FOREIGN EXCHANGERISK How to manage itWORKPLACEDISCRIMINATION Language & the lawSTAMP DUTYWhat’s in store?www.blmgroup.co.ukWWW.EASTMIDLANDSBUSINESSLINK.CO.UKMARCH 2016EAST MIDLANDS LEADING BUSINESS E-MAGSOUTHLINCOLNSHIRE’SGOLDEN AGE Tim Downing from Pygott & Cronediscusses the local propertymarket ahead of MIPIM 2016SOUTHLINCOLNSHIRE’SGOLDEN AGE Tim Downing from Pygott & Cronediscusses the local propertymarket ahead of MIPIM 2016LinkingbusinesstogetherEast Midlands Business Link has been bringing businesses together through itsonline pages and we’re now offering even more chances to network andcreate new relationships with a host of special events – and there are numerous sponsorship opportunities to help promote your brand!Round TablesBringing together leading names from local businesses, our round table events debate the latest hottopics. By sponsoring the event you can decide on the topic and help shape the guest list to ensurerelevance. The resultant debate will appear in our pages.Breakfast EventsEast Midlands Business Link's breakfast events present topical and incisive discussion. A panel ofexperts offer their views on business matters in front of an informed and interested audience –alongside plenty of opportunities to network! Sponsors of the event receive access to the delegate list as well as extensive pre- and post-event coverage.AwardsHighlighting the best of local business, there are myriad sponsorship opportunities atEast Midlands Business Link's awards evenings. Bringing together guests from across the region,sponsoring a category or even the entire event will ensure exceptional exposure for your business! These events are also a great place to entertain and welcome distinguished guests.Business Link is renowned as the voice of the East Midlands business scene. By partnering with us at these special events you can take advantage of our strong reputation and enjoy exceptional exposure for your brand!Connectwith us today to see what we can do for your business...EDITOR’S NOTESShake it all about. Things are certainly looking like they could be shaken upbig-time. It’s hugely frustrating that David Cameron chose to announce the EUReferendum just as I was putting the finishing touches to the magazine thisweek, but needless to say we’ll be featuring voices from both the “Stay” and“Leave” campaigns over the coming months – feel free to drop me a line onI.Evans@blmgroup.co.uk if you’d like to contribute to a feature on the topic.In this edition, we speak to Pygott & Crone’s Tim Downing about the SouthLincolnshire property boom ahead of MIPIM 2016, regional property expertsexamine the new Stamp Duty surcharge, and we get the lowdown onworkplace discrimination, Foreign Exchange Risk and the myth of the “commonlaw wife”. Lastly, we are delighted to announce the return of our popular Fastest 40awards on Thursday 5th May. Now in its third year, the East Midlands Business Link Fastest 40 Awardscelebrates the cream of young entrepreneurial talent in the East Midlands.While EMBL will always cover the established names in the region, the nextgeneration of business champions are equally as important to the economicperformance of the East Midlands. The East Midlands Fastest 40 helps bring toprominence those 40 or under who are making a very real difference to theircompanies, and the wider world of business.The awards ceremony will take place at the Galleries of Justice inNottingham’s historic lace market district. Save the date! Ian EvansEditorIn, out, in, out...ContentsMarch 2016Latest News6The latest news from the regionDeals8The latest news from the dealmakers around the regionProperty News 10All the latest from the property sectorAppointments12Who’s moving whereManufacturing News14News and views from around the East MidlandsCover Story16Pygott & Crone’s Tim Downing discusses the SouthLincolnshire property market ahead of MIPIM 2016South Lincolnshire18A view from the councilWorkplace Discrimination19Is it discriminatory to be told to speak English at work? IanLewis from Bray & Bray discusses the lawSmall Business Champion20Greg Simpson of Press for Attention PR Hotel Rebrand22EMBL speaks to Chris Falcus, general manager at Jurys InnEast Midlands Airport, about the hotel’s recent rebrand andrefurbishmentForeign Exchange Risk 24Allied Irish Bank (GB) – thoughts on managing ForeignExchange Risk Auto-Enrolment 26How will pension changes affect businesses?Family Law28Fiona Apthorpe, head of the family team at Geldards,discusses the myth of the “common law wife”Stamp Duty 30What’s in store?Construction Scene32Two experts speak Manufacturing 34The remarkable success story of BM Catalysts Disability and the Law36Deborah Scales from Cartwright King discusses adiscrimination case Food & Drink38Revolución de Cuba general manager Robert Litchfielddiscusses what’s on offer at the Nottingham venueAutolink40We’re growing more familiar with automation in our cars –we now have park assist, where a car can parallel parkwith little or no input from the driver and brake assist,where a car will sense danger and start braking way beforeyou see the danger. So should we be surprised thatdriverless cars are already being tested on our roads?402932EditorIan Evansi.evans@blmgroup.co.ukAccounts & SubscriptionsAngela Sharmanaccounts@blmgroup.co.ukTel: (01472) 310301 Fax: (01472) 310311Design & ProductionGary Jorgensen, Mark Cassonstudio@blmgroup.co.ukTel: (01472) 310304Fax: (01472) 310314E-Mail:eastmidlands@blmgroup.co.ukPublisherHaychart Ltd, t/a Business Link Magazine Group,Armstrong House, Armstrong Street, Grimsby, N.E. Lincs., DN31 2QE.All rights reserved. No part of this publicationmay be reproduced, transmitted, photocopied,recorded or otherwise without expresspermission of the copyright holder, for whichapplication should be addressed first to thepublisher. While every reasonable care is taken,neither the publisher nor its participating agentsaccept liability for loss or damage to prints,colour transparencies, negatives or othermaterial of whatever nature submitted to thispublication. The views expressed in thispublication are not necessarily the views of thoseheld by the publisher.@BLMEastMidlandsBLMEastMidlandsGENERAL NEWSEast Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk6Nottingham closes in onsmart deals with Indian cityNottingham ismoving closer todoing deals with anIndian city whichcould create businessfor both the CityCouncil and city firms.The City Councilhas spent nearly twoyears developing arelationship withChandigarh, one ofthe most prominentcities in northern India and a major centre for government activity.Now it has been told by one of the most senior figures in theChandigarh administration that it wants to hold detailed discussionsabout how Nottingham could help it achieve ambitions to upgrade itskey infrastructure.Chandigarh will submit a detailed bid to the Indian Government inApril for large-scale funding under a Smart Cities programme whichwill fund new developments in areas where Nottingham City Councilhas significant expertise – transport, energy and the use of technology.It has also expressed interest in Nottingham’s expertise in areas notcovered by Smart Cities agenda, including waste management.Chandigarh is also planning to grow its economy through newmixed use developments which will include new zones dedicated tofinancial services, innovation and knowledge industries.The areas of likely cooperation emerged during day-longdiscussions in Chandigarh attended by a delegation from NottinghamCity Council and a number of city businesses.Though details are commercially sensitive, it is known thatNottingham was invited during the meeting to express interest on amajor project related to intelligent transport systems.They were told by Anurag Agarwal, Chandigarh’s Home Secretaryand head of urban development: “This is the third meeting we haveheld over the past six months and we are meeting today to discussactual areas of cooperation.“We feel that Chandigarh is already the smartest city in India today,but our technology is not of international standards. We now want tomove our discussions with Nottingham forwards.”The Nottingham delegation is being led by David Bishop, the city’sdeputy chief executive. He said: “We see this as a long-termrelationship. The focus over the next few months will be about SmartCities, but it is not just about that – we have already seen companiesfrom India come to trade in Nottingham and there are opportunities forNottingham companies to trade here.Administrator sale preserves jobs at Market Harboroughbusiness18 jobs have been saved after administrators were called in at Market Harborough-based Direct Battery Solutions.Eddie Williams and Stuart Maddison of business and finance adviser Grant Thornton were appointed as administrators on 28th January 2016.Direct Battery Solutions provides batteries to the automotive, agricultural and leisure market throughout the UK from its warehouse in MarketHarborough.Following a short period, a sale of the business and assets was completed to Direct Battery Solutions Energy (“DBSE”) on 19th February 2016,helping to preserve the jobs at the company.Williams said: “I am delighted to have completed this sale which has supported a positive outcome for both the former employees and thecreditors. Achieving this sale within a short period required support from a number of stakeholders and advisors. I wish DBSE every successwith the future.”Founder shareholder JonValentine moves on fromImpero SolutionsImpero Solutionsfounder shareholderand CEO, JonValentine, has movedon from the businesshe established in 2002,stepping down in latespring and completingthe sale of his interestlast October.Having designedand launched therevolutionary“Education Pro”software in 2002, Valentine built Impero Solutions into a hugelysuccessful business over the last 13 years.Creating over 100 jobs worldwide since 2008 and turning over inexcess of £5m, Impero now operates in over 80 countries.Today, Impero is a market leader for classroom and networkmanagement in the UK, thanks largely to Valentine’s original vision,passion and business acumen, reflected by his recent “East MidlandsYoung Director of the Year 2015” award from the Institute of Directors.Having opened its first US office and introduced Connection Capitalinvestors to take the business forward in 2015, Valentine sees this as anatural time for him to step back.He said: “Impero has developed into a fantastic business with someamazing people. I am very proud of what we have achieved. For me,however, there are many new challenges I would like to tackle and otherpotential opportunities I have been considering for some time that Iwould now like to focus on.“After some time out, I hope to help entrepreneurs throughout theEast Midlands as well as contribute to further innovation by developingbetter solutions for the education sector and possibly other markets.“In the meantime, I’m sure that Impero will go from strength tostrength moving forwards without me.“I would like to thank all of the staff at Impero for their hard work anddedication, as well as our customers for their valued support over manyyears.”Corporate partner at Fraser Brown Solicitors, Tom Gray, advisedValentine on the sale of his majority stake in the company. He said: “Jonis an exceptional talent and has built a fantastic company in Impero.“He is undoubtedly one of the most savvy and talented techentrepreneurs I have met. He is a great ambassador for Nottingham anda shining example of our region’s growing expertise in the software,digital and tech space.”Derby named twice in fDirankingsDerby has been named twice in the prestigious fDi European Cities andRegions of the Future 2016/17 rankings compiled by the Financial Times.The city has been recognised as a top ten city for Foreign DirectInvestment (FDI) strategy and business friendliness.Derby was ranked against 481 other locations across Europe including294 cities, 148 regions and 39 local enterprise partnerships.Martin Rawson, deputy leader of Derby City Council, said: “Thisrecognition is wonderful, and shows that Derby is truly a global businesscity with leading brands, including Rolls-Royce, Bombardier and Toyota,and their extensive supply chains, based here.“With a highly skilled workforce, investment in infrastructure and public-private partnerships, which support new businesses and investors into thecity, Derby is an attractive proposition for foreign direct investment.”The fDi Index is a biannual ranking by fD Intelligence, published by theFinancial Times. It ranks the cities that offer the best prospects for foreigninvestment, economic development and corporate expansion. Factorstaken into account include strategy, infrastructure and economic potential.The city will be presented with the rankings at a ceremony to be held atMIPIM in Cannes, in March.Derby will be travelling to Cannes under the D2N2 banner, working inpartnership with Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. The teamwill include representatives from Derby City Council, Marketing Derby, anda number of key private sector businesses including Smith of Derby,Freeths and the Derby Telegraph. It will be partnered by Smith Partnership.GENERAL NEWS7www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link Restructuring programmesmake good progress atRolls-Royce, but dividend iscut by halfFollowing a tough 2015, a series of restructuring programmeslaunched at the end of the year has seen Rolls-Royce makesignificant cost savings.In November, the company established a transformation teamto focus its activities, add pace and simplicity to the business anddrive cost reductions of between £150m and £200m per annum.As a result, the Derby-based giant has seen a 20% reduction in itstop two layers of senior management and around half of potentialcost savings have been identified, with the company expecting tomake £145m of annualised savings by the end 2017.However, the restructuring has also seen the company cut itsdividend by half, from 14.1p to 7.1p.Warren East, chief executive, said: “In the context ofchallenging trading conditions our overall performance for theyear was in line with the expectations we set out in July 2015. Itwas a year of considerable change for Rolls-Royce: in ourmanagement, in some market conditions and in our near-termoutlook. At the same time, there were some important constants:the underlying growth of our long-term markets, the quality ofour mission critical technology and services, and strength ofcustomer demand for these, which are reflected in our growingorder book.“Our outlook for 2016 is unchanged; despite steady marketconditions for most of our businesses it will be a challenging yearas we start to transition products and sustain investment in CivilAerospace and tackle weak offshore markets in Marine.“The pace of investment required to transform the businesscreates near-term pressure on free cash flow. At the same time,we need to sustain a healthy balance sheet to ensure we have thefinancial flexibility to maintain a strong investment grade creditrating. As a result, the Board is recommending that the paymentto shareholders is halved in cash terms at the full year and thenext half year. We recognise the importance of a healthy‘dividend’ to our shareholders. Subject to short-term cash needs,we intend to review the payment so that it will be rebuilt overtime to an appropriate level. This reflects the Board’s long-standing confidence in the strong future cash generation of thebusiness.Lincolnshire produce firm acquires majority share in US rivalSpalding firm Total Produce has acquired a 65% equity stake in ProgressiveProduce. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Progressive Produce is agrower, packer and distributor of conventional and organic produce to the retail,wholesale and food service sectors in the U.S and Canada.Progressive Produce was founded in 1967 and is one of California’s premierproduce companies with 2015 sales in excess of US $200 million, gross assets ofc. US $36million at 31st December 2015 and 214 employees.The purchase consideration will be satisfied by an initial payment on closing. Inaddition, a further payment will be made in 2019 contingent on the achievementof future profit targets. Total Produce expects the investment to be earningsenhancing from the date of closing. Long term put and call options are in placefor the remaining 35%.Jim Leimkuhler (president), Victor Rodarte (vice president) and Jack Gyben (vice president) will remain as equity holders of the business and willcontinue to be key members of the executive management team.Commenting on the transaction, Carl McCann, chairman of Total Produce, said: “We are delighted to become co-owners in Progressive Produce. Thistransaction with a leading California produce company further broadens our US operations and is in line with our strategy. We look forward to workingwith the excellent people in Progressive Produce as it continues to develop its very successful business expansion in future years.”Jim Leimkuhler, president of Progressive Produce, added: “We are very pleased and excited to join with Total Produce. This transaction will furtherstrengthen the business we have developed and grown over many years. We believe this is an excellent long-term combination of skills and expertise thatwill benefit all stakeholders, including our growers, our suppliers, our people and our customers.”CREO Capital Advisors acted as financial advisor and Liner acted as legal and tax counsel to Progressive and its members. KPMG acted as financial andtax advisor and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher acted as legal counsel to Total Produce.DEALSEast Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk8Leicestershire asset managementfirm acquires local insurance brokersThe independent financial services division of Leicester-based Chesham InsuranceBrokers has been acquired by Greyfriars Asset Management.The acquisition is set to bolster Greyfriars’ wide range of services, and will add to the£850 million worth of assets the firm currently has under management.Partner at Greyfriars Gareth Roberts said: “Through this vertical integration, we havethe ability to expand the proposition we offer to both corporate and private clients.“The partnership enables us to increase our specialist areas and widen our clientproposition, setting the foundations for further expansion throughout the UK and internationally.”Tom Bartleet, chief executive of Chesham Insurance Brokers, added: “Our clients are increasingly looking for specialist independent financialadvice from a trusted partner and we therefore wanted to build a solution that would cater for that demand.“This partnership gives us the resources and expertise we need to be able to build on our client services and add value to our currentproposition.”Sandiacre manufacturer signs £3.5 million U.S dealSandiacre-based company Avingtrans has announced that its energy and medical division has diversified into the materials technologymarket with a major contract to provide composite components for airport scanners.The company, which designs, makes and supplies critical components, modules and associated services to the aerospace, energy andmedical sectors, has signed an initial contract and three-year framework agreement worth over £3.5 million with Rapiscan, a leadingsecurity screening provider based in California.Avingtrans will supply integral components for the U.S. company’s new airport scanner, RTT110 (Real Time Tomography) – the firstsuch device to pass the European Civil Aviation Conference’s (ECAC) Standard 3 threat detection test for baggage-borne explosive risks.In addition, Avingtrans has announced that Stainless Metalcraft, also part of its energy and medical division, has signed a frameworkagreement with Swiss company Bruker BioSpin AG which will see it produce high integrity cryostat components for Bruker’s NuclearMagnetic Resonance systems. The agreement is worth £1 million per annum.Austen Adams, managing director of Avingtrans’ energy and medical division, said: “We are delighted to announce these important newwork programmes with Rapiscan and Bruker. Both mark an important development in the ongoing diversification of the Energy andMedical division.“We have been working with Rapiscan to develop its RTT110 scanner for some time now and this supply contract means we can nowramp up production to meet fast-growing demand. Security is a real challenge for airports as passenger numbers increase around theworld but, until now, this increase has not been matched by advances in security risk detection technology.“We will work closely with Bruker to develop a fully value-engineered solution for the components for their NMR programmes, ensuringall procedures and processes are firmly established, before transitioning the work to our Chinese site, which will not only bring additionalcost efficiency but also bring the manufacturing closer to end customer locations.”US Corporation acquires packagingmakerA packagingmanufacturer with anoperation in EastMidlands has beenacquired by a US-rival.Plastique, amanufacturer ofthermoformed plasticand pulp packaging hasbeen acquired by TEQ,an Illinois-basedthermoformedpackaging company andsubsidiary of NYSE listed ESCO Technologies Inc., for an undisclosed sum.Business Growth Fund (BGF) invested £5m in Plastique in July 2014. The companydesigns and manufactures packaging for customers in the personal care, householdproducts, pharmaceutical, food and broader retail markets. With BGF’s support,Plastique became the first European manufacturer of smooth surfaced thermoformedpulp packaging.Headquartered in Tunbridge Wells, Plastique invested BGF’s capital to build itsthermoformed pulp packaging capability and expand its manufacturing facility inPoland. The acquisition by TEQ will enable the Plastique team to continue to developtheir product offering and expand sales opportunities into new geographies andsectors. Plastique’s management team will remain in the business to drive the nextphase of growth and oversee the integration with TEQ.BGF has backed more than 100 growing businesses since 2011, including 23 Britishmanufacturers, and will now reinvest the returns from this exit into otherentrepreneurial companies.John Lowe said: “This is an exciting opportunity to continue the growth of ourbusiness. BGF’s capital has enabled us to further scale our operations and increase thebreadth of packaging solutions we can offer our clients.”Rory Pope, an investor at BGF who will now step down from his position onPlastique’s board, said: “Plastique has built an excellent reputation and business ofscale in the thermoformed packaging market. John, Perry and the wider team havecreated an innovative pulp packaging offering and we are delighted to have been a partof supporting that growth.”DEALS9www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link A1 Flues secures UAEalliance as platform forexport growthA1 Flue Systems has formed a strategic alliance withthe Bin Jabr Group, which will see commercial flue andchimney systems designed and manufactured in NorthNottinghamshire used in the construction of some of thehighest-profile developments in the United Arab Emirates.A team from the HVAC and energy division of thecompany visited A1’s Ollerton-based factory to see first-hand how it manufactures bespoke chimney and fluesystems in accordance with the CE Mark – the mandatoryEU manufacturing requirement for products such as flues,stoves, radiators and fans.The Bin Jabr Group, headquartered in Abu Dhabi, is oneof the major business groups in the United Arab Emirates(UAE), with more than 40 years of experience. The group’sactivities include manufacturing, trading and servicing,engineering and contracting.The Bin Jabr Group’s HVAC and energy division isactively involved in projects across the UAE relatedto heating and cooling products.The company’s CEO, Murat Aydemir, and the generalmanager of the HVAC and energy division, Praveen Kumar,said they were impressed with the engineering andmanufacturing capabilities of A1, which is the UK marketleader in the design, manufacture and installation ofcommercial and industrial chimney, flue and exhaustsystems.Aydemir said: “A1 Flue Systems came highlyrecommended as a world-class solution provider, and avisit to its factory has exceeded our expectations of acompany that the Bin Jabr Group can partner with on arange of projects in the United Arab Emirates.“It has an impressive portfolio of projects – such as TheShard and now Battersea Power Station – and it is veryclear that the company has a level of excellence in itsability to design and deliver bespoke commercial flue andchimney systems. This sets them apart because they arefocused on delivering complete solutions, rather thanassembling systems using a limited range of genericcomponent parts.“There are a lot of similarities between our companies,not least that we are both family businesses and we sharethe same visions and values, which will make for a strongpartnership that will be mutually beneficial for many yearsto come.”Next >