Winners revealed: the East Midlands Bricks Awards 2022

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Winners revealed: the East Midlands Bricks Awards 2022
Property and construction professionals from across the region gathered last night (Thursday 15 September) at the famous Trent Bridge Cricket Ground for Business Link Magazine’s annual East Midlands Bricks Awards. Recognising and celebrating those behind the changing landscape of our region, rewarding the very best companies, teams and individuals, the event offered the perfect opportunity to showcase the outstanding work carried out across the East Midlands over the past year and network with many of the region’s industry leaders over canapés and complementary drinks sponsored by Brooklands Service Group. Highlights of the night saw John Forkin MBE DL, Managing Director at award-winning investment promotion agency Marketing Derby, kick off the event with the keynote speech, Galliford Try Construction take home a hat-trick of awards for Broad Marsh Bus Station and Car Park, while Cawarden stole two awards. The finalists and winners in each category are revealed below:
Victoria Golborn, Mather Jamie, Amy Bidell, Mather Jamie, Sue Alland, Mather Jamie, and Rob Day, Blueprint Interiors

Most Active Agent – sponsored by Blueprint Interiors

Winner

Mather Jamie

Runners up

OMEETO

BB&J Commercial

 
Alistair Branch, Stephen George + Partners, Phillip Johnson, Galliford Try Construction, Ben Bowley, Leonard Design, and Ben Sansom, Frank Key

Commercial Development of the Year – sponsored by Frank Key

Winner

Broad Marsh Bus Station and Car Park – Galliford Try Construction

Runners up

Etiquette Park – Clowes Developments

Nottinghamshire Police and Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service joint HQ – Henry Brothers

Emma Attwood, Cawarden, and William Crooks, Cawarden

Responsible Business of the Year – sponsored by Press for Attention PR

Winner

Cawarden

Runners up

Arc Partnership

Phoenix Brickwork

Sarah Woolf, Sterling Commercial Finance, and Angie Cooper, on behalf of Glenvale Park

Residential Development of the Year – sponsored by Sterling Commercial Finance

Winner

Glenvale Park – Glenvale Park LLP

Runners up

The Rise, Southwell – Stagfield Group

Hindle House – KMRE Group

James Phillips, APB, Trevor Wells, Wells McFarlane, Richard Foxon, Newton LDP, Sam Jones, Newton LDP, and Richard Picton, Blythin & Brown Insurance Brokers

Deal of the Year – sponsored by Blythin & Brown Insurance Brokers

Winner

Wells McFarlane, APB and Newton LDP – sale of 460 acres of land in North Leicestershire, making way for a new garden village

Runners up

St James Securities – Phase Two of the Becketwell regeneration scheme in Derby – 3,500 capacity Becketwell performance venue with ASM Global

Morgan Industrial Properties Limited – acquisition of the former Ewart Chain site in Shaftesbury Street, Derby

Josh Spencer, HBD, Mark Evans, HBD, and Donald Ward, Ward

Developer of the Year – sponsored by Ward

Winner

HBD

Runners up

Hockley Developments

St James Securities

Steve Rayner, Rayner Davies Architects, and Laura Burton, OMS

Architects of the Year – sponsored by OMS

Winner

Rayner Davies Architects

Runners up

Swain Architecture

CPMG Architects

Nick Gregory, CPMG, and William Crooks, Cawarden

Excellence in Design – sponsored by Cawarden 

Winner

St. Peter’s Gate renovation – CPMG Architects

Runners up

Health and Allied Professions Centre at Nottingham Trent University – Pick Everard

Brookside Farm – Chevin Homes

Alistair Branch, Stephen George + Partners, Ben Bowley, Leonard Design, Philip Johnson, Galliford Try Construction, and Lee Marshall, Viridis Building Services

Sustainable Development of the Year – sponsored by Viridis Building Services

Winner

Broad Marsh Bus Station and Car Park – Galliford Try Construction

Runners up

Refurbished HQ for LKAB Minerals – Scenariio

Northern Gateway Enterprise Centre – Chesterfield Borough Council, Whittam Cox Architects, Robert Woodhead Group

Nick Sanderson, RammSanderson, Emma Attwood, Cawarden, and William Crooks, Cawarden

Contractor of the Year – sponsored by RammSanderson

Winner

Cawarden

Runners up

Galliford Try Construction

Enrok Construction

Alistair Branch, Stephen George + Partners, Philip Johnson, Galliford Try Construction, Ben Bowley, Leonard Design, and James Pinchbeck, Streets Chartered Accountants.

Overall Winner – sponsored by Streets Chartered Accountants

Galliford Try Construction

  See the event in the images and video below. Thanks to Richard Picksley for photographing the event.
Thanks to all our sponsors for supporting the East Midlands Bricks Awards 2022. Business Link Magazine looks forward to returning next year for the East Midlands Bricks Awards 2023!                                      

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Derby PR agency opens its doors to Ukrainian PR specialist

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Derby PR agency opens its doors to Ukrainian PR specialist

Derby PR & communications agency Nielsen McAllister has appointed a new specialist, Alona Vvedenska, who has arrived in the UK after fleeing her home in war-torn Ukraine.

Alona Vvedenska joins the agency as account & content support executive following a traumatic start to the year. With her 13-year-old son, Alona fled Kyiv on an evacuation train in March, arriving in the UK as part of the Homes for Ukrainians scheme.

As a journalist, author of articles, and editor of national Ukrainian periodicals, Alona wanted to get back to work and use her expertise.

Alona’s sponsor, Derby businessman Nino Simone, contacted Nielsen McAllister, which was looking for a content specialist to support its rapid growth.

“We were already recruiting and struggling to find someone with the right set of skills to support new and existing clients. After meeting Alona, it was obvious she would be an asset to the team – and, of course, it feels amazing to be able to help someone in Alona’s circumstances,” said Simon Wildash, director of Nielsen McAllister. Alona has more than 16 years of background working in PR, supporting international clients such as Rockwool and Siemens with market launches and press engagement. As journalist and editor, she has conducted interviews with celebrities and politicians, and has been responsible for developing magazines from front cover to back. Alona is now actively using her literary skills and PR experience to further strengthen Nielsen McAllister’s content creation offering for existing and new clients. At the same time, the Green Lane office has provided Alona with a welcoming and friendly environment, with the team bonding over everything from movies to food. Alona has already treated her new colleagues to borscht with papmushki. Speaking of her difficult year, Alona said: “The experience of war is something that is incredibly difficult to put into words. Everything that seems impossible or unbearable to us in peacetime becomes part of everyday life. It’s a state where you can’t feel normal, but the pain is just hellish. “I am therefore heartily grateful to the UK and my new colleagues for the opportunity to live and work here. I am very happy to be a part of the Nielsen McAllister team and it’s helping me to achieve a degree of stability during such turbulent times.”

Occupational hygienist is the latest hire for Finch Consulting

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Occupational hygienist is the latest hire for Finch Consulting
Leicestershire-based health and safety engineering risk management experts, Finch Consulting, have appointed occupational hygienist Morag McWilliam. With over 30 years’ of practical experience in the field of occupational hygiene health and safety, Morag will be joining Finch as a senior consultant from her most recent role as a HM specialist inspector for the Health and Safety Executive. In her new role, Morag will be helping Finch’s clients with occupational hygiene support in both a consultancy and expert witness capacity. Commenting on her appointment at Finch, Morag said: “I chose to join Finch because of their work ethic and positive employee culture which encourages consultants to take an adaptable and pragmatic approach to problem solving for clients in a wide range of industries. “This in turn will allow me to apply practically my industrial and regulatory experience as an occupational hygienist to help guide clients in the long term protection of their workers’ health and well-being.” Adding, Dom Barraclough, Managing Director at Finch, said: “We have a very strong pipeline of occupational hygiene work and Morag will complement the offering to our clients incredibly well. She’s already proven she is a great fit for the Finch culture, which is extremely important to us, and with her extensive experience she will hit the ground running.”

Two months to go until the East Midlands Expo!

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Two months to go until the East Midlands Expo!
In two months time, the East Midlands Expo will return! Register NOW to secure your spot at the free to attend event! Already seeing more bookings than last year, the established event of over 20 years will take place on Monday 14 November 2022, offering an ideal day for networking and business generation. Event organiser Tina King said: “It is great to see so many exhibitors and delegates engaging with networking and exhibiting again following Covid restrictions.” The expo, for which Business Link is a proud partner, is well targeted and aimed at the construction, property, business, investment, finance, professional services and related B2B markets. Taking place at the East Midlands Conference Centre, Nottingham, the exhibition will open to attendees at 9am, with a seminar taking place between 10:45am and noon. A special networking lunch (for which tickets can be purchased here) will then take place between 12:15pm and 2:15pm, and the exhibition will close at 3:30pm. From property agents to developers, architects, contractors, investors, PR firms, and more, see the list of current exhibitors here.

For more information on exhibiting at the event click here.

To register to attend the event for free click here.

To secure tickets for the networking lunch click here.

New sports bar and leisure venue set for Burton

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New sports bar and leisure venue set for Burton
Burton-based commercial property agents, Rushton Hickman Ltd, has let a 5,500 sq ft retail unit located at 6/8 Station St, Burton upon Trent, as a new sports bar and leisure venue. The premises had historically operated as a bar, with several changes of name and ownership over time. The `Break Room Sports Bar’ is planned to open on Sunday 18 September and was conceptualised by two local businessmen, Ryan Gibbs, and Paul Fox, both of whom are experienced cue sport players. Ryan said: “We will be offering high quality pool and snooker facilities, along with interactive smart darts, which cannot be found anywhere within the local area. These facilities will be accompanied by a fully stocked bar and freshly made cocktails, with live sports shown around the club. “The town is currently lacking in entertainment venues, forcing its residents to travel further afield for leisure facilities. Our aim is to offer high quality entertainment facilities within the town centre, to attract people to stay in their local area. “We will ultimately promote cue sports to compliment the abundance of talent we have within the county and the high-quality local leagues. This will be backed up by a new concept of `Smart Darts’ which has taken the bigger cities by storm by offering people a new leisure activity and a great time.” Paul said: “The Break Room will provide the people of Burton on Trent with a much-needed entertainment venue, where they are encouraged to bring friends and family along for a competitive but friendly night out. Burton on Trent has a great history of pubs and bars in the town centre, and we feel the very large pool and snooker community within the area will certainly welcome our new club. “For a long time, the town has held large and very popular cue sports leagues, with participation ever increasing and we are well placed to offer teams within those leagues a club with the best facilities around. Ryan and I know the cue sports scene extensively, having played at a very high level for many years. “With the support of the local town, The Break Room can be the go-to place when planning a night out, for an experience that keeps customers coming back again and again. We hope to have something for everyone, this isn’t just a pool and snooker club. The Break Room Sports Bar will be a venue where people can enjoy a freshly made cocktail with friends or put their competitive streak to the test on one of our activities. “The former Camino Bar premises was an obvious choice of property for us to choose, as it is mainly open plan which allows us to maximize the space to accommodate 2 full size snooker tables and 8 English pool tables plus dedicated darts playing area. The location of Burton town centre is absolutely ideal for us. “Simon and the whole team at Rushton Hickman provided exceptional service throughout the process and always responded swiftly to respond to any queries. We can’t thank them enough for helping to make our dream happen!” Rushton Hickman commercial property agent, Simon Walker, said: “This latest town centre letting is yet more fantastic news for the communities of Burton upon Trent and the surrounding areas. To find a suitable tenant, with an ideal use for a large empty town centre retail unit of 5,500 sq ft, is by no means an easy task. We are `over the moon’ to have agreed this letting and of course both tenant and landlord are absolutely delighted that we got a deal agreed for them.”

Developer buys prominent Nottingham city centre building

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Developer buys prominent Nottingham city centre building
A developer with ambitions of reversing the fortunes of Nottingham’s high street has bought a prominent city centre building. ALB Group is pressing on with its rejuvenation of local shopping streets, after buying 11-15 Low Pavement, and is hoping to attract a high-end restaurant to occupy a ground floor space. The Grade II-listed Low Pavement building, which boasts both Georgian and Victorian architecture, housed the former TSB bank until it closed in 2020, and fragrance shop, Jo Malone currently occupies number 15. The firm has also acquired the adjacent 12 Pepper Street – home to the Pepper Rocks cocktail bar and creperie. Pepper Rocks and Jo Malone now have a new landlord, in ALB Group, but the Nottingham-based developer says negotiations are ongoing with a view to extending their leases at the site, which is situated over three floors and features a courtyard as well as a roof terrace. The overall plan is to give ALB Group – which bought a number of properties in Bridlesmith Gate and Lister Gate last year with a masterplan to revitalise the area and make it as thriving as London’s Carnaby Street – greater scope for the revamp. Arran Bailey, ALB’s Managing Director, said: “As we own the adjoining buildings it gives us greater control when it comes to regeneration of the area.  “We bought nearby buildings in the latter part of last year, and within less than six months, we had renovated and found exciting new tenants for those buildings, while reassuring existing tenants that we were out to turn the area around. “We are delighted with the completion of the purchase, and excited for the future.” The acquisition was made possible thanks to London-based McMullen Real Estate. A spokesman for McMullen said: “McMullen Real Estate acted on behalf of Oakgate Group in the successful sale of the property.” Oakgate Group put the building on the market last year, and had described how it was located “in the heart of Nottingham’s prime district, surrounded by high-end fashion retailers and restaurants.” ALB Group is continuing to pull up the area by the bootstraps. But less than six months after snapping up 11 vacant premises, along with three on Lister Gate, ALB Group had all but one of its units filled, with vibrant and on-trend independent traders filling the void. Among the businesses which have moved into the prime retail space so far are ladieswear boutique Stick and Ribbon, estate agent Pygott & Crone, craft coffee and deli shop Barista LAB, 18 Montrose and Sneakerverse.

Nottinghamshire plumbing, heating and electrical services contractor secures funding for growth

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Nottinghamshire plumbing, heating and electrical services contractor secures funding for growth
OakNorth Bank has provided a bespoke debt finance facility to FDBC Holdings, part of Neil Shacklocks, one of the UK’s largest plumbing, heating and electrical contractors. The transaction will help support the business’s future growth plans following the completion of a management buy-out in June 2020, which saw the full transfer of shares to the firm’s new owners. Headquartered in the Nottinghamshire market town of Sutton-in-Ashfield and incorporated in 1968, Neil Shacklocks undertakes installation projects throughout the East Midlands and South Yorkshire regions. Its client list includes some of the largest, blue-chip housebuilders, including Taylor Wimpey, McCarthy & Stone, and Barratt Homes, with previous notable projects also including Barcelona’s Olympic Village complex, Centre Parcs’ Thetford site, the Don Valley Stadium and Folkestone’s Channel Tunnel complex.  Chris Hodgson, Managing Director of Neil Shacklocks, said: “Since Neil Shacklocks launched over five decades ago, it has managed to build an extensive and highly impressive client book, serviced by a dedicated and forward-thinking professional team. “The business is continually looking to improve its performance and with sales in the plumbing and heating supply chain increasing dramatically following the pandemic, we’re confident Neil Shacklocks is set to thrive moving forward. “We are grateful for the support we received from the team at OakNorth Bank, who were transparent and entrepreneurial in their approach. The funding will allow our new management team to pursue our corporate strategy, which will focus heavily on strengthening efficiency.” Dale Cowdell, associate director of debt finance at OakNorth Bank, added: “I’ve known Neil Shacklocks for nearly a decade and in this time, the business has truly cemented itself as a leader in the plumbing, heating and electrical services industry. It has the reputation of being one of the best and largest contractors operating throughout the East Midlands and South Yorkshire since its launch over 50 years ago. “With the sector set for significant growth over the next five years, Neil Shacklocks is in a prime position to capitalise on this opportunity. We are delighted to have been selected as the firm’s funding partner to support its growth journey and we look forward to strengthening our relationship with them in the future.” OakNorth Bank was advised on the transaction by Harrison Clark Rickerbys.

University of Leicester engineer to work on game changing drone technology

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University of Leicester engineer to work on game changing drone technology
A university engineer will take a year away from teaching to work on state-of-the-art drone technology. Dr Bing Ji has been working alongside aerial logistics firm Skyfarer and Dynex Semiconductor Ltd to develop intelligent gate drivers for silicon carbide and gallium nitride devices. Dr Ji, who works in the University’s School of Engineering says that the development of these components could be revolutionary for electric transportation and could help the UK achieve its net-emissions goals in the future. These devices promise significant increases in efficiency, power density, temperature, and switching frequency for electric power trains. Dr Ji said: “By working with Skyfarer and Dynex, the University of Leicester is seizing an historic moment in the reinvention of electric transportation. “This research is helping to improve the field robustness and reliability of eTransportation by developing the latest intelligent drivers for silicon carbide and gallium nitride devices. “The latest intelligent gate drivers will help system designers to reliably maximise the transistor potentials while providing in-situ status awareness, adaptive protection and device-level control. “The associated power converters have been utilized in electric vehicles and drones to improve the energy efficiency and reliability of the systems. “As the UK is becoming a greener and more innovation-led economy, the consequent industry and economic impacts are becoming clear, thanks to the collaboration of academia and industry on the research and development of power electronics and research.” Because of his work, Dr Ji is one of seven engineering researchers to receive The Royal Academy of Engineering’s prestigious Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship. The fellowship will cover the costs of a replacement academic to take over teaching and administrative duties. Talking about the fellowship, Dr Ji said: “This award will enable our industry partners to get access to this new technology early on in its development and to assess how this can be adopted for commercial exploitation. It will also significantly benefit my research and career developments.”

Matlock accountancy practice merges with Buxton chartered accountants

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Matlock accountancy practice merges with Buxton chartered accountants
Matlock-based accountancy practice, Malcolm J Harris Ltd, have merged with Buxton chartered accountants, SMH BullockWoodburn, enabling the firm to offer an increased level of service to its clients as it becomes part of the wider Yorkshire and Derbyshire-based SMH Group. The firm now operates from the SMH BullockWoodburn office on Hardwick Square North in Buxton. Ross Jordan, partner of SMH BullockWoodburn, says: “The merger is an excellent opportunity for both firms. It provides long term security and more added value services for clients of Malcolm J Harris and allows for further growth of SMH BullockWoodburn within the SMH Group. “Clients of Malcolm J Harris will now benefit from a complete range of services that they haven’t been able to access before, including our personal financial services, such as pension & investment advice, and assistance with wills & probate and Inheritance tax planning – all of which can be accessed via our Buxton office by the most highly skilled, specialist staff possible. “Having recently been appointed as a director and partner of SMH BullockWoodburn, I am actively looking to grow the business, and the merger with Malcolm J Harris Ltd is a great place to start. We’d like to offer a warm welcome to all staff and clients into the SMH family.” Malcolm Harris, on behalf of Malcolm J Harris Ltd, adds: “We have always offered our clients a personal, proactive and customised service to meet their needs and requirements. However, for a smaller company the burden of increased administration, regulation, and AML, as well as looming tax legislation changes, combined with our retirement plans, has meant that we need a larger partner to continue to provide the excellent level of service we have always prided ourselves on offering to our clients. “I am certain that the SMH Group is the right partner for us and I am very pleased to be introducing our clients to Ross and his team in Buxton. “My wife, Jill and I will be staying on as consultants to ensure our clients have continuity and to introduce them to members of the team that will be working with them across all the specialist departments within the SMH Group. “SMH Group have the expertise to continue to deliver the highest quality service to our clients, as well as introducing their full-service offering meaning they will be able to access all their financial requirements under one roof. I am confident the merger will be of benefit to all our clients.” The addition of Malcolm J Harris Ltd into the SMH Group is the 6th merger to take place since 2018, and the first to join SMH BullockWoodburn since they joined the SMH Group in 2018.

Ten tips on how to avoid burnout in a busy world: by Fiona Duncan-Steer, founder of RSViP Business Networking Agency

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Ten tips on how to avoid burnout in a busy world: by Fiona Duncan-Steer, founder of RSViP Business Networking Agency
Fiona Duncan-Steer, founder of RSViP Business Networking Agency, offers useful tips on avoiding burnout. In an ideal world, we would anticipate burnout and illnesses so that we have time to make changes to try to prevent them. However, nine times out of ten we don’t realise we are in the ‘burnout phase’ until it is too late, and therefore from my own personal experience of having to learn the hard way, I have put together ten of my top tips for avoiding burnout…
  1. Be self-aware – No one knows your body and mind like you do, so if something doesn’t feel right, you feel off or are aware that you are heading towards the danger zone, then the first rule is recognising this, so that you at least have a fighting chance at doing something about it to turn it around, before it’s too late.
  2. Be realistic – Following on from tip number one, we would ideally manage our stress every day, sleep like babies and live an ultra-healthy lifestyle, wandering around with smug looks on our faces knowing that our bodies are temples and nothing can touch us. However the reality is we are all just doing the best we can and our best is all we can do, so as long as we are taking steps in the right direction and not putting unnecessary pressure on ourselves (which could cause more stress) then that is good enough.
  3. Prevention is better than cure – This age old saying is a good’n and one which still stands today, given that living a healthy, relatively stress free lifestyle has been scientifically proven to give a better quality and longer life span, so be aware of what you put into your body, keep moving, drink plenty of water, get outside every day in the fresh air and nourish yourself with whatever it is you need – every day.
  4. You are what you eat – I’m totally guilty of skipping meals when on the go. Back-to-back meetings are the norm these days, or being too tired to cook dinner in the evenings, so plan ahead. Meal prepping is great for the busy worker during the week, or sign up to a meal delivery service that takes all the hard work away from you, to ensure that you still get all the goodness into you without the effort attached to it.
  5. Turn it off – Whether it’s your phone, the television, radio, social media – turn it off. Have a break from it and ‘digital detox’ as they say. Now more than ever we are continually ‘connected’ and this can have all kinds of negative results on the mind and body. It’s pretty simple to click the off button once in a while and enjoy being in the present moment, but rarely do we allow that space and time for it – factor it into your day even for just an hour.
  6. Say no – Being a people pleaser to the detriment of oneself is not a badge of honour to wear proudly and will only end in tears, as you continue to say yes to everything and everyone who wants a piece of you. You are only human and have one life to live, so live it for you and not for others. Granted there will be friends and family, or work colleagues and staff that you have or want to be there for from time to time, but keep boundaries in place and only do what you feel you are able to do and don’t be afraid to say no once in a while without the need for explanation.
  7. Find your sanctuary – Appoint a safe space for yourself, somewhere you can go near or far that makes you happy and feel grounded and at peace. This can be someone else’s home (as long as you know them!), a particular park bench, a village you like to visit or your greenhouse -wherever you can escape to for even ten minutes to readjust, recuperate and rest before going again. We all need to recharge and holidays are a great way of doing this, but aren’t always attainable or regular, so allocate your own local safe space and sanctuary and visit once in a while when you recognise that you need to recharge your batteries.
  8. It’s good to talk – Communication is everything, so keep talking. Whether it is to your loved ones, hairdresser, therapist, or a stranger at the bus stop – having a natter works wonders for the mind, so get whatever it is off your chest as fast as you can and don’t let it fester. Famous activist Maggie Kuhn once said: “Speak your mind, even if your voice shakes.” Wise words.
  9. Balance the scales – It’s easier said than done, but work life balance is so important now more than ever, with the rat race we live in, the external stresses of the world around us and the fact that we are connected to everything happening on a daily basis – constantly. It is exhausting and so ensuring that we give ourselves as much ‘rest and recouperation time’ as we do ‘on the go time’ is super important for our mind, body and souls and to ensure a blissful night’s sleep.
  10. Do what makes you happy – Life is too short to spend hours and hours per day in a job you dislike, or spending time with someone that makes you unhappy – making even just small changes can offer huge results on your happiness, so if you’ve been procrastinating then ask yourself why? What is holding you back from taking that leap? No one ever regretted making the change they were once scared to make that resulted in them being happier than they were before.
Fiona Duncan-Steer, RSViP www.fionaduncansteer.com  www.rsvipnetwork.co.uk See this column in the September edition of East Midlands Business Link Magazine.
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