Nottingham-based SDL Property Auctions has been acquired by Leeds-headquartered Eddisons in a deal worth up to £3.25m, forming one of the country’s largest property auction houses by volume. Led by MD Andrew Parker, SDL sells residential and commercial properties across the UK, offering around 2,000 lots for sale annually. Employing 46 people, the firm is particularly active in the South East, Midlands and Scotland, complementing Eddisons’ property auction strengths in Yorkshire and the North West. The acquisition builds on Eddisons’ auction business, which trades under the Pugh and Mark Jenkinson brands, with SDL Property Auctions set to integrate with the Eddisons team post-acquisition. Eddisons managing partner Anthony Spencer said: “This acquisition significantly increases the scale of our auction business, and I look forward to working with Andy and the team. “This is the fourth acquisition of the year for Eddisons and we continue to seek further opportunities for expansion across the UK.”

A Nottingham man who operated three illegal East Midlands waste sites – including one at which a fire took a month to put out – has been jailed for ten months and disqualified as a director for seven years. Paul Riina-Moretti, 46, of Sneinton Dale, Nottingham had previously admitted three offences of operating a waste facility without an Environmental permit. The court heard that a major fire broke out at the biggest site, Oakham Farm, Forest Lane, near Walesby in north Nottinghamshire, which took the Fire Service over a month to put out in the autumn of 2016. The other sites were at Hathernware Industrial Estate, Rempstone Road, Normanton-on-the-Soar, and Horse Leys Farm, Melton Road, Burton on the Wolds. Also sentenced at the same hearing was Paul Billingham, 55, of Wolverhampton Road West, Willenhall, who admitted depositing waste at the three sites. He received a six-month custodial sentence which was suspended for 18 months and ordered to do 200 hours unpaid work. An investigation by the Environment Agency discovered that Riina-Moretti was operating the three sites illegally without an Environmental Permit. Waste was deposited in vast quantities and there was no real plan as to how it was going to be processed. At Oakham Farm, the defendant had rented two former poultry production units, telling farm officials that he wanted to store clean plastics. He said that his intention was that the plastics would be transferred to an incinerator for burning and converting to energy. However, the reality was that significant amounts of mixed waste were deposited and stored at the site a where a fire broke out on 21 September 2016. It generated a huge plume of smoke and residents at nearby properties were required to close doors and windows while one mother and baby were forced to move out temporarily due to the smoke. Properties were covered in smoke and smog and there was the distinctive smell of burning plastic. Smoke was still noticeable five days later and the fire was not fully extinguished until 7 November 2016. The fire completely destroyed the two poultry units which resulted in the landowner incurring clear up costs of £478,000. Environment Agency officers also gained CCTV pictures from the farm which showed Billingham to be a frequent visitor from the end of August 2016 into September. Footage showed Billingham driving an articulated lorry and trailer to deposit waste at the site on 13 occasions. At Hathernware Industrial Estate, Environment Agency officers received complaints about waste being dumped. They discovered that some 100 black polythene wrapped bales had been stored at the front of the warehouse, with similar baled waste stored at Horse Leys Farm. A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: “We welcome these sentences which should act as a deterrent to others who are considering flouting the law. “These sites posed a significant environmental threat due to the high risk of fire and potentially significant impact to local communities and amenities. “As a regulator, the Environment Agency will not hesitate to pursue individuals and companies that fail to meet its obligations to the environment. “The conditions of an environmental permit are designed to protect people and the environment. “Failure to comply with these legal requirements is a serious offence that can damage the environment, harm human health and undermine local legitimate waste companies.

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 Alex Hudson, Market Senior Partner at PwC East Midlands. It’s fair to say that 2023 was a challenging year for businesses, from economic uncertainty to geopolitical events which impacted the market. That said, there were also many opportunities created, and as we look forward to 2024, we should consider how we can take advantage of these. Productivity was a hot topic for 2023 and this is set to continue. The PwC Productivity Tracker, which takes a human-led and tech-powered approach to analysing the various components that make up productivity, focused on the regional differences in terms of productive growth. Out of the 12 regions, when comparing rates of productivity growth, the East Midlands achieved fourth place, highlighting the opportunity we have to increase our regional output. The Tracker indicated that the regions who perform the best prioritised change and innovation, be it through development, regeneration or investment to name a few. It also underlined the close relationship between strong productivity growth, talent availability and high skills levels, all of which we have here in the East Midlands. With the recent announcement that the East Midlands investment zone is to be extended, as well as the free port we have at East Midlands and the Combined County Authority devolution deal set to be realised in summer, 2024 should present a lot of opportunities for growth for East Midlands businesses.

UK inflation has dropped more than expected, with annualised inflation rate, measured by the consumer prices index (CPI), dipping to 3.9% from 4.6% in October. This is the lowest rate since September 2021, is below the expectations of analysts, and comes largely thanks to declines in motor fuel prices and recreation costs and a slowdown in food and drink inflation. Annualised inflation had been forecast to come in at 4.4%. Meanwhile, core inflation, which takes out volatile factors like energy, food, alcohol and tobacco to give a clear picture of underlying trends, was more stubborn at 5.1% in the 12 months to November 2023, falling from 5.7% in October. Responding to the news, Martin McTague, national chair of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), said: “The decrease in inflation is a whisper of relief to small firms as we end the year. The reduction marks a significant shift from the staggering 10 per cent figure this time last year at the peak of the cost-of-doing-business crisis. “As inflationary pressures ease, small firms will be wanting the Bank of England to indicate when interest rates may start to fall – this would increase access to finance, drive economic growth and provide a fighting chance at avoiding a recession. “Businesses will be hoping for a stable environment characterised by more predictable market conditions and lower costs in 2024.”