Two new lettings swiftly secured at Southgate Retail Park in Derby
Real Estate Investors plc, the Birmingham-based Real Estate Investment Trust with a portfolio of 1.37 million sq ft of investment property, has announced two new lettings in quick succession at Southgate Retail Park in Derby.
Ian Clark, director, Asset Management, at REI, said that when the two units were vacated by Subway, they were immediately snapped up by local businesses.
The 1,600 sq ft retail unit to the front has been taken by Basat Mahmood and Aqib Iftikhar on a 15 year lease to open a local convenience store.
The rear unit, also 1,600 sq ft, has been taken on a five year lease by Asgar Tair who runs a boxing gym as a charitable enterprise.
Southgate Retail Park comprises a 53,202 sq ft, eight unit, retail and office property, combining a modern retail warehouse scheme and a business innovation centre, with extensive car parking facilities.
The park is anchored by a Lidl store and serves as a district centre to residents of the Normanton suburb of Derby. As well as Lidl, tenants include The Gym Group and the Royal Mencap Society.
Portchester Equity extends UK rail portfolio with acquisition of Derby-based Yellow Rail
Portchester Equity Ltd (PEL) has acquired Derby-based Yellow Rail Ltd, a £15m turnover rail engineering service company, strengthening its rail portfolio in the UK rail sector.
PEL is committed to the rail sector and increasing capability and service offering to passenger and freight customers, through its financial strength and by optimising existing PEL rail assets (W.H. Davis and Davis Wagon Services).
This acquisition creates strong synergies with the existing rail assets, well-established business relationships and highly complementary portfolios in the areas of freight wagon maintenance, freight field services and material supply services.
Enhancements to the portfolio through the acquisition include the introduction of rail services to the passenger sector, engineering design services, bogie overhaul and repair services and wheel lathe systems and services.
Yellow Rail will benefit from access to the rail-connected facility at Shirebrook on the Robin Hood mainline for the new acquisition, for both passenger and freight projects, whilst ensuring W.H. Davis continues its full commitment to freight wagon building and re-purposing activities.
This acquisition is a significant step up for the group of companies, now able to offer more ambitious services to the market, underpinned by the PEL financial strength and the integrated capability and geographical presence of the three companies.
Paul Bragg, Managing Director of PEL responsible for leading the acquisition, says: “This is a perfect fit within our multi-industrial manufacturing side of the group, where we will be able to improve our capability to passenger and rail customers.”
Andy Kevins, Managing Director of Yellow Rail, believes this acquisition offers a great opportunity to accelerate the growth of the company with the support of PEL and within a group of rail companies that includes W.H. Davis and Davis Wagon Services, two well-established suppliers within the UK freight sector.
Andy says: “It also provides increased security for our amazing staff, access to an excellent rail connected facility and the opportunity to work with other companies in the same group, to increase our overall capability and service offering. After 16 years as an independent SME, Yellow Rail are looking forward to playing its part in a bigger rail family.”
Cooking oil-powered cement tanker is first for the UK
Coalville-based Aggregate Industries has introduced the first cement tanker in the UK to be powered by waste cooking and frying oil from the food industry, putting it to work in its Lafarge Cement business.
Operated by logistics partner Lomas Distribution, the 30-tonne bulk tanker is powered by Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil, part of the paraffinic family of fuels and a fossil-free alternative to mineral diesel, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90%.
HVO is made by hydrotreating the waste oil, creating a direct substitute for conventional diesel, and reducing emissions not only of carbon but also nitrous oxide and particulate matter.
The truck joins the fleet of 50 Lafarge Cement vehicles, and will operate out of the Cauldon cement plant in the Staffordshire Moorlands to serve locations in the midlands and northwest.
Matt Owen, Supply Chain Manager in Aggregate Industries’ Cement division, said: “The benefits of using HVO are there for all to see. Being able to reduce carbon emissions by up to 90 per cent is huge for us, alongside the reduction in things like nitrous oxide.
“Also, HVO is a direct drop in replacement for diesel so easy to switch to. We are trialling the vehicle and will be monitoring and evaluating its performance and its emissions.
“We are already using HVO in our loading shovels at our three cement dockside terminals at Glasgow, Ellesmere and Chatham and are planning to introduce more HVO fuelled vehicles over the year.”
The cement division has also recently taken an electric cement truck on trial working with Lomas.
Luke Olly, Carbon and Energy Manager at Aggregate Industries, said: “This is a fantastic step forward as we look to accelerate our journey to net zero.
“Our aim as a company is to reduce unblended gas oil usage by more than 90 per cent by 2035. HVO offers us one of a number of opportunities to do this. It is circular in nature as it starts out as raw material derived from plants and we are effectively re-using waste after it has been used in the food industry.
“We have plans to increase alternative ways to fuel our vehicles and plant equipment whether that is through HVO, electric or hydrogen and we look forward to rolling these out across the business over the coming years.”
University’s study measures Covid’s impact on 200 Derbyshire businesses
The impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on Derbyshire’s two 200 businesses have been revealed in a report by the University of Derby’s Business School.
Between 1 July 2020 and 30 June 2021, businesses saw turnover drop by 14%, compared to the previous year, with the total turnover for all 200 being £3.78 billion less than in 2019-2020. Despite this, some sectors remained resilient – especially healthcare and medicine, construction and chemicals – and businesses within those industries performed better than the previous years.
The top three largest sectors were manufacturing (30.5%); wholesale and retail trade, including motor vehicles (20.5%); and financial services and insurance (10.5%).
To qualify for the list, companies must have:
- been active during 1 July 2020 to 20 June 2021
- had their registered office in Derby or Derbyshire
- reported independent accounts to Companies House for the period 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021
Aspire Pharma sponsors Leicestershire County Cricket Club’s medical centre
Aspire Pharma Ltd is the new sponsor of Leicestershire County Cricket Club’s (LCCC’s) state-of-the-art medical centre at the Uptonsteel Ground, at Grace Road.
Since 2016, the medical centre has been sponsored by Loughborough-based Morningside Pharmaceuticals, which was acquired by Aspire in 2022. This acquisition will create a fast-growing, top-30 UK specialty pharma company.
The newly named Aspire Medical Centre will continue to be a critical treatment area for the club’s players; where specialist physio can be carried out, as well as urgent medical assistance provided in an emergency.
As the medical centre has become more established, it has developed into a hub for sports science and medicine. Hundreds of junior cricketers from LCCC’s Academy are invited to visit and learn more about these key study areas each year.
Richard Condon, Chief Executive of Aspire Pharma, said: “At Aspire, our mission is to make a difference to the lives of patients through the development and supply of innovative products and medicines throughout the world, which this partnership very much aligns with.
“We’re proud to continue our support of the Aspire Medical Centre, which has developed into an essential treatment facility for the club. It has also become an education hub for the benefit of the players, public and wider community.”
Prior to the creation of the Aspire Medical Centre in 2016, the club had to treat players and visitors off-site, which was not ideal if a member of the public or player became seriously ill.
Sean Jarvis, CEO of LCCC, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Aspire Pharma as the medical centre’s new sponsor. It’s great news that Aspire will be continuing our partnership, which has made such a huge difference to the sports science, physiotherapy, and medical treatment facilities at Grace Road.”
The medical centre, in the Lower Meet, provides Leicestershire County Cricket Club players with state-of-the-art match preparation and rehabilitation support from injuries. It has a space for a private treatment room, an open plan treatment area and an adjoining trauma room, which doubles as a crowd medical facility for use by St John’s Ambulance on match days.
Ryan Smith, Head of Sports Science and Medicine at the club, said: “The cricket season is demanding and can take its toll on the players’ bodies. For the team to reach the highest level it’s essential that we have the best facilities onsite to treat and rehabilitate the players. This access allows our teams to deliver individualised treatments at any time and enables our players to consistently train all year round.
“The medical centre’s facilities are an important part of our pre-match, during and post-match physiotherapy and sports science infrastructure. It has enabled us to progress the rehabilitation of our injured athletes by increasing the access we have to a usable and functional training environment.
“This will hopefully give our players the winning edge in the different championships they are competing in this cricket season.”
Loughborough University given role in economy-boosting creative industries project
Loughborough University will be part of a new research team of creative sector specialists, established as part of a government project to give a £50 billion boost to the creative industries in the UK.
Announced as part of the government’s Creative Industries Sector Vision, the new Insight and Foresight Unit will be led by Goldsmiths, which has been chosen as the preferred bidder to be the host organisation, alongside partners at the British Film Institute, the University of Edinburgh, and Loughborough. This Insight and Foresight Unit will support the CoSTAR (Convergent Screen Technologies and performance in Realtime) national infrastructure, which will ensure the UK stays at the cutting-edge of new virtual production techniques for stage, screen and live events. Examples of virtual productions include the hugely popular ABBA Voyage live show and Disney Plus’s The Mandalorian. The Insight and Foresight Unit will focus on identifyingindustry trends and insights associated with creative technologies and informing future policy and investment for the screen and performance sectors. This includes considering improved ecological sustainability, a more diverse and inclusive workforce, new workflows and ways of working, and audience engagement with creative productions realised through theCoSTARinfrastructure. Loughborough’s involvement will be led by Graham Hitchen, Professor of Practice within the Institute for Media and Creative Industries, and head of the University’s new Policy Unit. Loughborough is already established as a research leader in the creative industries, being home to the Creative Research AndInnovation Centre (CRAIC). CRAIC recently received funding from the Screen Industries Growth Network to create a framework to enable the mapping of virtual production assets across the UK. It has also worked with the Audience of the Future and Creative Industries Clusters team at UKRI to understand Creative R&D and to help shape thinking and future investments in the Creative Technology space. Professor Hitchen said: “This investment provides a brilliant opportunity to be at the forefront of future thinking about creative technologies in the UK and will enable us to build on our research strengths.” Professor Jonny Freeman, Academic Lead for Knowledge Exchange at Goldsmiths, and Principal Investigator of the IFU added:“The UK’s Creative Industries have an incredible reputation globally and the CoSTAR infrastructure investment announced today will help to secure this. “The consortium we have assembled for the Insight and Foresight Unit is formidable. It combines Goldsmiths’ expertise in the immersive, audience and virtual production sector, BFI’s unrivalled screen sector expertise and data, Edinburgh’s leadership in developing new forms of data to empower the creative industries, and Loughborough’s track record in research and policy on creative technologies and creative R&D with the support of its new Policy Unit.” The unit was announced as part of the government’s Creative Industries Sector Vision to maximise the potential of the UK creative industries and grow the economy, so they generate an extra £50 billion for the economy and support a million more jobs by 2030.Leicester car park gets rooftop ‘power station’
Two canopies covered with solar panels have been fitted to the roof of Leicester’s Newarke Street car park, making it capable of powering the car park’s machines, lights, cameras and other facilities at the car park, as well as other nearby buildings.
The project involves 360 sqm of solar panels installed as part of the city council’s ongoing work to reduce its carbon footprint, and has cost £267,400, funded jointly by the city council and the European Regional Development Fund.
It follows the council’s successful bid for more than £4million of match-funding from the ERDF to support a range of projects that aim to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Elsewhere, solar panels have been installed at the city council’s highways depot at Leycroft Road, Beaumont Leys, in a £95k scheme capable of saving over 51 tonnes of carbon.
Leicester deputy city mayor for climate, economy and culture, Cllr Adam Clarke said: “This is part of our work to invest in low-carbon, energy-efficient measures for our buildings, but is also part of a wider move across the UK and further afield towards creating solar car parks like this.
“They enable electricity production in spaces which are open to the air and sunshine, as well protecting parked vehicles from the weather. In addition, they can help with electric vehicle charging in places like this where people coming into the city centre might park their cars for long periods of time.
“With energy prices currently so high, this is a sound investment in generating our own clean energy, using buildings and infrastructure that we already operate.”
The French Senate has recently made it a legal requirement for all existing and new car parks of 80 spaces or more to be covered by solar panels as part of its drive to increase the production of sustainable energy.
Over 280 jobs on the line as closure of Young’s Seafood factory proposed
Over 280 jobs are on the line following the proposed closure of a Young’s Seafood factory in Grimsby.
Plans have been unveiled to halt production at the site on Marsden Road, with an October date mooted, and move what remains to another Grimsby factory and a Scottish site.
Owner of Young’s, Sofina Foods Europe, said the factory was “no longer financially sustainable,” according to BBC reports, with a spokesperson saying 285 roles could be lost.
The company said the decision does not reflect on the teams who work there, noting that “they are a credit to the company.”
Staff and unions are set to be consulted before a formal decision on the closure.
Sofina said some new roles would be created at a site on Grimsby’s Humberstone Road and in Scotland at Fraserburgh.
Award winning marketing starts with marketing your awards: by Greg Simpson, founder of Press for Attention PR
Greg Simpson, founder of Press for Attention PR, illustrates how to make the most of your award nominations and wins.
Last summer, I began to quietly launch an award writing service. Just ahead of the annual ‘Bricks Awards’ run by this very publication, which will be open for nominations by the time you read this – hint, HINT!
Why? Well, it made commercial sense, obviously, but the WHY in terms of the market was simple… MOST small businesses are REALLY BAD at awards, and by that I mean they simply do not include them in their planning. Or often, they don’t feel they deserve one.
‘Bricks Awards’ or not, if you’ve survived the last couple years in business, there is an award out there for you!
Let’s imagine you have all this covered and are merrily scribbling away at your ‘Bricks’ entry or any other award you may have your sights on – there are LOADS and I have lists if you are interested. Perhaps you’ve even completed it already, you clever sausage. Go straight to the top of the class. After all, you’ve done the hard work now right? You can just sit back and await the adulation, the confetti, the champagne and the plaudits. Customers will flock from miles around, crawling out of the woodwork, blinking in the dazzling glare of your magnificence! All from you winning an award. Right? Well…they MIGHT. They COULD. But why would you sit and wait and hope?
Why wouldn’t you grab the bull by the horns and actually run a campaign around the award?
I had a chat with a new client the week before writing this article about an awards entry they’d submitted a few weeks back and the first question I asked was this: “Are you shortlisted and is it public?”
The reason I asked this is simply because the shortlisting itself is your first bite of the cherry. Now, not ALL awards folk will allow you to publicise your shortlisting before the final reveal but most will. Why? Well, think about it. The awards folk, their partner media titles and the sponsors backing the awards want the most bang from their marketing buck. They spend big money and time on pushing their awards in the run up to their launch, the reminders, the FINAL reminder and the invariable (almost) deadline extension reminder.
However, once they have got the submissions in, their opportunities to push the message dwindles until they get to the big day of revealing the winners. Most will announce a shortlist, but sadly most shortlisted entries will NOT do anything proactive themselves. Nevermind proactive, they don’t even join in with the posts from the organisers reactively!
This is different, you will! You might even consider congratulating your fellow shortlisted folk (most won’t be competitors and even if they are, you look by FAR the BIGGER brand if you share the glory and play the magnanimous card!) publicly on social media, tagging them merrily and spreading the word across their channels when they thank you and wish you well too. P.S. the awards marketing folk will LOVE you for pushing the awards message. This doesn’t mean you will sway the judges, but it won’t hurt!
So, share the good news on social media, joining in with anything the organisers do, but don’t be afraid to take control here too. You should be writing about your shortlisting and why you are in with a shout on your blog. You might do a little video about it. What about an announcement in your newsletter?
But what if we don’t win? Yep, I get this. You want to keep your powder dry. You don’t want to look “foolish” if you don’t actually go on and win. NEWSFLASH! Other than you, nobody will care, and most people won’t notice. There isn’t an audit committee lurking within your audience tutting about you guys not winning! There IS, however, an audience out there noticing that you are nominated, shortlisted or are a finalist and this is not an opportunity to be missed.
It’ll be alright on the night
So, there you are, sitting in the crowd or around the table in your finest awards garb, studiously trying not to get TOO relaxed from the free booze ahead of your category announcement. You’ve invited some valuable clients and prospects, right? OH. Well, you’ve at least prepared a few lines of thanks, right? No? Do it. Do it way before the event and be sure to mention your fellow finalists. Not only is it courteous, it may well lead to other opportunities down the line.
Now, imagine you’ve WON! The champagne is flowing, you vow to make the most of this, but WILL YOU? Will you be asking the organisers about WHEN they will be publishing the results (if they haven’t already). Are you tweeting your thanks and LIVE pics from the event? Have you scheduled your blog post to go LIVE tomorrow using some of the pics your team have taken on the night? You can do all of this, just check with the organisers ASAP so that you don’t tread on any toes embargo-wise – another good way to show how keen you are once shortlisted by the way!
So, your blog’s gone out, your newsletter has been issued, the dust is settling. Now the magazine publishes its coverage of the event. What do you do? You go and buy a LOT of copies. Yes, a LOT. Like 50. One of which you frame in reception and the rest of which you send out to your dream list of prospects because it is probably the best damn sales letter your business has had in years! You sweat the asset. You don’t sit and wait for the adulation, you control the narrative, you control the effort, and you make bloody well sure that your best prospects are fully aware of the good news.
How’s that for an award-winning campaign?
A former business journalist, Greg Simpson is the author of The Small Business Guide to PR and has been recognised as one of the UK’s top 5 PR consultants, having set up Press for Attention PR in 2008.
He has worked for FTSE 100 firms, charities and start-ups and conducted press conferences with Sir Richard Branson and James Caan. His background ensures a deep understanding of every facet of a successful PR campaign – from a journalist’s, client’s, and consultant’s perspective.
See this column in the June edition of East Midlands Business Link Magazine here.
Acquisition instrumental in Trent’s future growth
Record Electrical Associates Ltd (REA) has been acquired by a pressure and temperature instrument specialist, having been advised by KBS Corporate deal executive Oliver Rigby during the process.
REA operates from dedicated facilities in Stretford, Manchester, and offers high-quality analogue instruments to international businesses.
The company was initially founded over 100 years ago and has successfully cemented itself at the forefront of a niche sector.
REA has been sold as part of Alan Johnson and Christopher McGrail’s retirement plans, both of whom maintained active roles as directors in the business.
“This was an exciting opportunity to represent a long-standing company,” advised Oliver. “I worked alongside Alan and Christopher to identify a quality buyer that would preserve REA’s legacy.”
The successful acquirer is Trent Instruments, a Nottingham-based pressure and temperature solutions provider. Trent is a leading supplier of locomotive horns and the exclusive agent in the UK and Europe for Nathan AirChime.
“Trent is an excellent buyer for REA,” said Oliver. “The two companies benefitted from a prior relationship which helped secure a great deal.”
