Staveley Waterside Development gets under way
Property consultancy makes new appointments in the Midlands
Only 4 weeks until nominations close for the East Midlands Bricks Awards 2024!
- Most active agent
- Commercial development of the year
- Responsible business of the year
- Residential development of the year
- Developer of the year
- Deal of the year
- Architects of the year
- Excellence in design
- Sustainable development of the year
- Contractor of the year
- Overall winner (this award cannot be entered, with the winner, and recipient of a year of marketing/publicity worth £20,000, selected from those nominated for the event’s other awards)
Nominations end Thursday 5th September








To be held at:

Rolls-Royce wins engine order from Cathay Pacific
Construction company reappointed to deliver £4.4m speculative industrial and warehouse units at strategic development site
43 new businesses created in Charnwood incubator programme
Hundreds of people have sought help from a Loughborough-based startup incubator – with more than 43 new businesses created as a result.
The latest cohort of local entrepreneurs have now completed the fifth cycle of the programme, which first launched towards the end of the Pandemic.
A total of 460 individuals engaged with Charnwood’s Restocking the Business Base programme to seek initial guidance about setting up a business. That was almost double the 250 queries projected when the programme got underway in March 2021.
Of those emerging startups, 101 went on to receive structured support across five cohorts. A total of 43 new businesses were ultimately founded, creating 48 jobs.
Andy Reed OBE, Chair of the Leicester and Leicestershire Business Board, said: “All economies need productive and innovative small businesses and entrepreneurs.
“Programmes such as Restocking the Business Base help to nurture bright new business ideas, which is so important for local employment and growth.”
LUinc – the Loughborough University incubator – has been supporting graduate startups and research spinouts since 2011. It operates from bases on Loughborough University Science and Enterprise Park (LUSEP) and the Careers and Enterprise Hub in Loughborough town centre.
Restocking the Business Base saw LUinc. partner with the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP) and Charnwood Borough Council to extend its services to founders from outside the campus.
The aim was to develop a new generation of agile Leicestershire businesses.
As well as access to coworking space and other university facilities, members benefited from free weekly meetings, one-to-one coaching, structured training, and roundtable discussions delivered by a range of experienced experts and entrepreneurs.
Pete Hitchings, Incubator Manager, said: “Bringing together businesses from the university and the local area has grown a diverse community of business owners who are really invested in helping one another to succeed.
“We are now seeing businesses from our earlier cohorts grow and begin hiring new employees themselves.”
Sirius Transformation joined LUinc. in the Spring of 2022 after making an initial inquiry through the Careers and Enterprise Hub.
Founded in late 2021 by former 3M employees, James Whyley and Steven Sleath, Sirius is a process improvement consultancy based on its founders’ extensive manufacturing experience. It has gone on to work with a number of private sector clients in the construction, glass-processing and plastics industries.
Earlier this year, Sirius was appointed the Advanced Engineering and Manufacturing Specialist Advisor for a borough in Gloucestershire, assisting businesses on matters including capital investment, strategic planning, connections to subject-matter-experts, and targeted process improvements.
Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University have now collaborated to extend their small business incubation partnership for a further 12 months.
Cllr Jewel Miah, Leader of Charnwood Borough Council, said: “It’s great to see so many local startup companies taking advantage of what’s available through this programme.
“As a Council, we’re committed to supporting a thriving local economy; small businesses are central to that and that’s why we are keen to continue supporting them.”
The original three-year project was part-funded with £314,000 from a Covid-19 Recovery Fund, created using Enterprise Zone Retained Business Rates.
The extended programme, running until March 2025, is now accepting applications from local founders.
Construction of 22 new eco-efficient homes begins in Mansfield
Contractors drafted in to build new energy-efficient council homes in Mansfield have broken ground on-site.
Nottinghamshire engineering group acquires Italian business
East Midlands logistics warehouse sold for £16.8m
Profit and revenue drop at building products manufacturer
Ibstock, the manufacturer of building products and solutions, has seen a dip in profit and revenues.
According to results for the six months ended 30 June 2024, revenues reduced by 20% to £178 million, down from £223 million in the same period of 2023.
The firm said this principally resulted from lower sales volumes across the core business, with lower market demand compounded by exceptionally wet weather.
Statutory profit before tax, meanwhile, dropped to £12 million from £30 million.Joe Hudson, Chief Executive Officer, said: “Market conditions remained challenging in the first half, as expected, with sales volumes below those reported in the comparative period. We delivered a solid profit performance for the period which reflected our ongoing focus on the active management of cost and margin.
“Lead indicators point to an improving sector picture, and although we are taking a cautious view of the extent to which this will translate into a demand improvement in the balance of the year, we expect adjusted EBITDA for the second half of the 2024 year to be broadly in line with the comparative period in 2023.
“The new government’s commitment to increasing the supply of new homes creates a more positive backdrop for medium term demand, and the Group remains well-positioned for market recovery.
“Our investments over the last few years have added high quality, lower cost, efficient and more sustainable capacity to our network and developed new capabilities for the group in diversified construction markets, while also creating a leaner, more customer-focused business. We believe this will be a powerful combination as market conditions improve.
“The fundamental drivers underpinning demand in our markets are firmly in place and our prospects remain strong, underpinned by our robust balance sheet.”