The scheme – “Mansfield Connect” – will be the new headquarters for the council and is expected to house a variety of other public, educational, enterprise and health and wellbeing services, alongside spaces for private sector occupiers such as food and drink outlets.
Mansfield District Council has taken the initiative and purchased the premises to enhance the bid to the Government’s Levelling Up Fund (LUF) to help re-invigorate the town centre.
Mansfield Connect will form a central part of the bid and would see the council relocating from the Civic Centre, with that site being made available for redevelopment.
To date, the Department for Work and Pensions, Nottinghamshire County Council, Vision West Nottinghamshire College, Nottingham Trent University, NHS health partners, and volunteering co-ordinator the CVS have all expressed interest in being involved in the new hub.
As well as improving the delivery of public services by providing a range of agencies accessible under one roof, it is envisaged that the new hub would generate extra footfall in the town centre which would benefit existing retailers and help drive regeneration, with the hub being a catalyst to stimulate private sector investment in both the day and night time economy in the town centre.
The scheme forms part of the council’s wider ambitions for the town, demonstrated by the emerging Town Centre Masterplan and broader Mansfield District Council strategies promoting Growth, Aspiration, Wellbeing and Place.
Executive Mayor Andy Abrahams said: “We believe repurposing this redundant retail space in Mansfield town centre fulfils all the ambitions of the Government’s Levelling Up Fund and by purchasing the building now, we believe this will strengthen the council’s bid.
“Consolidating public services in one town centre space makes so much sense, for both the delivery of those services to our community, and the wider economic benefits for the town centre. We are doing everything within our power to satisfy the requirements of the LUF bid criteria so we can move forward at pace when we are, hopefully, successful.
“Mansfield really needs this kind of ambitious re-imagining of its shopping streets to a mixed-use town centre if it is to build a bright future and encourage inward investment. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform our town’s fortunes and prospects for the better.”
The council can submit one MP-backed bid to the LUF either for an individual project or a package of measures, focusing on capital investment in local infrastructure and building on existing Local Growth Fund and Towns Fund supported programmes.
Under the first round of the LUF, local authorities could seek up to £20m of funding, with the support of the local MP, seeing funding targeted towards places with the most significant needs in terms of economic recovery, regeneration and growth and improved transport and connectivity.
Mansfield has been ranked at level one out of three by the Government, putting it amongst those areas with the greatest need.
The council has qualified for £125,000 in funding to help draw up its LUF bid and improve its chances of success in the anticipated next round of bids, an announcement about which is expected in the spring from the Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities.
A Mansfield Connect Steering Group is guiding the project and the council has engaged project management specialists ARC Partnership to support its initial development, feasibility, costings and design options.
Additional support in building a business case for the scheme and for the LUF bid has been secured from Partnering Regeneration Development Ltd.
The work will see a close collaboration with consultants Allies & Morrison who are working with the council on the emerging Town Centre Masterplan and Severn Trent’s Green Recovery Flood Resilience Project.
Former department store purchased for new civic hub
Mansfield’s former Beales department store has been purchased to provide a new multi-agency civic hub as part of the Mansfield District Council’s long term town centre regeneration plans.
Chartered Surveyors raise £30k in Top Gear style bangers & cash fundraiser
As part of their activities to commemorate their 30th company anniversary, and raise £30,000 for three local charities, Loughborough-based specialist land development and property consultancy, Mather Jamie organised a TopGear style event whereby five teams were challenged to buy a £500 ‘banger’ and drive to East Anglia.
The original plan was to drive to the Norfolk coast with an overnight stay in Kings Lynn, however these plans were scuppered by the petrol crisis in October 2021, and an alternative challenge involving Leicester landmarks was arranged – which also gave drivers the option to limp their Bangers home if they broke down!
This alternative event finally happened in late December, pushing the firm’s fundraising total to £36k – 120% over the original target.
Four teams took part, each driving a ‘banger of choice’. Gary Kirk and Gary Owens chose a 1997 Ford Fiesta, Tim Jones a 2003 Honda Civic, a 58 plate Nissan Micra was the vehicle of choice for Rob Cole and his son, Henry, whilst Alex Reid and Sam Woodhouse went more upmarket with a BMW tourer.
All bangers and passengers started at 8am from Farm Town and each team was required to visit as many of the defined touristy and historical locations as they could within the timeframe. All had to reconvene no later than 3.15pm at Prestwold Aerodrome ready for a ¼ mile drag race after sourcing and buying an antique for £50, which will later be auctioned off for charity.
Each location that the teams had to visit in no particular order had a points value, with a bonus 10 points awarded to any team that also reached the Triumph Factory in Hinckley. Other sites included; Belvoir Castle, Melton Mowbray, where each team had to take a photo with a pork pie, Donington Park Race Circuit, Foxton Locks, and Twycross Zoo. To deter speeding and to penalise poor driving and maintenance, penalty points were incurred for any breakdowns and car repairs.
Commenting on the event, Rob Cole, Mather Jamie Managing Director, said: “When we set out to raise £30,000 for Rainbows, Loros and One Roof Leicester we also hoped that the events we held would create opportunities for team members to lift the mood caused by Covid and have some fun whilst doing something to help those in need.
“We are delighted that our combined efforts have smashed our target and hope that by the time we finally present the cheque we will be able to exceed our target by at least another £10,000.”
The Honda Civic proved to be the victory vehicle driven by Tim Jones who managed to arrive at all six locations in first place.
Manufacturing upturn continues at end of 2021
The manufacturing sector saw further growth of production, new orders and employment at the end of 2021. Although a slight easing in supply chain delays helped lift output volumes and take some of the heat out of input price increases, logistic disruptions and staff shortages were nonetheless still stymieing the overall pace of expansion.
The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit/CIPS Purchasing Managers’ Index® (PMI®) rose to 57.9 in December, littlechanged from November’s three-month high of 58.1. The PMI has remained above the neutral 50.0 mark for 19 months.
Output rose across the consumer, intermediate and investment goods sectors during December, with the overall pace of expansion improving to a four-month high. Increased
output was underpinned by rising intakes of new business, as domestic market conditions continued to strengthen.
The trend in new export business remained negative, however, as inflows of new work from overseas dropped for the fourth month in a row. This mainly reflected a steep decrease at consumer goods producers. In contrast, export demand for UK capital goods rose at the quickest pace since August. Manufacturers indicated that logistic issues, Brexit difficulties and the possibility of further COVID restrictions (at home and overseas) had all hit export demand at the end of the year.
Manufacturing employment increased for the twelfth successive month in December, with the rate of jobs growth staying close to November’s three-month high. Companies linked this to meeting improved demand, rising backlogs of work and efforts to address staff shortages. Capacity remained under strain, however. This was highlighted by a further increase in outstanding business, although the pace of expansion in work-in-hand volumes eased sharply to its lowest since February.
Companies maintained a positive outlook at the end of 2021. The majority of firms (63%) forecast that production would increase over the coming 12 months, compared to only 6%
anticipating a contraction. Optimism reflected expectations of renewed global economic growth, planned investment and hopes for less disruption caused by COVID-19, Brexit and
supply chain issues.
Inflationary pressures remained elevated in December. The rate of increase in factory gate selling prices accelerated to a fresh series-record high, as companies passed on (at least in
part) rising costs to their customers.
December saw a further substantial increase in average input prices, with the rate of inflation staying among the steepest seen in the survey history. There were reports of higher costs for chemicals, electronics, energy, food products, metals, timber and wood. Freight, shipping and air transportation costs were also higher, while ongoing supply disruptions, raw material shortages and issues relating to Brexit and COVID-19 also led to higher prices paid.
Commenting on the latest survey results, Rob Dobson, director at IHS Markit, said: “UK manufacturing production rose at the quickest pace in four months in December, supported by increased intakes of new work, efforts to reduce backlogs of work and higher employment.
“While the uptick in growth is a positive step, the upturn remains subdued compared to the middle of the year, as supply chain constraints and weak export performance constrained attempts to raise production further. Manufacturers indicated that logistic issues, Brexit difficulties and the possibility of further COVID restrictions (at home and overseas) had all hit export demand at the end of the year.
“Although supply chains remain severely stretched, there are at least signs that the situation is stabilising, with vendor delivery times lengthening to the weakest extent for a year in December. This helped take some of the heat out of input price increases, but cost inflation remained sufficiently steep to necessitate the sharpest rise in factory gate selling prices on record. With restrictions and Omicron cases both rising, the growth and inflation backdrops could change again in the early part of 2022.”
Duncan Brock, group director at the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply, said: “On the surface there wasn’t much of a change in the sector compared to last month but there was plenty to put manufacturers on edge about their prospects for the coming year.
“Purchasing by supply chain managers was at a four month high as businesses tried to beat another near-record inflation rate for raw materials and ordered ahead of time in the hope of defeating future setbacks. Delay fears remained as supplier deliveries remained under pressure albeit to the least severe extent since December 2020. On the plus side, optimism remained positive as manufacturers were buoyed up by the strongest pipelines of new work driven by UK customers and employment levels rose for the twelfth consecutive month to meet demand.
“We can’t lose sight of the fact that the UK economy took a significant hit and new variants and potential lockdowns threaten to impede much needed progress but at least the sector ended the last quarter of 2021 on a surer footing.”
Senior partner steps down after four decades at law firm
Following a 43 year career at Sills & Betteridge, distinguished solicitor Stephen Wilson retired as the firm’s senior partner on 31 December 2021. His position was taken over by Karen Bower-Brown, the first woman to become senior partner in the 260 year history of the firm. Lincoln born Stephen joined Sills & Betteridge as an articled clerk in February 1979. He qualified as solicitor in 1981 and became partner in 1985. Stephen spent the first 10 years of his career handling a mixed case load of work before dedicating all of his time to litigation, ultimately specialising in complex personal injury and clinical negligence matters, until he retired. Notable achievements in Stephen’s career include his appointments as Deputy District Judge and President of Lincolnshire Law Society and being admitted as a Fellow of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers. Stephen said: “I have been lucky to have such an interesting and varied legal career, all of which I spent at Sills & Betteridge. My greatest satisfaction has been recovering compensation for my clients, some of whom had suffered catastrophic injuries or the devastating loss of loved ones. It also gives me huge pride to know that I have helped drive the growth of the firm, from a small local practice when I joined, to the large, thriving regional firm it is today.” Having spent 30 years dominated by court deadlines, Stephen looks forward, initially, to a long rest. He will then spend time walking in his beloved Yorkshire Dales and exploring other beautiful areas of the British Isles, improving his golf handicap and spending time in the garden. He will also be found working behind the bar of his local village social club! Stephen’s successor Karen Bower-Brown, current head of the firm’s commercial department, joined the firm in 1999 following a position at a London firm located near Green Park where part of her remit was to advise staff in the Royal household. Karen now specialises in litigation work including commercial, contract and property disputes, as well as contentious trust and probate work for which she is a recognised specialist. Karen says: “I feel very proud to have been asked by the partners to take on the role of senior partner following Stephen Wilson’s retirement. The firm has gone from strength to strength since I joined as an assistant solicitor in 1999 when there was one office in Lincoln. “Now we have 15 offices in Lincolnshire, South Yorkshire, Nottingham and Northampton. Although Covid has proved to be a challenge for the firm, we have weathered the storm extremely well and I have no doubt that the firm as a whole has a bright future. I take the opportunity to thank Stephen Wilson for his contribution to the firm over the last 43 years including as senior partner. I wish him all the very best for the future.”
Duo of office sales sealed at Leicester’s Forest Business Park
FHP, acting on behalf of retained clients, have sold two office opportunities on Oswin Road, Forest Business Park just west of Leicester City Centre.
Both properties provide self-contained purpose-built office accommodation of just under 1,750ft² each, boasting ample car parking facilities to the front and within easy reach of J21A of the M1 Motorway.
Thomas Szymkiw, of FHP’s Office Department, who agreed both deals, said: “Small, freehold office opportunities in Leicester are scarce, so when I was instructed to sell both buildings I knew that interest would be high – receiving several strong offers within a very short marketing timeframe.
“I am pleased that I have been able to assist both purchasers with their expansion plans and happy in the knowledge that they have been able to acquire two fantastic office buildings in one of the city’s most established commercial locations.”
Partner promotion for private client specialist
East Midlands law firm Bray & Bray has promoted experienced private client solicitor Russell Dalby to partner and joint head of the firm’s Wills, Trusts and Probate department.
In his new role, Russell will co-manage a team of eight Wills, Trusts and Probate specialists.
A full member of the Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners (STEP), Russell will also act as a reference point on technical matters such as Inheritance Tax positions. Alongside co-head Andrew Hitchon, Russell will also be responsible for training and mentoring the team.
Commenting on his new role, Russell said: “I feel very passionately about coaching and mentoring team members to ensure they are continually cultivating their knowledge and skills.
“Andrew and I have already begun developing some in-house scenario training for the team, which complements our traditional focus of attending specialist seminars throughout the year. Keeping at the cutting edge of the latest legal developments will continue to be a core focus for us as we head into 2022.
“As partner, I look forward to expanding the profile of the team and nurturing relationships with existing and new clients. Bray & Bray has a reputation for listening closely to clients and truly understanding their needs, particularly during these challenging times, and this is something I am committed to preserving.”
Prior to joining Bray & Bray, Russell worked as a senior bank manager before retraining in law in 2010. He achieved the highest grade in the Legal Practice Course, before choosing to specialise in Wills, Trusts and Probate.
Tim Gladdle, senior partner and head of Corporate & Commercial Law at Bray & Bray, added: “Russell’s well-deserved promotion is in recognition of the significant role and contribution he has made to the firm’s ongoing growth, as well as his consistent hard work and steadfast dedication to the Wills, Trusts and Probate team and private clients.
“Bray & Bray remains committed to investing in our people and supporting their ambition and professional growth. I look forward to seeing Russell continue to excel in his new role.”
Nottingham City Centre office building sold
8 Clinton Terrace, on Derby Road, just north of Nottingham City Centre, has been sold in a deal brokered by FHP Property Consultants to Clinton View Ltd.
The property which extends to just under 3,000ft2, provides modern office accommodation over three floors with substantial car parking to the rear.
Thomas Szymkiw, of FHP’s Office Department who agreed the sale, said: “8 Clinton Terrace is a great building, in a fantastic location bordering the desirable Park Estate and in an area that has seen some fantastic developments in recent years including both private and student residential schemes.
“The property provided a perfect opportunity for either an office owner occupier or developer and we had high interest in the property on both fronts – resulting in a competitive bidding process that ended up with a fantastic result for our clients.
“The purchaser is looking to undertake substantial redevelopment of the building for residential use and I am very excited to see how their ambitious plans evolve over the coming months.”
Intoware appoints business development specialist for future growth
Nottingham-based digital workflow leader Intoware, has appointed Nicholas Hope to the role of business development specialist. Nicholas joins from Artex Ltd, part of the Saint-Gobain Group, where he was a national account manager for the UK’s leading DIY retailers.
Nicholas Hope will be responsible for driving market growth and future strategy by bringing Intoware’s automation platform WorkfloPlus to enterprises.
Prior to his role at Artex Ltd, Nicholas was a commercial account manager for firestone distributor, Permaroof UK Ltd, where he led its cross-functional teams through product life-cycle development and strategic planning for new products, gaining the top five customers in target industries within two years.
Intoware’s CEO, Keith Tilley, says: “We are delighted that Nicholas Hope has joined us at this time of tremendous growth. Nicholas is a well-regarded sales leader and a highly motivated individual with proven experience driving strategic sales and marketing initiatives to generate revenue by opening up entirely new and emerging markets.”
Nicholas Hope, business development specialist, Intoware, said: “I’ve always had a keen interest in new technologies, Intoware is at the very forefront of the industry 4.0 revolution, not only does WorkfloPlus deliver paperless working, but when combined with AI and assisted reality it transforms the efficiency of processes by capturing ‘real-time’ data to drive more meaningful decision-making.”
Nicholas enjoyed entrepreneurial success at 13 years old, when he founded e-commerce business, Blue Orchard Records. He digitally remastered cassettes onto CD and vinyl, creating campaigns that trebled the value of the business in three years to £83,000.
Having later graduated from Nottingham Trent University in 2013 with a BA in Business Management and Marketing, Nicholas decided to pursue his business development career locally.
Mattioli Woods achieves “key milestone”
Mattioli Woods, the specialist wealth management and asset management business, has achieved a “key milestone” and strong revenue growth, according to a trading update in advance of its interim results for the six months ended 30 November 2021.
Total client assets of the group and its associate reached £15.1 billion at the period end, an increase of 42% on the equivalent prior period.
The business meanwhile saw total revenues rise to £49.9m from £29.5m.
Ian Mattioli MBE, Chief Executive, says: “The first six months of this financial year saw us build momentum despite the complexities, economically and politically, that persisted throughout 2021. During the period, we proactively balanced securing good financial outcomes for our clients with ensuring the long-term sustainability of our business, and I am pleased to report further material progress towards our strategic medium-term goals, with total client assets now at £15.1 billion.
“We saw strong performances in our pensions and consultancy, and investment and asset management operating segments with the number of new clients on-boarded in the first half and net inflows into the Group’s investment and asset management services ahead of the equivalent period last year, reflecting the success of new business initiatives and strength of existing client referrals, with organic revenue growth in excess of 10 per cent. for the period. These initiatives are also driving an increasing pipeline of new business enquiries.
“Our discretionary managed funds continue to perform well and represent a combined value of £5.1 billion, an increase of c.55% on the equivalent prior period, including more than £1.3 billion with the Group’s associate, Amati Global Investors, an increase of c.75% on the prior period.
“Recent acquisitions and double digit organic revenue growth have driven a material increase in scale during the period, with the Group’s profit margins maintained through prudent cost management and investment to realise further operational efficiencies.
“During the period we were pleased to announce the completion of our two largest acquisitions to date, Maven Capital Partners (Maven) and Ludlow Wealth Management (Ludlow). Both businesses are trading ahead of budget and have contributed positively to the Group’s results, building upon our track record of more than 30 successful acquisitions.
“Within Maven we are progressing a number of cross-sell revenue synergy opportunities that are already being shared with qualifying Mattioli Woods and Maven clients, and plan to bring further new opportunities in the near future. Maven has also delivered a number of performance fees ahead of budget further supporting the acquisition rationale. Our Ludlow team is already engaging with our discretionary managed investment services, as well as delivering planned cost synergies.
“We anticipate further consolidation within the wealth management, pensions administration, asset management and financial planning sectors, with many more opportunities coming to market. We expect to continue to assess and progress bolt-on opportunities in the nearer term as well as potentially more substantial opportunities in the longer term, with all potential transactions required to meet our strict investment criteria and due diligence procedures.
“We remain committed to our culture of putting clients first and to delivering our ambitious growth plans for the business. We are progressing our strategic initiatives, including the development of our bespoke MWeb platform and digital client interface, where we anticipate additional medium term investment in the region of £2-4m per annum.
“The Group’s trading outlook for the current financial year remains in line with management’s expectations and Mattioli Woods remains well-positioned to deliver sustainable shareholder returns.”
2022 Business Predictions: Ian Taylor, MD of Henry Brothers Midlands
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 Ian Taylor, Managing Director of construction company Henry Brothers Midlands.
The construction sector will be extremely busy in 2022 with the roll out of a large number of frameworks and infrastructure projects worth billions of pounds nationally. There’s the £3.7bn New Hospital Programme, the £7bn Department for Education Construction Framework, schemes for the Ministry of Justice and the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, plus the Government’s levelling up agenda to name just a few of the opportunities that are in the pipeline. Although we will have to wait to see if the levelling up delivers for the East Midlands in the way we were all hoping!
This huge programme of work will bring greater strain on the demand for materials and labour, leading to a knock-on effect on pricing. Supply chain issues during 2021 led to volatility and this will continue in 2022 as demand increases for the delivery of construction projects and we see inflationary pressures. To avoid pricing volatility, I expect that many clients will procure their developments through frameworks, which have a reduced procurement time over the traditional tender route, and allow projects to get to site more quickly. I also expect that clients and contractors will start working together on schemes as early as possible in the process – working smarter to avoid some of the uncertainties that are likely to arise in 2022.
Finally, I predict that there will be an increasing requirement to provide carbon neutral projects. We saw this grow in 2021 and the direction of travel is only one way. In time, all projects will need to show a carbon neutral performance.
