Back in 2018, the Chamber launched a Business Manifesto for Growth in Parliament.
Titled Delivering a Great Future, it called for, among other things, a dedicated delivery vehicle to create a zone of ultra-high growth in logistics and advanced manufacturing hinged around East Midlands Airport, and a linked free trade zone.
Fast forward four years, we now have the East Midlands Development Company and East Midlands Freeport, both in their early stages but already promising significant investment, job creation and local economic growth. The manifesto set the wheels in motion and, supported by engagement activity with our region’s MPs and collaborating with partners, we successfully got this on the national agenda. On 24 November 2022, we again took a delegation of Chamber representatives, members and MPs to the House of Commons to launch A Centre of Trading Excellence: A Business Manifesto for Growth in the East Midlands and Beyond
We are urging Government to “back the East Midlands to back the UK”. We have key assets in our industrial heritage, universities, location and the country’s largest pure freight airport. We are experts at making things, moving things and innovating in how we do this.
But persistent barriers prevent our businesses from realising their vast potential, as we have seen during the pandemic as supply chain bottlenecks, skills shortages and rising costs stifled growth. Our manifesto sets out a series of long-term policy asks – headlined by the “big opportunity” to further develop the East Midlands as a Centre of Trading Excellence, but also urging policymakers to “get the basics right” and “grow our competitiveness the right way”. Government can create a formula that will help to deliver on key goals to level up, reboot the economy and boost post-Brexit growth in global trade.
We go into more depth about the manifesto and hear Chamber members’ views in our focus feature on p60. This edition’s big interview (p27) is with East Midlands Freeport chair Nora Senior CBE, who says the freeport will become a “funnel” for other regional initiatives and has a message for how businesses in our region can get involved.
It's been a tough year for many businesses but I’d like to take this opportunity to wish all our members a Merry Christmas and thank you for being part of the Chamber. This manifesto is only possible thanks to the experiences you share with us and we hope it will lead to new opportunities for your business. Read it at www.emc-dnl.co.uk/manifesto
Dan Robinson, Editor, Business Network
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Derby-based Ask the Chameleon has been presented with a national award. The bid-writing consultancy, owned by Rachel Hayward, won the Micro Business of the Year at the British Business Awards in London, fending off competition from a record-breaking 108 shortlisted companies.
Organised by SmallBusiness.co.uk, the awards received more than 450 applications from 355 companies across the UK, noting the “resilience, innovation, adaptability and leadership” displayed by the small business community.
Rachel, who was presented with the award by the UK small business commissioner Liz Barclay, also co-founded the UK Swap Shop, a platform where SMEs can trade services for free, at the beginning of the pandemic.
She said: “To have been chosen from such a fantastic group of small businesses and to fly the flag for micro firms from outside London gives me immense pride. The judges particularly highlighted our collective support of each other through the UK Swap Shop during Covid, which was the icing on the cake. The economic situation is tough, yet the room was filled with passionate forward-thinking businesses who are prepared to weather the coming storms and grow their businesses.”
A student from Loughborough College has been appointed as the Lord-Lieutenant of Leicestershire’s cadet for 2022.
Holly Bemrose, of Leicester, is a second year Level 3 public services student at college and the first active member of the fire cadets to be appointed.
The 17-year-old is the fourth public services student from the college to take on this prestigious post, which is regarded as the aide and representative of the cadet forces to the British Royal Family and Lord-Lieutenant –served by Mike Kapur OBE in Leicestershire.
Holly, who is a fire cadet crew manager, said: “It’s a big step up for me as I’m not the most
confident. However, after doing the handover event, I can say that I’m really excited and honoured to take on the role.”
In the past six months, the centre’s innovation director David Smith has helped 10 of its resident businesses secure 13 grants from various local and regional funds, totalling more than £120,000
He has also delivered more than 150 hours of intensive one-to-one business coaching to centre customers. The grants have helped companies to purchase manufacturing machinery, IT equipment and infrastructure, CRM systems, new websites, software
and other tools to help them grow, as well as access marketing and business consultancy services.
More than 20 new jobs will be created as a result of the grant funding and support, while five existing roles will be safeguarded.
When taken together, the activities have helped create an estimated £1.2m of economic impact for the local area.
David said: “The results of our efforts speak for themselves and will have a significant impact on the local economy.
“As well as providing high-quality office space for growing local businesses, we also aim to provide all our customers with a bespoke package of support to help them achieve their goals and overcome
any issues or challenges they may be facing. This includes intensive one-to-one coaching and mentoring to help businesses develop the strategies they need to support every stage of their growth, as well as practical support to access grant funding and build vital connections with other businesses and support organisations.”
The centre provides a base to more than 30 growing businesses. It offers fully-serviced offices and workshops, a virtual office facility, hot desk area, and meeting and conference rooms. Managed by Oxford Innovation Space, customers also benefit from a package of support and coaching tailored to each company’s needs and growth aims.
Disabled entrepreneur Mark Esho MBE has been named in the Shaw Trust Disability Power 100 in the business and finance category.
The annual listing, which is nominated by the public and judged by an independent panel, celebrates the most influential disabled people in the UK.
It plays a role in recognising disabled people’s vital contributions to society and is recognised nationally and internationally.
Mark became paralysed overnight when he was five years old after contracting poliovirus and was given just a 10% chance of survival.
He defied the odds and went on to graduate from De Montfort University, but was faced with racial and disability discrimination when it came to finding a job.
After being forced to quite a job due to his post-polio syndrome and setting up a business that failed, Mark founded one of the first SEO agencies in Easy Internet Services, which trades as 123Ranking, paving the way for his successful career in business.
In 2018, Mark wrote an autobiography, I Can. I Will, and now spends his time mentoring disabled entrepreneurs via his initiative The Circle Foundation.
A long-standing Nottingham knitted lace manufacturer has been presented with a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade.
GH Hurt & Son was one of 205 organisations nationally to be recognised with the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise in April.
It was recognised for its excellence in international trade and for its outstanding growth in overseas sales, specifically in the USA, Europe, Japan and Australia.
Over a three-year period, the company has welcomed visitors from 183 nations to its online shop and sent orders to more than 100 countries. On one occasion, it received more than 3,000 visits from Iceland in a single day, which is 1% of the nation’s population.
Sir John Peace, Lord-Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire, presented the award during a special ceremony on 27 October, during which visitors including Chamber director of partnerships David Pearson were given a tour around the historic shawl factory.
Director Gillian Taylor said: “It’s a real privilege to receive this recognition. The Queen’s Awards are seen as one of the most prestigious UK business awards, so we are extremely proud. It is a brilliant reward for the staff, as without their hard work, the business would not have achieved this. We have always been a creative and innovative business, in terms of our knitted lace. Our challenge in recent years has been to innovate and develop international markets and this award shows we are heading in the right direction.”
The Chesterfield Canal Trust has brought back its Santa special cruises due to popular demand – with more than 100 seats booked in the first 24 hours of the bookings going live.
On each of the Santa special cruises, there is a present for every child, and a mince pie and a drink for each adult.
The trust is offering cruises on four different boats from Tapton Lock in Chesterfield, Hollingwood Hub in Staveley, Shireoaks near Worksop and Chequers Inn at Ranby.
Last year, the four boats carried more than 2,300 passengers, with the trust expecting similar final numbers this year.
A woman from Nottingham who set up her own business to help women going through the menopause has teamed up with Derby gifting company Colleague Box to create a menopause selfcare package.
Dr Claire Mann set up ChangeXtra after it took five years to convince her GP she had symptoms of the menopause, and wanted to create a community of women who support each other through positive change.
Claire met Colleague Box managing director Natalie Bamford at an Enterprising Women networking event, ran by the Chamber, in February, where the pair exchanged thoughts about how businesses can support female employees going through the menopause.
The box contains items such as sleep spray, a stress ball, lavender bath and shower gel, and a URL for recipients to download Claire’s ebook Surviving the Menopause. It also gives advice on menopause symptoms and medication available.
Natalie said: “As a woman approaching her 40s and a mother of two daughters, talking openly about the menopause and how it affects us is all very important. A staggering 900,000 women in the
UK quit their job due to the menopause and I believe that businesses have a responsibility to be more understanding when it comes to topics such as mental health and the menopause.”
There are currently more than 30 recognised symptoms of the menopause, and the perimenopause – when hormone levels begin to fluctuate, and symptoms may appear – can begin in the early to mid-40s.
A Long Eaton entrepreneur has bought the national franchise he joined as a start-up business nine years ago – and now has ambitious plans for a UK-wide expansion.
Liam Hobbs (pictured) was the second franchise holder of More Than Loft Ladders when he took on the Nottinghamshire area in 2013.
Since then, he has built up his business and added the Derbyshire and South Yorkshire areas, and now employs nine people at the Meadow Lane site – operating six vans across the area.
The company, which has won several awards for customer service and feedback, will continue to provide loft storage conversions for homeowners across the three counties under the leadership of Liam’s wife Kelly.
Meanwhile, he will support the seven More Than Loft Ladders franchise holders who cover a wide area, from Liverpool to Northampton, and he plans to
expand the network with an enhanced package of business support.
Liam said: “I have learned a great deal about running and growing a business in the past nine years, and I now want to focus my efforts on supporting the current and future More Than Loft Ladders franchise owners across the UK to achieve
their goals.
“We are developing enhanced support packages ranging from accounting to marketing that will be available to franchise holders. I will be actively recruiting hardworking and ambitious tradespeople who are keen to take the plunge and start their own business supported by us.”
Law firm Geldards has played a key role in plans to create a £3m heritage vehicle centre at a former Rolls-Royce site, acting as legal adviser to Derby City Council.
Contractors will turn the former Light Alloy Factory site, in Ormaston Road, Derby, into a centre for classic vehicles, run by Great Northern Classics.
Owners of cars, motorbikes and lorries can bring their vintage vehicles to be restored. The project is expected to create 120 jobs as well as preserving vital skills for the classic vehicle industry with a training academy, which will offer apprenticeships to a new generation.
Geldards provided legal advice to the council regarding the funding of the project and on a wide range of complex legal issues for the benefit of the project, which enabled it to get the green light to go ahead.
Corporate partner Jenny Chatten and senior associate Sarah Bailey led on the project, supported by associate Sharon Lowe who advised on property matters.
Jenny said: “Geldards is thrilled to have played an important role in helping this project get off the ground.”
Multi-sector HR firm Breedon Consulting has launched a new franchise package as it sets sights on expansion.
With two franchises currently operating in Northamptonshire and North Buckinghamshire, interest and uptake in the Leicestershirebased consultancy’s model has gathered pace, motivating the launch of franchises that target HR professionals and individuals looking to set up on their own.
Research suggests 64% of the UK’s workforce want to start a business, with the primary reasons of being their own boss and to improve their earnings, according to SME Loans. Becoming a franchisee gives individuals these benefits without the risk of starting an independent business from scratch.
Located in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Breedon Consulting has experienced a record success in retaining longterm clients alongside welcoming new clients via referrals, with a 30% increase during the first year of the pandemic.
Managing director Nicki Robson said: “Expanding the franchise network gives Breedon Consulting the ability to grow geographically, allowing a nationwide team of HR specialists to confidently build their own business with a fantastic brand, providing exceptional professional support to SMEs.”
The package will include a five-
Nicki Robsonyear renewable franchise agreement, a comprehensive operational manual and intranet, and a geographic territory of more than 11,000 SMEs alongside sole traders and academic institutions.
Other incentives involve full business administration and set-up support, integrated CRM, finance and business planning systems, full ongoing IT support, holiday cover, coaching and drop-in sessions.
Wendy Slater, Northamptonshire branch franchisee, said: “The most important element of the franchise package is the breadth of offer from Breedon, which covers all the HR support a client could need. We also have access to the head office team, if you need any support.”
The co-founders of Derby-based Project D have appeared on a Channel 4 show.
Max Poynton and Jacob Watts took part in Aldi’s Next Big Thing, which aired in October.
The doughnut maker is looking to take the next step into the world of retail, as it competed for a contract to stock Aldi stores nationwide through the Channel 4 show.
Hosted by Anita Rani, of Countryfile and BBC Radio 4 and Chris Bavin, of Britain's Best Home Cook and Eat Well for Less?, the six-part series saw suppliers compete from categories such as dinners, baked goods, treats and store cupboard essentials.
Products were presented to Julie Ashfield, managing director of buying at Aldi UK, who deliberated on factors such as price, packaging, shopper demand, and the ability to scale up, before whittling contestants down to just two.
When it came down to the final, sadly Max and Jacob missed out as a handmade Indian pastry business and rum cake business beat them to the top two spots available to take their products further.
Max and Jacob founded Project D alongside their friend Matthew Bond in 2018. The trio, who share a passion for food, were inspired by the USA’s 24-hour doughnut demand.
After travelling the world in search of the perfect doughnut, they returned to the UK and began making their own treats, which they sold at small local markets and events.
The business has since evolved and has a state-of-the-art custom bakery in Spondon with a 100-strong workforce.
A Leicestershire entrepreneur has been named one of the UK’s top business leaders in an annual list honouring kindness in leadership.
Derby-based Agiito has won two accolades at the Business Travel Awards Europe 2022 – one of the most prestigious awards of the industry.
The travel and events company was awarded National Travel Management Company (TMC) and an accolade for its account management team at a ceremony in September at JW Marriott Grosvenor House, in London.
Judges praised its “adaptability in the market” and were impressed by the way it had increased a “product offering to meet the needs of a range of customers.”
Agiito CEO James Parkhouse said: “We are over the moon to win two of the biggest industry awards. We’ve had to adapt over the past two years, and it is testament to the determination, collaboration and ingenuity of our people, and it’s paid off.”
Dr Nik Kotecha OBE DL, founder and former chairman of Loughborough-based Morningside Pharmaceuticals, has been included in the UK’s Top 50 Kindness and Leadership Leading Lights.
The annual list honours leaders from the public and private sectors, as well as academia, who are using the power of kindness to make a transformative impact in business and to empower change.
Dr Kotecha said: “I’m truly humbled to make this list and to be among some of the UK’s leading lights when it comes to putting kindness at the heart of corporate governance.”
In today’s workplace, solving problems and finding solutions is an increasingly valued and familiar task – but it can create anxiety around getting it right first time. Business psychologist and coach Sarah NaidooBanks (pictured), who founded Spring Insight, explains how to separate fear from the potential of failure when finding solutions to problems at work.
Fear isn’t all bad. When faced with a real threat, our brain’s ability to rapidly channel cognitive resource to dealing with danger in the most efficient way possible is very much a healthy human response.
The challenge is that fear states hinder our ability to perform highlevel cognitive functions, such as innovative problem-solving or thinking outside the box.
Fearintheworkplacealso creates barriers to collaboration, undermines the potential for honest conversations, thwarts creative processes and increases the likelihood of errors going unreported – and therefore unresolved.
So, when challenging ourselves to trial new approaches, how can we separate our fear from the potential of failure? I’ve suggested four evidence-based tools that help address this question.
Our decisions are sometimes motivated by factors misaligned with what we genuinely want, such as proving ourselves to others or a wish to demonstrate outward success. Mission statements invite us to specify our purpose and values and therefore facilitate “big picture” thinking. In this instance, knowing your “why” can help stay motivated during moments of self-doubt.
In this model, it is shown how our belief systems (B) in relation to events (A) drive certain consequences (C), including our emotional reactions and behaviours. Developing insight around our beliefs can be helpful because it provides the opportunity to reframe our thinking in ways that better support how we successfully navigate planned risk.
Understanding we have influence over our life, or having an internal locus of control, is the essence of personal empowerment. When we intentionally choose to step into potentially fear-inducing, growthinspiring scenarios, as opposed to feeling the event was thrust upon us, it can help us maintain a sense of calm and control.
In contrast, when we consciously permit ourselves to decline the opportunity, this can be equally empowering. The key to managing fear in this instance is conscious choice and intentional decisionmaking.
NURTURE YOUR INNER CHILD
Psychiatrist Carl Jung is credited with coining the term “inner child”, used in popular psychology to refer to an unconscious self that is developed in early childhood.
When we explore our past, we often find that seemingly innocuous experiences, such as being teased by our peers, have a profound impact on who we are today. As adults, we can find we are then triggered by comparable experiences, such as jokey comments from colleagues. When navigating fear in this instance, a powerful tool is to practise nurturing the inner child, through heightened self-compassion and self-talk.
PAB
The company launched The Future Of Our Brand Starts With You survey in August and has plans to continue and release new reports each year.
The review revealed that 100% of its customers said PAB was either “very easy” or “easy” to work with, while 82% strongly agreed it responds fast to enquiries.
The results revealed that 100% of projects to date have been completed by PAB translators within agreed client timescales.
Overall, 91% of clients scored their experience with PAB Languages as 10 out of 10, with the remaining giving it a score of eight or nine.
Iwona Lebiedowicz, who runs PAB Languages and ilc Communication, said: “These results are testament to a lot of hard work by an incredibly dedicated team, which is genuinely passionate about delivering the best services to our customers. I am grateful that PAB is a community of people coming together from more than 50 different countries of origin, and regardless of their background or culture, they are genuinely taking care of each other and our customers.”
Derbyshire-based Purpose Media has been appointed on a project in Dubai on behalf of a client that provides commercial refrigeration solutions.
The appointment follows on from projects the fullservice marketing agency has already carried out in Milan, Belgium and Austria on behalf of True Refrigeration. Based in the US, the company exports worldwide and has a UK operation based in Rotherham, from which it has been spearheading expansion into the UK and Europe.
With a turnover in excess of $1bn globally and a large market share in the US, the company has been working with the South Normanton agency to plan and deliver its UK marketing strategy. The project in the UAE involves documenting and filming its attendance at Gulf Host Dubai – one of the largest hospitality equipment and foodservice shows in the Middle East and North Africa.
Matt Bonser, account director at Purpose Media, said: “True Refrigeration is an important client for us as they represent our ability to support local businesses on global projects. The photographic and video material will be used across all digital marketing channels to grow True’s brand profile and reputation across the UAE and Europe.”
Three young lawyers at Timms Solicitors have completed the firm’s innovative Pathway to Associate programme – paving the way for further career development.
The 10-month programme has been designed by Timms to help progress individuals into more senior and management roles across its offices in Derby, Burton, Ashby and Swadlincote.
The company has promoted three of its senior managers, Declan Shaw, Mark Wilson and Karl Sutcliffe, to directors as it continues to invest in its reach across the UK.
Cowens Survival Capability is part of the wider Cowens Group, based in Mansfield, which also offers financial planning, mortgage solutions and employee benefits services.
Declan joined the company at 16 as a trainee broker, before working his way up to account executive level. Part of his role involved managing the launch of Cowens’ small business division Cowens Xpress in 2019, which he still heads up today, overseeing around 5,000 clients.
Mark has been in insurance for more than 30 years and has spent more than 12 years at Cowens. He was appointed sales director in 2017
and will now officially sit on the board of the company. Mark is responsible for managing a team of account executives, as well as working closely with his own clients.
Karl is one of Cowens’ longest standing employees, joining the business in 2000 when he was 19. Working his way up through the business, he was made broking manager in 2011 and appointed as broking director in 2017, before being made a board director.
Managing director Paul Chaplin said: “Cowens Group will be 50 years old in 2023 and these new board appointments will further strengthen our position in continuing to deliver high quality, impartial advice and insurance products into the future, where the only driver is the client's best interests.”
Derby-based Wathall’s has expanded its Dandelions Bereavement Support service to help more local families come to terms with losing a loved one.
Having established a bereavement counselling service for adults last year, the funeral director has extended its professional help to children and young people aged eight and above.
The children and young people’s bereavement counselling service will be headed by qualified psychotherapeutic counsellor Sarah Legg, who is an accredited member of the National Counselling Society.
She said: “Working with children and young people is my passion and I feel privileged to be part of
Those who meet the set criteria can apply to be part of the bi-annual programme, which involves internal and external training and development sessions, as well as completion of a project of their choice in areas such as finance, marketing, HR and people management – with a focus on improving internal processes that have a positive impact on client care.
The successful graduates include family law solicitor Jessica Barnett, wills and probate solicitor Charlotte Day and conveyancer Katie Holmes.
Managing partner Fiona Moffat said: “We have been impressed with the commitment and dedication shown by all three of these young legal professionals who have proved their skills and ambitions to develop their careers with Timms.
“We designed the Pathway
Programme to nurture talent within the business and ensures that our legal professionals have a clear light of sight to promotion within the firm.”
The firm has also been awarded Midlands Solicitor Firm of the Year in the British Wills and Probate Awards.
The wills and probate team from Timms was presented with the award at the fifth annual gala event in Birmingham in recognition of all round excellence, client engagement, technology transformation, commitment to staff development and providing an outstanding service to the local community.
Independent luxury and supercar dealer Baytree has picked up the latest in a string of prestigious awards at a national motor trader awards ceremony in Birmingham.
The Motor Trader Independent Dealer Awards recognises the highest levels of professionalism and excellence in the motor industry.
Baytree received the UK Independent Dealer of the Year Award for premium cars, as well as a commendation in the Fastest Growing Dealer of the Year category.
Director Chris McDermott said: “Customer service is a real differentiator for Baytree and remains at the heart of everything we do, so it is fantastic when the motor industry as a whole acknowledges this too.”
The latest award comes at an exciting time for the company, having recently opened a new £250,000 extension to its showroom in Derby.
the Wathall’s bereavement support team and have this opportunity to provide dedicated counselling which is very much needed in the local communities that we serve.”Sarah Legg Baytree directors with the award New directors Declan Shaw, Mark Wilson and Karl Sutcliffe Jessica, Charlotte and Katie
‘These new board appointments will further strengthen our position’
A new centre led by international experts will promote innovation, empower business transformation and nurture future business leaders.
The Centre for Business and Industry Transformation (CBIT) has been launched by Nottingham Business School, part of Nottingham Trent University, to bring together industry transformation research, disruptive business practice and personalised education.
Aiming to foster future leaders, CBIT offers both full-time and parttime master’s degree programmes, specifically designed for transformational entrepreneurs, family business successors and senior managers who are likely to become the next CEO.
Professor Xiao Ma (pictured), who will lead the centre, said: “Through the work of the centre, we want to transform those industry ‘norms’, build disruptive businesses and maximise positive impact in society and the environment.”
Derby College has created a trophy for The Derbyshire Brain Game in 2022.
Students across the college regularly embrace a wide range of opportunities to work on “live” projects and gain valuable work experience.
This trophy has been a collaboration between the art and design and engineering curriculum areas and combines creativity with practical and technical skills.
Derby College deputy CEO Heather Simcox said: “The committee were delighted with the thought, research and hours of work that has gone into creating the 2022 trophy, which is certainly worthy of marking this special event and to commemorating the work of Marie Curie.”
The Derbyshire Brain Game raised £41,669 for Marie Curie UK, which supports 2,084 hours of end of life nursing care in the county.
The impact of Chatsworth House on the Derbyshire economy has been revealed in a new report.
The Devonshire Group, which owns the stately home and tourist attraction, analysed how much visitors to the Grade I-listed building spend across the county.
Along with Chatsworth House, the home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, the group also owns the Cavendish Hotel in Baslow, The Devonshire Arms pub in Beeley and the Devonshire Arms at Pilsley. The group also runs a number of holiday cottages surrounding the Chatsworth estate and other properties, hotels and pubs around the country.
Conducted through a knowledge transfer partnership with the University of Derby, the group’s
Economic Impact Report revealed the Derbyshire economy benefitted to the tune of £97.6m in the 2021/2022 financial year as a result of people visiting Chatsworth House.
This was up from £66m during the pandemic period of 2020/21 –when it was closed for many months – and £89m in the year before.
The numbers mean that whenever someone comes into the Peak District National Park to go to Chatsworth House or any of the
other venues owned by the Devonshire Group, they go on and spend money elsewhere in the area
Chief financial officer Andrew Lavery said: “We thought Chatsworth was a place where people go, sometimes it drives them to the Peak District, sometimes when they’re in the Peak District they go and see Chatsworth – it’s a big economic driver.”
According to the Devonshire Group's findings, each of the 600,000 a day visitors to the Chatsworth estate goes on to spend an average of £24 per trip in the wider Derbyshire economy. For people who stay overnight in one of the group's hotels or cottages, the number increases to £240 per trip.
Derbyshire Wildlife Trust has agreed a series of knowledge transfer partnerships (KTPs) with the University of Derby to combine the skills and knowhow needed to support the trust’s ambitions to be at the forefront of ecosystem services provision.
The partnership will provide the academic expertise the trust needs to grow by developing an innovative and holistic business model that can leverage its conservation expertise and enable it to operate commercially, while remaining true to its charitable status.
For 60 years, owning land for nature conservation has been the main function of Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and continues to be at the heart of its strategy.
Through KTP funding, this collaboration will help the trust build capability to generate income from managing land by providing a range of services in relation to biodiversity net gain (BNG), wellbeing improvement, carbon sequestration, nitrate and phosphate mitigation.
Under the terms of the partnership, the university will recruit three graduate associates to work on the project for two years.
Matt Buckler, head of wilder landscapes at Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, said: “Following the Government’s announcement to make BNG a mandatory requirement for planning permission,
there has been a shift in thinking towards naturebased solutions to meet environmental and climate emergencies.
“We recognised this catalyst for change early on and knew that with support from the university, we could protect land for nature, as we always have done, while providing the ecosystem services needed by society, landowners and organisations such as developers and utility companies.”
‘We thought Chatsworth was a place where people go... it’s a big economic driver’University of Derby Kedleston Road campus
Eastern Airways has launched a new daily service from East Midlands Airport to Cornwall Airport Newquay.
The flights, which take an hour and 20 minutes, will start on Friday 10 February in time for the halfterm break.
They will operate via a lowemission 72-seat ATR aircraft, which will save almost 10 hours compared to surface transport options on a round-trip. Fares will start at £68.99 one-way including a hold bag.
East Midlands Airport’s managing director Steve Griffiths said: “We know many passengers choose this airport because we’re easy to get to and easy to get through.
“With a flight time of one hour and 20 minutes, it will be so much
quicker to reach one of the most beautiful coastlines in the UK and will be very welcome news to the thousands of people in this region who regularly make the almost 300-mile trip to Cornwall for holidays.
“The new connectivity will boost tourism, benefit our regional economies, and help establish links between complementary business sectors across the Midlands and the South West of England. We very much look forward to welcoming passengers who will start using this service in February next year.”
Roger Hage, commercial director at Eastern Airways, added it “will aid those who travel for business, visit friends and family or seek a welcome leisure break with the need for international travel”.
A grant of £20,000 from East Midlands Airport has helped Treetops Hospice install solar panels at its site in Risley, Derbyshire.
The money was made available from the airport’s Community Fund as part of a pilot project to support community, charity and voluntary sector organisations to make the transition to more sustainable energy use.
It is anticipated that the 42 solar panels will generate 13,051 kWh during a typical year, with more than 80% of the electricity generated expected to be used directly by Treetops.
Treetops Hospice chief executive Julie Heath said: “We are very committed to playing a responsible role in the local community, including developing and delivering our environmental policy. The grant from East Midlands Airport kickstarts our plans to introduce greener ways of working in the future.
“The solar panels should help us save up to £2,000 every year in energy costs. This is the equivalent amount we must raise to provide 20 nights of end-of-life nursing care for local patients.”
West Nottinghamshire College is helping people to understand more about mental health awareness in the workplace thanks to a new online course.
The Level 2 mental health first aid course, which started in November, helps people to provide the support and raise understanding of mental health at work, to enable the creation of a happier, healthier working environment.
The course was delivered online and ran for five weeks, covering a range of topics such as recognising mental illhealth, supporting mental wellbeing in the workplace, understanding how to promote a wellness culture and the importance of resilience and self-care.
Further courses will run in the new year on Thursday 5 January, Wednesday 22 February, Tuesday 18 April and Thursday 8 June.
Britain’s biggest manufacturer of vitamins has been shortlisted for an award for its management through the difficult times of the Covid-19 pandemic, and its support of the local community.
IVC Brunel Healthcare, which employs 550 staff and produces vitamins and supplements at its 320,000 sq ft base in Swadlincote, has been named a finalist for Manufacturer of the Year at the East Staffordshire and South Derbyshire Business Awards.
Holders of a Queen’s Award for Enterprise, the company is the biggest producer of vitamins and supplements in the UK, working on behalf of top UK retailers, and exporting to global international brands.
It produces four and a half billion tablets a year, including traditional herbal remedies such as echinacea and milk thistle and more than 250 different vitamin formulations.
But it was its contribution to the health of Swadlincote when the first lockdown that the company hopes will go down well with judges.
It supplied all workers with a digital thermometer, put in strict social distancing and staggered changing room systems, while it also stepped in to provide support to the local food bank.
It also made sure that staff at the University Hospitals of Burton and Derby NHS Foundation Trust were able to continue to fight the pandemic on the front line by supplying all 2,500 staff with vitamin tablets as a “thank you” gift.
Managing director John Hackett said: “The challenges of keeping going during Covid were enormous. Our staff were classified as key workers, which meant that we were open throughout, and around 300 members of our manufacturing and quality teams stayed on site.”
Having served as a trustee of The Sir Thomas White Loan Charity for a decade, Lucy Womack has become the firstever female chair.
Lucy succeeded former chair David Howard in the role with the charity, which lends up to £20,000 in interest-free loans for people aged between 18 and 45, who are starting or expanding a business in Leicestershire or Rutland.
Lucy said: “I am the first woman to take on the role, breaking through after almost 500 years of history. I feel we are a little late to the party, but working with some amazing female trustees, I am sure I am just the first in a long line of women at the helm.”
The charity’s loans are interest-free for nine years and become repayable in equal sums after three years.
Lucy said the biggest challenge is persuading people there is no “catch” with an interest-free loan, adding: “If a business idea is good enough, and it meets our criteria, it will be given. I am determined to lend money to more borrowers than we have ever done before.”
Leicestershire and Rutland charity Hope Against Cancer has launched Hopeful Futures, a new initiative that aims to increase cancer awareness among young people to encourage early detection and prevention.
The charity, which funds cuttingedge research and the Hope Cancer Trials Centre at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, identified the importance of cancer awareness in the younger generation to support its mission of creating a future without cancer.
Vice-chair Eileen Perry MBE DL, who founded Hopeful Futures, said: “The Hopeful Futures board aims to
provide support for young people who are living with cancer in one way or another, while also educating and fundraising to ensure that we are striving towards a better future for those diagnosed with cancer.”
The young board of professionals, each with their own motivators for supporting Hopeful Futures, comprise Beth Grundy from PPL PRS, Chloe Ireland from Empire Finance, Emily Smith from Michael Smith Switchgear, Laura Filer from ER Recruitment, Nathan Smith from Mattioli Woods and Tinashe Sigauke from Soar Valley Press.
Staff, residents and students from YMCA Derbyshire are celebrating after winning two accolades at the YMCA Youth Matters Awards.
The Derbyshire team was crowned YMCA of the Year for 2022. The accolade recognises a YMCA that has delivered an innovative and inspiring local project, programme or scheme, which has created a tangible and positive impact on young people and the wider community.
Team member Jamie also walked away with the Young Achiever of the Year award.
The organisation, which has operated across Derbyshire for the past 175 years, has increased its support of young people and community members over the past 12 months. The team has accommodated 362 individuals,
provided training and education for more than 150 young people at YMCA Key College, and provided childcare within five different schools with YMCA Y-Kidz.
Gillian Sewell, chief executive of YMCA Derbyshire, said: “The team I work with at YMCA Derbyshire is
simply outstanding. Day after day, lives are being saved, developed, supported, transformed and enabled. I could not be prouder and more satisfied with my colleagues and the achievements of those we serve has been recognised in the most splendid of ways.”
Nottinghamshire-based Core Community Hub is in the process of securing funding to become a “warm bank” –providing a comfortable space for people to spend time when they are unable to meet the cost of heating their homes.
The hub, based in Calverton, will also provide activities such as a food club and soup lunches, to help those who are most vulnerable to the impacts of the cost-of-living crisis.
The small charity, which has 30 volunteers, hopes to hand out “warm pack” items to people who visit the centre, and local businesses can support in supplying items such as insulated drinks cups, thermal hats, gloves, bed socks and scarves, blankets, radiator bleed keys and hot water bottles.
Manager Sam Round said: “We would be so grateful for any items local businesses might be able to donate.
“Cash donations are of course also very much appreciated – it would make a huge difference to local people in severe need of help.”
For more information, contact Sam or Becky on 0115 847 0551 or info@calvertoncore.org.uk
Tell us what your company does?
Pencil and Coffee is a digital marketing agency with the sole purpose of helping businesses to grow online.
Our main services include branding, website design, social media management and consultation and SEO – helping businesses to be found on Google, paid ads and lead generation. We use these services to create smart marketing solutions to t ake our customers on a journey.
Who are your main customers and what is your USP to them?
Our main customers are not restricted to an area or industry. We want to be an agency that’s easy to get along with, trustworthy and gets the results needed.
We’ve worked with businesses from all walks of life, and generated great results and success for them all. We’ve worked with businesses across a range of industries including reporting, international recruitment, aesthetic, online retail, kitchen and bathroom fitters, and financial.
What is your position in the business and what does your day-to-day role involve?
My day-to-day role involves running the business, admin, finance and growth of the company overall. I go out meeting new people as often as I can – whether that be via networking events, LinkedIn or phone calls or meetings – to build relationships with key people.
Location: Leicester
Number
Spokesperson: Danny Gohil, director
What challenges have you faced in recent times and how have you tried to overcome them?
The impeding recession has meant budgets have become tight for businesses or non-existence –which means less clients on the books currently for us.
One of the ways we tried to overcome this is through LinkedIn, which has worked massively for us and as a result we were able to get clients from Paris and even in Tel Aviv, so there was opportunity there even when everything around us didn’t look so good.
What are the company’s plans for the future?
Our goal as a business is for Pencil and Coffee to become an international brand as the creative agency for online growth.
In addition to this, we want to create a magazine, which will be focused on marketing and business
We’re planning a Pencil and Coffee Academy, which will be about inspiring, educating and motivating people, as well as the importance of creativity and innovation for young adults, businesses and entrepreneurs.
How long have you been a member of East Midlands Chamber, and how have you engaged with the membership benefits to support your business activity?
We’ve been a member for about a year. Being a member has given some good and useful tools such as opportunities through the Kickstart scheme, as well as courses and workshops to help and grow the business.
A Midlands-based internet service provider (ISP) has announced its intention to scale up to “cope with customer demand” and is welcoming would-be investors the opportunity to grow with them.
Gigabit Networks, which was recently voted the Midlands’ Best ISP, was launched by tech entrepreneurs David Yates and Dan Ilett, with the intention of helping Midlands-based businesses and residents bridge the digital divide via ultrafast full-fibre connectivity.
The ultrafast and reliable connection, which uses the infrastructure created by CityFibre’s £4.9bn investment, has already been rolled out into Coventry, Wolverhampton, Leicester, Derby and Nottingham
Now Gigabit Networks has plans for increased penetration in th ese cities, as well as further expansion into the surrounding towns, on the back of this fundraising campaign.
“We’ve had a few conversations already with investors,” said David. “The key for us will be to find the right investor who understands what we are doing in the long term, and we welcome conversations with interested partners.”
North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College (NWSLC) has appointed a new member to its executive team.
Paul Lawrence will join the college as executive director of business development and employer engagement with a brief to build on the organisation’s strong record of industry and education partnerships.
With a background in strategic planning and business strategy, he has experience of working in the charity sector as well as in higher education.
He said: “I very much look forward to working at the heart of the college’s continuing drive to support the business community in the context of challenging economic circumstances.”
Workplace consultancy and office fit-out specialist
Blueprint Interiors has hired Kim Bates as office manager.
Kim (pictured), who lives in Ashby de la Zouch, has worked in business administration and accounting roles for her entire 15-year career.
She will support all departments to ensure offices are running effectively on a day-to-day basis and will be involved in a range of activities,, from monitoring health and safety and compliance to assisting with HR and procurement.
She said: “I have a real passion for interior design and refurbishing buildings, so I was excited about the opportunity to learn more about the industry while also being of practical help as office manager.”
Planning & Design Practice has welcomed new additions to the team, as it bids farewell to a founding member.
Shaun Hyde, Emily Anderson and Megan Askham are new graduate planners, with Scott Williams joining as a junior architectural technician.
The practice’s former managing director Jonathan Jenkin will also leave at the end of the year.
Having formed the company in 2002, he has been working in a part-time consultancy role for the past 18 months, which has allowed the transfer of skills and experience to the senior management team comprising Jon Millhouse, Richard Pigott, Michael Bamford and Lindsay Cruddas.
Jonathan said: “I am really pleased at the way Jon, Richard, Michael, and Lindsay are taking the company forward. The transition
has been smooth and it is good to be able to leave the company with the business doing well and I wish everyone continuing success.”
Richard, who has been with the company since 2011 and a director
A careers initiative created to help inspire young people in Derby has bolstered its delivery team as it aims to link more businesses in the city with schools.
Rizvan Bhatti joins E4E in a partnership role working alongside the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership, Careers and Enterprise Company, and the Unlocking Potential programme.
Established in 2014, E4E is a Derby City Council-backed careers scheme. It provides CV writing
workshops, mock interviews, mentoring and a Dragons Den-style Enterprise Challenge Day, where pupils pitch a project to business leaders who volunteer for the session.
Rizvan said: “I want to encourage meaningful and real-world contact between pupils and employers to create a better understanding of career opportunities, and to help raise employability and enterprise that will inspire the next generation.”
A prominent member of Derby’s business community has been appointed chair of governors of Derby College Group (DCG).
Andrew Cochrane is chairman and senior partner of top 200 law firm Flint Bishop Solicitors. He has been a governor at DCG since 2019 and takes over from former headteacher Phil Dover.
From his background in litigation and employment law, Andrew, who also serves as Deputy Lieutenant and Under Sheriff of Derbyshire, now specialises in licensing – acting on behalf of a number of national and regional pub, club, hotel and restaurant operators.
He said: “I am committed to ensuring that DCG continues to
meet the skills requirements of the local economy and therefore, by doing so, delivers secure and wellpaid employment opportunities for the young people in our area.”
since 2015, added: “Since we took over the company in the summer of 2021, it has continued to evolve and modernise, and we are undertaking some very interesting work in both planning and architecture.”
Nottingham Venues has appointed a new director of human resources.
Suzie Adams joins the organisation, which brings meetings, events, hotel stays and a collection of venues across the University of Nottingham’s campuses under one brand.
She was headhunted from her former career at some of the world’s biggest cruise line companies, with a remit to establish best practice and policies for people management at the organisation, which employs up to 250 people.
Nottingham Venues general manager Tom Waldron-Lynch said: “We are on a journey of growth and independence, and a major part of that requires the best possible talent to join us as we strive to lead the field in our offering to guests and employees.
“Attracting someone of the calibre of Suzie is a big part of that, as she has incredible experience in both moulding and creating outstanding career experiences in the hospitality industry.”
The East Midlands Freeport was one of the big wins resulting from the Chamber’s previous business manifesto for growth published four years ago. It now represents a huge opportunity for the region to continue building its reputation as a Centre of Trading Excellence, as chair of the board Nora Senior CBE explains to Dan Robinson.
To the average person on the street, the announcement in March 2021 that one of eight freeports would be located in the East Midlands may have passed them by.
After all, few of us spend much time contemplating how the goods we consume every day end up in our presence, from their manufacture to shipping and the many bottlenecks in between.
Yet while the designation of a special area in and around East Midlands Airport as the UK’s only inland freeport – where tax and customs incentives will be used to attract new businesses – may feel like a relatively ambiguous prospect for people in communities across Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire, Nora Senior CBE affirms the positive impact will be felt by all.
It will act as a “funnel” to drive through a number of other initiatives in the region, she says – becoming one of the East Midlands’ biggest wealth creators, a hub for the next generation of net zero products and services, and acting as a catalyst for regeneration in our towns and cities.
“The East Midlands Freeport is going to be an enabler for economic growth, job creation and skills development in the region,” says Nora, a former British Chambers of Commerce president and group executive chair at global communications firm Weber Shandwick, who was appointed chair of the board in July this year.
“Since taking this role, I’ve been really impressed with how the freeport has attracted the interest of the public and private sectors. It’s also highlighted the real strengths of the East Midlands economy and what is has to offer on an international scale.
Nora has thrown her backing behind the Chamber’s Business Manifesto for Growth – and believes the freeport will play an integral role in developing the East Midlands’ reputation as a Centre of Trading Excellence.
She says: “The manifesto highlights how the East Midlands has expertise in making things, moving things and innovating in how we do this. The freeport focuses on all these elements in advanced manufacturing, advanced logistics and the decarbonisation agenda.
“It’s the perfect match and it’s important as a region that we use the same language in our messaging.
“For me, the freeport is an enabler for economic growth, job creation and skills development in the region.”
Freeports are designated areas within the UK where organisations can benefit from specific tax, customs and economic levers. They are centred around one or a number of ports, along with designated tax sites and customs sites within a 45km boundary. They are formed of public-private partnerships with a clear remit to drive trade and investment, and deliver regeneration. They focus on delivering three core objectives, namely:
1. Creating national hubs for global trade and investment
2. Driving regeneration, levelling up and job creation
3. Creating hotbeds of innovation.
Freeport tax sites establish designated parcels of land, whereby various tax levers aim to accelerate, amplify or transform development activity for businesses that align to the proposed target sectors of a freeport.
Under the freeport customs procedure, authorised businesses can import goods and components into freeport customs sites, with customs duty and import VAT suspended as goods are moved into the site for storage or processing. Goods can be stored or further manufactured within the freeport customs site before they are either released to the GB market or re-exported.
These structures establish a community of public and private sector organisations, collaborating via a defined governance structure, focused on investment, regeneration, innovation, skills and net zero for the region. The freeports create a pool of retained business rates to fund strategic activities that align to their objectives.
For more information on opportunities at East Midlands Freeport, visit www.emfreeport.com or email info@emfreeport.com
“Two of our USPs are the intermodal connectivity we have through our rail and road links – we can reach 90% of the country within four hours by road – and UK’s largest pure freight airport, which is a great success story we should be capitalising on.
“The freeport takes advantage of this connectivity and becomes a funnel through which everything flows, tapping into these strengths along with the knowledge base we have in our universities, and the research and development expertise in our businesses, to create clusters that enable industries to scale up quickly.
“Part of what the freeport will be doing, working with partners, is developing a joint vision for the region and marketing this internationally to sectors that we think complement the strengths of the East Midlands. So it’s a big opportunity for the region to attract a diverse range of jobs, technology and infrastructure.”
A business case for the freeport says it can deliver more than 61,000 jobs for the region in areas including advanced manufacturing, logistics and clean energy, with an extra £8.9bn pumped into the local economy over the next 30 years.
“We expect to create 60,000 new jobs over 30 years and that means we will need to house workers, put their children in schools and create facilities for them.
“We’ll need to fill these roles with upskilled existing workers who will be offered long-term career prospects and young people who are retained in our towns and cities, and our communities will benefit from improved infrastructure as a result.
EAST MIDLANDS POLITICS can be notoriously divisive across both ideological and geographical lines, but in February 2021 a cross-party group of 15 MPs created a video throwing their backing behind a bid by the D2N2, and Leicester and Leicestershire local enterprise partnerships to Government for a freeport to be established in the region.
Other key supporters included the Chamber –which had called for a free trade zone around East Midlands Airport in its 2018 Business Manifesto for Growth, titled Delivering a Great Future – universities and the airport itself.
Freeports were a cornerstone of Rishi Sunak’s economic policy during his time as Chancellor, designed as a means of driving clean growth and attracting inward investment for a postCovid, post-Brexit Britain with a global vision, as well as a desire to “build back better” and level up the country.
The freeports model has three objectives for the Government – to establish national hubs for global trade and investment, create innovation hotbeds, and promote regeneration.
It will do this by establishing a comprehensive package of benefits – which will run for an initial five-year period – comprising tax reliefs, streamlined customs and planning processes, business rates retention, seed capital provision, and support for innovation and international trade.
Nora, who lives in Nottinghamshire and is a vice-chair of council at the University of Nottingham, says: “For me, the freeport is about attracting new national and international investment, and encouraging businesses –particularly those that import, process and then re-export goods, or manufacturers that want to scale up – to locate and invest here.
“The incentives are designed around certain tax and customs benefits, along with other Government support, to enable that to happen.
“But one of the really important parts of the freeport package is we will have £850m of retained business rates over a 25-year period, which will be spent across the region in regenerating areas.
After the East Midlands was confirmed as one of the eight locations – others include the Humber, Teesside and Liverpool City Region – in the Spring Budget, formal Government approval to offer special incentives to businesses located in three designated tax sites followed in March this year.
In total, there is 533 hectares of prime, strategic development land at East Midlands Airport and Gateway Industrial Cluster (EMAGIC), East Midlands Intermodal Park (EMIP) and the Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station redevelopment site.
Among the tax benefits offered to businesses based in those sites will be a zero rate of secondary national insurance contributions for freeport employees, enhanced capital allowance for plant and machinery, enhanced structures and buildings allowance, and relief from both stamp duty land tax and business rates.
A full business case, building on an outline business case that preceded formal approval, was submitted in April for £25m of seed capital funding to deliver new roads, cycle routes, land preparation works and a Hydrogen Skills Academy.
‘For me, the freeport is about attracting new national and international investment, and encouraging businesses to locate here’
Plans for the academy, backed by Loughborough, Nottingham and Derby universities as well as the wider college system, are being drawn up and could lead to it opening by 2024. It is identified as a crucial part of the economic offering.
It complements a series of innovative hydrogen projects being taken forward by the region’s Hydrogen Task Force and will be the UK’s first practical, industry-based training centre associated with the production, handling, storage and use of hydrogen.
“We have fantastic universities and colleges across the region producing graduates who are skilled in STEM subjects, but we lose a high percentage of them to other parts of the country,” says Nora.
“So it would be great to create that nucleus of student talent to move into high-skilled jobs that will retain the skills in our region, while also reskilling those from existing sectors who can transition into new, safe hydrogen jobs.
“But the academy is also about finding out which skills companies in the hydrogen sector envisage they will need from their future workforce and tailoring curriculums in advance, because one of the things we’ve not done well at in Britain is workforce planning.”
1. EAST MIDLANDS AIRPORT AND GATEWAY CLUSTER (EMAGIC), LEICESTERSHIRE
• Comprises East Midlands Airport, which currently handles 442,000 tonnes of cargo per year, and the neighbouring SEGRO Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway – a 700-acre and growing development with more than 4.5 million sq ft of logistics accommodation
• Tax site will be focused on advanced logistics, transportation technologies and manufacturing
• Includes investment to further transform the strategic rail freight interchange, which will increase terminal capacity from six to 16 trains per day – allowing for another 200,000 containers to be transported by rail per year
2.EAST MIDLANDS INTERMODAL PARK (EMIP), DERBYSHIRE
• A planned strategic rail freight interchange next to the A38/A50 Burnaston Interchange and Toyota factory
• Focus on advanced manufacturing and logistics
• New accommodation and rail infrastructure, with potential to attract more of the supplier base to the area – supporting the Government’s objectives to build hubs of global trade and investment
• Vision to transform the site into a zero-carbon energy and technology hub, with an opportunity to redevelop part of the site surrounding the existing power station in advance of its coal-firing operation closing in September 2024
• Planning consent already granted for the development of an energy recovery facility - known as the EMERGE Centre - which will convert non-recyclable waste into usable lower-carbon heat and power, which could be used by businesses that locate to the site in future
• Wider redevelopment of the site has the potential to accommodate a range of related uses, such as advanced manufacturing and low-carbon energy production
Whether the academy takes form as a physical building or a virtual centre that brings together various organisations already involved in hydrogen – the D2N2 Enterprise Partnership and Midlands Engine are just two locally – has yet to be determined.
Developing the skills base, though, is critical to putting the East Midlands at the forefront of the UK’s net zero transition, believes Nora.
She adds: “Our aspiration is to join the dots and use the freeport as a catalyst to drive the hydrogen economy in our region, and therefore attract the national and international players in this space to come here.
“Rather than reinventing the wheel, it would be great to bring together everyone who is already working in various parts of the hydrogen landscape to share knowledge and technologies.
“One of the best ways of scaling up is to get
• Opportunity to create new high-skilled employment based around modern industrial and businesses uses, served by on-site sustainable energy generation.
big companies working with smaller organisations and helping them to move into a new environment. It’s about how we get the sum greater than the parts.”
THE SO-CALLED Oxford to Cambridge Arc growth corridor is regarded as the gold standard when it comes to knowledge sharing.
It is an established home to one of the world’s most important biopharma clusters but has branched out in recent years to also include centres of excellence for sectors such as cleantech, 5G connectivity and advanced engineering.
NOVEMBER 2016
In a report published by the Centre for Policy Studies, Rishi Sunak – then a backbench MP – suggests freeports, despite being phased out four years earlier, should be introduced to provide a fast response to Brexit by increasing manufacturing output, promoting trade and reinvigorating the North
OCTOBER 2020
After a consultation launched in February, Mr Sunak – then in the role of Chancellor – announced the Government will establish freeports and invites bids from areas in England
FEBRUARY 2021
A consortium led by the D2N2, and Leicester and Leicestershire local enterprise partnerships submit a bid for the East Midlands to be granted freeport status, located across three strategic sites. A cross-party group of the region’s MPs create a video backing the bid
MARCH 2021
In his Spring Budget, Mr Sunak names the East Midlands as one of eight locations where a freeport will be established
SEPTEMBER 2021
The East Midlands Freeport board submits an outline business case to Government, including derails of how the three tax sites would operate
‘It would be great to bring together everyone who is already working in various parts of the hydrogen landscape to share knowledge and technologies’
But the East Midlands doesn’t even need to look beyond its own geography for a good example of the power of clustering.
BioCity, established in Nottingham 20 years ago, has become the UK’s largest life science incubator, tapping into the city’s skills base that had largely been developed by the presence of Boots to build important businesses in the sector such as Sygnature Discovery, an international leader in providing drug discovery services.
Nora says: “BioCity is a great example as a life science cluster where we have big and small innovative companies working together in each piece of the jigsaw to scale up at pace.
“One of the key benefits of the freeport is making connections between businesses and then nurturing those partnerships.
“So for me, the freeport is going to be a magnet to bring these companies together, along with Government departments and organisations outside the freeport boundary, to produce powerful results.”
AFTER A SPEEDY start to life for the freeport –the East Midlands was confirmed as a location within weeks of its bid and full approval was sealed a year later – updates have slowed in recent months.
But work continues behind the scenes, with the board – overseen by accountable body Leicestershire County Council – awaiting a response to its final business case soon.
Once this arrives, activity will accelerate via the recruitment of a small executive team, work to attract investors and mobilisation of plans associated with skills, innovation and net zero.
“The business case addresses criteria for using retained business rates for things like regeneration and skills development, but to all extent and purposes the freeport is here now and is already operational,” says Nora, who is also a board member for the International Chambers of Commerce.
“As an inland freeport, we’re quite unique in that tax site operators will maintain ownership of their land and are already marketing those sites. The freeport becomes the magnet to attract interest.”
The site owners give a flavour of what type of businesses we might see come to the freeport. Real estate developer Segro owns the 700-acre East Midlands Gateway logistics park that has plenty of scope for growth within EMAGIC, where Maritime Transport also operates a rail freight terminal – indicating advanced logistics and clean transportation technologies will be the emphasis here. EMIP, being located adjacent to the Toyota factory, could focus on the next generation of automotive manufacturing, as well as aircraft innovation given its proximity to RollsRoyce’s plant.
Meanwhile, Uniper-owned Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station – due to be decommissioned as a coal-fired energy generator in September 2024 –has been identified as a hub for zero-carbon technology and renewable energy production, transmission, and research and development.
“There’s a lot of great industrialists in our area and they are all looking at different innovations, whether it’s in energy, automotive, aerospace or logistics” says Nora.
“When you then factor in the research happening in our universities and colleges, there’s great potential to use the freeport to accelerate some of the ambitions around net zero and decarbonisation.”
The freeport is in the early stages of exploring how it can link up with counterparts overseas where interests align in areas such as space or electric vehicle components.
While one of the big freeport objectives is to attract companies from outside the region, there’s also plenty of opportunities for companies already in the East Midlands to significantly upscale or cluster.
Nora’s message to those businesses is simple, adding: “Come and have a discussion. Look at the sites and potential occupiers to see the opportunities and learn about the benefits that go along with being here. Those that have the potential to scale up may find they can export greater volumes by being based in the freeport –there’s opportunities for everyone.”
The East Midlands Freeport receives formal Government approval for its plans to offer special tax and customs incentives to businesses locating in the freeport
A full business case is submitted to Government, featuring a blueprint to ensure it is fully equipped to achieve its objectives including the creation of 61,000 new jobs and generation of £8.9bn for the economy over the next 30 years. It makes the case for £25m of seed capital funding to deliver various infrastructure work and establish a Hydrogen Skills Academy
2022
Nora Senior CBE is appointed non-executive chair of the board on an initial three-year term, taking over from interim chair Penny Coates
JULY 2022
The board begins an engagement exercise with businesses interested in operating a customs site within the freeport boundary
RSM UK’s East Midlands team has taken on a record 56 new students in 2022, more than double the 23 trainees recruited last year.
The audit, tax and consulting firm has recruited 28 new trainees in each of its Leicester and Nottingham offices.
Nationally, it recruited a record high of 723 new students across, comfortably surpassing its previous record intake in 2021 by 20% as the firm continues to invest in its long-term growth plans.
Kevin Harris, RSM’s office managing partner in Leicester, said: “Recruiting our largest cohort of new trainees, both in the East Midlands and as a firm, demonstrates our continuous investment in people.
“We continue to grow locally across all our core service lines, and this investment reinforces our desire to carry on this trend despite the tough economic challenges ahead. “
The new recruits will be supported in studying for their professional ACA, AAT, ATT, ICAS, ACCA, CIA or CTA accountancy qualifications, and will benefit from a comprehensive internal programme focused on developing a broad range of skills and supporting wellbeing.
These trainees are spread across all service lines, including accounting and business advisory, audit, corporate finance, outsourcing, tax, restructuring and risk advisory.
The firm’s trainee recruitment policy bucks the national trend. According to RSM UK’s latest Middle Market Business Index (MMBI), the quarterly index and survey of approximately 700 senior executives, businesses are dialling down their hiring needs across the UK.
Just 33% of middle-market firms recruited more staff in the third quarter of this year, down from 41% in Q2 and 52% in Q1.
Men whose lives have been blighted by drug or substance misuse are being offered the chance to rebuild their lives through a joint partnership of The Carpenters Arms and Access Training (East Midlands).
The Carpenters Arms is a Christian abstinence-based residential programme based in Leicestershire.
Its Loughborough and Melton Mowbray centres offer a safe and welcoming environment to residents aged 18-65 from across the UK who need help with turning their lives around, escaping homelessness and addiction to drugs or substances, and reintegrating into their communities.
The charity enlisted the support of Access Training in devising a series of training courses to build the employability skills of its residents. The training focused on the second phase of a three-stage programme – the first being “admission” and the third “move on” – to help residents identify the changes they want to see in their lives, offering highly practical training to make that happen.
Kathryn Harrold, employability trainer at Access Training, said: “A source of motivation for us all at
Access Training is making a social impact through the training we deliver. We measure this social value through the increase in skills, employment prospects and confidence levels of our learners.
“Often, when people are in a vulnerable position, all they need is a little confidence and self-esteem. Our training certainly helps bring those qualities to the fore, and I have no doubt that the residents at The Carpenters Arms will go on to fulfil their true potential as a result.”
The number of school leavers joining the firm in the past two years has increased by 65%, demonstrating RSM’s focus on attracting more who choose a career in professional services straight from school as an alternative to attending university.
It also recently made 40 promotions to director in its continued bid to strengthen the firm from within its own ranks.
The Albanian-born vice-chair of Generation Next compiled the biggest team – featuring people from the UK, Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia and other parts of Europe – in the Tirana Marathon 2022.
The majority of the funds raised were donated to Down Syndrome Albania, with 1,500 euros (£1,318) going to Fundacia Ja TEZ, a Polandbased organisation that is looking after Ukrainian families affected by the war and featuring children with Down’s syndrome.
Daniel said: ‘’During the first year, we had a team of 30 runners and raised £5,000. In 2022, we had fantastic support from Albanian, British and other international businesses. It was a fantastic day for everyone. More importantly, we raised a great amount for a fantastic organisation.’’
‘We continue to grow locally across all our core service lines, and this investment reinforces our desire to carry on this trend’Hardy Signs marketing manager Daniel Nikolla helped raise £21,000 for charity after bringing together more than 200 runners to take part in a race in his homeland. Daniel Nikolla pictured left centre with the cheque Members of The Carpenters Arm team Kevin Harris
The needs of small businesses in the East Midlands are being investigated in a new study by experts at the University of Nottingham in collaboration with the Chamber.
Leaders of small businesses in the region are invited to help academics from Nottingham University Business School build an understanding of what they want from business support and how they access it.
Analysis from the project will help to inform the future of business advice and support available in the region.
Dr Robert Wapshott, associate professor in entrepreneurship and innovation at Nottingham University Business School, said: “Effective systems of advice and support for small businesses can add value to ventures and the region.
have. The growth of the region relies on this.”
Scott Knowles, chief executive of the Chamber, added: “External factors, such as the disruption we’ve experienced over the past few years, have meant the needs of businesses have evolved significantly –whether it’s in their supply chains, people or innovation. This means the business support ecosystem must respond accordingly to ensure our firms are wellequipped to overcome challenges and take advantage of opportunities as they arise.
“The high quality of the business support services we offer was recently recognised by the British Chambers of Commerce, which named us the UK Chamber of the Year for 2022, but we know we must not stand still as an organisation. This unique research project will provide us with the intelligence required to continue supporting the success of our region’s businesses and communities.”
Interviews with small businesses across the East Midlands will begin in the first quarter of 2023.
Futures Housing Group has published a suite of three documents outlining its performance and achievements across the past financial year, including for the very first time a dedicated environmental, social and governance (ESG) report.
The East Midlands-based housing association has released its annual report on a new website to highlight some of its successes over the year, as well as a financial report demonstrating another strong financial performance.
The ESG report outlines Futures’ performance against the Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing, a voluntary reporting framework for housing providers.
Futures’ number one priority is to help people and local communities by providing good-quality affordable homes, and defined sustainability as one of four core objectives in its corporate plan.
Ceri Theobald (pictured), group director of strategic partnerships and growth at Futures, said: “I’m delighted we’ve released our first ever ESG report as it highlights the crucial work we’ve been doing towards being more sustainable.
"To achieve this, however, we need to focus on what small businesses really want and how they want to access advice and support.
"We are very aware of the current economic climate and issues with international trade, so we are keen to make sure that the support on offer directly addresses and assists with the concerns that business leaders
Participants will be asked to take part in an online 45-minute interview focused on how they engage with business advice and support services and how the support on offer could be improved to better meet the needs of their business and others in the region.
Leaders of small businesses who are interested in helping to shape knowledge on business advice and support can contact policy@emc-dnl.co.uk to find out more about the project and how to get involved.
“Sustainability became one of our core objectives at the start of our current corporate plan and remains a key aspect that is important to our colleagues and customers. This passion to do well for people and the planet is something that runs throughout the whole of Futures.”
‘We are keen to make sure that the support on offer directly addresses and assists with the concerns that bus iness leaders have’Nottingham University Business School is based at the Jubilee Campus
The Chancellor may have succeeded in his bid to not rock the boat in the Autumn Statement, but businesses now need to see a longer-term economic plan.
This was the view of the Chamber after Jeremy Hunt unveiled a series of tax-raising and spending-cutting measures on 17 November.
Chamber chief executive Scott Knowles said: “This very much felt like an Autumn Statement designed to steady the ship and if that’s the case, the Chancellor has most likely achieved his objective.
“There wasn’t much for businesses to get excited about, but the main task was clearly to reassure the markets about the UK’s fiscal responsibility. It also signals an end to the chopping and changing of direction that we’ve seen so much in recent months, and it at least provides businesses some of the certainty that has been lacking and resulting in a significant loss of confidence.
“We heard some big rhetoric around prioritising energy, infrastructure and innovation, but there wasn’t much new in these announcements to stir up much enthusiasm about real change
being on the way. It was important, though, to stress that capital spending on projects such as HS2 will not be cut as investment is essential to long-term growth prospects.”
New Treasury figures show the East Midlands continues to receive the lowest public spending per head of population at £10,528 –compared to a UK average of £11,897.
Scott KnowlesThe Chamber has campaigned for big infrastructure projects, including Midland Main Line electrification and a direct rail route connecting Coventry with Leicester and Nottingham, and Scott said the region needs to see progress as “quickly as possible”.
He added: “While this was always going to be about not rocking the boat, businesses will need to see a clear economic plan from Government ahead of the
The Chamber has made it into a national league table of the best employers for the first time.
It ranked 104th in the Best Mid-Sized Companies to Work for in the UK, in the Q3 listing by employee engagement specialist Best Companies.
This was on top of ranking 18th for the business services sector nationally and 43rd in the East Midlands across all sectors and sizes.
Best Companies, which compiles its tables and accreditation using regular employee surveys, also awarded it the one-star “very good to work for” status for the second year in a row.
Chamber chief executive Scott Knowles said: “The Chamber is fully committed to developing and supporting its people, they are at the heart of what we do and support many businesses across the East Midlands. Ensuring that our people are engaged and enjoy working for us is a key part of our business plan each year.”
Key factors that contributed to the recognition were that 90% of staff said they were “proud” to work for the organisation, citing how regular all-staff meetings give each team the opportunity to explain how its contributes to the business plan objectives.
Four in five (79%) employees also agreed the experience they gain from the job is valuable for their personal growth.
The Chamber, which employs 144 people across seven office locations, was named the UK Chamber of the Year at the British Chambers of Commerce’s annual Chamber Business Awards in October this year.
Spring Budget.
“Many of the questions businesses had before about how they will be supported to invest in skills and innovation remain. There
is plenty more that can be done in ‘getting the basics right’, as the Chamber has outlined in more detail as part of our Business Manifesto for Growth.”
Members will have the opportunity to engage with the Chamber’s board of directors and senior leadership team at the annual general meeting (AGM).
The event, which also features an update on the Chamber’s progress and achievements over the past 12 months, takes place at the Museum of Making, in Derby, on Tuesday 13 December from 12pm to 1.30pm.
Lindsey Williams (pictured) will give a speech reflecting on her year as president and award donations raised via the Chamber’s charitable fund to her three nominated charities – Focus, Treetops Hospice and Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust.
Stuart Dawkins will be formally inducted as the new president, with members also voting on new board appointments.
Chief executive Scott Knowles will give a business update to members, the three Business of the Year winners are invited to give speeches, and longstanding members will be celebrated.
The official AGM papers were issued to members electronically the week commencing 28 November. If you have not received these, contact Lesley Young via Lesley.young@emcdnl.co.uk
The AGM is free to attend and open to both members and non-members, although only member votes will count.
Members will be asked to vote with a “show of hands” at the event. Proxy votes sent in by members prior to the meeting will be counted and recorded in order to provide the official voting result on each of the resolutions.
‘The main task was clearly to reassure the markets about the UK’s fiscal responsibility’
Business leaders, economists and MPs will come together to discuss the key events that have influenced the economy and look ahead to 2023 at the Chamber’s Annual State of the Economy Review.
The flagship office development, which provides 26,000 sq ft of modern workplace accommodation, has let more than 50% of rooms in just four months after opening.
Targeted at new and growing businesses in Chesterfield, the 32 high-quality office suites spread over three floors have attracted tenants from a range of sectors and industries into the town centre, including recruitment, IT, design, marketing, education and training,
and fashion.
The building is part of a £19.9m scheme to breathe new life into the northern entrance to Chesterfield town centre. It was part funded through a grant from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority Investment Fund, with additional funding provided by Chesterfield Borough Council.
The town centre location was a pull for the Chamber, which will soon lease space in the building in
Chief executive Scott Knowles said: “We want to create a members’ lounge for them to drop in and use as they see fit, while it adds more meeting space in addition to our headquarters in Dunston Road.
“We are excited to see the range of benefits the centre will have on the growth of businesses and the creation of jobs in Chesterfield, both of which will provide a boost to the town’s economy.”
The event gives members the opportunity to learn more about the factors that are influencing operating conditions an share ideas on how future business growth can be best supported.
The Chamber’s director of policy and external affairs Chris Hobson will give a review of the year using data from the Quarterly Economic Survey, before Barclays vicepresident for FX sales Chris Woodall offers an insight into market movements and prospects for the year ahead.
The event is hosted in partnership with emh group, Geldards and the University of Leicester School of Business. It takes place at Memorial House, in Stenson Road, Coalville, on 16 December from 8.45am to 12.30pm. Register for free at bit.ly/EMCStateofEconomy22
‘We are excited to see the range of benefits the centre will have’The Northern Gateway Enterprise Centre
I was born and bred in Leicester, and live in the city. My career began working for HM Treasury, the Inland Revenue and then, as a management consultant for the Institute of Manpower Studies.
In 1990, I joined Alliance & Leicester (A&L) in Hove, where I initially worked in strategic planning and change management. At the same time, I completed an MBA at Kingston Business School. By a series of happy accidents, I ended up being relocated to Leicester and then became head of strategic planning. I project managed A&L’s conversion from building society to plc status and flotation on the London Stock Exchange in April 1997, when A&L joined the FTSE 100.
I then also became head of investor relations, communicating with City audiences, and later was made director of corporate communications, a role I held from 2001 to 2008. This covered a broad spectrum: investor relations, reputational management, media management, internal communications, public affairs, government relations and social responsibility. We achieved a lot of progress as a smaller “challenger bank” –and then came the financial crisis!
There were many signs of the crisis coming even before the run on Northern Rock. Once that run happened, it was a tumultuous time for over a year before the failure of Lehman Brothers and so many other financial institutions – but I am pleased to say, not A&L.
Early on, there was a school of thought A&L was like Northern Rock, but in the important ways we were not. We had good-quality assets and a strong customer base, while our open approach to communications meant investors
could get a clear view of the inherent risk in our business. After Northern Rock’s collapse, the City was worried about was the longevity of funding of all banks. In December 2007, we announced we had raised significant new funding and that took the focus away from A&L.
As the financial crisis grew during 2008, Santander made a bid to acquire A&L. I led the process of communicating this and managed the EGM at which shareholders approved the deal. This resulted in A&L being one of only three listed UK banks not to require Government support. After the takeover, I decided it was a good time to end that phase of my career, amicably, which I did at the end of 2008.
Since leaving A&L, I have taken on a number of non-executive positions. I was on the board of the East Midlands Ambulance Service for 10 years. I spent five years as chair of governors at Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I Sixth Form College in Leicester, and am still a governor there. I chair the Leicestershire & Rutland Community Foundation, and am on the board of the Chamber and EMB, which is two-thirds owned by the Chamber. I spent four years as a member of the audit committee at the University of Leicester. In August, I was delighted to join the board of De Montfort University as a governor.
These positions have given me a breadth of experience. I’ve found them to be intellectually challenging and enjoyable. I’ve been able to use my background in strategy, communications, and mergers and acquisitions to help various organisations in the public, private and not-forprofit sectors.
I am also secretary of Welland Valley Cycling Club, a thriving club with nearly 400 members
which has doubled in size in recent years. I’m a keen cyclist and race fairly regularly, completing eight road races last year. I’m also on the board of the Foxes Trust, the supporters’ trust for Leicester City FC.
I joined the Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce board in 2005. I served on the board until the merger with the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber in 2013. I was vicechair at that time and worked closely with Kevin Harris, the chair, as we realised the significant benefits a larger, more sustainable organisation would bring.
It proved to be a great decision given the success East Midlands Chamber has had since then. The Chamber not only does its job of representing businesses in the region, but also plays an important role as one of the few voices bringing together the three counties.
We’re quite likely to be the first generation for some time to hand over less wealth and perhaps also less happiness, to our successors. I want to encourage businesses to think about how they can help the next generation and the generation after that.
The Chamber’s Generation Next network for young professionals is a part of this, but there are also other meaningful ways businesses can do more. Also, the Chamber’s mission has evolved to encourage businesses to look at a wider purpose as well as being profitable. I’d like to develop this work further by encouraging every member to do something that
Despite unprecedented challenges, the future of tourism in the Peak District and Derbyshire remains positive.
This was the message at the annual Peak District & Derbyshire Tourism Conference, which took place at Peak Edge Hotel, Chesterfield, in October.
Hosted by Marketing Peak District & Derbyshire, the event welcomed more than 120 attendees from across the tourism and hospitality sectors for the first inperson conference since the pandemic.
It brought together leading industry figures and expert speakers to deliver insights, advice and inspiration covering topics such as the cost-of-living crisis, recruitment challenges, emerging tourism trends and new opportunities for growth.
Jo Dilley, managing director of Marketing Peak District & Derbyshire, emphasised the tourist board’s ongoing commitment to supporting the sector’s recovery and its work to secure the longterm future of the industry by increasing overnight stays, extending the traditional tourism season and boosting visitor spend.
aims to position the destination as a beacon for sustainable tourism and active travel
•An Accessibility Champions programme has so far helped more than 30 tourism businesses achieve “accessibility champion” status
Nominations for the PA Forum’s inaugural East Midlands PA Awards 2023 will open in January 2023. It builds on the success of the West Midlands PA Awards, where Katie Bott won the PA of the Year category this year. She recalls what the process involved.
Firstly, I must say a massive thank you to Daniel Skermer for working tirelessly on providing a platform where our profession is recognised as exactly that – a profession. The East Midlands PA Awards will be a fundamental part of this, celebrating our successes and the success of others, supporting one another in the varying roles that we all do.
Personally, the nomination was completely unexpected and a lovely surprise. I was nominated by three of my colleagues, including my chief executive.
The process was daunting at first, but the awards committee supported me throughout. I first had to submit examples and feedback to support my nomination. Once I started, a feeling of excitement came over me – I began to believe I could do this, that I was not an imposter in my field or someone who solely stood behind the success of others – I too could be successful in my own way.
Next came the interview – a chat about something I am proud of.
A keynote speech was delivered by Patricia Yates, CEO of national tourism body VisitBritain and VisitEngland. She visited local businesses including The Heights of Abraham, Chatsworth and Treak Cliff Cavern ahead of the conference to see the area’s tourism offer first-hand and discuss how the sector can work together to drive economic growth.
“Tourism is an industry that can deliver growth like no other and it’s been great to see the activity Marketing Peak District & Derbyshire is delivering, working with businesses and key stakeholders to attract domestic and overseas visits, driving the visitor economy,” Patricia said.
It will soon launch a marketing campaign to promote the area’s “distinctive and diverse visitor offer”, along with a new website for www.visitpeakdistrict.com that will help visitors plan and book trips according to accessibility and sustainability requirements.
Recent successes for the organisation showcased at the event included:
•The value of tourism to the area’s economy was £1.96bn in 2021, achieving 79% of 2019 levels against a target of 70%
•The creation of a sustainable tourism plan, produced in partnership with the Peak District National Park Authority and The National Forest, which
•The Growing and Developing the Visitor Economy within Derbyshire project has helped more than 800 visitor economy business to boost their growth, skills and profitability since 2017
•In the year to September 2022, there were 2.7 million sessions by 2.1 million users at www.visitpeakdistrict.com, while the organisation has a combined social media following of more than 200,000
Against the backdrop of the costof-living crisis, the event covered the challenges facing the area’s visitor economy as well as the support available for local businesses.
Chamber chief executive Scott Knowles discussed how inflation and access to skilled labour are the biggest concerns for firms.
The interview panel was wonderful, everyone really listened and were interested in hearing about our chosen topics.
And then, the awards ceremony itself. Oh, what a night! People I have never met before, offering their congratulations, and hugging me with a shared joy and excitement. It is a night that will honestly stay with me forever.
So, for those of you who have been nominated, or are thinking of self-nominating, my advice to you is simple – go for it. Do it for the profession, do it for those who believe in you, and do it for you –you will not regret it.
To keep up to date with the East Midlands PA Awards, sign up for the PA Forum newsletter at paforum.co.uk
‘Tourism is an industry that can deliver growth like no other’Speakers at the Peak District & Derbyshire Tourism Conference
The fifth Leicestershire Innovation Festival will take place in the new year – with organisers placing the spotlight on small business.
The Business Gateway Growth Hub is again leading preparations for the festival, themed on productivity, as 20 events are staged between 6 and 17 February.
Productivity and innovation are central to plans for growth in the UK economy. As 89% of businesses in Leicestershire have fewer than 10 employees, small businesses have a key role to play.
Dr Nik Kotecha OBE DL, chair of the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP) innovation board, said: “The festival will showcase ideas that increase productivity and quality in small, mid-sized and large organisations.
“People often think of innovation as being about inventing things. But we also want to hear the stories of entrepreneurs who are making 'new to business' changes that can be made by anyone.”
This year’s festival was the biggest to date, with almost 1,000 registrations across 24 events. Organisers aim to build on that in order to grow next year’s fortnight-long festival.
Fellow LLEP innovation board member Helen Donnellan, pro vice-chancellor for regional business and innovation at festival sponsor De Montfort University, said: “Workplace innovation isn’t necessarily about specific teams working on future projects. Rather, the biggest business impact can come from simply questioning how things could be done better.
"This could be anything from how your business creates its products, to processes for how you operate or how you engage with customers."
Applications for the Generation Next Awards are set to open on 11 January, when young professionals across the East Midlands can submit their achievements from the past year. With another celebration event planned for next summer, the project’s co-ordinator Kate Nemeth explains how to plan a successful event.
When you first get tasked with organising an event, you need to decide what you want it to achieve for the delegates, as well as the company.
How many people do you need to be at the event? Do you need a speaker? Do you need any sponsors? Do you need an event theme? Who is your target audience?
All these questions will factor into the rest of the planning process, as well as the briefs to the teams working on the event.
Your budget will inform a lot of your choices when it comes to finding suppliers and organising the content for the event.
When looking for a date, make sure you give yourself enough time for the planning process. Look around for any activities that could clash with your event, such as competitor events or school holidays
Finding the right venue, which has a good reputation, is also crucial in helping you fill delegate spaces. The venue also needs to fit with the practical needs of your event in terms of the right atmosphere, size and AV capacity.
There are also some important considerations you need to think about such as location, parking space, accessibility, and proximity to transport links.
The next step is to make a decision on any marketing assets you may need such as leaflets, programmes or roller banners, as well as any promotional support so you can brief your marketing teams.
Key suppliers can relate to catering, print, speakers, AV, exhibitors, hosts
and entertainment acts which are required for the event. Similar to securing a venue, make sure a supplier’s product fits the purpose of your event.
If your event requires sponsorship, it is best to get companies secured as soon as possible in order to maximise their contract and develop a solid relationship.
Now the event is getting closer, and you have your suppliers secured, you can finalise the agenda.
It is always good to have a brief version of the agenda on the event’s webpage or communications to aid the promotion of it, but once everything is finalised, it’s important to make sure timings are specified.
When planning speaker slots, make sure everyone has an even amount of time, and they are fully briefed on what they need to discuss.
If required, factor in a decent number of breaks, and networking opportunities if relevant, so delegates don’t get restless.
It’s best to have a team around you when running the event. They can help you register delegates and speakers, manage any problem solving and communications with the suppliers.
Everything runs smoother when you have a great team behind you to help you out.
Once you’ve completed an event, it’s good to reflect on the whole experience from start to finish.
Get all the project team together for a meeting so you can discuss what went well and any improvements for next time – this knowledge can be very valuable when you come to plan an event in the future, and give you new ideas to explore.
This year, Generation Next is refreshing its categories to give more young people working within the region an opportunity to make the 2023 shortlisting.
To apply from 11 January, visit www.generationnextemc.co.uk/ awards
Celebration was in the air as the East Midlands Chamber Business Awards returned to Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire throughout November.
Gala dinners were held in partnership with headline sponsor Mazars at the King Power Stadium in Leicestershire on 4 November, Reach Pride Park in Derbyshire on 11 November and Nottingham Belfry in Nottinghamshire on 18 November.
Hundreds of people turned out at the three ceremonies, which recognised 150 finalists across 13 categories – ranging from Excellence in Innovation and Environmental Impact at organisational level through to individual honours for Entrepreneur of the Year and Apprentice of the Year – in each county.
An overall Business of the Year title was also awarded to Katapult in Derbyshire, Copley Scientific in Nottinghamshire and Scope Construction in Leicestershire.
Winners were chosen by a judging panel of the Chamber’s senior leadership and board of directors, as well as sponsors.
Scott Knowles, chief executive of the Chamber, said: “The past few years have been challenging for our business community, and yet we continue to see so many shining examples of business success across our region. It’s always important to celebrate these achievements and shout about the great things happening right here in the East Midlands. We know it is a fantastic place to do business and these organisations – many of which have worked together to maximise their impact within their sectors and communities – are doing a wonderful job.
“Later this month, the Chamber will launch a Business Manifesto for Growth in the East Midlands and Beyond in Parliament that illustrates how our region is a Centre of Trading Excellence. Our Business Awards are full of companies that are living proof of this.”
Each of the three ceremonies at the Chamber's Business Awards were hosted by comedian Patrick Monahan.
Raffles held at each awards raised£5,075for Chamber president Lindsey Williams’ three chosen charities this year – Focus, Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust and Treetops Hospice.
Lindsey, chief executive of Coalville-based housing association Futures Housing Group, added: “Behind every nominee and winner whose name will go up in lights are people and organisations that are truly delivering for the region. Their achievements generate employment, wealth and opportunity not just for those directly connected, but for the wider community.
“So I’m proud to see the Chamber yet again take the opportunity to bring us together and celebrate our top talent – for their success but also for what they bring to the East Midlands as a whole.”
For more information on the East Midlands Chamber Business Awards, visit www.emcdnl.co.uk/connecting-you/business-awards
full room at the Derbyshire Business Awards
EXCELLENCE IN COLLABORATION
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
(Sponsored by JG Pears) Eastwood Hall
COMMITMENT TO PEOPLE DEVELOPMENT
(Sponsored by QTS Group) TTK Confectionery
APPRENTICE OF THE YEAR (Sponsored by EMA Training)
Nazareth Ameyaw, Turner & Townsend
ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR (Sponsored by Eversheds Sutherland) Nathan Adams, BDL Recruitment
(Sponsored by University of Nottingham) Air and Space Institute
EXCELLENCE IN CUSTOMER SERVICE (Sponsored by Express Recruitment) Your IT Department
(Sponsored by DHL)
Copley Scientific
SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR (Sponsored by Nottingham Trent University) Copley Scientific
What does your company do and how have you embraced sustainability?
Established 11 years ago, Benchmark provides bespoke commercial estimating software to some of the largest manufacturers of most packaging materials across Europe to deliver “true cost” modelling. We are also consultants to major brand producers and retailers providing “should cost” analysis.
In 2018, we teamed up with Professor Jon McKechnie and his engineering sustainability team at the University of Nottingham to extend our software capabilities to also calculate the carbon footprint of any individual packaging item. Our solutions went live in April 2021 after it was approved by a commercial life cycle analyst.
We are obtaining validation of our process from recognised organisations so we can audit our customers’ data to satisfy their consumers that there is no “greenwashing”.
How does your product work?
We know the three most commonly asked questions when sourcing are: What is the specification, how long to deliver and how much?
Our solution returns unique commercial and carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) values at the individual stock keeping unit instantly, or for an entire product range in a factory via an upload of an Excel template within a matter of minutes. We support large data with bespoke reporting back into Excel and provide executive dashboards.
Unlike a typical life cycle assessment, which can be very expensive and time-consuming by
looking at a single product or possibly a production line in a factory, our solution is designed to measure scope three emissions at the manufacturing site, making it more costeffective.
In the absence of upstream data provided by a customer, we use published scientific papers of, say oil as it is processed into plastic materials or trees into paper, and International Energy Agency data to calculate the carbon impact in kilowatt-hours for machines. Uniquely, we can calculate the impact of different machine parameters – for example, speed and waste for different process limitations.
We are therefore wholly aligned to the UK industrial decarbonisation strategy of being granular in detail, accurate to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change standards, while our reports are transparent. Our solutions enable compliance to the Competitions and Markets Authority’s green claims code. We also have a solution for businesses to report their net zero journey.
How important do you believe embracing the sustainability agenda is for businesses today?
All organisations can play their part in the hidden interconnected relationship between businesses, suppliers and customers. Leveraging this network, even a small business can indirectly make a huge impact far beyond their own immediate scope.
Nottingham’s historic Trent Bridge Bus Garage, once home to horsedrawn trams, has a new zero carbon future after Nottingham City Transport ordered 78 of its first electric single-deck buses.
It also appointed Zenobē Energy, an electric vehicle fleet and battery storage specialist, as the delivery partner to supply the charging infrastructure to the garage, which opened in 1901.
The infrastructure will allow NCT to extend the electric fleet in future, aligned with the operator’s net-zero ambitions. Pelican Bus & Coach will deliver the first 12 fully zero-emission electric buses to join the NCT fleet, which are expected to enter service in late 2023.
A Derby composites firm has won an industry award for its pioneering work to find a more sustainable composite manufacturing process.
Composite Braiding, based at the iHub in Infinity Park, scooped the Sustainability Award – Net Zero at the 2022 Composites UK Industry Awards on 2 November.
The company impressed judges by developing a lower-carbon manufacturing process for structural composites, which also enables higher production volumes and lower costs. The initiative was part-funded by an Innovate UK loan.
It’s the second Composites UK award in as many years for Composite Braiding, which last year won the Innovation in Composite Materials category.
The new manufacturing process reduces energy consumption by up to 99% compared to traditional processes and uses tooling that is 50% lighter. The process even reduces consumable waste.
On top of the decarbonisation benefits, the innovation means the firm can produce composite parts in minutes instead of hours, enabling it to increase volumes and reduce costs.
Managing director Steve Barbour said: “This is a game-changing capability. If this process is adopted by multiple users, which is our aim, it will help deliver decarbonisation at scale.”
DATE: 12 January
TIME: 9-12.30
COST: £150 + VAT
Learn about the certifications required by customs officials around the world to demonstrate the origin of a product
Customs declarations
DATE: 24 January
TIME: 9-2
COST: £280 + VAT Learn how to accurately produce a customs declaration or check one being produced by a customs agent for your company
CHIEFto CDS
DATE: 31 January,
TIME: 9-12.30
COST: £150 + VAT or £100 + VAT if taken alongside customs declaration course)
With the CHIEF (customs handling of import and export freight) electronic system being replaced with CDS (customs declaration service), find out about the key changes
Import procedures
DATE: 7 February
TIME: 9-3.30
COST: £270 + VAT Learn about the import process from initial contact with a potential supplier through to the import customs clearance process to ensure receipt of goods in time and within budget
Understanding commodity coding
DATE: 9 February
TIME: 9-12
COST: £150 + VAT Navigate the complex and difficult international system for coding products for customs purposes
Export documentation
DATE: 21 February
TIME: 9-4
COST: £270 + VAT
Practical programme equipping delegates with necessary skills and knowledge to prepare and process documents when exporting goods overseas
Customs special procedures – how to save time and money
DATE: 22 February
TIME: 1-4.30
COST: £150 + VAT
Introduction to the facilitations offered on customs requirements by HMRC to help speed up the movement of goods in and out of the UK, and help save money
Authorised Economic Operator (AEO)
DATE: 21 February
TIME: 9-12
COST: £150 + VAT
Introduction to AEO, the “trusted trader” status and an internationally recognised quality mark for the international supply chain
*Prices listed are exclusively for East Midlands Chamber members
Book on to courses at www.emc-dnl.co.uk
ECSL works on rail projects in the UK and overseas
ENGINEERING
Spokesperson: Dr Dave Gent, head of bridges and structures, and director of operations for the UK
What does your company do?
ECSL is a multi-disciplinary engineering design consultancy, mainly working within the rail sector to deliver new bridges, station upgrades and depot enhancements.
Our tagline is we are “delivering innovative engineering solutions in socially responsible ways”. Some 43% of our projects over the past 12 months involved innovation or research and development, and 56% of those projects were for charitable organisations.
We invest our profits in employing and supporting refugees and others from disadvantaged backgrounds both in the UK and India.
What does your international trade operation involve?
In the past 12 months, we have expanded our team in India and now have offices in Delhi and Bangalore. These teams support delivery of our projects in the UK and Middle East, as well as now winning work in their own right in India on projects such as the Delhi Metro Extension scheme, which we are supporting from the UK.
We have increased the number of projects won in the Middle East, winning projects in
Jordan, Oman, Dubai and Abu Dhabi over the past 12 months. We are opening an office in Jordan within the next six months to support this growth.
Which are your biggest markets and how do you approach these?
Our biggest market is bridges, with the asset management of existing bridges and design of new bridges delivered across a number of sectors.
No matter who we are working with, we try to develop a collaborative approach to delivery –more of a partnership – because ultimately if we help our clients win more work, we will win more work ourselves and then those partnerships are mutually beneficial.
With our charitable clients, such as the many heritage railways around the East Midlands, we again form a partnership, tailoring fees to whatever their budget, which in some cases could be zero.
But the relationships are still mutually beneficially as our graduates and trainees are able to spend more time on site with these clients and in a more controlled, safer environment than on the mainline railways,
making us technically stronger than our competitors.
Plus, our engineers love working with these clients. The passion, knowledge and experience that heritage railway volunteers love sharing with our teams is inspirational, so it increases job satisfaction.
How have the events of the past couple of years affected your importing and exporting activity?
Developing business in the Middle East and India has been extremely difficult as we have not managed to physically be there, but we have managed to maintain enough contact that now the restrictions are less onerous in many please, we are able to finally reinforce those relationships that we spent time trying to build during lockdown and start delivering work in those regions.
What made you turn to the Chamber for support and how has this helped?
As an SME, we turn to the Chamber to provide support and some of the services we did not have the resources to provide in-house ourselves.
Networking with other Chamber members has also been beneficial and led to new business opportunities outside of our core offering.
As the Chamber’s new Business Manifesto for Growth outlines, the East Midlands is a Centre of Trading Excellence in which firms make products that are exported across the world.
Alongside lobbying our politicians to “back the East Midlands to back the UK”, our international trade team plays a vital role on the ground in assisting our region’s exporters and importers to safely deliver goods across borders.
In the year to October, we supported 658 businesses, issued 14,212 customs documents and completed 2,768 customs entries. Here is a breakdown of how the Chamber supports businesses in international trade.
The British Chambers of Commerce’ ChamberCustoms service is the only customs agent in the country with direct links to all sea, air and road ports and terminals in the UK.
We deliver this service in the East Midlands and over the past year, have overseen more than £25m in imported goods alone via completed customs declarations – the paperwork required to get goods through customs at a port.
Our team’s extensive knowledge in facilitating international trade means we can take the hassle out of a company’s hands, ensuring that customs clearance is accurate, timely and avoids additional costs through delays or errors.
Businesses using the service can also have confidence about tariffs and data entry to remove financial risk when trading internationally.
This year, we introduced Your Export Office to provide a unique consultancy service covering all aspects of export administration.
Designed to allow businesses to fill any staffing or skills gaps by utilising members of the Chamber team on a retained basis, it accounted for a large proportion of the 190 hours of advice our team provided to businesses over the past 12 months.
Your Export Office can be used to cover staff absences or one-off projects, or to just provide that little bit of support to complete an export document when it is needed.
Documents we can raise for a company include certificates of origin, EUR1, commercial invoices and packing lists – all issued accurately and with excellent turnaround times by our team of fully qualified staff.
Whether it’s to learn more about import procedures, understand what commodity codes mean or get up to speed with the latest Incoterms 2020 rules, our international trade training courses are designed to plug specific skills gaps needed to trade successfully.
Over the past year, we have welcomed 421 delegates to 67 workshops on 17 topics, and these continue to evolve to meet the needs and demands of current and would-be exporters.
This year, we introduced a new course to guide administrators through the new customs declaration service (CDS), which replaces the former customs handling of import and export freight (CHIEF) electronic system.
Courses, which range from half a day to four days, are delivered by expert and experienced trainers.
To speak to the Chamber’s international trade team about support your business needs, call 0333 320 0333 (option 4) or email international@emc-dnl.co.uk
Less than two months after Kwasi Kwarteng delivered the socalled mini budget, the fourth Chancellor of 2022, Jeremy Hunt, issued his Autumn Statement on 17 November. The Chamber held a roundtable discussion of business leaders at Geldards’ Nottingham office immediately after the announcement. Dan Robinson summarises the reaction.
A stream of “stealth tax rises” had been trailed before the Autumn Statement, with Hunt confirming personal and business taxation would be increasing for the majority while spending cuts and “efficiencies” would be implemented.
All these were designed to reassure the financial markets of Britain’s fiscal responsibility in order to bring down interest rates in particular.
Mark Deakin, regional strategic director at construction and management consultancy Turner & Townsend, called it a return to “careful austerity”.
He said: “It was intelligently delivered, felt balanced and there was nothing horrendous for businesses, while it was important to keep a commitment to a number of big capital programmes, in particular Sizewell C.”
Dawn Edwards, owner of Nottinghamshirebased training provider Challenge Consulting, said: “There’s little change for small businesses. I don’t think anyone is going to be jumping up and down or in tears.”
Appointments have been made to lead into reviews over the rise in “economically inactive” working-age people and a skills reforms programme, while the Chancellor spoke about working with industry to understand what further support SMEs may require in R&D.
David Watson, who leads the property team as a partner at law firm Geldards, said: “It felt like a competent statement and safe for the markets, but there was an acknowledgement that a lot of things have been pushed into the medium-term future.
The new administration washed away recent doubts about whether the Government remained committed to achieving net zero by 2050, with Hunt placing an emphasis on clean growth.
In particular, he said “cheap, low carbon, reliable energy” must sit at the heart of the economy as he doubled down on the commitment to nuclear power via Sizewell C and energy efficiency in homes and businesses with funding to continue beyond 2025.
Neus Garriock, head of business development at construction firm Galliford Try, said this was a positive move but more detailed was needed around energy efficiency support.
“There’s a massive opportunity for us to be more resilient in how we use energy as companies,” she said. “The investment can’t just be about new generators.”
When it comes to today’s energy, there is greater concern. The domestic energy price cap due to rise from £2,500 to £3,000 for average households in April, which will be pose enough challenges for households, but businesses are none the wiser on how they will be supported.
Dawn said: “It’s very painful out there at the moment and there wasn’t really anything for small businesses to grasp on to.
“April isn’t far away, especially if you are setting your budgets for next year, so it’s quite worrying.”
• R&D tax relief for SMEs deduction rate cut from 130% to 86% and the repayable credit rate to 10%. Separately, R&D expenditure credit rises from 13% to 20%
• Energy industry will be hit with an expanded windfall tax of 35%, up from 25%, and a 45% levy on electricity generators
• £14bn tax cut on business rates to benefit 700,000 businesses in retail, hospitality and leisure
• Import tariffs on over 100 goods used by UK businesses to be removed
• National Living Wage for over-23s increases £10.42 per hour from April next year
• Employers’ allowance for national insurance payments will be frozen at £5,000 until April 2028, as will employer contributions secondary threshold
• VAT threshold frozen until 2026.
• Income tax personal allowance threshold frozen until 2028
• The threshold for the 45p additional rate of tax will be cut to £125,140
• Income tax, National Insurance and Inheritance Tax thresholds frozen for additional two years to April 2028
• Dividend and CGT allowances to be halved in 2023/24 and 2024/25.
• State pension and benefits will rise in line with inflation from 2023
• Domestic energy price guarantee will continue but increase from £2,500 to £3,000 from April 2023
• Additional cost of living support available to those most in need.
Nik Hardy (pictured below), founder and managing director of Burton-based signage manufacturer Hardy Signs, added: “Our energy bills have doubled over the past year, like many other manufacturers, so we need to see more from Government to support us.
“There was a mention about innovation but he didn’t really elaborate on what he’s going to do for small businesses that want to innovate – will there be tax breaks or other financial support?
Our company is looking to invest on an ongoing basis this year and next, but there wasn’t any encouragement to do that.”
In September, Kwarteng doubled the threshold at which stamp duty would begin to apply to £250,000 in an attempt to arrest the housing slowdown.
Mr Hunt said this would remain in place until March 2025, at which point it would be phased out.
Steve Midgley, managing director of Fairgrove Homes, said this was a “helpful” policy but believes stamp duty needed to be removed completely for all but investors.
“It doesn’t achieve what it set out to do and new homes create so much other growth in the economy,” he added.
Planning laws have long been a growth prohibitor to the housing sector and despite previous promises over reform, Geldards’ David Watson pointed out there was no mention of
planning in the Autumn Statement.
He added: “We’ve been talking about the idea of doing something significant in our planning system for the past 30 years. Big infrastructure projects like Sizewell C are wrapped up in a planning system that doesn’t work very well and it’s disappointing how that wasn’t addressed.”
One of the Government’s headline policies was to invest an extra £2.3bn per year in schools as Hunt said “being pro-education is being progrowth”, while the Prime Minister has asked the Work and Pensions Secretary to do a thorough review into the issues holding back workforce participation after 630,000 working adults left the labour market since the beginning of the pandemic.
But Corinna Hembury, managing director at Nottingham training provider Access Training (East Midlands), called it a “missed opportunity” for the skills agenda.
She said: “While it’s fantastic to increase the budget for schools, there was nothing else around skills or encouraging businesses to invest in training. The recruitment crisis is still there as it’s really difficult to attract people.”
Steve, from Fairgrove Homes, added: “During every economic blip there is a significant amount of people who leave the construction industry and go to work in other sectors, but they don’t come back.”
The Chamber is urging businesses in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire to get their voices heard by taking part in a consultation over devolution plans.
The four upper-tier local authorities in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire this week launched a public consultation into proposals to establish an East Midlands County Combined Authority.
Set to be formed in 2024, the overarching authority would give the two counties more decision-making powers on areas such as transport, adult skills training, and the environment, as well as bring £1.14bn in extra funding over a 30-year period.
The consultation, running from 14 November until 9 January, is open to residents, businesses, community and voluntary groups, and other organisations in the region.
The Chamber’s chief executive Scott Knowles said: “The devolution deal for Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire is a huge opportunity by providing a political structure that removes obstacles to decision-making, enhances the ability to attract investment and ultimately creates an environment conducive to business growth.
“It will help these counties to take strides forward in productivity and innovation, enabling firms to drive the economic growth that creates jobs and wealth locally.
“Devolution also gives businesses a greater say over what happens in their area as they will be represented within the proposed governance structure.
“The Chamber is supporting these plans to create a mayoral county combined authority, but it’s important the full business community’s views are heard so we would urge organisations of all shapes and sizes to get involved with the consultation.”
The leaders of Derbyshire County Council, Nottinghamshire County Council, Derby City Council and Nottingham City Council signed up to work on a devolution deal on 30 August this year at the RollsRoyce factory in Derby, following an announcement from the Government that a package of new powers and funding worth £1.14bn were available for the area.
Since then, the councils have been working on agreeing a more detailed proposal for consultation, which includes more information about how devolution would work in the two counties. The public consultation, which features a survey, represents the next step in the process, allowing everyone the chance to give their views on proposals.
To take part in the consultation, visit www.eastmidlandsdevolution.co.uk
‘Devolution also gives businesses a greater say over what happens in their area’Mark Deakin Corinna Hembury
Chamber past president Eileen Perry MBE DL (pictured) is the founder and managing director of ER Recruitment in Leicester. After a career recruiting for small and large businesses in the Midlands, as well as providing business leaders to serve on local boards, she explains how non-executive directors could be the most important part of a recruitment strategy.
Time remains a constant challenge for small business owners as they run around trying to achieve all they want to achieve.
This isn’t limited to those I meet through the Chamber – it’s the same pretty much everywhere. One survey of 300 business owners earlier this year found typical working weeks of more than 50 hours.
An obvious option is to recruit more staff. But that’s not always possible for various reasonsnot least because the current candidate-led market means your perfect employee is not always immediately available.
Another option is innovating to increase organisational efficiency. Yet busy business owners don’t always see where productivity gains can be made – it’s often hard to see the wood for the trees (assuming you even have time to get to the trees in the first place).
A third way is to operate more strategically. To plan effectively. And this is where non-executive directors (NEDs) can be invaluable in not only mapping a way forward, but suggesting those efficiency gains and alternative ways of viewing vacancies.
NEDs provide business leadership, resources, and insight. They are experienced people from a variety of professional or industry backgrounds recruited by SMEs to offer ideas, provide constructive challenge, and identify opportunities.
There’s a perception that NEDs are only for the big players, yet businesses like mine match such leaders to East Midlands firms of all sizes.
The benefit lies in gaining an injection of fresh thinking and strategic advice. NEDs give a second opinion on strategy needed to free up your time and refocus your energy on service delivery. They can also liaise with company stakeholders on your behalf – freeing you up to generate income and deliver growth.
Think about what keeps you away from working and how a NED might help. Typical tasks include:
•Sense-checking plans of management teams
•Guiding decisions about hiring or investment
•Benchmarking against KPIs and the external environment
•Providing access to business networks
•Helping source finance and funding.
FINDING THE RIGHT NED FOR YOU
Selecting the right candidate involves finding someone who is not only qualified, but will feel instinctively what your organisation is about and make a meaningful contribution. Ethos matters as much as experience.
Another way might be circulating word among trusted business partners – such as the Chamber – that you are in the market for a NED. Word of
mouth remains a powerful method of referral.
If time is more pressing, or you don’t think you have the networks needed in the sector in which you want an introduction, there are online forums and discussion boards related to your industry that may provide leads.
Remuneration varies widely. Some NEDs are volunteers, wanting to give back to their industry or community, or to play their part in building the businesses of tomorrow. Think of all those who offer their experience to charities and nonprofits.
‘Non-executive directors provide business leadership, resources, and insight’
Others are professional, receiving a day rate for attending meetings and representing your company externally. Most NEDs receive fees. Arrangements vary significantly, but a day rate in the region of £500 to £1,500-plus would be the broad cost in the East Midlands for a local industry expert.
Some NEDs may work on a project model, being contracted for an extended period of time with payment based on an agreed number of hours per month. Others may look for equity as part of a longer-term deal interlinked with your business growth.
Having a NED on your board is not without risk –although common issues can be mitigated through planning ahead.
One of the main concerns I hear from business owners entering the market is the NED might be a bad fit with organisational culture.
This can lead to disharmony and mistrust between stakeholders. But it can be tackled through careful background research and reference checking, as well as through those word-of-mouth referrals.
Some non-executives may lack real experience within your industry and be unable to provide real value through sharing key insights into sector trends or issues. They may not have the networks you need to access.
This is why background vetting is so important at an early stage – it identifies if you need general business support or a specialist adviser grounded in marketing,
finance, process or whatever else you need.
Another issue is delivery. How can you be confident your NED will attend and engage regularly and constructively? Have you checked to make sure they do not have other non-exec roles which will take priority? Or previous roles from which you can gain references about the impact made?
It may seem daunting to add a NED to your small business’s board of directors, but there are many benefits to be gained from doing so. By investing time to identify and check out the right candidate you can regain time down the line.
Be sure to set clear expectations about delivery and outcomes and monitor what impact is being made based on recommendations. Do it all right and you might just start seeing the wood from the trees again.
Recruiting can be a difficult task, especially if you’re looking for senior management or board level staff. You need the right level of skill and experience, but you haven’t got access to the top talent you’re looking for – so when it comes to hard-to-fill roles, an executive search consultant might be the answer, as Business Network explains.
Executive search recruitment is primarily used to find candidates for senior-level jobs, particularly niche or highly specialist roles that may be hard to fill. Executive recruiters usually operate within small sectors and are responsible for sourcing talent within that specific industry.
Also known as search and selection, or more commonly, headhunting, this kind of recruitment takes a proactive approach and doesn’t follow traditional recruitment methods.
The end goal for a recruiter and an executive search consultant is the same – they want to fill a role on behalf of an employer, their client. However, there are a number of key differences between the two and the way they operate.
Although they can work across all industries and levels of skill, recruiters commonly focus on entry level and midmanagement roles. They will advertise a job on behalf of the client and then draw from the large pool of active jobseekers who express interest in the role. Candidates might be registered with multiple recruitment agencies and there may be a lot of competition for each role.
Executive search firms focus only on technical specialists, upper management and executive roles. A headhunter’s role is to find the very best match to meet a very specific job description – and quite often, this might mean directly approaching a passive candidate who isn’t actively looking for a new role (or someone who is putting the feelers out for new opportunities but hasn’t started applying for roles yet).
In a lot of cases, the best candidate for the job is already engaged in a senior position elsewhere (and may even be working for the competition) so it’s the executive search consultant’s job to contact them and discuss whether they would consider a move. In order to identify the very best candidates from a small pool of individuals, they will have excellent contacts and expert knowledge of the sector.
Recruiters operate on a contingent model, and are often in direct competition with other agencies to fill the same position – which means they will only receive a commission if their candidate is placed – and they usually balance many clients and candidates at once.
In contrast, an executive search firm operates on a retained basis; they will charge a retainer fee upfront, and then charge additional fees at regular intervals throughout the search process. While more expensive, this process will allow the headhunter to dedicate time to getting to know the organisation, its values and the specific skills and experience it needs, allowing them to conduct a more tailored and thorough search.
Additionally, they only work on a small number of roles at any given time, which means they can also spend time getting to know candidates in depth, particularly their career goals – a beneficial process when persuading a passive candidate to take on a new role. Having been granted exclusive rights to work on the placement, an executive search firm will be involved with every step of the process, from approaching candidates and drawing up a shortlist, to making introductions to clients, assisting with negotiations and seeing a candidate placed in a role.
The choice to use an executive search firm over a traditional recruiter will depend on the role you need to fill. If the position is high profile, niche, or requires hard-to-find skills, you might consider retaining the expert services of a headhunter. While more expensive, engaging an executive search firm could actually save you time and money in the long run.
A headhunter will eliminate such time-wasting risks as shortlisting and interviewing ill-qualified candidates, and reduce the chance of a bad hire. Additionally, by providing you access to the very best candidates in the field, they will help you gain an edge over your competitors.
‘Although they can work across all industries and levels of skill, recruiters commonly focus on entry level and midmanagement roles’
By Dan Vintila, general manager at THS+
The UK has one of the most regulated transport industries in the world, if not the most! In addition to prosecution, uncompliant operators risk Public Inquiries, a semi-judicial procedure that is always costly and reputationally damaging.
I’ve been in quite a few Public Inquiries to know that you NEVER EVER go to one and come out with a praise. In fact, there is no such procedure where action is not taken… it makes you think: are there no innocent operators called in front of the Traffic Commissioner, even by pure mistake or exaggeration? I mean, even courts get it wrong now and then. How come TCs always get “their man”? The probabilities of that are smaller than a nurse’s pay rise!
But, as all that have been there will tell you, it’s far simpler. There are rules and they need following… so, if it’s that simple, why is there need for solicitors, consultants, and transport managers?
Well… the rules are complex, many and quite flexible. And, as a matter of time dynamics, you, the operator won’t have time to deal with the extremely busy commercial side and the legal component aspect, and the Traffic Commissioner is acutely aware of that.
Your transport manager, required by law under Section 13(A) of the Licensing Act, has to ensure all aspects of legal and regulatory compliance. You may think she or he is responsible, but you’d be, technically, mistaking, you are both accountable…
THS+ - Technical Helpful Systematic
Consultancy services are not as costly as the word implies. With THS+ there is no lengthy contract or minimum spend. Services are bespoke; alternatively they come in three basic packages:
But mistakes and omissions occur and that’s the time when the DVSA will want to have a look. A negative audit and you’re guaranteed to see the Traffic Commissioner.
About the time of the PI brief, some operators experience a waking up, organise a solicitor and even start to get their house in order: traffic and roadworthiness. If they do enough by PI, they get a second chance… and something to remind them of the encounter.
So, where does the consultant come into all this? Well, if an apple a day keeps the doctor away, a transport consultant before your DVSA visit will save you the cost of the Public Inquiry. Which, you should know, stands at between £4,000 and £6,000 for a small to medium operator.
At THS+, we’ve prepared tens of DVSA and Police visits and quite a few Public Inquiries but
1. MANAGED – where the company employs a THS+ consultant (the consultant becomes directly employed on a commission to return the company to OCRS Green)
2. SUPPORTED – where THS+ do the job of the TM under her or his supervision for as long as required. This is ideal for owneroperators that require the support.
3. AUDITED – where the TM is trained and audited to our standards. These include Health and Safety compliance and are fully aligned with OTC requirements.
we’re most proud of the Inquiries we’ve managed to avoid.
We study and learn, we practice, we get better, then we teach others and then get better still but it is a continuous process and, here at THS+ we are committed to improving it.
We know the building blocks of compliance are Information, Training, Instruction, Supervision and proper processes but our ultimate goal is cultural change. That is the lasting legacy that THS+ has provided all our customers.
THS+ don’t just bring you advice or guidance, we have developed our own software solution, TecHGV, to complement the new processes you would be adopting or improve your existing.
Adding to that is our telematics solution, TecNorn, that allows for instant visibility of driver activities and vehicle data.
All our software products are modular and compatible with all major chains’ systems like Amazon’s Project 44, DHL, Everi, etc.
Our initial consultation is always free, so if you find you’re overpaying for your current systems or are in need of honest guidance, give us a call, we’re open from 5am… like you!
For further information please contact us on: T: 01332 323 989
E: Dan.Vintila@Thsplus.co.uk
Or visit: www.Thsplus.co.uk
‘A transport consultant before your DVSA visit will save you the cost of the Public Inquiry’
In late November, a Chamber delegation of senior leadership, members and MPs visited the Houses of Parliament to launch A Centre of Trading Excellence: A Business Manifesto for Growth in the East Midlandsand Beyond. It comprises key asks to Government that, if answered, would enable East Midlands businesses and the wider region to realise their potential – while providing a blueprint for growing the UK economy and levelling up. Dan Robinson reports.
“Back the East Midlands to back the UK” is the tantalising offer put to politicians as they search for ways to inject life back into a flagging national economy.
There have been major economic shocks and readjustments over the past three years resulting from the pandemic, Britain formally leaving the EU and the largestscale war in almost three decades.
Yet during a deeply challenging period, the East Midlands has strengthened its reputation as a Centre of Trading Excellence – a region of makers, movers and innovators.
It has key assets in its industrial heritage, leading-edge universities, central location and the country’s largest pure freight airport – which handled record levels of cargo and was the 10th busiest airport in Europe at one stage in 2020 as online shopping trends were turbocharged.
In A Centre of Trading Excellence: A Business Manifesto for Growth in the East Midlands and Beyond, the Chamber
outlines what businesses need now to succeed and take advantage of emerging opportunities.
By responding to a string of policy asks, Government can “establish a formula that will help to deliver on key goals to level up, reboot the economy and boost post-Brexit growth in global trade”.
Chris Hobson, director of policy and external affairs at the Chamber, explains: “We’ve long spoken about our region being a place that’s great for making things, moving things and innovating in how we do this.
“The former Bank of England governor Mark Carney once remarked on how the East Midlands is a bellwether of the UK’s economic health, as we proportionately have more manufacturing businesses and jobs than other regions but we’re not overly reliant on any single sector, with strengths in professional services, medtech and logistics to name a few.
“In many ways, we are a microcosm of the national economy outside London, so our message
A Centre of Trading Excellence is the third Business Manifesto for Growth produced over the past decade by the Chamber, which develops its key asks to Government in consultation with members.
The previous document in 2018, titled Delivering a Great Future, called for a dedicated delivery vehicle to create a zone of ultra-high growth in logistics and advanced manufacturing hinged around East Midlands Airport and a linked free trade zone.
Also launched during a Westminster event, it set the wheels in motion for what would eventually lead to the establishment of the East Midlands Development Company (EM DevCo) and East Midlands Freeport.
EM DevCo, which is led by five local authorities but brings together the ambition of partners from businesses, universities and Government, has plans to create 84,000 jobs and add billions in value to the regional economy around three growth clusters – Toton & Chetwynd East Midlands Hub, East Midlands Airport area and Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station site.
The UK’s only inland freeport, meanwhile, offers a package of tax incentives and customs exemptions across three sites – also including the airport and Ratcliffe sites, as well as East Midlands Intermodal Park in South Derbyshire. It aims to attract inward investment, drive economic regeneration across the region, boost skills and accelerate decarbonisation.
Chris recalls: “The opportunity to have a zone of ultra-high growth around this geography was really obvious given the
airport’s status as the largest pure freight airport in the country and emerging East Midlands Gateway logistics park, but it wasn’t really being spoken about.”
A meeting with Newark MP Robert Jenrick, who at the time was a minister in the Treasury, at Caterpillar UK's Leicester base enabled Chris and chief executive Scott Knowles the opportunity to engage a high-level cabinet member on this agenda, as well as exploring how a delivery vehicle could be established by joining the private and public sectors to take advantage of major development sites across the region.
it happens quickly because that’s the nature of politics, but this engagement work is a really important role of the Chamber.
“It all stems from our members’ experiences, so we’re always keen to get as many businesses involved as possible and let us know if we’re missing a trick somewhere.”
Delivering a Great Future also outlined a wish list encompassing infrastructure investment, addressing day-to-day barriers to business, backing a global East Midlands and shaping business support to maximise supply chain opportunities.
While some of the big asks have been delivered, Chris admits many of the others have not. In particular, improvements to the A46 growth corridor and electrification of the Midland Main Line are yet to happen, broadband still isn’t up to scratch, the business rates system remains broken and more could be done to incentive R&D.
In October 2018, then-Chancellor Philip Hammond used his address at the Conservative Party conference to set out an investment plan that included £2m funding to the Midlands Engine to conduct a feasibility study into maximising opportunities offered by HS2 and nearby developments.
“Of course, there were other conversations going on about this, but it’s important people realise these decisions don’t just come out of thin air,” says Chris. “Sometimes it takes a number of years to materialise and other times
Chris adds: “So much has happened in the world since the last manifesto but some of those issues haven’t changed, which is why they feature again in A Centre of Trading Excellence. People sometimes talk about Government getting out of the way to let businesses trade, but what we mean is for Government to be consistent with an agenda and stick with policies, rather than flip-flopping every time the wind changes direction.
“For example, one of the things we called for in our first manifesto was to develop a 50-year energy strategy. Here we are 10 years later and we can see the mess it’s left us in without one, so we need to get away from that short-termism.”
People sometimes talk about Government getting out of the way to let businesses trade, but what we mean is for Government to be consistent with an agendaThe Chamber believes there is a big opportunity for Government to further develop the East Midlands as a Centre of Trading Excellence
to Government is if you want a blueprint for what a successful economy looks like, then the key components exist in the East Midlands. Creating a policy environment that helps businesses here to succeed can be replicated elsewhere.”
THE ASK TO Government is split across three themes, headlined by “The Big Opportunity” to build on ongoing initiatives like the East Midlands Freeport and East Midlands Development Company to further develop the region’s success as a Centre of Trading Excellence.
To realise this opportunity, the manifesto indicates how Government can cultivate a business ecosystem geared around supporting success by focusing on “four Is” –investment, innovation, infrastructure and international trade.
A second section, “Getting the basics right”, calls for a long-term approach to business taxation and regulation, as well as improving digital and physical connectivity, and backing firms to invest in people.
The final ask, “Growing our competitiveness the right way”, is perhaps the most important of all as it urges policymakers not to take their eye off the ball when it comes to net zero, and to support businesses on their wider environmental, social and governance (ESG) journeys
Chamber research in the areas of green growth, innovation, and equality, diversity and inclusion –conducted in partnership with the University of Derby, RSM UK and emh group respectively – is referenced throughout the document.
Chris adds: “We have longstanding skills issues and training often plays second fiddle to plant and machinery when it comes to capital investment, so this is about how we can support businesses to invest in their people as part of getting more companies to innovate.
“Then we need to think about how we can remove the everyday frustrations for businesses to get things done. Improving the broadband quality and roads are issues our members tell us about more than anything, so it’s crucial we get the basics right.
“The final point around how we do all this is crucial. As a Chamber and region, we’ve been talking about net zero for many years and it’s great to see the level of impact this discussion is having on business decision-making, which our research shows is increasingly integrating green growth.
“When it comes to the problems posed to the world by climate change, we think many of the solutions can be found in our region, so it’s important we double down on this agenda rather than backing away from it due to the economic uncertainty.
‘When it comes to the problems posed to the world by climate change, we think many of the solutions can be found in our region’Two ongoing strategic developments feature Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station East Midlands Airport plays a key role in the manifesto
As a manufacturer of packaging for the food, drink and pharmaceutical sectors, Marpak has experienced strong growth in its exporting operation in recent years – but there remain barriers to its future success.
In 2016, about £1m of the Leicester-based company’s turnover was derived from European sales but this has now grown to £5m, representing about 40% of total revenue.
The Philippines and Central Asia are other markets it has sold to via its main bottling plant customers in France and the Netherlands.
Director of operations Chris Goodayle says: “We’re an SME that has navigated our own path but there are policies that would help us. We tap into R&D tax credits to innovate and further tax allowances would be useful incentives.
“We would always struggle to compete with non-regulated producers in East Asia when it comes to cost but an expanded trade mission programme would help our clients to penetrate new markets, which would have an indirect benefit for our own business.”
The company, which was established in 1998 and employs 38 people, has an ageing workforce like most in the printing and packaging industry.
While it invests heavily in training staff and seeks to harness the next generation via an apprenticeship programme, Chris says skills shortages are a lingering issue.
“At times it has held us back from achieving what we want to, and it’s been a constraining factor in our growth this year,” he says.
“We’re trying to offset this by apprenticeships but while we had 100 applicants for two positions pre-Covid, when we recently created a new role, we had only eight applicants. The way in which apprenticeships are promoted needs to be looked at to expand their reach.”
The packaging industry is undergoing a transition towards sustainability and Marpak launched an e-commerce brand almost five years ago called Eco To Go, which makes biodegradable and recyclable packaging for restaurants, takeaways and caterers.
It’s an example of how companies are embracing green growth because it makes good business sense, but Chris believes the Government can support by adopting Nordic-style policies to reward consumers for recycling bottles and cans.
He adds: “There’s a cultural lag between Britain and countries like Germany and those in Scandinavia when it comes to recycling, which is why more education and even incentives are needed to prevent usable material going into landfill.”
Showing that international trade extends beyond just manufactured goods, Katapult exports its ideas to some of the world’s biggest brands.
The Derby-based company, which has 15 staff, works with the likes of Lego, Merlin Entertainments, Ferrari and Cartoon Network and Warner Bros to design themed attractions and experiences, many of which are located in North America.
Insights lead Robbie Jones says: “What’s great about being in Derby and the wider East Midlands is our area is already seen as an innovation hub, which has been led by industrial sectors for planes, trains and automobiles.
“That’s given us the inspiration to go into the international market in a different sector as a creative business. We aren’t selling products or widgets, but what we are doing is selling our designs and thinking around the world.
“We’re also fortunate there’s a lot of companies in our sector in the region, which you might find a surprise as you’d expect a lot of these firms to be somewhere like Orlando. It means we can collaborate with others nearby to innovate in how we create rides and attractions.”
When it comes to barriers to doing business, Robbie says more could be done to support with international trade and skills.
He adds: “We’re severely hampered by trade agreements. We have two similar contracts we’re trying to win in South America but the UK only has a trade agreement in place with one of those countries.
“This means the cost is double in the country without the agreement, so the chances of us winning the contract are minimal even though it’s effectively the same project.
“We also need more talent to design the attractions we work on. As far as I’m aware, there’s no college or university course specifically for our industry, so we’d like to see more support in developing education pathways.”
As a microbusiness based in a town between two cities, attracting and retaining the right people is a challenge for Nettl.
The web design, print and display specialist serves the Newark and Grantham markets from its Long Bennington office. With three employees, it is part of a larger franchise featuring more than 200 studios.
Managing director Lesley Cashley (pictured) says: “Getting the right skills is very important to us as a small business. We have a couple of good universities on our doorstep but even so, it’s about getting the right people who want to stay around the towns rather than the cities.”
Lesley, who was among the attendees at the event in Parliament, believes her company is a good barometer for the economy as it feels the effects first.
“If we’re about to go into a dip, marketing companies feel it early on but once we’re coming out, we experience the uplift too,” she says.
“On a broader scale, I definitely think we are overlooked as a region, and feel we’re a poor relation compared to the West Midlands and South Yorkshire.
“We need our MPs to buy into the work businesses are doing, which is why this manifesto is important.”
“We also believe that developing successful businesses and driving successful communities go hand in hand – it’s not one or the other. We have so many great examples in membership of companies working in partnership with their communities and they aren’t just doing it because it’s a nice thing to do, but because it makes good business sense. So the way in which we deliver the East Midlands Centre of Trading Excellence is just as important as any other part of this manifesto.”
ON 24 NOVEMBER, about 40 people representing a wide range of organisations across Chamber membership –including strategic partners East Midlands Airport, emh group, Freeths, Geldards, PPL PRS, Rolls-Royce, University of Leicester and University of Nottingham – joined some of the region’s MPs in the Jubilee Room at the House of Commons for the manifesto launch.
Speeches were made by Chamber chair of the board Ian Morgan OBE and chair-elect Kevin Harris, as well as Nottingham North MP Alex Norris and Broxtowe MP Darren Henry, during a two-hour event, with delegates receiving a print copy of the 12-page document. MPs are asked to keep it to hand when discussing matters relating to the East Midlands in future conversations with policymakers.
“The reality is that, as much as we might think it should work differently and this may change with the devolution agenda, the big decisions are often made in Whitehall so this is why it’s important to hold these types of events in Westminster,” says Chris.
“One of the things our MPs ask us for is the messaging they can relay to other ministers, so this manifesto arms them with the information they need.”
Further activity is planned to maximise the messaging, including two events in the spring – the Chamber’s Manufacturing and Trade Conference, in partnership with Geldards and Loughborough University, as well as another visit to Parliament with East Midlands Airport for a reception that highlights some of the region’s biggest exporters.
A Centre of Trading Excellence is just the latest example of the Chamber banging the drum for the region at a national level.
In recent years, this has included calling for targeted support for businesses forced to close due to local lockdown restrictions during the height of the pandemic, pushing for the delivery of the HS2 Eastern leg and scrutinising Treasury data that shows the East Midlands receives the lowest levels of public funding in England.
Now
It stresses how long-term planning not only allows businesses to grow sustainably, but also create opportunities for the UK to be world leaders in the products and processes that will drive global growth for decades to come. The link between successful businesses and thriving communities is becoming clearer, it states, and says Government must back organisations on their environmental, social and governance (ESG) journeys.
Research published in partnership with East Midlands Councils in July showed there was a particular deficit in transport infrastructure spending at just 64.7% of the UK average for 2020/21, the joint lowest of any UK region or nation and worth £1.26bn per year to the East Midlands if the gap was plugged.
Since then, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire’s four upper-tier councils have agreed a deal with Government to establish an East Midlands Mayoral Combined County Authority, with devolved decision-making powers that could deliver an extra £1.14bn to the region over the next 30 years.
The Chamber has offered its backing to the bid and Chris adds: “One of the frustrations is the East Midlands is often missing from Government narratives and decisions.
“There’s a lot of focus on other parts of the country where the local political structures make it easier for a cabinet minister, who might not be an expert in that area, to latch on to.
“So it’s really important that we raise the profile of the East Midlands as a place to come and find these solutions.
“Along with devolution, we think this manifesto holds the key messages that will get traction with policymakers, and we now want our elected representatives to join businesses in banging the drum for what our
has to offer.”
‘Along with devolution, we think this manifesto holds the key messages that will get traction with policymakers’
The city of Derby has long held a rich history of rail operations, tracing all the way back to the 1800s - which has made it the ideal location for many rail companies to set up shop over the years. And one exceptional, incredible feat of rail mastery in Derby is the Railway Technical Centre (RTC).
Built in the early 1960s, the RTC has been described as the largest railway research complex in the world and was originally the headquarters of the British Rail Engineering Centre.
As the home of major technological advancement in rail, including the design and creation of tilting trains, the RTC is ideal for large-scale rolling stock projects. Thus, making Derby the perfect place for Loram to carry out the majority of our repairs, maintenance and business operations.
We are driven by the vast cultural history of rail within the city, inspired to generate new work in this part of the East Midlands, and are proud to call the RTC our home.
With our 100,000 sq. ft site at the RTC, we have recently chosen to expand our footprint in Derby and play our part in supporting the local economy. We have begun offering a brand new,
fully refurbished office for all our staff and are refurbishing our workshops at the business park, with further expansion planned for the near future.
This business development has led to the creation of many new jobs in the East Midlands, which exemplifies how the expertise of the local workforce is one of our greatest, most valuable assets.
One of the recent wins that has led to the further creation of jobs is our new contract with Network Rail, for refurbishing and repurposing their side tippers and existing fleet. This work also gives us the ability to stress-test our internal systems on wagon works, with an element of heavy engineering works.
Loram have also begun the building of new advanced rail grinders, a state-of-the-art assembly line that will bring many years of innovation back to the RTC.
“As our facilities are centrally located in the heart of the Midlands, we believe this new production line will be vital to the local community in both job creation and introducing new skills into the local working community. Loram’s unique rail grinding machinery requires ambitious, highly skilled individuals ready to
learn new skills and competencies in assembly and production.
Our advanced technologies focus on carbon footprint reduction throughout design, procurement and assembly. Additionally, Loram will incorporate alternative power options, reducing carbon emissions during operations - a truly first class service for rail grinding equipment. These machines are vital for the maintenance of railway infrastructure and will be utilised not just in the UK but also across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa - which in turn will increase our export footprint.” – Lee Tinney, director of Rail Grinding Systems and Services
Through our new work and solid business relationships with rail OEMs, we are certain that the history of rail within Derby will continue with our products. Leading to a future of new rail advancements, a boost to the local economy, and further enhance our unity with the city.
Loram UK Ltd.
Telephone: 01332 293035
Email: commercial@loram.co.uk Website: www.loram.co.uk
new year, now is not the time to be complacent. The industry has yet to make a full recovery following the pandemic, and in the current economic crisis it is a good idea to have a plan in place for not only how you will survive the next 12 months, but thrive.
Business Network has put together some top tips to help optimise your manufacturing business.
Manufacturing supply chains have caused a lot of chaos in recent years; the pandemic caused supply chains all over the world to shut down completely for an indefinite period of time.
While things are getting back to normal, it’s a good idea to have a plan in place in case the worst should happen – again. Accept that emergencies and delays can happen and learn how to deal anticipate and mitigate delays before they happen.
This could be as simple as having alternative suppliers in place or having a small surplus of extra stock. Don’t invest in too much extra stock, though, because you may not be able to shift it.
Time and money can be saved by getting your manufacturing processes in order. Keep an accurate record of every transaction and always have one eye on your bottom line. Prioritise your order queue and divide labour sensibly; it’s important to make sure you have enough staff on hand to complete larger orders but conversely, you don’t need staff members sitting around during quieter periods.
Are there any processes, such as order processing, that can be streamlined? Is your factory floor untidy, and do staff waste valuable time looking for various components? A clean working space can also boost productivity, leading to a happier workforce.
Good staff are hard to find – and keep. If you want to operate at a higher rate, you’ll need to hire and retain good staff, so consider providing opportunities for your staff members to boost their skillsets. You should also consider taking on an apprentice – fewer young people are considering a career in manufacturing and engineering, and an apprentice can help fill any skills gaps in your organisation.
If you want people to know about your small business, you have to shout about it, especially if you produce a niche or unique product. Simple steps to boost your customer engagement is investing in a good website (and learn about search engine optimisation, too), putting social media to use and capitalising on video and photography to show off your products in the very best light. You can also engage with your local business community, through trade fairs, the Chamber of Commerce, and workshops, to meet a readymade group of potential customers.
A CRM (customer relationship management) is a software tool that helps companies organise all of their interactions with customers both current and potential. As well as keeping track of customers and their order history, a CRM can help a manufacturing business steamline the sales process, facilitate better and faster customer service and identify new sales leads.
Did you recently meet a prospective at a networking event? You can use your CRM tool to automatically send a follow-up email.
Want to plan for further growth, save money on purchasing and better manage your supply chain? A CRM system can provide real-time sales forecasts, allowing you to better plan and allocate resources earlier, rather than waiting for an order to be placed.
‘Consider taking on an apprentice –fewer young people are considering a career in manufacturing and engineering, and an apprentice can help fill any skills gaps in your organisation’
The annual Made in Chesterfield festival, which aims to get more local young people interested in careers in businesses operating in the town’s engineering, manufacturing, property and construction businesses, returned for the eighth consecutive year.
Co-ordinated by Destination Chesterfield and Direct Education Business Partnership, and sponsored by the Chesterfield College Group, the 2022 Made in Chesterfield festival was officially launched at Chesterfield College.
Speaking at the launch event, Reece Berry, software engineer apprentice at Weightron Bilanciai and a former pupil of St Mary’s Catholic High School, said: “Young people need to be aware of apprenticeship opportunities in the engineering and manufacturing sector. They offer brilliant careers for young people.
“I chose to go down the apprenticeship route as I was
passionate about IT and software development. I had the option to go to university, but I wanted to work in a real, live environment to gain a mixture of skills that would benefit me in multiple ways.
“Weightron Bilanciai is providing me with the training, support and skills I require to undertake the challenge of becoming a highly skilled software engineer and developer, this has given me the chance to explore and learn areas of IT I never knew about.”
During the four-week festival, which ran from 7 November until 2 December, young people from Chesterfield’s secondary schools were introduced to the varied science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) careers available in local businesses through a number of workplace visits and events.
Performance vehicle specialist Scooby Clinic,
A review of the Made in Chesterfield festival, which connects manufacturing and engineering businesses with next generation of employeesMade in Chesterfield event speakers, from left: Ivan Fomin, Julie Richards, Reece Berry and Dr Helene Roberts, CEO of Robinson plc
‘I wanted to work in a real, live environment to gain a mixture of skills’
engineering business MSE Hiller and manufacturer United Cast Bar were among a number of businesses that invited young people to their workplaces during the campaign.
The annual festival is playing a key role in helping address the technical skills shortage among businesses locally.
According to the UK Commission for Employment & Skills, 43% of STEM vacancies nationally are hard to fill, mainly because of a shortage of applicants with the required skills and experience.
Since launching in 2014, Made in Chesterfield has introduced more than 3,500 young people to the jobs and careers available at local businesses operating in the STEM sector.
Ivan Fomin, managing director at MSE Hiller and Destination Chesterfield board member responsible for manufacturing and engineering in the borough, said: “It’s fantastic for us to be able to showcase our industry and business to young people and encourage them to consider a career path that may not have been on their mind beforehand.
“We have been involved with Made in Chesterfield since the campaign began and it has helped us attract young people into the business in both apprenticeship roles and work experience placements.
“Each year, Made in Chesterfield makes a real difference to local businesses, education providers and young people. I was delighted to see it return once again.”
Julie Richards, principal and CEO of Chesterfield College Group, added: “It’s vitally important we continue our
support for the Made in Chesterfield initiative. We are proud to play our part in the growth of engineering, science, technology and manufacturing locally.
“The increasing development of STEM in Chesterfield is something we have mirrored in our curriculum with investment in the latest technologies, such as 3D printing and augmented reality, all with a focus on sustainability.
“Partnering with initiatives such as Made in Chesterfield and working with local employers and schools, our core focus is to provide a clear, aspirational pathway for the next generation of local workforce be that through full time study, apprenticeships, T-Levels or higher education.
“Our mission of inspiring futures and changing lives is brought into clear focus through working with Made in Chesterfield and we were delighted to once again host this year’s launch event.”
Made in Chesterfield was delivered in association with the Chesterfield College Group and with support from Chesterfield Borough Council, Derbyshire North Careers Hub, MSE Hiller, United Cast Bar Ltd, and NatWest.
find out more about Made in Chesterfield and how you can get involved, please visit: www.chesterfield.co.uk/made
To
‘It’s fantastic for us to be able to showcase our industry and business to young people’Ivan Fomin, managing director at MSE Hiller and Destination Chesterfield board member
Directors and senior managers can gain key skills needed to lead teams at a five-day training programme run by the Chamber that returns in the new year.
The Director Development Programme, which begins on Thursday 26 January, is designed for individuals who want to support and grow their business, or the department they lead.
The objective is to equip them with the skills and confidence needed to achieve objectives that will ultimately drive the business forward.
Delivered as a five-day modular programme with each session roughly two weeks apart, it covers the following topic headings:
• Developing vision, values and strategy leadership (26 January)
• Planning and direction (9 February)
• Finance for non-finance directors (23 February)
• People management approaches (9 March)
• Driving performance and leading change (23 March)
The course is structured as progressive stages in a business development process, with participants having specific action steps to begin during the session and complete between each one.
At each subsequent session, they will be expected to discuss how they have applied the material covered during the previous instalment in order to ensure the process is grounded in practicality.
The Director Development Programme is delivered by course trainer Charles Barnascone at the Chamber’s office at NG2 Business Park, in Nottingham. It costs £1,450 + VAT for Chamber members and £1,850 + VAT for non-members.
For more information, visit bit.ly/DDPJan23
combination of online and in-person teaching worked well for me.
I found the course enabled me to think differently about the business, our internal processes, customer service strategies and the way in which we implement them.
Which aspects were most useful?
work carried out by the students that I offered one of them a job.
What would your message be to other business leaders considering signing up for the programme?
Business description: Halo Solutions develops risk and incident management software and provides technology for events and businesses all over the world. The company recently secured £750,000 from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund to support its growth plans.
Why did you sign up for the Help to Grow management programme?
I joined Help to Grow management to build my confidence and make sure the company was going in the right direction. I found the
The module on value proposition was really helpful as it helped me identify why customers buy our products and changed the way I thought about the products. Previously, we promoted the product as a workplace tool, whereas now we have brought in messages about why it helps people with an emphasis on more altruistic values.
I also found the mentoring aspect of the course particularly helpful and benefitted from the wider networking opportunities it provides.
As a result, I was able to offer placements to University of Nottingham masters students, who carried out projects on marketing and insight, and financial controls. I was so impressed by the
I would recommend Help to Grow management as a good opportunity, and certainly great for start-up or scale-up SMEs with founders from non-business backgrounds. However, it’s important you choose a period in your business cycle when you have time to do it – and factor in that you do need to give it the time not just for the sessions, but digesting and understanding the materials to really do it justice.
The Chamber works with universities across the region to deliver the Help to Grow programme.
It is an executive development leadership and management course designed to help delegates grow their business.
Businesses receive a fully-funded, 12week executive development leadership and management course designed to accelerate growth.
Help to Grow management training courses help businesses:
• Enhance the ability of senior staff to lead growth
• Boost productivity
• Learn how to innovate
• Build resilience to future shocks
• Produce a growth plan to allow a business to fulfil its potential.
The project is part-funded by the UK Government, with the remaining 10% paid by participating businesses as a one-off upfront fee of £750.
In order to help businesses most affected by the pandemic, the Chamber is subsidising the £750 training fee for 100 eligible businesses.
For more information, visit www.emc-dnl.co.uk
Loughborough University spinout Previsico has launched the nationwide rollout of innovative internet of things (IoT) technology that enables individuals and communities to build resilience against the impacts of flooding.
Founded on 20 years of academic research by Loughborough's Professor Dapeng Yu, Previsico launched its first IoT-based flood alert system, after suc cessful UK trials, in July 2021.
Since then, it has twice enabled flood wardens in Whalley – the Lancashire village devastated by floods in 2015 and 2020 – to take immediate action to prevent further flooding during recent heavy rainfall.
Earlier this year, Liberty Specialty Markets became the first UK insurer to provide both real-time flood warnings to policyholders triggered by Previsico’s IoT sensors, which were placed in watercourses close to their premises, enabling them to take proactive action to protect their assets.
Dr Andrew Pledger, Previsico IoT systems manager and former Loughborough researcher, said: “Our solution gives insurers the ability to alert customers of immediate risks to their assets, so they can move valuables –including cars – to higher ground or set up temporary flood defences around their properties in the case of an imminent flood – a win-win for insurers and their customers.”
The start-up has been on a fast-track since its launch at Loughborough University Science and Enterprise Park (LUSEP) in 2019. Its nextgeneration live flood forecasting solution brings together the latest weather data from the Met Office and IoT devices on the ground.
It is now supporting brokers and insurers including Liberty, Zurich and Generali with live, actionable warnings for surface water flooding.
A home furnishings supplier has accelerated the time it takes to turn around orders after being supported by the Chamber’s Digital Upscaler project.
Home Curtains (UK), in Suttonin-Ashfield, secured a technology £40,000 grant that was used to invest in advanced IT infrastructure in order to improve order-taking efficiencies, sales productivity and customer experience.
Supported in installing the technology with one-to-one support from digital technology adviser Prashant Gandabhai, the company has reduced the time from “order placed” to “order dispatched” by about 50%.
Finance director Stacy Clifford said: “The Digital Upscaler project has helped us to identify and implement major technological improvements.
“We’ve already seen significant efficiencies, which I’m confident will be instrumental in ensuring the business continues to go from strength-to-strength in the future.”
Home Curtains, established more than 35 years ago, is a secondgeneration wholesaler and manufacturer of household textiles and soft furnishings. It has a turnover in excess of £5m and employs about 35 people.
It works across several channels, selling to traders and independent home furnishings retailers through its wholesale operation, along with several major B2B relationships, becoming the preferred supplier to
some of the UK’s largest mail order businesses.
The company turned to Digital Upscaler because it felt it was at risk of lagging behind in terms of digital transformation. Many of its financial and stock management tasks were handled manually, and departments were not equipped to embrace smart working practices.
One of the most business-critical improvements needed was to power up Home Curtains’ digital capabilities from a business process management perspective. High on the agenda was harnessing IT systems to facilitate more considered financial decision-making by
centralising data and enhancing inter-departmental collaboration.
Prashant’s advice and guidance, along with the grant, culminated in the procurement and implementation of new IT infrastructure that spanned the entire business and encompassed four key outcomes.
These were the integration of a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to connect core business functions, installation of high-speed Wi-Fi, elevation of its websites to include e-commerce capabilities, and implementation of a new access and entry system for employees.
Part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)
Visit www.emc-dnl.co.uk/digitalupscaler
‘Our solution gives insurers the ability to alert customers of immediate risks to their assets’Home Curtains (UK) finance director Stacy Clifford, director Louise Tait and director Leanne Saywood
Smart sensor manufacturer Pressac has helped automotive giant Toyota more than double its energy cost savings.
The Nottingham company’s energy monitoring sensors, which measure how much power is flowing through a cable, have enabled Toyota to identify exactly which parts of its production processes are using excess energy. The information will play a huge role in its goal of becoming carbon-neutral by 2050
About 300 of Pressac’s wireless current transformer (CT) clamps have been installed at Toyota’s manufacturing plant in Burnaston, Derbyshire. By clipping them around individual cables, the car maker was able to see, for the first time, how energy was being used at machine level.
“The size and scale of the site meant it needed an easy-to-install, cost-effective solution with a strong signal that could cover the expanse of the plant.”
Pete Burbidge, managing director at Pressac, which is based in Bilborough, said: “The clamps gave Toyota the ability to view the energy consumption of each piece of equipment, and its condition, in real time.
“By monitoring the currents passing through them, it could identify whether they were operating at their optimum level, as well as spotting areas where machines had been left on unnecessarily.
Toyota previously viewed energy consumption at transformer level but did not have the granular detail about each piece of machinery.
In the case of one injection moulder, which was identified as ticking over at a high-power level, changes were able to be made that have resulted in its energy consumption in nonproduction periods being reduced by 82%.
Pressac worked with ESCO, the energy reduction support and collaboration function of
Toyota, to set up initial data visualisation.
Graham Lane, ESCO group leader, said: “We’ve been extremely impressed with the ease of installation and the lack of ongoing maintenance needed. There was no production downtime when they were installed and the beauty of the sensors themselves is we don’t have to worry about their maintenance – we can just install them and let them do their job.”
The sensors, manufactured at Pressac’s Nottingham headquarters, transmit their data wirelessly to Toyota’s existing building management systems via MQTT, a common internet of things protocol.
‘All energy consumption savings are taking us a step further towards our carbonreducing ambitions’About 300 of Pressac's wireless current transformer clamps are installed at Toyota's Burnaston factory
Software and business processing outsourcing agreements may differ in how or what they are supplying, a number of common issues frequently arise in negotiations of all software-related agreements. Justin Harrington (top right) and Jamie Goldberg (below right), partners at Geldards, give their 10 tips for improving IT contracts.
One of the biggest errors we see is going out to contract with an inadequate specification of what you expect the supplier to do. Without a clear specification, the supplier will not be able to adequately scope the work or price it with any precision. It also gives rise to lack of clarity, and debate or argument, at a later stage regarding the scope of the supplier’s obligation.
Customers need to have thought through what sort of software and IP licences they need, and for what purpose. Suppliers should likewise consider what is a standard licence and what they will reserve the right to charge extra for.
Fortunately, most are aware of GDPR and the implications of getting personal data wrong in terms of penalties, but also reputational damage. What they may not consider is how data is used, who uses it and where it may be accessed from. These all have implications that need to be reflected in the contract.
For suppliers and customers, they will want to ensure their liability clauses have appropriate caps. Suppliers will want to ensure all their risks have some form of cap (even if, in some cases, it’s a higher cap for certain categories of loss), whereas customers will want to ensure a cap on the supplier’s liability does not effectively transfer risk onto them (for example in respect of a cap on IP infringement).
The two key phases in any project are implementation (when most IT projects are at highest risk) and on exit (where, despite recent regulatory interventions in some industry sectors, many contracts tend to be light on detail). Both require thought and consideration of the steps that will apply, which should be detailed in the agreement.
Virtually all IT contracts will change over time. Change can be bureaucratic and drawn out or, alternatively, change can be flexible to deal with
a dynamic environment. Both customer and supplier need to consider where their services lie along this spectrum and prepare a change procedure that reflects this.
7. PRACTISE THE BLACK ARTS OF SLAS Service level agreements and credits are sometimes perceived as a black art – in practice, it’s about clarity and thinking through the consequences. Being clear what a service level applies to and what constitutes non-compliance is key. The next stage is to determine the consequence of non-compliance. Is it a service credit, or some other remedy such as the attendance by senior personnel of the supplier, or escalation within the supplier? You should also be clear what happens if the service failure recurs and what sort of service level failure constitutes a material breach.
8. PLAN FOR WHEN THINGS GO WRONG –SECURITY AND BUSINESS CONTINUITY
Every contract that uses personal or financial data, or is otherwise critical to a customer’s
business, needs to ensure security standards and procedures are complied with and set out how business continuity will be maintained if things go catastrophically wrong. On larger deals, we would expect a freestanding schedule on security and business continuity.
9.
From both parties’ perspectives, you need to be clear on what is expected of the customer. Clearly the customer will need to pay for any services provided, but if the supplier is expecting data or anything else from the customer, it is in everyone’s interest to ensure they are aware of this and the timescales expected.
Finally, we’d suggest you try and be realistic and pragmatic with your contacts. As a customer, do you really need to own IP in any new software developed by the supplier? How realistic is it that you will be able to use this given that the supplier will usually own IP in the underlying software?
Future Life Wealth Management has been recognised as one of the UK’s best financial planners for the 10th successive year.
The Renishaw-based company is listed in the New Model Adviser Top 100 2022, which celebrates the best of the UK’s professional financial planning community.
The company, which was founded by Jillian Thomas in October 2009, has now been listed in the NMA Top 100 every year since 2013 and is among a small handful of businesses to achieve this accolade.
Jillian said: “It’s a fantastic achievement to be included in the New Model Adviser Top 100 list for 10 successive years – and this success is undoubtedly testament to the hard work of the entire team.
“At Future Life Wealth Management, we will always place our clients' financial wellbeing at the heart of everything regardless of what’s unravelling in the wider economy - and this was specifically recognised by New Model Adviser’s judges.”
The judges also noted the company’s work placements, apprenticeships and graduate training opportunities, which encourage young people into the profession.
Future Life Wealth Management offers a bespoke financial planning service to generators of wealth, typically business owners, executives and professionals, and also to receivers of wealth, such as inheritors, divorcees, widows and retirees.
Meanwhile, Jillian was shortlisted in the Transformational Leader category of the Forward Ladies Awards 2022, which took place at the Forward Ladies Leadership Summit in Leeds on 25 November.
Shorts Chartered Accountants has launched an interactive, free-touse business valuation tool.
It features a calculator that uses the financial information of a company to provide a high-level estimate of its market value.
The tool also generates a series of bespoke tips, considerations, and strength and weakness analysis.
For business owners, the value of their business is vital information –particularly in helping them decide if it is time to consider exit planning options.
Andy Ryder, corporate finance partner at Shorts, said: “We’re very excited about our new business valuation tool, and believe it is a valuable resource for a variety of business owners and shareholders who may be planning their exit, whether that is immediate or several years down the line.”
The data-crunching tool generates a unique business valuation report using information like turnover, EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes), assets and liabilities, as well as operational, strategic or market factors that may influence the valuation or readiness for sale.
It provides a monetary estimate of the value of a business, but also actionable advice, insights and analysis based on the information submitted.
The tool is intended for use by established businesses and the valuation is intended to be a highlevel estimate rather than a substitute for a professional valuation, with companies seeking to formally explore a sale encouraged to speak to specialist corporate finance advisers.
To use the business valuation tool, visit info.shorts.uk.com/valuationcalculator
Shorts teamed up with Actons Solicitors to assist with the sale of Hopkinson Waste Group to Highgate Capital BC Limited for an undisclosed sum.
The companies acted as lead adviser and legal representative for David Hopkinson, who owned the Chesterfield-based waste management and skip service provider. Landon Bowdler Solicitors and BHP also advised.
Andy Ryder, partner at Shorts, said: “We have little doubt the business will continue to be successful and look forward to seeing it go from strength to strength under ambitious new owners.”
Established in 1986, Hopkinson Waste Management has grown into one of the largest privately-owned waste management companies in the area. It has a modern fleet of GPS-controlled vehicles and skips in a variety of sizes, suitable for all types of commercial or domestic waste. Its materials recovery facility also produces recycled materials from the waste processing operation.
Kreston Global, an international network of independent accounting firms, has re-elected Duncan & Toplis managing
The 12th largest accounting network in the world comprises more than 700 international offices in 160 countries and employing 23,500 people.
As part of the Kreston international network of accountants, Duncan & Toplis
unlocks the support of 22,000 professionals in 120 countries for business across the East Midlands.
Adrian (pictured) said he was “honoured” to be reelected, adding: “I have a passion for good governance and for developing the talent we need to sustain our network, ensuring that directors are well-equipped to contribute to the decisionmaking and success of Kreston going forward.
“At Duncan & Toplis, we have a team of over 400 professional accountants and business advisers who have detailed knowledge of the UK and the East Midlands. Through our membership of Kreston Global, we can unlock the expertise of Kreston colleagues around the world to help our clients grow at a global level, exploring new market opportunities, attracting international investment in our region and helping companies here expand overseas.”
‘A valuable resource for a variety of business owners and shareholders’David Hopkinson (third from right) with the advisory team, including Andy Ryder (far right)
As the first cohort of T level students completed their qualification and moved onto the next stage of their learning journey, Sue Lovelock (pictured), director of professional and technical education at Department for Education, reflects on the success of the T level programme and how employers, of all sizes, played their part.
More than 1,000 students completed their T Level qualification this year, which means hundreds of employers from across England supported a T Level student by hosting them on a 45-day industry placement.
That’s quite the ask and I’m in no doubt, quite a challenge for employers to realise. But those employers saw it as a great opportunity to build their skills pipeline, and for that I am both grateful and excited for the future.
The number of industry placements needed this year has increased as more students benefit from T levels. We are looking for about 10,000 employers to host students in roles in sectors including construction, manufacturing, engineering, digital and IT, health and education.
Leicester-based SME Lewin Electrical Services took the opportunity to offer invaluable work experience to T level students
from Leicester College.
Working in the domestic and commercial construction sector, it offers a full range of electrical services – from socket replacements to full rewires and recently installing electric vehicle chargers.
By hosting three T level students on industry placement, the business had additional support to deliver their range of services, while giving students the opportunity to use their technical skills in a real work environment.
This is just one of the employers supporting T levels, which were introduced in 2020 and are equivalent in size to three A levels.
Not only do they enable young people to gain their qualification through classroom-based study but they include the industry placement element with an employer, gaining hands-on experience in the workplace.
On completion of their T level, students may progress to an apprenticeship, a job or university. We have seen first-hand how employers are retaining their T level student in a full-time job or on an apprenticeship on completion of their course.
Added to the fact that a student may be able to complete an apprenticeship in a reduced timeframe after completing a T level qualification, I hope they
become an increasingly popular choice for employers as they look to invest in their talent pipeline.
There are 16 different T levels available now and by September 2025, there will be 25 T levels available – providing employers with more opportunity to help shape the future of their industry while getting early access to the brightest talent.
There is support available for employers of all sizes in the recruitment of their industry placement student. For more information about T levels or other training and employment programmes, visit www.gov.uk/skillssupport
Hundreds of school children will attend one of the UK’s biggest careers events to encourage the next generation of technicians in science, technology and the creative arts.
TechxFest will be held on 2 March 2023 at Derby Arena, where more than 100 companies including Rolls-Royce, Nestle Waters, University of Derby and University of Nottingham will be represented.
It is organised by TALENT, a transformation programme designed to promote opportunities for technical skills, roles and careers, in partnership with the
University of Derby and Derby North MP Amanda Solloway, who launched the Research Englandfunded project.
About 500 school children in years nine and 10 are expected to attend TechxFest, where employers will exhibit alongside practical demonstrations bringing technical skills to life.
Amanda said: “It is vital to inspire the next generation of technicians whose ingenuity, creativity and determination will help shape our society. These skilled professionals are needed in almost every industry and it is today’s young people that will help
ensure our changing world develops for the better.
“TechxFest promises to connect that burgeoning talent with the very best educators and the leading industries, harnessing their potential and building an exciting new generation of technical talent.”
Mark Jefferies, chief of university research liaison at RollsRoyce, added: “Technical expertise and a strong, diverse cohort of talent are essential to Rolls-Royce’s success. We’re particularly thrilled TechxFest is being hosted here in the Midlands and we look forward to meeting our potential technical talent of the future.”
‘The number of industry placements needed this year has increased as more students benefit from T levels’
A digital apprenticeship training provider has moved into the Chamber’s former Derby office as it seeks to pave the way for future growth.
Althaus, which specialises in IT, cyber security and digital marketing apprenticeship training courses, bought the 4,055 sq ft offices in Victoria Way, Pride Park, in a deal jointly secured by property consultants Omeeto and FHP.
A fast-growing specialist affordable housing developer has secured the lease of nearly 5,000 sq ft of Grade A office space at The Quadrant, in Beeston, in a deal finalised by Omeeto.
Midgley
The boss of one of the region’s longest standing family-run housebuilders has called upon new Housing Secretary Michael Gove to give more support to small developers in the challenging postCovid construction landscape.
Steve Midgley, who co-founded Fairgrove in 1995 and remains managing director, voiced concerns over the spiralling issues with supply chains and labour shortages in the wake of Brexit and Covid-19, as his teams work to deliver lowenergy homes in the midst of a turbulent mortgage market.
Fairgrove is active on three sites in the East Midlands – The Brewery Yard and Nine Corners in Kimberley, and Swanwick Fields in Alfreton. All sites are experiencing major challenges that put them behind schedule for completion.
The company, founded in 2019 with a focus on offering fully remote training across the UK, has branched out into delivering 12week digital bootcamp programmes on behalf of the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership. These aim to tackle the growing skills gaps in the sector by enabling people to upskill online. It employs 27 people but plans to double in size and turnover year on year.
Althaus co-director Josh Stamp said: “Having established Althaus in Sadler Bridge Studios in Bold Lane, we have outgrown these premises and are delighted to move into our new HQ in Pride Park.
“The offices are in a prime position with excellent transport links for our team of advisors and training consultants and also gives us the capacity to expand our studio space where our online training materials are produced inhouse.”
Chris Wright, director of Omeeto, said: “The commercial property
MyPad has taken the whole of the second floor at the town centre business premises, where 14,000 sq ft remains available for requirements of between one and 150 desks.
The Nottingham company specialises in the delivery of affordable housing in partnership with registered housing providers and local authorities across the East Midlands.
After extensive growth over the past year, the 25-strong team is set to increase to more than 35 in the next 12 months and the company forecasts this year’s 50 new home completions will rise to 200 in 2023.
Omeeto director Chris Wright said: “The location and high quality fit-out make The Quadrant a very attractive proposition for businesses looking to relocate.”
market in Pride Park continues to be in high demand and this deal reflects the continued desire for growth among SMEs – particularly those focused on and servicing the growing IT and digital sectors.”
Joint agent Darren Severn, from FHP, said: “There continues to be a lack of good quality office buildings available on Pride Park and, as a result, capital values and rents remain strong.”
Lucy Robinson, director of
resources at the Chamber, added: “We took the strategic decision earlier this year to co-locate the Derby office with the University of Derby at the Enterprise Centre and contribute to the overall regeneration of the city centre.
“We are delighted this prominent office will now support the expansion of Althaus, which has a vital role to play in addressing much-needed skills in our local and regional economy.”
Steve, who spent 10 years as chairman of the Small Developers Group and more recently six years as main board member of the Home Builders Federation, said: “Key problems are the supply chain delays that have come about through a perfect storm of factors, culminating in vital materials not arriving on our sites in time.
“A shortage of skilled workers post-Brexit has certainly had, and continues to have, a really negative impact on house building, as does the terrible situation in Ukraine. Timber, for instance, is a big problem. We have had a real struggle getting hold of fencing as a result, similar to how we’ve finding it very hard to secure ground workers and scaffolding. The supply chain and labour market is in a state of chaos.”
At a recent meeting with more than 15 other developers, Steve said each company was being hit by delays for at least one vital skill or product. He added: “This delays construction by weeks and puts our buyers at risk of their mortgage deals running out, hence the real sense of urgency to move people into homes that we are not 100% happy with. The situation needs some serious attention from those calling the shots in Government.”
‘The commercial property market in Pride Park continues to be in high demand’Omeeto’s Chris Wright (second left) pictured with Althaus directors (from left) Pete Buller, Mike Loveland and Josh Stamp From left: Omeeto director Chris Wright with MyPad directors Tom Spink and John Turner
Housing firm has a new home tooBy Nick Jones, motoring journalist
If you think Lexus is the posh version of Toyota, then share the same thought about Genesis over Hyundai.
I went out to try the Genesis G70 to see if the aim of the brand is to offer a new alternative to folks buying from the might of the German stables – the likes of Mercedes, Audi and BMW.
One can specify a 2.2-litre diesel engine, or the 2.0litre turbocharged petrol that was mine here, in Sport Line trim above the other option of Premium Line and Luxury Line.
Power gets to the rear wheels via an eight-speed automatic gearbox, which I found to be seamlessly smooth and while not as instant as an electric variant, it was hard to fault off the line.
My spec in this version shows it had adaptive suspension, which soaked up all the bumps and undulations on our lovely Derbyshire roads in comfort mode, but was the polar opposite should you choose to be in sport mode.
This makes it a real sporty drive with great turn-in and road hugging, but with the sacrifice of a firmer ride and lots of bump-thump.
Internally, I had fully digital instrumentation with a nice 3D effect, and a head-up display that brilliantly shows not only speed, but sat nav directions and more.
The close-on £2,000 comfort pack provided a comfortable place in which to be on any given journey, and the Napa leather was intimately soft and supportive.
I found the interior streets ahead of the competition – nothing comes close, in my opinion, with space aplenty and while the boot is not especially deep, it is both wide and long. And the golf clubs fit in nicely.
Overall, one has to say it’s a good-looking motor – as with most cars now, a large front grille protrudes and the profile is pleasing. And that interior feels bespoke for a production car.
I suspect like how Lexus had to wait until it became a premium brand, Genesis needs the same time-frame and marketing prominence. If it gets this right, it will start to see many more on the road.
I, for one, would choose it over the might of the German protagonists.
With past and present board positions on organisations including West Midlands 5G, West Midlands Growth Company and Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership, Ninder Johal DL (pictured) is an influential business leader on the other side of the Midlands divide. Now trying to bridge that gap via initiatives such as his media and events production company Nachural Group’s Entrepreneurship Awards in the East Midlands, he explains why
to create a unified Midlands voice.
The Midlands is a hotbed for growth and unrealised potential. The East and West may differ when it comes to politics – the West has a combined authority while the East does not yet – but in all other respects, there are many similarities.
Both have a fantastic industrial heritage and enjoy an advantage when it comes to location. This brings benefits to the logistics sector, and the region is at the heart of future technologies and industries such as medical sciences and the green agenda.
While many parts of the East and West are only separated by about an hour of travel time, there is plenty we can do to enhance the future prospects of the region.
We must continue to look at ways of connecting the major cities of the East and West Midlands through better transport and in turn
to connect these cities with other major cities and towns in the UK.
We must take advantage of our brilliant universities and link them ever closer to SMEs in order to enhance their R&D capability, and to be able to compete internationally through better innovation. This will improve the region’s productivity, which is still behind the national average.
We need a joined-up strategy for skills involving schools, further education colleges and universities. We must repair our supply chain for talent and not have various slices of the supply chain owned by different parts of Government.
We should continue to lobby
Government hard for more funding for our cities and towns through our MPs, chambers of commerce and local enterprise partnerships if we are to realise the benefits of the levelling up agenda.
In a global world, scale means everything. We should be looking for businesses to collaborate when it comes to exploiting opportunities internationally. The Midlands Engine and the Department for International Trade have a valuable role to play in this space.
We should encourage SMEs and entrepreneurs to increase their digital capabilities to reach a wider audience and increase access to funds for small businesses so they can enhance their wealth-creating abilities. Without enterprise and its concomitant effects on employment, we will not be able to maintain and create sustainable communities.
The ability of the private and
public sectors to work in unison is crucial if we are to fulfil the potential of this amazing region. Government, both national and local, needs to create an environment conducive for creating new businesses, enabling existing ones to flourish and encouraging the 75% that do not export to do so.
I passionately believe in the Midlands region, its businesses and people. I remain convinced there is enough talent in the region to make all the above both possible and achievable –allowing every individual to reach the potential that they were all born with.
it’s vital
‘There is plenty we can do to enhance the future prospects of the region’
The old adage goes that “time flies when you’re having fun”. Well I’m not entirely sure that fun is the right adjective to describe 2022 – a year that brought more than its fair share of surprises and turbulence, and not all of it good. For me though, there is absolutely no doubt that my year as president of the Chamber has indeed flown by and it’s brought tremendous rewards with it, and I’m pleased to say quite a lot of fun too. It’s been an honour and a privilege to the hold the position and I’d like to take a moment of your time to look back and reflect (well it is that time of year too…).
I was really fortunate compared to Eileen Perry MBE DL, my immediate predecessor as president, as the last remnants of pandemic restrictions fell away during my year of office. Interacting with people, both personally and professionally, is a big part of my life. I’m sure it is for many of you too.
While it was remarkable how well most people adapted to life under lockdown, and the technology came into its own, I really missed the opportunity to get out in the world to see people and projects close-up. So I was determined to grab opportunities to get on the road for the Chamber with both hands.
The roundtables over the year were a particular highlight for me. They presented a really diverse range of topics and attendees, and allowed us to get under the skin of many topics aligned to our region, including the state of the economy, skills and corporate social responsibility.
As someone born and bred in the Midlands, and who has also spent my working life here, I’ve always felt proud of the region. My involvement in the Chamber in recent years has brought our achievements more closely into focus and this year it’s been a delight to play an even more active role in celebrating our successes.
As well as attending so many of our award presentations and similar celebrations, I’ve had
the opportunity to shortlist too. So I can truly say that while our many winners during the year truly stood out, countless other people and organisations are doing an amazing job behind the scenes too.
Our Chamber is one of biggest and most active across the country – not to mention a hugely deserved UK Chamber of the Year for 2022 – and that’s fitting as I firmly believe our businesses punch above their weight too.
One of the themes I’ve touched on throughout the year is people power, as well as the importance of learning and development. And behind every successful organisation is a team of dynamic, skilled and motivated people so those who get a name check and win prizes truly are the tip of a huge talent iceberg.
I’ve been so pleased to help get behind initiatives such as Generation Next and Enterprising Women that give some our brightest and best a chance to shine even more. Supporting and developing employees is a big focus of my day job at Futures Housing Group and while I’ve said it before on these pages, if developing your people isn’t high on your agenda, then you’re probably missing out.
In one sense, my year as president has gone very quickly. At the same time, though, if I look back at what’s changed in the world over the past 12 months it’s really remarkable. Change is, of course, a constant but this year has brought some huge shifts in our environment.
Coming out of a pandemic that has changed our world view forever. War in Europe. The death of a much-loved monarch who has been a constant throughout virtually all our lives. Political and economic instability. Those are just some of the headline changes of 2022.
Against that background, it’s no surprise that many people and organisations are struggling to keep pace. This may seem daunting but every cloud has a silver lining. Each challenge is an opportunity to learn and grow. Every obstacle cleared is a badge of honour. If I can share one pearl of wisdom as I prepare to hand over the presidency to my successor, it would be to stay strong, stay positive, keep going and go harder when the going gets tough, and take your people with you on the journey – you’re stronger together.
In case you hadn’t realised, I’ve taken some musical inspiration for my section headings this issue. I thought I could inject a bit of fun as we head towards the festive season so I’ve put together a matching playlist. Sadly, I didn’t manage to weave any Bruce Springsteen titles in this time, but you can listen along regardless at tinyurl.com/5encuvnn. Enjoy.
And I’ll sign off by thanking everyone who has supported me and my presidency this year, including the team at the Chamber. And a special, super thank you to everyone who has supported our three amazing charities this year – Focus, Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust and Treetops Hospice Care.
Remember you don’t need the excuse of the president’s appeal to get behind them and offer your support. Good luck and best wishes of course to my successor as president for 2023, the fantastic Stuart Dawkins. Let’s keep dancing…
