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Live action horror drive experience coming soon!
Following on from the enormous success of last year’s event, it’s the announcement all horror fans have been waiting for: the awardwinning ROAD 2 HELL returns this October with another dose of gruesomely good fun!
After scooping one of the top Scare Industry awards, it’s now also officially the best drive-thru scare experience in the country!
Heart of England Conference and Events Centre has again teamed up with Masters of Horror AREA 51 to bring what is now recognised as the biggest, baddest and best interactive drive-thru horror show in the UK.
The team said: “You’ve heard the rumours – maybe you escaped with your sanity intact last year? Whatever the case, we dare you to take a drive into our Forbidden Forest… and find out what horrors its evil inhabitants have in store for you in 2021.
“In 2020 we nailed it; catering for over 25,000 visitors across 30 nights of horror – even the pandemic couldn’t stop us in our tracks. Split in half by a sudden lockdown, we came back with a devilishly good Christmas twist.
“We can already report demonic howling in the night and the sound of splintering trees as the creatures of the night once again draw their plans against you, and begin to set their traps accordingly.”
Heart of England Horror shot straight to the top of everyone’s Halloween event lists, attracting hundreds of five-star ratings from punters and reviewers alike. The experience was so well received that it was nominated in multiple categories in this year’s prestigious Scare Awards – the SCARs - battling it out amongst the likes of Alton Towers, Thorpe Park and Tulley’s Farm.
For more information visit www.roadtohell.co.uk
Midlands-based The Wigley Group has signed a corporate partnership that will see it become the preferred development partner of Wasps Group.
The new agreement will see Wigley Building & Development tender for future large works carried out by Wasps at the training ground, Ricoh Arena and any other group locations.
The Wigley Group’s logo will also feature on the kit of the men’s first team squad from next season and the company will use matches and other events for corporate entertainment.
Wigley Building & Development is currently working on a £2m construction contract to create a new high-performance training centre for the rugby club in Henley-in-Arden.
James Davies, chief executive officer of The Wigley Group, said: “We’ve been working closely with Wasps through Wigley Building & Development on the development of the high-performance centre, which is progressing really well.
“The contract has grown in scope during the last few months and together we’re creating a state-of-art complex which really will be of the highest quality.
Adam Benson, chief commercial officer at Wasps Group, said the new agreement was the latest in a string of major partnerships.
He said: “We have known The Wigley Group as clients for several years and that relationship stepped up a level when Wigley Building & Development were appointed on our highperformance centre, which is now really taking shape at Henley.
Peter Burnell, Business Relationship Manager at The Wigley Group; James Davies, Chief Executive Officer at The Wigley Group; Adam Benson, Chief Commercial Officer at Wasps; and Charlie Brooks, Managing Director at Wigley Building and Development Ltd.
Automotive engineering consultancy, HORIBA MIRA, has signed a joint venture agreement with private equity investor and developer, Evans Randall Investors, for it to be the exclusive developer for MIRA Technology Park (MTP).
MTP is at the forefront of the automotive industry’s transition to a sustainable future as a globally recognised cluster location within the sector, with an unrivalled reputation for engineering, R&D, world-class facilities and testing infrastructure.
Joint venture set to benefit technology park
Located in the heart of the UK’s Midlands automotive sector, the park currently extends to more than 850 acres and provides employment for over 1,000 skilled engineers.
Evans Randall Investors will now oversee the next phase of development at MTP, which will see it expand across two neighbouring sites located either side of the A5. The project will deliver up to 4m sq ft of new space with a total GDV of up to £500m, encompassing R&D, office and industrial facilities.
The ambitious expansion plans for MTP are fuelled by a revolution in mobility technologies spanning electric vehicle (EV) development, cleantech fuels such as hydrogen, emerging autonomous and connected car technologies and the associated growth of AI and robotics. HORIBA MIRA’s engineers provide these advanced capabilities to next-generation automotive companies to enable their progression, attracting disruptors such as REE and Viritech as well as established OEMs including Aston Martin, Bentley, Bosch, Jaguar Land Rover, Toyota and The London EV Company.
Evans Randall Investors will lead the park’s expansion, solidifying its status as Europe’s premier automotive R&D cluster as well as broadening MTP’s position to attract businesses across the technology, advanced manufacturing and engineering sectors. The team will work alongside local development manager, Swanvale Developments, to deliver the scheme.
Ned Williams, MD of Evans Randall Investors, said: “Our partnership with HORIBA MIRA presents an exceptional opportunity to deliver a significant R&D development that will have a positive impact on the West Midlands, the UK and beyond.”
Reducing waste while putting a face to a name
WarwickMed is leading the change from disposable theatre caps to reusable “name and role” cloth hats.
These are already boosting staff morale and reducing patients’ anxiety as they enable everyone to identify the people around them quickly and easily. Our mission is to improve communication among healthcare professionals and patients by sharing best practice and promoting the many benefits of our ecofriendly, personalised caps.
Dr.Diwan is a consultant anaesthetist wearing her hat with pride! She said that when she walked into the resuscitation unit, everyone immediately knew who she was and the role she did. All consultant anaesthetists will now have their name and role colour-coordinated hats and the more roles will be ordered next. It is an innovative and forwardthinking initiative which helps to create a greener NHS.
We have also specifically designed and made jackets for the University Hospital Birmingham. Many of the theatre staff were cold due to the cooling environment temperature required within the department. We helped to create a jacket which staff simply wear over the top of their scrubs to keep them warmer. The feedback has been fantastic, and the staff are delighted – warmer and therefore more comfortable and happier at work. It feels great being able to help to make a difference.
TruTac launches software feature to manage driver compliance risk
TruTac, the tachograph analysis and compliance expert, has launched a new software feature to simplify how fleet operators monitor and manage the potential risk drivers can pose to compliance levels.
Driver Compliance Risk Score (DCRS) has been developed in line with feedback from HGV and PSV operators and as part of TruTac’s commitment to the DVSA’s Earned Recognition (ER) scheme. The new risk score calculation is based upon the percentage of infringements per driver duty.
The automatically calculated driver risk scores, trends and fleet ranking can then be viewed via the widgets, dashboards and reports produced by TruTac’s TruControl system. The new feature highlights each driver’s risk score as a risk level (very low, low, medium, high, or very high). It also calculates risk trends which, for easy data assimilation are graphically displayed, along with the driver’s overall company ranking. The system auto adjusts each driver’s score to include the earned recognition infringement severity weighting. Jemma James, commercial and marketing director at TruTac, said: “We support operators in managing driver compliance effectively and easily and are proud to support the DVSA ER scheme. This latest product is designed to work in tandem with our existing software so operators can manage drivers and their compliance risk potential easier than ever before.” Transport and plant hire specialist Explore worked with TruTac to help design DCRS and provided valuable user feedback at every stage of development.
According to Chris Gatheridge, head of operations at Explore, the new initiative will bring many benefits to its business and the industry at large.
He said: “Working with our tachograph analysis provider TruTac, we have succeeded in developing world-class functionality which takes DCRS to the next level.”
Myton therapy team sets sights on fundraising magic
An inspiring trio of Myton employees are stepping out into the unknown to raise vital funds for the hospice they dedicate their working lives to.
Nicola Woolvine, Susan Fraser and Kathryn Howell are key members of The Myton Hospice team, caring for our patients through their roles as therapists.
So passionate are they about the cause, they also wanted to join the amazing army of fundraisers we depend on to provide our services free of charge to patients with a lifelimiting illness across Coventry and Warwickshire.
Never ones to take the easy option, they decided to throw themselves headfirst into their fundraising mission – and decided to take on the 55km South Coast Ultra Challenge under the team name Myton Magic.Their mission will see them complete the tough, hilly, coastal challenge in just one day – and they are urging supporters to dig deep and give generously to help them raise as much money as possible.
“We wanted to do something special to raise money for the organisation we all love and have such an affiliation with on so many levels,” they said.
“Every day the three of us see, firsthand, the value of hospice care to patients, their families and carers.
“The last year, throughout the pandemic, has been an extremely difficult one for all charities and we want to do our bit to support Myton in these difficult times. We’re hoping to get fit in the process too!”
Nikki, Susan and Kath are now faced with the reality of the challenge and have set their sights on a tough training regime to get them in tip-top physical condition for the 55km coastal trek.
Donations can be given via the team’s JustGiving page: https://www.justgiving.com/ fundraising/mytonmagic3
Have you created the next worldchanging technology? If so, then you should definitely get some advice on protecting the intellectual property behind it. While some larger companies are trending to more open innovation models (such as GE, Samsung and Tesla), most can’t afford to just give their inventions away to competitors and need the exclusivity to make money.
We do a deep dive into some famous patents that have become household names. From the 3D Printer to the Quadcopter Drone, it’s likely that the owners of these patents didn’t regret protecting their intellectual property for these inventions! Chuck Hull’s first 3D printing patent was issued in 1986 and was ahead of its time. The document outlines the basic technology used by most common 3D printers: stereolithography, or light-solidification of resin. A moving platform takes inputs from a computer and positions the base under a nozzle. Liquid resin from the nozzle forms the object, layer by layer, which is solidified by UV light. Sound simple enough?
Critics of the closed-innovation model have blamed seemingly slow development and innovation in 3D printing not on a lack of technology, but on a lack of open information sharing within the industry. Should the person who comes up with an idea be able to do what they want with it? Does the right to patents generally inspire and motivate higher-quality innovations leading to a better and more impressive final product? These are some of the questions that come up frequently in the fight between open and closed innovation. On the other hand, where would 3D printing be today if 3D Systems championed the open innovation model?
Indeed, 3D Systems follows a closed-innovation model to the extent that in November 2012, they filed a lawsuit against 3D printer company Formlabs and the Kickstarter crowdfunding website over Formlabs attempt to fund a printer which it claimed infringed one of its patents. The legal procedure lasted over two years and even ended with a Netflix documentary about 3D printing called Print the Legend.
For more information on how to protect your next world-changing technology, visit pure-ideas.co.uk/ category/tech/
Car Maths and the concept of the half price EV company car
Significant corporate and personal tax breaks are available where a company buys a full electric vehicle and provides this as a benefit in kind to a director or employee. The full cost of buying an EV is currently 100% allowable for corporation tax in the year of purchase. A personal car financed by PCP
As a start point, consider the example of Dave, a director/shareholder, looking to personally buy a new car. His company has profits of £50k before tax, paying this out after tax as a dividend to Dave. The £50k would be reduced by 19% corporation tax, leaving £41k and then paid this as a dividend, assuming personal higher rate dividend tax at 32.5%, would leave Dave with circa £27k net of tax.
Applying “car maths”, Dave uses this £27k to personally buy a car, on a PCP deal with a £5k deposit and £600 per month over 3 years. At the end of the 3 years the car should be worth about 50% of its new cost, which approximates to the final PCP balloon payment. Dave can walk away from a PCP deal after three years, but he and the company combined will have suffered around 50% tax on the £50k pre-tax profit.
The EV company car route – a “half price” EV?
Alternatively, if the company buys an EV outright and provides it to Dave as a benefit in kind, the £50k cost of the EV is wholly tax deductible in year 1 and the resulting BIK and Class 1A Nic taxes are minimal in the 2021/22 tax year.
Applying “car maths”, the company is effectively getting the car half price, given the corporation tax saved and the higher rate dividend tax avoided by not paying a dividend. Assuming the EV should still be worth just over 50% of its new cost in 3 years time, you could even perceive the car cost Dave and the company nothing…
It is worth noting that after 3 years when the company sells the car, there will be a balancing charge on the capital allowances, clawing back currently 19% of the sale proceeds, but applying “car maths” again, this is something to plan for in 3 years time, at which point you would probably just roll on into a replacement car.
To qualify for this EV company car route at its optimum, the car must be a 0g/km full EV, acquired in the name of the limited company and it must be done in a way that allows the company to claim the 100% capital allowance – so not a lease or contract hire agreement.
The scenario in this article involves a degree of “car maths”, with broad brush assumptions when it comes to the economics of car buying. The tax rates illustrated are correct as of April 2021. If you are considering this EV car buying route, please get in touch to ensure the model does work in your circumstances.
Martin Gibbs is Dafferns Managing Partner and a serial car buyer who is enjoying the internal combustion engine while he can. To find out more about company cars, EVs and “car maths” in general, please contact Martin. Dafferns Chartered Accountants
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