News
£26.95m
merger
Brighton-based business advisory firm Quantuma has completed a merger with AIMlisted K3 Capital Group plc (AIM: K3C), for an initial consideration of £26.95 million, to create an independent global advisory practice. The merger will help K3 to build a more diverse professional services group with enhanced capabilities in restructuring, corporate finance, tax advisory, forensic accounting and expert witness services. The deal sees a cash free, debt free initial consideration of £26.95m million, in addition to maximum combined earn outs of £15 million and an additional 645,513 growth shares. Quantuma was set up in Southampton in 2013 by Carl Jackson. The firm has grown to become a £23 million turnover business, with 250 staff across 17 UK sites. Quantuma CEO Carl Jackson will join the K3 board as an executive director.
06
Boost for
A specialist research project in Kent will benefit from a share in £18 million government funding, set up to strengthen the competitiveness of Britain’s food and drink production industry. NIAB EMR at East Malling will lead Growing Kent and Medway, one of seven national projects to support research and development in the sector. The money comes from UK Research and Innovation’s Strength in Places Fund and will build upon more than a century of strategic and applied horticultural research undertaken at the research centre. Growing Kent & Medway will promote the adoption of the latest horticultural technologies, plant growing techniques and the development of crops to boost food production and economic growth. The project brings together universities and leading innovators in the industry and will establish Kent and Medway as a world-leading region for the climatesmart production and processing of high-value, nutrient-rich foods and plant-based products. MD of the research centre, Professor Mario Caccamo, said: “Growing Kent & Medway can now get to work to consolidate this part of the UK as the leading region for the production and processing of high-value foods. The timing of this support is particularly significant as we look to emerge from the Covid-19 crisis, and address some of the most pressing
horticultural
research
challenges faced by the agriculture sector. “It would not have been possible to successfully reach the final stage of this very competitive scheme without our partners, the support of the Kent and Medway Councils and our local MPs, who have collectively recognised the significance of what the excellent scientific and research programmes can do for the regional economy. We will drive inclusive wealth creation so that untapped human capital can contribute to, and share in the region’s prosperity.” Christian Brodie, chairman of the South East Local Enterprise Partnership, which backed the bid to government, said: “Our area already delivers 40 per cent of high-value horticulture in the UK. Growing Kent & Medway will drive innovation and productivity, meaning we can now expand the sector, strengthen supply chains and existing businesses, and create sustainable new ones.”
Let’s look on the bright side – could Kent be in the right place at this pivotal moment in our history? There’s no denying Covid-19 has hit the country’s economy and, whatever your position on Brexit, it’s clear Kent is getting a lot of attention as the UK’s closest trade route to Europe. The challenge will be ensuring the county remains a vital cog in the nation’s economy, with investment to support its restart, recovery and growth. Just over 25 years ago, Kent became home to the first fixed link between the UK and mainland Europe since the Ice Age, with the opening of the Channel Tunnel. It’s now integral to the UK’s international supply chain, with Eurotunnel’s shuttles the logistics lifeline of our Just-in-Time economy. The Port of Dover has come forward with proposals to be a Freeport. With little land of its own, it is seeking to deliver a virtual Freeport, one whose benefits embrace Kent and go way beyond to support the Midlands’ Engine and Northern Powerhouse. It’s a smart move by Dover Harbour Board to offer the best of both worlds, connecting this strategically vital trade route with local sites such as Discovery Park at Sandwich and
household names including Aston Martin. A new Lower Thames Crossing costing north of £5 billion will strengthen Kent’s connections with the rest of the UK and Europe. It will also have a positive knock-on effect on Kent’s economy. Highways England is in consultation over what will be the UK’s longest road tunnel. We’ve got to ensure it gets built – and that work can start quickly. It appears our trade post-January, 2021, is a government focus. Under the guise of smart infrastructure (possibly code for no trade deal with the EU) the government has bought 27 acres of land at Junction 10a of the M20, to create a Customs clearance centre for 10,000 vehicles a day. Few in Kent may welcome this intrusion, which appears to be an expensive last-minute attempt to put a Customs solution in place, given that a frictionless free trade agreement soon looks likely to be a distant memory. On a positive note, let’s hope it will protect the county’s wider road network. Few will have missed the government’s decision to grant permission to reopen Manston Airport. The announcement will have come as a surprise to many, not least the Planning Inspector, who recommended refusal. It gives the green light for
E
the return of freight services from the Thanet-based airport. Let’s see if its ambition takes off. Literally. There’s also Panattoni’s proposed £180 million investment at the former Aylesford Newsprint site near Junction 4 of the M20 – a project Maxim is proud to be working on. The firm, Europe’s largest privately owned industrial developer, has plans to develop 177,000 square metres of high-quality space for industrial, logistics, distribution and manufacturing uses. Let’s hope those with influence recognise that to level up the UK economy you need free-flowing ports in Kent and a strong South East economy – and to be open to investment.
CONTACT Andrew Metcalf, director, Maxim PR & Marketing Ltd
August/September 2020 | www.southeastbusiness.com
RT COMM E NT
The plus side of a crisis
E XP
Maxim_PR
