Leicester Tigers’ plans to raise up to £13m approved
Leicester Football Club Plc shareholders have approved, at a General Meeting on Friday (March 3), plans to raise up to £13m by way of a share subscription from Tom Scott and Peter Tom – both existing shareholders and members of the Board.
The Board believes that the subscription is essential to secure the financial position and future success of Leicester Tigers.
The proposal will see Scott, a non-executive director, and executive chairman Tom increase their shareholdings in the club, with Scott becoming a majority shareholder.
Leicester Tigers’ CEO Andrea Pinchen said ahead of the vote: “Tom Scott is a long-standing supporter of the club and a valued member of the board of directors who over his tenure with the club has already invested over £10m.
“Peter Tom has been chairman of Leicester Tigers since 1993, having made 130 appearances for the club between 1963 and 1968 and has been a huge part in navigating the club through the professional era.
“We are very grateful that Peter and Tom are looking to extend their investments in Leicester Tigers at a time when the club is suffering some very challenging conditions from factors mostly outside of our control.
“Their decision to invest at this time will give the club the financial assurance to execute the club’s strategy of continued success and financial sustainability.”
Leicester Tigers will initially receive £8.3m, to be followed by a further £4.7m.
If the investment plans were not passed, the appointment of administrators was anticipated.
Professional video for £99…you need to take a look at this
Glowfrog’s new social media video bundle provides you with professional quality corporate video production for just £99 a video! You won’t find better value than this and it’s a fantastic opportunity to make a huge return on investment*.
The bundle includes 4 videos each month, with compatibility and optimisation for every social media platform. The videos are all filmed in one day at your own premises, then edited to professional standards with your logo and branding, to make your company stand out on social media and gain new customers.
Interested, or want to know more? Head over to www.glowfrogvideo.com/bundle for more information.
*Want to discover the ROI your company could make? Go to www.glowfrogvideo.com/roicalculator. Fill in the quick form and get an instant calculation!
This is a monthly package with a minimum 3 month contract. Short-form talking heads and/or product demo content only. Maximum length per video 59 seconds. Filmed in one day where possible and may require an additional half or full day in some cases. Offer price £1188/month correct at March 2023 and this offer may be altered or withdrawn at any time. T&C apply. See glowfrogvideo.com/bundle for more information.
Hinckley National Rail Freight Interchange plans withdrawn for further work
Developers Tritax Symmetry have withdrawn their application for the Hinckley National Rail Freight Interchange.
Tritax had submitted the application to the Planning Inspectorate on 6 February for consideration.
However, the Planning Inspectorate have told Tritax they failed to provide a required technical report in their submission documents.
It is understood Tritax will now take several weeks to prepare this report and will then need to resubmit their application.
This will restart the process from the start of the acceptance phase.
The scheme, earmarked for 662 acres of land between the M69 and the Leicester to Birmingham railway line, falls mainly within the boundary of Blaby District Council, south-west of Elmesthorpe village.
While Blaby District Council can comment on the application throughout the formal process, it cannot make the final decision. The scheme is considered of such scale and national importance it will be determined by the Secretary of State.
On 20 February, Blaby District Council submitted a representation about the adequacy of the scheme’s consultation, followed on 21 February by Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council submitting a response that the scheme’s consultation fell short of what should have been undertaken, highlighting deficiencies in the time and information available during consultations, and that there were limitations and gaps in the baseline information provided.
It is expected this delay will add several weeks to the currently expected timetable.
Study shows CSR engagement remains high among East Midlands businesses but lots of work still to do
Six in 10 East Midlands businesses continue to engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities despite the ongoing cost-of-doing-business crisis, new research shows.
A study by East Midlands Chamber, in partnership with the University of Derby and Loughborough University, found that while there was a slight drop-off in engagement from 66% to 60% of firms in the year to 2022, 42% plan to increase charitable and community activities over the next 12 months – with fewer than 4% expecting a decrease.
When asked to rank the importance of CSR to organisational strategy, it was given an average rating of 5.7 out of 10.
This week, the Chamber hosted a roundtable session involving business leaders to learn why many organisations place importance on CSR and how to support those that don’t currently engage in any activities.
East Midlands Chamber director of policy and external affairs Chris Hobson said: “This research demonstrates the continued importance of being a responsible business, something that many firms are prioritising even in a tough economic environment of cost pressures from all cylinders.
“Responsible businesses are more successful in attracting and retaining employees, winning contracts and tenders, and being recognised as an important part of their community. This ultimately results in more successful businesses.
“We now want to help more businesses to do more CSR engagement, and in a more impactful way, using the insights of this research and discussions with our members.”
Key findings in East Midlands Chamber CSR research
The CSR analysis has been conducted since 2017 as part of the Chamber’s Quarterly Economic Survey.
The latest study took place in November within the Q4 2022 survey, featuring 389 respondents from across Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. Key findings included:
· CSR engagement among service-based firms (64%) tends to be higher than among manufacturers (50%)
· There is a correlation between CSR engagement and the size of an organisation – while 83% of large firms are engaged, this decreases for medium (73%), small (66%) and microbusinesses (47%)
· A lack of resources remains the main barrier to greater adoption, cited by 32% of all companies but higher among microbusinesses (35%)
· Other key barriers include not being something an organisation has considered (20%), not part of a strategic business plan (17%), too busy (13%), not the right time (11%) and unsure how to begin (7%)
· The desire to give something back (15%), being the right thing to do (14%), develop links with the community (13%) and staff development (11%) were cited as the main motivations for CSR engagement
· Charitable activities (40%) like corporate fundraising and donations are the most popular types of CSR engagement, followed by environmental activities (27%), community initiatives (23%) and staff volunteering (10%)
· Smaller organisations are more community-focused than their larger peers, which regard CSR as more critical to their strategy
· Despite the slight fall in CSR engagement between 2021 and 2022, virtually all (97%) organisations are looking to maintain, if not increase, their CSR activities in the coming year
The analysis is published in a report titled Corporate social responsibility engagement in the East Midlands, authored by Dr Barbara Tomasella at the University of Derby and Dr Elaine Conway at Loughborough University.
Dr Tomasella said: “This study highlights how organisations in the East Midlands are good advocates for engaging in CSR activities and is a very positive bellwether of the strength of community spirit in the East Midlands.
“Despite barriers to resource availability, many organisations do find the opportunity to invest in CSR, and have a strong sense of wanting to give back and develop their local communities – a commitment that still looks strong in the forthcoming year.”
Dr Conway added: “It’s important we now look to support more firms to join their peers in CSR engagement – not only because of the community benefits but because it makes good business sense – and we will be looking at how we can support this via positive storytelling, toolkits and training.”
Leicestershire foodbank receives £2,500 boost from local housebuilder
Leicestershire developer David Wilson Homes has supported Coalville Foodbank with a £2,500 donation towards food and toiletry supplies, and assisting the vital work of volunteers.
Based at New Life Church, and close to the developer’s head office in Bardon, the foodbank has been operating for roughly 10 years and provides food parcels to local people in need on a referral-only basis.
It also offers debt advice to clients, and helps to signpost them to other supporting charities and organisations.
Alison Carr, administrator at Coalville Foodbank, said: “We are really grateful for David Wilson Homes’ generous donation, as we rely on donations to be able to keep Coalville Foodbank full of food.
“Community support through food donations and funding is so important, as we wouldn’t be able to operate without this support.
“We’d like to thank David Wilson Homes for its donation as it means a lot to our organisation and is always appreciated.”
John Reddington, Managing Director at David Wilson Homes East Midlands, said: “We’re thrilled to support Coalville Foodbank at a time where togetherness and community spirit is crucial.
“The representatives of the Trussell Trust do an outstanding job in providing emergency supplies to those in need, and we hope our donation will support their admirable work during these testing times.”
Coalville Foodbank is part of a nationwide network of foodbanks, supported by The Trussell Trust, working to combat poverty and hunger across the UK.
Between 1 April 2022 and 30 September 2022, foodbanks in the Trussell Trust’s national network distributed 1.3 million food parcels to people facing hardship – this is an increase of 52% compared to the same period in 2019. Half a million of these parcels were distributed to children.
£75,000 funding to support Broxtowe businesses
£75,000 funding is now open for applications to support businesses in Broxtowe as part of a new grant scheme from Broxtowe Borough Council.
The scheme will fund grants of up to £2,500 for things like:
- Shop and business frontage improvements including signage
- Street scene or conservation area related initiatives
- Environmental energy saving measures
- Disability access improvements
- Digital, productivity and ecommerce investments that improve productivity or create jobs
- Kimberley – £25,000 as part of the Levelling Up Fund
- Eastwood – £25,000 as part of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund
- Beeston/Chilwell – £25,000 as part of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund
New industrial development set for Corby following funding agreement
Commercial developer, Brackley Property Developments (BPD) has secured funding for the construction of a new industrial/warehouse building on a two-acre development site in Northamptonshire.
The commercial developer has entered into a full forward funding agreement with specialist property investment firm, Leftfield for the speculative development of the new unit at Cockerell Road in Corby.
Work has commenced on the development, which gained planning consent from North Northamptonshire Council towards the end of last year.
The new 43,000 sq ft unit will contain two dock loading doors, two level access sectional overhead doors and ancillary office space, as well as staff and visitor parking. It is programmed for completion in Q3 2023.
Stephen Pedrick-Moyle, managing director of BPD, said: “This is an exciting mid-box development opportunity in a prominent, well located site. The new unit will offer occupiers the chance to secure high quality industrial/warehouse accommodation north of Corby town centre and within close proximity of a large local labour supply.
“We are very pleased to further our relationship with Leftfield, following our development of 110,000 sq ft of new industrial accommodation at Leftfield Park in Walsall.”
Nico Fourie, chief executive of Leftfield Advisors, said: “Leftfield Fund III continues to accumulate strategic assets in key locations. Our conviction to the sector requires quality buildings, which attract strong covenants. We are delighted to work closely again with BPD on this new project.”
Cockerell Road is an established commercial location, with occupiers including Wickes and Andrews Building Supplies. The nearby A6003 provides direct access to junction 7 of the A14 dual carriageway and main arterial routes.
TDB Real Estate acted on behalf of BPD and Bampton Satchwell Bull (BSB) acted on behalf of Leftfield. Prop-Search advised the vendor during the original site acquisition process.
Nottingham Forest owner makes significant financial commitment to the club
Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis has made a further significant financial commitment to the club with the conversion of £41m worth of loans into shares in the 2021/22 financial year.
Converting the £41m debt into equity helps relieve the financial burden on the club, reaffirming Marinakis’ commitment to the continued development and future success of Nottingham Forest.
The move forms part of the club’s financial accounting process for its 2021/22 accounts. Details of the arrangement have been submitted to Companies House.
This follows a similar conversion of £12m of debt into equity in the previous year and over £20m in the year before that.
Chairman Nicholas Randall KC said: “Nottingham Forest is incredibly fortunate to have such generous financial support from its ownership.
“This latest financial commitment follows substantial spending on the playing squad in the Summer and January transfer windows, together with significant investment in infrastructure across the club.
“This includes the redevelopment of the tunnel, dressing rooms and hospitality areas in the Main Stand at The City Ground and improvements to pitches and training facilities at the Nigel Doughty Academy complex.”
Profits up at The Nottingham
With an increase in mortgage lending and pre-tax profit compared to 2021, The Nottingham says it ended 2022 in a strong position.
According to results for the year ended 31 December 2022, group pre-tax profit stood at £18.9m (growing from £15.1m in 2021), with underlying pre-tax profit of £15.2m (increasing from £7.4m in 2021).
Gross mortgage lending meanwhile was up 18% at over £659m for 2022.Sue Hayes, CEO of Nottingham Building Society, said: “I am pleased to report that we ended the year in a strong position, with profit before tax of £18.9 million, up £3.8 million on 2021.
“Our financial performance has been achieved despite additional costs and increased provisions for expected future credit losses driven by the rising cost of living, and inflationary challenges that our borrowers face into 2023 and beyond. Increasing interest rates have supported the strong performance.
“We have made it a key priority to support our members through these difficult times by paying savers the best rates we could whilst strengthening the Society. Building the right team has also been very important. In 2022 we announced some significant hires to bolster our talented executive team.
“Alongside this, finding the right allies to support our ambitions was a focus. Our partnership with Generation Home, announced in November, is a great example of how we will think differently to help achieve our goals.
“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.”
Get involved, collaborate and make change happen conference tells Chesterfield businesses
Chesterfield businesses have been urged to take action if they want to make a difference to the town’s future.
Speaking at the annual Celebrate Chesterfield Conference on Thursday 2 March, organised by Destination Chesterfield in association with Addooco IT, Peter Swallow, chair of the town’s inward investment marketing campaign Destination Chesterfield, called on businesses to ‘get involved,’ ‘collaborate’ and ‘make change happen’ to ensure the town achieves its transformational growth strategy by 2030.
He said: “We have a network of more than 200 businesses, charities and education providers in Chesterfield, known as Chesterfield Champions, and the people in these organisations do so much to support Destination Chesterfield to market the town as a destination to invest, work, live and visit.
“But if we want to see the town thrive in an increasingly competitive market, we need to do even more collectively. We must collaborate and buy from each other and we must champion Chesterfield outside the area in order to help us bring investment into the borough and create highly skilled jobs.”
Launched on 23 February by Chesterfield Borough Council, key headline targets of the Chesterfield Growth Strategy include:
· Increasing the number of employee jobs in the borough by 4% (2,000 jobs).
· Increasing the number of businesses by 12% (400 businesses).
· Increasing the number of higher value businesses by 15% (100 businesses).
· Increasing the share of Chesterfield residents in knowledge-based occupations by 15% (baseline Census 21 – 18,000).
· Increasing the value of the visitor economy by 20% (baseline £163m).
Speaking about the ambitious strategy at the conference, Councillor Tricia Gilby, leader of Chesterfield Borough Council, said: “Bringing together the public, private and community sectors to champion our borough is key to achieving our ambitions and strengthening the local economy. As a council we have continued to bring investment into the area from central government and elsewhere.
“Earlier this year we announced our success in bringing almost £2.7 million of UK Shared Prosperity Funding into the borough, a comprehensive spending plan is in place that will provide training support, grant programmes for businesses and charities, as well as helping to make further improvements to green spaces, sports and play facilities across our borough.
“We have secured more than £45 million from the government, this will be used to invest in the future of Staveley but also to improve Chesterfield town centre and enhance our appeal to visitors.
“Looking to the future there is more than £2 billion of investment across our borough and this will help ensure that we have a bright future ahead of us but there is still more we can do and working with the Chesterfield Champions we look forward to promoting our borough as the place to live, work, visit and invest.”
As well as being chair of Destination Chesterfield, Mr Swallow is also Managing Director of Bolsterstone Group Plc. The company developed the new flagship office space One Waterside Place which opened earlier this year.
Chesterfield Borough Council’s Growth Strategy will see further investors like Bolsterstone Group and Devonshire Group attracted to the borough.
The Devonshire Group is behind the future residential development and regeneration of 150 hectares of former industrial land in Staveley and is also partnering with Chesterfield Borough Council, Chesterfield College and the University of Derby in delivering the Construction Skills Hub. This is funded through the Staveley Town Deal and will provide training, careers insights, and work experience for more than 5,000 learners on a live construction site over 10 years.
In addition to site and bench joinery, brickwork, ground works and electrical installation the Hub will also provide training in green technologies.
Andy Byrne, property development director for The Devonshire Group, also spoke at the conference, saying: “Although we have land in the area, the Devonshire Group is investing in Chesterfield because we have opportunities with great partners – Chesterfield Borough Council, Derbyshire County Council, Harworth Group and HBD. The geography of Chesterfield is one of its many advantages. It has good motorway and rail links and also a skilled workforce already present in the area.”
The annual Celebrate Chesterfield conference, which was attended by more than 250 members of the town’s businesses community, also saw the launch of the new Destination Chesterfield plan, which will position the borough as a desirable and contemporary destination for visitors, investors and residents.
The new plan places the town’s network of Champions at the forefront, having been recently praised by the UK’s leading place branding, place marketing and place making specialist Thinking Place, as a ‘sales force’ for the town.
Celebrate Chesterfield was sponsored by Chesterfield Champions Addooco IT, University of Derby, Choice Utility and Markham Vale.
Peter Swallow added: “The financial support of the town’s Champions is incredibly important to ensure events such as Celebrate happen. For people to be onboard and contributing actively to the town’s growth and development, then they also must be informed and involved with plans. The lasting and far reaching change we are striving for in Chesterfield cannot be done by one organisation alone; it must be a collaborative effort.”
Nigel Mallender, head of sales and marketing at Addooco IT Ltd, the event’s headline sponsor, said: “Addooco are a proud Chesterfield based business and the majority of our Team live in the town. We’re delighted to support the many Destination Chesterfield events and to promote their initiatives wherever possible.
“They do an excellent job of increasing awareness of our town and in spreading the word on what a great place Chesterfield is to live, work, meet and to run a business. Addooco are committed to Chesterfield and continue to use local suppliers, services and hire local people wherever we can.”
Dan Molloy, Managing Director of Choice Utility, added: “I believe that Chesterfield is one of the best places to do business out of. It’s important that the businesses based here support the town and each other, whether it’s through attending and sponsoring events like Celebrate Chesterfield or shopping local. Having a thriving local economy is key to developing conversations with national investors and ensuring Chesterfield continues to grow and develop.”
Adam Doyle, head of business engagement and employability at the University of Derby, which is supporting the Festival of Business Exhibition, said: “We were proud to be the partner of the Derbyshire Festival of Business exhibition at Celebrate Chesterfield.
“The festival plays a key role in continuing to support the business community to innovate and grow, aligned to our aim of raising skills and aspirations across our region. Working with businesses, we are helping to position our county internationally as a place to do business as well as a place to study, live and work.”
A spokesperson for HBD, the developer behind Chesterfield’s successful Markham Vale and a sponsor of Celebrate Chesterfield, added: “Chesterfield is a fantastic place to do business, as demonstrated by the phenomenal growth we’ve seen at Markham Vale and the creation of more than 2,700 new jobs.”
