MAY 2017 ENGINEERING Interactive floorprojectorsPUBLICRELATIONSThe latest adviceENVIRONMENTALCONSULTANCYDelta-Simons in profilewww.blmgroup.co.ukWWW.EASTMIDLANDSBUSINESSLINK.CO.UKTHE EMBL FASTEST 40 AWARDSCELEBRATING THE REGION’S RISING STARSTHE EMBL FASTEST 40 AWARDSCELEBRATING THE REGION’S RISING STARSWWW.EASTMIDLANDSBUSINESSLINK.CO.UKSunday 6 August 2017River Trent, Victoria EmbankmentAct now!Form a crew and enter the challenge!Tel 01780 470718www.dragonboatfestivals.co.uk/nottinghamBoat sponsorship opportunities available! StaoB 6yaydanunSuopihsrosnops 2tsusguuAseitinutroppo 7102!elbaliavavs wwwwontAcviRS eftaobnogard.w8710leTeercramrmoFo!wciV,tnerTrev6yaydanunSu on/ku.oc.slavitse1707408tretnednawenabmEairotc2tsusguuA mahgnitto81egnellahchehthtnemkn7102 !e g g www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link 3EDITOR’S NOTESPolitics, politics, politics… and confusion.One day, sometime in the next millennium, we might be able to talk about somethingother than electoral politics… Actually, let’s do it now – you’ll find no discussion of thegeneral election and what it might herald for businesses in this issue. That’s a matter fornext month. But if the Brexit saga is anything to go by, you’ll never hear the end of it. Here at EMBL we’re tremendously excited about our upcoming Fastest 40 Awards,which will be taking place on 16th May in Derby. In this issue we get to know some ofthe category sponsors. Free tickets for the awards (complimentary drinks and canapésare included) can be found by visiting the Eventbrite page. Elsewhere this month, we find out more about Delta-Simons’ Nottingham office move;Rebecca Bull from My HR Hub discusses the importance of building an employer brand;we meet Barry Aldridge from Derby-based manufacturers Tidyco; and regular columnistGreg Simpson of Press for Attention PR asks which comes first, sales or marketing?See you in a month’s time. Ian EvansEditorGeneral disarrayContentsMay 2017LATEST NEWS6The latest news from the regionDEALS8The latest news from the dealmakers around the regionPROPERTY NEWS 10All the latest from the property sectorAPPOINTMENTS12Who’s moving whereMANUFACTURING NEWS14News and views from around the East MidlandsCOVER STORY16The return of the Fastest 40 AwardsMANUFACTURING18EMBL meets Barry Aldridge, marketing manager at Derby-based manufacturer TidycoHUMAN RESOURCES20My HR Hub’s Rebecca Bull discusses the latest hot topic in40HRQ&A – LIZ CARTWRIGHT22Managing director at Fastest 40 sponsors CartwrightCommunicationsFINANCE24Invaluable advice from Streets Chartered Accountants ENGINEERING26Integrex is making waves in the SEN market – MDJonathan Portus explains whyQ&A – JONATHAN SMITH28Managing partner at Fastest 40 sponsors Poppleston AllenPUBLIC RELATIONS 30Which comes first – sales or marketing? Greg Simpson ofPress for Attention PR gives his thoughtsHEALTH AND WELLBEING32Getting to know global brand JeunesseQ&A – AMY UNDERWOOD34Business development consultant with Fastest 40 SponsorsNTU EmployabilityIN PROFILE36Paul Bennett from environmental consultancy Delta-Simons on the firm’s Nottingham office moveOUT OF OFFICE SPECIAL38Artisan coffee, Lincoln Transport Hub and trekking theSahara AUTOLINK40Believe it or not, convertibles are more popular here thanmany other countries in Europe. And, guess what? Springis here, and that means the drop-top motoring seasonstarts16EditorIan Evansi.evans@blmgroup.co.ukAccounts & SubscriptionsAngela Sharmanaccounts@blmgroup.co.ukTel: (01472) 310301 Fax: (01472) 310311Design & ProductionGary Jorgensen, Mark Cassonstudio@blmgroup.co.ukTel: (01472) 310304Fax: (01472) 310314E-Mail:eastmidlands@blmgroup.co.ukPublisherHaychart Ltd, t/a Business Link Magazine Group,Armstrong House, Armstrong Street, Grimsby, N.E. Lincs., DN31 2QE.All rights reserved. No part of this publicationmay be reproduced, transmitted, photocopied,recorded or otherwise without expresspermission of the copyright holder, for whichapplication should be addressed first to thepublisher. While every reasonable care is taken,neither the publisher nor its participating agentsaccept liability for loss or damage to prints,colour transparencies, negatives or othermaterial of whatever nature submitted to thispublication. The views expressed in thispublication are not necessarily the views of thoseheld by the publisher.@BLMEastMidlandsBLMEastMidlandsEast Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk6University of Leicesterannounces China campusThe University of Leicester is set to open a new campus in China thisSeptember.The Chinese Ministry of Education has approved the “LeicesterInternational Institute, Dalian University of Technology” on the Panjincampus of Dalian University of Technology.Students will study for dual degrees in Maths, Chemistry andMechanical Engineering from University of Leicester and Dalian Universityof Technology, and the University will offer dual degrees for UK studentsspending one year in China as well as for Chinese students studying inDalian.Dalian University of Technology is ranked among the “Ivy League” ofChinese universities, being included in both of the Chinese government’sprestigious “211” and “985” rankings of elite institutions.Recruitment is underway for a September 2017 launch, and as thenumber of students builds over the next few years, over 10% of Leicester’sundergraduates will be educated in Dalian.Welcoming the new alliance, President Guo from Dalian University ofTechnology, said: “This initiative will succeed because we will only recruitthe very brightest students. We chose to work with Leicester because oftheir research reputation – our partnership will be strong because it isbased on powerful research collaboration”.Pro-Vice-Chancellor International at The University of Leicester,Professor Sarah Dixon, said: “We are at the vanguard of institutionslooking for collaboration beyond Europe which will be key to our futuresuccess. We no longer think of a Leicester education necessarily beingtaught in the UK. Our brand is strong overseas and we expect to extendour footprint further in the coming years. In addition, we want more andmore of our UK students to become more internationalised by spending atleast part of their education overseas”.Head of College Professor Paul Monks, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Scienceand Engineering, added: “What we have on offer are robust programmeswith a top-notch Chinese university. For UK students, there is a realincentive to get an international education in one of the fastest growingeconomies in the world. China is a white-cauldron of science andinnovation and DUT is right at the forefront of that”.“Game changing” residential scheme given the green lightA multi-million pound residential scheme earmarked for Nottingham has been given the go-ahead.Maryland Securities’ residential led scheme on Alfreton Road will see a three-acre former lace factory site transformed into amajor mixed use scheme of housing and shops.Called Avitus, the scheme is expected to create around 650 jobs during construction and an additional 100-plus permanent jobsin various sectors while injecting £124 million during construction and £26 million from retail and other sectors into the economy.Nottingham City Council planners have given the scheme the seal of approval.The project is the vision of Jacob Jebreel, development head of Manchester-based Maryland, who has successfully managed theland assembly of the site.He said: “We are delighted planning has now been secured and look forward to progressing the development which will breathenew life into one of the city’s major arterial routes”.David Hargreaves of FHP and FHP Living, who is advising on the scheme, said: “What Jacob Jebreel of Maryland has achieved isa game changer for this part of Nottingham.“The development of a new high quality residential quarter here of this scale will totally change the area and significantlyenhance the approach in to the city centre along the A610 which is one of the main arterial roads into Nottingham”.Designed by Nottingham-born architect Stephen Hodder MBE, the Sterling prize winner for architecture, Avitus incorporates five buildings of up to eightstoreys in height built around landscaped courtyards. The residential element is complemented with seven ground floor retail leisure units located next toTesco fronting Alfreton Road.£6.5m investmentprogramme secures 46 jobsat British GypsumBritish Gypsum’s Barrow-Upon-Soar gypsum mine has announcedthe completion of a £6.5 million investment programme which is setto secure supplies of British plaster products for up to 20 years. It hasalso safeguarded over 40 jobs at the mine.The investment means new areas of the mine can be opened upand fitted out with conveyors, fans and mining equipment, allowingthe site to continue supplying sufficient gypsum to plaster theequivalent of around one million homes each year.The move has secured 46 jobs at the mine, resulting in a total of141 jobs at the world’s largest plaster manufacturing plant based onthe same site at Barrow-Upon-Soar. It will also indirectly supporthundreds of jobs at other British Gypsum sites across the Midlandsincluding East Leake in Nottinghamshire and Fauld in Staffordshire,and at British Gyspum’s sister business Saint-Gobain Formula inNewark.Barrow’s mine manager David North said: “Opening a differentarea of the mine means nine kilometres of extra conveyor belt isneeded for what will be 500 kilometres of new tunnels. More fans arealso needed to force air through the additional areas of the mine, andmining and loaders that are mostly electric rather than diesel arebeing installed, to be quieter, environmentally sustainable and tocreate a better working environment for the workforce.“The big investment items include a new ‘miner’ machine importedfrom the USA. This machine weighs 154 tonnes and uses 98 picks ona rotating drum to slice through the gypsum rock, which the newelectric ‘shuttle-cars’ then load up at a rate of up to 38 tonnes of rockper minute and deposit on to the conveyors”.LATEST NEWSPlanes, trains and automobilescontribute £9.5bn to Derby’seconomyA report commissioned by Derby City Council has found that the aerospace, railand automobile sectors contribute a combined economic output of £9.5bn toDerby’s economy.The research shows that nearly 50% of all output in the city comes from thethree sectors, which employ 20% of Derby’s entire workforce.The report confirms that 25,500 people are directly employed in aerospace, railand automotive functions, with the number rising to 37,000 when the supply chainis taken into account.The aerospace sector contributes £4.45 billion to the local economy. This is23.2% of the total output generated in the city and is the largest contributor toeconomic activity. The rail sector contributes £1.61 billion economic output toDerby – 8.4% of the city’s total output – while the automotive sector in Derbyshirecontributes £3.4 billion to the sub-regional economy.Cllr Martin Rawson, deputy leader of Derby City Council, said: “This report offersa variety of practical recommendations for how we can support the supply chain tocontinue to achieve success and maintain Derby’s position as a leader in advancedmanufacturing”.Multi-million pound investmentsees Retail Assist go for growthNottingham-based managed IT services and solutions provider Retail Assist hassecured a multi-million pound investment which will see it double in size over thenext three years.The deal sees investment from its founders, private equity investment managerForesight Group and Royal Bank of Scotland.Retail Assist provides managed IT services and software solutions to brands suchas Harvey Nichols, Karen Millen, ASOS, Oasis, Coast, Warehouse, Vue Cinemas,Pizza Hut and Cath Kidston.With a current turnover of £15m, the company provides services and solutionsacross 66 countries, delivering support in 9 languages, and employs 220 people.Foresight Group was founded in 1984 by Bernard Fairman and Peter English andmanages assets of £2.3 billion internationally from its headquarters at The Shard,London.Mike Quinn, investor director from Foresight Group, said: “Our investment intoRetail Assist is an exciting opportunity to work with the highly-regarded RetailAssist team and we are looking forward to expanding their service and solutioncapabilities and adding to their already strong customer base. We have beenimpressed by their expertise, professionalism and ambitions for growth”.Under the new investment structure the company will be led by current CEO DanSmith and an operational board, with the addition of Mike Quinn from ForesightGroup as investor director. Of the founder members of Retail Assist, Alan Morrisand Nigel Illingworth will be retained in a consultancy role and as part of theinvestment team along with Gary Broughton.7www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link BioCity makes FT 1000list of Europe’s fastestgrowing companiesBioCity Group, the UK’s largest bioscience incubator,which has recently celebrated the handover of the newDiscovery Building at its Nottingham headquarters, has beenidentified as one of Europe’s fastest growing companies bythe Financial Times’ FT 1000 report.This was the first time that the FT, in partnership withStatista, the data provider, sought to identify the 1,000European companies with the strongest growth between theyears 2012 and 2015.BioCity was ranked 175th in the UK and 837th overall inEurope. One of the companies based at BioCity, SygnatureDiscovery, which will be based in the new DiscoveryBuilding, also made the top 200 in the UK and was ranked906th overall.BioCity specialises in the creation and development of lifescience businesses. It provides homes and access to high-end equipment, shared services, training, business supportand access to investment for new and growing biosciencebusinesses.Paul Oliver, chief financial officer at BioCity Group, said: “Itis wonderful that our consistent performance and growth hasbeen recognised by such an institution as the FinancialTimes. Over 200 companies are based in a BioCity Groupbusiness incubator, making us one of the largestconcentrations of life science businesses in the UK.“We have an incredible 91% ‘survival rate’ of companies atBioCity in Nottingham and that is something we arereplicating across our sites. I was particularly delighted to seethat Sygnature Discovery joined us on the list. They are ashining example of how and why the BioCity model worksand are an inspiration to businesses looking to join ournetwork, from start-ups to businesses seeking to scale up”.Dr Paul J. Clewlow, senior VP, business development atSygnature Discovery, said: “It is a significant achievement forSygnature Discovery to be included in the FT1000 anddemonstrates the increasing demand that we are seeing forour integrated drug discovery know-how and expertise frompharmaceutical and biotech clients.“There are only five other pharmaceutical companies inthis list of Europe’s 1,000 fastest-growing companies. It isgreat that BioCity is also featured in the FT1000 as Sygnaturewas one of its first tenants in 2004. We are about to enter anew phase of our company history as Sygnature moves intothe new Discovery Building”.Leicester firm partners with national insurance companyLeicester firm Berea Associates has agreed a partnership to support nationalbusiness protection provider Aspen Risk Management’s policyholders with accessto Berea’s web-based cyber security platform, Cyber AMI, as part of Aspen’s riskmanagement offering, the “Virtual Risk Manager”.Cyber AMI is a web-based cyber security toolbox which will help businessesunderstand, implement and maintain better working practices to improve theircyber security. In addition Cyber AMI will help insureds work towards, and surpass,the UK government cyber security standard, Cyber Essentials, which is consideredthe minimum benchmark for business cyber security.Aaron Yates, CEO of Berea, said: “We are proud to be selected by Aspen tosupport their clients with this field of risk. With new data protection legislation (theGeneral Data Protection Regulations, “GDPR”) coming into force in May 2018, thiswill be a strong wake-up call for all UK businesses to validate and better their cybersecurity working practices. Cyber AMI, and our supporting tools and services, willconsiderably help with these new responsibilities. Aspen’s clients will have a headstart on tightening their cyber security”.Kevin Pallett, managing director of Aspen Risk Management, said: “Theincreasing rate of information security incidents and breaches of data protectionlegislation is worrying. We provide insurance to thousands of business across the UK, and Cyber AMI now gives us the ability to give practical help so ourcustomers can address concerns on cyber security”.East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk8U.S investor acquires remaining stake in Derby pharmacompanyU.S investor Onzima Ventures has agreed to acquire the remaining51% stake in Derby-headquartered pharmaceutical company N4Pharma.The deal will be funded through the issue of 4.5 million new sharesand 4.6 million deferred consideration shares.The company has also raised £1.5 million via another share placingwhich, it said, will be used to fund the development of additional patentapplications for reformulations of a wide range of generic drugs, toundertake clinical trials for N4 Pharma’s reformulation of sildenafil andfor working capital purposesNigel Theobald, CEO of N4 Pharma, said: “Bringing a new drug tomarket is inherently risky, time consuming and extremely costly.However, the established process of reformulating already establisheddrugs reduces the risk, cost and length of time it takes to bring newversions of these drugs to market.“Following completion of the transaction, the net funds raised will enable N4 Pharma to accelerate its work on the reformulation of generic drugsand those that are coming to the end of their patent protection, each with attractive commercial opportunities, as well as expand our productportfolio.“We look forward to life as a publicly traded company and will continue to update shareholders on progress in due course”.Haines Watts acquires Gutteridge ScanlanHaines Watts, the Leicester-based chartered accountants and business advisors, has acquired theaccountancy practice of Gutteridge Scanlan.Andrew Scanlan has had an accountancy practice in Leicester since 1977 and recently decided the time hadcome to merge his business into something larger.He said: “I am looking forward to becoming an associate partner and working with my clients without theadministrative burden of running my business. I had many interested parties wanting to buy my practice but Iwanted to ensure that my clients received excellent service with a long established company and that is why Ichose Haines Watts Leicester”.All the Scanlan team will transfer to Haines Watts as part of the acquisition.Haines Watts’ managing partner Sanjay Khullar said: “I am delighted to seal the deal with Andrew and lookforward to working with him and our new clients. We are also delighted to welcome Andrew’s team into ouroffices which we have had to expand; our recent growth had already left us short of space, so we took theplunge, bought the adjacent office, and knocked through to give us scope for further growth’’.DEALSSHUTTERSTOCK.COM/PRESSMASTERNotts set for tradeand jobs boost asCounty Council agreesZhejiang partnershipNottinghamshire County Council has agreed apartnership with the Zhejiang Province of China topromote trade, investment cultural and policy linksbetween the two areas.It is hoped that the new collaboration will bringsignificant economic benefits for Nottinghamshire,including the opening of potentially lucrative markets inChina for the area’s businesses, as well as inwardinvestment and job creation in Nottinghamshire byfirms from Zhejiang Province.Senior government officials from Zhejiang visitedNottinghamshire for the first time last week to sign theformal Friendship Agreement.Vice Governor of Zhejiang, Madame Liang Limingand the Chairman of Nottinghamshire County Council,Councillor Yvonne Woodhead signed the agreement onbehalf of their respective areas at an event attended bykey partners and stakeholders from across the county,including the Deputy Lord Lieutenant ofNottinghamshire Richard Bullock and High SherriffDavid Sneath.The Zhejiag delegation also visited NottinghamUniversity, hosted by Sir John Peace, to learn aboutthe role of the Midlands Engine and visited theWelbeck Estate in Worksop to see a thriving localbusiness at work.The signing of the agreement commits both areas tocarry out exchanges and co-operate in the fields ofeconomy; trade and investment; education; science,health and technology; and tourism & culture.The announcement follows a Midlands Engine TradeMission to China in September last year which includedtwo representatives from Nottinghamshire CountyCouncil.The Zhejiang Province is on the east coast of China,just to the south of Shanghai. The capital, Hangzhou, isconsidered one of China’s leading cities for innovationand technology, as well as being a world leading hubfor logistics and has one of the world’s largest ports9www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link Acquisition a perfect fit forcorporatewear specialistNorthamptonshire-based corporateclothing specialist PCI TruStyle hasacquired local garment printingbusiness Adlogo for an undisclosedfee.The two businesses now provide awider offering for both wholesale andretail markets following the retirementof Adlogo’s founders Nick Brunton-Reed, Phil Peck and Peter Murray.Adlogo’s directors will remain asconsultants, working with PCI TruStylemanaging director Ben Johnson whowill also take on the managing directorrole at Adlogo.Adlogo’s history dates back to 2002,when Murray, Brunton-Reed and Peckspotted a gap in the fragmentedworkplace clothing market. Murray, who had been a director with various nationalretailers, decided to put the retail maxims and contacts that he had amassed over 30 yearsto good use. Together with Brunton-Reed who has over 20 years’ experience in theprinting and graphics industry, and Peck – an experienced accountant – they formedAdlogo.Although separate businesses, PCI TruStyle and Adlogo will now work from the samepremises, streamlining processes whilst sharing skillsets from both firm’s knowledge oftheir markets and saving in production costs. The deal also means the safeguarding andcreation of jobs, with the combined businesses expected to grow 20% this year withinvestment in new machinery and staff.PCI TruStyle’s Ben Johnson said: “We have admired Adlogo for many years althoughwe have never been in direct competition.“However, we have always been keen to ‘bolt on’ an offering such as theirs and thetiming was perfect for everyone.“There is a huge rise in promotional wear outside of the corporate market that PCITruStyle operates in, with smaller businesses and (increasingly) internet stars embracingthe concept of personal branding. We also have the phenomenon of YouTube ‘vloggers’and social media superstars seeking new ways to commercialise their popularity. That willbe a big area for us, along with the boom in etsy entrepreneurs”.PCI bought TruStyle in 2010, growing the business to where it is today working withmany household names including National Express and London City Airport.Rik Pancholi, director of Pattersons Commercial Law who advised on the latest deal,said: “Like the previous acquisition, this has been a very good deal for all parties. TheAdlogo directors were looking at retirement options and the business was a perfect fit forPCI TruStyle. It is almost a business ‘bolt-on’ but it fits absolutely seamlessly. Jobs andnew opportunities have been created, efficiencies can be introduced into both businessesand Ben and the team can still call on the guidance of the former directors. We wish themall the best for the future with their plans for growth”.SHUTTERSTOCK.COASDF_MEDIANext >