NK Motors’ newly launched used car showroom in Long Eaton has posted a strong performance in its first month of trading, recording 82 customer enquiries and converting 43% of them into sales. A total of 36 vehicles were sold from an average on-site stock of 27 cars.

The Long Eaton location, opened in April, is NK Motors’ third site, joining its flagship Kia dealership in Derby and another sales centre in Nottingham. The business, which employs 80 staff and posted £80 million in revenue for 2024, is targeting £100 million in turnover for 2025. It also leases more than 1,000 fleet vehicles to corporate clients annually.

The group invested £100,000 refurbishing the Long Eaton premises, which it originally owned before leasing it out to another motor retailer in 2014. The site became available again after the previous tenant entered administration.

The new operation is self-contained, managing all its back-office functions, including finance, marketing and vehicle photography, on site. It has a showroom capacity for 80 vehicles, with plans to expand via an adjacent 40-car overflow site also owned by the group. Vehicles on offer range in value from £5,000 to £50,000.

Seven new roles were created with the site’s reopening, attracting over 500 applications. A further four hires are expected in the coming months. The launch also generated significant online engagement, including 25,000 Instagram hits and 18 five-star customer reviews.

A recent survey of UK retail investors indicates that gold is now the most favoured asset class for the next 12 months, with 58% of respondents expecting its value to increase. This marks a notable shift in investor sentiment as geopolitical and economic uncertainties persist.

The findings, published by Charles Schwab UK, show that confidence in gold has overtaken traditional indices such as the FTSE 100, which only 39% of investors expect to rise. Similarly, 40% are optimistic about the Dow Jones and 38% about the Nasdaq.

This movement towards gold comes amid growing concerns about tariff policy and the recent hike in capital gains tax, which exempts physical gold investments. The Royal Mint has reported increased demand for physical gold assets like coins and bars.

Younger investors are particularly active in this trend, with 31% increasing exposure to precious metal stocks in the past quarter. Overall, 73% of investors view mining and precious metals companies as sound investment opportunities. This figure is even higher among millennials at 79%, reflecting a generational leaning towards assets perceived as inflation-resistant and less exposed to political risk.

By comparison, just 70% of investors view AI stocks as strong investments, highlighting a broader pivot toward defensive positions in portfolios.

Environmental consultancy EMEC has joined the sponsor line up for the East Midlands Bricks Awards 2025, backing ‘Contractor of the Year’. A returning sponsor, EMEC is a one stop shop for specialist ecology, land management and arboriculture services. A wholly owned subsidiary of Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, all profits are gift aided to the Trust to support nature conservation. Based in the heart of the East Midlands, EMEC operates for its clients throughout the UK. It serves developers, planners, architects, power and extraction industries, utility companies, local authorities, government agencies and private individuals. Its varied portfolio of work ranges from major national research contracts and large-scale ecological impact assessments for housing and industry, through to management planning for nature reserves, bat surveys of barns and churches and habitat surveys of small-scale developments. Dr Ed Tripp, Consultancy Director at EMEC, said: “We’re proud to once again sponsor the ‘Contractor of the Year’ category at the Bricks Awards, which continues to be a fantastic celebration of the region’s construction and property sectors. “Last year’s event was a brilliant showcase of talent, innovation and collaboration, and we thoroughly enjoyed connecting with so many like-minded professionals who are helping shape the future of our built environment.

“At EMEC, we work closely with contractors across a wide range of projects, so it’s a real pleasure to help shine a spotlight on those delivering excellence on site. As an environmental consultancy, we believe it’s vital for contractors to take a responsible and forward-thinking approach to sustainability, and this year’s winner will be someone who goes above and beyond to embrace biodiversity within their developments. “We’re looking forward to another inspiring evening and encourage all within the industry to get their nominations in—it’s a great opportunity to recognise hard work, dedication and impact across the industry.” The East Midlands Bricks Awards, which will take place on Thursday 2nd October at Nottingham’s famous Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, celebrates the successes of property and construction companies in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, and Northamptonshire. Recognising those behind the changing landscape of the East Midlands, the occasion highlights development projects, businesses, and people in commercial and public building across the region – from office, industrial and residential schemes, through to community projects such as leisure schemes and schools. It also toasts the work of architects, agencies, and those behind large schemes. Welcoming almost 150 professionals, nominating a company or project for the awards is a great way to showcase your successes, recognise your team’s efforts, bolster morale, and reach our audience of over 60,000 business readers, while also offering a chance to connect with respected professionals. It’s completely free to enter and making the top three finalists in your category also wins you free tickets to the event.

To make a nomination for the East Midlands Bricks Awards 2025, please click here.

Supporting imagery, video, documents, or links to these, can be sent to bricks@blmgroup.co.uk. Video nomination pitches are also welcome as an alternative or companion to written entries. Categories include:

• Contractor of the Year
• Developer of the Year
• Architects of the Year
• Most Active Agent
• Deal of the Year
• Residential Development of the Year
• Sustainable Development of the Year
• Commercial Development of the Year
• Excellence in Design
• Responsible Business of the Year
• Overall Winner

All finalists will have the chance to take home the Overall Winner award, which this year comes with a grand prize of a year of marketing/publicity worth £20,000, with the opportunity to split or gift the marketing to a charity of your choice.

Nominations will close on Friday 15th August.

New for this year, all entrants will also have the opportunity to be featured on our dedicated nominee showcase on the East Midlands Business Link website, providing space for marketing your achievements. Upon submitting a nomination, we will get in touch for any information, imagery, and video nominees would like to be featured on their showcase page.

The East Midlands Bricks Awards 2025

What: The East Midlands Bricks Awards 2025 When: Thursday 2nd October (4.30pm – 7.30pm) Where: Derek Randall Suite, Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, Nottingham Keynote speaker: Councillor Nadine Peatfield – Leader of Derby City Council, Cabinet Member for City Centre, Regeneration, Strategy and Policy, and Deputy Mayor of the East Midlands Tickets: Available here Dress code: Standard business attire Thanks to our sponsors:                                                                        

To be held at:

With a limited number of sponsorship opportunities remaining, please contact Angie Cooper at a.cooper@blmgroup.co.uk to learn more if you are interested in becoming an East Midlands Bricks Awards 2025 sponsor.

East Midlands Chamber has welcomed the outcomes of the UK and EU ‘reset’ talks, saying they will help ease challenges businesses have faced since Brexit. Outcomes from the summit included:

• Routine checks on plant and animal products removed
• Sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement on food and drink import and export
• Closer cooperation on emissions
• British steel exports protected from EU tariffs
• eGates at borders open to British passport holders

East Midlands Chamber head of international trade Lucy Granger said: “After such a prolonged and frustrating time for firms importing or exporting goods with the EU, where moving even small amounts of goods has been prohibitively expensive and reams of unnecessary paperwork time consuming, these agreements are a welcome step forward and pave the way for further improvements. “Getting agreement and removing most routine checks on animal and plant products will make a big difference to businesses trading with the EU, as will the sanitary and phytosanitary deal – that enables everything from burgers to sausages to be shipped without costs getting in the way. “There’s still more that can be achieved – a return to the Pan Euro Mediterranean Convention would mean alignment on rules for components and raw materials, taking out another cost and an exemption on fiscal representation on VAT in the EU would remove another hurdle for businesses, so it’s essential the government build on this first stage of talks.”