Category Archives: North of England

News, North of England

Electrical services company completes revamp at UK’s oldest hotel

A north west England-headquartered electrical services company has completed a full electrical revamp on what is thought to be Europe’s oldest coaching inn.

The age and significance of The Olde Bell in Hurley, Berkshire, which has hosted the likes of Richard Burton, Winston Churchill and Greta Garbo over the years, meant work was subject to stringent regulations covering which parts could be altered or even simply used for fittings.

Ash Integrated Services, which is based in Atherton near Manchester, spent six months painstakingly working on the Grade II*-listed building, parts of which date back to 1135, completely renewing its mains electricity provision, including new lighting and power throughout.

The company, which offers integrated electrical, plumbing and heating services, also fitted a new fire alarm system, plus data and audio-visual connectivity in all bedrooms.

Antony Grace, director at Ash Integrated Services, said: “Between covid-19 and the heritage restrictions, we had a team of just two on-site, which meant each part of the work required a very tight turnaround.

“The placement of each element of the wiring, the choice of lighting, and even the fittings holding components in place had to be carefully considered.

“As a firm that specialises in renewable and low-carbon work, we also appreciate that even in older premises, improvements can still be made, and that by keeping these sites in use instead of building anew, we can help keep overall carbon emissions to a minimum.

“By sensitively fitting the right modern electrical equipment with precision, particularly the state-of-the-art fire alarm system, we have helped protect the Olde Bell for many years to come.”

The Olde Bell, which is arranged over five buildings, is a short walk from the River Thames and boasts accommodation, a restaurant, pub and conference facilities, as well as being a popular wedding venue.

Antony added: “As such an important historical building, it’s vital to ensure it continues to function well, in order to preserve it for future generations.

“We’re really pleased with the work that we’ve carried out within a tight timescale.”

Construction, News, North of England

New appointments underpin architecture firm’s continued growth

An architectural practice has made a series of new appointments to support its burgeoning portfolio across the north west.

Base Architecture, which has offices in Chester, Conwy in North Wales and Shrewsbury, has welcomed four new employees to the team — architect Jake Boardman and architectural designers Harry Braid and Aaron Williams with Jenny Powell taking on the newly created role of business and planning executive.

Managing Director Harry Reece said the new appointments came as the firm’s reputation in the commercial and residential sectors spreads across the UK and particularly the north west and Wales.

“Since we opened our Chester office in 2017, followed by our Conwy studio in 2019, our workload has increased by 40 per cent with a 50/50 split between residential and commercial contracts,” he explained.

“We’re now working on projects from as far south as Kent up to Yorkshire in the north and even across Europe, with a key focus on Cheshire and North Wales, which has led to the subsequent growth of our team.”

Harry added: “Our new staff have been handpicked to ensure we continue to grow our reputation as architects that deliver innovative and creative solutions from concept to completion, and we look forward to seeing what we can achieve together in the coming years.”

Jake, who graduated from Northumbria University, has spent the last seven years working in Manchester’s competitive and growing commercial scene and Cheshire’s flourishing private residential market.

His experience includes an extensive portfolio from award-winning multi-million-pound developments working with some of the north west’s biggest developers on numerous high rise residential towers, university halls of residence, office space and leisure facilities, to collaborating with private homeowner clients on high-end residential schemes.

Aaron completed his Part I and II at Liverpool John Moores University and joined Base from a multi-disciplinary practice, working in a variety of sectors including residential, education, industrial and leisure. He is currently studying for his Part III qualification to become a fully qualified architect.

Harry Braid graduated from Part I of his Architecture qualification at the University of Wolverhampton in 2019 with an award-winning final project and has worked with several practices in Birmingham and south Wales on a variety of projects from smaller householder applications to larger schemes for commercial developers. He has is now studying for his Part II qualification.

With a master’s degree in planning, Jenny will use her background in strategic planning, public/private partnership working and community engagement gained at several local authorities, to support the senior leadership team and help deliver Base’s strategy for growth across the region and beyond.
Jenny commented: “The creation of my new role demonstrates the importance Base places on inward investment, as well as supporting and servicing our clients. My experience in planning, specifically in heritage, land-use planning and certificates of lawfulness, will mean I work closely with Senior Associate and Chartered Town Planner Joe Salt on planning issues.”

News, North of England

WorkNest launches to support employers with Employment Law, HR and Health & Safety

WorkNest, a powerhouse of Employment Law, HR and Health & Safety support services, has launched to enable employers to manage their workforce, workplace and workflow effectively, efficiently and compliantly.

The new brand, with a turnover of £35m, brings together the capabilities of fixed-fee employer support firms Ellis Whittam and Law At Work and associated businesses owned by Marlowe plc, the leaders in business-critical services and software. This includes Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and technology for HR and regulatory compliance.

The launch comes at a time when employers are having to navigate a raft of complex issues and operating challenges as the country emerges from COVID-19 and Brexit. These range from managing staff recruitment, retention and performance, to ensuring equality, inclusion and mental health awareness in the workplace, as well as keeping employees and customers safe.

WorkNest is headquartered in Aldford, Chester, with hub offices in Aberdeen, Alloa, Bath, Edinburgh, Gateshead, Glasgow, London, Loughborough and Woking and team members around the UK serving clients nationwide. Its combined client base spans more than 40,000 employers across 45 sectors.

With over 400 team members, including more than 50 qualified employment law solicitors, its purpose is to empower employers with preventative and proactive services. These cover employment law, HR and occupational health, safety and wellbeing. The depth of expertise across the WorkNest team enables clients to manage the most sensitive issues, with the added reassurance of set-price subscription options.

“We understand and anticipate the difficulties of managing people and workplaces better than anyone,” said Gavin Snell, CEO of WorkNest. “We believe that when employers are compliant, confident and risk-aware, and when employees feel safe, supported and encouraged, companies can attract the best people, focus on innovation and drive growth. Our brand name is inspired by how we do business; as WorkNest, we will bring together a broader range of services that will help our clients to further protect and nurture their organisations.”

WorkNest’s roots go back to 2001 with the founding of Law At Work (LAW), created to provide the employment law expertise of a legal firm without the prohibitive pricing. LAW gradually strengthened its offering with the acquisition of Square Circle HR, Empire HR, Solve HR and Deminos Consulting.

Founded in 2004, Ellis Whittam embarked on an equally revolutionary mission: to provide high-quality employment law, HR, and health and safety services for businesses that add value not cost and are based on fair, fixed fees.

In 2019 and 2020, both became part of Marlowe plc. Since then, the Group has acquired a number of other like-minded businesses:

• HRSP, a trusted partner to the third sector, providing bespoke, cost-effective, HR support and strategies.
• ESPHR, a new-model employment law firm and employee relations (ER) technology business that is strategically focused to help HR professionals transform their ER capabilities.
• Youmanage, an operational business tool, helping companies to improve the quality and effectiveness of their HR management processes.
• Cater Leydon Millard, a specialist employment law firm offering a ‘partner-led’ service with focus on the public sector.
• CQC Compliance, founded to help healthcare companies ensure continuing regulatory compliance.
• DeltaNet International and Cylix, e-Learning partners to national and global organisations, helping to shape their training programmes and embed long-term cultures of compliance.

Bringing these businesses together under the WorkNest brand creates the leading single source of highly-qualified in-person advice and comprehensive digital services, empowering employers to manage all their employment, safety and wellbeing challenges.

Gavin Snell added: “The success through the pandemic of every constituent of WorkNest has demonstrated the value we provide to our clients. We will make WorkNest a diverse, inclusive and welcoming place to work – the natural home for the UK’s most gifted practitioners in people management, health, safety and wellbeing, employment law, professional training and business technology. I’m enormously excited about combining our strengths and the opportunities that this creates when it comes to supporting great British businesses.”

News, North of England

BizSmart® to host virtual event with BBC Apprentice winner to celebrate launch of free business support programme in Lancashire

Leading business support provider, BizSmart®, will host a free virtual event this month with BBC Apprentice winner, Mark Wright, to mark the launch of a Government initiative designed to help Lancashire businesses achieve their growth ambitions.

Taking place on Wednesday 20th October, the event is part of BizSmart’s® offering for the ‘Peer Networks’ programme, created by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which aims to encourage local business leaders to invest in their companies’ growth and development by working closely with like-minded peers.

The event will reveal what Lancashire business leaders can expect from peer-to-peer learning and how it could help them, and will include an exclusive talk from Mark Wright, providing insight into his journey to growing a £5m turnover business and his own personal experiences of peer-to-peer support.

Available to business owners with five or more employees, the Peer Networks programme will commence in Lancashire this October and will see many Lancashire firms benefit.

The programme is supported by Boost, Lancashire’s Business Growth Hub, and each business owner accepted onto it will receive 18 hours of facilitated group support from BizSmart®, together with a minimum of 3.5 hours of one-to-one guidance.

Kevin Brent, founder and managing director of BizSmart®, said: “Following the success of our Peer Networks rollout in Worcestershire and the neighbouring marches, we are delighted that we have been chosen to support the Lancashire business community through the initiative.

“The upcoming virtual event will provide Lancashire businesses with the opportunity to learn more about the free Government initiative, as well as hear Mark Wright’s experience of building his business and the role peer-to-peer support has played.”

Guest speaker, Mark Wright, said: “I am looking forward to speaking to the business leaders of Lancashire to share the story of how I grew my business, Climb Online, to what it is today.

“I am a great advocate for peer-to-peer support and collaboration, and it is something that has really helped me throughout my business journey.

“There are always others who have been through the same challenges as you, and peer-to-peer support provides you with the opportunity to speak to these individuals and learn from them, whilst strengthening your business connections at the same time.”

To find out more and to register your interest for the free introductory event, please email caroline@biz-smart.co.uk

Marketing, PR and SEO, News, North of England

Young entrepreneur celebrates second year in business with six-figure success

Ambitious entrepreneur, Jordan Hill, took a leap of faith after finding himself unemployed and moving from Scunthorpe to Leeds to start a business with just £900 in the bank. Now, within two years, Jordan has successfully built and runs a six-figure business, highly regarded by clients, all by the age of 23. 

The company, That Works Agency, specialises in e-commerce marketing and Shopify website development. Despite being a small, northern-based and newly established agency, the business has quickly become recognised for their work, particularly for their specialist skills and work with some of the biggest influencer-led brands.

After initially delivering all the work himself, Jordan quickly began hiring a team of talented specialists when demand increased to support the growth of That Works Agency. Including a dedicated UX designer, and a full end-to-end development team.

This fast-growth led to the agency swiftly becoming known as specialists in their niche. That Works Agency now works with some globally recognised e-commerce based brands including Hairburst, CRAFTD, Mr Blanc Teeth and Honu, as well as being an outsourcing partner for several large agencies in London.

Jordan Hill, Founder and Director of That Works Agency commented: “It’s been an incredible journey and I’m really lucky to be working alongside a fantastic team who are just as passionate as I am about the work we deliver at That Works. When I set up the agency, I was mainly operating as a freelancer, offering marketing packages, graphic design and building websites to a handful of small businesses. We’ve now worked with over 109 clients.” 

That Works Agency isn’t Jordan’s first entrepreneurial experience. After working in large digital agencies since 2015, Jordan decided to try something different and began his self-employment journey in 2018 at only 19 years old. 

Jordan added: “Since starting out as a marketing apprentice in 2015, I knew I loved what I do. However, due to experiencing mental ill-health as a child and teenager, I felt a calling to help other young people. So, in my first business, which I did alongside my day job, I created a platform to deliver high-quality, online mental health training to schools. I worked with doctors and mental health experts to provide the best service possible.

“I worked with over 700 schools in total, but with tight budgets and schools closing due to the pandemic, many could no longer sustain paying for mental health training. With all the uncertainty, I made the decision to pursue my other passion and focused all my energy on That Works Agency. I took a huge risk and left my day job to develop That Works, upping-sticks with only the remainder of my last wage to move to Leeds. I wanted to establish the business here due to the city’s popular digital presence. Thankfully, the gamble paid off!”. 

As well as earning a positive reputation among existing and potential clients, Jordan and his team have also received widespread industry recognition. That Works Agency is now partnered with Google, Shopify and Wix accredited. That Works was also handpicked as an outstanding agency by Shopify, receiving the Shopify Experts Badge. 

News, North of England

Santa IS coming to Yorkshire this year and bringing a very special guest…

Lotherton announces special sixth anniversary Christmas Experience with an extra sprinkle of festive magic and a record-breaking start to the festivities

Popular family attraction, Lotherton, has announced that Santa will return to the heart of Yorkshire this Christmas with a very special guest. Yes, for the first time ever Mrs Claus will join her husband to sprinkle more magic than ever before across the region for a very special sixth anniversary of the sell-out Christmas Experience. 

From 27 November 2021 to 2 January 2022, The Christmas Experience will return for its sixth fantastic year, and the elves have been busy tweaking the tinsel and adding the last sprinkle of festive fairy dust to make this year even more magical than ever after a challenging 2021. 

It’s been a record-breaking start to the festivities, with more than 15,000 tickets for the Christmas Experience at Lotherton sold in just seven days. 

While Mr and Mrs Claus are dusting off their suits and boots, ready for an immersive family experience that visitors will never forget, Santa’s diary is filling up fast with families across Yorkshire looking to make this the most magical Christmas yet. 

Mrs Claus will take up residence in Lotherton’s kitchens where she will be decorating gingerbread and sprinkling some extra magic over the House’s festivities. She’ll also be supervising those cheeky elves as they bring back Christmas crafts in the Stables where children – and creatively minded grown-ups – will be able to decorate a Christmas Eve plate or make Christmas decorations.

Returning to the joy and magic of a traditional Christmas, visitors will enjoy a new and exciting festive woodland walk through the grounds of the stunning Lotherton estate. Revellers will journey through the winding paths filled with twinkling lights and enchanting larger than life installations of Christmas traditions including a giant Christmas cracker, the chance to step inside a Christmas card, adventure through a snow globe tunnel and explore a maze of presents.

Tread quietly and you may be able to hear the fairies giggling and whispering in their secret hideaway Fairy Dell, before exploring the stunning Hall decked in all its festive finery. With tickets starting from just £4.40, visitors can marvel at an Edwardian Christmas table, go on a Christmas Tree hunt in the Hall, and explore the lives of the Gascoigne family from the late 1700’s. 

And of course, no Christmas Experience would be complete without a visit to the main man himself. Santa will be in The Elf Village ‘Under The Wishing Tree’, waiting to greet boys and girls, hear their yuletide wishes and give them a special early Christmas gift. Pre-school children will also have the opportunity to visit Santa in his cabin during the day.

The Christmas Experience opens on 27 November 2021 and is run by Lotherton and Breeze. Tickets are available now, with a number of visit options; early booking is highly recommended as spaces are limited and strictly on a pre-booking only, time-slotted system.

Appointments, Law, Midlands News, News, North of England

Promotions announced at top law firm

Leading law firm Aaron and Partners has announced a series of promotions across the firm after a year of continued growth.

The firm, which has offices in Manchester, Chester and Shrewsbury, has announced five promotions with a new Partner, a Senior Associate and three new Associates appointed.

Joseph Fletcher-Hunt has been made a partner in the Real Estate team having joined the firm in 2019. His work has seen him noted in the Legal 500 directory, a leading industry guide to the top professionals working in the UK’s legal market.

Paul Hennity, also a legal 500 listed lawyer, has been promoted to Senior Associate in the firm’s renowned Employment team. Paul is highly experienced in both contentious and non-contentious employment matters.

The Chester office also welcomes two new Associate Solicitors with Joshua Simpson promoted in the firm’s Real Estate department and Paul Caslin, taking on the role in the highly regarded Wills, Trusts and Tax team.

Zoe Lloyd’s development has also been recognised with promotion to Associate in the firm’s Corporate and Commercial team.

Nick Clarke, Senior Partner at Aaron & Partners, said: “I’m delighted that again this year we have been able to recognise the development of our people through these promotions. They have all demonstrated great commitment and excellence in their work for clients and their promotions are well deserved.

“We recognise that our people are the key to continued success and so we aim to create an environment where staff can develop and progress with us. It’s been a challenging year so it’s important that we celebrate achievement when we get the chance and there’s no better example of this than through promotions.

“I’d like to congratulate everyone who has been promoted, and I’m looking forward to seeing the next stages of their development”.

News, North of England

Grow It York Brings Vertical Farming to Community Container Park

LettUs Grow, an indoor farming technology provider from Bristol, have teamed up with the University of York, & Spark:York to create “Grow It York”: a vertical, community farm at the heart of a vibrant container park in Piccadilly, York. The container park, called Spark:York, is a Community Interest Company using shipping containers to provide spaces for local restaurants, retailers and entrepreneurs.

The farm forms part of the FixOurFood programme, a leading food systems research collaboration led by the University of York , funded for 5 years through the Transforming UK Food Systems Strategic Priorities Fund. FixOurFood aims to transform Yorkshire food networks and develop regenerative systems that will create a fairer and more sustainable future for food production.

Grow It York is an indoor urban community farm in a shipping container, supplying hyper-local produce to the surrounding businesses and locals. It was built to investigate how vertical farming can play a role in creating positive changes within our food systems, while also benefiting our health, environment and economy.

The project’s mission is to prove that healthy food is about more than nutrition: “Our food must come from a healthy planet supporting biodiversity and vigorous ecosystems. It should enrich the communities where it is grown and eaten, and help local economies to thrive.”

LettUs Grow is supplying the vertical farming technology and their Growing Specialist, Billy Rodgers, is also providing on-site growing training. Billy said, “The Grow It York project has a really interesting range of teams involved. The collaboration between work in technology development, project feasibility research & real-world use of vertically farmed produce is important because food sustainability can’t be addressed by any one thing – you need to look at the whole food supply chain. It’s been really great being able to provide growing training for Grow It York. It’s exciting to see how projects like these can make learning about growing food more accessible to those in cities.”

LettUs Grow’s aeroponic technology is an eco-friendly method of growing crops indoors without soil, with less water and without the need for pesticides. The container farm will grow salad crops such as pea shoots, watercress, microgreens and herbs, which can also be prepared and eaten fresh at the restaurants within Spark:York.

CEO & co-founder of LettUs Grow, Charlie Guy, believes that projects like these are key to maximising the benefits of indoor growing: “It’s exciting to see indoor farming being utilised in this environment because the advantages of growing in such close proximity to consumers are so evidently visible. Whether that’s reducing food miles and food waste, or more holistic benefits such as getting people involved in and excited about growing food locally. Container park communities are a great way to demonstrate the impact of indoor farming on a smaller scale and they really emphasise the potential for this model to be translated across the country at different settings and scales.”

News, North of England

Engineering giant, Reece Group, announces positive end of year results for consecutive year

New contract wins, sustained growth, strategic collaborations and the market repositioning of subsidiary companies have helped North East-based Reece Group to successfully navigate the global economic downturn and once again, post strong financial results for the second consecutive year.

The Newcastle firm, headquartered at Armstrong Works, Scotswood Road, has announced group turnover of £62.9m for the year ending December 2020, with profit before tax up by 31% to over £13.2m.

The Reece Group, which employs 389 staff, is a major worldwide player in the defence and engineering sectors, and the holding company for Pearson Engineering, Responsive Engineering and Velocity.

Pearson Engineering increased turnover to £46.7m, up nearly 14%, with profits rising to £15.7m from £10.5m. This was driven by repeat orders, strategic growth in new overseas markets and several long-term defence projects reaching final production stage.

The company, which currently employs 75 staff at the Armstrong Works HQ, continued to invest in its R&D programmes to the sum of £2.1m, ensuring that it remains at the forefront of innovation in its field.

Whilst Pearson had operational challenges to overcome during the 2020 lockdown, this did not result in any significant impact on its financial performance, and outlook remains very strong for the remainder of 2021 and beyond.

For Responsive Engineering, a deliberate and strategic shift in activities during 2019 resulted in positive results being posted at the start of 2020. However, a combination of delayed orders and reduced enquiries from the oil and gas sector during lockdown resulted in, like for many similar organisations, a loss of revenue.

Turnover was down by £2.9m to £12.7m with a loss of £3.5m on the previous year despite targeted efforts to work through the economic downturn and support customers with continuous supply. The company also had the opportunity to support the Government’s defibrillator programmes in 2020.

Responsive Engineering, employing 241 staff, is now actively embarking on a return to profitability with short and long-term prospects for the defence sector looking strong.

The company continues to collaborate with its sister company, Pearson Engineering, to jointly bid for major defence manufacturing projects and support a number of active and planned UK defence programmes. The work is expected to secure employment and retention of key skills across the companies as well as their supply chains, whilst at the same time leveraging the inherent capability of the Armstrong Works facility.

Furthermore, in preparation for growth, Responsive continued to invest heavily during 2020 in new state-of-the-art equipment to enhance its end-to-end manufacturing capability.

Velocity, the Group’s specialist road repair division, was hit by a sharp reduction in demand, albeit temporarily, due to the direct effects of the pandemic on such businesses. However, jobs were protected and whilst all of Velocity’s services were affected, the decrease in enquiries was short-lived with operations in 2021 once again returning to pre-Covid levels.

Turnover for 2020 reached £9.8m with profits at £0.1m, and despite short-term challenges around national driver shortages, future prospects remain positive. The business is now looking to broaden its offering beyond repair into unique, road preservation services.

In contrast, Reece Group took the difficult decision to close its Reece Innovation division in July 2020 as part of strategic growth measures to allow for a more streamlined and efficient operational structure. This managed and reduced risk in order to encourage more long-term benefits across the organisation.

John Reece MBE, Director of Reece Group, commented, “The last 18 months have been one of the most unpredictable and challenging periods for any business to overcome, regardless of size or sector, yet we have seen Reece Group successfully weather that storm and come out stronger.

“These are very positive results for the Group given world events and some difficult decisions, and that is down to the sheer drive, commitment and determination of all our staff, individually, at every level and across all companies. We have some of the very best, highly-skilled people employed at our sites, carving out new opportunities, forging relationships and delivering advanced, ground-breaking products that are simply world-class. They have demonstrated just how important they are to the business. They’re our greatest asset and it’s fantastic to be part of it.

“Additionally, despite 2020 being a most difficult year, our suppliers, both locally and globally, and our customers have also played a key role in supporting the business, working closely with one another collaboratively in partnership to navigate a way through.

“Whilst the financial results are varied in part, there are many positives to take from them and we can continue looking forward with heightened optimism and confidence.

“Reece Group, as a whole, remains an important, major employer here in the North East, and the significant investments made in our R&D programmes and manufacturing plant, both in 2020 and before, have put us in a healthy position to drive the business forward with significant opportunities in the work pipeline ahead.”

The company continues to donate to local community-led projects supporting regeneration in the west end of Newcastle. It has allocated £1m to good causes since its move to Armstrong Works, and through support of its Reece Foundation, the company’s charitable trust, the Group has helped younger generations gain qualifications and entry into engineering and manufacturing careers via its STEM education programmes.

To learn more, visit: https://reece-group.com/

News, North of England, Property News

First residents move into exclusive over 55s development in Bolton

The first residents have moved into their homes at a bespoke mature living development within the grounds of Bolton’s Last Drop Village Hotel.

Jones Homes is currently building 41 properties at Sanctuary Last Drop Village, in Bromley Cross, which will eventually form part of a wider 98-home neighbourhood.

The development is one of the first in the UK to feature the Sanctuary model of active and independent living for the over 55s which has been successfully pioneered by Jones Homes in Florida.

The concept is based around providing high-specification and low-maintenance homes in exclusive gated communities with access to a wide range of on-site leisure facilities, offering both security and independence for active mature adults.

Work on a selection of one-bedroom apartments, as well as three and four-bedroom cottages and townhouses, is currently taking shape at Last Drop Village. The first 12 homes have been built and the remaining 29 are set to be completed by the end of the year.

Simon Whalley, Sales Director for Jones Homes North West, said: “Construction work is progressing well at Sanctuary Last Drop Village and we are pleased to have now welcomed the first residents into their new homes.

“These properties have been designed specifically to serve the growing demographic of over-55s who want to maintain active and independent lifestyles while enjoying the additional convenience, security and sense of community that living in a gated development brings.

“Residents will have access to the wide range of on-site facilities at Last Drop Village Hotel and Spa, which includes a restaurant, pub, swimming pool, gym, spa and shops. They will also benefit from having the Sanctuary team on hand to take care of everyday maintenance tasks like window cleaning and gardening, enabling them to maximise their spare time.”

There is currently a selection of one-bedroom apartments available at Last Drop Village from £164,950. There is also a selection of two, three and four-bedroom properties available to buy from £291,950.

To find out more information about Sanctuary Last Drop Village, or to make an appointment to see the new four-bedroom show home, call 01204 859003 or visit jones-homes.co.uk.