Multi tenanted Derby residential investment sold

Acting on behalf of private clients FHP Property Consultants have sold a residential investment property in Derby. Carlton House, which is situated on London Road, Derby comprises a Grade II Listed four storey building. The property comprises six 1 bedroom flats, eight 2 bedroom flats and benefits from a private car park to the rear. When fully let, the building produces an income in the region of £80,000 per annum. The quoting sale price was £1 million and a deal was agreed at that level reflecting a Net Initial Yield of 7.59%. Darran Severn of FHP Property Consultants says: “I am delighted to have completed this sale which has been a great result for all involved. Given the nature and location of the property I was not surprised at the strong interest we received for the building. This enabled us to strike a deal within a matter of weeks. There is great demand for freehold properties, both occupied and vacant, particularly lot sizes under £1 million from local investors.” Daniel Holder, the purchaser, says: “I am thrilled to take ownership of Carlton House, a few bumps in the road along the way but with the help of FHP and the managing agents Phoenix Lettings Derby we managed to complete the purchase.”

New letting at landmark Derby office building

A new letting has been secured at Cardinal Square, a multi tenanted landmark office building within Derby City Centre. Smile Dental Triage have signed a new 6 year lease at a rent of £14.00 per ft² on 1,260ft² situated within the Third Floor South at Cardinal Square. Darran Severn of FHP Property Consultants said: “Smile Dental Triage are a great addition to the mix of tenants already at Cardinal Square. “We have had success letting suites between 1,000ft² and 3,000ft² over the last 18 months, so much so that we are now dividing up the Third Floor East to provide three newly refurbished suites ranging in size between 1,111ft² to 3,748ft², the larger benefiting from dual aspect windows. “In addition, the office garden has been redesigned and now provides an excellent outdoor space providing meeting pods, breakout areas and outdoor games such as table tennis and golf.”

Xerox acquires Leicester marketing firm

Xerox has acquired Go Inspire, a Leicester-based print and digital marketing and communication services provider, to grow its global Digital Services presence. Go Inspire serves customers throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). “We’re focused on widening the scope of Xerox’s Digital Services and Customer Engagement Services,” said Darren Cassidy, UK & Ireland Managing Director and senior vice president, EMEA Global Document Services at Xerox. “Go Inspire’s capabilities will support the transformation of our transactional and direct mail services into multi-channel communications, accelerate growth in EMEA and create new avenues for us to help current and new clients.” “We are thrilled to join the Xerox team and eager to contribute to the growth of Xerox Digital Services,” said Patrick Headley, Chief Executive Officer at Go Inspire. “Together with Xerox, we will expand the portfolio of high value services for our expanding client base throughout the UK and beyond.” Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Boost morale at the East Midlands Bricks Awards 2022

Celebrating the region’s property and construction industry, and offering a prime opportunity for networking, the prestigious East Midlands Bricks Awards will return on Thursday 15 September, at the Trent Bridge Cricket Ground. Nominations for the event are open, and now is the perfect time to make your submissions, ahead of next month’s deadline (August 19th). Shine a light on your team, reward their hard work, and boost morale. To submit a business or development for the East Midlands Bricks Awards 2022, please click on a category link below or visit this page.
The Overall Winner of the East Midlands Bricks Awards 2022 will also be awarded a year of marketing/publicity worth £20,000. Find out who last year’s winners were here. Les Needham, head of business development at G F Tomlinson, reflected on winning two awards at the 2021 event: “We are absolutely delighted to have won two awards at the East Midlands Bricks Awards this year, coming up against strong competition that showcases all the fantastic work that has been happening in the industry. Despite the challenges that COVID-19 has posed, we continued to demonstrate our credentials as a responsible Contractor on all our projects through the social value agenda, providing community benefits through local employment and training initiatives and environmental protection. “We are pleased to have been so highly recognised for this by winning Responsible Business of the Year and Overall Winner on the night, which is a true testament to our team’s hard work. We had a wonderful evening celebrating – there was a real buzz in the air and we commend the organisers for putting on such an excellent event.”

Book your tickets now

Tickets can now be booked for the awards event – click here to secure yours. The special awards evening and networking event will be held on 15 September 2022 in the Derek Randall Suite at the Trent Bridge County Cricket Club from 4:30pm – 7:30pm. Connect with local decision makers over canapés and complimentary drinks while applauding the outstanding companies and projects in our region. The event will also welcome John Forkin MBE DL, Managing Director at award-winning investment promotion agency Marketing Derby, as keynote speaker. Dress code is standard business attire.
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New acquisition for Dains Accountants

Dains Accountants has acquired Barringtons, which has offices across Staffordshire, Cheshire, and Shropshire. Founded in 1980, Barringtons is a provider of accounting and tax services to owner-managed businesses and individuals. Richard McNeilly, CEO of Dains, said: “Barringtons is a well-established and highly credible firm with a high-quality team and client base. We have similar values and strongly believe in delivering impressive results for clients and rewarding careers for staff. “The acquisition builds on our position within the North Midlands marketplace and is the first of several transactions we hope to complete in 2022.” Dains recently recorded another record year for the business. This follows the recent investment from Horizon Capital in 2021. Managing Director of Barringtons, Phil Wood, said: “We have continued to invest in technology and in our team in recent years and we have always been determined to deliver the best possible service to our loyal clients. “By joining Dains, our ability to deliver an even broader range of services is enhanced and we look forward to working with the Dains team for many years to come.” Luke Kingston, partner at Horizon Capital, said: “Barringtons is a well-respected business and has performed strongly through the pandemic demonstrating its importance to customers and the critical service it provides. “We are delighted to have supported Dains on this acquisition as they continue their journey to consolidate the fragmented SME accounting and tax marketplace.”

190,000 sq ft warehouse at Junction 28 of the M1 wins planning approval

Rula Developments has won detailed planning consent for a new 190,000 sq ft high specification warehouse unit at Junction 28 of the M1 motorway near Huthwaite in Nottinghamshire, which it will build speculatively.

The proposed warehouse unit is situated on the established Fulwood Industrial Estate and will be built to high specification with strong sustainability credentials, targeting BREEAM Excellent and an EPC A rating.

The development has a target completion date of Q2, 2023. M1 Agency and Burbage Realty have been appointed as marketing agents.

Mark Hawthorne of Rula Developments said: “It is great news that we have secured a successful planning consent and can now move forward with the delivery of this highly sustainable and strategically located warehouse. J.28 is an established and sought-after occupier location, and we are confident of delivering a successful development bringing forward further job creation in the area.”

Toby Wilson of joint agents M1 Agency added: “Obtaining planning approval is a major milestone in bringing forward the delivery of Fulwood 190. With continued strong levels of take-up and an intention to speculatively build out, we are confident of quickly securing occupier interest.”

Franco Capella of joint agents Burbage Realty finished by saying: “It is a real positive for the delivery of the warehouse that we have now secured planning consent. Combined with the underlying credentials of strong location and labour supply we welcome the development phase now coming forward.”

Business Gateway recruits citizen of change to support Leicestershire’s black business community

Leicestershire’s Business Gateway has recruited an intern from the University of Leicester to help it support the local black business community more effectively. Omolara (Lara) Anubi (20) is in the second year of her Media, Culture and Society degree at the University and is part of the University’s Citizens of Change programme. The Business Gateway, which is the one-stop-shop for support for all businesses across the city and county, aims to ensure that more black business owners take up its services to help them survive during current challenging times and achieve sustainable growth in the future. Business Gateway manager, Rachel York, explained: “We felt that black businesses were under-represented among our clients and that our small team didn’t have the knowledge it needed. When we heard about the Citizens of Change programme, we saw it as an excellent opportunity to recruit an intern from the community we are hoping to reach so that they can research the needs of those businesses in an informed way. “We are very fortunate in that several leading figures from the local black community have agreed to share their knowledge with Lara so that she can give us a full picture of what is needed and how best to provide it in future.” Intern Lara, who is originally from Oxford, said: “I’m very happy to be gaining experience in my degree subject area and really looking forward to interviewing some of Leicester’s leading black community figures. I think it will be a fascinating experience and if my report can help local businesses, that will be brilliant.”

Financial adviser snaps up Oxford counterpart

Wren Sterling Group, the Nottingham-based providers of specialist financial planning advice to private and corporate clients, has acquired Critchleys Financial Planning LLP. Under the terms of the deal, the Critchleys Financial Planning LLP team, led by Jason McGuigan, have been welcomed into Wren Sterling, along with their clients who between them represent c. 300 households and c. £150 million of assets under management. The transaction is Wren Sterling’s second announced deal since its secondary management buyout by Lightyear Capital in late 2021. This follows its announcement of the acquisition of Mutual Financial Management in early June, which together with Critchleys Financial Planning LLP, will add a total of £825m of AuM to the business. The rebranded business will provide Wren Sterling with a new hub in Oxfordshire to complement its eight other locations around the UK, from which it intends to make further bolt-on acquisitions. The acquisition is in-line with Wren Sterling’s M&A strategy of acquiring culturally-aligned businesses as hub locations in key strategic locations such as London, Edinburgh, Birmingham and Bristol as well as smaller bolt-on acquisitions to existing hubs. This strategy complements its plan to accelerate its organic growth through improving its brand and proposition, simplifying its business and investing in its people and technology. James Twining, Wren Sterling’s Chief Executive, said: “I’m delighted to welcome the Critchleys Financial Planning team and their clients to Wren Sterling. Jason and the team have done a phenomenal job for their clients over the years, building a business of ambition and excellence that perfectly aligns to our own approach. “The UK IFA market encompasses many excellent businesses deciding that now is the time to look for new investors, either to facilitate their own retirement or because they see that their clients stand to benefit significantly from the support of a larger organisation in the face of mounting regulatory, operational and technology costs and complexity. “This deal shows that Wren Sterling is the natural home for entrepreneurial businesses looking to enhance how they serve their clients, develop their people and be part of a winning and distinctive team.” Jason McGuigan, Critchleys Financial Planning LLP’s principal financial planner, said: “It was important to us, when considering our future, that we partnered with an organisation that shared our core values of putting the client at the heart of everything we do. It was clear from our very first meeting with Wren Sterling, that this is central to their DNA. “Thanks to our new partnership, we will be able to strengthen our offering to clients and continue to develop and invest in our people. We also have the exciting opportunity to expand the business further through hiring and bolt-on acquisitions in the Oxford and Thames Valley regions.”

Pandemic-born businesses could add £20.4bn to UK economy

More than £20 billion could be added to the UK economy in future from the number of additional businesses created during the pandemic, fresh data from a joint report by CBI Economics & NatWest Group reveals today (Thursday). Some 800,000 companies were registered in the first year of the pandemic, a 22% increase compared with the previous year. Compared with its international peers, the UK is a proven hub for entrepreneurship. Pre-pandemic the number of new businesses created as a share of total firms was 13%, higher than the U.S. (8%) and Germany (11%). Historically, the success and survival of these firms is also well established. In 2018, the one-year survival rate for new business was 89% – around nine percentage points higher than the EU average. To gain greater insights about the hitherto little-known experience of pandemic-born firms, CBI Economics surveyed 543 firms. Key findings include:
  • Only 13% cited regulation as a challenge when starting their business.
  • Access to finance was a key concern for many burgeoning business leaders, with 55% highlighting this post 2020, compared with 42% pre-COVID.
  • 4 in 5 firms report no plans to wind down their business.
  • Pandemic-born businesses are more likely to say it is important to adopt the newest technologies compared to their pre-pandemic counterparts (56% versus 71%).
  • Pandemic-born businesses are 20% more likely to use both sustainable materials and suppliers, compared with firms established prior 2020.
Tony Danker, CBI director-general, said: “Pandemic-born businesses – led by ambitious, resilient entrepreneurs – have innovated in so many ways, and at such speed, giving me great sense of optimism. It’s crucial we give these leaders the support they need to grow and succeed. “Rising energy prices, supply chain challenges, an uncertain economic outlook and cost-of-living crisis mean we’ve some testing months, and possibly years, ahead. For start-ups which count their experience in months, not years, that environment is even tougher. That said, even if the cost of doing business is rising, the cost of starting a business shouldn’t. The UK needs the ideas and ingenuity of entrepreneurs to help us grow.” Alison Rose, Chief Executive of NatWest Group, said: “A thriving economy is dependent on a flourishing entrepreneurial culture. As we come out of the pandemic, despite rising inflation and the cost of living crisis, now is a great time to start a business and become an entrepreneur. “There’s more support than ever in terms of access to grants and funding, networking and mentoring and angel investment. And as the biggest lender to businesses, we are determined to play our part. This report helps shine a light on the resilience and determination shown by businesses started during the pandemic. We need to give start-ups the support they need to not just survive, but also to thrive.” Martin McTague, national chair of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “The need to adapt and innovate over the pandemic has given us a wave of fantastic new start-ups, from those who turned hobby businesses into full-time endeavours, to established business owners launching new enterprises as the economy changed. “Firms have emerged from lockdowns to face spiralling operating costs, labour shortages and new trade paperwork. If we want new companies to achieve their full potential, government urgently needs to work with industry to address those challenges. “The business community as a whole shrank over lockdowns to the tune of hundreds of thousands. Unless action is taken now, that trend could continue as a cost of doing business crisis leaves many fearing for the future.”

Boris Johnson expected to resign today

According to sources within the Government, Boris Johnson will resign today – although he may remain as PM until Autumn. A spokesperson for No.10 has said that the Prime Minister will make a statement to the country today. This follows a raft of resignations including Rishi Sunak, Sajid Javid and Andrew Murrison among others. Newly instated Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi even explosively told the Prime Minister that “he must go now” after accepting the position. Business leaders are expected to react on the matter after it happens, and we will report on that – if anything – the resignation will mean for businesses in the region. As of yet, a replacement PM has not been selected, though it has even been suggested that Theresa May could return as temporary (or interim) PM. Others have suggested Raab will make a more likely candidate.