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C AROLINE SHAW Let them eat cupcakes!
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KIRKLEES BUSINESS NEWS The business NEWSpaper for Kirklees
Schools and firms make a class act
A SCHEME to boost students’ employability and academic achievement has been launched in Kirklees. Business Class is a national programme organised by charity Business in the Community which creates long-term partnerships between leading businesses and secondary schools. The local scheme was launched at an event hosted by paving stone supplier Marshalls plc at its head office in Birkby, Huddersfield. The company already partners with Park Lane Learning Trust in Halifax. Five local schools – Almondbury High School and Specialist Language College, Moor End Academy, Newsome High School and Sports College, North Huddersfield Trust School and Royds Hall High School – have joined the scheme and a number of local businesses are interested in joining. At the launch, Marshalls chief executive Graham Holden explained how businesses could help young people build successful working lives, while Jacquie Bamber, Business Class operations director for Business in the Community, gave an insight into the programme. Gill Ellis, assistant director for learning and skills at Kirklees Council, spoke about why developing
■ LINKS: Marshalls chief executive Graham Holden and Mary-Jo Daly, assistant head at Almondbury High School and Language College, are backing the Business Class project – and urging others to take part
young peoples’ employability skills was important to the future growth of Kirklees. Clare Gill, business development adviser at Wates Construction, and Ryan Hirst, leader of alternative provision at Bruntcliffe School in Leeds, spoke about their partnership and how they have developed it over the last two years. Business Class enables a business to support a school in a three-year partnership – bringing business expertise to support headteachers to achieve their strategic priorities. The aim is to accelerate school improvement and ensure that young
people leave school with the skills they need to build successful working lives. Business Class partnerships are brought together as a “cluster” – enabling participating businesses and schools in a local area to work together, identify common challenges and share ideas for improvement as a group. Business partners support their school on a range of diverse issues in the classroom and at management and governance level by providing business expertise, mentors and volunteers as well as inspirational experiences for pupils.
Business Class aims to help young people – many from households where no one is in work – to learn from companies the skills and attitudes they will need to get a job as well as raising their aspirations and inspiring them about the variety of opportunities the world of work has to offer. Mr Holden said: “I am delighted that we are now partnered with Almondbury High School – the first Business Class partnership in Huddersfield. “Our first partnership meeting took place recently and we will be working with business studies students on a business module about Marshalls plc.” M a r y - J o D a l y, a s s i s t a n t headteacher at Almondbury High School, said: “It is vitally important that we prepare students for the real world of work. “To do this, we need businesses to actively engage in schools to raise aspirations and help students understand and focus on what is needed to get a job and keep it. “Business Class provides that focus. We look forward to working with Marshalls plc over the coming months to develop a sustainable partnership which meets the needs of our students.”
‘Overtrading’ alert to resurgent companies KIRKLEES companies have been warned to beware “aggressively” chasing new contracts as the general business climate improves. Peter Sargent, partner at corporate recovery specialist Begbies Traynor, said economic recoveries have traditionally seen many small and medium-sized businesses in particular overstretch themselves financially and run out of working capital. He said: “Overtrading is fundamentally when a business runs out of cash. This is most evident in manufacturing companies when businesses HIGH RISK: Peter Sargent, of have to commit to the raw material to ■ insolvency firm Begbies Traynor make the products that are in demand due to rising sales. “Unfortunately, this typically res- the payment to the supplier is often on ults in a negative cash flow situation 60 day terms or sometimes payment as payment for the finished goods will up front.” Mr Sargent said that any business be in three or four months’ time, but
could succumb if the gap between funding new work and being paid for invoices that have already been issued grows too large, adding: “While it may be cause for celebration, the longed-for rise in orders can have tragic consequences and catch out even the most experienced director. “Traditionally, each time the economy recovers from a recession or downturn, a large number of businesses fall victim to overtrading and end up failing in what should be good times, despite having survived years of bad.” Mr Sargent, who lives in Huddersfield, said: “This recovery was always meant to be about the so-called march of the makers and the fact that recent manufacturing figures showed orders and output growing at their fastest rate for 20 years suggest that this
might finally be the case. “But while good news for the economy, they do point to a particularly high risk of overtrading and businesses need to take heed if they are to survive the good times as well as the bad. “That need not mean turning down orders – though it could. Businesses might also want to consider using invoice discounting or factoring as a means of managing cash flow between invoices being issued and paid. “It also pays dividends to have a good relationship with your bank and keep them advised of your growing sales book and the fact that it may have a temporary negative effect on your cash flow. “If in doubt, it is always better to speak to your professional advisers sooner rather than later.”
INSIDE To the rescue! A KIRKLEES firm supplied specialist equipment to competitors in a contest for fire and rescue services – then presented it as a gift. Cleckheaton-based Ferno, which supplies patient handling equipment for the emergency services, provided a stretcher and immobiliser for use by North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service in the United Kingdom Rescue Organisation competition. Afterwards, the equipment was presented to them as a gift by Ferno managing director Jon Ellis.
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Food for thought FOOD and drink firms in Kirklees are set to benefit from a new exports action plan that aims to deliver a £500m boost to the UK economy. The Food and Drink International Action Plan will be delivered by UK Trade & Investment and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs as part of the Government’s ambition to raise UK exports to £1 trillion.
● Full story - Page 4
KIRKLEES BUSINESS NEWS
national
Lloyds boss warns of housing bubble THE boss of state-backed lender Lloyds has warned that the Government’s Help to Buy scheme risks creating a dangerous house price bubble unless it is matched with a boost in housebuilding. In the latest high-profile warning over the scheme, Antonio Horta-Osorio called for the relaxation of planning and building rules and more social housing projects so that rising mortgage approvals do not drive up house prices. The Halifax owner is a major lender under Help to Buy, which was recently extended to include a Government guarantee on high-risk mortgages, allowing people to buy a home with a deposit of just 5%. Lloyds’ chief executive said the initiative needs “tweaking” to avoid overheating the market in the south east of England He said: “The scheme should be
focused outside London and the South East.” The warning came as the boss of Britain’s “bad” bank said Help to Buy could speed up the repayment of its £42bn taxpayer loan by lifting house prices. Richard Banks, who runs UK Asset Resolution, which manages the loans of failed lenders Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley, said this could help lift customers out of negative equity – where loans exceed the value of their homes. Mr Banks: “If house prices go up outside London, it is a good thing for us as quite a few of our customers are trapped by their high loan-to-values. “If higher house prices mean sufficient customers are able to and choose to remortgage with another mortgage provider, it may facilitate UKAR being able to pay off the Government loan more quickly.”
Mr Horta-Osorio is the latest high-profile voice to highlight concerns over the scheme, following warnings from former Bank of England governor Sir Mervyn King and the International Monetary Fund. Official figures showed mortgage approvals running at a five-and-a-half-year high in August, while data from Nationwide showed house prices rose at their fastest annual pace in more than three years in September as the market revival spread across the UK. Lenders including Halifax, Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest have started offering mortgages under the scheme, while Santander, HSBC, Barclays, Virgin Money and Aldermore also plan to join it. RBS/NatWest is offering a fee-free two-year fixed-rate deal at 4.99% for buyers with 5% deposits under the latest ■ CONCERN: Lloyds Bank boss Antonio Horta-Osorio phase of Help to Buy.
PPI pay-outs boost spending
Markets remain steady
COMPENSATION pay-outs following widespread insurance mis-selling scandals will help boost high street spending in the run-up to Christmas to £88.4bn, according to analysts. The forecast of a 2.2% rise in retail spending during the last three months of the year is attributed to improving consumer confidence as well as one-off factors such as pay-outs over payment protection insurance (PPI). Banks have been forced to set aside billions to compensate customers who may have been sold PPI products they did not need, and according to Verdict analysts it is
MARKETS have been treading water after the apparent lack of progress on weekend talks to extend the US debt ceiling. But as Thursday’s deadline edged nearer with no agreement between warring politicians in sight, the potential catastrophe failed to spark major sell-offs yesterday – with investors betting a last-minute deal was likely to be reached. The FTSE 100 Index closed up 20.5 points to 6507.6 while France’s Cac 40 and Germany’s Dax ended marginally down. Meanwhile in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.5%
one of the factors that will help consumers feel more confident about spending. Another is the Royal Mail share flotation – which has already seen nearly 700,000 ordinary retail investors see the value of their s t a ke s r i s e b y h u n d r e d s o f pounds. The rise predicted by Verdict represents an extra £1.95bn for retailers to fight over in the run-up to Christmas. Verdict said shoppers had more reasons to be cheerful this year – with the economic news more positive and the housing market on he move.
down in early trading though the losses were later narrowed after the announcement of talks between Barack Obama and congressional leaders spurred hopes of a breakthrough. Among FTSE 100 Index shares, Primark owner Associated British Foods closed up 52p at 1963p while water giant Severn Trent rose 22p to 1808p. Royal Bank of Scotland was off 5.2p to 371.7p and Lloyds Banking Group closed down 0.4p to 75.7p. Brewer SABMiller was down 44p to 2970p with Centrica down 4.6p to 358.7p.
Page 2 Keen to invest MANY UK food and beverage companies are looking to increase investment across areas such as facilities, equipment, IT and product development over the next 12 months, according to a new report from business and financial advisory firm Grant Thornton. The report, Hunger for growth: food and beverage looks to the future, also said that barriers to growth remain – with over 40% of UK respondents predicting that raw material prices will rise by 1% to 5%. Subsequently, this was identified as the biggest challenge for the sector in the year ahead. Steve Hammell, director in corporate finance at Grant Thornton in Yorkshire, said: “There’s been a new wave of optimism a cross UK food and drink businesses, partly driven by export opportunities and partly due to improved consumer sentiment, which is increasing investment in the sector. “However, wider challenges remain for the sector, not just in terms of rising raw material prices, but also in managing the volatility in the price and supply of many key commodities, and ensuring the continuity of supply when product availability is short in the UK or globally.” Findings from the report indicate there will be an increase from 2% to 5% in the number of UK businesses selling at least 25% of their products abroad.
SHARE PRICES NORTH AMERICAN American Express £47.14 +0.02 Gannett 1622.92 +13.75 Hess Corp £50.62 -0.06 Microsoft £21.43 +0.10 Motors Liquidation 46.87 Wal-Mart Stores £46.30 -0.46 AEROSPACE & DEFENCE Avon Rbbr 5411/2 -2 BAE Systems 4433/4 +71/2 Rolls-Royce 1125 +5 AIM Brady Plc 621/4 AUTOMOBILES & PARTS GKN 3605/8 -13/4 BANKS Barclays 2767/8 -11/8 HSBC 6893/4 +1/4 5 Lloyds Banking Gp 75 /8 -3/8 3 Ryl Scotland 371 /4 -51/4 Stan Chart 14691/2 -18 BEVERAGES Diageo 19531/2 -191/2 SABMiller £293/4 -1/2 CHEMICALS Croda £251/8 +3/8 Elementis 98 2397/8 +11/4 7 Johnsn Mat £29 /8 +15/8 CONSTRUCTION & MATERIALS Balfour Beatty 2731/4 +43/4 Costain 2631/2 +1 ELECTRICITY
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Schroders £261/2 Schroders NV £22 -1/8 GENERAL INDUSTRIALS REXAM 478 Smiths Grp 1396 +17 GENERAL RETAILERS Ashley L 251/2 +1/4 Carphone Whse 2553/4 +23/4 Dixons Retail 457/8 -3/8 Home Retail 1727/8 -1/8 1 Inchcape 617 /2 -1/2 Kingfisher 3733/4 +35/8 5 M&S 475 /8 -21/8 Mothercare 3881/4 +13/4 Next £501/4 -1/8 WH Smith 904 -11/2 HEALTH CARE EQUIPMENT & SERVICES Smith Nph 786 +141/2 HOUSEHOLD GOODS Aga Rangemaster 1353/4 +51/4 Barrat Dev 3363/4 +47/8 Persimmon 1195 -2 Reckitt Benckiser £431/2 Taylor Wimpey 1095/8 +5/8 INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING IMI 1493 +5 INDUSTRIAL METALS Ferrexpo 185 +11/4 INDUSTRIAL TRANSPORTATION BBA Aviation 3103/4 +21/8 LIFE INSURANCE Aviva 4251/2 -11/8
1985/8 +23/4 191 +5/8 1183 +5 336 +107/8 3563/8 +7/8 MEDIA BSkyB 877 +4 D Mail Tst 759 +41/2 1 HIBU /8 ITV 1847/8 +1 Johnston Press 123/4 -1/2 Pearson 1306 +14 1 Reed Elsevier 840 /2 +2 STV Group 2681/2 +2 Trinity Mirror 1243/4 +21/2 Utd Business 715 -11/2 UTV 186 -3/4 WPP 1242 +4 MINING Anglo American 15231/2 +111/2 Antofagasta 867 +8 +11/2 BHP Billiton 18161/2 1 Eurasian Natural 220 /4 -1/8 Res Fresnillo 937 +10 Kazakhmys 2551/4 -21/8 5 Lonmin 316 /8 +11/4 Rio Tinto £307/8 VEDANTA 1029 +9 RESOURCES MOBILE TELECOM SERVICES Inmarsat 710 +8 +13/4 Vodafone Group 2211/2 NONLIFE INSURANCE Admiral Grp 1229 +3 Lgl & Gen Old Mutual Prudential Resolution Standard Life
Local shares Carclo Marshalls National Grid Weir Gp
3901/2 1791/2 7501/2 £231/2
+13/4 -1/2 +21/2 +3/8
FTSE closed at
66507.65 Up 20.46 RSA Insurance Gp 1191/4 +3/8 OIL & GAS PRODUCERS BG 12051/2 +15 BP 4433/8 +33/4 Cairn Energy 268 +21/2 Royal Dutch Shell £201/4 A Royal Dutch Shell £211/4 +1/8 B Total £37 Tullow Oil 1000 +3 OIL EQUIPMENT & SERVICES AMEC 1085 Petrofac 1360 -11 Wood Gp(J) 797 +131/2
PERSONAL GOODS Burberry Gp 1585 -20 PHARMACEUTICALS & BIOTECHNOLOGY Astrazeneca £317/8 +1/8 GlaxoSmithK 14 1 Shire £24 /2 +1/8 REAL ESTATE Brit Land 5961/2 +51/2 Hamrsn 506 -1 1 Intu Properties 327 /4 -23/8 Land Secs 9521/2 +71/2 SEGRO 3201/2 +21/2 SOFTWARE ETC SERVICES Invensys 501 -2 Sage Group 3233/4 +3/4 SUPPORT SERVICES Berendsen 916 +4 Bunzl 1329 -5 Capita 1007 +2 De La Rue 9491/2 +31/2 Electrocomp 2693/8 -31/2 Experian 1178 +9 G4S 2417/8 -11/8 Hays 1213/4 +1/8 Homeserve 254 +11/4 Menzies J 8271/2 +231/2 Rentokil 1111/8 +11/4 Smiths News 1921/4 -1/2 1 Wolseley £32 /8 +3/8 IT HARDWARE ARM Hldgs 9861/2 +21/2 Spirent Comms 1291/2 +13/8 TOBACCO
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Br Am Tob £323/8 Imperial Tobacco £221/8 LEISURE & HOTELS Bwin.Party Digital 1203/4 Carnival £201/2 Compass Grp 862 easyJet 1263 Enterprise Inns 1533/4 FirstGroup 1211/2 Go-Ahead Gp 1673 Greene King 806 Intercontl Htls 1808 Intl Cons Airl 3425/8 Ladbrokes 1915/8 Mitchells & Butlers 395 Natl Express 2611/4 Rank Org 1601/4 Stagecoach Group 3341/8 TUI Travel 3693/4 Whitbread £321/4
-11/4 +7 -9 +31/2 +3/4 +6 -7 +13/4 +7/8 -1 +53/4 -13/4 +3/8 +1/8 +1/8
FTSE 100
INDEX 6507.65
+20.46
FTSE 250
INDEX 15057.43
+87.60
Tourists going abroad can expect the following rates for sterling: Australia..................... 1.60 dollars Bangladesh................ 116.88 taka Brazil............................. 3.11 reals Canada...................... 1.58 dollars China ........................... 8.73 yuan Czech Republic .... 27.61 korunas Denmark..................... 8.36 krone Euro.............................. 1.12 euro Hong Kong............... 11.76 dollars Hungary.................. 311.77 forints India........................ 86.20 rupees Japan......................... 149.43 yen Mexico ...................... 18.55 pesos New Zealand ............. 1.78 dollars Norway ....................... 9.14 krone Pakistan................ 159.79 rupees Philippines ................ 59.03 pesos South Africa................ 14.84 rand South Korea............. 1492.00 won Sri Lanka .............. 197.57 rupees Sweden....................... 9.88 krona Switzerland................ 1.39 francs Taiwan ..................... 40.97 dollars Turkey...................... 2.99 new lira USA ........................... 1.53 dollars
KIRKLEES BUSINESS NEWS
profile
She’s the lady of the cakes! FRIENDS and neighbours call her The Cupcake Lady of Kirkheaton. And that’s just fine by former legal secretary Caroline Shaw, who has turned a passion for cake-making into a thriving business. Says Caroline: “People see me in the supermarket and say: ‘There’s the CupCake Lady of Kirkheaton’. It all started with me making cupcakes for family and friends, but it has just grown and grown through word of mouth and recommendation. It has gone from strength to strength. “I have customers who are on their 20th orders and I have bookings for orders stretching into January. “I’m just happy that so many people seem to like them.” Caroline admits she gets a bit obsessive about her products. The Kirkheaton home she shares with husband Chris has cupcakes of all kinds – real and ornamental. Pride of place in one room goes to a drawing of a cupcake done by Caroline’s niece. “I look for ideas for new designs everywhere I go,” she says. “Even when I’m not baking or decorating them, I’m on the internet looking for new ideas. We went to London for Chris’ 40th birthday and had afternoon tea at Claridge’s – and I was looking out for the cupcakes!” Caroline’s love of American cupcakes began with her wedding to Chris in Las Vegas. The couple have returned to the city to celebrate their wedding anniversary several times since. “They are really big on cupcakes,” she says. “We watched some of their TV food shows and saw some amazing creations.” Baking was always a hobby for Caroline, who recalls a photograph of her as a young child wearing a small apron and helping out in her grandmother’s kitchen. When she left King James’ School, Caroline started a catering course at Huddersfield Technical College. She also worked at the Beaumont Arms in Kirkheaton – but later opted to work as a secretary. “I had been doing typing ever since I was young,”
she says. Caroline spent seven years as a legal secretary at Huddersfield solicitors Ridley & Hall – but began making cupcakes at home for friends and family as a sideline business. Two years ago, she took the plunge to make baking celebratory cupcakes her full-time career. “I was getting up at 5.30 in the mornings to bake before going to work and I was back in the kitchen after work until nine o’clock at nights,” she recalls. “After discussing it with Chris, we decided to give it a go.” She says: “I had never taken any classes and I failed art at school! It is all self-taught. My customers are always surprised by the amount of detail I put into the decorations, but sometimes I surprise myself as well!” Children’s parties are a speciality, although Caroline has supplied cakes for 10 weddings this year and has four weddings already booked in for next year. She’s also getting set for Hallowe’en and Christmas. She says: “I do cupcakes with different characters and even
when I’ve put my prices up to reflect the time and cost that goes into them, people are still happy to buy.” Caroline ran a pop-up shop at Huddersfield’s Packhorse Centre, which introduced her to a whole new potential customer base. Although she smiles at one incident. “One woman insisted that they were ‘buns’ and asked why I wanted to call them cupcakes before wandering off!” And she says: “I wouldn’t want to set up a permanent shop. The kitchen at home is just right. I wouldn’t want to spend hours stuck in a shop. I don’t want to take the fun out of it. I enjoy what I’m doing and the flexibility of working at home. If I did have a shop, I’d never see my husband.” That doesn’t mean she has time on her hands for other interests. Caroline still works long hours, but says she wouldn’t have it any other way. “I have had people offer to help me, but I’m a bit of a control freak. I know other people could do a good job, but I think ‘this is going out of the door with my name on it, so it has to be perfect’. “It is hard to separate work and home. I’ll be sitting on the sofa in the evening and think ‘I’ll just reply to some emails’ or ‘I’ll just look through a few books for ideas’. “I have never worked so hard and been so stressed, but I love it. And as for hobbies, cupcakes are my hobby.” Holidays have to be busy, too. “I love Las Vegas because there’s so much to do,” says Caroline. “We went to Gran Canaria last time, but I can’t just lie on the beach. That just ■ SWEET TRUTH: Caroline Shaw of stresses me out Caroline, of Kirkheaton, says cupcakes are her even more.” hobby as well as a thriving business Says Caroline:
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Caroline Shaw
“Chris and I book our holidays a year in advance so we can work around it. I feel terrible if I am turning customers away.” Caroline comes across as a confident, highly competent cupcake maker, but insists: “People say I ought to believe in myself more. I can lie awake at night worrying about how I’m going to make that ‘giant’ cupcake or a cake shaped like a lorry that someone ordered. But the only person who doubts me – is me. It’s such a sigh of relief when the order goes out through the door.and people say how wonderful it is!” Caroline has made cupcakes for good causes, including Kirkwood Hospice at Dalton and the Huddersfield Town Foundation. She’s busy “ branding” the business, saying: “I’ve got a new logo, business cards and stickers.” And she has the business nous to know that things can change. Says Caroline: “I understand that there will come a day when people won’t want cupcakes. That’s why I’ve expanded into doing other things as well, such as biscuits and giant doughnut cakes. I have lots of other things I want to try out. It’s just difficult finding the time to do everything!”
Role: Owner Age: 35 Family: Married to Chris Holidays: I love Las Vegas First job: Working in administration at the Mercedes-Benz garage on New Hey Road, Outlane Best thing about job: Just being able to do a job I love doing and meeting so may great people Worst thing about job: There are never enough hours in the day Business tip: If you plan to run a business, make sure it’s something you want do to. And be prepared for a lot of hard work
Caroline’s Cupcakes Work: Baking and selling stylish cupcakes Site: Kirkheaton Phone: 07909 911732 Email: carolines-cup cakes@hotmail .co.uk Website: www.carolines cupcakes.org
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Who will be the next Business of the Month? If you are proud of what your business has achieved; why not tell us about your success story and you could be a winner of our prestigious award. For further details please contact: Ian Greenwood, Eaton Smith Solicitors, 14 High Street, Huddersfield HD1 2HA T: 01484 821389 E: iangreenwood@eatonsmith.co.uk Business Of The Month Awards - Rewarding Success Since 1995
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KIRKLEES BUSIN
FMG helping police on the roads Good times. Bad times. Whatever financial problems you are experiencing in your business, we can help.
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VEHICLE incident management firm FMG is helping the police tackle car crime. The Huddersfield-based company has been appointed by Lincolnshire Police to manage the recovery of vehicles that have been stolen or involved in collisions, as well as those involved in crime and being driven with no insurance. The contract will cover about 4,000 vehicles a year. FMG, which employs 340 staff, already manages similar contracts for other police forces across the country, including Lancashire, Cumbria, North Wales and Norfolk. Gail Bradshaw, integrated services contract manager at Lincolnshire Police, said: “FMG have proven themselves at the highest level and we’re delighted to be able to work with them on this contract. “Dealing with vehicles and vehicle crime takes up a considerable amount of police time and knowing that vehicles will be recovered and managed efficiently will mean that our officers and staff will have more time to carry out other duties.” FMG has a strong background in providing comprehensive services for public sector organisations, having recently been re-awarded a major contract with the Highways Agency to deal with incidents across the 4,300 miles of England’s strategic road network. Jerry Bartlett, head of police schemes at FMG, said: “We’re delighted that we’ve been awarded this contract to do an important job for a vital public service provider.
■ FURNISHED: and Bethany Sav with Simon Bodsw Furniture
Treble t for age
■ FORCE CONTROL: FMG’s head office in Huddersfield, The company has added Lincolnshire police to its client list
This is testament to the hard work our people have done on managing existing contracts and demonstrating best practice in this unique area of vehicle recovery.” FMG also works with long-standing customers, including GE Capital and SIG, major logistics providers DHL and Asda, the Highways Agency, and alongside insurance partners Zurich, QBE, Allianz and Chartis. The company deals with more than 250,000 incidents every year. Clients also take advantage of
FMG’s smart technology system, Ingenium Dynamics, to improve driver behaviour by making it easier to identify, manage and remove risk. As a result, FMG’s fleet clients are seeing a 25% to 80% reduction in incident claims. In a separate application of the technology, loss ratios for a young drivers’ insurance scheme – with insurer Marmalade – have been reduced to 40%, from a typical industry average often in excess of 100%.
An appetite for exports?
To promote your business to over 49,000 Examiner readers and over 230,000 online users Call: Anne Joseph 01484 437745 email: anne.joseph@trinitymirror.com
FOOD and drink firms in Kirklees are set to benefit from a new exports action plan that aims to deliver a £500m boost to the UK economy. The Food and Drink International Action Plan will be delivered by UK Trade & Investment and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs as part of the Government’s ambition to raise UK exports to £1 trillion and to get 100,000 more UK companies exporting. Food and drink is the UK’s largest manufacturing sector with a turnover of more than £90bn. The industry employs up to 400,000 workers – representing 15% of the overall manufacturing workforce in the UK. However, 90% of small and medium-sized enterprises in the sector are not exporting – or only export to their close European neighbours. The plan was launched in Germany alongside a two-year GREAT campaign showcasing the British food and drink industry to
■ OPPORTUNITY: Lord Young said British food and drink was in demand markets including Vietnam, Mexico, Brazil, Russia, South Korea, Hong Kong and Macao, China, USA and Europe. The Food and Drink International Action Plan support will include
creating a team across Government and industry to drive forward action on exports and to steer priorities and establishing a single strong UK brand identity to help increase the visibility of UK food and drink at the world’s major food events and exhibitions. It will also run campaigns on the largest opportunities for the UK sector matched to its strengths and offer more support and advice on exporting, including a faster export certification process for animals and animal products. Lord Green, Trade and Investment Minister said: “Demand for British food and drink products overseas is growing fast and a 15% increase in overseas sales in the last two years is a clear sign of the opportunities available to the British food and drink manufacturers working in this sector. “This Action Plan reinforces the UK Government’s support for such a prosperous sector with an emphasis on how together with industry, we can support businesses in the global export markets.”
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The customer’s always right – and don’t forget it! INCE May this year, I have S been “judge” of my very own West Yorkshire Business
Donna Bedford (left) ville, of Fantastic Media, worth, of Daval
triumph ency team
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Jury – www.businessjury.co.uk – which, as I’m sure you can imagine, has been great fun! The jury is a bit like a peoples’ panel, but for business, and is made up of 12 entrepreneurs who are polled on a quarterly basis for their opinions on a topical subject. We’ve had two judgements so far – a ruling that the high street is dead, but not beyond resurrection, and that standards of customer service are in meltdown. Given that the jurors are intelligent people who care about the communities they live in, they offered solutions. The first was to encourage more artisan and boutique-type outlets to tempt people away from their keyboards and to enliven our dying high streets. You may have read about my ruling on the “falling standards of customer service” in The Examiner earlier this month. The majority verdict was that standards of customer service are in
THE BUSINESS BATTLEAXE Amanda Vigar
freefall. Dire levels of customer care have– for some time – been a real bug bear for me. Unlike a typical judge, I am also a member of the West Yorkshire Business Jury, so I can both comment and give a verdict! Not only are standards slipping, they are close to being non-existent. You only have to walk into practically any shop on any high street to be met by grim-faced shop assistants who wouldn’t know proper customer service if it hit them in the face. Nowadays (and sorry for sounding like an old so-and-so!) customers are invariably treated to a grunt and a look of complete and utter disinterest when being served. For too long, the poor customer – and it is all too often the older generations who pick up on poor
customer service, arguably because they’ve been used to better – has been on the receiving end of bad service. As a nation, no wonder we are increasingly staying put in the comfort of our own homes to indulge our shopping habit online. So, what can be done aside from avoiding the high street altogether? One of our business jurors, Dot Goodhall, president of the Huddersfield-based neurological charity The Nerve Centre, says: “The retail sector in particular should really be looking at initiating a root and branch audit of their customer service procedures. “Customer service assistants are the public face of a business, so it is vital that the friendliest and most polite attitude is presented.”
Amanda Vigar is managing partner at Holmfirth-based accountants V&A Bell Brown LLP
Answering funding call
SMALL and medium-sized businesses in Yorkshire have benefited from more than £43m in funding year-to-date in 2013 with support from independent invoice finance provider Bibby Financial Services. The company’s lending to firms in the region has increased by 28% year-on-year from £34.3m to £43.9m in 2013. The news comes shortly after the Asset Based Finance Association, which represents providers of factoring, invoice discounting and asset based lending in the UK, announced that members loaned £17.4bn to businesses in the 12 months to the end of June – up from ,£15.8bn for the same period in 2012. Mark Storey, managing director for Bibby Financial Services in Yorkshire and Humber, said: “Improving financial liquidity for small and medium-sized enterprises across the UK is a priority for the Government, which should be encouraged by the contribution of alternative funding providers in responding to SMEs’ calls for better access to finance. “The fact that we have been able to increase funding to SMEs across Yorkshire and Humber is obviously extremely positive, but Bibby Financial Services recognises there are still many credit-starved businesses out there and to address their needs all corners of the financial services industry need to play their part.” Recent Bank of England data shows that bank loans to businesses fell in the three months to June – despite Government efforts to ease the funding bottleneck through its Funding for Lending Scheme. Mr Storey said: “Our hope for the remainder of 2013 is that more businesses recognise they have a choice when it comes to funding, and that they investigate the benefits of using a variety of sustainable sources of funding.”
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KIRKLEES BUSINESS NEWS
property
Cost worries for builders
Will Help to Buy 2 boost the market?
ELP to Buy 2 has been brought forH ward from January, 2014, to October 7 this year – three months earlier than
planned. As David Cameron outlined: “As Prime Minister I am not going to stand by while people’s aspirations to get on the housing ladder are being trashed.” Indeed, property website Rightmove announced clicks on its Help to Buy pages numbered 14,807, the day before the announcement, but rose to 59,571 and a week later were still over 23,000 – showing there is certainly interest from potential buyers. So this month, I thought it would be helpful to look in more depth at the new scheme with some questions answered. What is the Difference Between Phase 1 and 2? The first phase was aimed at first time buyers of newly-built properties worth up to £600,000 and offers a cash loan. The second phase applies to any buyer and to new or second hand properties up to £600,000 and offers a mortgage guarantee or insurance policy rather than an equity loan. Landlords and buy to let investors do not qualify. Sorry! What is the guarantee? The Government
INFORMED DEVELOPMENT
Martin Thompson guarantees up to 15% of the purchase price and charges a fee to the bank or building society. Who Pays for this mortgage guarantee? The fee, thought to be around £1,000, is paid by the lender, bank or building society. However, it is likely to be passed on to the homebuyer via a charge or interest rate increase. How long will the scheme run? The planned end date is January, 2017. Guarantees worth up to £12bn will be offered to try to unlock £130bn of high loan to value mortgage lending. Who is offering the Lending? At the time of writing, Lloyds and RBS, including Halifax and NatWest. Or to put it another way, the taxpayer! A recent survey by Santander showing that a
third of people who are considering buying a new home in the next year plan to turn to the scheme, may mean that other lenders will join in. The fear is banks will still have tough lending criteria in place, although RBS said it would aim to lend to 25,500 buyers through the scheme. Critics of the scheme, including Vince Cable, warn of a lack of capacity in the housing market heightening competition for homes and increasing prices artificially. One national estate agent estimates the scheme will push up the average property price by almost 5% or circa £8,500 over three years. The Bank of England will review the scheme annually.
Martin Thompson, is a partner in Commercial Property at Armitage Sykes in Huddersfield
Page 6 RISING costs for materials and labour could pose a serious threat to the fragile recovery in the building industry, it is claimed. The latest state of trade survey by the Federation of Master Builders showed workloads, expected workloads and enquiries during the third quarter were positive across almost all parts of the UK for the second quarter in a row. The private new-build and residential repair and maintenance sectors saw a marked improvement while overall 42% of small builders saw their workloads increase. However, material costs, wages and salaries are all expected to continue rising over the next six months, with the result that many building companies may have to put up their prices. Brian Berry, chief executive of the FMB, said: “Britain’s builders have endured some of the most testing economic conditions in living memory and the lean years have taken their toll. “Construction SMEs have battled to maintain staffing and capacity while trying to keep prices competitive. “Material costs have remained high throughout 2013 and further increases could snuff out this recovery in its infancy.”
Commercial TOWN CENTRE BEST AND FINAL
£11,500 pa HIGH STREET
●
Shop To Let
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Best and Final Offers
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25th Oct 12 noon
TOWN CENTRE BEST AND FINAL
£3,000 pa
LINDLEY
£15,000 pa
BYRAM ARCADE
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360 q ft
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2nd Floor Unit
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Attractive Victorian
TOWN CENTRE
£3,000 pa
ACRE STREET
BYRAM ARCADE
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A5 Planning Permission
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Approx: 360 SQ FT
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Prominent Position
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RV: £2000
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Shop and 2 bed Flat
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2nd Floor Unit
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Parking to Rear
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Former Tattoo Parlour
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Approx: 800 sq ft
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Electric Shutters
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Ofers around £15,000 p.a.
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Kitchennette
Arcade ●
LOWERHOUSES AUCTION
Approx: 690 sq ft
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RV: £10,000
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Rent is subject to VAT
Offers in Excess of £20,000 LONGLEY
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Grade 2 Listed Building
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Badly Damaged
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Plus site of Former
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RV: £2125
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Best and Final Offers
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25th Octobe 12 noon
TOWN CENTRE
£8,000 pa NORTHUMBERLAND STREET ●
Approx: 440 SQ FT G/F
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Approx: 330 SQ FT F/F
Building ● ●
197 – 201 Longley
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FOR SALE BY AUCTION
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NOVEMBER 28TH
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JOHN SMITH STADIUM
Huddersfield Town Centre REDUCED
£12,500 pa
TOWN CENTRE
£12,500 pa
HIGH STREET
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Corner Shop To Let
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Approx: 337 sq ft
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Return frontage - Albion
RV: £5,900
WESTGATE
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Approx: 640 sq ft
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RV: £14,400
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Prominent Position
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Deceptively Deep
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A3 Planing Permission
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S. Charge Approx £350
Street ●
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Attractive Shop Front
Corner Entrance
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High Pedesrtian Flow
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Close To Bus Station
www.boultonsestateagents.co.uk 54 John William Street, Huddersfield HD1 1ER 01484 515029
p.a.
KIRKLEES BUSINESS NEWS National success for law firm’s duo
TO LET
Industrial Unit
A HUDDERSFIELD law firm picked up two awards at the LFS Conveyancing Awards. Ramsdens, which won the category for best use of social media last year, landed silver this time round. Sinéad Sopala (top right), director of marketing, said: “We are delighted to have been recognised for a second year in this award category. Social media will continue to evolve and at Ramsdens we will carry continue using it as a tool to engage with our audiences in real time with real people.” Lindsey Frith (also mpictured), a solicitor in the firm’s Wakefield office won the coveted Young Conveyancer of the Year award. She said: “I am over the moon to have won this national award and brought a gold award home to the Ramsdens conveyancing team. The competition was extensive and tough this year – it also included last years’ winner. The category was judged by some of the best conveyancers in the business, so this is something that I am really proud of.” Ramsdens, which has offices in Huddersfield town centre, Edgerton, Elland, Holmfirth, Dewsbury, Mirfield, Slaithwaite, Halifax and Wakefield, was also highly commended in the category of law firm of the year at the Yorkshire Lawyer Awards 2013.
FOR SALE
Leisure/Retail
Mark Street, Huddersfield, HD1 4ST 1 Single storey workshop 1 414.34m2 (4,460 sq ft) 1 Drive in loading access Rent: Reduced to £12,000 per annum (Joint Agents Bramleys)
TO LET
Providence Garage
Luck Lane, Huddersfield, HD1 4QT 1 Garage/workshop unit 1 274.78m2 (2,957 sq ft) 1 Drive in access via sliding loading doors Rent: £14,000 per annum (Joint Agents Bramleys)
FOR SALE
19 Brook Street
Huddersfield, HD1 1EB 1 Large retail/restaurant unit 1 250m2 (2,686 sq ft) 1 Accommodation over 3 floors 1 Central location opposite market 1 Suitable for a variety of uses (STP) Price: £175,000
TO LET
Industrial/Trade
Former ‘The House’ Restaurant, Scholes, Cleckheaton 165m2 (1,770 sq ft)
Staincliffe Trade Centre, Halifax Road, Dewsbury 572m2 (5,678 sq ft)
Unique interior design with fully fitted restaurant prominently located in Scholes. Opportunity to expand in former salon
High profile two storey unit with on site parking, adjacent to Halifax Road near Plumb Centre
TO LET/MAY SELL
Industrial
TO LET
Offices
Hugh House, Foundry Street, Brighouse 662m2 (7,136 sq ft)
The Watermill, Wheatley Park, Mirfield 550 - 9,000 sq ft
Single storey workshop with good quality offices. Occupation immediately available. Joint agents - Bramleys 01484 530361
High quality modern office space with comfort cooling and on-site parking. Available as a whole or in smaller suites
www.michaelsteel.co.uk
All enquiries to Alec Michael alec@michaelsteel.co.uk
KIRKLEES BUSINESS NEWS
Movers and shakers
Page 8
Company’s gift for firefighters Lorraine Trebble, Natalie Wells & Ellie Fisher
Howarths EMPLOYMENT law specialist Howarths has announced three new appointments. Lorraine Trebble (above, left) joins the Cleckheaton-based firm as accounts co-ordinator after running a family business in Huddersfield for more than 12 years. Natalie Wells (right) takes up the post of receptionist while Ellie Fisher (centre) joins as HR administrator, having previously worked in the HR department at a large chain of care homes. In her new role, she will provide support to Howarths’ employment law advisers and will be involved in drafting client documentation.
Kevin Barratt, Chris Smith & Mark Weeks
Wilby Ltd INSURANCE broker Wilby Ltd has unveiled a new look for its risk management division following the recruitment of three new starters. The team is headed by Kevin Barratt (pictured), who spent many years working in the manufacturing sector, where he held various roles including supervisor and factory manager before working as an operations director and later health and safety manager at a multinational firm. Mr Barrett, whose professional qualifications include chartered status, is currently providing risk management services to clients covering most sectors, but specialising in construction, manufacturing and leisure. The other new members of the team are Chris Smith and Mark Weeks. Mr Smith has extensive experience dealing with clients and offers expert advice on health and safety for a wide range of industries as well as developing and implementing health and safety management systems and providing health and safety training. Mr Weeks provides risk management services to clients covering most sectors, but specialising in construction, manufacturing and leisure. Before joining Wilby Ltd, he spent the early part of his career as a project manager at one of Europe’s largest multi-disciplinary research organisations and worked as a senior health and safety consultant for a UK-wide consultancy. Richard Blackburn, managing director at Halifax-based Wilby Ltd, said: “This investment in the risk management team enables us to offer a wide range of risk management and health and safety services which we think will really benefit our clients.”
A KIRKLEES company supplied specialist equipment to competitors in a contest for fire and rescue services – then presented it as a gift. Cleckheaton-based Ferno, which specialises in patient handling equipment for the emergency services, provided a stretcher and immobiliser for use by North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service in the United Kingdom Rescue Organisation competition, held in Liverpool. North Yorkshire’s trauma team members Ian Lawrence and Nikki Bullamore claimed third place in the trauma challenge – earning themselves a place in next year’s World Rescue Challenge. After the competition, the equipment was presented to them as a gift by Ferno managing director Jon Ellis. The UKRO competition is
made up of a series of regional challenges involving fire and rescue services from around the country taking place over several months, culminating in the final UK Championships. Tasks included a water rescue, rope rescue, vehicle extrication, a trauma challenge and an urban search and rescue exercise. Mr Ellis said: “It is very pleasing to see that our products are becoming the equipment of choice for the UK’s emergency services. “Our aim is to develop products which address the needs of today’s crews, making their jobs easier and safer while at the same time enhancing the patient ‘experience’ in terms of comfort and protection.” Ferno has been trading for more than 40 years and is recognised as a global leader
■ HELPING OUT: Ferno managing director Jon Ellis (centre) with Nikki Bullamore and Ian Lawrence, of North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service in the manufacture and distribution of emergency
Back pain solutions to help businesses A HUDDERSFIELD physiotherapist and pain specialist is to speak at a medical conference in London. Longley-based Georgie Oldfield will talk about her work at the British Institute’s Musculoskeletal Medicine’s Winter Symposium on December 7. Georgie qualified as a physiotherapist 30 years ago and since 2007 has devoted more of her time to raising awareness of ways to help people recover from chronic pain rather than just manage it. She argues that in cases where serious physical causes can be ruled out, chronic pain may be triggered by the brain and central nervous system in response to emotions and that as the process
is reversible, full recovery is possible. Georgie founded the Stress illness Recovery Practitioners’ Association which runs programmes to help health professionals integrate this concept and approach into their own practices. She also spends time promoting the concept and working to have the approach accepted and recognised by the mainstream healthcare industry. Back pain alone is estimated to cost £1.6bn in healthcare spending and accounts for almost 5m working days lost each year. On any one day, 1% of the UK working population are on sick leave due to a back problem.
Delegates go for growth DELEGATES will be going for growth at a networking event next week. Huddersfield accountancy firm Sheards holds its next Connection13 event at 11.30am on Thursday, October 24, at Huddersfield RUFC, Lockwood Park. The guest speaker will be Nicole Ballantyne, of Growth Accelerator – a partnership between private enterprise and Government devoted to helping business owners identify and achieve their goals and ambitions with sustainable growth.
Growth Accelerator helps firms to set achievable goals, iIdentify and overcome barriers to change and growth, find funding providers, stimulate product and service development, motivate employees and get one-to-one leadership and management advice. The event will also include a short presentation from Sheards on topical tax and accountancy matters. Those attending will also be making a small contribution to the Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice at Bradley. Contact Sheards on 01484 541155 or email advice@sheards.co.uk
patient-handling equipment and mortuary products.
Paul Cook
X-Cel Precision AN engineering firm in Batley has made a key appointment. X-Cel Precision, which supplies components to the oil sector, has appointed Paul Cook (pictured) as machine shop manager at its site at Challenge Way. Mr Cook fills a vacancy created as a result of internal promotion. He brings a wealth of experience, practical and academic knowledge to the role and will head up a team of dedicated CNC machinists as the firm’s facility grows and expands.
Scientific approach A GROUP dedicated to manufacturing matters take a scientific turn at their meeting this week. Members of Calderdale and Kirklees Manufacturing Alliance will welcome representatives of the Mercury Centre, based at Sheffield University’s department of materials science and engineering, who will explain how they can help manufacturers. The centre offers a range of advanced design, manufacturing and analysis services from computer modelling of products and manufacturing processes to the manufacture of components and materials characterisation for structure and properties. Following this, the Manufacturing Advisory Service will update CKMA members on how MAS can help firms streamline their processes, reduce waste, become more energy-efficient and generally improve and grow their businesses. The meeting takes place at 5pm on Thursday at the Briar Court Hotel, Halifax Road, Birchencliffe. The event finishes at 7pm with networking and refreshments. Email enquiries@ckma.info.