The University of Bedfordshire has formally partnered with the Northamptonshire, Milton Keynes, and Bedfordshire Chambers of Commerce, aiming to deepen collaboration between academia and industry across the region.

Under the new agreement, businesses will gain access to the University’s research capabilities, academic consultancy, and talent development programmes. The partnership will offer professional development opportunities, including Masters by Research pathways for employees of member businesses.

For the University, the alliance is designed to enhance student employability by embedding real-world experience into the curriculum. This includes internships, guest lectures, industry-informed teaching, and input into course development through industry panels.

The initiative is aligned with the University’s Career Powered Education model and reflects a broader goal of fostering inclusive economic growth through research, innovation, and skills development. Businesses will also benefit from bespoke research, strategic support, and joint initiatives tailored to local economic priorities.

The Chambers represent a significant portion of the business community across Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire, and Milton Keynes, with a combined membership spanning thousands of companies across sectors.

With nominations now open for Business Link Magazine’s East Midlands Bricks Awards 2025, taking place on Thursday 2nd October, last year’s ‘Deal of the Year’ winner is reflecting on the prestigious event and encouraging firms to enter. Robert Maxey, partner at heb Surveyors, said: “It was an honour to take home the Deal of the Year award at the East Midlands Bricks Awards 2024, especially because the other nominees in the category were so strong! It was extremely pleasing to see recognition of our team’s efforts and the event provided a great boost to morale. “Celebrating excellence in our region’s property and construction sector, and offering a great chance to catch up with local professionals, I’d encourage other businesses to get involved with an entry, to showcase your business and the impact it is making in the industry.” Marking 10 years of the event, this year’s eagerly anticipated awards ceremony will take place on Thursday 2nd October at Nottingham’s famous Trent Bridge Cricket Ground. The East Midlands Bricks Awards celebrates the successes of property and construction companies in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, and Northamptonshire. Recognising those behind the changing landscape of the East Midlands, the occasion highlights development projects, businesses, and people in commercial and public building across the region – from office, industrial and residential schemes, through to community projects such as leisure schemes and schools. It also toasts the work of architects, agencies, and those behind large schemes. Welcoming almost 150 professionals, nominating a company or project for the awards is a great way to showcase your successes, recognise your team’s efforts, and reach our audience of over 60,000 business readers, while also offering a chance to connect with respected professionals. And better yet, it’s completely free to enter! Making the top three finalists in your category also wins you free tickets to the event, where you’ll be in the running for one of our coveted awards.

To make a nomination for the East Midlands Bricks Awards 2025, please click here.

Supporting imagery, video, documents, or links to these, can be sent to bricks@blmgroup.co.uk. Video nomination pitches are also welcome as an alternative or companion to written entries. Categories include:

• Contractor of the Year
• Developer of the Year
• Architects of the Year
• Most Active Agent
• Deal of the Year
• Residential Development of the Year
• Sustainable Development of the Year
• Commercial Development of the Year
• Excellence in Design
• Responsible Business of the Year
• Overall Winner

All finalists will have the chance to take home the Overall Winner award, which this year comes with a grand prize of a year of marketing/publicity worth £20,000, with the opportunity to split or gift the marketing to a charity of your choice.

Nominations will close on Friday 15th August.

New for this year, all entrants will also have the opportunity to be featured on our dedicated nominee showcase on the East Midlands Business Link website, providing space for marketing your achievements. Upon submitting a nomination, we will get in touch for any information, imagery, and video nominees would like to be featured on their showcase page.

The East Midlands Bricks Awards 2025

What: The East Midlands Bricks Awards 2025 When: Thursday 2nd October (4.30pm – 7.30pm) Where: Derek Randall Suite, Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, Nottingham Keynote speaker: Councillor Nadine Peatfield – Leader of Derby City Council, Cabinet Member for City Centre, Regeneration, Strategy and Policy, and Deputy Mayor of the East Midlands Tickets: Available here Dress code: Standard business attire Thanks to our sponsors:                                                                

To be held at:

With a limited number of sponsorship opportunities remaining, please contact Angie Cooper at a.cooper@blmgroup.co.uk to learn more if you are interested in becoming an East Midlands Bricks Awards 2025 sponsor.

Hundreds of thousands of jobs, a £4.6bn boost to the regional economy and 52,000 new homes are at the heart of Mayor of the East Midlands Claire Ward’s roadmap for growth to be launched this week. The new vision for development across the East Midlands is being revealed at UKREiiF in Leeds, the UK’s biggest investment and infrastructure expo, which attracts more than 15,000 delegates from business and government. It joins the dots between a series of massive development opportunities across the region covered by the East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA), which range from the £410m nuclear fusion project at West Burton to major commercial and residential projects in Derby and Nottingham and new opportunities for the region’s towns. The Vision also includes the UK’s only inland freeport and incentivised enterprise zones in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. Together, the developments in the new East Midlands Spatial Vision will create 100,000 full time jobs, deliver 52,000 new homes, boost the East Midlands economy by £4.6 billion, and unlock 4.2 million square metres of commercial space. Mayor of the East Midlands, Claire Ward said: “I am proud of the region the East Midlands is. We are – simultaneously – a £55 billion economy, a world-leading centre for manufacturing and technology, a place of astonishing natural beauty, and a region of internationally resonant heritage. “However, pride is not passive, and our Vision for Growth shows what this region has the potential to become. This potential will be realised through a set of substantial commercial development opportunities that we will be sharing at UKREiiF. “We are focusing on three in particular: the Trent Arc, which connects Nottingham and Derby, the Canal Corridor, which spans Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, and the Supercluster, which focuses on three of our decommissioned power stations. These opportunities are a path to prosperity that builds on our existing, unique assets – and I look forward to sharing them with you.” The Vision has been drawn up with the support of Areli Group, the investment and development specialist whose team has delivered a series of successful landmark schemes across the UK, including the internationally-renowned regeneration of Battersea Power Station in London. Areli Group CEO Rob Tincknell said: “This is the most significant vision project we’ve been involved in. When you look at the East Midlands’ industrial strengths, the development assets it has, and the fact that it’s now got a Mayor leading from the front, then this is one of the UK’s most deliverable growth opportunities. “The UK needs to think bigger than ‘development-as-usual’ and that’s exactly what the East Midlands is doing – taking 14 individual investment opportunities and turning them into one connected project broken down into 14 parts.” Since her election a year ago, Mayor Claire Ward has announced ongoing investments in the East Midlands economy totalling £538m including transport, regeneration projects, investment zones and an investment fund. With the Spatial Vision, the Mayor, Areli and EMCCA have come up with a total of 14 growth opportunities covering energy, industry, transport, placemaking and the region’s growing visitor economy. They include: Trent Arc – covering Nottingham and Derby city centres, Ratcliffe-on-Soar and Willington power station sites, South Derbyshire Growth Zone, Infinity Park Investment Zone near Rolls-Royce, East Midlands Intermodal Park near Toyota, and the Toton & Chetwynd area. Supercluster – West Burton Power Station (which will host the pioneering nuclear STEP Fusion pilot) and Cottam and High Marnham power station sites. Canal Corridor – Chesterfield town centre and its mainline rail station, Explore Park Investment Zone, Markham Vale Enterprise Zone, Hartington & Staveley investment zone. The Vision also includes emerging proposals for the sustainable expansion of the visitor economy around the Peak District National Park and the Derbyshire Dales, a new destination for leisure, living and business near the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site, renewal projects in the towns and villages at the heart of the region, and The Loop – a 150-mile trail connecting the East Midlands’ landscape, character, culture and heritage. Amy Harhoff, CEO of EMCCA, said: “This vision brings forward a series of logical and coherent development opportunities and a joined-up approach to delivery where we will support investors, partners and developers all the way. “The East Midlands economy has the advanced manufacturing and clean energy opportunities that are going to be vital to the UK’s future growth. We’re ready to harness that heft and work with partners to deliver.” Mayor Claire added: “With the EMCCA team, I’m at UKREiiF to start conversations with development partners who can help us deliver on the huge potential of a hyper-connected region that will have a major role to play in the UK’s future economic growth.”

The UK-EU summit in London has delivered tangible benefits for businesses, particularly exporters, marking a shift toward more stable and cooperative trade relations.

Business groups, including the CBI, British Chambers of Commerce, and the Federation of Small Businesses, welcomed new measures that reduce red tape, particularly for food and drink exports. The agreement includes a permanent deal to ease checks on agri-food products moving in both directions, which is expected to cut costs, minimise waste, and boost competitiveness.

The summit also signalled progress on longstanding issues affecting business operations. These include early commitments on a youth mobility scheme, alignment of emissions trading systems, and discussions on mutual recognition of professional qualifications—all moves that could ease operational burdens and reduce friction for UK firms trading with the EU.

Simplified rules for exporting plant and animal products are expected to benefit small businesses, while ongoing conversations about business mobility and border efficiency aim to ease delays and support supply chain resilience.

Industry bodies broadly agreed that while the deal does not resolve all challenges, it sets a more constructive tone for future engagement and practical cooperation on cross-border trade.

NK Motors’ newly launched used car showroom in Long Eaton has posted a strong performance in its first month of trading, recording 82 customer enquiries and converting 43% of them into sales. A total of 36 vehicles were sold from an average on-site stock of 27 cars.

The Long Eaton location, opened in April, is NK Motors’ third site, joining its flagship Kia dealership in Derby and another sales centre in Nottingham. The business, which employs 80 staff and posted £80 million in revenue for 2024, is targeting £100 million in turnover for 2025. It also leases more than 1,000 fleet vehicles to corporate clients annually.

The group invested £100,000 refurbishing the Long Eaton premises, which it originally owned before leasing it out to another motor retailer in 2014. The site became available again after the previous tenant entered administration.

The new operation is self-contained, managing all its back-office functions, including finance, marketing and vehicle photography, on site. It has a showroom capacity for 80 vehicles, with plans to expand via an adjacent 40-car overflow site also owned by the group. Vehicles on offer range in value from £5,000 to £50,000.

Seven new roles were created with the site’s reopening, attracting over 500 applications. A further four hires are expected in the coming months. The launch also generated significant online engagement, including 25,000 Instagram hits and 18 five-star customer reviews.

A recent survey of UK retail investors indicates that gold is now the most favoured asset class for the next 12 months, with 58% of respondents expecting its value to increase. This marks a notable shift in investor sentiment as geopolitical and economic uncertainties persist.

The findings, published by Charles Schwab UK, show that confidence in gold has overtaken traditional indices such as the FTSE 100, which only 39% of investors expect to rise. Similarly, 40% are optimistic about the Dow Jones and 38% about the Nasdaq.

This movement towards gold comes amid growing concerns about tariff policy and the recent hike in capital gains tax, which exempts physical gold investments. The Royal Mint has reported increased demand for physical gold assets like coins and bars.

Younger investors are particularly active in this trend, with 31% increasing exposure to precious metal stocks in the past quarter. Overall, 73% of investors view mining and precious metals companies as sound investment opportunities. This figure is even higher among millennials at 79%, reflecting a generational leaning towards assets perceived as inflation-resistant and less exposed to political risk.

By comparison, just 70% of investors view AI stocks as strong investments, highlighting a broader pivot toward defensive positions in portfolios.