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NEAT wins award for work in COVID pandemic
At the Living Wage Champion Awards, National Express Accessible Transport (NEAT) was recognised for its leadership in supporting local communities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
From the start of the 2020 lockdown, NEAT stepped up and worked closely with partners to provide much-needed support for NHS heroes and vulnerable citizens across the West Midlands.
The organisation’s leadership, kindness and resilience over the past year was inspirational, leading to a new COVID-19 Stronger Together trophy being awarded by the Living Wage Foundation.
When schools closed in March 2020, NEAT worked quickly with Birmingham City Council to deliver thousands of food parcels to families and individuals who were shielding. Over the course of just a few months, 45,000 food parcels were delivered to some of Birmingham’s most vulnerable families, as well as learning packs for children who were unable to get online.
NEAT also operates the local Ring and Ride service, used by West Midlands residents who are unable to use mainstream public transport due to mobility or social isolation issues. However, with many customers staying at home, the organisation saw an opportunity to provide a lifeline for frontline staff. Working alongside Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), NEAT repurposed the fleet to run free NHS staff shuttles between key transport hubs and hospitals across the region. More than 40,000 trips were completed and made a real difference to NHS staff.
In addition, NEAT ran hundreds of dedicated COVID vaccination shuttles for vulnerable customers during the vaccination rollout.
Vinay Parmar, managing director of NEAT, said: “As a real Living Wage employer, we’re always trying to do the best for our employees and within the communities we serve, so I’m delighted that we’ve been given the Living Wage Champion’s COVID-19 Stronger Together award.”
Hotel opens its doors after major refurbishment
As UK summer staycations continue to soar, Billesley Manor Hotel & Spa is delighted to welcome back guests following an extensive £5.6 million refurbishment.
Guests can expect newly refurbished bedrooms complete with rich, warm designs, upgraded guest spaces with a contemporary twist, a stunning restaurant and bar featuring original sixteenth century oak panelling, and a newly renovated spa and wedding venue.
This unique 125-year-old property boasts charming grounds, complete with an eleventh century church and a listed, ornate topiary garden steeped in history. A variety of conference spaces have also been refreshed, and an ambient library adorned with a ceiling of floating books provides a light-filled area for relaxation or inspiration – said to be where William Shakespeare wrote his famous comedy As You Like It.
Many of the bedrooms have been expertly upgraded with sumptuous new furnishings. Four-poster beds, period fireplaces and contemporary fabrics ensure a charming blend of the traditional and the modern, with an elegant and refined design.
Communal spaces have also been enhanced with a new look, still in keeping with the former sixteenth century Elizabethan home’s historic charm. The incredible transformation includes the grand welcoming reception area, Great Hall, bar, lounge and gallery, and the Stuart Restaurant for guests to indulge in everything from themed afternoon teas to exclusive gastronomic delights with locally sourced produce. Drawing inspiration from the romantic English landscape, historic origins and the notable voices past and present that have retreated to Billesley, the hotel is the perfect sanctuary for guests looking to feel re-energised and inspired.
Those looking to wind down can experience a number of indulgent beauty therapies within the newly refurbished Decleor spa. Guests can take a dip in the pool followed by a steam and a sauna, or make use of the secluded yoga hut and fantastic gym facilities.
For more information visit www.bespokehotels.com, and www.billesleymanor.com
Canal charity tackles speeding cyclists on West Midlands’ towpaths
Waterways and wellbeing charity, Canal & River Trust, is trialling a new speed awareness device in the West Midlands to encourage cyclists to “Stay Kind, Slow Down” when using the region’s increasingly popular canal towpaths.
Having been a haven for local people during lockdown, with visitor numbers to some towpaths more than double what they were pre-pandemic, the trust wants to remind everyone that the towpaths are a shared space which are used by thousands of people every day.
The month-long trial of the portable speed detection device will remind people, especially those cyclists who live in urban and busy areas along the canal network, to take it easy and to slow down. It works by detecting the speed of cyclists as they approach, flashing a “thank you” if they’re cycling at a leisurely pace or the words #StayKindSlowDown if they are going too fast.
The trial locations will be along some of the region’s most popular and well used sections of canal and include: • The Worcester & Birmingham Canal at Selly Oak • In central Birmingham at Cambrian
Wharf • The Birmingham Main Line Canal at the Wolverhampton Lock Flight • Coventry Basin • The Trent & Mersey Canal in Stone,
Staffordshire
Gavin Passmore, community engagement manager at Canal & River Trust, said: “We know that our canals played a crucial role during lockdown for exercise and wellbeing. This was particularly important in urban areas where many people don’t have back gardens, as people stayed local and discovered these amazing wildlife corridors on their doorstep.
“We want people to use the canals, including cyclists, but ask everyone to be considerate of others on the towpath. Whilst most people are kind and courteous, if you are on a bike, it can just mean slowing down and cycling at a leisurely pace.”
For more information visit www.canalrivertrust.org.uk
A new company, Real Conversations Work, has been launched to make having a challenging conversation that much easier.
During her career to date, founder of the new brand, Sarah Tomson, noticed that issues would arise when people weren’t able to have honest and frank
Avoiding one of those tricky conversations?
conversations with each other. Every leader she’d met had something in common: they were all sitting on at least one tricky conversation that they were putting off having. Avoiding these conversations didn’t make the situation any better.
Sarah’s business started three years earlier as Sarah Tomson Associates. She had been working with Leamington Spa-based brand agency Glued to help shape marketing campaign messages and the company’s valuable point of difference since launching in 2018. Glued had developed a website and marketing for the original brand over a few years. Eventually Sarah concluded that the name of the business needed to change to reflect this evolved approach - and Real Conversations Work was born.
David Wilson from Glued commented “Sarah’s whole approach to team development is so refreshing: at its core is the idea that people rarely want to do a bad job at work and often hidden issues build up to cause problems. A conversation aimed to resolve those underlying issues is likely to result in a better outcome.”
Sarah Tomson added “The biggest impact of working with Glued was building our brand and being able to refer prospects to our website knowing it tells our story. The new brand helps us stand out from our competitors in a really distinctive way.” Sponsored Column
Office-barrassment Clean up your act!
By Graham Freakes
Holiday time is upon us and after the abstinence of last year many of you will be enjoying some well deserved rest on a sunny beach probably in the UK. It’s a time when many of us close our eyes and think back to the ideal workplace and imagining how it will look by Xmas.
There’s been a lot of coverage of re-imagining the workplace and return to the office anxiety; what as a business owner are you going to do to?
With peoples experience of working in their home environment their expectations of what a good workplace should be like will have increased dramatically – so it will be imperative to imagine it and make it better than it ever has been in the past. Do you add a gym in the space vacated by the homeworking staff? Put in your own coffee bar?
The task can seem overwhelming and too large to tackle – and so not only does it not get done it gets worse! Eventually just going to work becomes too daunting because of the untackled mess! The problem is always knowing where to start.
Firstly – you don’t have to do this on your own – you can use this as a team rebuilding exercise and develop the workplace with the whole teams ideas taken into account.
Using a simple technique from the automotive world – the 5S methodology – you can transform your workplace into a home from home – a place your staff will want to come to more than home. Starting with a small office or open plan area work your way through the entire workplace. You and your team will transform the existing into the future, clearing out everything that shouldn’t be in the office, sparkling the space left then putting back only essential items. It’s almost impossible to do this on your own work space so using the team makes it so much easier.
I’ve delivered this simple but effective process to a wide variety of businesses. It’s intense, simple, hands on, no nonsense business sparkling in the space of a few days.
Call 07774 200321 or email graham.freakes@handgtechnology.co.uk
Local artist creates snapshot of spring in blossoming community
A local artist was selected to create a painting of Rugby’s newest neighbourhood in full bloom this spring.
Victoria Parsons, whose impressive artwork explores wildlife and nature, was commissioned to capture the natural landscape at Houlton by master developer Urban&Civic.
Victoria created a spring scene showcasing life at Houlton, which already enjoys 65 acres of accessible green spaces, nature trails, cycleways, walkways, ponds, beautiful wildflower, mature trees and natural habitats.
Having lived in Kilsby for 40 years, Victoria accepted the brief after being part of an open call for artists launched by Urban&Civic in partnership with Rugby Museum and Art Gallery to produce the piece of art.
The artistic process was captured via time-lapse to see how the piece was brought together and hopefully inspire others to pick up their pencils, brushes and pastels.
The initiative comes as part of Urban&Civic’s pledge to support local artists and homegrown talent throughout the area, while encouraging residents to explore the great outdoors on their doorstep and reconnect with nature.
Victoria’s bespoke mixed medium painting will be displayed at Houlton’s Visitor Centre and joins an outdoor exhibition within Houlton’s green spaces which shows winning entries of a photography competition from last summer.
Kyle Smith, part of the Urban&Civic team at Houlton, said: “The past year has highlighted the importance of both creative outlets and nature for our residents’ personal wellbeing, so what better way to recognise that than by commissioning a piece of art that captures a spring scene at Houlton.”
Victoria added: “I am thrilled to be partnering with Urban&Civic to capture the stunning scenery at Houlton. As a specialist in wildlife art, I truly believe we need nature for our physical and mental wellbeing; our connection to nature is as important as breathing.”
For more information, visit www.houltonrugby.co.uk and www.victoriaparsons.co.uk
Virtual viewing is recipe for success
Award-winning commercial property agency Bromwich Hardy has completed its first-ever letting based entirely on remote viewings – thanks to its innovative use of state-of-theart software.
Expanding pizza chain Caprinos has agreed a 20-year lease on a new site in Warwick despite never having set foot in the property.
Instead, the company snapped up 36 Smith Street after viewing the property remotely through the Matterport platform used by Bromwich Hardy.
Bromwich Hardy partner James Brookes said: “Our virtual tours use the latest technology to give prospective occupiers the opportunity to effectively examine a property in a safe and efficient manner, which has been increasingly important throughout the pandemic.
“We were the first commercial agency in the region to use the Matterport technology to give 3D tours and video walk-throughs of properties and both we and our clients have been delighted with the results.
The two-storey building, which covers nearly 2,300sq ft, is on one of Warwick’s main shopping streets and has a six-metre shop frontage.
Earlier this year Coventry-based Bromwich Hardy was named the most active single-branch agency for the number of commercial sales and purchases in both Coventry and the wider West Midlands in the influential CoStar Awards.
The agency also features in the list of top five best-performing agencies in a host of other categories for both regions in the awards, which reflect deals completed throughout 2020.
The success came hot on the heels of the agency being named amongst the most successful in the country in figures compiled by Estates Gazette.
The Smith Street property
A police inspector with over 25 years’ experience at Warwickshire Police has been recognised with a shopping voucher prize as part of a regional awards scheme.
Inspector Paul Barnsley was singled out by the Skills and Education Group as the best nominee in his category despite being forced to abandon its plans for a high-profile awards event because of the pandemic.
Paul completed eight distance learning qualifications with North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College (NWSLC) after online mental health training set him on the right track following a period of absence from work.
Shopping reward for starstudent police inspector
Paul was so impressed with what he learnt that he has encouraged more than 30 of his colleagues to sign up for the training. He went on to study challenging behaviour, children, and young people’s mental health, learning disabilities, and understanding autism, and has brought what he learnt back to the workplace.
As a result of his studies, Paul was selected to be part of a pilot scheme led by Warwickshire Police to diagnose dyslexia amongst colleagues. He became accredited by the British Dyslexia Association as a dyslexia assessor and screens new recruits to the force, helping to signpost those who need support.
Paul has also been instrumental in setting up a disability network for Warwickshire Police which enables colleagues to share information, knowledge, and best practice amongst colleagues.
Paul’s achievements impressed the judges at the Skills and Education Group which is sending him a shopping voucher worth £100.
He said: “I am honoured to have been selected for this very welcome reward. The college courses opened my eyes and I have been finding what I have learnt highly beneficial in helping the way I interact with police service users.”
Marion Plant, OBE FGCI, principal and chief executive of NWSLC, said: “This is a lovely boost for Paul who has done so well and derived a great deal of personal benefit from our distance learning courses.”
For more information visit www.nwslc.ac.uk
Linguistic expertise is vital for export success
Language capabilities are a key driver for UK SME export success, new research has revealed.
The three-year study, conducted by Aston Business School researcher Ankita Tibrewal, looked at a sample of UK SMEs across key sectors to understand the power of language to drive global growth.
With six million SMEs in the UK, employing 61% of the UK’s workforce, these findings are crucial in helping organisations thrive in overseas markets. SMEs flourishing internationally has a direct impact on the UK’s economy, bolstering employment and revenue into the country.
The headline finding from the study is that SMEs embracing language capabilities are 30% more successful in exporting than those that don’t.
Other key findings in the research are outlined below: • Through their knowledge of language, companies can access wider networks and demonstrate greater competitive advantage. • Language capability enables companies to build invaluable knowledge and understanding of their target sector, driving better access to markets. • Future focused companies who are more willing to invest in the development of their workforce, are in turn more likely to invest in language skills.
The results of the research indicate that SMEs can significantly increase their export sales, growth and profits by hiring people with language skills and high cultural intelligence, providing language training to existing staff, and investing in professional translation services using sophisticated language technology.
The research has been jointly funded by Aston Business School and the Association of Translation Companies (ATC).
For the past three years, West Midland’s award-winning translation agency, Comtec, has been supporting this research.
Dr Isabella Moore CBE, founder of Comtec and former president of the BCC, said: “We believe that languages give SMEs and all businesses a competitive advantage. This research has tangibly proven it.”
For more information visit www.comtectranslations.com
Warwickshire tourism organisation makes major appointment
Glyn Slade, new business development manager, Shakespeare’s England
The organisation responsible for tourism in Warwickshire has made a senior appointment to help the region’s tourism and hospitality sector bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shakespeare’s England has welcomed Glyn Slade in the new role of business development manager.
He will be responsible for providing one-to-one support for existing members and helping the organisation to increase its membership by recruiting new business tourism and leisure tourism members across South Warwickshire and the surrounding region.
Glyn has more than 18 years of industry experience, previously working as operations manager for Bristol Insight, a city hop-on hop-off sightseeing tour company. His career began as a driver for tour bus operator Guide Friday and City Sightseeing Stratford-upon-Avon in 1995.
Glyn became operations manager for City Sightseeing Stratford, Birmingham & Coventry in 2001. Other roles have included international sales manager for City Sightseeing Worldwide (2004-2010), The Original London Sightseeing Tour (2010-2014) and Extrapolitan, a London-based worldwide alliance of hop-on hop-off sightseeing tours in 15 cities (2014-2017).
In his spare time, he has been a civilian instructor and RAF reserve officer with the Air Cadets (Stratford, Kenilworth and Birmingham) and was recently appointed district scouts commissioner for Stratford-upon-Avon.
Glyn said: “Having lived in Stratford-upon-Avon for most of my adult life, and my introduction into the world of leisure tourism beginning here, I’m excited to be joining the team at Shakespeare’s England.
“I have seen the work they do on behalf of the membership first-hand at events here in the UK, and all over the world, and they play a vital part in the region’s economy.”
Helen Peters, chief executive of Shakespeare’s England, said: “I am delighted to have appointed Glyn as the business development manager for Shakespeare’s England. Not only is he very experienced, he is also well known and respected within the industry. The icing on the cake is that he is a local so knows the area extremely well.”
Communications coach supports Windrush Defenders Legal with skills training workshops
Anthony Brown’s achingly familiar Windrush story, published in the Guardian, drew Monica Brown like a magnet.
She knew that her communications coaching and media engagement training company, Monica Brown, had a critical role to play to support the community interest company (CIC), Windrush Defenders Legal, led by Anthony Brown. The CIC was established in 2018 to support Windrush citizens and their families to prove their legal status and claim compensation from the Home Office.
Monica is the daughter of Windrush parents, whose father, Gersham Brown, helped to construct Coventry University and Coventry Cathedral. She combined her experience of successfully leading her family, “Team Brown”, to secure her mother’s legal status with her extensive experience in broadcasting, journalism, teaching, corporate training and advocacy to support the work of Windrush Defenders Legal.
After meeting with the team in May, Monica designed and delivered an online skills workshop on writing news releases. All ten participants benefited from Monica’s experience and practice of crafting news releases and messages to stir audience support and change policy.
Anthony Brown explained the value of Monica’s training when he said: “Windrush Defenders Legal is working for law reform. Communication is a vital part of our work to bring people along by sharing information in an impactful way. Our training session has begun to build our confidence and knowledge of structuring clear messages. We also appreciated the great insights of how to reach our target audience.”
Monica will continue to donate her skills to Windrush Defenders Legal by rolling out a range of communications and media training workshops to help legal and research professionals craft their messages and build support for their cause.
Utility Team and Centrica help firms become energy-efficient
Utility Team has joined forces with Centrica Business Solutions to deliver an Energy Insights solution that helps businesses optimise their energy consumption and drive down carbon emissions.
Utility Team’s Energy Insights provides greater energy consumption monitoring and intelligence-driven energy efficiency solutions for organisations across many sectors. These solutions will be powered by Centrica Business Solutions’ Panoramic Power™ technology.
The solution uses real-time energy data from the Panoramic Power™ submetering solution. Panoramic Power™ hardware is a non-invasive wireless solution that is quick to deploy and cost effective. Once installed, it delivers a wide range of granular energy data across the entire site, right down to individual device level.
Through the intelligent mapping of a site and the strategic deployment of this solution, Utility Team can build a deep understanding of an organisation’s energy consumption profile. The deep-level intelligence provided by Panoramic Power™ is then analysed to create customised energy efficiency programmes for organisations. These programmes will demonstrate how energy consumption can be reduced and provide an energy baseline for energy efficiency projects that deliver a significant return on investment.
Chris Toze, head of energy service at Utility Team, said: “Energy efficiency and carbon reduction are fundamental to our customers’ long-term sustainability plans. We knew that by combining our energy efficiency expertise with the Panoramic Power™ solution, we would be able to provide our customers with an invaluable Energy Insights solution.”
The solution will deliver multiple benefits to organisations, starting with a comprehensive understanding of their energy consumption across their estate. The insights and energy efficiency projects identified will help reduce energy expenditure and the environmental impact of the organisation. There are also several additional benefits, including a reduction in the risk of device or equipment failure and the ability to forward-plan the replacement and maintenance of systems and machinery.
To find out more, visit https://www. utilityteam.co.uk/panoramic-power
Be vigilant on health and safety!
Recruitment specialist Sky Blue Safety is urging companies to comply with health and safety laws, especially as staff return to the office.
Every business must have working for them a competent person with the right knowledge to ensure health and safety requirements are being met. In addition, The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 states that “every employer shall … appoint one or more competent persons to assist him in undertaking the measures he needs to take to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed upon him by or under the relevant statutory provisions.” This means that the responsibility doesn’t have to, and probably shouldn’t, fall upon the shoulders of just one person.
Neil Chambers, Sky Blue Safety managing director, said: “Having worked in this area for 25 years, I’ve seen many businesses make mistakes and many businesses do things really well. I normally find that initially a company benefits from appointing a health and safety manager who has the right knowledge and experience to get a business up to speed, and then they can appoint other competent persons where required, whether that’s an asbestos surveyor or fire risk assessor.”
Health and safety compliance can be detailed and businesses must know what they’re doing to properly keep employees safe. In addition, the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 states that when a contractor is hired, the client – that’s the business the contractor is doing the work for – is responsible for ensuring health and safety laws are met. This doesn’t fall under the remit of the hired person or company.
Sky Blue Safety is a health and safety recruitment specialist. To find out more, visit www.skybluesafety.co.uk
Exasoft group expands its workforce
Coventry-based Exasoft Group has seen a continued demand for its products and services throughout the pandemic and with new business wins the firm, located in Coventry Innovation Village, is increasing its workforce.
Exasoft Group specialises in financial, digital, and educational software and solutions and supplies rectification software for large banks and financial institutions and digital solutions in web and mobile technology. Responsible for designing and developing the Coventry City of Culture website and app, the group has invested heavily in its workforce and is recruiting for permanent roles, graduate placements and for a new apprentice role.
Dr Alan Malik, CEO, Exasoft Group said: “We have seen a consistent requirement for our software solutions and developing the UK City of Culture website and app has certainly seen a demand for our digital services. We want to increase our workforce through experienced personnel but also offer opportunities to students who are studying for their degree through placements and apprenticeships, enabling them to get real-life work experience on some fantastic projects.”
The group is currently recruiting for experienced developers, a Xamarin developer, and a C#.NET developer, all based at the Coventry office. All will be offered attractive salaries and a wide range of benefits, according to the group, which has been working with Coventry and Warwick universities to offer students placements as part of their degree programmes.
Nooreen Hashambhoy, development manager at Exasoft Group, has been looking after the graduate cohort of 2020-21 and has seen a huge increase in their skills and experience.
Nooreen said: “Our placement roles cover development, UI/UX design and cyber security and we pride ourselves on giving the placement students opportunities to work on high profile projects.”
Ali Kurji, chief executive of the Heart of England Co-operative Society
The Heart of England Co-operative Society has reported a satisfactory year of trading despite an extraordinary and challenging marketplace in 2020.
The society, which operates a network of 35 food stores and 15 funeral homes, invested £4.3 million in new projects during the course of a year in which the UK continued to trade in deep economic uncertainty, with Brexit and the unprecedented event of the coronavirus. Turnover for the year ending January 16 reached an all-time high of £92.1 million, reflecting an increase
Heart of England rises to economic challenges
of 19.8% on the previous 12 months. Operating profits over the same period rose by more than 22%.
Food sales recorded an increase of 18.3% over the year.
Mid-March saw the start of panic buying across the country – first affecting the supermarkets, then switching to convenience operators as the supermarkets ran out of stock.
To help steer its communities safely through the pandemic the society implemented sales restrictions on high-demand items such as toilet rolls and hand sanitisers, ensuring there was enough for all.
The society also invested heavily in PPE and implemented a series of restrictions such as social distancing to give colleagues and shoppers peace of mind during the pandemic.
In addition, the society launched a home delivery service through a new partnership with Snappy Shopper, giving customers the option to shop from home.
The funeral division also reported a sales increase of 3.82% and an 11.15% increase in the number of funerals on last year.
Despite the fierce competition across the trading region the society still managed to increase its margins compared to last year.
Ali Kurji, chief executive of the Heart of England Co-operative Society, said: “COVID-19 has had and is continuing to have a material impact on the society’s business operations. We are managing through the coronavirus pandemic in a measured and controlled way whilst recognising the opportunities to modernise the society for the future.”
How to tackle the skills gap
A lack of skilled workers in the UK could result in a slower recovery for businesses – How are you preparing to attract the talent you need?
The number of vacancies in the UK is currently at its highest since the start of the pandemic, but the number of available candidates is at the lowest since 2017.
As the country starts to recover from the effects of lockdown, and businesses gain confidence, we are starting to see a lack of workers – presenting a barrier to recovery and growth. Hospitality, tourism and construction industries are already suffering, due to a pre-pandemic shortage of workers, but there is also high demand for retail, legal, accountancy, IT, digital, engineering, driving and nursing staff, and new skills shortages are being added week on week.
Employers face a new challenge to find the talent and skills they need, which has been made harder due to the pandemic and Britain’s exit from the EU. Potential candidates lack confidence to move roles or may still be on furlough leave. There has been in decline in visa applications, meaning fewer workers from overseas have entered the country since the start of the year, and the new points-based system has made it harder to employ overseas workers, particularly in lower paid, less skilled roles.
It’s important that companies act now, if they are to recruit the people they need, to ensure their business survives.
Applying for a sponsor license may be a solution to take advantage of workers from overseas, but longer-term succession planning is key to sustaining staff levels and growth. Reviewing your company’s salary bandings and/ or benefits package will also be crucial in attracting talent, along with offering flexible, remote and hybrid working.
For more information or trusted, reliable advice on any of these matters, Hanson Lawrie is here to support your business. Visit www.hansonlawrie.co.uk email sam@hansonlawrie.co.uk
Hailservices has announced a new partnership with ibis Hotels to enable the use and regeneration of the Swift Cycle Works, an iconic building in the cycling industry of Coventry.
Believed to be the last surviving site where James Starley was based,
Hailservices and ibis join forces
it represents a new chapter in basing a zero-carbon company here. The partnership will see Hailservices operating from the site as a micro hub to support the hotel firm’s inner city taxi, delivery and tourist services
Keith Higham, director of Hailservices, said: “This represents real intent for the city to welcome emission-free vehicles to combat congestion and pollution. We would like to thank ibis Coventry for having the foresight and trust in allowing us to work from the Swift Cycle Works and the Coventry BID team who we were able to reach out to in helping us find this solution through their partnership with the city centre business community.”
Jade Jones, sales manager at ibis Coventry centre, said: “We are delighted to see our Swift Cycle Works being regenerated for the use of Hailservices for this exciting new, eco-friendly business in time for the City of Culture 2021. The partnership supports Accor’s Planet 21 sustainable development program priorities to innovate with partners and work with local communities and we are looking forward to a successful future for Hailservices and ibis Coventry Centre.”
Trish Willetts, Coventry BID director, added: “It was great to hear that the connection between Hailservices and the ibis team had been facilitated with the help of one of our BID Bites newsletters – especially as something so exciting has come out of it! We are incredibly proud of all of our businesses and always keen to support in any way that we can. Hailservices is an important element of our great city’s toolbox of recovery and we can’t wait to see where their success takes them next!”
The new name for CeraCon in the UK
Despite a year of challenges for many businesses across the UK, a specialist foam sealing business in Warwickshire has been fortunate enough to not only weather the storm but also complete a management buy-out and name change.
Formerly known as CeraCon UK, Robafoam completed the buy-out last December, safeguarding the future of the 20 staff at the foam sealing company. After a nine-month process, the deal made with its German parent company CeraCon GmbH was completed with the support and guidance of the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) Growth Hub.
Since then, Robafoam has been working with local designers to form a new identity for the now UK-owned business.
The company’s managing director, Robert Jones, said: “We are keen to reassure our customers that nothing other than our name has changed. We have a new name and new look but are still providing the same commitment and quality that we always have. We will also continue to be the UK’s official distributor of CeraCon products.”
The business offers a unique service in the UK. Using six-axis robots and specialist equipment, Robafoam creates and automatically applies liquid foam seals directly to customers’ parts. Its customer base and target market are vast, ranging from electronics to automotive, lighting and construction. This application process provides significant commercial and technical benefits compared to manually fitting seals and gaskets.
Robert said: “From our modest start in 2013, we now have approaching 100 UK customers within more than 500 different applications. Our turnover is around £1.8 million and we run a three-shift production. At the beginning of 2020, we expanded into a second facility, which will become our technical and visitor centre. We are specifically targeting applications within the battery electric vehicle market with this new R&D facility.”
For further information visit www.robafoam.com
