High-performance engineering consultancy relocates to state-of-the-art Silverstone site
Following a period of sustained growth, high-performance engineering consultancy KWSP is relocating to an all-new, purpose-built ‘skunk works for OEMs’ facility at Silverstone Park.
The new site will enhance the consultancy’s ability to deliver niche vehicle programmes for road and track, alongside ‘horizontal innovation’ projects and further enable technology transfer between sectors.
Given the company’s long-term focus on high-performance automotive and motorsport projects, the new facility nestled beside world-renowned Silverstone Circuit will be an important draw. For customers looking to outsource or ‘Skunk Works’ end-to-end design, development, production and testing of niche vehicle programmes and motorsport projects, the new facility will offer a step-change in capability. The all-new 28,000 sq ft facility combines a modern and expandable office space with a significant and adaptable workshop space and assembly area.
The move coincides with KWSP’s 10-year anniversary, celebrating a decade of consultancy work with blue-chip companies including F1 teams, Automotive OEMs, the aerospace & defence sector as well as professional sports.KWSP’s sister company, the Digital Manufacturing Centre (DMC) is also located at Silverstone Park and has experienced significant growth since opening in 2021. The DMC is a state-of-the-art commercial additive manufacturing facility that will also continue to produce parts for use in KWSP projects. Co-locating the two businesses will enable greater collaboration, leveraging each other’s capabilities to deliver substantial benefits for both companies.
Kieron Salter, CEO of KWSP, said: “Relocating to new headquarters at Silverstone Park will deliver a step-change in capability for our customers. The new office will house our rapidly growing engineering team, while the hybrid workshop assembly area will give us greater capacity than ever before to deliver high-performance road, track and motorsport projects – not to mention the substantial development and testing advantage of being located next to Silverstone Circuits.
“After ten years of specialist, high-performance engineering and a myriad of fantastic projects, we are now working on some of our most exciting programmes yet. All will be revealed later this year, but this new move marks the beginning of a bold new chapter for the business. It is also a fantastic way to celebrate KWSP’s tenth anniversary and positions us perfectly for another exciting decade of success.
“With the Digital Manufacturing Centre also moving from strength to strength, now is the perfect time to enable greater cooperation and collaboration between KWSP’s high-performance engineering and the DMC’s world-leading additive manufacturing capabilities. This will be hugely beneficial for customer projects, as we will be able to better leverage the DMC’s expertise and production capacity with rapid production and instant delivery.”KWSP expects to move all staff across from the current location at Bicester Heritage by the end of July.
Urban Logistics’ largest speculative unit in Nottingham let to Australia’s largest online retailer
On behalf of Urban Logistics Reit Plc, FHP Property Consultants in conjunction with joint agents M1 Agency have let their speculatively built 81,000 sq ft unit on Blenheim Industrial Estate at Junction 26 of the M1.
One of four units built on the site, the 81,000 sq ft distribution unit has been let to Cotton On Group, Australia’s largest online retailer. This deal complements the previous letting of a speculatively constructed 18,000 sq ft unit on the estate.
The letting was completed by Tim Gilbertson and Chris Proctor of FHP Property Consultants who said: “A great result for all parties involved here and a pleasure to act on behalf of Urban Logistics.
“They took the sensible option of developing out the final four plots on the established Blenheim Industrial Estate speculatively to provide prime manufacturing/distribution space in a wonderful location just off Junction 26 of the M1 motorway.
“Their positive and sensible approach has yielded terrific results and we are delighted to announce the first two lettings on the estate, the larger of which saw 81,000 sq ft let to Cotton On Group.
“We wish the new occupiers well in this pristine Grade A building. We would also like to thank their agent, Toby Smith of Harper Dennis Hobbs for helping seal this transaction.”
John Barker, head of development at Urban Logistics Reit Plc, said: “The funding venture with Wilson Bowden Developments has worked well and they have completed the buildings to a high standard.
“The East Midlands element of the portfolio was recently completed so early lettings to Cotton On and All Shires Foods is testament to the tenant demand in the market and that we’ve let two of the four Nottingham units so quickly after practical completion, with further interest in the remaining two, is satisfying.”
Olivia Salisbury, asset manager at Urban Logistics Reit Plc, added: “We’re pleased to welcome Cotton On and All Shires to the ULR portfolio and look forward to working with them going forward.”
Lincolnshire-based estate agency opens new branch in Nottingham
Midlands estate agent Pygott & Crone has opened a new branch in Nottingham’s up-and-coming Bridlesmith Gate in the city centre.Pygott & Crone has been established in Lincolnshire for the past 30 years, with offices in London and more than 600 associated offices across the UK, as founding members of the Land and New Homes network and the relocation agent network, and this move marks its first branch opening in Nottingham City.The agency has already sold a number of properties in and around the area, while adding a number of well-known home builders to its books, including the likes of Taggart Homes, Sherwood oak homes, KMRE, Longhurst and IKON residents.
Following the opening of its new branch, Pygott & Crone is contracted to sell more than 1,000 new homes across the region within the next 18 months, after receiving support from the Nottinghamshire business community and the public.
Six new staff members are set to join the office, with more recruitment opportunities in the coming months.
Director of Pygott & Crone, Tim Downing, said: “I am really excited and feel very proud about our new branch opening in Nottingham. This has been a significant investment for us, with new technology and a total refurbishment of the premises – it looks great, and very inviting too for the public to pop in off the street and have a chat with us, which is exactly what we want.
“We first opened an office space in Gothic House in the Lace Market in 2018 and back then, it was just me. We have since hired three more members to join the Nottingham team, and to now have an official branch open right in the centre with a team of six – and more to come – is just fantastic and a real testament to the success of the agency.
“I am very much looking forward to what the rest of 2022 has to bring for Pygott & Crone and I know that Dale Brewster, the new manager of the branch, will do a fantastic job of leading the team.”
Dale has extensive experience within the industry in Greater Nottingham and the county itself, having worked as a negotiator, valuer and manager over the past 10 years. He said: “It’s an exciting time for the business as there is ample opportunity here in Nottingham and we’ve already hit the ground running. We’ve been overwhelmed with the support so far and are feeling positive about the future.”
East Midlands small business confidence nosedives as significant challenges build
East Midlands small business confidence has tumbled in the last quarter, showing concerning signs way beyond the national average, a new report reveals.
The Federation of Small Businesses’ quarterly Small Business Index (SBI) for the East Midlands shows a Quarter 2 reading of -43, which is significantly down from 17 in the previous quarter. Whilst this drop in confidence mirrors other parts of the UK, the East Midlands has seen a more dramatic fall than the national average, which over the last quarter went from 15 in Q1 2022, to -25 in Q2 2022. The figure is the lowest recorded outside of periods when significant trading restrictions aimed at halting the spread of COVID were in place.
In the East Midlands, the greatest perceived barriers to growth over the coming twelve months are the domestic economy (63%), appropriately skilled staff (33%), and fuel costs (30%). Concerns over appropriately skilled staff have notably increased since Q1, when the respective score stood at 15%.
In Q2 2022, 44% of small businesses in the East Midlands reported a decrease in revenue, as economic uncertainties impact consumer habits and business performance. Resilience is also falling; in Q1 2022, 43% of small businesses in the region reported an increase in revenue – this has slipped to 30% in Q2, a fall of 13%. Nationwide performance is slightly higher, with 35% of businesses reporting an increase in revenue in Q2.
East Midlands scores the worst in terms of an employment level decline compared to other regions in the UK, with ‘actual’ employee cuts worse in Q2 than was predicted in Q1. The employment situation for East Midlands small businesses has seen a return to net negative figures, with 18% decreasing staffing in Q2 2022 (versus 11% in Q1).
In Q2 2022, 6% of East Midlands small businesses reported an aspiration to grow rapidly (increase turnover/sales by over 20%), and 32% reported aspirations to grow moderately (increase turnover/sales by up to 20%). However, the proportion of those in the region seeking to downsize or consolidate their business has risen in Q2 from Q1, from 2% to 13%.
FSB East Midlands policy representative Rav Panesar said: “The cost of doing business crisis has worsened to the point where confidence is now lower than during last year’s massively disrupted festive trading season. Business owners across the East Midlands are trying to absorb additional cost pressures but can only do so much before they’re forced to raise prices or worse close their doors.
“The small business community reduced in size to the tune of hundreds of thousands over lockdowns. Unless policymakers act fast, history is set to repeat itself. Businesses desperately need help with the charges that hit them regardless of profitability: business rates, national insurance, utilities, fuel and those linked to supply chain disruption.
“We’re now looking to local policy makers for unequivocally pro-business, pro-growth commitments – this must include UKSPF and devolution conversations, small businesses growth must be central to their design.”
Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games selects East Midlands business as official technology supplier
Following a competitive tender process, Iventis has been selected as the official technology supplier to the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games held between 28th July and 8th August.
Iventis’ geospatial event planning tool will be used by everyone involved in planning the event. They will use it to bring together maps, CAD plans and other datasets so they can easily create and share their plans with key stakeholders, facilitating better, faster communication and expediting decision making.
The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games involves over 5,054 athletes competing in 72 teams from 54 Commonwealth of Nations countries and 18 territories. The logistics of an event of this scale require clear, concise and collaborative mapping.
With the event being held in the Midlands and Iventis being an East Midlands-based business funded by the Midlands Investment Engine, Iventis’ CEO and founder, Joe Cusdin, says the partnership is even more poignant.
“We are delighted to have been selected as the official technology supplier for such a prestigious event within our local region. The Commonwealth Games has shown a commitment to innovation in technology to improve how the event is planned and delivered,” he says.
“This complex, multi-sport event is exactly what Iventis was designed for and by using Iventis’ event planning tools, the whole team including stakeholders and suppliers are able to plan every aspect of the event in a truly integrated way – moving away from plans being managed in disparate formats.
“The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games joins the growing list of major events that have chosen Iventis to transform their planning process. Our team of experts will be seconded to Birmingham for the games in a variety of functions from sponsor services to technology operations and results QA and we look forward to working with the team ahead of and during the fantastic event,” adds Joe.
Laurence Smith, head of Venue Technology for Birmingham 2022, said: “Birmingham 2022 is the largest event to be held in the UK since London 2012. That means it is an incredibly complex operation for us to manage. Iventis allows us to knit all of those requirements together in a single platform.
“It’s absolutely fantastic and so useful across the supply chain for everybody to have access across all of the different venues. It’s been fantastic from an efficiency and commercial value perspective.”
Iventis’ relationship with the Commonwealth Games Federation Partnership will continue for future editions of the event which will bring lasting benefits beyond Birmingham 2022. Having a single source of trusted data, irrespective of timing and location will help the event’s planners make better data driven decisions for future editions of the event based on past experience.
EV specialist expands at Silverstone Park
Vehicle electrification specialist Lunaz Applied Technologies (LAT) has revealed plans to dramatically quadruple its presence at MEPC Silverstone Park by expanding into 140,000 sq ft of new industrial accommodation at the estate.
The premises are among four large industrial units recently constructed by MEPC as part of its latest 265,000 sq ft development at Silverstone Park.
The additional production space will enable LAT to grow its upcycling of diesel-powered industrial vehicles, such as recycling trucks, by restoring them to warrantied-as-new condition and converting them to full electric power.
As many as 1,100 ‘upcyled electric vehicles’ (UEVs) could be produced a year inside the plant and 300 new jobs created as part of the expansion, according to the business.
LAT, whose investors include England football legend David Beckham, says it is now actively recruiting across both manufacturing and electric vehicle specialisms to support its rapid growth.
David Lorenz, founder, Lunaz, said: “This landmark project represents a huge step forward for Lunaz Applied Technologies and the wider drive towards clean-air mobility.
“We have dramatically expanded our upcycling campus in Silverstone, Northamptonshire, in response to market sentiment, and the clear and growing demand for upcycled electric vehicles (UEVs).
“We’re backing our own technology, processes and people, and making a powerful statement of intent for our vision of Lunaz Applied Technologies (LAT); it’s also a renewed vote of confidence from us and our investors in the UK as our chosen long-term location for LAT’s manufacturing and R&D activities.
“This development will enable us to unlock the vast potential of UEV technology to break the replace-with-new cycle and bring us ever closer to carbon neutrality.”
Notably, investment in technology by LAT to reduce its own environmental footprint means its Silverstone Park premises will be highly thermal-efficient and use heating powered by sustainably-generated electricity.
Furthermore, all tools used by production experts will be battery-operated and vehicle ramps will be fitted with a kinetic energy recovery system to minimise power usage.
Reasons why your business requires experienced coders
If you’re running a business, you need to find every edge to succeed and get ahead of your competitors. One area where you can achieve this is through coding. But why is it important? Below, we explore what coding is and why your business needs experienced coders.
What is coding?
Coding is key for working with computers. It refers to the instructions you give a computer, telling it how to operate. Usually, coding comes in the form of a series of step-by-step instructions, telling a computer how to build software, games, websites, and apps. Whatever industry you’re in and whatever products and services you offer, by having a strong command over computers, you’ll be able to deliver excellent customer service, while running your business efficiently.
Coders help keep your business secure
For any business that develops software products, it’s vital that its source code remains secure. If the source code is leaked, competitors can take their intellectual property. Perhaps even more dangerously, once hackers have access to the source code, they can weaponize it to attack and steal data. This can lead to financial and reputational damage for a business. As such, it’s crucial that your business has experienced coders to create rigorous source code without leaking any important information.
Coding improves customers’ experience
Experienced coders can also help improve your customers’ experience too. When customers use your website to make purchases, they expect a rapid, personalised service that allows them to complete their order as quickly as possible. Real-time updates, lowered delivery times, better interaction and targeted feedback are all possible with quality coding on your website. And you can use kits to conduct experiments for your coding and engineering needs. Just take the time to allow your coders to create a quality website and you should be primed to reap the rewards.
Coders increase the business’s efficiency
Experienced coders can also improve the culture of your business more widely. A coder thinks with efficiency: they’re always looking to use one line of code to achieve the equivalent of 100 lines of code. By lending this efficient perspective to your business, you might find that some of your other problems are solved too. By asking your coders for advice on projects and other issues, you might find solutions to these problems. A plurality of different viewpoints and experiences within your business can always benefit you.
Coding is one aspect of your business that you can’t afford to cut corners on. As you can see from the guide above, by having quality coders in your team, you’ll find that your business will go from strength to strength this year.
Property consultancy hires new risk and compliance director
A property consultancy has appointed a risk and compliance director as the business goes from strength to strength.
Christian Fleischmann will lead a team based in Fisher German’s Ashby-de-la-Zouch head office, providing expertise on enterprise risk management, regulatory compliance, quality management, business acceptance, complaints, insurance, and claims.
A practising solicitor, Christian has a strong governance, risk and compliance background having spent over 20 years in the financial services sector. He joins from Unity Trust Bank plc where he led on conduct risk, enterprise risk and operational resilience.
Andrew Bridge, managing partner at Fisher German, said: “On behalf of the business I would like to welcome Christian to Fisher German.
“As we continue to grow, most recently through a merger with Matthews & Goodman, we remain committed to the highest standards of risk and compliance and Christian brings with him a wealth of experience to support this.”
Christian added: “Joining Fisher German at this stage in my career is a great opportunity. It’s an entrepreneurial firm with big plans, committed people and high standards. I really look forward to working with Andrew and the rest of the team.”
Brady Solicitors adds trio of hires to senior team
Nottingham property management law firm, Brady Solicitors, has made three key appointments to its senior management team as part of the next phase of its strategic growth plans.
The firm has recruited Rachel Thompson as head of talent and HR, Adam Hollis as head of litigation and Brad Clarke as head of sales, who will all be based at its Nottingham offices on Regent Street.
Rachel Thompson joins Brady Solicitors in a new role as head of talent and HR, where she is responsible for developing the company’s employer value proposition (EVP) and leading the recruitment drive. Rachel previously worked for Nottingham Trent University as talent acquisition lead, where she established and led a resourcing and talent acquisition shared services team and ensured an efficient, effective and stakeholder centric service.
Rachel says: “The war for talent is particularly aggressive in the professional services, and it is becoming increasingly difficult for firms to retain good people on their teams. As head of talent and HR, it is my job to challenge the status quo, analyse where there are barriers to the profession, and to utilise my understanding and experience of talent to help make Brady Solicitors think differently. I have already implemented a successful trainee assessment programme since joining and have lots of plans in the pipeline to help the firm continue its journey to becoming the employer of choice for top legal candidates.”
Adam Hollis joins Brady Solicitors from Taylor & Emmet, where as head of property litigation, he handled a full range of commercial and residential property disputes. A strong manager, with in depth sector expertise, Adam’s deep understanding of both leasehold law and commercial property matters means he is well equipped to handle a broad spread of property related disputes, from service charge matters through to complex mixed-use cases.
Adam says: “With the firm embarking on its phase of growth, now is an exciting time to be joining Brady Solicitors. As head of litigation, I am relishing mentoring our next generation of trainees and supporting them throughout their career journeys to learn, develop and fulfil their potential.”
Expert sales leader Brad Clarke joins Brady Solicitors from Inflo, a financial data analytics software company, where he was global head of sales. With extensive experience in managing B2B relationships and a wide range of commercial expertise, Brad’s role involves overseeing client retention, growth, and new instructions across the firm and ensuring an exemplary client experience.
Brad says: “I am thrilled to have joined Brady Solicitors as head of sales. This is also a brand-new role for the firm, and I am enjoying putting my strong client management expertise to good use and really making the role my own. Brady Solicitors is a supportive and hands-on law firm with an exceptional legal reputation in its sector. I hope to play a key role in its continued growth and success.”
Clare Brady, Managing Director, adds: “We are thrilled to welcome Rachel, Adam, and Brad to the team; their appointments represent significant additions to the firm and are a part of our wider five-year development strategy. Our reputation within the property management sector means we are enjoying continued strong growth but, with this growth, comes the challenge of building a top-rate, experienced senior team. I am delighted that these three talented and ambitious people have joined us and it’s fantastic to see them already making a big impact at the firm.”
The Access Group acquires ProspectSoft
Access ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), a division of Loughborough-headquartered The Access Group, a provider of business management software to small and mid-market organisations, has acquired ProspectSoft Ltd, set up over 25 years ago to provide organisations operating stock management with an effective CRM solution, geared toward working within the B2B product supply chain.
Access acquired Unleashed in 2020, a key integration partner for ProspectSoft. This latest acquisition brings together three organisations to offer customers a broader range of integrated ERP and business management solutions.
Brendan Flattery, Managing Director, ERP, said: “Access’s decision to acquire ProspectSoft reflects our desire to offer market leading software solutions to key market sectors, specifically to organisations involved in the manufacture, wholesale and distribution of B2B products.
“ProspectSoft operates in the world of stock management, offering a highly effective CRM solution, geared toward organisations working in the B2B product supply chain. ProspectSoft is a business that shares our passion for helping our customers achieve their goals and we’re delighted to bring ProspectSoft into our ERP Division.”
Andy Ardron, ProspectSoft founder and CEO, said: “This is fantastic news for our business, people and customers. Just like Access, we’re passionate about delivering market-specific technology that solves real-life problems for our customers.
“Bringing together ProspectSoft and Unleashed, as well as introducing a greater breadth of business management tools such as HR, Payroll, internal communications and more, gives us the opportunity to support our customers even better, and reach more customers through Access’s growing global platform. I, Stuart, Tanya and the team are excited to be part of this next evolution and we can’t wait to join Access ERP.
“I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank Maven Capital Partners, who have played a big part in our success over the last five years – from the initial funding of our management buyout in 2017 to support the ongoing growth of ProspectSoft Ltd and financing a spin-out venture (Zing Dev Ltd) in 2019. We now look forwards to further accelerating our growth and success from within the Access Group.”
