Monthly Archives: March 2022

London News, News, South East

Alexander Lyons Solutions increases headcount following success in legal consultancy sector

Disruptive recruitment consultancy, Alexander Lyons Solutions, has increased its headcount by an impressive 1400% over the last 12 months, following continued growth and success within the legal consultancy sector.

Founded in 2011 by experienced recruitment consultant, Alex Dick, Alexander Lyons Solutions has evolved into a high-performance team of self-motivated recruitment specialists, united in the consultancy’s straight talking, no-nonsense approach.

With credible experience in supporting business growth through effective recruitment strategies, the business has established a leading reputation within legal consultancy and has been instrumental in the growth of many market leading firms.

As a result, Alexander Lyons Solutions has successfully attracted 14 new senior hires to the business during the last 12 months, enabling it to expand its specialisms into executive support, human resources, TMT, sales & marketing, and finance.

Alex Dick, Founder and MD of Alexander Lyons Solutions, confirmed: “The last 12 months have proved incredibly exciting for Alexander Lyons Solutions, where we have not only played a fundamental role in supporting the growth of an advancing business model within the legal sector, but we have also expanded our own pool of talent, attracted by our authentic and autonomous approach to recruitment.

Unlike many industry competitors, we are not only committed to putting the wellbeing of our staff before profit, but we genuinely believe in treating our staff right through perks like unlimited holiday, mental health days, true work life balance and 50% – 80% commission past threshold as standard.

Therefore, although legal consultancy will remain a key specialism for the business, having spent many years helping law firms adopt and grow into this new, flexible model, we are also focused on expanding into other industry sectors to achieve similar levels of success, helping to accelerate our own growth and that of our clients – watch this space.”

Headquartered in London, Alexander Lyons Solutions combine over 200 years’ experience in recruitment.

Construction, News

Bhangals Construction Consultants celebrates Women In Construction Week

All female employees at Bhangals Construction Consultants came together for a photoshoot to mark Women In Construction Week 2022 (6-13th March).

Seven career driven women take key roles in the award-winning firm, where founder and managing director Parm Bhangal believes in equal opportunities for all, despite the sector being predominantly male dominated.

Operations manager Katie has grown in the business, starting out as a client service executive four years ago. Katie’s core responsibilities consist of overseeing and improving the business processes and in-house strategies to ensure the business is continuously growing. Katie also deals with other elements of the business such as recruitment and staffing.

She said: ‘’Going into an industry which is predominately male based, you do worry that you won’t be taken seriously, or you will be limited to what you can and can’t do but I truly believe since being in my role that if you are willing to give 110%, you can go far and progress.

‘’My advice would be not to allow the inexperience to stop you going for it. Before I started my career in construction, I had no experience and this can be daunting, however I have learnt so much in the last four years which has ultimately got me to the role I am in today.”

Yasmyn, Giuditta and Jasmin are the talented trio in the estimating team.

Yasmyn, who has been with Bhangals for two years, had previously worked for a steelwork firm and had experience in the construction field. Her current role involves pricing complex projects for clients and sending quotes out to suppliers.

Giudy prices projects in a time sensitive manor and reviews other colleagues work to ensure that estimates are totally accurate. Jasmin started her career at Bhangals with estimating experience from a previous role and has been an amazing asset to the team.

Client service administrators Scarlet and Charlotte work within the admin team, dealing directly with clients to ensure they receive an exceptional service from start to finish.

Charlotte said: “One of the main things I love about working in the construction industry is seeing the finalised design of our client’s project and seeing their dreams come to life.”

If you’re interested in a career in construction, visit https://www.bhangals.co.uk/about-us/careers

Export, International News, News

Innovative supply chain solution secures £4m in funding to expand in Europe

Flowlity, an innovative AI-based supply chain planning and forecasting solution, has secured 5 million euros (£4.17 million)  in funding, led by Fortino Capital, to expand throughout Europe. 

The funding will be used to accelerate its development with the aim to becoming an industry leader by providing innovate ways of reducing waste across the entire supply chain – enabling companies to save money and reduce their carbon footprint.   

Armed with its innovative AI-based tool, Flowlity is already working with several companies in the manufacturing and retail sectors, such as Saint-Gobain, Miba, and Bosch. For La Redoute, the software has already led to an inventory reduction of 40% and at e-commerce retailer Camif, stock shortages have reduced by 10%. 

In today’s world, traditional JIT (Just-in-time) models are not robust enough to handle increasingly frequent supply chain disruptions. COVID has demonstrated the importance of supply chain planning to manufacturers and the general public around the world, but it has also highlighted a host of problems, including raw materials shortages and increasing lead times. Around $2 trillion dollars are lost every year as a result of overstocking or shortages, all caused by the use of obsolete forecasting models. 

Intending to provide an effective response to the challenges, Flowlity has come to the fold with a new planning and stock optimisation methodology called ‘Resilient Planning’. The solution allows supply chain planners to capture market volatility and react to disruptions in an agile and effective way.  

Jean-Baptiste Clouard, CEO at Flowlity said: “Thanks to support from Fortino Capital, OSS Ventures and 42CAP, we will be able to work with more European companies in their planning challenges to help them to reduce scrap and waste and to reduce their carbon footprint.” 

Filip Van Innis, Investment Director at Fortino Capital said: “We believe Flowlity has a clear strategic focus and an experienced team to accelerate the transformation and digitalisation of supply chain optimisation models across Europe and thereby facilitate a more robust economy.” 

Alexander Meyer, Partner at 42Cap, a Munich-based seed investor, said: “We are delighted to continue to support Flowlity in their European expansion. Since they first launched, we have believed in the power of their platform and their growth potential.” 

2021 was a good year for Flowlity, – as well as featuring among the winners at the 23rd edition of the iLab Innovation Competition, it also expanded internationally by signing the first cross-Atlantic contract and doubling its client portfolio.  

Building on 100%+ growth, Flowlity is continuing its rise in 2022 and is welcoming Peter Schram, former Senior Director Analyst at Gartner, and Edouard Fourcade, former Managing Director EMEA at Anaplan, to the board. To achieve the business objectives, they hope to expand its current team of 30 employees to around 50 by the end of the year. 

 

 

About Flowlity: 

Launched in January 2019 by Jean-Baptiste Clouard and Karim Benchaaboun, Flowlity is an AI-based stock optimization and forecasting solution. With its unique resilient planning approach, Flowlity already works with several large international corporations, including La Redoute, Bosch, Saint-Gobain, and LVMH. After raising €1.7 million in August 2019 with the support of 42CAP and Entrepreneur First, Flowlity was nominated among the 50 best European start-ups by Google and McKinsey. In 2021, the company continued to expand internationally and was a winner at the 23d edition of the i-Lab Innovation Competition. 

To find out more: https://flowlity.com  

 

 

Appointments, News

Senior Appointments for Res Tech Firm Walr

Research tech company Walr has appointed former CBRE exec Emily Whiting as Chief of Staff, and former Accenture leader Keziah Wonstolen as a Non-Executive Director.

Walr was set up in the autumn of 2020 by former VIGA (now Savanta) exec Lewis Reeves and Patrick Fraser, who previously worked at Ipsos and Critical Research. The firm offers a bespoke research platform that allows users to create, access, analyse and distribute data all from one location. Last September it acquired fellow res tech company QuenchTec, and since then it has grown headcount from around 30 to ‘approaching 50’, with bases in the UK, the USA and continental Europe.

Whiting joins from CBRE, where she headed up the Change Management vertical for the US within the Global Workplace Consulting practice, leading a team of seven experienced consultants on enterprise transformation projects.

Wonstolen brings fourteen years of experience from Accenture and is currently CEO of Vannin, a company that finds/selects and provides training for Chiefs of Staff in fast-growing client firms (and found Whiting for Walr). At Accenture, Wonstolen focused on high-tech sales transformations as a management consultant before becoming Chief of Staff within the consulting business.

Lewis Reeves, Walr founder and CEO, comments: ‘As we continue to embrace the very best of technology and talent to generate client delight and power our customer’s success, bringing onboard Emily and Keziah represents a huge scope for Walr. The calibre, intelligence and experience they have from such successful organisations will play a pivotal role in aiding Walr to deliver on our ambitious global strategic goals’.

Appointments, Midlands News, News

New senior leaders supercharge Grant Thornton’s Midlands team

Leading business and financial adviser Grant Thornton UK LLP has made several senior appointments to its award-winning Midlands team.

The appointments at the Birmingham office include Sue Knight becoming the area’s new Practice Leader, Rachel Parker moving to lead the region’s corporate tax team and Sreekanth Gaddamanugu being appointed as Audit Director.

Sue Knight has been employed at Grant Thornton for 21 years. Prior to becoming the firm’s Birmingham based Practice Leader in January, she led the Private Ultra-High Net Worth team and the Trust business.

Sue now takes on responsibility for developing and growing Grant Thornton’s expert team across the Midlands. The firm had a very successful 2021 in the region, seeing significant growth and winning both Private Equity/Venture Capital Deal of the Year and International Deal of the Year at Insider’s Central & East Dealmakers Awards 2021.

Rachel Parker has recently moved from Grant Thornton’s Gatwick office to become the lead Partner for Midlands Corporate Tax. In this role, Rachel will head up the 40-person corporate tax team which is based across Birmingham and Leicester.

Rachel joined Grant Thornton in 2006 and specialises in working with mid-market businesses as well as large international firms. Being on the firm’s Social Mobility Board is a key element of Rachel’s role. The Board act as advocates for the firm’s social mobility programme and activity and is focused on continuing to drive change and build on the significant progress already made by the firm in this area.

Sreekanth Gaddamanugu’s appointment as Audit Director in December 2021 further strengthens Grant Thornton’s mid-market audit business. He has experience working with both large listed companies as well as dynamic mid-market businesses in the Midlands. He has an in-depth understanding of a range of sectors in the Midlands market, with a particular focus on the automotive and manufacturing industries.

In addition to these appointments, James Brown, Partner and Practice Leader at Grant Thornton UK LLP in the East of England, will take on new clients and markets leadership responsibilities in the Midlands. This will see James focus on developing existing relationships and collaborate with new companies in the region to help them fulfil their strategic goals.

James Brown said: “I am tremendously excited to be part of our Midlands team, which, as these recent appointments illustrate has such a great breadth of expertise, and I’m looking forward to building on the already strong relationships that we have in the market”.

The evolution of Grant Thornton’s 400-strong Birmingham team is exemplified by its pending move to 103 Colmore Row, which will facilitate a more agile and client-focused approach. The sustainable nature of the new office’s design also reflects the firm’s focus on sustainable working practises

Sue Knight, Partner at Grant Thornton and Midlands Practice Leader, said: “The recent appointments to our Midlands team illustrate the high level of talent we’re able to provide the region’s market. The skills and knowledge they bring are vital to ensuring that the innovative and ambitious businesses here are able to grow and capitalise on new opportunities. The Midlands team is full of incredibly supportive, dedicated and gifted experts, which makes it an exciting environment to be in. What’s more, we’re working in an area that has a wealth of interesting organisations to which we can offer everything from advisory, audit and forensic services to tax, global mobility and private wealth support.

Rachel Parker, Lead Partner for Midlands Corporate Tax, said: “This is a really exciting time to be leading the Midlands Corporate Tax team. There are significant opportunities in the market – a lot of innovative businesses with ambitious growth plans. The team’s increasing strength makes it well placed to unlock the potential of the Midlands’ market and help businesses navigate the increasingly complex world of taxation and realise their ambitions.

“As a member of Grant Thornton’s social mobility board, it’s really important for me that our team is not only as talented as possible but that it provides a supportive and inclusive space that reflects the diversity of our area.”

Sreekanth Gaddamanugu, Audit Director, said: “The area’s mid-market is very dynamic and has the capacity for substantial growth. I’m looking forward to working with the team to support our clients and provide assurance as they navigate the ever-changing external environment. I’ll also have a keen focus on inclusion and diversity and creating a culture of challenge and personal responsibility that enables every member of the team to fulfil their potential.”

These appointments follow a number of similar changes in 2021 to add strength and depth to the firm’s central team, such as Rob Outram becoming Birmingham’s new regional Head of VAT and Graham Howard being promoted to Tax Director in the West Midlands.

News

Smartsheet Strengthens Solution for Marketers with Enhanced Brandfolder Integration to Connect Campaigns to Content in One Platform

New Digital Asset Management Capabilities Enable End-to-End Content Workflows

Brandfolder Named a Strong Performer in Digital Asset Management Report by Independent Research Firm  

Smartsheet, the enterprise platform for dynamic work, today announced enhancements to its solution for marketers including new integration capabilities with Brandfolder, Smartsheet’s digital asset management platform. Enhancing the functionality between Smartsheet and Brandfolder helps marketers better manage their work, content, and people—from ideation to execution.

Marketers and creatives are faced with an influx of content requests across more channels than ever before on a global scale, but without a solution to manage or store this content, 40% of organizations report difficulty finding their digital assets. Instead of using an average of more than 12 tools to manage campaigns, marketers need a unified solution from campaign workflow to content storage.

“Using siloed marketing systems has been the status quo for years. But with more pressure to deliver quality content at a higher frequency, implementing a unified content lifecycle management system that tracks both content and the work around that content is essential,” said Ben Canning, Senior Vice President, Product Management at Smartsheet. “By seamlessly combining a market-leading work management platform with an intuitive digital asset management solution, marketers and creatives can harness a powerful platform to create the impactful work that builds their brand.”

Managing Dynamic Content — from Ideation to Execution

Connecting the solutions that marketers need most is critical to driving successful campaigns. By combining the best in work and digital asset management, Smartsheet’s platform aligns marketing and creative work by streamlining asset discovery and delivery and optimizing value through unified team and asset performance analytics. Customers like Overtime, Climate Pledge Arena and the Seattle Kraken are already seeing dividends from their use of Smartsheet and Brandfolder, and starting today they and all global customers will benefit from the following new enhancements using the Brandfolder panel in the platform:

  • Attach from Brandfolder enables marketers to easily attach a specific asset from Brandfolder to a sheet or specific row in Smartsheet.
  • Two-click publish to Brandfolder from a completed proof in Smartsheet.
  • Upload attachment to Brandfolder as an asset into a specific Brandfolder collection from Smartsheet.

“The new Brandfolder panel gives our team exactly what we’ve been wanting: a unified solution to develop, manage, and deploy visual assets across our website,” said Lorit Queller, Content Development Manager at iS Clinical. “The ability to connect Brandfolder assets directly to our Smartsheet workflows across all of our projects not only increases visibility for everyone involved but allows them to use assets in new and creative ways.”

Customers can also access Brandfolder Insights data in Smartsheet, which allows marketers to pull top user and top asset data directly from Brandfolder Insights into Smartsheet. Marketers can use that data to create custom reports and dashboards that help teams and executives connect asset and team performance to shape creative and marketing strategy.

A leader on G2’s Grid for Digital Asset Management Software for sixteen consecutive quarters, Brandfolder was also named a ‘Strong Performer’ in its first appearance on The Forrester Wave™: Digital Asset Management for Customer Experience, Q1 2022 report, published by Forrester Research, Inc. Brandfolder received the highest possible scores in the criteria of scalability, intelligent content generation, portals, creative toolset integration, and partner ecosystem.

According to the report: “Brandfolder’s vision highlights the importance of full content lifecycle support…” and the platform is “a good fit for mid-market to enterprise clients that need a scalable platform and complementary collaborative work management capabilities.”

Read more about Brandfolder’s leadership in the digital asset management category here.

About Smartsheet

Smartsheet (NYSE: SMAR) is the enterprise platform for dynamic work. By aligning people and technology so organizations can move faster and drive innovation, Smartsheet enables its millions of users to achieve more. Visit www.smartsheet.com to learn more.

Construction, News, South East

Schoolchildren given building lesson on visit to Barking Riverside development

Bellway London Partnerships welcomed pupils from nearby Southwood Primary School in Dagenham to its Fielders Quarter development to give them an insight into how the regenerations project in Barking Riverside operates.

The pupils visited the site offices at the development, where they were given a presentation by Bellway’s civil engineers about the construction process, the importance of health and safety, and career opportunities in the industry.

They also took part in an exercise to build basic structure models with straws and were then taken onto a rooftop viewing platform from where they were able to see the work being carried out at Fielders Quarter, where Bellway is building 371 apartments and townhouses.

The development is part of the wider Barking Riverside scheme which is transforming the former Barking Power Station site in East London, delivering 10,800 new homes to the area.

Tony Whitbread, Head of Technical at Bellway London Partnerships, said: “It was a real pleasure to welcome these excited and interested youngsters to Fielders Quarter and to be able to give them an insight into the work that is taking place at this landmark scheme.

“We pride ourselves on being part of the community and this day was a chance to explain what we do to a class of local schoolchildren, some of whom may one day live in a home in this rapidly growing neighbourhood.

“It was also an opportunity to teach the pupils the basics of construction and the importance of health and safety on site, as well as opening their eyes to potential future careers in housebuilding. The children were incredibly receptive, and we’d like to think we might just have inspired some of them to join us when they leave school or university.”

Miss Sultana, from Southwood Primary School, said: “This was a great opportunity for children at Southwood Primary to see what engineering is all about. Children enjoyed getting involved in the workshop and learnt a lot about construction.”

A selection of one and two-bedroom apartments are currently available at Fielders Quarter, with prices starting from £258,655.

For more information, call the sales team on 020 3993 4396 or visit https://www.bellway.co.uk/new-homes/london-partnerships/fielders-quarter.

News, North of England, Retail & E-commerce

River Island expands in Derbion

River Island is the latest retailer to announce plans to invest in the East Midlands’ leading retail and leisure destination, Derbion, with the brand set to relocate and upsize its footprint by 3,000sq ft.

River Island will take over a brand new, larger unit within the centre this summer, in a move that will see it increase in size by more than a third. Moving from its current 8,000sq ft store to a new 11,000sq ft space will enable the brand to offer a greater variety of fashion across womenswear, menswear and kids.

Work to transform the unit is set to begin in May, with the new River Island due to open its doors later this summer.

The announcement follows a string of investments from retailers such as The Body Shop, Toy Planet and Superdrug, who are all improving their existing units within the centre. New retailers including FLANNELS and Mango have also enjoyed success at Derbion since opening their doors and Jack Wills is set to arrive later this year

Michael Boundy, senior asset manager at Derbion, commented: “It’s great to see even more of our retailers showing confidence in both the centre and Derby. River Island’s investment and significant upsize demonstrates Derbion’s compelling offer to retailers, with many international, national and regional brands enjoying real success here.

“Derbion continues to expand its offering, with the arrival of several new retailers over recent months including Mango, Tommy Hilfiger and FLANNELS, with Jack Wills set to open in the coming months.”

Food & Drink, News, North of England

Spoil Your Mum This Mother’s Day At Delifonseca Dockside

Liverpool’s award-winning restaurant Delifonseca Dockside is putting mum first this Mother’s Day to host a series of celebrations on Sunday, March 27.

The well-loved restaurant is inviting guests to kickstart the day with a special set breakfast menu that will see them welcomed on arrival with a choice of Bucks Fizz or Delifonseca’s signature non-alcoholic cocktail the Berry Sweetheart.

Located on Brunswick Way, the eatery mouth-watering breakfast selection will include St James Smoked Salmon with Free Range Scrambled Eggs, Smashed Avocado on Sourdough Rye Toast with Grilled Halloumi and Two Poached Eggs and Delifonseca’s take on the classic English Breakfast, made with ingredients from inhouse butchers concession Edge & Sons.

Proprietor Candice Fonseca said: “Anyone that is familiar with Delifonseca will probably know that our Mother’s Day breakfast has become an annual tradition for us. We think it’s the perfect way to start the day and spoil all those Liverpool mums in the best way possible, with no cooking and no washing up afterwards.

“We appreciate that some of our guests may want a later start to their ‘day off’ so we’ve crafted a lunch menu that will help carry the celebrations through to the afternoon.”

Delifonseca Dockside’s three course lunch menu features starter options such as Salt Cod Croquettes with a Molho Escabeche Sauce, Paglia e Fieno – Straw & Hay Tagliatelle, Wild Mushrooms & Speck, “Better than Carpaccio” Rare roasted Welsh Black Beef, Parmesan & Rocket with main dishes including Moroccan Spiced Lamb Rump, Giant Jewelled Cous Cous, Roast Sweet Potato, Bouillabaisse, or a Traditional Sunday Roast with Welsh Black Beef, Goosnargh Chicken or Cashew & Hazelnut Roast with all the trimmings.

To top it off, diners can indulge in a sweet desert with a choice of Vanilla Crème Brulee, White Chocolate, Orange & Blueberry Bread & Butter Pudding, and Apple & Rhubarb Crumble.

Candice added: “I think it’s fair to say that our mums spend a fair amount of time feeding everyone else, so Mother’s Day is always the perfect opportunity to let the rest of the family take over and let them enjoy a day of indulgence.”

The breakfast menu will be served at Delifonseca Dockside between 9am and 11:30am on Sunday, March 27 and is priced at £22.50 per head. The three-course lunch menu is priced £39.50 per head and is available from 12:30pm.

News

Paul Popham Fund celebrates World Kidney Day with the return of Kilometres for Kidneys

Swansea-based kidney charity, Paul Popham Fund, Renal Support Wales has announced the return of its highly anticipated fundraising event, Kilometres for Kidneys, launching on March 10, 2022 – World Kidney Day.

The charity’s Kilometres for Kidneys event encourages a healthy and active lifestyle while also raising awareness and vital funds for the Children’s Kidney Centre, Cardiff. The Paul Popham Fund is inviting people of all fitness levels to choose from a variety of exercise challenges to either walk or run and hopes to have over 100 entrants this year.

The event starts on World Kidney Day, Thursday, March 10, and finishes a month later, on Sunday, April 10. The event will conclude with the Finale Event: The Big Kilometres for Kidney Walk, where participants are invited to walk their final 1km and follow a specific route in the shape of a kidney – the person with the best shaped kidney on Strava will receive a Trophy!

Participants can choose from 4 challenges of varying difficulty, ranging from easy (20km) to very hard (270km). Last year’s event was successful in raising over £1,000 for the charity and there were 97 participants. Funds raised will contribute to the refurbishment of the Children’s Kidney Centre, Cardiff, details of which can be found here.

This year, prizes are being awarded for Best Effort, Best Photo, First to Complete the Bingo Challenge, First to Complete each Difficulty Level (20km, 80km, 160km, 270km), and Best Drawn Kidney on Strava at the Finale Event on the 10th of April.

Each winner will receive a Trophy and a Paul Popham Fund branded Cap and Water Bottle. A medal and certificate will be awarded to every participant who completes their chosen Kilometres for Kidneys Challenge.

This year we have introduced a BINGO Challenge for every day of the month to keep your Kilometres for Kidneys journey fun and exciting. The Bingo Challenge features 31 challenges like ‘Tell us Your Story’ and ‘Wear Yellow in support of World Kidney Day’ in a pledge to raise awareness of kidney disease and in support of World Kidney Day.

World Kidney Day is an important date not just for the Paul Popham Fund, but for people worldwide. 1 in 10 have kidney disease, so this annual campaign coordinated in the UK by the Kidney Charities Together Group aims to raise awareness of kidney health.

The World Kidney Day Joint Steering Committee has declared 2022 the year of “Kidney Health for All”. The campaign will focus on efforts to increase education and awareness about kidney health and on reducing the knowledge gap on chronic kidney disease.

Joanne Popham, CEO of the Paul Popham Fund, said:

“We are excited to bring back our fantastic Kilometres for Kidneys challenge. It was a huge success last year, and it was brilliant to see so many people getting involved and giving it a go. As a charity, we are committed to bridging the knowledge gap to better kidney care through raising awareness and education, pledging to support better kidney care for all.

So, get involved – keep mentally and physically fit whilst helping us raise vital funds for people with kidney disease, to help them and their families lead a better quality of life. Thank you and good luck to all participants!”

Full details about the challenge, and how to sign up can be found at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/kilometres-for-kidneys-registration-265794908727.