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.
Drax takes its place as a founder of a new BCC business council
Drax is one of the founding partners of a new business council being set up by the British Chambers of Commerce to design and drive the future of the British economy.
The BCC says the founding partners will be uniquely placed to shape the BCC’s policy and influencing, with the Council forming part of the organisation’s new national offer to businesses.
Drax, Heathrow, IHG Hotels & Resorts and BP have joined the Council as the first founding partners.
Ross McKenzie, Interim Group Director of Corporate Affairs, Drax, said: “We are proud of our long-standing and successful relationship with the British Chambers of Commerce. Joining their newly formed Business Council as a founding member is the next step in our journey with the organisation.
“We look forward to working with the BCC and other leading businesses through the Council to help tackle some of the key challenges facing the UK. This includes ensuring that the country has the right policies in place to deliver its Net Zero commitments.”
Shevaun Haviland, Director General, BCC, said: “Over the past few months, working closely with the Chamber Network, we have been talking to the nation’s largest corporates and it has become clear to us that they are looking for a different kind of representation.
“These businesses want to be part of a framework that’s rooted in their local communities, but with the ability to shape the national and international debate.
“The Council is a long-term project and will bring together leaders from across UK industry to consider the key policy issues faced by British businesses, andwork on Future of the Economy initiative, convened by our President, Baroness Martha Lane Fox. This initiative will focus on five challenges: Digital Revolution, People and Work, Net Zero, Global Britain and the High Street.
“These challenges will form the backdrop to the next general election, which we know will come before the end of next year, and which everyone in Westminster is already gearing up for. The voice of business needs to be heard loud and clear, and now is the right time for us to speak up.”
BGF backs IDR Law with £3.25m growth capital investment
Harrogate-headquartered IDR Law has secured a £3.25 million growth capital investment from BGF – one of the largest growth capital investors in the UK and Ireland.
IDR Law is the only UK law firm to specialise solely in the resolution of contentious wills, probate and trust disputes. As a result of IDR Law’s unique position in the market, the majority of the firm’s work is generated by referrals.
This is underpinned by the firm’s IDR Network (IDRN). Launched in 2022, it now provides hundreds of members with an online referral and support space for contentious issues, along with extensive training, general resources and commentaries.
The deal will allow IDR Law to invest in industry-leading talent and proprietary legal tech, as well as expanding its office network to the Midlands, North East and London.
Commenting on the deal, Martin Holdsworth, founder and CEO of IDR Law, said: “By its nature, our work is very emotive, so it’s crucial for us to deliver the best possible service to referrers and clients, which is reflected in our exceptional client and referrer NPS scores.
“We have identified opportunities for significant growth, but we will only take on cases where we genuinely believe we can help someone reach their goals. BGF understood what we are looking to achieve and that it’s essential we continue to do this in the right way.
“Our business is built on strong foundations because of our focus on our people and culture. From day one, we were set up to work remotely so we could offer our lawyers the opportunity to work flexibly with paid overtime and a healthy balance between work and home.
“Because of this, we’ve been able to attract the best talent with a 20-strong team based across the UK with 90% of our workforce made up of women. It’s also the most productive and engaged team I’ve experienced working with.”
The deal was led by Chris Boyes and Linda Nguyenova, investors in BGF’s Yorkshire team.
BGF investor Chris Boyes added: “Martin has taken an entrepreneurial and innovative approach to a traditional industry and has experienced excellent growth to date, while creating a great place to work. With fresh investment and BGF’s experience of adding value to businesses as they scale, IDR Law is perfectly placed to accelerate its expansion.”
Following an introduction by BGF’s Talent Network, Charles Layfield, will join the Board as non-executive chair (NXC). Following a career as a solicitor and law firm partner, Charles is now on the board and chairs a number of businesses in the legal and connected sectors, bringing a strong track record of driving growth.
IDR Law’s new management board comprises existing partners Richard Thomas, Cara Hough and Eleanor Stenson along with head of marketing, Lindsay Gibson and Richard Stewart as incoming new head of finance.
Advisors to BGF on the transaction were: legal – Freeths (Dahren Naidoo and Bradley Adams), tax – Tax Advisory Partnership (Russ Cahill and Toyan Williams).
Advisors to IDR Law were: legal – ALT Legal (Anna Ashford and Jessica Roberts), corporate finance consultant – Paul Lupton.
Five-months of regeneration work will revive historic street I Leeds
Work is under way on the latest phase of a major regeneration programme to support local businesses and revive the traditional character of one of Leeds city centre’s most historic streets.
The New Briggate High Street Heritage Action Zone programme – a partnership between Leeds City Council and Historic England – has provided grant aid for significant repairs and refurbishments to a row of shops and commercial units opposite Leeds Grand Theatre.
The work – including timber sash windows and the reinstatement of traditional design features to shopfronts – is expected to take about five months to complete.
This phase of the programme follows positive recent progress on other HAZ-funded improvements to New Briggate, including the restoration of stylish terrazzo paving at the entrance to the Grand Arcade.
The HAZ work feeds into a wider transformation of the area that is designed to give shops and other independent local businesses an ideal environment in which to trade and flourish. Key elements of that wider transformation include:
- The council’s pedestrianisation of the lower end of New Briggate to create a traffic-free space complete with trees, benches, ‘street cafe’ seating and a spruced-up entrance to the historic St John’s churchyard;
- The delivery by the council of other enhancements to New Briggate’s highway infrastructure, including wider pavements and new cycling facilities;
- Public realm improvements – including new surfacing and footways – on Merrion Street, which sits a stone’s throw from New Briggate and plays an important part in the city centre’s night-time economy;
- Opera North’s completion of the £18m redevelopment of its buildings on New Briggate and the adjacent Harrison Street.
New stables project includes solar panels at Beverley Racecourse
Beverley Racecourse has installed a state-of-the-art solar PV installation on its newly rebuilt stables – a significant milestone in its commitment to environmental stewardship and reducing its carbon footprint.
The 26-panel, 14.17kW solar PV system was installed by the Green Building Renewables team from York. Working with Malton-based Transcore, the racecourse’s new stables have been metiulously redesigned to provide modern and comfortable racehorse accommodation.
John Morley, Head Groundsman at Beverley Racecourse said, “The new stables offer incredible facilities for the horses that race here. The racecourse has been a part of Beverley for over 300 years, and installing solar energy on the new stables ensures that we are now ensuring it for future generations. It is a real, local success story to see the new stables built and the solar PV installed by another Yorkshire business from just down the road in Malton and Dunnington, respectively.”
Green Building Renewables MD Chris Delaney said: “The new stables are a real example to other racecourses and sporting venues around the country on how they can future-proof themselves against volatile energy prices and meet environmental targets.”
Transcore Contracts Manager Simon Handley added: “We have built something special at the racecourse. The reconstruction of the stables at Beverley Racecourse demonstrates the commitment of the racecourse to maintaining high standards and providing the best possible care for the horses. It was a great opportunity to work with another local business in helping the racecourse modernise.”
Bradford project supports ex-offenders back into the world of work
An initiative called Project ReMAKE offering ex-offenders a chance to regain a foothold on the employment ladder is running at the University of Bradford.
The nine-week programme introduces participants to the business skills needed to build, launch and sustain self-employed businesses.
The project was inspired by a similar programme in the USA, operated by Stanford University – Project ReMADE – and is designed to break the cycle of reoffending.
Seventeen people are enrolled on the first course to be run at Bradford, with classes online ahead of an in-person graduation set for late July. Successful participants go on to either set up their business or are offered employment through ReMAKE’s corporate partners.
Professor David Spicer, Director of Business and Community Engagement in the university’s School of Management, said: “ReMAKE is a programme of support for prison leavers, which has run in London but is now coming to Bradford.
“Those taking part will be given a chance to learn entrepreneurial skills with a view to turning a business idea into reality. Participation in the course is designed to show employers they have a level of commitment and the skills to become employable.”
New product development aims to make vaccines more efficient
Croda International has signed two new partnership agreements that will help the pharmaceutical industry move towards a more sustainable supply chain for chemicals which make vaccines work more effectively.
The first is an exclusive license agreement with Amyris, a leading synthetic biology company, for the supply of biotechnology-derived, pharmaceutical grade squalene to boost immune responses. Squalene is commonly sourced from shark liver, whereas Amyris’ sustainable squalene is derived from sugarcane, providing an identical molecule with higher purity.
The second is with Botanical Solutions Inc to produce a sustainable pharmaceutical grade QS-21 chemical for the production of the next generation of vaccine development. Today, QS-21 is produced by harvesting mature soap trees to extract QS-21 from the bark, whereas BSI’s adjuvant is derived from plant tissue culture.
Daniele Piergentili, President Life Sciences at Croda, said: “Our partnerships with Amyris and BSI are fully aligned with Croda’s commitment to be the most sustainable supplier of innovative ingredients across our growth markets and with our pharmaceutical strategy to “Empower Biologics Delivery”.
“Our ambition is to be able to offer vaccine developers the most appropriate systems to maximise the efficacy of their antigen. These sustainably-sourced technologies are a perfect extension to our broad spectrum of cGMP vaccine adjuvants, and we eagerly look forward to leveraging it globally across our customer base”.
