Long term waste management contract settled out of court
Ongoing litigation related to Derbyshire County Council and Derby City Council’s long term waste management contract has been settled out of court.
Derby City Council and Derbyshire County Council have paid a joint total of £93.5million to Resource Recovery Solutions (Derbyshire) Ltd’s (RRS) administrators. It comes after several months of negotiations between the councils and RRS’s administrators, who were claiming £187million was owed – a figure which the councils disputed.
In 2009, RRS – a partnership between infrastructure firm Interserve and waste management company Renewi – was awarded a contract by Derby City Council and Derbyshire County Council to manage the Councils’ residual waste and design, build, commission, and operate a waste treatment facility in Sinfin, Derby.
RRS paid for the facility – which under the councils’ contract with RRS was planned to be completed in 2017 – to be designed and built, in order to divert 190,000 tonnes of waste per year away from landfill.
But after RRS failed to pass commissioning tests by the agreed date, the councils lawfully terminated the contract in August 2019.
Following termination, the councils and RRS began a process to determine the Adjusted Estimated Fair Value (AEFV) of the contract. The AEFV was the sum due as compensation (to either RRS or the councils) following the termination of the contract, and is designed to reflect the future value of the long term waste management contract.
RRS and the councils were contractually required to go through the AEFV process, and all parties to litigation are expected to make every effort to negotiate a settlement outside a formal litigation process, in order to avoid unnecessary costs to either party.
At respective Cabinet meetings earlier in July, both councils resolved to accept the settlement, and pay RRS £93.5million to protect council tax-payers from the risk of further significant costs.
If a sum had not been agreed through negotiation, the dispute would have been resolved through the courts, and formal litigation – a lengthy process with unknown outcomes and additional costs.
With this settlement, litigation ends, and RRS has no further involvement.
The total sum of £93.5million has been split by the councils in accordance with their agreed split; 50:50 up to £50million, and all sums thereafter split proportionately; 73.4% by the county council and 26.6% by the city council. £36.57million therefore paid by the city council and £56.93million by the county council.
In anticipation of litigation, or a settlement, finances were earmarked as part of Derby City Council’s Medium-Term Finance Planning process for 2023 to 2024, meanwhile Derbyshire County Council has earmarked reserves to cover the settlement costs.
Beaumont Market to close in light of trading losses
Leicester city council has announced that Beaumont Market, located in Beaumont Leys, will close from September this year in light of current and predicted trading losses.
The 15 traders currently operating there are being offered stalls at Leicester Market until planned redevelopment work begins in October.
Peter Chandler, head of economic regeneration at the city council, said: “Shopping habits have changed since the market opened in the 1980’s, and there has been a gradual decline in shopping there over several years. This has resulted in fewer stallholders and a reduction in the income needed to give the market a viable future.
“We are in the process of giving the current stallholders notice to leave, and talking to them about whether they wish to take up the offer of trading space at Leicester Market.
“We realise this will be disappointing news and it is not a decision we have taken lightly. We will be doing all we can to help the traders find alternative places to trade, either at Leicester Market or in other suitable council-owned premises.”
The council is looking at the options for selling the land on which the market operates, next to Beaumont Leys Shopping Centre.
Work is set to begin on the redevelopment of Leicester’s historic city centre market in the autumn.
During the refurbishment, traders at Leicester Market will be temporarily relocated to Green Dragon Square, behind the Corn Exchange.
Improvements to Leicester Market will include more than 80 new stalls, new lighting, green roofs and solar panels, new paving around the market and more outdoor seating.
Main contractor chosen to deliver Nottingham’s new Green Heart
Nottingham-based Willmott Dixon has been confirmed as the main contractor to deliver the next phase of Nottingham City Council’s Broad Marsh Green Heart regeneration scheme.
Procured through the SCAPE Construction framework, Willmott Dixon is already on-site nearby creating a new public space outside the new Central Library. Work will commence on the Green Heart this Autumn as a key element of the vision for Nottingham’s 20-acre Broad Marsh area, transforming a site that was previously a large shopping centre before it was demolished by Willmott Dixon in 2022, working closely alongside multi-disciplinary consultancy Pick Everard.
Nick Heath, director at Willmott Dixon, said: “Nottingham’s Broad Marsh Green Heart vision is a regeneration project with valuable green space at its core. Green space is important for the beating heart of all urban environments, and brings major benefits too, according to the World Economic Forum’s ‘BiodiverCities by 2030’ report which looked at the importance of changing the relationship between nature and our towns and cities.
“Having been responsible for the original shopping centre demolition in 2021-2022 and sharing insight on this complicated, historic site with interested parties throughout the process, we’re excited to be maintaining a role in the transformation and using our skills to deliver the next phase.
“As a local business with a strong Nottingham presence, we’re looking forward to seeing an important area of the city re-emerge and provide benefits for people that live and work here – creating a new legacy to be proud of.”
The Green Heart introduces green, ecologically rich areas and diverse natural spaces providing habitats and food for wildlife, forming a green infrastructure network linking the Broad Marsh area from Nottingham Castle through to the 36-acre Island Quarter regeneration site and beyond.
A key aim is to put the ‘marsh’ back to the Broad Marsh, introducing new urban wetlands on land that was once a marshland ecosystem to capture, slow and filter rainwater, potentially preventing flooding and creating pockets of biodiversity.
A long bench will arc through the planting and marsh allowing people to sit, enjoy and experience nature.
Leader of Nottingham City Council, Cllr David Mellen, said: “More green space was by far the most popular response when we asked people what they would like to see happen around Broad Marsh as part of the huge Big Conversation engagement exercise the council ran a couple of years ago.
“Anyone who has visited the area recently will see how much it has changed with lots of greenery, pedestrianised areas and seating. The creation of the Green Heart will take the transformation of Broad Marsh a major step further and be a beautiful addition to the city centre which is unique to Nottingham. I’m particularly pleased that Collin Street will be a family-friendly space that people can enjoy right outside the new Central Library.”
Mark Robinson, Group Chief Executive at SCAPE, said: “It is fantastic to be supporting the next phase of this iconic regeneration scheme, with a nature-first design that will encourage rewilding and improve biodiversity.
“With a laser focus on sustainability, the Green Heart will create a vibrant, unique space that reflects the changing needs of society for urban, city centre locations. Providing accessible green space is not only essential for supporting the health and wellbeing of Nottingham’s residents and visitors but it also plays a key role in helping Nottingham City Council achieve their target of becoming net zero by 2028.”
The design of the Green Heart is unique to Nottingham and has been developed by Townshend Landscape Architects along with Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust with Ares supporting the contractor on the landscape design for the scheme.
Nutrition brand becomes latest tenant at Northern Gateway Enterprise Centre
Chesterfield’s Northern Gateway Enterprise Centre has welcomed nutritional supplement brand, Nuzest as its latest tenant.
The business joins a list of several successful organisations to move to the centre in the heart of Chesterfield, which is now more than 80% occupied within its first year of opening.
Nuzest’s Adrian Beckett, who will be working from the firm’s new Chesterfield location, said: “We have operated totally virtually as a team even before Covid. Having the Enterprise Centre available to us creates a new base for all things Nuzest in the UK. A place for us to collaborate in the same space and execute some exciting initiatives much faster.
“Chesterfield is favourably located to our CEO plus some of our existing team, it has fantastic transport links and is centrally located for the rest of the team to access also.
“The Enterprise Centre is an ideal home for us, it is the place where we see the business taking leaps and bounds in the coming year or two. We are focused on growing all of our main sales channels both in the UK but also the EU. We also have a healthy pipeline of new products which will start to feature online and in-store in the coming months, watch this space.”
The Nottingham sees strong performance in “pivotal six months”
The Nottingham has hailed a strong performance despite a volatile economic environment in what its CEO has referred to as a “pivotal six months” for the building society.
In its half year report, for the six months ended 30 June 2023, the firm highlighted growth in mortgage lending as it continues its transformation plan.
£457.1m in gross new lending represented an increase of £204.6m on the same period of 2022 (£252.5m), while pre-tax profits hit £11.7m, increasing from £11.3m.
Total mortgage assets were £3.3bn, up from £2.9bn.
Sue Hayes, Chief Executive of The Nottingham, said: “This has been a pivotal six months for the Nottingham.
“Our strong performance in a volatile economic environment demonstrates the progress we have made towards transforming our building society. We know this has been a challenging time for our members and I am proud that we have done everything we can to support them, by passing on rate rises and paying savers the best rates we can.
“The last six months has seen the biggest impact on mortgage holders in 15 years, which is why we were one of the first to sign up to the new ‘Mortgage Charter’ – ensuring our borrowers can access the best solutions for them and helping them through this challenging environment.
“As we look to the future, we will support an even broader range of people to own their own home, and we have introduced a range of lending criteria changes in recent weeks that will help enable this. In addition our partnership with Generation Home to make property ownership more achievable continues to develop strongly. We look forward to delivering on these goals during the second half of this year.”
Nomination deadline looms for the East Midlands Bricks Awards 2023
As the nomination deadline (Thursday 31 August) draws nearer for the East Midlands Bricks Awards 2023, don’t miss out on the opportunity to showcase your business, teams, outstanding developments and boost morale with an entry for the annual celebration of the property and construction industry.
Taking place on Thursday 28 September, the Bricks shine a light on the exceptional work of those shaping the landscape of our region, recognising development projects and people in commercial and public building across the East Midlands – from offices, industrial and residential, through to community projects such as leisure schemes and schools. We also highlight the work of architects, agencies and those behind large schemes.
The glittering awards ceremony revealing winners, at the famous Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, will also offer the ideal chance to establish new contacts with property and construction professionals from across the region. The event will additionally feature Mike Denby, Director of Inward Investment and Place Marketing at Leicester City Council, as keynote speaker.
Entries for the awards are open until Thursday 31 August. To nominate your (or another) business/development for the East Midlands Bricks Awards 2023, please click on a category link below or visit this page:
To be held at:
- Most active estate 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, the winner will be selected from those nominated)
Find out who last year’s winners were here.
Book your tickets now
Tickets can now be booked for the East Midlands Bricks Awards 2023 – click here to secure yours. The special awards evening and networking event will be held on Thursday 28 September 2023 in the Derek Randall Suite at the Trent Bridge Cricket Ground 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, and hear from Mike Denby, Director of Inward Investment and Place Marketing at Leicester City Council, our keynote speaker. Dress code is standard business attire. Thanks to our sponsors:
To be held at:
Logicor to begin its largest redevelopment in the UK with Daventry logistics scheme
Logicor, the owner and manager of logistics real estate in Europe, is set to begin its largest redevelopment in the UK, in the East Midlands.
Acquired in 2021, the site is located within the heart of the Midlands, within the logistics Golden Triangle, with Daventry town centre 1.5 miles away.
Logicor is redeveloping the site to create 800,000 sq ft of modern logistics across 38.5 acres which will be known as Logicor Park Daventry.
Detailed planning consent has been secured for three new warehouses, ranging from 135,000 sq ft to 385,000 sq ft, as well as two on-site gyms, shower facilities and cycle paths.
The redevelopment will target BREEAM Excellent and EPC A, and will include a range of environmental features, including photovoltaic panels, electric vehicle charging points, LED lights and rainwater harvesting. Sympathetic landscaping will include planting out over 4,500 additional trees and saplings, along with local species of plants which will all assist in improving the biodiversity of the areas surrounding the development.
The redevelopment is set to begin in 2023 and to be completed by Q1 2025. Benniman Construction Group has been appointed as the general contractor and it is expected that 1,000 jobs will be potentially created once the units have been completed and leased.
Charlie Howard, UK Managing Director, said: “The ability to develop modern warehouses in this key location was the main reason that we acquired it in 2021.
“The Golden Triangle continues to be the core location for distribution logistics and we know that our customers want to be located here, so we are delighted to be able to deliver modern and highly sustainable warehouses to the region.
“Logicor Park Daventry is a great illustration of how we, as one of the largest industrial portfolio owners in the UK, are able to utilise our existing land to bring forward new and exciting warehouse opportunities for our customers through development and refurbishments.”
Wells McFarlane appoints new residential and commercial asset manager
Commercial property consultancy, Wells McFarlane has expanded with the appointment of a new residential and commercial asset manager. Pru Singh joins the Lutterworth-based firm.
Pru will support Wells McFarlane’s director and co-founder, Andrew McFarlane Holt with property and site inspections; tenant, landlord, contractor and other stakeholder liaison; lease renewals; marketing and general property management.
“For the last decade my career’s been focused on residential lettings and property management, working at a specialist agency in Clarendon Park,” explains Pru. “I was aware that Wells McFarlane offer this service, but the role also included commercial property, meaning I could expand my skillset.
“After further research, I quickly realised what an incredible profile the firm has, especially the success it achieves from just a single office, and felt this environment would suit the next stage of my career.”
Pru’s appointment follows a sustained period of growth for Wells McFarlane. Not only has the firm topped the league in five CoStar tables for 2023, but it has also increased its property management work, recently reporting it has taken over the management of a further three business parks across Leicestershire.
Director, Andrew McFarlane Holt adds: “Despite a challenging and competitive market, the appetite for high-quality, easily accessible and well-appointed commercial property remains and we quickly realised a need to strengthen our team. Pru brings a level of experience that will complement our existing team and is already proving to be a welcome addition.”
Lincoln events software platform raises £1.5m
A Lincoln company whose events software platform was used to help plan the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games has raised £1.5m to enable it to bring its technology to a wider audience and create new jobs.
Iventis has secured investment from the MEIF Proof of Concept & Early Stage Fund, which is managed by Mercia Ventures and part of the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF), and Mercia’s EIS funds.
Iventis enables teams planning events to collaborate online by bringing together satellite imagery, maps, architectural drawings and other data in one easy to use platform.
The company has worked on a host of high-profile events including the recent Special Olympics in Berlin, the World Cup and Dubai Expo. The latest funding will enable it to further enhance its technology and bring it to a wide range of event planners.
Iventis was founded by Joe Cusdin who had previously worked on the London 2012 Summer Olympics. Mercia first invested in the business in 2019. The latest funding brings the total it has raised to date to over £2.1m and will enable the company to create around six new jobs.
Joe Cusdin, CEO, said: “Planning high-profile events is extremely complex with a host of different factors to consider – from designing and building the infrastructure and planning schedules to managing crowd control, transport and security.
“However the industry still relies heavily on spreadsheets, drawings and data in different formats. With Iventis we have already shown how technology can transform large-scale event planning. We will now be bringing our innovations and technology to a wider audience.”
Sandy Reid, investment director at Mercia, added: “Joe and the team have built a first-rate product and attracted a gold-standard client base.
“We believe there is huge potential to grow the business, not only in the field of sport and entertainment but also in areas such as tourism, transport and construction – anywhere teams need to work together to plan and manage complex operations.
“The funding will enable the company to strengthen its management team with a number of key appointments and accelerate sales growth.”
Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Chief Executive Ruth Carver said: “I am delighted that Lincoln company Inventis has secured further investment through the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF). The Greater Lincolnshire LEP, along with the European Union, co-funded the MEIF to help fuel local businesses’ growth ambitions and it is good to see investment into a digital events platform and investment in talent locally.”
Collective performance pay outperforms individual bonuses, University of Leicester finds
Team-based performance-related pay is more productive than individual performance-related pay, according to a University of Leicester review.
The review sought to compare individual-based practices such as merit pay, piecework or sales bonuses to a collective system such as a team bonus or profit-sharing schemes.
The paper is a systematic review of research studies that directly compare the two systems and found that collective systems are associated with a higher level of performance than individual ones.
According to the review, in no study do individual incentives outperform collective systems. In 61% of studies collective systems perform better than individual systems, either alone or in conjunction with individual systems, according to University of Leicester researchers led by Professor Stephen Wood.
In 64% of cases where a hybrid system was assessed this performs better than either pure form.
The majority of the studies reviewed were conducted in the USA. However, a well-known example of a successful hybrid system in the UK is the John Lewis Partnership’s annual bonus scheme.
The review suggests that collective pay systems stimulate idea generation and sharing, helping behaviours, improved methods of working, and the setting of interdependent goals for individuals and groups.
On the other hand, it concludes that individual systems can lead workers to focus on one outcome at the expense of others and hinder innovation.
Professor Stephen Wood, Professor of Management at the University of Leicester School of Business and the lead author of the review, said: “The danger of all performance-related systems is that in heightening the saliency of money, one gets pay-related performance; but this seems to be a danger of individual systems but not of collective ones.
“They can foster the kind of team working that is increasingly favoured in business and the public sector. And designed correctly, targeted at multiple goals, they can harvest the creativity and intrinsic motivation of all staff.”
Comparisons of the Effects of Individual and Collective Performance-Related Pay on Performance was written by Stephen Wood, Silvia Leoni and Daniel Ladley.
The report is now available to read in the US journal Human Resource Management Review.
