Experian expecting to remain resilient while pressures in global economy continue
Experian, the global information services company with its UK HQ in Nottingham, has hailed “a good performance” in the three months ended 31 December 2022.
In a trading update the firm revealed UK and Ireland organic and total constant currency revenue growth of 6%. Experian noted the performance “was encouraging…notwithstanding challenges in the economy and specific market disruption during October.”
Furthermore, the company posted a B2B organic revenue increase of 10% during the period, which it said reflects strong results from new products and good execution across all major B2B business units, helped by a strong new business win performance.
Organic revenue in consumer services however was down 8% as volumes moderated in Experian credit marketplace, reflecting lending market disruption in October and tighter lending conditions, as well reduced premium subscription revenue.
The performance in UK and Ireland formed 12% of group revenue.
Brian Cassin, Chief Executive Officer, said: “We delivered a good performance in Q3, in line with our expectations, driven by new products, new business wins and consumer expansion.
“While pressures in the global economy are likely to continue for some time, we expect to remain resilient, supported by the delivery of our growth strategy and growth in countercyclical revenue streams. For the full year our expectations are unchanged.”
2023 Business Predictions: Ann Bhatti, head of Connect Derby
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 Ann Bhatti, head of Connect Derby.
2022 was another challenging year, with the fluctuating economy and the cost of living crisis hitting businesses hard. It was also a year when we started to see the lessening impact of the pandemic and the gradual return to the workplace.
I believe the novelty of home and remote working will start to wear off in 2023, with more businesses planning to get staff back into the workplace. Over the course of last year, more and more Connect Derby tenants returned to their offices, not just because they felt safe to do so, but because they wanted to get back to a physical office environment where they could connect and collaborate with colleagues.
I predict the demand for smaller serviced offices will start to increase as those larger organisations that have adopted a hybrid working model will no longer need 2,000 sq. ft – 3,000 sq. ft and can operate with around 500 sq. ft – 1,000 sq. ft instead.
I believe our sector will continue to thrive in the next 12 months, largely as a result of Covid. The pandemic made many business owners establish a better work-life balance and they no longer want to spend time managing their offices. Serviced offices, and especially furnished offices, are proving more desirable to entrepreneurs as all services are managed for them.
Live events started to make a comeback back in 2022 and I predict there will be a sharp rise in 2023. Face-to-face business networking events will become more prominent, as life starts to resemble collaboration and B2B engagement levels pre-pandemic.
In 2023, the cost of living crisis and increase in utility costs are set to have a significant impact on how businesses view their workspaces.
Financial discipline will be crucial for businesses as prices continue to rise. Businesses will need to adapt their services and workforce to make the best use of office spaces as well as operational delivery models.
2023 Business Predictions: Luke Draper, Managing Director, IDT Limited
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 Luke Draper, Managing Director at IDT Limited.
It’s going to be tough next year, especially for small businesses due to them not having the resources that some of the bigger boys have.
We are working hard to try to help our SMB customers be more efficient and budget for the next 12/24/36 months. What does that mean in real terms? Having actual conversations with our customers, understanding their pain points and seeing how we can help.
Myself and James (Cartwright) as business owners put ourselves in our customers’ shoes to take the burden of IT and Comms away and ensure that we make the right decisions for them as well as us. We have never been a business that wants a quick win, or quick sale.
We are lucky with our industry; as silly as it sounds “everyone needs IT” and whilst that means there is plenty of business to go and get we don’t take it for granted. For our SMBs customers their IT is crucial as in many cases it differentiates them from their rivals and if a simple IT change or working practice can help them get a leg up or win a contract or tender then we have succeeded.
Financial adviser’s summer ball to return after raising £45,000 for local causes
Saturday 6 May looks set to be a fantastic night as the Furnley House Foundation Summer Ball returns.
Held at Winstanley House, the evening aims to raise a significant amount for local causes, with the 2022 ball raising over £45,000 for Leicestershire charities.
Born out of Financial Adviser and Mortgage Brokers Furnley House’s ambition to create opportunities and improve and save lives in the local community, the Furnley House Foundation hold a number of events throughout the year to help bring the community together and raise money.
This year’s headline charity is Falcon Support Services, who were chosen after winning the Charity of the Year category at the Leicestershire Community Champions Awards. The charity supports people who are homeless or in need to find independence through housing and community support.
The ball will feature a three course meal and lots of entertainment including live music, an auction, and some surprises.
Simon Winfield, chairman of the Furnley House Foundation and Managing Director of Red Monkey Play, said: “We’d love to see as many people as possible at this year’s Summer Ball. Our hope is that thousands of pounds are raised, and we can make a real difference to the local community.
“Previous Balls have been fantastic evenings and have received lots of support, helping us to achieve our mission of improving and saving lives in Leicester and Leicestershire.”
Marie Davis, CEO of Falcon Support Services, said: “Winning the LCCA Charity of the Year was a huge achievement for Falcon Support Services. We have spent over 20 years providing homelessness support and prevention as well as vital mental health support.
“In extremely testing times, being the chosen charity of the year for Furnley House will provide much needed additional funds. Vital funds that will ensure that our dedicated staff can continue the fantastic support we give and help to facilitate much brighter and productive futures for those people in urgent need.”
Tickets are available at https://superbiagroup.zohobackstage.eu/SummerBall2023
Smart building technology helps historic Derby building step into the future
An historic building in Derby which was once at the centre of the city’s railway industry has been fitted with a host of hi-tech smart innovations to create the ideal 21st Century place to study and work.
The installation, in the former Grade II-listed former Derby Midlands Carriage Works at the Derby College Roundhouse campus on Pride Park, has taken place as part of a project to turn the building, which is known as the Engine Room, from a restaurant to a meeting and training space for the college’s business partners.
The work was carried out by city-based IT and building technology firm Scenariio, which is based in Siddals Road and has previously carried out work on behalf of Gymshark, Severn Trent Water and Tarmac.
It was called in to ensure that the new facility offered optimum user comfort while minimising running costs and, in response, installed AV equipment, movement-tracking sensors, temperature, CO2 levels and humidity sensors, along with an intelligent PoE – which stands for Power over Ethernet – lighting system.
It also installed booking software for desks and rooms that lets users book space on site or remotely.
The technology will ensure that the LED lights are turned off or dimmed when rooms are empty, while the lights next to the window use daylight harvesting, which automatically reduces their output in response to level of the brightness outside.
Known as circadian lighting, it replicates the tone of light given by the sun throughout the day, which has been proven to ensure maximum productivity and accuracy for users whilst reducing absenteeism.
Data cables, which also power the lights, have been laid along the building’s ironwork to transfer information from the various sensors and the lights, sending the data to a screen in the room and to a smart director in the college’s IT, with all of the information available to view via an app on their phone, desktop, laptop or tablet.
The result is a system which provides an instant snapshot of what areas of the building are being used, the occupancy levels, how comfortable their experience is and what the energy usage is, 24 hours a day.
George Pritchard, technical director at Scenariio, said: “The Engine Room is a hugely important building in Derby’s history and it’s wonderful to think that our technology has helped to give it a new lease of life as a work and study space that’s fit for the 21st Century.
“Just because the building is more than 100 years old doesn’t mean that it has to be uncomfortable for people to work in or can’t be energy-saving, and it’s a great example of what we at Scenariio can do.
“The need for organisations to encourage people back into the workplace post-pandemic, the rising cost of energy and the need for organisations to reduce their carbon footprint is shining a light on how they need to improve and upgrade their premises.
“Expensive, overcrowded and badly lit offices are no longer acceptable, which is why our technology is becoming more and more in demand.”
Ian McCormick, director of IT at Derby College, said: “We are really pleased with the ease of use and data we are getting from the system Scenariio installed for us.
“It is great that one of our spaces is a leader in smart technology in the education sector, whilst the energy and efficiency savings delivered are especially important to us. Scenariio did a great job on design, install and support and we look forward to working with them again in the future.”
Inspire Design & Development MD appointed to Clay Cross Town Deal board
A board overseeing multi-million pound developments in Clay Cross has appointed Lee Barnes, Managing Director of Inspire Design & Development Ltd. to its board.
Last year, the Government announced that Clay Cross would receive £24.1m of funding to deliver a number of projects contained in the Clay Cross Town Investment Plan. In Clay Cross this means;
- increasing the skills and productivity of the local workforce
- improving access to a range of high quality jobs and training opportunities
- improving the environmental quality of the town and town centre
- Urban Regeneration – ensuring Clay Cross and town centre is a thriving place for people to live and work;
- Skills and Infrastructure – supporting investment and the development of small business, creating opportunities for skills and training;
- Connectivity – improving local transport links and improved digital connectivity.
- Develop and agree an evidence-based Town Investment Plan
- Develop a clear programme of interventions
- Co-ordinate resources and influence stakeholders
Nottingham start-up secures £325K investment for its solution to releasing seized nuts and bolts
University of Nottingham spinout, Scintam Engineering, has developed an innovative technology that uses electricity to help relieve a major problem faced within aerospace, automotive and other engineering industries. The start-up recently secured a £125K investment from British Design Fund, as part of a £325K seed funding round, as it now looks to take its technology to market.
Industries such as aerospace, automotive and renewable energy currently rely on manual processes when they wish to dismantle or service their high value assets. However, the fasteners holding such assets together can be difficult and time consuming to remove. Using electrical pulses to dissolve these fasteners, Scintam Engineering provides a solution that not only reduces costs and almost eliminates the risk of damage, but also aids remanufacture and sustainability.
The start-up was co-founded in 2019 by Dr Sam Catchpole-Smith, who has a background in mechanical engineering and advanced manufacturing. It was launched following the completion of a successful research project, which highlighted the potential for the technology to benefit a broad range of industries across the world.
Sam explained: “Releasing seized fasteners is a massive operational challenge across many industries, with current manual methods often leading to damage to assets and costly delays. With our technology, we aim to help reduce costs, increase operator safety, and provide certainty during maintenance scheduling.”
He continued: “We’re thrilled to have the backing of British Design Fund and our other investors. We have an exciting year ahead, where we will be moving to new larger premises and hiring additional engineers to further develop the core technology to target the remanufacturing sector. This is a key part of our strategy – to provide our customers with a sustainability boosting product that can be put to work immediately.”
The company was recently awarded an Innovate UK grant which will support product development and the team’s goal to achieve a 100% yield in remanufacturing, helping further reduce waste and carbon emissions.
Damon Bonser, CEO, British Design Fund (BDF), said: “We’ve been so impressed by Sam and the team at Scintam. The technology they have developed has huge potential and a broad range of applications for so many industries. We look forward to supporting the team as the company moves forward and brings its products to market.”
Nottingham City Council on target for 1,000 affordable homes
Nottingham City Council is on track to deliver or support the development of 1,000 affordable homes.
The Council Plan outlined the target, including newly built homes, new acquisitions and homes for the homeless such as temporary accommodation. The current projection is for the target to be exceeded, with 1,049 units available or due for completion.
To date, 151 new council homes have been completed, with a further 351 in the process of being built. Planning permission has also been granted for 24 more homes on the Oakdene site in St Ann’s.
A further 52 new build affordable homes have been completed on private sites through planning agreements, some of which have also been acquired by the council to add to its housing stock. The council has also converted nine upper floors over council-owned shops into new affordable flats for rent and bought 162 properties from the private sector market to further increase the number of council homes.
Housing Association partners have also been providing new affordable housing in Nottingham which is available to people on the council waiting list through the Homelink Partnership. Between them Housing Associations have built 76 new affordable homes with a further 182 homes currently being built on various sites across the city.
A further 142 units of homeless accommodation have been provided across Nottingham by the council and its partners with an additional 13 currently in development.
Portfolio holder for housing & human resources, Cllr Toby Neal, said: “We have made increasing the number of affordable homes available to local residents a priority and I’m pleased with the progress we’re making towards meeting our target.
“We are building good quality homes with high energy efficiency standards, giving the opportunity for more local families to choose a decent home which is so important towards ensuring good health and wellbeing.”
Blueprint for Leicestershire residents, businesses and other groups to work together on net zero plans approved
With the goal of making Leicestershire a net zero carbon county by 2045, Leicestershire County Council has approved the blueprint for residents, businesses and other groups to work together on an updated Net Zero Strategy and Action Plan.
After almost 1,400 people had their say during a consultation, the Net Zero Strategy and Action Plan sets out the approach to delivering the council’s ambitious desire to work with residents, partners and businesses to achieve net zero carbon emissions in Leicestershire by 2045 or before.
The strategy is accompanied by an action plan which highlights the actions the council will lead on and those which it will ask and influence others to deliver on over the next five years.
Some of the priority next steps for action to make the county-wide target a reality include:
- Delivering the Sustainable Warmth Programme to improve energy performance of homes, reducing emissions and fuel poverty
- Working with partners to develop a new programme of business support for carbon reduction
- Generating local renewable energy through the development of Quorn Solar Farm and successful rollout of Solar Together Leicestershire, to provide more than 1,000 households with solar panels
- Working with partners to reduce the carbon impact of food production, distribution and waste through the Sustainable Food Plan
- Bringing organisations, businesses and residents together to tackle climate change through the Leicestershire Climate and Nature Pact
Multi-million-pound Northampton Market Square revamp works to begin next month
The vision to enhance Northampton’s Market Square will start to become reality after planners approved the temporary relocation to the accessible Commercial St Car Park.
The plans by West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) to redevelop the historic Market Square include:
- 18 high-quality and bespoke fixed stalls which are larger and more structured to better serve traders, along with space for temporary stalls
- Permanent tiered seating
- Tree planting
- Relaying of cobbles
- New paving
- New lighting
- An interactive water feature
