stronger city centres have borne the economic brunt of the pandemic, their higher levels of affluence mean that, if restrictions end and office workers return, they will likely recover quickly.
Where have city and town centre vacancy rates changed the most during the pandemic?
Rank (Regional) Rank (National – out of 52) Place Percentage point change
1 21 Huddersfield 3.3
2 26 Leeds 2.8
3 27 Hull 2.8
4 32 York 2.7
5 36 Sheffield 2.1
6 44 Barnsley 1.0
7 47 Doncaster 0.3
8 51 Bradford -0.2
  Meanwhile, while government support has sheltered weaker places, it may have simply stored up pain for the future. The report warns that many less prosperous places in Yorkshire face a wave of new business closures this year.
Where had the highest and lowest shares of vacant city centre units after June 2021
Rank (Regional) Rank (National – out of 52) Place Percentage of city centre units vacant
1 4 Bradford 27.6
2 9 Hull 23.8
3 10 Huddersfield 23.3
4 18 Doncaster 21.4
5 24 Leeds 19.6
6 30 Sheffield 18.2
7 44 Barnsley 13.5
8 49 York 11.4
  To avoid permanently levelling down prosperous places, policy makers should run campaigns to encourage leisure visitors back when safe to do so and provide part-time season tickets to encourage workers back to the office. For struggling places, policy makers drafting the Levelling Up White Paper should focus on dealing with struggling places’ fundamental economic problems to address high street decline. This means investing in skills and ways to strengthen the wider local economy to increase money in shoppers’ pockets, rather than on ‘cosmetic’ quick fixes such as hanging baskets and painting shop fronts. Andrew Carter, Chief Executive of Centre for Cities, said: “While the pandemic has been a tough time for all high streets it has levelled down more prosperous cities and towns in Yorkshire. Despite this, the strength of their wider local economies means they are well placed to recover quickly from the past two years. “The bigger concern is for economically weaker places – primarily in the North and Midlands – where Covid-19 has actually paused their long-term decline. To help them avoid a wave of high street closures this year the Government must set out how it plans to increase peoples’ skills and pay to give them the income needed to sustain a thriving high street. Many of these places are in the so-called Red Wall so there is a political imperative for the Government to act fast, as well as an economic one.”

Workplace stress and anxiety leads to productivity drop, reveals new employee wellbeing report from Champion Health

A study of 2,200 UK employees has revealed that two thirds of people (67.2%) are experiencing moderate to high levels of stress and that 28% have seen their productivity negatively impacted by high stress levels in the last two years. Data released today by national workplace wellbeing provider Champion Health gives an insight into the mental health and wellbeing of the country’s working population between April 2020 and December 2021. Champion Health provides an evidence-based wellbeing platform and personalised support to more than 4,000 employees across the UK. Worryingly, 8% of people shared that they have experienced self-harm and/or suicidal thoughts. The data, which has been published in Champion Health’s annual report also revealed that:
  • Around 60% of workers feel anxious and females are more likely to feel anxious (62% female compared to 37% male);
  • Almost 60% of workers are experiencing musculoskeletal pain. Of those suffering, 70% are home or hybrid workers, whereas office workers make up just 17% of the sample;
  • Workers aged 25-34 are most likely to experience anxiety, depression and financial stress;
  • 52% of UK professionals are experiencing symptoms of depression, with around a quarter (22%) being identified as experiencing clinically significant symptoms;
  • More than half of respondents say that they feel ‘fatigued” and 53% report that tiredness was impacting their productivity at work;
  • The survey showed that people feel most energised to work at 10.22am and are least energised at 3.31pm.
In addition, a total of 56% of respondents said they had the “perfect amount of stress to allow them to thrive” but 34% said that stress was negatively impacting them. The top factors causing stress at work are workload, lack of control, less support and senior staff. More than 600 people (28%) said high stress was impacting their productivity. Harry Bliss, CEO of Champion Health, said that while the findings were worrying, business leaders could learn a lot from the information. He added that it presented a wake up call for businesses and organisations who needed to take the wellbeing and mental health of their teams seriously. Bliss comments: “It’s no surprise that the last two years have been extremely tough on employees and I’m really concerned about the findings of this report. What we’re seeing here is a workforce feeling the huge effects of the changes to workplaces and the heightening expectations placed upon them as individuals. “To address this, we need to see a quantifiable, significant step-up in the amount of investment companies make in employee wellbeing strategies so that employees are supported to overcome the struggles that they’ve faced throughout the pandemic. This latest insight shows the clear link between productivity and mental health and wellbeing. Companies can help turn this dangerous pattern around by taking several steps; and doing so goes much beyond having much happier employees. It will enable employers to retain great people who are motivated to complete brilliant work day in, day out.”    

Helmsley Group and Mulgrave Properties complete on luxury residential development

All units at Mount Vale Gardens in York, a joint venture between Yorkshire-based property development specialists Helmsley Group and Mulgrave Properties, have been sold. The development, comprising 12 four- and five-bedroom family homes, is located within easy walking distance of York train station, with each unit benefitting from high-specification kitchens and bathrooms, advanced security systems and landscaped gardens. Mount Vale Gardens is just a short walk from The Knavesmire, home to York Racecourse, providing plenty of green space for leisure and exercise. Residents are also within walking distance of a selection of outstanding local primary and secondary schools, including Scarcroft Primary, The Mount, St Peter’s, and Bootham School. Max Reeves, development director at Helmsley Group, said: “We are delighted to have further developed our partnership with Mulgrave Properties through our work on this development. As developers who intimately understand the York property market, we understood that while they are sought-after, high-specification homes of this size and quality are often difficult to come by. “The speed with which all units were sold demonstrates the continued resilience of York’s luxury property market in spite of the pandemic, and we look forward to developing similar residential schemes in the future.” David Smith, sales director at Mulgrave Properties, added: “It’s been very gratifying to see how quickly the development has sold, which is testament not only to the Helmsley and Mulgrave’s strong working relationship, but also to both developers’ understanding of the wider market in which they operate. “The feedback from residents so far has been overwhelmingly positive, with many already seeing significant return on investment through reduced maintenance costs and increased energy efficiency, without needing to compromise on space.”  

Department for Transport’s new ‘Active Travel Unit’ to be located in York, creating new jobs

The Department for Transport has announced that its new ‘Active Travel Unit’ will be located in York.
The Leader of City of York Council, Councillor Keith Aspden, welcomed the announcement: “This is very welcome news for York. This is an important win the for the city which will mean new jobs, boost our economy and further raise our profile. “Today’s announcement recognises York’s influential role in bringing to the fore innovation that blends carbon-negative ambition with healthy communities and transport options. “York is the natural centre of gravity for a decarbonised national transport infrastructure, and is already preparing for that future. This is a fantastic city with a highly skilled population and in this announcement we can see reaffirmation of our reputation as a destination of choice for inward investment. “It is a credit to all those involved in securing this investment, and I’d like to thank all who worked to make it happen. This is another success story for the city and with work ongoing to progress York Central, one of the most important and attractive regeneration sites in the country, this is an exciting time to live, work and invest in York.” Councillor Andy D’Agorne, Deputy Leader of the Council and Executive Member for Transport, added: “This is an important endorsement of York’s longstanding expertise in sustainable travel, and a welcome development for our city. “It builds on our expertise as a centre of rail expertise, successful park and ride and growing network of cycle routes, and of balancing our transport infrastructure needs with the challenges of climate change and decarbonising transport. For example, we have led the way with introduction of e-scooters and e-bikes, grown the largest electric bus fleet and delivered hyperhubs as a demonstration of our commitment. “My thanks go to all those involved in delivering this opportunity. We look forward to welcoming the Active Travel Unit to York and working with them to further increase active travel in the city.”

Sheffield solicitor appointment boosts private client team

Sheffield’s Wake Smith has boosted its busy private client team with the appointment of experienced solicitor Stephanie Chung. Stephanie joins the established 8-strong team lead by director and head of department Suzanne Porter and is hoping to take advantage of her language skills to further links in the city. Alongside her day to day role advising on Wills, Trust and Probate matters, Wake Smith hopes that as a fluent Cantonese speaker she can offer high quality legal advice to the growing Chinese community in Sheffield. Stephanie said: “As a firm rooted in Sheffield, Wake Smith has acknowledged the need to offer quality advice to the Chinese community in Sheffield. Elderly issues including mental capacity, Power of Attorney and Wills can be a sensitive issue within this group, so I am keen to get referrals and show how Wake Smith can help. “This is a really strong, enthusiastic team with some fantastic initiatives going on and long standing links to Sheffield. I have previously worked with two team members here already, Colleen Dooney and Annie Wright, and am really looking forward to teaming up with them again, and developing my role further.” Suzanne Porter added: “Stephanie is a valuable appointment to our team and her dual language skills are an additional asset to Wake Smith.” Stephanie joins from a niche private client practice in Sheffield where she assisted clients with estate administration, Inheritance Tax Planning, Wills and Powers of Attorney matters. She completed a law and French degree at the University of Birmingham, and passed the Legal Practice Course (LPC) at the College of Law in Birmingham before qualifying in 2010. Wake Smith’s Private Client team was highlighted in industry guide The Legal 500 as handling the full spectrum of non-contentious work with particular expertise in probate applications, estate administration, inheritance tax planning and will drafting. It also specialises in elderly client issues, power of attorney mandates and Court of Protection applications.

Hull City Council supports local jobs, businesses and investment with new framework

Hull City Council is awarding a new procurement framework contract to provide ease of access to the professional services it requires to facilitate investment into infrastructure within the city. Of the initial 14 suppliers being appointed onto the contract, 12 are based in Yorkshire and 9 of these are in Hull and the East Riding. Councillor Daren Hale, leader of Hull City Council and portfolio holder for economic investment and regeneration, said: “It is vitally important that we are able to access quickly the professional skills we need to maintain investment in our city, support growth and shape a better future for ourselves and future generations. “This new framework will support our investment, across a number of areas including highways, construction and conservation projects, will be efficient and will support the local economy, businesses and jobs.” The contract will start on February 1 2022 and will run for three years with the option to extend for a further year.

Profit warnings issued by listed Yorkshire and North East companies fell by 76% in 2021

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The number of profit warnings issued by Yorkshire and North East-based listed companies decreased significantly to 14 in 2021, compared with 59 in 2020, according to EY-Parthenon’s latest Profit Warnings report.

Warnings issued by listed companies based in Yorkshire and the North East peaked in Q2 (5) and Q4 (5).

The majority of warnings issued in the region were in the FTSE Consumer Discretionary and Industrial sectors, as supply chain disruption and rising costs affected many businesses in the final quarter of the year.

Tim Vance, EY-Parthenon Turnaround and Restructuring Strategy Leader in Yorkshire and the North East, said: “In 2021, the number of profit warnings issued by Yorkshire and North East-based businesses peaked slightly in the second and fourth quarter, although were significantly down on 2020 figures.

“Sporadic growth made it a difficult year for many companies to navigate, despite healthy headline figures. Companies bounced back well from the pandemic in the first half of 2021, but during the second half an increasing number of companies were issuing profit warnings as forecasting and earnings challenges evolved and multiplied.”

Total UK Profit Warnings

Profit warnings issued by UK listed companies increased by 19% year-on-year in Q4 2021, with record levels of warnings citing supply chain disruption and rising costs in the final quarter of the year.

In the final quarter of 2021, UK listed companies issued 70 warnings, up 19 from the 51 issued in Q3, with a record 44% blaming supply chain disruption (compared to just 2% between 2009 and 2019), and a further 27% citing rising cost pressures.

In total, 203 profit warnings were issued in 2021, down from the record-breaking 583 warnings witnessed in 2020 and the second lowest by number since EY began tracking warnings in 1999. The low total is due to the strong post-lockdown rebound and exceptionally low levels of profit warnings in the first half of the year, which gave way to extensive supply chain disruption and rising costs in the second.

EY-Parthenon’s report found that one-in-five listed consumer-facing companies issued a warning over the last year. The most affected sectors were FTSE Aerospace & Defense with 57% of companies issuing a warning in 2021, followed by FTSE Personal Care, Drug & Grocery Stores (39%) and FTSE Retailers (34%), all of which experienced supply chain headwinds in the second half of the year.

However, not all profit warnings were due to supply chain issues. The FTSE Software & Computer Services sector issued 11 warnings in H2, the joint highest for any sector along with FTSE Retailers, underlining the increasingly evident structural change and uncertainty that is causing many companies to delay or alter their investment decisions.

Tim Vance continued: “The biggest driver of warnings in 2022 is likely to be the rise in inflationary pressures and its impact on disposable incomes and margins. We have already recorded profit warnings relating to rising energy prices. Labour shortages and wage increases are also beginning to feature more in company concerns, especially in logistics, hospitality and healthcare – including care homes.”

He added: “We expect to see more restructuring activity in 2022 as the last government support measures fall away and businesses feel the full force of, not only economic and structural pressures, but the increasing focus on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) metrics, as funders increase their focus on supporting ‘sustainable’ businesses. The ability to demonstrate purpose and long-term value has never been so vital.”

Retail sales rebound but challenges ahead

The reopening of the economy post-lockdown led to a rebound in sales for FTSE Retailers but also created significant cost and supply chain issues in the run up to Christmas. In what is traditionally known as the ‘golden quarter’, all seven FTSE Retailers’ warnings cited these pressures. In total, 34% of FTSE Retailers issued a warning in 2021 (21 warnings in total) with over 70% of sector warnings in H2 2021 coming from online retailers.

Despite this, most retailers still experienced a successful Christmas trading period – data from the British Retail Consortium shows that non-food sales in December 2021 were 2.2% higher than 2019. However, the predicted consumer income squeeze in 2022, the rebalancing of spending from goods back to services, and the constant need to adapt to changing consumer behaviour will pose new challenges.

Silvia Rindone, EY UK&I Retail Lead, said: “Whilst supply chain issues are likely to continue this year, the biggest unknown for the retail sector in 2022 is how much consumers will spend and what they’ll spend it on. EY’s latest Future Consumer Index, which has been tracking consumer behaviour since the start of the pandemic, revealed the increasing desire of consumers to find a balance between sustainability and affordability. Consumers now rank planet and cost equally in terms of priority. These factors combined will make 2022 a tough year to navigate. To be successful, retailers will need clear strategic direction paired with strong operational and financial agility.”

Silvia added: “We have yet to see any major wave of retail restructurings, but there are certainly retailers that would have failed in the last two years without government assistance – even in the absence of COVID-19. The end of the rent moratorium in March removes the final layer of government support and it will be interesting to see how the arbitration process plays out – and how other stakeholders react to any increase in sector distress.”

Elsewhere, travel and hospitality sectors faced another challenging year, starting with a lockdown and ending with the Covid-19 Omicron variant. The hospitality sector also faced continued staffing problems, compounded by Brexit’s impact on the labour market. However, despite these challenges, just 16% of FTSE Travel & Leisure companies issued a warning in 2021 reflecting the positive impact of government support, as well as the sector’s management of its operations and investor expectations.

Looking ahead, pent-up demand for summer holidays together with record levels of personal savings make for a positive outlook for the sector. However, pressure on consumer incomes, the slower return of international business travel and the impact of cost rises could hinder the sector’s recovery in 2022.