A Nottinghamshire construction boss who fraudulently removed more than £700,000 from four failing companies and transferred the money to his casino account has been jailed. Wesley Grainger-Smith, 66, was sentenced to two years and four months in prison at Lincoln Crown Court on Friday 28 February. Grainger-Smith had previously pleaded guilty to five counts of fraudulently removing company property at an earlier hearing. The Insolvency Service also discovered around £570,000 in cash deposits paid back to the companies, which investigators believe may correlate with Grainger-Smith’s claim that he paid most of the money back through his gambling winnings. Mark Stephens, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: “Wesley Grainger-Smith removed vast sums of money from failing companies to fund his gambling at casinos. “He cannot have thought he was entitled to recklessly gamble with company money, or that he was acting in the best interests of the four companies where he said he acted as a consultant.

“Directors, or those acting as directors such as Grainger-Smith, will continue to be prosecuted by the Insolvency Service if they deliberately and fraudulently put money out of the reach of creditors.”

Grainger-Smith’s offending took place between 2014 and 2017 when he acted in the role of director for Eagleport Ltd, Smiths Constructions Ltd, Smiths Construction Services Ltd, and Smiths Construction Specialists Ltd. Grainger-Smith said that while he was not the director of any of the companies, he was able to exert influence over the official directors and withdraw the money with their knowledge. Between April 2014 and May 2015, Grainger-Smith removed £230,810 from Eagleport’s account. A winding-up order was made against the company one month later in June 2015. Grainger-Smith then removed £110,250 from Smiths Constructions between April and November 2015, with the company entering liquidation in December of that year. In the five months from February to July 2016, Grainger-Smith fraudulently transferred £84,600 from the bank account of Smiths Construction Services. A liquidator was appointed for Smiths Construction Services in September of that year. Grainger-Smith’s final fraudulent removal of company funds came between August 2016 and February 2017, when he withdrew £276,390 from the account of Smiths Construction Specialists. Smiths Construction Specialists, as with the other three companies, soon stopped trading after the removal of the funds, with winding-up proceedings beginning in June 2017. In total, Grainger-Smith fraudulently removed £702,050 from the four companies, with the funds going into his casino gaming account. Grainger-Smith was declared bankrupt in March 2017 and was banned as a company director for five years in July of that year as a result of his misconduct at Eagleport. He was disqualified for a further 10 years in June 2019 for his misconduct at Smiths Construction Specialists.

The UK government has announced new measures to increase small business participation in defence contracts, including SME spending targets for the Ministry of Defence and the launch of a support hub to help firms access supply chain opportunities.

With defence spending set to rise to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, the initiative aims to channel more funds to small businesses, particularly outside London and the South East, where nearly 70% of defence expenditure already occurs. In 2023-24, only 4% of defence spending went to SMEs, prompting the government to act.

The support hub will assist SMEs in securing contracts, financing, and workforce training, ensuring that more companies can contribute to national security while benefiting from the investment. The government sees this as a way to strengthen the UK’s defence industry, accelerate technological advancements, and drive economic growth in small towns and regional economies.

In 2023-24, defence spending supported over 430,000 jobs across the UK, with significant increases in government investment in regions such as the East Midlands, Northern Ireland, Yorkshire, and the North West. The government expects these new measures to boost SME participation further and enhance Britain’s defence capabilities.

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The Midlands is showing small signs of improvement in PwC’s Women in Work Index, an annual report that assesses progress made towards achieving gender equality at work. West Midlands climbed two places in the rankings to 10th place, while East Midlands fell from 11th to 12th place. The report shows that the female full-time employment rate for West Midlands increased substantially by 4.5%, from 56.9% to 61.3%, while East Midlands saw a small 0.4% increase to 57.77%. Both regions continue to have a gender pay gap higher than the national UK average of 14%; East Midlands saw an improvement in the gender pay gap from 17.1% to 15.9%, while West Midlands saw no change at 15%. There was a small increase in female labour force participation in the West Midlands, shifting from 73.6% to 74.2%, while the East Midlands saw a decrease of 1.3%, to 72.1%. Overall, the report showed that the East Midlands was the worst performing region with its index score decreasing by 6.3 points from 35.9 to 29.6 between 2022 and 2023. Notably, the region has the worst participation rate gap, of 12.7%, a decline of 4.5 percentage points from 8.2% in 2022. Alex Hudson, PwC UK Market Senior Partner East Midlands, said: “The latest Women in Work Index shows that there is much more to be done to support women in the Midlands with better access to equal opportunities at work. “It’s positive to see an overall increase in the female full-time employment rate, however action needs to be taken to increase the female participation rate, as we know this is essential for growth in our economy. “To enhance productivity and drive GDP growth in our region, we must also look to reduce the gender pay gap as it still lags the UK average – the only way to do this is by working closely with business leaders and policy makers to address this. “We know that women are underrepresented in industrial and manufacturing industries, and with the rise of AI and emerging technologies in the workplace, it’s essential that women are represented and have the right skills – this will play an important part in improving our ranking.”

A new arts space in the heart of Nottingham is opening its doors to the public for the first time this month. Fisher Gate Point, which is inviting people to a special launch event on Saturday 8 March – International Women’s Day – ahead of the public opening on Monday 10 March, is the brainchild of Tricia and Ian Gardiner, the founding directors, who have realised a long-held ambition to create a welcoming community-led space where Nottingham’s creative grassroots sector can thrive. They received the keys to the building just before the UK’s first lockdown in 2020. Over the last five years, Fisher Gate Point has organically grown to provide a home to both emerging and established artists, cultural leaders, and young collectives. Following a significant refurbishment, the space is ready to open its doors and welcome the public into its multi-use community hub. Founding director Ian Gardiner said: “We believe in the power of the arts and community to change lives, and we recognised that individual artists, small community groups and grassroots companies delivering hands-on interactive events and workshops needed a space to feel at home. “We think we have created a positive space for that to happen in Nottingham for now and for future generations. Everyone is welcome here and we all want to collaborate. Come and get involved!” The two-storey multi-use venue has already become home to several key organisations in Nottingham’s creative sector, including Hockley Hustle, Nottingham Poetry Festival, Cherry on Top, Circle of Light, Sugar Stealers, The Actors Workshop, Nottingham CYF, Nottingham Music Hub and HOAM, the city’s first female-led music studio. It offers options for live performances, workshops, rehearsals and co-working, with a downstairs capacity of 110 and an upstairs capacity of 150. Alongside the event space, the new café and bar will serve as a central gathering point.