M-EC, the technical development consultants, has made a trio of appointments at its Leicestershire head office. The three new hires will take up roles in its Acoustic Air, Civil Engineering and Structures departments.
M-EC welcomes associate structural engineer, Lance Poole to its Structures department. Lance’s broad-based engineering experience spans more than 40 years, both in the United Kingdom and South Africa.
Prior to joining M-EC, Lance worked with consulting engineering firms and design/build contractors on many new build and refurbishment projects for industrial, commercial, educational and domestic buildings. To date he has mainly worked as the lead structural engineer and managed design teams for larger projects.
Lance brings broad built environment expertise to M-EC and a wealth of experience in structural steelwork, in-situ and pre-cast reinforced concrete, masonry and timber structures. He also has experience in the design of temporary works/heavy lifting schemes and the design of building facades formed in stone, masonry and pre-cast concrete. In his free time, he is a big music fan and enjoys singing and playing the guitar. Moving to the East Midlands, he is keen on taking up walking too.
Adam Walker
Acoustic consultant, Adam Walker, joins M-EC’s Acoustic Air department from his previous role as an acoustics engineer at a global engineering consultancy, where he worked on a variety of projects. With a degree in Music Technology from De Montfort University, before moving into engineering, Adam spent five years travelling the world as an audio systems engineer with a range of different bands. A keen triathlete, Adam has already joined the M-EC team in a recent 5K run.
Civil engineering technician, James Brant, comes to M-EC with six years infrastructure and design experience across a number of civil technician and engineering roles. James joins M-EC’s Civil Engineering department as a specialist in works/private drainage design.
James Brant
Alex Bennett, director of M-EC, said: “It is an exciting time at M-EC and we are really pleased to welcome three new team members to further strengthen our civil and structural engineering and acoustics offer.
“Lance Poole brings a wealth of global expertise from large international projects and has a good eye for cost effective buildable details in all structural materials. Adam Walker joins us with a varied career to date and innovative ideas for the air acoustic team and James Brant has a specialism in drainage design which will also boost our civils team. We look forward to what the future holds.”
Overcoming skills shortages and driving up productivity can help East Midlands businesses bounce back from Covid and build a sustainable and prosperous future, according to the CBI’s new regional chair.
Dr Nik Kotecha OBE – founder and chairman of Morningside Pharmaceuticals in Leicestershire – has taken over as chair of the CBI East Midlands Regional Council. He succeeds Darren Wilson of LKAB Minerals in Derbyshire, who has held the position for the past two years.
Dr Kotecha has long been active in public service at both national and regional level. He is a Department of International Trade Export Champion and sits on the Department’s SME Trade Policy Advisory Group.
He is also part of the East Midlands Chamber of Commerce, the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership, the Midlands Engine Council & Health Boards and co-chair of the Loughborough Town Deal Board.
Dr Kotecha has won a number of prestigious business awards, including being named a 2021 EY Entrepreneur of the Year Regional Champion for Excellence in Sustainability and making LDC’s 2021 list of the UK’s Most Ambitious Business Leaders, as featured in the Times. In 2017, he was awarded an OBE for services to entrepreneurship, innovation in pharmaceutical services and philanthropy. He was also named the national Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2019 National Business Awards.
He is stepping into the role at a difficult time, but believes the East Midlands has plenty of strengths to call upon which can help businesses navigate current hardships and emerge stronger in the future.
Dr Nik Kotecha OBE, chair of the CBI East Midlands Regional Council, said: “I am thrilled to be taking over as chair of the East Midlands CBI Regional Council at what is a challenging yet potentially exciting time for business.
“The CBI has some bold ambitions designed to grow prosperity and opportunity throughout the East Midlands economy, as we look to rebuild from the pandemic, nurture new cross-sector collaborations and move towards a low-carbon future.
“Doing so will take a concerted effort from Government, education and enterprise. Leaders must foster a culture of growth by investing in the infrastructure, people and skills this region needs to combat pockets of deprivation and raise aspirations and attainment.
“If we get the key decisions right at this pivotal time, I am confident there is a bright future in store for East Midlands businesses. I look forward to playing my part in this new role alongside regional CBI colleagues.”
Richard Blackmore, CBI Midlands director, said: “I am delighted to welcome Nik to the role of regional chair, and would also like to place on record my thanks to Darren for his huge contribution to the region during the challenges of the past two years.
“Nik brings a wealth of knowledge of the region and insight into the issues that matter to businesses. His expertise will be a major asset for businesses and for the CBI as we look to work towards a net-zero future and implement the strategies for growth set out in our Seize The Moment economic vision.”
Metal and waste recycling specialist, Ward, has invested in a Mantsinen 70 hydraulic crane for its metal processing site at Redcar Bulk Terminal, to increase its export handling capacity for ferrous metals.
The purchase of the brand-new diesel powered Mantsinen 70 is the largest single investment in material handling equipment Ward has made to date at over €800,000. The heavy-duty machine, developed with state-of-the-art technology has a maximum reach of 24 metres and weighs 95 tonnes. It can lift up to 15 tonnes of material in each movement.
Thomas Ward, commercial director at Ward, said: “This is the largest piece of equipment in our business to date for bulk handling of scrap metal. The new Mantsinen 70 hydraulic crane is more energy efficient, helping to reduce both our handling costs and CO2 emissions per tonne at our Redcar site. It also has the benefit of helping to increase loading speeds, which is important factor when loading for our end users.”
The Midlands-based business, with sites nationwide, purchased the brand new Mantsinen 70 through Cooper Handling, the exclusive UK distributor of Mantsinen hydraulic cranes, in early 2021 and took delivery in December.
Martin Vanstone-Dale, manager of sales & rental MHE at Cooper Handling, said: “The concept of hydraulic cranes is all based around cycle times and productivity, which makes it ideal for Ward. They offer pinpoint accuracy and are more wind resistant thus aiding port operations and increasing efficiency. With added safety features and flexible attachments, we’re pleased to have been able to support Ward in acquiring an energy efficient option for its metal processing operations.”
As part of The Ward Way sustainability strategy to 2030, the Ward team has also opted for the HybriLift® energy saving system. This optional extra provides greater load movement while using less energy, further demonstrating Ward’s ongoing commitment to carbon reduction and lowering energy consumption, increasing efficiency by up to 35 per cent.
With three fixed cabin positions or two different cabin elevators, the Mantsinen 70 ensures stability and safety in the most challenging environments. It’s quick coupling, means the change of attachment can be made in a few minutes, reducing operational downtime.
The multi-award winning, independent fourth generation family business has invested significantly over the last few years with a new head office in Ilkeston, ongoing upgrades to its transport facilities and improvements to its fleet. It has opened a rail terminal and another new deep sea port facility in Redcar in July 2021. This further expands its metal recycling capabilities and follows the deep-sea port development at Immingham in 2018.
For more information on Ward’s metal recycling and waste management capabilities visit www.ward.com.
The WestBridge Group, which provides specialist tax advice and independent administration, consultancy, and trustee services for Small Self-Administered Pension Schemes (SSAS) has relocated its Leicester head office.
Previously located in the City Centre on New Street, the firm has taken the ground floor of offices on Meridian Business Park as part of its growth strategy to create a centrally based HQ.
The new location has easy access to all essential transport links and will enable the company to service its UK wide client base, as well as create room for further expansion.
The company has completely refurbished the space to reflect its brand identity and values having leased the 2,000 sq ft office space in a deal arranged by Peter Tew Chartered Surveyors.
Tom Moore, founding director, said: “We recognised some months ago the requirement for high quality office accommodation suited to the demands of the ‘hybrid working’ era. Clients and staff all require ease of access and excellent facilities. The Dominus Way building fits the bill and also offers opportunities for expansion.”
A project to save Taylor’s historic bell foundry has been given a significant boost by Loughborough Town Deal.
The Town Deal has confirmed funding to the tune of £835,000 to support the project to save the last major bell foundry in Britain.
It is one of 11 projects Loughborough Town Deal is backing after securing £16.9 million of Government funding. In total, the projects are worth over £40 million of investment for the town.
The Loughborough Bellfoundry Trust is restoring the historic Grade II* bell foundry in Freehold Street to save this iconic piece of the nation’s industrial heritage. Taylor’s bells can literally be heard ringing around the world.
The Town Deal Board is co-chaired by Cllr Jonathan Morgan, leader of Charnwood Borough Council, and Dr Nik Kotecha OBE, chairman of Loughborough-based Morningside Pharmaceuticals.
Cllr Morgan said: “I am delighted that we can now confirm Town Deal funding for this project. As the last major bell foundry in the UK, it is vital we do everything we can to save it, not just for the town of Loughborough but also our nation’s heritage.
“The bell foundry trust has done a wonderful job in securing a significant amount of funding from various sources, including the Town Deal, to save this iconic building.”
Dr Nik Kotecha said: “I am delighted the Town Deal is investing in the bell foundry. Not only is it important from a heritage point of view but also for the local tourism economy which supports jobs and growth.
“Taylor’s is a unique place and by making it more accessible we can attract more visitors to the area which supports other businesses. This is a great example of how the Town Deal benefits Loughborough and its communities now, and for many years to come.”
Bellfoundry Museum director, Dr Chrissie Van Mierlo, said: “The entire bellfoundry team would like to say a huge thank you to the Town Deal Board for their investment. Our mission to Save the Last Major Bellfoundry in Britain is a real passion project that’s been many years in the making. These vital funds have given our plans an enormous boost.
“We are incredibly proud of our town’s industrial past, so we are honoured and privileged to play a key role in its future. The people of Loughborough have blown us away with their enthusiasm for our site. We can’t wait to welcome them to the bellfoundry to see what it’s all about!”
The Loughborough Bellfoundry Trust has already secured £3.5 million of National Lottery support for its project which will:
repair the iconic Victorian casting hall and workshop where bells are created
preserve and expand the foundry’s vast archive, which relate to over 10,000 bells and bell towers around the globe
improve access to the site so anyone can visit and experience this unique place
overhaul and improve the only bell museum in the country
repair the tuning shop where the principles of the harmonic tuning of bells were developed in the 1890s
reinstate the Foundry’s Carillon
reengage with young people and learners to preserve the foundry’s unique craft skills.
Loughborough Town Deal is supporting a number of projects to boost skills, improve the town centre, reduce flooding, regenerate the riverside, develop a creative hub and support two key attractions – Great Central Railway and the bell foundry.
So far, Loughborough Town Deal has invested £750,000 to create a Careers and Enterprise Hub in Loughborough town centre which opened in the summer of 2021 and £1.7 million to support the Bedford Square Gateway Project which is regenerating part of the town centre. Combined with the bell foundry project, that brings Town Deal investment in Loughborough so far to around £3.3 million.
Yü Group, the Nottingham-based supplier of gas, electricity and water to the UK SME and corporate business sector, has seen “very strong growth in revenue” in 2021, while profit is anticipated to pass expectations.
According to a trading update for the year ended 31 December 2021, full year revenues are to be in excess of £150m, an expected increase of 50% on FY20, which the company says is driven by continued organic growth and the integration of Ampower.
Meanwhile adjusted EBITDA and profit for the year are expected to be significantly ahead of market expectations.
Yü Group also reported record average monthly bookings of £13.8m for FY21, an increase of 66.3% on £8.3m for FY20.
Bobby Kalar, Group Chief Executive Officer, said: “I’m pleased to report a very strong performance for FY21, significantly ahead of market expectations. Acknowledging it’s been a tough year for the industry specifically, I’m proud the breadth of strength, experience and discipline in our business has again produced results that have surpassed expectations.
“FY21 revenues, profitability and forward contracted revenues have all extensively exceeded management forecasts. As well as a strong 2021, the forward visibility of our contract book for 2022 and beyond means the company’s accelerating growth is underpinned and the board are confident in the continued financial progress of the business.
“The strong sales momentum of H1 has continued to accelerate in H2 with record monthly bookings. The group experienced a 66% increase in monthly bookings compared to the £8.3m achieved in 2020. I’m particularly pleased how the business responded to Q4 market volatility which resulted in record quarterly bookings and onboarding performance.
“Contracted meter points have increased 83% while customer contract lengths are trending at an average of 30 months. The group has entered 2022 with excellent forward revenue visibility supported by a solid forward and hedged order book. Alongside driving growth, management have focussed relentlessly on improving margin through an appropriate hedging policy. The group performance incentivisation structures have been embedded in management culture and I’m pleased to see this reflected in the performance of the business.
“The board’s growth objective for 2021 was very clear and well documented. Having positioned the business for significant and profitable growth these goals have been delivered. 2022 is set to enable the group to continue to scale rapidly and benefit from the associated economies of scale. I’m particularly pleased the business has achieved this objective despite a period of high market volatility.
“I would like to thank all my team members for playing such a vital part in delivering and exceeding our objectives.”
Forterra, the Northampton-headquartered producer of manufactured masonry products, witnessed strong trading throughout 2021.
According to a trading update for the year ended 31 December 2021, full year brick sales volumes were 33% ahead of 2020 and 1% ahead of 2019.
Meanwhile full year revenue is expected to total approximately £370m, a 27% increase on 2020 (£291.9m) and a 3% reduction relative to 2019 (£380.0m).
Stephen Harrison, Chief Executive of Forterra plc, said: “The strong customer demand seen through 2021 continued up to the end of the year, with 2022 trading continuing where 2021 ended. Having successfully delivered sizeable price increases across our product ranges we are confident of delivering meaningful growth in 2022. We remain watchful of further inflationary cost pressures, and we will apply further price increases as necessary.
“The continued strength of demand for our products bodes well, with customers already keen to secure supply ahead of the commissioning of our new brick factory at Desford later this year. We expect 2022 will be an important year as we prepare for a step change in output and financial performance from early 2023.”
Marketing Derby has given the city’s bid to become UK City of Culture 2025 a major boost after pledging £20,000 of support.
Derby is one of eight long-listed locations for such status – and next week the city will be submitting its formal bid. In the meantime, the team behind the bid has been working hard to generate support.
Marketing Derby’s pledge, which will be spread over four years, is a mixture of financial and in-kind support.
John Forkin, Managing Director of Marketing Derby, said: “Marketing Derby is fully behind the bid to become City of Culture in 2025.
“We are delighted to make this pledge to help build the business support for the application for what we believe will be the best bid submitted.
“We’re confident that culture will become increasingly important for our economy and offer and will play a key role in the post-pandemic recovery.”
The UK City of Culture competition uses culture as a catalyst for levelling up areas outside London and putting new parts of the UK on the cultural map internationally.
Bidding for the title in its own right has been shown to have a hugely positive impact on a place, using the bidding process to bring together lasting local, national and international partners, to share a vision for their area and attract investment.
A measure of the support Derby’s bid has from the city was shown at a conference organised by Visit Derby, part of Derby City Council, which was held earlier this month at Derby Museums’ Museum of Making.
Around 130 people attended the hybrid event called Culture Derby – Transforming the City Through Culture and the Visitor Economy.
It featured contributions from Mo Suleman, of Derby, Marketing Derby’s marketing and communications manager Andrew Lowe, Councillor Ross McCristal, the city council’s cabinet member for leisure, culture, tourism and wellbeing and Adam Buss, director Culture Derby, who is leading the city’s bid.
Following the presentation, delegates were asked to complete a ‘Pledge Card’, to get behind the bid.
The pledges are made based on the bid being successful – and so far, businesses and organisations have pledged tens of thousands of pounds worth of support.
Derby’s formal bid will be submitted on Wednesday, February 2 – and while it waits to see if it has been successful, supporters are being urged to keep the bid visible to judges through social media by following Culture Derby on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and using the hashtag #CultureDerby2025.
Companies and organisations can also continue to pledge their support after the city submits its formal bid.
It’s that time of year, when Business Link Magazine invites the region’s business leaders to offer up their predictions for the year ahead. It has become something of a tradition, given that we’ve been doing this now for over 30 years.Here we speak to Ben Solomon, MD at Octavian IT.
The challenges in 2022 continue to be related to secure, productive and effective remote working and cyber security. The cyber security landscape is constantly becoming a more dangerous place and it’s more important than ever for businesses to have even just a basic layer of security protections in place.
Related to remote working, we’re still seeing a large amount of the UK’s business and residential networking infrastructure is not up-to-par. There are still so many locations that cannot get stable and necessary speed fibre connectivity. This causes IT partners such as ourselves a large headache as we work with businesses to work as effectively as possible from outside of the office or with cloud services.
Recruitment is also a challenge, there does seem to be a shortage of experienced engineers with the right culture/mentality.
Opportunities though are plentiful – the cloud and cloud services are in a very exciting era – MSPs like OIT have the great responsibility of helping businesses select the best cloud technology for them and there are now a lot. It’s key to select software and services that will correctly compliment your business and not actually hinder it. Cyber Security is a huge area that still requires expertise and experience in order to provide quality consultancy to businesses. If businesses can find their own ways to provide a service or product that helps keep their clients safe, this will be a huge market for SMBs.
It’s that time of year, when Business Link Magazine invites the region’s business leaders to offer up their predictions for the year ahead.It has become something of a tradition, given that we’ve been doing this now for over 30 years.Here we speak to Kris Randall from leadership, digital learning and development consultancy Olano, which is part of Nicholas Associates Group, a high growth company offering apprentice to boardroom talent management solutions for SMEs through to international corporates.
Following a surge in digitalisation due to the pandemic, people’s concentration has dropped dramatically. In 2000 the average attention span of a human was 12 seconds but, this has now reduced to just 8 seconds.
This is likely to only shorten therefore, so will how people learn. Many companies have already moved to some form of online learning with Training Magazine finding that 88% of large companies use virtual training alongside other tools.
However, moving online does not guarantee information retention. With digitalisation increasing within companies, it is likely there will be a large transition over to video and animation, making text on the screen solely a support tool.
Covideo found that viewers retain 95% of a video’s message compared to only 10% if reading it in text. The demand for information to be condensed in a visual sense is in high demand.
Businesses rely on employees retaining information to develop and ensure they carry out their job role correctly.
With 65% of businesses currently finding that their platforms are not fit for modern workplaces, the move to adjust this is imminent. Video is short and informative and therefore with lower concentration levels video will be a necessity rather than a choice this year.
Our final prediction for 2022 is that there will be a sudden increase in animation providing a more reflective style of learning that has shown to be beneficial in the workplace.
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