- Two fifths (41%) of UK exporters disagree the Brexit deal is helping them grow sales.
- Only 14% of UK exporters think the deal is helping them to grow.
- Almost half (46%) of UK businesses want the Government to make it easier for their staff to work in the EU.
- More than a third (37%) want a reduction in VAT requirements to export to the EU.
- And a quarter (25%) want the UK to align with rules and regulations with the EU in key goods sectors.
BCC meets ambassadors from across the EU
Officials from the British Chambers of Commerce have met Ambassadors from across the EU to make the case for a trade relations reset that benefits businesses on both sides.
Director General Shevaun Haviland, and Head of Trade Policy William Bain were joined at the German Embassy by Ambassador Miguel Berger.
They were joined by the EU Mission and representatives from 16 other EU countries to review the BCC’s analysis and recommendations on the Trade and Co-operation Agreement.
The TCA sets out the rules for trade between the UK and the EU after Brexit. It allows tariff-free trade with the EU, but requires British and EU firms to produce documentation and paperwork for all shipments. Services access is also limited by rules on business mobility. BCC Analysis of the TCA on the fourth anniversary of its introduction found that:
Harrogate tech company reaches reseller agreement with Canadian firm
Harrogate-based Mobile Tornado has entered a new market of Canada by reaching a reseller agreement with Prairie Mobile Communications, a Connected Technology provider there.
Prairie Mobile Communications is almost 60 years old, was founded over 57 years ago, in Brandon, Manitoba and now has 26 locations from British Columbia out to Ontario. They work with a wide range of industries, including agriculture, mining, education, construction, healthcare, public safety and emergency services.
Jeff Gawlicki, Director of Business Development at Prairie Mobile Communications explained “At Prairie Mobile Communications we are committed to delivering effective and meaningful connectivity solutions. As mobile networks become stronger, more and more businesses are adopting push-to-talk over cellular technology and now feels like the right time to introduce it to our product range. Mobile Tornado’s PTX platform is extremely impressive. It has an outstanding range of add-on features, including a superb lone worker feature. I am confident that we’re offering our customers the best solution on the market”.
Luke Wilkinson, Managing Director at Mobile Tornado said “We have been looking to expand into Canada so we are absolutely thrilled to have joined forces with Prairie Mobile. They are an exciting company with a clear vision and a commitment to great customer service. We are looking forward to working with Prairie Mobile to introduce our PTX technology to their customers to enable them to benefit from advanced communication capabilities and improved efficiencies among their workforce.”
North Yorkshire petrol station with shop and workshop listed for £485,000
Aysgarth Garage, a petrol station in Leyburn, North Yorkshire, has been put up for sale at £485,000. The property includes a filling station, a large convenience store with a Post Office, a spacious car park, and a jet wash.
The site also features a former car showroom with potential for redevelopment, a restoration workshop with space for three cars, and a two-post ramp. The business benefits from a prime location in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, attracting walkers, motorcyclists, and classic car enthusiasts.
The forecourt shop offers food, drinks, household goods, food-to-go options, and a large storage area. Additional facilities include a manager’s office, stock room, boiler room, and workshop. The forecourt has two pump islands, parking for 13 vehicles, and a jet wash bay.
The current owner, who bought the business seven years ago, is selling due to retirement. For the year ending February 2024, the business generated £697,736 in turnover (excluding VAT) and a gross profit of £173,497.
Major banks fined £104m for sharing sensitive bond data
HSBC, Citi, Morgan Stanley, and the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) will pay a combined £104 million in fines after the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found they had exchanged sensitive information on government bonds. The violations took place between 2009 and 2013 through private Bloomberg chatrooms, where traders from the four banks and Deutsche Bank discussed details related to gilt auctions, asset swaps, and sales to the Bank of England.
Citi will pay £17.16 million, HSBC £23.4 million, Morgan Stanley £29.7 million, and RBC £34.2 million. Each bank received a reduced fine for cooperating with the investigation. Deutsche Bank was granted immunity for reporting the misconduct.
The CMA stated that all banks have since implemented compliance measures to prevent similar breaches. The firms have until April 22, 2025, to pay their fines.
Dacre Son & Hartley acquires long-established rural agency
Independent estate agents, Dacre, Son & Hartley, has acquired the longstanding North Yorkshire-based rural property consultancy, Lister Haigh.
The Lister Haigh team, which offers agricultural and rural consultancy, specialist planning and development advice, along with residential sales, lettings and property management, will now join Ilkley-headquartered Dacre, Son & Hartley.
Lister Haigh was founded by Oswald Lister in 1919, establishing a well-known business of Yorkshire agricultural auctioneers and valuers.
John Haigh joined in 1990 and Lister Haigh was incorporated in 2002 when the business of James Johnston, Boroughbridge was acquired and Catherine Johnston joined John as a director. She was followed by Giles Chaplin who became a director in 2011. All three will remain with the firm, which has an annual turnover of around £500,000.
Dacre, Son & Hartley was founded more than 200 years ago. The firm offers a portfolio of property services including residential sales and lettings, agricultural management, survey services and specialist nationwide healthcare investment advice through its Leeds-based Dacres Commercial subsidiary.
Patrick McCutcheon, head of residential at Dacre, Son & Hartley, said: “Lister Haigh is another long-established Yorkshire property company with an excellent reputation in the rural sector, readily complementing our own range of services within that sphere.
“The company has a hugely experienced team, including Catherine Johnston and Giles Chaplin, who will play a major part of our future offering as we further enhance our rural and development services.
“Crucially, it also gives Lister Haigh’s existing clients access to a much broader marketing and knowledge base across our 18 offices, and via our far-reaching digital and online presence.
“Last year we launched our new lettings division, after selling the previous portfolio in 2020. Lister Haigh has a significant managed residential rentals portfolio in North Yorkshire and this acquisition quickly increases our growing market share as we re-establish ourselves in the sector.”
Catherine Johnston from Lister Haigh, added: “Dacre, Son & Hartley is a very well-recognised and hugely respected name in Yorkshire property.
“There’s no doubt that the combined skillset gives us one of the most experienced and knowledgeable rural and agricultural practices in the region. This is great news for our clients, our people and the sector as a whole.”
Thurston Group acquires Storplan to expand modular building capabilities
Thurston Group has acquired fabrication specialist Storplan, expanding its manufacturing capacity and product offerings. The deal gives the Wakefield-based modular building manufacturer access to Storplan’s 20,500 sq ft York facility, allowing it to take on larger structural steel and modular construction projects.
Storplan, founded in 2000, specialises in mezzanine floors, racking, and partitioning for retail and industrial storage. All employees will be retained, and the acquisition is expected to reduce outsourcing, control costs, and improve productivity and quality.
Both companies are owned by HLD Group, which acquired Thurston in 2021. The combined businesses now serve over 100 clients with a turnover exceeding £60 million.
Alternative finance provider secures £360m of new debt facilities and targets £500m loan book
Leeds-based Reward Funding has completed a £360m re-finance as a key part of its strategy to increase its loan book to £500m in the next three years.
Advised by Interpath, Reward has received a £100m debut private securitisation from an international bank, a £150m senior debt facility from Quilam Capital, together with £110m of new funding lines from existing partners Foresight and RMB.
The deal partially refinances Reward’s incumbent debt facilities whilst also providing liquidity and enhanced flexibility – enabling the business to support its continued expansion.
Nick Smith, group managing director for Reward, said: “Being able to bolster our credit lines by a further £360m is a hugely significant deal for the business and will also benefit those companies which rely on our support to fund expansion in challenging economic conditions.
“It gives us such a strong foundation to achieve our goal of a £500m loan book within three years.
“Our whole ethos is built around working closely with entrepreneurs and SMEs to fund their ambition and offer a fast, agile funding solution that enables them to seize opportunities when they arise.
“This can only be made possible by the strength of our lending, and being on course to provide our busiest year of lending gives our new and existing clients that much-needed confidence and certainty in what remains an uncertain climate.”
David Harrop, group finance director for Reward, said: “Successfully raising this level of institutional funding is a testimony to the business we have built at Reward. We look forward to working with our new and existing funding partners to provide further support to UK SMEs.”
Jordan Blakesley, managing director at Quilam Capital, said: “Reward is a distinguished specialist lender that provides tailored asset-secured facilities to UK entrepreneurs and businesses.
“Our relationship with management spans almost 10 years and we are delighted to be supporting Reward’s growth journey with the first senior credit transaction following the announcement of our strategic JV with J.P. Morgan earlier in the month.”
Jack Dutton, director at Interpath, who led the transaction alongside Olivia Dunning and Niamh Valentine from Interpath’s Debt Advisory team, said: “We have worked closely with Reward to understand their operational model and put in place a capital strategy that would allow them to continue to offer the flexible, dependable, and rapid approach to funding which has given them a pivotal role in the funding landscape for the SME community.
“It has been an absolute pleasure working with the team on this transformational financing, which introduces new institutional funding partners to the business.”
Ashurst and Walker Morris acted as legal counsel to Reward.
H2 Equity Partners exits RAM Tracking in sale to Kerridge Commercial Systems
H2 Equity Partners has sold its stake in RAM Tracking, a Leeds-based fleet and workforce management provider, to enterprise software firm Kerridge Commercial Systems (KCS). The deal marks H2’s exit from RAM after acquiring a majority stake in 2020.
KCS, backed by CapVest Partners LLP, provides enterprise resource planning (ERP) and business management software to wholesale, distribution, and equipment rental sectors. With headquarters in the UK and 23 offices globally, the company serves customers in 74 countries.
Under H2’s ownership, RAM expanded its tracking and camera technology with new software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions to improve fleet and workforce management. Investments in sales, marketing, R&D, and two strategic acquisitions further accelerated growth.
Arma Partners, Squire Patton Boggs, Liberty Corporate Finance, PwC, Strategy&, and Grant Thornton supported the transaction.
Bruntwood SciTech reports £163M loss amid property valuation drop
Bruntwood SciTech is set to report a pre-tax loss of £163 million for the year ending September 30, 2024, largely due to a £148 million decline in property market valuations. Despite the loss, the joint venture—formed by Bruntwood, Legal & General, and the Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF)—has expanded its asset portfolio to £1.5 billion, including the addition of 29 city-centre properties.
The firm has reported a 10% like-for-like rental growth following a £500 million equity investment, with developments and refurbishments worth £314 million currently underway across 11 campus locations and 31 city-centre innovation hubs. Key projects include acquisitions in Manchester, redevelopment efforts in Leeds and Birmingham, and ongoing construction at multiple sites set for completion in 2025.
Bruntwood SciTech also secured several major tenants, including Auto Trader at No. 3 Circle Square in Manchester, UK Biobank at Greenheys in Manchester Science Park, and Corteva Agriscience at Melbourn Science Park. The company recently expanded into London, committing £200 million to a new innovation centre at Imperial College London’s White City Campus.
Despite valuation challenges, the company remains focused on long-term growth, expecting profits to rebound as market conditions stabilise.
Council launches tender for Cleethorpes Pier Garden project
A tender has been released looking for construction companies interested in the Government-funded redevelopment of the Pier Gardens project in Cleethorpes.
There are two lots of work – one to do the overall Pier Gardens renovation, including the landscaping and planting, as well as creating the different zones across the site; the second lot is specifically to create the skate area at the northern end of the site. Separate tenders will be released for the play structures and public art at a future stage following the application for necessary planning permissions.
As part of the tender, detailed planting plans have been included for the gardens that bring in planting suitable for marine environments as well as new trees to envelop the site.
Cllr Philip Jackson, leader of the Council, said: “This really feels like it’s moving on apace now. We know that the work is likely to take about a year or so to transform the gardens, so we’re working with events organisers already who use the gardens through the summer – we can’t do this project without disrupting one summer season.
“The centre of Cleethorpes will look very different in the next few years, with the projects, funded by Government, being delivered alongside the work being done to restore heritage balconies, key buildings like the Mermaid and the Dolphin and work being done by partners in other areas of the town. I can’t wait to see it all start to come together.”
