£70m investment to help University of Nottingham power future transport to net zero
The University of Nottingham has secured more than £70 million to establish new world-leading and open-access research facilities and programmes that will decarbonise future transport.
The funding is secured based on a £14 million award from the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (UKRPIF). This is augmented by both public and private co-investment that will allow the university to build on its existing internationally leading capabilities in electrification, hydrogen and manufacturing.
“This is one of the largest funding injections the East Midlands has ever seen, and the opportunities are clear for new research to enable the UK to take an international lead in powering transport,” said Chris Gerada, Professor of Electrical Machines and lead for strategic research and innovation initiatives at the University of Nottingham.
“Today’s investment accelerates our shared vision to create world-class facilities, build strategic partnerships with industry, stimulate investments in the UK, and drive economic growth. We’re grateful to UKRPIF and our industry partners for the trust they have put in us.”
Professor Dame Jessica Corner, Executive Chair at Research England, said: “I am pleased to be able to award four more universities funding from our flagship UK Research Partnership Investment Fund to create four centres in a diverse range of topics, from net zero aviation to wound research, and disease therapies to future transport.
“I very much look forward to seeing how these new facilities deliver against a variety of diverse challenges over the coming years.”
The facilities will enable scale up of a number of manufacturing processes for Electrical Machines and Drives being developed in UKRI’s Driving the Electric Revolution Industrialisation Centre (DER-IC).
From March 2025, the university will work closely with industry partners to demonstrate electrical machines and drives manufacturing for a range of propulsion, traction, and generator applications. The manufacturing facilities will also be available for industry co-location to accelerate new technology developments to market.
The facilities and programmes will also enable testing of novel powertrains, including cryogenic electrical machines and power electronics, systems fuelled by liquid hydrogen and other green fuels, as well as the opportunity to create advanced manufacturing capabilities to allow rapid market introduction of the latest research into decarbonised transport solutions where battery electric power is not viable.
Industry and researchers will be able to ‘plug and play’ disruptive heavy transport components and sub-systems. A new systems integration lab, operational by 2025, will support discovery of insights through performance evaluations under real-world environments with real component and sub-system interactions.
“Building on the university’s leading capabilities in zero carbon innovation, our open-access facilities will bring together partnerships at regional, national, and international level. We’re enabling collaboration with other higher education institutions, ensuring the highest-quality research and maximising academic, industrial and socioeconomic impact,” said Professor Tom Rodden, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange at the University of Nottingham.
The university’s co-investment partners span a range of industries across aerospace, power generation, marine and off-highway. The facilities and programmes will be primarily based at the university’s Jubilee Campus and build upon recent investments such as the Power Electronics and Machines Centre (PEMC), the zero carbon innovation centre funded by East Midlands Freeport, as well as previous investments from Driving the Electric Revolution, Research England, EPSRC and D2N2. Together, they strengthen the university’s position as part of a national network of research, infrastructure, and skills development.
Harry Malins, Chief Innovation Officer at the Aerospace Technology Institute, said: “The University of Nottingham’s proposed facility will address some of the key areas for which open-access solutions do not yet exist in the UK, including test infrastructure for hydrogen systems at altitude and at high power conditions.”
New owners for Leicestershire day nursery
Specialist business property adviser, Christie & Co, has sold Nurture Me Day Nursery in Lutterworth, Leicestershire.
Established in 2012 by Gill Masters and Helen Smith, Nurture Me Day Nursery is a ‘Good’ rated setting which has the capacity for up to 106 children, as well as an out-of-school and holiday club provision for 25.
Following a confidential sales process with David Eaves at Christie & Co, it has been purchased by Kids Planet Day Nurseries which now owns 190 settings across the UK.
Gill Masters and Helen Smith, former owners of Nurture Me Day Nursery, said: “Having enjoyed substantial growth over the past few years, we decided it was time to join a family-owned group of nurseries who could provide the central support needed for a larger setting, which also facilitated our retirement.
“Kids Planet was a great ‘fit’ with similar values to Nurture Me, and we both feel that the future of our lovely nursery is in very safe hands, for parents, children and of course our amazing staff team.”
Clare Roberts, CEO at Kids Planet Day Nurseries, said: “I am delighted to welcome Nurture Me. The nursery fits well into the Kids Planet family, coming with a well-established leadership team and a highly qualified workforce. Nurture Me expands our offering in Leicestershire, and we are excited to support the whole team and families moving forward.”
David Eaves, Director – Childcare & Education at Christie & Co, said: “It was a pleasure to support Gill and Helen in the sale of Nurture Me. I originally met Gill back in late 2021 and we had discussed sale options at that point.
“It was clear that there was a fantastic underlying business that simply needed a little time to recover from the pandemic for them to achieve the right value. Having now got the business to an enviable level of occupancy and profitability, it was the perfect time for them to realise the benefit of their hard work.
“Using our sector experience and deep market knowledge we were able to secure multiple offers in a short space of time and achieve a completion only six weeks from agreeing terms.
“We continue to see an exceptional level of demand for high-quality childcare businesses across the East Midlands from a range of buyers. With demand outstripping supply in the current market, this creates an excellent opportunity for nursery owners to maximise the value they can achieve in a sale process.”
Nurture Me Day Nursery was sold for an undisclosed price.
Alfreton fashion brand seeks SEO support from Sheffield firm
Alfreton-based fashion brand David Nieper has selected Sheffield-based The SEO Works to manage its SEO and PPC as the 60-year-old firm seeks to increase its digital presence and move away from more traditional marketing methods.
The company is seeking to promote its commitment to sustainable manufacturing in the UK, using traditional skills such as sewing and knitting. The proposed strategy will bring plenty of change, including incorporating lead generation-focused adverts to help drive new business, further in-depth keyword research to help locate target audiences, and expert support in the early stages of their new website launch.
Nieper CEO Christopher Nieper said: “It’s a pleasure to find an agency that will go the extra mile to satisfy their clients. I’m optimistic about good results with The SEO Works!”
Having already utilised both their internal resources and external consultancy to progress both SEO and PPC, the addition of the award-winning agency would look to lean on their proven expertise to take things to the next level.
Alex Hill, Sales Director of The SEO Works, said: “Working with a prestigious company like David Nieper is a great opportunity for us! The distinct ability of our SEO and PPC teams to work in unison has allowed us to generate some spectacular results for our clients, and I know that this campaign will be no different. Our proven track record of successful clients within the fashion sector also makes me believe that we are best placed to help deliver results that David Nieper is worthy of!”
Atlantic Pumps appoints senior marketing manager
Atlantic Pumps has appointed Samantha Damon as senior marketing manager.
Samantha brings with her over 25 years’ experience and a proven track record as a senior leader in marketing across various industry sectors.
In her new role, Samantha will be responsible for leading the B2B marketing function including brand development, lead generation, campaign and product marketing through the development and execution of a marking strategy to support Atlantic Pumps realise its growth ambitions.
Samantha was previously with financial services company PIB Group for over five years, holding the role of marketing manager for both PIB Risk Management and Retail Specialty Division.
Talking about the appointment of Samantha, Atlantic Pumps Managing Director Andy Smith said: “We are pleased to have Sam join the team, with a focus on communicating with our customers better and ensuring we clearly articulate the value we bring, especially to markets we haven’t served before.”
Samantha, who holds a first-class honours degree in Business Management from the University of Plymouth, said: “I’m delighted to be joining the leadership team at Atlantic Pumps to help drive brand and sales growth through a clear marketing strategy and plan.
“I look forward to utilising my expertise and experience to support innovation and drive our customer centric approach to further business growth.”
Businesses urged to support schools in inspiring the next generation of engineers
A South Derbyshire-led STEM education project believes businesses are key in supporting local schools to help the next generation of engineers.
Holly Davies, who runs science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) education workshops through STEM Venturi, based in Hilton, is appealing for help to build greater links between businesses and schools to bridge the UK’s digital skills gap.
It is estimated that the current digital skills gap is costing the UK economy as much as £63 billion a year in potential GDP with only 61% of the active population in the UK having digital skills compared to 69.4% in the US. A recent Learning and Work Institute report also states the number of young people taking IT subjects at GCSE has dropped 40% since 2015 resulting in the UK heading towards a digital skills shortage ‘disaster’.
A former aerospace engineer herself Holly is now looking for up to 10 businesses who are prepared to fund interactive STEM workshops that will help Midlands schools to boost their digital skills offer. These could be creating weather stations, wildlife trackers or ground temperature monitors in forest school sessions or helping to code music apps and fitness trackers to inspire children’s digital creativity and coding.
The aim is to help build vital skills for youngsters to promote computing and wider creativity skills while showing them how skills they build through hobbies, such as gaming and lego, could actually create career opportunities going forward.
Holly, who already runs a variety of in school and after school activities across Burton and South Derbyshire, said: “If we are to bridge the skills gap we need to start by inspiring the next generation to understand the possibilities.
“STEM is not only important for children who have a passion for engineering and technology but also in helping to encourage creativity and exploration to show youngsters that anything is possible.
“It may be that youngsters find they have an interest in coding, racing remote control cars or building robots. What they don’t then understand is that these interests could go on to create rewarding jobs later on such as designing 3D video games or building robots to solve problems for large manufacturing firms.
“If we are to inspire change then we need to be introducing new opportunities and that is where I think employers can help by bridging that gap between what schools are teaching and how that can be applied to a future career.”
STEM Venturi is looking for businesses to donate time and funds to support schools to upskill between 30 and 120 pupils at a time. The sessions can be tailored around the business to provide a valuable insight into future careers in that sector with the aim being to build closer links between schools and businesses to provide the skills needed to bridge the digital skills gap.
Rachel Edwards, lead teacher at the Design Technology Department in Windsor Park CE Middle School, Uttoxeter, said it was important that experts were brought in to support teachers in delivering these ‘invaluable’ skills for young people.
She said: “STEM skills are crucial for preparing students for the challenges and opportunities of the world of work. Being able to have external providers in, like STEM Venturi, to showcase these skills is invaluable. In a recent 3D printing workshop run by the STEM Venturi team our key stage 3 students left knowing a lot more about the additive manufacturing process and all of the possibilities that this technology can provide.”
Financial planning business, Wren Sterling makes first acquisition of 2024
Nottingham financial planning business, Wren Sterling, has completed its first acquisition of 2024, swooping for TW Financial Planning Limited.
Based in Newcastle-under-Lyme, TW Financial Planning has three financial planners, who service over 750 households. It manages around £265m on behalf of its clients.
The TW Financial office in the heart of Staffordshire will join Wren Sterling’s national office network, boosting its physical presence in the West Midlands.
Wren Sterling now operates from 13 offices covering 11 locations across the UK with plans for future deals to grow its network.
James Twining, Wren Sterling’s CEO, said: “This deal ticks a lot of boxes for Wren Sterling. TW Financial Planning is a self-sustaining business borne out of close working relationships with professional introducers and has grown through client referrals and a strong local reputation.
“Our investment in technology and our central resources, including our Investment Committee, will do some of the heavy lifting that comes with running an advice business and allow the team to focus on client work, which is what they do best.
“The quality of the TW Financial Planning team, with some achieving Chartered status, will further grow our overall standard of advice and I am looking forward to bringing their expertise to the rest of Wren Sterling.”
Chris Devey, a Director at TW Financial Planning, added: “Wren Sterling’s service proposition is very similar to ours, while their onboarding process has been designed to minimise disruption to our clients and colleagues, which has always been our priority when looking for a firm to take our business to the next stage.
“Retaining our staff and our links to Thompson Wright Chartered Accountants, plus the opportunity to benefit from Wren Sterling’s scale, expertise, tools, technology and resources is a compelling offer and we believe this will only benefit us, and our clients.”
The acquisition of TW Financial by Wren Sterling was brokered by Gwill Evans of Gunner & Co.
Work starts on 75 affordable homes at Sinfin development
Nottingham Community Housing Association (NCHA) has started work to build a development of 75 new affordable homes on Goodsmoor Road in Derby.
The site on Goodsmoor Road in Sinfin, less than five miles south of Derby city centre, will provide accommodation comprising one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom homes whilst regenerating the site of a former munition depot.
Marking the first joint scheme as part of a wider partnership, MORRO Partnerships will construct the affordable homes on behalf of NCHA.
The development will be made up of 45 affordable homes for rent and 30 will be available to buy with the help of the shared ownership scheme.
NCHA, MORRO and RG+P Architects met with Derby City Council for a tour of the site.
Councillor Shiraz Khan, Cabinet Member for Housing, Property and Regulatory Services at Derby City Council, said: “The right to a warm, safe and affordable home is critical to wellbeing and is a right everyone deserves. This mix of new affordable homes is exactly what Derby needs to support local families and young professionals.
“I’m thrilled to see construction underway and look forward to seeing future residents building strong communities here.”
The scheme contributes to NCHA‘s Strategic Partnership with Homes England, to deliver new, affordable homes across the East Midlands.
Allan Fisher, Director of Development at NCHA, said: “We are working towards all our new homes being as environmentally friendly as possible, with good thermal comfort and affordability for our customers. We would like to thank Derby City Council for their support on this scheme.”
Construction is scheduled to be completed summer 2025.
The development will feature a historic World War II pillbox to the south which will be retained and maintained for the benefit of the local community, preserving the legacy of the site the homes will be built upon.
Matthew Moore, CEO at MORRO, said: “We’re really looking forward to working towards this brownfield site becoming a thriving community with some much-needed affordable housing for people in the South Derbyshire area.
“We pledge to become better community makers and better environment makers, so the progression of these homes across the lifecycle will help to fulfil that while making positive change to the area.”
£6.4m community pavilion makes progress in Stapleford
Plans for a new £6.4m community pavilion for the people of Stapleford are progressing with the release of updated artists impressions and plans for the building and sports pitches.
Due to open in 2025, the building will be a state-of-the-art, accessible, energy-efficient, multi-use building with recreation and sports grounds on the Hickings Lane Recreation Ground.
It will replace some of the town’s out-of-date community facilities and bring people of all ages together to meet, learn, play and keep fit, including:
- A new, fully accessible, energy-efficient building
- Community café
- Multi-use events and learning spaces and community rooms
- 3G sports pitches and changing rooms
- Enhanced and increased onsite car parking spaces and cycle storage
Charity gets chocolate boost from local firm
Nottingham-based accountancy firm Page Kirk has joined forces with charity PASIC to help distribute Easter eggs this week to children with cancer.
The aim is to bring some much-needed cheer to the kids themselves, as well as their siblings and parents, who are in the middle of a very challenging and emotional time.
PASIC has been working in the East Midlands since the 1970s, when it was originally founded as Parents Association for Seriously Ill Children. Today, it supports nearly 500 families across the region through financial assistance, counselling, events, outings and other initiatives.
Page Kirk, based in Forest Fields, Nottingham, has nominated the organisation as its charity of the year and the sourcing of Easter eggs is just the latest in a series of fundraising efforts.
Some 150 families will be invited to a special PASIC Easter event, but those who have children too poorly to attend won’t miss out, as eggs will also be distributed on local hospital wards.
PASIC’s Corporate Fundraiser Beth Mills said: “We’re delighted to have the support of Page Kirk as their charity partner this year. They’ve done a fantastic job with their collection of Easter eggs. Each one will bring a smile to the face of a child with cancer. Egg-cellent work, Page Kirk!”
Page Kirk’s Head Receptionist Amanda Willis co-ordinates the firm’s fundraising efforts. She said: “PASIC is doing wonderful work in the local community, helping children affected by cancer as well as their families. We’ve dedicated our fundraising efforts in 2024 to supporting them and these Easter eggs seem such a great idea. Who doesn’t want to enjoy a bit of chocolate over the holiday period?”
Nottingham floor covering distributors sold
Nottingham-based T&R Floor Covering Distributors Limited, one of the UK’s leading floor covering distributors, has been sold to TradeChoice Carpet & Flooring.
T&R Floor Covering Distributors Limited is a family-run, independent business situated in the Midlands with over 35 years’ experience in the carpet and flooring industry.
A member of the Carpetright group, TradeChoice Carpet & Flooring is a major carpet and flooring distributor in the UK with 13 branches across England, Wales and Scotland. The acquisition of T&R Floor Covering Distributors Limited furthers TradeChoice’s growth plans within the Midlands and provides more efficient transport and storage options for the wider company.
David Crump, Corporate Finance Director at PKF Smith Cooper, led the advisory team for T&R Floor Covering Distributors Limited on the deal, while Actons Solicitors provided legal advice.
Malcolm Trott, shareholder and managing director, commenting on the deal, said: “T&R Floor Covering Distributors Limited, a family run business since 1977, sought a successor who shared our unwavering dedication to superior customer service. TradeChoice emerged as the natural choice, renowned for their commitment to excellence.
“Navigating the intricate process of selling our business was unfamiliar territory, but with the invaluable guidance of David Crump and the PKF Smith Cooper team, alongside Thomas Butcher and the Actons Solicitors team, we successfully sealed the deal. Their expertise was pivotal – without them, this transition wouldn’t have been possible.”
David said: “We are delighted to have been able to support the shareholders of T&R Floor Covering Distributors Limited in concluding the deal. As a fellow major distributor in the UK carpet and flooring industry, TradeChoice was a great synergistic fit and the ideal candidate for acquiring the company. We wish the shareholders all the best in their future endeavours.”
