Melton Building Society have announced the appointment to its Board of Elizabeth Lockwood as non-executive director and chair of the Risk Committee. Elizabeth joins the Melton Board after 25 years in the banking industry as a risk management specialist. She spent 15 years covering corporate and financial institutions at Deutsche Bank in the UK, before moving onto senior and executive risk roles in commercial, retail and private banking at RBS/Natwest. In her free time, Elizabeth volunteers as an external expert member of the of the Audit and Risk Committee for Samaritans and she is a qualified executive coach and therapeutic counsellor. Melton Building Society is a signatory of the Women in Finance Charter and is proud to have a gender mix across the Board, which includes three females in key roles within the Board for the first time in the society’s history. This includes a female chair, chair of Risk Committee and senior independent director. The society’s approach is to achieve this balance of representation whilst also pursuing the strategy of hiring the right person for the role, regardless of gender. Chair of the Board, Fiona Pollard, comments on the appointment, saying: “We are very pleased to have Elizabeth Lockwood join the Board of the Melton Building Society. She has a wealth of knowledge from her years as the deputy chief risk officer for NatWest Holdings and her experience will be a great addition to our Board. We are delighted to welcome her.” Elizabeth says: “I’m thrilled to be joining the Melton Board and to be part of a community helping to build a modern mutual society.”

It’s that time of year, when Business Link Magazine invites the region’s business leaders to offer up their predictions for the year ahead.  It has become something of a tradition, given that we’ve been doing this now for over 30 years. Here we speak to Helen Wathall MBE, the fifth generation of her family to run Wathall’s, which is Derby’s longest-established independent funeral directors. Helen also set up the award-winning Dandelions Bereavement Support Service. There is growing awareness in the business community of the importance of workplace mental health, but many have still not fully embraced the devastating impact on someone’s wellbeing and performance at work after suffering a bereavement. Introducing initiatives such as Mental Health First Aiders in the workplace remains incredibly important but, as pressures on everyone grows during this ongoing cost of living crisis, I think we all need to think about the broader support that can be offered. Death is a particularly uncomfortable and often taboo subject to discuss at home, let alone the workplace, but it is important for employers to better understand and support colleagues who have lost a loved one. People express and cope with grief in different ways, but there are a lot of common factors and emotions that people share throughout their grief journey. During the pandemic, we launched a special online training programme for business managers which explains the grief process and provides practical advice and support – enabling employers to give their staff the validation and space they need to come to terms with their loss, and better cope with their work and home life. This is obviously about duty of care in the workplace, but there is also a business benefit as employees are far more likely to return to full productivity far quicker if they receive the right understanding and support.

A Nottingham-headquartered manufacturer and seller of fantasy miniatures has reached an agreement in principle with Amazon, to develop its intellectual property into film and television productions.

The agreement would also see Games Workshop grant Amazon associated merchandising rights.

In advance of contracts being entered into, Amazon will be commencing certain development activities (such as holding preliminary discussions with writers) in order to facilitate the project. It is intended that rights will initially be granted to develop the Warhammer 40,000 universe. 

Whilst the parties have reached agreement on material commercial terms, the project is wholly dependent on and subject to contracts being agreed and entered into, which the businesses say they are working towards.

The East Midlands economy has suffered a series of knocks throughout the year, with cost pressures hitting businesses hard – but there are hopes for a more optimistic outlook in 2023. This is the verdict of East Midlands Chamber after its latest research, which showed a decline in customer demand for products and services, investment intentions and recruitment prospects – yet a slight upturn in business confidence for the year ahead. As part of its Quarterly Economic Survey (QES), which is delivered in partnership with the University of Leicester School of Business and gauges the health of the region’s economy, the Chamber produces a State of the Economy Index to provide an “at a glance” picture showing the direction of travel for the local economy based on aggregated indicators. It has trended downwards every quarter since the start of the year to reach its lowest level since the end of 2020 – a period of local Covid-19 restrictions and the beginning of a second national lockdown – but underlying data in the Q4 2022 survey offers room for optimism. East Midlands Chamber director of policy and external affairs Chris Hobson said: “2022 has been a difficult year economically, with a series of events negatively impacting activity and sentiment – some out of our control and others self-inflicted. “Domestic demand and international activity has softened slightly as the year has gone on, with cashflow deteriorating and investment intentions down. “Recruitment difficulties have been the perennial issue, with this final set of data suggesting a drop-off in businesses seeking to grow their workforce. “However, within that data lies a multitude of experiences, not all negative, and some signs for positivity as we enter 2023. “Although business confidence – which affects tangible decisions like investment – has dropped significantly from where it was at the start of the year amid the war in Ukraine, political stability and policy flip-flops, there has been a small rise in optimism over profitability and turnover prospects during the final quarter of the year due to a more consistent approach to policy. “While the gradual slowdown in demand has created capacity within the economy – opening the pressure valve on prices that has been one of the inflationary drivers – there are also signs that other drivers of inflation are starting to soften.” East Midlands Chamber QES Q4 2022 data Key findings from the Quarterly Economic Survey Q4 2022 for the East Midlands, which was conducted between 7 November and 1 December 2022, included: · UK sales stagnated between the third and fourth quarters of the year, with UK advanced orders down by 9% · Overseas sales were up by 5% quarter on quarter but advanced orders decreased by 2% · The proportion of businesses that added to their headcount in the past three months fell by 8% compared to the previous quarter, while there was a similar decline in firms expecting to recruit new staff in the next three months · A net 57% of businesses expect they will be forced to raise prices as they grapple with rising costs for energy, interest rates, people, raw materials and fuel – although this is down from 62% and 58% in the previous two quarters · A net 17% of firms reported a decrease in cashflow, marking a 3% rise in the proportion of companies affected · A lack of room at the margins means investment intentions continue to trend downwards – falling by 6% quarter-on-quarter for plant and machinery, and 8% for training · After nosediving in recent months, business confidence in the prospects of profitability improvements rose 10% compared to the previous quarter, although optimism over improved turnover was down by 1%. Business Manifesto for Growth provides blueprint for economic growth Chris added: “To turn these green shoots into real economic growth in 2023, it is essential that policymakers work with businesses to support them in their growth aspirations. Our Business Manifesto for Growth, launched at Westminster in November, provides a blueprint for this. “While there is no one silver bullet, an immediate action Government could take is to better incentivise business investment in equipment and training, reducing inflationary pressures by both creating further capacity and softening the impact of high staff costs. “Policy and geopolitical events aside, the biggest thing businesses will be hoping for in 2023 is a bit of calmness and consistency from those taking decisions on the direction of the UK economy – along with meaningful engagement with those businesses that will ultimately deliver the growth to ensure any recession is not just shallow, but short.” The results will be discussed at the Chamber’s Annual State of the Economy Review on Friday (16 December), held in partnership with the University of Leicester, Geldards and emh group at Memorial House, in Coalville. Professor Mohamed Shaban, associate dean for business and civic engagement at the University of Leicester School of Business, said there was support available for businesses affected by the economic climate. He added: “We are proud of our long heritage providing research-informed knowledge exchange to businesses in the East Midlands and beyond through degrees, management development courses such as Help to Grow: Management, business support services, internships, placements, consultancy, knowledge transfer partnerships and contract research. “Our academics thrive on solving business problems with world-changing research and innovative solutions providing real-world impact.”