Plans to transform Scarborough’s historic West Pier and celebrate the town’s long-standing fishing industry are set to be considered by councillors.
North Yorkshire Council’s strategic planning committee will next week consider proposals as part of the prospective multi-million pound scheme.
Permission is being sought for the regeneration project which includes restoring and repairing the harbour’s existing heritage facilities, as well as replacing buildings that are no longer fit-for-purpose.
It is hoped that the proposed regeneration would also see new kiosks, improved offices, sheds and warehousing for the fishing sector as well as new parking arrangements, public toilets and a space that can be used for outdoor events and cultural activities.
The chairman of the Scarborough Town Board, David Kerfoot, said: “Scarborough’s West Pier is due to provide a major boost for both economic and environmental reasons.
“The proposed project is an opportunity to transform the harbour whilst respecting and celebrating Scarborough’s rich fishing heritage.
“Many of the buildings on the West Pier are in desperate need of renovation, and these proposals would dramatically improve the facilities for the local fishing industry, staff and visitors to the pier.
“It is also imperative that we continue to drive growth in the town, and the plans would make West Pier a must-visit destination for hospitality, leisure and events which we hope will encourage further investment to boost the local economy.”
The regeneration scheme sits alongside the council’s wider investment plans for Scarborough Harbour, which include work to the infrastructure and other facilities for harbour users.
The project would be funded from the £20.2 million grant which was awarded to Scarborough as part of the Government’s Towns Fund, as well as by North Yorkshire Council’s investment fund and regeneration budgets.
The Towns Fund has already helped finance work to enhance the West Stand at the town’s cricket club and new teaching facilities at the Construction Skills Village.
Other major projects to be delivered include improvements around the town’s railway station, work to boost access on the Cinder Track between Whitby and Scarborough, the Scarborough Fair cultural initiative and activities linked to the Wild Eye outdoor and nature project on the coast.
The proposals are due to be considered by the council’s strategic planning committee on Thursday next week (30 January).
Doncaster bid consultancy acquired by Manchester firm
Bespoke Bids, a Manchester provider of bid management consultancy services, has acquired Doncaster-based Carley Consult, an award-winning bid consultancy specialising in education, employability and justice.
This strategic acquisition marks a significant step in Bespoke Bids’ journey to becoming the largest bid management consultancy in the UK.
Leon Bright, Managing Director of Bespoke Bids, said: “This is an incredibly exciting milestone for Bespoke Bids. Carley Consult has a fantastic reputation in the education sector, and their expertise perfectly complements our existing capabilities.
“By uniting our teams, we can expand our reach, refine our processes, and help more clients achieve outstanding results. We’re extremely grateful to Jim Carley for his leadership and the outstanding business he has built over 17 years.”
Outgoing Managing Director of Carley Consult, Jim Carley said: “It’s been an honour to lead Carley Consult and see the company grow over the last 17 years. I’m confident that under the Bespoke Bids leadership, this will create new opportunities for our clients and team members. I look forward to seeing the combined company flourish.”
The integration of the two firms will be phased over the next six months.
ABP appoints Head of Engineering for Humber region
Brad Crumbleholme has been appointed as ABP’s Head of Engineering & Asset Management for the Humber Region.
Brad has been supporting the team on the Humber on an interim basis for several months in addition to his current accountabilities as Head of Engineering & Asset Management across Wales & Short Sea Ports and leading the ABP wide Energy Project.
He said: “I am excited to take on this new role and to be working with the Humber team in a permanent capacity. We have great opportunities ahead and having got to know the team here it is clear that we are well positioned to drive Continuous Improvements to the benefit of our customers.”
Brad started at ABP in 2018 and reshaped the W&SSP Engineering function, its people and processes.
He spent 10 years at Peel Ports covering the Mersey Division, and before that 10 years working in manufacturing for a global stainless steel manufacturer. Brad’s heavy engineering career started in precision engineering where he was an apprentice toolmaker.
He will retain oversight of Engineering and Asset Management in W&SSP until a replacement is found. He will report directly to Regional Director for the Humber ports Andrew Dawes, and will be part of the leadership team on the Humber with a key focus on continuous improvement as part of Keeping Britain Trading and Enabling the Energy Transition.
Mr Dawes said: “Brad has done an excellent interim job supporting the engineering teams here and we look forward to the opportunity the role will give him to help shape the engineering function and the wider ABP business. His work is a vital component for us to keep Britain trading and help deliver with our energy transition internally.”
Millions face £100 fine for late filing of tax returns
More than three million people are running the risk of a £100 for failing to file their 2023 to 2024 tax return before the deadline of January 31st.
Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Services, said: “Time is running out for the millions still to file their Self Assessment tax return by 31 January. Help and support is available for those who have not yet started their return. Visit GOV.UK and search ‘Self Assessment’ to find out more.”
She emphasised the importance of including bank details as part of their tax return to ensure that if there is any repayment due, it can be done quickly and securely, adding that customers’ reasons for not paying their tax bill or arranging a payment plan by the deadline would be considered individually. While customers who provide HMRC with a reasonable excuse may avoid a penalty, those without reasonable excuse face will be issued with a penalty including:
- an initial £100 fixed penalty, which applies even if there is no tax to pay, or if the tax due is paid on time
- after 3 months, additional daily penalties of £10 per day, up to a maximum of £900
- after 6 months, a further penalty of 5% of the tax due or £300, whichever is greater
- after 12 months, another 5% or £300 charge, whichever is greater
Forgemasters’ lathe developments reach critical milestone in Germany
The first of 11 bespoke Vertical Turning Lathes being built for Sheffield Forgemasters’ new machining facility, has passed a milestone test with its German manufacturers ahead of shipping it to the UK.
Thew machines are being designed and built by WaldrichSiegen, and will be capable of working with pieces weighing up to 120 tonnes.
John Cocker, Recapitalisation Machine Tool Lead at Sheffield Forgemasters, said: “The completion of factory acceptance testing for our first new Vertical Turning Lathe is a critical milestone for Sheffield Forgemasters and essentially underpins our confidence in WaldrichSiegen to deliver the remaining machines for our recapitalisation programme.
“Despite the size of these machines, the VTL has the capability to work to the finest tolerances and deliver significantly improved efficiency gains.
“The machine has advanced probing technology that will improve our machining and inspection accuracies when machining large forgings and castings for the defence sector.
“The VTL underwent highly rigorous FAT procedures to ensure absolute operational accuracy before shipment to the UK and to see a machine of this scale and complexity, assembled and tested to such exacting standards, is a very exciting development for us, and for UK manufacturing.”
Sheffield Forgemasters’ new machine shop will cover 35,000m2, housing 21 new heavy-duty machine tools from Waldrich Siegen and nine large cranes to deliver crucial components for the UK defence programme. It will be the most advanced facility of its kind in Europe, providing highly-skilled jobs for decades to come and work has already started on a 21-acre plot of brownfield land in the Meadowhall district of Sheffield, which the company purchased last year to house the facility. Piling for that development is 70% complete.
National Grid response over Lincolnshire pylons is ‘outrageous’, says County Council leader
Lincolnshire County Council leader Martin Hill says it’s outrageous that National Grid won’t share cost comparisons about its plans to run chains of pylons through the Lincolnshire countryside.
He says requests from the Council have been blocked with a response which claims there is ‘very little benefit to be gained’ from sharing this information.
He said: “I think it’s outrageous that National Grid still refuses to present us with their workings and is hiding from a legitimate – and very reasonable – request for facts and figures. In their letter back to the council, they said they believe there is ‘very little benefit to be gained’ from sharing this information. I wholeheartedly disagree.”
He says the company is hiding detailed costings on cabling, and is demanding to know details about the planned Grimsby to Walpole pylon route to make sure that the other options – including placing cables on the seabed – had been properly considered.
He added: “We’re not talking about a small proposal – these pylon plans will have a major impact on the east coast of Lincolnshire and we want to make sure these costs have been properly worked through.
“Residents have told us that they are concerned about Nationally Significant Infrastructure proposals like these, and believe that these pylons specifically will have negative impacts on our environment, tourism and the landscape. We have a duty to these residents to make sure we do what we can to protect their homes and livelihoods.
“We don’t deny that connectivity is important, but the infrastructure needs to be upgraded properly, and all views considered. We’re not going to give up on this; we’re going to keep trying to get some honesty and transparency. The campaign continues.”
Lincolnshire County Council will now look to revise and resubmit further questions to National Grid.
In a conducted by the county council 84% of residents said they were ‘concerned’ or ‘very concerned’ about the impact on the county caused by Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects.
Lincolnshire County Council wrote to National Grid in December 2024,
The company has since replied, refusing to answer legitimate questions, saying that they ‘do not hold a central database of all the information’, that it would take too long to pull the information together, and labelling the request as ‘unreasonable’.
North Yorkshire steel stockholder fined £250,000 after death of employee
A North Yorkshire company has been fined £250,000 after the death of a worker who became trapped in machinery holding a five-tonne steel pipe.
The 63-year-old man was employed by Cleveland Steel and Tubes Ltd, of Dalton, near Thirsk, when the incident happened in November 2022.
York Magistrates’ Court heard yesterday (Wednesday 22 January) that the man became entangled in the machine, which is used to strip coatings off lengths of metal pipe. Despite the efforts of colleagues and paramedics, he died at the scene.
An investigation by North Yorkshire Council’s environmental health team found the machine did not have a suitable guard which would have prevented people coming into contact with its moving parts.
Cleveland Steel and Tubes Ltd pleaded guilty to one offence under Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. The charge related to failures in working practices at the site, including a failure to ensure dangerous parts of machinery were suitably guarded.
The court heard environmental health officials, working alongside a specialist inspector from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), served a prohibition notice on the company at the time of the incident, preventing further use of the equipment until suitable guarding had been installed.
Cleveland Steel and Tubes Ltd did not appeal the notice and complied with this requirement in June 2023.
As well as the fine, the company was ordered to pay costs of £9,796 along with a victim surcharge of £2,000.
North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for regulatory services, Cllr Greg White, said: “Our sympathies go out to the family and friends of the man who lost his life in this incident.
“We hope the fact that we have taken the actions we have demonstrate our commitment to ensuring people can work in a safe and secure environment.
“We believe this death could have been prevented had the company adhered to safe working practices and procedures, in particular ensuring the dangerous moving parts of the machine in question were guarded.
“The health, safety and welfare of employees is paramount, and we would remind all businesses of their duty to ensure equipment is safe to use and the risks of doing so have been suitably assessed.
“North Yorkshire Council will not hesitate to take action where we find these standards have not been met.”
Record-breaking movie director amongst trio of new board members and investors at Sheffield United
A trio of new board members and investors have been revealed at Sheffield United, including a famous director, as COH Sports pushes forward with its long-term plans for the club.
Joe Russo, Len Komoroski and Terry Ahern have all joined the board of directors of Sheffield United and become investors in COH Sports.
Joe, Len and Terry bring decades of experience in sports, entertainment and real estate and will support the ambitious agenda that COH Sports and co-chairmen Steven Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy have for the Blades.
Joe Russo is a record-breaking director and producer who has been responsible for some of the most successful and culturally relevant global content. Through a quartet of movies within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Joe Russo raised the bar for blockbuster filmmaking.
Len Komoroski brings more than 40 years of sports and entertainment experience. He currently is senior advisor of Rock Entertainment Group, which is an umbrella entity of teams and venues including the Cleveland Cavaliers and Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, previously having served 19 years as CEO.
Terry Ahern is a leading figure in real estate advisory and investment management as co-founder, principal and chief executive officer of The Townsend Group.
Steven Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy, co-chairmen of Sheffield United, said: “We are delighted to welcome Joe, Len and Terry to the board of directors of Sheffield United Football Club.
“We want to see the Blades competing in the top-flight of English football consistently, not just on a one-off basis. An important element of this is ensuring Sheffield United Football Club has the highest quality team not just on the pitch but in the boardroom as well.
“Each of Joe, Len and Terry bring outstanding capabilities and decades of experience to the table as we plan for the long term, develop the brand and ensure we have the best infrastructure in place. As prospective board members and investors we know all Blades fans will give them a warm welcome at Bramall Lane.”
2025 Business Predictions: Eamon Fox, partner and head of development at the Leeds office of Knight Frank
It’s that time of year, when Business Link Magazine invites the region’s business leaders to offer up their predictions for the year ahead.
It has become something of a tradition, given that we’ve been doing this now for over 30 years.
Here we speak to Eamon Fox, partner and head of development at the Leeds office of global property consultancy Knight Frank.
There is no doubt that this has been an interesting, if challenging, 12 months for the commercial property sector in Leeds and the wider Yorkshire region. However, the combination of a stuttering economy and political instability has not dampened investor enthusiasm and confidence in building and enhancing brand-new offices in Leeds, confidence based on continued strong letting activity, large relocations to Leeds by firms growing into Leeds for the first time and thinning pipeline of quality office space.
There have been some significant deals, including the recent x+why deal for 34,000 sq ft at Bridgewater Place, and the £80 million acquisition by Ashtrom Properties UK of M&G’s 230,000 sq ft Central Square was Leeds’ largest office investment deal for more than five years. The sale was described by my colleague Henrie Westlake as a deal that will “almost certainly be viewed as the bellwether deal of this cycle.”
It’s important to be optimistic. The iconic City Square House, next to Leeds Station, is now open for business with high-class occupiers such as DLA Piper and Markel having moved in, while Kinrise’s Trevelyan Square and 34 Boar Lane continue to set a high bar for superb office space. CEG’s Temple continues to be an exceptional success and Opus’s 12 King Street has big news coming in Q1 2025 on the final few lettings in the building.
As we look forward to 2025, it is highly likely that prime office rents, now hovering around £40 per sq ft, will rise to a £46 per sq ft high by the end of the first quarter. This is primarily because of a scarcity of quality office space, but also because Leeds is now regarded as the most successful and enterprising regional city, along with Manchester, in the UK. We are also blessed with a number of talented developers, such as CEG, Rushbond, Kinrise and Opus North. At Knight Frank, we expect to be busy, across all sectors, including investment and industrial, as well as office agency.
Team17 CEO “delighted” with “strong end” to 2024
Results are ahead of expectations at Team17 Group, the games developer with offices in Wakefield, Nottingham, and Manchester.
In a new trading update for the twelve months ended 31 December 2024, the business noted it had continued to trade well in the second half of the year, driven by an “improved” performance from new releases and “another excellent” performance in the back catalogue across the group. The Christmas period also saw strong trading, with this momentum continuing into January. As a result, Team17 expects to deliver 2024 revenues and adjusted EBITDA slightly ahead of market expectations. The business has also announced a rebrand of the company to everplay group plc, “reflecting the evolution of the business following its IPO in 2018.”Steve Bell, Chief Executive Officer, said: “I am delighted with the strong end to the year’s trading, and the momentum into 2025, which is further evidence of the success of our refocused strategic initiatives.
“I am grateful for the dedication of all our employees, whose continuing hard work has helped grow our revenues in 2024 to another all-time high. I look forward to sharing greater insight into our exciting plans for 2025 at the full year results in March.
“I am also excited to be unveiling our new Group brand today, which we believe better represents our business which has evolved greatly since the IPO and reflects our DNA to never stop playing.
“This rebrand not only creates an ideal backdrop to foster greater cross-collaboration internally, but also reflects our aspirations to expand our reach across complementary sectors within the broader indie market.
“Fundamentally, we want to create pioneering and captivating experiences that enrich and inspire players around the world, and I firmly believe everplay will become synonymous with creating games that deliver a lifetime of play.”
