Ibstock puts collaboration at centre of its Supply Chain Engagement Day
Derbyshire based Global workwear company announces search for five new charity partners
- International
- National (UK)
- National (US)
- Local UK (Derby, Bristol and Cambuslang)
- Local US (Jeffersonville)
Lincoln Golf Simulator company lands an ace with £50k of growth investment
Nottingham Law School’s teaching law firm rebrands to reflect expanding services
Nottingham Law School’s multi award winning teaching law firm has been rebranded to NLS Legal to reflect its status more accurately as a regulated law firm and its growing range of services.
Formerly the Nottingham Law School Legal Advice Centre, NLS Legal sees Nottingham Law School students support members of the local community with free and affordable legal advice.
Supervised by a small team of experienced lawyers, they assist on a range of legal areas including employment, family, housing, business, civil litigation, intellectual property, special educational needs and disability, welfare benefits and victims’ rights. The firm also delivers a number of public legal education sessions each year in order to raise awareness of legal rights and responsibilities.
The firm provides hundreds of work experience opportunities for Nottingham Law School students each year. The law students provide administrative and management support to the firm, such as dealing with new enquiries and being involved in monitoring risk and compliance, through to case work such as research, drafting, client interviewing and representing clients at tribunal or court.
The service is aimed at those that are unable to afford, or unable to access, legal services and the team has secured financial awards totalling more than £5.5 million for its clients. The firm has also won numerous prominent accolades, including most recently being named Law Firm of the Year at the Lexis Nexis Legal Awards 2022 after being nominated alongside five private national and international law firms.
As a not-for-profit teaching law firm with charitable status, NLS Legal was the UK’s first law firm fully integrated into a law school when it obtained an ABS (Alternative Business Structure) licence in 2015.
Head of NLS Legal, Laura Pinkney, said: “When we launched as an ABS, we were the only firm of its type in the UK and this model remains rare both in the UK and internationally. As a law firm with a difference, we pride ourselves on providing high quality legal services, promoting access to justice and supporting the development of our students.
“Over the last seven years we have continued to grow and adapt, supporting more than 150 clients each year through the effects of cuts to legal aid, the pandemic and now the cost-of-living crisis.
“We now offer such a full range of support covering many areas of the law that we felt the time was right for a name change to reflect the services we offer as a fully regulated not-for-profit law firm.”
East Midlands Chamber Chief Executive appointed as chair of prison’s employment advisory board
Loughborough colleagues brave mud for Rainbows
Colleagues from a Loughborough firm have raised £750 for Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young People by getting muddy in an extreme challenge.
Five team members from Anstey Wallpaper Company took on the Wolf Run last month in Leamington Spa.
The challenge saw Natalie Drummond, Dan Johnson, Sean Kelly, Lauren McCabe and Maisie Morris complete the 10k off road obstacle course. Between them, they mastered lake swims, mud pits, fallen trees and dense foliage.
The team said it was “tough but so worth it” as they raised £750 for Rainbows, which supports children with terminal and serious illnesses across the East Midlands.
Natalie Drummond, senior designer at Anstey Wallpaper Company, said: “We laughed the whole way around the course, even when we were covered head to toe in mud and pond weed; we were still laughing.
“It was a great way of showing competitive spirit but we had to work as a team otherwise we would still be in that mud pit now. It’s fair to say those t-shirts will never be as white again. It was an amazing experience and an honour to do it for such a wonderful cause. We hope with the funds raised, Rainbows can keep doing its amazing work.”
Kate Golding, head of Organisational Giving at Rainbows, added: “What the team from Anstey did was incredible and it looked like they had so much fun. Without the support of companies like theirs, we would not be able to provide the vital services that we do to hundreds of families who need us. On behalf of all of the children and young people at Rainbows, I thank them from the bottom of our hearts.”
Full year revenues and profit at Leicestershire X-ray firm to be below expectations
Image Scan, the specialist supplier of X-ray screening systems to the security and industrial inspection markets, has confirmed that revenues and profit for the year will be below market expectations.
In a pre-close trading update of its unaudited results for the year ended 30 September 2022, the company noted that this is principally due to the slippage of contracts into next year that had been expected to complete before the year end.
The firm added that the second half “has been challenging due to government contract delays and component supply issues which have had an impact across our product range and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.”
Image Scan’s Chief Executive, Vince Deery, said: “Despite the challenges of the uncertain economic outlook, contract delays, supply side challenges and exchange rate concerns we retain our optimistic outlook for the future and an improved 2023. We continue to invest in new products and product developments to maintain and grow our market share.”
Frontline scores again with biggest-ever Community Partnership
New investment sites set to open up across Chesterfield
Chesterfield is ready to do business and willing to make sound investments to ensure the local economy achieves its growth ambitions. That was the message at the 2022 Chesterfield Investment Summit (28 September).
Speaking at the annual summit organised by Destination Chesterfield and Derbyshire Economic Partnership, Dr Huw Bowen, Chief Executive of Chesterfield Borough Council, said: “Our record of investment and delivery, with a whole range of partners, shows that the council is willing to invest and provide support to bring projects forward that will help the borough grow and deliver jobs and opportunities to the people that live here.”
A number of new development sites are now set to be opened up for future commercial, industrial, office and residential investment, adding to the current £2billion growth programme already underway across Chesterfield town centre and the borough.
Hartington Industrial Park, a new 75,000 sqm industrial and warehouse development located on the site of the former Coalite Plant in Staveley, aims to build on the success of Markham Vale. Job numbers created by businesses who are based at Markham Vale are now beyond that of when the site operated as a colliery.
Huw added: “Markham Vale has been a tremendous success with demand for commercial space outstripping supply. Chesterfield’s industrial past has opened up a number of investment sites which have the potential to be as successful as Markham Vale in terms of job opportunities and growth in key areas of the borough.”
Alongside industrial sites, Chesterfield Borough Council has also made significant investment in town centre office accommodation, meeting the post pandemic demand for high quality, flexible workspace.
Northern Gateway Enterprise Centre, which opened in July earlier this year, already boasts more than 50% occupancy with 17 of the 32 offices now tenanted. Later this year, Chesterfield will gain Grade A, large footplate offices following the completion of One Waterside Place as part of the £320 million Chesterfield Waterside regeneration scheme. Already tenants have been secured for a number of the floors in the six-storey office block located next to the train station.
Office interiors expert Amy Revell, co-founder and director of We Are Spaces Limited, who spoke at the summit, said: “Chesterfield is an exciting place to be right now. Northern Gateway Enterprise Centre and One Waterside Place have given us Grade ‘A’ office space for people to work in. These workspaces are comparable to those in bigger cities like Sheffield, Leeds and Manchester which deliver the connectivity for hybrid working for a better work/life balance.”
In addition to One Waterside Place, residential and leisure development sites are also being brought forward in the Chesterfield Waterside with the scheme developers, Bolsterstone Group, in talks with hotel and carpark operators as well as investors in a number of Build to Rent apartments.
Confident that investment in the borough will continue at pace, Councillor Tricia Gilby leader of Chesterfield Borough Council, said: “While the current financial climate is a concern, Chesterfield is very resilient and has consistently come out of national crises stronger than it went into them. In the last recession we established Destination Chesterfield, and this has reaped rewards. We also resolved as a council and with all our partners, to come out of the pandemic fighting and as a result a number of developments came out of the ground, including One Waterside Place and the Northern Gateway Enterprise Centre.
“Chesterfield Brough Council and our partners will now work together with inward investors to ensure the next five years are as good as, if not better, than the last five years.”
Work has already begun on the town’s ambitious HS2 Station Masterplan which saw the recent demolition of the Chesterfield Hotel, opening up a further development site for investment.
Councillor Gilby added: “Chesterfield’s geographical location and connectivity are key to attracting investment and new residents. Chesterfield is perfectly positioned making major cities very accessible for post Covid working trends, which combine home and office working and we now have a market-leading portfolio of office space to capitalise on this.”
The 2022 Chesterfield Investment Summit was supported by the European Regional Development Fund. The annual free-to-attend event was held at Casa Hotel. It showcased investment activity in the town and was attended by more than 200 people.
Law firm bolsters team with four new hires
Ideagen swoops for ProcessMAP in second acquisition of 2022
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£110,000 pledged to furthering sustainable aerospace research
The University of Nottingham’s Aerospace Unlocking Potential (UP) programme has announced it has pledged more than £110,000 in funding to three UK businesses working to improve sustainability in the aerospace sector.
Designed to help smaller companies develop new technologies and solutions to make aviation greener, Aerospace UP, a £20 million programme, is being delivered by the University of Nottinghamand the Midlands Aerospace Alliance (MAA), supported by the European Regional Development Fund and Midlands Engine.
Space debris in low Earth orbit is causing damage to existing spacecraft, meaning satellites require higher, more expensive orbits. Space Resource Laboratory Ltd’s solution, Project Aryabhat, involves the development of a propulsion system that consists of a thruster, fuel tank and avionics control system that can be fitted into a satellite and deliver a de-orbiting solution, minimising the remains left in orbit at the end of the spacecraft’s life cycle.
Meanwhile, Holscot Fluropolymers Ltd is working to produce FEP bladders that will line nano, micro and small satellite propulsion tanks. FEP bladders are a lighter-weight, more compatible alternative to metal tanks, which are potentially re-fillable and re-usable in orbit, in turn, this helps to minimise waste in low orbit space.
Finally, XCAM is developing a device that allows its prototype Particulate Fall Out (PFO) monitor to detect and analyse more complex particulates. The new monitor will include the capability to use neural networks for analysis in space that will, ultimately, minimise the limitations inherent to downlinking data to Earth.
Professor Serhiy Bozhko, Director of the Institute for Aerospace Technology (IAT) at the University of Nottingham says: As the theme of this year’s World Space Week is ‘Space and Sustainability’, we felt it would be the perfect opportunity to shine a spotlight on companies that are striving to make the world of aerospace greener.
Professor Bozhko continued: “At a time when the road to net zero is at the forefront of everyone’s minds, it’s great to see the innovative and fascinating solutions Holscot Fluropolymers Ltd, XCAM and Space Resource Lab Ltd are creating to minimise the environmental impact of space exploration.”
The programme not only provides funding for projects but also offers small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with unique access to industry experts, academic support, and facilities that might otherwise have been unattainable.
Professor Pat Wheeler, Global Director of the Institute for Aerospace Technology at the University of Nottingham adds: It is with great pleasure that we can support industry through the Aerospace UP programme. We’re leading the way in translating our pioneering research on net zero aviation into real world applications by supporting the aerospace supply chain to create innovation capacity.
Andrew Mair, Chief Executive of the Midlands Aerospace Alliance, concludes: “We are proud to be awarding grants to great companies, supporting the development of excellent solutions they offer. This is a pivotal time for regrowth as the supply chain provides a critical foundation for driving innovation at deep levels, ensuring the industry can thrive into the future.”
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Award winning baby photography company expands in East Midlands
Baby Art Studios, an award-winning maternity and baby photography company, is set to expand further with their move into one of the barn conversions at Cedars Office Park, in Normanton On Soar, near Loughborough, Leicestershire.
The deal was facilitated by Loughborough-based specialist land development and property consultancy, Mather Jamie.
Andrea Edwards, area manager of Baby Art Coventry, chose Unit 4 at Cedars due to its fantastic location and idyllic countryside setting. Baby Art Studios currently have seven studios nationwide, with four new ones set to open in October 2022.
Cedars Office Park is part of the Paget Estate and benefits from several eco features, including photovoltaic panels, underground clean air ventilation with heat recovery and underfloor heating powered by a woodchip biomass boiler, with woodchip sourced from woodlands on the Paget Estate.
Beth Combes, studio manager, said: “We felt Cedars Office Park was the perfect location for our brand-new studio and we are excited for its opening in October 2022.”
Amber Forster, Rural Estates assistant for Mather Jamie, said: “Cedars Office Park is ideal for businesses looking for a smaller office with plenty of onsite parking and fantastic road links to Leicester, Nottingham and Derby; we are thrilled that Baby Art chose this for their new Midlands branch and would encourage other business to get in touch if they are looking for similar.”
Further expansion the focus for new Growth Partners group CEO
New reservoir for South Lincolnshire
Anglian Water has confirmed the proposed location for a new reservoir in south-east of Sleaford, about halfway between Grantham and Boston.
The reservoir will supply enough water for around half a million homes, as well as protecting the environment by allowing Anglian to reduce the amount of water taken from rivers and underground aquifers elsewhere in the region.
The project forms part of Anglian’s long term Water Resources Management Plans, and is linked to the wider regional plans led by Water Resources East. These plans look 25 years ahead, with the objective of ensuring the region is resilient to more frequent episodes of drought brought on by climate change, all while improving environmental protection.
Dr Geoff Darch, Water Resources Strategy Manager for Anglian Water said: “This project will build on decades of existing investment in resilient infrastructure – like a 400km strategic pipeline which will move water from the north to the south and east of the region, existing networks of reservoirs and water storage, as well as continuing to help customers to reduce demand and driving down leakage to world leading low levels. But we know, that to keep taps running in the future, we’ll need more water storage in our region, in the form of new reservoirs.”
Plans for new reservoirs have been developing over the last 10 years, with the water company now ready to share the findings of a detailed site selection study in the autumn, in what will be the first of a multi-phase consultation on the proposals.
Geoff added: “Following a thorough and multi-stage site selection assessment process, assessing a wide range of criteria, we have now identified the best performing location for a new reservoir.
“We think it’s right those who are potentially most affected find out first and have the opportunity to ask us any questions about what this might mean for them. We are now in contact with those who own property and live within the proposed area and who will be potentially affected by our proposals.
“We know there is wide interest in the new reservoir. The project will create a new strategic water resource to support water supply to Anglian customers. It will help secure water supplies for future generations, so we can address the challenges of a changing climate, environmental protection and population growth. Our proposals go beyond just building a new reservoir, we will create new habitats for wildlife and places for people and create great natural places to explore, and exciting new leisure facilities for people to enjoy.
“A formal consultation process will begin this October, when we will give communities and wider stakeholders the opportunity to have their say and to help shape the development of the design of the reservoir and inform the economic, social, environmental and health opportunities it could create for the local area.
”When the consultation starts, Anglian Water will be launching a new website about the proposed reservoir and providing more details of how people can have their say. An early concept design of the reservoir will be available together with images of what the planned leisure and wildlife features could look like. There will also be webinars and community events in the area for people to meet Anglian Water’s team and ask questions.
Government plans to crank up pollution fines to £250million
“This 1,000-fold increase sends a clear signal that we want clean rivers and coastlines, and that the duty falls to the water companies to deliver – the polluter must pay.”
East Midlands businesses face steep rates rise next April
Organisations in the East Midlands which are liable for business rates are set to face a major potential financial crisis in April 2023, with an average expected rise of around 36% in business rates, according to David Wagstaffe, head of business rates advice at property consultants Matthews & Goodman.
The rise, due to be introduced on 1 April 2023, follows the Valuation Office’s (VO) recent completion of a nationwide revaluation of (non-domestic) properties liable for business rates.
Commenting for Matthews & Goodman, David Wagstaffe said: “Given everyone’s current focus on cost management, it’s important that business leaders don’t ignore the implications of this revaluation – because it’s only six months away.
“The reality is experts believe that the average rates bill in the East Midlands will rocket up by around 36% which is close to the expected average increase of 35% across the country – at a time when every organisation is already suffering from crippling energy and staffing cost rises.
“The anticipated rises are based on the rental values which vary according to location and property type. I strongly advise any ratepayer to seek advice from a business rates specialist to make sure that their position is clear.”
With regards current rates – which can be backdated to April 2017 – David Wagstaffe urges ratepayers to remember that there is still an opportunity to review their current business rates liabilities, as reductions can still be achieved via the Check, Challenge and Appeal process – but he does stress that applications should start as soon as possible as the cut-off date is 31 March 2023.
Matthews & Goodman is also warning that according to the government’s report into the future of business rates, the April 2023 changes could ultimately lead to fines being imposed on businesses if they fail to confirm that data held by the VO on their properties is correct. They could also be fined if the VO is not notified of any alterations undertaken to properties.
“It would be in every ratepayer’s interest to contact us or their business rates specialist to determine how best to mitigate their future business rates risks,” advises David Wagstaffe. “My strong advice is to get professional, expert and experienced business rates advice – and get it soon.”
