£220m boost to Midlands economy through WMG support programme

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£220m boost to Midlands economy through WMG support programme

Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) at the University of Warwick is celebrating the completion of a major funded programme this week which has helped to add £220m to the Midlands economy.

Over the last five years, WMG’s Digital Innovation for Manufacturing (DI4M) has helped create 660 jobs and digitise 370 businesses – supporting hundreds of small and medium sized manufacturers across the Midlands.

New products have been taken to market through the programme including a novel electric charging point that attaches to lampposts, ultra-high speed 3D printer, and a wall climbing robot to undertake important maintenance work on tall buildings.

DI4M has been a five year, £10m programme supporting SME manufacturers to implement digital innovation. Delivered across the six Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) areas of Coventry and Warwickshire, Greater Birmingham and Solihull, the Black Country, South East Midlands, Leicester and Leicestershire and Worcestershire, it has been led by the SME Group within Warwick Manufacturing Group, part of the University of Warwick. The programme was funded by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the WMG centre High Value Manufacturing Catapult.

Companies that have benefited include Jaltek Systems who were helped to set up a new factory layout using digital twin technology and who also accessed a funded internship to get two major production lines up and running.

Gordon Ellis & Co was also a recipient of the funded programme. They were able to implement sensors and data collection devices around the factory to boost productivity and reduce waste.

Although this project has reached its endpoint, WMG’s SME group are continuing to support manufacturing SMEs through the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, Made Smarter West Midlands and through new schemes such as its Net Zero Innovation Programme and Business Energy Advice Toolkit which helps businesses reduce energy and costs with low-cost technology solutions.

Dr Mark Swift, director of SME Engagement, said: “The DI4M programme has been an important anchor for Midlands SME businesses through a period of unprecedented challenge and disruption.

“The programme has been a constant effective enabler for introducing new ideas, new technology to boost productivity as well as acting as a springboard to Net Zero and business energy efficiency.

“The economic impact speaks for itself – adding £220m, or £22 for every £1 invested, to our region is something we are all immensely proud of. We now look forward to further successes from a range of new energy efficiency, digital and productivity programmes.”

First stop reached for Destination Mansfield

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First stop reached for Destination Mansfield

Work has begun on drafting a major Mansfield District Council place strategy which aims to rebrand the area and boost the public perception of the town.

Destination Mansfield is one of the projects in the district to benefit from the council’s £12.3m Towns Fund allocation and aims to deliver a new place shaping strategy to promote Mansfield as a great area to live, work and visit. Following a series of public consultations, work has now begun on drafting the strategy. More details will be announced later in the summer. The main drive of Destination Mansfield is to devise the most effective ways to promote and present the district with the result that it will nurture confidence and pride in its communities, stimulate interest and demand for housing, schools and jobs, encourage more visitors and support successful business activity. As well as being a standalone project, it will also draw direction from and bolster current flagship council strategies focused on Growth, Aspiration, Wellbeing and Place. Equally, it will support the Mansfield Place Board and its partners drive forward its ambitious agenda for the district. Cllr Stuart Richardson, Portfolio Holder for Regeneration and Growth, said: “We would like to thank everyone for taking the time to respond to the surveys and focus groups and various other engagement activities. Their contributions have been central to how we develop this strategy and take it forward. “It was enlightening to hear how local people, partners and businesses perceive their area – in both good and bad ways – and we will be using this information to guide this important new vision for Mansfield. “There were many positive sentiments from those who took part about the people of Mansfield being proud, resilient and honest, and that community was important. “What was also obvious was an appetite for change and improvement. People want a better quality of life along with more aspirational opportunities for employment and learning. “Improving and revitalising the town centre was another must that came through strongly, along with ensuring cleaner and safer neighbourhoods. “There is still a lot of work to be done but these consultations have been a productive first step to overcoming some of the longstanding challenges faced in this district.” Arch Communications has been selected to work with the council to create the strategy following a series of public consultation and engagement exercises. They included digital and printed surveys, which drew 505 responses, three focus groups, 115 face-to-face engagement meetings, discussions with more than 75 local businesses, plus consultation events with the Mansfield Place Board and Mansfield and Ashfield 2020. A promotional campaign for the research reached 49,900 people. Destination Mansfield has received £500,000 from the council’s Town’s Fund award from the government. The £715,000 project is also being funded by the council. The other projects receiving a share of the £12.3m are: – £4.3m to create the Future Tech Skills and Knowledge Exchange, a new £8.6m teaching and innovation space at the Chesterfield Road Campus of West Nottinghamshire College. – £3m towards Warsop Health Hub, an £8.2m project for a new swimming pool, fitness suite, a multi-purpose hall, cafe and a new and improved multi-use games area. – £2.94m towards a £3.27m plan to improve Berry Hill Park, making it more accessible and including a new visitor centre. – £1m towards Smart Mansfield, a dual aspect scheme, firstly to develop a Long Range Wide Area Network across the district enabling data and information transmissions to support public service provision and business growth and secondly, to harness new technology to make it easier for residents, businesses and visitors to find available parking. – £506,000 to build three business units next to Mansfield Woodhouse Station.

Pall-Ex and Fortec host charity football match to raise money for Combat Stress and Macmillan Cancer Support

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Pall-Ex and Fortec host charity football match to raise money for Combat Stress and Macmillan Cancer Support
A charity football match held by Pall-Ex Group earlier this month helped raise over £2,500 to split between Combat Stress and Macmillan Cancer Support. The teams from Pall-Ex and Fortec, made up of employees and members from across Pall-Ex Group’s two networks, went head-to-head at Leicester City’s King Power Stadium on Sunday 4 June in front of over 200 supporters. The match kicked off at 1:30pm, with Pall-Ex vying for the win following last year’s defeat at the iconic football ground. After an entertaining 90 minutes of football, Pall-Ex came out on top boasting a 4-3 victory over Fortec. It was a fun-filled day for all, with Leicester City’s mascot Filbert Fox making an appearance and taking on the role of goalkeeper for the £1-a-kick penalty shootout that took place at the end of the match. The event raised a total of £1,263 on the day, with Pall-Ex Group matching this figure bringing the total to £2,526 to ensure both charities would receive the amount raised on the day. Pall-Ex Group have supported veterans’ mental health charity Combat Stress for a number of years now, holding multiple fundraising events and donating over £40,000 to the charity since the partnership began. Macmillan Cancer Support was chosen to receive half the funds in memory of Brian Devine, Director at Pall-Ex Logistics and well-respected colleague, who recently passed away following his battle with the disease. Kevin Buchanan, Group CEO at Pall-Ex Group, said: “It’s fantastic that we have been able to raise so much money for these two incredible charities, particularly to honour the memory of Brian, who was not only a valued colleague but a friend to many of us. “It gives me immense pride that we are able to host events like this, which allow us to donate considerable funds to charities so they can continue to provide the wonderful services they offer.”

GLP to speculatively develop 1.4 million sq ft of warehouse space at Magna Park Lutterworth

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GLP to speculatively develop 1.4 million sq ft of warehouse space at Magna Park Lutterworth
GLP is set to speculatively develop 1.4 million sq ft across four units at logistics park Magna Park Lutterworth (MPL). GLP has received detailed planning permission for four new warehouses, three in Magna Park South, MPS Unit 9 (388,000 sq ft), MPS Unit 10 (119,000 sq ft) and MPS Unit 11 (136,000 sq ft), and one building in Magna Park North, MPN 5, measuring 761,000 sq ft. All units are due for practical completion by the end of Spring 2024. MPN 5 will be a Breeam Outstanding building with all three other developments planned to achieve Breeam Excellent. Each unit will be net-zero in construction and independently certified by the Planet Mark. GLP will also be supporting customers to reduce energy and operational costs, by providing a complimentary Planet Mark program to help monitor, track and reduce their respective carbon footprint. The buildings will be designed to WELL principles with the occupiers in mind, with GLP aiming to provide a more productive and pleasant working environment for employees. In addition, GLP are currently building a 200-acre Country Park enhancing the park’s facilities and providing recreation areas for both customers and the wider community. Last year, GLP also partnered with North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College, and Wincanton to house The Centre for Logistics, Education and Research (CLEAR) – a unique research, innovation, education, and training facility for both customers on the park and the wider logistics industry. Magna Park Lutterworth now has only one building available to lease, MPS 5 (187, 253 sq ft), with a further two build to suit plots available for development, MPN 7 (411,000 sq ft) and MPN 6 (840,000 sq ft). In the last two phases of spec development, the park has welcomed customers such as Bleckmann, Iron Mountain, LX Pantos and Unipart. Magna Park Lutterworth now consists of 47 buildings and is over 13m sq ft. Joe Garwood, senior development director at GLP, says: “We are extremely pleased to announce such a significant level of speculative build across our flagship UK logistics park. This is a testament to our confidence in the resilience of the UK logistics market and the strategic importance of the Midlands in particular. “We have seen huge success with our speculative development programme at Lutterworth to date, attracting a wide range of top-tier customers, and we’re confident that we will see strong demand for this new space. Once finalised and occupied, the four units will generate hundreds of employment opportunities and contribute towards the economic growth and commercial upskilling of the Midlands region.”

Nottingham College to build new Construction Skills Centre

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Nottingham College to build new Construction Skills Centre
The Government has awarded Nottingham College £4m from its post-16 capacity fund, to develop a new purpose-built construction skills centre, meeting surging local demand for vocational training in the construction sector.
The college will itself invest £1.2 million to develop the centre, creating capacity for more 16 – 18 year-olds to access construction training within the city. Population growth, coupled with increased demand from young people, and increased demand for construction skills from employers in our region, provided a compelling case for the Government to confirm its £4m grant. It means that by September 2024, a new construction skills centre will be open at the College’s Basford campus, already home to the region’s largest construction training facility. These new additional places, on offer within the new skills centre, will mean that up to around 1,000 young people, between the ages of 16 and 18 will be able to access construction training and qualifications every year, on top of the many adults and apprentices the college trains. A detailed planning application for the new centre has already been submitted, reflecting the tight timescales of the project which must be open by September 2024. Already in the pipeline is another £6 million centre which is being built on the Basford campus site, for specialist provision for students with learning disabilities or difficulties. This centre was awarded government funding in April 2022 through the Government’s FE Capital Transformation Fund and will be built simultaneously with the new construction skills centre. The College is in the process of appointing a contractor to oversee both projects. It means that over £10 million of capital funding is being invested in the College’s Basford campus alone in 2023/24 and when added to the other investment the college has secured in the last 12 – 18 months, college students will benefit from more than £16 million of investment in new and improved facilities, equipment, learning spaces and resources. These include:
  • £1.2 million from the OfS for industry-standard laboratory spaces at the college’s City Hub campus
  • £1.8 million to upgrade and develop the college’s art and design provision within its 25 Stoney Street campus. This is a combination of Government grant through the FE Capital Transformation Fund and the college’s own investment.
  • £700,000 on AI, Automation and Robotics equipment to enhance its higher technical offer at its engineering centre within the college’s Highfields campus.
  • £650,000 to develop a new simulated adult care ward within the college’s city hub, with a significant grant from the government’s T Level fund.
  • Nearly £400,000 from the government’s Strategic Development fund to invest in a fleet of high performing electric, hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles to train the next generation of automotive technician.
  • More than £300,000 from the OfS to develop new Level 4 and 5 pathways in modern methods of construction and computing, again in response to growing demand for higher level skills locally.
Carl Ara is Basford’s Head of Centre and will preside over the development of the construction skills centre, as well as the centre for learners with specialist needs, as they get underway and are built over the next 12 months. He said: “Basford has a long track record for excellence in construction training and skills development and this new centre will ensure that we as a college are equipped to meet the growing demand for these skills within our local and regional economy. “Young people enrolling with us will not only receive first-class training across all the traditional construction trades, they will also be able to access specialist green skills training as well as higher level technical training to ensure that they can access the growing range of jobs and careers in this important sector. “This significant investment which is supporting our continued growth in this area will be music to the ears of our employers who rely on us to develop and train their current and future workforce.”

Two Mather Jamie graduates qualify as Chartered Surveyors

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Two Mather Jamie graduates qualify as Chartered Surveyors
Mather Jamie’s Sam Tyler and Tim Jones have passed their Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) and are now professionally qualified Chartered Surveyors. Sam Tyler joined the development team in January 2021 after graduating from Sheffield Hallam University with a degree in Real Estate. He has assisted on a range of land deals and grown his knowledge of advising landowners on consented land and strategic development land. Now that he is fully qualified, he will continue assisting directors on their deals whilst also advising landowners how to unlock land with development potential and the sale of consented land for development. Tim joined the rural team at Mather Jamie in February 2019 after completing a Master’s degree in Rural Estate and Land Management at Harper Adams University. He is currently involved in the management of three large estates and over 61 properties. One estate has recently made a number of acquisitions and now qualified he will be managing more of this portfolio and overseeing the refurbishment of properties and further development opportunities. Mather Jamie director Gary Kirk said: “We are extremely proud of Sam and Tim who have seen their hard work pay off with their qualification as Chartered Surveyors. Sam and Tim’s chartership will enable them to undertake a wider variety of work which ultimately enhances the service which Mather Jamie is able to deliver to its clients. “Mather Jamie is able to boast an excellent track record in supporting candidates through the APC process and we believe that investing in young and developing surveyors is key to the longevity of our business.” The APC is a formal assessment, following a two-year on-the-job training period, to ensure surveyors have the professional competence required to achieve chartership. The final assessment includes a written submission, a case study and an intensive interview.

New Managing Director appointed at Persimmon Nottingham

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New Managing Director appointed at Persimmon Nottingham
A new Managing Director has been appointed at Persimmon Homes Nottingham. Gareth Hankin has taken over the helm in Nottingham and will be responsible for the team who look after Nottinghamshire, based at its Mansfield headquarters. Commenting on his appointment, Hankin said: “I am absolutely thrilled to be taking on this role. We have a great team here in Nottingham and I look forward to working to growing the business in an area of great opportunity. “Supporting customers is the cornerstone of our business, with everyone in the Persimmon Nottingham team working hard to achieve and maintain our five-star customer satisfaction ratings.” Gareth is also responsible for overseeing the work Persimmon Homes undertakes within the local community. He added: “I hope to continue our work with the local communities where we are building. “We have previously supported hundreds of small charities, schools, sports clubs and voluntary groups through our Community Champions funding scheme, and we are always keen to connect with good causes that enhance the lives of local people.”

Ringrose Law celebrates double win at SME News Legal Awards 2023

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Ringrose Law celebrates double win at SME News Legal Awards 2023
Ringrose Law, a leading legal firm in the East Midlands, has proudly announced its recent success at the SME News Legal Awards 2023. The firm has been honored with two prestigious awards, namely ‘Best Personal Law Practice 2023 East Midlands’ and, for the second consecutive year, ‘Best Personal Injury & Medical Negligence Law Practice 2023 Midlands’. The SME News Legal Awards recognise outstanding legal practices across various sectors and regions, celebrating excellence, professionalism, and exceptional client service. Ringrose Law’s recognition in two categories demonstrates their consistent dedication to providing top-tier legal services to clients throughout the region. “We are thrilled to receive these esteemed awards from SME News,” said Ryan Clarke, Managing Director at Ringrose Law. “Winning ‘Best Personal Law Practice 2023 East Midlands’ showcases our commitment to delivering exceptional legal advice and support to individuals and families in the region. Additionally, being named ‘Best Personal Injury & Medical Negligence Law Practice 2023 Midlands’ for the second year running is a testament to our expertise and unwavering pursuit of justice for our clients.” Ringrose Law has built a strong reputation for its comprehensive legal services, including personal injury and medical negligence claims. With a team of highly skilled and experienced solicitors, the firm has successfully represented numerous clients, securing excellent outcomes and fair compensation even in the most challenging circumstances. The accolades received at the SME News Legal Awards underscore Ringrose Law’s ongoing commitment to excellence and its position as a trusted legal partner within the community. The firm’s success is a result of the combined efforts of its industry experts, who continually strive to provide exceptional legal representation and support.

Closure proposals paused for Peak District National Park visitor centres

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Closure proposals paused for Peak District National Park visitor centres
The Peak District National Park Authority has confirmed that a consultation process for staff based at the Authority’s four visitor centres has been paused following an offer of operational funding support for up to three years from an external donor. Proposals on changes to face-to-face visitor operations were due to be put to Members of the Authority for a final decision on 28 July, with a workforce consultation for those likely to be affected recently begun at the beginning of May. However, the Authority confirmed to staff on Monday 5 June that an approach has been made by an anonymous donor to the Peak District National Park Foundation, a registered charity, offering to provide funding support for visitor centre operations, allowing time for these operations to become more financially sustainable. The supporting funds offered are specifically related to the operation of visitor centres, with other elements of the Authority’s restructure programme still due be taken to Members in late July and changes likely to be implemented by the end of the year. Chief executive Phil Mulligan said: “This is certainly very good news and I appreciate the relief it will bring to the many colleagues who will have been affected by the proposals for our visitor centres so far. “Whilst we are incredibly grateful to the donor for their generous offer allowing us to continue visitor centre operations for up to another three years, our deep-seated financial challenges as an organisation do remain and other colleagues within additional teams may still be impacted in the weeks and months ahead. “After a decade of real-terms cuts to our core government grant, it is vital that we continue to maintain a spotlight on our affordability and resilience as an Authority; but this unexpected support potentially gives us time to explore and develop ways for our visitor centres to become financially sustainable in the future without such additional funding being needed. “Our donor recognises that visitor centres need to be financially viable and we will need to start work straight away on creating that long-term viability.” The Authority has said that whilst conversations continue with the donor around the precise terms of the funding package agreed, it would not be adding further comment on financial details and will respect the donor’s wishes to remain anonymous.

Developer ordered to demolish two storeys of Kettering building

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Developer ordered to demolish two storeys of Kettering building
The developer of a building in Job’s Yard, Kettering will have to demolish the top two storeys and rectify the other issues with the site, following a trial at Birmingham High Court at the end of May. The case was brought by North Northamptonshire Council following serious concerns about the building work taking place and a lack of adherence by the developer to building regulations. The result from the court case shows that the council were justified in their approach and are warning they will take other, similar matters to court, if necessary. After two days, the judge adjourned the trial and approved an order from the court compelling the developer to arrange for a specialist contractor to demolish the top two storeys and appoint experts to work with NNC’s Building Control team to identify all issues with the building that need to be resolved for the building to be considered safe. A strict timeline has been put in place for the developer to action, and if this is not met, NNC will reapply to the court for the total demolition of the building. The planning permission for the site allows for a four-storey building following an appeal decision, not a six-storey building which has been built on the site and was deemed unsafe by NNC Officers. Due to the current unsafe nature of the building, a cordon has been in place since June 2022 and once the building has been reduced to four storeys, NNC will be able to review the current size of cordon. Cllr David Brackenbury, the council’s Executive Member for Growth and Regeneration, said: “We have been trying to work with the developer of this site for some time now and going to court was always a last resort. “This is a positive step forward and we are hopeful the developer will follow the orders set out by the court. Following the removal of the top storeys, we will soon be able to look at the safety of the area and reducing the cordon in place at the earliest opportunity, which will benefit residents of Kettering and businesses around the site.” Cllr Jason Smithers, Leader of the Council, said: “Our officers work tirelessly across North Northants tackling issues that are important to residents. As this case shows, we take enforcement cases seriously and will send cases to the court, if necessary, to protect residents and prevent non-compliant building works.”
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