Last chance to have your say on Council’s proposed budget

Eleonora Gallina
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Last chance to have your say on Council’s proposed budget
From bin collections to pothole repairs and adult social care to fostering, we provide over 200 services to the residents of Derby. Each year, we have to put together a balanced budget (the Medium-Term Financial Plan or MTFP) that explains how and where we’re proposing to spend our money.
As part of this, we give you, our residents, a chance to have your say on our proposals. There are just a few days left for residents to have a say about our proposed MTFP for 2022/23 to 2024/25 and Council Plan so if you want to have your say, now is the time!
Like many local authorities, we’re facing a financial challenge with increased demand and costs for our services and reduced grants from central government to help us pay for services. The Council is proposing over £13 million of savings for next year alongside looking at ways we can become more efficient and minimise any impact to those frontline services such as Social Care and waste collections that our residents rely on. Forecast needs and costs for next year also require a Council Tax increase of 1.99% with an additional 1% Social Care Precept.
Despite the challenges brought on by increasing demands for services and the pandemic, we still want to be ambitious in our plans for the city and want to work with the city, for the city.
As part of our vibrant and ambitious plans, we’ve proposed a three-year Capital investment programme of £291 million, including the opening of the state-of-the-art Moorways Sports Village in the Spring. Over the past year, the Council approved major investment in a Performance Venue at Becketwell, job creation at Smartparc in Spondon and £69 million of transport investment through the Transforming City Programme. Over the next three years the refurbished Market Hall will re-open, and further investment will be made in our flood defences and riverside redevelopment.
This year’s consultation runs until Friday, 28 January for citizens to have their say.
Subject to the consultation, the Council Plan and MTFP will be adopted by Council at the end of February 2022.
Take part in this year’s Budget Consultation today on the Let’s Talk Derby website

Commercial veteran to lead board at company charged with delivering biggest development in the East Midlands

Tess Egginton
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Commercial veteran to lead board at company charged with delivering biggest development in the East Midlands
A former head of commercial at property consultancy Carter Jonas has been appointed to chair the board leading one of the biggest large-scale development opportunities in the Midlands. Sir Chris Haworth, who has a 40-year career in the industry, has become independent chair of the East Midlands Development Company, which has been set up to accelerate the development of three huge sites covering an area the size of three London Olympic Parks. The sites span several hundred hectares and sit next to the M1, alongside both the area of the Government-backed East Midlands Inland Freeport and the approved location for an HS2 station. They include: Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station area: the UK’s last coal-fired power plant, due to close in late 2024, and identified as the symbolic focal point for the development of net zero energy and industrial technologies into market-ready products and services. Sited within the Freeport area, it also sits alongside East Midlands Parkway, now confirmed as the site of the region’s HS2 station. East Midlands Airport Area: the UK’s largest dedicated freight-handling airport is also the centrepiece of the Government-approved East Midlands Freeport and is expected to see significant commercial and residential development. Toton & Chetwynd Area: A prime development site of around 200 hectares that has been earmarked for the development of an exemplar 21st century mixed-use community and innovation campus. The model development between Nottingham and Derby also includes the site of a proposed new Network Rail station with links across the region. Sir Chris’s appointment marks a significant acceleration of activity by the DevCo, which has been set up by five local authorities ahead of the parliamentary process needed for it to become a Development Corporation with planning powers. It also comes as Government is set to provide further details about its ambitions to accelerate regional economic growth through the Levelling Up White Paper. Sir Chris said: “This is probably the biggest and most coordinated development opportunity I have been involved with during my career and it will be a privilege to lead the board, which includes a blend of private and public sector expertise. “I join at a point when the hard work of the public and private sector partners behind this project is beginning to bear fruit, and the board will play a key role in driving real commercial momentum.” He added: “This is a transformational opportunity for the East Midlands and the timing could not be better. The economy is emerging from the pandemic and investors and developers are looking for strong, long-term opportunities. “In the context of the government’s ambitions to level-up regional Britain, my view is that this is one of the most coherent and investable propositions in the country, with the DevCo ready to deliver and able to maximise returns for local people.” Besides an 11-year stint at Carter Jonas, Sir Chris’s career includes large-scale property joint ventures, and advising on development and planning potential for landowners and local authorities. He is the second senior appointment at the EM DevCo, and joins Managing Director Richard Carr on the team. Richard Carr said: “We’re thrilled to secure a seasoned commercial professional as independent chair of our board, which will provide experienced counsel to both the executive team and the five local authorities whose ambitions brought the DevCo into being. “The next six months will be an exciting period for the DevCo, as we progress plans to unlock the potential for major developments which will deliver new housing, new industrial and business space, better connectivity, and help place the region at the cutting edge of the net zero economy.” East Midlands Development Company is being supported by Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire County Councils, Broxtowe and Rushcliffe Borough Councils, and North West Leicestershire District Council. It is working with East Midlands Airport and Uniper, which owns the Ratcliffe-on-Soar site, and a consortium of universities driving the development of market-ready net zero technologies. The DevCo is also collaborating with Homes England, Network Rail and HS2.

Manufacturing activity remains firm as costs rise sharply

Tess Egginton
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Manufacturing activity remains firm as costs rise sharply
UK manufacturing output volumes in the quarter to January grew at a slower pace than in December, though growth remained firm compared with the long-run average, while costs grew at the quickest pace for decades, according to the latest quarterly CBI Industrial Trends Survey. The survey of 236 companies found that output volumes increased in 10 out of 17 sub-sectors, with growth mostly driven by the food, drink & tobacco sub-sector. Manufacturers expect output growth to pick up next quarter. The manufacturing sector continues to face intense cost and price pressures, with firms reporting average costs in the quarter to January growing at their quickest rate since April 1980. Firms expect costs to grow at a similar pace over the next three months. Increasing costs are continuing to feed into higher prices, with average domestic prices growing near previous quarter’s record pace and export price growth at its quickest since April 1980. Both domestic and export price growth are expected to accelerate in the next quarter. Total new orders in the quarter to January grew at a faster pace compared to October, with the acceleration driven by faster growth in domestic and export orders. Manufacturers expect total new orders growth to slow in the next quarter, reflecting an easing of domestic and export orders. Supply issues continue to bite, with the share of firms citing skilled labour shortages as a factor likely to limit output next quarter rising to its highest since October 1973 and concerns regarding other labour near the previous quarter’s record high. Meanwhile, the proportion of firms citing materials/components availability as a potential limiting factor declined from last quarter’s multi-decade high but remained elevated by historical standards. Investment intentions for the next 12 months (compared to the previous 12) for plant & machinery reached their strongest since April 1988, with intentions for training & retraining also strengthening. Firms expect to increase capital spending on product & process innovation to a similar extent as the previous quarter. Rain Newton-Smith, CBI chief economist, said: “Global supply chain challenges are continuing to impact UK firms, with our survey showing intense and escalating cost and price pressures. “More positively, it’s good to see firms looking to invest more in training and retraining as labour shortages continue to bite. And planned increases in spending on plant and machinery is a welcome sign of much-needed strengthening in business investment. Further fiscal measures to get more firms investing will be needed to set the UK on a long-term path to sustainable growth. “Meanwhile, against the backdrop of rising energy prices, which are adding to inflationary pressures, short-term action is needed from the UK government to find urgent solutions for firms that are struggling. Longer term, energy market reforms are required to build resilience against future energy price shocks and create markets for renewable technologies, assisting net zero ambitions.” Tom Crotty, group director at INEOS and chair of the CBI Manufacturing Council, said: “It is no surprise that manufacturers remain acutely concerned about the impact of labour shortages on their business. Alongside this, manufacturers continue to face rising energy costs and broader inflationary pressures amid ongoing supply chain disruptions. The government must work together with businesses to tackle these challenges as we begin to feel the effects of the cost-of-living crunch. “On a more positive note, output continued to increase across most sub-sectors. But we must continue to push the government for more strategic direction for the sector to initiate further sustainable growth.” Numbers employed in the sector grew at a slower pace compared to October, but growth is expected to pick up in the next quarter. Business optimism dipped in the quarter to January, as did export sentiment.

Fashion and textile SMEs get expert support to SMARTen UP

Tess Egginton
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Fashion and textile SMEs get expert support to SMARTen UP
Leicester and Leicestershire Business Gateway have recruited a dazzling array of creative talent to help fashion and textiles businesses succeed in 2022. Experts in photography, video, branding, digital marketing and websites will enable local businesses to attract new customers in a programme called SMARTUP: Create. It’s no secret that the last two years have been very difficult for Leicestershire’s iconic fashion and textiles sector. As part of the ongoing support from the Business Gateway, a new one-day virtual event aims to help them showcase their products more effectively by using a range of media channels. The SMARTUP: Create programme will enable beginners to understand how to create a brand using video and photography and promote it through digital marketing. It will also enable more experienced businesses to take their existing marketing activities to the next level; all with the aim of growing income for those businesses. The agency So Very Creative is overseeing the programme which will be free of charge to participating businesses. Founder Ben Mainwaring explained: “We have some top-class people to share their expertise and provide practical guidance to fashion and textiles companies during the day. “Award-winning Jack James is our video specialist, photographer Nick Freeman has many years shooting all styles from conceptual high-end couture to high street fashion. Web expertise is provided by Zaid Crowe who has 15 years’ experience. Fashion branding and marketing know-how comes from Charlene Bent, founder of the Ms Campbell styling solutions range. Charlene has worked with the X Factor, OK!, HELLO! and many other famous names.” The event will run all day with sessions lasting approximately 50 minutes to an hour. At the end of the webinar section of the day, there will be a live case study Q&A session with a fashion business who will be outlining their own strategy for building their brand online. The event is on 17 March 2022 10.00am-5.00pm and businesses interested in taking part should visit https://bit.ly/3KvMek6 or www.smartupdigital.uk/create

PwC’s Midlands transaction services team completes £3.5bn of deals in 2021

Tess Egginton
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PwC’s Midlands transaction services team completes £3.5bn of deals in 2021
PwC’s Transaction Services (TS) team in the Midlands completed deals with a total value in excess of £3.5bn in 2021, topping the £2.5bn transactions delivered in 2019-20. The TS team operates across the Midlands and the North, with the combined value of the transactions across both regions amounting to £12bn in 2021. Over half of the deals completed involved supporting corporate clients and Private Equity (PE) backed portfolio companies with buy and build growth strategies. Helen Ward, transaction services partner and private equity leader for PwC in the Midlands, said: “We have seen record-breaking deal activity over the last 12 months, with demand for our expertise remaining strong particularly in areas such as technology, transformation and ESG. Looking ahead, there is still pent up demand for deals and this will play a key role in the economic recovery with clients looking to us to solve their most pressing issues. “Our recent CEO Survey shows that successful vaccine roll out and significant government funding have given the UK a head start on recovery. Meanwhile our listed assets represent good value, at a time when many investors have full war chests to spend on resilient businesses. The challenge and opportunity is to attract the right investments and partnerships to deliver sustainable growth across the UK.” The deals market continues to see high levels of activity, providing PwC’s Midlands TS team with the opportunity to work with a diverse range of corporate and PE clients and across a broad spectrum of sectors, including TMT, Business Services, Industrial Products, Healthcare, Retail Consumer and Leisure and Financial Services, working on over 27 completed transactions in the Midlands. To meet this demand, the TS team has further invested in its team in the Midlands with eight promotions announced this month, which include partner admission for Jeffery Nye and Rachael Ellis promoted to director. In addition to the promotions, the team has invested in recruiting 20 new people over 2021. The diverse team is made up of 50% female and 35% from minority ethnic backgrounds.

Tecserv UK appoints new security project manager

Tess Egginton
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Tecserv UK appoints new security project manager
Fire and security alarm maintenance and installation specialists Tecserv UK has appointed Paul Hopcroft as its new security project manager. Paul has over 29 years of experience within the fire and security industry, starting out at Shorrock Security as an installation engineer and progressing to installation supervisor before moving into their national account division as a project engineer. More recently Paul worked for Clymac Fire and Security as their senior technical engineer which involved project design support, internal auditing, engineer training and mentoring and providing onsite engineer support. In his new role at Tecserv UK Paul will be responsible for all security projects involving the installation of intruder alarms, access control and CCTV systems and will manage all projects from confirmation of order right the way through to completion and successful handover to the customer. Paul said: “I was seeking a new challenge and when I heard about the opportunity to join Tecserv I jumped at the opportunity to join such a well-respected company. The team is well renown within the industry for its consultative approach and reputation for delivering high levels of customer service.” Tecserv UK is based in Underwood on the border of Nottingham & Derbyshire. The company specialises in the installation and maintenance of fire and security systems for businesses of all sizes including some of the UK’s most prestigious brands and iconic buildings such as St Paul’s Cathedral in London, The Ritz and Bulgari hotels, Pinewood Group, Harvey Nichols, M&S and McArthurGlen Designer outlet shopping complexes.

Become the leader you want to be, with support from the Business Gateway

Tess Egginton
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Become the leader you want to be, with support from the Business Gateway
Leicester and Leicestershire Business Gateway is offering small business owners a unique opportunity to develop their skills with a personalised package of coaching, support and consultancy. The leadership package – called ‘Become the Leader you want to be’ – is a refreshing change from generic leadership training delivered using slides and an online presentation. It will be delivered by highly experienced consultant, Ian Baker who explained: “I think people have had enough of sitting through ‘one size fits all’ presentations; we’re all different, we’re all individuals so our approach reflects that. We will provide you with individual 1-2-1 sessions so that you can raise your leadership game and feel able to tackle your business issues. “First of all, we’ll have a deep dive session into what you’re all about as a person and a business leader – don’t worry, we make it enjoyable for you!  From this, we create a plan together with tangible actions and goals. People tend to stick to this plan because it’s been co-created.” The programme has been designed in response to what the Business Gateway has seen among many small and medium businesses: they achieve a certain amount of growth without formal leadership but within time reach a crucial point where they can’t progress any further without it. Often issues such as apparently poor processes or a lack of focus in the business actually come because of this lack of leadership skills and focus. Ian Baker added: “If you’re running a business but you have a gut feeling that something isn’t quite right, this support is for you. Perhaps you feel stuck and unable to get to the bottom of these issues on your own. That’s why we start with the people first as that’s really useful when it comes to looking at the processes and physical aspects of the business. I help people become better leaders and business owners and create their own legacy.” The support programme is fully funded and therefore free of charge to participating small businesses. It is available from now until 31 March 2022. Because of Ian’s approach, each package of support will be unique to the individual but with a maximum of 8 hours per person. Anyone wishing to apply should contact the Business Gateway Business Advisers on 0116 366 8487 or email growthhub@bizgateway.or.uk

University of Leicester researchers sign major agreement with one of the world’s largest mining companies

Tess Egginton
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University of Leicester researchers sign major agreement with one of the world’s largest mining companies
Researchers at the University of Leicester have signed a major research agreement with BHP, one of the world’s largest mining companies, to identify new areas for the discovery of metals critical to the electric vehicle (EV) revolution. Dr David Holwell from the Centre for Sustainable Resource Extraction in the School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, will work in partnership with BHP to explore deposits of nickel and copper. The two-year project, ‘Craton Margin Exploration Targeting 4D’, also involves colleagues at the University of Western Australia (UWA), Perth, and Macquarie University, Sydney. It is funded by BHP’s Resource Centre of Excellence and Metals Exploration and will support three post-doctoral research fellows located in the United Kingdom and Australia. Dr Holwell said: “We are delighted to have agreed this partnership with BHP. It is particularly exciting to have the opportunity to apply some of our recent and ongoing research on nickel-copper-platinum group metal deposits directly to exploration targeting. We have a truly international and diverse team with complementary expertise and I am very excited to get started!”
The project and partnership with BHP has developed directly from recent work by the Leicester-UWA group that has shed new light on the processes involved in the sources and transport mechanisms of metals through the lithosphere in magmatic systems, published in Nature Communications (Holwell et al., 2019; Blanks et al., 2020) and Lithos (Chong et al., 2021). This innovative work will be coupled with novel advances in experimental petrology and tectonic modelling to highlight ‘sweet spots’ of crust that have undergone a series of favourable processes through geological time. The collaborative research project will challenge scientists’ current understanding of the nickel mineral system, potentially opening up new exploration search space for nickel across the globe. Nickel is a major component in the lithium-ion battery cathodes used in the manufacture of EVs, and is therefore vital to the EV revolution. Alongside Dr Holwell, the international project team involves Professor Marco Fiorentini and Dr Weronika Gorczyk at UWA, Professor Steven Foley at Macquarie University, with Dr Daryl Blanks taking up the position of BHP Research Fellow at Leicester. The BHP project team includes Dr Libby Sharman and Dr Nicole Januszczak. Professor Fiorentini added: “We are very proud to collaborate with BHP to tackle key knowledge gaps that currently hamper successful exploration of metals needed for the green future of our planet.”

Plans in to convert Nottingham’s British Waterways Building into flats

Tess Egginton
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Plans in to convert Nottingham’s British Waterways Building into flats
Plans have been submitted to transform the British Waterways Building in Nottingham into a residential scheme. H2O Urban, a joint partnership between The Canal and River Trust (current owners of the building) and specialist developer bloc Ltd, are behind the proposals. The grade 2 listed building would be converted to provide 95 residential units (12 studios, 42 one bedroom apartments and 41 two bedroom apartments) including construction of a rooftop extension providing 8 apartments. The building, constructed in 1919 as a canal transit warehouse for the Trent Navigation Company, is currently partially occupied by a comedy club (Glee), however the lease for the space is coming to an end and will not be renewed. The other areas of lower floors were formally occupied by a pub and the upper floors by a gym but are all currently empty. A design statement says: “The proposal to convert the listed British Waterways building into a residential apartment scheme will provide a viable repurposing of this prominent landmark to protect its long-term future.”

Raleigh owner to be acquired

Tess Egginton
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Raleigh owner to be acquired
Accell Group, the owner of Nottingham brand Raleigh, and a consortium led by global investment firm KKR have reached a conditional agreement for the purchase of the former for a total consideration of approximately EUR 1.56bn (£1.31bn). Other well‐known bicycle brands in Accell Group’s portfolio include Haibike, Winora, Ghost, Batavus, Koga, Lapierre, Sparta, Babboe and Carqon. Accell Group employs approximately 3,100 people across 15 countries. The deal values the Netherlands-based bicycle, bicycle part and accessory-maker’s shares at EUR 58 (almost £49) per share. No jobs are expected to be lost in the deal. Rob ter Haar, chairman of the supervisory board of Accell Group, said: “The supervisory board unanimously supports the transaction and recommends the offer by the consortium, which we believe will promote the sustainable success of Accell Group. The offer reflects a compelling and immediate value for our shareholders. “Having the consortium as a strong shareholder focused on long-term value enhancement will enable Accell Group to grow its business in an accelerated timeframe and to strengthen its position as one of the world’s leading bicycle market players, against the backdrop of continued supply chain volatility and a dynamic global environment full of challenges and opportunities.” Ton Anbeek, CEO of Accell Group, said: “Today’s announcement marks an important step for Accell Group. With the consortium as our new shareholder we will have a financially strong and knowledgeable partner to accelerate the roll-out of our existing strategic roadmap, enhance our global footprint, explore suitable acquisitions and further leverage our scale. “As such, the transaction will enable us to take a leap forward as a group which also brings along enhanced career opportunities for our employees. We continuously strive to be a leader in the bicycle industry by combining smart design and innovative technology with the best value and customer experience. “With KKR coming on board as majority shareholder, and with the continued support of Teslin, we would be able to accelerate the execution of our strategic agenda, launch new innovations for green mobility and support to the benefit of people and communities.” Accell Group acquired Raleigh in 2012 for £62m.
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