BQY Summer 15 Issue 25

www.bqlive.co.uk

ISSUE TWENTY FIVE: SUMMER 2015

BRANDING - IT’S A PIECE OF CAKE Entrepreneur with a lot on his plate MAN AND MACHINE The robotics revolution WORKING HARD One man’s money making machine GOING FOR GROWTH Special feature ISSUE TWENTY FIVE: SUMMER 2015: YORKSHIRE EDITION

FROM TABLE TOP AND TEETHING TROUBLES Rowena won’t give up

BUSINESS NEWS: COMMERCE: INTERVIEWS: MOTORS: EVENTS

YORKSHIRE EDITION

BQ Breakfast - daily insight, news and analysis to help grow your business. Register free at www.bqlive.co.uk Business Quarter Magazine

£2.95

WHAT YOU EXPEC TED:

MERCURE SHEFFIELD ST PAUL’S HOTEL & SPA

WHAT YOU DID NOT:

MEET WITH MERCURE AT MERCURE SHEFFIELD ST PAUL’S HOTEL & SPA Located in the city centre and next to the Peace Gardens, the modern 4-star Mercure Sheffield St Paul’s Hotel & Spa is an ideal venue for your meetings and events.

As Sheffield’s largest hotel-based conference and banqueting facility, the hotel is among one of the most impressive venues in the North of England. Accommodating up to 600, its ten conference suites are superbly designed in a contemporary style and feature state-of the-art multimedia presentation and communications facilities.

DDR FROM £30 PER PERSON 119 Norfolk Street, Sheffield S1 2JE Tel: 0114 278 2069 Email: h6628-sb@accor.com

DISCOVER MERCURE

MERCURE.COM JOIN OUR GLOBAL LOYALTY PROGRAM AT ACCORHOTELS.COM

OVER 70 HOTELS IN THE UK AND 700 WORLDWIDE

WELCOME

BUSINESS QUARTER: SUMMER 15: ISSUE TWENTY FIVE Welcome to my first BQ Yorkshire magazine.

I am very pleased and proud to be here in the Editor’s chair and must thank all those businesses and BQ partners who have gone out of their way to be so supportive and welcoming in my first few months. It has certainly given me an early taste of the enthusiasm and passion for entrepreneurial companies throughout the region.

While I have already had the pleasure of editing a BQ2 for our friends at Santander, this is my first full BQ Yorkshire, and if the contents are any measure, I will not be short of subjects in the years to come. I have written so many thousands of words for you, but feel I have only just scratched the surface of this extraordinary part of the country.

One of my aims will be to make BQ Yorkshire a guide to becoming an entrepreneur. Where did the idea come from? What does it take?

What help do you need? I will talk to the newest and most exciting businesses, some of them only a few months old and some of them on the brink of becoming fully-fledged wage-earners.

As always with BQ, I will also talk to the big-hitters across the region. Leaders of businesses and organisations that are shaping the future of Yorkshire in government, law, finance, technology and education.

Their own stories have lessons for all aspirational young bosses and finding out what makes them tick is a valuable insight into the top strata of commerce, whether you are aiming to be there yourself or need their help.

So, inside meet the young kitchen-table businesswoman who refused to let her dream fade away; the 21-year-old taking on the food

and drink giants; the professor who is moulding the future of innovation as well as leading figures at the top of Deloitte and Lupton Fawcett Denison Till.

Then there is our regular Business Lunch at one of the region’s most stunning locations, this time with an MD waiting for a gamechanging phone call; an in-depth look at the future of robotics in the region and two entrepreneurs who are at the cutting edge of mobile business tech and computer gaming.

I’ll run out of space at the bottom of this page if I carry on.... but there is plenty more to hold your attention.

There are common elements across all these different people who have been kind enough to give up their time for BQ. They all have extraordinary experiences to draw on, they have a passion for their job and they have huge confidence in what they do.

And they will all be making a difference to Yorkshire this year and next - which is something I want BQ to be doing as well.

BQ Yorkshire can be a voice for entrepreneurs and play its part in helping map out the future for all our businesses.

I’m sure you’ll let me know what you think about that! As well as being my first edition, this magazine you are reading is a bit of a landmark in that it marks the 25th time BQ has been published in Yorkshire. In that time I hope it has become an essential adviser and friend for new and established businesses across the county and I will certainly be doing my best to keep it that way.

Here’s to the 100th!

Mike Hughes, editor, BQ Magazine

CONTACTS ROOM501 LTD Bryan Hoare Managing Director e: bryan@bqlive.co.uk EDITORIAL Mike Hughes Editor e: mikehughes@bqlive.co.uk DESIGN & PRODUCTION room501 e: studio@bqlive.co.uk PHOTOGRAPHY KG Photography e: info@kgphotography.co.uk Chris Auld e: chris@chrisauldphotography.com SALES Hellen Murray Business development manager e: hellen@bqlive.co.uk t: 07551 173 428 Alan Dickinson Associate publisher e: alan@bqlive.co.uk t: 07917 733 047

room501 Publishing Ltd, Spectrum 6, Spectrum Business Park, Seaham, SR7 7TT www.bqlive.co.uk Business Quarter (BQ) is a leading business to business brand recognised for celebrating entrepreneurship and corporate success. The multi-platform brand currently reaches entrepreneurs and senior business executives across Scotland, the North East, Yorkshire and the West Midlands. BQ has established a UK wide regional approach to business engagement reaching a highly targeted audience of entrepreneurs and senior executives in high growth businesses both in-print, online and through branded events.

All contents copyright © 2015 room501 Ltd. All rights reserved.

While every effort is made to ensure accuracy, no responsibility can be accepted for inaccuracies, howsoever caused. No liability can be accepted for illustrations, photographs, artwork or advertising materials while in transmission or with the publisher or their agents. All company profiles are paid for advertising. All information is correct at time of going to print, June 2015.

Associate Sponsors

room501 Publishing Ltd is part of BE Group, the UK’s market leading business improvement specialists. www.be-group.co.uk

A law firm which offers more In life and in business

Expect More www.clarionsolicitors.com 7053_20x175_Clarion_BQ_Magazine_AW01.indd 1

03

YORKSHIRE EDITION 06/06/2014 15:00

BQ Magazine is published quarterly by room501 Ltd.

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

CONTE BUSINESS QUARTER: SUMMER 15 PREMIER LEAGUE PLAYER

29 GOING FOR GOLD Your eight page special feature

Features

40 PROFESSOR DOING US PROUD Liz Towns-Andrews wears many hats

44 MAN AND MACHINE

20

Yorkshire pioneering robotics

16 FROM TABLE TOP Rowena Johnson won’t give up and keeps building businesses

20 A YORKSHIRE LEADER Deloitte’s Martin Jenkins talks to Mike Hughes

48 PROFIT CHAMPIONS Six page profit performance feature

68 TEAM PLAYER Profile of two 3M BIC winners

72 FAMILY FOOTSTEPS Meeting Jonathan Oxley

24 BRANDING - IT’S A PIECE OF CAKE A young man with a lot on his plate

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

IT’S A PIECE OF CAKE

76 WORKING HARD Craig Benton’s money making machine

04

24

TENTS YORKSHIRE EDITION

PROFESSOR DOING US PROUD

40

Regulars 06 NEWS Award wins, expansions and new investments

14 AS I SEE IT Working in harmony, flexibly - and all that jazz

54 BUSINESS LUNCH Travelling in the Right Direction

62 MOTORS

TRAVELLING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

Not so mellow yellow and Le Mans or bust

80 BIT OF A CHAT With BQ’s backroom boy Frank Tock

82 EVENTS What’s on and where

05

54 BUSINESS QUARTER |SUMMER 15

NEWS

SUMMER 15

University and tree house win awards, new marketing course for Yorkshire is on offer, major bike store expands, Santander backs ZOO with £500,000 and George F White continues its Yorkshire growth >> Double awards win for university The University of Huddersfield is a double winner in a new awards scheme designed to celebrate the crucial role of Higher Education in the ‘Northern Powerhouse’.

At the inaugural Educate North Awards, Huddersfield was named New University of the Year, and its Vice-Chancellor, Professor Bob Cryan CBE, won the Leadership Award.

A panel of more than 20 leading figures from the fields of education, business and politics selected the winners, who were announced at a ceremony in Manchester.

Professor Cryan - who was present at the event - said that he was delighted by his personal victory and by the title bestowed on the University of Huddersfield.

“We’ve won a lot of awards in recent years, but the excitement and the pride never fade.

Every prize like this is a tribute to the hard work of our staff and students in making sure that our University continues to make remarkable progress.”

>> Shulmans helps plan education hub

C

M

Leading corporate solicitors Shulmans LLP has played a pivotal role in the creation of an education hub in South Leeds that could have a far-reaching effect on the city.

Shulmans’ Andrew Latchmore, a nationally renowned commercial property expert, has been involved in three of the four educational establishments in the South Leeds area. He was involved in the new Leeds College of Building campus on Black Bull Street; the Ruth Gorse Academy Free School on an adjacent SUPPERCONNECTED BQ 175X20.pdf site, and now the University Technical College 1 (UTC), also on Hunslet Road. The fourth

>> Blackburn Wing named as outstanding The Blackburn Wing, the copper and glass centrepiece of a £6m project at Grade II-listed Bowcliffe Hall in Wetherby, has scooped two accolades in the prestigious Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Yorkshire awards. Designed by architects The Harris Partnership and built

by Conlon Construction, the Blackburn Wing is one of only two structures ever to have been built in an area of ancient woodland.

The 2,060 sq ft airplane wing shaped treehouse was named one of eight outstanding Yorkshire buildings recognised for their architectural excellence. In the special awards category, serial entrepreneur Jonathan Turner, CEO of the Bayford Group, who commissioned the scheme at the former ancestral home of aviation pioneer Robert Blackburn, was named client of the year.

project was Leeds City College’s Printworks Campus on Hunslet Road, on the site of the former Alf Cooke Printworks.

In the case of the most recent deal, that of the sale of 1.1 acres of land forming part of the Braime Pressing factory to the Leeds Advanced Manufacturing UTC Ltd, Braime was selling part of a listed building that had been built in 1910; the transaction involved structuring 15/06/2015 10:59 detailed arrangements for dividing the building, against tight time constraints.

Every prize like this is a tribute to the hard work of our staff and students

Y

CM

MY

Slow Broadband..? Get a Superfast £3000 grant!

CY

CMY

K

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

06

SUMMER 15

NEWS

>> New marketing course

>> Business school Dean swaps Sheffield for Liège The Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Sheffield Business School is leaving at the end of September to take up the role of Director General and Dean of the Management School of the University of Liège in Belgium. Professor Adrian Hopgood has led Sheffield Business School at Sheffield Hallam University since September 2011, during which time it has grown to 8,000 students, a third of whom are from overseas. It is now recognised as the largest modern Business School in the UK. Prof Hopgood said: “I am very proud of how we have improved student satisfaction year-on-year from 81% in 2012 to 88% in 2014; and of our excellent graduate employment statistics. We have also strengthened our academic ethos; ensuring teaching is informed by research, scholarship and professional practice.”A leading expert in artificial intelligence, Prof Hopgood studied Physics at the University of Bristol, before undertaking a PhD at the University of Oxford. He has held senior academic roles at the Open University and at Nottingham Trent. He was Dean of the Faculty of Technology at De Montfort University before taking up the role of Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Sheffield Business School. Professor Isobel Doole, currently Deputy Dean, will take over as interim Dean of Sheffield Business School until a permanent appointment is made.

Teenagers have the chance to become business savvy and clinch a career in marketing through the first course of its kind launching in Yorkshire.

A new nationally recognised qualification for 16 to 18-year-olds, called a Tech-level, is being offered at The Sheffield College, South Yorkshire, in September.

The AQA Tech-level in Business: Marketing is an alternative to A Levels. It equips young people for a marketing position in business, an apprenticeship or for going onto higher education including a university degree.

Tech-levels are being introduced nationally from September to help fill skills gaps that have been identified by businesses.

They focus on developing students’ technical skills. This is the first marketing Tech-level available in Yorkshire.

Heather Smith, principal of The Sheffield College, said: “This is the first course of its kind in Yorkshire, and it offers exciting new career and progression opportunities in an expanding sector.”

She added: “Tech-levels are new qualifications that have been designed and developed with help from employers and professional bodies to ensure students gain up-to-date knowledge as well as team working, problem solving, research and communication skills.”

>> Store moves up a gear Yorkshire’s longest established cycle retailer All Terrain Cycles has completed a £1m investment programme at its Wetherby and Salts Mill stores that will grow the display stock to more than 1,000 bikes and offer new showroom displays.

The company is one of the UK’s largest independent cycle retailers, and employs 26 staff in Yorkshire. Originally established in 1907, the £4m turnover business is based at a 9,000 sq ft Salts Mill store where it also has its 12,000 sq ft warehouse. Last year, it opened a second megastore showroom at Audby Lane in Wetherby.

07

WHO WANTS TO BE DISCIPLINED? Okay so you want to be disciplined… and just for the record I’m talking about your focus and application to your business, nothing else!

To many discipline is a pipe dream that lasts all of 30 minutes, usually the time it takes to commute to work. Then the day starts, the emails need answering, the mobile rings and one of your senior team is fighting for your attention with the line “you’re probably busy, but do you have five minutes?”

To be disciplined is one of the biggest factors in achieving real, unequivocal business traction and that requires self-discipline. No personal success, achievement or goal can be realised without this self-discipline. It is without question the single most important attribute needed to achieve any real form of measured accomplishment.

Make the decision as from tomorrow morning you will become disciplined and focused on what matters. This was valuable advice, given to me from a good business mentor “do what matters and leave the rest”.

If the tasks you undertake have real effect on the bottom line then do them, everything else doesn’t matter.

Start with a list of what needs to be done and plan your journey for the day and week ahead. As many successful business owners have discovered, concentrating on the most important tasks, forming that list in either written or mental form and ticking the list off through the day, brings with it a greater sense of achievement.

Who wants to be disciplined? You do, you owe it to the business, your team and yourself.

Visit www.armstrongwatson.co.uk/blue or contact Dave Clarkson on 0113 2211300 or dave.clarkson@armstrongwatson.co.uk

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

NEWS

SUMMER 15

>> Gauntlet growth

>> Santander backs ZOO

Commercial insurance broker and risk manager, Gauntlet Group, has bought new offices and is relocating for the first time in its 20-year history, as well as rebranding with a new corporate identity and a suite of logos. The Leeds-based broker has increased its footprint by 1,250 sq feet in its new offices at Gauntlet House, on the Acorn Business Park in Killingbeck, Leeds. The move is underpinned by a response to increased demand for its services, but also due to its rapidly growing network of appointed representatives, which is supported by a back office team at Gauntlet head office. As well as having more support staff for the AR network, Gauntlet has recruited a new team of haulage and fleet insurance specialists, a marketing manager and risk management professionals. Its new offices offer substantial scope for further growth, due to careful planning and management of the space available and an investment of nearly £150,000.

Gauntlet’s managing director, Roger Gaunt, says: “I am proud of the fresh buzz we have created within the business, at a time when recruitment is at an all-time high and at which we have stretching plans for further, sustained growth. We now have the ideal space in which to grow, achieve and motivate everyone.”

Sheffield-based ZOO Digital, which provides cloud-based media production services and technology for the entertainment industry, has received a funding facility of £500,000 from Santander Corporate & Commercial to help finance its further expansion into international markets. Established in 2001, ZOO Digital counts major Hollywood studios, global broadcasters, digital distributors and other producers of creative media products among its clients.

The funding from Santander Corporate & Commercial will enable ZOO Digital, which has additional offices in London and Los Angeles, to continue to expand the business globally and open the door for it to compete on further larger scale projects. It will also take on more talent and enhance its software development. Helen Gilder, group finance director, ZOO Digital, said: “We are really pleased to partner with Santander on the latest phase of our growth. The working capital will enable the company to invest more in talent and innovation and opens the door for us to compete with other global players on international projects.”

Liz Pickering, relationship director, Santander Corporate & Commercial, said: “ZOO Digital offers a revolutionary new approach to global media production services, all powered by next generation technology. It’s great to be able to provide financing to such an innovative company that’s really striving to increase its global footprint.”

>> Get fit for corporate action!

>> Glass act

C

Yorkshire based manufacturer and fabricator, Conservatory Outlet, has won a national business award. The Wakefield based company has been recognised as one of the ‘1000 Companies to Inspire Britain in 2015’ by the London Stock Exchange Group. Established in 2005, Conservatory Outlet is a supplier of conservatories, orangeries, double glazing windows and replacement doors across the UK. The company has a fabrication and SUPPERCONNECTED BQ 175X20.pdf manufacturing facility in Wakefield.

2

An outdoor training facility has opened its doors just off the M62 in Rothwell, Leeds. The Fitness Success Obstacle Gym is designed for people entering the rapidly growing number of assault course challenges such as Yorkshire Warrior, Tough Mudder and Spartan Race. The facility, which is also targeting the corporate market for teambuilding and training days, includes obstacle trails, mud-runs, monkey bars, tunnels, walls, rope climbing and natural springs.

Qualified instructors guide participants around the challenging course.“I’ve been a personal trainer for more than a decade and by far the biggest factor in terms of people losing interest and disengaging from working out is boredom,” said developer Oral Blackford, a former bowler with the West Indies under-19 cricket team.

Training doesn’t have to be in a gym, plodding along on a treadmill. In order to work, training has to engage, it has to 15/06/2015 challenge, it10:59 has to stimulate the senses.”

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

Training doesn’t have to be in a gym, plodding along on a treadmill

Available to businesses throughout South and West Yorkshire.

CMY

K

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

08

SUMMER 15

NEWS

>> Continued Growth in Yorkshire

>> Hall’s will A country house in North Yorkshire, which underwent a major three-year renovation, has expanded just six months after launching thanks to increasing demand. Grade II*-listed Rudby Hall, near Stokesley, officially opened last September as a luxury venue for corporate events, private parties and accommodation.

Now, as demand exceeds its owners’ expectations, another seven suites within the historic home have been refurbished, more than doubling its capacity since opening with six. Husband and wife team Martin and Sandra Johnson, who run the hall and who live on site with their family, have seen huge demand from the corporate sector with national and international companies choosing to use the hall for meetings, functions, events and accommodation. Rudby Hall is also aiming to accommodate shooting parties with luxury private accommodation and additional facilities such as kennels, gun storage and drying rooms, thanks to its location on the edge of the North York Moors National Park .

Rudby Hall currently employs a team of five, and works with all local suppliers including CWC Events, First Class Wedding Company, the Yorkshire Party Company, Darling and Green Florists and the Yorkshire Chauffeur Company.

Land and property consultancy George F White continues to grow in the Yorkshire region. The business has been established for over 30 years and has enjoyed a presence in Yorkshire since 1990 when it opened an office in Bedale. In 2010, a further office in Shiptonthorpe was opened and nearly a third of all George F White employees are now based in the region. Robyn Peat, managing partner at George F White, said: “Over the years, our clients have diversified both geographically and in terms of service offerings. As a result, we have developed full multidisciplinary services to meet the changing needs of those we work for.”

Peat continued: “Yorkshire has become increasingly important to the business and central to the services we provide and the type of clients we have. Indeed, our architectural services based in Bedale account for around 15% of turnover. Energy services and project management are also a big focus for us in Yorkshire as we are one of the few consultancies who provide independent advice on energy projects. We do a lot of work in energy across the region, particularly in East Yorkshire, as the needs of individual farmers, businesses and landowners become more sophisticated.”

>> Other news you might have missed....

A Barnsley company, formed in March 2014, has invested £60,000 in new machinery after moving to new premises just seven months ago. Laser cutting and engraving specialists, Laserweb, has bought three new laser-cut machines with another, even larger, machine on order.

The company, which specialises in cutting and engraving wood, plastics, metal, leather and card, moved to Carlton Industrial Estate last year and father and son team, Earl and Daniel Holdsworth are doubling their turnover every month, and already looking at further expansion.

09

STRICTLY BLUE The majority of businesses who have taken on the strategic Blue process have been family businesses and a common theme that runs through many of these businesses is a lack of self-discipline.

To be disciplined is a mind-set and once you have chosen to be more disciplined with your planning and actions each day, week, and month, we have seen positive traction in both processes and the figures.

We have been helping people identify what really needs to change in their business, what do they need to start doing, what do they need to hand over to others and importantly, what should they stop doing.

Our process has helped one set of business owners sit down and work through nineteen individual changes to their working practices within the first twelve months, including better margins.

Another recent convert to becoming more disciplined is an online retailer who has in the space of three months changed the working practices of its team, introduced more efficient processes for sales, identified ways to tackle difficult internal conversations which had always been avoided previously, and for them, the biggest opportunity for growth would be in moving to much larger premises. The latter point was a particular barrier they had been struggling with for years and within a matter of months the team has instigated a search, found and signed on a new property which has opened up the possibility for triple growth forecasts.

With our Blue strategic process you can also choose to become more disciplined in your business.

Visit www.armstrongwatson.co.uk/blue or contact Dave Clarkson on 0113 2211300 or dave.clarkson@armstrongwatson.co.uk

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

COMPANY PROFILE

SUMMER 15

Sheffield cutlery company celebrates success Sheffield-based Amefa UK, which is part of one of the world’s largest cutlery and kitchen knife specialists, Amefa Group, is continuing its transformation with turnover for 2014/15 hitting £11.3m, more than double its turnover six years ago In 2009, the struggling business, which includes iconic British brand Richardson Sheffield, made losses of £1.2m and subsequently underwent a complete management change in a last bid for survival.

Led by current managing director John Horton, a complete root and branch reform was undertaken which has resulted in the company once again becoming a profitable business and establishing itself as one of the biggest players in the UK, as well as exporting to more than 50 countries.

John Horton explains: “The company has undergone an amazing transformation over the last six years and we are very proud of our achievements. Not only is the design work for our products done here, we also launched a stunning new ‘Made in Sheffield’ range in 2013 and we have doubled our workforce to 76 staff.

“Our strategy was to start by investing in the best people and build a top quality team which could ensure that we achieved our goals of providing outstanding customer service and developing new products which would lead the way in terms of style and design, all at an affordable price.”

GLOBAL REPUTATION He continues: “Twenty years ago, our Richardson Sheffield brand enjoyed strong exports throughout the world, and we are making great progress in reviving the brand’s global reputation, winning new customers around the world on the back of our new product development programme.

There’s still much to do, but it’s exciting that overseas markets offer so much potential to grow our business.”

Amefa UK, which is based in Handsworth, recently refinanced through Barclays in Sheffield which has

Peter Edwards, doing everything it can to support us. They are consistently thorough, efficient and always go that extra mile.”

Grant Thornton director Peter Edwards added: “To take a failing business and turn it around in a relatively short space of time as John and his team have done is a daunting challenge. They’ve done an amazing job of catching up with the market and there’s still a huge potential for future growth.

“It’s fantastic to see the company that owns one of Sheffield’s oldest brands, Richardson Sheffield, not only transform its fortunes, but also continue the city’s heritage as a global name in quality knife-making.”

Richardson Sheffield was established in 1839 and was acquired by Dutch company Amefa Group in 2007.

Grant Thornton director Peter Edwards (left) with John Horton, managing director of Amefa UK

injected a six figure sum into the business to help it to invest both in people and equipment in order to achieve its annual growth targets.

The company has also been supported by Sheffield business adviser Grant Thornton which worked with Amefa up to 2009 and has recently been reappointed to provide auditing and tax services.

“We have always enjoyed an extremely productive relationship with Grant Thornton and we’re delighted to be working with them again following a change in auditing strategy by our parent company,” said John Horton. “It is a real partnership with the Grant Thornton team, led by

It is a real partnership with the Grant Thornton team - they are consistently thorough and efficient and always go that extra mile

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

10

Paul Houghton, senior partner at Grant Thornton’s Sheffield office, comments, “Working with dynamic, entrepreneurial businesses is what we do best. We pride ourselves on providing outstanding technical advice, but also in getting close to our clients so that we have a real insight into their business, using our distinctive, pragmatic and commercial style of client service to support them as they grow.”

Can we help you? Call Peter Edwards on 0114 255 3371 or peter.a.edwards@uk.gt.com.

Please visit www.grant-thornton.co.uk for more information.

SUMMER 15

NEWS

>> News makers Business adviser Grant Thornton has appointed tax specialist John Norman as a senior manager in its Leeds-based tax team.

He joins the growing team after having run his own consultancy for the last three years, specialising in assisting taxpayers, accountants and solicitors with challenging HMRC investigations.

He has extensive experience of dealing with tax dispute resolutions and tax investigations, including nearly 20 years’ working within top 10 accountancy firms. He is also a former senior tax inspector with HMRC specialising in serious fraud investigations.

Norman said: “Grant Thornton’s approach is very client-focussed, something which I firmly believe in. I’m looking forward to working with our varied range of existing clients and helping them to bring our tax affairs up to date, as well as expanding our services across the north.”

contentious intellectual property law.

Colledge joins Irwin Mitchell from Petherbridge Bassra in Bradford and brings a wealth of expertise in relation to all aspects of employment law. Moving to Irwin Mitchell from Gordons in Leeds, O’Connell specialises in advising on corporate M&A work including support for major multimillion pound deals.

Simon Hellewell, Natalie Nattress, Paul Trudgill, Rachel Crookes and Michael Cantwell at hlw Keeble Hawson Nattress who have jointly amassed a wealth of experience in areas spanning corporate, litigation and dispute resolution, insolvency and business recovery - as well as commercial property.

The development comes at a time when the firm - acknowledged as a significant player across its commercial and private client services in the latest Legal 500 and Chambers directories - is investing in relocating the Leeds team to new premises in the city centre.

A new management team has been appointed at the Leeds office of hlw Keeble Hawson one of the region’s largest law firms. The team includes partners Michael Cantwell, Rachel Crookes, Simon Hellewell and Natalie

Grant Thornton tax specialist John Norman

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

SUPPERCONNECTED BQ 175X20.pdf

3

National law firm Irwin Mitchell has further boosted its business legal expertise in Leeds with the appointment of three new faces to its specialist teams.

The firm’s office in the city has welcomed Emma Yates as a new associate solicitor in its commercial litigation team, with Louise Colledge joining as a solicitor in its employment law team. The third addition is Daniel O’Connell, who has taken up a position as a legal executive in the corporate team. Joining from Turner Parkinson in 15/06/2015 11:00 is a commercial litigation Manchester, Yates expert with specific expertise in advising on

Tim Parr, a tax partner at Baker Tilly, has been elected president of the Bradford Society of Chartered Accountants, taking over the reins from Alan Wintersgill.

The society, which represents approximately 850 members in Bradford and Craven in North Yorkshire, organises a number of social and technical events for members throughout the year.

Parr, who graduated in law from Bristol University in 1982, is a chartered accountant and chartered tax adviser. He lives in Idle but is based at Baker Tilly’s offices in Leeds.

His particular speciality is in remuneration planning and advising on the usage of limited liability partnerships (LLPs). Parr has gained a reputation as one of the foremost experts in the UK on the taxation of LLPs. >>

Louise Colledge, Emma Yates and Daniel O’Connell at Irwin Mitchell

Up to £3,000 available to small and medium-size businesses to upgrade your broadband connection.

11

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

COMPANY PROFILE

SUMMER 15

Goole transport company sees turnover double East Yorkshire-based Simon Gibson Transport, a specialist in bulk powder transport, handling and storage, is celebrating growing its turnover from £6m in 2012 to £13m in 2014, as a result of targeting new sectors following the downturn in the construction industry during the recession Based in Goole, the company was founded by Simon Gibson in 2000 with a single truck and has expanded to a fleet of 88 vehicles, delivering more than 2,000,000 tons per annum throughout Europe. In January 2014, it opened new offices and driver training facilities alongside its 35,000 sq ft warehouse and employs 138 staff.

“Prior to 2007, our business was probably 90% focussed on serving the construction industry, but we quickly realised that we needed to use our specialist skills in other sectors in order to prosper despite the property market crash,” explains Simon Gibson. “We still have lots of customers in construction, but they now make up only around 35% of our client base having successfully targeted the glass, foundry and plastics industries and we’re also seeing growth in the food sector.

“The transport industry was hit hard during the recession, but we were fortunate that many contracts moved from rail to road as volumes dropped. We realised that with our expertise in transporting and storing powder bulk, we were well-placed to break into other sectors using materials such as silica sand as they too looked to save costs. Building on our sound reputation in this niche area of transport, we were able to seek out opportunities focusing on our ability to operate 24/7, our modern fleet and our highly trained drivers.

Simon Gibson (left) with Jonathan Simms of Clarion

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

NEW CONTRACTS AND FLEET EXPANSION “Over the last eight years, handling specialist sand for foundry and glass making has become a significant part of our business and in 2012 we won a major contract with minerals company Sibelco which led to us doubling our fleet. Last year, which was our best year ever, we invested £3m in extending our fleet and we’re confident that we’ll hit our target of £15m turnover for 2015.”

Leeds law firm Clarion has worked with Simon Gibson Transport since 2009, providing a full range of legal services including corporate, employment and property advice.

Simon comments: “We’ve dealt with Clarion for many years, they’ve been able to help us with everything we’ve ever needed from a legal perspective and always provided an excellent service. We have enjoyed a close relationship with Jonathan Simms in the corporate team who has become a trusted adviser as we have faced the challenge of finding additional income streams and adapting the business.”

12

Jonathan Simms, partner at Clarion, said: “This is a fantastic Yorkshire success story – Simon Gibson Transport has grown from an owner driver with a single truck to a £13m turnover company, employing almost 150 staff. The transport sector has had a tough few years, but those businesses that have been able to adapt and survive are now in a strong position to take advantage of the upturn.”

Can we help you?

Call Jonathan Simms on 0113 336 3387 or email jonathan.simms@clarionsolicitors.com.

Please visit www.clarionsolicitors.com for more information.

SUMMER 15

NEWS

>> News makers KPMG has appointed Phil Ashworth as a business development director for its regional financial services practice. Ashworth joins from Vertex Financial Services, where he was account director and accountable for the company’s strategic relationship with a major supermarket bank.

In his role, which will see him based in the North of England, he has strategic responsibility for expanding KPMG’s financial services footprint across the patch. His focus is on supporting a suite of clients across the sector and generating new business through the organic growth of existing clients and the exploration of new opportunities within the market.

Amy Scollan and Deborah Warren join Clarion

Law firm Andrew Jackson has promoted real estate solicitor David Dixon to partner.

Dixon joined Andrew Jackson as a trainee in 2001 and has been a key member of the firm’s real estate team since qualifying with the firm in 2003. He acts on a broad range of commercial property transactions for national and regional property owners and has

C

M

KPMG has appointed Phil AshworthSUPPERCONNECTED

BQ 175X20.pdf

particular expertise advising landlords and tenants on commercial leases, as well as dealing with sales and purchases of freehold properties.

He has substantial knowledge and expertise in issues concerning dockland and riverside property transactions through his work for one of the UK’s largest corporate landlords involved in ports and infrastructure. He also has significant experience dealing with a broad range of property matters for an international airport.

4

Leeds law firm Clarion has promoted two of its team to the position of senior associate.

Amy Scollan joined the firm’s family law team as an associate five years ago. She has extensive technical knowledge in both general and international family law and deals with all aspects of family law, specialising in complex private law, Children Act disputes, unmarried couple property ownership disputes and matrimonial finance disputes on 15/06/2015 11:01 divorce. Employment law specialist Deborah Warren joined Clarion as a trainee in

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

2007 and qualified as an Associate in 2009.

Warren deals with employment matters of all kinds for employers, including day to day advice regarding discrimination, absence management, whistleblowing, protected conversations and the application of TUPE as well as the defence of employment tribunal claims. n

Andrew Jackson has promoted real estate solicitor David Dixon

@SuperCWestYorks

www.superconnectedwestyorks.co.uk

13

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

AS I SEE IT

SUMMER 15

STRATEGIC PLANNING – LESSONS FROM JAZZ

In a rapidly changing environment businesses can learn a lot from improvisation and flexibility, underpinned by a team spirit of jazz, argues musician Noel Dennis Just a few weeks after the General Election and things are still settling down. Any political changes bring uncertainty and often force businesses to rethink their strategic plans – which in my view can be a positive thing. In fact, as I sit here writing this piece listening to one of my favourite trumpet players – Wynton Marsalis, I would argue that sticking rigidly to any strategic plan is a dangerous move – particularly given the dynamic and turbulent business environment we operate in today.

For a number of years now I have been researching and teaching management students and business leaders about the lessons that can be transferred from jazz to the organisation, in collaboration with internationally acclaimed jazz musician and educator – Pete Churchill. Through practical and participative demonstrations, we examine the roles of the individuals in the jazz group; highlight the importance of communication and trust and provide ideas on to how to foster a culture of creativity and improvisation in organisations.

Some might think that the link between jazz

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

and business is tenuous, but there is so much that organisations can learn from jazz and the intricate workings of a jazz group. Over 100 years old, jazz originates from the blues and is renowned for its sprawling diversity, with many different styles of jazz, ranging from traditional (New Orleans) through to free jazz (no pre-composed ideas or structure). Central to all jazz though, is improvisation.

Jazz groups come in all shapes and sizes and are exemplars of how organisations should operate. The core competencies of a successful jazz group are collaboration and trust. In essence when jazz musicians perform they engage in a collegiate dialogue with each other – innovating, supporting and sharing ideas. The roles of the musicians are clearly defined: each musician has invested time in learning the material; there is mutual respect and trust; a tolerance for mistakes and most importantly – strong communication between the players.

Jazz musicians take risks every time they perform and could be thought of as creative entrepreneurs. Sometimes things do not

14

always go to plan, but because one of the essential attributes of a jazz musician is selfreflexivity, mistakes are treated as learning experiences, with every performance being critiqued to enhance future performance. As my dad used to say to me, ‘you are only as good as your last gig, son.’

Through my research and consultancy, I have developed the ‘jazzer’ and ‘reader’ continuum, which is a vehicle to classify organisations’ individuals’ level of flexibility and improvisation. Reader organisations are those that take a logical approach to their strategic planning, but do not necessarily treat it as a working and flexible document.

They will stick rigidly to the plan, regardless of changes in the external environment and often suffer the consequences for doing so.

Reader organisations share similar traits to the orchestra where there is clear leadership from the conductor (no bad thing at all) and each person plays their own individual part, but with no flexibility to deviate from the notes on the page.

SUMMER 15

AS I SEE IT

Contrastingly, the jazzer organisation behaves more like the jazz group, with a collective approach to developing and implementing the strategic plan. There is an embedded culture of creativity within the organisation and improvisation at all levels is actively encouraged. Like the jazz group people assume leadership roles at different points in the process, knowing when to step up and when to step down, but all within the parameters of the strategic plan. Jazzer organisations tend to be much more proactive and seek out new opportunities, whilst having the necessary structures and leadership in place to respond to exogenous changes in the environment when they arise.

In conclusion, then, arguably the jazzer model is more appropriate for today’s challenging business environment and particularly for entrepreneurial and market-orientated companies. A word of caution though, I am not suggesting businesses ‘ditch’ their strategic plans and become pure free improvisers. Instead, I suggest that adopting a mixture of reader and jazzer is appropriate for most organisations today. There is a time to read and a time to jazz, but we must be cognisant that the strategic plan is an evolving melody, composed and performed by all of the individuals in the organisation. n

15

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

ENTREPRENEUR

SUMMER 15

FROM TABLE TOP AND TEETHING TROUBLES Firstly, a confession: over a few decades as a business journalist I have used the expression ‘kitchen-table business’ several times - without there ever actually being one.

It’s just a useful expression to sum up an entrepreneurial spirit that starts with an idea at home and eventually - hopefully - builds into a business that pays the bills.

And yet here I am talking to Rowena Johnson.

In her home. In her kitchen. And there is an actual table, where she has grown BugBrush from a personal need into a saleable product.

One of her heroes, author Malcolm Gladwell said: “You can learn more from one glance at a private space than you can from hours of exposure to a public face.” Johnson’s kitchen proves that to be true.

When her daughter Saskia was a year old and showing her first teeth, Johnson – who already ran clothing business Peruviankids – joined the struggle of mums around the country trying to keep their baby’s fragile teeth clean. Ordinary toothbrushes just didn’t seem to be designed for tiny mouths, so Johnson designed what was then called Caterpillarbrush.

Picture an open-ended wavy circle of plastic, which would sit in the palm of your hand, with bristles covering all parts. Very young children instinctively suck on it like a teething ring – and

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

Rowena Johnson runs a successful business and has just signed leases on two shops in the middle of York. So why spend nine years battling to establish a new venture? And what part did backscratchers and sarsaparilla play?

BQ Yorkshire Editor Mike Hughes found out clean their own teeth as they do so.

Just under nine years on and upmarket childrenswear chain JoJo Maman is stocking it. So what is the story of the thousands of days inbetween and what makes a 31 year old woman put herself through it all?

Tick these three boxes and you’ll understand: DNA. Dream. Drive.

This York lass came from a background that required determination and the purest work ethic.

“I think that my inspiration and characteristics come from my great-grandma, Margaret Rawlins, who ran a botanical brewers making sarsaparilla in Bradford 200 years ago. It was very popular with the workers, who couldn’t go to the pub and get drunk, so used to go to my great-grandma.

“She was singer as well, and her and my great

16

grandfather, who was a pianist, used to put on concerts on their doorstep in the depth of recession.

“She used to go along to the local library and listen to a piece of music, memorise it, come home and whistle it for my great-grandfather and he would play it on the piano. That’s the sort of determination and entrepreneurship that I think I’ve got.

“I’m nothing like my mum in that respect and my dad left when I was three, so I think I go back a few generations. Every single gene I have has skipped my mum and my auntie.

Years ago, with the war and depression my family was very industrious and that’s certainly part of me.”

Work became a part of Johnson’s life when she was the same age as her daughter now, and the realisation that it was going to be >>

17

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

ENTREPRENEUR important to her came soon after.

“I grew up on the York University campus where my mum was a secretary. There was no childcare for me, so I had to entertain myself.

I found that a great way to earn money for myself was to make friendship bracelets to sell to the students, but also using my mum’s backscratcher to reach under the vending machines for loose change.

“I used to stoop past the porter’s office with the scratcher up my sleeve. I would know where every vending machine was throughout the campus and would scoop up about £3.50 a day. For a kid in the 1990s, that was a lot of money.”

We have to recognise a difference here between her and ‘normal’ kids. They would be playing and making stuff as well, but for her there was a definite financial angle to it. Part of her still-growing brain was telling her to be her own boss. She knew her mum didn’t have any money, so if she wanted it, she needed to accumulate with every chance she had.

So Johnson also had a paper round right through her schooldays. Of course, it wasn’t the lightweight freesheets for her.

No, if there was a round to be done it was the backbreaking broadsheets with their supplements and magazines.

“It was at Atherton’s newsagent in York city centre and was the worst paper round in the world,” she recalls.

“I lived at the other side of town to my school, so got up at 6.30am, biked into town, did my paper round and then cycled on to school.”

Through the school gates, there are more clues as to how this little girl would grow up. Year 7 woodwork is a surprisingly powerful memory.

“I loved school and was very studious, but would never like it when teachers told me I couldn’t do something. People always used to underestimate me – but I don’t think they do now.

“I loved woodwork and one of the first projects we got to build was a cam machine.”

No - I didn’t know either, so Rowena explains

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

SUMMER 15

The teacher said ‘You can’t do that, you’re being ridiculous, but I proved him wrong that it is a length of dowling with concentric circles threaded on to it at various points so that when you turn a handle the dowling moves the circles up at various points, creating a moving model, of, she suggests, a rabbit popping up and down.

“But I wasn’t interested in the rabbit idea – I wanted to do a big whale whose mouth would open and water would spout out the top and its tail would go up and down. The teacher said ‘You can’t do that, you’re being ridiculous,’ but I proved him wrong.

“I had a very clear vision as a child and a

18

student of what I could achieve and how to go about doing it. If the teachers didn’t believe it then we clashed, but not very often, because they soon realised what I was capable of.

“I think now secondary education would have recognised my aptitude for business and channelled that, but back then it was ‘you’re good at Biology, you’re clever, so get a degree where you can get a job at the end of it in the NHS’.

Johnson left school at 15 and went straight to college chasing that degree. Being a keen footballer – including playing for York City Ladies – led to her wanting to be a physiotherapist. She got A-levels in biology, psychology and art at college and then went on to university to get the physiotherapy degree and is a qualified practitioner.

Work in Hull helping teach people how to walk again after neurological catastrophes honed the very likeable personality sitting at ‘The Table’ with me, dishing out the coffee and fielding enthusiastic Border Terrier Charlie, who obviously believes I’m here to talk to him.

“I love helping people, so working with older people and the physiotherapy work was a wonderful part of the job. But using your initiative can sometimes be frowned upon in the NHS and it drove me mad that everyone was pulling together to help the patient and yet some had a chip on their shoulder about what role they had to play and how you couldn’t cross certain lines.”

So with the woodwork teacher put in his place and NHS protocol given a good kicking, you start to put together the pieces that make up Rowena Johnson and help her stand back up again when she gets knocked down.

The next knock came when she was passed over for a physio job even though she had been in the role for 12 months. She felt let down and decided to pursue another interest – advertising copywriting for medical firms, including copy for pharmaceutical websites. It was during this time and a visit to Spain that she made contacts and set up the Peruviankids

SUMMER 15

clothing website and stall, which soon took over from the copywriting.

Noticing a lot of admiring glances for Saskia’s brightly-coloured cardigan back from one of those trips abroad, Johnson had started to look for similar clothing, borrowed £2,000 from her mum for stock, which she paid back in three months, and now works with a wellorganised co-operative over in Peru. She has since signed two leases on the same day for two shops on the Shambles in York – and will soon be rebranding as Essence of Peru. Does she ever slow down?

“I don’t believe I am incapable of doing anything. There is absolutely no reason why I can’t develop a product and sell it all over the world at the same time as running a market stall in York.

“I don’t like people making assumptions that because I’m female and fairly young I can’t do certain things. It p***** me off.

“People can get overwhelmed by business – and it’s not overwhelming. There is a lot to do, but you are dealing with human beings at the end of the day and selling something. It doesn’t matter what scale that’s on.”

She had the idea for Bugbrush in 2006, got help and funding from Business Link, got a patent and found a graphics design company to start visualising the end product. But there were testing times ahead.

“When people have an idea, they think ‘great – I’ll get it patented and manufactured and get it to market. But what you actually need to do is go back to the drawing board and assess whether the product is compliant and manufacturable.

“I didn’t know what I was doing - I just had this great idea. I was advised to licence the Intellectual property to the big companies, which seemed to make great sense – I didn’t want to be setting up a manufacturing plant.

“I got in front of Proctor & Gamble, Wisdom and GlaxoSmithKline and they all liked the idea, but there were questions about the design and they wanted more prototypes and more information. There was a lot of time wasted not knowing what I was doing wrong and I had already spent about £18,000 on prototype costs and IP.” So it was literally back to the drawing board with product engineer Richard Hall and, with

ENTREPRENEUR

the help of a growth voucher scheme worth £5,000, more designs were agreed and the BugBrush became the product she now has in front of her.

But – and by now you will be getting a clear view of the brick walls you may have to scale if you are thinking of developing a product – there were more challenges to come. Despite early coverage on Radio 2 and the BBC’s Money programme, the big companies still couldn’t commit and Johnson had to plan for production herself. A bid to get on The Apprentice to raise her profile fell just short of the final selection and the Dragons’ Den didn’t have deep enough pockets.

Then a bitter battle to retrieve her dream from a business partner took its toll.

“I was deflated, exhausted and at rock bottom,” she says. “July 2014 was the most stressful month of my life. I was organising and paying for my wedding, while trying to secure money for tooling costs and was in this legal battle with my business partner.” But she is not a woman who gives up. As she says at one point: “I won’t walk away from anything.

Even if it’s something as trivial as opening the lid on a jam jar - I can’t just leave it.”

11 September 2014 became a key day for the future of the business, Johnson was flying to Cologne for a major fair, she had paid off her business partner and won back control of the crucial website and - ten minutes before the taxi arrived to take her to the airport - she set up Facebook and Twitter accounts to promote BugBrush. The fair went well and

19

interest started growing.

A driving force behind this whole venture – even when she was too young to realise it – has been Saskia herself. So what is the future for her after her mum’s high benchmark?

“I want to teach her about business so that she understands when I can pass on my other businesses.

“I think it is really good for a family to have a legacy. It was sad that my great-grandma had to sell the brewery and take the recipe for sarsaparilla to her grave.

“I don’t think I feel responsible for providing a business for when Saskia leaves school, but I certainly have lots of ideas and advice to give to her. I won’t be telling her that I have a great idea and she should be doing it, because she will do it off her own back. But I will help her.

“She already talks a lot about what she wants to be doing. She comes up with some really cool hairstyles but says she doesn’t want to be a hairdresser – ‘but if I had my own salon....’, so she already appreciates the difference between working for someone and having your own business.”

Johnson’s path to business achievement with Peruviankids and BugBrush is remarkable, but studded with setbacks and challenges that make her big paper round and trips under the vending machine seem like child’s play.

Read back through the article and ask yourself at what stage you might have given up.

If you wouldn’t – then you’re either already an entrepreneur or you will be one. n

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

INTERVIEW

SUMMER 15

Well-weathered leather and sunlight on chrome mean different things to different people. If the combination means something special to you, you would get on well with Deloitte’s Martin Jenkins, as Mike Hughes found out Rush. For Martin Jenkins, it is not an instruction, but a passion.

The very word will immediately attract his attention, but not in a hurried, frantic way.

This is Martin’s other life – the rock band balancing the senior partner role at Deloitte.

He has been following Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart around the world for many years – ‘encouraging’ his family to join him and develop their own appreciation of lyrics like those heading this article.

The former choral scholar at Hereford Cathedral admits that if he had been asked what his career was going to be, at an early stage he would have said professional musician. But university took over and his natural skills in professional services came to the fore. “I have been with the firm for 26 years now, joining as a graduate in Leeds,” he tells me. “I worked for a while in London and then came back with a brief to build a corporate finance business. We started with a blank sheet of paper, against some significant corporate players.

“By 1999-2000 we were recognised as players ourselves and have remained very focussed and committed, as we have generally as a practice.”

The bond with the area and its success is plain to see. Jenkins came here from London in 1989 and is now ‘home’.

“I have never had any desire to leave and nor could I ever envisage any scenario where I would want to leave Yorkshire. It is a fantastic

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

county in which to live and work.

“When I was choosing where to work, I remember vividly weighing up Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds and what swayed me – apart from my wife telling me Yorkshire was the place to live – was an article in the FT which I still have. It predicted that Leeds would be the second financial sector in a decade, and it is now beyond doubt that Leeds has established itself as a premier league city in a number of sectors, of which financial services is unquestionably one.”

The evolution of the region backs those early predictions. With its early reputation built on manufacturing, it is the new, adapted, highly specialised engineering around manufacturing that is making waves today.

“We have survived the drift to the East and manufacturing is still part of the foundation on which Yorkshire is built. The region has been brilliant in evolving the expertise in those new areas – and financial services are at the

centre of that, developing business to reflect the local economy.

“If you go back to when the area was dominated by heavy industry, textiles and coal mining and if you would have predicted we would have the sort of balanced economy we have now, people would have said that was quite a big ask. But we have stepped up.”

After 26 years with Deloitte, Jenkins knows that it is great leaders that make a great business. He is one of them, and he values his own team and recognises the value of the bosses and workforce in thousands of Yorkshire companies, from the vast to the start-ups.

“Technology has its part to play because you need the tools in order to grow businesses, but if you have great leadership and build a culture within your business of innovation and outstanding customer service, and you can be agile, then there are these entrepreneurial businesses that can succeed.

“Understanding your clients is absolutely >>

I have never had any desire to leave and nor could I ever envisage any scenario where I would want to leave Yorkshire

20

A LEADER IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE

21

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

INTERVIEW

SUMMER 15

key, I am able to spend the vast majority of my time working with clients – and that is at it should be. My role is about leadership, but we are privileged to lead a company that is full of really outstanding people.

“I am blessed with many good managers there are 550 staff based at Leeds - so I have always characterised my role as not all about management, it’s about inspiring people, building teams and enabling them to achieve their potential.”

Like the leading universities, Jenkins and his Deloitte team are making entrepreneurs out of their own staff and effectively creating spin-out businesses that they can run. That goal energises staff and creates revenue, but it also adds invaluable experience of the way entrepreneurs think and the obstacles they need to clear.

“When I am recruiting, I look for that combination of IQ and EQ – a passion and energy. It is also about having empathy. They need that spark and understanding of what they are taking on.”

Jenkins has now closed around 140 deals in Yorkshire - “I have a log somewhere, but I haven’t updated it for a while” - for all sizes of business. “It is a measure of experience, certainly, and I think that has real value in what people are looking for in an adviser,” he says. “It is one of the great joys of what I do, building up that incredible experience with people across that spectrum from single digit multi-million pound deals to £780m deals. You interact and work with many fantastic people and build a network of contacts.

“But above all, you learn so much and bring so much by way of perspective to future situations.”Those situations are spread across many sectors. The scope of audit tendering, for example, has changed dramatically with regulatory pressure for audit rotation, and with the likes of Tescos moving to Deloitte after 32 years with PwC, the landscape and workload are shifting again.

“The trend with the tender process is now

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

Leeds has established itself as a premier league city in a number of sectors

for companies to change auditors rather than retain them. I think it is a great opportunity for the development and growth of our audit practice as we increase our footprint in the market.” With so much in his in-tray other pursuits are important to help him switch off.

“Music is a big part of my life,” he admits.

“My children are both musical and my wife is musical. But on the drive home, I am as likely to be accompanied by Wagner as something a bit more recent.

“I also like walking and will be taking a week off work to walk the Cleveland Way for Maggie’s cancer charity. I’m the only madman doing it from start to finish, but there are a number of colleagues and clients who will be joining me as daily co-walkers.

“The other passion is historic buildings, particularly cathedrals, having had my formative years at a choir school in Hereford.”

The music and the buildings will come together rather well for a very special holiday this year when Jenkins will return to Hereford for the Three Choirs festival, which he has been

22

attending since it began in 1979.

Time off is ring-fenced in the Jenkins household. “For the first few years, when you are trying to prove yourself as a partner, striking that balance between work and your home and family is really hard. But I think the turning point for me was when my daughter, when she was about 8, started doing impersonations of me walking around the pool with a Blackberry stuck to my ear. The penny dropped and my wife said ‘Martin, you need to get a life’.

“My philosophy is that if you have a great team of people around you at work, then you don’t do them justice if, when you go away, you create the impression that you are indispensible. You are not.”

His next few weeks will be spent working on three significant new tenders and kicking off a couple of major projects his team have won – as well as fitting in a few warm-up walks for that Cleveland Way challenge.

He may not think he is indispensible, but inarguably Martin Jenkins is pivotal and rightly valued by Yorkshire businesses. n

SUMMER 15

COMPANY PROFILE

Pushing ahead Danielle Dixon, founder of Kinder Haven means business. Her ever expanding group of nurseries is already making life better for parents across West Yorkshire, but she won’t stop there By the end of its next financial year Kinder Haven is projected to have grown by 124% in turnover since 2013.

The business, which is co-owned by husband and wife Darren and Danielle Dixon opened in 2002 and is a labour of love.

Danielle says she “wasn’t an academic achiever”, but she did better than she expected at school and went on to study a BTEC National Diploma at Bradford College. She says “during my studies I loved discovering how children learn. I knew then that this would be my career.”

She says “I absolutely loved my first job in a nursery. It’s all I talked about. I told my husband Darren I wanted my own nursery, but we couldn’t afford it. Then Darren set me a challenge – he said if I could convince him, we could do it – but it would be a huge risk for us, so I knew this wouldn’t be easy. I went on a business course in my evenings whilst pregnant with my second child.

I actually sat my test the day before I gave birth!”

Danielle went on to write a business plan and to convince Darren that the business was viable. A pub on Sticker Lane in Bradford became their first nursery. Danielle says “We couldn’t really afford it and we weren’t sure we’d be able to achieve it.

We ended up selling our house and our cars - we cashed in everything that we had. We had made a huge sacrifice to make it work.”

When Danielle and Darren bought the pub they were both working full time jobs and developing the nursery at night time, whilst living upstairs in one room with their children. They didn’t have hot water or heating, so were relying on friends and family for baths. Danielle says “it was really difficult. It took us 11 months to get ready to open the nursery. Then we recruited some staff and Darren and I gave up our jobs.”

“Three months after opening the Sticker Lane nursery it was full. That was a big achievement as I had expected it to take 18 months. So after three months we recruited again and developed another room in the building to accommodate children.

Shafiq Khan, Partner at BHP with Danielle Dixon

This filled quickly too, and we have had a waiting list since. We got lots of referrals and started to develop a name in the sector, with parents asking us to open nurseries in other areas.”

Since then Kinder Haven has opened five more nurseries and has won multiple awards for being one of the best nursery groups in the country.

Kinder Haven’s latest nursery opened in Horsforth in May this year and is taking bookings. With high security CCTV and an extensive outdoor play area, in addition to Kinder Haven’s expertise, it will be interesting to see how long it takes before this nursery is fully booked too.

So, what next for Kinder Haven? Danielle says “Now is a time for consolidating, continuing to make sure we have the best staff, with a continuous training programme, and that we always fulfil the needs of the parents who use us. But we’re keeping our options open – we will continue to assess the market and reflect on changes in the environment we work in.”

23

DANIELLE DIXON ON BHP “BHP is supportive in understanding how we work as a company and our expectations. Shafiq has guided us and enabled us to understand how to be more financially viable and more efficient with our time.”

Start the conversation today.

Call Shafiq Khan on 0333 123 7171 or visit www.bhp.co.uk for more information on how BHP can help you.

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

ENTREPRENEUR

SUMMER 15

All entrepreneurs need a product to get themselves noticed. But what happens when YOU are the product that’s attracting all the interest? BQ Yorkshire Editor Mike Hughes meets a young man with a lot on his plate, Joe Carnell of fresh food chain Ugot Technically, I’m old enough to be Joe Carnell’s grandfather - which makes me swear quietly at the same time as reminding me why I should be very impressed with this 21-year-old entrepreneur.

Food, music and style would seem to sum up Harrogate lad Joe. Each is important to him and have helped shape his character and give him the foundation for his endless drive. He is a T-shirt and jeans sort of guy, looks very healthy (although I’m pretty sure I looked OK at 21....) and can’t sit still at a table for more than a few moments.

Mix those ingredients together and the smoothie that pours out is the reason why customers and supporters are following his work closely.

He runs Ugot – a healthy eatery chain with just two links so far – at York railway station, where he has been for a year and a half and at Newcastle railway station for the last eight months.

“At the railway stations, everything revolves around speed, selection and accessibility.

We had to make it as exciting an experience as possible, but also be aware that passengers have around seven minutes from getting off one train to getting on

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

BUILDING THIS BRAND IS A PIECE OF CAKE their next one,” he says.

“So for us, as a new chain, we needed to persuade people to spend three of those minutes with us when there were the likes of Costa or Starbucks just across the way.

“For us, a lot of it was based around selection,

24

so that when a customer comes in looking for a particular thing, we are not alienating them.

We need to have the selection and make it quick, by having simple things like two serving points and more fridges.”

Carnell’s confidence in his ability to at least >>

SUMMER 15

ENTREPRENEUR

Your business is our business Start the conversation today. Call us on 0333 123 7171 or visit www.bhp.co.uk

25

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

ENTREPRENEUR give the big boys a run for their money starts to show through as he highlights his competitors’ gaps and traps which he is determined to bridge and avoid. “The bigger operations are doing a great job, but I think they can lose touch with what the market wants. They are too focused on feeding the nation to be able to bring out a complete vegan range, where the other independent side of the market sometimes seems more interested in what you’re wearing than what you’re eating.

“It will be ideal to strike that balance where Ugot is accessible and fun, providing good healthy food without being pretentious.”

Those were the basic principles Carnell set out for Ugot (although the name was made up, it turns out to be Hebrew for cake) but they are the same steps that many young challengers would take. Which is where Brand Carnell needed to show its value as the chain’s USP. He left school when he was 19 and was offered places at his top five universities to study Economics and Business Management.

But – and brace yourselves parents – he decided he didn’t want to wait to start a business so he turned them all down.

“I sat there and thought that I could spend three years of my life studying, but I had been brought up in an entrepreneurial way, with my mum running restaurants and my dad in tech companies. So it was a bold decision, but I decided not to go to university. I didn’t really give my parents a choice.

“I had looked at tech start-ups, but it was Catch-22 - you needed to get £100,000 to set up, but nobody would talk to you until you had it set up.

“I had always been aware of trends after travelling in London and the USA. One of the big things out in the States is that people will travel miles for the right froyo. Frozen yoghurt is the new coffee culture. But we just don’t have the season for it over here, so I thought let’s just bring across that healthy and cold-press ethos and see what is being done in the UK.”

SUMMER 15

It was a bold decision, but I decided not to go to university.

I didn’t really give my parents a choice All the recipes – organic and locally sourced, of course – come from Carnell and his team and are brought together by Health Kitchen in Wetherby, with a particular focus on intolerance-based products for vegans and coeliacs.

Being on a gluten-free diet himself helped Carnell to fine-tune this approach, as he found it hard to track down food his system could handle.

“I spent four years travelling backwards and forwards to school down south (the £10,000 a term Uppingham in Rutland) and eating burgers. The result of that was water retention and bloating. But I was struggling to find the right food that tasted better than unhealthy food.

“I thought ‘wow – this is extremely frustrating’ and I wondered if this was what I found over six months, imagine what people with an extremely busy lifestyle are going through. So we did a lot of research around York and Leeds and I was all set to launch my first site at Trinity Leeds – I even had the press release written.

“Then East Coast got in touch and asked me to come into York station because they wanted more independent brands.”

The offer was a Grade II Listed “cupboard under the stairs” that had been the original lastminute.com store before it stood empty for 15 years.

Carnell’s response was “Give me three weeks

and I’ll be open”.

With the right demographic, a good footfall and relatively low overheads, it was a great start and with contacts from his dad’s property work and his mum’s food business the opening day was in his sights.

“I learned a message that I would pass on to anyone in this position – everyone has something to offer. So be nice, be civil to people you work with. You have to be direct and know what you want, but in a way that shows the passion you have.

“I am looking at a couple of new businesses now – things that I might not have had the confidence for a while ago. But now I have that confidence and know what I need, and I have those connections already in place.

“I know how to market a brand and what makes people buy into that brand.”

Given that a large part of Brand Ugot is Carnell, getting staff and support ‘scaffolding’ around him that also buy into that brand is critical. Any young entrepreneur faces that moment when they have to let go of a small part of what they have built up and trust someone else with it.

That also brings the realisation that you can’t take all the credit all the time. When you start out it’s all about you. The press and the customers and the suppliers circle you like moons around a new planet. But at some stage, to allow the dream to grow, you have to bring in support. And because they have to be really good, they will deserve their share of the credit and soon the business is still yours, but you have to start getting comfortable with saying ‘I couldn’t have done it without.....’.

“If you can’t get your corporate mix right, you are never going to be able to do anything else,” says Carnell.

“The first thing I look for in new staff is passion, because you can’t teach that. They can learn how to run a business and drive sales, but they need to see how much passion I’m investing in the business and want to be a part of something that is exciting. We give them all

Your business is our business Start the conversation today. Call us on 0333 123 7171 or visit www.bhp.co.uk

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

26

SUMMER 15

three weeks of intensive training in why we do what we do at Ugot.

“I don’t want to see anyone waiting behind a counter if there is no-one in the shop. Get out there and talk to them, educate them about us.” A key part of the Ugot brand is support from music giant Jamal Edwards. This multi-millionaire 24-year-old made his fortune with music videos that his company SBTV put on YouTube and is now also making his mark in the clothing sector. He was made an MBE in the New Year Honours List and has invested in Carnell’s future.

“I was thinking of ways of promoting the brand with the music press and at the same time there was this guy in London who was best friends with Ed Sheeran and was making waves. I met Jamal on the street and asked for his card, went to the city to meet him and pitched the idea to him.

“His first reaction was ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about – I don’t really get it’. So I explained it more and more and while he admitted he knew nothing about food, he told me he was passionate like me. He understood I wasn’t there just to use him and that he would put his name to it and help us build the hype.

“He isn’t involved in the day to day running of the business, but he helps me market the brand and tells me what I should be getting involved with to link to the brand. He’s been a massive help.”

In return, Ugot hosts performances at its station venues, giving acts a chance to access a wider audience with a live gig. The acts are filmed and sent to Jamal, who picks the

ENTREPRENEUR

best to appear in his hugely influential website, sbtv.co.uk.

Carnell is also setting up a music network with the likes of Generator magazine to help more young singers and groups.

“I have seen so many bands that impressed me - that I would offer a contract to if I could so I think we are perfectly poised to act for the industry. I’d be a singer myself if I could actually sing.....”

Behind the vision and the image, there needs to be cold hard cash. So far Joe has not needed to trouble the big lenders, but with plans for the next Ugots to be city centre standalones and for perhaps around 30 sites in the next five years, money has to be on his mind.

“So far, I have had to beg, borrow and steal from whoever I can. The whole venture is privately funded, mainly from family and friends. That’s because it was easier – banks tend to be put off by a lack of experience but these people knew me. Although some of them have been in my life since I was born, so it was kind of weird going to them and asking if I could borrow £20,000.”

That approach enables an early launch, but it brings with it a great responsibility towards the people you care about most. But if the confidence is there, it also buys you the next step forward (in Joe’s case this was the first York store) which then opens the door to the banks, who can see something to invest in.

“Now I’m talking to private investors, banks, VCs and various funds to back the expansion, as long as it isn’t just a monetary thing – I

27

want them to buy into the passion as well. I’ve already turned down £500,000 from one guy in London because he wanted too much of the company. I don’t think he was interested in what we were doing, maybe he just wanted somewhere to hide his money.”

Carnell’s motives for his future and that of the Ugot brand are clearer. As he says, he has no intention of “sitting on his arse” waiting for something to happen.

When he was setting up his Newcastle site, his mum closed one of her neighbouring Filmore & Union restaurants because Ugot was making a bigger impression. That’s an awkward one to bring up at the next family dinner, but it illustrates a rare depth of commitment and confidence.

“I’ll never change what I am”, he says.

“People who believe in me know that I have shown over the last two years that I can perform, which can result in tangible bricks and mortar progress and – at the moment – about £60k net profit a year.

“I love what I do and the buzz of having a lot of work on. Someone passed on a great quote to me: ‘Work and work until your idols are your rivals.’ Leon restaurants in London were our idols when we started out and yesterday they followed us on Instagram, which means they are on our case. They wouldn’t connect with us if they weren’t interested.

“That’s great. We’re getting there day by day.”

It might not take too many more days for Joe Carnell’s name to become easily recognised and for Ugot to be a regular fixture around the region. n

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

INSPIRATIONAL, MULTI AWARD WINNING MEETING & EVENT SPACE

BOWCLIFFE HALL, BRAMHAM, WETHERBY LS23 6LP

BOWCLIFFEHALL.CO.UK

ARE YOU READY YORKSHIRE? LET’S GROW! In association with

SPECIAL FEATURE AIMING FOR A BIGGER SLICE Spotlighting two businesses with aspirations

LET’S MAKE A DIFFERENCE Nigel Pulling is looking for impact and value for money

A GAME CHANGER

Alastair MacColl explains how Let’s Grow creates prosperity

WELCOME

SUMMER 15

LET’S BE AMBITIOUS AND LET’S GROW The hugely successful Let’s Grow programme, which awards Regional Growth Fund money to boost job creation, is coming to Yorkshire!

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

Let’s Grow North & East Yorkshire has been given £4 million from the Regional Growth Fund’s round 6 programme to share out between now and March 2017. It is expected the money will help generate 400 jobs and will leverage around £28m of private sector investment.

This is great news for growing businesses across the area. It will help them realise their ambitions, support their expansion and create the job opportunities that underpin the local economy.

The money will be awarded to businesses which submit an application because they are investing in expansion, R&D, training and employment in North Yorkshire, City of York and the East Riding of Yorkshire.

The programme will be delivered by Business & Enterprise Commercial Limited (BEC), part of the BE Group, in partnership with Clive Owen LLP chartered accountants, and is an extension of a £60m Let’s Grow in the North East, which received funding in RGF round 3 and round 5.

Let’s Grow North & East Yorkshire is focused on manufacturing businesses and service sector businesses. Grant support can be offered to projects of £125,000 or more , which offer the highest levels of impact and the best value for money.

It is open to businesses of all sizes, but non-SMEs will only be eligible in exceptional circumstances.

Full details of how to apply are featured on

30

the following pages, but as a brief guide, successful applications must create or safeguard jobs within the applicant company; be planning expenditure on capital assets and/or R&D or training (as part of a capital investment project); make a clear case for needing grant support; have adequate private sector funding for the project and must all comply with the prevailing State Aid regulations.

The name helps sum up the effect Let’s Grow can have on a region, like the millions that have already helped the North East. We want North Yorkshire, City of York and the East Riding of Yorkshire to grow with the help of the grants.

As with so many projects in Yorkshire, it is all about teamwork. Let’s Grow could be the new member of your team that helps you drive towards your biggest targets and helps the regional economy to prosper.

So, are you the kind of firm that deserves a helping hand? Are you aspirational, with a business plan that will mean jobs for the region? Then Let’s Grow can help you.

There will be a panel of Yorkshire’s leading experts judging each application. They are firm, but fair, and will rigorously test your company’s business plan.

But if they share your belief and confidence in what you can do for Yorkshire, and the jobs you can provide, then the money is there to back your ambition. n

ARE YOU READY YORKSHIRE? LET’S GROW!

SUMMER 15

LET’S MAKE A DIFFERENCE Nigel Pulling, Chairman of the Let’s Grow North & East Yorkshire Investment Panel, says he and his colleagues will be looking for “impact and value for money” Once applicants for the new Let’s Grow grants have been checked for eligibility and objectives, their plans get sent on to the Investment Panel for the final decisions.

The panel has 12 members, all from the local business community, with representatives from the Local Enterprise Partnership and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

It can approve or decline applications to ensure that public funds are spent wisely – invested where they will add the most value and deliver the greatest impact in terms of jobs and growth in the local economy.

The huge success of the Let’s Grow

ARE YOU READY YORKSHIRE? LET’S GROW!

programme in the North East suggests that around 70% of applications submitted to the panel will be approved, and Panel chairman Nigel Pulling said applicants need to fulfil a number of targets.

“The Investment Panel is looking for several specific qualities in every application. By the time an application gets to us, it will have been sifted by the Let’s Grow team to ensure that it is eligible and fits with the aims and objectives of the Regional Growth Fund.

“The team will have done some work with every applicant to ensure that their project plan is robust and their financial projections

31

PANEL

stack up, so when it gets to us, we can look at the impact and value for money aspects in more detail.

“We are looking for projects where the grant makes a real difference to the business and to the project going ahead. Most successful applications argue that the grant is needed to mitigate project risks, such as delays or technical obstacles, which would lead to lower levels of profit.

“We are looking for projects that have adequate finance and are ‘ready to go’ because the funds must be spent by March 2017 at the latest.

“Job impact is also vital to the scheme’s success, so we always consider the number of jobs to be created or safeguarded.”

As a general guideline the grant award could be as much as £8,500 for every job created or safeguarded, which should highlight the importance of a carefully considered business plan that is going to make a difference to the regional economy.

Show Pulling and his panel how you will create ten jobs and they would reward you with anything up to £85,000. Keep doing the maths and you can see how important the money could be.

As he summarises: “We look for well-run, professional businesses that need a little support to help them realise their expansion plans.” n If you think you fit the bill, fill in an application and let’s grow!

How to apply to the fund The Let’s Grow programme is available to businesses based in North Yorkshire, the City of York and the East Riding of Yorkshire and is focused on manufacturing businesses and service sector businesses which offer more than a local service.

For more information or to apply to Let’s Grow: Telephone: 0191 389 8434.

E-mail: letsgrow@be-group.co.uk

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

Alastair MacColl, chief executive of the BE Group, says Let’s Grow is “an essential incentive to attract inward investment”

THIS FUND IS A REAL GAME CHANGER The Regional Growth Fund statistics prove what a game-changer it has been for regional economies.

Since Nick Clegg launched it in 2010, more than 100,000 jobs have been created with a further 480,000 expected by the mid-2020s.

For every £1 the government has invested, the private sector has put in £5.50, meaning the total investment is now expected to attract £16 billion of private sector support.

Earlier this year the then deputy prime minister announced a major expansion , saying: “A stronger economy means providing equal opportunity for everyone across the UK, rather than solely relying on the City of London to bolster UK business. The success of the RGF is proof that putting money in the hands of local businesses helps them flourish and creates opportunities for more people to work locally.”

As part of that announcement the BE Group and Clive Owen LLP have been able to confirm

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

this new £4m Let’s Grow programme, which launched on Friday 19 June and is now inviting expressions of interest from businesses.

Alastair MacColl, chief executive of the BE Group said: “The programme is supported by the York, North York and East Riding Enterprise Partnership as well as North Yorkshire County Council, East Riding of Yorkshire Council, City of York Council and seven district/borough councils: Craven, Hambleton, Harrogate, Richmondshire, Ryedale, Scarborough and Selby.

“The Let’s Grow programme will represent the region’s most significant business grant programme supporting SME growth while providing an essential incentive to attract inward investment.

“It is currently recruiting an Investment Panel.

Chaired by Nigel Pulling, Chief Executive of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, and made up of representatives from both the private and

32

public sectors, the panel will provide impartial guidance and help to shape decisions on how the fund is awarded.

“We have built a formidable Let’s Grow partnership in this area, bringing together our local enterprise partnership, local authorities and private sector business leaders from a wide range of sectors. All working together to generate growth, jobs and prosperity.

“This Regional Growth Fund initiative is fantastic news for ambitious businesses in York, North Yorkshire and the East Riding.

It will help those businesses to realise their ambitions and support their expansion plans.

It is also great news for all those that live, work and study in our region because, bottom line, Let’s Grow is about creating sustainable and valuable jobs.

“I would urge those businesses out there with ambitious growth plans to get in touch with the Let’s Grow team now.’ n

ARE YOU READY YORKSHIRE? LET’S GROW!

SUMMER 15

INTERVIEW

HOW WE MAKE SURE THE PROJECTS ADD UP Neville Baldry, a Partner at Clive Owen LLP accountants, gives the inside story of how Let’s Grow will work For more than 30 years, Clive Owen has looked after the financial affairs of businesses from its offices in Darlington, Durham and York.

Over that time, it has gained particular expertise in grants and State Aid, which has put it in pole position for work with the Regional Growth Fund. With around £140m of work in that sector already completed, it was a natural partner with BE Group for the Let’s Grow programme.

“We have been quite a prolific adviser on Let’s Grow,” said partner Neville Baldry, “putting in about 40 applications for the North East scheme alone.

“So we got to know the Let’s Grow team pretty well and also did some work with the LEP on a scheme in North Yorkshire and East Riding.

“The LEP had done such a good job in getting the message out about grants in an area that traditionally has never really benefited from grant support, that when we knew that scheme was due to end BE Group’s Simon Allen and I agreed to put a bid in to RGF for round six and basically replicate the North East success.”

The bid went in in September last year and in February the team was told it would have £4m to help businesses grow and provide new jobs.

Baldry and his team will now have the task of appraising the applications that will come flooding in.

“The applications are put to an investment panel of experienced individuals to see which projects they want to support,” explained Baldry.

“Then it comes to us for appraisal to make sure it is State Aid compliant, that the sums add up and that there is a realistic chance of the project happening and delivering the jobs.”

ARE YOU READY YORKSHIRE? LET’S GROW!

There is a clarity about the Let’s Grow programme that seems to appeal to applicants, with a clear path to apply, and a process that can only benefit firms, whether they are successful or not.

“There isn’t a great deal else in terms of business support out there. We looked at the statistics and they showed that growth in North Yorkshire and the whole East Riding was going to be lagging behind growth in the whole country.

“So it was clear to us that they needed some sort of stimulus to help. Also, one of the reasons behind the creation of the RGF was to rebalance the economy where there have been job losses in the public sector, which makes up a very high proportion of the jobs in North Yorkshire.

“This scheme helps the private sector expand and create new sustainable jobs and rebalance the economy.

“It is very rewarding work, working with ambitious companies who want to grow and helping them to achieve it. This might not have happened without the grant, which shifts the balance in their favour.”

So, does he have any tips for Let’s Grow applicants?

“I would urge them to make a full assessment of the risks involved in the project, because that will be the justification for the grant support.

Understand where the risks are and attempt to quantify them.

“Think it through carefully and thoroughly, which is what the application forms encourage them to do.” Which is certainly what Baldry and his team will be offering - a careful and thorough assessment of the best companies to take the area forward. n

This scheme helps the private sector expand and create new sustainable jobs and rebalance the economy

33

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

CASE STUDY One and half pork pies is enough to get my mouth watering.

Now try to picture one and a half MILLION of the meat and pastry marvels. That’s what Vale of Mowbray can turn out each week to satisfy the demands of customers around the country.

Operational Director Mark Gatenby has big plans and high praise for the help his firm has had from the Regional Growth Fund.

We are investing around £9m in the future of the company and the grant of £620,000 has obviously contributed greatly to that.”

Jobs have always been a key part of the RGF equation, and Vale of Mowbray is well on track to fulfil its side of the deal, with more than 60 new jobs planned to add to the current headcount of 241. Forty new jobs have already been created - with 22 to go. The company has been traditionally baking pork pies at Leeming Bar in North Yorkshire since 1928, and the huge investment is a sign of a company confident of its long-held reputation and eager to plan for a long-term future. “We are expanding capacity by roughly 50%, but within the new build we are also closing one of our old bakeries and re-locating all staff and some equipment into the new bakery,” explained Gatenby. “So some of the new area is being taken up with that move, and some is giving us that increase in production capacity.

“It is a huge change in the culture of Vale of Mowbray, everything is going to be much more modern, more automated and more efficient in baking and cooling – but with the same trusted recipe. ”The history of the firm goes back more than 200 years, to when it was the Vale of Mowbray Brewery from 1798 to 1925.

After the business focused on pies after 1928, it was run by the Rider family until 1961, when Harris Bacon took over for 20 years.

In 1982 it was purchased by Hillsdown Holdings, which was followed by an MBO in 1995. 2002 saw a radical change, but for all the wrong reasons. A huge blaze destroyed the main bakery and the rebuilding of the company started at its new site on Leases Road the following year. Since then the Vale of Mowbray recipe for success has taken their pies all over the country and the new plans are a big vote of confidence in the marketplace.

“The business is going pretty well at the moment and we feel that there are

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

SUMMER 15

Grant schemes like Let’s Grow are using Regional Growth Fund money to help transform businesses across the county.

Mike Hughes spoke to two bosses whose aspirational plans have already won their companies RGF support

AIMING FOR A BIGGER SLICE opportunities out there,” said Gatenby.

“There has been a shift in various market forces over the last year and a half. All our existing customers are in growth and we are now in other multiples, so we will grow that over the next 12 to 18 months.”

The quality and history of the brand are key assets, and with customers like Iceland stocking Vale of Mowbray, the profile is as high as ever.

“About 80% of the pork pie market nationally is own-label from the supermarkets, so it is often quite a battle. But in one form or another we are in all the Big Four

34

supermarkets, Asda, Tescos, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s as well as Iceland.

“Fundamentally, the recipe hasn’t changed since 1928. Obviously, we have moved with the times and are very experienced at making sure the pies are as healthy as possible, including things like salt levels. We work hard to maintain the flavour - because that is what the customers enjoy - and be compliant with all the regulations.” That mix of expansion, vision, confidence and the personal relationship with its customers has stood the firm in good stead and looks like it will do so for years to come. n

ARE YOU READY YORKSHIRE? LET’S GROW!

SUMMER 15

CASE STUDY

MILITARIA BUSINESS ON THE MARCH Hills Interiors is also using RGF money to grow the business and create jobs and prosperity You would think that being the UK’s leading importers and distributors of wholesale replica militaria would be enough for some firms.

But open the doors at Hill Interiors in Burneston, North Yorkshire and you’ll see how big the success story is. The company offers more than 4,000 products to the trade, from armour and swords to interiors, art and garden features. It’s no surprise that MD Nik Hill

ARE YOU READY YORKSHIRE? LET’S GROW!

needs more space and is using the company’s RGF grant to help add 24,000 square feet to the site, bringing the grand total up to an impressive 100,000 square feet.

Hill, whose father Graham founded the business in 1975, says his business is all about planning ahead and the new space will be put to good use very soon.“The floor has gone down already – and in a couple of more weeks it will be watertight. It’s more than just a shell we’re building, there is a mezzanine floor and

35

all the essential fittings like fire alarms. We are a growing firm, but we wouldn’t have been able to do it all without help from the RGF. “We were 50-50 about whether we were going to do it, but the grant gave us that push to crack on with it. It was coming to the end of the RGF scheme, so we had to move quite fast, but everything fell into place and the planning went through without any hassle.”

The expansion is a clear example of how the company has adapted to new sectors, found new outlets for its goods and increased its market share. “We used to be quite giftwareoriented, but as the market has changed we have moved more into interiors and items like furniture, mirrors and lighting. Around about 2008 we had to reinvent ourselves, and we were very lucky when we bought the site that we had a couple of acres, so had the space to expand when we needed it. We found a few good suppliers in China that we work very closely with and that has all helped us press ahead. We are really pushing on growth-wise.

We have doubled the turnover in the last four years, which means that we need more staff on board. We always like to take on local people and bring them into the family.”

With the help of the RGF money, that means ten extra staff being added to the 70 existing.

Ten more jobs, ten more wages coming into the household and ten more families better off and spending their hard-earned wages in the local economy – that’s the simple measure of RGF success. n

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

APPLY NOW A new grant scheme for businesses based in North Yorkshire, the City of York and the East Riding of Yorkshire.

The projects we can support are those which: Involve expenditure of £125,000 or more on capital assets or R&D and, where appropriate, training costs as part of a capital investment project Haven’t yet started Will create or safeguard permanent, sustainable jobs Offer good value for money in terms of value of grant per job created Make a clear case for needing grant support Have adequate private sector funding for the project Comply with State Aid regulations

-g r

.uk 0191 389 8 434

let

sgr

ow

@b

e-

gr

ou

p.

c uk

TO

w

w

e .b

.co oup

LET’S GROW YORKSHIRE OPEN NOW FOR APPLICATIONS

o.

AP

PL Y:

w

Will be complete by March 2017

SUMMER 15

COMPANY PROFILE

How well do you know PD Ports?

Teesside is one of the UK’s main industrial centres, globally renowned for its chemical production and offshore activities, as well as engineering and manufacturing facilities, which typically dominate the landscape. The River Tees connects many of these sectors facilitating the movement of goods destined for import and export. At the heart of this activity is Teesport.

Teesport, owned and operated by PD Ports, is the third largest port in the UK by tonnage seeing around 40M tonnes annually, providing a vital trading link with both mainland European and global markets. Teesport employs around 550 people, many of which live within a three mile radius of the Port. PD Ports is one of the largest employers in Teesside with operations in Middlesbrough, Billingham, Hartlepool and Redcar.

The Port handles both bulk and container cargo.

Much of Teesport’s growth in the bulk sector is a result of its strong relationship with SSI UK to export steel produced at its plant in Redcar. Since the blast furnace was reopened in 2012, PD Ports has handled over 7 million tonnes of steel - the equivalent to 2885 Transporter Bridges.

The Port has seen considerable growth in container volumes of over 30% in the last five years and as a Group, has invested over £30M in 2014 to enhance and expand its facilities. This includes significant investment at its No 1 Quay at Teesport, which will enable larger vessels to be handled at any level of tide, and the construction of a dedicated rail terminal.

The container terminals at Teesport have the capacity to handle around 500,000 TEU (twentyfoot equivalent) which, spread out in a straight line would take over 25 days to walk end-to-end.

The Port’s container traffic is shipped around the world through global shipping lines, connecting Teesport to the major hub ports of Europe and over 13 strategic markets.

The state-of-the-art terminal operating system used at Teesport enables PD Ports to identify each container’s owner and stack these appropriately in the yard to provide an efficient and

Teesport - third largest port in the UK

responsive service to customers. This technical intelligence is complemented by a dedicated and skilled workforce.

Further services available to customers are delivered through PD Ports’ dedicated portcentric logistics business, PD Portcentric Logistics. This ranges from storage in a port-located warehouse, transportation to customer-owned facilities or re-working of cargo.

PD Ports currently work with Taylors of Harrogate to facilitate the management of its Yorkshire Tea brand. In 2014 a new warehouse was opened with Taylors of Harrogate at PD Portcentric Logistics’ site in Billingham as a larger alternative to Teesport Commerce Park where goods were previously stored. PD Ports invested £2.5M in the new facility giving Taylors of Harrogate a 105,000 sq. ft. space that is used to store the product and also to collate large bags of tea from different origins which will then assist in the creation of the blends at the Taylors of Harrogate headquarters.

The tea imported annually through Teesport equates to 4.5 billion cups of tea – that’s a fresh cuppa for two third of the world’s population.

As well as operating a thriving port and a successful logistics business, PD Ports is the statutory harbour authority for the River Tees,

37

from the Tees Barrage to the Tees Fairway Buoy at the opening to the North Sea. The Company is responsible for managing the river traffic for the ports of Teesport and Hartlepool, ensuring safe navigation and maintaining the required channel depth.

All the services that PD Ports provides in Teesside are integral to the UK ports industry, as well as the regional and national economies. The continued growth and investment in the Port’s people and infrastructure will enable Teesport to expand its opportunities on a global scale, ensuring a sustainable and bright future for the region’s port.

For more information call 01642 877000 email enquiries@pdports.co.uk, visit our website www.pdports.co.uk or follow us on twitter @pdports

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

SUMMER 15

CBRE to market Leeds gateway site, construction starts on Doncaster business park, Ironworks scheme unveiled and Frank Marshall Estates leases warehouse >> Sweet buzz for CBRE CBRE’s Leeds team has been appointed to market Sweet Street West, a 7.5 acre strategic gateway site in Leeds, on behalf of St James Securities.

Sweet Street West lies adjacent to the northern site boundary of Holbeck Urban Village and is poised to become one of the most dynamic business and residential developments in the UK. Holbeck Urban Village covers an area of 37.5 acres and will create over 5,000 new jobs and attract around £800m in investment. Over the next 10 years 800,000 sq ft of office space and 2,500 residential apartments will be developed. The extensive site has live planning consent for 830 apartments and 250,000 sq ft of office space in a mixed-use scheme which has strong transport links into the city and further afield. Mike Gorman, director at CBRE said; “We are launching this site into the market at an exciting time as this is one of the remaining pieces of land suitable for large scale redevelopment in this area of Leeds. In the last six months, almost 20 acres of land has been sold around this site which has created a real buzz to this opportunity.”

>> More space for SMEs Construction work is well underway on a new speculative multi-let business park in Doncaster to cope with increasing demand for high quality industrial units.

Investor Carnell Management Services is to capitalise on the lack of available small to medium-sized accommodation in the region with the development of 13 units ranging in size from 2,000 to 12,455 sq ft at Bullrush Business Park. Units will be ready to lease from September 2015. Big name occupiers have established themselves in this commercial location including One Call Health, Unipart, DHL, Amazon, B&Q and Morrisons.

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

>> Homes unveiled for Leeds South Bank site Initial proposals have been unveiled for a new residential development – Ironworks – in Leeds’s Holbeck Urban Village [HUV] neighbourhood, located south of the city centre.

The proposed Ironworks scheme features 57 one and two bed apartments, 15 townhouses and 1,900 sq ft of retail space, designed to reinforce the area’s industrial heritage. The planned homes, designed in collaboration with Leeds-based Nick Brown Architects, have been created with Igloo. The homes, located within Leeds South Bank which is set for major redevelopment, will also benefit from greater connectivity to the city centre and to national transport routes via the new southern entrance to Leeds railway station which is due to open this year. This is the first residential scheme to feature houses in the Urban Village for a number of years, marking the next chapter for the area which is currently home to almost 150 fast-growth businesses and seven independent food and drink venues, and was crowned the UK and Ireland’s ‘Best neighbourhood’ at the 2015 Urbanism Awards.

>> Warehouse in record letting Leading Bradford property developers Frank Marshall Estates have concluded the largest industrial property letting in the city this year.

The company, which owns significant commercial assets in Bradford, has leased a 74,000 sq ft warehouse at Uppercroft Mills in Bowling Back Lane to West Yorkshire haulier Peckover Transport, which has taken a five-year lease with an asking rent of £3.25 per sq ft. Edward Marshall, director of Frank Marshall Estates commented: “This is a very significant deal, underlining both the attraction of Uppercroft Mills as a modern industrial park

38

and the strength and buoyancy of the West Yorkshire logistics and distribution sector.

“Peckover Transport join quality occupiers at the 207,000 sq ft Uppercroft Mills, including Crompton Lighting, European Packaging Distribution and Sunwin Services Group.”

Richard Clayton, the managing director of Peckover Transport, commented: “We have invested heavily in this new pallet storage warehouse to cover increased demand from clients. The 74,000 sq ft unit in Bradford is ideally situated close to the motorway network.

This first-class facility has been kitted out with new high bay racking, very narrow aisle, and container specification forklift equipment.”

DISTINCTIVE OFFICE SPACE FOR A DISCERNING BUSINESS

BOWCLIFFE HALL, BRAMHAM, WETHERBY LS23 6LP

BOWCLIFFEHALL.CO.UK

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

40

SUMMER 15

ENTREPRENEUR

PROFESSOR WHO DOES US PROUD She is director of Research and Enterprise, CEO of Huddersfield Enterprise & Innovation Centre and 3M Professor of Innovation. Mike Hughes just had to meet Liz Towns-Andrews, to find out how she does it all There is a large white board on one of the walls at the 3M Buckley Innovation Centre at the University of Huddersfield. About the size of the year planner I have on my office wall in front of me now, it is a much coveted Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion. And its recipient, Professor Liz Towns-Andrews, is very embarrassed by it.

“It’s just my job,” she insists. “It was very nice to get the award, but I was just doing my job.” She is wrong, of course. Call it personality, character, likeability, drive or experience. She has it in such immense quantities that she has become an almost iconic part of Yorkshire’s enterprise culture.

She runs the Buckley Innovation Centre (named after businessman Sir George Buckley, who is a graduate of the university and former CEO of the multi-national 3M corporation) as a home for tenant companies who collaborate with the university and each other on technology-centric work.

From 3D printing to bio-sciences, via X-rays, pharmaceuticals and the National Measurement Institute, the BIC is awash with ground-breaking research and growing partnerships. As Towns-Andrews walks me down Innovation Avenue, a corridor of glassfronted laboratories and workshops running the full length of the converted mill building, she talks about the tenants as if she is working with them, rather than just being their

41

landlord: ‘What we are trying to do with this new equipment is....’ and ‘We’re hoping that we can develop....’

“It is a ‘We’. I know what my role is within a team,” she says.

“That role is a bit schizophrenic – certainly two-fold. On the one hand I’m the chief exec of a company we set up to make this centre self-sustaining and business-facing. On the other I’m director of research and enterprise for the university, so I have a responsibility for growing our collaborations and demonstrating the impact our work has.

“So with regards to the companies that come in here, we want to make sure there is an alignment with our research base. Because ultimately we want to drive partnership and deliver impact. So who comes here is not a straight commercial decision.”

Before setting up 3M BIC, Towns-Andrews was director of Innovation at the Science and Technology Facilities Council, part of the UK Research Council, with whom she had worked for more than 25 years. The STFC was responsible for work with some very large facilities, like getting access to the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva, as well as large labs in Oxfordshire and Cheshire.

At the British labs, Towns-Andrews promoted their work and potential to industry. Add to that a role in commercialising the IP at the labs and the perfect CV for that list of her jobs >>

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

ENTREPRENEUR

SUMMER 15

I’ve found that this is the right way to do it. It might seem very different to you, but I’ll help you get there if you want me to was taking shape. “But when I came to the university, I wasn’t looking for a job,” she says.

“In my head, I was always going to be at the Research Council until I retired.

“But the culture and ambition of the university made me realise I had the opportunity to take all the things I had learned in my career and actually do something with them. I thought I had about ten years to reach my goals until my retirement (she is 56 now), but when I look back over the last five years I realise I have achieved that, particularly around things like RGF money and partnerships with local organisations.”

Universities can be regarded by SMEs as impenetrable and distant, and perhaps not towards the top of a list of people to work with. But Towns-Andrews has changed that perception, certainly around West Yorkshire, by operating the 3M centre as a business, to demonstrate how the relationship can work.

When a new organisation looks to the centre for a possible partnership, it is likely that they will meet not only her but also academics from the university just a few yards across the road, who will already have been briefed about the newcomer so that a discussion can start at the first meeting. There is an organised commitment here that is setting its own rules about engagement and how relationships need to be run.

“I am the CEO here, but I have always been entrepreneurial in the way I approach things and I think that is important and gives me credibility in both camps, academia and industry. People ask me how I switch from one to the other, but I think it is just experience. It comes naturally to me.”

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

Her approach and success has taken her to Barcelona, Chile, Canada and many other destinations, where this strategy is fresh and challenging. Her very engaging manner gives her an air of confidence that makes her audience listen. This professor is not nervously delivering a new theory or a white paper, but is instead saying in every meeting ‘I’ve found that this is the right way to do it. It might seem very different to you, but I’ll help you get there if you want me to.’

Towns-Andrews is originally from Chesterfield, and was the first one from her family to go to university. Dad was an engineer, which has obviously helped her appreciation of the work being done at the centre. The rest of the family were embedded into the mining industry.

“My mum and dad were so proud when I went to university and particularly when I became Dr Towns after getting my chemistry degree. I had to work hard to get there – I failed some exams and had to pick myself up.

42

“To be made a fellow of the Institute of Physics was absolutely jaw-dropping for me.

Then I came here and my boss and the vicechancellor asked me to develop my CV as an academic CV so that I could be put forward for conferment of professorship.

“That is quite an honour, as I have an idea of what a professor should be and they were way ahead of me. But I did it.

“I remember being on a Baltic cruise when the VC Bob Cryan rang me with the news. I can feel myself getting emotional just thinking about it, and there is a part of me that wishes.......”

There is a pause, and it is clear that, among so much technology, a very human, emotional button has been pressed.

She surprises herself by the tears in her eyes.

She apologises, composes herself and continues in a momentarily faltering voice: “I just wish that mum and dad had had a chance to enjoy it with me.”

Her mum died in 1998 and dad in 2008,

SUMMER 15

a year before she was offered the job in Huddersfield. She says if dad had still been alive, she might have turned down the offer “Because dad would have thought I was bonkers, jumping from something that was super-secure into unknown territory.” But the choice was made and it was the right move, soon to be followed by a university Chair of Innovation in her name. Proud moments, but still a little bit of a puzzle for her.

“Things like this building are tangible and I know I have made it possible and I do feel it is my job. But some of the other things I do - I can’t see what is so special about it. Everyone else says they can, but to me it is just work.

“I have always wanted to make things happen for the university. It has been so supportive of me that I want to give things back to it – and to Bob Cryan, who has been the most amazing guy to work for, trusting me and empowering me.”

The model that Towns-Andrews and her team have engineered at 3M BIC and the lessons

ENTREPRENEUR

they have learned can now be applied to the wider region in the form of a much bigger SME programme and some sort of physical presence to benefit the whole area.

One of her dreams is that, before she retires, the first sod might be lifted to build that new site. I suggest ‘The Liz Towns-Andrews Centre’ but that only gets a small chuckle as the conversation continues. She genuinely doesn’t see how clear a possibility it is that, in a few years time, the signwriters are going to be checking whether her name is hyphenated and where the ‘s’ goes.

In 2012 Huddersfield was named Entrepreneurial University of the Year and the following year it took the top title – University of the Year.

“Regionally and nationally people are beginning to realise that something special is happening here,” she says.

“In the past no-one had heard of us, but now we are getting academics wanting to move here and industry wanting to work with us.”

43

Those industries are carefully assessed by Towns-Andrews to make sure the mix is right on Innovation Avenue, and there is scope for substantial investment in the very best equipment to attract the right ones.

The £10m-£15m that has been pumped into the centre, from the restoration of the building to the latest piece of kit, is looking like a very solid investment, and with collaborations with Santander to develop Innovation vouchers for SMEs and local authorities for the next phase of her strategy, the future is already here and growing. By now, the pride of mum and dad Towns would be immeasurable, applauding each accolade and clicking the camera from their ‘Reserved’ front row seats. Their daughter has dug out her own seam of innovation and carved her name into a landscape of academia and industry - and she still doesn’t fully realise how good she is. n Two of the businesses based at the 3M BIC are profiled on page 68

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

MAKING MAN AND MACHINE WORK TOGETHER Rob Richardson of University of Leeds

Some of the region’s leading robotics pioneers gave their views on the industry at a seminar hosted by Clarion Law in Leeds. The very human BQ Yorkshire Editor Mike Hughes went along to see what the future holds For Erik Sorto, robotics are a life-saver. Erik, a quadriplegic for 13 years, made headlines round the world a few weeks ago when he was shown using his mind to control a mechanical arm that could shake hands and get him a beer. Life-changing progress for Erik and an illustration of how far the sector has come over the last few years. Dr Rob Richardson, director of the Governmentbacked £4.3m EPSRC National Facility for Innovative Robotic Systems at the University of Leeds, is one of a growing number of experts across Yorkshire who are pushing those boundaries every day and helping

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

move robotics further from science fiction into everyday fact. The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council spent £2.6m on equipment for his new facility and the university has invested a further £1.2m in equipment and lab improvements. The support is there and the skills are obviously keeping pace, so it is down to the vision of people like Dr Richardson to keep Yorkshire at the forefront of this fast-moving science.

“The aim was for us to be a world leader in physically making robots,” he told me at the Clarion seminar.

“And then to make a new breed of robots that

44

can be in houses and do medical tasks.

“In the last five years people have started to see the full potential of robots and that they could impact all areas of society, and be of great help in manufacturing. People think of robots and they think of AI [Artificial Intelligence] and all the challenges with that, and perhaps they dismiss what a robot actually is, the physical embodiment of it. “About two years ago we made the case for the UK having a facility to make these robots.

“That is what we are looking at. Not just making them cheaper and faster, but also having a structure that can have mechanics,

SUMMER 15

electronics and computations in them.”

The model he has in his mind is simple and enlightening. Take a one centimetre cube of human, from a leg or a head, anywhere on the body and picture it in front of you. It is packed with systems, with no room for open space. Compare that to a one centimetre cube of robot and you see the challenge ahead – to scale everything down and design it to take up less space which either makes it smaller or creates room to add another element.

“It was our work in robotics that won us the centre in the first place, and it is now graduates and potential graduates who are seeing the potential here and want to engage,” he explained, adding that the process has to be as swift-moving as the sector.

“Leeds is a research-led university and our work on weird and wonderful robotics is what informs our teaching. We do the research and then teach it to our students. We are then making prototypes and demonstrating the potential of our machines and the principles for research and for large-scale manufacturing.”

Medical applications are one of the biggest markets for robotics, and miniaturisation is a key factor. If you are going in for a colonoscopy, you have to hope the science behind the scenes has moved past the laptop and on to something a little more..... insertable. “You have to make them small, then make them work and then make them work inside the body, said Dr Richardson.

“The materials have to be bio-compatible so they don’t cause irritation. The intestines are incredibly complex, and changing shape all the time, so for a robot, the locomotion task is really difficult.”

So, are there any limits to what he and his team could do?

“To actually make these small, complex devices is incredibly hard and providing really small, long-term power cells has always been an issue. We have to move further away from assembling these things manually with tweezers and instead press a button to get them printed or created, which means that we can create bespoke robots more quickly.

“In the next year we need to be able to demonstrate what these machines can do. We have the world’s best collection of machines, so we need to have projects going on - which we

have - to show their possibilities.”

That’s what Dr Richardson does at LS2 9JT. He invents the future. As the robotics sector travels into that future, it stops off at Milner Court in Harrogate. Not the most likely address for cutting edge technology, but the cluster mentality that is enabling Yorkshire’s agendasetting progress in so many areas knows no geographical boundaries. Milner Court is home to Synthotech, an innovative engineering company with a global reputation in the utilities sector, particularly gas.

Innovations director Wez Little says the company prides itself on a turnkey approach, doing everything from concept to reality with its own CNC machinery for handling computer-aided designs, injection moulding and 3D printing facilities – and it owes a lot to a relatively new funding option.

“We make robots for the utility industry, often using the OFGEM Network Innovation Allowance which was designed to stimulate

INSIGHT

innovation in the sector. “National Grid uses this mechanism to allow us to get on with developing the technology and it is proving to be a fantastic route for SMEs who can present an innovative idea, get a concept roughly assembled to prove the point and then make use of the funding opportunity.

Synthotech is using the NIA for its work on a polymorphic robot to work on gas pipelines. In this context, polymorphic means the robot can make a new decision based on information it receives. “It adjusts to its environment and can changes its shape or function depending on what it finds,” says Little.

“If it wants to drill a hole, but gets information that prevents that, then it won’t drill. That is down to inbuilt intelligence, and one of the biggest barriers to technology is that people have to use it and if it isn’t easy to use, it becomes technology that doesn’t work.

“It’s like the toy blocks that have to fit in certain holes. The robot has to look at the >>

It adjusts to its environment and can changes its shape or function depending on what it finds

l-r, Simon Langdale, Wez Little, of Synthotech

45

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

INSIGHT

SUMMER 15

‘block’, work out what its orientation is and where its centre is and how it will best fit through a particular gap. So we have to learn from existing technology and take it further on.

“We can do that by collaborating with the supply chain, academia, the legal sector and consultants to build an extended network of capability called ‘the hub’ which allows us to be very fleet of foot in taking new concepts through to reality. With a turnover heading for £5m and team of 46, Synthotech manufactures, assembles, embeds and does R&D and new product development for a global client base. One of its most high-profile contracts is working with National Grid Gas Transmission on the £5.7m Network Innovation Competition’s Project GRAID (Gas Robotic Agile Inspection Device) to design and build a robotic inspection device for below-ground pipework at high-pressure gas installations. Working on that with them are two other SMEs, Premtech and Pipeline Integrity Engineers.

Little describes this four-year alliance as a game-changer, made possible by Synthotech’s innovation hub. This theme of collaboration sits well in Yorkshire and it’s a growing challenge for firms to look at ways of working with each other just as much as competing against each other.

“Yorkshire is a fantastic place for manufacturing innovation, and it would be great to assemble a team of senior stakeholders to share experiences and opportunities,” he says.

It helps to visualise this collaboration in terms of Erik Sorto’s brain-powered arm. The tech that makes it starts with design, then metal-bashing, nuts and bolts, computer programmes, wiring, mechanics, surgery and more innovation than ever before. The strategy also sits well with David Wakefield, technical director of Huddersfield-based Manrochem.

His company’s home page tells potential customers: “Remember - there are no stupid questions. If you don’t know, we might and then we have a way forward together.”

Dealing largely with the process industry – 80% of their work is designing and building chemical plants – Manrochem is marking its 25th anniversary this year and has process automation at the heart of many of its projects.

“We are often technological translators,” said

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

David Wakefield of Manrochem

That’s what the bloody accountants did to it – they got rid of engineers because they didn’t understand what they did Wakefield, “so we can convert your desire to something that works. For instance, if ‘Fred and Bill’ are retiring and have run their part of the factory for 150 years between them, we need to sit with them and capture their knowledge and find a way of converting it into an automated sequence.”

Converting Fred and Bill into an automated sequence is where the process industry is now, and Wakefield is passionate about how it has all come about.

“We are not standing over Fred and Bill to get rid of them. Their knowledge has to be retained because the next version of them doesn’t exist. When ICI collapsed it was taking in 1,000 engineering graduates every year. That was 20 years ago, so that’s 20,000 graduates who would be running our plants missing from the system, just from one company.

“That’s what the bloody accountants did to it

46

– they got rid of engineers because they didn’t understand what they did.

“Now they are starting to bring them back and David Cameron is talking about 50,000 new apprenticeships, which is great for the future, but in the meantime we have got a problem.

“The French have just started a discussion about re-industrialisation and how they adapt to the state their economy is in. They recognise that it needs a long-term approach to industry – a ten-year plan, not three months – and it requires a prioritisation of manufacturing.

“They are already doing something and they will take advantage of it and be supported by their government. Here, I feel that we won’t take advantage.”

Robotics is one of the newer sectors to add to the list of great Yorkshire successes.

Engineering, entrepreneurialism, innovation and now seeing into the future.

David Wakefield’s words of advice are timely, because it is one of the older issues – the skills gap – that may play a big part in the future of robotics. Leigh Martin, partner and head of intellectual property at seminar hosts Clarion, said an understanding of innovation can give the advantage back to aspiring growth focused businesses.

“Obviously this doesn’t come easily, and careful planning and preparation are key to executing this well. Synthotech, which worked with us as it developed its plans for its latest innovation, is a great example of this.

“By working closely with us, together we were able to identify and analyse any third party patents that had already been registered for similar technologies around the world, and ensure that Synthotech’s own developments were in fact ahead of the competition, and also that it avoided any infringement risks.

“The next stage was then to ensure that Synthotech’s own IP was protected so that it could ensure exclusivity for its innovation.

Whether you are creating a widget for UK use only or a large piece of innovative machinery that will be imported overseas, it is my opinion that this sort of approach is vital if you wish to steer clear of IP problems and if you wish to protect what you have.

“Your technological innovation is what sets you apart from the competition and you need to ensure that no one else can copy you. “ n

SUMMER 15

COMPANY PROFILE

Unlocking Finance for Businesses with Heart Despite the recession and the following period of challenge, community and social enterprises are still delivering essential services in some of the country’s most deprived areas. A local social investor, Key Fund supports these organisations to do this by providing flexible finance. Set up in 1999 to help revitalise communities ravaged by the collapse of the coal and steel industries, it has evolved and grown into the most prolific investor in England. It supports, through a blend of loans and small development grants, businesses with social impact which mainstream lenders have rejected.

Key Fund CEO, Sam Tarff, said: “We invest in those who have a good idea to

help a community but can’t get money from elsewhere because the industries and areas in which they operate are perceived as just too risky.”

However the default rate among those Key Fund invests in was only 4.16 per cent last year - a rate vastly below the double figures experienced by some commercial lenders. “People also come to us looking for investment because they can’t offer security. We don’t see that as necessarily a problem - and 65 per cent of our investment is unsecured lending.” The smallest funding package the Fund provides is £3,500 and the largest so far has been £300,000. “Advice, monitoring, hand-holding, problem-solving are there for the people we work with all the way through.” Key Fund has grown

exponentially and it now operates across the whole North and Midlands. It has invested £38m so far in thousands of organisations which stimulate local economies by providing goods and services, jobs, training and work experience.

Thanks to Key Fund and its ilk, the UK is seen as a leader in the social investment field.

For more information call 0845 140 1400 or visit www.thekeyfund.co.uk

we listen. we help. we fund.

you grow.

KEY FUND RESILIENCE THE SOCIAL IMPACT BUSINESS LOAN For more information: www.thekeyfund.co.uk or contact 0845 140 1400 | info@thekeyfund.co.uk

47

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

WELCOME

SUMMER 15

LET’S CELEBRATE OUR BUSINESS SUCCESSES BQ Yorkshire Editor Mike Hughes celebrates the profits performance of some of Yorkshire’s top companies In association with

Yorkshire’s most profitable companies have remained focused on sustainable growth by making intelligent investment decisions in innovation and overseas expansion

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

Covering a 6,000 square-mile patch like Yorkshire offers plenty of opportunities to assess the state of the region’s leading businesses.

Interview after interview, meeting after meeting, I hear success stories that are inspiring and entrepreneurial. Sometimes the most remarkable thing is that some of these companies aren’t widely known outside their own sectors.

People are driving past signs and factories every day without realising the hard work that goes on inside.

So we will always need stats to back things up and signal the best performers.

Just as the race for the Premiership is a seasonlong affair that can come down to the last goal on the last day, so the race to be among the most profitable companies in Yorkshire is one that builds through the financial year.

Each pound that can be squeezed from a deal is matched by a new piece of equipment that enables a bid for the next contract, or a bigger factory that increases production capacity. Everything builds to the final profits figure to find out who has the biggest cheer on results day.

One of the most respected barometers of Yorkshire’s success is The Sunday Times BDO Profit Track 100, sponsored by Lloyds Bank, which has been ranking performance across the country for 16 years.

Here, we highlight the top ten Yorkshire

48

companies from the latest 100 and show their profit growth and staffing levels. It has been a good year, with four more of the region’s top firms making it into the list compared to last year.

Terry Jones, partner and head of Yorkshire at BDO, the title sponsor of the league table, said our best bosses have shown great focus and intelligence in how they have run their companies: “Medium-sized businesses in Yorkshire and across the UK are thriving. Our newly-named ‘Brittelstand’ has outgrown the German ‘Mittelstand’ with mid-market businesses across all sectors seizing the opportunities a growing economy presents. Yorkshire’s most profitable companies have remained focused on sustainable growth by making intelligent investment decisions in innovation and overseas expansion.”

For BQ, our magazines and website tell the story of Yorkshire’s unstoppable rise and how it starts with the entrepreneur.

Every company in The Sunday Times BDO Profit Track 100 started as a single idea, a market that was identified, a product or service that was developed and a reputation built on long hours, confidence and a high level of skill.

It’s part of BQ’s job to help this progress by highlighting the great ideas and drive across the region and bring together aspiration and success to add even more firms to the top 100 in the country. n

PROFIT CHAMPIONS

SUMMER 15

AT A GLANCE

THE SUNDAY TIMES BDO PROFIT TRACK 100 2015

Rank [2014 rank]

Annual profit growth over 3yrs

Latest profits, £m*

Staff

Year end

Barnsley South Yorkshire

8

111%

6.3

60

Sep 13

Has 7,000 bottle banks across Britain

Abbey Forged Products. Steel products forger

Sheffield South Yorkshire

15

91%

17.2

245

Oct 13

Has installed new forging hammers and heat-treatment furnaces

Acorn Stairlifts Stairlift manufacturer

Steeton West Yorkshire

37

68%

16.7

973

Sep 13

An Acorn Stairlift is installed somewhere in the world every nine minutes

Fine Industries Custom chemical manufacturer

Middlesbrough North Yorkshire

40

67%

6.9

275

Sep 13

Private equity firm NorthEdge Capital backed a £53m management buyout in 2013

Peter Duffy Civil engineering and utility services

Wakefield West Yorkshire

46

63%

4.6

484

May 14

Maintains sewage networks for Yorkshire Water, Northumbrian Water and Welsh Water

Strata Homes Housebuilder and developer

Doncaster South Yorkshire

51

59%

9.4

115

Dec 13

The government’s help-to-buy scheme has helped to kick-start growth

Principal Hayley Hotel operator

Harrogate North Yorkshire

59

54%

27.5

3,039

Dec 13

Its hotel portfolio includes Hotel Russell in London and The George in Edinburgh

GatenbySanderson Executive recruiter

Leeds West Yorkshire

73

49%

3.3

65

Dec 13

Says it places 40% of all permanent and interim executives into central government

Callcredit Information Group. Consumer data analyst

Leeds West Yorkshire

78

48%

26.1

1,044

Dec 13

Private equity firm GTCR paid a reported £480m to acquire the group last year

Victoria Plumb Online bath equipment retailer

Hessle East Yorkshire

81

47%

12.0

100

Feb 14

Private equity firm TPG Capital backed a £200m buyout in April last year

Company & Activity

HQ Location

Glass Recycling UK Glass recycler

PROFIT CHAMPIONS

49

Comment

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

PROFILE

SUMMER 15

Profiles of ten of the region’s fastest growing profit makers over the last three years, using information from The Sunday Times BDO Profit Track 100 Callcredit Information Group

Principal Hayley Based in Harrogate, Principal Hayley is a collection of landmark city centre hotels and dedicated conference and training venues across the UK and Europe. From a small group of six hotels, they have grown to 23, with approximately 4,000 bedrooms, over 500 meeting rooms and the ability to host over 26,000 delegates per day.

The company operates hotels around the country, including The Met at Leeds, Kenwood Hall at Sheffield and the Royal York Hotel and its highly-experienced training team covers 22 unique UK and European destinations including London, Cardiff and Edinburgh.

In 2013 Starwood Capital Group, a leading private investment firm with extensive experience in the hospitality sector, having invested in 1,100 hotels in 39 countries, became the majority shareholder of PH Hotels as a platform for growth.

Fine Industries The Seal Sands-based chemicals manufacturer is a privately owned UK-based holding company, which comprises four subsidiary companies: Fine Organics, Fine Contract Research, Fine Environmental Services and Fine Facilities Management.

The firm, which counts blue chip firms across the world as its clients, exporting to Switzerland, Germany, USA, Brazil and Ireland, was originally founded in Peterlee in 1977 but

PROSPER

expanded into Teesside in 1984.

It has been manufacturing Fine Chemicals in the North East of England for over 30 years, with a Management Buy-Out completed in 2008, led by Keith Hanson, which brought the company back from multinational into private ownership.

The new business has the advantage of over 100 years of experience shared by fellow directors, Steve Catchpole (Operations), Craig Morgan (Technical) and Kevin Russon (Finance).

HELPING YOU

IN THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR

M60259b_237009AP_0615.indd 1

Artworker’s BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15 Name Andy Stallard

Leeds-based Callcredit manages consumer data for businesses across every sector, from financial services, retail and utilities to public sector, telecoms, insurance and many more.

The group’s customers include many of the UK’s leading companies, including all of the clearing banks, several major international lenders, media communications businesses, and petroleum, automotive, power and retail organisations.

The company employs approximately 1,000 professionals in Leeds, Kent, Bath, London, Swindon and Warrington and also has offices in Japan, China, Dubai and Lithuania and agents working across international markets.

It unlocks value for businesses and consumers by transforming data into intelligence and insight, enabling transactions across multiple channels and markets.

Peter Duffy Peter Duffy Ltd is a privately-owned civil engineering, utility and construction company based in Wakefield, Yorkshire.

Formed in Leeds in 1972 and growing in to a multi-disciplined organisation the company has a large plant and vehicle fleet, together with a directly employed workforce. Living up to its own targets of Respect, Accountability, Collaboration, Quality, its processes and procedures are accredited to recognised safety, quality and environmental standards which are externally audited, and it operates a full Corporate Social Responsibility Policy and an ongoing training programme for all employees.

Contact Joanne Williamson on 07872 819144 lloydsbank.com/manufacturing

50

InDesign File Name

M60259b_237009AP_0615

10/06/2015 11:02

PROFIT CHAMPIONS

SUMMER 15

COMPANY PROFILE

Backing the northern manufacturing revival Lloyds Bank is proud to have been a main sponsor of Profit Track 100 for 13 years – a long-standing relationship that reflects our commitment to helping Britain’s promising businesses prosper. We were delighted to see a number of dynamic businesses from the North of England make their first appearance on this year’s list, which ranks private companies with the fastest growing profits. Leeds-based consumer data analyst CallCredit Information Group is one of seven companies based in Yorkshire making their debut appearance on Profit Track 100. Acquired last year by private equity firm GTCR, CallCredit shows how a business focused on growth can succeed. We were proud to support their ambitions as part of our commitment to backing economic recovery and growth across the North of England.

FINANCING GROWTH IN MANUFACTURING The manufacturing sector is traditionally the heart of our region’s economy, and the sector features heavily in this year’s Profit Track 100. For those manufacturing businesses with growth ambitions, accessing finance can often prove a major hurdle yet is often vital in responding to rapidly changing market demands. At Lloyds Bank, we provide our manufacturing clients with clear and transparent access to finance, helping support their investment in people, facilities and growth strategies. Our commitment to bolstering the UK manufacturing sector has seen us deliver more than £2bn of new lending to manufacturers during 2013-14, and we have pledged an additional £1bn of new lending each year until 2017.* Our manufacturing clients here in Yorkshire can testify to our commitment. Grimsby-based marine rope maker Tyson’s Ships Riggers demonstrates how a traditional manufacturer has used finance from Lloyds Bank to enter new markets and keep pace with changing demand.

Established in 1982, the family-run company

PROFIT CHAMPIONS

originally supplied ropes for the local fishing fleet, but has expanded its product range to include heavy duty cables for oil and gas vessels and marine contractors. With a five-figure loan from Lloyds Bank, Tyson’s was able to purchase a new wire rope press capable of handling the large diameter cabling needed for this expanded market.

UNLOCKING WORKING CAPITAL Working capital is the lifeblood of any business, and having significant amounts of working capital locked-up in assets can hamper their ability to respond quickly to new opportunities. We work with clients to help them unlock this value, increasing the efficiency of their working capital management to support growth ambitions.

We have a range of different products to support this focus on efficiency, including Invoice Finance which helps manage working capital for those businesses with large debtor books or seasonal swings. We can also provide Supplier Finance, enabling businesses to obtain early payment of invoices by leveraging the buyer’s credit rating, and Fixed Asset Finance to turn capital tied up in property or plant and machinery into cash.

It can be a cost-effective alternative to increase the working capital of a business without slowing growth.

INTEGRATED FUNDING SOLUTIONS Gateshead-based Express Engineering is a manufacturer realising its strategic growth ambitions by using an integrated solution from Lloyds Bank. The North East-based supplier of precision-machined components to the oil and gas sector had recently completed the first phase of a growth plan, and in 2013 presented a more ambitious second phase of the growth plans for its UK and Brazil-based businesses.

We brought together a number of specialist Lloyds Bank teams – including Asset Finance, Oil & Gas Acquisition Finance, private equity specialist LDC,

51

Commercial Finance and Credit – to design a ‘one-stop-shop’ solution for Express Engineering.

This required a rapid response and flexible approach to financing the acquisition of a complementary business, Burdon Engineering Ltd. Another North East success story is Crabtree of Gateshead, an ambitious mid-market manufacturer which produces large metal decorating and coating machinery and exports to more than 90 countries. We provided finance to allow Crabtree to purchase its premises, as well as a new funding package and trade finance facility to help them pursue expansion plans in key markets, particularly the Far East.

At the heart of our support for manufacturers is our team of Relationship Managers, based here in the North of England. They are trained to understand the specific banking needs of manufacturing businesses, and can assist with cash flow, growth finance, improved efficiency and help to penetrate new markets.

Our regionally-based team reflects our commitment to providing customers with the right banking solutions to achieve their full potential.

With that level of support, we’d be delighted to see even more businesses and manufacturers from the North of England break into Profit Track 100 next year. n All lending is subject to status.

Lloyds Bank plc is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority under Registration Number 119278.

We subscribe to The Lending Code; copies of the Code can be obtained from www.lendingstandardsboard.org.uk

The Lloyds Banking Group includes companies using brands including Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland and their associated companies. More information on the Lloyds Banking Group can be found at www.lloydsbankinggroup.com *Lloyds Banking Group Helping Britain Prosper Plan

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

PROFILE

SUMMER 15

Glass Recycling UK The UK’s largest independent glass recycling company, Glass Recycling UK Ltd collects thousands of tonnes of glass bottles and jars every week and processes them into glass cullet, which means it is crushed and ready to be melted.

For more than three decades it has provided a service to local authorities and other responsible organisations through the siting of over 7,000 bottle bins and more recently, specially-built bottle banks that are collected by a fleet of custombuilt trucks.

The company employs more than 70 people in the main plant at Barnsley, which can process 250,000 bottles per hour, as well as at depots throughout the UK.

Victoria Plumb This family business, established in 1999, has progressed to be the UK’s No 1 online bathroom retailer, with no expensive showrooms or salespeople.

Based at new headquarters in Hessle in the East Riding of Yorkshire, they deal directly with suppliers to keep prices competitive on bathroom suites, shower enclosures, baths, taps and furniture. It remains a family-owned business as part of the Hull-based Walker Group, with consistent year on year growth, filling warehouse sites in Hull and Bridlington.

Since 2012 it has grown from under 50 to over 150 employees.

PROSPER

Strata Homes

Acorn Stairlifts

Strata is an established home builder with 16 developments across Yorkshire and the Midlands and head offices in Lakeside, Doncaster. Chief Executive Andrew Weaver is the fourth generation of the family to run the business alongside his father, Chairman Irving Weaver. The company, which specialises in first-time and second-time buyers, hosts regular events at its developments where mortgage advisors are on hand to talk about the buying and selling options available, and operates an Early Bird scheme where potential buyers can reserve their plot and have first option on buying the home when it is built.

Acorn was formed in 1992, when it was buying, reconditioning and reselling stairlifts from other manufacturers. In a short space of time, demand outstripped supply and it took the step of developing and designing its own stairlifts. It is an international, family owned company with over 1,200 employees worldwide. Its UK head office, factory and distribution centre is located in Steeton, Yorkshire. It also has a factory in Scotland and a major presence in the United States, with sales and distribution centres in Florida, New Jersey, and California. You will also find Acorn offices in Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Germany and South Africa.

From its base in Sheffield, Abbey Forged Products has become the UK’s leading forgemaster in the oil & gas industry

GatenbySanderson

Abbey Forged Products

With bases in Leeds, London and Birmingham, GatenbySanderson is a provider of resourcing solutions, including executive search, interim leadership and assessment solutions.

It has built its experience on work across public services and is market leaders in this field, particularly working within complex, highly visible and regulated markets that frequently undergo change.

Launched in 2002, in many of its sectors, it works with up to 50% of the organisations operating within the market, with levels of repeat business over 70%. Its expertise spans central government & NDPB, local government, health, education, not for profit, regulation, children’s services, adult services, regeneration, environment and housing.

From its base in Sheffield, Abbey Forged Products has become the UK’s leading forgemaster in the oil & gas industry. With over 30 years of experience in forging, Abbey are specialists in creating bespoke products using open die and ring rolling methods.

It was founded in 1982 under the name ‘Abbey Stainless’, specialising in the supply of stainless bar and forgings through a sub contract network, working to short lead times.

In 2004 the company acquired a local forgemaster, which had a small open die forge which included a heat treatment and machining facility. This gave the company the independence it needed for its ambitious growth plans. Over their 30 years’ experience within the industry Abbey has now worked closely with many of the major end users such as BP, Exxon and Statoil.

HELPING YOU

IN THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR

M60259b_237009AP_0615.indd 1

Artworker’s BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15 Name Andy Stallard

Contact Joanne Williamson on 07872 819144 lloydsbank.com/manufacturing

52

InDesign File Name

M60259b_237009AP_0615

10/06/2015 11:02

PROFIT CHAMPIONS

SUPPORTING UK BUSINESS

PROSPER HELPING YOU

IN THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR Lloyds Bank is dedicated to supporting UK manufacturers.

With specially trained relationship managers for the manufacturing sector, an extensive range of products, and a proven commitment to lending, we’re here to help.

To find out how we are supporting manufacturing businesses contact Joanne Williamson on 07872 819144. lloydsbank.com/manufacturing

Any property given as security which may include your home, may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage or other debts secured on it.

All lending is subject to a satisfactory credit assessment. Lloyds Bank plc is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority under Registration Number 119278. We subscribe to The Lending Code; copies of the Code can be obtained from www.lendingstandardsboard.org.uk

BUSINESS LUNCH

SUMMER 15

TRAVELLING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

54

SUMMER 15

BUSINESS LUNCH

Mark Bowers is CEO of Redfern, which manages business travel for 500 organisations and 500,000 registered travellers. He made his way to Bowcliffe Hall to have lunch with BQ Yorkshire Editor Mike Hughes Mark Bowers doesn’t look worried. He is so smartly dressed (tie immaculately knotted, suit looks as if he has just bought it on his way here) that he has me glancing down to check the shine on my shoes within a few moments of us meeting.

I know he has a lot on his mind, but he handles it well. Four years ago his company Redfern Travel made headlines throughout the industry when it was awarded a vast contract to look after travel arrangements for all civil servants. The size of the company compared to the size of the deal made it a surprise move when Whitehall dropped the French incumbents and chose Redfern instead.

That was 2011 and now the contract is up for renewal. Redfern started as a family business in 1937, based in Bradford as it is now. In 1999 the business was sold to Ian Wotton and his colleagues Tony Shaw and Alan Wells.

Bowers, a long-time friend of Wotton’s joined eight years ago and moved on to the board in 2010 and the team completed an MBO last year.

“Ian and I had a curry lunch in Bradford to discuss me joining – it took me quite a while to get used to curry for lunch – and I joined about a week later. The travel industry is rather incestuous, particularly for those of us who have been in it for a while, and Ian was one of the key figures and the plans and the innovation we talked about then have all borne fruit.”

Corporate travel is growing in strength again

after the recession, when such costs were cut across all sectors. It still has its challenges, but there is a route back.

“What we have seen is that during bad times the amount of money people are willing to pay for a hotel room or rail tickets has fallen.

In previous recessions that has recovered, but that is not happening this time.

“They have gone to the back of the aircraft and are staying there.

“That may change, but the hotel sector as a whole is doing very, very well.”

There seems to be an inbuilt unpredictability in something like corporate travel, because of its susceptibility to market forces in other areas, but Bowers says the journey can be managed.

“We tend to be able to see trends happening quite early. People travel for business, so if there is a lack of confidence we can identify a

9466_New_Clarion_Brand_Ads_Web_20x175mm AW03.indd 1

55

bounce-back or a retraction early on. Largely, the industry isn’t led by commission any more, so volume of transactions is very important to us.” The sector has changed considerably over the last few years, with companies like Redfern growing out of being just a travel agent and harnessing the power of the Internet, which, in turn, has created one of its biggest challenge - people could just do it themselves now and bypass the Redfern model. “Our way isn’t for everyone”, says Bowers. “But it works very well for people who have largely been neglected, like the public sector. There aren’t many of us who are focussing on this market and those others that are, perhaps haven’t developed the technology at the front end that our customers see online and that make it more process-efficient.”

That efficiency equates to a transaction >>

09/06/2015 14:51

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

BUSINESS LUNCH

every three seconds for Redfern. So in the time it has taken you to read this far, on average, Redfern will have completed around 90 transactions. Practically, Bowers says that means each member of staff can rack up around 27,500 each year.

“And that includes people like me who don’t do any work”, he adds with a smile.

The next best annual figure in the industry is around 5,500, so Redfern’s focus on that volume of transactions takes them way ahead of their competition and helps explain Whitehall’s decision to choose them to take on such a game-changing responsibility. How? “Automation. It’s all about engaging the client

to book online, and with large organisations that might involve quite a culture change, and we are very good at that.

“We introduced our first online booking tool in 2006 and we already had automation at the back of it. So we were able to start changing that culture that you are not ringing ‘Mary’ and taking up 20 minutes just having a ‘how was your weekend’ conversation’.”

That means 98% of Redfern’s bookings now happen online, with 92% of them not needing any intervention at all. But when that intervention is needed, the quality of people on Redfern’s end of the phone line can win or lose contracts.

9466_New_Clarion_Brand_Ads_Web_20x175mm AW03.indd 2

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

SUMMER 15

56

“They are absolutely critical,” says Bowers.

“There is an automatic assumption if you are a procurement officer to ask ‘Why are these guys so much cheaper? They must be crap’.

“So we have to get over that first hurdle and have the conversation about how we do things and that’s when the lightbulb moment happens for them.

“Then the next challenge for our staff is to support the online delivery with an absolute ‘Dog’s Bs’ of an offline service from highlyqualified consultants. That experience has to match the experience customers get online.”

The seamless mix of online and offline has persuaded CEOs, procurement officers and

09/06/2015 14:51

SUMMER 15

senior politicians that Redfern is a contender for any size of contract, of any complexity.

Francis Maude, then Minister for the Cabinet Office, gave a gold-plated belter of a quote in 2012 when he told a briefing: “Government contracts don’t have to be, and often shouldn’t be, so big and complicated. Redfern Travel is a great example. We split Government travel into two lots enabling SMEs to bid and Redfern won the contract for domestic travel.

“What’s more they offered a price that is a saving of over 70% compared to current costs - saving us over £20m in four years.

“I want many more Redferns.”

You could almost literally take that to the bank and live off it. But it was hard-earned and added pressure to both Maude and Bowers to prove it wasn’t just a throwaway line.

With so many transactions, data capture and interpretation is a valuable asset. Customers can keep track of their spend along with a detailed breakdown of the environmental impact of each travel option. Taxis will be booked to link the various stages and Redfern’s tRIPS online system (The Redfern Intelligent Packaging System) will also tell a client the cost of having a certain member of staff out of the office and allow him or her to sort their expenses.

And if the cost of having the CFO away in Edinburgh for a day looks prohibitive, Redfern will suggest, and set up, a video conference so the journey doesn’t have to take place at all. Brought up in Harrogate and living in Leeds, Bowers has his own travel plans well mapped out.

He takes a city break early in the year, a topend summer holiday and then a week in the sun towards the end of summer.

“A one-week holiday is a bit of a trial for those around me,” he admits. “Because it does take

Minister Francis Maude, told a briefing “I want many more Redferns”

BUSINESS LUNCH

me two or three days to switch off and then by the time we get to day four, I’m switching myself on again.

“I find that, while I’m away, half an hour a day to deal with emails is enough and frees up the rest of the break. I tried going completely incommunicado a while ago and when I clicked on my emails in the departure lounge coming home there were 2,500 waiting for me. That just negated the holiday, so I don’t do it anymore.”

Other ways of relaxing include cycle rides and

food – either cooking it or eating it, despite “being on some sort of diet” and declining a dessert, although I do notice a biscuit finding its way across the table. With Bowers’ father in sales at British Airways for his whole career and his mother working at what was then BEA, travel was never going to be too far from his plans – which started to take shape stocking the shelves with brochures at a travel agents. There are interesting times ahead for Redfern, but the captain has his hand firmly on the tiller. Bon voyage. n

A triumph of style and substance Mark and I enjoyed a meal of salmon, asparagus and poached egg as we talked. The artisan skills of award-winning Yorkshire chef John Topham were clear to see, as the food was precisely assembled, light, tasty and with just the right notes of flavour. My guest was, of course, the star of the show, but he had tough competition from the venue. The reclaiming of Bowcliffe Hall by Jonathan Turner is a triumph and rightly pays tribute to its previous owner, Robert Blackburn, the unsung airplane buccaneer who helped found the modern aviation industry. The estate has a wealth of conference facilities and offices – including the RICS award-winning Blackburn Wing rising out of the woodland at the back of the main hall. But Mark Bowers and I still had the best seats in the house. The Driver’s Club is a sumptuous wood-panelled room filled with the finest motoring memorabilia, leather chairs and views across manicured lawns. To one side is the private dining room where Turner had opened the doors to BQ for the afternoon.

Like a kid in a sweet shop, I actually rang my 86-year-old dad when I got home to tell him about its two most striking features, a life-size Jaguar Big Cat that leaps out from above the main door and a light fitting that comprises four glass Bentley logos and makes you realise this man will stop at nothing to create his perfect vision of motoring and aviation luxury.

Bowers and I sat in wood-panelled calm below the main window as our meals, drinks, coffee and biscuits were brought in from the main room by perfect and courteous staff.

It was my first BQ Business lunch and I’m so looking forward to the next one.

57

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

COMPANY PROFILE

SUMMER 15

Keeping people at the heart of our business As the digital and IT sector in Yorkshire continues to expand, there is increasing pressure to track down and secure the best talent Businesses, particularly those providing IT solutions, are constantly searching for the top level of experienced experts to keep them in pole position for new contracts and increasing demands from existing clients.

Now one market-leading Yorkshire IT firm has taken a leap ahead in the race to recruit, by rolling out an innovative recruitment and profiling tool.

Blue Logic, based at Thorner in Leeds and with an office at Hessle in Hull, has been working with Yorkshire-based Behavioural Analyst Lesley Jenkins of Pyramid Training on a colour-coded profiling programme to identify the best staff for the best role.

Blue Logic, which offers quality IT support and advice to companies throughout Yorkshire has since rolled it out to the whole company and it is now an intricate part of its recruitment process.

Blue Logic’s Managing Director Mark Ambler said: “The new profiling programme has had a remarkable effect on how Blue Logic works.

“For years now, we have had a hard-won reputation across Yorkshire for always going the extra mile for our customers. Our relationship with them is absolutely paramount, so we will look at any way possible to add that little something extra “The programme is an investment in our current and future team and shows how much we value them. It has improved productivity and enables them to create and maintain better relationships, which ultimately enhances customer experience.

“It has encouraged the team to work closer together as they feel they understand one another better, and has helped to improve many relationships within the company at all levels including managers and directors right through to myself.

“Everybody has their individual ‘colour’ profile which is published to the whole company so everyone can see where others sit on the spectrum

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

L-R,Natalie Thirkell, James Burnand, Lesley Jenkins presenting

Our relationship with our customers is absolutely paramount, so we will look at any way possible to add that little something extra “At first we had quite a few team members who were sceptical of the idea behind the training however they soon changed their minds once they undertook the training and are now strong advocates.”

Lesley’s in-depth analysis of staff helps Blue Logic to assign colours to them, Yellow, Green, Blue and Red. Roles, situations and tasks throughout the company have also been looked at, so that Mark and his team know which colour best fits the demands of the role.

Mark added: “We now use the profiling in the first stage of the recruitment process to make sure we

58

understand what type of person we are talking to which helps us to interpret many things from the way they answer questions, to their body language and expressions.”

The programme has had a deep effect on the Blue logic team, as well as helping them work better together, it has been taken into their personal lives – speaking to family and friends to passing on the knowledge and building on other relationships.

The company’s Sales & Marketing Director Dave Helm said: “It’s a way to ‘walk in someone else’s shoes’

SUMMER 15

Dave Helm & Lesley Jenkins

“Human behaviour is complex and this training helps us to understand it on a more basic level and see how you come across to other people. It’s a great tool for self-development.

COMPANY PROFILE

“The team understands that everyone reacts differently in different situations. They know not to take people’s reactions personally, and are able to communicate in a way that gets the most out of any situation.

“With better staff motivation comes better productivity, so both the company and the clients are winning. You can’t ask for more than that in such a competitive market.”

Lesley, who has developed her skills in corporate training for over 20 years, and now runs her own consultancy based in West Yorkshire, says Blue logic is reacting to a changing environment.

“For years the corporate world has been searching for people with the right skills and work experience. However, the rules have changed. Employers now are focusing on how they can recruit the right employees, retain them and motivate them to achieve their

59

maximum potential.

“To do this you have to understand the raw material you deal with everyday...People.

We underpin all of our workshops by using this powerful colour-based behavioural model which helps individuals understand what makes them “Tick” and gives them a deeper understanding of the way they interact with others in whatever role they may have.”

For more information visit www.bluelogic.co.uk or call us on 01132739040.

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

WOOD ON WINE Andy Wood, Partner at Grant Thornton UK LLP tries the familiar and not so familiar It’s got a certain ring to it, don’t you think, “Wood on Wine” – think Sunday Times supplement alongside AA Gill’s restaurant review. Maybe not.

I know a bit about ‘du vin’, not a lot, but enough to get by which is just as well. In the first eight months of my new role, as practice leader of our Leeds office, I’ve been thrown the wine list to make my choice at numerous business lunches and dinners. At least I feel more knowledgeable than I used to. I recall an unfortunate incident from yesteryear when I spent what, at the time, was a fortune on a bottle to impress somebody or other, only to find that the red I thought I’d ordered, turned out to be a white. Awkward.

Much of Rachel and I’s early knowledge of the grape came from our two years living in Paris in the late 90s – it was expected, you understand. So we were delighted to find, on opening our box of goodies, that the red was French – a 2013 Minervois from an organic producer in the Mediterranean hinterlands (reasonably familiar territory for our palate, and a favourite of Rachel’s late father’s – Grenache, Carignan and a touch of Syrah).

Think deep red fruits – pick any one of blackcurrants, blueberries, damsons or cherries – robust, but not overly powerful (as we’ve often found similar reds from Down Under), retaining a certain softness. It accompanied our eldest son, Thomas’s, birthday barbeque fare very nicely and could equally be enjoyed with any meat or game dishes, we thought. In summary, a great buy for an eminently honest wine – we’ll be having it again!

On to the white, a Marlborough New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, and another organic wine from 2013. Here’s where I admit to an unfounded prejudice against a Sauvignon (particularly from New Zealand). I’ve just never really got it, preferring something altogether drier, a Chablis, for instance, or a Gavi.

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

SUMMER 15

CALL MY BLUFF

Anyway, here goes - a good opportunity to be proven wrong. It was a typical Friday evening in the Wood household, a Thai from M&S in the oven and we felt the need of a tipple. The TV was on, introducing the boys to that 1990s classic, TFI Friday. They loved TFI Friday and we (somewhat to my surprise) loved the wine.

The finish was surprisingly crisp and dry, the palate textural and rich. I got grapefruit and lemon, Rachel apricot and pear. It went very nicely with our Thai and would equally pair well with seafood or a salty cheese, goats or otherwise. Indeed, who needs food – this wine would be perfectly quaffable in the garden on

60

a summer’s evening. At £10.99, we think it represents good value, and might even be tempted ourselves. But then, what do I know n The red - ‘La Bastide’ Minervois, 2013 Chateau Coupe Roses, Minervois, France £8.99 inc VAT. The white Organic Sauvignon Blanc 2013 Momo, Marlborough, New Zealand £10.99 inc VAT Wine was supplied by Firth & Co Wine Merchant. www.firthandco.com 01677 451 952. Newton Bank, Newton-leWillows, Bedale, North Yorkshire, DL8 1TE

LEADING THE WAY IN CONSTRUCTING COMMUNITIES

/eshholdings

W: www.eshgroup.co.uk

@esh_group

company/esh-group

E: enquiries@esh.uk.com

MOTORING NOT SO MELLOW YELLOW David Powell, Director of Auditel swaps his Lotus Evora for a Ginetta G40 First off let me set out that I’m a Lotus fan….I’ve had the original Elise S1, the revised version from the mid 2000s (an S2 Sports Racer to those in the know), a VX220 (the Vauxhall branded Lotus) and I currently drive a Lotus Evora S, so I was looking forward to getting my mitts on another hand made British sports car for two days. I dropped off my Lotus at the Garforth factory and the guy handing over the car said “Evora, very nice, who do you work for?” After reassuring him I wasn’t a spy from the Lotus factory I was shown into the factory to pick up my G40 GRDC in bright yellow – so this won’t be a covert weekend drive then. The GRDC is a racing car that is road legal rather than a road car that’s good for racing. So to go with that vibe there is a start up procedure to be followed. This, just like many high end cars, is a keyless start but to outwit any thieves it requires a Thunderbirds style 3-2-1 go start up procedure to bring the 1.8L Ford Zetec engine burbling to life.

This car is low (it goes under the LNT Factory

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

barrier) but it looks good for it. I drove it straight over to Beverly to see a client and the ops Director thought it was ‘beautiful’. On the way I took the motorway route and the car wasn’t too loud though I doubt I would have been able to say much to a passenger if I had one. It was a really nice cruiser in 5th gear and I had no complaints, on the A and B roads at the end unfortunately I got stuck in a long queue of cars, so the fun had to wait for the return journey. I decided to take the scenic route on the return so taking the A and B roads only via Pocklington, York northern ring road, B road across to Wetherby and then the back route home via Harewood.

On the Sunday I went for a drive up to Brimham Rocks taking the long scenic route via some back B roads, Menwith Hill, Lindley Wood Reservoir, Pool-in-Wharfedale, Leathley and Arthington. It’s an absolutely brilliant car, and I really enjoyed the tight twisty B roads and it had enough punch to be able to pass some of the slower cars on the straight bits. Not

62

MOTORING

surprisingly it got a lot of attention, kids mostly, in the Brimham Rocks car park: I definitely heard shouts of ‘Daddy, look, racing car’. I enjoy seeing the positive reactions a car like this brings. There are no driver aids so you feel part of the car, it’s got similar DNA to a Lotus and it really is a driver’s car. It has a practical boot (golf club size if you’re that way inclined) and Air-Con so you could use it as a road car on a regular basis but I would want a second car to hand for nipping to the shops etc. What really sells it to me is the GRDC programme.

Ginetta will train you as a fully licensed racing driver and along with other buyers of the G40 GRDC will put on four races for you in the first season with full Ginetta trackside support and hospitality at four classic British tracks, Silverstone, Brands Hatch, Donington & Rockingham and in your second season you get to race at Spa. Right where’s that order form I know I’ve got it round here somewhere. n The car david drove was a G40 GRDC priced from £29,950 + vat. supplied by Ginetta, Helios 47, Garforth, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS25 2DY. 0113 385 3850

63

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

LE MANS OR BUST - AND IT TAKES GUTS

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

64

Nat Twiss Photography

MOTORING It’s a long and demanding road to get to race at Le Mans but Ginetta is making the journey as Kenton Robbins. MD, Coat Partners explains “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” The well-established answer to that question is “practice”, you’d think that this answer would go some way to helping in the dilemma of how do you win Le Mans? But no. Known as the pinnacle of the racing calendar and considered to be the hardest motor race in the world to win, Le Mans needs a special practice and skill set that you can’t always train for!

These special skills also need to be aligned like the planets in a solar eclipse, along with the money. Sports car racing is expensive and the preserve of the wealthy or well supported and often both. The routes to Le Mans are few and far between - that is until now. The ACO has introduced an entry level rung on the ladder to tempt aspiring drivers from a Sportscar / GT pedigree to take a step closer to that elusive podium at Le Mans with a new LMP3 category. For those of you not fully familiar with Sportscar racing, the ACO is the ‘The Automobile Club de l’Ouest.’ The launch of a new class is a big deal in the motor racing world. They publish the rules, regulations and specifications that registered manufacturers can produce the cars to, and sell to teams to compete in the class as part of the ELMS (European Le Mans Series). The LMP3 cars are, in concept, the baby brothers and sisters to the LMP2 and premier class LMP1 cars which are the most technologically advanced cars on the planet. More powerful than a F1 car with over 1,000bhp, and capable of driving faster than said F1 car for 24hrs.

To commit your company, money, resources and soul to trying to produce a never-built before race car isn’t for the faint hearted. Step up one Lawrence Tomlinson the renowned Yorkshire businessman entrepreneur who has a certain penchant for Sportscar racing. He’s a previous Le Mans class winner and now has the dream of extending the reach of the Ginetta brand even further by stretching the routes to

racing from novice to the grid at Le Mans.

To put this project into context the regulations were released by ACO in September 2014 and the first race was held at Silverstone on 11 April 2015 - just 220 days or 4,500 working hours to design, source parts, build, test and deliver five cars to track to race. By anybody’s standards to achieve and deliver this project on time is not only a podium performance – it’s epic. The business of LMP3 is simple it’s a new open-chassis category with a 420bhp Nissan VK50 engine, Xtrac gearbox and the Michelin tyres are fixed, but manufacturers are allowed to design their own chassis and aerodynamic packages. You sell them at a fixed cost of £156,000 to ensure the field is as competitive as possible and although it might seem an expensive option, a development project to deliver a class winning LMP1 car could cost upwards of £20m. On reflection, to get a car that for all intents and purposes looks like a LMP1 car, is fast and drives sublimely, delivers an experience beyond expectations and doesn’t cost you more than a road going GT3 Porsche or Ferrari 458 is a bargain. So why does

65

Tomlinson want to get involved in the highly unpredictable business or prototype racing again and what’s the business gain associated with what on the face of it looks like a project of passion.

“The answer is simple,” Tomlinson tells me.

He regales me with times of old when Ginetta was a very different business and reveals a business plan that delivers that most elusive of all business nirvanas, synergy; the one thing that the modern Ginetta has in bags full and the old Ginetta really needed. The business plan to drive the LMP3 world forward with Ginetta spearheading it and championing the cause through delivering that additional driver pathway to the pinnacle of racing Le Mans is an inspired one. The plan will help to not only deliver a new raft of talent into the Prototype world of racing, it will elevate the Ginetta brand to a truly international audience and help establish a foot hold as one of the most respected and revered sports car and race marques in the world.

Tomlinson has an uncompromising style and he knew that to deliver this project and ensure >>

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

its success, “we had to step it up a gear once the decision was made to build the car.” A joint venture was agreed through the acquisition of the Juno business. Juno was a well-established Group CN prototype race car constructor founded in 1999 by Ewan Baldry.

This was central to the business plan and gave the project the legitimacy and ability it needed to not only succeed, but to truly excel and deliver it with drive.

Baldry an ex Williams F1 designer has enjoyed great success with his business and the next step with Ginetta gave him the opportunity and the budget to deliver a dream project. More importantly he would be doing it with partners and colleagues that shared his passion.

Early in 2015 with the car’s design finalised in principle and the next stage of arduous crash testing in progress, the final part of the business plan was coming together and in the glare of media attention two key and important elements of the plan were to be announced. First the answer to the perennial issues with any business plan ‘can we make any money?’ often the answer is: ‘yes, if we can sell enough.’ Ginetta announced they would produce a track day version of the LMP3 car that anybody can buy and enjoy on a closed circuit, opening up the lucrative market of the passionate, obsessed and wealthy across the world who like to indulge in a spot of track time. Track only versions of many cars are available, like the newly announced Aston Martin Vulcan with a £1.8m price tag. or the Ferrari Le Ferrari FXX, a snip at £2m.

These cars are ultra-exclusive and offer an experience that few can afford, so the promise of a Le Mans Prototype car to own could help answer the question of ‘making money.’ It’s pure economics, says Tomlinson. “We knew

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

The bravery, tenacity, commitment and pure hard work needed just to commit yourself to entering Le Mans are those special skills and qualities the demand would be high for the LMP3 race car with over 50 cars worldwide and especially being first to market. We can then complement it and deliver to a known demand for track day cars and leverage the incredibly tight cost cap on the race car by offsetting with a track day car production to complement a scalable production run that has real economic benefits”.

The second announcement in December 2014 and a master stroke by Tomlinson and Nissan was the press release of the driver line up - it was the icing on the cake. The driver pathways that the Ginetta brand holds close to its core was about to be centre stage for the factory development driver Mike Simpson and Charlie Robertson, both of whom have moved through those all-important driver pathways. Simpson Wade made his debut in the Ginetta Junior Championship in 2011, before going on to win the series outright in 2012 and returning to

66

claim the Michelin Ginetta GT4 SuperCup title in 2014 following a year in single-seaters. Now they were about to continue that progress to ELMS and were to be joined by the European GT Academy winner Frenchman Gaëtan Paletou and the Olympian Sir Chris Hoy. Hoy is quickly making his mark in the motor racing world since his retirement and attracts a crowd where ever he goes, much to the delight of all involved. The real answer to how do you win Le Mans is a simple one: the historical winners of this most special of races and the pinnacle of the racing calendar have just tried. If you don’t try you won’t succeed. The bravery, tenacity, commitment and pure hard work needed just to commit yourself to entering Le Mans are those special skills and qualities described in the first paragraph, and the practice can only come from a life time of experience and passion from the talented people involved, all driven by a need to win.

Time will tell if the LMP3 Ginetta Nissan project will be consigned to the history books as a winner or not. But as this goes to press Ginetta and Lawrence will be announcing a further foray into prototype racing by making a bid with the ACO to be one of the LMP2 chassis suppliers in 2017 and further leveraging the volume goal in the business plan.

If winning is the result of a simple equation ‘effort / desire x talent + commitment = results’ then I’m sure with a pinch of that Ginetta brand magic and Tomlinson’s flair and the good luck from our region, the LMP3 and Ginetta will enjoy the accolades they richly deserve. n LMP3 & LMP Track Car priced at from £99,000 - £156,000 + vat. Supplied by Ginetta, Helios, Garforth 47, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS25 2DY. 0113 385 3850

SME OR PLC. WE TREAT YOU ALL WITH TLC. Whether you’re a big fish or a bright new start up, you can expect the same high level of service at Clarion. We are real ‘people’ people and we like to get to know our clients personally from day one. That way, we can provide the insight and expertise our clients’ businesses really need.

For more information visit www.clarionsolicitors.com

Mike Hughes meets two firms working under the same roof - the 3M Buckley Innovation Centre at the University of Huddersfield - in two very different areas of cutting edge technology.

First, Simon Iwaniszak of Red Kite Games I was particularly interested when the Sinclair ZX Spectrum was briefly reborn recently, because mine is still on the shelf in my old bedroom at my parents’ home – next to the ZX81. Getting the ZX81 was a big day for me, with its 1k powerhouse, all you had to do was persuade mum she could watch Emmerdale later, plug it in to the telly and v-e-r-y slowly battle aliens, or whatever it was the ZX81 persuaded you it could take on.

Its successor, the Spectrum, was a stratospheric leap forward, with its softtouch keys and rainbow stripe across the bottom right of the keyboard – it was the future in my hands. Fast forward (something the ZX81 could never do) a few decades and Simon Iwaniszak is bringing me up to date. His profile on LinkedIn describes him as ‘managing director at Red Kite Games Limited & entrepreneur’, which sounds like a BQ sort of combination. He has been working in the industry for close to ten years now, starting with a degree in interactive systems and video game design from Bradford University and then joining a games company called Rockstar.

For the non-gamer, Rockstar is about as good as it gets, with the global sensation Grand

TEAM PLAYERS AHEAD OF THE GAME Theft Auto behind it as well as other charttopping titles like Red Dead Revolver and Max Payne. “I spent seven years there, learning my trade and working with some great people designing games like the GTA franchise.

Getting that experience has been a crucial element of Red Kite’s success and has probably helped attract clients to come and work with us now,” says Iwaniszak.

“I had always had the idea that I would set up my own company, even before I got my interest in gaming. I have quite a big family

and some of them are entrepreneurial by nature, so I have always appreciated the challenge of going after something yourself.

“But I didn’t want to just come straight out of university and start a company. I wanted to look around and get some experience.”

That experience could have taken him in a completely different direction, given that he was a player with Oldham Athletic before being released and turning his attention to his other great interest – gaming.

The genesis of Red Kite shows Iwaniszak’s

www.georgefwhite.co.uk M A X I M I S I N G VA LU E

Agriculture • Residential • Commercial • Leisure • Development • Investment • Energy • Environmental Call your local team: Bedale 01677 425301 Shiptonthorpe 01430 876010

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

68

is to work with its own core team and bring in other staff when needed, from Iwaniszak’s extensive contacts. That way his vision is kept under close control and the tap of freelance talent can be turned on and off as projects grow and the workload increases.

“We have the foundation now to take a few more risks internally, but I never wanted to just throw a snowball into Hell and hope it was going to survive. I had a methodical approach to taking those risks, but building relationships and knowledge as we grew.

“We have ambition to expand – perhaps to

I never wanted to just throw a snowball into Hell and hope it was going to survive

thoughtful and considered approach to setting up as an entrepreneur. No panic, no arrogance, just a balanced strategy: Decide the sector, get the degree, select the right company to start with and then pick the time to leave. But all driven by a confidence that the level of skill and the USP he would be bringing to the table was sufficient to make a mark in the sector. “I will always see a job through, so I wanted to leave Rockstar in between projects. Not wait for another one to start and then get caught in a two or three year cycle with them.

“A few people had left Rockstar to set up on their own and I could see what they were up to and wanted to do the same. I was clear that I wanted to build my own team and develop my own games, and that has worked well

for more than three years now, with gradual expansion to a team of eight people.

“We started when there were four of us, simply by connecting up VPN connections remotely, all working from our homes, through a server I had at my house. Then we got our first contract on a ‘Call of Duty’ title for Activision (the world’s first independent developer and distributor of console games) and agreed we had the resources to get ourselves our first office.” The Activision deal then extended to a game which Red Kite handled on its own, Pitfall Krave, as part of a promotion for Kellogg’s and the considered approach continued to pay off for Iwaniszak.

The blueprint at Red Kite (the name is nothing too obscure - it’s a pub in Wakefield where the team used to discuss working together)

69

around the 15-staff mark – which will bring its own responsibilties. But I see sleepless nights as part of a boss’s job and it was something I was very aware of when I started.

“I am very transparent with the staff and involve them in everything we do. There has never been any funding needed for the company, it has been largely from my own savings, but it is very much their company.”

He is now passing on some of that philosophy back to the university, mentoring students for eight hours a week, mirroring the effect that his first boss, Gordon Hall of Rockstar, had on him as a guide and advisor.

The success of agile games ventures like Red Kite is helping Yorkshire gain a reputation as the home of a games cluster, with sole trader businesses mixing smoothly with big operations like Rockstar Leeds. Iwaniszak describes the close relationship as a family, with little competition and plenty of collaboration. It’s a reminder of how powerful smaller companies can be when they work together. Entrepreneurs like Simon Iwaniszak have to have self-belief and a vision, but he is showing that it helps to be part of a multi-player game when you want to hit the high scores. n

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

ENTREPRENEUR

SUMMER 15

And also at 3M Buckley Innovation Centre, James Clarkson is building an impressive business to add to an impressive CV Entrepreneuers will easily associate themselves with the well-worn metaphor of a swan on a pond – organised and calm on the surface, but under the water the legs are working away at full speed, forcing their way through debris and clutter. James Clarkson has got the swan part of that sorted – even after opting for a 75% pay cut to follow the dream of running his own company.

Being an entrepreneur sits well with him. He was hugely experienced before he set out on his own and that brings a calmness to our conversation – but all the time those feet are paddling fast. Clarkson, 42, runs Adventoris, a four-year-old tech firm that has just released its first major product. There is investment behind the set-up which recognises the experience of Clarkson and co-founder Tim Longton, but this is still new territory. The new product is SwiftCloud, a mobile-friendly B2B platform that handles stock and orders. Stock is all displayed online, customers click what they want, orders are processed and replacement stock fills the space.“If you have lots of companies sending in orders by fax or email, you need people to handle those enquiries and key orders in all day,” Clarkson tells me.

“The Swiftcloud software uploads all the stock so your customers have built-in barcode technology to scan what they need more of and the orders gets sent straight through to the supplier.”

From SMEs not wanting to take on another member of staff to larger groups dealing with hundreds of orders a day, it’s easy to see the appeal. There is also great value in data capture, with individually-tailored offers if you haven’t ordered a particular line for a

I had been out for a run along the canal at Brighouse and the idea for SwiftCloud came to me. while and instinctive re-ordering reminders for regular items. Pretty smooth for a Huddersfield lad, whose track record is impressive.

“I studied economics at York and then went to work as a chartered accountant at KPMG in Huddersfield. I qualified there on the Thursday and went into industry on the Friday at a building products firm where I stayed for six years. Then I was group FD with a food manufacturing business for two years until we sold it to Kerry Foods. Then it was on to Ultralase for two years – again as group FD – and then a building services group in Brighouse called CP Group.”

He was at CP Group for six years before selling it in 2011 and completing a 20-year career in finance. Money (tick), success (tick). Job done, you would think. “The genesis of Adventuris came while I was with CP Group,”he says.

“We bought a tile business out of administration which had been dealing with a lot of small firms around the UK. There, a customer would ask for a set of tiles for his kitchen, the shop would ring us to check availability, then put the phone down, take the

order from the customer and then ring us back to order them.

“I had been out for a run along the canal at Brighouse and the idea for SwiftCloud came to me. But the recession was hitting and as an SME, we just didn’t have the resources, so the idea stayed where it was.”

Clarkson will readily recommend running for any entrepreneur, because it was after another session that the other lightbulb went on and the option of launching SwiftCloud as part of a standalone company started to take shape.

“That was the genesis moment – in the shower at Brighouse. Tim and I started putting some investment together and Peter Armitage of Key Capital Partners liked what we were doing and put us in touch with some VC contacts. Eventually we had £600,000 behind us in the initial round and moved to the 3M BIC.” So, not the usual path for an entrepreneur. With all that success behind him, money was not a motivation for James, and he tells me that being his own boss isn’t the main driver either. He just has belief in his product and wants to prove himself – again.

“The safety net has been removed and there have been times when I have been driving home and I’ve thought of having a cushy corporate job on a decent whack with big bonuses – and I have literally had a warm glow in my stomach. ”But I love what I’m doing and I’m passionate about our product... but I look forward to the day when we can get a bit more security in there.” With two young children and Mrs Clarkson taking a part-time job, the pressure is on, but so far James’s belief seems to be marketable. n

www.georgefwhite.co.uk M A X I M I S I N G VA LU E

Agriculture • Residential • Commercial • Leisure • Development • Investment • Energy • Environmental Call your local team: Bedale 01677 425301 Shiptonthorpe 01430 876010

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

70

XXXXXXXX INTERVIEW

SUMMER 15

Mike Hughes goes beyond an impressive CV to get to know Lupton Fawcett’s Jonathan Oxley, chairman of the IoD in Yorkshire Goulden, Lee, Priestley, Lupton, Fawcett, Denison, Till might well be the start of a debate about the best tactical formation for a Premier League club.

Add in IoD, MPC, White Rose and the University of Nottingham and it reveals itself to be the very full CV of Jonathan Oxley.

The breadth of experience makes it easy to understand how he is now a director at LFDT and chairman of the IoD in Yorkshire. The

other elements are Gouldens in London where he spent seven years, including handling corporate law affairs for Hanson Trust; Lee & Priestley in Bradford and Leeds, where he spent 20 years before they merged with the much larger Lupton Fawcett (who then merged with Denison Till) and White Rose Technologies, where he was company secretary until he took up his present title at LFDT in 2012.

He did, as you might expect, get his law degree with honours, at Nottingham in July 1983.

But if you think that is his story told, read on.

Jonathan Oxley is a pivotal figure in Yorkshire business – and a very decent chap.

“All that consolidation has worked well for us, with offices covering the region and the ability to attract big names to joins us,” he told me.

“It sometimes means you have to trade off

some of the luxuries about being a smaller business, like the collegiate atmosphere, and a greater control over your own destiny, but that is all versus a much more powerful offering that is robust and geographically extended.”

His personal CV actually goes back to the 1700s, with the Oxleys making their name in Dewsbury pubs (in a managerial sense, of course) including the Elephant & Castle which no longer exists, and the Black Bull that still trades on Market Place. The law gene came later.

“My grandfather was a solicitor’s clerk for his whole life for a firm that is now part of Chadwick Lawrence and there are still – just - people working there who remember him taking my dad and aunt in there when they were kids.

“My dad could never quite decide what he wanted to do, but he was quite bright and got a scholarship to Oxford to read English. He opted to do his national service after university and then never left, working in army education and military intelligence.”

When the young Jonathan was choosing his

FOLLOWING IN THE FAMILY FOOTSTEPS BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

72

SUMMER 15

XXXXXXXX INTERVIEW

own path, his father guided him away from English (‘because you don’t know what the hell you are going to do at the end of it’) and so he chose law, which he describes as ‘a broad church,’ saying that most personality types can find a bit that they are good at.

Lee & Priestley’s move to Leeds completed the early picture for him and progress has been regular and impressive ever since.

“When we first planned the move from Bradford, we perceived the LS1 brand was a powerful plus and enabled us to grow the business pretty significantly over a sustained period.

“Because we didn’t have a lot of Leeds clients at the time, we took a medium-term view that we could focus on smaller firms that would grow with us. It was strategic decision, the challenge being that young small businesses aren’t going to pay you a lot of legal fees in their early years, and probably have more important things to spend their money on.

“We became reasonably good at picking the ones that were going to be worth spending time with and it has been great to see those businesses grow and prosper.

“It was a matter of potential rather than turnover. Could this person with a brand, a platform, know-how or skill take that somewhere?”

That skill for talent-spotting was an >>

73

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

INTERVIEW

SUMMER 15

essential tool when the business was establishing itself in Leeds and it is one Oxley has been honing ever since and which is again showing its value as his work at the head of the IoD in the region helps firms prosper and contribute to the local economy.

“I’ve always had a real delight in developing people and building teams. Probably one of the things I am most proud of professionally is some of the people I have trained who have gone on to become really successful in their own right. They are great lawyers and great people.” The company also has very active links with Leeds Beckett University, as part of a competition to help spin-out young firms.

He has a particular enthusiasm for this sort of work, and is genuinely impressed that these entrepreneurial ideas are not scrawled on the back of a fag packet but are thought through, researched and tested.

“The model of university, businesses and local authorities is very powerful for the region, particularly with advanced manufacturing going so well, because bits will fly off those businesses and make a difference in the supply chain. We seem to be succeeding finally in getting a focus and saying we are going to concentrate on an area and get everyone bought in to it. Put all those things together and you might even end up with a Northern Powerhouse.

“Law firms can sometimes be very shortsighted, but I think you have to have a medium and long term view of things and I have always found that particularly easy. What you do today may not generate immediate fees, but I’m a great believer that if you keep on doing the right thing comes around.”

Oxley’s natural interest in the work of directors led him to join the IoD about ten years ago.

“I have seen some shocking director behaviour in my time, as well as some very good stuff and the raison d’etre of the Institute of Directors is to become better directors and ensure there is a better standard of direction in corporate life.

“I am also very interested in politics and policies like devolution, so I am fairly comfortable being a voice for the region on these subjects.

“George Osborne has made his views patently clear on the way forward for devolved powers and for me that is the open door – walk through it rather than say you want the door

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

I think there is a genuine commitment there to getting real momentum and growth in the North

in a different place or a different colour. The opportunity is there, with the backing of a chancellor who is there for the next five years.

You could be cynical about it – when you read the manifesto and get to the bit about the Northern powerhouse, the next paragraph says ‘....and we will make the Midlands an engine of growth...’ and you think, hang on a minute, are you just telling all the girls what they want to hear? But I think there is a genuine commitment there to getting real momentum and growth in the North.”

Away from the desk, and briefly putting aside devolution and corporate law, Oxley turns to sport for his relaxation – although you get the impression he’s very much ‘in it to win it’. He would be courteous in defeat, but he wouldn’t be happy with it.

Tennis “to quite a good level” and cycling take up his free time along with his daughters, aged 15 and 12 - and a Golden Retriever that needs plenty of exercise.

The conversation about how busy home life and work life is hits a more sombre note when Oxley mentions that things had been “a bit bonkers” a year and half ago.

“I found myself on the office floor thinking

74

‘I’m dying’ and, even worse, people gathered around me were thinking ‘he’s dying’.

“It started as a kick in my chest and I thought ‘at least my arm isn’t going tingly’, and then it did. It turned out to be stress, and the fact that I was combating pressure at work by exercising really hard – like a 40-minute 10k, which was just too much. So my body just said ‘you’ve had enough, mate’.

“I had about three months off work and it took a while to get back to full speed.

“My family got to see more of me, which they enjoyed, and it has made me particularly aware of getting that life balance right – which is absolutely doable now with the sort of support I have had here.”

His mind turns to others who may be going through the same situation, unaware of the ‘stress backwash’ they will get at some point and he has plans to try to do some work around stress and how to manage it.

Now through the offices of Lupton Fawcett and his chair at the IoD, the region has had an Oxley working for it for more than 300 years, developing business and serving the region.

Grandfather, at his desk at Chadwick Lawrence, would be proud. n

SUMMER 15

COMPANY PROFILE

The Importance of a Clean Break Peter Morris, Head of Family law at Irwin Mitchell in Leeds offers the following insight into the Supreme Court case of Wyatt v Vince If you’ve picked up a newspaper in the last few months, chances are that you will have seen the press coverage surrounding this landmark case. The reporting has divided people and caused widespread debate on what is fair in cases where one party to a marriage tries to make a financial claim against the other, years after their divorce.

But amongst the hyperbolic headlines, the facts of the case and the detail of the ruling have become somewhat lost.

Mr Vince and Ms Wyatt married in December 1981. They had a son together and treated Ms Wyatt’s daughter from a previous relationship as a child of the family. They divorced in 1984, at a time when they were both reliant on state benefits.

English law allows a divorce to be finalised (by the pronouncement of Decree Absolute) without financial issues being resolved.

Mr Vince says that at the time of the divorce financial matters were in fact resolved. He believes that a ‘clean break’ order (i.e. one dismissing his claims against Ms Wyatt and hers against him) was made. However, neither party has kept any documentation relating to the divorce and the court file cannot be located.

In the years after their divorce Ms Wyatt continued to rely on state benefits. She had two further children and says that she struggled financially.

Mr Vince became a new age traveller and contributed very little given his own financial circumstances. However, in the 1990s, his position began to change. He became interested in the proposition of wind power and founded the company known as Ecotricity.

Mr Vince is now reported to be one of the wealthiest men in the country. Ecotricity is reported to be worth at least £57 million.

There is no time limit applicable to a divorce In 2011, 27 years after the divorce, Ms Wyatt issued a financial application against Mr Vince.

Mr Vince challenged her ability to bring a claim so long after the divorce and asked the court to strike it out, without considering its merits in detail.

Mr Justice Mostyn, the High Court Judge who first considered the matter was not persuaded by Mr Vince. He felt that whatever was to become of Ms Wyatt’s claim, it was not possible to strike it out without first considering it.

Mr Vince appealed this decision and was at first successful. The Court of Appeal did strike out Ms Wyatt’s claim.

This was not, however, the end of the matter.

Ms Wyatt took the case on to the Supreme Court and they found in her favour. It is worth noting, that contrary to widespread reporting, they did not give her any financial award. The only

75

issue before the court was whether Ms Wyatt was able to pursue her claim. The Supreme Court determined that she was. It sent the case back down to the High Court to look at what, if anything, she should receive.

English divorce law requires the court to look at certain specified factors when deciding financial matters on divorce. Taking into account these factors (which include the ages of the parties, the length of the marriage, their respective contributions etc) it must make an order that is fair, taking into account all of the factors in the case.

This requirement means that it is not possible to strike out a case, no matter how long after separation it is commenced. There is no time limit applicable to a divorce.

The case highlights the importance of ensuring that all financial matters are finalised at the time of divorce and a court order is obtained.

Otherwise it could lead to future claims to a share of the wealth earned after the divorce.

While any good divorce lawyer should ensure that all financial matters are finalised and immune to future claims, it is crucial that any divorcees who don’t have financial orders in place review their situation as they may now face claims based on wealth acquired after the divorce.

If you would like to discuss any of the issues raised or any general family law matters, please contact Peter Morris on 0113 218 6418 or email Peter.Morris@Irwinmitchell.com

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

ENTREPRENEUR

SUMMER 15

WORKING HARD FOR THE BRITISH BRAND At 27, Craig Benton has a machine that makes him pound notes – but it was quite a challenge to put all the cogs together. Mike Hughes meets the director of the London Deli Company

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

76

SUMMER 15

My meeting with Craig Benton takes place in a small, but very smart boardroom at Murton, near York, with London Deli goodies on the table in front of us. But what surrounds us is proof of the speed at which this young entrepreneur is moving. The main floor of his new warehouse below is largely empty, apart from a few pallets of crisps, biscuits and preserves and Benton himself is still building the reception area, so there are planks of wood and power tools dotted around and the broadband team have been out today, but need to return on another day. But the kettle is up and running. His smartly-branded deli products are already best-sellers in the Middle East, where shops are snapping up the London skyline and Union Jack packaging and it has recently become a best-seller at its only retail outlet so far - Harrods. The warehouse is part of his Luminar Distribution company and will help propel the products – and his reputation - even further afield. “I’ve always had an entrepreneurial approach from my days being brought up in Buttercrambe and at Huntington school in York,” he tells me.

“My drama teacher got me working on the lighting systems in the school theatre and I started learning about design. I used to have an office space behind the stage at school where the teachers would come and sit with me during breaks.

“Then the school developed connections with the Theatre Royal and I started doing some work with them – all while I was at school.”

But then, just as his interests were forming and enthusiasm growing, the world changed dramatically for this inquisitive teenager. On Monday 5 January – he still can’t remember the year – his body “went bang” and he was struck down with ME Glandular Fever, which left him ill in bed - and with little spirit for life for more than two years.

What followed would have tested the fortitude of the most resilient entrepreneur.

“They said it was probably because I was doing too much, which really made me think about how money-driven I was, and how I wanted to make sure I put down a really solid foundation for my children.

“So I needed to move forward and do something bloody good, but by that time I was

ENTREPRENEUR

They said it was probably because I was doing too much, which really made me think about how moneydriven I was pretty much a recluse with the illness and it took a long time. But the NHS put me in touch with a therapist called Patrick O’Connor – who I will never forget.”

O’Connor worked with Benton and encouraged him to start living a full life again and make the most of his skills. Benton started on this track by helping set up a radio station called Pock FM (after nearby Pocklington) with help from his contacts at the Theatre Royal.

From that success Luminar Events was born, helping the likes of private schools set up major events.

It is a challenge - but one worth sticking with - to try to keep up with this chain of events.

Any one of them could have been the core of this story, but it is the timeline that has created Craig Benton.

The little bit of that, the chance to do this, the meeting here, the help from this person... on reflection, they all needed each other to be

77

waiting in line and if he hadn’t been persistent and endlessly confident, they would have remained separate and of much less use.

Next came work with a nursing home group – and the invaluable experience of setting up a central supply point near York to service it.

“I was there for five years and there wasn’t a single job there that I didn’t do at one stage,” he says.

“As the group grew we realised that we were buying from all over, so why not create one point and have better purchasing power.”

That principle was expanded in the food part of the nursing home group, as he invited in other companies and offered them good food deals, making deliveries from the provider more cost-effective and giving him a greater say in delivery schedules.

When the company was sold and he was made redundant he tried to pull together a CV, but trying to persuade companies to take him >>

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

ENTREPRENEUR

SUMMER 15

Why am I running around the globe for other people when I could create my own brand, specifically for the market, that exports well, has a good shelf life and travels well

on made one thing very clear. He didn’t want to work for other people, he wanted to be other people’s boss.

“I used to go out to see friends in the Middle East for about three months a year, and recognised the potential for exporting there, so I set up Luminar Distribution in 2011 and was going to lots of the companies I had worked with before, doing some really good deals and setting up an exports plan.

“But soon the lightbulb went on again and I thought ‘this is crazy’. Why am I running around the globe for other people when I could create my own brand, specifically for the market, that exports well, has a good shelf life and travels well.

“Arabs are absolutely besotted by London and what it stands for, so I set up what was then the London Jam Company.”

He scraped together around £8,000 to cover packaging and design work and the London Deli Company took shape. The name changed because he realised the potential for growing the brand.

Now the network of companies he has worked with over the last few years are coming to him as an established expert and he is considering

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

deals to provide white-label goods as well as his own lines. London Deli Company handles all its own distribution in-house, allowing Luminar to wait in the wings before starting to look at Middle East contracts for other coveted British brands like Kit Kat. With the Middle East market queuing up for quality, highly-branded preserves, confectionery, biscuits and crisps, and Harrods giving him more space on the shelves, surely he has cracked it?

After all, he now runs five companies – there is a Craig Benton consultancy company he looks after, the London Deli Company, Luminar Distribution, Lork Developments (which looks after building developments between London and York) and an upcoming children’s brand for which he has very high hopes.

Add to that a new focus on shrinking the products so they can be used on airlines; increasing sales by mail order; and the birth of the London Deli Bear to boost merchandising.

“The problem is – I love working,” admits Benton.

“I come into my office and I do sales, I do design, I go off to business meetings – which is

78

a jolly for me because I get to meet new people - and it has all created this brand.

“When I first started setting up, it was very personal to me. It was my baby and I created it and was very protective of it, but it was only quite recently that I have learned you can’t make business too personal.

“At the end of the day this is a machine with lots of cogs that makes me pound notes. I was always recluctant to give any of my company away, but we need money to make money, so I have even let someone have a small chunk of it, bringing our entire investment to around £100,000.

“For me it is also about spreading the risk and putting lots of eggs in lots of baskets.”

He says he knows his limits, particularly after the illness, but shows no signs of reaching it yet. He is so busy that it is impossible to predict where he will be in a few years’ time. He is taking helicopter lessons and is keeping his eyes open for the right property in the area to cut down on the commuting, but who knows where such confidence and such connections could lead?

For Benton, the fact that he doesn’t know the answer himself is part of the fun. n

THE UK’S INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LEAGUE

IP 10 0

THE IP100 - RECOGNISING THE VALUE OF IP IN YOUR BUSINESS BQ Magazine is delighted to announce the launch of the Intellectual Property (“IP”) League Table and the IP100, compiled in association with Metis Partners, an award-winning IP solutions firm The IP League Table will profile and rank innovative companies within the UK’s private sector, highlighting those businesses which have significantly invested in their IP in the form of IP creation, IP management policies, R&D activities and IP commercialisation. The top-scoring companies will be published in the IP100, an annual ranking of companies that are considered to be the most effective at commercialising their IP assets. The ranking process involves an assessment of IP-specific data linked to the following IP asset classes: brands, software, patents, trade secrets and critical databases. A proprietary scorecard will be applied to calculate an IP score, and the IP100 team will rank companies based on the results.

The IP League Table will give companies the platform to get recognition for the value of their IP, whether using IP to: • Boost the exit valuation of a business • Improve access to new markets • Protect existing market share • Create new barriers to entry IP also has the ability to play an important role in transforming funding options available to businesses. The IP League Table will enable companies to showcase their investment in intellectual property and potentially leverage the associated value to raise finance and restructure debt.The IP League Table is open to all UK companies and is FREE TO ENTER.

ENTER THE IP100 NOW The IP100 is open to all UK companies to enter and details about the process as well as the information

Enter now at www.bqlive.co.uk/IP100

required can be found at www.bqlive.co.uk/IP100

BIT OF A CHAT

with Frank Tock >> Music on a computer?

Whatever next....

Is there no end to the power of the Interwebby thing (full details at bit.ly/ interwebbything). I am told that things are not how they used to be (full details at bit.ly/howitusedtobe) and that music ‘on the go’ nowadays can be accessed by your computer. Even the Fonzieoperated jukeboxes (full details at bit.ly/ fonzieoperated) are now online - whatever that means. So applause, apparently, for Leeds-based jukebox maker NSM Music, which has ‘cranked it up to 11’ with a new superfast broadband connection for its pub-based machines.

I presume this means a wire as thick as your arm and a bigger plug on the end, although bigger sockets are understandably hard to come by. But I wish them the very best of luck. They are the UK’s largest manufacturer of online audio and video jukeboxes, so they should know what they’re doing.

Now excuse me, as I relax with some discs.

They’re made out of plastic, you know, and are really groovy (full details at bit.ly/ dreadfullydullvideo).

>> No trouble at Mill anymore...

Someone’s injecting Vitality into Heartbeat and Emmerdale? Sounds like a tough task.

Sorry, I misread that.... What’s actually happening is that health and life insurance

BUSINESS QUARTER |SUMMER 15

SUMMER 15

giant Vitality has opened its Yorkshire and North East office at the iconic 1912 Mill in Farsley, near Leeds, where the two TV legends were filmed.

The days of Nick Berry as PC Nick Rowan and life at the Woolpack with Amos and Mr Wilkes are long gone and the site has transformed into a 21st century business centre, with 61 companies creating nearly 300 new jobs.

Arthur Pentelow (Mr Wilks) died in 1991 and Hull-born Ronald Magill in 2007. But whatever happened to tuneful Eastenders pin-up turned homely Yorkshire copper Nick Berry?

Are you out there Nick? ‘ello ‘ello ‘ello?

The site has transformed into a 21st century business centre, with 61 companies creating nearly 300 new jobs

>> An upturn in the economic cycle Just about now, impulsive staffers from accountancy firm Baker Tilly, including its office in Leeds, should be pedalling home for the last few miles of their second national charity bike ride.

Given the scale of the challenge, which links its offices across the UK in a Tour de Baker Tilly, I suppose there is no telling exactly where the plucky Baker boys and girls will be. Did anyone sneak a quick lift when they had cycled round the corner? Of course not!

With £25,000 to raise for Anthony Nolan and The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and covering a total of over 700 miles, the cyclists stopped at 18 Baker Tilly offices on the way, with around 50 riders completing up to 80 miles.

Well done to them. It should all make for some great watercooler moments back in the office at Whitehall Quay. If they’ve got the strength to make it up from their desks.

It may not be too late to show your support.

Give it a go at bit.ly/bakerbikers

Alex Duckett, operations director at Twisted, arrives in Copenhagen on the Gumball 3000 rally

>> Twisted and Glamourous Yorkshire Land Rover Defender specialists, Twisted Automotive isn’t afraid to put its work to the test. Twisted took part in this year’s infamous Gumball Rally, providing two vehicles and a support team for the European leg between Stockholm and Amsterdam.

Gumball 3000 is a week long festival hosted by global cities, closing off streets to organise music concerts, action sports demos and spectacular car shows for live crowds of over a million people.

Alex Duckett, operations director at Thirsk-based Twisted said: “The Gumball 3000 rally provides the right level of glamour and international audience for us. We met some potential buyers, made a lot of new friends, and introduced a lot of people to our brand.” Glamour and Defender? Not two words you would usually run in the same sentence. But very Twisted.

80

OUR CLIENTS USE OUR HR SERVICES

SO THEY CAN CONCENTRATE ON WHAT THEY DO BEST See us as a partner in your business

We know you are good at what you do, but you hate to be taken away from your core focus in the business, that’s where we come in. With our expertise in outsourced HR, your dedicated HR team manage recruitment, induction, day 2 day challenges, performance management and leavers and much more. Whilst our consultancy services deliver the tools and skills you need to grow a successful and profitable business through the best use of your people.

Call us today on

0113 287 8150

for a chat about how we can work in partnership to help you manage your people

www.hr180.co.uk

EVENTS

SUMMER 15

BQ’s business events diary gives you lots of time to plan. If you wish to add your event to the list send it to mikehughes@bqlive.co.uk and please put ‘BQ events page’ in the subject heading

JULY 1 12 - 2pm. Business lunch at York Pavilion Hotel, 45 Main Street. Contact Leeds, York, & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce on 01904 567838 2 3:30 - 5:30pm. Construction, Property and Trade networking at The Earl Of Doncaster Hotel, Bennethorpe, Doncaster DN2 6AD. Contact Amy Symon on 01302 640132.

2 9:30 - 11:00am. Connections Count networking meeting with Mid Yorkshire Chamber at Unity Hall, Unity Works, Westgate, Wakefield, WF1 1EP. Contact 01924 311600 for details or book at bit.ly/midyorkconnections.

7 8:00 - 9:30am. An Hour Well Spent: Develop a High Performing Workplace – How well do you know your people? At Doncaster Racecourse, Leger Way, Doncaster DN2 6BB. Contact Amy Symon at Doncaster Chamber on 01302 640132.

7 8:00 - 9:30am. Business Connect, a new, bi-monthly event run by Barnsley & Rotherham Chamber, at New York Stadium, Rotherham S60 1AH. 01709 386200 for details.

10 5:30 - 9:30pm. Doncaster Chamber summer BBQ at The Yorkshire Wildlife Park, Brockholes Lane, Doncaster DN3 3NH. Contact 01302 640132.

10 12:30 - 1:30pm. Mid Yorkshire networking at The Hop, 19 Bank Street, Wakefield, WF1 1EH. Details from 01924 311600.

14 9:30 - 4:30pm. Understanding Exporting & Export Documentation course at John Smiths Stadium, Stadium Way, Huddersfield, HD1 6PG. Contact jo.palmer@ mycci.co.uk for details.

14 12 - 2pm. Bradford Chamber Annual Lunch at Great Victoria Hotel, Bridge Street, Bradford. Contact the chamber on 01274 206660.

16 12 - 2pm. Barnsley & Rotherham Chamber of Commerce new member networking lunch at the chamber office, 2 Genesis Business Park, Sheffield Road, Templeborough, Rotherham, S60 1DX. Contact 01709 386200 for details.

19 9 - 11:30am. Business networking at Cafe Ollo, Media Centre, 7 Northumberland Street, Town Centre, Huddersfield HD1 1RL. Details from 01924 311600.

28 12:30 - 1:30pm. Last Friday Club, relaxed networking at Maggie’s, 24 Fountain Street, Halifax, HX1 1LW. Mid Yorkshire Chamber for details on 01924 311600.

SEPTEMBER 3 3:30 - 5:30pm. Construction, Property and Trade Networking at The Earl Of Doncaster Hotel, Bennethorpe, Doncaster DN2 6AD. Contact Doncaster Chamber on on 01302 640132 3 9:30 - 11:00am. Connections Count networking event at The Shay Stadium, Shaw Hill, Halifax, HX1 2YS. Register at bit.ly/midyorkshay 10 and 11 Details to be announced. St Leger Ladies’ day event with various Chambers. Contact yours nearer the date.

16 9am - 4pm. Business-to-business exhibition with Barnsley & Rotherham chamber at Wentworth Woodhouse, Rotherham, South Yorkshire S62 7TQ. 01709 386200 for details.

16 9:30 - 4:30pm. Customs Procedures and Documentation course at John Smiths Stadium, Stadium Way, Huddersfield, HD1 6PG. Contact jo.palmer@mycci. co.uk for details.

24 11:45am-1:45pm. Barnsley FC Business Hub, network opportunities over lunch. 01709 386200 for details.

29 5:30 - 8:00pm. Buy Doncaster Business Club. Contact Amy Symon on 01302 640132 for details 30 8 – 10am. Local business forum at Elsie Whiteley Innovation Centre, Hopwood Lane, Halifax, HX1 5ER. Register at bit.ly/midyorkforum.

17 10:30am with lunch at 12:30pm. Hull and Humber Chamber Speed networking and lunch, Oaklands Hall Hotel, Laceby, Near Grimsby DN37 7LF. Contact 01472 342981.

22 12 - 2pm. Business lunch at Downe Arms Hotel, Main Road, Wykeham, Scarborough YO13 9QB. Contact LYNY Chamber on 01904 567838.

30 12 - 2pm. Construction lunch with Rob Dale, from Tata Steel Projects, at Best Western Monkbar Hotel , York. YO31 7JA. Contact LYNY Chamber on 01904 567838.

AUGUST 4 7.30 - 9.30am. Doncaster Chamber City Region Business Networking Breakfast at Tankersley Manor Hotel, Church Lane, Tankersley, Barnsley S75 3DQ. Contact 01302 640132.

6 6 - 11pm. Yorkshire Day Drinks Evening at Ruddings Park, Follifoot, Harrogate.

Register with Yorkshire Mafia at bit.ly/YMdrinks 13 12.00 - 2.30pm. Speed networking lunch at Barnsley Football Club, Oakwell Stadium, Grove Street, Barnsley, S71 1ET. Contact Barnsley & Rotherham Chamber of Commerce on 01709 386200 19 12 - 2pm. Business lunch at Hotel du Vin Harrogate, HG1 1LB. Contact LYNY Chamber on 01904 567838.

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 15

The diary is updated daily online at www.bqlive.co.uk Please check with contacts beforehand that arrangements have not changed. Events organisers are also asked to notify us at the above email address of any changes or cancellations as soon as they are known.

82

LOTS OF REASONS TO BOOK WITH US…

BUSINESS YOUR WAY AT OULTON HALL & SPA A range of flexible meeting and events facilities to suit your every business need.

• 152 bedrooms • Nine meeting rooms for up to 300 delegates • Flexible spaces for retreat meetings and graduate training • Residential conferences • Spaces for team building, BBQs and drinks receptions

• Range of dining options for client entertaining, including butler dinners and afternoon tea • Corporate golf days • Ride and drive events • Located 2 miles from the M1 and M62

No matter what your business needs, Oulton Hall has the solution.

20

14 - 2015

2014 - 2015

Enquire today!

0113 282 1000 oultonevents@QHotels.co.uk Oulton Hall, Rothwell Lane, Oulton, Leeds,LS26 8HN Terms and conditions apply. Offer subject to availability. Minimum number of people apply for each day delegate package.