Oblix Living acquires Leicester former HMRC building
Build to rent specialist Oblix Living has purchased the former HMRC tax offices from Mapeley in its first venture in the city.
The 89,000 square foot vacant building is set to be transformed into new homes with planning approval for 100 one and two bed apartments granted in August 2021.
Oblix Living is looking at options to re-design the scheme to meet current building regulations and also bring in amenities, such as a gym, residents’ lounge, workspace, car parking and a landscaped garden.
The Saxon House building on Causeway Lane sits opposite the High Cross shopping centre in the heart of Leicester and on the doorstep of the city’s bustling leisure scene.
Rishi Passi, CEO, Oblix Living said: “At Oblix Living we’re looking to fill a gap in the private rental market, providing well-specified homes with the amenities that people want, but without pushing prices up beyond most people’s reach.
“We’re going to need to re-design the existing plans for the site to meet changes in building regulations, but this also gives us the opportunity to create communal spaces for residents including a lounge, workspace and gym.
“This site benefits from a location right in the heart of the city, within walking distance to shops, restaurants and bars and good transport links. We see it appealing to young professionals looking for a well-designed apartment alongside communal spaces where they can socialise or work from home.”
Founded in 2020, Oblix Living is already on site in Sheffield with 95 apartments under construction at Iron Yard and is actively targeting other towns and cities across the UK. Taking a service-led approach, Oblix Living is creating homes for professionals seeking flexibility, security and amenities fit for modern day living.
Latest feats from Chesterfield’s Proact IT tackles tally raised for Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice to £14,000
A Chesterfield boss really tested his endurance to raise money for Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice.
Glen Linsell, Operations Director at Proact IT UK on Dunston Technology Park ran the entire 145-mile length of the Grand Union Canal from Birmingham to London virtually NON-STOP.
Glen, 46, ran for 41 hours – almost two days – to finish the race 37th out of 180 runners and raise a whopping £2,600 in sponsorship for Bluebell Wood.
Glen, of Lambley, Nottinghamshire, began setting himself big physical goals when he turned 40.
He’s done Ironman Triathlons and Ultra Marathons and had built up enough stamina to run 52 miles when he signed up for the GUCR.
“It’s a ‘non-stop’ race; you are disqualified if you stop for more than 40 minutes, so you run through day and night and the odds of completing it, especially as a first-timer, aren’t high,” said Glen.
What kept him going were thoughts of the charity he was running for.
“Bluebell Wood in North Anston has been our company charity since 2015,” said Glen.
“I’ve been lucky enough to volunteer at the hospice on a few occasions and each time I’ve been blown away by the commitment of everyone involved there.
“What the staff and parents achieve at Bluebell makes any other accomplishment look pretty pale. They are the perfect inspiration for someone looking for a reason not to give up, as I was a few times during those 41 hours.
“At the end of the race I was mostly delirious, hallucinating and in pain, but the reception I got from my friends and family was incredible. I don’t plan on doing it again though!”
The Chesterfield staff have donated over £14,000 to Bluebell Wood over the last seven years, including £6,262 already raised in 2022, the fourth time employees have chosen the children’s hospice as their Charity Of The Year. In addition to sponsorship cash from Glen’s big feat, £3,662 has been raised by 30 pairs of feet heading up Kinder Scout in the Peak District.
Said Samantha Ambler, HR Director: “Lots of our employees are active walkers so we decided to combine two things we love – a walking challenge to support Bluebell Wood, our Charity Of The Year.
“Our employees have a real sense of connection with the hospice. They have enjoyed volunteering days at the hospice and the range of fundraisers they have been involved in over the years is vast.
“We are planning more fundraisers during the 2022 World Cup this winter and one of our vans will again be supporting the hospice’s Christmas tree collection service.”
Isobel Wells, Bluebell Wood’s Regional Fundraiser (Chesterfield and Derbyshire) commented: “We were amazed when we heard the immense feat Glen did in our name, but then, Proact IT’s entire team has been nothing short of wonderful in their support for us over the last seven years.
“We felt honoured when they chose us as their Charity Of The Year again in 2022.
“The hospice needs to raise over £5m each year to be there for local children and families who often have nowhere else to turn, so the continuing loyal support of companies like Proact IT is incredibly important to us.”
BHW achieve tier 1 rankings for both corporate/commercial and commercial property work
Independent Leicester-based law firm, BHW Solicitors, has once again been ranked toe-to-toe with the East Midland’s legal industry heavyweights in the 2023 Legal 500 guide.
The specialist commercial law firm’s rankings reflect the tremendous breadth of work it is entrusted with by an ever-growing client base of local business stalwarts and national household names.
The Firm has had its most successful listing ever with 5 departmental rankings and 12 individual lawyer recognitions for their standout contribution to their respective practices.
The most notable achievements are its Commercial Property department which has been promoted to the top Tier 1 status in the latest guide, while its Corporate/Commercial department has maintained its Tier 1 ranking for the fifth year in a row.
The Commercial Litigation department has achieved the fantastic feat of Tier 2 status in its first ever listing. Commercial Litigation head, Paul Davis, also achieved his first Recommended status.
Head of Corporate/Commercial, Ed Nurse, and Corporate Partner, Stephen McElhone, once again retained the highest accolade of Leading Individual and Corporate/Commercial Partner, Alex Clifton, received the Next Generation Partner award.
BHW’s Commercial Property team received its highest number of Recommended lawyers, with no fewer than 5 individual listings including Eleanor Rattay awarded Next Generation Partner, and Kate Burlinson and Raj Hundal added as Recommended lawyers.
BHW was also ranked for its IT & Telecoms and Employment services, including Employment Solicitor, Aimee Johns, awarded Rising Star.
The Legal 500 is the leading independent guide to the UK’s legal industry. It conducts an extensive research regime and holds thousands of interviews with law firm clients, lawyers, and professional contacts, to rank the best law firms and solicitors across the Country.
Nottingham trials UK’s first wireless electric taxis
Cabbies in Nottingham can now wirelessly charge their electric taxis as part of a pioneering Government-backed trial which underlines the city’s ambitions to become the UK’s first carbon neutral city by 2028.
The groundbreaking scheme has seen nine electric hackney cabs retrofitted with the latest, super-efficient wireless charging technology to power local journeys. The public can use the trailblazing new taxis at a specially upgraded rank outside Nottingham Station.
Nineteen local taxi drivers have so far volunteered to test a free cab to help Nottingham City Council and its project partners closely monitor the trial and share learnings with the Government to help shape future regulations and delivery of wireless charging projects.
This project will help partners discover the advantages and issues of this technology and iron out any problems.
Wireless Charging of Electric Taxis (WiCET) is a £3.4 million project funded by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles through Innovate UK to assess the commercial and technical viability of deploying wireless charging for electric hackney cabs.
The City Council secured £930,000 from the Government’s Office for Zero Emission Vehicles through Innovate UK for the WiCET project. This is a UK first involving both London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC) and Nissan Dynamo electric taxis, placing Nottingham at the forefront of green technology innovation.
It is expected that the trial of the wireless charging technology will demonstrate a range of benefits, including:
- Easy and convenient charging – drivers will be able to start a charge while waiting for passengers by driving over the pad without needing to leave their vehicle
- Reducing street clutter – no charging cables are required as the wireless charging equipment is built into the road surface
- Encouraging the adoption of more electric taxis in the city, which will lead to a reduction in emissions and help the city to achieve its 2028 carbon neutral target.
Company appointed to manage £14m Vulcan Works Creative Hub
West Northamptonshire Council has appointed specialist innovation centre management company, Oxford Innovation Space, to manage Vulcan Works Creative Hub, a new innovation centre for Northampton’s small creative businesses.
Located in the heart of the town’s Cultural Quarter and Waterside Enterprise Zone, Vulcan Works consists of 68 lettable units specifically aimed at start-ups and growing businesses within the creative industry.
West Northamptonshire Council has led the multi-million regeneration project to transform the area, including two new buildings, along with the renovation of a former ironworks and a collection of old and derelict industrial workshops, to provide local creative businesses with studios, workshops, and managed workspaces. It is anticipated that during its first ten years of operation, Vulcan Works will support up to 150 businesses across the county, creating around 500 jobs.
With over 30 years at the forefront of providing support to start-ups, Oxford Innovation Space successfully manages innovation centres throughout the UK, providing expert support and knowledge to drive business growth and regional success.
Jo Stevens, Managing Director, Oxford Innovation, said: “We’re delighted to be managing this new centre that is part of such an inspiring rejuvenation project. We pride ourselves on our ability to provide bespoke support for all businesses within our centres. It’s much more than a workspace, we build innovative communities, that with the expert support from our innovation directors, are encouraged to grow and thrive.”
She added: “Northampton has been identified as one of the top 10 innovative places in the UK. We’re really looking forward to help drive this further and maximise the innovative spirit of the town.”
South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP) has contributed £6.3m towards the £14m scheme, through the Local Growth Fund and a further £3m contribution coming from the Waterside Enterprise Zone.
Cllr Daniel Lister, cabinet member for economic development, town centre regeneration and growth at West Northamptonshire Council, said: “Oxford Innovation has a fantastic track record in managing sites like Vulcan Works and we’re very lucky to have them on board. I know with their guidance and support, the small creative businesses choosing the site as their home will go from strength to strength.”
The workspaces are expected to be available from early next year.
Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance Doctor shortlisted for National Award
A Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance (LNAA) doctor who is blazing a trail for young surgeons through his work at the charity, has been shortlisted in the Air Ambulances UK (AAUK) Awards of Excellence.
Dr Mike Hughes is different to other air ambulance doctors in that he comes from a surgical background, something that isn’t often seen in the helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) – a world which is largely populated with doctors from anaesthesia and emergency medicine.
But it’s his set of skills that has brought a different perspective to the work of the crews on board the helicopter.
LNAA’s Deputy Medical Director, Doctor Adam Chesters said: Almost immediately after being signed off in the service, Mike attended a series of difficult cases, treating some of the sickest patients attended by the service in this time. Using his surgical expertise, he was able to help deliver the very highest quality of care to the patient.”
Mike joined LNAA in February 2022 and has been called out to 176 incidents in that time. He has dealt with some of the most challenging shifts over the summer and being a surgeon rather than an anaesthetist has meant he has carried out some medical interventions using a skill set that the other doctors do not have. Incidents include 36 road traffic incidents, 23 cardiac arrests and 19 incidents of self-harm.
When he attended a patient who had been stabbed in the neck, rather than apply direct pressure to the bleeding wound, Mike has the skills to be able to dissect down and tie off the bleeding vessels using forceps before transferring the patient to the nearest Major Trauma Centre with the forceps in situ. This technique is a better way of stopping the bleeding and it’s not in the skillset of any other doctors at LNAA and in very few across the air ambulance community.
Mike also recently passed the Fellowship of the College of Royal Surgeons examination in Major Trauma Surgery – he is the first person to ever sit the exam and so the first to pass it! An amazing achievement after his first busy six months at LNAA and the recent birth of his third child.
The annual awards celebrate and recognise the specialist lifesaving skills and commitment of those working tirelessly within and in support of the air ambulance community across the UK.
The awards ceremony will be held at Edgbaston Stadium, Birmingham on 14 November where crew members will be willing Mike to scoop the Doctor of the Year award.
Construction industry in the Midlands must “think differently” to find 50,000 recruits
The construction industry in the Midlands needs to “think differently” to meet the challenge of finding 10,000 new starters every year for the next five years to meet project demands.
That’s the view of Lorraine Gregory, the director of the Civil Engineer Contractors Association (CECA), which supports companies across the sector and provides a voice for the industry.
Civil engineering firms were already facing a skills and recruitment crisis before Covid-19 struck but the pandemic has seen it worsen meaning 50,000 new recruits will be needed between now and 2027 to deliver on projects earmarked for the Midlands.
Lorraine said an aging workforce – 23 per cent of employees are now over 55 compared with just 10 per cent in 1990 – made it vitally important that more people were attracted into the sector and, also, retained within it.
She said: “An ageing workforce in our sector is something that has long been warned about and with many using the pandemic as a moment to take retirement, it is starting to come home to roost.
“Despite many older workers taking retirement, the workforce in construction is still not getting any younger on average.
“The figures show a much higher percentage are now over 55 and the concern is that the cohort aged 25-54 is now weighted towards older end of the spectrum.
“The implications of this, is that we’d expect to lose greater numbers of workers as we move forwards and there is little evidence that they are being replaced by younger workers at anywhere near the same rate.
“It’s vitally important, therefore, that we think differently about how and where we recruit and what we do to keep them in the industry.
“Ongoing training – something CECA supports our members with – is great way to ensure skills are constantly improved and allow people to progress but we all recognise that we have to do more to get people into the sector in the first place.
“We are not the only industry that’s crying out for more workers so we have to differentiate ourselves from other sectors. Through CECA, we’ll be sending STEM ambassadors into the schools in the region to promote the vital work that civil engineering does and the incredible careers it can lead to.
“When speaking to individual businesses that get recruitment right it’s clear that this is not a short-term fix. Firms need to look at how they go about this and plan how they intend to ensure they have the skills for the future.”
Buckingham Group Contracting Ltd, which has offices across the UK including Birmingham, Solihull, Stowe and Manchester, has a Future Skills Programme – which includes apprentices, graduates, trainees and placements – and currently just under 15 per cent of the business’s 700 employees are either on it or graduated from it.
Retention rates are high and, as a result, an average of 20 new entrants complete studies annually and become permanent members of the Group.
The firm is still not immune from the effects of the recruitment crunch but the commitment to bringing new people into the industry has stood Buckingham Group in good stead.
Recruitment manager Matt Suckling said: “We are in a perfect recruitment storm when you look at Covid, Brexit, IR35 and the perpetual issue of an ageing workforce.
“Tristan Tregartha, Future Skills manager, began our Future Skills Programme five years ago and it has been a real success story for the business, one that helps us grow our own talent and provides new entrants with a clear career development path.
“There is not a quick fix and it comes down to more than the way you recruit. We are in a ‘word of mouth’ industry so you have to make sure that your staff, your supply chain and anyone else who comes into contact with you are all talking about you in a positive way.”
Meanwhile, Highway Traffic Management (HTM) in Birmingham, is launching a bid to attract 40 women into the industry.
Marcus Casey, business director at HTM, said: “We are growing considerably and as with many industries at the moment, there’s a skills shortage.
“We have over half the population who may not be thinking about traffic management as a career path for them, simply because the industry has historically had the reputation of being a hands-on role which therefore tends to attract more men. But there’s more to it than people think with a lot of problem solving involved, attention to detail and customer communication required too.
“By challenging the status quo and showing that this type of work can be completed by both men and women, we will be creating a more diverse and inclusive workforce, something we believe is vitally important to the industry as a whole.
“We already have female operatives working within HTM, so we have been engaging with them to get their input and see what more we can be doing to encourage more women into the industry.”
Microlise team gear up for Cycle Malawi Challenge
Six intrepid Microlise employees are making their final preparations for the epic Cycle Malawi challenge to raise vital funds to support Transaid’s work in Africa. The demanding five-day journey will see them cover over 500km, starting in Senga and taking in Lake Malawi, Mount Mulanje, Liwonde National Park and the Zomba Plateau in October 2022.
The fundraising initiative is part of Microlise’s employee-led, community engagement activities which sees the Nottingham-based transport management software company, support numerous community and charity groups at home and abroad.
Andree Ball, marketing events manager, Tony King, technical hardware engineer, Tim Featonby, new business sales consultant, Fred Solari, director of sales, France, and Allan Herbert, embedded systems architect make up this year’s Microlise Cycle Malawi team.
The Microlise Cycle Malawi team have raised more than £25,000 so far for Transaid with the help of their employees, customers and shirt-sponsors Bidfood, Co-Pilot, DHL and MEP Hire.
Microlise event manager and Transaid ambassador Andree Ball is an experienced rider having participated in Transaid’s Challenge Zambia in 2018 when the Microlise team of eight raised more than £40,000. She comments: “Safety in transport is a topic that is central to our business. Conditions in developing countries are not always what they could be, and we can help by raising funds for Transaid, whose interventions make a very real difference.”
Founded by Save the Children and The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), Transaid has been transforming lives through safe, accessible and sustainable transport for more than 25 years across 23 countries.
“The support we receive from Microlise through initiatives such as Cycle Malawi make a huge difference to Transaid’s work,” added Transaid Chief Executive Officer Caroline Barber.
“Malawi holds a special place in our hearts as it was the location for our first cycle challenge back in 2006. Since then, we have worked hard to improve access to healthcare and driver training programmes. In the last year alone, we have been able to support the training of more than 5,225 HGV and PSV drivers and we have reached more than a million people in Zambia with our integrated malaria and COVID-19 programme.”
If you would like to support Transaid and the Microlise Cycle Malawi Team, please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/microlise-cycle-malawi
New council housing for disused garage sites gets started
Work has started on new council homes following the demolition of old garages in Kirkby.
The plans include eight new homes across two sites; three two-bedroom homes on the Ashfield District Council owned garage site on Darley Avenue, Kirkby, and five two and three-bedroom homes on Spruce Grove, Kirkby.
These eight family homes will add to the council’s growing housing portfolio. In the past year over 51 new council homes have been built and another 62 are planned. These include 15 family homes on derelict garage sites in Hucknall on Barbara Square, Hawthorne Avenue, Chatsworth Drive, and Chestnut Grove.
In Sutton, 31 council homes have been built including five new townhouses on Stoney Street, a mixture of 22 houses and apartments on Froghopper Lane, off Davies Avenue, and four bungalows on The Poplars and The Beeches. Ground has been broken on Charlotte Gardens, off Midland Road, which will welcome 20 new homes in 2023.
Cllr Andy Meakin, Ward Councillor for Abbey Hill, said: “It is fantastic that work has started at these two disused sites in Kirkby. We are pleased to be able to provide high quality, affordable housing for residents in Ashfield.
“The council has plans to build over 100 new council houses over the next few years and we have made excellent progress with this in the space of a year. We have completed 46 houses so far. This number will continue to rise as we hand over even more quality housing in the coming months.”
Medstrom celebrates employee ownership
Medstrom shareholders have entered into an agreement to sell the entire share capital to an Employee Ownership Trust (also known as an EOT).
This is a Trust which acquires and holds a controlling interest in a company for the benefit of its employees, giving the effect of employee ownership without directly owning or buying shares.
Medstrom was founded in 2010 to provide hospital equipment, bed management and service delivery to the NHS. Medstrom has developed an exceptional reputation with its customers and more recently has become the only UK owned manufacturer of acute care beds in the UK.
The decision to create this exciting new structure was driven by the desire to sustain the company’s independence and recognition of the fact that Medstrom was built upon the hard work and commitment of its employees and is unlike any other company in the industry.
David Belli, CEO, said: “Medstrom is securing the future of the business, including its ethos, values and focus on sustainability, whilst maintaining our unique culture.”
Scott Apsey – Medstrom Managing Director and CIO said: “It gives us all great pleasure to give something back to our very committed colleagues, as they often go above and beyond their duty to ensure our customers and patients are well looked after.”
Rachel Apsey – Commercial Director adds: “The new ownership structure shall continue to provide stability, continuity, depth of management knowledge and quick decision making for all of our customers for the long term. It is therefore business as usual, continuing to do what we do well – focusing on our customers”.
