Managed hosting and data centre services firm expands in Nottingham

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Managed hosting and data centre services firm expands in Nottingham
Following increased demand for managed hosting and data centre services, CWCS Managed Hosting has acquired a 9,300 sq ft building in Nottingham to increase the company’s data centre footprint. Headquartered in Nottingham, with locations throughout the UK and USA, CWCS provides 24/7/365 enterprise-grade infrastructure for mission critical data systems, websites and applications through a choice of cloud, bare metal, dedicated servers, and colocation services. The acquisition of the new site follows extensive research and the data centre is due to be online in 2024. The announcement forms part of CWCS’s strategy to support growing demand from existing and new customers, as well as supporting the growth for current and future acquisitions. Karl Mendez, Managing Director of CWCS Managed Hosting, said: “In the last three years, we have embarked on an ambitious growth strategy to expand our portfolio of services through company acquisitions. “There’s an increasing demand for hosted solutions, especially private cloud and server colocation where customers want their data in a redundant and secure data centre facility with technicians available 24/7, and that’s exactly what we can offer. “Opening a new data centre in Nottingham significantly increases our capacity to offer flexible options comprising of cloud hosting, dedicated server hosting, and colocation services. “Above all, it ensures we can continue to meet the individual needs of our customers and positions us as a partner in mission critical data hosting.” Giles Davis, Partner at chartered surveyors, Geo Hallam & Sons, acted as the agent to find premises for the state-of-the-art facility. Giles said: “The search to find a suitable facility was a challenging brief, given the nature of the CWCS business. “We looked for premises that were well located and could be stripped back with planning permission. The building we’ve secured is an ideal canvas for CWCS to fit out with their new data centre and associated offices. We wish the team every success.” Mark Tomlinson, Director at FHP, who acted for the sellers in the sale, said: “The lack of industrial freehold opportunities could have prevented CWCS from achieving its expansion, but by working with Giles Davis at Geo Hallam we’ve been able to solve the problem by putting forward a building they can repurpose, securing a sale for our client, and helping CWCS achieve its vision. “We are delighted to have completed this deal with them and wish CWCS every success with its expansion.”

Saint-Gobain PAM UK reveals plans to close Leicestershire factory

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Saint-Gobain PAM UK reveals plans to close Leicestershire factory

Saint-Gobain PAM UK has revealed plans to close its Holwell factory in Melton Mowbray.

It puts 161 staff members at risk of redundancy, according to reports in the Construction Enquirer, as the firm looks to move the manufacturing of access covers and gratings products to its factory in Blénod, France. A period of consultation is now underway with employees and the GMB union. A closure of the factory is not expected until the end of the year.
Alan Gwilliam, Managing Director of Saint-Gobain PAM UK, said the factory had become uncompetitive after contending with Brexit, Covid and cost increases over the last few years, and despite efforts from the Holwell team. Meanwhile the French factory has recently been invested in to minimise the carbon intensity of production, resulting in a significant reduction in the carbon emissions related to products.

Theatre refurbishment gets the go-ahead

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Theatre refurbishment gets the go-ahead
At Planning Committee this week, Ashfield District Council approved the plans for the refurbishment of Sutton Community Academy’s Theatre. Ashfield District Council secured the funding to upgrade the theatre, which will be rebranded and opened to the public as Cornerstone Theatre, as part of their £6.27m Future High Streets Fund. The Council are working with Sutton Community Academy on the plans for the project. As part of the improvement work the theatre will be completely renovated and reconfigured to create a new multifunctional community space that will accommodate a wider range of high-quality performances and acts. The new theatre will allow residents and visitors to watch professional theatre performances, cinematic experiences, music and comedy nights, as well as other community uses. Following the approval of the planning application, work is expected to start in summer 2024, with a finish date of early 2025. Cllr Matthew Relf, Executive Lead for Growth, Regeneration, and Local Planning, said: “This project will help us achieve our goals of creating a vibrant and safe night-time economy in Ashfield. As the new Planetarium will connect young people to space and raise their aspirations, Cornerstone Theatre will ignite their creativity and imagination. “We are so proud to be investing in arts and culture, to allow more people of all backgrounds, young and old, in Ashfield and beyond to experience the magic of cinema, live theatre and music in an easy to access place. “All our regeneration projects, funded through over £100million external investment, have the common aim – to create an Ashfield that is a great place to live, work, play, study and visit.” Simon Martin, Vice Principal at ATTFE, said: “ATTFE is hugely excited to be involved in the inception and the future running of the Cornerstone facility. “Sutton-in-Ashfield and the surrounding area has long needed investment in and opportunities for cultural experiences of all sorts, and Cornerstone will provide these for the direct communities, neighbourhoods, and families that we serve.” New dressing rooms and a green room, toilets – including a changing places room, foyer and box office will be created to accommodate the improved theatre. Inside the theatre itself the auditorium will be completely refurbished with new flooring, ceiling, acoustic wall treatments and doors. A new retractable seating system will provide seating, and specialist lighting will also be installed. Considerations are being made to ensure the theatre will be an accessible space for staff, performers, and the audience.

Meridian Space Command chooses Space Park Leicester for HQ

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Meridian Space Command chooses Space Park Leicester for HQ
An organisation helping to accelerate the expansion of UK space technology around the world has opened its headquarters at Space Park Leicester. Meridian Space Command helps space sector organisations to secure funding for, and complete technology demonstration missions which enable them to expand into commercial markets. It also supports the space industry with end-to-end mission management, operations, software, audits and education. To further its growth, Meridian has moved to the University of Leicester’s £100 million science and innovation park to capitalise on Space Park Leicester’s state-of-the-art facilities. The move will also enable the organisation to collaborate with the University of Leicester and to showcase its offering to businesses, ranging from industry giants to innovative start-ups, in and around the Space City Leicester cluster. Meridian Director, Dr Sam Richards, said: “I am extremely proud to establish Meridian’s headquarters at Space Park Leicester, and look forward to cultivating our partnerships and expanding our capacity to offer collaborative opportunities for UK technologies. “Space Park Leicester is a hub of expertise, innovation, education, and partnerships and we’re excited to participate in all these things and to contribute to them. We see Space Park Leicester as a key partner in Meridian’s vision to accelerate the global offerings of UK’s space tech. “It also means a great deal to be part of the Space City Leicester community. It’s rare to find somewhere with commercial enterprises located alongside space companies. This unique environment will help us to develop partnerships with services that could otherwise be overlooked. “Space City is a bold development and its continual expansion provides great opportunities for collaboration.” Meridian’s move has been welcomed by Vinay Patel, Head of Commercial and Innovation, at Space Park Leicester. He said: “Meridian is a fantastic organisation and we’re delighted that they have moved to Space Park Leicester to help further expand their client base. “With their educational offering it also makes perfect sense for them to be here as they can benefit from fantastic links with the University of Leicester. “We were particularly excited to hear Meridian is set to offer an educational short course in Newspace Mission Operations and Management which will train the next generation of space industry enablers.”

£9.2m secured for Hucknall town centre regeneration

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£9.2m secured for Hucknall town centre regeneration
Ashfield District Council has secured £9.2 million for their Levelling Up Fund Round 2 application for Hucknall. The Council’s ambitious plan to drive economic regeneration in Hucknall has been recognised by the government as being high-quality and ready to deliver. The Levelling Up Fund bid is centred around three main themes – Skills and Economic Regeneration, Cultural and Heritage Gateway, and Access to Hucknall town centre. The Levelling Up Fund investment is part of the Council’s ambitious regeneration programme for the District which will see well over £100m of investment during the next 2-3 years. Cllr Matthew Relf, Executive Lead Member for Growth, Regeneration and Planning, said: “We are absolutely thrilled that the Council’s ambitious plan for Hucknall has been recognised by the government. We aim to improve the access into the town to attract more visitors, and businesses to reinvigorate the town centre. “The cultural and heritage enhancements will celebrate Hucknall’s rich heritage and provide new opportunities for people to learn about this history. This outcome is tremendous and will support the Council’s aspirations for Hucknall to be a modern town centre where businesses prosper, and residents are proud to be from.” Councillor Jason Zadrozny, Leader of Ashfield District Council, said: “This is the culmination of a lot hard work from Hucknall’s Councillors, our administration and Officers from the Council. “It will fulfil our vision of creating a vibrant, thriving town centre. Now we have secured money for every major town in Ashfield – our concentration will now be on securing more investment for the Selston Parish and our other villages.” Cllr Lee Waters, Ward Councillor for Hucknall North, said: “I am overjoyed that Hucknall’s Levelling Up Fund bid has been approved. It is hugely ambitious and will be one of the biggest investments in our town for decades. “It will focus on improving the life chances of residents, turbo charging investment, fast tracking public transport improvements – all whilst remembering our heritage. This is our chance to make significant change that will be benefit Hucknall for generations to come.”

College site sold in Melton Mowbray

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College site sold in Melton Mowbray
FHP, acting on behalf of Melton Mowbray Town Estate, have completed the sale of the former Brooksby College on King Street in Melton Mowbray. David Hargreaves, who handled the sale, said: “The college relocated long ago from this site and it had sat there partly derelict for a while despite being in a really good central location in the town centre, opposite a car park and close to the bus station.” The building totals some 16,000 sq ft with parking for 10 cars and was marketed with a guide price of “offers over £400,000.” Hargreaves said: “Our marketing targeted Residential Developers, Housing Associations, Office, Workshops and Medical users and we had significant interest. This ranged from an Art Gallery, to a Dance Studio, a Church, Manufacturing and a Recording Studio, as well as interest from Developers looking to either refurbish or demolish the building for housing. “We started marketing in August which was not ideal due to holidays and with the property market as a whole still in shock from Base Rates rising to 5.25% from sub 1.00%. “Because of the market conditions we ‘guided low’ in terms of price which generated strong interest and enabled us to go to ‘Best Bids’. “We received 5 offers with a sale completing at the end of January – just 5 months after launch at a price well in excess of £500,000.” It is understood the Peterborough-based buyer is proposing a refurbishment of the property into apartments for rental plus some new build accommodation. Graham Betts, Chair of Melton Mowbray Town Estate, said: “We are delighted to have sold this building and look forward to seeing it being brought back in to use for the benefit of the town. “David Hargreaves and FHP did a great job in terms of marketing and generating interest and secured a price above our expectation – brilliant.” Chattertons acted as legal advisors, and Nottingham-based FHP Property Consultants as property advisors.

Nottingham Building Society reports “strong” 2023 financial performance

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Nottingham Building Society reports “strong” 2023 financial performance
Nottingham Building Society (The Nottingham) has reported “a positive financial performance” for the year ended 31 December 2023, achieving growth in mortgage lending in a challenging economic environment as it continues its transformation plan. The Nottingham saw an increase in gross new lending (reaching £887m), total mortgage assets (reaching £3.6bn), and new mortgage customers (6,957), while its total savings balance also grew, as well as total interest paid to savers. The firm’s CEO praised the results, despite a dip in profit, where profit before tax stood at £8.3m, representing a decrease of £10.6m on the prior year. Underlying profit before tax of £24.2m, however, represented a £9m increase.

Sue Hayes, CEO of The Nottingham, said: “I am pleased to report our financial results for 2023 alongside the progress towards delivering our strategy. Our financial performance in 2023 was strong, with profit before tax of £8.3m (2022: £18.9m), an underlying profit before tax of £24.2m (2022: £15.2m) and an 18.3% increase in mortgage balances compared with 2022.

“We achieved significant growth in mortgage lending while overall lending in the UK mortgage market fell. We helped 6,957 (2022: 3,984) customers either take out a mortgage with us for the first time or move to a new mortgage.

“We achieved good growth in our savings balances of 18.3%. We diversified our proposition to offer a variety of attractive products and savings rates to our customers via our branch network and online savings app.

“As interest rates have risen and remained high throughout this year, we have focused on paying savers the best rates we can whilst doing what we need to strengthen the Society. We paid a total of £91.8m in interest to savers in 2023 (2022: £23.9m). 

“I am proud of the results we are sharing today and would like to thank our members, and each one of our dedicated colleagues, for their continued trust in the Society. We look ahead to the coming years with a renewed sense of focus, guided by a clear and impactful purpose, with mutuality as our bedrock. 

“Looking to the future, we will continue to monitor the impact of movements in base rate on our mortgage and savings propositions, while focusing on innovation in our products as part of our ongoing transformation journey. We will also continue to support our saver members with attractive savings propositions.“

Frasers Group’s recently acquired luxury retailer MATCHES put into administration

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Frasers Group’s recently acquired luxury retailer MATCHES put into administration
Shirebrook-based retail giant Frasers Group has put recently acquired luxury fashion retailer MATCHES into administration. The company said MATCHES has consistently missed its business plan targets and has continued to make material losses. Frasers Group told the London Stock Exchange: “Whilst MATCHES’ management team has tried to try to find a way to stabilise the business, it has become clear that too much change would be required to restructure it, and the continued funding requirements would be far in excess of amounts that the Group considers to be viable. “In light of this, Frasers has been informed that the directors of MATCHES have taken the decision to put the MATCHES group into administration. Frasers remains committed to the luxury market and its brand partners.” It comes shortly after Frasers Group bought the business in a £52 million deal. At the time it said the acquisition would be an opportunity to further develop Frasers’ Elevation Strategy and strengthen its luxury offering. The MATCHES business had been loss making in recent years.

£432m bid lodged for Mattioli Woods

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£432m bid lodged for Mattioli Woods

The sale of Leicester-based Mattioli Woods is on the horizon, with an agreement reached on the terms and conditions of a recommended cash offer.

Under the terms of the acquisition, shareholders will be entitled to receive 804 pence in cash for each Mattioli Woods Share.

The consideration values the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of the wealth management firm at approximately £432 million.

Tiger Bidco Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of investment vehicles advised and managed by private equity firm Pollen Street Capital, is behind the offer. Mattioli Woods Directors intend to recommend unanimously that shareholders vote in favour of the offer.

Ian Mattioli MBE, CEO of Mattioli Woods, said: “Since our admission to AIM in 2005, we have seen significant expansion in both the size and nature of our business, integrating asset management, financial planning and employee benefit services to serve personal and corporate clients throughout the UK.

“We have a strong track record of combining like-minded businesses that share the same culture and ethos of putting clients first. The team at Pollen Street Capital share our passion for delivering exceptional client outcomes and have demonstrated their ability to partner with entrepreneurial financial services business.

“I believe that with Pollen Street Capital’s support and access to capital we can accelerate the delivery of our strategy and provide our clients with the proactive advice and bespoke investment solutions they require.”

Anne Gunther, Non-Executive Chair of Mattioli Woods, said: “The Mattioli Woods Board is pleased to announce its unanimous recommendation of this cash offer for Mattioli Woods, which not only delivers attractive value to Mattioli Woods shareholders in cash, allowing them to crystallise the value of their holdings, but also provides significant opportunity for clients, employees and wider stakeholders.

“Mattioli Woods is recognised as a leading advice-led wealth manager and enjoys both direct distribution through its consultancy team and intermediated distribution through certain third parties. I believe that Mattioli Woods’ success is driven by an unwavering client-centric culture, the quality of its people and a responsibly integrated business model.

“The Mattioli Woods Board recognises the opportunities that can be delivered under private ownership, including access to incremental growth capital and other resources to accelerate the development of its technology and pursue transformative acquisitions.

“Pollen Street Capital is highly supportive of the Mattioli Woods management team’s strategy to create one of the UK’s leading wealth managers with the critical scale and holistic product offering to address the changing financial planning and investment needs of its clients.”

Lindsey McMurray, Managing Partner of Pollen Street Capital, said: “We are pleased to have reached agreement with the Mattioli Woods Board on the terms of Bidco’s offer to Mattioli Woods Shareholders.

“We believe Mattioli Woods would benefit from a transition to private ownership, which would enable Mattioli Woods to accelerate its growth strategy and to capitalise on the market opportunity in UK wealth management.

“Pollen Street Capital has strong heritage in supporting companies in the financial and business services sectors and we are excited by the opportunity to work with Mattioli Woods in achieving our ambitious goals for the business.”

Senior promotions signal continued growth at Flint Bishop

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Senior promotions signal continued growth at Flint Bishop
Top 200 law firm Flint Bishop has announced a series of senior promotions, amidst a period of solid business performance and strategic expansion. Angela Davis has been promoted to Partner & Head of Family & Matrimonial. Since joining Flint Bishop as an Associate in May 2018, she has demonstrated exceptional dedication, expertise, and leadership, earning a promotion to Senior Associate in November 2021. With over 30 years of post-qualification experience in family law, Davis has held significant roles at reputable firms. She specialises in advising individuals on wealth preservation during divorce or relationship breakdowns, regularly handling high-net-worth cases with estate values ranging from £1m-£10m, often with international aspects and foreign laws and regulations. Mark Wilcock, promoted to Corporate & Finance Partner, has over 10 years of expertise in a diverse array of corporate matters, including acquisitions and disposals of businesses, management buy-ins and buy-outs, share buybacks, complex restructuring, and shareholder/investment agreements. Wilcock has served as the lead adviser on numerous high-profile transactions since joining Flint Bishop, overseeing deals with values exceeding £10m. He has also been instrumental in forging key client relationships for both the Corporate & Finance and wider Deals team. These accomplishments were swiftly recognised by the firm, leading to his promotion to Senior Associate in August 2022. Briony McDermott, promoted to Employment Partner, brings nearly 15 years of experience in employment law to her new role. Her portfolio includes handling litigated matters, addressing complex company reorganisations projects, TUPE and restructures, undertaking education-specific work, and providing invaluable corporate support. McDermott’s significant contributions to the team and collaborative support with other departments, notably Corporate & Finance, Commercial, and Commercial Property, earned her a promotion to Senior Associate in February 2023. Completing the series of promotions, Sam Balmbra now assumes the role of Senior Associate in the Wills, Probate, Tax & Trusts team. Joining the firm as a newly qualified solicitor in November 2019, he has consistently enhanced his technical expertise, handling progressively complex high-value cases, particularly in probate and estate matters, leading to his promotion to Associate in May 2022. Earlier this month, Balmbra was confirmed as a full member of STEP, joining an elite group of internationally recognised professionals known for their expertise in family planning. This addition means Flint Bishop now boasts 4 out of the 14 fully qualified STEP members in the entire Derbyshire region. Flint Bishop Chief Executive Qamer Ghafoor said: “I am extremely passionate about creating a platform for our people to progress within the firm and take responsibility for projects and areas of work that really excite them. It is excellent to see staff achieve long term careers with the firm in line with the leadership team’s growth ambitions.” Ghafoor added: “These latest promotions stand as a testament to the success of our associate and partner promotion programs, which have been instrumental in fostering talent within the firm which has been a significant contributing factor to our recent growth. “Flint Bishop’s position as a leading law firm in the region is a direct result of the continued investment at our Birmingham and Derby offices as we roll out our further strategic growth plans for 2024 and beyond.”
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