APRIL 2020 £3.50 YORKSHIRE & LINCOLNSHIRE’S LEADING BUSINESS MAGAZINE www.blmgroup.co.uk VOLUME 35 ISSUE 4 The future of factories Ensuring employee safety Keeping offices healthy 01.qxp_Layout 1 07/04/2020 09:27 Page 1Need help managing the effects of COVID-19 on your business? With webinars, funding support, online resources and guidance from our expert advisers, we have all the support you’ll ever need and more during this unprecedented time. Get in touch www.businesslincolnshire.com businesslincolnshire@gov.uk /Businesslincolnshire@BusinessLincs COVID-19 advice line: 01522 782189 Stay on top of the latest coronavirus news, guidance and support with our newsletter. Never miss an update: www.businesslincolnshire.com/register Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage Financial Solutions for the New Financial World Professional support to help secure your Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) Tel: 07918 027657 www.nnbcfinancial.co.uk Email: neil@nnbcfinancial.co.uk or neil@yourmortgageplus.net We are available 9am to 10pm 7 days a week NNBC Financial & NNBC YMP (Your Mortgage Plus) dedicated mortgage & protection specialists and commercial & business financial brokers, we have a whole of market access from high street banks to specialist lenders in residential and commercial finance, to help get the best solutions and deals for you. MORTGAGES • First-time buyers • Movers • Re-mortgaging • Re-mortgaging for debt consolidation • Equity Release • Commercial & Business Mortgages • Landlords & Buy to Let • Development & Self Build • Bridging Finance COMMERCIAL FINANCE CBILS HELP AND SUPPORT • Asset Finance • Leasing • Contract Hire • Sale & Leaseback • Property Development Finance • Commercial Property and Business Mortgages • Factoring and Invoice Finance 02.qxp_Layout 1 07/04/2020 09:28 Page 1Our March issue seems a world away. So much has changed in the weeks since then with millions of people now working from home and the UK being effectively placed into lockdown. It’s hard to believe that in less than quarter of a year, the coronavirus outbreak has impacted almost every aspect of the economy and our working lives. There’s not a single sector that springs to mind that hasn’t in some way been affected. Despite all the financial support the government has made available to businesses, the next few months are by no means going to be easy. Already we’ve seen some corporate casualties and, sadly, there’ll likely be more on the way. The pandemic is compounding pre-existing issues, be them financial or workforce related, and that’s to say nothing about Brexit. During these uncertain times, businesses need clarity, guidance, insight and advice. Fortunately, you get all that and more with Business Link. Across our website, e-shots and social channels we’ve been regularly updating business leaders, decision makers and company bosses on how the situation is developing, the response from government, support for businesses and how our region is reacting. That same quality and insight can also be found in our magazine. As well as delivering all the in-depth and high-quality regular content you’ve come to know and expect, our April issue is filled with information, insight and commentary about coronavirus, its effects on business and what companies can and are doing in response. Good reading, as always Michael Fisher Editor The magazine that cares We care because we want to leave our world a better place than we found it Business Link believes that being socially and environmentally responsible is the key to maintaining a flourishing business that our customers will be pleased to use and our staff will be proud to be part of. Community - From a very local point of view, we strive to be a ‘good neighbour’. We also extend that into the much broader local community, through financial support of local causes and charities. Environment - Our actions extend to: conservation of energy and natural resources, minimisation of waste and ensuring our trading partners do likewise. From the Editor 03.qxp_Layout 1 07/04/2020 09:14 Page 1APRIL 2020 6 News The latest business news and success stories from around our region. 12 Commercial property We explore the impact of coronavirus on the commercial property market and how it’s affecting both occupiers and owners. 16 Office solutions Offices should be clean, comfortable and promote positive wellbeing if workers are to be productive. • A P Robinson & Co • Fortis Therapy & Training • Forbes Burton • Hopkins Solicitors Q&A 24 Ports Ports in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire are fundamental not only to regional economy, but on a national level with a myriad of sectors depending on the imports that pass through them every day. Although Brexit concerns continue to phase port operators, the outbreak of COVID-19 has become a major concern, potentially affecting cash flow, workforce and handling. Healthcare COVID-19 is the biggest and most profound healthcare issue facing businesses at present. Here we explore how the outbreak has affected businesses and how employers and employees alike can help to limit the spread. Factory automation spotlight While the UK has been recognised as slow to adopt modern factory automation, with the connection opportunities of IoT, sensors, the wealth of new technologies available and the declining price of robotics, change is on the horizon. Family business It’s no exaggeration to say that family-run businesses are the backbone of our economy, but they’re not without a unique set of challenges as we explore. Business scene Business Lincolnshire’s Annual Recruitment Conference Corporate hospitality While corporate events continue to be cancelled and postponed every day, virtual options have gathered pace to fill their place.s AutoLink The emphasis is on luxury in this month’s motoring pages as we take a closer look at some of the most highly anticipated new car releases in the coming months, featuring exclusive hypercars and models redefining the very limits of electric vehicles. And finally… Yorkshire-Lincolnshire- Business-Link @blmforum blmforum.net CONNECT WITH US 12 27 30 04-05.qxp_Layout 1 07/04/2020 09:32 Page 1Group Editor Steve Fisher (s.fisher@blmgroup.co.uk) Editor Michael Fisher (m.fisher@blmgroup.co.uk) Assistant Editor Dominic Cuthbert (d.cuthbert@blmgroup.co.uk) Journalist Tess Egginton (t.egginton@blmgroup.co.uk) Editorial contact newsdesk@blmgroup.co.uk Tel: (01472) 310305 Fax: (01472) 310317 Angela Cooper (a.cooper@blmgroup.co.uk) Sam Trott (s.trott@blmgroup.co.uk) Vicky Hunt (v.hunt@blmgroup.co.uk) Kerry Randerson (k.randerson@blmgroup.co.uk) Tel: (01472) 310301 Fax: (01472) 310311 Tel: (01472) 310304 Fax: (01472) 310314 Haychart Ltd, Armstrong House, Armstrong Street, Grimsby, N.E. Lincs., DN31 2QE. reproduced, transmitted, photocopied, recorded or otherwise without express permission of the copyright holder, for which application should be addressed first to the publisher. While every reasonable care is taken, neither the publisher nor its prints, colour transparencies, negatives or other material of whatever nature submitted to this publication. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily the views of COVER PHOTOS: FERRARI • SHUTTERSTOCK - ALEXANDER STEAM • PETER YEO • KRASULA• POPTIKA www.blmforum.net 16 04-05.qxp_Layout 1 07/04/2020 09:32 Page 2Iceland Seafood merges UK subsidiaries, invests in Grimsby site Iceland Seafood is making a multi-million-pound investment in Grimsby to increase its presence in the UK seafood processing market, a major commitment to the town post-Brexit. The listed company is merging its UK subsidiaries – Iceland Seafood Barraclough in Bradford and Grimsby’s Havelok – into one entity called Iceland Seafood UK. In order to entirely own the new entity, Iceland Seafood has acquired a 33% minority share in Havelok. Operating from a single manufacturing site, the new entity will be led by Iceland Seafood’s existing UK Managing Directors, Peter Hawkins and Danny Burton. The former will be heading up the overall operation, while the latter will oversee the refurbishment of the site and operational teams. A statement from the board read: “We have today secured the purchase of the previous 5 Star Fish Site on Great Grimsby Business Park. Following a period of refurbishment, we are planning to transfer both the existing Havelok and Iceland Seafood Barraclough operations to the site. This process will be complete by early 2021, by which time we expect to have created substantial new business and new jobs associated with that.” Iceland Seafood is investing between £5 million and £6 million in refurbishments and machinery to fully utilise the potential of the Grimsby site. The site includes a cold store capacity of about 2.000 metric tons of products and 3 processing areas in total of about 10.000 m2. It will continue to produce the same range of products – including coated, natural and shellfish products, chilled and frozen, for the UK retail and foodservice market – albeit on a larger scale. 6 Business Link www.blmforum.net NEWS New fund focussing on female-led businesses to launch Coutts, the Private Banking arm of NatWest, together with the British Growth Fund (BGF), are working on plans to launch The UK Enterprise Fund to bring additional funding and support to entrepreneurs across the UK. The partnership will build on Coutts and BGF’s existing platforms and address equity gaps across the whole of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, with specific initiatives and programmes for female-led businesses and aimed at increasing the diversity of management teams. The launch coincides with the one-year anniversary of the Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship. The 2019 Review found that the UK is lagging behind many peer countries on the ratio of female to male entrepreneurs – for every 10 male entrepreneurs in the UK, there are fewer than five female entrepreneurs. Coutts’ partnership with BGF will build on and further scale the existing framework through which Coutts’ clients already support private businesses in the UK via the Coutts Investment Club. Upskill with online health & safety courses from home during pandemic Does the COVID-19 pandemic have you working from home or self-isolating? Then make the best use of your time as possible by taking online courses with Wise Global Training. Based at The Deep Business Centre in Hull, the eLearning specialist advises you to make the best use of time for you or your staff by taking accredited online health and safety training courses. NEBOSH, IOSH and CPD Short Courses to help you use your time wisely. You can study from home and at your own pace. Courses include: IOSH Managing Safely Online Course; NEBOSH National General Certificate Online Course, and ROSPA, IIRSM, CPD accredited Short Online Courses. Corporate discounts are available. To find out more about the company and its courses, visit www.wiseglobaltraining.com. © Shutterstock /Pressmaster © Shutterstock /Dragon Images Approved training provider 1570 06-11.qxp_Layout 1 07/04/2020 10:19 Page 1www.blmforum.net Business Link 7 NEWS Bradbury Group temporarily suspends production during pandemic Over the last few weeks, steel door manufacturer, Bradbury Group, has decided to temporarily suspend production at all its sites in Scunthorpe, Sittingbourne, Seaham and Irvine until Friday 1 May. “As a company, we take our responsibility to protect our colleagues and our customers very seriously and this will be always our number one priority,” says Bradbury Group Chairman, Tim Strawson. “Our decision to suspend production, has not been taken lightly. However, we believe that this is the only way to ensure the welfare and safety of our colleagues and customers, and play our part to flatten the curve of COVID-19.” Bradbury Group remains open for business to support its customers, but this will be done through remote working of its colleagues. The company has ensured that its systems can operate remotely to deliver the highest level of customer support. To contact any Bradbury Group, email sales@bradburyuk.com. Coronavirus crisis sees gov postpone IR35 tax rule reforms The implementation of reforms to IR35 tax rules in the private sector have been postponed for a year in a bid to safeguard the economy against the coronavirus crisis. Steve Barclay, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, announced the reforms to IR35 off-payroll working rules would now come into effect on 6 April 2021. In February, the Treasury confirmed it was to push ahead with changes to the rules, which would see every medium and large private sector business in the UK become responsible for setting the tax status of any contract worker they use from April 2020. Previously the rules had only applied to the public sector. Chris Biggs, Managing Director at Theta Financial Reporting, commented: “This postponement is welcomed and will give some respite to thousands of consultants and freelance professional service workers in regards to their own tax situation, but the COVID-19 crisis is causing significant stresses in short terms for self-employed workers.” © Shutterstock/Funtap Fully-funded support for Lincolnshire businesses dealing with COVID-19 To ensure the Greater Lincolnshire business community is getting the assistance it needs during this challenging time, the Business Lincolnshire Growth Hub is offering a range of fully-funded support at no cost to businesses. From one-to-one advice delivered by email or over the phone, to webinars, guides and funding support, the Growth Hub is available to help businesses of all sizes to face the unexpected challenges brought about by COVID-19. Growth Hub advisers are on-hand daily between 9:00am and 5:00pm to help businesses manage the effects of the coronavirus outbreak. A series of insightful webinars are also available to help businesses to stay in- the-know during this period of uncertainty. Plus, business resilience expert Meryl Levington is offering one-hour online support appointments, where businesses can dial-in to chat about their concerns and receive one-to-one guidance tailored to their business. To access fully-funded support, email businesslincolnshire@lincolnshire.gov.uk or call their COVID-19 advice line on 01522 782189. © Shutterstock/creativeneko 06-11.qxp_Layout 1 07/04/2020 10:19 Page 2TOWER FIELD SERVICES Cat Tech Tower Field Services offers bespoke mechanical services to oil refinery and petrochemical plants all around the world. Our team has vast experience in overseeing and undertaking the installation of all types of Tower internals. Our Tower tray, packing and other internals installation services has deep roots, with several of the senior team at Cat Tech being involved in the founding of the Cana-Tex organisation. Since 1971, Cana-Tex had been the premier global Tower speciality contractor; performing Tower maintenance and plant turnaround projects around the world. These origins, with the addition of new team members, make Cat Tech Tower Field services a global operation which is both cost effective and technically experienced. We strive to create new ways to make your Tower work safer, faster and more productive and that can make very good things happen for your business. We thrive on exceeding our clients expectations and understand the need for upfront communication in relation to timescales and costs. No-one likes surprises in this industry and we ensure that everything is done, from pre-job planning, on site activities to post job reporting in a manner which allows our customers to concentrate on their core business. Let us show you what we can do. We work hard to maintain an industry reputation for safety, speed and dependability. Ours crews have been trained by us, this allows us to staff a project with the proven skills necessary to produce customer satisfaction. It is our intention to demonstrate the benefit of utilising Cat Tech for all of your Tower work. The benefits of engaging Cat Tech are: l Experienced Tower specialists. l Proven track record. l Ability to supply spares and replacements. l Spade to Spade service. l Revamps or modifications to Towers / Internals. l Inspection of Tower internals. l Supervision of external/client labour force. l Detailed inspection reports. l Cleaning of tower internals. l Reactor tray field services. l Turnkey reactor tray field services. At Cat Tech, we continue to create new ways to make Tower work safer, faster and more productive. And that can make very good things happen for your business. Contact us for further information. Our well established sales team have a wealth of experience. We take pride on ensuring all enquires are dealt with quickly and efficiently. UK: Cat Tech (Europe) Ltd., 1 South Park Road, South Park Industrial Estate, Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, DN17 2BY UK Phone: +44 (0) 1724 871747 Fax: + 44 (0) 1724 861928 Bulgaria: Cat Tech Services (South Eastern Europe) Ltd., Devnia, Varna District, Povelyanovo, 20 Droujba Str, R Bulgaria, 9160 Phone: +(35) 9519 92052 Fax: +(35) 9527 46770 China: Cat Tech Services (Shanghai) Ltd., Room 1230 No.1, 58 Nong Huachi Road, Putuo District, Shanghai 20061 CN Phone: +(86) 2152 9175 08 Fax: +(86) 2152 9175 05 Singapore: Cat Tech Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., 17 Fan Yoong Road, Singapore 629794 Phone: +(65) 6264 6261 Fax: +(65) 6264 6401 South America: Please contact the UK office on +44 1724 871 747 Thailand: Cat Tech Services (Thailand) Ltd., 2/1 Soi Banbon Nuenpayom Road, Maptaphut Sub District, Muang Rayong District, Rayong Province 21150 TH Phone: +(66) 894 064 100 Fax: +(66) 638 692 382 MAKING YOUR PLANT WORK… SMARTER www.cat-tech.com PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/KAWINNINGS 06-11.qxp_Layout 1 07/04/2020 10:19 Page 3www.blmforum.net Business Link 9 NEWS Jingye completes British Steel acquisition Some 3,200 jobs have been safeguarded after Chinese steel giant, Jingye Group, completed its acquisition of British Steel in a move described by CEO Ron Deelan as a “momentous day”. The completion follows the agreement of new terms with customers and suppliers, saving thousands of jobs. However, around 400 employees have not received offers of employment and will be let go. The sale includes the steelworks at Scunthorpe, the UK mills in Teeside and Skinningrove, shares of FN Steel BV, and the TSP Engineering business based in Cumbria. Ongoing discussions aim to resolve the regulatory approvals needed to sell British Steel’s French subsidiary based in Hayange to Jingye. With the deal completed, Jingye will invest £1.2 billion to make the business more competitive and boost energy efficiency and environmental footprint. This will include the construction of a 250 MW power plant to serve the Scunthorpe site. The new plant is expected to be around a third more efficient. Jingye Group CEO, Li Huiming, said: “It has not been an easy journey since we first announced our intentions in November but the longer I have spent in Scunthorpe, the more I have come to believe in the successful future of these steelworks and the employees that have made them famous throughout the world. Together, we can forge a new partnership that will mark the beginning of a new illustrious chapter in the history of British steelmaking.” Business Secretary, Alok Sharma, said: “The sale of British Steel represents an important vote of confidence in the UK’s steel industry. It also marks the start of a new era for those regions that have built their livelihoods around industrial steel production.” Social enterprise commits funding for COVID-19 impacted businesses Business Enterprise Fund (BEF) has committed funding to support businesses during the COVID-19 outbreak. BEF, a not-for-profit social enterprise and approved delivery partner of Sheffield’s British Business Bank, will provide their funding to support SMEs where needed. The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) is the new guarantee scheme that facilitates lending to smaller businesses across the UK who are experiencing lost or deferred revenues. In addition to CBILS, BEF can deliver short- term working capital loans of up to £250,000 to safeguard businesses and staff, as well as start-up loans, with £12 million of additional funding secured from Impact investors. CBILS also covers the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF) which is £10 million of further British Business Bank funding for businesses in the Yorkshire & Humber Region. York Uni partners with industry in £1m PhD pilot Employees from regional and national industries could study for PhDs under a new £1 million pilot scheme to be introduced at the University of York in the area of circular, sustainable manufacturing. Up to eight funded places will be available for employees from partner businesses in chemical and biochemical industries to work with York academics in the Departments of Chemistry and Biology. The scheme, the first of its type at the University of York, was announced by the government as part of a £179 million funding package to support the next generation of research and innovation leaders. It is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) – part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). York is one of only four UK pilot projects. The first group of students will begin their studies at York in autumn 2020. © Shutterstock/Billion Photos Senior mentors sought to help Yorks entrepreneurs navigate impact of COVID-19 Hundreds of senior mentors are being sought to help Yorkshire entrepreneurs and leaders from public, private and voluntary sectors navigate the impact of COVID-19. The mentors could be recently retired or still working, but able to spare 45 minutes a week for online support, free of charge, for three months. Led by Next-Up, which helps executives coming up to retirement, and supported by Leeds City Council, the idea came from an intergenerational mentoring event for tech entrepreneurs – planned for Leeds Digital Festival – which cannot now take place. They already had 32 mentors and 16 entrepreneurs signed up, so are allocating these immediately and calling for more mentors and more leaders who would like mentors, to contact them. The 45-minute call is based on people signing up for the free version of Zoom. Further sessions can easily be booked if more time is needed. © Shutterstock/fizkes 06-11.qxp_Layout 1 07/04/2020 10:19 Page 4Next >