< Previous10 Business Link www.blmforum.net BUSINESS LINCOLNSHIRE Q&A Tell us about your new role! With the Business Lincolnshire Growth Hub hoping to expand their support for the agricultural and horticultural sectors, I saw the perfect opportunity to offer my expertise! These sectors are immensely important to the local economy, and as I have over 30 years of experience supporting businesses both in the UK and overseas, I felt I could be of service. I have had a very varied and enjoyable career, and I wanted to give something back to the community in which I live and work. I am also passionate about the future of agriculture and horticulture and see great potential for our county, even with all the challenges we currently face. How will you use your knowledge and experience to help Greater Lincolnshire and Rutland businesses to grow? Over the years, I have worked for a range of well-known environmental and agricultural businesses across the country. I developed my skills by working in everything from technical and food safety roles to advisory positions, even helping one business to increase its turnover to £134 million. I did this by helping them to devise innovative solutions to increase their competitiveness and encouraging them the loss of the wholesale markets and food service sectors during the pandemic will be a huge problem. Climate change is also another significant factor to consider. Many businesses have lost market share and will have seen a shift away from traditional outlets such as retail and wholesale to new avenues such as box sales direct to consumer’s doors. For some, a significant proportion of business outlets have gone overnight. The ability of agri-businesses to sell overseas will also have been affected by the increase in required border checks and plant health paperwork, and despite the government’s support, many businesses have struggled to comprehend the complexities of these changes. When it comes to the availability of labour, measures have been taken to ease the situation, but there will still be a gap in supply and demand, especially regarding seasonal produce. Many migrant workers who do not understand English or have not kept up with the changes will return home or be lost to countries like Germany and Spain. At the same time, the visa requirement will be a big cost to workers seeking to come to the UK, as well as meaning higher labour costs for employers. Q&A Paul Ward, Agriculture and Horticulture Adviser, Business Lincolnshire Growth Hub We spoke to Paul Ward, Agriculture and Horticulture Adviser at the Business Lincolnshire Growth Hub, about his new role and how he can help agri-businesses to overcome the unique challenges they face in 2021. Paul Ward to go where few fellow agri-businesses have gone before. I look for the “winning formula” in every organisation, as well as help them to prepare for any threats or to grasp any opportunities that appear on the horizon. What challenges are agricultural and horticultural businesses facing in 2021? The biggest threats facing all agricultural and horticultural businesses in 2021 are the COVID-19 recovery, the impact of our EU departure, and the availability of quality labour. For the food and produce sector in particular, 10-11.qxp_Layout 1 05/03/2021 07:54 Page 1www.blmforum.net Business Link 11 BUSINESS LINCOLNSHIRE Q&A What advice would you give to horticultural and agricultural businesses moving forward? I’d recommend that SMEs review their business plans and cash flow for the year ahead. Even now, there are opportunities for investment, in the form of grants and flexible loans, that can help your business to move forward in 2021. I’d also recommend that businesses check they have sufficient labour to get them through the year, or whether they should explore routes to expand their workforce or client list. For example, could automation help your business to fill the gaps left by seasonal workers? Could offering suitable housing help you to find more employees? I’d also advise any business to get online. Agricultural and horticultural businesses are rural in nature, but it’s still vital for businesses in the sector to embrace digital so they can make their business more efficient, as well as attract new clients, find new markets and ultimately increase sales. Finally, look locally for solutions. Making the most of specialists in your area will not only help you to build a strong local network, but also boost the Greater Lincolnshire and Rutland economy as a whole. I can help businesses to make those connections, so get in touch – I can’t wait to offer my advice and support! To find out more, visit www.businesslincolnshire.com. © Shutterstock /narikan @businesslincolnshire @BusinessLincs @Businesslincolnshire 10-11.qxp_Layout 1 05/03/2021 07:54 Page 212 Business Link www.blmforum.net COMMERCIAL PROPERTY T he coronavirus pandemic has had a devastating impact on the office market as staff have been forced to work from home and hesitancy rises over returning to the workplace. With the Government recently announcing its recovery roadmap, there is some hope on the horizon for the bounce back of offices however, even if the expected image and use of the office, and type of space chosen, changes in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, social distancing, and a desire to maintain more flexible working. Leeds is the leading light for the Yorkshire office market and illustrates well the pandemic’s effect. According to Avison Young, take-up in 2020 ultimately amounted to 490,000 sq ft across the Leeds market, around forty-six per cent below the ten-year average in both the city centre and out-of-town markets. Q4 saw a similar activity pattern with city centre office take-up reaching 88,793 sq Offices overcome the pandemic Business Link reflects on the impact of 2020 on the office market and looks to the future as sentiment picks back up. Offices overcome the pandemic 12-15.qxp_Layout 1 05/03/2021 07:56 Page 1www.blmforum.net Business Link 13 COMMERCIAL PROPERTY 15 Á Arco's new Hull HQ ft through 14 deals, two of which were over 10,000 sq ft, with the largest being the letting of 45,893 sq ft at 123 Albion Street to StepChange Debt Charity. The out-of-town market saw 22 deals in which 59,925 sq ft was transacted. Though 2020 saw a subdued level of take-up activity in Leeds, expected and recent large pre-lets are encouraging. A particular vote of confidence can be seen with DLA Piper’s commitment to 83,000 sq ft at City Square House on a 20-year lease, representing the largest private sector deal in Leeds in the last 20 years. One should note however that this is reduced from an initial expected 110,000 sq ft pre-COVID. UK design and build contractor McAleer & Rushe is to start construction on City Square House, a 12- storey, 140,000 sq ft development, in May. The £85 million project is to complete in Q4 2023 and will feature technology, open plan design, and roof gardens to meet the needs of the post- coronavirus era. One of a number of schemes coming together in City Square, the project follows the completion of the redevelopment of the Majestic, chosen to be the home of Channel 4. Approximately 66,000 sq ft of lettable office space spans over six floors. The largest out of town deal ever for West Yorkshire has also been agreed at Thorpe 12-15.qxp_Layout 1 05/03/2021 07:56 Page 2Armstrong house Armstrong House, Armstrong Street, Grimsby DN31 2QE Tel: (01472) 310301 • Email: s.fisher@blmgroup.co.uk Superb Location - - Close to the ports of Grimsby & Immingham - Great motorway links - Close to the town centre Secure off street parking High speed internet availability Easy in/out terms A range of affordable office sizes 3 3 3 3 3 Last remaining office suites Prime location in Grimsby Offering a prime position in Grimsby, Armstrong House on Armstrong Street is ideally located. Close to the ports of Grimsby and Immingham, motorway links and the town centre, off-street parking is also available for all staff and visitors, meaning it’s convenient too. Our spacious, welcoming offices are located on the ground floor and are both secure and CCTV-monitored, giving you the ultimate peace of mind. At Armstrong House, the flexible in/out terms of contract mean confidence when it comes to affordability and with a range of office sizes there are opportunities for all types of business. If you require virtual office services, prices start from just £15 per month. For more information, or to discuss your office requirements call 01472 310301. 12-15.qxp_Layout 1 05/03/2021 07:56 Page 3www.blmforum.net Business Link 15 COMMERCIAL PROPERTY Park Leeds, with Lowell agreeing a 15- year lease for a 133,000 sq ft office building. Meanwhile, the lack of available Grade A office space in Leeds city centre is being bolstered by the largest speculative scheme across the regional cities returning to action. Developer and Asset Manager MEPC recently recommenced works on 11 & 12 Wellington Place after a short pause during 2020 to concentrate on the completion of 4 Wellington Place, which offers 155,793 sq ft of Grade A office and retail space with rooftop terraces and views over Tower Square. With enabling works having already been completed, 11 & 12 Wellington Place will be on track for completion in Q4 2022 and is the ninth building to be completed by Wates Construction on the site. The building will provide 245,000 sq ft of Grade A, BREEAM Outstanding office and retail/leisure space. It is also set to receive a Fitwel certification – an achievement which reflects leadership in the creation of environments that encourage health and wellbeing among employees and visitors. Once finished, MEPC says the ‘Net Zero Carbon’ building will bring a further 2,500 more people to the area, bringing the projected total working population of Wellington Place to 12,500 people. Leeds is of course not the only city in the region benefitting from new office developments and commitments from companies. Arco for example is set to construct its new £16 million headquarters in Hull’s Fruit Market area. This will be the largest office build in Hull in over fifty years. Once complete, around 600 colleagues will relocate to the five-storey complex. Reemphasising confidence in Hull, J.R. Rix & Sons Ltd recently acquired Two Humber Quays, a five-storey, Grade A office building on the city’s waterfront, for an undisclosed sum. Rory Clarke, Managing Director of J.R. Rix & Sons, said: “Although COVID has facilitated effective home working, we believe things will eventually return to a more normal way of doing business. For us, a well-designed office space is central to that. The office is the heart of a company and the culture, its soul. Culture, which is very important to the Rix Group, is created and strengthened by having people working together in teams, which is very difficult to replicate when everyone works remotely.” Moreover, in Sheffield work is powering ahead on office space at the city’s Heart of the City scheme. The steel topping out on the new mixed-used developments on Pinstone Street completed in December. Set to be fully completed in 2021, Isaacs Building will house nearly 40,000 sq ft of Grade A office space. How the new City Square house development will look D.D.S ROOFING Tel: 01472 267709 • Mobile: 07980 962009 • Email: derrick.saxby@homecall.co.uk Enhance your old tired roof to an elegant distinctive modern style • all roof repairs • insurance work • free estimates • slate and tile roofs • re-roofing • storm damage • gutters and fascias • slating & tiling • flat roofs and felting • fibre glass roofing 12-15.qxp_Layout 1 05/03/2021 07:56 Page 416 Business Link www.blmforum.net © Shutterstock /noomcpk Bridging the gap Bridging the gap The petrochemical industry still has an important role to play as the UK transitions towards a greener, cleaner energy mix. However, the industry needs to update and adapt as we explore. 16-20.qxp_Layout 1 05/03/2021 07:59 Page 1PETROCHEMICAL SPOTLIGHT www.blmforum.net Business Link 17 T here’s no denying the importance of the renewable energy industry and our overall need to decarbonise to hit climate targets, lower emissions and preserve the planet for future generations. That message is keenly felt across our region, with the east coast, in particular, a world-leading renewables hub. However, transitioning to renewables is exactly that – a transition. It’s a gradual process that strives to replace fossil fuels, rather that flipping a switch from one to another. In the meantime, reliable power generation is still required to avoid blackouts and ensure energy security and in that the petrochemical industry still has an important role to play. Although the industry has been increasingly criticised for its role in rising carbon emissions, the industry can and, in many cases, is being responsibly managed and run, while greater efficiency and innovative technology are helping to curb emissions for a more robust and fit-for-purpose energy mix. Government support alongside ongoing measures to boost efficiency and sustainability are enabling the oil & gas and petrochemical industries to help meet current environmental expectations and carbon emissions levels. Not only is this critical from an environmental perspective but is also necessary in order to sustain long-term growth. Companies such as East Yorkshire Hydraulics can supply bespoke components and machinery to the oil and gas industry. They can also advise how to upgrade obsolete products and will advise if cost or efficiency savings can be made by looking at alternative solutions. This is crucial as updating equipment and processes so they are more efficient will unlock sustainability savings in the sector. A study from the Joint Research Centre found that innovative energy technologies can cut annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 72.5 metric tonnes of CO2, while concurrently supporting the growth of the industry, with a 45.6 per cent increase of production and creating annual energy savings of four per cent. One of the most promising of these approaches is carbon capture and storage (CCS). CCS is one of the main methods for reducing the industry’s carbon impact. It involves removing almost one hundred per cent of CO2 at source and storing it underground where it’s prevented from entering the atmosphere. If used in conjuncture with natural gas, CCS produces low- carbon hydrogen which can be used to remove emissions from industrial and domestic heating. However, there are currently only a few dozen CCS projects worldwide, with just seventeen of those fully operational. Our region is ahead of the curve in this regard. Drax, who are spearheading the biggest decarbonisation project tin Europe, recently announced its intention to end coal-fired electricity generation at its power station in Selby, North 18 Á 16-20.qxp_Layout 1 05/03/2021 07:59 Page 218 Business Link www.blmforum.net PETROCHEMICAL SPOTLIGHT Yorkshire in March 2021. The move is part of its ambition to become carbon negative by 2030 which will see it using bioenergy with carbon capture and storage technology to remove more CO2 from the atmosphere than in produces. The fact that so few CSS currently exist is symptomatic of a wider issue, that despite the influx of new options, the industry has many reservations when it comes to change, with companies instead preferring to avoid the risk of new technologies. Even when given the choice of a new emissions-reducing technology, companies still largely revert to well-known and established approaches, such as distillation for olefin- paraffin separation. But this attitude must change with embracing new technologies not only beneficial on the competitive landscape – and often a company’s earnings – but also a boon for the environment. Companies thus need to invest more into their research and development departments to remain competitive. Innovation is still needed to further develop sustainable petrochemical production that, as a method, has lower energy consumption and less emissions like GHGs. Membrane technology is one solution that is growing substantially. This technology is important for improving the efficiency of separating molecules, as the separation method represents approximately forty per cent of the energy used in the industry. In reducing this, one can help address anthropogenic carbon emissions. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a piece of membrane technology that © Shutterstock Oaklizm Helping companies meet their Safety, Health and Environment needs CH Training Ltd, Office 2, Craven Park Training and Enterprise Centre, Preston Road, Hull, HU9 5HE T. 01482 379502 M: 07780704350 E: INFO@CHTRAININGLTD.COM W: WWW.CHRISHYAM.CO.UK 16-20.qxp_Layout 1 05/03/2021 07:59 Page 3www.blmforum.net Business Link 19 PETROCHEMICAL SPOTLIGHT provide a solution for reducing the energy requirements of the petrochemical industry. The porous crystalline polymers are made up of metal nodes linked together by organic ligands. Their porousness allows them to capture molecules efficiently and are fast becoming popular in carbon-capture research. When used with the ENACT method (electrophoretic nuclei assembly for crystallisation of highly-intergrown thin-films), MOFs have been found to be one of the highest performers in separating molecules and can perform propylene-propane separation at ambient temperature, which uses less energy, removing the need for sub-zero temperatures for cryogenic distillation, for example, which has a large footprint. A further option to improve the footprint of the petrochemical sector is the adoption of biomass to create ethanol © Shutterstock /Jaochainoi1980 from renewable sources as a replacement of traditional feedstocks – an approach which would require a complete overhaul of the industry. Many argue that bio- chemicals are prime to replace oil and natural gas over the new few decades, presenting an interesting picture for the petrochemical industry as we can now convert biomass into ethanol for dehydration to create ethylene. These renewable sources include the direct fermentation of starch and sugar rich biomass like sugar cane and maize starch, and the hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass like wheat and wood. Drax, who was able to set 2021 as its end point for using coal by transforming its coal units in Selby to run on biomass, continues to demonstrate that our region as at the forefront of a major industrial shift. Though the production of bioethanol from lignocellulosic biomass is still mainly in development, the production of bioethanol from sugar and maize can be found in production facilities across the world. In the UK there is the potential to use wheat and sugar beet for manufacturing bioethanol. Bioenergy is particularly popular as it is a sustainable, renewable resource that when used in conjunction with CCS facilities can generate negative emissions, removing CO2 from the atmosphere. Despite this, almost no bioenergy is used in the chemicals sector. This may be because of the difficulties switching from fossil-fuels presents for the industry, as one may have to replace boilers or facilities which represents a huge cost financially, as well as the drastic change this would make to it on all levels. Nevertheless, the industry looks up to the challenge. 16-20.qxp_Layout 1 05/03/2021 07:59 Page 4Next >