Well-known truckers’ café changes hands

Tess Egginton
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Well-known truckers’ café changes hands

A well-known Northamptonshire restaurant used by truckers and motorists has changed hands in a freehold deal.

Jacks Hill Café and Truck Stop, at Watling Street, Towcester, was acquired by a private investor for an undisclosed sum in a competitive bidding situation, said Eamon Kennedy, executive partner and head of agency at Kirkby Diamond.

The prominent roadside site, which extends to 1.74-acres, has an extensive parking area which was previously used as a lorry park for up to 50 units and trailers. The site sits on the A5.

After acquiring the property on behalf of a longstanding client, Kirkby Diamond has now been appointed to market the property on a leasehold basis.

Eamon said: “Our client was very keen to acquire the Jacks Hill Café site as it presents a number of development opportunities, subject to planning. We were very pleased to conclude the deal on their behalf in a competitive bidding situation.

“The site has already attracted a lot of occupier interest due to its excellent location. Towcester is growing rapidly, with a planned residential extension to the south of the town. Work is also underway to create a bypass which will filter traffic around the town centre and unlock further expansion of the town.

“The site offers a wonderful business opportunity for companies that may be considering establishing or expanding their commercial operations.”

Precision People makes head of technical promotion

Tess Egginton
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Precision People makes head of technical promotion

Precision People has promoted Anand Kakkad to head of technical.

Anand joined Precision People, based at the Meridian Business Park, in September 2018 as a team leader of the Maintenance division. Within fourteen months he built the team from two to six consultants, taking new recruits into high performers, and as a result, was promoted to divisional manager of the Technical Perm team.

Director Phil Walker said: “Anand manages the team how most managers don’t; which is by empowering, leading, and coaching, whilst working the hard yards himself. He also takes the time to have an interest in his people’s success and well-being. This makes him the most successful manager Precision has seen.”

This year, under his leadership, the Technical team of Permanent & Contract recruitment has created six promotions, progressing two senior recruiters into managing consultants and building a team with them.

Anand said: “After working at three different recruitment companies, I can firmly say at Precision People, we do things differently. Every business strategy is about people development and achieving individual and business goals together as a family.

“The next steps and progression are at the forefront of every conversation with our recruiters and managers. Without the support of Precision People as a whole, and my record-breaking team, none of this would be possible.”

Phil added: “At Precision, we hold progression at the top of our people development, every consultant has clear steps with measurables to get to the next level in their career, reviewed with them monthly.

“With a record-breaking year this year, we are well on course to grow the team by double within the next three years to forty people. To achieve that we need to have the right culture that champions progression. Those that make it into the management roles needed will benefit hugely both in their career and personally with rewards that are unique to Precision.”

Timms team celebrates title

Steve Fisher
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Timms team celebrates title
The wills and probate team at law firm Timms Solicitors has been named the best in the region. The firm was named Midlands Solicitor Firm of the Year in the British Wills and Probate Awards, which were recently held in Birmingham. The team received the award in recognition of all round excellence, client engagement, technology transformation, commitment to staff development and providing an outstanding service to the local community. Managing Partner Fiona Moffat said: “We are delighted that the wills and probate team have been recognised with this prestigious award. “We have been serving our community and clients from our high street bases for more than 130 years and, under the leadership of Jo Robinson, our established wills and probate team has gone from strength to strength. “We are committed to investing in all of our staff and as a result we are able to provide an exceptional service to our clients.”

Digital transformation firm acquires Nottingham business

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Digital transformation firm acquires Nottingham business
OSF Digital, a provider of digital transformation services, has acquired Oegen Ltd., a Nottingham-based Salesforce consulting firm. OSF Digital, which has over 2,200 employees and 49 offices worldwide, is acquiring Oegen to quickly establish a Salesforce Experience Cloud team in the UK region and expand the multi-cloud center of excellence and delivery team in the UK and EMEA. The terms of the deal are not being disclosed. Oegen has expertise in Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement, Service, Sales Cloud, and B2B Commerce with a focus on the financial and business services, education, and non-profit sectors. Customers include major UK high street banks as well as global education and charitable foundations. “This acquisition will help to deepen our customer relationships in EMEA in many verticals,” said Gerard (Gerry) Szatvanyi, CEO of OSF Digital. “We are serious about further strengthening our Salesforce multi-cloud services globally. Oegen’s agility and commitment to excellence align very well with OSF’s values and mission.” “We’re pleased to join OSF Digital’s growing team,” said Pete Fells, Managing Director & founder of Oegen Ltd. “Together with OSF, we’ll continue to deliver comprehensive digital transformation and user experience excellence to a vast customer base in several verticals in the UK and EMEA.”

Award winning entrepreneur joins Purpose Media

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Award winning entrepreneur joins Purpose Media
Award-winning entrepreneur Amanda Strong has joined full service marketing agency Purpose Media as a partnership manager. For 33 years, Amanda was the owner of Mercia Image Print during which she won entrepreneur of the year and outstanding female entrepreneur of the year. The company won Small Business of the Year and various printing industry related awards. She is a trustee at Children First Derby, an ambassador of Safe and Sound and also on the committee of Derby’s Finest which aims to support and inspire ladies in Derbyshire and to gain the recognition they deserve. Having recently sold Mercia Image Print she intends to use her time, experience and connections to create business opportunities for other local businesses. In her new role, Amanda will be introducing Purpose Media to her network and explaining the benefits of partnering together for mutual benefit. She said: “Because of their reputation I have always trusted and respected Purpose Media. I am delighted to be offered this role as I have absolute confidence in their ability to deliver services and advice that will help businesses to grow.” Grace Golden, head of Client Services, added: “Amanda has a wealth of experience and is highly respected by the business community due to the success she has enjoyed as a business owner. She will be a great asset and brings many complimentary skills to our team.” Purpose Media Managing Director Matt Wheatcroft added: “I have known Amanda for many years and we have always got on so it seemed a natural progression to invite her to join our team given the ambitions she has to connect businesses with likeminded needs.”

Greater Lincolnshire LEP to focus on ‘four game changing sectors’ at annual conference

Steve Fisher
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Greater Lincolnshire LEP to focus on ‘four game changing sectors’ at annual conference
The Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise’s annual conference, which takes place this week, will will focus on Greater Lincolnshire’s four game-changing sectors – energy, UK Food Valley, defence, and ports & logistics. The organisers have also brought together a line-up of high-calibre speakers who will lead an in-depth discussion on the day and provide an opportunity for business leaders to pose questions and share views at a time of challenge and unique opportunities for growth. Pat Doody, Chair of the Greater Lincolnshire LEP, said: “Everyone is really looking forward to getting together on Thursday and unpacking our four game-changing sectors. “The event is free to attend and places are being booked up fast. “Those attending will be treated to an enlightening discussion about some of the opportunities which have the potential to transform the economy of Greater Lincolnshire.” Greater Lincolnshire – Leading the Way takes place from 8.30am until 1pm on Thursday 10th November 2022. Register for your free ticket to the conference by visiting the Eventbrite page. We are also welcoming strategic partners in an exhibition this year showcasing some of our collaborative projects and programmes.

SourceBio unveils plans to go private to accelerate growth

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SourceBio unveils plans to go private to accelerate growth
In a new trading update, SourceBio International has revealed plans to delist from the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.

The Nottingham-based provider of laboratory services says its board has conducted a review of the benefits and drawbacks to the company retaining its listing on AIM and maintaining its existing corporate structure.

Subject to shareholder approval, the firm believes that the cancellation would be in the best interests of the company and its shareholders as a whole.

Reasons noted by the business include that while one of the main benefits of a company being on AIM is the potential to issue new shares to raise additional funds for investment or to issue new shares as consideration for acquisitions, the company has been unable to raise money at what the directors believe to be a fair valuation and, due to the low liquidity, the shares do not represent an attractive currency.

Further, the board believes that the company’s current share price does not accurately reflect the future potential of the business.

The group also believes that as a private business corporate development and restructuring needed to drive and develop growth may be executed faster and more nimbly, and that it would be able to command a much higher valuation for the business on eventual exit, serving in the best interest of shareholders.

SourceBio estimates that it could save annualised costs of £600,000 per year in the move.

In conjunction with the cancellation, the company is planning a tender offer at a price of 115 pence per ordinary share to certain shareholders. It is expected that over half of issued shares will be purchased and the firm says it is in advanced discussions to secure the necessary financing for the tender offer.

The news comes as revenues from SourceBio’s three core business units (Healthcare Diagnostics, Genomics and Stability Storage) continue to perform well, as they did in the first half of the year, with all business units showing growth on last year. Jay LeCoque, executive chairman, said: “We continue to be encouraged with progress and growth delivered across our three core business units. Our operational focus remains the continued expansion and scale-up of Cellular Pathology and Digital Pathology volumes through the rest of the year and beyond. “We are confident that we can potentially grow the business faster as a private company and look forward to providing fuller details in due course.”

Ideagen appoints chief corporate development officer

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Ideagen appoints chief corporate development officer
Global expansion has led to Nottinghamshire software company Ideagen strengthening its leadership team with the appointment of Paul Carter as chief corporate development officer.
With over two decades’ experience leading corporate development teams for several FTSE-100 and Fortune 500 companies, Paul will lead Ideagen’s acquisition strategy. Ideagen CEO, Ben Dorks, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Paul to the Ideagen executive team. He’s exactly the person we need to continue our growth trajectory and strengthen the Ideagen product portfolio for our customers. “Paul is a well-regarded strategist with deep industry experience at blue chip organisations. His proven track record of evaluating, negotiating and executing acquisition opportunities will play a key role in helping us accelerate faster, serve customers better and scale our business.” Having most recently served as global head of corporate development at cyber security software company Avast, Paul brings a wealth of experience within the financial services, data, technology and business services sectors. Prior to this, he held senior corporate development roles at the London Stock Exchange Group, Experian and Dun & Bradstreet. A graduate of The University of Birmingham and Henley Business School, Paul qualified as a chartered accountant with Coopers & Lybrand before focusing on corporate development. He brings to Ideagen extensive experience in M&A planning, research, due diligence, closing and implementation having led the full process of more than 100 acquisitions, disposals and joint ventures, across most major world economies. Speaking about his new role, Paul said: “I am very excited to be joining the Ideagen team at this stage in its journey in becoming a world leading software company helping our customers manage complex quality, risk, audit and compliance needs in highly regulated industries. “Ben and the team have already seen incredible growth and we’re well positioned to unlock more opportunities that enable the business to fulfil our vision. I am confident that we can meet our growth expectations to support greater numbers of customers with an increased range of solutions.” In October, Ideagen announced its 27th acquisition and the second of 2022 – health and safety solution company, ProcessMap.

Major trade-counter brands expand in Ashbourne

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Major trade-counter brands expand in Ashbourne
Two major tool, accessories, and hardware retailers have moved in at Ashbourne’s Waterside Park. National brands Screwfix and Toolstation have taken over the former Countrywide Country Store in a double deal, brokered by Salloway Property Consultants. The deal comes after planning permission was granted to allow the building to be split into two 4,400 sq ft units and for the permitted use to be changed. Salloway’s Hugo Beresford, who represented the landlord, said: “We had a tenant lined up to take the whole building but the deal failed to materialise and so I advised my client that splitting the space was the way to go. Once that decision had been made, terms were quickly agreed with both occupiers.” Beresford added: “The planning process was not straight-forward but permission came through and I’m delighted to have been able to secure two high quality tenants for our client.” Richard Pigott (Planning & Design Practice Ltd) represented the Landlord in respect of the planning application and Sharon Lowe (Geldards LLP) in respect of the lease documentation.

Next makes Made.com swoop after online furniture retailer’s collapse

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Next makes Made.com swoop after online furniture retailer’s collapse
Leicester-headquartered retailer Next has swooped for the brand, website and IP of online furniture firm Made.com. It comes after Made.com’s operating subsidiary’s collapse, appointing PWC as administrators. In a statement to the London Stock Exchange, Susanne Given, chair of Made, said: “Having run an extensive process to secure the future of the business, we are deeply disappointed that we have reached this point and how it will affect all our stakeholders, including employees, customers, suppliers and shareholders. “We appreciate and deeply regret the frustration that MDL going into administration will have caused for everyone.” The company had attempted to find a buyer, though talks failed. In interim results for the six months to 30 June 2022, when the firm faced a significant reduction in demand, supply chain problems and the cost of living squeeze following a boom in the pandemic, Made’s losses before tax widened to £35.3m, compared to a loss of £10.1m in the same period in 2021. Revenue meanwhile grew to £178m from £171m.
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