Derby telecoms specialist recognised as ‘NHS hero’ for its support during the pandemic
Derby communications and telecoms specialist EVAD has received national recognition for its role in supporting the NHS during the pandemic.
EVAD’s Think Healthcare service has made access to healthcare simpler for patients by freeing up time and capacity at busy GP surgeries across the country.
The company, which has seen its integrated telecoms service now become best practise within many NHS trusts supporting over 200 GP surgeries, saves an average of 200 administrative hours a year per practice for staff and has been awarded the General Practice Telecoms of the Year Award which celebrates excellence and innovation in healthcare.
Coming at a time when GP surgeries are over stretched with increased demand the technology makes it easier for surgeries to support patients, increase capacity and free up staff time to alleviate added burdens and provide a better service.
In its 14th year, the General Practice Awards celebrate the very best within the healthcare industry and according to their website “recognise the national NHS heroes carrying out work on a daily basis to help others.”
Katie Saunders joins Devonshire Group as People Director
Katie Saunders has been appointed as Group People Director at the Devonshire Group, the company that represents the interests, charities and businesses of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire.
Having been operating at board level for the past 15 years in High Street retail and during 20 years in the motor industry, including Volkswagen UK and Audi UK, Katie Saunders joins the Devonshire Group with responsibility for more than 1400 employees spread across 65,000 acres at Chatsworth in Derbyshire, Bolton Abbey in Yorkshire, the Compton estate in Sussex, and Lismore in the Republic of Ireland.
Katie Saunders said: “I’m genuinely excited by the challenge. My experience is very broad, which I think will be important given the Devonshire Group includes such a variety of businesses from visitor attractions, shops, restaurants and luxury accommodation to farming and forestry, and property development.
“Although there are many different job roles and responsibilities, it’s very clear that there is a strong, shared passion for the organisation and its values, at all levels. Part of my role will be to share my experience and expertise in Learning and Development, and particularly Management Development and Leadership, to enable everybody to make the very best of their skills and reach their full potential.”
“Some great work has been done to introduce young people and apprentices to the Devonshire Group through the Kickstart scheme and there’s more to come. To be an employer of choice we need to listen to our team and respond to their concerns so I’ll certainly be looking at issues like wellbeing and diversity to see what more we can do to further develop a modern, motivated and committed workforce.”
Brought up in Doncaster and now living in Chesterfield, Katie Saunders and her husband are frequent visitors to the Peak District and keen foodies. “We know Chatsworth well and often take walks across parts of the estate. For many years I’ve experienced first hand the professionalism, commitment and good humour of the people who work here – this really is my dream job,” she said.
Regatta Way works to start in January 2022
Works are set to begin in January on a new cycle and footpath on Regatta Way in West Bridgford.
Once complete, pedestrians, cyclists and other footway users will benefit from an upgraded two-way route which will run from A6011 Radcliffe Road to Adbolton Lane, where it will join with the existing shared cycle and footway.
Works on the new route, which will connect residential areas to facilities at Holme Pierrepont Country Park, will include the creation of a cycle track that is segregated from both the pavement and the road.
Via East Midlands, who manage Nottinghamshire’s highways on behalf of the county council, will begin works on-site on Monday 10 January 2022.
Councillor Neil Clarke MBE, Chairman of Nottinghamshire County Council’s Transport and Environment Committee, said: “It is great to hear that works on this scheme will be starting early in the New Year.
“I was pleased to hear that this scheme had strong local support and it is our hope that the creation of this new cycle and footway will help to embed walking and cycling into daily lives.
“The scheme will cost around £1.24m to construct and will be funded from the £2.178m that the county council successfully secured from the Government’s Active Travel Fund.
“There are so many benefits to walking and cycling, including cleaner air and less congested roads, and we are delighted to be delivering a scheme which will help local people to enjoy both of these safely.
“We know that news of works on the highway may cause concern about possible disruption, but we and our colleagues at Via East Midlands will endeavour to keep communities up-to-date while aiming to keep disruption to a minimum.”
“I hope these efforts will result in a great facility and I am confident that road users will be pleased with the final result.”
More information about the Active Travel Fund and schemes in Nottinghamshire can be found at: Active Travel Fund – Tranche 2 | Nottinghamshire County Council
TTK Confectionery appoints new commercial director
Nottingham-based food gifting company TTK Confectionery have appointed Katie Gilbert as their new commercial director.
The commercial director role is new and has been created as the result of a sustained period of significant growth at the company. Katie will be the second female director on the board and at only twenty-six will be their youngest ever appointment.
TTK Confectionery create food gifting solutions for major retailers across the UK such as Sainsburys, Morrisons, Matalan, Urban Outfitters and WH Smith. They also sell to over twenty-one countries worldwide as far afield as Canada and Australia.
Katie has been with the company since its creation. She first joined the company on a university internship steering the creative direction of the business. With the guidance and support of the board she developed skills in a number of areas showing a natural gift for leadership and strategic thinking. She now heads a team of eight and plays an integral part in the running of the company, managing multimillion pound budgets across several departments.
Speaking about the new appointment Katie said: “I’m extraordinarily proud that I’ve managed to reach this pivotal point of TTK’s growth journey and that I get to help shape our future. It’s a pleasure to be able to have such an influence over our strategy and I owe it all to the belief that our directors had in me from the very beginning.”
CEO Martin Barnett said: “Katie is a shining example of what can be achieved through hard work and dedication. Her team are inspired by her journey at TTK and we are delighted that she is now taking her place as a member of the board. We are so proud of all she has achieved both within the business and personally.”
Anglian Water discovers Britain’s largest ‘Sea Dragon’ in UK’s smallest county
The fossilised remains of Britain’s largest ichthyosaur, colloquially known as a ‘Sea Dragon’, has been discovered at the Rutland Water Nature Reserve, owned and run by Anglian Water. It is the biggest and most complete skeleton of its kind found to date in the UK and is also thought to be the first ichthyosaur of its species (called Temnodontosaurus trigonodon) found in the country.
The remains were fully excavated earlier this year and will feature on BBC Two’s Digging for Britain, on Tuesday 11th January at 8pm, before being made available on BBC iPlayer.
The ichthyosaur was discovered by Joe Davis, Conservation Team Leader at Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust, who operates the nature reserve in partnership with the water company, during the routine draining of a lagoon island for re-landscaping at Rutland Water in February 2021.
Joe Davis said: “The find has been absolutely fascinating and a real career highlight, it’s great to learn so much from the discovery and to think that this amazing creature was once swimming in seas above us, and now once again Rutland Water is a haven for wetland wildlife albeit on a smaller scale!”
The ichthyosaur is approximately 180 million years old and, with a skeleton measuring around 10 metres in length and a skull weighing approximately one tonne, it is the most complete large ichthyosaur ever found in Britain.
Ichthyosaurs first appeared around 250 million years ago and went extinct 90 million years ago. They were an extraordinary group of marine reptiles that varied in size from 1 to more than 25 metres in length, and resembled dolphins in general body shape.
The fragile remains of the huge skeleton were carefully excavated in August and September 2021 by a team of expert palaeontologists assembled from around the UK, in partnership with Anglian Water, Rutland County Council and the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust. The excavation was led by world ichthyosaur expert Dr Dean Lomax and specialist palaeontological conservator Nigel Larkin, along with marine reptile specialist Dr Mark Evans, Dr Emma Nicholls from the Horniman Museum and volunteers with experience of excavating fossilised marine reptiles.
The discovery is not the first at the Anglian Water reservoir, with two incomplete and much smaller ichthyosaurs found during the initial construction of Rutland Water in the 1970s. It is however the first complete skeleton to be discovered there.
CEO for Anglian Water, Peter Simpson said: “Rutland Water has a long list of previous, fascinating archaeological and palaeontological discoveries, but none more exciting than this.
“As a water company we have a role to bring environmental and social prosperity to our region. Which is why the correct preservation and conservation of something so scientifically valuable and part of our history, is as important to us as ensuring our pipes and pumps are fit and resilient for the future.
We also recognise the significance a find like this will have for the local community in Rutland. Our focus now is to secure the right funding to guarantee it’s legacy will last into the future.”
In order to preserve the precious remains, Anglian Water is seeking heritage funding. This will also ensure that it can remain in Rutland where its legacy can be shared with the general public.
Dr Dean Lomax, a palaeontologist and a Visiting Scientist affiliated with the University of Manchester, who has studied thousands of ichthyosaurs and named five new species in the process, said: “It was an honour to lead the excavation. Britain is the birthplace of ichthyosaurs – their fossils have been unearthed here for over 200 years, with the first scientific dating back to Mary Anning and her discoveries along the Jurassic Coast. Despite the many ichthyosaur fossils found in Britain, it is remarkable to think that the Rutland ichthyosaur is the largest skeleton ever found in the UK. It is a truly unprecedented discovery and one of the greatest finds in British palaeontological history.”
Dr Mark Evans of the British Antarctic Survey and a Visiting Fellow at the University of Leicester said: “I’ve been studying the Jurassic fossil reptiles of Rutland and Leicestershire for over twenty years. When I first saw the initial exposure of the specimen with Joe Davis I could tell that it was the largest ichthyosaur known from either county. However, it was only after our exploratory dig that we realised that it was practically complete to the tip of the tail. Rutland’s motto, “Multum in Parvo”, translates as “Much in Little” so it is fitting that we’ve found Britain’s largest ichthyosaur skeleton in England’s smallest county. It’s a highly significant discovery both nationally and internationally but also of huge importance to the people of Rutland and the surrounding area.”
Nigel Larkin, specialist palaeontological conservator and Visiting Research Fellow at Reading University, said “The block containing the massive 2m-long skull weighs just under a tonne (comprising the fossil, the Jurassic clay in which it lies, and the encasing plaster of paris and wooden splints). The block containing the body section weighs about a tonne and a half. It’s not often you are responsible for safely lifting a very important but very fragile fossil weighing that much. It is a responsibility, but I love a challenge. It was a very complex operation to uncover, record, and collect this important specimen safely.”
The team of palaeontologists will continue to work on the research and conservation of this significant scientific discovery, with academic papers to be published in the future.
For more information visit: www.anglianwater.co.uk/rutlandseadragon
Woodhead Construction to expand team to meet growing demand
Robert Woodhead Limited, part of the Edwinstowe based Woodhead Group has recently been appointed to several key projects in the East Midlands, including the newly announced Sherwood Observatory.
Off the back of these projects and the continued long-term partnerships, the contractor is looking to add more members to its team, both on site and at its Edwinstowe headquarters.
Janine Borderick, People Development Director at Robert Woodhead Ltd, part of the Woodhead Group said: “In what has been a tough climate for regional contractors over the last couple of years, Robert Woodhead Ltd has been able to retain a very strong presence across the East Midlands and beyond with major projects for long-term clients across Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire
“We are incredibly proud of our Nottinghamshire roots and this plays out through the work we do. All of our projects have a strong focus on community and social value – over the last two years, we have created £113m of social value across all our projects.”
The company’s strong pipeline of work has meant that they are looking to add further experience to their roster of Project Managers, Site Managers, Groundworkers and Quantity Surveyors to Own It, Achieve It and Improve It!
Janine said: “With diverse and exciting projects on the horizon, we’re keen to hear from Project Managers, Site Managers, Groundworkers and Quantity Surveyors who are looking for a new opportunity. One of the key benefits of working for the Woodhead Group is that we maintain the ethos of a family business. Our teams all genuinely care for each other and the work that they do, especially as – for many of them – the sites we operate on are local to them.”
The company also has a rare opening for a Lead Bid Manager, working as part of a dynamic business development and pre-construction team to manage and write competitive bids to secure future work.
In addition, the Woodhead Group is also looking to fill several roles at its headquarters, including a catering assistant – a position with some unique benefits.
Janine said: “Having taken our catering in-house, we are looking for assistants that will be able to help feed our colleagues from the 40 other businesses that work at Edwinstowe House. While there is no shortage of roles such as this one, what sets this apart is the family-friendly working – the role is only within traditional office hours and doesn’t involve any shift work.”
Closed Hallaton village pub seeks new owner through Christie & Co
Specialist business property adviser, Christie & Co is currently marketing the closed Bewicke Arms, an attractive and historical 16th Century traditional pub with additional letting rooms, located in the picturesque South Leicestershire village of Hallaton – the home of the traditional ‘Hallaton Bottle Kicking and Hare Pie Scramble’.
The building, which maintains many of its original features including stone façade, oak beams and traditional fireplaces throughout and is in a highly sought-after position in the heart of Hallaton and offers an incoming owner a fantastic opportunity to build on its past success.
Prior to closing, this awarding winning freehold was a popular modern take on a traditional English pub, renowned locally as a high-quality destination for food, drinks and accommodation. Along with the freehouse, which offers a main bar, secondary bar, sparate restaurant, spacious kitchen and first-floor multi-functional space, the property also features three spacious letting rooms and a harmonious barn conversion retail space in a separate building. To the rear of the buildings is a covered outside trading area, with stunning views across the rolling Leicestershire countryside.
The business has been successfully owned by Simon & Claire Tait since 2006 “We have absolutely loved our time at The Bewicke. It and has been a pleasure to be part of such an enchanting, historical place, being one of the oldest and most well known traditional inns in country.”
The village of Hallaton plays host to the annual ‘Bottle Kicking and Hare Pie Scramble’, an ancient Leicestershire custom to race barrels across a local stream, claimed to be one of the country’s oldest sports and is thought to be the inspiration for Rugby Union, that takes place each year on Easter Monday.
Overall the property offers substantial growth potential with multiple revenue streams including extensive internal trade areas, outside trade areas, letting bedrooms and additional retail space. Utilising the spacious dining areas and versatile function spaces, a new owner has the potential to increase the events and function side of the business.
James Buist-Brealey, Business Agent in Christie & Co’s Hospitality team is handling the sale and comments, “The Bewicke Arms is a much-loved pub with many traditional features, which sits pride of place in the beautiful village of Hallaton. This is a rare opportunity to own such an attractive freehold pub which offers exciting potential to a new operator.”
The Bewicke Arms is on the market on a freehold basis and invites offers over £700,000.
Anglian Water announces its largest apprenticeship recruitment drive for the East of England
Anglian Water is launching 54 new Level 3 and 4 operational apprenticeship positions encouraging people to consider working within the utilities industry. This is the largest number of positions the water company has opened up and provides the perfect route for budding engineers and technicians into this vital area of work.
Never before has access to water been so important for health and hygiene. As key workers, the Anglian Water workforce play a vital role in keeping taps running, toilets flushing and drains draining. Applying for an apprenticeship with Anglian Water is a great option for anyone considering their next move.
The water company, which has a big requirement for science and engineering skills in its workforce, offers apprentices an opportunity to work and learn simultaneously in operational, maintenance and engineering roles across the region, guaranteeing a permanent role at the end of the course, along with a nationally recognised qualification.
Grant Duller, Network Technician Apprentice at Anglian Water said, “I joined the apprenticeship scheme last year applying at the beginning of the year and haven’t looked back.
“Anglian Water apprentices are an important part of the business and I have felt incredibly valued. The company invest a lot in our training and development to help us gain valuable and practical skills as well as achieving a nationally recognised qualification. With the Level 3 Apprenticeship Standard I will gain it will give a great start to my career that will enable me to ultimately progress within Anglian Water.”
Courses can last between 18 months and four years, depending on the type of role, and is often a mixture of classroom and practical hands-on learning supporting the team, across the region.
The apprenticeship opportunities will be open for applications until 13th February, with successful applicants set to start their roles in August/September 2022.
To find out more and apply, visit the Anglian Water careers website and visit the Apprentice page.
2021 sees return to growth following COVID-hit year at CloudCall
CloudCall, the Leicester cloud-based software business, has returned to growth following a COVID-impacted 2020, according to a trading update for the year to 31 December 2021.
The business said that total reported revenues rose to £13.6m from £11.8m in 2020, while customer numbers are up 12% to 1,658 (FY 2020: 1,480).
The update follows news in December that CloudCall’s directors had unanimously recommended an all cash offer for the business to shareholders, valuing the company at £39.9 million.
The firm had reached an agreement with Xplorer Capital Growth I, LLC (Xplorer Capital), a newly formed company owned by funds managed and advised by Xplorer Capital Management LLC.
Simon Cleaver, CEO, said: “2021 marked a return to growth following a COVID-impacted 2020. I was delighted to see strong performances from new business sales, existing business upsell, and customer retention combine to drive our annualised revenue growth back over 25% as we enter 2022.
“Whilst our team have delivered well in 2021 and I’m immensely proud of what they’ve achieved, I’m also conscious that we are operating in a marketplace where many of our key competitors are materially larger and better capitalised than we are.
“In the coming few months, if we remain as a listed company, we will need to raise significant further capital to fund the group through to our targeted monthly EBITDA breakeven in 2023.
“I remain passionate about CloudCall and our team, but, given the conflicting sentiment between shareholders that prefer growth vs those that prefer us to push for break-even, I believe a future capital raise from the public markets may be challenging. In addition to this, the quantum of any fundraise will not go far to redress this imbalance between us and certain of our competition.
“Against this background and after careful consideration, as noted in the announcement of the offer by Xplorer Capital, the CloudCall Board have determined that the offer by Xplorer Capital is in the best interests of CloudCall shareholders and staff.”
2022 Business Predictions: Daniel Collins, Director at PolkeyCollins
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 Daniel Collins, Director at PolkeyCollins, the architectural practice.
2021 has been a testing year for the property and construction sector but specifically for the professional side of our industry, meaning it’s been difficult to advise clients with certainty, which is being felt across the board.
However, the changeable times have given us the chance to take perspective on many things and if anything, the long-term strategy of our practice has somewhat been validated with our approach to working with a select group of key clients across multi sectors and picking up feature projects too.
For us and many in the industry, the first quarter of 2021 was challenging as projects came to an end and new ones got cancelled because of the knock-on effects of the pandemic. But despite that shaky start, there is lots of positivity and we have never been more optimistic.
Hence, we further expanded our team this year, as planned, worked with existing and new clients and have a strong, exciting pipeline in place for 2022.
The new year is looking buoyant in terms of activity and opportunity, but I do believe the construction industry will continue its struggle with inflating materials costs, which is squeezing viability figures.
The government statement regarding ‘levelling up’ should help the economy outside of the M25 but how much of this comes to fruition we will need to wait and see.
For Polkey Collins, we have impressive projects on the horizon and keep looking forward and innovating in our outlook and approach and take each month as it comes. We are on target in terms of our strategy and have a skilled team which puts us in a strong position moving into the new year.
