Digital marketer gets best of both worlds after embarking on job share role between PR company and marketing and design agency
Derbyshire’s Penguin PR has gained the experience of a digital marketing executive, Esme Wade, in a secondment with marketing and design agency MacMartin.
Digital marketing executive Esme has recently completed a level 3 apprenticeship with Derby-based EMA Training and is now dividing her time between Penguin PR’s offices in Duffield Road and MacMartin’s base in Church Broughton.
In 2022 she was named a finalist in the Apprentice of the Year category in the prestigious Enterprising Women Awards, run by East Midlands Chamber.
The two companies, having worked closely together on several projects in the past, are looking to collaborate and expand their skillsets through the transfer of knowledge that Esme will give and acquire.
Penguin has worked on campaigns for MacMartin, which has in turn designed the Derby PR company’s website.
With plans to increase the speciality knowledge in writing at MacMartin, and further the digital marketing offer at Penguin PR, both companies hope the secondment will grow and improve the services at both businesses.
MacMartin brought Esme onto the team in 2021 as a digital marketing executive. Having noticed a passion for copywriting develop in Esme over the course of her employment, MacMartin co-director Claire MacDonald approached Penguin PR about providing further training through a secondment.
In return for the skills exchange, Penguin PR will use Esme’s experience in marketing to bring more services to the table and uplift their clients’ marketing efforts, such as email marketing and social media.
Esme said: “I’m ambitious to refine my writing style and skills over the course of my career. Being given the chance to work amongst experienced writers at Penguin PR is an opportunity that really excites me.
“I’ve been building knowledge in digital marketing over the last 18 months with the brilliant team at MacMartin, so I hope to bring some valuable insights and skills to Penguin PR, both to assist with their own marketing and boost marketing for their clients.”
Esme, who was inspired to start her apprenticeship with MacMartin after undertaking an online course following her drama degree, is the first member of the team to trial a new way of learning through the secondment. Splitting her time equally between the companies, she hopes to learn more about the art of copywriting whilst delivering her own marketing expertise.
Penguin PR director Sarah Newton said: “We’re eager to get Esme started, as we know that MacMartin have fantastic marketers and Esme will be no exception. At the same time, I embrace the opportunity to get the Penguin team teaching and helping an aspiring writer learn and grow.”
Claire said: “Following the completion of Esme’s apprenticeship, we were looking at her next steps in regards to personal development when the idea of a secondment was born.
“Esme is very keen to develop her copywriting skills further and we knew the talented team at Penguin would be our ideal partner, enabling Esme to learn from the best. We know how powerful collaboration can be and believe this secondment will be beneficial not only to Esme, but to both businesses as well.”
Health insurance intermediary makes two acquisitions
Premier Choice Healthcare (PCH), the Towcester-based health insurance intermediary owned by GRP, has made two acquisitions, Visibly Financial Services (trading as Visibly Health) and, separately, a book of business controlled by Gill Nicholson, a self-employed consultant.
The deal follows similar dual acquisitions for PCH, with two in August and two in November last year.
The two businesses operate in the health insurance space, and PCH is buying the portfolios of customers for both.
Visibly Health, which is Cambridge-based, is led by Debbie Jones and focuses on private medical cover for SME businesses. Debbie will join PCH post-completion as a brand ambassador to enable her to assist PCH with customer retention as well as sales growth.
Gill Nicholson is based in County Durham and has been a consultant for PCH for the previous 11 years. After completion, Gill will step back from the day-to-day management of her portfolio but, like Debbie Jones, will also become a PCH brand ambassador post-completion.
Stephen Hough, PCH Managing Director, explained that a PCH consultant will manage the Visibly Health SME portfolio and an adviser within Equity Health Solutions (Specialist Consumer PMI division of PCH) will look after the private clients: “Visibly Health is a well-run, successful private healthcare intermediary with an experienced leader in Debbie Jones. I’m pleased that she will continue to support the portfolio in the future.
“This is an important acquisition for PCH, and we are keen to talk to other entrepreneurs in our sector looking to take some value from their life’s work.”
Turning to Gill Nicholson’s portfolio, which comprises PMI insurance and employee benefits, of which 93% relates to SME businesses, Mr Hough said: “This deal fits with our broader strategy of buying businesses and portfolios from within our existing network. Moreover, it’s great that we are able to capitalise on Gill’s skills, experience and track record in building a successful portfolio in the PMI sector.
“We are keen for self-employed consultants and ARs to see PCH as the best possible home for them as a platform on which to grow. In addition, once they are looking to step back and retire, they can optimise the value for their business through a seamless sale to PCH.”
Development work begins on Nottingham Trent University workshops
Home Farm, Nottingham Trent University’s (NTU) Brackenhurst Campus hub for agricultural studies, is set to undergo a makeover.
The original workshops, constructed in 1953, were part of the original Brackenhurst College site which merged with NTU in 1999. The construction’s features are typical of a building of its age: a single storey building with a concrete structural frame, clad in brick, incorporating a corrugated asbestos roof.
Wear and tear over the years, as well as the building’s asbestos roof reaching its end of life are some of the reasons behind development works which began in January 2023.
The Home Farm workshops are currently used by over 700 students across the School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences’ (ARES) Further and Higher Education portfolio. The investment in upgrading the existing space will support the School’s targets for current students and future recruitment, enabling growth in the numbers of students able to study agricultural science at NTU.
The planned development will refurbish the current facilities and reconfigure up to 400 sqm of the existing 1,000 sqm workshop space to create more effective, flexible and enhanced teaching and ancillary facilities. The concept for the development has been designed by Evans Vettori Architects, who designed Brackenhurst’s most recent flagship Lyth building.
Existing classrooms are to be reconfigured to create two flexible teaching rooms that can be joined to form one large space for larger capacity teaching and events. In addition, there will be creation of a new foyer, a new practical teaching space, and a new student locker room. This will not only improve the student experience and enable potential student growth; it will also facilitate the development of industry and enterprise opportunities to enhance student employability.
Augmenting existing facilities is preferable, both in terms of value for money and sustainability. These works will not only allow the building to be occupied and used but will also remove asbestos-related health and safety risks and prolong the life of the building by a minimum of 15 – 20 years.
Being able to effectively recycle the existing building meets NTU’s sustainability ethos and the building designs are sympathetic to the rural landscape of Brackenhurst campus.
Cat Sanderson, Head of School Operations (ARES) and sponsor for the project, says of the development: “We are thrilled that this development has been approved. The building refurbishment and the reconfiguration of the internal space will enhance our students’ learning experience and support the School’s portfolio refresh and recruitment of new students.
“In addition, it will enable more engagement with industry and the skills sector, underpinning student employability and future careers.”
The development works are due to be complete in September, ready for the start of the Further Education term.
HMRC ‘nudges’ 2,000 companies to clamp down on R&D tax fraud and error
HMRC has written to more than 2,000 companies as part of its ever-increasing compliance activity to crack down on fraudulent and inaccurate R&D tax relief claims.
The ‘nudge’ letters encourage recipients to check that their previous R&D tax relief claims are complete and correct, and where inaccuracies are identified, companies are urged to make amendments to their company tax return.
HMRC has also warned companies that they may face formal tax enquiries and rejected claims if their returns are found to be incorrect.
There has been growing concern about a rise in R&D tax relief fraud in recent years.
In January this year, the Lords Finance Bill sub-committee published a report which highlighted an escalation in the abuse of R&D tax relief, noting that the relief was subject to large-scale organised criminal attacks and the activities of rogue advisers.
In its latest annual report and accounts, HMRC estimated that £469m was lost through fraud and error in its two R&D schemes in 2021-22, equivalent to 4.9% of Corporate Tax R&D reliefs.
To address these concerns, the government has increased compliance resource and activity, and the specialist R&D team focused on SME compliance has more than doubled in size.
Commenting on the nudge campaign, Carrie Rutland, Innovation Incentives partner at BDO, said: “Companies that have been nudged by HMRC may face higher tax penalties if their claims contain errors. Getting an expert review of past claims by a specialist is the best way to identify and rectify any mistakes in past years’ tax relief claims – both for returns that are in date to amend and for any previous years where voluntary disclosures are required.
“However, it’s important for all businesses to review their past R&D claims to make sure there are no potential skeletons in the company closet. It’s always better to make a voluntary disclosure for errors before you are nudged by HMRC, as this should be treated as an ‘unprompted’ disclosure which carries a much lower penalty – if any. I would expect HMRC to keep on issuing these nudge letters, so the window of opportunity to get past claims put right at a lower cost could be closing soon.
“Past R&D claims often come up whenever a potential purchaser is doing due diligence, so management considering a sale will want to make sure there are no barriers to getting a successful transaction over the line.”
The government is currently consulting on reforms to R&D tax relief regime to ensure taxpayers’ money is spent as effectively as possible through a simplified, single relief.
Plans submitted to demolish Beeston petrol station for new apartments
Plans to demolish a Beeston petrol station and garage to make way for new apartments have been submitted to Broxtowe Borough Council.
The proposals for Beeston Car Centre on Broadgate involve constructing a four storey scheme containing 32 studio flats.
A design statement says: “The design approach includes the careful consideration of the prominent nature of the plot and creates a scheme that is well suited to its context and carefully addresses the street scene.
“The scheme will enhance the appearance and quality of the existing site and is a significant improvement on the existing state of the site.
“The proposed scheme will meet the needs of the local area in supplying a purpose-built Apartment scheme.”
“The layout of the apartments have been designed to maximise desirable outlook and eliminate overlooking with the use of carefully positioned internal spaces.
Another warehouse let on West Meadows Industrial Estate
As the market for industrial/warehouse accommodation under 10,000ft2 continues to prove popular due to an ongoing lack of supply of good quality units across the East Midlands, FHP Property Consultants have let E9 Ashlyn Road on West Meadows Industrial Estate, following on from the letting of G5 Cranmer Road earlier this year.
The West Meadows Industrial Estate is situated in Derby just off Pentagon Island/A52 and provides a mix of industrial, warehouse and trade counter units.
E9 Ashlyn Road comprises a terraced industrial/warehouse unit comprising 7,427ft2 of accommodation. The property benefits from a comprehensive refurbishment including new roller shutter loading door, LED warehouse lighting and newly painted warehouse floor.
The unit has been let on new lease terms for a period of 5 years at a rent equating to £6.50ft2.
Darran Severn of FHP Property Consultants says: “This is another excellent result for our client who own a significant part of West Meadows Industrial Estate. I’m pleased to say all units are now fully occupied and we have seen rental growth in excess of 20% in the last 18 months.
“There is currently good demand for industrial/warehouse space in Derby despite the economic uncertainty we faced towards the end of last year.”
Clay Cross town centre investment projects approved by Government
The Government has approved the Clay Cross Town Board and North East Derbyshire District Council’s proposals for four key town centre projects supported by the £24 million Town Fund investment.
Final details are still to be agreed, but the projects are now progressing and the council are keen to hear the views of businesses and residents of Clay Cross on these transformations.
The four proposed projects of the newly-produced masterplan for the town centre consist of:
- Transport and connections improvements (subject to an upcoming consultation) – proposals include providing enhanced parking and access from the A61, improving traffic flow through the town, re-opening Bridge Street from Harris Way and the possibility of converting the one way section of Market Street from Bridge Street to High Street into a pedestrian zone.
- Skills and Enterprise zone – renovating the clock tower building (Adult Education Centre) into a hub for learning and business engagement, which also includes a proposal to bring the library into the town centre.
- Clay Cross Community/Social area – preserving, restoring and enhancing heritage buildings in the centre of the town, focused on restoring the annex building of the clock tower building and creating a new leisure space fronting onto the proposed new town square area.
- Broadleys site – forming a new town square as the heart between other elements of the Town Deal, providing flexible accommodation for start-up businesses in pop-up enterprise units and providing a space for community activities.
Fraudsters targeting higher value assets in the Midlands amidst economic challenges
As the economy continues to face challenges, the total value of alleged fraud cases heard in Crown Courts across the Midlands in 2022 rose to £143.6m across 31 cases, compared with £59m across 46 cases for the same period in 2021.
KPMG UK’s latest Fraud Barometer, which records cases over £100,000 heard in UK courts, found that the value of losses increased significantly, highlighting that fraudsters are targeting higher value targets. The alleged fraud with the highest value recorded in the Midlands was a £100m money laundering case, a direct correlation to the rise of organised criminal rings.
Members of the general public continue to be the most common victim type by volume with 11 cases worth a combined value of £2.6m. Commercial businesses were the second most common victim type by volume, with nine cases worth a combined value of £3.2m. By value, Government was the highest victim with alleged frauds of £101.7m across six cases.
The Government has seen a steady number of fraudulent cases as criminals seek to take advantage of various loopholes in tax systems and asylum benefits. Professional criminals perpetrated the most cases of fraud across the Midlands with 16 cases worth a combined value of £129m in 2022.
Julie Bruce, forensic lead for KPMG in the Midlands, said: “Although the number of cases heard in Midlands Crown Courts decreased, the threat of fraud is still evident.
“Fraudsters are finding new opportunities and ways of getting ill-gotten gains. Financial institutions that handle high volumes of money will have to tighten up on protective measures and ensure that proper due diligence is done across all new clients, and that staff are trained to spot any suspicious cases.”
A few of the cases to reach the region’s courts during this period include:
- A Director pleaded guilty to investing most of the money from three pension schemes into his own business. The 3 schemes were left with a shortfall of £10m.
- 57-year-old garage boss admitted 8 charges of fraud by false representation over scamming victims into buying cars which did not exist and swindled £500k from customers after tricking them into a sham car selling scheme.
- Employee took over £1.4m from company through falsifying invoices to fund gambling addiction. The employee was found guilty and sentenced to 4 years and 8 months in prison.
Leicester Tigers directors plan £13m investment
Directors of Leicester Tigers, Tom Scott and Peter Tom, have made an investment commitment which could raise up to £13m for the club.
The proposal would see Scott, a non-executive director, and executive chairman Tom increase their shareholdings in the club, with Scott becoming a majority shareholder.
Shareholders will vote on whether to accept the board’s plans on March 3.
In a statement, Leicester Tigers’ CEO Andrea Pinchen said: “Tom Scott is a long-standing supporter of the club and a valued member of the board of directors who over his tenure with the club has already invested over £10m.
“Peter Tom has been chairman of Leicester Tigers since 1993, having made 130 appearances for the club between 1963 and 1968 and has been a huge part in navigating the club through the professional era.
“We are very grateful that Peter and Tom are looking to extend their investments in Leicester Tigers at a time when the club is suffering some very challenging conditions from factors mostly outside of our control.
“Their decision to invest at this time will give the club the financial assurance to execute the club’s strategy of continued success and financial sustainability.”
Leicester Tigers would initially receive £8.3 million, with Peter Tom investing £3 million and Tom Scott investing £5.3 million, to be followed by a further £4.7 million.
If the investment plans are not passed, the appointment of administrators is anticipated.
DMU helps company use AI to select green suppliers
AI is being used to assess a company’s suppliers list to help them choose more environmentally-aware firms.
Tugby-based Pure Table Top, which creates specialist ceramics homewares working with brands such as Joules and Kew Gardens, is working with De Montfort University Leicester (DMU)’s experts on the project.
DMU’s partnership with Pure Table Top will develop a matrix that will enable the company to score the sustainability of their supplies based on 70 different data points, such as material wastage, energy, and water consumption.
The project is one of the first to be funded through QUiDS – Quick innovation Developers – a programme at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) to help local businesses, charities and public organisations trial new ideas and innovations.
Tom Sellicks, Sustainability Officer at Pure Table Top, said: “We have been working with DMU and the QUID’s programme for over six months now in order to develop a bespoke tech solution for recording and analysing the social and environmental performance of our global supply base.
“This kind of solution does exist for larger companies with hundreds of suppliers however, we hadn’t found a scalable alternative.”
The new collaboration will use artificial intelligence and algorithms to help find the optimum way of analysing variables that reflect the sustainability of a product, in a way that is also transparent to the consumer, so that they can make more informed decisions on the goods that they are purchasing.
Darsheet Chauhan, Knowledge Exchange Officer at DMU, said: “We began with developing an understanding of what Pure Table Top’s challenges and aspirations were in relation to increased sustainability in its business operation and then sought different solutions from the many disciplines in DMU and the various mechanisms of support on offer to them.
“Pure Table Top have proven to be a very committed and dynamic local company who are at the front of sustainability within their sector. In fact, a lot of leading high street names are now looking to work and follow on the exemplary journey started by Pure Table Top.”
DMU’s knowledge exchange team recruited experienced researcher, Dr Mario Gongora, to collaborate with the team at Pure Table Top in researching and developing new ways of measuring environmental concerns.
Dr Gongora’s expertise includes the application of computational intelligence techniques to a variety of complex processes.
Mario has previously worked on a variety of knowledge exchange projects with industry, applying his research outcomes in the analysis of consumer behaviour and other complex industrial processes.
Mr Sellicks, of Pure Table Top, added: “We believe that Mario’s expertise (combined with that of the computer, engineering and media faculty) will enable us to develop a product which can be adopted by other UK SMEs to measure the sustainability performance of their supply base.”
