The owners of a new Beverley business park are confident the £10m development could create up to 100 jobs having secured a prestigious national tenant and fielded a huge number of enquiries from a wide range of businesses.

Capital Park, a modern 80,000sqft development within the Grovehill Industrial Estate, is a speculative industrial development that has been designed by Brooklands Property Holdings Ltd to meet market demand. The site recently welcomed the arrival of national brand Euro Car Parts on a ten-year lease and two local SMEs are also moving in to occupy Units 7a and 7g during September. Already home to Cumberland Comms, a local telecommunications infrastructure company, the remaining units are attracting a buzz of enquiries, from well-known national names and local SMEs. Brooklands Property Holdings CEO Debbie Barbor said: “There is a massive shortage of hybrid units like this available in the Beverley area, so we expect the development to prove very popular. The site has been developed to align with the increased demand for high-quality semi-industrial spaces. “We are obviously thrilled to have secured such a well-known national name like Euro Car Parts and our projections indicate that the development could create at least 100 new full-time jobs, which is a great boost for the local labour market.”

Northern Gritstone has invested in C-Capture, the designer of chemical processes for carbon dioxide (CO2) removal, as part of a funding round of up to £10 million alongside existing investors bp Ventures, Drax and Kiko Ventures, with the potential for additional investors to follow. Based in Leeds, C-Capture was formed in 2009 as a spin-out from the School of Chemistry at the University of Leeds with initial funding from IP Group. The company has since won backing from private investors and from the UK Government to develop its innovative carbon capture technology, which can prevent CO2 emissions from industrial processes from entering the atmosphere. C-Capture’s next-generation solvent technology offers a sustainable solution to decarbonisation, using up to 40% less energy than currently available approaches. C-Capture uses new, proprietary solvents to remove carbon dioxide emissions at source, offering a safer, more efficient, and more cost-effective alternative to current technologies based on traditional chemistries. Making carbon dioxide removal significantly more economically viable from a wider range of large-scale processes, such as power generation from coal, gas and biomass, and the production of cement, steel, and aluminium is central to C-Capture’s vision. In this way, it offers these industries a route to decarbonisation. The company has already delivered around 20 feasibility studies with end customers across a wide range of sectors and use cases. The investment by Northern Gritstone will support C-Capture’s technology commercialisation strategy which includes further testing of its one tonne per day, fully-integrated carbon removal pilot plant that is currently operating at Drax power station in Yorkshire. The funding will also be used to scale up C-Capture’s technology through the delivery of a commercial demonstration plant which will capture around 100-200 tonnes of carbon dioxide per day. Tom White, CEO of C-Capture, said: “There has never been a more critical time to take action – decisive action – against climate change than right now. This investment brings us one step closer to realising our mission of mitigating climate change by allowing our team to focus on scaling our technology. “From our first meeting with Duncan and his team, we knew that our priorities and values are very much aligned so we’re very pleased to welcome Northern Gritstone as an investor. With their expertise in backing visionary companies in the North of England, I see a very bright future ahead of us.” Duncan Johnson, CEO of Northern Gritstone, said: “Carbon capture is critical for the energy transition and C-Capture’s unique technology has the potential to be applied at scale around the world as part of the global drive to tackle climate change. “The company is a testament to how the world-leading science in the North of England could shape the world for the better. We look forward to joining forces with Tom and his team, and the company’s existing shareholders, as C-Capture looks to further scale its technology, helping global efforts to address climate change.”

South Yorkshire’s Mayor, Oliver Coppard, has announced a Citizens’ Assembly to focus on the region’s response to the climate crisis. The Assembly will be a key driver in devising policies to feed into the Mayor’s goal of having an entirely Net Zero economy across the region by 2040. These include deciding how to make homes more energy-efficient, creating new green job opportunities, and making communities healthier. 30,000 residents of South Yorkshire will at random receive letters inviting them to join the Assembly, with 100 members representative of all local authorities – Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster, and Barnsley – making up the final membership. The 100 members will be focusing on one overarching question: “The way our climate is changing will impact us all. How should we respond, to build a thriving and sustainable future for South Yorkshire?” The Mayor has pledged to abide by the decisions of the Assembly, placing decision-making directly into the hands of his constituents. This innovative approach has one aim: to take control out of the hands of unknown, external forces, and instead give South Yorkshire the opportunity to forge its own path forward in the race to beat climate change. Oliver Coppard said: “Citizens’ assemblies are a new way of doing politics that put people at the heart of the way we make decisions. We’re now launching the South Yorkshire Citizens Assembly because I’m determined to do politics differently, particularly when it comes to the biggest challenges we face. “We already know that the way in which the climate is changing is going to have an impact on all of us. We are going to have to change how we live, work and travel. But we simply can’t tackle those big questions without listening to and learning from everyone who lives in Barnsley, Rotherham, Doncaster and Sheffield. That’s why I’m clear that the changes we make to tackle climate change have to be done with people, not to people. “Because if we get this right it’s not just a huge challenge, it’s also a huge opportunity; an opportunity to create good, new jobs for everyone, working in the industries of the future, and to build a cleaner, greener, happier and healthier South Yorkshire.” The process will consist of a learning phase, a deliberation phase, and a decision-making phase, spread across 31 hours and 9 in person sessions. The final Assembly makeup is due to be confirmed in mid-October, and all Assembly members and those providing evidence or expertise will be compensated for the time spent.