A must-attend event for professionals in the construction sector and the built environment will take place on Wednesday 28 February 2024.

The future prosperity of the East Midlands has been discussed by MPs and Whitehall officials at a Transport for the East Midlands event in Westminster. Regional leaders from local authorities and transport bodies have been working together to voice concerns that a lack of investment in the region’s transport infrastructure is preventing its businesses and communities from achieving their growth potential. The event, hosted by Co-Chairs of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the East Midlands, Nigel Mills MP and Alex Norris MP, brought decision makers together with regional businesses to hear about key transport schemes where government funding decisions are imminent. They include proposals to electrify the final stretch of the Midland Mainline into the East Midlands – the main rail link between Derby, Chesterfield, Nottingham, Leicester and London – where major economic benefits were highlighted in a recent report, The Future’s Electric. Transformational plans for the A46 Newark Bypass were also highlighted, with the final section of the link between the M1 in Leicestershire and the A1 in Nottinghamshire set to be turned from single to dual carriageway, overcoming congestion problems, improving safety and enabling planned economic growth in the area. The Westminster gathering also heard about an inquiry carried out by the APPG itself into the wider social and economic benefits of infrastructure investment in the East Midlands. Their report calls for greater certainty on the delivery of major infrastructure projects in the region in the wake of the cancellation of HS2 to the East Midlands and the Government’s publication instead of ‘Network North’. Its five recommendations include: · Support investors by giving them long-term certainty about the delivery of infrastructure. · Help inform investment decisions by adopting a common method for describing the benefits. · Ensure the region’s economic resilience through a better balance between building new infrastructure and investing in what we’ve got. · Encourage greater collaboration between public and private sector so the full benefits of infrastructure investment can be achieved. · Establish a credible pipeline of regional infrastructure which supports regional priorities and ensures skilled, trained workers are available to deliver projects. Businesses from across the region, council leaders and other economic stakeholders attended the event, which was also told about the findings from two recent studies about the A1 in the region by Midlands Connect and Transport for the East Midlands that highlight the financial and safety implications of substandard investment for businesses and road users. Nigel Mills MP, East Midlands APPG Co-Chair, said: “The East Midlands has a robust and innovative economy. However GDP and productivity per head of population are below the UK average and our region continues to be under-invested relative to the UK average across a range of functions, most notably transport. “Improving and maintaining our region’s infrastructure is critical to achieving the levelling up agenda and the transition to net zero. The crucial relationship between infrastructure investment and local activity to create more prosperous and inclusive economies is clear, and this event has brought this to the forefront of decision-makers’ minds to make sure our region realises its true potential sooner rather than later.” Alex Norris MP, East Midlands APPG Co-Chair, said: “We have been concerned for some time about the lack of investment in the East Midlands and what this means for our communities and businesses. “Whilst our region has a resilient economy and a rapidly growing population, we also have falling productivity, low graduate retention and poor social mobility. We believe there is a clear link between investment in economic infrastructure like transport, energy, water, waste treatment, flood defences and digital, and the wider social and economic challenges facing the East Midlands.” Sir Peter Soulsby, Chair of Transport for the East Midlands and elected Mayor of Leicester, added: “Our region is full of great businesses and ambitious communities, ready to respond to the important challenge of raising growth in the UK. “However, we need the tools to deliver that growth. The Government needs to unleash our potential by signing off a series of major projects, ready to go, that we know will transform our transport infrastructure and deliver strong returns not just for the East Midlands, but for the UK.” The Westminster event is being supported by law firm Browne Jacobson and East Midlands Railway. Peter Ware, Head of Government practice at Browne Jacobson, said: “It’s critically important that the East Midlands makes the case for investment as it has a very strong story to tell around industries that contribute to international trade and infrastructure initiatives that can really power-up the region’s contribution to UK growth. “We know from the work that we do across the region that our public bodies have huge ambitions for progress, and we’re delighted to support this event.” Will Rogers, Managing Director of East Midlands Railway, added: “We connect the East Midlands to the capital every day and are committed to improving services for the communities that we serve. In order to achieve this, there needs to be greater collaboration between public and private sector infrastructure providers. “Long-term certainty about the delivery of major investment is needed, which will unlock opportunities that pave the way for growth across our region.”

MKM, the independent builders’ merchant, has made a strategic move into the HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) sector with the acquisition of Oceanair UK Ltd. Established in 2002, Oceanair has built a reputation as a specialist distributor for brands Daikin, Fujitsu and Panasonic. Their successful transition into the air to water market makes them ideally placed for significant growth in the future. Oceanair are an award-winning distributor of HVAC, operating from locations in Mansfield and Crawley. Kate Tinsley, CEO of MKM, said: “This is an interesting acquisition for MKM and enables us to expand into further emerging marketplaces; Oceanair is a great company with very talented people. I’m really excited about our growth plans.” Oceanair will continue its operations under its existing name. Tony Evanson, the owner of Oceanair, will remain involved in the business for the foreseeable future providing support during the transition. He emphasised the importance of finding the right home for the business and expressed pride in its growth over the years. “I’m incredibly proud to see the business grow over the years and have developed some fantastic relationships with staff, customers, and suppliers. I have thought long and hard about selling the business and was adamant it needed to go to the right home. I’m very pleased to be around the business to support the MKM team and look forward to seeing Oceanair grow under its new ownership.” Rob Barnes, MKM’s business development director leading the acquisition, expressed confidence in the growth potential of Oceanair. “This acquisition fits perfectly with MKM’s plans for expansion, allowing us to branch out further into the HVAC industry. Continuing to work closely with the current Oceanair team guarantees a seamless transition, customers and suppliers can expect business as usual.”

Students from Nottingham Trent University’s (NTU) Mansfield Hub have teamed up with employers from the Mansfield and Ashfield area to help them solve some key local challenges. The NTU Mansfield Challenge event featured local employers such as Ashfield District Council and Inspire College. These organisations provided different teams of students with a brief to work on and asked them to present their findings back to the employer a week later. Ashfield District Council (ADC) tasked students with providing recommendations on how the council and its partners can reduce homelessness and crimes committed by those experiencing it. The student team researched the different demographics and dynamics of the homeless community in Ashfield and made suggestions around how the council can make its support to the homeless population more visible and accessible. Ross Twinn, Graduate Management Trainee at Ashfield District Council, said: “Our student team presented really well on how we can better address the instability experienced within homelessness and the higher prevalence of crime as a result. This is something that Ashfield needs to tackle and it’s been fantastic having a group of talented and engaged students to help us with this challenge. “One of the reasons we wanted to participate in the Mansfield Challenge was to start to create pathways between local talent and coming to work with Ashfield District Council.” Inspire College also took part in the NTU Mansfield Challenge to give students the chance to look into the different barriers that young people might face that could prevent them applying to the college. Inspire College was created to work with students who are currently not in education, employment or training and aims to make education accessible to all. Simon Cook, Manager at Inspire College, said: “Participating in the NTU Mansfield Challenge gave us the opportunity to get unique and important perspectives from young people. Young people’s voices are so important to help us understand we are giving them what they need, so to get this insight on the barriers they may face accessing education has been invaluable for us.” 10 employers and more than 50 students took part in the NTU Mansfield Challenge, which will run again in 2025. Graham Whyborn, Work-like Experience Projects Coordinator at NTU, said: “The NTU Mansfield Challenge is an event that really showcases the collaborative nature of the NTU Mansfield Hub and the great links with industry and local employers that we have. The feedback we have received from the employers that took part has been excellent and they have found it very useful to have access to a pool of our talented students.”

A partnership of universities in Leicester and Loughborough has, within its first year, brought benefits to local businesses, schoolchildren and international visitors across the region. It has been just over 12 months since the University of Leicester, De Montfort University and Loughborough University joined forces with the five local authorities in the county through a civic agreement to form the Universities Partnership (UP). Centred around five themes: Arts, Culture and Heritage; Environmental Sustainability; Health, Wellbeing and Sport; The Economy and Education – the partnership aims to positively impact the region by bringing experts together to work on shared goals. This milestone collaboration, spearheaded by the universities’ three Vice-Chancellors is already benefitting local people and the local economy through a number of initiatives. The three universities have harnessed their collective purchasing power and achieved cost savings by working together to implement the Social Value Portal (SVP). The SVP is an online tool that helps organisations look beyond the financial cost of a contract and consider how the services they buy can improve the economic, social, and environmental wellbeing of the area. The universities are also working towards aligning procurement processes to benefit local SMEs interested in supplying to them. The UP also delivered one of five East Midlands Race to Zero Accelerator Programmes. The programme which is designed to support local small and medium-sized enterprises to create carbon reduction plans generated a wealth of knowledge for local organisations, as well as a number of resources, including reporting guides, training materials and templates. These materials have now been made available online as part of the UP’s ongoing commitment to support local organisations to reduce their environmental impact. One of the highlights from the year was the UP international event that took place in October. International partners from across the world gathered in Leicester to hear first-hand from regional leaders and civic dignitaries about why the county is one of the most attractive destinations for international students in the country. The week-long programme of activity showcased what Leicestershire has to offer international students and demonstrated a unified welcoming voice from the area. Another significant project from the partnership is the Graduate City project which focuses on retaining graduates in the region in order to support economic growth and increase productivity. The careers teams from each university have been working closely with the local authority partners to enable local small and medium-sized businesses and voluntary sector organisations to benefit from funded student and graduate placements. This project will continue in 2024 and will grow to connect more businesses in Leicestershire with university talent. Creating educational skills and opportunities that enable local people from all backgrounds to flourish is the main objective of the Education theme and the Pathways team have made great strides on this front this year. The Pathways team, which is a collaboration between the three Universities and two Further Education Colleges (Leicester and Loughborough) have been busy working with schools and their pupils across Leicestershire to provide help and resources for students, teachers, parents and carers to find out more about higher education and future careers. Over the last year they have worked with thousands of pupils in schools across the area to offer them a taste of what university is like and help them develop the skills they need to reach their potential and progress to higher education. Professor Nishan Canagarajah, President and Vice Chancellor of the University of Leicester, said: “The power of partnership working must never be underestimated. By combining our diverse expertise we are able to tackle the challenges we face together, and to provide an even greater positive impact on our region. The partnership has achieved a great deal in its first year and I am excited to see it develop further in the year ahead.” Professor Katie Normington, Vice-Chancellor of DMU, said: “As a partnership, we can use each university’s respective strengths and present very compelling funding bids. This has already allowed us to start some ambitious work to support the local economy, create better opportunities for education and employment and it will be exciting to see this work grow.” Professor Nick Jennings, Vice-Chancellor of Loughborough University, said: “The UP is already demonstrating what can be achieved when organisations from the region work together, sharing their strengths to have a much greater impact on their communities. I look forward to seeing the partnership continuing to expand and flourish.” The partnership’s priorities for the year ahead will be the development of new projects that respond to the feedback from stakeholders on local needs.

Plans to lease out parts of the former County Hall buildings in Northampton aim to ensure a positive future for these important heritage buildings. County Hall, along with other historic buildings like the Guildhall, holds significant importance in the town and county’s history and forms an integral part of West Northamptonshire Council’s (WNC’s) collection of heritage assets. However, after a thorough review of WNC office space and assets, it became clear that there is a surplus of office and administrative meeting rooms within these historic sites, which could be better utilised whilst reducing costs on the public purse. In a move aimed at ensuring these buildings have a productive future and have the best chance of retaining their character and historic significance, the Council’s Cabinet has approved the following:

• Judges’ Lodgings: the property will be transferred on a long leasehold basis, with potential use as a hotel or private residence, maintaining its character as a dwelling.
• Centre Block and Former Constabulary Block: the Council will seek to transfer this on a long leasehold basis for restoration and conversion, probably to flats, to maximize the property’s potential, ensure its preservation, and allow people to enjoy its historic features.
• Sessions House and Front Block: whilst elements may be leased for commercial food and drink operations, the Council will continue to investigate alternative uses which retain public use of these historic spaces and enhance the regeneration of the town centre seeking to attract and increase future footfall. Separately, work will be pursued on options for greater public access to experience the history of justice in Northampton.

Councillor Jonathan Nunn, Leader of West Northamptonshire Council, said: “We appreciate the significance of our cherished County Hall buildings and the role they play in our town and county’s history. This week, we announce a decision aimed at securing their preservation and beneficial future use. “Our goal is threefold: first, to increase public access and enjoyment of these heritage assets, allowing them to play a valued role in our community. Second, by transforming County Hall, we contribute to the preservation of our heritage and the regeneration of Northampton. Thirdly, we make good use of public money and reduce our operating costs, allowing us to put more money into services for our residents. “By approving the transfers, we pave the way for restoration, preservation, and where appropriate, conversion, ensuring a brighter future for these significant landmarks. “This decision aligns with our commitment to the community, aiming to enhance public use and enjoyment of County Hall’s rich history. We will continue to engage with the public and stakeholders throughout this process, ensuring transparency and collaboration.”