Business Telegraph July 2018

Tuesday July 17 2018

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TOOLING UP FOR UP, UP AND AWAY! TRIO READY FOR TAKE-OFF, INSPIRED BY A 300-MILE TAXI TRIP... FOR A SPANNER! THREE businesswomen believe they have hit on a money saving, local supply chain-boosting niche in the burgeoning offshore industry.

Airport hotel managers Sam Cook and Amy Lee have joined forces with the managing director of an established regional tool supplier, Sally Wray, to launch GoHire Offshore within Humberside’s terminal.

She had taken over the Hull business in 2015, leaving a legal role at a regional local authority. With Nightel, the company behind Kirmington’s two hotels as a client, she was amazed to see the type of deliveries being received at the

By David Laister Business Editor dave.laister@grimsbytelegraph.co.uk Twitter: @davelaister

the three were together at Grimsby Renewable Partnership’s conference in 2016. Seeing the way the industry was becoming more dependent on helicopters, and well aware of the continuing need from the more traditional North Sea industry, they also knew allied businesses in the area that could help serve them.

“We want to make sure the offshore wind and oil and gas industries are supplied,” said Sally. “We have the likes of Hammond and Taylor and Survitec here, and we are asking others to join us too,

developing offshore hub.

“I was running a conventional tool hire business, and delivered some tools to Sam and Amy and a taxi arrived with a spanner from Great Yarmouth. All I could think of is why is that being done? I’ve got a warehouse full of spanners!

“We had some meetings and looked at all these people coming to the area, but not using the local supply chain.”

The idea to actually have a presence at the airport clicked when Continued on PAGE 4

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Beautiful new 2, 3 and 4 bedroom homes in Blyton from just £140,000

The entreprenerial trio of Go Hire Offshore directors, from left, Sam Cook, Sally Wray and Amy Lee.

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Business contacts Editorial

David Laister Direct line: 01472 806972 Mobile: 07730 639525

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Next month’s edition: Grimsby: Tuesday, August 21 Scunthorpe: Thursday, August 23

Giving small business professional presence PERSONALISED PACKAGE NICHE SEIZED UPON BY TEAM

your daily port of call for the latest and breaking business news around the Humber region

visit humberbusiness.com

E-COMMERCE start-ups the nation over are being given a professional appearance from a South Bank packaging specialist.

Entrepreneur Murray Sellars has launched Quickbox.co, a business supplying online retailers with their products’ protective needs during delivery.

Previously heading up Lindum Packaging, he sold his stake in the family business to his brothers, taking on the manufacturing arm as part of the deal.

Now he has invested in a full-colour digital printer with significant capability, having secured backing from Humber Local Enterprise Partnership’s Local Growth Fund.

Mr Sellars said: “We are Murray Sellars making it possible for businesses to buy small quantities of corrugated packaging, personalised. It is normally bespoke, but usually comes with an enormous volume order requirement. We are digitally printing and manufacturing, with a specialism in large sizes, all with small minimum order requirements. We are reaching out to these people online, who can cost-up online and will eventually be able to design online and

“

we will manufacture and produce, then out it goes to them.

“We are fitting in with e-commerce customers all over the place. People can’t afford to buy like Amazon, but don’t want to send products out in a black plastic bag either. We are getting to talk to people who are so passionate about their products, the start-ups to believe they have the very best thing there has ever been – it is very rewarding.”

Initial expectations of employing three to five people have been surpassed, with up to 12 employed recently as sales increase 125 per cent, with similar projections for the second half of the year.

“We have relied on agency staff, but as fast as we get good people we are taking them on,” he said.

From his share in the Stallingborough business, he bought out the production facility, with Lindum now a customer. “I subsequently identified the need to have the ability to do full colour print,” he said. “We had to be able to offer that, there is an expectation now, so digital was the only way to go.”

The investment was aided by a

We are fitting in with e-commerce customers all over the place. People can’t afford to buy like Amazon, but don’t want to send products out in a black plastic bag either

Quickbox.co self-branded products. £22,000 contribution from the public purse.

“In terms of job creation it should equate to two people, but in effect we have already more than doubled that,” Mr Sellars said, praising the system. “I like the fact we have a single point of access with the local authority.

People need to understand how these grants work and that they are not onerous. It is time to quit grumbling about taxes we pay and call on the authorities to help stimulate growth. This is a small business, and we are looking to grow. We have already got a 60-year-old who had given up on finding another permanent job again and a graduate who had not been using his skills as much as he could have been, with agency people transferring to permanent work in two cases too.”

Rachael Markham, economic

development officer with North East Lincolnshire Council, put Mr Sellars in contact with E-Factor Business advisor Tim Maddinson, and an application was made by the January start-up. Both were there to see the machine in action.

Mr Maddinson said: “This is so pertinent at the moment with the growth in e-commerce. More and more stuff is being delivered, so a business like this has great opportunities without doubt. You wouldn’t sit in a shop without branding it up, so why send a box that way?”

An unexpected market has also been bit upon, with orders from Pinewood Studios and Emmerdale for boxes to be used as props on set.

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Tuesday, July 17, 2018

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Carbon plant’s first in water filtration works IMMINGHAM INVESTMENT WINS DRINKING WATER DEAL A MAJOR investment in Immingham has brought a first for the company behind it, after a tender was won to reactivate spent carbon filters for drinking water.

CPL Industries has successfully handled its first batch for a British utility, having worked solely on industrial applications previously.

Now, having invested in a dedicated facility to keep the process completely separate to that operated for the past five years, a first tender has been won to deliver.

It involves a thermal reactivation process, passing the spent material through a high temperature kiln to restore filtration capacity.

CPL’s divisional director Steve Bell said: “After more than five years of reactivation operations for industrial customers, we are delighted to make this first step into drinking water carbon regeneration, following the investment made by the company in our facilities and also the winning of our first reactivation tender.

“We were convinced that there was room in the market for additional reactivation capacity, and our facility at Immingham is second to none in terms of its capability and efficiency. We look forward to working closely with the water utility industry and taking on more work in this sector.”

Activated carbons are used in a wide range of gas and liquid phase filtration applications, such as air treatment, water purification, food and beverage decolourisation and numerous other environmental protection applications.

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Business Month in Review

New power plant ENERGY: A new gas-fired power station is being proposed for the South Bank of the Humber, bringing with it the potential for scores of new jobs.

Existing operator VPI, which bought the refinery-based combined heat and power plant from Phillips 66 in 2013, has revealed a plan for a 299MW facility, which would feed off the existing infrastructure on site.

Initial consultations will take place next week in Immingham and South Killingholme, with a three-year construction phase anticipated for the multi-million pound project that would add a further 20 per cent to the capacity. With potential to be operating by 2023, it would also use flexible, rapid start-up technology – what is known as open cycle gas turbine generation – allowing it to respond to peak needs and drops in variations in renewables input.

Town deal signed The new plant at CPL Industries, dedicated to potable water. Left, Steve Bell, CPL’s divisional director.

Pictures: David Reay.

Spent activated carbons from the various purification applications are generally categorised into two broad types, which dictates how they are subsequently handled and reprocessed. Spent carbons from industrial applications such as air and gas filtration, waste water and remediation projects are referred to as ‘amber list’ materials. Carbons that have been used in drinking water or food grade applications

are referred to as ‘green list’ materials.

Following a major investment by the parent company, CPL Industries, The Food & Potable Grade Reactivation unit is a state-of-art facility incorporating a number of innovation technologies to ensure customers’ carbons are reactivated in an efficient and cost-effective manner. As well as the separate build for the green reactivation, the company’s exist-

ing ‘amber’ reactivation plant has also had its capacity increased as part of the ongoing investment programme.

Mr Bell added: “The benefits of reactivating spent carbon, rather than disposing of it and replacing with virgin material, are considerable, both in terms of cost and environmental impact and CPL believes strongly in the recycling of spent carbons wherever possible.”

REGENERATION: More than 8,800 new jobs and nearly 10,000 new homes will be delivered in Greater Grimsby after a Stage One Town Deal worth £67 million was signed off by Government.

Local Growth Minister Jake Berry MP and Business Minister Lord Henley, put pen to paper with North East Lincolnshire Council leader Ray Oxby.

It marks the beginning of a stronger relationship between central government and local partners to support the regeneration.

The deal will give the town major investment to improve key roads and establish enterprise zones which will attract and support businesses to the area increasing further investment and employment.

Higher education provision at Garth Lane, enhancing the town centre, has also been revealed.

w.ongo.co.uk/owletmews 01427 367092

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Tuesday, July 17, 2018

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Business NORTHERN LINCOLNSHIRE’S BUSINESS PERSON OF THE

How a pool-side chat rules led to Kiwi Karl

Trio tooling up ■ continued from page one. and encouraging technicians and their employers to use us, save money, and make sure we get the benefit in this region.”

Sally said cross hiring – from company to company to end user – was a familiar model in the sector, and was now being taken to a new level with the collaboration.

Building on the 24-hour nature of hotel customer service, a collection depot was launched, and in addition to the extensive tool and equipment hire service, the team now offer, instrumentation and calibration services, tooling and PPE supplies, storage and materials management.

“It just made perfect sense to combine the services we each already provided to create a full package for our customers,” Sam said. “They can not only get hotel rooms from Hampton by Hilton and Nightel, but also order their tools and PPE, have any of their own equipment tested and certificated but also store their tools and equipment.

“We operate around the clock and will shift mountains if it means our customers have what they need.”

She added: “We can see all the great things happening in the sectors, but we see elements of the supply chain not benefiting from it. As we are so close to the hotels, if it is overalls or survival suits that are required, we can deliver to the bedroom at the hotel.

The whole point of it is to get a supply chain in the Humber region. The work is being done in the Humber, so why shouldn’t we?”

Currently served from partner firms in northern Lincolnshire, and Go Hire’s depot in Hull, which started life as Arnott Plant Hire in 1995, more of a presence on the airport business park is the end goal.

“To have a larger team and unit would be great,” Sally said. “Power tools and equipment have to be safety checked with it being offshore, it is a different level to the construction industry.

“We have made sure we have offshore expertise too. When we started putting the project together we pulled that in, as while we do have lots of experience in tools, I was worried about expertise in the offshore arena. What we now have are offshore consultants, people we can connect with for everything concerning our tools and equipment.

“It has got to be professional, it has got to be right, and there is nothing in the area like it.”

Having bought Arnott, Sally renamed and rebranded the business GoHire, moving it to larger premises in a more prominent location in the city’s Goulton Street, visible from Clive Sullivan Way.

A casual neighbourhood chat sparked the entrepreneurial interest and subsequent epic career transition from New Zealand plumber to chief executive of Scunthorpe industrial specialist Cat Tech. Strong growth in the past year saw Karl Thew crowned Northern Lincolnshire Business Person of the Year for 2018.

David Laister winds back to that sun bed Southern Hemisphere moment, and the journey to the Grimsby Auditorium stage.

Landing in northern Lincolnshire for an 18 month stint to make getting a Green Card to join Cat Tech (a then Shell owned company) in the US all that easier, Karl Thew is still here nearly a quarter of a century later.

Arriving just before the general manager of the catalyst handling company retired, he soon found himself in the role permanently, and after surviving and indeed thriving through a couple of buy-outs, he launched his own.

Now, not only is he in charge of the company, but he has the controlling stake in it, too.

“It was like living in a rented house, then buying it – not much different,” he said of that big step back in 2012. “It has always been exciting to see it grow. Even when I was a director of the Shell company, growing it from what it was to what it became at the time of the MBO – it is the growth, the strive to make the company secure that gets me out of bed every mor ning.”

That bed is in Messingham, a thankfully short commute to South Park Industrial Estate and the recently enlarged offices for a man who covers more than 100,000 miles a year, and circumnavigated the globe to get here.

“I was a plumber by trade,” he said, explaining how he went from water closets to high hazard industrial sites in an early career swap. “I had my own businesses and my neighbour started an industrial services company. We were sat round the pool one day discussing how the New Zealand Refinery required the catalyst handling services for the then largest hydrocracker unit in the Southern Hemisphere and I said I wouldn’t mind learning about it, I wanted to learn how to conduct catalyst change-outs.”

Mr Thew travelled to Holland, learning about it by entering the reactors themselves, doing the job himself, initially for his friend’s company and the company in Holland, ahead of applying the service at New Zealand

Refinery.

In the course of that early exploration he met a Cat Tech rep while running a project in the Caribbean, and was asked to join them, in Houston, the oil capital of the western world.

He sold off his New Zealand businesses, deciding this was the direction he wanted to go in, taking a job as a salesman.

“I had a big leaving party, rented out my house and got to Hawaii,” he said. “I had my Green Card application in my bag, but I was told I couldn’t be in the USA while applying for a work permit and was forced to return home.” The Shell owned company asked if Karl would consider moving to the UK instead for an interim period, and that was his unplanned UK introduction, with his supportive New Zealand wife Louise and three young children in tow.

“I moved here in 1994, I had Irish grandparents, so I had dual nationality. I was coming here for 18 months. I had been self-employed, which made the move direct to the USA difficult, but as a Shell employee it would be easier to arrange the transfer to the USA, so I opted to obtain a Green Card that way.”

Then the general manager at the Scunthorpe site retired, and he was asked to stay on as they looked for someone else. It transpired they’d already found him, and he was made a director soon after.

“What the company does hasn’t changed, the removal and replacement of catalysts that produce the chemical reaction to change what is passing through,” explained Mr Thew.

“What we bring is the routine switch-over, as the catalyst gets covered in carbon and loses its surface area, it becomes less efficient. We – Cat Tech – pioneered this industry 45 years ago. Instead of regenerating the catalyst inside of the vessel, it was quicker to take it out and put fresh in, so we were shortening the turnaround time, albeit requiring specialised equipment and breathing apparatus

to work in a nitrogen inert environment.”

Cat Tech can be traced back to the ammonia plants in Kentucky USA, as a private company initially started by ex-employees who started providing the service to the industry.

It was bought by Union Carbide and then Shell, who made and used catalysts. “It was a good fit for Shell to have a catalyst handling company,” Mr Thew reflected. However, when the oil major overstated its oil reserves nearly 20 years ago, instruction came to sell-off non core businesses, and as a service company, it was divested. It was bought by a private investor in 2002, sold again in 2006 to a Canadian business Eveready, itself acquired

by US giant CleanHarbors. Cat Tech was the only international interest, with Mr Thew Karl Thew, right, is managing it all. In 2012 it was to be sold off presented with the again, and the director of the satellite ScunBusiness Person of thorpe base stepped up. the Year Award by “I decided to buy it, and I kept the Cat Tech Andrew Holt, senior name because it was a recognised brand,” he partner at Wilkin said. Four years on a non-compete clause Chapman, second expired in the US, in March last year, paving left, watched by the way for some considerable growth. compere Helen “We have established back there and that’s Fospero and Rob where the focus is now,” he said. “With shale Bradley, chairman gas in the US there is a huge market and it is of the North growing all the time. We have just landed two Lincolnshire area chamber of Hull and contracts, both new construction projects, for Humber Chamber of the initial loading of the catalyst, in LouisiCommerce. ana, and the potential to also service Exxon-

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Tuesday, July 17, 2018

YEAR TALKS US THROUGH AN AMAZING CAREER TALE

and strict Green Card landing in Scunthorpe

Mobil in the Gulf States, who is our largest customer.”

Offices in Singapore, Thailand, China, Bulgaria and Scandinavia have been opened on his watch, although the latter has now closed, with joint working relationships in South Africa and South America.

“The Middle East is interesting, there are lots of companies that want to partner with you, but to me a joint venture is about the right partner, and we have had joint ventures before where one side feels the other is getting the lion’s share.

“It is a niche market, and it is dangerous work, a labourer’s job in a dangerous environment. A lot of larger industrial services companies buy the company doing that. They amalgamate into the industrial services company and lose the expertise. The quality of the work, the professionalism, is being lost.

There’s a lack of focus on bringing people in too. We’re the only company in this that we know of with an apprenticeship styled programme. We have to compete with companies offering services across the board, and we’re not the cheapest, but cost and quality go hand in hand. You don’t get a Rolls Royce for the price of a VW.” Turnover has increased from £6 million to £10 million since the buy-out completed, and a physical expansion of the Scunthorpe base has seen a distinct corporate head office

created at the site that doubles up as the European depot.

A full time team of 20 is based there, but numbers can swell to 130 in the UK alone as work builds. “We have the corporate office, looking after everything worldwide here, then in terms of the workshop we have the European division, servicing the Middle East as well from here too.”

Back in Blighty the work involves a lot of vacuum units to remove the catalysts, with a specialist breathing apparatus manufacturer for the process also in house, Breathe Safe

International Ltd, which employs a further four people.

“No one reactor is exactly the same, it is about developing equipment and practices to suit all the processes,” Mr Thew said. “It is all oil industry based. It might be petrochemical, ammonia or pharmaceutical work, but it is all oil-based. Certain catalysts can’t be exposed to oxygen so require working in a nitrogen filled confined space to remove and replace them.”

Not that he is confined in northern Lincolnshire.

“I bought the land from the council and the building off the previous owner. We have just put up the second storey, a much needed expansion, with council funding helping with that and some equipment to aid our international growth. And I’m still visiting clients, still occasionally going to run a job,” added the man who co-invented technology to speed up the catalyst change out of tubular process vessels back in 1997, with Shell patenting what brought about a 50 per cent improvement in quality of loading and a vast change-out timeline improvement.

And it was business in Asia that saw him well into the 30-somethingth hour of the day when he collected the accolade in Grimsby back in May. “I was very pleased to win it. I didn’t think I would. It was a long day, so it was the next day I got to really reflect on it. The company is only as good as the employees that are in it.

That award to me is an award for the company, not just me as an individual.”

So could it have been different had that Green Card application been made back in NZ, perhaps by the neighbour’s pool?

“Initially I was thinking ‘where am I going,’ and a lot of people said ‘why are you going to Scunthorpe?’, but I have been here a long time and it is home.”

His daughter met a man from Bury who is now general manager of Cat Tech in Europe, and while his son did make it to the US, as a professional golfer at Kiwah Island, South Carolina, his youngest daughter is a teacher in Chester.

“I have no desire to go anywhere else,” he said. “I have three grandchildren now, and I’m not missing them!”

Month in Review

Top track duo GROWTH: Northern Lincolnshire’s private-label coffee wholesaler, Lincoln & York, has been recognised for its international growth with the coveted top spot in The Sunday Times HSBC International Fast Track 200.

The report ranks Britain’s mid-market private companies with the fastest-growing international sales, measured over their latest two years of available accounts.

And while it has blossomed on the back of the UK coffee market explosion, it has also capitalised on other emerging markets.

Targeting countries such as Poland, Holland, Ireland, France and Denmark has helped sales grow by 265 per cent over the two-year period – which equates to an impressive £7.2m in sales – 20 per cent of its current annual turnover.

It is aiming to more than double that again.

It followed British Steel making the annual Sunday Times HSBC Top Track 100, the overall ranking of private companies with biggest sales.

The Scunthorpe steel giant, bought out

by Greybull Capital from Tata in June 2016, is a ‘new entry’ in at 49 with sales of £1.2 billion, generating profit of £62 million.

Boxing clever

SEAFOOD: A new brand in seafood retailing has been launched, taking Grimsby’s proud export direct to people’s doorsteps.

Ish Fish is the fledgling business from friends Joel Creasey and Garry Bainbridge, building a high end offer on pride and passion in their home town – and experience in the by-products business.

Sourcing from a third party Grimsby fish merchant, they are using packaging specialist Tri-Pack to supply distinctive boxes, insulated with eco-friendly wool to keep the temperature down while the sought after seafood is with the courier.

Mr Creasey has built up Grimsby Byproducts Ltd over the past five years, employing 20 people on South Humberside Industrial Estate.

Hola Madrid!

Karl Thew in the recently expanded Cat Tech global head office in Scunthorpe. Main picture, sat in front of it.

CONSTRUCTION: Further Spanish steps are being taken by Grimsby-area play specialist Newby Leisure Ltd, after The English Montessori School in Madrid came calling.

The company develops outdoor education environments, and is now building on European partnerships forged, after winning a first major overseas project with The British School of Barcelona.

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Generating interest great billing at Global ENERGY Minister Claire Perry urged the offshore wind industry to “keep up the fantastic work,” at the sector’s huge Global Offshore Wind 2018 exhibition.

She spoke via a recorded address after a vital Brexit vote forced her to miss her keynote slot at the Renewable UK event.

Addressing delegates, she said: “Offshore wind has been a brilliant success story for the UK in terms of renewables, but also in exploring opportunities overseas.

“We have the largest installed wind base now in the world, we have the world’s biggest wind farms opening, and they are bringing forward wind at a greater scale and cheaper price than we ever thought possible. That’s thanks to this great combination of policies, auctions and innovation, and to that we are saying thank you to you today out there in the industry.

“Not only are you innovating, finding ways to drop costs and improve production in the UK, you are also investing in the supply chain so we have got factories being built in places like Humberside, we have great information management and a whole supply chain building up and you are now taking that globally and helping the world with its own offshore wind investments.

“It is a great success let’s keep it going. I’m sorry I can’t be there.”

Her enforced stay in London gave the Manchester stage to offshore wind champion Baroness Brown.

She used Grimsby and the Hum-

ber as a key plank of her speech as she urged Government to commit to a confidence-boosting ‘clear line of sight’ by signing off the huge offshore wind sector deal, revealed in March.

She said: “We need to get to a

place where everyone knows there is going to be a market there, everyone can confidently invest.

“Only government can give that line of sight confidence that this is going to happen. That is the core of our ask of Claire and BEIS. That

Lauren is about to become the

For support in raising your company’s profile in this sector call Angie Atkinson on 01472 806963 or 07920 823544

One of several highly detailed scale models on display at the event.

Gareth Russell and Wendy Sheard of ABP. Below, Humberside-based helicopter provider CHC’s stand.

Grimsby graduate Lauren Little wrote her thesis on the impact offshore wind could have on her home town, and this past month was at an international conference and exhibition helping market the area in her inward investment support role with North East Lincolnshire Council.

She found herself embedded in the words that helped earn her a degree in geography from Newcastle University in 2015, and will soon be fully immersed as she prepares to join Orsted in the role of stakeholder advisor for the Humber.

Lauren said: “I found I was really interested in the impact the offshore wind industry was having in places across the UK after listening to a lecture at university back in 2013, focusing on the impact it was having in the North East. For me, it was a natural decision to undertake a research project on the impact of this exciting new industry on my home town of

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Tuesday, July 17, 2018

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Global Offshore Wind 2018

Energy Estuary given Offshore Wind event

Left, Claire Perry, Energy Minister, with Race Bank’s Edda Passat essel, and Mark Hickson, head of Race Bank operations, who also appeared at Global Offshore Wind 2018 by video, albeit as a feature of the Orsted stand. Above, Baroness Brown fielding a question from Jonathan Goolden, inset. brings in £50 billion of investment, 27,000 skilled jobs, many of them technical and in engineering. Jobs that will give people really transferable skills that will be great across industry.

"It comes with a commitment to

government to deliver cost reduction that will come with this and will become one of the very cheapest ways of delivering electricity and delivering reductions rather than business as usual.”

It came the week after Race

Bank’s inauguration, at which she attended in Grimsby, a point she referenced as she assessed the status.

Telling how 1,800 turbines were now installed, providing 7GW of electricity, she said: “30GW may sound like a big step, but having been at Race Bank’s inauguration, having heard from Siemens Gamesa and Orsted how quickly they can install these turbines, it seems quite a small, unambitious step at the rate they are talking about putting them up!”

She told how the impact on GDP from the industry was "almost entirely outside the South East which is exactly what we need.

"It is something that has captured the imagination of Government, of Claire. I saw with the cluster in Hull and Grimsby with the Siemens blade factory with Orsted’s operations and maintenance activity, the Aura innovation hub and links with University of Hull. It is great to see pride that the community is taking. It is not surprising but great, and driving round Grimsby Fish Docks, boy does that area need investment and regeneration. This is a really good news story and government is going to be very proud to be working with us.

“It is transformational for these communities and great to see

subject of her thesis Grimsby.

“My family have always worked in the seafood sector and I wanted to understand more about the evolution of Grimsby and the new path it was taking.”

As she completed her secondary and further education at King Edward Grammar School in Louth, travelling from Grimsby, Lynn, Inner Dowsing and Lincs wind farms were emerging off the Lincolnshire coast.

Then as she headed up the coast to Newcastle, Westermost Rough and Humber Gateway were being realised off East Yorkshire.

Returning, Race Bank was about to be built, with the world-leading Hornsea proposals also on the drawing board.

“I felt really lucky I was able to talk to businesses large and small about the opportunities this new industry is bringing – I spoke to 17 key stakeholders and had a really valuable insight

into the impact of offshore wind in Grimsby,” she recalled.

She secured a graduate placement with NELC after university, and after six months was offered a position in the economic development team. “I have spent the last two-and-a-half-years supporting businesses, aiding the growth of our key sectors and promoting North East Lincolnshire as a great place to work, stay, play and invest,” she said.

“It was fantastic to attend my first major event and promote North East Lincolnshire on a national stage. Grimsby has established itself as an O&M centre of excellence servicing some of the world’s largest offshore wind farms.

“It has been amazing to see the innovation, change and fast-pace of the industry since I first started my research, and I am excited for what’s to come and what further impact it will have.”

what the companies have been doing in making sure these jobs go to local people and making sure they employ a really diverse work force.”

Questions were invited from the audience to help shape the sector deal ask, and one of few selected was Grimsby solicitor Jonathan Goolden. The Wilkin Chapman partner picked up on the baroness’s visit to North East Lincolnshire, asking: “I was delighted to hear your insight about the Humber cluster, we are enormously proud of what we have achieved so far and you can see how far we need to go. All these wonderful things are going offshore, how can we make sure Grimsby and Hull are fully part of the Northern Powerhouse agenda? We have to invest and develop our core infrastructure to maintain and keep this skilled work force.”

Hugh McNeal, chief executive of RenewableUK, said there were similar issues in other cluster areas, with Baroness Brown adding: “I think Lord Haskins (Humber LEP chair) is doing a fantastic job for you on that. He is such a strong, powerful and proud voice and is doing a good job in getting the message out.”

Exhibition news:

Murphy’s role MURPHY has formally secured the £100 million contract to ‘bury’ the onshore cable for Triton Knoll offshore wind farm.

It follows the wins on Hornsea Projects One and Two for the civil engineering specialist, now a familiar sight in northern Lincolnshire.

It comes as the 860MW Innogy project begins its initial works onshore, in preparation for the main construction of the substation and cable route later this summer, with sign-off anticipated soon.

Murphy has already been working on the route design, which stretches from the point of landfall near Anderby Creek, to a new substation at Bicker Fen, near Boston.

Hornsea, currently in construction, runs from Horseshoe Point to North Killingholme.

Triton Knoll presents one of the biggest engineering challenges of its kind, with almost 60km of installation and more than 300 obstacles to be crossed by individual horizontal direction drills – three times more than what’s believed to be the previous UK record for an infrastructure project.

Triton Knoll project director Julian Garnsey said: “We are delighted to award this contract to our supply chain partner Murphy. This contract secures significant investment into the UK supply chain, which will open up additional opportunities for more local firms to support Innogy’s flagship offshore wind far m.”

PROUD TO BE

RENEWING THE HUMBER

MHI Vestas's virtual reality turbine tour at Global Offshore Wind 2018.

9.5MW turbine now certified The world’s most powerful commercially available wind turbine – set to feature on Innogy’s Triton Knoll offshore wind farm – has been certified, clearing the way for first global installations to begin in late 2019.

MHI Vestas Offshore Wind is celebrating the milestone for its flagship V164 turbine platform as the 9.5 MW model has received its Rotor-Nacelle-Assembly Component Certificate.

Chief technology officer, Torben Larsen, said: “This is the culmination of years of hard work and is something we are extremely proud of.

The type certificate provides our customers with the certainty and assurance that the 9.5 MW turbine will deliver on its promise.”

The final certification was received a year after MHI Vestas announced the 9.5 MW turbine to the market, Head of product management, Henrik Baek Jorgensen, said: “Announcing the world’s most powerful turbine and then receiving final certification one year later is no small achievement. This is a very important chapter in the growing legacy of the V164.”

It underlines the progress across the industry, with Grimsby-operated Westermost Rough once a world-leader in commercial-scale wind turbine deployment when the 6MW Siemens models were first introduced in early 2015 on the Orsted farm off the East Yorkshire coast.

E N V I R O N M E N TA L LY A W A R E • SKIP HIRE • WASTE TRANSFER STATION

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Food In association with

Manufacturers of Industrial Hygienic Doors

01472 311057 www.lincsdoors.co.uk

01472 889200 www.blackrow.co.uk

01472 210343 www.centralltd.com

01472 352 998 www.carreraeng.co.uk

01472 340938 Jamie@lincsindustrialpainters.com

For support in raising your company’s profile in this sector call Angie Atkinson on 01472 806963 or 07920 823544

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Feeding a reputation for exellence online GRIMSBY’S Carrera Engineering is closing in on a dozen years in business, having steadily and consistently grown as it works alongside key clients in the food sector.

The comprehensive process-focused services are clearly valued by the sector it operates in, with quality and deliverance earning loyalty.

Such is the strength of repeat business, that a website build has been 12 years in the making, with word of mouth and reliance from satisfied customers the cornerstone of the offer.

Now it is embracing the digital platform as a new generation of business leaders emerge, aware it needs a presence online, as well as a name in the sector.

Sharon Pratten is the managing director of the Thorold Street firm, having taken the role when her husband Wayne passed away prematurely five years ago.

It followed a major move to significantly larger premises, from Birchin Way, which helped facilitate the growth.

Mrs Pratten, who administered the business in the early days, before the enforced switch saw her take the lead role, said: “Carrera is going from strength to strength.

We have been in Thorold Street for Nine years now and we are again working close to capacity.

“At the time it was such a vast difference from Birchin Way where the men were challenged by limited working areas, and even at times, reluctantly working outside to keep projects running. We purchased in, what was then, a sizeable workshop, and it was a little daunting, but we have done it by offering value, consistent quality that has developed customer loyalty, which in turn has allowed us to invest in more staff and machinery to aid and sustain Carrera’s growth.”

A total of 28 people are now employed, with several members of the original workforce from when it started at Birchin Way. “It is predominantly the food industry we serve, that’s what has made us who we are,” Mrs Pratten said. “We know our sector and our business, and while we do look at other areas, it is the core. We have several customers with sites elsewhere in the country, not just in Grimsby, but we are predominantly operating in this region.”

The website has been delivered with the Telegraph team, and it highlights the full range of services that Carrera Engineering can offer.

“It is something we have needed

Sharon Pratten, managing director, outside the premises. Inset, Wayne Pratten, and below, inside the workshop. to do for a long time, we need that presence,” Mrs Pratten said.

“It is great that we haven’t needed to do it to generate new business, but the other side of the coin is that it is an opportunity to underline to anyone our services.

“We provide customers with skilled engineering labour for general on-site maintenance extending our skills and services offered to a full turnkey operation, with the removal and installation of new production lines and associated works.

“Some of our customers haven’t got the skilled staff and equipment on site to carry out maintenance, often during the night or over a weekend, and we therefore under-

take this for several customers.”

Carrera, named after the Porsche, is a further nod to the quality and excellence delivered.

Mr Pratten passed away at the age of 39, and huge credit is given to the team for driving his legacy forward.

“I was in the business with Wayne from day one,” she said. “I divided my time between Carrera, and also at Pretty Woman (a lingerie business in Sea View Street, Cleethorpes, which she sold after 12 years to concentrate on Carrera) therefore, the general day to day activities weren’t alien to me. Obviously the dynamics have changed a lot, but with director Guy Baslington taking the reins of production activities and ensuring the continuity of our customers’ needs are met, we have been able to overcome some very challenging times, but all very much worthwhile challenges all the same.

“For everyone here to be able to

maintain consistency, from what happened, to where we are now, that is down to everybody here, everyone plays their part in keeping the steel wheels of Carrera rolling. I am enjoying it, and I am very fortunate I have got a good team alongside me.

“The business has grown year-on-year, steadily, and we have been able to keep up with the growth. I think Carrera has a very good name in the town. We are well established now and undertake work for some high profile and blue chip customers within the food industry.

“It is great that we can be relied upon to deliver, that is what has kept us there, to be able to service and deliver, meeting clients’ budgets. Servicing the food industry with engineering skills is extremely competitive, and we have to be mindful of that and our customers’ needs and requirements, always.” ”

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Business Month in Review

Egdon re-applies OIL: Plans to drill for gas and oil in at a site in North Lincolnshire have been resubmitted.

It comes after North Lincolnshire Council's planning committee twice rejected proposals by Egdon Resources for drilling at the site in Wressle.

The Government's Planning Inspectorate also turned down the application on appeal but upheld a decision for the firm to retain the well at Wressle.

Egdon Resources has now submitted a new planning application for its Wressle site, which the company says “comprehensively addresses the reasons for the refusal of the original planning applications and the subsequent appeals�.

Box office ‘hits’

Accreditatons delight fish processing team

LEISURE: A former cinema on Freeman Street is set to become a huge arena for airsoft, Nerf gun and laser tag enthusiasts.

Arena Airsoft, based on King Edward Street, Grimsby have bought the abandoned cinema and are planning to transfer their facilities over to the locally listed building and create a huge battleground for the military simulation sports.

The team have a lot of work ahead of them to get the arena set-up for its opening in approximately five weeks time, as they seek to transform the building that used to be home to the Odeon Cinema and Ghetto Park skate park.

SALMON SPECIALIST HAS TOP STANDARDS ENDORSED

Humber switch

Quality manager, Ann Rogers, left, and Iuliana Popescu, frozen team leader, showing off the new certificates with founder and director of JCS Fish, Andrew Coulbeck. Right, examples of products.

GRIMSBY salmon specialist, JCS Fish, is celebrating two important milestones, having successfully been re-accredited both to the British Retail Consortium AA Grade standard and to certified organic supplier status from the Organic Food Federation.

Achieving the organic status

sets the Murray Street business apart from most other UK fish processors, since the company is one of only a very few producers certified to process and market organic salmon for retail and foodservice.

The BRC Global Standard is an international standard used by

tens of thousands of food suppliers to assure safety and quality and is the universal standard set by the UK’s major supermarkets to identify suitable suppliers.

Director of the ÂŁ6 million turnover firm, Andrew Coulbeck, said: “These certifications are extremely important to the devel-

4ICKETMASTER AND 4RAVELODGE DATA CRISIS "

!

(OWEVER YOU SHOULD TAKE HEED AS THIS IS JUST THE START OF THE JOURNEY NOT THE lNISH AND WHILE THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL CONSEQUENCES MAY NOT BE AS GREAT SUCH A CRISIS COULD CERTAINLY HIT

!S YOU MAY RECALL 4ICKETMASTER S 5+ CUSTOMERS WERE WARNED THEY COULD BE EXPOSED TO FRAUD OR IDENTITY THEFT AFTER THE MAJOR DATA BREACH )T HAS SINCE EMERGED THAT IT INVOLVED MALWARE SOFTWARE WRITTEN WITH THE INTENT OF DOING HARM TO DATA DEVICES OR PEOPLE ON A PRODUCT HOSTED BY AN EXTERNAL THIRD PARTY SUPPLIER ,IKE WISE 4RAVELODGE HAS SAID THAT PERSONAL DETAILS OF CUSTOMERS COULD HAVE BEEN STOLEN AFTER UNAUTHORISED ACCESS WAS GAINED TO SERVER DATA BELONGING TO A THIRD PARTY COMPANY

opment of JCS Fish as they underline our commitment to quality, reliability and the highest sourcing and manufacturing standards. I am so proud of our team here for the hard work and dedication they put into making sure we maintain these accreditations, well done everyone!�

PORTS: Icelandic shipping line Samskip has consolidated its operations on the Humber, switching ports from Immingham to Hull.

It will unify a European logistics network, with the Iceland call adding to the 100,000 container units it moves through the North Bank, but add more road miles for seafood, destined for Grimsby.

)F YOU DO YOU NEED TO ENSURE THEY ARE ALSO '$02 COMPLIANT n IF YOU ARE THE VICTIM OF A BREACH IT IS NOT A DEFENCE TO SAY THAT THE DATA WAS STORED MANAGED BY A lRM YOU USE 4HOUSANDS OF 3-%S WILL USE THIRD PARTY SUPPLIERS TO HOLD THEIR DATA *UST A FEW EXAMPLES INCLUDE RESTAURANTS TAKING ONLINE BOOKINGS COMPANIES USING PAYROLL PROVIDER lRMS WITH EXTERNAL WEBSITE DEVELOPERS OR THOSE THAT USE CONlDENTIAL WASTE DISPOSAL SUPPLIERS

4HERE IS NO DOUBT THAT SOME lRMS ARE STILL FAILING TO RECOGNISE THE NEED FOR COMPLIANCE AND THEY REALLY MUST BE AWARE OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR FAILURE TO ACT

4O DISCUSS THIS FURTHER PLEASE CONTACT -ATT 1UEZADA AT 7ILKIN #HAPMAN ON

EMAIL MATT QUEZADA WILKINCHAPMAN CO UK

7HILE THE '$02 $ DAY OF -AY TH HAS NOW COME AND GONE IT IS IMPORTANT THAT COMPLIANCE IS SOMETHING THAT lRMS HAVE EITHER ACHIEVED OR ARE WORKING TOWARDS 7HETHER AN 3-% WILL BE lNED OR NOT FOR AN INITIAL BREACH IS NOT YET KNOWN (OWEVER IT IS NOT WORTH THE RISK AND THERE WILL OF COURSE BE REPUTATION TO CONSIDER n DAMAGE TO THAT COULD CAUSE A LOT OF HARM

WILKINCHAPMAN CO UK

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Chemical & Process In association with

www.cube3construction.co.uk T: 01469 541737

Engineer a career - if a Jacobs hat fits you JACOBS Field Services Ltd is part of the premier global company Jacobs Engineering.

A consulting, design, engineering, construction, operations and maintenance and technical services firm, it delivers advanced solutions for a more connected, sustainable world.

From a base in Grimsby, as well as offices in Leeds, Derby, Blyth, Thatcham and West Cumbria, it serves a diverse range of companies and organisations, including industrial, commercial and government clients across multiple markets and geographies.

Now a truly national company with the added advantage of having global roots at a local level, Field Services offers project and construction-based services to a very diverse client base that is made up from existing, core and new clients alike.

It currently works across multiple business sectors, locally and nationally.

The client base includes Phillips 66, British Steel and Coal Products Ltd on the South Bank and Nippon Gohsei, BP, Centrica Storage Easington and Yorkshire Water across the Humber Bridge.

Stretching further afield, it provides services to the Ministry of Defence and nuclear networks as well as the petrochemical, refining and utility industries.

A growing involvement in the onshore wind farm sector marks a significant change in the culture of the business and the support of promoting renewable energy.

And it is continually looking to recruit the right candidates.

A spokesperson said: “People are the heart of our business and we

A Jacobs Field Services apprentice, and onshore wind, a new interest for the team. pride ourselves on having a retained core workforce that provides a reliable service for our clients – our valued partners. We are proud to be investors in our workforce and actively recruit a large number of apprentices across all disciplines every year, apprentices that we are pleased to say are trained and retained members of our workforce.

“Our apprentices work on live projects within multi-disciplinary project teams. They build meaningful skills, enabling them to take

up junior positions in project teams once they have completed their apprenticeships.

“We foster a collaborative and inclusive environment for our people and our partners to implement positive growth within our business.”

The 900 plus workforce comprises both professional and craft skilled personnel across all disciplines. The services provided to clients typically include: construction management; project engineering; design; project support;

business administration; electrical and instrumentation technicians; mechanical services; piping; fabrication; welding; rigging; machine shop services; civil services; minor construction; small scale foundations and excavations; bricklaying; joinery; painting and structural engineering.

If you are interested in being part of a global company with local roots, send your CV and a covering letter to JFS-HR@jacobs.com

Cristal buyer gears up for ‘long-awaited day in court’ Chemical/Process - Marine - Food Renewable’s - Pharmaceutical - Precision General enquiries: 01472 351313 www.baconengineering.com

Hire / Sales / Service Parts / Training / Access Platforms www.bjblifttrucks.co.uk

For support in raising your company’s profile in this sector call Angie Atkinson on 01472 806963 or 07920 823544

TRONOX, the company involved in a long-running battle to buy-out titanium dioxide producer Cristal, said it “stands ready to demonstrate the pro-competitive merits of the proposed acquisition” after US authorities filed a formal complaint.

The Federal Trade Commission has laid papers in Columbia’s US District Court, alleging the £1.27 billion deal would violate antitrust laws by significantly reducing competition in the North American market for chloride-process TiO2.

Stallingborough’s sprawling South Humber Bank plant is the largest of its type in Europe, employing 370 people with

a committed contracting team of 100. It is one of 11 global production facilities for the widely used whitening agent.

Jeffry N Quinn, president and chief executive officer of NYSE-listed Tronox, who agreed the deal with the Saudi-giant in February last year, said: “This output-enhancing acquisition positions Tronox to become a leading TiO2 producer capable of succeeding in a fiercely competitive global market.

“For months, we have urged the FTC to follow its ordinary procedure to determine the merits of the acquisition, the same procedure the Department of Justice uses for

Jeffry N Quinn. challenging unconsummated acquisitions and mergers.”

Bemoaning the decision to take a different route

which “would not result in a timely decision,” and has led to the parties in the deal agreeing an extension, Mr Quinn said: “I believe we convincingly demonstrated that the FTC’s objections to the Cristal transaction are entirely misplaced and that the transaction will benefit consumers through significantly increased production of TiO2 and efficiencies arising from our post-merger increased vertical integration.

“We now look forward to our long-awaited day in court and the opportunity to demonstrate how this transaction will benefit customers throughout North America and around the world.”

Authorities were notified back in March 2017, with Tronox repeatedly underlining how the transaction’s “compelling economic rationale” rests on the combined company’s ability to capture significant synergies and increase production, “enabling it to better compete with global market leaders and lower-cost Chinese producers that continue to increase their presence in the global market”.

It comes as the European Commission conditionally approved the acquisition, on the proviso it sells off production facilities for a paper-laminate grade of TiO2, which Tronox is “expeditiously seeking to complete”.

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Tuesday, July 17, 2018

11

Business Month in Review

Skymark looks to create jobs MANUFACTURING: A booming Scunthorpe firm is looking to expand its business with the promise of jobs for the town.

Skymark International Limited wants to increase manufacturing and storage space on its seven-acre site on Mannaberg Way, following a recent increase in orders.

Planners at North Lincolnshire Council have been told the expansion could create 30 new jobs to add to the present 193 employees.

The undisclosed investment, if granted planning permission, will see two new buildings constructed at the site.

Pret’s salmon

Safety is golden for the PX power team STALLINGBOROUGH Combined Heat and Power Plant has received a coveted Gold Medal Achievement Award for its exemplary health and safety performance.

The plant – which generates electricity and provides steam to the adjacent Cristal titanium pigment plant – was awarded the medal after securing a fifth prestigious Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) Gold Award in five years.

The company which manages, maintains and operates the plant – PX Group – will collect the awards at a special ceremony in Birmingham this month.

The RoSPA Awards scheme, which receives entries from organisations around the world, recognises achievement in health and safety management systems, including practices such as leadership and workforce involvement.

Responsible for power stations, gas processing plants and fuel storage depots across the UK, PX received four additional gold awards for sites on Teesside and South Wales and for its head offices in Stockton, which also received a gold medal for five years of excellent performance.

In addition, the PX operated Teesside Gas Processing Plant has been honoured with an

Order of Distinction after securing Gold Awards for 22 consecutive years and with two sites to be judged later in the year, the group’s zero harm initiative could yet deliver a second consecutive year of gold across the board.

Greg Mitchinson, director of safety, health and environment and technical and risk management with PX, said: “As an organisation which operates some of the UK’s most potentially hazardous energy, processing and storage facilities, we invest a huge amount of time and resources ensuring our people and the places where they work are safe.

“Our objective is zero harm to people, the environment and the plants we operate and our team puts an enormous effort into maintaining our reputation as a proactive business, which continues to achieve the very highest standards. This has delivered thousands of hours of incident free work which, in turn, has again been recognised

by RoSPA. “I’d like to thank all of the employees and contractors who work on our sites for continuing to follow our safe working practices, and for looking out for one another, in order to keep themselves and the areas in

SEAFOOD: ?Grimsby’s Young’s Seafood is significantly increasing its foodservice presence after winning a ‘substantial contract renewal to supply a leading, international sandwich and salad chain’ – understood to be Pret a Manger.

The deal will see Young’s expand its supply of salmon from two lines to five.

Young’s will now supply for salmon sandwiches, baguettes and protein pots in addition to a new salad offering and seasonal special baguette.

FOOD FACTORIES CO N S T R U C T I O N

& MAINTENANCE

ALL ACROSS THE UK

Factory Refurbishment Office Upgrade Canteens Locker Rooms Development Kitchens which they work, safe.”

The news comes in the same year that PX acquired the Saltend Chemicals Park, in Hull, from BP, at which it now provides a comprehensive energy, infrastructure, operations and maintenance service for the 370 acre site. It will be entered for a RoSPA award in 2019.

Julia Small, RoSPA’s head of

qualifications, awards and events, said: “The RoSPA Awards are the most highly-respected in the health and safety arena, with almost 2,000 entrants every year.

They allow organisations to prove excellence in the workplace as well as demonstrating a commitment to the wellbeing of not only employees but all those who interact with it.”

www.fscl.co.uk

01472 355 454 Unit 7 – 8 Pegasus Square, Innovation way, Europarc, DN37 9TJ

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Ports & Logistics In association with

GLOBAL RESOURCE SERVICES LTD Tel 01469 550607 www.globalresourceservices.co.uk

Humber Work Boats

Marine Contracting, Dredging and Boat Building www.humberworkboats.co.uk Tel: 01469 540156

For support in raising your company’s profile in this sector call Angie Atkinson on 01472 806963 or 07920 823544

Agent slips the ropes on a historic port tie

A SHIP’S agent that acted for the first vessel to officially enter Port of Immingham 116 years ago, has set sail from its prestigious lock-side offices, dropping anchor at Stallingborough’s Mariner House.

Carlbom Shipping is now led by fourth generation chair, Camilla Carlbom Flinn, and has made the move from Port Office to embrace modern working practices and a growth in Grimsby work, underlined when it was one of two South Bank companies recently flagged up at Orsted’s Race Bank offshore wind farm’s inauguration as supply chain stars.

And some great prints, family portraits and other company heirlooms have made the short journey.

Mrs Carlbom Flinn said: “We had been looking for some time.

We loved the office, the history was there, but with more work in Grimsby it made sense to relocate, and we didn’t need the space.

“There was a dedicated room that served as a captain’s office, as they would once come up and make calls home, and latterly with computers, send e-mails. Now they have everything like that onboard, so we were left with a lot of grandiose storage space.

“It is much more practical where we are now, as well as being closer to the warehousing we use, with twice daily visits there.”

The appropriately named location, on Trondheim Way, just off Kiln Lane, is also home to Unifeeder and Selvic, making it a port community away from the water.

With the passing of her father, Anthony, a decade ago she returned to the area from London, where she was working as a journalist to take the helm, also assuming his roles with the Swedish chamber and consular duties.

A regular face at sector events, she told of the importance of organisations she holds dear. With the sudden passing of her father, Anthony, a decade ago, she

MODERN PRACTICES NECESSITATE MOVE

Camilla Carlbom Flinn, with, from left, Kelly Bevers, finance manager; Julie Curtis, administration and procurement; Robert Winship, operations manager; Gareth Chandler, ship's agent and Kevin Smith, operations director. returned to the area from London, where she was working as a journalist to take the helm far earlier than anticipated, also assuming his roles with the Swedish chamber and consular duties.

“Traditionally our background is bulk cargo and tankers,” she said. “I got interested in offshore wind 10 years ago because it was so new. I thought it was an interesting, new market. When you look after a ship, it is the same whether it is big or small, it just may mean more paperwork, but is still the same business.

“We are a small company and outside of the local area we are not necessarily very well known, and we have got to compete with multi-national ships agencies who have one agent in every port. We focus on the Humber, that’s our specialist area. I do a lot of travelling to promote and market the company and organisations like

Grimsby Renewables Partnership and Team Humber Marine Alliance make all the difference to a small company like us. They support you and are there for you as a business at national and international conferences and are brilliant at networking and helping other companies in the Humber.

They are worth their weight in gold.”

So too, is the contract with North East Lincolnshire’s largest inward investor.

“Orsted was very important to us. We worked on Westermost Rough and Race Bank, and now we are commencing work on Hornsea Project One, looking after all the small crew transfer vessels and service operation vessels running out of Grimsby, and one or two of the larger vessels running out of Immingham.

“These vessels supply the jack-up barges, and it is a lot of

vessel calls per month, so it is keeping us really busy. As a result we have taken on a junior ship’s agent as a result, so it has directly contributed to the employment.”

It has seen the team grow to eight, which after consolidation with coal losses puts a smile on Mrs Carlbom Flinn’s face.

“The company has been quite dynamic in changing. There has been a reduction in coal, and we have had to downsize over the past 10 years, so it is wonderful to have the opportunity to start expanding again and look to train up the next generation of ship’s agents. It is a tough job, it is 24/7. We have people out on a Sunday night, and first thing Monday morning. It takes a certain aptitude and dedication.”

Work has opened up to include procurement, warehousing and logistics too for the wind farm developer’s fleet needs.

British Steel’s Tees terminal signs big deal with emerging mineral mine British Steel’s joint venture in the North East, Redcar Bulk Terminal, has secured a major handling deal on the back of a significant land lease.

Sirius Minerals Plc is progressing work on the extraction of polyhalite, at a deep mine close to Whitby, North Yorkshire.

It has now secured a long term lease for an area of land on the southern site of the port facility, which will be used to establish significant warehousing to store the

mineral, while also agreeing a long-term material handling agreement to export up to 10 million tonnes of polyhalite annually.

Garry O’Malley, RBT’s general manager, said: “This is excellent news and we’re delighted to be working with Sirius Minerals on a project of such regional magnitude.

“It’s another significant step forward in the continued resurgence of Redcar Bulk Terminal. RBT is an integral part of British Steel’s UK

operations, and this new business more than justifies the continuing investment as RBT is now back in profit with a healthy business pipeline.

“We’ve a hugely flexible operation and, coupled with ongoing investment in our port equipment and rail infrastructure, we’ve diversified our offer and continue to secure significant business in new markets.

We’ve great confidence in the future. British Steel has ambitious plans for Redcar

Bulk Terminal and looks forward to continuing to play a significant role in the continuing success of this site and this region.”

Sirius Minerals’ Woodsmith Mine will target the extraction of polyhalite, a unique type of potash and a multi-nutrient fertiliser. It is aiming to achieve first product from the mine by the end of 2021, ramping up to an initial production capacity of 10 million tonnes a year, and then full production of double that.

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Tuesday, July 17, 2018

13

Business Month in Review

Seafood Summit agenda now set SEAFOOD: Brexit and the effect of microplastics on the marine environment will be key topics covered by this year’s UK Seafood Summit.

Both have grabbed the nation’s attention, and they will be at the forefront of the event.

Formerly known as the Humber Seafood Summit, it has been rebranded by organiser Seafish to reflect the national flavour. It has also moved to DoubleTree Forest Pines Hotel, Broughton, to accommodate more delegates as the attendance surges.

The keynote speaker is Ursula Lidbetter MBE, chair of the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership, and member of the Government’s Food and Drink Sector Council.

Project praise

Glenn Fisher, copywriter and author, and above, his book that will be published on October 1.

Getting words to work for business AUDITOR RETURNS TO TOWN AS AN AUTHOR PUBLISHER turned author Glenn Fisher has returned to his home town, as he looks to help make words work as hard for small businesses as the owners do.

For more than a decade he was employed in the London office of one of the biggest financial publishers in the world, Agora, and now he is embarking on a long-held dream of writing freelance and enjoying a more relaxed life with his fiancée and dog back up north – while also promoting his soon-to-appear book.

Having returned to education to study creative writing at Franklin and Grimsby Institute, after starting a career with the council, he secured a role as a copywriter before becoming associate publisher in the City fir m.

Using his contacts he introduced a concept for a new book, and managed to strike a deal with the UK’s leading business and finance publisher, Harriman House.

The Art of the Click: How to Harness the Power of Direct-Response Copywriting, will be on the shelves in October, but he is keen to dispense the advice now.

Mr Fisher said: “Now I’m back in Grimsby, I’m very keen to get

involved in the local business scene and I’m particularly interested in showing local businesses how the kind of copywriting I’m trained in could help their businesses.

“I still write copy for Agora – for the US, UK and Australian markets – but since moving back here, I also now write copy and content for a number of local businesses too. I’m also starting to coach and mentor copy-

“

You have got to come away with an achievable piece of advice that you can put in place Glenn Fisher

writers.”

After school Mr Fisher worked for the local authority as an auditor, and describes how the ‘2.4 children, house, mortgage’ vision was heading his way. “Something went off in my mind, I wanted to write,” he said.

“My family thought I was insane, but supported me, and my job in London also gave me the opportunity to realise you don’t have to work nine to five

for someone else, you can earn money using this skill, and I learned the marketing side of it.”

From assessing departmental spend in municipal buildings, he was soon rubbing shoulders with millionaires. “I was in meetings with self-made guys, people I wouldn’t necessarily get the chance to meet in Grimsby. I learned there was this different option,” he said.

The book focuses on tangible ideas to get better. “My skill is a skill that doesn’t seem like one, but when you talk to people on a local level, give them five minutes of advice, you can see it can have an impact. I am very keen on practical advice. A lot of content out there is good, nice to read or snarky, but I think you have got to come away with an achievable piece of advice that you can put in place.”

An evening talk at Riverhead Coffee in Grimsby town centre is planned for next month – August 15 – on the back of pre-orders of the book with places limited to 20. He will also take The Art of the Click out on tour. He added: “It will be available in bookshops. My single aim is so my Nanna can see it in Waterstones and finally know I’m a writer!”

PORTS: The heavy lift of project cargo brought praise for Immingham’s port operatives as a 121 tonne steel roller was safely exported from the quayside.

Specialist Goole-based team ICT Logistics worked with the ABP crew.

The solid cast steel product, built by Sheffield Forgemasters International Ltd, was brought to the UK’s busiest port on the first leg of a 4,500 nautical mile journey to Mariupol in Ukraine.

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Tuesday, July 17, 2018

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Business Month in Review

Vessel voices SHIPPING: South Bank voices are behind a campaign to raise interest and highlight the maritime industry’s opportunities.

Amanda Viljoen, whose last job as a seafarer was as a captain of a ship hunting for diamonds in the Arctic, and tug master Gary Barlow, were prominent participants in Seafarers Awareness Week, held during the final work of June.

With the Humber home to the UK’s biggest port, Immingham is alone is responsible for one tenth of the cargo handled by the whole of the UK, the role played and the size of the £47 billion industry clear to many.

Now the message is being pushed further, with the regional business and economic contribution of an industry that is largely out of sight and out of mind in today’s world demonstrated.

Poland port call SHIPPING: Immingham has increased its European trading links, with an additional service secured to and from Poland.

Associated British Ports welcomed the extra weekly sailing this week, with market leading container transporter Unifeeder.

Every Thursday the second sailing of the lower Baltic to UK route will bolster the booming terminal and bring in some extra 15,000 units annually.

MP’s show of steel for Heathrow ‘hub on the Humber’ AIRPORT VOTE’S VITALITY TO THE AREA UNDERLINED SCUNTHORPE MP Nic Dakin said his constituency could see “transfor mational� investment and opportunity should it land a logistics hub as part of the Heathrow expansion.

He was one of 119 Labour members to back

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the big vote this past month, well aware of the potential windfall for British Steel and associated companies, with support from fellow Humber MPs Melanie Onn and Diana Johnson.

As reported, 700 jobs could be created with a legacy of skills and infrastructure, should Heathrow opt for a North Lincolnshire hub.

There is also the demand for steel in the build-out, with bosses confident Scunthorpe could meet half the anticipated 370,000 tonne demand.

Mr Dakin said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;I voted for the expansion, I think, personally, there are things for Heathrow still to address in terms of environmental legislation and they need to keep working hard on that and we have an obligation to keep them working hard on it, but it is our hub airport, it is the airport that connects best with the north on England. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is a private sector business that has said right from the start it will use British steel in procurement and it has a track record of that.

It is a track record of commitment to do it and it is good for our steel-makers like British Steel. If the long listing for the logistics hub for Heathrow development takes off, it would be transformational for the Scunthorpe area, so it is quite proper British Steel gets excited about it. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There is still a long way to go, there will be legal challenges I am sure, but at least we have the plane on the runway.â&#x20AC;?

Opposition came from fellow Humber â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;redâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Karl Turner (Hull North), who is Shadow Transport Minister, and spoke as the debate reached a climax.

It was to no avail though, as a majority of nearly 300 steered the first step for the ÂŁ14 billion investment through.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling sub-

sequently formally designated the Airports National Policy Statement, paving the way for Heathrow to submit a formal planning application.

Mr Grayling said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;This marks a critical step towards ensuring future generations have the international connections we need, as well as strengthening the links between all parts of the UK and our global hub. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have always been clear that this issue goes beyond party politics and this result demonstrates the clear desire to get on with delivering this vital scheme. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There is still much to be done, including defending this decision against potential legal challenges, but we are absolutely committed to working closely with local communities and ensuring Heathrow stick to their promises on addressing the local and environmental impacts of expansion.â&#x20AC;?

Following the designation of the NPS, Heathrow will submit detailed planning to the Planning Inspectorate.

This will involve the airport conducting a further consultation with affected communities on the finer details of their scheme and the associated compensation packages and mitigation measures.

The Department for Transport said Heathrow will keep Mr Grayling updated with its progress over how it will meet commitments to the environment, communities, domestic connectivity and building a new runway in a timely and cost effective manner.

Construction could begin in 2021, and the third runway operational by 2026. A shortlisting of the logistics hub long list is not anticipated in the immediate future.

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Tuesday, July 17, 2018

National award for IT system to aid supply TECHNICAL stars behind Scunthorpe's Nisa business have won a national award.

The support team' Direct to Store solution, an online portal that allows Nisaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s independent retail partners to browse and order thousands of products and services available from specialist suppliers, won Online Innovation of the Year Award at the Retail Systems Awards held in London.

Launched at Nisaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sell-out retail exhibition in April, it enables Nisa members to search and compare a vast array of product catalogues from local, regional and national suppliers in one place, build up an online basket and place orders with numerous suppliers at the same time.

Adrian Page, business manager for Direct to Store, explained: â&#x20AC;&#x153;In addition to the range Nisa distributes centrally from its warehouses, independent retailers typically trade with hundreds of smaller and locally sourced suppliers around the UK.

Rebecca Holloway and Bethany Ashtony from the Direct to Store team at Nisa, having collected the award at a gala dinner in London. â&#x20AC;&#x153;As the retailer must manually order and maintain product and price information directly with these suppliers, this requires high administration in store - with a

typical retailer dealing with anywhere from 10 to 100 small suppliers direct. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The DTS solution removes this complication by providing a

portal where all suppliers can list their product ranges, and an order portal for retailers to place orders on said suppliers quickly and efficiently. All product data is also available for retailers to download massively simplifying the maintenance of product and price in store.â&#x20AC;?

As reported, Nisa has been bought out by The Co-op in a ÂŁ137.5 million deal, which completed in May. Peter Walker, head of business systems at Nisa, attended the awards ceremony with colleagues from the IT department and the Direct to Store team.

He said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are absolutely delighted to win the award and to receive recognition for the work that went into developing this system. Ultimately it streamlines processes for our retail partners and provides a better overall service to them, vastly reducing administration at store level and saving time.â&#x20AC;?

Business Month in Review

Emmaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s award ENGINEERNG: Grimsby can proudly claim one of the Top 50 Women in Engineering.

Emma Browning featured in the Sunday Telegraphâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s special feature to mark International Women in Engineering Day, with a raft of regional recognition also emerging to help inspire others.

The 38-year-old is in a second career, having initially worked for HMRC in her home town, making her ideal for this year's focus on returning stars or transfers from other sectors.

Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s now helping deliver green energy from offshore wind â&#x20AC;&#x201C; thought not part of the cluster that has transformed Grimsbyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s economic prospects. She is working from the London office of Scottish Power Renewables.

Philipâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pride

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES: Forrester Boyd accountant Philip George has been named in the 35 Under 35 list, drawn up by Accountancy Age, celebrating young talent in the profession.

Philip, from Humberston, is a partner based at the firmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Louth office.

He joined as a trainee in 2008 after obtaining a first class degree in accountancy and finance at The University of Hull. He qualified as a chartered accountant in 2011, receiving the Young Chartered Accountant of the Year Award in 2015 for the region.

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Business Support In association with

T: 01652 680888 www.hibl.co.uk

Grimsby

t: 01472 350601 t: 01724 863105

Scunthorpe www.fb-digital.co.uk

Chartered Accountants in Grimsby - T: 01472 355215 Scunthorpe - T: 01724 844876 www.hwca.com

For support in raising your company’s profile in this sector call Angie Atkinson on 01472 806963 or 07920 823544

Custom designs ensure customers keep coming SIGN of the Times is continuing to invest to meet growing demand for product personalisation, winning work on an international level from its Grimsby base.

Having recently completed a refresh of its own look, with the prominent former public house on Cleethorpe Road and Humber Street corner enjoying a strong splash of colour to illustrate the offer, the tools of the trade are being added to as well.

Mick Clarke, managing director, said: “We have successfully completed our rebranding, with just the vehicles now remaining.

“Now we are building on what we have within. There is a strong demand for all the personalised clothing, from large corporate customers to football clubs and retail customers of all sizes, with printing and embroidery both strong. We do a lot of it, and personalisation is certainly building, it is becoming almost mandatory for a lot of customer-facing businesses.

“Garment printing is certainly at the fore, and now we are looking to put two new direct-to-garment printers in, which will offer full colour for shirts, workwear etc.

“Embroidery is growing well too, work is being sent all over the country with some to Germany, Denmark and Sweden, as we have been winning work in emerging new industries, while also serving schools with uniforms too.”

Mick Clarke with the embroidery machine at Sign of the Times, Grimsby.

The company is also embracing technological advances and the appetite for web-based ordering.

Mr Clarke said: “We are currently looking at online-to-shirt printing and decoration too We are developing our digital process that suits the business best, with work on a new website going well.”

Aylesby-based digital design agency SourceFour is being used as resources are sought locally.

Alongside the clothing, and

engraving also remains a key pillar in the business, where investment also continues. Both enjoy prominence in the unique showroom saloon of the former Humber boozer, now five years on from transformation.

“We have just completed the expansion of the engraving department, and just added two engraving machines for hard metal and cylindrical items,” Mr Clarke said. “That will be complemented with another laser

engraver.”

The rebranding was triggered by the purchase the assets of JPP Framing in King Edward Street, a company that assembles picture and photograph frames for retailers to sell. It aligned it with the Cleethorpe Road operation, with the public-facing Graphics and Print business, a near neighbour, rebranded to build on the JPP addition, and its complementary services.

Digital accounting - is it purely compliance or a real Paul Tofton, a partner and head of digital accounting at Forrester Boyd.

FB Digital, launched a year ago as the digital face of Forrester Boyd, is transforming the way businesses think and use their accounting information.

The sub-brand launched following disruption in the industry from online accountancy platforms, add-ons and HM Revenue and Customs.

HMRC set out a Making Tax Digital roadmap in the 2015 Budget and, although there have been postponements along the way, the first group of businesses – VAT registered businesses with a turnover above the £85,000 per year threshold – will need to be compliant from April 2019, under the latest official guidance.

Businesses affected will need to keep digital records and submit VAT returns directly from core digital data which may require businesses to invest in new or upgrade their existing accounting software.

Little is known about when other businesses will be affected and how other taxes will get reported to HMRC, however, this could be from as early as April 2020 and may require a quarterly submission of basic financial infor mation.

With a compliance requirement clear, FB Digital is seeking to change the

mindset in the business community, highlighting the opportunity for growth, which should not be put off.

Paul Tofton, partner and head of online accounting said: “Online accounting allows a business to streamline and

“

Online accounting allows a business to streamline and automate manual processes, ditching the cash book in favour of an efficient accounting function which is fit for purpose in this digital age Paul Tofton

automate manual processes, ditching the cash book in favour of an efficient accounting function which is fit for purpose in this digital age.”

The FB Digital offering covers a wide range of online accounting services such as outsourced bookkeeping and payroll,

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Tuesday, July 17, 2018

17

Business Support ADVISERS MEET TO ENSURE THE BEST SUPPORT OUR ECONOMIC GROWTH

An A-Team united!

A SIGNIFICANT rise in business support in recent years has seen scores of organisations formed to help aid the economy.

With assistance available for almost every element of capital growth, while it is always appreciated, it can be a challenge to fully appreciate what is on offer – whether it is physical expansion of premises, vital equipment or help to fund apprenticeships or guidance into a new area or market.

With a stark realisation this was the case as the region dusted itself down from the deepest recession of a lifetime, some of those providing such a valuable service began meeting on a casual basis.

From three or four over coffee, the North and North East Lincolnshire Adviser Gathering can now welcome up to 35 individuals.

Duncan Slater, international trade adviser for Yorkshire and the Humber, and Jenny Vincent, then employer adviser for Humber Local Enterprise Partnership, instigated it, with Ian Palmer, innovation manager for University of Hull’s SparkFund programme and Tim Maddinson of E-Factor joining them.

Jenny, now a co-ordinator with the Careers and Enterprise Company, said: “We were working in silos doing our own thing with businesses. One business in Grimsby had four support meetings with people who could all work together, covering manufacturing support, apprenticeships, funding and training.

“We didn’t really know each other, or the extent of what we could offer.”

It may surprise many just how much support is there, and how much it is relied upon for investment decisions, with match funding and private backing often part of wider deals.

Mr Slater said: “What we are looking at now is holistic support of business. It is joined up support. I personally have a little niche of helping people export, but people who I help want to buy a new machine, take on staff and bring in training. If you can make it a better company it will make it a better exporter. It is the whole package of assistance.

“My biggest problem is knowing what I don’t know. There is one of me. I know 100 companies. If we get 25 people, that can be 2,500, so

that’s the situation.”

Since the small start-up over coffee at the Enterprise Village four years ago, it has been replicated for Hull and East Riding, and now gathers quarterly, more formally, with introductions from all and a haring of knowledge, leads and advice.

Mr Palmer said: “Business support has grown in terms of funds that are available and this group has grown with it. The main emphasis is to try and appear joined up, to work together to maximise the benefits we can bring to business. If we can leverage more support the impact is clearly going to be greater.”

A recent addition to the group is Heidi Dodson, representing InvestmentHub North East Lincolnshire. The local authority-backed initiative is designed to ease funding access, and again can be for a number of uses. She said: “It is brilliant. Everyone is there who we signpost to, so it is putting faces to the names I see and great for relationship building.”

North and North East Lincolnshire business advisers get together for one of their regular meetings, at The Innovation Centre, Europarc, Grimsby.

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opportunity? software training, even extending their service to that of a virtual financial director.

Paul said: “Many owner managed small and medium sized enterprises don’t have a dedicated accountancy resource internally, a number of my clients do the books in the evening or at the weekend, which eats into their personal life and family time. We are able to offer competitive outsourced bookkeeping, leaving the business owners to focus on what they do best, or enjoy a better work life balance.

“Year-end accounts are too historic in the fast-paced world we live in today. By adopting and accepting change we help our clients open the door to real time accounting, while assisting business owners to make informed decisions, by asking challenging questions and exploring growth opportunities”.

FB Digital is partnered with the leading providers of online accounting platforms, Xero, Quickbooks Online and Sage.

For more information, email Paul at p.tofton@forrester-boyd.co.uk, call 01472 350601 or visit FB Digital online at www.fb-digital.co.uk

Housing Management Property Development Community Investment 01724 279900 | www.ongo.co.uk

Martin Vickers, left, with Wilkin Chapman’s Nick Greenwood at The Lincolnshire Show.

Seasonal pledge made at The Show CLEETHORPES MP Martin Vickers re-assured the region’s rural community of the Gover nment’s continued support for the agricultural industry post-Brexit.

Speaking during a meeting with representatives of Wilkin

Chapman solicitors at The Lincolnshire Show, he re-iterated comments made in an earlier question and answer session by George Eustice – the Minister of State at the Department for Food and Rural Affairs – with a commitment to

getting immigration policy right to ensure the availability of seasonal workers.

Mr Vickers said any policy balanced the need for an available year-round workforce, while protecting levels of pay and opportunity for all.

www.ashbournehotel.co.uk T: 01469 541010 For support in raising your company’s profile in this sector call Angie Atkinson on 01472 806963 or 07920 823544

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Careers / Training

Tracy returns to ‘home base’ as a chartered civil engineer FROM SPECULATIVE CV DROP TO LEADING THE TEAM AS CAREER CIRCLES CHARTERED civil engineer Tracy Westerby has returned to her roots, and is asking the community to come join her.

Fourteen years after a summer’s work experience with specialist plant provider Select Group in Waltham, she is back where she first delivered her CV, having been taken on by parent company Laing O’Rourke after completing her university studies.

Now she has switched from engineering and project management to become product leader, heading up the depot which focuses on piling and concrete pouring for huge infrastructure developments nationwide.

Having grown up just yards away from the airfield site, in Holton-le-Clay, and studied at nearby Toll Bar, then Franklin, she is keen to raise the awareness of the sprawling facility, as a mini-recruitment drive gets underway, with four vacancies identified. The gates will be thrown open on Saturday, July 21, for the community to see what goes on, with live demonstrations and fun activities, as well as the chance to meet fitters, welders and crane operators.

Miss Westerby said: “Once I started my civil engineering studies I realised what the piling rigs were. I thought it would be great to do work experience there, and I ended up working for the summer between my third and fourth year, and was asked about my plans post-university.”

She completed a masters in civil engineering at Durham, and joined Laing O’Rourke as she graduated, with a first job at Heathrow Terminal Five. She spent a total of 12 years with the company, moving from London to Sellafield and then Newark for power projects, before five years in Manchester on Metrolink and then two years on HS2 tenders in Birmingham.

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For support in raising your company’s profile in this sector call: Angie Atkinson on 01472 806963

Tracy Westerby, Select Plant Hire's specialist plant product leader, on one of the piling rigs co-ordinated from the Waltham site. Below, in office attire and with colleagues Mark Tinker and Malcolm Critten in the workshop with a rotary table for a rig.

In that time she also became a chartered civil engineer “a huge personal achievement” and now mentors others aspiring to follow in her occasional steel-toe cap boot steps.

“It has been really interesting going from engineering to project management and then plant hire, Miss Westerby said. “An advantage for me now is understanding the project and what the customer wants. Being able to stay within the company, with Select a subsidiary, and come home at this stage of my career is fantastic. It is a great company and we are all one team at the end of the day.”

Laing O’Rourke is the principal customer for the Cheapside site, though third parties are also catered for.

“I want to raise the profile of the depot. There are a lot of people here, a lot of talented people, but what I have realised is people just don’t know we are here,” she said.

It was acquired from Expanding Piling, a company that can be traced back more than 100 years, in 2004 having helped deliver the likes of Courtaulds and Tioxide on the Humber bank, as well as countless contracts nationwide.

“I want to raise the profile of specialist plant in the business.

“We support the work across the UK in this business, the team do some fantastic work,” Miss Westerby added.

An example is the three piling rigs dispatched to work on the Google HQ close to King’s Cross.

“It is amazing to see our rigs on such a flagship project,” she added, with Manchester Airport, and the city’s Oxygen Towers also on the jobs sheet.

Turning her attention to the upcoming

event, she said: “It is looking at aiding recruitment here, with four vacancies, but also recruitment in the wider business, with apprenticeship schemes. It is a great opportunity to see the roles available. It is also great for the team, to show family, friends and have some fun.”

Representatives from transport joint venture with Eddie Stobart, Explore Transport, and BuildForce, the construction link organisation for ex-forces, will be present.

It takes place from 10am to 2pm on Saturday, July 21.

You can attend on the day or register your interest in advance direct with the depot on 01777 358628, or e-mail piling@laingorourke.com

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19

Careers Matched ethos makes move a ‘natural next step’

Des Mannion, left, welcomes Nick Greenwood to Wilkin Chapman.

AN AMBITION to grow and develop an already pro-active and forward-thinking law firm has been spelled out by new Wilkin Chapman head of marketing and business development, Nick Greenwood.

With an extensive background in corporate banking and commercial business, with Barclays and RSM, he brings an ethos of putting people, the brand, and growth at the heart of the organisation.

“This position is the next, natural step for me and I am thrilled to be joining a firm that is both progressive and forward-thinking,” said Nick, who is relishing the prospect of helping to steer a regional firm with “true ambition”.

He will be dividing his time between the firm’s six offices across Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire.

“I have a vision that is perfectly matched to that of the team here at Wilkin

Chapman and we are ideally placed to take this business forward for the benefit of the region, our people and our clients,” he added.

With more than 400 employees, Wilkin Chapman is the 106th largest law firm in the UK, and number one in the wider Humber area.

Chief executive Des Mannion is delighted to welcome Nick to the team, as he looks to ensure Wilkin Chapman continues to expand, cementing its impressive national position.

“As the firm grows, it is important to have a strong operational and management structure to aid development of our services to clients and keep us at the forefront of the legal profession,” he said.

“Nick brings a wealth of expertise in professional services and I look forward to utilising his experience in helping to drive the future growth of the firm.”

Kathy’s presence is a second birthday treat FLEDGLING FIRM RECRUITS BUSINESS EXPERIENCE EXPERIENCED business manager Kathy Fillingham has joined rapid-growth start-up MyEnergi Ltd, as it scales up to handle demand.

The micro-generation specialist produces innovative solutions for green energy use, with its Zappi car charger the flagship technology coming out of the Binbrook base, it is preparing to leave behind.

Mrs Fillingham said: “I’m thrilled to have joined the team, and to play my part in their continued growth and success.”

With a background in construction consultancy, the Hull and Humber Chamber of Commerce board director recently oversaw the handover of Lincs offshore wind farm from Centrica to Orsted in a specialist 12 month contract.

Now she joins the team in West Lindsey, with a remit to help move the business to new premises, ideally in the Grimsby-area.

The company has accomplished the objectives in its three-year business plan in the first six months of trading, having releasing Zappi on the market in November after a lengthy period of research and development.

The rate of progression has been backed with a significant investment of £1.2 million from high-profile businessmen Sir Terry Leahy, former chief executive of Tesco, and Bill Currie, founder of the William Currie Group, as the company looks to continue expanding further.

It has also launched energy diverter, Eddi, and a energy-harvesting wireless sensor, Harvi.

Jordan Brompton, business development manager, said: “The public demand and

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Huub’s wind role The Crown Estate’s director of energy, minerals and infrastructure, Huub den Rooijen, has been appointed as non-executive director of the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult.

He joins the UK’s leading technology and innovation centre for the sector as he continues to play a key role in the seabed leasing process for offshore wind.

Commenting on the appointment, ORE Catapult chairman Colin Hood said: “Huub brings extensive experience across all areas of the energy market, and in exploiting the UK’s extensive renewable energy resources in particular. He will bring invaluable insight to ORE Catapult’s board, as we strive to deliver ambitious plans to seize the UK’s huge opportunity from offshore wind, wave and tidal energy.”

It was Mr den Rooijen that described Grimsby as “the poster child” for the industrialisation of offshore wind, “sitting next to some of the best real estate in the world in regard to offshore wind”.

Of his appointment, he said: “With the UK leading the world in both the deployment and management of offshore renewable energy infrastructure, I am excited to be joining ORE Catapult’s board, and supporting their team in delivering significant UK benefit from both the domestic and international opportunities that these vital, low carbon industries provide.”

Young’s addition

Kathy Fillingham, who has been appointed project and operations manager at Myenergi. interest to edge towards a greener, more sustainable future is growing at a rapid rate.

“Our ethos of developing eco-friendly, easy to install solutions to maximise the benefit of solar panels and wind turbines in the home has been well-received, selling more than 4,000 of our products across the UK, Ireland, Europe, and as far as Australia already.

“We have tripled our staff numbers already, established a collaboration with a national

energy provider – Octopus Energy – to offer a specific tariff designed for the EV driver and our impending move to a larger, new facility will enable us to create links with commercial partners and provide public charging options too.

“We are delighted to introduce Kathy. She is going to be project managing our move to a bigger facility as we expand to meet the increasing demand.”

ROGER Sudlow has joined the foodservice team at Young’s Seafood as business development manager.

He will be responsible for developing the Ross House team’s business in the pub, restaurant, fast food and casual dining sectors – a market sector that continues to offer huge opportunities for Young’s.

This past month has seen the Grimsby giant build considerably on a contract with high street outlet Pret-a-Manger.

Mr Sudlow joins from Manchester-based The Authentic Food Co, a leading provider of frozen world food solutions, having also worked for foodservice-focused Aryzta, also in Manchester, and Wakefield’s Speedibake.

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Motoring In association with

FROM GENERATION TO USE, THE GREEN DREAM IS ALIVE

Grimsby: 01472 355801 Lincoln: 01522 544700 Scunthorpe: 01724 271800 Hull: 01482 330660 For support in raising your company’s profile in this sector call: Andrew Bannister on 01472 806962

Chris Dunn of North East Lincolnshire Council, addresses Grimsby Renewables Partnership.

How a local authority fleet is embracing EV

ENERGY generation is a constant focus of business development on the South Bank of the Humber, and North East Lincolnshire Council is now looking closely at use as it sets its stall out to lead on the green ideal.

Chris Dunn heads up the local authority’s vehicle fleet and told how the team is embracing electric as he addressed Grimsby Renewables Partnership.

Mr Dunn said: “We have set our vision to be a nationally and internationally recognised for low carbon energy and the UK capital for energy industry.

“In December 2016 we took delivery of the first electric vehicle, a Nissan eNV200 Combi people carrier, and since then we have replaced 23 diesel-powered vehicles with 22 all electric vehicles, alng with an electric vacuum litter picker, and this equates to 14 per cent of our fleet is now electric.”

He said 2p a mile running costs could bring savings of £60,000 when combined with service benefits and road tax exemptions, with zero emissions meaning an estimated saving of 100 tonnes a year of C02. Bought with government grants of 20 per cent up to the first £8,000, the incentive is there, with an estimated Examples of electric vehicles fuel saving alone of £900 on each in the North East vehicle.

“The vehicles are primarily Lincolnshire used for frontline council operCouncil fleet. ations, carrying people and deliveries,” he said. There are also street-cleaning vehicles and the first fully electric refuse truck prototype is anticipated in 2019, with the current vehicles mustering just three miles a gal-

lon.

But what of the borough?

Mr Dunn was also able to give latest figures there.

He said: “Electric car numbers are rising on the roads in North East Lincolnshire – but they’re still a tiny minority. The number of electric vehicles on the roads of the Grimsby area increased by 65 per cent in one year.

“Latest figures suggest that North East Lincolnshire is getting on board with the green revolution. Recently released Department for Transport statistics show the number of registered electric vehicles in North East Lincolnshire for each quarter of the year.

“From January to March 2017 there were 86 electric vehicles, however, by the latest quarter, from January to March this year, that figure had grown to 142, a jump of 56. In 2013 there were just six.”

He also talked through some of

the challenges, such as charging for an area that has a large number of terraced homes with no off-road parking.

Even street-light adaptions require the lighting columns to be road-side of a path to avoid trip hazards, a factor not always the case.

“Almost nine million electric vehicles will one day have to be charged away from home, because 43 per cent of British households do not have access to off-street parking, according to estimates by National Grid,” he said.

Having earlier given a potted history of EV development, the stage was handed over to Binbrook’s Myenergi, with Jordan Brompton addressing members.

She told how the two-year-old start-up, which specialises in maximising the use of green technology “bridges the gap between renewables and electric vehicles,” with a team motivated

Jordan Brompton addresses Grimsby Renewables Partnership.

by making clean energy work best. “Kids in London can’t go out at dinner time if pollution levels are too high,” she said, “we have got to do something”.

“When it comes to car manufacturers, some are dragging their heels a little, they have their products and huge infrastructure in place in which to sell diesel and petrol cars, but Jaguar Land Rover’s range will be fully electric by 2020, and Hyundai and Nissan are also leading the pack. The rest will have to catch up.”

It is not just manufacturers though.

“When it comes to charging points this is one of the most sparse areas of the UK, she said.

“Typically, we are playing catch-up, and it is a shame when we have the Energy Estuary right here.

“One of my personal missions is to get the big companies to say ‘we are here’ and get these charging points in place. They should be there when you pull up at a pub, at a shop. You don’t have to charge from nothing to full, you can just top up.”

Mrs Brompton told how Myenergi was just shy of £1 million of sales since launch in November, including Australia, with the team boosted from six to 23.

“The world is waking up to this technology,” she said. “We have created a really friendly brand.

Car chargers are a bit boring, just a socket on a wall ‘this is the EV100R, buy that’ – we are something different, we are trying to humanise it.”

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Tuesday, July 17, 2018

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21

Property & Construction

State-of-the-art oil lab win for Britcon SCUNTHORPE construction specialist Britcon has started work on a super laboratory development for Leeds-based Vickers Oils.

The complex project involves the construction of a 5,500 sq ft two-storey, riverside building to house a first-floor laboratory with roof plant area and ground floor storage facility.

Vickers Oils is a family-run company which has been based in the West Yorkshire city for almost 140 years. The company holds market-leading positions worldwide in the marine and textile markets.

It forms a key part of a substantial investment to update its existing 50-year-old laboratory buildings and consolidate into a more modern facility.

Chris Wholley, technical director at Vickers Oils, said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our environment acceptable marine lubricants have helped our business to grow significantly in recent years following legislation that requires the worldwide shipping industry to make changes.

This has allowed us to invest in our plant and relocate our wet chemistry function into the new laboratory whilst keeping our mechanical testing and offices in the old buildings. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The challenge to Britcon is no mean feat as they are required to

W:148.649mm H:62mm

Vickers Oilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new extension at Leeds, to be delivered by Britcon. Left, managing director Paul Clarkson. manage the construction project alongside mechanical and electrical installation and laboratory outfitter simultaneously in a very short timescale. We are extremely

pleased with the efficiency of the Britcon team so far.â&#x20AC;?

Established for more than 25 years with a team of over 90 people in the UK, Midland Road headquartered Britcon has a depth of experience working within the chemical and petrochemical sector. Clients include Lindsey Oil Refinery, BASF, Kemira Chemicals, and Associated British Ports.

Paul Clarkson, managing director, said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are pleased to be

working with Vickers Oils to deliver this significant project which will help to facilitate further growth for a market leader. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The project is complex and challenging but we have the expertise and value engineering capacity to deliver. We are also in discussions to carry out phase three of the project to install energy efficient windows, a new facade to the existing building and refurbishment of the old laboratories.â&#x20AC;?

Investors are urged to touch down at Humberside as Aon-owned Henderson Insuranceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s base is marketed Investors are being offered the opportunity to have corporate giant Aon as a long-term tenant, as the administrative headquarters of Henderson Insurance Brokers Ltd is marketed for sale.

Joe Henderson sold his eponymous business, operated from Humberside Airport Business Park, to the US firm last year â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and it is understood he is now looking to offload the building he had purpose built, for a cool ÂŁ400,000.

With the business anchored for the next nine years in a contract without a break, Lanark House on Schipol Way could prove very attractive, with a ÂŁ36,000 annual income on a long leasehold for the 4,726 sq ft three-storey building alongside the A18.

Clark Weightman has been appointed to market the property, which was brought forward within a decade of Hendersonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s launch in 1995. It features a mixture of open plan an individual offices and before transferring to Leeds, served as the firmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main headquarters.

with modern, high quality offices, for any business serving both banks of the Humber or the wider region.â&#x20AC;?

The deal with the New York Stock Exchange-listed global professional services firm was agreed last autumn, completing in December.

Mr Henderson, originally from Manchester, founded the business in 1986 in a small office in Scunthorpe, having realised there was a gap in the market while working in construction for Peter Birse at Barton.

From humble beginnings, it now employs more than 400 people across 16 offices, Carl Bradley, director, said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;It predominantly in the north of is a great opportunity, and you England, but with clients and have to be conscious of the fact business across the UK. that Humberside Airportâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s In 2016 it celebrated 30 years of owners are investing in growing trading, hitting ÂŁ30 million of and developing the site. There revenues. are already good, established At the time of the deal Aon businesses there such as confirmed that there were â&#x20AC;&#x153;no Agrimin, RBP and the new hotel, view, you get Aon as a tenant, some great infrastructure that is which is good security of income plans to make significant changes to the business,â&#x20AC;? and it being added to. there. It is also a great location, continues to trade as Henderson. â&#x20AC;&#x153;From an investorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; point of

Month in Review

Youngâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s deal is largest in Lincs SECTOR: YOUNGâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S Seafood has completed the purchase of the former XPO Logistics site on Grimsbyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ladysmith Road.

On the market for ÂŁ1.5 million, the vacant 13.5 acre site neighbours the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Humberstone Road production facilities, and considerably expands the townâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest employerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s footprint.

The deal came forward as plans were made to close salmon processing facilities in Annan, Scotland, a move confirmed late last month.

Plans were lodged by the previous owner to demolish the site, but they will be scrapped after property firm PPH Commercial stepped in to ensure a successful sale, in what becomes the largest single freehold deal of the year so far.

Duncan Willey, the chartered surveyor responsible for completing the deal, hopes it will herald the start of an exciting new era.

He said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is the biggest single freehold disposal in Lincolnshire this year, so the importance of this deal should not be underestimated. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not every day that you get the chance to acquire a premises right next door to your existing facility and it proved to be too good to turn down. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I imagine the new owner will have a long-term plan to upgrade the facilities and bring new life to the building, which could be a key part of their future plans.â&#x20AC;?

Youngâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s had announced the creation of 200 jobs with the transfer of the salmon contract and the winning of work with Marks and Spencer, however it was dealt a blow recently with the loss of a ÂŁ30 million Asda contract, picked up in part by New England Seafood International-owned Albert Darnell, on Grimsbyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Europarc.

The Ross House team is currently working through what that means for the business, before revising recruitment requirements, with contracts not anticipated to switch until November.

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www.clarkweightman.co.uk

22

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Tuesday, July 17, 2018

GTE-E01-S3

Property & Construction

Seaside spectacular now puts the sandcastles in the shade CONSULTACY’S COASTAL BEAUTY IS THE TOAST OF EAST MIDLANDS BUILDING AWARDS LOUTH designers have been praised for delivering a sensational coastal residence, winning Best Individual New Home category at the East Midlands Local Authority Building Control Building Excellence Awards.

Lincs Design Consultancy took the award for the recent addition to Seacroft Esplanade in Skegness, exploiting the location’s stunning views across four storeys.

Guy Kemp, managing director, accepted the award from television presenter Nicki Chapman at the bash which followed May’s Humber and South Yorkshire event.

He was joined by members of the team involved with the project at the Vickers Lane base.

Mr Kemp said: “Our clients approached us with the site they had purchased containing a small dwelling, partly set into the ground as the site was sloping, and wanted to rebuild a house on the site to take advantage of its seaside location. With views across the Lincolnshire coastline to the east, and out across Lincolnshire to the west, our initial design focused on taking full advantage of this.”

The footprint of the new house is similar in size to the previous dwelling, but additional floors have taken it to a new level in more ways than one.

The contemporary design focuses on an open plan living arrangement, with provision for future adaptability making this a forever home. Externally the elevations comprise a crisp white render finish with elements of timber cladding and natural slate to the lower sections.

Large opening doors and windows provide uninterrupted views of the coastline from most aspects of the interior, with single openings added to frame views where this is not possible.

Mr Kemp said: “Winning is testa- Guy Kemp ment to the level of detail, and of the work involved, through the entire design process of this project, and any project we work on. The LABC Building Excellence awards don’t necessarily focus on the buildings aesthetics, but on how the design was developed

“

and the spaces achieved on site through the detailed design and construction methods adopted.

“A great deal of time and effort goes into a project of this nature, from preparing the detailed plans and specifications for building control approval, assessing the potential energy performance and aspects of sustainability, all the time involving innovation and problem solving, through to having good working relationships with the entire design and construction team.

“A completed building with a happy client is our main goal, but to win this award on top gives a great sense of achievement for us, and we strive to continue with this success on current and future projects.”

Lincs Design Consultancy’s award-winning property on Seacroft Esplanade, Skegness.

A completed building with a happy client is our main goal, but to win this award on top gives a great sense of achievement for us

Nicki Chapman, presenter of Escape to the Country, third right, with, representing Lincs Design Consultancy, Guy Kemp, managing director, third left; Andrew Clover, director; Chris Burkitt, director; Ricky Newton, associate and Dan Sharp, associate, as well as host and sponsor.

23 GTE-E01-S3-JULY 17, 2018

Dan’s Grand Designs for growth are being realised A KITCHEN retailer turned manufacturer has taken a huge step into production, with new premises five times the size of the former base.

With support from Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership, Grand Design Services Lincolnshire Ltd has taken a 6,000 sq ft unit on Adam Smith Street, dramatically increasing square footage from a shop on Grimsby Road.

Dan Smith, owner, has made the move, recruiting accordingly after seven years in business.

He said: “When we first started we just had the showroom, then two years ago we started manufacturing on a small scale, one kitchen a week.

Now we have a bigger manufacturing facility, with CNC machine and

Steve Parker, Business Growth Hub advisor, with Dan Smith at the new Grand Designs premises in Grimsby's Adam Smith Street. spray booths, so we can an extra four people on, produce five kitchens a including an apprentice, week at capacity. It is a taking us up to six. big change. We have taken “We have a lot of

there is little they cannot do.

“We also have a cabinet maker, which has added a skill set, allowing us to deal in curved walnut products. His background was originally with musical instruments, so for him kitchens are quite easy!”

A centre display has just been created in that design. Coming weeks will see the showroom element of Adam Smith Street created, transferring from Grimsby Road.

Mr Smith was previously in the building trade, but his father-in-law manufactured kitchens before he went into the experience in the people retail side. “I worked we have employed, some alongside him to start have been in the industry with, and built up from for 20 to 30 years, for them there,” he reflected.

‘Ongo-ing’ project to put homes on market

COMMERCIAL GRIMSBY 01472 362020 LOUTH 01507 602264 LINCOLN 01522 511665 MABLETHORPE 01507 473476 SKEGNESS 01754 766061 SPILSBY 01790 752151 SUTTON ON SEA 01507 441166 WOODHALL SPA 01526 354111 www.tes-property.co.uk www.rightmove.co.uk

LOUTH 37, UPGATE ALL ENQUIRIES Former licensed 40 cover restaurant premises with spacious sell contained 4/4 bedroomed flat over Visual location on main thoroughfare Extensive inventory of fixtures and fittings Considerable potential Incentives available by negotiation EPC Ratings Restaurant: C: Flat: D

Proposals required

GRIMSBY 12, WINGATE PARADE Lock-up shop unit, approx. 59.37 sqm/639 sqft, plus ancillaries Frontage approx. 5.8m/19ft with electric security shutter Suitable for a variety of uses, subject to appropriate consents New lease, term by negotiation EPC Rating E

RENT: £5,000 p.a.

CLEETHORPES 75, ST. PETERS AVENUE Lease available due to relocation Approx. 70.7 sqm;/761 sqft Plus secondary sales office/storage on the first floor 30 sqm/322 sqft Ancillaries include kitchenette, office & WCs Shared rear yard/parking/loading Suit alternative uses subject to appropriate consents and approvals EPC Rating C £10,000 in going required for shop-fit including CCTV/laminate floor etc

NEW-BUILDS TO BE SOLD TO FUND RENTAL PORTFOLIO ONGO, North Lincolnshire’s largest landlord, is embarking on a significant new project which will see them add homes for outright sale to the property portfolio.

It is the first for the Scunthorpe-based company, which has announced its initial development at Blyton, near Gainsborough.

The 14-month programme to build 14 homes for sale is now underway.

Ongo’s aim is to generate revenue from the sale of new homes to subsidise the building of more much-needed affordable homes for rent.

Since its formation in 2007, the organisation has built 375 homes for rent and plans to build 750 more by 2020. This would increase its total housing stock to almost 11,000.

Pete Stones, Ongo’s director of property, said: “With more than 7,000 people registered on the housing list in North and North East Lincolnshire we know there is a demand for high quality, affordable homes to rent.

“While much of our development of affordable housing has relied on grants from central Government in the past, generating revenue through new home sales allows us the opportunity to accelerate and even extend our build programme.

“We have grown our develop-

RENT: £18,000 p.a.

GOXHILL FORMER SPAR SHOP, HOWE LANE ALL ENQUIRIES Potential business premises/redevelopment site Former sales area approx. 91.6 sqm/986 sqft Storage space approx. 51.8 sqm/557 sqft Ancillaries Surfaced forecourt/parking Rear grounds Approx. 280 sqm/3,000 sqft; site overall (STSS) EPC Rating TBC

Proposals for rental/purchase required

GRIMSBY UNIT 20, GARDEN STREET Recently Extended and refurbished retail premises, Approx. 306 sqm/3292 sqft; on 2 floors (GIA) Ground floor approx.

186sqm/2001 4sqft (GIA), Frontage approx. 16.9m/55.6ft,

Martin Phillips and Pete Stones of Ongo, centre, flanked by Steve Sowerby and James Bonsall of TG Sowerby.

Picture: Richard Walker/ www.imagenorth.net ment team and are excited to have a number of potential projects in the pipeline, working with local contractors to deliver high quality housing.”

Ongo is partnering with Scunthorpe firm Sowerby Developments Ltd to deliver the Blyton scheme, which includes a range of two, three and four-bedroom houses and bungalows with prices starting from £140,000.

Steve Sowerby, of TG Soweby Developments Ltd, said: “We are immensely proud to be partnering with Ongo once again, this time to deliver their first scheme of homes for sale. This site, on the edge of the village, has been designed to resemble a farmstead, allowing the properties to fit naturally into the rural setting and such a prestigious scheme will give our tradesmen the opportun-

ity to really showcase their skills.

This project will create employment opportunities both within our firm and other local organisations in our supply chain, as well as allowing us to continue our commitment to providing a pathway into the construction industry for young people with opportunities for work experience and apprenticeships with our fir m.”

EPC Rating C

RENT: £18,500 p.a.x.

GRIMSBY 108, CROMWELL ROAD FOR SALE Potential investment property Ground floor retail premises and potential separate flat over Long-established bathroom display use now available due to relocation Lock-up shop approx. 63.9 m / 688 ft GIA Rear yard Freehold equivalent EPC Rating

PRICE £85,000

24

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Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Business

Happy 50th LOR: A blast back into the archives for a special ceremony

Total Lindsey Oil Refinery, taken from the north west of the 500-acre plant. Inset, Ray Gunther, Minister for Power, and below, two of this year’s apprentice cohort.

THIS past month has marked 50 years since a major ceremonial event on the South Bank of the Humber.

On Friday, June 28, 1968, Minister of Power Ray Gunter, officially opened Lindsey Oil Refinery, a £30 million investment in an “increasingly dynamic corner of Lincolnshire”.

It represented the recognition of a new major industry building on the Humber, the petro-chemical sector.

The joint venture from Petrofina and Total saw 500 guests attend, from global oil barons to international press, government figures to parish council chairmen.

It was a time when refineries were opening like wind farms are now, three coming on stream alone in 1968, with Conoco (now Phillips 66) following quickly behind its neighbour.

Mr Gunter, acknowledged the rapid growth of the industry since the Second World War, something characterised by close co-operation between the industry and the Gover nment.

He said: “We worked closely together over the fuel policy. I know the industry is as anxious to pare costs as we are. This is the challenge of the future. Cheapness is the cornerstone of our industrial strength - that is why I am delighted to open this new refinery."

In an irony of where we are now, he continued: “There is a ‘first’ to celebrate – the Lindsey refinery is the first established in the UK by European companies.

“We are, of course, determined to be full members of the Common Market if the necessary conditions can be met. There is no weakening in our

resolve on this point.

“To me, the interesting point here is the evidence this major development gives of the inevitable need for the closest co-operation between Britain and her continental neighbours.

“In the cold light of financial and economic analysis, both your companies, one based in Belgium, the other France, decided that whether there as going to be a big Common Market or not, or at least not yet, you would establish a little common market. I really do not have to say how eminently sensible your decision was.”

Lindsey’s addition to the UK portfolio allowed it to switch from importer to modest exporter of refined

products, and gave credit to the oil industry that “immense problems posed by the Arab-Israeli war, and the continued closure of the Suez Canal, have been largely overcome,” adding, that at its height 40 per cent of supplies were affected, underlining the need for “greater diversification”.

“Security of supply therefore will be no less vital in future, and the Government will expect the continual co-operation of the oil industry in dealing with this problem," he added.

“A new refinery capacity is well spread around our coast. Humberside is itself rapidly becoming a major centre for the industry, offering the possibility of distribution to the Midlands and the Yorkshire area on very economic terms. And it is absolutely essential for our economic wellbeing that industry and the commercial and domestic customer should get its primary energy supplies at the lowest possible cost.

“As an advanced industrial society we depend far more than many people would imagine on the availability of competitively prices fuels.

To be successful internationally and domestically we must be certain that we are getting it at the lowest possible cost.”

Mr Gunter opened the first phase with a three-million tonne capacity, with the refinery already having handled 750,000 tonnes. It was to double in a second phase. Recently, however, global downturn in demand has seen it return to single stream, as reported.

GTE-E01-S3

LAISTER’S

Last Word

BY DAVE LAISTER

Run like the wind that’s ‘powering’ it!

When this photograph was taken last year, I would have found it incomprehensible for me to be now writing about my disappointment at missing out joining that throng this coming weekend.

For many years I swore by the saying ‘you never see a happy jogger’. Then I listened to a talk to small business leaders in late October, bordering on the motivational, delivered by Richard Askam, the Grimsby-area ‘riskpreneur’, as he likes to put it.

He spoke of his move from boss to own boss, the importance of structure, focus, getting going in the morning and how his personal fitness guru – wife Ginny – had encouraged him to run a mile a day.

Being brutally honest, I’d felt my concentration waning with things. I hadn’t been as involved on the cricket field after my team folded and I joined another, and I was also conscious that I didn’t want to become a sofa-bound father. I wanted to be out there playing football, cricket, dad dancing, whatever.

It was the motivation I needed, twinned with a few colleagues also ‘on the run,’ and within a few days I’d dug my trainers out – trainers, that had only seen four week stints of indoor cricket nets – and, as Adele so eloquently put it, I started chasing pavements, regularly.

Regularly enough, that in late-December I registered for the Great Grimsby 10K, on the quiet.

And it wasn’t quite the ‘figure out how to build a plane after jumping off a cliff’ analogy said Mr Askam likes to use when describing those starting a new business either. I’d been building up from a horrific ‘what am I doing’ first mile to almost five, turning my feet into virtual highlighter pens, steadily increasing circles on Strava - the motivation I absolutely need to do anything like this. I’d also noticed a slight loosening of the belt, and the obvious fitness boost.

Then came injury. A niggle, I hoped, a week off. It was January 3, I’d just got to touching distance of the magic five miles, hence the confidence to go for a first ever 10K. I’d paced myself through Christmas, I’d tempered the booze, driven to (and from!) several events as the morning miles totted up, but suddenly I wasn’t recovering. The stiffness that had been subsiding before the next outing, was still there in one knee, and it was visibly

larger than the other. I was struggling to pin down what I’d done. It wasn’t during a jog, I’d not pulled up, but I quickly got plenty of suggestions.

Was I warming up? No. I considered my gentle 10 minute-a-mile pace a warm-up, and conflicting advice suggested stretching cold muscles was worse.

Was I warming down? No. I was sitting like a dog in a hot car, desperately gulping water down.

Was I wearing the right trainers?

Erm... This got me thinking, and then I realised I’d bought them when my wife and I played tennis pre-children, nearly a decade before.

I’d also crashed through a small footstool while reaching up high over the festive period, and knelt over in biting cold for 45 minutes chopping wood after a record-breaking ‘run’ for me.

I remembered sitting through a late morning screening of Paddington Two in near-elation at completing a circuit I’d only ever have completed in a car before, then not getting any better.

So I gave it a week, lots of ice treatment, taking it easy. It turned into a fortnight and then a month. A call to the doctor, feeling like a self-inflicted fraud during the annual NHS winter crisis, and I was soon on the treatment table. I’d lost the ability to hyper extend, it was still painful to the touch in places. Five weeks later I was halfway in an MRI machine. And I was missing those twice or thrice weekly mini highs of getting a gold, silver or bronze on my new favourite phone app.

Another five weeks for the results, and there’s concern. Early onset osteoarthritis? Ligament damage?

Placed under a consultant, I’m in for x-rays, only to reveal a historic fracture of the knee-cap, and line of fluid in the midst like the estuary cutting through Humberside. Not the result of a baseball bat repayment for a shady debt, I can assure you, most likely a cricket ball on a shoddy long barrier. It had exacerbated the injury, however I’d caused it.

Pain subsided, swelling down, I finally got back out in May, but it has been back to square one stuff, and I’m certainly lacking capacity, even an adrenaline-boost to the line. If it was September, or even late August, maybe. So I wish all those participating well. This time next year Great Grimsby - in new trainers – but there’s no 3359 Dave.