Tag Archives: York

Business, Cleaning & Facilities Management, News, North of England

Supply specialist, PPS, increases hospitality business with acquisition

The North of England’s leading independent janitorial supply business, PPS, has acquired hospitality supplies specialist, LTES. The deal, which was prompted by retirement, sees PPS acquire LTES’ customer base and stockholding.

Based in Shipley, LTES has been trading for over 30 years supplying the hospitality sector in Yorkshire with cleaning chemicals, glass washer machines, glasses, and hygiene paper.

As part of an ambitious growth plan, this move marks the second acquisition in quick succession for the York and Keighley-based company. The deal will bolster the company’s hospitality supplies business, which already included supplying more than 1,000 hospitality businesses across the north, including restaurant groups, pubs, schools, and entertainment venues.

The LTES acquisition follows PPS’ recent seven-figure purchase of Keighley-based Scott Janitorial Supplies.

Joseph Fitzpatrick, Managing Director of PPS, said: “We are delighted to share that we have acquired LTES. LTES is a great addition to PPS – with its strong customer base, and a complimentary product range. We felt that this was an ideal opportunity for us to progress our growth plans.

“We have a deep understanding, built up over two decades, of what it takes to successfully supply the hospitality industry. We understand that speed of service as well as quality is key. With depots in York and Keighley and 18 vans on the road delivering each workday, we look forward to continuing to provide exceptional service to even more customers across the Yorkshire region.”

As with the company’s acquisition of Scott Janitorial Supplies, PPS were provided legal advice and support by Martin Frost, corporate partner at Andrew Jackson.

Frost said: “We were delighted to be able to assist PPS on their latest acquisition. From the outset the PPS Board had a very clear plan for how they wished to approach the deal. By working closely with them and the other advisers, we were able to streamline the legal process and complete the transaction quickly for the benefit of all parties. We wish them every success as they take the LTES business forward as part of the growing PPS group.”

Family-run business, PPS, provides products that everyone needs, including cleaning products, catering supplies, equipment, machinery, and so much more.

Cleaning & Facilities Management, News, North of England

York-based janitorial supplier completes seven-figure buyout

Family-owned supply specialists, PPS, has made a seven figure investment to acquire Scott Janitorial Supplies, increasing annual turnover for the business by 61% and doubling its owned warehouse space. 

Purchasing the keighley-based supplier in February 2021, the past 16 months have served as an adjustment period to integrate systems and processes ahead of the announcement this year. During this time both companies remained separate, with Scott Janitorial Supplies officially merging with PPS on 1st June 2022. 

With ambitious growth plans for 2023, PPS acquired Scott Janitorial to work towards these goals, taking on the additional warehouse space and growing its fleet of delivery vehicles to 18 vans working across the north of England, including the three electric vans that the company purchased earlier this year in a bid to make deliveries more efficient. 

The move will create a number of new jobs within the company, including customer service, business development and warehouse positions. The merger takes PPS’ headcount to 52, with the company anticipating this to reach 60 within the next six to 12 months. 

Richard Lister, Sales Director of Scott Janitorial Supplies said: “Merging the two janitorial supply businesses is a fantastic move for all our customers and both company’s teams. We have been busy combining the best from both companies and have a lot of exciting plans for this year that will build on this.” 

Managing Director of PPS, Joseph Fitzpatrick said: “We’re proud to announce the merger of Scott Janitorial Supplies with PPS. Scott Janitorial was a great fit for PPS, both being family businesses that have a long history of putting service above everything else.

“I have been personally very proud of the positive effect this deal, and the scale it gives us, has had on our people at both sites, including several internal promotions, the introduction of a company bonus scheme, and the creation of numerous brand new positions across York and Keighley.

“The biggest benefactors, however, are our customers, who now benefit from an increased product range, additional in-house expert support and reduced delivery lead-times thanks to our increased geographical reach. The latter I anticipate will enable us to remove at least 20,000 unnecessary miles annually and all the CO2e associated with these.”

Based in York and Keighley, PPS provides products that everyone needs, including cleaning products, hand towels, toilet tissue, soap, coffee cups, floor care machines and much more. More information about the business can be found at www.pps-essentials.co.uk.

Awards, Franchises, News

Yorkshire businesswoman secures finalist place in national franchising awards

Fiona Ibbetson of Get Ahead Leeds, York & Harrogate is celebrating being shortlisted in the Encouraging Women into Franchising (EWIF) Awards 2022.

Fiona fought off fierce competition to be one of just four finalists in the Woman Franchisee of the Year category. The Encouraging Women into Franchising (EWIF) awards celebrate the achievements of women across the franchising industry. The Woman Franchisee of the Year award recognises the most successful woman franchisee in 2021.

According to organisers, this year saw a record number of entries, and the standard was the highest in the twelve years of the EWIF Awards. Winners of each of the ten categories will be announced at the in-person EWiF Awards Ceremony on Thursday 30th June 2022, at RBS Building, 280 Bishopsgate, London.

Commenting on her shortlisting, Fiona said: “2021 was a massive year for my business. In June 2021, I took a giant leap towards achieving my vision by completing the purchase of the additional franchise of York and Harrogate. This allowed me to unlock significant growth by taking on new clients and new virtual assistants. I also became an award-winning business, winning the first-ever Great British Franchisee Awards 2021.

As a result, I smashed my financial targets, and I expect to deliver even higher numbers this year. With passion, drive and commitment, I overcame the challenges of COVID19 in 2020 and delivered exceptional results in 2021, creating a bigger, stronger, award-winning business. I am immensely proud of everything I have achieved.”

Rebecca Newenham, founder of Get Ahead said: “I am blown away by what Fiona has accomplished since starting her business just four years ago. To be shortlisted in this category, fighting off competition from other, well-established franchisees that have been in operation for many years, is fantastic. It has been a pleasure to support her on her journey so far. I know she will continue to go from strength to strength as she grows her specialist outsourcing team further and enables even more businesses to get ahead.”

Get Ahead provides virtual marketing and business support services enabling businesses of all sizes and from all sectors to get ahead. Their growing network of regional directors in Berkshire & North Hants, East Midlands, Leeds, Oxford, Suffolk & Essex, Surrey, and Wirral & Cheshire West, York and Harrogate and Australia is expanding both nationally and internationally.

News

New social media app Jodel launches exclusively in York, helping to raise awareness on students’ mental health and the recent spiking incidents

Jodel, the hyperlocal social media app that instantly connects you to your local community, today announces its launch in York. Jodel is a profileless app which aims to remove the toxic aspects of social media, allowing students to reach out to peers for advice and enjoy entertaining content from people in their local area.

The app has seen students use it to ask candid questions and stories about their university experience and share insights on the local area. Popular conversations on the app include university advice, where to go out on student nights out, part-time jobs, as well as mental health and relationship problems. Recently in York, there has been an increase in spiking incidents. Because of the profile less feature, the app has allowed its users to share their stories and users are sharing tips on how to stay safe when out in the city drinking.

Since mid-October, when the app launched in York, it has seen over a thousand students using the app, an increase in users by 70% each week. In addition there have been over 3000 posts, generated by student users in York, discussing issues close to their heart. The app has helped to not only raise awareness of the spiking incidents, but support the recent #BigNightIn strike, encouraging other students to discuss how bars in York can make going out safer for students in the city.

Lara Budge, UK Expansion Manager at Jodel said: “We are happy to see the app being used to raise awareness on some of the most important issues that young people face, such as mental health, loneliness and of course to raise awareness and give tips on how to stay safe when out at bars and clubs in the city centre. The profile-less feature of Jodel allows students to share their stories without judgement or fear of being targeted after sharing their experiences. We are glad to see Jodel helping students to keep one another safe and support one another and it being used as a force for good in York and elsewhere in the UK.” 

A quarter of 17–24-year-olds based in the UK surveyed by Jodel said they were most annoyed by the fakeness, editing and misleading imagery used on other social media platforms like Instagram. One in seven said other social media platforms led to feelings of insecurity and social pressure. Jodel’s app is profileless for this reason, allowing students to ask for advice, publish funny stories and connect with like-minded people without judgement and allows for open communication and sharing of real-life stories.

The app launched first in Scotland in September and since then has been launching across UK cities where university students are prevalent. Across the UK, the app has seen an increase in posts by 30% per week and is looking to engage the UK student population in 2022. Following the launch in York, the app then plans to be rolled out to the rest of the UK, focusing on large university cities like Sheffield, Nottingham, Liverpool, Manchester, London.