Eagle Lab welcomed to Vulcan Works
Vulcan Works, a collaborative flexible working space, and Barclays have partnered to launch an Eagle Lab in Northampton.
The Barclays Eagle Lab aims to drive growth in the local economy by boosting the Northamptonshire eco system for start-up and young businesses, signposting them to a network of industry experts and mentors as well as growth programmes, events and workshops, and investors and funding streams.
The Lab will look to complement existing services offered by Vulcan Works’ own Business Growth Manager, Darren Smith.
Barclays Eagle Labs’ Eco System Manager, Owen Moran, will be based at Vulcan Works as part of a contract between the High Street bank and Oxford Innovation Space, which was appointed to manage Vulcan Works by West Northamptonshire Council.
Centre Manager at Vulcan Works, Garrick Hurter, said: “We are delighted to announce the addition of a Barclays Eagle Lab at Vulcan Works. Northamptonshire has one of highest rates of start-up businesses in the UK. Unfortunately, we also have a high failure rate.
“This is something we wanted to tackle when we launched, through offering bespoke business support and cost-effective workspace solutions. To be able to enhance this support further with the backing and expertise of Barclays and its industry experts will really make a difference to so many entrepreneurs and young businesses.”
Owen Moran, Barclays Eagle Labs Eco System manager, said: “We’re so pleased to be opening our doors in Northampton. This partnership shows our dedicated commitment to supporting local businesses here, and to drive growth in the local economy.
“Eagle Labs provide a wealth of support to startup businesses, particularly those who are focused on technology and innovation. Physical spaces, like this one in Northampton, are vital for businesses to get connected with our mentors, specialists and to create a collaborative community with each other.”
Cllr Dan Lister, Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Town Centre Regeneration and Growth at West Northamptonshire Council, said: “It is fantastic news for West Northamptonshire that the new Barclays Eagle Lab will be officially launching at the iconic Vulcan Works. This is set to enhance and amplify the expert support already available for businesses in the area and make a real positive change to our local economy.
“At West Northamptonshire Council we are dedicated to enabling local, sustainable growth for all employers in the area and we can only achieve this by working with organisations such as Vulcan Works and Barclays Eagle Labs.”
Motorpoint CEO remains positive after difficult first half
The CEO of Derby’s Motorpoint Group has said the independent omnichannel vehicle retailer is well positioned to emerge from the current difficult macroeconomic cycle a leaner and more agile business.
In a trading update for the six months ended 30 September 2023 (H1 FY24), the company noted that as a result of growth and profitability being hampered by the UK’s difficult macroeconomic conditions, it has taken “swift, decisive action to right-size the business to reflect the reduced market size and ensure cash generative trading at lower levels of group sales.”
Actions included increasing retail margins supported by the use of data to optimise selling prices, reducing auction fees by securing a greater proportion of stock through direct supply channels, streamlining the firm’s organisational structure, pausing new store roll out and reducing discretionary capital spend. The right-sizing programme proved helpful to Motorpoint’s performance in Q2 as difficult macro conditions continued.
The business shared that an underlying loss before taxation of £3.1m incurred in Q1 narrowed to a loss of c.£0.6m in Q2. For the half year, the business made an underlying operating profit of c.£1.6m before interest expense of £5.3m. It also incurred a one-off exceptional charge of c.£1m related to redundancy costs.
Mark Carpenter, CEO of Motorpoint, said: “The impacts of high inflation, interest rates, and consumer uncertainty continue to affect demand for used cars. We have responded by reducing our cost base and expanding our retail criteria to help customers find the car of their choice at a price they can afford.
“We have successfully preserved cash while making progress on selective strategic initiatives, and are well positioned to emerge from this difficult macroeconomic cycle a leaner and more agile business, ready to seize the significant opportunity as market conditions improve.”
Leicester insurance brokers acquired
Brown & Brown has acquired Berkeley Insurance Group. The deal is the first broking acquisition by Brown & Brown in the UK since it rebranded from Global Risk Partners Ltd earlier in September 2023.
One of the UK’s largest independent insurance brokers, Berkeley is headquartered in Leicester with offices in Birmingham, London and Edinburgh. It is a long-established and well-known advisory-led Chartered Insurance broker targeting high-quality mid-market customers.
It offers a strong generalist capability, but within this, Berkeley is recognised as having particular specialisms in commercial property and construction, financial risks, cyber, private client and corporate client insurance, each of which has a dedicated team.
Berkeley will become part of Brown & Brown’s UK Retail Division. Tim Maxted (chairman and CEO), Jonathan Yeeles (finance director), the wider management team and all staff will move to the new arrangement.
The Berkeley brand will remain, and the business will continue to trade from its current offices.
Mike Bruce, CEO of Brown & Brown Europe, said: “Berkeley is an excellent advice-led broker which, under Tim’s leadership, is characterised by strong organic growth, a clear strategy and a highly entrepreneurial, respected management team.
“It brings a number of sector, product and proposition capabilities to our Retail Division in the mid-market customer segment. We are keen to build on Berkeley’s success in this market sector. We will be looking to leverage the Berkeley team’s extensive experience and areas of specialism across our UK operations.”
Tim Maxted said: “We have always prided ourselves on our position as one of the UK’s leading advice-led brokers in the mid-market. Having discussed our future objectives and ambitions with Mike and Powell [Brown], it quickly became clear that there was true strategic and cultural alignment between us.
“We were especially attracted by the ‘forever company’ ethos, which is at the heart of the Brown & Brown philosophy, and exactly reflects how we think about our business. It is especially gratifying to be the first broking acquisition for Brown & Brown following the name change.”
Tim Maxted added: “We are excited about the next chapter for Berkeley, for our customers and our team, and taking advantage of the opportunities from our future partnership with Brown & Brown.”
Mike Bruce concluded: “I’m confident that, as part of Brown & Brown, Berkeley will continue to flourish. I look forward to working with Tim and the team to support them in achieving their long-term strategic goals.”
Pendragon bidder backs out
Hedin and PAG International have backed out of the race to acquire Nottingham-based car retailer Pendragon.
The team had planned to offer 32 pence per share, in cash, upgraded from a previous 28 pence per share offer.
The news follows a new bidder stepping forward, with American firm AutoNation wanting to acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Pendragon for 32 pence per share, in cash.
It also comes after Lithia Motors, one of the largest automotive retailers in North America, increased its offer for Pendragon’s UK motor business and leasing business by £117 million, to £367 million. The total cash consideration is £397 million, including a previously publicly disclosed subscription for shares in Pendragon.
Last month Pendragon revealed plans to sell its UK motor business and leasing business to Lithia. They also agreed the terms of a strategic partnership, including the rollout of Pinewood, the company’s dealer management software (DMS) business, to Lithia’s existing 50 UK sites and the creation of a joint venture to accelerate Pinewood’s entry into the attractive North American DMS market.
As part of the transaction, it was announced that Pendragon’s Pinewood division, which operates the company’s proprietary DMS business, would become a standalone entity, retaining Pendragon’s existing listing on the London Stock Exchange and creating a pure play Software as a Service (SaaS) business with an accelerated growth plan.
Plans submitted for Frasers HQ move
Shirebrook-based retail giant Frasers Group has submitted its plans for a new global HQ out of the East Midlands.
Frasers is hoping to establish the site in Ansty in Rubgy and create 7,500 jobs.
The development, designed by architects Grimshaw, could include offices, logistics space, a hotel and leisure facilities, with a gym, courts and pitches.
Announcing the plans initially last year, the company, which owns household names such as Sports Direct, House of Fraser, Game and Evans Cycles, said the project will support the continued growth of the business and allow the business to drive productivity, growth, and innovation across the UK and globally.
At the time a spokesperson for the company said: “Frasers Group is proposing to deliver an exceptional campus environment, reflecting quality design, operation, and sustainability. It will be landscape-led, driven by responsible and sustainable design principles. Where possible it will retain, reinforce, and enhance the existing landscape character and features.”
Rolls-Royce CEO calls for swift action toward deployment of small nuclear reactors
Shortlisting of Rolls-Royce SMR in the first stage of the Great British Nuclear Small Modular Reactor technology selection process has led to a call for swift action from the company’s CEO.
The shortlist includes the UK’s home-grown nuclear technology, Rolls-Royce SMR – a ‘factory-built’ nuclear power plant which will provide enough affordable clean electricity to power a million homes for 60+ years, helping achieve our net zero targets.
Chris Cholerton, Rolls-Royce SMR CEO, said: “The Rolls-Royce SMR is a British solution to the global energy security and decarbonisation challenge. We welcome our shortlisting and are eager to build on this progress, moving quickly to the next stage where we can work to agree a contract for deployment and help the government reach its ambition to deliver up to 24GW of nuclear power by 2050.
“We have the only SMR technology in a European regulatory approval process, putting us almost two years ahead of any of our competitors. Securing a domestic contract is vitally important to unlock the enormous global export potential of our clean energy technology.”
A successful outcome from the GBN selection process will result in immediate investment in the UK supply chain and manufacturing sectors, creating thousands of high-skilled, long-term jobs.
With a team of more than 600 UK-based people already working for the business, Rolls-Royce SMR is making good progress through the Generic Design Assessment process with the nuclear industry’s independent regulators to secure consent for its technology to operate in the UK.
Ditching HS2 unlocks raft of enhancements for East Midlands transport
The East Midlands will benefit from a £1.75 billion regional rail hub benefiting more than 50 stations in a major funding boost to create stronger public transport networks.
A total of £36 billion in savings from HS2 will be reinvested in hundreds of transport projects across the country, delivering more buses, reopening railway stations and ensuring major funding for new and improved roads.
Cash that would have been spent extending the HS2 route north of Birmingham will instead be redirected into roads, rail, and buses to drive economic growth and provide jobs.
The Midlands Rail Hub will be delivered in full with £1.75 billion of increased investment to speed up journey times, increase capacity and boost frequency of services across the region.
It will benefit more than 50 stations in Birmingham and the wider Midlands, including Cheltenham, Gloucester, Hereford, Malvern, Worcester, Tamworth, Burton, Derby, Nottingham, Nuneaton and Leicester.
Further benefits for the East Midlands will include:
- the number of trains between Leicester and Birmingham will be doubled from two to four per hour
- a guaranteed £1.5 billion to empower the new East Midlands City Region Mayor to transform transport for 2.2 million people living in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. This is an average of almost £1,000 for everyone in the 2 counties. The new combined authority could use the funding to extend the Nottingham Tram system to serve Gedling and Clifton South and connect Derby to East Midlands Parkway with a Bus Rapid Transit System
- stations and lines closed under the 1960s Beeching reforms will be reopened, including the Ivanhoe Line between Leicester and Burton, connecting 250,000 people across South Derbyshire and North West Leicestershire, with new stations en route
- funding will also be provided for the Barrow Hill Line between Chesterfield and Sheffield Victoria, with a new station at Staveley in Derbyshire
- £100 million will be shared across the North and Midlands to support the development and rollout of London-style contactless and smart ticketing, supporting seamless travel by enabling contactless or smartcard payment
- funding to fix 2 major pinch points on the A5 between Hinckley and Tamworth, a stretch of road linking the M1 and M6 that serves more than 1 million people. Funding will also be provided for improvements to the A50/500 corridor between Stoke and Derby, cutting congestion for the 90,000 drivers who use the road each day and ensuring smoother journeys for drivers and freight around Rolls-Royce, Toyota, Magna Park and other major local employers
- a Midlands Road Fund worth nearly £650 million will be launched for new road schemes
- a brand-new £2.2 billion fund to transform local transport in every part of the Midlands outside the mayoral combined authority areas and the new East Midlands combined authority – rural counties such as Shropshire, smaller cities like Leicester and towns such as Evesham
- a further £250 million will fully fund 10 smaller road schemes in the Midlands, including the A509 Isham Bypass, near Kettering, and the A43 between Northampton and Kettering
- £2.2 billion for the Midlands to combat the potholes causing misery for drivers
- £230 million will be invested in increasing the frequency of bus services in the Midlands and the popular £2 bus fare will also be extended until the end of December 2024 instead of rising to £2.50 as planned
- the East Midlands will get a brand-new City Regional Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) allocation of over £1.5 billion as it embarks on its new status as a combined authority next year
Local businesswoman takes over Scunthorpe United
A takeover has been completed for Scunthorpe United by local businesswoman Michelle Harness.
A current director of the club, and former commercial manager of over 15 years at the Iron, Michelle has acquired the club from the outgoing David Hilton.
Following a busy few days of negotiations and putting plans in place, Michelle said: “I would like to thank everyone who assisted in the transaction, especially David Hilton.
“There are a lot of challenges and problems to overcome, but David has taken no fee for the club, and wiped all monies that he personally invested to enable this deal to happen. I wish him and his family all the best for the future, and I hope he finds some peace away from football.
“I’d also like to acknowledge the efforts of Simon Elliott, who has massively assisted in getting this deal over the line. There is now a lot of work to do behind the scenes to get our great football club back on track, and that work starts immediately with the fantastic team we have working for us, starting with the appointment of a new board.”
Leicestershire estate agents & chartered surveyors snapped up
Sheldon Bosley Knight (SBK) has acquired Leicestershire-based Andrew Granger & Co, adding a thriving lettings department of approximately 1,000 properties alongside a successful sales operation which lists approximately 400 properties each year.
The company’s rural, commercial and planning departments will also be added to SBK’s portfolio as well as the 50 members of staff who will continue to be based in the offices in Loughborough, Oadby and Market Harborough.
Andrew Granger & Co was established more than 30 years ago and is well-respected across the East Midlands. Directors of Andrew Granger & Co, Mark Sandall, Andrew Robinson, Peter Buckingham and Rupert Harrison all continue with the firm.
SBK custodian, Mike Cleary said: “Andrew Granger & Co is a well-respected and hugely successful business and we are delighted to be chosen to take over the reins.
“As well as sharing similar departments, we share the same values and ethos so it’s an excellent fit for SBK and I am confident we will continue to provide an excellent level of service for vendors, buyers, tenants and landlords in Leicestershire.
“In what has already been an exciting time for SBK in our 180th year, this latest acquisition comes hot on the heels of F2L last month and is our fifth such deal in as many months.”
SBK, which celebrates its 180th birthday this year, has more than 120 in-house staff in offices across Coventry and Warwickshire, Gloucestershire, Leicestershire, Worcestershire and the Cotswolds.
The addition of Andrew Granger & Co is the fifth acquisition for SBK this year.
New medical director for Oberoi Consulting
Derby-based Oberoi Consulting has appointed a medical director to drive forward the company’s range of population health tools and clinical support services to the NHS and pharmaceutical industry.
Prior to joining Oberoi Consulting, professor Ahmet Fuat worked as a GP in the same practice in Darlington for 37 years. He was Darlington PCN CVD and research lead, and in 2001 set up the UK’s first one stop diagnostic clinic for suspected heart failure, then pioneered and ran an integrated heart failure service across primary and secondary care for 20 years.
His PhD, by research in heart failure diagnosis and management including work on natriuretic peptides, generated several publications that have informed national and international guidelines and led to the award of an Honorary Professorial Chair at Durham University.
He has also held various national roles including president of the new Primary Care Cardiovascular Society (PCCS) which he was instrumental in reforming, an advisor to NHSE in CVD, and remains education and research lead for PCCS, AHSN North East and North Cumbria (NENC) primary care heart failure and lipid leads, and continues as a GP research engagement lead for NENC CRN. He will shortly take up a post as Honorary Consultant lipidologist/GPSI for County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust.
Professor Fuat worked with Oberoi Consulting as a client for many years and has firsthand user experience of Oberoi’s primary care population health tools that support the NHS to identify and optimise treatment for patients.
Professor Fuat will provide clinical supervision and mentorship to Oberoi’s growing team of clinicians who are working with an increasing number of GP surgeries across the UK. The company is actively recruiting more health professionals to deliver clinical support services.
Professor Fuat said: “I have seen firsthand the benefits to patient care of Oberoi Consulting’s work and am excited to join the team to help develop the scope of the work in the future.
“Oberoi’s work not only improves outcomes for patients but also supports an already overstretched NHS workforce. By working together, we can improve decision making, enhance accountability and increase productivity in health care settings.”
Kavita Oberoi OBE is the founder and managing director of Oberoi Consulting. She added: “The growth of our population health tools and health professional teams is crucial to help stratify patients of highest risk and build capacity in the NHS to improve outcomes for patients.
“Professor Fuat’s experience and expertise will be extremely valuable moving forwards. He knows how we work and our commitment to excellence and will be an incredible asset to the management team.”
