Topicuk kandc sept17

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KIRKLEES & CALDERDALE NO19

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SEPTEMBER 2017 - WWW.TOPICUK.CO.UK

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TopicUK is a free publication and available from a number of outlets across the region.

G R O U P

E D I T O R

Gill Laidler

E D I T O R

Alex Mason C R E AT I V E

D I R E C T O R

Rob Blackwell

S P E C I A L

F E AT U R E

James Sommerville

L E G A L

A piece of Halifax Reborn

M AT T E R S

£1m for Kirklees Project from former NY Mayor

Chadwick Lawrence B A N K I N G

Barclays Bank I T

Fusion H OW

I T ' S

M A D E

SB Homes

M A R K E T I N G

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The Prince, The Pauper & The Pop - James Sommerville

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Peel One - Restaurant Review

Contents &Comments D E TA ILS O F THI S M O NTH‘S TO PI CUK, YO UR LO C A L B USI NE S S CO M M UNI T Y M AG A Z I NE

Editor’s Notes

Pick Up Your Copy

by Alex Mason

The John Smith's Stadium Stafflex Recruitment

Hello, and welcome to your September/October edition of TopicUK Kirklees & Calderdale.

Costa Coffee Sainsbury’s Market Street,

Sat writing this Editor’s letter in late July, it’s quite alarming to think that in just a few months’ time we’ll once again be heading towards the festive season and all the fun, frolics and, dare I say it – frantic rushing around - that comes with it.

But for the next few weeks at least, we still have some time left for ‘business as usual’.

It certainly seems that the companies across Kirklees & Calderdale see it that way too; I received an overwhelming amount of stories for this edition and the emails I’ve read about businesses across our area launching new products, expanding into new markets and growing their teams indicates that we continue to thrive as a region.

Our catch up with the lovely Mandy Taylor in our last edition received some great feedback, and in this issue we’ve spoken to James Sommerville at Coca Cola to find out more about how this Huddersfieldborn businessman made it to the top of the world’s most recognised brand.

It’s been my pleasure to get out and about and find out more about new community space sharing project, Comoodle, backed

by Kirklees Council (see page 22); and our CSR Showcase this time sees us catch up with The Children’s Place Foundation and learn more about their charity which aims to give children from under-privileged backgrounds the best possible start in life

Huddersfield and Brighouse store

Heritage Business Centre Ramsdens Solicitors Chadwick Lawrence Solicitors by championing childhood. Read more on page 26.

Holiday Inn Brighouse

We also speak with Nicky ChanceThomspon, Chief Executive of The Piece Hall Trust, and Counsellor Barry Collins of Calderdale Council, to understand more about the magnificent re-launch of Halifax’s Piece Hall and how they plan to encourage new retailers to sign up and drive footfall (page 14).

Elsie Whiteley Business Centre

I am also delighted to welcome Huddersfield-based technical PR consultancy, Scriba PR, on board as our newest partner for Kirklees & Calderdale, and look forward to working with Katie and her team more closely over the coming year. Why not give them a follow on Twitter @ScribaPR? I hope you enjoy reading this issue and finding out the latest news, comment and updates from fellow businesses across Kirklees & Calderdale. As usual, if you have any feedback, stories or ideas for the magazine, please contact editor@topicuk. co.uk or tweet me @alexdmasonPR.

Cedar Court Hotel Huddersfield

National Coal Mining Museum Yorkshire Sculpture Park Leeds Bradford Airport Big Shots Cafe - Brighouse plus many more outlets - see website for details

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Published by Ghost Publishing Limited, Paragon Point, Paragon Business Village, Red Hall Crescent, Wakefield WF1 2DF. TopicUK is also not responsible for any advice given by contributors.

Kirklees & Calderdale

K&C UPDATE

TopicUK Kirklees & Calderdale brings you a full round-up of business news and events and what’s been happening in our region over the last couple of months.

Sports partnership signifies highest value shirt partner for Town

to end service for clients covering planning, buying activation and evaluation.

Dean Hoyle, Chairman at Huddersfield Town, said: “We are delighted to welcome OPE Sports as the Club’s official shirt sponsor.

This is without a doubt our biggest season to date as we play in the Premier League for the first time in our history.

Huddersfield Town Football Club has revealed it has broken a commercial record as it reveals OPE Sports as its highest value front of shirt partner to date.

“The growth of our international fan base since promotion into the Premier League makes OPE Sports an attractive partner for our Club, and our own growing reach around the world provides them with an ideal platform to continue its own growth.”

In the biggest deal of its kind for the Club, OPE Sports’ logo will feature across the Club’s shirt at all home and away games, as well as pitch side LED boards and social media channels in the UK and internationally.

The international gaming company joins at the most exciting time in Huddersfield Town’s history as the Club plays top flight football for the first time in 45 years, and participates for the first time in the Premier League.

The partnership will enable Huddersfield Town to engage with a wider global audience and grow an international fan base while giving exposure in the most watched league in the world.

The partnership was created, planned and negotiated by SportQuake, an international sports marketing agency for high growth brands looking to connect with customers through sport. The agency provides an end

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A spokesman for OPE Sports commented: “It’s a hugely exciting time to partner with Huddersfield Town as they make their debut in the Premier League.

“It is undoubtedly the biggest league on the planet and to be associated with it through our partnership with the Terriers is great for our brand.

“We look forward to working with the Club and its fans throughout the 2017/18 season.”

Kirklees & Calderdale

Ramsdens up for double award Ramsdens Solicitors has announced it has been shortlisted for two LFS Conveyancing Awards – Regional Firm of the Year (North East) and Best Website and Use of Social Media categories.

The awards, which are sponsored by Groundsure, are widely recognised as being the most coveted in the conveyancing industry and 2017 has seen a 50% increase in the number of applications.

The judges spent many hours reviewing the submissions taking into account every aspect

of assessment and ensuring the process was rigorous and fair.

The winners will be announced at the LFS Conveyancing Awards Dinner on 20th September 2017 at the Vox Centre, Birmingham.

Karen James, Head of Residential Conveyancing comments; “I am thrilled that

Ramsdens’ conveyancing team has been shortlisted. This is in recognition of the hard work, commitment and dedication each individual member of the team gives to the job every single day. We pride ourselves on putting our clients first and this award is acknowledgement of our conveyancing expertise

Business student Tiffany wins national award

Almost 1,000 applications made it to the judging panel and from those only 22 winners were selected. The ceremony took place at the Royal Horticultural Halls in London, hosted by

Sinead Sopala, Director of Marketing said: “Lots of law firms are yet to fully embrace the opportunity that social media brings...I am delighted, that our social media efforts have been recognised #fingerscrossed.”

Her attendance is exemplary, her work ethic is faultless and she is now gaining recognition for all of the hard work that she has put in over the last two years.”

Rod Bristow, Pearson’s President in the UK commented: “These fantastic winners exemplify the dedicated students across the country who have been helped to make progress in their lives and careers through BTEC and I am delighted to congratulate them on their well-earned success.

Kirklees College student Tiffany Boland has been recognised as Outstanding BTEC Business and Enterprise Student of the Year 2017 at the national Pearson’s BTEC Awards.

Tiffany, from Huddersfield, a former pupil of Moor End Academy and Fartown High School, was presented with her award by Peter Jones CBE.

and for that we are very proud.”

BBC journalist and presenter Steph McGovern.

“BTEC provides a proven pathway, not just to a job, but to a career - whether that be directly, or via university. BTEC combines knowing with doing, practical with academic.

Tiffany, who studied Level 3 Business, was delighted to win and added: “BTEC changed my opinion on education and a valuable skill I gained on my course was to believe in myself and never give up.”

It is the most highly regarded career-focused qualification in the world. This helps to explain why almost a quarter of new university entrants now start with at least one BTEC, and why BTEC is growing strongly internationally.

Tutor Gary Holden said: “Everyone in the department is extremely proud of Tiffany.

Photo shows: Tiffany Boland with her award

September 2017

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Kirklees & Calderdale

College hosts enterprise challenge School pupils put their entrepreneurial skills to the test recently as a part of an enterprise challenge at Kirklees College.

Pupils from Castle Hall Academy, Moor End Academy, Westborough High School, Heckmondwike Grammar School, Brighouse High School, Hipperholme Grammar School Foundation and The Ruth Gorse Academy took part in the Innov8 challenge.

The competition aimed to crown the most innovative and enterprising pupils by challenging them to use their ideas, imagination, passion and determination.

The winning team was Team Cirque DV from Crossley Heath Grammar School, made up of Alison Page, Katie Lenton-Lowe, Amber Bilal, Maesa Hussain and Isabel Jones.

The Innov8 challenge was one of several taster sessions coordinated by the college’s student recruitment team in recent weeks, designed to give prospective students the chance to try courses that interest them.

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Training fuels growth for marketing agency Huddersfield-based digital marketing agency Splitpixel has its eyes on Further growth following the start of a new staff training programme.

T

he firm’s digital marketing manager, Michelle Millar, has just completed the HubSpot Agency Partner Certificate, which will help elevate the team’s profile in the lucrative marketing automation space.

A long-standing advocate of the marketing technology, Splitpixel has managed clients’ HubSpot accounts since 2015. The platform is used to power thousands of seemingly-humanised – yet automated – conversations with the right people at the right time, often generating better returns from an organisation’s marketing spend.

Splitpixel’s co-founder and director, Greg Smuk, said: “Clients are increasingly demanding more integrations,

more intuitive personalisation, and a user experience that drives more conversions.

Agencies need all kinds of technical and creative skills to achieve these goals, so we want to continually develop our people to make sure we’re delivering the best possible service.

“HubSpot Agency Partner Certification is independent recognition that we provide best-in-class support when it comes to marketing automation, which is really important for inspiring confidence among organisations that are new to this type of marketing tech.”

Two members of the team have also recently passed their

Google AdWords training, which has seen Splitpixel become a Google Partner Agency.

“We’re projecting revenue growth of 20% by the end of this financial year,” said cofounder Charlie Herke. “It’s only right that we plough as much of that as we can into the professional growth of our team. We’re set to boost our headcount too, and we’re currently on the hunt for a copywriter and digital project manager to join the team.”

Last month, Splitpixel announced its relocation to new 1,400 sq. ft. offices in Heritage Mills, Lindley, to help pave the way for this expansion.

Kirklees & Calderdale

Pub raising a glass after serving up triple success A Brighouse pub has served up a triple success after being voted as one of the Yorkshire public’s favourite pubs for the third year running.

The Millers Bar had been voted into the top 30 of the county’s pubs by the general public in the Welcome to Yorkshire competition for the last two years and made it a hat-trick this time around.

Now, after launching an upstairs restaurant called 47 Grains, and a bespoke dog menu with food crafted by the chefs, the canalside establishment features in the popular Ale Trail produced by the tourism agency once again.

After a major flood in 2015 which almost saw time called on the venue, more than £300,000 of investment has been poured in, creating dozens of new jobs and fully booked evenings in the new restaurant

Owner Euan Noble, who also owns the pub’s neighbouring ROKT Climbing Centre, said: “It’s one thing to be voted for by your peers and judging panels, but to have your paying customers take time to vote for The Millers Bar is incredibly moving and humbling.

“We set out to not do things by halves, but create a really special, quality place for people to meet, eat, drink and enjoy genuine quality food, drink and service.

I think that’s been the recipe for our success. The team – led by Lydia Taylor and Hannah Jordan – are superb and I’m immensely proud of what the staff have achieved.”

Quiz raises four figures for Brain Tumour charity Halifax solicitors Wilkinson Woodward has raised £1,000 for a Yorkshire brain tumour charity.

The firm held a quiz at the MBi Shay Stadium to raise vital funds for Brain Tumour Research and Support across Yorkshire (BTRS).

The quiz was held to boost the fundraising efforts of Ravenscliffe Special School Head Teacher Martin Moorman, who recently joined sons Jake and Harry in completing the brutal 490 mile “Camino” trek in the French Pyrenees in support of the charity.

Their epic trek was inspired by Jake’s recovery from lifesaving brain surgery.

Commenting on the event, Martin said: “Jake’s incredible recovery from a brain tumour provided the inspiration to raise funds for BTRS, which provides amazing support to brain tumour patients, their families and carers. The money raised by Wilkinson Woodward has given our campaign a tremendous boost and we are hugely grateful for their support.”

Managing Director of Wilkinson Woodward, Maureen Cawthorn commented: “We are delighted to support the Moorman family’s fundraising efforts and are very grateful to many local businesses who generously donated prizes for the quiz.”

September 2017

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Kirklees & Calderdale

K&C UPDATE

TopicUK Kirklees & Calderdale brings you a full round-up of business news and events and what’s been happening in our region over the last couple of months.

Trio launch new marketing agency Three marketing experts have teamed up to launch a new marketing agency ‘with over 80 years’ experience’ behind it.

Business mentor Gary King, former managing director of Wrights Marketing, Mike Hall, and marketing consultant ClareMarie Taylor, have combined their experience across branding and marketing strategy to launch ThinkSMART Marketing.

The trio have worked within manufacturing, retail and leisure sectors, for multinational companies SMEs alike, with

Firm scoops ‘highly commended’ at building awards

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experience in both agency and client side environments.

Clare-Marie Taylor, marketing director, said: “Our experience tells us that marketing can be a jump into the unknown or a huge leap of faith for most business owners, with the outcome determined by the marketing talent they have working with them.

“Understanding the customer is always central to our strategy, but ultimately knowing how to connect with them and convert them is what makes marketing successful. We believe in creating a smart marketing plan with clients and then helping them deliver it.”

Huddersfield architecture firm France and Associates has been awarded ‘Highly Commended’ in the Local Authority Building Control (LABC) Building Excellence Awards in its first year of business.

Gary King, manging director, added: “As a business mentor I’ve supported hundreds of businesses to transform, grow and deliver results. ThinkSmart Marketing has been founded to deliver just that -

winning results.”

ThinkSMART Marketing has already supported over 25 clients with a wide range of marketing after officially launching in June this year.

Kirklees & Calderdale

Capital B Media nominated for a hat-trick of awards A Yorkshire public relations and communications agency has been nominated for a hattrick of prestigious industry awards.

Capital B Media, based near Holmfirth, has been shortlisted in all three categories it entered for the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) PRide Awards, for Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

The annual PRide awards, judged by a team of leading industry experts, recognise the outstanding work of PR agencies and in-house teams across the UK. Capital B Media is up for the Outstanding Small Public Relations Consultancy award for the fourth time, having been shortlisted on every occasion it has entered.The agency has also been nominated for the best Low

Media, said: “This is a fantastic achievement and is down to the hard work of our talented team who should all feel incredibly proud.

“Last year we were lucky enough to be shortlisted for two CIPR awards, so to go one better this year is a great feeling.”

Capital B Media, which has a base in Penistone and at the Media Centre in Huddersfield, is made up of former journalists and communication specialists.

Capital B Media’s PR clients include local businesses, local authorities and national charities.

Budget Campaign award for its work on the first ever Pulmonary Hypertension Association UK (PHA UK) national awareness week. PHA UK is a national charity which supports people affected by pulmonary hypertension, a life-limiting condition that affects the heart and lungs. To raise awareness of the condition, Capital B Media set up a campaign titled ‘Let’s talk about PH’, with the aim of

The project that lead the business to scoop the accolade was a full house conversion of a property in Beverly, East Yorkshire for a client with acute additional needs.

Jonathan France, director at France and Associates said: “The building needed a complete make over and conversion to make it accessible to our client. We were awarded the prized accolade due to designing the home to be both accessible and inclusive of

encouraging conversation about the disease.

The consultancy has also been shortlisted in the Best Publication category for its work on PHA’s member magazine, ‘Emphasis’.

Capital B Media produce the a4 52-page publication, which is published four times a year and distributed to a 3,000-strong membership base.

Kate Betts, director of Capital B

our client’s specific needs and meeting the requirements of providing a beautiful home environment for all family members to enjoy.

He continued: “It’s been an interesting and challenging first year, and to have been the recipients of such an accolade is a great testament to the hard work and dedication our team have put in to achieve such a great outcome for our client.

The event consisted of a champagne awards

The agency, which was set up in 2006, also provides UKwide media training and crisis communications services, with national media training clients including the Care Quality Commission and The Pensions Regulator.

The winners of the CIPR PRide awards for Yorkshire and Lincolnshire will be announced at a ceremony at Leeds Town Hall on 30 November.

ceremony, which took place at the Principal Hotel in York and was hosted by the LABC in conjunction with North Yorkshire regional councils.

The award was presented to Jonathan France and John and Paul Mundy of Hillam Build who were the principal contractors on the project, by TV personality Nicki Chapman.

September 2017

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Kirklees & Calderdale

K&C UPDATE

TopicUK Kirklees & Calderdale brings you a full round-up of business news and events and what’s been happening in our region over the last couple of months.

Fire safety proves a hot topic for youngsters Nursery children had the chance to see what it was like to be a firefighter and learn the importance of fire safety following a special visit to their school.

Rosenbauer UK, Britain’s premier Fire & Rescue supplier, took one of its fire trucks to the Honley Day Care and Pre-Preparatory School for the children to see up close and try out a range of emergency services equipment which included a fire hose.

Holmfirth-based Rosenbauer UK also donated a firefighter helmet and a model truck for a fire brigade display feature at the nursery in Huddersfield Road.

Sarah Brier, manager of Honley Day Care,

said: “The children really enjoyed the visit, especially learning about equipment onboard the fire engine. They kept telling us that the water coming from the hose was ‘really cool’.

“They have gained a lot of knowledge from the hands-on experience and really enjoyed getting to see the inside of a real fire engine.”

Oliver North, Managing Director of Rosenbauer UK, said the company wants to now roll out more engagement visits across the community

following the school visit success. He added: “Fire safety is more important than ever and we were so pleased to be able to have the chance to go into Honley Day Care and interact with the children, let them see a real fire truck and raise awareness about being safe.

“It’s fantastic for us to be able to get out into the region, meet people and give a ‘behind-thescenes’ insight into the emergency services and our equipment. It was the first time we’d held a school visit and we’d love to do more because we really enjoyed ourselves.”

Commercial property market still strong despite Brexit A Kirklees & Calderdale estate agent has reported strong levels of activity throughout the commercial property market across the area over the past few months, despite the economic uncertainty resulting from Brexit and the subsequent general election.

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ramleys, which has offices in across the area including Huddersfield, Elland and Mirfield, has reoprted that activity is particularly strong within the industrial sector, with the company experiencing strong rental and capital demand for units of all sizes.

Jonathan Wilson, head of commercial agency at Bramleys, said: “Recent notable deals have

shown in an increase in rents within the Leeds Road corridor, with recent deals being negotiated at £7.50per ft², £8.00 per ft² and £10ft² for units of between 1,500 and 3,000 ft².

“Other market highlights include the popularity of small tenanted investments.

Although hardening in light of competitive bidding, returns in the region of 7%–8% are still achievable which, coupled with some of

Kirklees & Calderdale

Mel leads the way in financial services role

Overhaul underway for property experts A comprehensive refurbishment has begun to revitalise Woodvale House, the Brighouse base of commercial and industrial lettings specialist Towngate PLC.

Mel Harris has joined ABL Business as an Appointed Representative – and is the first woman they have taken on in the role.

The construction of the offices was originally completed by the property experts in the early nineties and this current revamp is the first overhaul of the property in a significant number of years.

She will cover the Leeds, Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, and Wakefield areas, offering a full mix of commercial finance services and helping SMEs to raise the funds they need to trade, grow or stabilise their business.

Mel, from Wortley, Leeds, joins the company from Yorkshire Bank where she was most recently a Payment Solutions Manager, helping businesses to set up systems which enable them to take card payments from customers.

Alex Beardsley, a Director of Cleckheatonbased ABL Business, said: “We are delighted to be welcoming someone of Mel’s calibre and experience to the team. There are actually very few female finance brokers out there at all, and I am personally very pleased to be supporting Mel on her career journey and to be in a position to contribute towards bringing more women into front-end finance roles.”

Mel added: “I’m excited to be taking the next

big step on the ladder and joining a vibrant team like ABL Business. I look forward to supporting SMEs in my local area, taking the time to understand their businesses to take the hassle out of finding competitive wellstructured deals.

“Having the back-up of the funding lines and capabilities of ABL Business will enable me to save clients precious time and money. If I can help businesses to succeed and fly the flag for women in financial services a little at the same time, that will be certainly be an added bonus for me.”

the tax advantages of commercial property investing, make for a tempting offering for many people.”

to be addressed so that the market has the depth of supply needed to suit all manner of occupiers.

Jonathan added that while the company expects that some of the stock shortages will start to be addressed in the coming months with sites currently in the planning system, there continues to be a shortage of larger modern units of 40,000 ft² which needs

He concluded: “All in all, the past 12 months have been positive throughout all commercial sectors although the market would undoubtedly benefit from the development of more industrial and business stock as we move forward.”

The flagship building will benefit from a refurbishment of the lobby and stairs area, new toilet and shower facilities, plus full redecoration – including new carpets, balustrades, handrails and doors. Vital infrastructural repairs and the installation of a shared cycle shed will also take place.

With the support of fit-out experts Desk Office Interiors, the office space will benefit from a refreshed reception area and team breakout room.

Commenting on the renovations, marketing manager Julia Ford said: "The makeover has been in the pipeline for a while, but with our growing site portfolio and influx of new tenants across our estates, our priority has naturally been our clients' spaces. " Woodvale House itself is an extension of our own branding, so whilst we've largely focused our time and energy on developing properties elsewhere up until now, investing some care and attention into our own premises is long overdue. All last-minute design decisions have now been ironed out, and we will be excited to see the final result after months of planning and preparation."

The property specialists' flagship building is currently shared with structural engineering tenants JNP Group and new leaseholders Digital High Street.

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Kirklees & Calderdale

Piece of Halifax reborn

Halifax’s Piece Hall re-opened on Yorkshire Day (1st August) following a long and extensive redevelopment project to restore the building to its former glory and create a new destination for business and pleasure for residents of Calderdale, Kirklees and beyond.

over 200 skeletons which needed to be exhumed before an access road could be laid. We knew that excavation of a burial ground was required as part of the project, but we actually found a larger number of skeletons than originally expected.

Image: Iain Denby

TopicUK Kirklees & Calderdale editor Alex Mason caught up with Cllr Barry Collins of Calderdale Council and Nicky ChanceThompson, Chief Executive of the Piece Hall Trust to find out more.

By Alex Mason -Editor TopicUK: Please can you tell us a bit about when talks began regarding restoring and re-opening the Piece Hall and the driving forces behind the project?

Cllr Collins: Calderdale Council’s vision for the Piece Hall was officially endorsed by full Council in February 2012. Plans had been in

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Lottery Fund for £7 million funding to transform the building. Generous support has also been received from the Garfield Weston Foundation and the Wolfson Foundation.

careful development for a number of years prior to this, and included a consultation with key stakeholders and nearby organisations such as Square Chapel, Eureka! and Halifax Minster.

TopicUK: The Piece Hall was due to open a year ago, but the discovery of a graveyard brought complications. Tell us a little more about that.

The project became a reality when the Council successfully submitted a bid to the Heritage

Cllr Collins: It was a complex project and not surprisingly, it presented a number of challenges. We were astonished to discover

217 skeletons were removed and 203 underwent osteological analysis, which examined the bones to reveal information about the diet and lifestyle of the people living in Halifax over 200 years ago. Their burials date from 1772 until the early 1830s and include the skeletons of 132 adults and 71 children. After the research was completed the skeletons were reinterred at Stoney Royd Cemetery in Halifax.

TopicUK: Investing in a presence at the Piece Hall is a big move for smaller, independent retailers. What has been your strategy to attract new tenants to the Piece Hall?

Nicky Chance-Thompson: There is a great deal of interest in The Piece Hall as it’s a building held in enormous affection locally.

We generated hundreds of expressions of interest

Kirklees & Calderdale from a lettings campaign which included promotion on our website, media coverage in consumer and trade press and the distribution of a lettings brochure. The main task was converting this interest into an exciting mix of independent food and drink and retail. We think that the tenants that we’ll be opening with provide a great offer for visitors and shoppers, with more ready to come on board before Christmas.

TopicUK: Do you know roughly how many jobs have been created as a result of the Piece Hall reopening?

Nicky Chance-Thompson: The Piece Hall Trust (the independent charity set up to run The Piece Hall for public benefit) has created 40 FTE jobs. There will also be other jobs created by the retail businesses based at The Piece Hall – which are estimated to be at least 50, but this could be much higher. There are also likely to have been jobs created by the construction companies as part of the transformation.

TopicUK: How have you ensured that the Piece Hall is restored as sympathetically as possible?

Was it a challenge to preserve the building’s history yet make it suitable for the needs of modern retailers and consumers?

Cllr Collins: The aim of the transformation programme was to conserve The Piece Hall for future generations, but also to adapt this 18th century trading hall into a venue for the 21st century and a place that the local community can be proud of.

A number of improvements have been made to the building to

ensure it meets the needs of 21st century retailers and consumers, including masses of stone work repair, new floors and restoration of old ones in all parts of the building and roof renovations including sky-lights in the stairwells. There’s also heating for the first time in the history of the building!

All the restoration work was carried out by a carefully appointed team. The architect, LDN, is an award-winning firm with a strong track record of conserving and upgrading historic buildings. In addition, the new stone work, railings and restoration of the bell and weathervane were all doe by craftsmen skilled in those individual fields.

TopicUK: What facilities at the Piece Hall do you think will attract retail businesses to signup?

Nicky Chance-Thompson: The main attraction for businesses relocating to The Piece Hall is the one-of-a-kind building with its vast, European-style piazza.

Due to the Grade I listed status of building the units themselves are quite long and narrow, and retailers (particularly food and drink tenants) are working creatively to make the best use of space.

The units have modern infrastructure including heating, broadband, CCTV and beautiful wood floors, some of which are original. Ultimately though, the magnificent location is the biggest draw, and The Piece Hall Trust is planning high profile outdoor events - such as outdoor film festivals, music concerts,

Image: Iain Denby street performers - which will draw visitors from across the region.

TopicUK: You have also launched a learning programme for children based on the history of the Piece Hall. How do you plan to engage with local schools to ensure that this is a success?

Nicky Chance-Thompson: We’ve worked closely with local schools by creating a teachers advisory panel and testing our workshops in Calderdale schools to gather valuable feedback on what they want from a trip to The Piece Hall. Using this consultation we’ve created a range of workshops linked to the curriculum from early years to Key Stage 3. We recently held a teacher preview event which was extremely popular and we’re full for school bookings in September! As well as school trips, we also have a family learning programme with a range of free and low price children’s activities, from giant weaving to dressing up in Georgian costumes and much more.

TopicUK: Finally, if you could give the public on reason to visit the Piece Hall, what would that be?

Nicky Chance-Thompson: Come and see the building! The Georgian architecture is amazing and it’s the only remaining cloth hall left in the UK. With the golden stone colonnades and vast European-style piazza, it’s hard to imagine you’re in Halifax and not Italy!

Cllr Collins: There are so many reasons to visit, it’s hard to pick just one. The Piece Hall is one of the UK’s most iconic buildings and is Britain’s last remaining cloth hall with a rich 230 year history. There’s also some great shops, bars, cafés and restaurants and the traders will welcome you warmly.

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Entrepreneur launches new men’s yoga brand A Huddersfield entrepreneur has launched a new clothing brand aimed at men who want functional yet fashionable yoga wear.

Scriba PR latest to partner with TopicUK Huddersfield based technical PR firm Scriba, is the latest business to join TopicUK’s growing membership of partners.

“We are unique in what we offer,” said Group Editor Gill Laidler. “Other B2B publications employ or use the services of journalists, we encourage businesses to provide us with content, this means that all the information is written by experts in their field.”

Each publication is unique in its own area and distributed free.

“There will always be a call for printed magazines of quality such as TopicUK, how else would you be aware of some of the products and services available, you can’t Google what you don’t know about!” added Gill.

TopicUK is a valuable source for PR companies and Scriba PR are very forward thinking and can see the advantage of becoming a TopicUK partner, not just for

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themselves, but for their growing client base.

“We’ve been a fan of TopicUK since the magazine was first introduced and are impressed by the quality and growth of the printed publication in an age dominated by digital,” commented Scriba’s founder Katie Mallinson. “But having worked with the media industry for almost ten years we know that even the most reputable magazines struggle if they’re not supported commercially too. We therefore hope that, by becoming a partner, this regional title can go on to even bigger and better things, as it continues to showcase the level of knowledge, innovation and talent within the Yorkshire region and beyond.”

Scriba will now be responsible for selecting a ‘company of the month’ in every issue.

Jake Wood, 27, has launched so we flow…, a capsule collection of yoga tops, trousers and shorts that are designed to provide the perfect balance between functional yoga wear and street style that can be worn straight out of a yoga class.

Jake, who grew up in Holmfirth, has invested in a new

e-commerce website that will enable the company to fulfil orders from across the globe.

Commenting on the new venture, he said: “Yoga has changed my life, and the life of my friends and family, for the better. Hopefully, so we flow… will help make yoga more accessible and effortless for all men - beginners and experts, introverts and extroverts, fanatics and casuals.

The brand’s clothing is made using a blend of organic, sustainably-produced cotton fibres with tiny amounts of manmade elastane fibres to achieve

Kirklees & Calderdale

the best user experience.

Jake continued: “We produce our clothing both in the UK and Portugal, working only with factories we trust and are proud to be associated with. Each piece is designed and constructed with the promise of great quality, functionality and versatility.”

Beginning his journey with yoga in Amsterdam, Jake then moved to Taghazout in Morocco where he traded six months of daily yoga teaching for his branding and design skills.

He added: “Men who did any yoga were wearing ultra-technical branded sportswear, old gym rags, cut-offs and bohemian mash-ups - or any combination of all four - and still never feeling quite right. We saw the need for fit-for-purpose men’s yoga clothing, and so we flow… was born.”

Firm invests £250k in development of new cloud security product Yorkshire-based technology specialist Vapour has invested more than a quarter of a million pounds into the development of a new, secure cloud platform known as Dfendr.

Likely to prove particularly popular with IT, telecoms and channel partners – as well as end users – the robust network has been created to provide a resilient infrastructure for organisations’ data.

Virtual servers with 99.99% uptime now promise users greater processing power, without the usual price tag. Hosted solely in Vapour’s UK data centres, the Dfendr cloud platform will allow businesses to manage their data safely, wherever they may be. Security controls will also regulate user access, and, in the event of an accidental deletion or cyber-attack, backed-up information will be recovered within one hour.

Commenting on the extensive investment in this new release, Vapour’s CEO and jointfounder Tim Mercer said: “The imminent advent of GDPR plus the mounting wave of ransomware incidents have sparked a far more detailed debate surrounding data security.

Now technology firms and end customers alike are scrutinising the risks associated with their storage and retention strategies.

“However, mindful of the increased adoption of cloud solutions, we actually set to work on Dfendr long before GDPR hit the headlines. And, following extensive beta testing with one of our largest clients, we’re now ready to take the new secure network environment to market.”

Tim believes some of the biggest market potential for Dfendr exists within the technology space.

“Because everything is connected to our own private network, channel partners can now

confidently deliver secure data storage and back-up services to their own customers. This presents an added revenue stream for their business, without the compliance headache and without them having to invest in creating their own platform,” he elaborated. “It’s all about mitigating risk and maximising margins.”

The launch of Dfendr comes following Vapour’s merger with EveryCloud 12 months ago. EveryCloud’s Manchester team is now fully integrated into Vapour’s 4,500sqft West Yorkshire headquarters, where the 31-strong firm now supplies network connectivity, hosted servers, varied voice and data communications solutions, as well as storage, back-up and replication services.

Vapour also secured £1m of investment from Seneca Partners in June 2017. At the time of the announcement, it was pledged that this capital would be used to fuel both technological development and technical hires within the company.

September 2017

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SPECIAL FEATURE

Ray Woodhead took a chance to leave behind a career in energy efficiency and start his own gin

distillery in the hills above Huddersfield. But has the gamble paid off? Alex Mason went to meet him. there’s only me doing all the distilling, bottling, labelling and delivering – but I want to be prepared and ready to move quickly when the orders come in.”

Despite being passionate and driven to see Divine succeed, Ray admits that there have been some frustrating times along the way.

“Obtaining approval from the authorities to actually distill and sell the gin is a long, tough process – and there’s also legislation and duty payment that has to be accounted for. It certainly wasn’t a case of just set up and start brewing!”

Arriving at the inconspicuous distillery in the Holme Valley that is home to Divine gin, you’d be forgiven for thinking there wasn’t that much going on.

However, step inside to meet owner and ‘head distiller’ Ray, and the story starts to come alive.

Ray, 51, left his job working in the energy efficiency industry just under three years ago and decided to make a total shift into gin making.

He says: “I had no experience whatsoever in making gin, but I thought it would be a great business to run and once I got it in my head, I was determined to make it work. I attended a course at the Institute of Brewing and Distilling to learn more about the distillation process and flavour profiling, and then just got on with it!”

Up until recently, Ray was distilling his gin in his garage at home, but realised he needed

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September 2017

Gin is just Divine

Working with wine merchant Alex Ellmenreich – who Ray credits with helping to on-board customers including The Three Acres, The Woodman Inn and Blacker Hall farm – the taste for Ray’s gin has been acquired rapidly across the Huddersfield area over recent months.

Bombay Sapphire, Divine is a subtle London dry gin that can be enjoyed - depending on preference - served with berries and mixed with unflavoured tonic water to appreciate its full taste. Ray’s list of key ingredients includes cinnamon, pepper, coriander and Shepley Spring Water; with the rest remaining a closely guarded secret.

With demand for Divine on the rise, Ray recently invested in a larger ‘still’, which will enable him to increase production to around 500 bottles per week if required.

Gentler on the palette than your average Gordon’s or

He adds: “If that happens, I’ll be working flat out, as currently

somewhere bigger to take things to the next level. He says: “The unit wher I am now came up and it seemed like the perfect place for Divine to grow as our network of customers expanded.”

However, Ray’s venture is moving forwards with positive steps. Just last month, Divine gin received the bronze quality award in the ‘London Dry’ category of the prestigious International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC) 2017, after impressing a panel of expert judges in a blind taste test.

There are also plans afoot that will see Ray launch Divine’s first flavoured gin before the year is out, in response to customer demand and the current trend for ever more unusual flavoured spirits.

“I’m not giving anything away”, says Ray. “You’ll have to wait and see where we go with it, but I can assure you, after months of trying, tweaking and testing, it will be a flavour worth waiting for.”

FOLLOW THE DIVINE STORY ON TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM @ GINDIVINE

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Kirklees & Calderdale

ECONOMY UPDATE

Nation’s love affair with cycling has boosted SME turnover by 38 per cent in last 5 years.

Barclays Business Banking reveals how Britain’s love affair with cycling is boosting the UK economy.

Not only are Brits spending more on their bike obsession, with turnover of small and medium sized cycling businesses up 38 per cent1, but since the podium success of London 2012 there’s been a surge in Brits taking their passion for cycling up a gear, with the number of cycling clubs, societies and charity events up by nearly 50 per cent.

Research also shows that this love of cycling doesn’t come cheap, with the annual amount spent by cycling enthusiasts totalling almost £3.5 billion. This means that the average cyclist spends £340 on their hobby every year. While more of a one-off investment than an annual purchase, the cost of a new bike averages out at £181 a year, with other top expenses revealed as cycling trips (£173 a year) and bike magazine subscriptions (£92 a year) Other cycling expenses include: • Bike rack (£92 a year) • Cycling apps (£91 a year) • Cycling club membership (£84 a year) • Bike accessories (£70 a year) • Cycling clothes and shoes (£68 a year) • Helmets (£59 a year) • Repairs and services (£57 a year) Ian Rand, CEO of Barclays Business Banking, commented:

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Va-Va Froome fever as Brits race to spend “Britain’s clearly a nation of cycling enthusiasts and it’s great to see how the nation’s hobby has boosted small businesses across the country. As more Brits get in the saddle, not only are people spending more at businesses in the cycling industry, but we’ve seen a dramatic increase in the number of clubs and charity events popping up across the country. There’s no doubt that events such as London’s 2012

Olympics and the Tour de Yorkshire have helped to put British cycling on the map in recent years and, as the nation cheers on all the British cyclists competing this summer, it will also bring valuable support and spending for these small businesses.”

Pennine Cycles in Bradford, Yorkshire has been selling bikes to the local community for over 70

years and owners Paul and Sandra Corcoran have seen first-hand the impact that the Tour de France and Tour de Yorkshire has had on their business: “It’s fantastic to see how cycling has become such a fashionable hobby – ever since the Tour de France visited Yorkshire back in 2014, we’ve seen an increase in people of all ages coming into our store and falling in love with the sport.

Not only have we seen our customer numbers increase by 50 per cent, but it’s also given our community a real boost – as people come together to celebrate the sport and in-store to get the genuine advice they need to find the bike of their dreams”.

Kirklees & Calderdale

Kirklees College in UK top five for apprenticeships Kirklees College is officially one of the best large training providers in the country when it comes to apprenticeships.

Kirklees College is one of the largest apprenticeship providers in West Yorkshire, currently training around 2,800 apprentices each year in over 30 subjects.

Principal Marie Gilluley said: “We are so proud and delighted that our college has been recognised for the quality of our apprenticeship training nationally.

“We train a large number of apprentices so these results show that the quality of the service we provide both for the employers and their apprentices is consistently high.

“And a big thank you also goes

Huddersfield legal firm Eaton Smith has reduced its overall print costs by around 40% after switching to systems provided by Elland-based ABS UK Ltd. The results of a print audit by ABS saw the firm install 17 Samsung printing systems at its office in Huddersfield town centre, which is home to 68 employees.

In the Government’s 2017 National Achievement Rates Tables, the college was placed fifth in the UK for providers who train over 1,000 apprentices.

Of the top five, only two further education colleges were featured; Kirklees College and Dudley College in the West Midlands, alongside private companies Skills to Group Limited and GP Strategies Training Limited and the Royal Navy.

Eaton Smith drives down cost of print

to our employers. By offering apprenticeships, they offer real ‘on the job’ training with real career prospects, during a time of economic uncertainty.

“We hope to make a positive impact on many more businesses through our apprenticeship programmes.”

Nestlé is currently training apprentices through Kirklees College’s Process Manufacturing Centre.

Apprentice Manager Chris Atkinson said the company chose Kirklees College after deciding to go for a single centre of excellence for their key apprentice educational provision, feeling this would help to build the right learning,

achievement and networking for their future cohorts.

“After much research into the options in the areas around our various sites, Kirklees College was chosen as the provider to take us to the next level in engineering and manufacturing,” said Chris.

“At a national level Nestlé has recognised that the versatility of the college was exactly the right match for our business, and our relationship is already yielding successes we are keen to continue.

Reviewing its printing solutions was part of an overall efficiency drive for the company, with the aim of working smarter across all systems as the business continues to grow.

Michaela Bruszniewski, Practice Manager at Eaton Smith commented: “We’ve been impressed with the systems that ABS have put in place. They have helped us to save money, time with regards to reporting, maintenance costs and expenditure on ink and toner orders - which are now done automatically when machines are running low.”

David Lees, Marketing & CSR Manager at ABS UK Ltd added: “Many businesses aren’t aware of the costs they incur for printing and maintenance, but our work with Eaton Smith shows that it isn’t just about cost saving. The time spent by staff members arranging printer maintenance can be excessive, and our systems help to ensure that time is kept to an absolute minimum.”

“No challenge is too great for the staff at the college and this is what a business like Nestlé needs to keep moving forward and deliver its goals.”

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K&C UPDATE

Nestled in the heart of Kirklees is a unique project that aims to promote the core values of what it means to be part of a community – and encourage businesses to be a key part of the community in which they operate.

Former New York Mayor backs Kirklees sharing project Comoodle is a community sharing project with the mission to connect people like no other initiative of its kind. Businesses are being encouraged to get involved and be part of the sharing revolution.

Beginning life in 2013, Comoodle – part of and supported by Kirklees Council - has invited people, businesses and groups to share their ‘stuff, space and skills’ within the community via an online platform.

Shares include sensory spaces for those with disabilities, a PA system and a free Mandarin Chinese taster class.

Now, there is an effort to get more businesses to sign up and use the platform to share their unused space – whether a meeting room that can be made available to the community for half an hour a week or a desk that would be ideal for a charity to

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have as their base.

For a business wondering about why they should get involved they just need to look at the high profile backing that has made Comoodle what it is today.

New York’s former mayor, the philanthropist Michael Bloomberg, awarded Comoodle €1 million in funding via his own The Mayor’s Challenge initiative in 2014.

Competing against some of the biggest cities in the world for support, Kirklees came out on top.

“The Mayor’s Challenge focused our minds to think about how local government could join the sharing economy and make our stuff, skills and space available to the wider community,” said Duggs Carre, project manager for Comoodle.

“Our funding proposal led to us being the only UK finalist. We beat off competition from 155

Kirklees & Calderdale

and businesses can put any type of available space on the Comoodle site.

to share because they live in our community,” said Stephen.

“You could have a shop window that you’re offering for people to place an advert in, or it could be a small meeting room or entire venue.

All we ask is that you sign-up your space to the Comoodle website, fill in your details and either make your facility free or available in return of a small charge or donation to charity.

More supporters of Comoodle are joining all the time too – including Craig Grimes, a volunteer trustee at The Civic, Slaithwaite. Craig, who also runs a charity, has used the platform and is now looking at how the community facility can be part of the scheme.

“It’s our part in helping to keep the community going and keeping the areas of Kirklees flourishing.”

cities in 28 countries to be in the top five of the Mayor’s Challenge too.

“Other winners were from the likes of Barcelona, Athens and Stockholm so it was brilliant to be able to put Kirklees on the map and really show what we continue to do well for our community.

“We’ve used that funding to raise awareness of Comoodle and we’ve now got a campaign underway to get 100 new shares of space.

That means building owners

Hundreds of ‘shares’ have already taken place via Comoodle’s website already from the use of rooms at community centres in Honley, Netherton and Emley, to storage space at Queensgate Market and a parking space at a council depot in Dewsbury.

‘Comoodler’ Stephen Knight, owner of Honley and Netherton community centres, was an early supporter of the project and offers his space on the platform.

“There are a lot of groups working in isolation and they’re not sharing knowledge or equipment. Some have spaces that are not used four or five days a week so it makes sense to encourage businesses

Craig added: “We have to support the most vulnerable within our society – we have to support poorer people, younger people, older people, disabled people and these groups have to give back and support each other.”

Cllr Graham Turner, Cabinet Member for resources, said: “Community groups are incredibly important to the people of Kirklees and anything businesses and other groups can do to support them is really appreciated.

“In a society where everyone is busy it is not always possible to give up time to volunteer, but giving up a space for even an hour so someone can hold a meeting, or sharing a storage space where a group can keep their things safe, can make a real difference.”

YOU CAN FIND OUT MORE ABOUT COMOODLE ON THEIR WEBSITE AT WWW. COMOODLE.COM

Soft furnishing firm supports Grenfell Tower residents Supplying curtain and blind accessories to the trade sector, Guiseley based Renaissance understands the importance of a safe home and when the chairman heard of the Grenfell Towers tragedy he knew he had to act.

Michael Smaldon, who started Renaissance in 1985, immediately devised a simple match funding scheme for his team and customers to contribute to an appeal throughout June.

A family business based at Focus Business Park with a family ethos, the company invited customers to place orders of £150 or £300 and Renaissance donated £1 or £2.50 respectively for each order placed in June.

To ensure Renaissance donated a substantial amount customers boosted their spend to hit the thresholds and the company raised £970. That was then match funded by theBigGive.org and a total of £1940 was sent to the Kensington and Chelsea Foundation to support the relief effort.

“Everyone here realizes how fortunate they are,” explained Michael Smaldon, who’s three sons, Rolf, Ben and Sam all work in the business.

“The Renaissance team was delighted to support the idea and customers very generously donated through their order spend in the time scale we set. We all hope it has made a difference to the lives of those most affected,” he added.

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COMPANY OF THE MONTH Must-know tips when rebranding a business

Every edition, technical public relations specialist Scriba PR presents the business they feel deserves some regional recognition.

says: “Your brand isn’t what you say it is, it’s what your customers say it is.” It’s therefore crucial to deliver the experience you’ve promised, as customer feedback will ultimately shape your brand in the long term.

Darren Evans, Director of Huddersfield based brand consultancy The Engine Room, advises how to maximise the return from a rebrand project.

Plan. Ensure you have a clear strategic reason for rebranding and tie it to your commercial objectives. If you don’t, you’ll end up confusing yourself and the customers you’re trying to attract, plus the investment will start to become a cost.

Understand Brand v Branding.

Your brand is your business and branding is how you communicate that. A rebrand should therefore lead from the top, not just the marketing department.

Sponsored by

Exclude employees at your peril – involve your team in the development work and launch the new brand internally before it goes external. Employees need to understand the purpose of the rebrand if they’re to communicate it well.

Find your purpose and wear it on your sleeve like a creative badge.

Brands with a clear purpose are easier to understand.

Know your customers.

If you’ve never done it, spend a day in their world to obtain user insight that will shape the entire project.

Don’t make assumptions.

Understand the true commercial needs of your market and tailor

your messaging to evoke the behaviour you hope to drive.

Think message before logo.

A logo might make a brand famous but it’s only a small part of your identity. Branding goes so much deeper and conveys your real personality, so find your tone of voice first.

Set realistic expectations.

As brand guru Marty Neumeier

Keep it simple stupid.

Even complex brands rely on simple ideas. We have enough information to take in everyday without more clutter to add to it.

Be creative.

True differentiation comes from being brave, visionary, peoplecentred and not following the herd. Return on investment is sure to follow if you look after the detail.

This year’s KACCL Charity lunch is set to be a cracker!

Sleigh bells are already ringing for businesses in Kirklees and Calderdale as over half of the tickets have already sold out for this year’s annual KACCL Christmas lunch fundraiser.

KACCL, short for Kirklees and Calderdale Charity Lunch, brings together business people for an afternoon of fun, festivities and fundraising.

This year marks the second year of the annual event and the chosen charities for 2017 are Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice in Huddersfield, and Orange Box, which is a centre for young people in Halifax. Last year’s event raised £18,000 and this year organisers are hoping to raise an extra £6,000, taking the total amount fundraised to £24,000.

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Kirklees & Calderdale Harry Wheeldon, a talented student from Kirklees College won the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy’s Level 2 Student of the Year award during a London ceremony on Wednesday.

Harry, 17, from Holmfirth, was presented a trophy and prize

by Peter Jones CBE in front of his friends and family, as well as hundreds of students from colleges across the country, who all came together for the prestigious Peter Jones Enterprise Academy annual graduation.

Hundreds of students collected scrolls from Peter Jones on stage and Harry was one of a select few to win an award.

Harry was studying the Level 2 BTEC in Enterprise and Entrepreneurship at Kirklees College, when he was nominated by college staff.

Harry fought off competition from several other colleges and was chosen for the honour due to his commitment to the course and being pro-active during his time at the Academy.

Jonny Sobczyk, said: “Harry is a really impressive student that has played a leading role in his class.

I’m delighted that he has been recognised for the impact he has made on his fellow students.”

Top enterprise prize for Harry Harry said: “It feels amazing to have won this award. This journey has been unforgettable and I leave the Academy feeling confident and happy about my future!”

Harry also displayed incredible grit and determination in his teamwork and inspired his classmates to perform better.

Staff at Kirklees College said he

was ‘surpassing expectations on the course’.

Harry’s tutor, Lydia Butterworth, said: “Harry is a super bright individual, always ahead with his work, throwing himself into everything. Harry shows determination and leadership skills beyond his age and he really deserves this award.”

Peter Jones Foundation CEO

The unmissable lunch is ideal for business people who don’t have a work’s Christmas party,and simply for those who want to raise money for charity, network, and have fun.

service Calderdale. It’s a great networking opportunity as well as a significant fundraiser,” said Nadio Granata, KACCL chair and head of marketing at Stafflex.

Tickets are just £50 each which includes a champagne reception, three course lunch and entertainment.

The event will take place on Thursday 7 December at Cedar Court Hotel, Ainley Top. For details on how to get involved or to purchase tickets pleasecontact KACCL@ crowther.accountants.

“We are really excited about this year’s event following the success of last year’s party. More than half of the tables have been sold already, mainly to those who attended last year and enjoyed it so much. We are particularly keen to have Calderdale businesses join us as we are fundraising specifically for charities that

The KACCL organising committee represents 12 figures from local businesses including JR Group UK Ltd, Chadwick Lawrence, Stafflex, TopicUK, Faith PR and Crowther Accountants who are also headline sponsor for the second year running.

The Peter Jones Enterprise Academy, run by the Peter Jones Foundation, is a nationwide network of colleges that deliver specialist courses in enterprise and entrepreneurship. Students are encouraged to set up their own businesses, from which they gain real-life experience of running their very own company.

Jonny Sobczyk continued: “I’m proud of all of the students that graduated this year and have every faith that they will go on to do remarkable things. The day was a fantastic celebration of their achievements during their time with us.”

During the ceremony, the students received a royal visit from HRH The Duke of York, KG, Patron of the Peter Jones Foundation, as well as video messages of congratulations from various celebrities, including James Corden, Jack Whitehall, Holly Willoughby and Michael McIntyre.

Festive facts Did you know ?

• In 2015 research revealed that UK businesses spent almost £1 billion on Christmas parties.

• 11 million Brits will go to a work Christmas party each year.

• Some UK businesses have shifted their parties to less traditional alternatives such as cooking together rather than eating out, taking part in outdoor activities and going on overnight stays.

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Kirklees & Calderdale

CSR SHOWCASE

Just over two years ago, Children’s Place Day Nurseries took its CSR activity one step further and established its own, independent charity, Children’s Place Foundation. We spoke to Development Coordinator Esther Burke to find out more.

Children’s day nursery launches a charity TopicUK: Tell us about the origins of The Children’s Place Foundation. How did the idea for a charity come about?

nurture, care for, educate and empower our children so they can grow up to be strong global citizens and take care of our future.

Esther: Children’s Place Foundation was established by Children’s Place Day Nurseries Ltd to focus their charitable efforts on much needed early years development projects.

Children’s Place Day Nurseries saw a need to support children beyond nursery provision.

The Foundation utilises their expertise in the early years education and development sector to support the early years workforce, children and their families and to champion childhood and improve life chances for our children.

TopicUK: How has the charity grown over the last two and a half years since it was launched?

Early years development is vitally important for global sustainability. We need to

Esther: Children’s Place Foundation was registered as a CIO Charity in March 2015.

We began providing Christmas food hampers and gifts to vulnerable families across West Yorkshire. Since then we have grown significantly and now also provide training to the early years workforce across Calderdale, Bradford and Kirklees, and have a project working with the Kindergarten Headmistress Association in Nairobi, Kenya to develop their curriculum for children under three years old.

We also work with organisations to develop projects that support our most vulnerable children, for example refugee and asylum seeking children and their families, or children with an imprisoned parent.

TopicUK: What is the aim behind the charity and where is its work carried out?

Esther: Our vision is a world where every child is supported to reach their full potential. Our projects provide education, resources and support to the children’s workforce, including Children’s Centres, childminders, school nurseries, community groups and other charities. Our programmes are specifically designed to practically and theoretically empower and inspire the adults working with our children in order to ensure they have access to people, experiences, services and opportunities that enable their early childhood development and learning.

TopicUK: How do people benefit from the charity?

Our ultimate beneficiaries are young children who have their life chances improved.

Children who are in contact

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with adults working with our services are accessing people who have their early childhood development, wellbeing and life chances at the forefront of their minds. These adults are supported to advocate for children; to champion childhood and improve life chances. As a bonus, the adults we come into contact with are also empowered and supported in their own development journeys.

TopicUK: What fundraising activities take place to raise money for the Foundation? How much

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in working with their responsible adults and get wonderful feedback from practitioners and parents on how our support has enabled them to support children’s unique needs.

TopicUK: Tell us about any stand-out or highlight projects that the Foundation has delivered.

do you need to raise per year to continue providing the support you give?

Esther: To continue or project work, we need to raise around £25,000 a year, not including any salary or office cost as this is supported by Children’s Place Day Nurseries. We raise money through charging a small fee to attend our training, and we are supported by fundraisers doing challenge events, organising their own events or attending ours

and we also apply for funding to grant making organisations.

TopicUK: What challenges and difficulties have you encountered along the way?

Esther: As a charity that is working for improvement of children’s outcomes as adults, we don’t have any ‘success stories’ as yet as the children we support - directly or in directly - are still children! However, we have lots of great achievements

Esther: We are extremely proud of all our projects and so struggle to pick out one highlight!

However, to date we have delivered over 500 Christmas Family Hampers and gifts to families and children, trained over 400 practitioners in the children’s workforce across West Yorkshire and in Kenya, and we have two exciting development projects that will be launching in 2017/18 that will see us working to support refugee and asylum seeking children and families.

TopicUK: What words of advice would you give to

anyone thinking of setting up their own charity?

Esther: It is a lot of work to get things off the ground, but so rewarding when things start coming together and people begin taking notice. Meeting people and getting your message out there is key – tell people why you are important!

Children’s Place Foundation is currently looking for local businesses to support its 2017 Christmas Hamper Campaign. £15 sponsorship will provide a hamper for a family with three days of meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and a family gift.

The hampers are designed to support families over the Christmas period when services and shops are closed and public transport is limited.

TO GET INVOLVED AND SPONSOR A HAMPER, CONTACT ESTHER ON ESTHER.BURKE@CHILDRENS-PLACE. CO.UK OR CALL 01274 601575

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James Sommerville - From Huddersfield pavement artist to design chief at The Coca Cola Company 28

September 2017

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The Prince, The Pauper &The Pop An astonishing career has taken him from pavement artist to Vice President of Global Design for the Coca Cola Company. TopicUK Group Editor Gill Laidler speaks to James Sommerville

F

to revolutionise the design industry, gave them a vital competitive edge over their rivals and a sense that they had the necessary vision and instinct for success.

Fast forward a few years to 1995 and with hard work, the partners kept their base in Huddersfield, although they had moved into premises first in King Street, then Fitzwilliam Street, and opened a London office, swiftly expanding to New York a year later.

iercely proud of his West Yorkshire roots and a committed Huddersfield Town fan, James Sommerville attended Batley Art College and whilst studying typography and graphic design, James became a street artist, chalking pavements in towns and cities across the UK. He developed a somewhat lucrative early profession perfecting Disney characters that earned him £700 on one pre-Christmas Saturday in Sunderland.

It was the 1980s, a difficult economy and with no job, James and future business partner Simon Needham, jumped at the opportunity of Mrs Thatcher’s £40pw Enterprise Allowance to open a design studio. “We couldn’t afford premises, so we moved into my grandmother’s attic bedroom in Huddersfield, thinking we’d eventually find ‘proper’ jobs.” However, this was just the beginning for ATTIK, the business that would go on to be global and eventually sold to Dentsu and become recognised by the global design community.

The breakthrough for ATTIK came in 1986 thanks to The Prince’s Trust. Although their business plan was basically written on the back of a cigarette packet, 20-year-old James and Simon must have impressed The Trust as they were awarded £1000 each. “It was like winning the lottery,” recalls James, “especially as we had been turned down by eight High Street Banks for a bank loan.” This was the first indication that someone had confidence in them, so they invested their £2000 in Apple Mac computers and becoming early adopters of the technology that was

ATTIK worked on emerging young adult brands such as Sony PlayStation and Nintendo and devised some edgy marketing for Heineken. With entrepreneurial genius, James and Simon created and self published a series of experimental graphic design books entitled ‘Noise’ showcasing their youthful style with a series of designs for famous brands. These brands were not yet clients, but many were so impressed with the work that they hired ATTIK. Further offices opened in San Francisco to ride the early dotcom wave on the West Coast and in 1999 they opened in Australia to tap into the Continued F

September 2017 29

Photo by @alextelferstudio

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A collection of junk? Consumer artifacts that James collects and paints white to remind him of the constant change of design.

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excitement building ahead of the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

There were 20-30 staff by this point in each overseas office.

Then came 2001 and a ‘smack in the face’ as James describes it. “First the dotcom bubble burst then came 9/11. As a project-based business with high staff then and premises, overheads requiring a healthy turnover of new clients, ATTIK was in trouble,” he said. “However, we survived this near disaster by making the necessary tough decisions operationally and we pulled out of the USA completely, then we hired our first Financial Director to spearhead future business and growth.”

In 2007, Dentsu the American division of one of Japan’s largest advertising agency’s were looking to expand and approached ATTIK. James was then at the top of his profession and after 20+ years was looking for a new challenge to leverage his experience, so they sold to Dentsu. “It was a tough decision, not one that Simon and I made lightly, but change is good,” he added.

Throughout an astonishing career, James has championed British and Yorkshire design, both at home and overseas.

He has been actively involved in business mentoring and charitable work for more than 25 years and has given around 250 keynote speeches across the globe to promote

British talent, his hometown of Huddersfield and is a star performer for The Princes

Punk shot - 1985 @ Batley School of Art and Design by @johnnycarr

Trust. In the words of HRH Prince Charles, ‘James is a virtuous circle.” James was appointed to the executive board of The Prince’s Trust Yorkshire in 2004 and served for five years, sharing best practice and advice from his international business experience. During that time he has spoken at more than 20 Prince’s Trust events, including being on stage with HRH Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace and most recently at St James Palace.

Despite now living in the US, James is also a strong supporter of the University of Huddersfield and creative businesses in Huddersfield.

In 2001 he was awarded a doctorate and in 2002 he opened the Universities Innovation Centre with the now Lord Sugar. His connection also goes direct

to students with initiatives such as launching ATTIK’s MA International Course in Creative Imaging in 2003.

This was the world’s first creative industry based Masters Degree to nurture postgraduate creatives from overseas to become tomorrow’s commercial talent.

Today, James maintains a direct connection to the design community to foster new talent. He has developed an innovative direct-to-talent contractual model that allows Coca-Cola to hire emerging global designers, such as an amazing typographer, filmmaker, UX designer etc, even if they still work from their bedroom!

With this new approach to sourcing talent, James has come full circle and is opening doors to people who are today in the same position as he was 30 years ago.

James’s role as Vice President Global Design for The CocaCola Company is huge, with he and his team recently leading the design of ‘One Brand Strategy’ and ‘Taste the Feeling’ global campaigns for the Coca-Cola trademark, the largest unified campaign in the history of the brand activated in over 200 markets.

He also has responsibility for design leadership for the company’s 20 $1 billion brands, including Powerade, Fanta and Schweppes. Not bad for a lad from Huddersfield!

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IT UPDATE

Fusion offers IT solutions to a diverse range of organisations across many different industries. Be IT student flats, bars, warehouses, solicitors or accountants, Fusion have been there, seen it, built a plan for it and delivered a system we are proud of and that works for our clients.

Fusion creates IT solutions We wanted to give a few examples of a few different situations in which we’ve been able to provide IT help.

Usually, when we install an IT system, we’re often trying to improve on an old, tired existing service. However, when we began work on a fleet of bars in Huddersfield earlier this year – they had no infrastructure at all.

We implemented wifi across all the bars and computers in order to create one, easily manageable IT system for the bar to work off that was simple to monitor.

Fusion also installed a new phone system that allowed for instant connectivity and reduced costs for them which was great.

The Fusion team were taken back to their student days recently when we were given the task of overhauling the security of the IT system in local student accommodation. We ensured that the service provided by the landlord was fair for all tenants and that they weren’t being overcharged. We also made it a priority to ensure that no one person would be able to take over the entire connection for the students’ downloads. We decided

Howarths invests in new HR and investigations team

Law specialist Howarths has invested over £50k in the launch of a specialist team designed to support SMEs with HR issues and people management.

to ‘student proof’ the IT devices, by installing waterproof, tamper proof and shock proof software in order to reduce the recurrent cost of yearly replacement for all IT kit that is damaged or ‘disappears’.

From the intimacy of student accommodation to the rafters of the industrial warehouses, Fusion were recently seeking to improve the wifi connectivity on a large industrial site in the local area recently. We wanted to make sure that the warehousing software could connect to the scanners and laptops the company used from every location within the warehouse. We also built and delivered a phone system that covered the entirety of the warehouse and allowed for people

people management and investigation roles in the public sector. He will work closely with the newly formed HR team, led by HR advisor Tracey Hopkins and supported

by HR assistant, Ellie-Mae Fisher, and HR administrator, Caitlan Price.

The department is forecast to increase company turnover by 5% in the first year, growing to 10% by August 2019.

This new department will focus specifically on delivering HR-related services including on-site employee investigations, recruitment and selection and employee engagement support.

Explaining the reasons behind the launch, Managing Director, Gavin Howarth, said: “We listened carefully to feedback received by our clients and understood that more on-site support was required. For reasons of impartiality and complexity, many businesses we work with were looking for support with their internal HR investigations.

The investigations service will be led by Bob Cherry, who was appointed to the role in July following a number of senior

“A properly conducted HR investigation is of crucial importance to the fairness of any process and we are now well positioned to

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to move all over the site and never have to drop a phone call or lose connectivity – which had been a huge problem for the business previously.

As you can tell from these insights into just three of the many jobs we do, Fusion offers a diverse range of services. We pride ourselves on being able to assist with IT issues almost wherever they arise, and not being restricted to one specific industry or area. If you think you could benefit from Fusion’s help we’re sure we can provide a solution that works for you.

GIVE OUR TEAM A CALL ON 08451221240 FOR ANY MORE INFORMATION ON HOW FUSION CAN HELP YOU.

support businesses of all sizes with difficult tasks such taking witness statements and properly and impartially reviewing evidence”.

He continued: “We have also increased the range of HR services we offer to include more specialist HR work such as recruiting the right people, driving employee engagement and improving workplace culture to impact the bottom line. These services are proactive, profit focused and all designed to help businesses get the best out of their main asset; their staff.”

The new department launch comes following a successful 2016/17 financial year, which saw the company increase turnover and secure a further three year contract with national high street footwear retailer, Moda in Pelle.

Kirklees & Calderdale

RECRUITMENT UPDATE

Luddism could back: be warned!

By Nadio Granata - Director of Marketing Staffex Recruitment

Stafflex has been supporting TopicUK and Close Up magazines right from the launch of the first editions over t hree years ago.

We love the look and feel of the magazines and more importantly, the interesting articles about the local businesses who, like us, have much to deal with in the fast moving and ever-changing business world we operate in.

And there is no greater change on the horizon, perhaps, than the emergence of the algorithm.

Here’s a little story…

Way back last century, I was fortunate enough to be invited to attend a twelve month course on local governance and leadership. The course was run by the nice people at Common Purpose (http://commonpurpose.org/united-kingdom/) and helped change my views forever.

Our cohort was made up of 32 ‘business leaders’ from across Kirklees, and each month we would meet up in factories, schools, hospitals and offices to discuss an agenda made up of all the key aspects that make a destination tick; including health, environment, arts, manufacturing and education.

On one such occasion, we were sent to the Textile Centre of Excellence on Leeds Road, Huddersfield. There, we were greeted by the founders of the centre and their management team including Bill Macbeath, who subsequently has been recognised for his contribution to textiles with an OBE. What followed, was astonishing.

“Did you know, the industrial revolution began here?”, the presenter asked.

The thought that the industrial revolution started in Huddersfield blew my mind.

Factually, of course, this statement could be challenged. Nonetheless, Huddersfield, Kirklees and Calderdale were all central to the transformational paradigm which is now known as ‘The Industrial Revolution’.

And so to the point.

The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in business is growing by the minute. Algorithms are being built on algorithms, and coordinated, mathematical rules are being used to speed up technical processes that until recently, were dependant on you or I to implement using our own intuition.

I am currently involved with a small group of people who are looking into the ‘ethics’ of AI and particularly the risk of bias in the algorithms.

Having been the co-inventor of NumKrunch - an algorithm designed to measure the performance of social media - I have first-hand knowledge of the human influence intrinsically involved in creating these formulas.

“Why is this relevant to the ‘recruitment’ pages in this publication?”, I hear you ask.

The answer? Because the recruitment industry is one of the biggest uses of AI. Online applications are filtered using a sophisticated (or not, as the case might be!) set of criteria which enable the recruiter to reduce the number of applications down to manageable numbers. These criteria are set by humans, often white, middle-aged, middle class programmers with little understanding

of the industries they serve, but incredible knowledge of writing formulae based on statistics.

And so, if you choose to use a recruiter that does not invest the time required to know you personally, then you will be a number on a spreadsheet with specific criteria weighted according to the preferences of the employer.

Sometimes those preferences are biased - often subconsciously - and that’s why they should be scrutinised by independent analysts.

Why is this relevant to you, the reader of this local magazine? Because the KIRKLEES AND CALDERDALE region stands as one of the biggest manufacturing regions in the country and therefore in Europe. Automation is replacing human intervention and many of the old arguments that led to the execution of 17 ‘luddites’ in 1813 are perhaps relevant today.

Recruitment, education, dating, insurance; all these industries are turning more and more to AI to speed up their processes and make use of the masses of data they have accumulated whilst we were just going about our daily lives.

But it’s not doom and gloom. The general consensus is that that whilst Artificial Intelligence is undoubtedly going to be a 21st century game changer, just like the machines of the 1800s including the Spinning Jenny and Arkwright’s Wheel, the world moves on and adapts to the technologies we create. More than 50% of jobs in 2025 do not exist today according to some experts.

Here ends the history lesson.

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YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR

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In this regular feature, TopicUK Kirklees & Calderdale editor Alex Mason catches up with some of our region’s most entrepreneurial

young people to find out how they built their businesses. This edition, we speak to Erika Maybury, MD of Huddersfield’s Hollywood Agency

QA &

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Kirklees & Calderdale TopicUK: Hi Erika. First off, can you let us know how old you are?

Erika: I’ve just turned 20, but was 19 when I became MD at Hollywood Agency.

TopicUK: Tell me a bit about how you became MD of Hollywood Agency at such a young age.

Erika: I started out working for Worthington Brown and Cool Hand Studios in Holmfirth.

Not long after joining, I introduced a new fee paying service to both businesses, which was social media management. Seeing the potential for a more digitally-focussed agency, I worked with Neil Worthington and Luke Hand and all three of us decided to launch Hollywood Agency.

Since studying at Greenhead College, my goal has always been to head up a business and my passion has always lay within marketing and I’ve spent most of my time since immersing myself into the world of marketing and advertising. The idea behind Hollywood was to launch an agency driven by young talent with fresh ideas. So far it’s been a great success; we’re a team of 11 and the growth we’ve seen over the past 12 months has exceeded all of our expectations.

TopicUK: What areas of marketing do you specialise in?

Erika: We’re full service and offer everything from branding and web design, to social media, video and PR. The strength of our team means that when we work with a client, we become their external marketing department and build long-lasting relationships. Our flair is for helping other businesses to grow and we do this through targeted, thorough and effective marketing.

TopicUK: It must have been difficult at times, so who has provided you with help and support along the way?

Erika: I’m lucky to have two fantastic business partners who are in this with me. Neil Worthington and Luke Hand have provided me with endless amounts of support and knowledge; we’re a great team. Neil started his business when he was just my age 27 years ago, and he’s put a lot of faith in me and is

quick to tell me that age shouldn’t be a barrier to success in business. If I ask Neil a question, he’s always got a long story or a bit of trivia to go with the answer, but when we get to the point he’s always got brilliant advice which I really appreciate!

an expectation that your customers can find you on social platforms.

TopicUK: What would you say has been the most challenging part of growing/ running your business so far?

I’m very lucky to work with two successful businesspeople who believe in what I’m doing.

And of course my parents are my biggest fans; they are understanding of the long hours that I work and help me wherever they can.

Erika: I don’t have the social life of a normal 19 year old and I’ve had to make a lot of sacrifices to devote my life to the business. It involves working weekends and it’s not easy!

I’m never home in time for Coronation Street but I’d rather be here doing what I love!

TopicUK: How many clients do you currently look after? Tell us a bit about them.

TopicUK: And what has been the most rewarding?

Erika: We work with such a great mix of different businesses including Huddersfield Town Football Club, Ernest Wilson, SCM Rooftech and BLOC in Holmfirth to name a few! We are able to work with businesses of all sizes and in all sectors from large scale projects - such as a primetime TV advert that we are producing for Ernest Wilson due to broadcast in September - to the simplest of jobs such as designing business cards for a local shop.

Marketing shouldn’t be out of reach for any business, and we’re proud to support a lot of small businesses local to us with their marketing, as well as having the capacity to take on mammoth marketing projects!

TopicUK: You’re obviously a social media expert, but how has social helped to grow and develop the presence of Hollywood Agency?

Erika: We are mad on social media here, we manage social media for both business and celebrity clients, and I actually have a qualification in social media! When we first started the agency, we had just one social media client, but I’ve now grown this department and have dedicated social media staff and numerous clients on retainers. This is a huge achievement that I’m very proud of.

Social has given us a lot of business leads and has raised our profile hugely; I get a lot of people commenting on the things we’re doing and the work that we’ve shared on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Every business has a reason to be on social media, and in 2017 it’s

Erika: The most rewarding parts are when we get new businesses through recommendation.

If a client is willing to put you in front of their best customers and contacts, then you know you’re doing something right. Knowing that other local business people trust me is very satisfying; the work that our team produces is excellent so it’s brilliant to be recognised for that.

TopicUK: What advice would you give to another young entrepreneur starting out in business?

Erika: Network, network, network! Surround yourself with like-minded people with similar ambitions. I spend as much of my time as possible getting to know successful individuals and growing businesses because I believe that you become what you surround yourself with.

One more piece of advice would be to put your business first and work as many hours as it takes to get things off the ground. Building a business isn’t easy - if it was then everyone would do it.

TopicUK: Finally, where do you hope to see the business in five years’ time?

Erika: I hope our fantastic team has expanded further. I truly believe in the apprenticeship scheme and would love to grow our social media department through young talent. In five years’ time, we might have opened our Los Angeles office – who knows!

FOLLOW HOLLYWOOD AGENCY ON INSTAGRAM @HOLLYWOOD.AGENCY AND TWITTER @ AGENCYHOLLYWOOD.

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LEGAL MATTERS

Each issue Chadwick Lawrence Yorkshire’s Legal People, share with our readers information to keep us all within the law. If you have a legal question, or need to know about a particular subject, email editor@topicuk.co.uk

Settling a Commercial Dispute

Peter Harling

Commercial disputes can affect all types of businesses at one time or another. They can be costly and time consuming and if not handled properly can damage commercial relationships and reputations.

Why settle?

At Chadwick Lawrence we recognise that time diverted from the business in this way can also impact on an organisation’s performance.

The Commercial Dispute Resolution team deals expertly with a vast range of both private and public sector disputes and we aim to provide a friendly, cost effective, professional service blended with our sector expertise and vast experience in managing and resolving disputes.

• A settlement gives the business certainty and closure, and avoids the anxiety of having to wait for a judgment from court and the uncertainty about that outcome.

• Reaching a settlement avoids the expense of continuing with litigation. Even if the business wins in court and is awarded costs, it will rarely get all of its costs back from the other side.

• The business should not consider it a sign of weakness to approach the other side to explore the chances of a settlement. This can be done at any time during the litigation process, even during a trial. Settlement negotiations facilitated by a neutral third party (generally in the form of mediation) are becoming increasingly popular.

Settlement discussions • Make sure settlement discussions are conducted on a “without prejudice basis”.

This means that anything

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said about the dispute during the settlement negotiations or in any written settlement offer cannot be used later at the trial. This protection only applies to statements made purely in an attempt to settle the case.

• If the business does not want to be bound by a settlement until after it has spoken to a solicitor, it should make sure any oral settlement is made subject to contract, to take binding effect only on entering into a written settlement agreement.

The extent of the opponent’s resources If the opponent does not have significant funds, it may be better to settle early rather than incurring significant costs. There is no point pursuing the dispute to trial if the opponent cannot pay the sums awarded or the business’s legal costs.

The extent of the business’ resources Bear in mind the balance between

trying to get a return on the costs already incurred, as against the risks associated with incurring further costs. Is it better to settle straight away or is it feasible to continue to pursue or defend proceedings in the hope of achieving a better result?

Cost-benefit analysis • Early on in the dispute, conduct a cost-benefit analysis of continuing to fight the case.

The business should compare its analysis with possible settlement outcomes.

• If an offer is made, the business should consider its present-day value, bearing in mind how long it will take to get to trial and the potential cost of litigation.

Adverse publicity and precedents Settlement is likely to be a priority if the business: Is concerned about the publicity associated with going to trial.

Wants to avoid setting an unhelpful precedent that may lead to further claims.

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Image for illustration purposes only If the business knows the other side is more concerned about these factors, this can provide negotiation leverage.

Management time Consider the strain on the business’s management team and its employees in investigating and defending or pursuing the proceedings.

Other commercial considerations Are there any other commercial reasons for settling? For example, is the dispute: •

Damaging the business more broadly.

•

Causing other losses because it is restricting the business from carrying out its normal business activities.

Relationship with the other party

Instalment payments

What relationship does the business have with the other party, and what relationship does it want to have with them in the future? Sometimes reaching an amicable settlement may be the best way forward for both parties.

• If the business is owed money, and is in a position to wait for payment, an overall higher amount may be achievable through an instalment programme, although it will take longer to collect.

• If the business owes money, and has the liquidity, offering a lesser total amount as a lump sum up front may be attractive.

Alternatives to money •

Consider providing free or discounted goods or services instead of, or in conjunction with, money. A composite agreement may help the business reach an agreement when it would have been too far apart in terms of cash sums alone.

•

Agreeing not to do something can also be a useful tool in agreeing a settlement.

Taxation Always take specialist tax advice

and make sure it is factored into the settlement negotiations (for example, VAT may be payable on the settlement).

What next?

This article provides an overview of the law in this particular area. If you or your business are experiencing difficulties with any kind of dispute, our Dispute Resolution team at Chadwick Lawrence would be delighted to hear from you with a view to discussing how they could assist you further.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT ZOE ALLEN ON ZOEALLEN@CHADLAW.CO.UK.

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WORKING WITH INDIVIDUALS

From moving home to claiming an inheritance, debt to divorce, injuries resulting from accidents and medical negligence, we are on hand to help and make sure that the process runs as smoothly as possible.

Dispute Resolution

Employee Services

Family Law

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September 2017

Home & Property

Medical Negligence

Personal Injury

Residential Property Disputes

01484 519 999

Wills & Probate

Kirklees & Calderdale

Property investment firm to create new affordable housing in Halifax A Yorkshire property investment company has purchased a wellknown building in Halifax town centre that will be converted into private letting accommodation.

Empire Property Holdings has bought Halifax House on the corner of Blackwall & Ferguson Street in the town. The company plans to convert the former Covea Insurance offices into 65 one and two-bedroom apartments with parking.

Empire Property Holdings will invest £3.5m in the scheme, with the redevelopment being undertaken by sister company, Empire Property Concepts.

Speaking about the new apartments, managing director of the two companies, Paul Rothwell, said: “We are seeing a huge level of demand for affordable housing and that’s exactly what we will be offering at Halifax House.

“With a deposit to purchase a house out of reach for so many and increasing rental values, we are seeing people turning to substandard and poorly maintained properties.

“It’s not good enough. Our aim is to provide accommodation which is fit for purpose, well finished, safe and secure.

He added: “New permitted development planning rules,

introduced last year, allow us to convert former commercial properties for residential use and we believe this is having a really positive impact on the housing market.

“Buildings which could have stood empty for years can now be converted into much needed town centre accommodation. That’s got to be a good thing for local people and the local economy.”

Empire Property Holdings started work on the conversion of the building in July and expect the apartments to be ready by January 2018.

Empire Property Holdings has developments in Wakefield and recently completed schemes in Pontefract and Doncaster. They are also active in the North West with developments in Bolton and Blackburn.

Kirklees and Calderdale

Annual Charity Lunch

T h u r s d a y 7 th D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 7 Cedar Cour t Hotel, Huddersfield Raising funds to support Kirklees and Calderdale’s children and young people Champagne Reception from 11.00 - 11.30am

Three Course Lunch from 12.30pm

Carriages at 3.30pm

Book your tickets Tickets: £50 each or tables of 10 £500 To book your tickets and find out about various sponsorship packages available, please send the following details to: kaccl@crowther.accountants Name, company, address, email address, telephone number, number of tickets

WWW.KACCL.UK

/KACCL

@KACCL_CHARITY

September 2017

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HOW IT'S MADE

In this edition, TopicUK catches up with SB Homes to find out more about what it takes to create bespoke housing from planning to purchase

New Homes Ensuring Kirklees keeps its identity Huddersfield-based house builder SB Homes has crafted almost 400 homes in our region over the past 20 years.

The local developer is just one of the many small firms up and down the country that is helping to protect our region's character.

Their approach to building new homes is very different to the likes of the industry’s ‘top four’ — Barratt, Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon and Berkeley Group — who are racing to meet the growing demand for new homes.

Stephen Byram, founder and MD of the 20-year old business explains: “Of course, these large house builders are critical if we are ever to achieve the target of 270,000 new homes a year — but small, progressive and flexible companies are just as important.

“At SB Homes, for example, we’re a local firm and have a family background. Two of my daughters work for the business, and I’ve employed some of my tradespeople since day one. This gives us a totally different perspective on house building to that of big developers,” he said.

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“It all starts with acquiring the right land. Because I’m a Huddersfield man, I have a good local knowledge — we keep a close eye on spaces that would work well as residential developments.

We’re also often approached by people who want to sell to us.

“Typically, the best pieces of land are brownfield sites, such as disused mills and factories. These spaces are usually the most idyllic and convenient, often being positioned next to waterways and near to the centre of villages.

However, they’re also the most difficult and expensive to develop. Not that that puts us off — in fact we've only ever developed this type of land.

“Once we’ve bought a site, we sit down with our in-house designer, sales team and architect to consider the best use of space. We don’t create a standard house-type or have a one-size-fits-all approach. With each development, we take the context of the site into consideration. There are lots of factors to think about — the lie of the land, the environment and local demand are just a few.

“While we — and many other small

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builders — take this approach, larger developers have economies of scale to think about. This is why our towns are experiencing an influx of almost identical houses to that of their neighbours.”

After agreeing on a design, the planning process is the next step — and it’s here where most difficulty lies, as Stephen explains: “It’s quite a long road to achieving implementable consent from the council — it can take anything from eight weeks to twelve months. You have to allow plenty of time and budget for this process. Increased bureaucracy and complicated systems — around highways and water — can also cause delays and further costs.

“Once plans have been finalised, there are a couple more hurdles to jump through — our site manager must submit a health and safety plan to outline our intention to begin construction. It’s at this stage that we also organise services to be connected, such as gas, electric and water.

“After we’ve ‘crossed our Ts and dotted our Is’, we then begin the groundworks. We work with specialist contractors and engineers to remediate any contaminated soil, which can take up to four weeks for just one property.

“With brownfield land, piled foundations is the preferred option — many cubic metres of concrete will be laid before our stone masons can start to build and insulate the cavity walls as they go.

“At this stage, it’s important to know internal layouts and the type of heating to install — do we

use electric or gas? What type of boiler should we fit? Shall we put underfloor heating in? If we have a buyer at this stage, they will have a say in all of these decisions.

“Then, the joiners put the roof trusses on before the roofer gets to work — all while paying close attention to the strict planning conditions which may stipulate what type of windows, guttering and stone we use.

“The following step is called ‘first fix’, where the tradespeople move inside — this includes joiners, plumbers, electricians, kitchen contractors and bathroom fitters — all before the plasterer can even begin. Once they have done their job, we allow sufficient drying time before our ‘second fix’, where the team finish everything off and the tilers and decorators start — this can take up to a month. A lot of tradespeople are working within the

same space and it can take a great deal of coordination.

“The last thing to be fitted is the flooring, before allowing a week for any last bits of snagging and a thorough clean. Externally, there’s the gardens to landscape, boundaries to treat and parking spaces to finalise.

“Throughout the whole build, our office-based team and site manager are always planning ahead, ordering materials for the next contractors.

Plus, building control and LABC independently inspect our houses and provide buyers with the peace of mind that their new home adheres to strict standards.”

SB Homes recently celebrated its 20th year in business with a ball that raised over £22,000 for Huddersfield-based charities Kirkwood Hospice and Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice.

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Kirklees College and Huddersfield Town are celebrating a year of great results and a successful eighth year of business partnership.

As Huddersfield Town gets ready to start its first season in football’s Premier League, Kirklees College is also celebrating scoring some great results after being placed top of the league in West Yorkshire for courses for 16 to 18 year olds in further education, as part of the Government’s recently published National Achievement Rate Tables for 2015/16.

The college’s achievement rate was 83.3% - the highest figure of the further education colleges in the Kirklees & Calderdale area and exceeding the national average of 79%.

Kirklees College was also placed in the UK top five for organisations training over 1,000 apprentices.

Principal Marie Gilluley said:

benefit of the community, and in bringing two stunning facilities to the town.

“We’ve thoroughly enjoyed our working relationship with the college and its staff for the past eight years and I look forward to that furthering as we tackle the Premier League.”

Celebrating ‘Premier League’ partnership “This is the eighth year of our fantastic partnership with Huddersfield Town. We’re delighted to be supporting them for another season as they go into the Premier League.

“Kirklees College has some outstanding results to celebrate too. We are incredibly proud of being top of the league in West Yorkshire for our results for 16 to 18 year-olds and in the UK top five for Apprenticeships. I look forward to more successes working with Huddersfield Town

Law firm shortlisted for Yorkshire Legal Awards Chadwick Lawrence has announced that it has been shortlisted for two awards at this year’s Yorkshire Legal Awards.

The law firm has been shortlisted for Law Firm of the Year (11-30 Partners) in recognition of

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over the coming season as our partnership goes from strength to strength.”

Huddersfield Town Commercial Director Sean Jarvis added: “Just as the Club’s success is a real boost for the town of Huddersfield, I believe the same can be said for the success of Kirklees College.

“The college and Huddersfield Town are two of Huddersfield’s most iconic institutions in terms of the work they carry out to the

their growth and success in regional markets.

This shortlisting identifies the performance of the firm as a whole and the innovative measures contributing to its success. The firm will be judged on their dedication to development and welfare of staff, client initiatives that set the firm apart, their contribution to the legal community, contribution to the community outside of the legal sector and the training initiatives and accreditations received within the last 12 months.

In addition, partner Steven Bonfield has also been nominated for Partner of the Year.

This shortlisting acknowledges his excellent contribution towards the success of the firm in

Kirklees College is proud to be the Huddersfield Town’s official education partner.

Through the partnership, the college uses its expertise to help members of HTAFC’s premiere business networking group - the Huddersfield Town Enterprise Academy - develop their skills and training capacity.

As the partnership has grown over the years, the two organisations have found more ways of working together to benefit students, the club and the local community.

TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT HOW LOCAL BUSINESSES CAN WORK WITH KIRKLEES COLLEGE, CONTACT BUSINESS AND ENTERPRISE MANAGER LYDIA BUTTERWORTH ON 01484 437000 OR EMAIL LBUTTERW@KIRKLEESCOLLEGE. AC.UK .

the last 12 months and his dedication to his clients.

The Awards take place on 12th October at New Dock Hall in Leeds and are organised by Barker Brooks Communications, publishers of Leeds & Yorkshire Lawyer Magazine. The evening will see the gathering of the region’s legal community to celebrate a year of great achievements across a wide range of departments and firms.

Managing Partner, Neil Wilson, commented: “The recognition and shortlisting for a Yorkshire Legal Award is an achievement in itself, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the team at Chadwick Lawrence for continuing to deliver outstanding services to our clients.”

Kirklees & Calderdale

MARKETING UPDATE

By Paulina Kowalska: KC Communications

Are you prepared for GDPR? If your company obtains, uses and stores personal data, whether it be a name, e-mail address, photo, bank details, posts on social media, medical information or even an IP address, then you need to start getting clued up on General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

GDPR, which comes into effect in May 2018, will replace existing regulation (UK Data Protection Act 1998). It is the most comprehensive privacy and data protection law to come into effect in the past 20 years and will have an enormous impact on all businesses.

which includes back-ups and external servers.

There are steps we can take to prepare The changes will be extensive; therefore, it is crucial to start preparing for GDPR as soon as possible: Review current data management processes now - what data do you have, where is it stored, who uses it and how, have you been given full consent? Consider if you can easily access and erase it should the need arise.

Review existing communication and marketing strategies: do you have double optin for e-mail campaigns? Do you acquire data by means of pop-ups or pre-ticked forms? Can you prove you have full consent?

If you think Britain exiting the EU means you don’t have to comply, then think again. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has already announced that Brexit will not affect the Regulation coming into force.

Create a transparent privacy and security policy for your company, which sets out your approach to data in plain English, and can be easily accessed – make it stand out on your website and provide a link to that page in all of your communications.

It will change the way we work

There is a lot at stake

When obtaining data, its source and processing needs to be GDPR compliant.

When gathering data, every business will be required to explicitly state what it will be used for in an understandable and cohesive way (plain English!).

There are two aspects to non-compliance with GDPR. The first is the massive fines the ICO will issue - legislation might state that as €20m or 4% of global annual turnover, whichever is greater, but don’t assume this rules you out if you are a small business.

There will still be fines to pay, and we expect them to be considerable!

In regards to storing and using data, you will now be required to show records of your client’s consent upon their request.

You will also be required to simplify the process of opting-out (unsubscribing) from communication such as newsletters and ensure it is actioned swiftly.

It doesn’t stop there! If a customer requests the ‘right to be forgotten’, which they are well within their right to do, all their data has to be permanently removed from all databases,

The second aspect is the loss of business to better-prepared competitors. Non-compliance poses a risk of loss of customer trust and loyalty – which is the most precious thing any business can have!

We can all benefit from GDPR! Showing customers your business is ready for GDPR will have a positive impact on

customer trust and loyalty, and facilitate building genuine relationships. A recent CIM study revealed that 67% of consumers would be happy to provide more personal data if organisations were clear and transparent about how they plan to use it!

GDPR will affect companies of all shapes and sizes! In a world where all of the content is branded as “tailored”, only the ones who can truly prove they care about their audience will be able to put their money where their mouth is.

Do that by sending a clear message showcasing your company’s devotion to security standards and ethical data collection.

Communication of that message and reaching the right audience will be key to your success!

FOR A MORE DETAILED OVERVIEW OF THE UPCOMING CHANGES, HEAD OVER TO HTTP://WWW.KCCOMMS. CO.UK/ARE-YOU-PREPARED-FOR-GDPR/

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September 2017 43

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THUNDER &LIGHTNING FILMS

At Thunder and Lightning Films, we like to come up with creative treatments where we can try out new techniques and keep things fresh. It is all about doing something you enjoy that also challenges you. Whether it is filmed or animated, we make video content electrifying.

Our work as a Video Production Company means we work with Communications, Marketing and Advertising Agencies as well as directly for clients with communications and marketing teams. In all cases, our clients like working with an experienced crew that always try and bring something new to each production.

able to capture their individual stories of development in their roles as well as shoot shorter pieces to camera for a headline piece of film.

Earlier this summer we picked quite possibly the sunniest day to go and fly our drone around glorious North Yorkshire for a series of promo videos for Manor House Cottages.

Aerial footage is a real buzzword at the moment and is something we are being increasingly asked to work into the creative treatment.

What does a typical video series look like?

To capture excellent shots up in the air takes a lot of skill and practice. You also need to demonstrate a number of flying hours and adhere to stringent safety checks in order to fly fully licensed and insured. The key to great aerial footage is to plan the shoot with a detailed site survey. Only then you will know where you can fly and what kind of shots you are going to get.

Quite often we get a brief to populate a marketing campaign. This can mean thinking about content that will fit in a number of locations – from different channels of social media through to a polished piece of film for the front of a website or a large scale event. We have become particularly skilled at creating different levels of video content for each of these areas in one big production.

The great thing about aerial filming is that it can give you stunning panoramic shots that really set off your subject. You can get to see the beautiful building or monument in all its glory within the surroundings. Perfect for making a grand statement in your video.

A great recent example of this was for the National Audit Office. We spent four days on the road in London and Newcastle gathering footage to create a suite of fifteen films.

Staging interviews with people from NAO in and around their workplace, we were

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The end result was one very snappy film that stitches together over twenty contributors to give a playful overview of what it is like to work for NAO. As you move further into the recruitment site you can then view over a dozen individual edits all of which combine the narrative of each person’s story of development with shots in and around their workplace.

If you want to use the moving image to help communicate, get in touch and we can guide you through the best way to say what you want to say. Think of video as the most impactful way of communicating in a clear and considered way. We will help sculpt and create a piece of video, whether filmed or animated, to tell your story. If it involves shooting at ground level or high in the sky, single films or a multitude of edits then it is all part of the fun.

http://www.thunderandlightning.co.uk

Kirklees & Calderdale • Malik House Business Centres, Bradford Council, • The Yorkshire Society, • Galaxy Comms, • The Broadway Shopping Centre, Google Digital Garage, • JCI Bradford (Junior Chamber International), • 4Networking, plus media partners.

Innovation and technology in the spotlight

at interactive YENEXPO2017 business conference YEN Expo2017, one of Yorkshire’s biggest and most innovative business events, takes place this year on Monday, November 6.

For the third year running, the conference returns to Bradford College’s David Hockney building.

YEN Expo, run by Yorkshire Enterprise Network, is expected to attract more than 1,500 delegates, with £1 billion worth of industry and services on show.

Now in its sixth year, the conference brings together businesses and organisations from across the county to share ideas, develop new opportunities and showcase their products and services to a broad-ranging business audience.

The 2017 event will be even more interactive with activities live-streamed via YouTube and Facebook and live Twitter feeds

onscreen enabling delegates to engage and interact in real time.

It will include a Tech Expo, covering everything from BIG Data (tracking and analytics of your business’s online users) to GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), with participants including Google Digital Garage, the multi-million pound initiative to help businesses develop their digital and online skills.

An Innovation Showcase, will feature exhibits include 3D printing, textiles, film and television.

There will be a broad mix of exhibition stands alongside informative events including panel sessions, seminars, business clinics, networking and international-calibre speakers.

Welsh; former Bradford South MP and Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe, (now Director of Sutcliffe Swales Consultants and a YEN Patron); and General Manager of Bradford’s The Broadway Shopping Centre, Ian Ward, who is Chairing the Bradford BID initiative YEN has recently announced strategic partnerships with Smarter Business Tech LIVE conference in Manchester and The Business Show, London’s biggest business exhibition and the fastest-growing business show in Europe.

Expo Partners also include: • Bradford College,

YEN Director Sheraz Malik said: “Bradford is the sixth largest city in the UK and is Yorkshire’s third biggest economic powerhouse, generating around £9 billion a year.

As well as providing a platform for businesses and organisations to showcase their own brand, the YEN Expo2017 conference gives us an opportunity to shout out to the wider world about what our great city is achieving.

“An extensive network of media partners for this year’s event will enable us to get that message out loud and clear to a direct audience of around 150,000 though print and digital media – with an even greater reach through broadcast media”.

The event goes on from 10am to 4pm in the David Hockney Building, off Great Horton Road, Bradford, and is free to attend for delegates.

TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE CONFERENCE, DETAILS OF THE SPONSORSHIP AND EXHIBITION PACKAGES, OR TO REGISTER AS A DELEGATE PLEASE VISIT WWW.YENEXPO. UK

Speakers and panellists include Bradford Council Chief Executive Kersten England; Bradford College Chief Executive Andy

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RESTAURANT REVIEW

Peel One steak night is available Tuesday and Wednesday from 5pm – 9pm. To reserve a table, call 01484 846 800.

Peel One Marsden

By Alex Mason -Editor

Although I only live around 20 minutes from Marsden, I’ve never really frequented its shops or restaurants, despite there being quite a few that I’ve always wanted to try.

So, when the team at Peel One got in touch to ask if we’d like to go along and try their steak night, the answer was most definitely “yes”.

After a bit of a mishap with the sat-nav (!), we arrived in Marsden, parked up and walked two minutes down the street to Peel One. Although the restaurant looks quite small from the

outside, step on in and you’re greeted with a large, modern bar area and upstairs restaurant that perfectly plays on the exposed brickwork and industrial-style lighting to create a contemporary, relaxed environment.

Peel One’s menu features an extensive choice of tapas dishes with items including Catalan chicken stew, King prawns in garlic butter and pork and beef meatballs to name a few. There’s the option to pick a few dishes to create more of a main meal, plus a 3 for £10 offer on the tapas section before 6.30pm Tuesday to Thursday; a great little offer.

However, we were there to try the restaurant’s steak night offering; two steaks and a bottle of house

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wine for £30 – and we couldn’t wait to get stuck in!

Naturally, we had to try the tapas too, so I ordered a portion of the King prawns in chilli and garlic butter with Tom ordering Bourbon-glazed belly pork bites to start.

The dishes arrived fairly swiftly

which was great, and they both tasted amazing. The King prawns were cooked perfectly, with the chilli and garlic sauce almost giving a hint of creaminess whilst remaining punchy. The pork bites certainly didn’t disappoint either; again they were perfectly cooked with delicious crackling on top that finished them off well.

Kirklees & Calderdale

plate of food that was in front of me. When I’ve eaten on a steak night offer before, the restaurants have tended to be less-thangenerous with sides, but not Peel One. Our plates were full to the brim with hand cut, chunky chips, two huge onion rings each, a generous helping of mushrooms and a fresh, colourful side salad.

After we’d finished our starters, we ordered our steaks and a bottle of Luis Felipe Edwards Sauvignon Blanc to accompany (I know – it should be red with steak but this was a week night and I didn’t want to fall asleep!) I went for fillet steak (£5 supplement), medium-rare, with Tom opting for rib-eye cooked the same way.

After about ten minutes, both steaks arrived together and I was amazed and the generous

Both steaks were cooked to perfection; medium-rare just as we’d asked. The hand-cut chunky chips were really great too, and a side jug each of creamy peppercorn sauce helped to bring everything together nicely. The mushrooms tasted great and were full of flavour, with the salad and grilled tomato adding that perfect bit of ‘crunch’ to the dish.

What’s great about Peel One is

the clever way they have extended the restaurant out over the river in Marsden. We sat in a cosy booth in a glass ‘conservatory’ that has been sympathetically added to the side of the building, almost ‘suspended’ over the river below (not as scary as it sounds!) to create more room for diners. The booth in there was great, as it allowed us to do a spot of people watching whilst eating our meal and polishing off our wine!

Overall, steak night at Peel One was a winner for us. The beautifully cooked steaks, served with very generous sides and a delicious bottle of wine makes £30 for two people extremely good value for money – and an ideal mid-week treat if you just don’t fancy cooking.

September 2017

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GOOD FOOD

Janet and Simon Baker opened the doors to Gimbals Restaurant in 1995 with the aim of bringing simple but

sumptuous, seasonal food to the quaint Yorkshire village of Sowerby Bridge, and that remains their passion today.

These three dishes really complement each other beautifully. They don’t have to be cooked on the BBQ either, so if things get rained off they’re equally delicious cooked in the oven.

The cooking at Gimbals is modern yet rustic using wild, organic, locally sourced ingredients as much as possible, which adds a Yorkshire earthiness to the fayre.

Garden oregano and lemon piri piri chicken (or halloumi) You will need: • 6 chicken breasts cut in half widthways (or 1 packet of Mint Halloumi ( you can buy this from our friends at the Yorkshire Halloumi in Sowerby Bridge) • 1 lemon, finely zested • 2 lemons, juiced • 1 tablespoon chopped oregano • 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning • Salt and Pepper

They create honest dishes, inspired by both classic and more unusual flavour combinations, brought together by the skills of their talented chefs. Janet has a flair for decor and her show stopping finds, such as an actual Blackpool illumination, help to create a seductively decadent restaurant atmosphere and a unique upstairs lounge area. Here one can enjoy artisan cocktails with friends, relax on a chesterfield with an aperitif or Method: sink into a sofa with an after dinner • Put the chicken pieces in a coffee. bowl and sprinkle with all the above ingredients Whatever the occasion, Gimbals • Cover with cling film and promises to create a truly special leave to infuse for a least two evening for you. hours. Over night would be perfectly fine For those of you who would like • Do exactly the same if using to have a go at making the dish for Halloumi but add some yourself, we have listed the full chopped mint too. recipe and all the ingredients you will need.

Romesco sauce

You will need: If you would like to book a table • 1 jar roasted red peppers at Gimbals, visit the website with the skin off www.gimbals.co.uk or call • 1 tablespoon tomato puree 01422 839329 • 1 clove garlic

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• • • • • • •

2 teaspoons sweet smoked paprika ½ teaspoon hot paprika (optional) 100g hazelnuts Juice of 1 lemon 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar 100ml good quality olive oil Salt and Pepper

Method: • Place ingredients into a food processor or blender for 3 minutes • Add the olive oil and blend for a further 2 minutes • (This can be made in advance too)

Persian bejewelled rice You will need: • 400g basmati rice, washed • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil • 150g salted butter • 50g pistachio nuts • 50g roasted almonds (smoked if you can get them) • 50g dried chopped apricots • 50g dried orange peel, not essential. (from MiddleEastern shops or online) • 50g pomegranate jewels • 125g golden caster sugar • 1 teaspoon Sea salt

Method: • In a large pan, cover the rice with cold water and boil for 4 minutes • Drain and rinse the rice with cold water. Leave the rice to drain for 10 minutes • Add 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil and 50g of the butter to a non stick pan.

• Scatter the rice and sea salt into the pan piling it high in the middle like a pyramid • With a snug fitting lid, cook the rice for 45 minutes on the lowest setting - don’t stir. (Keep checking the rice isn’t catching on the bottom.

The rice on the top must be white and fluffy. Turn off once cooked) • In a large frying pan over a high heat, add the remainder of the oil, butter and sugar with the nuts and apricots.

Keep stirring all the time to ensure it doesn’t catch.

• When the sugar has dissolved, mix it with the rice then add the pomegranate jewels. This is lovely served hot or cold.

Once the chicken is thoroughly cooked on the BBQ, serve the chicken, romesco and rice in separate bowls and dig in!

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

Kirklees & Calderdale Hanson Chartered Surveyors was established in October 1989, by Mark Hanson BSc FRICS to service the needs of clients expecting direct and uncomplicated advice.

Market Rent v Indexation It is the 10th August and Kim Jong Un and The Donald are playing out their own version of the Cuban Missile Crisis whilst I contemplate whether Market Rent or Indexation is most appropriate for rent reviews in a modern commercial lease.

W

ell this is a column on commercial property even if geo politics and economics is a lot more interesting if not disturbing at present.

As indexes can go down as well as up then this begs the question whether rent should go down as well as up on review. Why not? In fact, RICS guidance on best practice has for some time recommended upwards and downwards rent reviews but not less than the initial rent passing.

As more and more commercial leases are getting shorter the argument is perhaps moot in that a 10 year lease with a rent review at the end of the 5th year will not see the rent fall at review even if the market has fallen. It just won’t rise. However, if the market hasn’t recovered by the end of the 10th year the rent will fall to the market rent on lease renewal or on a new letting.

The problem (for landlords) of downward as well as upward reviews concerns much longer leases. I have been considering the value of an investment recently where the property was let for 75 years with rent reviews every 7 years. The rent was last reviewed 3 years ago when, on arbitration it fell from £102,560 to £63,000 per annum. Great for the tenant, potentially catastrophic for the landlord. But all that

happened was that the correct rent now applies.

In order to overcome a lack lustre on slow market, or even when there may be little genuine comparable evidence, indexation is often used instead of market rent on review. The argument goes that at least the tenant can see where the rent is going and he can plan. Similarly, as indexes generally rise, the landlord can expect to see some kind of increase when the rent review clause has been adequately drafted (and I have seen some screaming errors in drafting).

fashionable in the 1970s even when plenty comparables were out there. However, what the 70s had was significant inflation and static/falling market values. I recall undertaking a negotiation of a unit on the Ringway Estate in Huddersfield where, due to indexation the rent had got to nearly 3 times the market rent.

Entirely unsustainable.

I think landlords can be forgiven for expecting some degree of certainty but do they deserve it?

Property is a very large investment and difficult to liquidate quickly

but as the norm is now for shorter leases on over assessment of market value of an investment is less likely even with downwards as well as upwards rent reviews.

As for indexation, I still have difficulty being persuaded that it is a reliable alternative to assessment of market rent.

I have, though, on occasion negotiated the greater of market rent or RPI on review for a landlord but that is not common place other than in a very competitive market and there isn’t much sign of that right now.

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But the index often used is RPI. RPI is a (changing) basket of prices of household items bought on a weekly basis. It has nothing to do with how much a company should pay in rent on a warehouse in Leeds or Huddersfield; or how much a supermarket operator should pay on review of its rent in the new out of town centre.

The temptation for an easy life has trumped what should be a proper assessment of the market at the time of the rent review. The changing price of a loaf of bread and the price of a pint of milk, and may be the price of petrol is having an effect on commercial rent. A fine example of comparing apples and pears.

Landmark Town Centre Building

It isn’t the first time that indexation has played a part in assessing rent. It became

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Fully let to a range of blue chip tenants

Iconic Grade II Listed Mixed Use Property

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3,500 sq ft of offices having just undergone comprehensive refurbishment Pre-let to a national organisation

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Real Estate / Real Knowledge / Real Solutions / Real People Mark Hanson mark@hanson-cs.co.uk Jason Metcalfe jason@hanson-cs.co.uk Abigail Hanson Hughes abigail@hanson-cs.co.uk Philip Deakin phil@hanson-cs.co.uk

J4321 127mm x 87mm Calderdale Council Business Guide September 2017 Full Colour 14/08/17

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BEAUTY

VJW Holistic Therapies in Lindley is preparing for expansion to offer even more luxury treatments for its clients. Alex Mason caught up with owner Victoria Walker (and had to try a massage, of course).

Tucked away at Heritage Exchange in Lindley, VJW Holistic Therapies is a bolt-hole where you can sit back, relax and escape the rigour of everyday life.

amazing. She has even taken the time to massage right down to my fingertips, relieving any strain and tension.

I’m then treated to a short head massage as Victoria works her hands up my neck and onto my scalp. Victoria’s expertise meant that she managed to relieve tension from pressure points in my head and neck that I never even knew existed.

Arriving on a rainy Wednesday afternoon, a sense of calm came over me as soon as I walked into reception. I was greeted by a very friendly team member and sat down among the relaxing scented candles and tranquil music to fill out a form before my treatment commenced.

Within a couple of minutes, Victoria arrived to greet me and showed me down a cosy corridor and into a relaxing, low-lit treatment room that smelt divine.

After explaining a little about the treatment, Victoria left the room for a couple of minutes so I could get ready, lie down on the bed and prepare for my first ever deep tissue massage.

Victoria started VJW ten years ago with her mum, Wendy and business partner Julie. The company offers a whole host of treatments from massages to manicures, facials and spray tans, and has quickly become very popular for those in need of some proper relaxation.

My massage begins, and Victoria explains: “We started with just one room, but have grown and grown and now have a team of nine fully qualified therapists. I like to

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ensure that they are all spot on, so all our training happens inhouse to my very high standards!”

We’re now well into the first half of the massage which, although fairly intense in terms of pressure applied, is already doing the trick in identifying and relieving all the knots and tension in my upper back. Victoria tells me to just let her know if it’s at all uncomfortable and she will adjust the pressure accordingly.

at the new spa; we’ll pamper them with croissants, coffee and cake on arrival and they can then have some treatments or relax in the new facilities for the rest of the day. It’ll be a real luxury experience.”

I ask Victoria about the current expansion happening at VJW and what new treatments are on the cards for clients.

“We’ll also be introducing a double treatment room for the first time, where couples, family or friends can enjoy a massage at the same time as their loved one.

We’ve spent a lot of time training to ‘synchronise’ our therapists so that both clients experience exactly the same part of the massage at exactly the same time, which means ultimate relaxation.”

“We have invested heavily into introducing a steam room, sauna and jacuzzi, as well as an ice shower. Clients will be able to come and spend a full day retreat

Deeply relaxed, Victoria then applies exfoliating crystals to my back and massages them in before wiping away before covering me with a warm towel which feels

Overall, my visit to VJW Holistic Therapies was one that I’ll certainly be repeating.

Fantastic customer care, coupled with expert knowledge and a thoroughly relaxing and effective treatment makes this one destination not to be missed.

Take a look at VJW’s TripAdvisor reviews (all five star) if you need any more convincing.

What’s more, VJW has just been shortlisted in the 2018 Luxury Travel Guide awards, and Victoria herself is on the shortlist for the Forward Ladies Women in Business awards, as well as the Yorkshire Choice awards.

She adds: “There’s certainly a lot happening at the moment, but as always, we keep a sense of calm and tranqulity. Our new steam, sauna, jacuzzi and double treatment room is due to open around October, so keep an eye out and book yourself in for some you time.”

FOLLOW VJW ON TWITTER @ VJWHOLISTICS

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