Council plans cost-saving office move that boosts green ambitions
Oadby & Wigston Borough Council (OWBC) has revealed plans to leave its council offices in a move that is expected to make significant savings in coming years.
Bushloe House, the borough council’s current home, is going on the market with the proceeds from the sale to be invested into renovating the visitor centre at Brocks Hill Country Park to include office use.
The Covid-19 pandemic has led to a re-assessment of the council’s office accommodation and its new agile working policies mean far less space is needed for its day to day operations.
It is expected that the move from the dated, expensive to heat, costly to maintain Bushloe House to the far more modern, eco-friendly Brocks Hill will allow savings to be made every year long into the future. Brocks Hill will be fit for purpose for up to 30 years and its use as its main offices will also significantly reduce the council’s carbon footprint.
The work for the Brocks Hill renovation is due to go out to tender in the coming weeks with the Bushloe House site going up for sale imminently. The Brocks Hill site is already owned by the borough council.
Councillor John Boyce, Leader of OWBC, said: “The pandemic has shown that our staff can deliver high quality services while working in an agile way, allowing us to re-assess our accommodation needs.
“It’s no secret the borough council is looking to make savings and generate income at the moment and downsizing our office space by adapting a more modern, fit for purpose building that we already own is an innovative and exciting plan.
“In the long term it will save large amounts of money year on year that can be better spent on our council services along with the added bonus of reducing our carbon footprint.
“It’s also great news for our staff who will get to work in a space that is fit for the future, allows for agility in ways of working, encourages collaboration among teams and has the added benefit of green space and a leisure centre right on the doorstep.”
Brocks Hill Country Park will continue to be available to the public as usual during and after the renovation. There are no plans to remove the public café and toilets on site, although they will not be available while the renovation work takes place.
No dates are yet set for the renovation work to start, but the council aims to have completed the move by the end of 2022.
Glossop health centre snapped up for £5m
Primary Health Properties PLC, one of the UK’s leading investors in modern primary healthcare facilities, has acquired the entire issued share capital of Peak Health Solutions Limited, whose sole asset is the Lambgates Health Centre, Glossop for a total consideration of £5 million.
The property is a modern, purpose-built primary care facility which is fully let to a GP practice providing 100% government backed income. The lease has an unexpired term of over 20 years.
The medical centre supports 6,500 patients and is a key facility in the local health economy, being one of the only purpose-built buildings in the area.
PHP’s portfolio now comprises a total of 518 assets, of which 20 are in Ireland, with a contracted rent roll of over £139 million.
Harry Hyman, CEO of Primary Health Properties, said: “We are delighted to have acquired this modern primary care centre built in 2012 to BREEAM excellent standards with photo-voltaic panels on its roof. This is in line with our strategy of ensuring our property portfolio reflects our focus on sustainability.
“We have a strong pipeline of opportunities in the UK and Ireland and are well positioned to continue to grow our portfolio as we support the healthcare systems in these markets through the provision of modern, primary care infrastructure.”
IFM Select embarks on a new journey as Partners&
Nottingham-based insurance broker, IFM Insurance Brokers (Midlands) Ltd, trading as IFM Select, is embarking on a new stage of its journey as it fully integrates into the Partners& family.
IFM Select was founded in 1991 and has worked with a wide range of business sectors across the East Midlands, gaining a reputation for the quality of advice and service they provide.
Partners& is a leading insurance and employee benefits advisory business, with 390 people and 17 offices across the UK, controlling approximately £125m GWP (Gross Written Premium).
It aims to become the best insurance advisory business in the UK, delivering an advice-based service focused on 21st century issues, such as cybercrime, data security, people, and professional risks.
Its proposition is based on providing high quality insurance, risk management, business protection and employee benefits advice, supported by a culture of partnership between its people, its clients and its ecosystem.
Owner Phil Cowell said: “It’s been a fast paced and exciting period since joining Partners& in March 2021. In that time, we’ve discovered all that Partners& can offer our clients and it’s been great to be working with some of the best people in the industry.
“The Partners& team has real expertise and a passion to do the right thing for its clients, something we feel strongly about at IFM Select. With our Partners& rebrand now complete, we’re looking forward to growing the Nottingham business, and making it the ‘go to’ insurance broker in the East Midlands.
“It’s a great opportunity for the team here to work with businesses and private clients who value the combination of outstanding service and the quality advice.”
What to look for when choosing branding design services
Being a business owner comes with its fair share of responsibilities and job roles. Day-in, day-out, the success of the company lies on your shoulders, and there are various things to think about to contribute to the overall success of your business.
Marketing and advertising, for example, is a critical component of your business model and is the make or break when it comes to the sale of your products or services. As a result, we would feel right in saying that the decisions you make relating to this part of your business are crucial.
That being said, navigating this part of the business world can often be confusing, especially if you do not know where best to start. Many companies often choose to collaborate with others to solve this problem, enlisting the help of another to help with the branding and design of their business.
We do not doubt that as a business owner, you have the best interests of your company at heart at all times. How do you go about hiring the best of the best, and how do you know if the design services you are hiring are worth the time, money, and effort?
Detailed below, you will find a list of what you should look for when choosing branding design services, both in the coming weeks and beyond. Regardless of what products or services you are providing to the wider public, read on for more.
Reputation and Examples of Previous Work
It goes without saying, but you have to put the work in to find the best of the best. While it can be easy to simply choose the services of the first branding service that you come across, this is something that should be avoided wherever possible.
Conducting a high level of research prior to hiring a branding design service will go a long way and give you a better idea of what companies are out there and what services they are providing. Once you have found some design agencies you would be tempted to work with, you can begin to narrow the list down even further.
Asking your colleagues and other businesses for recommendations of companies they have worked with will also go a long way; you will be able to work with a business that has built itself a worthwhile reputation among your industry.
Furthermore, you could also contact the agencies themselves, asking for examples of previous work and portfolios of examples for you to have a look through. From here, you will be able to establish whether they are the right fit for you; this is generally the case if they have worked with other businesses like yours.
A Multitude of Personable Services
Much like when doing your initial research to find the right fit for your company, you should also make an effort to establish what services the branding design agency has to offer. The last thing you want is to find a business that you wish to work with, only to discover they do not offer the services that you require.
Once you better understand what the design agencies offer, nothing stops you from opening up a channel of communication with the branding service of your choice. Whether you are looking to completely overhaul the branding of your business or are simply looking to redesign your company’s logo, agencies can help bring your vision to life.
Negotiating with the agency is also something worth considering too. While you might gel well with an agency, you could find they do not offer the services that you need but could have something similar available. Communicating with them and seeing if you are able to make changes and adaptations is the best way to go about this process. After all, you have everything to gain and nothing to lose by asking!
Individuality and Personalisation
While this might not be the first thing that people think about when finding a branding design service to work with, it is a critical element that should be at the top of your priority list. Once you have developed a rapport with the agency of your choice, nothing stands in your way from working together to create a plan that suits the demands and needs of your business.
At the same time, it is worth understanding that you should not settle for an agency that is not willing to personalise the plan to you. When it comes to marketing and branding, there is no one-size-fits-all method, and the branding of a business and its products or services will vary from one to the next.
Ensuring this is upheld throughout the process and that the branding which is developed is totally unique to your business will go a long way in ensuring that you are able to stand out from the crowd amid a saturated market. Having a bold branding for your business will catch the attention of existing and prospective customers and encourage them to purchase your goods over that of a competitor.
Opportunities to Develop Future Brand Strategies
Working with an agency to change the branding of your business in the immediate future is naturally going to be worthwhile. You will be able to grasp the attention of your customers with a new, bold look, but what about your future efforts?
It can be easy to let something like this fall through the cracks and might not be at the top of your agenda when changing the branding of your company. While we recognise this might be the case, you should ensure that the working relationship you have with the agency is one that can also be taken further into the future to adapt your branding then too.
While it could seem possible to work with different branding agencies in the future, you are playing into the risk that you will not get the same standard of work, nor will there be a level of consistency throughout. Working with the same agency on your projects both now and in the future is always recommended.
What’s more, when you build a rapport with an agency, they will not only get to know you as a person but your brand as a whole. When it comes to creating new and innovative strategies, you can rest assured the person you are working with will be able to come up with a whole host of creative ideas.
Reviews and word of mouth recommendations undoubtedly prove useful in the hunt for a branding design agency; there is no doubt about it. While that might be the case, it is also worth understanding that you must complete a certain level of research to find the right fit for you. The last thing you want is to sign on the dotted line and pay for services that are not up to scratch. Taking the necessary precautions beforehand and completing an adequate level of research will ensure you find the best of the best in no time.
£9m sustainable development gets underway at Loughborough University Science and Enterprise Park
Work has just begun to create a 2,000 sq m four-storey fourth pavilion to expand SportPark, the award-winning development for the UK’s sports sector, on Loughborough University Science and Enterprise Park.
Scheduled for completion in Winter 2022, the £9m project will be built to Passivhaus Classic Accreditation to significantly reduce CO2 emissions.
The first Passivhaus development on the University campus, SportPark Pavilion 4 presents sports organisations with the unique opportunity to secure environmentally future-proof accommodation, tailored to their needs.
It will enable occupants to reduce their carbon footprint and operating costs thanks to highly efficient heat pumps, opening triple-glazed windows for natural ventilation, solar shading to avoid summer overheating and continuous and well-insulated building fabric to minimise heat loss.
Loughborough University says it is fully committed to decarbonising its estate to meet the Government’s zero carbon target by 2050, with significant progress by 2040. SportPark Pavilion 4 will project the University’s forward looking, environmentally conscious values, delivering significant benefits to its occupants.
The project will increase by 25% the floorspace of the five-storey building which currently houses the UK’s highest concentration of sports governing bodies and national sports organisations. SportPark Pavilion 4 will directly support 165 jobs with an additional 157 induced jobs in the wider economy, stimulating further demand to bring sports related organisations and businesses to the region.
The development is one of four key infrastructure projects to be delivered by the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP) as part of the Getting Building Fund. Projects were chosen based on their impact on the region’s economic growth, both in the short and long-term, and their strategic fit to current economic priorities.
Professor Mike Caine, Loughborough University Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor Sport, said: “SportPark is a tremendous asset to the University and wider region – housing, as it does, complementary organisations, working in collaboration with the University, and harnessing the power of sport to benefit communities, locally, nationally, and around the world.
“SportPark Pavilion 4 will provide the capacity to welcome yet more mission-driven organisations to the University, and to further anchor the region as an internationally important Sports Innovation Hub.
“The SportPark expansion coincides with a growing number of innovation and technology-led sports businesses launching at, or relocating to, LUSEP, attracted to the collaborative environment and access to the University’s world-leading expertise in sports science, engineering, health and well-being, high-performance athlete base, and sports infrastructure.
“LUSEP is already one of the most accessible science parks in the UK, located one mile from Junction 23 of the M1. The recently completed £25M road improvements will ultimately create a further access point, even closer to the M1. This is particularly welcome news as LUSEP’s expansion continues, as part of the Loughborough and Leicester Science and Innovation Enterprise Zone.”
Kevin Harris, Chair of the LLEP Board of Directors, said: “We are delighted to see the construction of Pavilion 4 at SportPark commence. Our £6M Getting Building Fund investment will create a state-of-the-art facility, attracting more sport-related businesses to Leicestershire and generating further jobs in this expanding sector.
“Our sector research shows the sports sector has the potential to deliver £100M of growth by 2030. The low carbon Passivhaus design of the building will make a valuable contribution to reducing CO2 emissions for Leicestershire, too.”
Contractor Henry Brothers Midlands has been appointed to build SportPark Pavilion 4. Managing Director, Ian Taylor, said: “We are excited to continue our successful on-going relationship with Loughborough University – helping to upgrade campus facilities and deliver new projects.
“As a Passivhaus development, SportPark Pavilion 4 builds on Henry Brothers’ growing portfolio of environmentally sound schemes and will be a fantastic addition to LUSEP.”
Transformative plans submitted for King Power Stadium
Major plans have been submitted to expand Leicester City Football Club’s King Power Stadium through enlargement of the East Stand, and a mixed use development on land to the east and south-west of the stadium, to create a new leisure destination.
Full planning permission is being sought for the extension of the East Stand to provide additional seating capacity (a capacity increase of over 8,000), achieved by creating a new upper tier. A new accommodation block under the new upper tier and to the rear of the existing East Stand would provide additional General Admission (GA), enhanced GA
and Hospitality offers over four floors.
The North and South Stands would also be expanded, not to increase capacity but provide enhanced comfort level for existing fans.
Meanwhile the football club is seeking outline planning permission for a new club retail store, 220-room hotel, commercial office space and food & beverage uses, residential tower, 6,000 capacity multi-purpose arena, multi-storey car park and energy centre.
Initial proposals for the development were revealed earlier this year, alongside a public consultation. At the time Leicester City Chairman, Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, said: “The unveiling of these plans represents a significant milestone in the long history of Leicester City Football Club, and one that we hope will continue to put our supporters and our community at the heart of its long-term future.
“Through the consultation with our fans, our local community, businesses and stakeholders, we hope to achieve something that we can all be proud of for years to come. It’s these conversations that will help us communicate our vision to the people at its heart and take onboard the views of our community to help shape it.
“While this vision is in its early stages, I know the prospect of additional capacity for more Leicester City supporters in King Power Stadium, has long been anticipated by us all, particularly after seven near sold-out Premier League seasons.
“The plans to build on the Club’s recent growth – with a stadium expansion as part of an exciting wider site development – is a wonderful demonstration of the shared ambition of both the Football Club and the city of Leicester.
“It is a project with the potential to generate enormous social value, starting with a substantial number of additional jobs for people in the region. We will be working with our partners and contractors to ensure this is a central consideration from construction through to long-term operation.”
Major student accommodation scheme approved for Nottingham’s Southside Regeneration Area
A planning application to build a major new student accommodation scheme on Traffic Street, in Nottingham’s Southside Regeneration Area, has been approved.
The scheme will be developed by Urban Developments (York) Ltd’s Engage student brand, which are both part of York based Urban Group (York) Ltd, and it has been designed by Leeds-based Brewster Bye Architects.
The development will span five and six storeys in height and will offer 297 bedrooms, across a mix of cluster apartments and studios, with a range of amenities and facilities including study rooms, a communal lounge, gym, cinema, laundry facilities and cycle storage.
The site is currently occupied by two industrial units and a parking area, and historically was used as a sawmill.
Brendon Hutchinson, Managing Director of Urban Group (York) Ltd, said: “This is fantastic site to be involved with, in a key area of Nottingham city centre that is benefitting from large amounts of investment and regeneration.
“It’s also just a short walk from the city centre, Nottingham station and the tram network, which links it with Nottingham Trent University and The University of Nottingham, making it an ideal location for students to live.
“There is also particularly strong demand in Nottingham for this type of development. The city is widely recognised as one of the UK’s best university cities with a substantial and expanding student population who want high quality homes with exceptional communal facilities in vibrant locations.
“Crucially, this type of development also frees up traditional housing stock for local people and families, which makes it a particularly exciting opportunity.”
Mark Henderson, director at Brewster Bye Architects, said: “We’ve specifically designed the development to create a strong frontage onto Traffic Street, whilst also complementing surrounding developments and providing breathing space between neighbouring buildings via two generous landscaped courtyards at either side of the scheme.
“All this combines to create a high-quality, aesthetically pleasing development that sits comfortably within its surroundings and will offer students a superb standard of accommodation in an evolving and popular part of the city.”
Derby steel construction firm sold in pre-pack administration
Family-owned steel construction firm, Robinson Structures Limited (RSL), has entered into administration after a challenging period, resulting in the majority of the assets of the business being sold by way of a pre-pack.
RSL is a third-generation company, with its beginnings dating back to the 1950s. Having created a strong reputation in the design and construction of steel frame buildings, they have successfully entered a variety of industrial and agricultural industries over the years.
Despite this, the Derby-based company experienced loss-making periods prior to March 2019 and from the second quarter of 2020, exacerbated by Covid-19. This significantly reduced orders and, therefore, operations. Notwithstanding the undertaking of a cost cutting exercise, the company returned into a loss-making position.
Dean Nelson, head of PKF Smith Cooper’s Business Recovery and Insolvency division, became involved initially to review the financial position and options for the company, following the removal of RSL’s insured credit limits with its key suppliers.
This advice resulted in PKF Smith Cooper’s BRI team being instructed to undertake an accelerated merger and acquisition process to try and identify a buyer for RSL.
Immediately on appointment as administrator, some of the assets of the business were sold via a pre-pack that included the retention of the majority of the workforce.
Dean Nelson said: “I am pleased that we have managed to secure the sale of the majority of RSL’s assets, saving jobs in the process. It has been a very difficult time for the company and its management, compounded by various external factors and commodity price increases.”
A spokesperson for RSL said: “It’s a sad day for the Robinson family, but we are thankful that jobs have been saved and the state-of-the-art production facility remains both intact and operational.”
Workforce shortages – employers no longer have the upper hand or call the shots: James Pinchbeck, Streets Chartered Accountants
James Pinchbeck, partner at Streets Chartered Accountants, discusses workforce shortages and what employers can do to address the situation.
It looks like workforce shortages are here to stay and are going to affect more and more businesses, not just those looking for lorry drivers or those to work in care, hospitality, food and agriculture sectors. Signs are that the professions and those in the tech sector, along with others, are seeing not just short-term labour shortages but what looks like longer term shortfalls.
With job vacancies hitting an all-time high in 2021, labour shortages are in part put down to Brexit and the withdrawal of EU workers from the UK labour force and the pandemic. Other reasons may include improved education and increased participation in higher education leading to increased demand for higher skilled work, along with a growth in self-employment, as well as shifting attitudes to work.
So, what can employers and those seeking to fill vacancies do to address the situation in the short term?
Perhaps the most common approach or forced of hand response when labour is scarce is to pay more. However, this depends on affordability and the impact on the financial performance of the business as well as the implications on the pay of existing staff.
Other approaches to consider might include:
- Increasing overtime – it might be possible to address labour shortages through offering temporary extra hours to existing staff.
- Reaching out to those who may have recently retired to see if they might like to return on a temporary basis for perhaps reduced hours.
- If not already offered, looking at rewarding existing staff for introducing new team members.
- Outsourcing for key skills or shortages perhaps on temporary contracts. It might also be worthwhile looking at taking on student placements.
- Looking further afield, the pandemic has served to highlight it is not necessary for us to be at the employer’s place of work to undertake our work. A good digital connection and perhaps a blend of occasional at place of work contact might be a workable model.
- Checking the current status and satisfaction of your existing staff to safeguard retention.
- Take time out to determine your future workforce needs in terms of the work to be done, the skills required and the nature of those you need to do such work.
- With changing attitudes to work, with employees increasingly concerned about what is provided around employment conditions, training, career prospects, mental health and wellbeing, it might be a good time to look at the benefits in kind offered to ensure they are aligned to what is deemed a benefit.
- It might be worth looking at your approach to remuneration, along with bonuses offered as well as the possible use of employee share schemes to incentivise and retain key personnel.
- Seek to upskill and re-train existing staff, whilst at the same looking to provide recognition of this with career, promotion and development opportunities. On-going training and development is here to stay in a fast moving and rapidly changing world.
- Re-evaluate your employment offer and benefits – why would someone want to work for you? Be self-critical and not delusional in such an approach. It is very easy for us all to think we are an employer of choice when that might not be the case. It might be a useful exercise to commission an external review of your employer status/positioning. It might also be good to reflect on why people leave your organisation.
- Review the effectiveness of your recruitment process including how you promote vacancies and perhaps use or don’t use recruitment consultants etc. Some still only post vacancies on their website and perhaps LinkedIn and hope they might get applicants!
- Seek to improve productivity, especially through digital transformation, investment in technology and re-imagining the way tasks and roles are undertaken.
- Look to ‘grow your own’ through recruiting staff to train and develop perhaps as an apprentice or through the government’s Kickstart scheme.
- Look to work with your local Further Education and Higher Education provider to support your training/skills needs as well as to gain access to potential employees.
- For some sectors, it would not be unrealistic to think labour shortages are not going to go away. In such sectors and jobs, serious consideration has to be given to how to replace or reduce reliance on labour through mechanisation, artificial intelligence etc.
Council proposes to cut 91 jobs
Nottingham City Council has proposed to cut 91 jobs as its Executive Board considers its first stage of consultation proposals towards making £28m of savings as it looks to balance its 2022/23 budget.
The council says it has made £303m of budget savings since 2010 and been left £19.4m out of pocket through not being fully compensated for income lost as a result of tackling Covid. It adds that this means difficult decisions must be made, with proposals including:
- Reducing play and youth services, saving £615,000
- Closing six Children’s Centres and moving to a hub model of three centres, saving £331,000
- Reducing the frequency of some Linkbus services and increasing Medilink fares, saving £371,000
- Maintaining one free residential car parking zone permit and introducing an administration charge for second and third parking permits, saving £412,500
- Introducing a proposed charge for bulky waste, including discount schemes, saving £80,000.
