Marshalls Land Rover to attend opening of Lincolnshire Conference Centre
Marshall Land Rover are set to attend the grand opening of the new Lincolnshire Conference Centre on the 1st and 2nd of November, where they will be offering attendees the chance to view the newly launched, and award-winning, Range Rover Sport.
At the event, attendees will also have the chance to enter a prize draw for a complimentary Land Rover off-road experience at one of the centres throughout the UK. All entrants need to do is meet with Nicki Oldershaw, and the Lincoln Fleet and Business team at the Lincolnshire Conference Centre on the 1st or 2nd of November and put their business card into the draw.
For more information visit www.jaguarlandroverfleetandbusiness.co.uk
Manufacturer lays down firm foundations in Brighouse with £9m investment
Welded steel mesh manufacturer Siddall and Hilton Products, is reinforcing its foundations in Brighouse with £9m investment plans for its 4.5 acre sites in the town.
The business, which employs some 60 workers, has a number of manufacturing, storage and office buildings on both sides of Foundry Street, dates back to 1895, and needs to refurbish some of its buildings.
The company has now been given the green light by planning authorities to start work on phase one of the three-year project which will see the creation of new amenities for staff.
The first phase represents a £4m investment by Siddall and Hilton Products and will see the demolition of a number of the older buildings, to be replaced by a new portal-framed building, HGV service yard and factory extension, with work is due to start on site in 2023.
Later phases will include the extensive refurbishment of the old Tower Works site and the conversion of one of the sheds to provide permanent office accommodation. Once this has been completed, the company plans to remove the portakabins and build two warehousing units adjacent to Birds Royd Lane. Other enhancements will focus on improving vehicle movements around the site to minimise vehicular obstructions on Foundry Street and to significantly improve safety for pedestrians and other road users close to the works.
The redevelopment has been planned to ensure that the business remains fully operational throughout the work.
MBO at specialist recruitment firm
Unite People, the Leeds-based civil engineering industry-focused recruiter, is building for growth following the completion of a Management Buyout (MBO), which will support the business’ scale-up ambitions.
Founding director and 50 percent shareholder, Ross Bayston, has acquired the shareholding of fellow director Tom Perkin, to become the sole owner of the business.
The MBO has been funded by Aldermore Bank, who provided Unite People with a seven-figure funding package to support the MBO, along with the funding needed to scale the business over the medium term. Tom will exit the business to pursue other opportunities outside Unite People’s current areas of focus.
Established in December 2016, Unite People has secured a niche within the civil engineering sector, becoming one of the most recognised brands in the industry and its associated sectors.
The business provides both contract and permanent staff across the UK and has enjoyed continued growth over recent years.
Prosthetic hand company expands Leeds operation
COVVI, the Leeds-based prosthetic hand company, is increasing the scale of operations at its headquarters at Quayside Business Park in Leeds following a huge rise in demand.
The company is looking to recruit 25 more staff including engineers and other candidates involved in the field of robotics and has recently taken on a number of global distributors.
Having recently received the news that the NHS will allow patients to apply for funding to get a multi-articulated hand in England, the company is looking to ramp up production to meet demand.
The company already works with distributors around the world, but as a company that was founded in the UK as recently as 2017, the company were delighted to receive the news.
The COVVI Hand aspires to be the world’s most advanced, powerful and robust bionic hand. It connects to the COVVI Go App via Bluetooth and allows users to manage various settings for their hand, such as changing input sensitivity, moving between grip tables and assigning grip switch triggers. This innovation promises to make a life-changing impact for its users.
Entrepreneur and current Group CEO Simon Pollard formed COVVI with the mission to design and manufacture a myo-electric, multi-articulated hand that was accessible to as many people as possible around the world.
CEO Simon Pollard says: “Our continued ambition and key goal has always been to supply our hand through nationalised health services, like the NHS, to improve accessibility to the hand. We encourage you to browse our website and learn more about the COVVI Hand, the benefits it brings and the reason why we believe it’s the most advanced bionic hand on the market.”
COVVI has already won a multitude of design, technology, AI and innovation awards, which is a testament to the team and their efforts to change many lives around the world.
Emergency meeting held over rail ‘shambles’
An emergency meeting has been called by ‘Northern Mayors’ today over the Avanti, Transpenine and Northern Rail “shambles” which has affected rail passengers in the region, after hundreds of services were cancelled by the rail operators.
The talks with West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin, the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, the Mayor of the Liverpool City Region Steve Rotheram, the Mayor of the North of Tyne Jamie Driscoll and the Mayor of South Yorkshire Oliver Coppard, are expected to culminate in them making a formal plea to the newly appointed Transport Secretary, Mark Harper.
Tracy Brabin, says: “Today, we as Northern Mayors come together to send a clear message that we will not stand for this shambles.
“This is inflicting misery on millions of people, derailing our plans to build a strong Northern economy and putting us in the slow lane.
“The North has been left behind for far too long, and we’re calling on the third transport secretary in as many months to step in with an immediate intervention.”
Just days ago, Kevin Foster the outgoing rail minister said the Government was making preparations to intervene should Avanti fail to deliver “significant” improvements on the West Coast Main Line.
Avanti West Coast was given a 6 month extension to improve its services [by April 2023] following a reduction of its trains in the summer. It had been thought that the extension would provide an opportunity for Avanti to improve its services to the “standard we and the public expect”.
However, Mr Foster also made it clear that the Government could take over Avanti’s network, which includes services from London to the West Midlands, the North West of England and Scotland, via its Operator of Last Resort.
Manufacturing delays cause shares in South Yorkshire company to plummet
Shares in South Yorkshire based ITM Power have plummeted some 30% after the company announced their full year revenues are set to fall due to production issues.
Due to manufacturing issues, the listed Company say they now expect that full year output and revenue is likely to be towards the bottom of the current guidance range. The timing of this revenue will be weighted towards the final quarter of the current financial year, and will be dependent on success of the current work to resolve these issues. As such, the previously announced range is 48MW-65MW of delivered product and revenue of £23m-£28m.However, the Company say they remain fully committed to the successful delivery of the order backlog and is working closely with customers to get projects finalised.
The Company continues to benefit from a strong balance sheet with current cash of some £320m, and has an increased focus on operational cash and cost management.
Firms offered advice about how to be more energy efficient
Business Lincolnshire has introduced a practical ‘Energy Toolkit’ to help sustain businesses across greater Lincolnshire and Rutland during the cost-of-living increase, encouraging businesses to become more energy efficient whilst also hitting environmental targets.
With specialist advice, signposting to support, and practical tips, the toolkit was created in direct response to the continuing challenges around the cost of energy for businesses across the region. The handy toolkit offers a one-stop-shop for businesses seeking help during the current turbulent economy; specifically designed to help build businesses’ resilience and develop clear marketing strategies for the future.
The toolkit explores the support available to Greater Lincolnshire and Rutland businesses within Business Lincolnshire’s Growth Hub, whilst also signposting the most up-to-date support available to businesses on a national scale.
Alongside the toolkit, Business Lincolnshire is also hosting a number of events and programmes to support sustainable business growth, including the Zellar sustainability platform; providing support to businesses wanting to become more environmentally conscious.
Cllr Colin Davie, executive councillor for economy and place at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “The cost-of-living and energy increase has arrived at the same time as many SMEs are just recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic, which makes this time of year particularly difficult for many businesses across Greater Lincolnshire and Rutland.
“This new toolkit offers some fantastic resources in one place, so businesses aren’t having to search and source the most up-to-date resources themselves – which is often very time-consuming and impractical for busy business owners. I hope businesses will take advantage of our latest offering, and of course, reach out to us for more specialist support if they are struggling or need additional help.”
For the latest updates and information for businesses on the impact of the increase in energy costs, and to download the Energy Toolkit, visit the website here: www.businesslincolnshire.com/business-resilience/energy-cost-impacts/
Family-run Leeds business helps communities celebrate remembrance sunday
ACS Stainless Steel Fixings – a family run business in Cross Green – is offering its support to local communities this month, creating free of charge Silhouette Soldiers ahead of Remembrance Day.
The initiative sees ACS create steel structures of soldiers which can be displayed for Remembrance Sunday services and other community events.
It is the second year ACS has made the offer. In 2021, it created 376 silhouettes which were donated to companies including Crest Nicholson and Telford Homes PLC, as well as local communities in need.
Now, ACS hopes to create even more of the structures for 2022, inviting businesses and individuals to place an order. Colleagues at its 51,850 sq ft factory in Leeds will create four sizes of silhouettes, ranging from the small 155mm model up to an extra-large 1.5m structure – each expertly cut from a mild steel, with the welding carried out by ACS’ team of local apprentices.
The structures will be created free of charge, however a Just Giving page has been established to encourage donations to the British Legion – something ACS has a long history of supporting. The company guarantees a face-to-face interview for anyone who has served in the UK military, and has signed the Armed Forces Covenant in 2021 – a promise to help veterans and their families.
Managing director David Flannery explained: “This is an important time of year in which veterans, their families and communities can reflect on the role of the Armed Forces and its history. It is something close to our heart and something that our business continues to support.
“I am proud of the extra work put in by ACS colleagues as they create these structures and look forward to donating them to more communities and businesses across the country; I would encourage anyone to get in touch to see if we can help and give something back this Remembrance Sunday.”
ACS is a leading Yorkshire manufacturer and designer of structural building components, including but not exclusive to wall ties, windposts, masonry support and brick slip systems – all essential components used for the construction of modern-day structures, large or small. The 117-strong team operate from a factory in Yorkshire.
Yorkshire and the Humber sees month-on-month fall in insolvency-related activities
Despite the increasingly pessimistic economic outlook, numbers of businesses in Yorkshire and the Humber experiencing insolvency-related activity saw a decrease last month, falling by 13.1% in September compared with August 2022 – the second largest drop of any of the regions and nations in the UK.
The research from insolvency and restructuring trade body R3, which is based on an analysis of data provided by CreditSafe, shows that while 267 businesses in Yorkshire and the Humber suffered from insolvency-related activities in August, this fell to 232 in September – the lowest number in the region since January.
Yorkshire and the Humber was one of eight regions and nations in the UK which saw a month-on-month drop in insolvency-related activities (which includes liquidator and administrator appointments and creditors’ meetings).
Only four others saw a rise or numbers remaining the same, with the South East experiencing the most dramatic escalation, up by 52.5% since the previous month, followed by Wales (up by 19.5% month-on-month).
However, according to R3’s analysis of the CreditSafe data, Yorkshire and the Humber suffered from a fall-off in the number of business start-ups, decreasing from 4,397 in August to 3,950 in September – a drop of 10.2%.
The region also seeing other indicators of business distress worsening such as late payment of invoices with numbers continuing to creep up, rising from 51,835 in August to 51,962 companies in September which had been unable to meet their payments on time.
Last month, firms in Yorkshire and the Humber had a total of over 812,100 invoices on their books that had not been settled by their payment deadline, with an average invoice value of around £10,656.
Eleanor Temple, chair of R3 in Yorkshire and a barrister at Kings Chambers in Leeds, comments: “While is it somewhat reassuring to see the region holding its own with a drop in insolvency-related activity last month, other indicators of economic distress, such as a fall in business start-ups and an increase in late payments, are slowly but surely on the rise, both here and across the rest of the UK.
“With no sign of global energy markets stabilising, together with turmoil in the markets in the UK in recent weeks, there’s little doubt that business and consumer confidence has fallen to the lowest levels since 2008. The latest ONS figures for August show that the UK economy is already starting to shrink as businesses and households struggle in the face of rising costs, increasing the likelihood that we will fall into recession.”
Eleanor Temple continues: “With the squeeze on consumer spending continuing to stifle economic growth, the region’s businesses should prepare for some challenging times. For those which are already starting to experience financial stress, we urge them to seek advice from insolvency professionals as soon as possible to prevent problems from escalating.”
Tourism and hospitality firms offered advice on business growth
Tourism and hospitality businesses in York and Harrogate are being offered coaching workshops with an industry expert to support local businesses growth.
Hotels, B&Bs, self-catering operators, wedding venues, restaurants, spas, visitor attractions and event organisers, can all access dedicated group coaching by attending workshops that will be hosted by Martin Evans of award-winning hotel and tourism marketing consultancy, the Tourism Business.
The fully-funded workshops are part of a raft of business support provided by City of York Council and Harrogate Borough Council being delivered by the York & North Yorkshire Growth Hub.
Martin Evans has delivered business coaching, mentoring, and training to hundreds of small businesses for over 20 years and was also joint Lead UK Coach on the DTI’s “Profit through Productivity” benchmarking and best practice scheme for tourism businesses. As a former Marketing Director and Deputy CEO of Yorkshire Tourist Board for five years, he also knows the Harrogate and York districts well, he said: “Tourism, hospitality, and leisure businesses are facing intense challenges with the impact of the pandemic still being acutely felt, and now a cost-of-living crisis changing the behaviours of consumers.
“So, I’m pleased to be delivering these important workshops to help businesses in the tourism sector navigate these difficult times and secure a strong and successful future.”
The workshops will take place in York on Tuesday 22 and Tuesday 29 November at the Bar Convent Centre. In Harrogate on Wednesday 9 November at Rudding Park, and on Thursday 24 November, at Harrogate Civic Centre.
