Offering an ideal opportunity to shout about your business’s achievements, there are only 4 days left to enter the East Midlands Bricks Awards 2022! The annual event, organised by East Midlands Business Link Magazine, is an independent awards and publicity programme recognising development projects and people in commercial and public building across the region – from office, industrial and residential schemes, through to community projects such as leisure schemes and schools. The prestigious awards attract leaders from across the region and are the perfect way for businesses to promote themselves and those they work with. Indeed winning one of these awards will add considerably to a company’s or individual’s brand and enhance their commercial reach significantly. Award categories include: most active estate agent, commercial development of the year, responsible business of the year, residential development of the year, developer of the year, deal of the year, architects of the year, excellence in design, sustainable development of the year, contractor of the year, and overall winner. Winners will be revealed at a glittering awards ceremony on Thursday 15 September, at the Trent Bridge Cricket Ground – an evening that will also provide plenty of time to forge new contacts with property and construction professionals from across the region. To submit a business or development for the East Midlands Bricks Awards 2022 before nominations close on Friday 19 August, please click on a category link below or visit this page. Thanks to our sponsors:                                      

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Rutland County Council and Melton Borough Council have joined hands to submit a joint bid for the second round of the Government’s Levelling Up Fund, which if successful could see a £23m injection to help boost the economy of the local towns and improve connectivity between them and more rural areas. Oakham and Melton Mowbray are rural, historic market towns with huge potential for growth. The submission focusses on realising the economic potential of both areas through leveraging distinctive local assets and delivering 5 key projects which will focus on economic innovation, cultural destination and mobility. At the heart of Rutland’s vision is the proposal to maximise the potential of the health sector and improve the area’s mobility by the development of a new digital innovation facility and Mobi-Hub at the Rutland Memorial Hospital site, as well as supporting the economic regeneration of the area by the introduction of a mobile, digital visitor experience at Rutland County Museum. The Rutland Memorial Hospital site proposals accommodate a £3.5m, 1000m2 facility, providing lab and light assembly space for the development of medi-tech level clinical trials, a Continuous Professional Development centre for clinicians working in the area and a training base for students involved in relevant disciplines at the local universities, including medical schools and schools of nursing. This investment would build on the well-established understanding at Health Education England (now a core part of NHSE&I), that the antidote to the skills shortages, at the heart of rural health inequalities, lies in the development and training of people in rural settings themselves. The facility would also be a community health related hub, including a café and housing health trainers and potentially care workers developing their business on a self-employed basis. Further proposals to the Rutland Memorial Hospital site could also see the implementation of a £6.5m, 500m2 travel anchor mobi-hub. The Mobi-Hub will be supported by a Demand Responsive Transport system based on the Bus Service Investment Plan approach developed by Rutland Council and extended to cover the Melton Borough area linking the overall package of Levelling Up investments. It would focus on two routes, which have been developed through evidence led analysis, with further refinement to be completed. This service would enable people to access work, learning and services more fully across the two market towns Rutland’s proposals also include a £2m investment to Rutland County Museum, which would see the creation of a mobile, digital visitor experience to view two of the area’s unique heritage treasures – the largest Ichthyosaur fossil in Europe and the remains of a stunning 4th Century Roman Villa with an exceptional mosaic. Neither of these assets can currently be displayed easily to the public directly, however these proposals aim to create the virtual models, storage and touring facilities to enable the finds to be showcased in Oakham and across the region. It will also form the basis for co-funding with the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) delivery new gallery spaces and visitor facilities on the existing Museum site, transforming the visitor offer. Also, if successful in the bid, Melton Borough Council propose to develop over 2500sqm of flexible food and drink production units within the Stockyard, creating a food and drink innovation showcase alongside a multifunctional event space which could host exciting events and activities throughout the year. The site will include a support service to help small or upcoming local producers develop and grow in the Rural Capital of Food. In addition, the funding would be used to deliver a multifunctional event space at the stockyard which could host exciting events and activities throughout the year, bringing additional footfall and attracting repeat visitors to the area. The bid will also look to improve the SMB College Group’s Melton campus theatre. These upgrades will make the space more accessible, ensuring it is able to secure and attract larger scale commercial events more often to provide a regular calendar of activity that will, alongside the stockyard, support the town centre and its burgeoning evening economy. Councillor Lucy Stephenson, leader of Rutland County Council, said: “We are pleased to be working alongside Melton Borough Council on the Levelling Up bid. This bid focusses on key priorities for us in Rutland. If successful we will see real benefits to our residents, businesses and visitors by reducing health inequalities, increasing highly skilled job opportunities, improving mobility throughout the area, increasing access to cultural offers and much more.” Councillor Joe Orson, leader of Melton Borough Council, said: “Through building closer links between the two regions and developing the proposals on offer we can help make these two rural regions on the East Midlands, vibrant hubs for tourism and innovation.” Alicia Kearns, MP for Melton and Rutland Constituency, has been supportive and involved throughout the bid process and said: “This fantastic bid sees Rutland and Melton make the case that we can be rural powerhouses. The proposals would deliver on the aspirations and priorities of our local communities around health, transport, job opportunities and celebrating our unique heritage and culture and help level up our rural way of life.”

A rapidly expanding company has moved into a unique building in Lincoln to accommodate its growth and high-spec tech requirements. Since 2019, research and development business SRC UK has grown from 1 employee to 30 and the company is looking to double in size again by the end of the year. Its core business is with the Ministry of Defence, providing analytical software, big data analytics, consultancy and training. SRC UK was initially based in the Boole Technology Centre at Lincoln Science & Innovation Park but this month moved into the Gravity R&D building part of the Park’s second phase of expansion. This specially designed facility, part funded by the Greater Lincolnshire LEP and the Midlands Engine, was developed for firms like SRC UK. “The Gravity Building gives us enough space to grow into,” says Steve Davies, SRC UK’s managing director. “And its sophisticated design is ideal to our needs.” This means that SRC UK can run its own software and produce its own data within the building on a unique cloud-based system as well as provide innovative space for other local companies to use. Steve, worked in the RAF as a Weapons Systems Officer for 36 years and was retiring just as the opportunity to set up the UK division of US-based research and development company SRC Inc came up.  “I was in the right place at the right time with the core skill set that they needed,” says Steve. “Since then, everybody who has joined has played a vital role to get us to where we are today so quickly.” “Our ethos is centred around collaboration; whether that be creating a new way of working with other companies, the unique way we build the company around graduates or building new products based on our people’s ideas.” The company has broken the mould with how the government works with graduates in the sensitive area of big data analytics. “Initially, the government would only work with people with decades of experience in this niche area. We take STEM graduates with a sound educational background and layer on targeted training so they have specific experience and skills and they evolve into the job that suits that individual the most.”  This blended approach has led to SRC UK being the first company in the UK to have early career graduates supporting MOD data production. SRC UK is a not-for-profit company committed to making a positive impact on the city and county. It aims to employ locally, including graduates from the University of Lincoln, collaborate with local businesses and to use local resources. SRC UK, which is a disability confident employer, has signed up to the Lincoln Social Responsibility Charter and supports charities such as the Give an Hour scheme where staff volunteer in local schools, the C2C2C charity bike ride around Lincolnshire and Lincoln food banks. “We see ourselves as a responsible company which is very keen on generating revenue and jobs for Lincoln and being part of the Science Park’s community and its continuing expansion,” says Steve.

Bolsover District Council have submitted a £14.2 million bid to the Government’s ‘Levelling Up’ fund to help regenerate and breathe new life into Bolsover Town Centre. If successful, the bid will support a range of town centre regeneration, public realm improvements, cultural and heritage projects within the town. The bid is being supported by £1.24 million in match funding from both Bolsover District Council and Old Bolsover Town Council, bringing the total value of the potential investment in the area to £15.48 million. Council leader, councillor Steve Fritchley, said: “We are an ambitious council and this is an ambitious bid to help stimulate growth and providing town centre regeneration as well as cultural opportunities in the town.” Working with partners, the bid is split into three distinct projects with environmental sustainability embedded across all the strands driving forward the Council’s ambition for carbon reduction. The strands are as follows:

1. Regeneration of vacant town centre retail units to create a new ‘Cultural Hub’ that includes an independent small cinema, theatre and live performance space, gallery, museum and exhibition space, food and drinks court and Artisan and producers centre. Adapting the derelict Oxcroft House building to support the town’s business base, offering a hub for training, co-working and in particular encouraging new business start-ups in cultural and arts sectors.
2. A shop front improvement scheme that will improve the appearance of the town and enhance the retail offer to residents and visitors. Improvements will also be made to the public realm (pavements, signage, street furniture, etc) that will encourage visitors to spend more time in the town and connect the town to Bolsover Castle.
3. Investing in 5G network and installing fibre in the town centre to help improve connectivity and provide much needed Wi-Fi. This will provide real time bus information and digital information totems in key locations. Digital technology such as ‘Park Here Now’ and new augmented reality experiences will help enhance the visitor experience and increase footfall in the town.

Cllr Fritchley added: “This bid has the potential to deliver significant benefits to the town of Bolsover and our local communities. It illustrates our clear commitment to deliver major development and regeneration for Bolsover District as well as maximising the opportunities that the 100,000 plus visitors to Bolsover Castle bring. “We are confident that we have put forward a compelling bid, which presents the strongest options in meeting the full criteria of the ‘Levelling Up’ fund and has the potential to make a real difference to a core area of the town centre and our visitor economy.”

Greg Simpson, founder of Press for Attention PR, highlights the importance of timing when it comes to PR campaigns. Ok, that is a sweeping generalisation, listen to what you like but please consider the following advice if you are planning any PR campaigns. At the risk of sounding like an aging rocker, school’s out for summer. Some might go so far as to say there are no more pencils and no more books (go on, admit it, you just sang the next line). However, if you can please just curb your inner Cooper a little before you abandon ship entirely, especially when it comes to anything involving the media, that would be really wise. Here’s a final pre-holiday lesson to explain why. It can be very tempting to rush things, clearing the decks of various little tasks, your finger itching to trigger the ‘Out of Office’ alert on your emails. There’s a lot to be said and pondered about with regards to how we manage to get so much done when we really need to but please, please, PLEASE don’t include the media in that. Now is not the time to release anything to the media if it can be avoided. Sometimes, it can’t but this is rare. Public Relations should be planned and sustained wherever possible and that includes timing any announcements that you have coming up, good or bad. Especially BAD! For now, let’s focus on the positive. Imagine you’ve just spent the best part of a month planning to announce some news. It could be a new product, a new hire or a company milestone. You’ve drafted and approved the press release and hopefully invested in some photography to really bring the story to life. Now, let’s hope you have either called your key press targets or, if you have a PR agency or consultant on board, they have done it for you. All being well, with a strong story and good images, you should be getting one of three results:

• Press love it and publish it ASAP. If so, thank them and start leveraging the valuable content. Tweet it, blog about it. Send an e-shot to your database.
• Press like it but will put it on the back-burner for a day/week due to deadlines or another feature that will be boosted by your news hook.
• Press love it but need some extra info. Perhaps another quote from the MD in light of other breaking news in your sector which chimes nicely with your story. They might want to take their own picture – this does happen.

No problem you say…but wait…the MD is away for the summer break. There’s no way we can contact her for a quote as she’s unreachable. A picture is out of the question. You might say these things can’t be helped…but they can. It is all about your timing of the release. Work with the information you have. If the press call you out of the blue for an opinion and your MD is away then that can’t be helped (still try though) but when you are the proactive party, you know the limits and timings. So, whatever you do, next time you have a story to get out…please make sure you can add further comment or play ball with press requests. If you can’t, wait until the timing is better. PR is a long-term game. 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.