- Vision Park in Peterborough: Six modern warehouses totalling 15,037 sq ft and set to undergo a refurbishment, providing flexible leasehold accommodation from 1,150-6,781 sq ft.
- Fraser House in Ipswich: A 16,409 sq ft multi-let office building on Museum Street in the town centre where Hurstwood already owns another building. The prominently located, period building is fully let to Savills (UK) Limited, Peopleplus, Netscout, Attwells and Brewin Dolphin.
- Bridge of Don Industrial Estate in Aberdeen: Comprising six warehouse units, totalling 30,470 sq ft and fully let with occupiers including Andrews Hydrographics.
- Mandale Triangle in Thornaby, Stockton-on-Tees: A 30,656 sq ft industrial building that is part vacant and part let to a Gym company.
- Kings Court in North Shields: Situated close to the town centre, this two-storey modern office building totals 78,577 sq ft, the majority of which is let as a courthouse to the Secretary of State, which has been in occupation for more than 20 years.
North Lincolnshire Business Centre snapped up in £14m acquisition run
A North Lincolnshire Business Centre has been bought by property investment and development company, Hurstwood Holdings in Manchester.
The Queensway Business Centre in Scunthorpe was previously owned by by Dean Property Group, and the recently Refurbished centre boasts 20,820 sq ft comprising 33 offices from 168 sq ft.
Hurstwood Holdings has added the hub to its portfolio as part of a recent £14 million acquisition run in recent weeks, taking its total spend on new properties this year to £35m.
In addition to the Queensway Business centre, the company has completed the purchase of five additional industrial and office properties, nationwide, which include:
IDT achieves landmark carbon neutral accreditation
Ilkeston-based managed service provider IDT has achieved a significant environmental milestone – a whole two months ahead of schedule.IDT has been verified with Carbon Neutral + accreditation, which means the company is offsetting 25% more carbon than it is producing.The landmark marks a sustained, year-long effort by IDT to lessen its carbon footprint. The company has also started the process of changing its vehicle fleet to a complete EV and Plug-in Hybrids. This will be complete in the next six months.Other environmental work has included investing in the IDT head office, replacing the legacy lighting with up-to-date energy efficient LEDs throughout, as well as the expensive and inefficient electric office heating with air conditioning. IDT has also installed the latest roof insulation technology.IDT is also educating its staff by doing the simple, important things like turning off lights in rooms that are not used and unused equipment.Luke Draper, Managing Director of IDT, said: “For IDT, being sustainable is a priority for myself and co-founder James Cartwright, not because of how it is viewed or commercial pressure – but because it’s the right thing to do. Of course, our clients care that we’re carbon neutral. But if they didn’t, we still would be doing this.“As an IT MSP it’s going to sound silly, but we have actually reduced the amount of IT equipment we run and replaced old hardware with newer energy efficient upgrades. Having been completely cloud-based for the past three years we ensure our cloud partners who we use share the same ethos as us.“From a personal point of view I have two young boys and ensuring I am doing everything I can to lessen the impact my business has on our world and set an example for them is really important to me.”Luke says that IDT’s staff have reacted positively to the initiative.He added: “This is exactly what we hoped for as we are now classified as a Carbon Neutral + organisation. Working closely with carbonfootprint.com there were many different carbon offsetting projects, but we decided it would be nice to put back into the local area so we this year have backed the UK Tree Planting project and specifically focussed on the East Midlands.“Now that we have drawn a line in the sand and had it verified where we are today as a business, my plan is to year on year try to reduce and improve our impact on the world around us.”
Revenues soar at Leicester-headquartered luxury watch retailer
Leicester-headquartered luxury watch and jewellery group, Watches of Switzerland, has seen revenues soar in the first half of 2022 with a 31% increase in watch sales and 38% increase in jewellery sales taking group revenues to £765m.
Brian Duffy, Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are pleased to report another quarter of strong trading driven by broad based sales growth across our portfolio of world leading partner brands. Demand remained strong through the quarter and continues to exceed supply, with client registration lists extending as consumers respond to innovative new products, impactful marketing and elevated client service.
“The first half of the year has been a busy period of new showroom openings – including five showrooms at the iconic Battersea Power Station in London and additional mono-brand boutiques across the UK, US and now Europe – together with showroom refurbishments as we continue to invest to elevate the luxury experience for our clients.
“Our strong H1 performance underpins our full year guidance, which we have upgraded to reflect the benefit of foreign exchange movements. Looking ahead, we remain confident in our Long Range Plan objectives, supported by a strong pipeline of expansionary projects as we continue with our strategy of investing for growth.”
The Watches of Switzerland Group Foundation has now also approved charitable donations of £2.7 million to continue to support disadvantaged communities in both the UK and USVision for Grimsby town centre regeneration to go before planners
Plans for the transformation of Grimsby’s Riverhead Square in the town centre, next to the troubled Freshney Place shopping centre, will go before councillors at the Cabinet meeting next week.
The new design for the area, drawn up by Arup Landscape Design, incorporate input from local people through public consultation and, if approved, will be funded as one of the projects included in the Town Deal, with funding that was secured in 2020 and ring fenced for specific projects.
Public sentiment seems to point to “more green spaces and places to relax” and “social space around the water” and these comments helped create the vision for the revamped public area.
Councillors will consider the plans at next weeks cabinet meeting.
400 jobs lost as Next completes deal on e-commerce firm
Leicester-based retailer Next have snapped up troubled e-commerce company Made.com from administrators for an undisclosed sum.
The transaction however does not include its 600 strong workforce, many of whom are to be let go. Administrators state: “This [the deal] will sadly result in 320 redundancies across the business. In addition 79 employees who had resigned and were working their notice have been released with immediate effect. ”
Zelf Hussain, Rachael Wilkinson and Peter Dickens of PwC had been appointed as joint administrators of Made.com Design Ltd. The appointment was made as the high-value retail sector continues to be exposed to the current testing economic conditions.
Made.com is a British e-commerce company based in London that designs and sells furniture and home accessories online. The business has 573 permanent employees, with warehouses in the UK and Belgium, alongside offices and showrooms in London, Europe and Vietnam.
On appointment, the joint administrators completed a sale of the brand, website and intellectual property of Made.com to Next Retail Limited.
This transaction represents the best option available to generate returns for creditors as a whole, under severely limited timescales.
Close to 4500 customer orders in the UK and Europe which are already with carriers are being delivered. However, a large proportion of customer orders are still at origin in the Far East at various stages of production. Due to the impact of the business entering administration, these items cannot be completed and shipped to customers.
Zelf Hussain, joint administrator and partner, PwC, said: “The company is a casualty of the headwinds being faced by all retailers, but more heavily by those selling big-ticket products. A combination of factors including significant decline in consumer spending from cost of living pressures, rising import costs and continuing supply chain pressures has meant the business could no longer continue.
“It is with real regret that redundancies will need to be made. We would like to thank all the employees for their hard work. We will continue to support those affected at this difficult time, including assisting the HR team’s efforts to secure staff new roles. A small number of employees have been retained to support the orderly closure of the business.”
Nicola Thompson, Leo of Made.com said: “I would like to sincerely apologise to everyone – customers, employees, supplier partners, shareholders and all other stakeholders – impacted as a result of the business going into administration.
“Over the past months we have fought tooth and nail to rapidly re-size the cost base, re-engineer the sourcing and stock model, and try every possible avenue to raise fresh financing and avoid this outcome.
“Made is a much loved brand that was highly successful and well adapted, over many years, to a world of low inflation, stable consumer demand, reliable and cost efficient global supply chains and limited geo-political volatility.
“That world vanished, the business could not survive in its current iteration, and we could not pivot fast enough. The brand will now continue under new owners. I hope that a reconfigured Made will prove to be sustainable and will continue to be loved by customers.”
Rachael Wilkinson, joint administrator and director, PwC, added: “We understand those who have paid for products will be really concerned about receiving their items. The administration means many orders unfortunately cannot be fulfilled.”
Well-known truckers’ café changes hands
A well-known Northamptonshire restaurant used by truckers and motorists has changed hands in a freehold deal.
Jacks Hill Café and Truck Stop, at Watling Street, Towcester, was acquired by a private investor for an undisclosed sum in a competitive bidding situation, said Eamon Kennedy, executive partner and head of agency at Kirkby Diamond.
The prominent roadside site, which extends to 1.74-acres, has an extensive parking area which was previously used as a lorry park for up to 50 units and trailers. The site sits on the A5.
After acquiring the property on behalf of a longstanding client, Kirkby Diamond has now been appointed to market the property on a leasehold basis.
Eamon said: “Our client was very keen to acquire the Jacks Hill Café site as it presents a number of development opportunities, subject to planning. We were very pleased to conclude the deal on their behalf in a competitive bidding situation.
“The site has already attracted a lot of occupier interest due to its excellent location. Towcester is growing rapidly, with a planned residential extension to the south of the town. Work is also underway to create a bypass which will filter traffic around the town centre and unlock further expansion of the town.
“The site offers a wonderful business opportunity for companies that may be considering establishing or expanding their commercial operations.”
Precision People makes head of technical promotion
Precision People has promoted Anand Kakkad to head of technical.
Anand joined Precision People, based at the Meridian Business Park, in September 2018 as a team leader of the Maintenance division. Within fourteen months he built the team from two to six consultants, taking new recruits into high performers, and as a result, was promoted to divisional manager of the Technical Perm team.
Director Phil Walker said: “Anand manages the team how most managers don’t; which is by empowering, leading, and coaching, whilst working the hard yards himself. He also takes the time to have an interest in his people’s success and well-being. This makes him the most successful manager Precision has seen.”
This year, under his leadership, the Technical team of Permanent & Contract recruitment has created six promotions, progressing two senior recruiters into managing consultants and building a team with them.
Anand said: “After working at three different recruitment companies, I can firmly say at Precision People, we do things differently. Every business strategy is about people development and achieving individual and business goals together as a family.
“The next steps and progression are at the forefront of every conversation with our recruiters and managers. Without the support of Precision People as a whole, and my record-breaking team, none of this would be possible.”
Phil added: “At Precision, we hold progression at the top of our people development, every consultant has clear steps with measurables to get to the next level in their career, reviewed with them monthly.
“With a record-breaking year this year, we are well on course to grow the team by double within the next three years to forty people. To achieve that we need to have the right culture that champions progression. Those that make it into the management roles needed will benefit hugely both in their career and personally with rewards that are unique to Precision.”
Timms team celebrates title
The wills and probate team at law firm Timms Solicitors has been named the best in the region.
The firm was named Midlands Solicitor Firm of the Year in the British Wills and Probate Awards, which were recently held in Birmingham.
The team received the award in recognition of all round excellence, client engagement, technology transformation, commitment to staff development and providing an outstanding service to the local community.
Managing Partner Fiona Moffat said: “We are delighted that the wills and probate team have been recognised with this prestigious award.
“We have been serving our community and clients from our high street bases for more than 130 years and, under the leadership of Jo Robinson, our established wills and probate team has gone from strength to strength.
“We are committed to investing in all of our staff and as a result we are able to provide an exceptional service to our clients.”
Digital transformation firm acquires Nottingham business
OSF Digital, a provider of digital transformation services, has acquired Oegen Ltd., a Nottingham-based Salesforce consulting firm.
OSF Digital, which has over 2,200 employees and 49 offices worldwide, is acquiring Oegen to quickly establish a Salesforce Experience Cloud team in the UK region and expand the multi-cloud center of excellence and delivery team in the UK and EMEA.
The terms of the deal are not being disclosed.
Oegen has expertise in Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement, Service, Sales Cloud, and B2B Commerce with a focus on the financial and business services, education, and non-profit sectors. Customers include major UK high street banks as well as global education and charitable foundations.
“This acquisition will help to deepen our customer relationships in EMEA in many verticals,” said Gerard (Gerry) Szatvanyi, CEO of OSF Digital. “We are serious about further strengthening our Salesforce multi-cloud services globally. Oegen’s agility and commitment to excellence align very well with OSF’s values and mission.”
“We’re pleased to join OSF Digital’s growing team,” said Pete Fells, Managing Director & founder of Oegen Ltd. “Together with OSF, we’ll continue to deliver comprehensive digital transformation and user experience excellence to a vast customer base in several verticals in the UK and EMEA.”
Award winning entrepreneur joins Purpose Media
Award-winning entrepreneur Amanda Strong has joined full service marketing agency Purpose Media as a partnership manager.
For 33 years, Amanda was the owner of Mercia Image Print during which she won entrepreneur of the year and outstanding female entrepreneur of the year. The company won Small Business of the Year and various printing industry related awards. She is a trustee at Children First Derby, an ambassador of Safe and Sound and also on the committee of Derby’s Finest which aims to support and inspire ladies in Derbyshire and to gain the recognition they deserve.
Having recently sold Mercia Image Print she intends to use her time, experience and connections to create business opportunities for other local businesses.
In her new role, Amanda will be introducing Purpose Media to her network and explaining the benefits of partnering together for mutual benefit.
She said: “Because of their reputation I have always trusted and respected Purpose Media. I am delighted to be offered this role as I have absolute confidence in their ability to deliver services and advice that will help businesses to grow.”
Grace Golden, head of Client Services, added: “Amanda has a wealth of experience and is highly respected by the business community due to the success she has enjoyed as a business owner. She will be a great asset and brings many complimentary skills to our team.”
Purpose Media Managing Director Matt Wheatcroft added: “I have known Amanda for many years and we have always got on so it seemed a natural progression to invite her to join our team given the ambitions she has to connect businesses with likeminded needs.”
