< Previous20 East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk COMMERCIAL PROPERTY Space may be the final frontier as far as exploration is concerned, but it also offers a lucrative business opportunity. The latest estimations value the global space market at £400 billion and the East Midlands has one of the biggest slices of that market in the UK. Leicester has been heralded as the space city thanks to a pipeline of important developments advancing its pre- existing specialities in the space industry, providing ample facilities for research and development, and ensuring a talent pool for future generations. The crowning glory of the city’s space industry is the £100 million Space Park Leicester, one of the most ambitions and important commercial property developments taking place in our region – perhaps even the UK. Even before plans for Space Park Leicester were approved by planners, the city had already established itself as a leading hub for space-related research and technology, the majority of which is clustered around the University, which has long specialised in satellite technology. Up until recently, however, the Space Park was an ambitious proposal, but that plan is rapidly becoming reality The space city On the fiftieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, East Midlands Business Link looks at the important developments taking place in Leicester supporting the region’s booming space sector. The space city 20-23.qxp_Layout 1 28/08/2019 14:43 Page 1having secured planning permission for the first phase from Leicester City Council. It’s good news for the city’s space industry, of course, but will provide important economic benefits for the East Midlands region at large. Simply put, the development aims to provide a world-leading collaboration hub for space and space-related industries. In so doing, it will create more than 2,500 high value jobs, many of which will be based in the local area. At a time when warning bells are still sounding over skills shortages in the STEM fields, this is good news indeed. Construction will start in autumn with completion forecast for late-2020. By 2030, it’s expected that Space Park Leicester will have helped the Government to capture £40 billion in revenue from the global space market. The Park, which will be located on the former John Ellis School site off Abbey Lane, is a true celebration of Leister’s innovative industry and its entrepreneurial spirit. £8.175 million of funding allocated to the development came via a grant from the Local Growth Fund, managed by Leicester and Leicester Enterprise Partnership (LLEP). Alongside industry, academics and first- class teaching facilities, this first phase will also house the National Centre for Earth Observation (NCEO), which is currently based in the Michael Atiyah Building at the University of Leicester. As part of the Loughborough and Leicester Science and Innovation Enterprise Zone, the site will enjoy strong links with further education providers in the region. When finished, the facility will work on a range of space-enabled sectors including international communications, resource management, environmental monitoring and disaster relief. “Leicester has long been at the vanguard of space research and Space Park Leicester will be a major asset locally and nationally – it provides a huge opportunity to make Leicester the UK capital of space-related research, innovation and skills development,” said Sir Peter Soulsby, City Mayor for Leicester. “Space Park Leicester is a launchpad for success providing huge potential to contribute to future economic growth, fostering and retaining talent and confirming our credentials as Space City Leicester.” Though Space Park Leicester might be the crowning glory of the region’s space sector, it isn’t the only development taking place in the city. The new Manufacturing, Engineering, Technology and Earth Observation Research Centre, for example, has recently secured almost £14 million in funding from Round 6 of Research England’s flagship capital investment scheme, the UK Research www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link 21 COMMERCIAL PROPERTY 23 Á © SHUTTERSTOCK.COM / NATIONAL SPACE CENTRE © SHUTTERSTOCK.COM / NEIL MITCHELL 20-23.qxp_Layout 1 28/08/2019 14:43 Page 2Armstrong house Offering a prime position in Grimsby, Armstrong House on Armstrong Street is ideally located. Close to the ports of Grimsby and Immingham, motorway links and the town centre, off-street parking is also available for all staff and visitors, meaning it’s convenient too. Our spacious, welcoming offices are located on the ground floor and are both secure and CCTV-monitored, giving you the ultimate peace of mind. At Armstrong House, the flexible in/out terms of contract mean confidence when it comes to affordability and with a range of office sizes there are opportunities for all types of business. If you require virtual office services, prices start from just £15 per month. For more information, or to discuss your office requirements, give Scotts Property a call today on 01472 267000 and ask about Armstrong House. Last remaining office suites Prime location in Grimsby Superb Location - - Close to the ports of Grimsby & Immingham - Great motorway links - Close to the town centre Secure off street parking High speed internet availability Easy in/out terms A range of affordable office sizes 3 3 3 3 3 Armstrong House, Armstrong Street, Grimsby DN31 2QE Tel: (01472) 310301 • Email: s.fisher@blmgroup.co.uk www.shutterstock.com/terekhov igor www.shutterstock.com/Yentafern 20-23.qxp_Layout 1 28/08/2019 14:43 Page 3www.shutterstock.com/Yentafern www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link 23 Partnership Investment Fund. This latest capital injection leverages a further £50 million worth of investment in space and earth observation research in the city. The Centre promises to revolutionise how satellite are conceived, designed, operated and produced, as well as how the data derived from them is interpreted. Elsewhere, work has begun on The Extended Reality Laboratory (XR Lab) thanks to funding from the Inspiring Science Fund – a partnership between the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, UK Research and Innovation and Wellcome, while further support was awarded by LLEP, The Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 and The Garfield Weston Foundation. Suffice it to say, there’s been a lot of major interest in the project, and for good reason. Once completed, the XR Lab will enable the creation of content for virtual, augmented and mixed reality media which is collectively known as ‘extended reality’. With workstations and a stereoscopic test dome, it will also be the home of a new NSC Creative Academy that will welcome young people to work with experts to simply further their interest or as part of their formal studies. Taken all together, these developments illustrate the innovation and technical prowess of Leicester’s space industry. The city and, by extension, the East Midlands, has its finger on the pulse, and the future is above us. Our region will be well placed to reap the social and economic benefits in the years to come. COMMERCIAL PROPERTY CGI of Space Park Leicester © UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER © SHUTTERSTOCK.COM / DIMA ZEL 20-23.qxp_Layout 1 28/08/2019 14:43 Page 424 East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk PUBLIC RELATIONS ‘Carpe Diem By Greg Simpson, founder of Press for Attention PR and Enterprise Nation Champion for Nottingham I am writing this on a Tuesday. However, this isn’t just ANY Tuesday, as M&S might suggest, it is also Chocolate Pecan Pie Day, the International Day of Medical Transporters and, praise be, World Mosquito Day. Not too long back it was the perhaps better known American Independence Day on July 4th of course and playing on that theme, Retail Independence Day. I googled ‘Retail Independence Day’ at the time and discovered that the Leeds Corn Exchange was leveraging this beautifully, gaining media coverage for the venue and its ‘30 unique retailers of fashion, eyewear, music, home and garden, food and further locally sourced goods’. Hats off to them. This is EXACTLY what I would expect forward thinking locations and even villages, towns and cities to do to support small businesses. This campaign runs annually to ‘highlight the important role smaller, local, independent retailers play in the communities they serve, the local economy they contribute to, and in the retail sector as a whole.’ Now, I appreciate that many of you are not retailers and that by the time you read this, it will be too late but that isn’t my message here, my message is to look ahead and leverage the OTHER days that lurk on the yearly calendar. We all know about Black Friday, Cyber Wednesday, Boxing Day sales and Christmas of course. New Year’s is a great time for anything health and habit related, I’m looking at you PTs, physios and coaches and then there’s Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Easter and many other religious holidays. Think about how your offering can be highlighted by these days. It doesn’t even have to be press-worthy, it can be simple stuff more suited to your website and social media campaigns. I have had push back on this before from my B2B clients, saying it is all very well for consumer campaigns but this sort of stuff doesn’t work for them. Rubbish. 24-25.qxp_Layout 1 28/08/2019 10:07 Page 1www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.ukEast Midlands Business Link 25 PUBLIC RELATIONS By injecting a bit of colour and dare I say it ‘FUN’ into their PR they can reap huge rewards in terms of attracting and retaining staff by showcasing their different company culture. I used to work with a major international bank from Down Under, some of whom may be reading this article. On Australia Day in January, they'd host an Aussie themed event at a big venue in town, with well over 250 ‘professionals’ queuing up for various buck-tucker challenges, beer, BBQs and branded cork hats. It isn’t about the day itself, it is how you leverage it. Imagine being a business editor receiving yet ANOTHER photo of a grey man in a grey suit being ‘delighted’ with the latest growth figures and then receiving 10 photos of some local faces all letting their hair down and raising money for a great cause. There’s loads of these days, some more spurious than others – ‘International Bubble Bath Day’, also in January, anyone? Halloween? Easy. Nightmare business scenarios thought leadership article. Bonfire Night? Make it a social event for clients and staff. Valentine’s Day? Come on guys, you’ve got this. If you’re stuck for inspiration, get Googling or, give me a call. I am working on a diary for this very purpose and will be more than happy to send it to you once finished or have a chat about the ideas I’m talking about anytime. PS one more thing about things like Retail Indie Day, if you don’t have the benefit of forward thinking, proactive venues, towns, Retails Business Improvement Districts or ‘BIDS’, make sure that next year, YOU are the independent leading the charge for your area. One of the biggest tips I give with regards these sorts of campaigns is to stop trying to be the star of the show and aim to be the producer, the Steven Spielberg or PT Barnham if you will. You gain the reflected glory and you become the thought leader, the guru and you know how much people like me LOVE a guru. 24-25.qxp_Layout 1 28/08/2019 10:07 Page 2Subscribe now and receive Business Link every month, delivered to your door Delivery Details Name:............................................................................................ 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Payment Details ONLINE www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk/subscribe MAIL Armstrong House, Armstrong Street, Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire DN31 2QE EMAIL subscribe@blmgroup.co.uk 1 Years Subscription £33.60 2 Years Subscription £63.00 3 Years Subscription £81.90 1 2 3 Subscription Options VISA MASTERCARD CHEQUE It’s the best value around EXPIRY DATE CARD NUMBER SECURITY CODE (CVC NUMBER) LAST 3 DIGITS TERMS & CONDITIONS : Your subscription will start with the next available issue. Minimum term of 12 months / 1 Year 2 Years 3 Years Please charge my: 26.qxp_Layout 1 28/08/2019 10:08 Page 1A skills shortage is facing the business industry in not only the East Midlands, but the country at large. Is the solution to hire new talent, or up-skill the people you already have? New technology has certainly brought about new opportunities – but with that comes the requirement for greater education and training to ensure it can be used to its fullest effect. Fortunately cities in the East Midlands are blessed with fantastic educational establishments who have forged effective links with business to ensure a more informed and enthused workforce. The skills shortage presents an increasingly demanding problem in the present, but its future effects are doubly harmful as the current workforce moves closer to retirement age. This could potentially lead to a major knowledge gap, with no new workers entering the fold and no existing individuals to teach to pass skills on. The national skills shortage is reaching crisis level in some sectors, with two thirds of construction companies forced to turn down business due to the chronic lack of skills. A survey undertaken by the Federation of Master Builders found that small construction companies are struggling to find bricklayers, carpenters and plasterers to carry out work, resulting in a loss of revenue. The survey also found that the principal cause of the shortage was due to the lack of available apprenticeships, along with mounting pressure for young people to stay in full time education. And therein lies the problem. Young people are under pressure to stay www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link 27 TRAINING AND EDUCATION 28 Á It’s undeniable that many industries face a skills shortage, but is the answer really to take on new people – or can we train and up-skill those we already have? © SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/ RAWPIXEL.COM 27-29.qxp_Layout 1 28/08/2019 10:11 Page 128 East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk in further and higher education, and so the issue is perpetuated. Apprenticeships are by no means a cure all, but they can help to bypass the shortage and fill the knowledge gap, ensuring a pipeline of skilled workers for the future. Apprentices regularly become loyal and long standing members of staff, with employers boasting high retention rates. 90 per cent of apprentices stay in employment, while 71 per cent stay with the same employer. Indeed, employers think apprentices are 15 per cent more employable than those with other qualifications. Of course, filling the skills gap is only one of the benefits of hiring an apprentice. According to data collated by the National Apprenticeship Service, 76 per cent of employers who currently employ apprentices agree that doing so makes the workplace more industrious. Typically, an apprentice will deliver productivity gains of over £10,000 per annum – a figure that nearly doubles in the construction and planning, and engineering and manufacturing sectors. It isn’t just productivity; apprentices often bring a fresh perspective, a wealth of ideas and innovation to a business, which motivates and inspires existing employees. It’s a relatively simple means of boosting workplace productivity, ethic and impetus. Appointing apprentices is a much more cost effective and efficient way of priming employees, rather than taking on and training new staff, or paying to advertise vacancies on job-sites and/or social channels. Employers are only required to pay for an apprentice’s salary not their training. 59 per cent of employers claim that training apprentices is far more cost effective than hiring skilled staff with lower overall training and recruitment costs. There might be plenty of benefits to employers, but there are also pervasive myths surrounding apprentices. One of the most pressing is that running an apprenticeship scheme will eat into management time, likewise there’s an unfounded issue of expenditure or that of a company being too small to take on an apprentice. But misconceptions exist on both sides of the divide, with many young people believing that apprenticeships are only for manual labour positions. Apprenticeships, whether good or bad, are lauded as a long- term solution, but many companies might face more immediate concerns, or may not have the time to dedicate to training a young starter themselves. In these cases, the only options are to hire new talent – an expensive, time-consuming and often difficult task, or to train the existing workforce up to be more efficient. Using training companies to up-skill your own workforce removes some of the risks involved in both apprenticeships and © SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/ GOODLUZ 27-29.qxp_Layout 1 28/08/2019 10:11 Page 2East Midlands Business Link 29 new employees, particularly if the training is used as a reward for particularly competent or valuable employees. While these newly skilled employees might expect higher wages – there is the assurance of their commitment to the company, as well as their ability to perform in their given role. Investing in their future is also likely to go a long way to improving their job satisfaction as well. Universities regularly offer courses for older and mature learners, specifically aimed at businesses who wish to up-skill their workers, but they are by no means the only option, and with increased tuition fees may not be the most attractive one. There are many specialised training providers who might not be able to offer the range of different options a university can but have far more experience and expertise in their specific field. It’s worth shopping around rather than defaulting to an educational institute, because first-hand experience working in the industry can yield insight rarely found in academic study. The goal, at the end of the day, is for a company to get their money’s worth when it comes to the training, which will yield tangible results for the business. Training can have many benefits, however, and should not be considered a solution to be used only when there is a problem. Research shows that investing in the development of employees not only improves their ability to do the job, but also retention rates, reducing staff turnover and absenteeism. This is, psychologically speaking, due to the increased trust the employee feels in their employer, and the fact they have more faith in their job security if there is a clear long-term plan to keep them in the company. Naturally, such can only be undertaken if there is a clear plan to keep that member of staff, but for key managerial or skilled members of the workforce, that is likely to be a concern already. © SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/ RIDO www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk 27-29.qxp_Layout 1 28/08/2019 10:11 Page 3Next >