Contractor fined after young carpenter dies
A carpentry contractor has been fined after a 22-year-old man died after he was struck by construction equipment on a building site.
On 30 October 2019, Niall McCormack from Kettering, Northamptonshire had been working for KM Carpentry Contractors Limited installing roof trusses at a new build site at Alconbury Weald, Cambridgeshire.
Both the truss packs and party wall spandrel panel had been lifted by crane onto a pair of semi-detached properties the day before the incident – temporarily supported by timber restraints.
Mr McCormack was working with another carpenter to remove trusses from the pack, to then spread and install across the building. As the two carpenters were in the process of spreading, the wind caught a spandrel panel, pushing it against the remaining trusses in the pack. Both the truss pack and spandrel panel fell into the work area. Niall McCormack was struck by the falling material and suffered a fatal head injury.
An investigation by The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that KM Carpentry Contractors Limited had failed to identify the risk of wind loading, and the effect this could have on the stability of the spandrel panel prior to being secured in place. The method statement for the installation of the spandrel panels included lifting and placing them on the roof only after the roof trusses had been installed and permanently secured. This could not be followed as they had both been placed on the roof at the same time as the roof trusses the day before.
At Cambridge Magistrates’ Court on 25 April 2024, KM Carpentry Contractors Limited, of High Street, Higham Ferrers pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act.
The company was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay £6,974 in costs.
A family statement said: “The whole family has been badly affected by Niall’s loss. One of his friends is going to Australia and we can’t help thinking Niall should be here and going with him.
“Niall has lost the ability to grow up and have children of his own. He won’t be getting married and all the things you do as families. He’s missed out on so much, for what, going to work. No one should go to work and not come back.”
After the hearing, HSE Inspector Jenny Morris said: “Our thoughts are with Niall’s family, a 22-year-old who was just setting out on his career in the construction industry.
“This case highlights the importance of identifying the risks associated with a work activity and ensuring a safe system of work is devised and then followed.”
The prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Samantha Wells and paralegal officer Lucy Gallagher.
Access to capital is top challenge for mid-sized businesses
Trying to source new capital, such as bank loans, grants and private equity, is the most significant challenge for over a quarter of the UK’s mid-sized businesses, according to the latest research from accounting and advisory firm, BDO.
BDO’s bi-monthly survey of 500 mid-sized businesses, which looks at the challenges and opportunities facing UK companies with a turnover between £10m-£300m, reveals nearly one in three (32%) have ambitions to access new finance, such as additional bank loans, government grants, private equity or venture capital, or via a listing on UK public markets in the next six months.
However, difficulties accessing finance are proving problematic and restricting growth ambitions. More than a quarter (27%) say it is one of their biggest challenges over the next six months, with a similar number (26%) now struggling to deliver on their growth plans, such as entering new markets or offering new products or services.
Manufacturers are struggling the most with challenges around accessing new capital (32%), with real estate and construction businesses following closely behind (31%).
These findings come as high borrowing costs, driven by elevated interest rates, make it more challenging for mid-sized businesses to access and service debt finance. In addition, while official data suggests inflation may be easing, higher costs across the board remain a constant battle for businesses looking to grow.
Businesses reported that high costs in the supply chain are a persistent problem. One in five (20%) are suffering from increased costs as a result of changes to trade policy and regulation, such as different tariffs or customs rules, while a similar number (18%) say costs such as fuel are too high.
Business outlook improves after technical recession
Despite difficult trading conditions, mid-sized businesses remain cautiously optimistic. Over half (53%) feel more confident about the outlook for their business for the rest of the year compared with the second half of 2023, when the UK recorded a technical recession.
Many businesses surveyed were buoyed by the prospect of lower borrowing costs, as 27% expect a positive impact from future interest rate cuts. This outstrips concern from businesses who feel less confident, with one in five (20%) saying a cut may come too late to help improve their growth prospects.
Business leaders are calling for the next government to help drive their growth in the long term. Over a third (36%) want to see the Government prioritise improving access to capital, for example by enabling smaller business banks to enter the market or through government grants.
Almost a fifth (19%) want to see less complex regulation around listing on the London Stock Exchange, with a similar number (18%) hoping to see more progress on levelling up the regions outside London and the South East.
Richard Austin, partner at BDO, said: “Access to finance is a huge contributing factor to UK economic growth. Businesses have the appetite to drive forward long-term growth plans, but the difficulties experienced in accessing the capital needed to fund that growth are proving unsurmountable for many.
“Despite remaining resilient and realistic, these businesses need more support to achieve their ambitions. The mid-market is the engine of the UK economy, providing one in four jobs and over £1 trillion in revenues.
“The issues they are highlighting should not be overlooked by policymakers as their growth will play a key role in the overall economic recovery of the UK.”
First East Midlands Combined County Authority Mayor elected
Claire Ward (Labour and Cooperative Party) has been elected as the first East Midlands Combined County Authority Mayor with 181,040 total votes.
The mayor will lead the new East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA), which will have access to more than £4 billion of new investment in the region for skills, transport, housing and regeneration and net zero – with further investment likely to follow.
The vote has been hailed as an “historic moment” in the region’s future which can turn round decades of under-investment.
It also means decisions about key issues affecting the future of people, places and businesses across the East Midlands will now be taken here in the region rather than down in Westminster.
The £4 billion investment has been made possible by a landmark devolution deal which means government has handed back some of its powers to an East Midlands mayor and combined county authority.
The East Midlands Chamber reacted warmly to the appointment, with Chief Executive Scott Knowles saying: “I’d like to extend my congratulations to Claire Ward as she takes on this new role of Combined County Authority mayor. I look forward to sharing insight with Claire into the needs of businesses in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire as this new chapter for the two counties unfolds.
“I wish Claire every success as Combined County Authority mayor and at East Midlands Chamber we stand ready to work with Claire in highlighting the key issues facing businesses in the East Midlands. While there is plenty of growth potential in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, the skills gap and the need for reform in areas like transport are ever present, as are the prohibitive costs of doing business.”
Nikki Paterson, CBI Regional Director for the Midlands, said: “Congratulations to Claire Ward and Richard Parker on their election as East and West Midlands Mayors respectively. After a difficult few years for people and businesses across the Midlands, there’s really no time to waste in getting the local economy firing once again.
“Delivering jobs, opportunity and prosperity has to be at the very top of the new mayors’ ‘to do’ lists. That means pressing ahead with ambitious plans to modernise the local economy and bring high growth sectors to the area.
“Advancing plans to build a Gigafactory at the Coventry Airport site and continuing to support high growth potential sectors, like tech and advanced manufacturing, would be two significant steps to achieving that goal.
“With East Midlands Hydrogen also representing the UK’s largest inland hydrogen cluster, we need to see greater collaboration between the mayors’ office and industry leaders to ensure we can fully capitalise on this incredible driver of growth.”
D2N2 LEP Chair, Elizabeth Fagan, said: “I warmly congratulate Claire on her successful election as our new East Midlands Mayor. I’m truly confident that Claire, our new mayor, will champion the voice of our hard-working, successful businesses, from micro, to SMEs, to global corporates, and ensure a strong economic and inward investment strategy for low carbon economic growth, skills, transport and housing. Our time is now.”
FIFA partnership with Loughborough University paves way for turf testing
A partnership involving Loughborough University and football’s governing body is hoped to improve the durability, safety and performance of artificial pitches.
FIFA have this week issued new testing methods and introduced new testing devices which will be used to assess artificial playing surfaces in line with the highest industry standards.
The changes are the first since 2015 – when the FIFA Test Manual for Football Turf was last updated.
Prof. Steph Forrester from the University’s Sports Technology Institute said: “With the development in artificial pitches since the standards were last updated, it was important that we assess the move in technology and implement a new foundation for testing to take place.
“More and more football is being played every week and these artificial surfaces need to be able to handle it.
“As part of the FIFA Football Turf Technical Advisory Group, we’ve worked incredibly closely with FIFA and Labosport to finalise these new tests which looks to ensure pitch quality across the globe whilst developing new, safe and sustainable innovations and technologies.”
Work at the University led the development of a new advanced artificial athlete algorithm – providing a comprehensive insight into the surface’s performance by measuring peak shock absorption, peak deformation, and energy return – and a lighter and more advanced rotational traction athlete test – providing a deeper understanding of the surface’s rotational traction characteristics.
High-tech Lincolnshire agricultural initiatives win financial backing from Government
Two high-tech agricultural businesses in Lincolnshire have been offered funding from a national £7.5 million pot to support innovation and growth.
An automated blueberry harvesting project led by Eyre Trailers in Coningsby, in partnership with the University of Lincoln, and a daffodil harvesting scheme at C Wright and Son in Gedney have each been offered around £300,000 as a share of £1.84m awarded to 12 projects across the east of England.
The money has come from the new Launchpads programme managed by Innovate UK which offers small and medium enterprises (SMEs) grants from £25,000 to £300,000 for R&D and innovation projects that focus on agrifood.
The Eastern England Launchpad is being supported by the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership, the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority and Norfolk and Suffolk County Councils.
Ten other successful projects across the area include novel biological defences against aphids, enhancing the fibre content of food and drink products, enhancements in crop breeding, and creating new types of plant-based food packaging.
The objective of the Eyre Trailers automated blueberry harvesting project, which stands to secure £299,693, is to develop and demonstrate a fully automatic machine for harvesting blueberries, one of the UK’s most important soft fruit crops.
The proposed machine will be fully automatic and will feature new berry removal and bush gripper systems. It will be designed to remove berries from the bush by the use of innovative shaking systems and should be available for widescale deployment by UK growers next year.
Blueberries are now the second largest soft fruit sold in the UK, with the industry expanding to meet demand, but still only has a 7% share of the market.
“We’re very privileged to have been offered the grant and to be working with the University of Lincoln, and we’re looking forward to bringing the project to fruition,” said Bob Eyre from Eyre Trailers. “Without this grant it would be difficult to bring this product to market, so we’re really grateful.
“Blueberry harvesting is very labour-intensive as growers are completely reliant on hand-picking. Finding the workers to do it is difficult and expensive, so everybody is looking to reduce the labour costs and make the job more viable. Currently lots of fruit is left unpicked because the growers can’t find the labour for the harvest.
“By the end of the project we aim to be manufacturing a machine that’s fit for purpose and that satisfies the blueberry growers. It will be quite a big growth area for us and it could really rejuvenate our business.”
The daffodil harvesting project, which has been offered £299,985, is being led by Autopickr in Cambridge with Lincolnshire grower C Wright & Son as a partner.
Horticulture has traditionally offered growers high incomes from small areas of land, but the total land area used for horticulture has declined by 15% since 2020.
To combat shortages of labour and high labour costs the project will develop a multi-functional robotic platform capable of horticultural tasks that cannot be automated using simple machines like tractors or harvesters.
An asparagus harvester has already been developed and will launch in the next three years, and growers have highlighted the fact that flower production, specifically daffodils, is another promising area in which to develop robotic capabilities.
The daffodil picker will feature a sophisticated robotic arm, a platform weighing less than 45kg, and an artificial vision system to recognise picked flowers for the arm to collect and transport.
Success in this project will lower labour costs for English growers and reduce barriers to the growth of daffodil production, which is a lucrative export market for growers.
“We are very pleased to have received funding for this project,” said Adam Cunnington from C Wright & Son. “Labour is getting hard to come by and any method of automating our harvest has to be the way forward. We have every faith in the project delivering automation to a much needed harvest operation.”
83% of all website customers did this before buying…
Over the past six months, local video production company Glowfrog have been collaborating closely with White Knight Appliances to create product videos for each appliance showcased on their website, with the aim being not only to enhance SEO and drive traffic to the site, but also to increase sales conversions.
Mr Bulgacs, the director of White Knight Appliances, observed remarkable results following the implementation of these product videos.
“Having seen a significant uplift in sales after integrating the videos onto our website – indeed selling out of one particular fridge-freezer within just four days – we decided to monitor customer behaviour closely,” he explained.
“What we discovered was that a staggering 83% of all purchases were made by people who had viewed the corresponding product video. Combine this with the fact that sales increased so rapidly and I can only conclude that these product videos have been even more powerful than I’d hoped.”
This revelation underscores the profound impact that video marketing can have on consumer behaviour and purchasing decisions. Matt, director at Glowfrog, said: “We are delighted to see such tangible results for our client. This is yet another example of how video marketing can really help businesses to boost sales and enhance brand visibility.”
If you’re looking to increase sales on your website, Glowfrog Video Production can help you by producing outstanding and effective product videos.
Website: www.glowfrogvideo.com
Phone: 01332 492 465
Email: hello@glowfrogvideo.com
High street records fifth month of negative in-store sales
In-store sales fell by -1.7% in April, which is the fifth consecutive month of negative results, according to new data from BDO’s High Street Sales Tracker.
BDO’s data, which records sales across discretionary spend categories, highlighted that while overall sales, combining both online and in-store, remained flat at +0.4% in April, it was the performance of high street stores which brought the overall figure down.
This drop is primarily due to a significant fall in sales in the fashion sector, with in-stores sales down -8.3% compared to April 2023.
The fashion sector’s poor performance means that it has now recorded eight consecutive months of negative in-store sales.
The homewares sector also saw a negative in-store result, with sales down -1.5%. However, online sales provided a small boost, increasing +8.2% in April, bringing the homewares overall total to +1.8% year on year.
The lifestyle sector was the only category to record positive in-store and non-store sales figures last month, also recording +1.8% increase compared to 2023. In-store sales grew by +3.4% whilst non-store increased by +5.8%.
Sophie Michael, head of Retail and Wholesale at BDO, said: “This is yet another disappointing set of results for the retail sector. While an increase in online sales may offer a glimmer of hope, it’s clear that consumers are simply not spending their spare cash on the high street.
“The fashion sector will be particularly concerned by such a poor sales performance in the run up to summer. Unpredictable and unseasonably cold weather may have dampened the mood of shoppers who would usually be investing in their spring and summer wardrobe.”
Sophie continued: “The competition for the consumer purse has never been fiercer. With us recording a seventh consecutive month of negative or <1% growth for discretionary spend categories, retailers should be realistic in thinking this may not be a temporary trend.
“Those who want to succeed must acknowledge that the competition is not just with other retailers but with the hospitality, leisure and travel sectors, with many choosing ‘experiences’ over products. If sales continue to fall, it may mean we see more consolidation in the sector, more empty stores, and a real risk to a crucial part of the UK economy.”
MEC’s acoustic team bolstered with new associate
A new associate has been appointed at Midlands technical consultancy, MEC Consulting Group, enabling the firm’s Acoustic team to expand its services.
Martin Hamer joins MEC as associate acoustic consultant, bringing with him over two decades of experience, including most recently as a director of a specialist acoustic consultancy employing ten staff.
A full corporate member of the Institute of Acoustics (IOA), Martin has worked on hospitality, healthcare, education, commercial and residential developments across the UK. His appointment means MEC can now offer building acoustic design and compliance testing for developers, housebuilders and architects, complementing existing environmental-based services.
“I was attracted to the role with MEC because of their strong reputation in residential development and felt this aligned well with my skillset,” said Martin. “After conversations with Alex it became clear the company has entered an exciting new phase and there would be opportunities to support the growth of the acoustics side of the business.
“Part of my role is to manage and mentor our teams in Leicester and Birmingham, which have a wealth of talent, as well as bring in new professionals as our work increases. With the Midlands’ property sector especially active, I’m confident our building acoustic design service will positively support new build sites and conversion projects across the region,” adds Martin.
MEC’s Managing Director, Alex Bennett concludes: “Acoustics are a critical part of any development planning and early engagement with a specialist can significantly help streamline a project.
“As demand for our work in this field has increased, the timing was right to recruit an experienced professional who could not only immediately add value for our clients but could also act as a mentor for the next generation. Martin’s credentials made him the standout candidate and we’re delighted to welcome him to the team.”
Council successful in purchase of former B&M site as part of major transformation plans
Boston Borough Council have been successful in purchasing the former B&M site at the heart of the proposed Rosegarth Square development.
This strategic move empowers the Council to move forward with development proposals and bring forward the vision for the area utilising £14.8 million of Levelling Up funding.
The B&M store ceased operating a number of years ago and since then, the site has been earmarked for redevelopment. The area is an important part of the Council’s overall aspirations for the town centre regeneration.
Leader of Boston Borough Council, Cllr Anne Dorrian, said: “Improving the town centre is one of our top priorities and we are determined to push ahead to ensure our vision becomes a reality.
“Developing this large, derelict building is yet another piece in that transformation jigsaw. I am really pleased that we have been able to utilise government grant funding to purchase the former B&M site, and we have exciting ideas to ensure that the site makes a positive contribution to our town.”
New East Midlands legal firm hopes to break the mould
The owners of a new niche property and planning law firm hope to transform the market with a service that builds trusted partnerships while moving away from the traditional hourly billing model.
Experienced lawyers Shruti Trivedi and Iain Hibbert have launched Devello Group, a specialist planning and property development practice with offices in Nottingham and Lincoln.
The co-founders and friends, who have more than 40 years of legal experience jointly, have
previously led large teams in one of the East Midlands’ biggest law firms.
“It just felt the right time to strike out on our own and create a new kind of law firm – we want to do things differently in a holistic way and saw a gap for a niche service in the market,” said managing director Shruti, an experienced specialist planning solicitor in the public and private sectors.
“I have worked with Iain for almost a decade and we thought the time was right to pursue our shared vision of developing a new working model in our own practice. Our costs structure is very flexible to suit the needs of the client and the project, rather than simply billing time on an hourly rate basis.
“Every case will be priced according to the specialist knowledge and value we can deliver
following a discussion with the client about their and the case’s needs. Of course, time
recording cannot be avoided in situations such as court hearings, but our ethos is to always
work efficiently and effectively, focusing on the quality of our work and creating long-term
relationships.
“Our approach has been well received so far – clients have told us this flexible system is
refreshing. We want them to see us as part of their internal team and that our collaboration
and our bespoke advice is adding real value.”
As well as its niche law practice, Devello will offer a high-level strategic advisory service to
developers, landowners, promoters, investors and others in the planning and development
sectors. The team will be involved from the outset of a deal being negotiated to ensure that
legal constraints are considered. The team can also manage the entire project for the client
to ensure a smooth process.
The company has ambitious growth plans and wants to create numerous jobs over the next
two years, at its head office in Regent Street, Nottingham, and in Lincoln, where it has an
initial base at the Chamber of Commerce.
Iain, a property expert and Devello’s CEO, said he hoped the company’s model would
inspire change in the legal world.
“We know there are long-held traditional practices that people adhere to but it was important to us to free our team from the pressure of timesheets. We want to look after our people and create a genuinely close-knit team that works together to achieve the best results with our bespoke offering.
“We’re also ensuring that we’re technologically as advanced as possible to give information
quickly in an easily digestible way.
“We want to show clients and the wider industry that you can promote change for the good. We will have a strong client focus and agree a cost structure that suits both sides.”
Both Iain and Shruti were equity partners at their previous firm before setting out on their
own. Shruti, recognised as a ‘Leading Individual’ in the Legal 500, has expertise in drafting
and negotiating complex agreements, advising on strategic housing schemes nationally and
dealing with judicial review and statutory challenge procedures. Beyond her legal work, she
is also a trustee at young people’s charity Base 51 in Nottingham.
Iain has a background in residential and commercial development, commercial property
transactions and energy projects including offshore wind, solar and battery projects.
To find out more about Devello Group, visit their website here: https://devellogroup.co.uk/
Or contact them on 0115 704 2500 or via email: info@devellogroup.co.uk
