JANUARY 2019EAST MIDLANDS LEADING BUSINESS MAGAZINEEMPLOYMENT LAW In the eye of the lawLOGISTICS The ideal location for logisticswww.blmgroup.co.ukWWW.EASTMIDLANDSBUSINESSLINK.CO.UKWWW.EASTMIDLANDSBUSINESSLINK.CO.UKTHE YEAR AHEADTHE YEAR AHEAD£3.50PREDICTIONS Looking forward01.qxp_Layout 1 04/01/2019 09:22 Page 102.qxp_Layout 1 04/01/2019 09:25 Page 1www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.ukEast Midlands Business Link 3EDITORS NOTESHappy New Year to all our readers, and welcome to this, our first issue of the new year. 2019 is here and with it many challenges that will face our region and even the entire country. While many will be looking to make fresh starts on streamlining their operations, it’s impossible to miss the complicated waters ahead. Brexit rears its ever-present head and the Government are in the midst of a publicity push to make the public, and businesses, aware of the specifics behind a no-deal Brexit. The East Midlands is perhaps more protected from Brexit than many regions, boasting far more in the way of service industries than other, more manufacturing and transport-based regions, but that does not mean business owners can afford to stick their heads in the sand. It’s not all doom and gloom on the horizon, however, and while it would be foolish to ignore the implications of a no-deal Brexit, it would be pessimistic to focus solely on that. A new year brings new opportunities, and for the business owner savvy enough to grasp them, this can pay dividends. Others may look to make their operations leaner, with a focus on pushing for more efficiency. A New Years resolution for business as it were. Our January issue runs with that in mind, highlighting trends in the manufacturing sector, while also taking a look at employment law moving into a new year. Our security feature explores the challenges behind not only physical security but cyber and data, while our commercial property feature looks at some of the biggest deals taking place in the East Midlands last year. On the subject of property, the East Midlands Bricks Awards will also be taking place this year in March, so if you know of any professionals in the industry you feel ought to be nominated for an award, please visit our website to enter them. Good reading, as always. Michael Fisher EditorWelcome...03.qxp_Layout 1 04/01/2019 10:15 Page 1ContentsJanuary 2019LATEST NEWS 6 A round-up of the latest news from our region APPOINTMENTS 8 East Midlands on the move. FINANCE NEWS 10 The latest news from the world of finance around the region MANUFACTURING NEWS12 News and views from around the region PROPERTY NEWS 14 All the latest from the property sector. PREDICTIONS 201916 It’s that time of year, when Business Link Magazine invites readers to offer up their forecasts for the year ahead. It has become something of a tradition, given that we’ve been doing this for almost 35 years. And, while none of us possess a crystal ball, it is uncanny how accurate some of these forecasts have been over the years. BRICKS 201920 East Midlands Business Link Bricks Award 2019 are now open for entries. The awards are a chance to recognise and celebrate the region’s top projects, as well as the teams behind them. MANUFACTURING SPOTLIGHT22 If the East Midlands manufacturing industry is to keep up with its competitors, manufacturers must amp up their automation offering. TAX26 New Year’s resolutions for your business, now there’s a thought... By James Pinchbeck, Marketing Partner, Streets Chartered Accountants CORPORATE HOSPITALITY 28 To kick off the New Year, East Midlands Business Link has put together this helpful piece exploring the ins and outs of securing new business and safeguarding existing contracts with the fine art of corporate hospitality. LOGISTICS 32 The East Midlands holds a solid reputation within the logistics industry. With access to freight railway lines, airports, and major motorways it is unsurprising that businesses are flocking to our region. NETWORKING36 Getting into the Coaching Habit, by Fiona Duncan-Steer, founder of RSViP Business Networking Agency, COMMERCIAL PROPERTY38 East Midlands Business Link explores the key trends facing the global real estate market and how they can be applied to regional commercial property. 50PUBLIC RELATIONS42 Tight swimming trunks and goal setting – let’s be brief By Greg Simpson, founder of Press for Attention PR and Enterprise Nation Champion for Nottingham. IT 44 With more and more parts of offices, warehouses and manufacturing facilities going digital, it’s important to keep up to date EMPLOYMENT LAW 47 It's a fair bet that a huge chunk of any company's time is spent on staffing issues – whether that's locating potential employees or dealing with issues regarding current staff. It's not surprising given the consistently changing legislation in the field of HR. Even the most conscientious employer could well find themselves inadvertently breaking the law. AUTOLINK50 2018 was a packed year for car launches and we will be kept just as busy in 2019. So, without further ado, let’s see some of what we’ve been driving since the last issue. OUT OF OFFICE54 All the leisure sector news from the last month EVENTS56 A timely look at forthcoming business events around the East Midlands AND FINALLY...5804-05.qxp_Layout 1 04/01/2019 10:23 Page 128Group Editor Steve Fisher s.fisher@blmgroup.co.uk Editor Michael Fisher m.fisher@blmgroup.co.uk Journalists Dominic Cuthbert d.cuthbert@blmgroup.co.uk Stuart Pearcey s.pearcey@blmgroup.co.uk Tess Egginton t.egginton@blmgroup.co.uk Sales Director Angela Cooper a.cooper@blmgroup.co.uk Tel: (01472) 310310 Accounts & Subscriptions Angela Sharman accounts@blmgroup.co.uk Tel: (01472) 310301 Fax: (01472) 310311 Design & Production Gary Jorgensen, Mark Casson studio@blmgroup.co.uk Tel: (01472) 310304 Fax: (01472) 310314 E-Mail: eastmidlands@blmgroup.co.uk Publisher Haychart Ltd, t/a Business Link Magazine Group, Huntingdon House, 278-290 Huntingdon Street, Nottingham NG1 3LY All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be 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 participating agents accept liability for loss or damage to 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 those held by the publisher.@BLMEastMidlandsBLMEastMidlandsCOVER PHOTOS: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM • LENKA HORAVOVA • APPLEZOOMZOOM • ELNUR • DMYTRO ZINKEVYCH • KUNG_TOM04-05.qxp_Layout 1 04/01/2019 10:24 Page 26 East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.ukGENERAL NEWSUniversity of Nottingham Innovation Park could be home to 2,000 jobs One of the largest concentrations of research commercialisation and business innovation in the Midlands expects to double in size over the next 10 years. The University of Nottingham Innovation Park (UNIP), launched in 2008, is currently home to more than 100 businesses employing 900 people, while the commercialisation office on the Park has guided a stream of successful spin-out companies based on University research. Now, UNIP has revealed plans to grow significantly in the years ahead, with ambitions to create enough space to house up to 2,000 people and increase its own turnover to £5.7m. Professor Dame Jessica Corner, Pro Vice Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange at the University of Nottingham, said: “An enormous amount has been achieved by UNIP during its first 10 years. “It has become both a major concentration of commercialisation expertise and a significant contributor to the University’s wider ambitions to benefit the world around us, whether that is through research breakthroughs or creating jobs. “We have now developed an ambitious vision for the next 10 years, one which we believe will see UNIP become a major employment site for the East Midlands.” Loughborough University publishes vision to support UK Industrial Strategy Loughborough University has launched the Loughborough Area of Innovation – an ambitious vision for University-led growth aligned to the Government’s Industrial Strategy. The Loughborough Area of Innovation is a blueprint for how Loughborough and the wider region can maximise current and future initiatives to help nurture nationwide economic growth. “The vision outlined in the Loughborough Area of Innovation document harnesses Loughborough University’s outward-facing approach of working with partners from business, industry and the public sector to address major challenges and advance realistic solutions,” says Professor Robert Allison, Vice-Chancellor and President of Loughborough University. “Loughborough is a top 10 UK university with an outstanding record in research, education and industry engagement, and we play an important part in many of the Area’s existing and evolving projects that will help to drive the implementation and realisation of the Government’s Industrial Strategy.” The Industrial Strategy sets out a long-term plan to boost productivity and people’s earning power across the UK through investment in skills, industries and infrastructure. The Rt Hon Greg Clark MP, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, provides the foreword to the Loughborough Area of Innovation document. In it he says: “Each of our cities, towns and rural areas has competitive advantages that are essential to shaping our economic future.” John Pye rounds off 50th year with UAE launch John Pye Auctions is holding its first auction in the UAE as the company rolls out its first phase of international expansion, reaching out to the Gulf against the backdrop of Brexit. The auction house is debuting near Dubai in the neighbouring Emirate of Ajman in the United Arab Emirates. A business delegation of John Pye Directors and Managers initially made a trade visit to the UAE in 2016 and have been working on formalising a trade agreement, developing a UAE business model, launch and development plan since. John Pye is opening an office for its luxury, retail and property departments in the Ajman Media City Free Zone, which is 17 miles east of Dubai International Airport. John Pye MD Adam Pye said: “This is a significant step forward in the first phase of our internal expansion. We had originally earmarked continental EU as the first phase but Brexit in summer 2016 put the brakes on that somewhat, with too much uncertainty surrounding the business planning landscape. “We then brought our UAE project to the fore. There has been a lot of time, effort and investment undertaken so far to reach this stage. “We are most grateful to our UAE partners for their warm welcome, ongoing interest and very much look forward to developing a long-lasting successful business partnership. The genuine regional demand for the John Pye Auctions model is already tangible from the first key expressions of interest we are registering.” Adam Pye added: “As a family business celebrating 50 years of trade, this is a very proud milestone development in which to round off a milestone year.” John Pye has been in business development discussions with the Ajman ruling family in the UAE, having been introduced by Manchester entrepreneur Atif Malik, who is the UK ambassador to the Ajman Government and Free Zones and John Pye Partner to the Region. © SHUTTERSTOCK.COM / JAX10289 06-07.qxp_Layout 1 04/01/2019 09:25 Page 1www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.ukEast Midlands Business Link 7 GENERAL NEWSBritish Gypsum signs five-year contract with PD Ports Loughborough-based British Gypsum has signed a multi-million-pound five-year contract with PD Ports at Teesport. Part of the global Saint-Gobain group, British Gypsum will bring shipments from Europe directly into Teesport every two weeks where it will be stored in a new bulks warehousing facility. The contract will create four new jobs at the port to handle British Gypsum’s UK gypsum rock imports, a vital component in the manufacturing process, destined for the firm’s Yorkshire and Cumbrian-based facilities. Through Teesport’s dedicated rail terminal directly linked to the bulks facility, trains will run six days a week, providing British Gypsum with a flexible, cost effective and environmentally efficient solution for its UK imports. Frans Calje, PD Ports’ CEO, said: “This announcement is great news, not just for Teesport but for the wider Tees Valley region. It signifies the high level of confidence the UK bulks and aggregates industry has in Teesport to deliver a service unrivalled by others ports on the east coast. “As a deep sea port and with the capability to handle larger vessels with direct rail links from port side to customer we are able to provide British Gypsum with the best service possible. “As part of our long-term growth strategy we have seen in excess of £50M invested in the last few years to develop and expand our platform to support the increased demand to serve the UK’s bulks and aggregates market from Teesport.” Healthy job growth for East Mids despite economic uncertainties The latest figures show that despite political and economic uncertainties, the number of people employed in the East Midlands was in line with national patterns in the three months to the end of October. However, figures from the Office for National Statics (ONS) show that the region’s unemployed was also in line with national patterns. Nationally there were 79,000 more people in work in August to October than in the three months between May and July. 26,953 of the people who found jobs were in the East Midlands. The number of people in work in the region rose from 2,278,202 to 2,305,155 when comparing the two periods, driving the employment rate up from 59.6% to 60.2%. Comparing the same periods, the number of people out of work regionally rose by 7,299 from 96,348 to 103,647, giving an unemployment rate or 4.3%, which was slightly worse than the national figure of 4.1%. The number of people in work was 53,905 higher than a year earlier and 26,439 more than two years ago. The number of people out of work was 5,240 higher than a year ago but 7,141 lower than two years earlier. Small business confidence slumps to seven-year low Confidence among UK small firms has fallen to its lowest point since 2011 according the latest Small Business Index from the FSB. The SBI stands at -9.9 in Q4 2018, reflecting a level of pessimism not seen since the aftermath of the financial crash. The second-lowest SBI reading since 2011 was recorded in the wake of the EU referendum. 43% of small businesses expect their performance to worsen over the coming three months, up from 30% in the summer. The proportion of small exporters expecting international sales to fall next quarter has soared to a four-year high, surpassing 30% for the first time in that period. The figure is up 14 percentage points compared to Q4 2017. With EU net migration to the UK at a six-year low, skills shortages are intensifying. The number of small firms citing lack of access to appropriately skilled staff as a barrier to growth has risen above a third (36%) – the highest share since the beginning of 2015. © SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/ ANT SEAN K© SHUTTERSTOCK.COM / MAGNIFIER 06-07.qxp_Layout 1 04/01/2019 09:26 Page 2New CEO appointed at Aggregate Industries UK Guy Edwards has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Leicester’s Aggregate Industries UK, commencing in January 2019. He will replace François Petry, who has recently been appointed CEO of Lafarge France and market head for France and Belgium. Edwards, who has more than 30 years’ experience in the construction industry, is currently CEO of Aggregate Construction Materials (ACM) in the US - a subsidiary of the groups’ parent company LafargeHolcim. Edwards says: “I am excited to be coming home to Aggregate Industries UK as the country CEO,’ said Mr Edwards. ‘Over the last five years I’ve been part of LafargeHolcim’s growth in the US market – today a $2 billion company delivering aggregates, concrete and asphalt/contracting products and solutions. “I understand the business, the opportunities and the challenges, and I know that we have here all that is needed to continue on the same successful path: the highest quality product portfolio, and talented, passionate people devoted to making things easier for our customers. “I thank François for his leadership during the last three years and I’m committed to continuing the work that further improves our results and keeps Aggregate Industries as one of the most respected companies in the construction industry, creating value for all our stakeholders; from employees, to customers, partners and communities.” Petry adds: “Over the last three years I have had the privilege to work with a great team of dedicated people; true professionals that have a high level of energy and commitment. “Together we have been focusing on strengthening Aggregate Industries’ position in the market, by aligning with the LafargeHolcim ‘Building for Growth’ strategy. Successes like the Kendall’s acquisition or the investments into increasing our capacity and the big contracts we have been awarded will allow us to react to the current challenges.” 8 East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.ukAssociate Director appointed to NG’s management team Nottingham-based commercial property specialists NG Chartered Surveyors has added to its team again after appointing Jude Weston as Associate Director. Jude joins the NG team having worked as a chartered surveyor across the East Midlands for the last 11 years, specialising in Asset and Property Management for a variety of public and private sector clients. Richard Sutton said: “We’re very pleased to have Jude on board. She will be assisting the Head of Property Management, James McArthur and will bring her varied knowledge and expertise, complimenting what it an already well-established and professional team.” Jude said: “My ambitions run high and I look forward to getting ‘stuck in’ with the instructions as well as being involved with developing the department and wider business. “My overall goal is to advise clients on how to maximise their investments and mitigate their liabilities whilst achieving their commercial goals.” In her career so far, Jude has overseen the collection of £5 million worth rents for clients and coordinating service charge budgets of over £1 million. Jude added: “I am aiming high to be organised, professional, forward thinking and a problem solver; after all – a positive attitude prevails.” James said: “Our management team has gone from strength to strength over the last two years. Jude’s experience and knowledge of the local commercial property market will only add to this success as we look to build the team further and extend our offering to landlords across the region.”APPOINTMENTS08-09.qxp_Layout 1 04/01/2019 09:26 Page 1Chief Executive of Siemens PLC joins university Board of Governors The Chief Executive of Siemens UK has been appointed as a member of Nottingham Trent University’s Board of Governors. Juergen Maier, who has a long-standing relationship with the University, studied BSc Production Engineering at NTU before joining Siemens in 1986 on a sponsored graduate programme. Juergen was appointed Chief Executive on 1 July 2014. He has been a member of the Siemens UK Executive Board since 2008 and has held senior roles within Siemens in the UK and Germany. This includes Managing Director of Industrial Activities for the UK and Manufacturing Director of the award-winning Drives factory in Congleton. Juergen is a passionate advocate of rebalancing the UK economy and has supported many UK-wide initiatives championing manufacturing, improved infrastructure and engineering skills. In 2017 he was asked by the Government to lead a review into how to increase the digitalisation of the UK manufacturing sector. The subsequent report led to the creation of the joint industry/government ‘Made Smarter’ Commission, which Juergen co-chairs with the Business Secretary, Rt. Hon Greg Clark MP. He also serves on the Industrial Strategy Council which advises Government on Industrial Strategy. Juergen argues for the modern re-industrialisation of the North of England and is a board member of both the Greater Manchester LEP and the Northern Powerhouse Partnership. Changes in leadership at BioCity Group BioCity Group’s founding CEO, Dr Glenn Crocker, MBE, has stepped down and taken up the role of Chairman. Dr Crocker has been CEO of BioCity since June 2003 and has taken it from a start-up to becoming the largest life science incubation business in the UK. During that time the company has expanded to operate at five locations- two sites in Nottingham, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Alderley Park. The company has invested in a select few of the companies based on its sites, deploying its own funds and investment from a joint venture with AstraZeneca. In 2014 Dr Crocker was awarded an MBE for services to the biotechnology industry. The leadership of BioCity will be taken on by Toby Reid, who has been with BioCity for nearly 8 years, most recently as Managing Director. Meanwhile the current chairman, Dr John Brown, CBE, will remain on the Board as Senior Independent Director. Dr Crocker will also continue to head up BioCity’s investment activities. Commenting on the change, Glenn Crocker said: “I am immensely proud of what we have been able to achieve as a team at BioCity and have thoroughly enjoyed working with great people and companies. However, after more than 15 years, it is time to hand the baton on in an orderly way to my successor. Having worked closely with Toby for many years I know he is more than ready to take on this role and will no doubt take BioCity and the companies we work with to even greater success.” The current Chairman of BioCity Group, Dr John Brown, CBE said: “It is rare to achieve such a smooth transition in the leadership team of a company, but this development means BioCity will continue to grow without missing a beat. I’m delighted to maintain my involvement in the business and look forward to supporting the company to seize the many opportunities that lay ahead.” Senior lawyer appointed as head of Legal Advice Centre Cartwright King director, Laura Pinkney, has been appointed as head of the Legal Advice Centre at Nottingham Law School (NLS), as the Centre exceeds £2.5 million in compensation and recovered benefits for clients. Laura, who takes up the position in January, is a director and operational board member at Cartwright King and is also the current president of the Nottinghamshire Law Society. She originally joined Cartwright King as an intern in 2002 and has extensive legal practice management and strategic planning experience, overseeing the operational management of more than 200 staff across 18 offices. Laura specialises in serious fraud and regulatory cases and is also the head of Cartwright King’s Crime and Immigration departments. As the Chair of Nottinghamshire Law Society’s Education and Training Committee, she led its response to proposed regulatory changes, including the Solicitors Qualifying Exam. www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.ukEast Midlands Business Link 9 APPOINTMENTS08-09.qxp_Layout 1 04/01/2019 09:27 Page 2Next >