Work completes on Sheffield student block conversion
Work has completed on transforming Phoenix Court, a historic former fire station in Sheffield, from student accommodation into all-purpose residential apartments.
The final phases have seen the ground and third floor units reconfigured and refurbished, while the lobby has undergone a remodelling to create a new reception area and general office, with the former laundry converted into a mail room.
Work on the 93-unit scheme has been undertaken by property management company Resify, which specialises in transforming undervalued schemes, on behalf of owner L1 Property.
The units were previously in an outdated configuration with clusters of two or three bedrooms, a shared kitchen and bathroom and no dedicated living space.
Resify’s understanding of local market requirements and its strategic approach has transformed Phoenix Court by creating one and two-bedroom apartments with separate living rooms; with some apartments also being reconfigured to make them open plan. Resify completed the first phase in January this year with 29 apartments on the first floor being transformed and fully let.
The 1920s building, which is situated on Division Street within the city centre close to the universities, was converted into student accommodation and extended to Rockingham Street in the early 1990s. However, with students staying away during the pandemic, occupancy levels plummeted, and L1 Property started working with Resify360 last year to explore other options.
Obi Williams, Managing Director of Resify, says: “The transformation of Phoenix Court has brought it back in line with market demand. It’s a historic building in a prime location, however the décor and layout were dated, and rental yields were well below par for the area.
“Given the wealth of student accommodation in Sheffield, it made sense to create multi-purpose apartments to appeal to a wider range of occupants.
“The project shows how an understanding of the local market, and how a strategic approach can transform a single-use development in an area of oversupply.
“We’re delighted with the response from tenants, which demonstrates the demand for high-quality, fully furnished apartments in Sheffield’s city centre.”
L1 Property, which is the UK property investment arm of fund manager L1 Capital, invests in existing and modern residential property with potential for capital growth in major UK cities outside London. It seeks to add value by bringing capital to underinvested assets.
Hull performance marketing business under new management
Hull-based performance marketing agency Summit and technology brand Productcaster have been bought by Managing Directors Ryan Thomas and Martin Corcoran.
Corcoran, who joined the business in 2015, and Thomas, who joined in 2017, acquired Summit from TCC Global after co-operating in a management buyout that saw them take 100% control of the agency.
Corcoran, who has moved to become CEO of the business, said: “We were always interested in buying Summit and know with certainty we have purchased a business with great people, products and clients.
“We are lucky to count Three Mobile, Joules, H Samuel, Ikea, The Range, Levi’s, Ann Summers and many more amongst our corner-stone clients and we are in no doubt other agencies in this space would be lucky to have such a strong track record in performance marketing and such prestigious client list.
“The business has clear positioning and heritage within online marketing and eCommerce as well as being highly differentiated through its proprietary Productcaster technology, which leads the European Comparison-Shopping Service market garnering 200m clicks on Google every month.
“We’ve seen incredible growth across all parts of the business in the last 12 months and by doubling our media spend with Google year on year, we know we’re one of that fastest growing Google Premier Agencies in the UK.”
The growth and ambition of Summit since completion of the MBO has seen them hire twenty new staff with another twenty hires expected before the end of the year.
On the recent growth Thomas, now Summit’s chairman, said: “We recognised we were about to go on a big growth curve more than 12 months ago so put in train a plan to invest in our team, drive our culture and develop our own talent.
“We’re seeing the fruits of this investment into people, enabling us to delight existing clients as well as win and onboard fantastic new brands such as Dr Oetker and Cult Beauty. Our ambition is to turn Summit into a true northern powerhouse agency and bring jobs, prosperity, and some glory to the city of Hull and the surrounding Yorkshire region.”
Post pandemic, Summit have made the digital quarter of Hull their permanent home, signing a long term lease within the C4DI complex.
Confederation of Passenger Transport welcomes Government’s bus service cash injection
Trade body the Confederation of Passenger Transport has welcomed news that the Government is to pump up to £130m into bus services to sustain routes between October and next March.
The organisation’s Chief Exec Graham Vidler said: “We welcome the government’s announcement of recovery funding to support bus services in local communities for a further six months.
“The announcement will help bus operators and local authority partners to balance a network of reliable and affordable services in the short-term as bus networks adapt to new travel patterns.
“For the longer term, we will continue to work closely with central government and local authorities to encourage existing and new passengers to get on board the country’s buses, ensuring they are provided the best possible services.”
The funding package builds on almost two years’ worth of unprecedented government support to keep bus networks running. Today’s funding means almost £2 billion has been made available to over 160 bus operators during the pandemic. The additional funding will help to protect bus services and routes, which are particularly important to people facing pressures due to the rising cost of living. The government is using every tool at its disposal to help people, from ensuring they can access affordable travel, to providing £37 billion of support for the most vulnerable households. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “This funding will ensure millions across the country can continue to use vital bus services, and brings the total we’ve provided to the sector throughout the pandemic to almost £2 billion.“At a time when people are worried about rising costs, it’s more important than ever we save these bus routes for the millions who rely on them for work, school and shopping.
The government is also investing £3 billion in bus services by 2025, including over £1 billion to improve fares, services and infrastructure, and a further £525 million for zero emission buses.Further progress on York’s local plan
York’s Local Plan, a framework to guide development and protect the quality of the city’s unique historic, natural and built environment, is taking another step towards adoption.
City of York Council has been notified that the next stage of ‘phase 4’ hearing sessions are set to take place from September.
They will be held at the Citadel, Gillygate, York, YO31 7EA from 10am on Tuesday 6 September and are anticipated to run for three weeks.
The next round of ‘phase 4’ of hearings come after phase 3 hearings took place in May 2022 through to July. The hearings considered the comments submitted to-date, in relation to soundness considerations, such as whether the plan is justified, effective and consistent with national policy.
The Local Plan sets strategic priorities for the whole city and forms the basis for planning decisions. The council will continue to work with the inspectors to progress the plan.
Cllr Keith Aspden, leader of City of York Council, said: “Progressing to phase 4 hearings in September are another promising step forward towards adopting a Local Plan for our city. It is now crucial that we continue to build on this progress and work with the inspectors to take this plan forward to adoption.
“We’re confident that this is a robust and sound plan, which will ensure York is able to deliver the housing and jobs our city needs, whilst also protecting York’s unique character, green belt and natural beauty.”
A decision on adopting the plan expected in early 2023.
Cost of living win in battle for West Yorkshire’s buses
Ministers have conceded to demands from Northern Mayors to extend the Bus Recovery Grant for six months to help protect passengers during the cost of living crisis.
Local bus operators had said that if the grant ended as planned at the start of October they would withdraw services affecting up to 100 routes, around 11% of West Yorkshire’s bus network and one-sixth of the routes.
Mayor Brabin has been clear with operators that they must not continue with any planned cuts to services following this commitment of an extra six months of funding to protect bus routes until March 2023.
Tracy Brabin, mayor of West Yorkshire, said: “We’ve been clear that government inaction would have decimated vital bus services and pushed people onto more expensive forms of transport, such as taxis, during the cost of living crisis – a time they can afford it least.
“Now I am cracking on with rolling out cheaper bus fares across the region next month, including a £2 cap on journeys – to help ease the burden on household budgets.
“This shows how mayors can be powerful voices to advocate for their region – and I’m delighted that my colleagues across the North joined my push for action. We can be stronger together than the sum of our parts.”
Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe, leader of Bradford Council and chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s Transport Committee, said: “We’ve been telling Government repeatedly for over a year now that withdrawing the Bus Recovery Grant was a huge error, but they’ve literally left it to the very last minute to give this grant extension.
“Today is the day the bus operators had to make their decision about any bus services changes. If Government had made their decision any later than today the cuts to services would have been very severe indeed. As it is, the grant extension, we think, means that bus operators should really not be contemplating cuts at this time.
“In the longer term we cannot run bus services in such a hand to mouth fashion. Regardless of what model of operation is used, buses are a vital public service. Residents rely on them totally to get to work and to get to health, education and social activities. They are key to any economic recovery. There needs to be a long-term funding commitment from Government to regions for bus service operation.”
Small firms shared in £21.3bn of pandemic support, new figures reveal
Smaller businesses across the whole of England received £21.3 billion through the government’s COVID-19 Local Authority Business Support Grants scheme, a new report has shown.
Micro, small, and medium sized firms across different business sectors benefited from the funds available under the scheme, which was created to support businesses during and to recover from the impact of the global pandemic.
The new information, which includes a sector breakdown for the first time, shows more than a third of all available funding was allocated to the accommodation and food services sector, a part of the economy hit hardest by the pandemic.
The grant scheme was created by the UK government and administered by local authorities, with all regions in England found to have allocated most of their total available funds to businesses in need.
Small Business Minister Jane Hunt said: “Our amazing small businesses are the backbone of our economy and their efforts both during and since the pandemic have been heroic.
“In many cases, Local Authority Business Support Grants were essential to businesses who found themselves really struggling and who are now able to recover, grow, and look to the future.”
Data shows the accommodation and food services sector received the most funding. Businesses in this sector have also seen significant support from the government’s Hospitality Strategy, published in July 2021.
Firms operating in wholesale retail, arts and entertainment, recreation, and other services industries were also among the different business sectors to receive substantial help under the scheme.
Couple disqualified as directors after taking deposits in insolvent business
Couple Paul Richard Hubbard and Susan Ann Hubbard have been disqualified as directors for eight and six years respectively, after taking deposits worth more than £30,000 from customers despite knowing their business was insolvent.
The couple were directors of Scunthorpe-based Barningham Memorials Limited, which produced headstones and other memorial items. The company had traded since 2003 but went into liquidation in March 2020.
However, the company was in fact insolvent from August 2019, yet continued to take payments and deposits from would-be customers despite knowing it would not be able to provide the finished products. In total, the company took over £30,000 from 41 customers during this period.
The company had previously been hit by a five-year ban by North East Lincolnshire Council in 2015 for a failure to adhere to local regulations. From this point on it was forced to rely on subcontractors to install memorials.
The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy accepted disqualification undertakings from both directors, after they did not dispute that they had been responsible for the company continuing to take money from customers while it was insolvent. Paul Hubbard has been banned for eight years, and Susan Hubbard banned for six years, both effective from 3 August 2022.
The disqualification undertakings prevent them from directly, or indirectly, becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.
Rob Clarke, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service said: “Any business in financial difficulty should be aware that its primary duty is to its creditors, and ensuring that their losses are minimised.
“In continuing to accept pre-payments for memorials which they had no reasonable prospect of supplying, Paul and Susan Hubbard have caused additional pain to grieving families over and above the purely financial loss.”
P&O Ferries won’t face criminal proceedings after dismissal of almost 800 workers
The Insolvency Service won’t be launching criminal proceedings in the wake of the redundancies made by P&O Ferries in March this year because it’s felt there is no real prospect of a conviction.
An Insolvency Service spokesperson said: “After a full and robust criminal investigation into the circumstances surrounding the employees who were made redundant by P&O Ferries, we have concluded that we will not commence criminal proceedings.”
The Secretary of State for the Department of Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy asked the Insolvency Service to investigate whether any offences had been committed in relation to P&O Ferries’ dismissal of 786 employees on 17 March 2022.
The offence alleged was failure to notify in accordance with section 193 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 contrary to section 194(1) of that Act.
The Insolvency Service conducted a criminal investigation, which was reviewed by an independent senior prosecution lawyer in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors, who concluded there was no realistic prospect of a conviction.
British Power launches energy-saving idea for leisure industry
Green energy provider British Power Group, based in Kirmington in North Lincolnshire, has introduced a cost-saving and planet-friendly offering aimed specifically at hoteliers and leisure providers across the UK.
It’s claimed its new combined heat and power system can dramatically reduce combined energy expense incurred with spas or swimming pools, which is now available at zero capital cost.
The new CHP system for hoteliers is designed to reduce consumption by controlling the systems a hotel or leisure facility already has in place. It enables a site to produce its own electricity and heat through a micro-combined heat and power system which can help to not only adopt greener operations but will reduce energy and maintenance costs. The reduced running hours can also extend the life of the system and there is even the option to recapture heat waste.
British Power Group can offer funding through its long established and extensive network of energy providers, meaning that the new CHP system for Hoteliers is available at zero capital cost. It presents the ideal opportunity for hoteliers and leisure providers who are looking for innovative ways to reduce their carbon emissions and lower both operational and maintenance costs.
Director Steven Cullum said: “We understand the challenges faced by hoteliers in terms of financial constraints and high energy usage. Many of our clients work in this industry sector and are already enjoying the benefits of our existing Hotelier Energy Savings Pack.
“We have drawn on the insight we have gained from working with our clients and the increasing feedback we receive from new contacts who approach us within the sector, to understand that there is a real need for combined heat power systems.
“This is an exceptional opportunity to take advantage of a combined heat power system at zero capital cost and reap both the environmental and cost saving benefits that it brings. For example, over a 15-year period a hotel will save around 44.34% on average, which is understandably highly attractive.”
Business and college work together to develop new skills academy
Barnsley College has officially launched The Chamber and Brook Academy, which brings together Barnsley and Rotherham Chamber of Commerce and Brook Corporate Developments Ltd.
The academy aims to provide students with hands-on business skills while developing new opportunities for businesses.
The academy is in the Business classrooms at the College’s Old Mill Lane campus, the Chamber and Brook Academy has been designed to provide students with a dedicated space where they can learn about business, finance and funding and explore different areas of business. In addition, it will provide students with a range of opportunities to develop their skills, including the chance to work on real projects from local businesses and widen their knowledge of real-world business situations.
Brook Corporate Developments Ltd. is a business improvement consultancy, based at The Business Village, Barnsley. It offers support for businesses to help staff growth and business development. Brook has seen the benefits of partnership working, being an active member of Barnsley and Rotherham Chamber of Commerce for over 10 years.
Dom Brook, Director at Brook Corporate Developments, said: “We have been a member of The Barnsley and Rotherham Chamber of Commerce for several years, and we have collaborated on various projects. When the opportunity arose to work with Barnsley College to set up an academy we jumped at the chance.
“Combining the business skills we have, and the large network Barnsley and Rotherham Chamber has, we can transfer this knowledge to students and create new opportunities within the future workforce.
“We work with Barnsley College to develop the curriculum by integrating real life situations into schemes of work. If there is a certain topic that the students are working on, we, or the Chamber, will deliver a masterclass on specific topics to aid their business skills. It is not about teaching the students something they already know, it is about putting the skills they have learnt into practice.”
The partnership between Barnsley College and The Barnsley and Rotherham Chamber allows students to learn from experts in their field as well as get hands-on experience by working with local companies. In addition to this, students will be able to network with employers through connections made through their collaborations with both organisations.
Andrew Denniff, Chief Executive at Barnsley and Rotherham Chamber of Commerce, added: “We have been working with Barnsley College to bring businesses and College students together. We have over 1,100 businesses in our network and our aim is to build bridges between students and the business community. We have brought in specific businesses like Brook Corporate Developments Ltd. to help develop and strengthen these business links.
“The aim of developing Academies within the College is to create an environment where both businesses and students can benefit from each other’s strengths, with businesses gaining access to talented students and students gaining experience in real-world environments that will help them succeed in their future careers.”
Barnsley College’s Director of Business Development, Helen Weatherston, commented: “We are very excited about this partnership and what it means for both our students and the local community. We have worked with Brook Corporate Developments Ltd. and Barnsley and Rotherham Chamber for many years now, so we are delighted to be strengthening our partnership with them by launching this academy.”
Barnsley College has a dedicated Business Development team which aims to help businesses identify and develop the best people, at the right level, with the right experience for their organisation. The College has a range of apprenticeships and professional training solutions that can be tailored to your exact requirements and will support your organisation to be productive and profitable.
