Council announces plans for £20m bid to transform health & wellbeing
South Holland District Council is to submit a significant bid to the Government’s Levelling Up Fund to fund major investment into their Castle Sports Complex in Spalding.
The ambitious plans would seek to remodel the site to create a new and improved offer focused around health, wellbeing, leisure, sport, recreation and community spaces. As well as new indoor facilities the bid would also look to improve the site’s outdoor offering, as well as looking to help attract further footfall into the town centre.
The bid to Government, which is expected to be up to £20million, would come as part of the second round of their Levelling Up funding, designed to invest in infrastructure that has the potential to improve lives and give people pride in their communities.
The Council is currently working alongside a range of partners to prepare its submission for the District, ahead of the Government’s deadline in July.
Councillor Nick Worth, deputy leader and portfolio holder for people, places, economy, said: “Although we are still in the early stages this is an incredibly exciting proposal for South Holland and for Spalding, that has the potential to transform our leisure offer in the District and create a long-lasting legacy with its impact.
“There is still a lot of work to do and a long way to go, but if successful these plans would help to significantly improve our sport, recreation and leisure facilities, have great benefits for the health and wellbeing of our residents and enhance and diversify the variety of services and activities on offer in Spalding town centre.”
Sir John Hayes MP has also backed the plans, saying: “I am delighted to support this bid to Government to bring significant funding into South Holland. These exciting plans would make a real difference to residents across the District and bring welcome investment into the centre of Spalding.”
If South Holland’s bid is successful, more detailed proposals will be developed with input from partners and with close engagement with residents, organisations, community groups and businesses.
Experienced property and investment professionals join East Mids Development Company
A team of hugely experienced property and investment professionals will help advise on the progress of one of the biggest development opportunities in the UK.
The East Midlands Development Company has recruited a team of private sector non-executive directors to work alongside its local authority partners, commercial advisors and core team as it seeks to promote the development of three sites which between them cover an area the size of three London Olympic parks.
EM DevCo has been set up as a partnership by five local authorities in the East Midlands as the predecessor body to a regional development corporation – flagged in the government’s Levelling Up & Regeneration Bill as vital to boost growth in the UK regions.
The five new non-executive directors at EM DevCo are:
- Lucy Blasdale, former development director at Homes England who will shortly be joining Barratt David Wilson
- Gary Colligan, an architect and town planner who founded spatial design business Think Place
- Ben Denton, CEO of L&G Affordable Homes, one of the leading developers and operators of affordable homes
- Imogen Ebbs, head of UK funds for the investment arm of insurance giant Aviva
- Adrian Turner, the former Morgan Sindall executive who heads advisory business Lagom
Midlands leads the UK in FDI-backed projects
The Midlands delivered a strong Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) performance last year – with both the East and West Midlands FDI-backed projects growing at a faster rate than the rest of the UK.
According to the 2022 EY Attractiveness Survey, the West Midlands hosted 78 FDI projects in 2021, up 27.9 per cent from the 61 projects located in the region in 2020.
The East Midlands hosted 39 projects in 2021, up 2.6 per cent from the 38 projects in 2020 and the same number of projects as 2019. By comparison, UK project numbers grew just 1.8 per cent from 975 in 2020 to 993 in 2021.
Meanwhile, the West Midlands improved on its immediate pre-pandemic performance, with only 64 projects taking place in 2019.
The East Midlands has good reasons for optimism about future growth, with 8.6 per cent of investors surveyed by EY describing it as the most attractive UK region for investment, behind only London (26.9 per cent), Scotland (15.8 per cent) and the South East (9.3 per cent).
The East Midlands’ 2021 project total was above its 10-year average of 34.6 and more than double the 17 projects in the region in 2012.
Leading sectors were transportation and logistics (nine projects), agri-food (seven), and machinery and equipment (seven).
Both transportation and logistics and machinery and equipment projects were at their highest level in the last five years.
Business services (22 projects) were the key activity in the West Midlands, followed by manufacturing (15), which saw its first increase in project numbers since 2017.
In the East Midlands, manufacturing led the way with 12 projects, followed by logistics (11).
Simon O’Neill, office managing partner at EY in the Midlands, said: “The regions’ successes have been built on a diverse mix of sectors, whether it’s digital technology in the West Midlands or logistics in the East Midlands.
“Looking ahead, there are reasons for optimism. Across Europe, there is a swing towards investment in manufacturing, a sector in which the Midlands has historically excelled.
“Combined with the growing importance of ‘cleantech’, the Midlands has an opportunity to establish itself as a European centre for developing and building the green technologies needed for the UK to reach its Net Zero targets.
“Notably, manufacturing projects tend to bring investment to towns rather than cities, which means they can help levelling-up within regions, not just between them.
“One thing which is consistently very clear from investors is that the strength of local business networks matters when they’re choosing where to site their projects within a country.
“Local skills and infrastructure, support from regional development bodies and access to regional grants are also part of the mix too, reinforcing the importance of devolving power and fostering local ecosystems.
“Building a unique sense of place from in its economy will help the West and East Midlands build their attractiveness to investors.”
Derbyshire call centre commits to doubling its Derbyshire-based call-centre operations
After continued success and growing sales through its online consumer brands, namely Affordable Mobiles, Buymobiles and Phones.co.uk, the Derbyshire-based business has opened recruitment to meet increasing market demand.
The expansion will generate over 30 part-time and full-time roles within the business, including Customer Support and Sales Advisor positions, split across A1 Comms’ offices in Darley Abbey, Derby, and Alfreton, Derbyshire.
Matt Way, Operations Director at A1 Comms , commented on the expansion, “We have been trading in Derbyshire for almost 25 years and are proud that we are able to offer so many exciting new career opportunities in the local area in these uncertain times.
“We are looking for fresh faces to join the amazing A1 Comms team in both our Alfreton and Derby offices, with a variety of roles available and look forward to welcoming even more talented local people to be a part of our success and growth.”
West & East Midlands deliver stand-out FDI performance in 2021, new EY report reveals
The Midlands delivered a strong Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) performance last year, according to the 2022 EY Attractiveness Survey, with both the West and East Midlands seeing their number of FDI-backed projects growing at a faster rate than the rest of the UK.
The West Midlands hosted 78 FDI projects in 2021, up 27.9% from the 61 projects located in the region in 2020. The West Midlands even improved on its immediate pre-pandemic performance, with only 64 projects taking place in 2019. Meanwhile, the East Midlands hosted 39 projects in 2021, up 2.6% from the 38 projects in 2020 and the same number of projects as 2019. By comparison, UK project numbers grew just 1.8% from 975 in 2020 to 993 in 2021.
The West Midlands’ performance means the region has overtaken the North West as the home of the most FDI projects outside London, the South East and Scotland. The region has a 7.9% share of all UK projects – up from 5.8% in 2019 – while the East Midlands has 3.9% of all projects, up from 3.5% in 2019.
The East Midlands also has good reasons for optimism about future growth, with 8.6% of investors surveyed by EY describing it as the most attractive UK region for investment, behind only London (26.9%), Scotland (15.8%) and the South East (9.3%). The East Midlands’ 2021 project total was above its 10-year average of 34.6 and more than double the 17 projects in the region in 2012.
In the West Midlands, the key sectors were digital technology (21 projects), machinery and equipment (13), and business services (eight) – with digital projects almost doubling from the 11 projects last year. Meanwhile, the East Midlands’ leading sectors were transportation and logistics (nine projects), agri-food (seven), and machinery and equipment (seven). Both transportation and logistics and machinery and equipment projects were at their highest level in the last five years.
Business services (22 projects) were the key activity in the West Midlands, followed by manufacturing (15), which saw its first increase in project numbers since 2017. In the East Midlands, manufacturing led the way with 12 projects, followed by logistics (11).
Simon O’Neill, Office Managing Partner at EY in the Midlands, says: “The Midlands has been a UK FDI success story in 2021, with both the West and East Midlands bouncing back from the impact of the pandemic on inward investment – or, in the case of the West Midlands, charging ahead of where things were before the pandemic started. The regions’ successes have been built on a diverse mix of sectors, whether it’s digital technology in the West Midlands or logistics in the East Midlands.
“Looking ahead, there are reasons for optimism. Across Europe, there is a swing towards investment in manufacturing, a sector in which the Midlands has historically excelled. Combined with the growing importance of ‘cleantech’, the Midlands has an opportunity to establish itself as a European centre for developing and building the green technologies needed for the UK to reach its Net Zero targets. Notably, manufacturing projects tend to bring investment to towns rather than cities, which means they can help levelling-up within regions, not just between them.
“One thing which is consistently very clear from investors is that the strength of local business networks matters when they’re choosing where to site their projects within a country. Local skills and infrastructure, support from regional development bodies and access to regional grants are also part of the mix too, reinforcing the importance of devolving power and fostering local ecosystems. Building a unique sense of place from in its economy will help the West and East Midlands build their attractiveness to investors.”
The leading location for FDI in the Midlands was Birmingham (17 projects – sixth largest non-London city), while Warwick was a stand-out location in the country, with growth in the digital sector boosting projects from two in 2020 to 12 in 2021. Coventry, with six projects, was the third Midlands location in the UK top-20.
UK retains second place in Europe for investment
EY’s report also reveals that the UK has retained second place in its annual ranking of European countries by their ability to attract FDI projects, with investment activity in Europe and the UK beginning its recovery from the pandemic. France held top spot for project numbers for the third year running, although the UK came first in Europe for new projects and led France and Germany on jobs per project.
The UK’s 1.8% improvement in project numbers from 2020 was a return to growth after a pandemic-driven fall of 12% the year before (from 1,109 in 2019).
However, while the UK managed to close the gap to European leader France in 2020 to just ten projects, the number of French FDI projects grew 24% in 2021, from 985 in 2020 to 1,222 – a European record high.
Overall, Europe recovered some ground after the pandemic-driven 13% decline in project numbers recorded in 2020. The continent saw 5.4% growth in 2021, with 5,877 projects recorded (up from 5,578).
Alison Kay, Managing Partner for Client Service at EY UK & Ireland, comments: “The UK continues to be recognised as a leading destination for inward investment in Europe. Although the gap in the number of projects between the UK and France has widened, there are still many reasons to be optimistic.
“The proportion of investors looking to back projects in the UK is at a record high. Also, the number of ‘new’ projects secured by the UK, which typically generate more jobs and higher levels of investment, was not only up on the year before, but was the highest level in Europe.
“It seems the UK’s focus on attracting greater ‘value’ FDI projects over ‘volume’ is starting to bear fruit, building on the country’s recent successes in Research & Development and digital technology.
“However, there remains room for improvement. Investment into Europe has been shifting from services to manufacturing, a swing which leaves the UK with ground to make up. As we’ve said before, a drive towards ‘green’ manufacturing could help the UK attract investment, while accelerating progress towards sustainability and levelling up goals.”
New projects and investor sentiment are encouraging for the UK – but war in Ukraine is a risk across Europe
The survey reveals that ‘new’ FDI projects represented over three-quarters of all UK projects in 2021 and were up 5% from 2020. The UK matched its decade-high share of new European projects, with one-in-five new projects launched here.
The impact of having a high proportion of new projects can be seen in the jobs data: where job creation was reported, the UK averaged 68 new jobs per project, ahead of Germany (48) and France (38). Reported capital per project was also higher in the UK than it was in France.
Meanwhile, 58% of surveyed investors said they were planning to invest in the UK in 2022, up from 41% last year, and easily the highest level of investment intent ever recorded. By contrast, 53% of respondents said they intended to invest in Europe this year. Seventy-nine per cent of survey respondents feel UK attractiveness will stay the same (30%) or improve (49%) over the next three years – the highest level since the UK’s 2016 referendum on EU membership.
Alison Kay adds: “While businesses may hope to invest significantly – making up for two years affected by the pandemic – new challenges will always emerge, and competition for FDI remains intense. The UK can’t rest on its laurels and will need to adapt to meet changing investor needs in order to maintain its attractiveness. Positive sentiment means the UK has an optimistic outlook, but investor intentions don’t always translate into investment actions.”
Digital investment projects remain the UK’s FDI backbone, while high value activity success continues
The digital technology sector remains by far the leading sector in the UK’s FDI make-up with 345 projects recorded in 2021, up 7% from 2020 (322). Digital tech represents 34.7% of all UK projects compared to 20% of European projects. The UK’s next-largest sector, business services, attracted 94 projects.
The UK’s manufacturing performance continues to show room for improvement, with the 145 projects recorded in 2021 equivalent to a European market share of just 8.2% (having been 12.6% and 183 projects in 2015). More positively, the UK performed well in other high value activities such as Headquarters or R&D projects.
Simon O’Neill says: “It’s encouraging that several of the faster-growing and potentially higher-value sectors, such as tech and wellbeing, are among the most positive towards the UK as an FDI location. Despite the UK’s relatively poor manufacturing performance in recent years, two-thirds of manufacturers are looking to invest here in the next year – a figure which rises to four-fifths for the tech sector.
“There are opportunities to expand in other important sectors, too. Investors are increasingly singling out cleantech as an expected driver of future UK growth – although they are still more likely to say cleantech will be a driver of European growth. Investors say the top two growth areas for cleantech in the UK are electric vehicles and battery technology, followed by a wide array of other areas, including heat networks and carbon capture. The scope of the sector and the UK’s active involvement – and, in some cases, leadership – in key parts of it underlines the scale of the opportunity on offer. It’s an opportunity the UK must realise if it is to develop and build new technology, not just deploy it.”
London remains relatively subdued, while Scotland goes from strength to strength
London remains the UK’s – and Europe’s – leading location for FDI, but despite a 2.9% rise in projects from 383 in 2020 to 394 in 2021, the city remains well down on the 538 projects it recorded in 2019. London’s share of the UK market held steady at 39.7% in 2021, having been as high as 48.5% in 2019.
By contrast, several other UK regions or nations either recovered to their 2019 level or bounced back further: Scotland led the way with 122 projects (up 14% from 2021), followed by the South East (82 projects, up 14%) and the West Midlands. By contrast, Yorkshire and the Humber (40 projects, down 27%), the East of England (40 projects, down 26%), Wales (17 projects, down 26%) and the North West (74 projects, down 13%) saw notable year-on-year declines. At a city level, Edinburgh and Manchester (31 projects apiece) were the top non-London performers, although both recorded fewer projects than in 2020.
Simon O’Neill says: “Levelling-up as a policy idea has cut through, with almost two-thirds of investors we surveyed having heard of it last year. Awareness has turned into engagement this year, with a similar proportion saying levelling-up influences their location decisions and that they’ll look to invest where government support is available – although project numbers are yet to reflect this. Almost three-quarters of manufacturing and wellbeing investors are interested in the opportunities geographic rebalancing offers.”
George Square appoints new advisers to meet demand for mortgage advice
Two experienced mortgage advisers have joined George Square Financial Management’s Nottingham city centre office team.
In line with the firm’s corporate expansion plans, Phil Browne and Alex Barrett join as Mortgage Protection Advisers to meet growing demand for impartial mortgage advice and specialist lending in the region.
With 35 years’ experience in the financial services industry, Phil Browne has specialised in providing professional mortgage services for several firms in London and Brisbane for the last 20 years. Nottingham born and raised, he returns to the region to lay roots at a well-established local business and is looking forward to using his knowledge of the area in his new role.
“The team at George Square work hard to establish long-lasting relationships with each and every client they work with and build mutual trust and respect. This is something that I feel passionately about too,” says Phil. “I am thrilled to be joining the team and feel eager to putting my wealth of expertise in the increasingly diverse mortgage market to good use when advising clients.”
Alex Barrett also joins the team as a Mortgage and Protection Adviser. CeMap qualified and with several years’ experience under his belt within the financial services sector, Alex will be responsible for providing high quality mortgage and protection advice and support to George Square’s roster of clients. He joins the firm from a high-street estate agency, where he worked as a Mortgage Consultant.
Alex said: “I was attracted to George Square for the career progression and development opportunities that the company actively seeks for its employees, and the chance to learn and grow alongside its highly skilled, professional, and friendly team.
“Through focussing on the specialist lending market and providing support to borrowers who are likely to face more of a challenge in securing a mortgage, I can’t wait to hit the ground running and make an impact at the firm.”
George Goward, Managing Director of George Square Financial Management, added: “At George Square, we have access to the whole of the mortgage market, meaning our advisers can source the most suitable deals for clients without being restricted to certain mortgage lenders.
“Phil and Alex’s appointments reflect a substantial increase in demand for our independent, specialist mortgage advice from clients in Nottingham and across the East Midlands. We are delighted to welcome them both to the George Square team as we embark on a period of significant growth and development.”
Why are retailers increasingly betting on cashback offers?
The digital form of cashback is an increasingly big deal for online retailers. It’s a means of luring in customers, presenting them with options, and retaining their loyalty long into the future. But exactly how effectively does it do these things, and why are so many coming to offer it? Let’s examine the issue.
What is a cashback offer?
A cashback offer is, in many respects, similar to a discount for loyal customers. Rather than having a portion of the purchase price taken away, however, the customer is instead given cash back (hence the name). The amount of cashback given out will depend on the business. It might vary from day to day, incentivising customers to come in at a time that might suit the business. You might offer cashback to certain kinds of customers: for example, a carer’s cashback card might be offered only to carers. Often, cashback is handled by a third-party organisation, which might work with a range of different businesses to provide cashback to customers.Why are more businesses offering cashback?
The main reason that retailers are leaning into cashback is that it’s been proven to boost the lifetime value of a customer. This is a metric that retailers use to estimate how much they’ll get from a customer over the extreme long term. Customers who are given cash back are likely to feel warmly toward the retailer handing out the rewards. They’re therefore more likely to come back for more, and less likely to visit a rival. Given that the internet offers customers a quick and easy means of looking for a better deal, anything that can be done to bolster loyalty is something well worth doing. Cashback tends to be more affordable than many of the other ways of fostering loyalty. Suppose that you’re offering a free coffee for every tenth purchase at your café. This is effectively a cashback rate of ten percent – which is far more generous than most cashback offers. So, what is it that makes cashback preferable to a traditional discount? From a rational perspective, there isn’t one: but we must remember that customers are not always rational actors. Sometimes it can feel better to be given something rather than having to give away slightly less of something you already have. Loyalty vouchers and cards are often presented as an alternative to a cashback scheme. The vouchers have the advantage of only being redeemable at a particular retailer – but as a consequence, their value to the customer is limited. By offering cashback instead, you can get away with being that little bit less generous – you can also be sure that the customer will end up getting utility out of the money that you’re giving them, rather than having a voucher lurking for months in their wallets, unspent and forgotten.Charterpoint sells Leicestershire care home development to care operator Cinnamon Luxury Care
Senior living developer Charterpoint has sold its care home development near Leicester to care operator Cinnamon.
Following Charterpoint receiving planning permission and obtaining vacant possession, Cinnamon will now take the 73-bed residential care home development forward to construction.
The scheme will feature a range of care accommodation arranged over three floors, including resident lounges, dining and relaxation areas, a cinema room, hair and beauty facilities, café and private dining, along with terraces and landscaped gardens.
Situated on a 1.2-acre site in Uppingham Road, Thurnby, it will also feature car parking, including electric car charging points.
Charterpoint MD Giles Nursey said: “This first-class scheme will create an attractive care home for the area, which we identified as having a shortfall in purpose-built care home provision. It will also provide important local job opportunities. As an East Midlands-based senior living developer, Charterpoint is delighted to have sold the scheme to Cinnamon who will now take it forward to the development stage.”
The scheme was designed by specialist care architect Edmund Williams, and is the latest in a long line of care home and senior living developments that Charterpoint has delivered.
A spokesman for Cinnamon said: “We are excited about the potential for this latest development at Thurnby and look forward to breaking ground before the end of 2022. The team has really enjoyed working with Charterpoint to acquire this site and look forward to partnering with Charterpoint on future developments.”
Jordan Rundle of Christie & Co brokered the sale to Cinnamon.
Charterpoint, which is based at Edwalton near Nottingham, specialises in developing first-class senior living accommodation, sustainable housing schemes, and primary care premises.
Fisher German to create numerous jobs as it relocates Market Harborough office
Fisher German is set to move into a new office building in Market Harborough and says it will create numerous local jobs as a result.
The Market Harborough office is relocating from its premises in the High Street to an open-plan office to future-proof their presence in Market Harborough. They are about to undertake a complete re-fit of the 5,378 sq ft office, with staff expected to move into the property in September.
The company’s history in Market Harborough dates back more than 200 years and the Grade II listed building they are currently in is anticipated to be transformed into residential accommodation once the expected planning consent is confirmed. The company was established in 2000 after the merger of Fisher Hoggarth and Germans, with Fisher Hoggarth’s history in Market Harborough dating back to 1819. It will be only the fourth time that the Market Harborough-based team has moved during this time having been in its current office since 1960.
The move will take Fisher German to new premises at Innovation House, at Welland Business Park. Anna Collins, Associate Director in the Rural Property Management team, said: “We are extremely excited to announce the launch our new office in Market Harborough. The new, modern space will better reflect our working practices and aspirations while ensuring that we can continue to grow within Market Harborough. It is in a fantastic location on a mixed-use business park based just outside the town centre, benefitting from parking for both staff and those visiting, and it is good to know that the development of our office in High Street will be extremely positive and add vibrancy to the town centre.
We have a long history in the town and are dedicated to further strengthening our presence and continuing to invest in the local area. Our new office will support the firm as it continues to grow, and we are currently advertising for a number of positions in surveying, agency and client accounting. It will also support the welfare of our people, providing them with the best possible working environment as we focus on collaborative working between teams. We now look forward to the completion of the re-fit and welcoming people from across the area when we officially open.”
Pressure pushes a third of banking professionals to consider quitting, says report
A third of financial services and banking professionals are planning to leave the industry due to high pressure, according to a new report by LemonEdge, a global digital accountancy platform for the private capital and venture capital industry.
With burnout mounting, a further third are also planning to leave their current role as a result of high pressure, but continue to stay within the same industry. The upcoming exodus from the industry is said to risk valuable talent leaving the sector in record numbers, and stems from increasing levels of burnout, which has worsened for many since the pandemic and working from home, or hybrid model set up.
When uncovering why workers are planning to leave their positions in record numbers, the study by LemonEdge found that financial services and banking professionals state a heavy workload (42%) is the main contributor to feeling heightened pressure within their role. This is closely followed by manual processes (36%), long working hours (32%), tight deadlines (26%), and increasing demands from management (25%).
While some workers claim to be thriving in these conditions, much of the general workforce in banking and services are feeling the weight of burnout. These increased pressures are negatively impacting the mental well-being of financial service workers, as a quarter (26%) are feeling nervous about the future, whilst a further 23% are specifically worried about their health or mental health.
Overall, one in six (15%) financial services workers feel as though they can no longer continue, or have the desire to continue in their role within the industry, rising to 21% of men.
Gareth Hewitt, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at LemonEdge, said: “An exodus of industry professionals is a sure sign that levels of burnout have reached an unacceptable scale. Any experience of burnout is serious and with thousands of employees planning to leave the industry as a direct result of high pressure, it should be a clear warning to firms before they risk losing valuable talent.
“The risk of burnout to employers is huge, and there are simple measures firms can introduce to reduce the risk of burnout, making the lives of their employees’ much simpler, easier, and with less stress. Firms need to be aware of the impact absenteeism and presenteeism will have on both their employees and business productivity. Just because you’re working from home, or in a hybrid model, doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy time off. With one in four (23%) asking for faster or improved technology to eliminate manual processes, firms need to look at their approaches to improve the lives of their staff. In this day and age, technology, not only can but should, provide the automation and flexibility that can contribute to reduced stress, reduced working hours, and lower risk of burnout. At LemonEdge we are passionate about providing the tools and technology that enable financial services professionals to get home on time.”
