New energy park proposed for Lincolnshire
A new renewable energy park, which could provide power to more than 190,000 homes is being planned for North Kesteven.
The proposed Beacon Fen Energy Park will be made up of solar and energy storage and is proposed for land east of Sleaford, between the villages of Heckington and Helpringham.
Renewable Energy Company Low Carbon said, if given permission, Beacon Fen Energy Park would generate an estimated 600MW of electricity a year while also avoiding 120,000 tonnes of CO2e emissions annually.
James Hartley-Bond, director at Low Carbon, said: “We are looking forward to speaking directly with local communities about our plans to hear their views first-hand.
“We are currently planning an early engagement consultation so we can ensure residents’ feedback links into the proposals, before holding a statutory consultation which is planned for later this year.
“The UK Government has made clear its plans for the country to reach Net Zero by 2050. Its aim is to increase the nation’s solar capacity fivefold by 2035. If given permission, Beacon Fen Energy Park will be a significant step forward towards reaching this vital goal and securing sustainable energy for the country.”
The project includes building the infrastructure needed to export the electricity the energy park would generate onto the national grid. It is planned this would be via an existing connection point at nearby Bicker Fen.
Mr Hartley-Bond said: “For more than a decade, Low Carbon has been at the centre of the UK’s journey to Net Zero. Through working with local communities, we deliver renewables projects which bring about real change to ensure a cleaner and greener energy industry for all.
“The amount of electricity Beacon Fen Energy Park could generate exceeds 50MW and is therefore classified as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP). This requires us to submit an application for a Development Consent Order (DCO) to the Planning Inspectorate.
“We anticipate the development process for the project through to DCO submission and then examination will take between two and three years. Subject to achieving consent, construction would start no earlier than 2026.”
He added: “We look forward to speaking to residents within the coming weeks and introducing them to our proposals.”
Former councillor jailed for Eat Out to Help Out claims fraud
A former West Yorkshire town councillor has been jailed for trying to steal more than £430,000 through the Government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme.
Mohammed Ikram, 36, of Springfield Court, Keighley, admitted stealing money from the Covid-19 support schemes, following an investigation by the HMRC Taxpayer Protection Taskforce.
He used his own café and takeaway business as well as several fake food outlets to submit fraudulent claims under the scheme, and pocketed thousands of pounds in payments that he was not entitled to.
Mohammed Ikram was also previously a member of Keighley Town Council until his resignation in 2022.
Simon York, Director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said: “This was a blatant fraud by somebody who held a position of trust and responsibility.
“These schemes were designed to support individuals and businesses during a terribly difficult period. Instead, Mohammed Ikram stole money which should have been paying for vital public services and helping those who needed it most.
“This is the first conviction of Covid scheme fraud by HMRC, but we have arrested 70 people and have a number of cases working their way through the criminal justice system. So far, we have prevented the payment of, or recovered more than £1.2 billion, with compliance activity still ongoing.”
The Eat Out to Help Out scheme was introduced to support the hospitality sector throughout August 2020. It enabled restaurants, cafés, pubs and other food outlets to offer a discount to customers and obtain a reimbursement from HMRC for the same amount.
Mohammed Ikram used his business Khan’s Café and Chai Point, in Keighley, and also set up seven fake food outlets using hijacked company details, to submit 20 fraudulent claims under the scheme, worth a total of £434,073, between 7 August and 6 September 2020.
He received £189,208 in payments, but further claims, totalling £244,865, were rejected by HMRC and an investigation was launched.
He admitted cheating the public revenue, fraud by false representation and associated money laundering, at Bradford Crown Court in June 2022, and was jailed today for two-and-a-half years at the same court.
Action to recover the stolen money has been launched.
New campaign will show SMEs how to achieve a gain equal to a 5% increase in sales but cutting energy bills
A new campaign to help SMEs increase their energy efficiency and drive down bills by making simple changes at low-to-no cost has been launched by the government.
The campaign offers guidance on how organisations can make significant savings while cutting emissions, from installing light and heating timers, to turning down boiler flow temperature and changing light bulbs.
Many organisations are already aware of ways to boost their energy efficiency and have put these measures into practice. However, a substantial number of businesses are missing out on huge potential savings, due to a lack of information on how to cut down on their energy costs.
For many companies, a 20% cut in energy costs represents the same bottom-line benefit as a 5% increase in sales, according to Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance Lord Callanan. He said: “Falling wholesale energy prices are welcome news, but this in no way changes our firm, long-term commitments to vastly boost UK energy efficiency across industry and households.
“From today businesses, charities and public sector bodies can access helpful and practical advice on simple actions they can take to substantially reduce their energy use – and potentially increase profits.
“Not only will this help lower operational costs by up to hundreds of thousands of pounds, but smarter energy use will help us deliver on our critical pledges to cut demand by 15% and reach net zero by 2050.”
‘No upper limit’ fines could be levied on polluting water companies
Tougher penalties and fines on water companies will be reinvested back into a new Water Restoration Fund, Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey is expected to announce this week, making polluters pay for damage they cause to the environment. This fund will deliver on-the-ground improvements to water quality and support local groups and community-led schemes which help to protect our waterways.
It will form part of a new Plan for Water, to be published shortly, which will map out the government’s action plan for tackling pollution, boosting water supplies, driving up performance and toughening up enforcement against companies who fail to deliver improvements.
The fund will help local groups – bringing together local NGOs, councils, farmers and others – to identify the biggest issues and direct investment to where it is most needed to improve our rivers, lakes and streams.
It will support projects to look after the water environment, improve management of our waters and restore protected sites. These could include restoring wetlands, creating new habitats in important nature sites, tackling invasive non-native species and ‘rewiggling’ rivers – adding natural bends to improve water quality and biodiversity.
The Environment Secretary is also expected to publish a six-week consultation on strengthening the Environment Agency’s ability to impose sanctions on water companies without going through the courts.
The consultation sets out the government’s preferred option for lifting the upper cap on civil penalties on water companies, allowing unlimited fines. These penalties will be quicker and easier to enforce although the most serious cases will still be taken through criminal proceedings.
The Plan for Water will include measures on every source of pollution – storm overflows, agriculture, plastics, road run-off and chemicals – as well as managing the pressures on our water supply.
Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey said: “I know how important our beautiful rivers, lakes, streams and coastlines are for people and nature – and I couldn’t agree more than more needs to be done to protect them.
“I want to make sure that regulators have the powers and tools to take tough action against companies that are breaking the rules and to do so more quickly.
“Through the Water Restoration Fund, I will be making sure that money from higher fines and penalties – taken from water company profits, not customers – is channelled directly back into the rivers, lakes and streams where it is needed. We know that around 310 miles of rivers each year have been improved through community-led projects – we must build on that success.”
Holiday-let landlords warned of changes to tax rules
New eligibility rules for business rates self-catering properties in England and Wales have been introduced – and failure to meet the rules will make properties eligible to pay council tax.
For properties in England to continue to be eligible for business rates properties must be
- available for letting commercially for short periods that total 140 nights or more in the previous and current year.
- actually let commercially for 70 nights or more in the previous 12 months.
Pensana in talks with manufacturers over supply of material to magnet manufacturers
With funding for the Saltend ore earth separation facility near Hull at an advanced stage, Pensana has established a direct relationship with the key Japanese magnet manufacturers and has entered into an MOU for 25% of Saltend’s annual production. It has ongoing discussions with Japanese trading houses with direct access to the Japanese automotive sector.
In an update on financing and project development, the company says terms have been agreed with a major European wind turbine OEM and the Company has been shortlisted to supply major US and European automotive OEMs, for what it says is the increasingly attractive point of differentiation for an independently validated sustainable product from the UK.
Located in the Saltend Chemical Park in the Humber Freeport, Saltend will be the world’s first rare earth processing hub, capable of processing third party feedstock imported from around the world. A number of discussions are underway with potential third-party feedstock suppliers for access to uncommitted processing capacity at Saltend.
The Company has partnered with the adjacent Yorkshire Energy Park for a private wire connection to offshore wind battery storage under which it will have access to 4 MW rising to 10 MW of low carbon electricity for ten years and together with Longonjo’s ten-year low-cost supply of hydro-electric power the Company is able to demonstrate that it can supply ultra-low embedded carbon products from mine to customer.
A direct example of this is Pensana’s partnership with Polestar to create the first truly climate-neutral car by 2030. The scope of the Polestar 0 project is to identify and eliminate all greenhouse gas emissions from the extraction of raw materials to when the car is delivered to the customer and onwards to the end of vehicle life.
Pensana and Equinor are studying the use of low carbon hydrogen produced from Equinor’s flagship 600MW low-carbon hydrogen production plant with carbon capture, Hydrogen to Humber (H2H) at Saltend, to recycle the seven tonnes of rare earth permanent magnets in the nacelles of wind turbines currently being installed in the 3.6GW Dogger Bank windfarm.
Henry Boot and partners fund new playground at Sheffield nursery
Sheffield construction and property firm, Henry Boot PLC, teamed up with several local contractors recently to fund and install a new play area for Bolehill Nursery in Walkley.
The project is dedicated to a boy called James, who attended Bolehill Nursery and sadly passed away in 2022 at the age of one.
Funded by Henry Boot PLC and installed by Henry Boot Construction, along with colleague Adele Matijosiute-Jones who has children at the nursery, the team oversaw the concrete groundworks, and then partnered with a host of its trusted regional supply chain to deliver the social value project.
This included Timberplay and their sister company Lightmain – who provided and installed the play equipment; Banner Plant – who loaned the installation tools and machinery; Playgarden – who donated play bales; Dean Construction – who provided several timber sleepers; and Gavin Jones UK – who provided 30m2 of new turf.
Building services specialist NG Bailey, Fletchers Waste Management, building materials-supplier Markovitz; DAL Contractors and Northstar Civil Engineering also contributed greatly to the worthy cause.
The nursery’s brand-new timber play structure features a 1.5m raised platform – complete with a stainless-steel slide, ladder and two styles of climbing wall. A raised timber-sleeper sandpit for the children has also been installed alongside the apparatus.
The full team of volunteers installed the playground across last month and it was officially opened to the children following a short ribbon-cutting ceremony with several members of the project team and nursery staff.
Nicola Moore, manager at Bolehill Nursery, said: “After a plea to our parents for help to refresh our garden area, Henry Boot, Timberplay and the rest of the team have built a climbing frame in memory of James.
“Henry Boot has been so supportive, previously providing hard hats, yellow jackets, gloves and tools for the children to play with.
“As a charity ourselves, we are overwhelmed by the support they have given us and we want to say a very big thank you to the whole team for all they have done for our children and in memory of James who will forever be at Bolehill Nursery.”
James’ parents added: “James was a busy and boisterous little boy who was always on the go. James would have loved this garden, and we are very thankful for the support the nursery staff have provided us, as well as gratitude to the companies who have made this vision a reality. It brings us happiness that his legacy lives on, and that other children will enjoy this space for many years to come.”
Tony Shaw, Managing Director from Henry Boot Construction, said: “As a South Yorkshire business, we are always looking for new ways to give back to the local communities in which we work. The Bolehill Nursery opportunity was one that popped up and meant a lot to members of our team, so we were delighted to help coordinate the project.
“We couldn’t have managed it without the help of our trusted local partners though. It really was a real team effort from everyone involved and I’m sure the children will get many years enjoyment out of the new play installation.”
Paul Collings, Managing Director of Timberplay & Lightmain, said: “I am immensely proud of our team for their dedication and hard work in installing the play hut at the Bolehill Nursery. Doing work within our local community is so important to Timberplay & Lightmain, as we strive to create better spaces for all. It is heart-warming to know that this play hut will not only provide countless hours of joy for the children, but also serve as a touching tribute to James, who will forever be a part of this community.”
York Handmade wins grant to build greener future
York Handmade Brick Company has been awarded a grant to improve its energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.
York Handmade, which is based at Alne, near Easingwold, has successfully applied to the “game-changing” Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF) for £38,800 to pursue its sustainability agenda.
Managing Director Guy Armitage explained: “We are completely committed to improving the energy efficiency of our factory site at Alne and are currently undertaking a detailed techno-economic feasibility study. This extremely welcome grant minimises the cost and risks of the study and of any subsequent capital investment.
“I would like to thank Industrial Energy Pioneers (IEP) Ltd, who were instrumental in identifying and then obtaining the IETF grant for us. The grant is awarded on a competitive basis and IEP have a 100 per cent success record in helping their clients to get the funding.”
A spokesperson for IEP Directors explained: “The special project aims to improve the energy efficiency of the site by capturing the high-grade (high temperature) waste heat from the kilns and utilising it in the dryers. This will offset/replace the need for gas-firing in the dryers and lead to significant energy, carbon and cost reductions.
“The kilns operate at high temperatures (up to about 1100 degrees C) and the exhaust gases from the kilns carry substantial amounts of heat which is currently being wasted. The solution involves installing a heat exchanger in the exhaust stack of each kiln to capture this heat into high pressure hot water or thermal oil.
“This hot water/oil will then be stored in a thermal battery. The thermal battery can then provide heat to the brick dryers using a radiator system on demand and allow the operations of the kilns and dryers independent of each other.
“Sustainability is extremely important for energy intensive businesses like York Handmade who are seeing an 8-fold increase in their energy costs. The government has already announced withdrawing financial support for industry with energy bills and many similar businesses are facing existential threats due to high energy costs, inflation and reduced spending power of their customers.
“The government’s commitment to net zero by 2050 will require industry emissions to reduce by nearly 90% from the present value. The government has adopted a carrot and stick approach for this drive and has direct financial and legal implications for business.”
The feasibility study project will officially be completed by August 2023. However, York Handmade will have a reasonably good understanding of the outcome well before the completion. The intention is to help YHMB apply for a deployment grant in the future.
Guy Armitage concluded: “We have been building on our green credentials by launching a series of eco-friendly initiatives during the past couple of years. The threat to our environment is one of the great challenges of the 21st century. It is essential that manufacturers such as ourselves do our bit to help to preserve our precious and fragile world. This grant has helped us to do exactly that.”
Bradford science firm acquired by Limerston Capital
Contract research organisation Concept Life Sciences, which has offices in Bradford’s Listerhills Science Park, has been acquired by Limerston Capital in a carve-out from Spectris plc.
Concept Life Sciences primarily serves the global research and development market, with clients in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space ranging from blue chip to virtual biotech. The breadth and depth of its expertise ranges from drug discovery and early development through to API manufacturing at multi kilogram scale under good manufacturing practice, which is delivered as a single service or as part of wider discovery and development programmes.
The company has invested significantly in its capabilities since 2020. It has developed world class biology facilities in oncology and immunology, ensuring unmatched insights into fast-growing specialty therapeutic areas and driving innovation.
Its team of around 300 accomplished scientists and over 100 PhDs operate from state-of-the-art laboratory facilities, strategically located in major science hubs across the UK, in Dundee, Edinburgh, Derbyshire, and Sandwich in Kent as well as Bradford.
Newly-appointed CEO Dr Ben Cliff will head the senior leadership team. He has been part of the Concept Life Sciences senior team for five years and brings a wealth of leadership experience in the CRO industry from Intertek Pharmaceutical Services supporting the pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device and specialty chemical sectors. His experience covers all aspects of the business including operations, sales and marketing, quality, and strategic development.
Limerston Capital is a private equity firm targeting UK businesses with EBITDA of between £5 million and £15 million. It partners with management teams to help build them into industry leaders through buy-and-build and operational transformation.
Dr Cliff said: “Limerston Capital will be an excellent partner for our business, allowing us much greater commercial and technical focus so we can realise the company’s true potential and deliver the high value service our customers depend on to support their R&D activities.”
“As well as the benefit of providing additional investment, Limerston Capital’s fully-integrated and dedicated operational and investment team will be invaluable to support the carve-out and accelerate our growth.”
Jane Grewar, Senior Operating Partner of Limerston Capital, added: “We see enormous potential for the Concept Life Sciences business which is well positioned to benefit from high growth in the CRO market, with its strong pipeline of high-value, rapidly-growing services and a focus on highly invested therapeutic areas. The company’s excellent track record, highly-skilled team of scientists and industry-leading facilities, particularly in the high-growth areas of immunology, oncology and inflammation, make it a very attractive investment for Limerston Capital. We’re excited to be partnering with such a capable team.”
Prax and Heta notch up regional first with launch of new apprenticeship
Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery, a member of the Prax Group of companies, and apprenticeship provider HETA are launching a new apprenticeship – the first of its kind to be offered in the region – as the refinery embarks on a low carbon future.
The Non-Destructive Testing Engineering Technician Apprenticeship offers the opportunity to become a highly skilled Non-Destructive Testing Engineering Technician working on a full range of static and pressurised equipment, such as vessels, heat exchangers, storage tanks, and the network of pipelines at Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery. The programme, which lasts from between 36 to 42 months, will see Apprentices based at HETA’s facility for the first year, with the remainder of the apprenticeship based on site at Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery. Luc Smets, General Manager at Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery, said: “The foundations for transforming Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery into a low carbon refinery for the next generation are in place, and our commitment is strong to deliver. So is our unwavering commitment to supporting the communities we operate in. As we embark on our low carbon transition, it is essential we have the right people and skills supporting our next generation transition. Apprenticeships are a great route for enabling local people to gain the experiences and qualifications to support our energy transition and be at the heart of that journey with us, as they begin their own career paths. We are delighted to be working with HETA on our trade apprenticeships and delivering the first non-destructive testing apprenticeships in the region.” Non-destructive testing is a testing and analysis technique used by industry to evaluate the properties of a material, component, structure or system for characteristic differences or welding defects without causing damage to the original part. These testing techniques include radiography, ultrasonics and penetrant testing, all vital for the safe and reliable running of the refinery and industrial sites.