< Previous10Going fromstrength tostrengthwith fournewpromotionsat RotheraSharpFour solicitors atNottingham law firm RotheraSharp have been promoted tosenior positions in thebusiness.Motor transport experts Laura Newton and Olivia Maginn, commercial lawspecialist Jason Waghorne and Sarah Soo, who works in wills and probate, nowrise to associate level. Waghorne steps up to lead the commercial lawdepartment.Ann-Marie Bowman, the firm’s managing partner, said: “Since the mergerbetween Rothera Dowson and Sharp, Young and Pearce last year, the newly-formed Rothera Sharp has gone from strength-to-strength. Laura, Olivia, Jasonand Sarah bring a high level of expertise to the firm, so we are delighted to helpthem progress their careers.“Their commitment and contribution to the firm has been recognised and theywill now have the opportunity to become involved in the future plans for the firm.“Commercial law is one of the fastest growing areas of the business and themerger has led to us attracting more clients than ever. The department offers acomprehensive range of services to businesses covering everything from buyingand selling a company to preparing contracts.”Leicester-based Xibisboosts team withappointment ofsecond BusinessDevelopmentManagerLeicester-based Xibis has appointed a secondBusiness Development Manager to join its team of18 staff. Ismail Akudi will take on a strategic role tohelp grow the business by identifying and managingnew business opportunities, and securing newcustomers for the company’s range of bespoke weband mobile applications.Ismail brings around 10 years’ experience in theIT industry to his new role. He began his career intechnical roles and transitioned into businessdevelopment and sales. He has worked for bothlarge organisations such as computer technologygiant, Oracle Corporation, and smaller, innovativecompanies.Xibis has been developing bespoke softwaresolutions since 1998 and recent customers includeImray – the leading publisher of nautical charts,books and apps, Touchpoint – a specialist inemployee benefits communication, and trentbarton– one of the largest independent bus operators inthe UK.Ismail said: “My role is a strategic one, pivotal tothe growth of Xibis. It centres on developing thebusiness by identifying and managing new businessopportunities, acquiring new customers, andcommunicating and selling additional products orservices to existing ones. I’ll also be identifying andcreating partnerships that will help to drive revenue.“I’m excited to join Xibis because it’s such avibrant and innovative company. I wanted to be partof an organisation at the cutting edge of thetechnology that we use in so many aspects of ourlives (often without realising). Xibis is a realinnovator in web and app development, IoT,bespoke software, augmented reality, virtual realityand much more in a wide variety of industrysectors.”Xibis Managing Director, Neil Morjaria, added:“We’re ambitious to grow the company and to dothis we need to improve the sales engine to helpdrive growth. We chose to look for a moreexperienced BDM, who is able to bring theirexperience, knowledge and insights, and Ismail fitsthe bill.”East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.ukappointmentsFormer Skyjournalist joinsBDOFormer Sky journalist, Jeff Randall, joinsBDO LLP, one of East Midlands mostprominent accountancy and businessadvisory firms.Jeff is the second of two Non-Exec’s tobe joining the firm and comes just as thefirm appoints announces a new globalCEO.Former business and City journalist,Jeff Randall, and business and HRstrategist, Russell King, will join existingINE Simon Figgis in advising BDO’sleadership team. Their appointmentsbecome effective as of 1st July 2017.Mark Bomer, Senior Partner at BDO,commented: “The world in which welive and work is changing at rapidspeed. Developments in technology, regulation and globalisation, combined with an uncertainrelationship with the EU and the ever-increasing war on talent, means that many of the boundariesthat once governed the way organisations do business are changing or disappearing altogether.“As a firm we are clear on our business priorities. Our people, our reputation and our trackrecord for quality are all crucial elements to our future success. Our three INEs represent a diversemix of experience and skill sets that are representative of the talented people we have within ourbusiness and the entrepreneurial and ambitious clients we advise every day.”“Nadia’s strongcustomer service focus and attention to detail give her the perfect skills to ensure we continue toprovide the high standards that our wedding and events clientele expect.“These two senior appointments will report to Noel Mines, group general manager. Sam andNadia complete a strong, highly skilled team here at Cockliffe Country House Hotel, and put us inthe strongest possible position to ensure the ongoing delivery of excellence at the venue.”Bygott Biggs creates newparalegal and businesssupport services divisionNottingham-headquartered specialist legal recruiter BygottBiggs has formed a dedicated team aimed at assisting law firmsand in-house legal teams with their paralegal and businesssupport recruitment.The team’s day-to-day operations will be run by Mike Greenwho has been promoted from a legal research and administrativerole at Bygott Biggs. With a background in law, having anundergraduate and master’s degree, Mike offers anunderstanding of the market as well asthe motivations of legal professionals at this level.On his promotion, Mike said: “The market is very competitiveat paralegal level. As training contracts get snapped up, there isan excess of law graduates seeking opportunities in a legalenvironment. Paralegal positions offer an entry in to the legalprofession, and career progression options, as it becomes morecommon for training contracts to be offered to a firm’s paralegals.”Mike says that the competitive nature of the legal profession can be illustrated by the number of students whowere accepted to read law at university in 2015/2016 (17,335) against the number of training contracts on offer in2015 (5,457).He added: “We have also noticed a rise in career progression programmes at law firms. Firms are now offeringapprenticeships and legal assistant roles potentially leading to training contract opportunities in the future.”Five join board atEnterprisePartnershipThe Leicester and LeicestershireEnterprise Partnership has named fiveBoard members appointed for the nextthree years.The LLEP has re-appointed four boardmembers to serve a second three year term:Andrew Cliffe, Managing Director, EastMidlands Airport, Jaspal Singh Minhas,Managing Director, Electrical Design & MFGCo Ltd, Sharon Redrobe, CEO, TwycrossZoo and Kevin Harris, Vice-Chair of the LLEP.In addition, Dr Nik Kotecha, CEO atMorningside Pharmaceuticals Ltd based inLoughborough has been welcomed as a newBoard member.The LLEP Board play an important role byshaping the strategy for growth, making keyinvestment decisions and acting asambassadors for Leicester andLeicestershire at a local, national andinternational level.Board members are:Andrew Cliffe, Managing Director,East Midlands AirportAndy Reed, Director, Saje ImpactBlake Pain – Leader, HarboroughDistrict CouncilDavid Slater, Leader, CharnwoodBorough CouncilJaspal Singh Minhas, ManagingDirector, Electrical Design & MFG Co Ltd– SME RepresentativeMarion Plant, Principal and CEO,North Warwickshire & HinckleyCollege and South LeicestershireCollegeCllr Nick Rushton, Leader,Leicestershire County CouncilPaul Bott, CEO, VistaSir Peter Soulsby, LeicesterCity MayorProf Robert J. Allison Vice-Chancellor and President,Loughborough UniversitySharon Redrobe, CEO,Twycross ZooDr Nik Kotecha, CEOat MorningsidePharmaceuticalswww.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link 11East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk12£1.2bn repeat order from Ethiopian Airlines forRolls-RoyceRolls-Royce has won a major order from Ethiopian Airlines to provide Trent XWB engines, built in Derby, for ten newAirbus A350-900 aircraft.In addition, the order includes TotalCare for the engines and 14 of the aircraft already in service or on order bringingthe deal to $1.5 billion.Ethiopian became Africa’s first A350 operator in 2015 and currently has four of its initial 14 aircraft in service.The Trent XWB is the world’s most efficient large aero engine and has been selected by more than 40 customers todate. With over 1,600 engines ordered, it is also the fastest selling wide body jet engine ever. The new order brings ourmanufacturing backlog to over 1,500 engines, representing over 6 years of production from our facilities in the UK andGermany.Tewolde Gebremariam, Chief Executive Officer, Ethiopian Airlines, said: “We have been impressed by the performanceof both aircraft and engines in service, which gave us confidence to go forward with our order for ten additional aircraftwhich will bring even greater levels of comfort and service to our customers.”Eric Schulz, Rolls-Royce, President – Civil Aerospace, said: “A repeat order from Ethiopian is a huge testament to theperformance of our engines in service. We look forward to continuing to deliver excellent efficiency to a customer thatcontinues to bring the latest engine and aircraft technology into its fleet.”Ethiopian Airlines ordered Trent 1000 engines for six Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft at the last Paris Airshow, five ofwhich are in service, and have lease arrangements for an additional four aircraft.TotalCare is the flagship Rolls-Royce CareService, which maximises engine reliability and aircraft availability.manufacturing newsRSM survey says manufacturers mustinvest in key systems to stay competitiveUK manufacturers need to invest in key business systems to compete with EU and internationalcounterparts, according to a survey by tax consultants RSM.According to the results in RSM’s UK Manufacturing Monitor, over half of manufacturers plan toupdate key business systems within the next five years, with the majority looking to invest withinthe next three years.Ensuring technology is fit for purpose, using technology to improve decision making andintegrating technology are cited as the biggest digital challenges – highlighting the imminent needfor investment. Incorporating new technology into the industry would enable it to become moreefficient, modern and competitive.Despite this focus, as little as 11% of UK manufacturers currently have sufficient innovationprocesses in place to assist them with future growth. Without adequate organisational structuresin place that deliver operational efficiencies, UK manufacturers could lag behind internationalcompetition following Brexit. In particular, the sector could see increased competition from thelow-cost, high quality East Asian products which the UK has been safeguarded from as part of theEU. Furthermore, President Trump’s call for US trade protectionism could lead to new risks,demonstrating a greater need to innovate in order to survive.Intelligent Energy launches fuel cell forportable, stationary applicationsIntelligent Energy has launched a new range of zero-emissions fuel cell module productsdesigned for portable and stationary power applications.The FCM-800 series utilises Intelligent Energy’s air cooled PEM fuel cell technology whichhas been developed over the last 30 years.Three products sit within the new range; the FCM-801, FCM-802 and FCM-804 and arecapable of delivering a range of power outputs from 1kW-4kW.The range is also optimised for hybridisation with batteries enabling further efficiencies. Inaddition, the whole range benefits from minimal service requirements.Alistair Ball, Director of Product Delivery at Intelligent Energy – which has an office inLoughborough – said: “The team has worked hard to deliver this new range and it is anexciting time for the company as we expand our product portfolio. Importantly, the FCM-800series is economically competitive and we are confident that our new product range will bewell received.”Last year Intelligent Energy announced a new strategy, setting out plans to commercialise its technology. This launch demonstrates the continuedcommitment to deliver on this.Martin Bloom, Group CEO at Intelligent Energy, said: “It has been a positive first year for product-led commercial development for the Company.Since my arrival, we have outlined a new strategy to maximise commercial opportunities and build the business.”Manufacturing demand strengthens tomulti-decade highsManufacturing firms reported that both their total and export order books had strengthened to multi-decade highs in June, according to the CBI’s latestIndustrial Trends Survey.The survey of 464 manufacturers found that total order books climbed to the highest level since August 1988. This was underpinned by a broad-basedimprovement in 13 of the 17 sub-sectors, led by the food, drink & tobacco and chemicals sectors. Export orders also improved to a 22-year high, hittingsimilar peaks to those seen in 2011 and 2013.Output growth eased to the levels seen at the start of the year, on the back of slowdowns in the chemicals and mechanical engineering sectors, butremained robust historically. Firms expect a firm rise in production over the coming quarter.But pricing pressures remain strong, with manufacturers continuing to expect a sharp rise in average selling prices, in line with the level seen lastmonth. Stock adequacy dipped marginally, remaining below average.Rain Newton Smith, CBI Chief Economist says, “Britain’s manufacturers are continuing to see demand for “Made in Britain” goods rise with thetemperature. Total and export order books are at highs not seen for decades, and output growth remains robust.“Nevertheless, with cost pressures remaining elevated it’s no surprise to see that manufacturers continue to have high expectations for the prices theyplan to charge.“To build the right future for Britain’s economy, manufacturers and workers, the Government must put the economy first as it negotiates the country’sdeparture from the EU. This approach will deliver a deal that supports growth and raises living standards across the UK.”www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link 13Derby rail firm lands£895m contractRail technology firm Bombardier Transportationwith headquarters in Derby, has signed a contractwith FirstGroup and MTR to supply and maintain750 BOMBARDIER AVENTRA vehicles, foroperation on the South Western franchise in theUnited Kingdom. This is the largest ever singlecontract globally for AVENTRA trains.The contract is valued at approximately £895million GBP ($1.1 billion US, 1 billion euro). Inaddition, Bombardier will execute a TechnicalServices and Spares Supply Agreement (TSSSA)for the duration of the seven year franchise, withan option to extend for 11 periods in line with theexisting franchise extension option. The UK-based rolling stock investment consortium RockRail will finance the multi-million poundprocurement. Steve Montgomery, First RailManaging Director said: “We have exciting plansfor the South Western rail franchise and thesenew trains are an important step on the way todelivering an improved journey experience forour passengers. We know from listening topassengers and stakeholders that alongsideimproved performance, what they want to see isadditional seats and we will deliver this via thesestate-of-the-art trains.”Richard Hunter, UK Managing Director,Bombardier Transportation, commented: “We arethrilled to have won this important contract. Itdemonstrates further confidence placed in thismarket leading rolling stock, designed and built inBritain. AVENTRA offers enhanced performanceand increased passenger capacity, which will playan important part in helping First/MTR satisfycontinued levels of passenger growth on theSouth Western network. The contract buildsupon our strong credentials, following theselection of AVENTRA for Crossrail and LOTRAINin London, as well as for the East Angliafranchise. We look forward to deepening ourcollaborative relationship with First/MTR.” SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/ GUNNAR PIPPEL14apprenticeships and trainingTrain oldtrain new?It’s undeniable that many industries face a skillsshortage, but is the answer really to take on newpeople – or can we train and up-skill those wealready have?A skills shortage is facing businesses inEast Midlands. Is the solution to hire newtalent, or up-skill the people you alreadyhave? New technology has certainlybrought about new opportunities – but withthat comes the requirement for greatereducation and training to ensure it can beused to its fullest effect. Fortunately citiesin the East Midlands are blessed withfantastic educational establishments whohave forged effective links with business toensure a more informed and enthusedworkforce.The skills shortage presents anincreasingly demanding problem in thepresent, but its future effects are doublyharmful as the current workforce movescloser to retirement age. This couldpotentially lead to a major knowledge gap,with no new workers entering the fold andno existing individuals to teach to passskills on. The national skills shortage isreaching crisis level in some sectors, withtwo thirds of construction companiesforced to turn down business due to thechronic lack of skills. A survey undertakenby the Federation of Master Builders foundthat small construction companies arestruggling to find bricklayers, carpentersand plasterers to carry out work, resultingin a loss of revenue. The survey also foundthat the principal cause of the shortagewas due to the lack of availableapprenticeships, along with mountingpressure for young people to stay in fulltime education. And therein lies theproblem. Young people are underpressure to stay in further and highereducation, and so the issue isperpetuated. Apprenticeships are by no means acure all, but they can help to bypass theshortage and fill the knowledge gap,ensuring a pipeline of skilled workers forthe future. Apprentices regularly becomeloyal and long standing members of staff,with employers boasting high retentionrates. 90 per cent of apprentices stay inemployment, while 71 per cent stay withthe same employer. Indeed, employersthink apprentices are 15 per cent moreemployable than those with otherqualifications. Of course, filling the skillsgap is only one of the benefits of hiring anapprentice. According to data collated by theNational Apprenticeship Service, 76 percent of employers who currently employapprentices agree that doing so makes theworkplace more industrious. Typically, anapprentice will deliver productivity gainsof over £10,000 per annum – a figure thatnearly doubles in the construction andplanning, and engineering andmanufacturing sectors. It isn’t justproductivity; apprentices often bring afresh perspective, a wealth of ideas andinnovation to a business, which motivatesand inspires existing employees. It’s aEast Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.ukor16 Áapprenticeships and trainingwww.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link 15PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM / GOODLUZ East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk16apprenticeships and trainingrelatively simple means of boostingworkplace productivity, ethic andimpetus. Appointing apprentices is a muchmore cost effective and efficient way ofpriming employees, rather than takingon and training new staff, or paying toadvertise vacancies on job-sites and/orsocial channels. Employers are onlyrequired to pay for an apprentice’ssalary – currently starting at £2.73 anhour – not their training. 59 per cent ofemployers claim that trainingapprentices is far more cost effectivethan hiring skilled staff with loweroverall training and recruitment costs. There might be plenty of benefits toemployers, but there are also pervasivemyths surrounding apprentices. One ofthe most pressing is that running anapprenticeship scheme will eat intomanagement time, likewise there’s anunfounded issue of expenditure or thatof a company being too small to takeon an apprentice. But misconceptionsexist on both sides of the divide, withmany young people believing thatapprenticeships are only for manuallabour positions. Apprenticeships, whether good orbad, are lauded as a long-termsolution, but many companies mightface more immediate concerns, or maynot have the time to dedicate totraining a young starter themselves. Inthese cases, the only options are tohire new talent – an expensive, time-consuming and often difficult task, orto train the existing workforce up to bemore efficient.Using training companies to up-skillyour own workforce removes some ofthe risks involved in bothapprenticeships and new employees,particularly if the training is used as areward for particularly competent orvaluable employees. While these newlyskilled employees might expect higherwages – there is the assurance of theircommitment to the company, as wellas their ability to perform in their givenrole. Investing in their future is alsolikely to go a long way to improvingtheir job satisfaction as well.Universities regularly offer courses forolder and mature learners, specificallyaimed at businesses who wish to up-skill their workers, but they are by nomeans the only option, and withincreased tuition fees may not be themost attractive one. There are many specialised trainingproviders who might not be able tooffer the range of different options auniversity can, but have far moreexperience and expertise in theirspecific field. It’s worth shoppingaround rather than defaulting to aneducational institute, because first-handexperience working in the industry canPHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM / RIDO www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link 17apprenticeships and trainingyield insight rarely found in academicstudy. The goal, at the end of the day,is for a company to get their money’sworth when it comes to the training,which will yield tangible results for thebusiness. Training can have many benefits,however, and should not beconsidered a solution to be used onlywhen there is a problem. Researchshows that investing in thedevelopment of employees not onlyimproves their ability to do the job, butalso retention rates, reducing staffturnover and absenteeism. This is,psychologically speaking, due to theincreased trust the employee feels intheir employer, and the fact they havemore faith in their job security if thereis a clear long-term plan to keep themin the company. Naturally, such canonly be undertaken if there is a clearplan to keep that member of staff, butfor key managerial or skilled membersof the workforce, that is likely to be aconcern already.One area where specific focus isbeing laid is on health and safety,particularly following the 2016 HSEreport, which labelled several industriesthat are behind the curve on protectingtheir employees. In almost all cases, theemployer and company themselves isliable for any injury or death, with finesand investigations capable of shuttingdown work for days or weeks at a time.Preventative training, that is to saytraining undertaken with a view toreduce the chance of disaster, can helpmitigate the risks of such happening,while first aid or medical training is notonly a necessity – there being a legalrequirement to have a first-aid trainedmember of staff on premises – but alsosomething that can save lives,particularly in more hostile industriessuch as manufacturing, agriculture orconstruction.PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM / RAWPIXEL.COM East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk18Q&AJonathan Lowe, Director @ CSTSG Ltdwww.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link 19Hi Jonathan, can you tell us a bit about you and your organisation?I founded CSTSG over two decades ago, and with the help of my team we’ve been supportingSME’s with their technology requirements, in a multitude of different industries ever since. I’malways on the look-out for new products, and I specialise in networking so when I came acrossTosibox I just had to bring their product on board, it blew me away!So what is Tosibox?Tosibox is a total game changer when it comes to Virtual Private Networks (VPN). Tosibox is theworld’s first ‘plug & go’ networking device, which delivers fast and fully encrypted remote accessto your computers, machines and devices. It takes less than 5 minutes to deploy and it connectsalmost any device to any network without the need of a static I.P address or to open any firewallports access whilst staying completely secure.So how does Tosibox work?Well, you simply connect power to yourTosibox Lock and then insert a networkcable from an internet connection, your lockis now connected to your network. Insertthe Tosibox Key into the Lock until thegreen light indicates pairing has beencompleted. Remove the Key and off you go.You can now access any device within thatnetwork from anywhere in the world bysimply popping the Key into your computer,tablet or phone. Only serialised devices can access the network. The data between devices is notdischarged at any time, but always runs along its own private highway. The data cannot beaccessed with passwords alone, but a physical key is always required. All of the users and keysare managed from a master console. So you can be sure that your network and data will remainencrypted and secure.Can you give me an example of the types of environments Tosibox iscurrently installed?There is no limit when it comes to Tosibox and once you realise its potential you start to seejust how many problems it can solve and tricky environments it can be applied to. Tosibox iscurrently being used by a transport company, where lorries had to have their journeyscontinuously monitored by CCTV and this is where Tosibox stepped up. The Tosibox solutionenables video data to be transferred in real time directly to the control centre. Since Tosiboxdoesn’t require a static I.P address and can run on 3G and 4G mobile data connections, Tosiboxwas the perfect and reliable solution.If you would like to find out moreabout Tosibox, please don’thesitate to contact me atinfo@cstsg.co.uk.Next >