Meanwhile the Nottingham-based business posted an increase in gross profit to £82.8m (2020: £74.6m), underlying operating profit jumped to £10.3m (2020: £4.8m), and profit after tax grew to £1.6m, after a £48.5m loss in 2020.
CEO “delighted” with Staffline’s 2021 performance
The CEO of Staffline Group, the recruitment and training group, is “delighted” with the company’s performance across 2021, during which a comprehensive restructuring and transformation programme completed.
According to audited results for the year ended 31 December 2021, revenue grew to £942.7m from £927.6m in 2020.
The news comes as Staffline announces a major contract win with BMW and a contract extension with VINCI.
Albert Ellis, Chief Executive Officer, said: “I am extremely proud of the commitment of the Group’s leadership and workforce who delivered throughout the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, facing labour shortages and global supply chain issues. I wish to acknowledge their hard work and my confidence in their ability to continue to deliver, including generating new areas of growth in the future.
“I am delighted with Staffline’s performance across 2021, both in the significant operational progress we have delivered across the Group but also in more than doubling our underlying operating profit in the year. I am satisfied that we now have the operating platform, balance sheet strength and governance in place to fully capitalise on our market leading position and drive sustainable growth.”
Final floor taken at Nottingham city centre office building
ADC Infrastructure, a Nottingham-based consultancy service to the property development sector in Transport Planning, Infrastructure Design, and Water Management, have expanded their offices within the city by taking the final floor available within the City Buildings on Carrington Street close to Nottingham Train Station.
The property has been substantially refurbished by Shoby Properties, retaining many original features while making the space suitable for the requirements of modern day office occupiers, with high quality finishes, full air conditioning as well as on site bicycle storage and repair facilities, showers and changing rooms.
Mark Tomlinson of FHP, who acted on behalf of the landlords, Shoby Properties, in securing the deal, said: “We are seeing a continued trend amongst office occupiers seeking to increase the quality of their working environments and secure premium office spaces within the city and City Buildings delivers just that.
“We are seeing strong uptake of prime offices across the city and ADC Infrastructure are a fantastic tenant to have secured for the final floor within this building. I’m sure that they will enjoy the quality of the space and the facilities.”
David Cummins, director of ADC Infrastructure, said: “Our current offices are to be redeveloped, so the opportunity arose to find new offices. We wanted to remain in the city centre, as our staff travel by bike, bus, tram and train.
“We wanted more space for growth, as we seek to double our numbers to around 60 in the coming years. And importantly, we wanted a quality environment that would encourage everyone to work in the office.
“The area around Carrington Street is an exciting place to be and the City Buildings felt right from our first visit. This is our fourth move since the company began in 2013, and FHP have again been very helpful at showing us the options. We look forward to working with them for many years to come as they are also the managing agents.”
Shortages of Pork Farms products expected in supermarkets due to strike at Nottingham factory
Supermarkets across the UK will face shortages of Pork Farms products during a continuous all-out pay strike by more than 170 workers employed at Nottingham’s Riverside Bakery.
Staff, who are members of Unite, earning just above the minimum wage, according the union, will go on strike from 30 March over “a pay cut disguised as a rise.” Unite says the offer would leave staff worse off by reducing overtime, bank holiday and premium rates.
Riverside Bakery produces quiches, flans and savoury tarts sold by major retailers including Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury’s, Aldi and Marks and Spencer.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite is here to defend our members’ jobs, pay and conditions. Riverside Bakery’s pay cut in disguise is a direct attack on the living standards of their workforce.
“The workers’ all-out strike action will bring operations at the bakery to a halt. They will receive Unite’s full backing for as a long as it takes for the company to see sense and table a proper pay offer.”
Riverside Bakery is part of the Addo Food Group, which was bought by private equity firm PAI Partners in 2020. PAI is planning to merge Addo with another chilled food company it owns, Winterbotham Darby, to create a new company, The Compleat Food Group.
Unite regional officer Cheryl Pidgeon said: “Strike action and the resultant shortages of Pork Farms products in stores nationwide can still be avoided during negotiations scheduled for this week.
“For that to happen, however, the company needs to put forward an offer our members, who are struggling under the cost-of-living crisis, can accept.”
In February, a spokesperson for The Compleat Food Group said: “After extensive talks, The Compleat Food Group made a very favourable offer of an increase to hourly rates for the colleagues at Riverside Bakery which was rejected by the Union.
“To enhance the previous offers, the final offer from the business included the fixing of overtime premiums at the 2021 rates. This was a move to further enhance hourly rates and increase differentials in advance of the forthcoming increase to the national minimum wage.”
Planning permission secured for 280-home development on former green belt land in Nottinghamshire
A property consultancy has secured planning permission for a 280-home development on former green belt land in Nottinghamshire.
Fisher German has achieved outline planning permission for the new houses on a 28-acre site on land north of Grantham Road, in Radcliffe-On-Trent.
Plans include dwellings of varying sizes, 30 per cent of which will be affordable, as well as a park, areas of public open space, a wildlife corridor and the provision of a three-metre-wide cycleway adjacent to the A52.
The development also includes reconfiguring a junction on the A52 to provide a four-arm traffic signal junction which will not only provide access to the site, but also improve safety at the junction.
Fisher German acted on behalf of the landowner, a long-standing client of the firm, and first worked to release the site from the Nottingham Derby Green Belt and secure its allocation for housing in part 2 of the Rushcliffe Local Plan.
The firm’s planning team then worked on the complex planning application before securing outline planning permission for 280 dwellings, 40 additional dwellings than proposed in the local plan.
James Beverley said: “We were extremely pleased to get the green belt land allocated for housing and then ultimately achieve planning permission for the site on behalf of our client.
“Part 1 of the Rushcliffe Local Plan considerably underdelivered on the number of houses required. We therefore worked to promote the release of the site from the green belt through the Part 2 plan, ensuring the delivery of housing and reducing significant development pressures on the limited number of settlements outside of the green belt.
“When working on the planning application we encountered a number of challenges but were able to resolve these to the satisfaction of the relevant statutory consultees.
“We worked constructively with Network Rail successfully demonstrating that the new drainage system being introduced would take water away from their infrastructure so was a betterment to them.
“We also experienced challenges relating to junction works to the A52, which is part of Highways England’s strategic highway network.
“We worked with Highways England to demonstrate that the changes, which included remodelling of the existing junction and adding traffic lights, would benefit both the development and others living and working in the area who would find it easier to turn onto the strategic road.
“This is the second green belt site we have successfully progressed on behalf of the client, and we now look forward to seeing the sale of the site being completed and much needed homes being delivered.”
Planning & Design become a RIBA Chartered Practice
Planning & Design Practice have been recognised as a RIBA Chartered architectural practice. The Royal Institute of British Architects is a global professional membership body driving excellence in architecture.
RIBA Chartered practices are the only architectural practices endorsed and promoted by the Royal Institute of British Architects. This accreditation sends a strong signal to clients, employees and the wider construction industry and shows that the practice is committed to excellence in design and service delivery.
Planning & Design Practice believes in good architecture, to improve quality of life, create real value and to drive sustainable development, creating robust, resilient homes and buildings to face the challenges of climate change.
The approachable and experienced team comprises architects, architectural assistants, designers and technicians.
The team is led by Lindsay Cruddas, a RIBA accredited specialist conservation architect, of which there are currently only 141 in the country. Lindsay qualified as a RIBA Chartered Architect in 2012, after receiving her degrees in Architecture at Leeds Metropolitan University. She has a specialist knowledge and interest in historic building conservation, reuse of redundant buildings and residential design.
On receiving the RIBA Chartered Status Lindsay said: “We strive to gain the best outcome for our clients and design spaces that we are proud of. Becoming a RIBA Chartered Practice demonstrates that commitment to quality, service and design. I was delighted to receive the Chartered Status and proud to be developing the architectural side of the business.”
Joining Lindsay are senior architect Siegfried Doering (Dipl.-Ing. Architecture, AKH, ARB, RIBA) and project architect Manik Karunaratne (BA (Hons), MArch (Leicester), ARB).
Prior to Planning & Design Siegfried was senior architect/project design manager as part of a team of 25 architects and engineers, and also quality manager in the department for an international company offering worldwide infrastructure buildings including train stations, data centres, train/tram depots, offices and maintenance facilities.
An Architects Registration Board (ARB) UK registered architect, Manik qualified in 2018 at the University of Nottingham, following an architectural journey comprised of several universities, having studied at the University of Derby, Nottingham Trent University and De Montfort University.
Having worked in commercial architecture practices previously, Manik has experience on office buildings, high rise apartments buildings, housing developments and barn conversions. Currently he is working on a variety of vernacular and domestic projects liaising closely with clients and further developing his knowledge in heritage and conservation.
Also, part of the team is Part II architectural assistant Tina Humphreys, a graduate of De Montfort University in Leicester with a Master’s in Architecture, who is now working towards becoming a RIBA Chartered Architect. Joseph Cattmull is architectural technologist, who graduated from the University of Derby, after studying the built environment at Cambridge Regional College, and who brings an interest in listed and traditional architecture and how they can be modernised.
Continuing a tradition of encouraging and supporting emerging talent, the business was pleased to announce the recent addition to the team of Joshua Bunce and Matthew Kempster as junior architectural technicians. Both joined the company in 2021.
Since being founded in 2002 Planning & Design Practice Ltd has earnt an excellent reputation for winning approvals and for creating attractive and viable proposals.
Comprising RTPI Chartered town planners and RIBA Chartered Architects the company has generated over £200m of uplift in land values for clients through its consents and proposals. The architectural side of the business boasts true international expertise having worked on large scale projects across Europe and the United States as well as in the UK. The company is able to design award winning proposals for a wide range of clients across the country.
The company’s heritage team can advise on listed buildings and developments in sensitive locations whilst maintaining a strong planning consultancy team. In both 2019 and 2021 the business’s heritage work was recognised and awarded the Highly Commended Certificate for Excellence in Planning at the RTPI East Midlands Awards for Planning Excellence.
The architectural team are based across Derby, Matlock, Macclesfield, and Sheffield.
Council outlines vision for potential revamp of popular Leicester shopping street
Initial ideas for a potential revamp of a popular shopping street in Leicester’s Clarendon Park area have been outlined by the city council.
The city council is considering a range of possible improvements to Queen’s Road as part of a citywide programme of investment to help the city and local businesses recover from nearly two years of disruption from the pandemic.
At Queens Road, the city council aims to create a more attractive shopping environment, with more space for outdoor café areas and wider, safer pavements for pedestrians.
Initial ideas could see changes to some side road junctions – including potentially removing the junctions at Montague Road and Cecilia Road – to create more pedestrian space and cut the amount of traffic turning into Queens Road, helping to make the busy shopping street safer for pedestrians and cyclists.
Pavements could be widened at key points to make more space for outdoor café-style seating areas to support businesses, while ensuring that adequate parking space is maintained for shoppers and visitors and loading bays are available for businesses.
This could include widening pavements outside Barceloneta and Friends Tandoori – between Howard Road and Cecilia Road – and filling in the existing bus bay alongside the shopping area between Montague Road and Clarendon Park Road to create more space.
The proposals will not impact the number of limited-time waiting bays on Queens Road.
Improvements to make the route safer and more appealing to cyclists are also being considered, along with the introduction of a docking bay on Queens Road for the new Santander Cycles Leicester e-bike hire scheme.
Traffic calming measures, such as raised crossings, on Queens Road are also being considered to encourage motorists to cut their speed and improve road safety.
Earlier this year, the city council set aside £11.3million of capital funding for a number of road and transport schemes as part of its budget for 2022/23. This includes the regeneration of key shopping streets such as Queens Road.
The initial ideas for improvements to Queens Road have been developed closely with ward councillors and discussions are ongoing.
Assistant city mayor and Castle ward councillor Danny Myers said: “Queens Road is at the heart of the community in Clarendon Park. It’s a space that is held dear. Events like our Summer and Christmas fairs attract thousands and it is a place that is enjoyed throughout the day and evening, all year round.
“Creating a high quality-space that reflects this popularity is a great opportunity. It’d be really interesting to see what people think of these proposals and other ideas they may have for Queens Rd too.”
Deputy city mayor Cllr Adam Clarke, who leads on environment and transport, added: “It’s really important that we continue to invest in streets like Queens Road to enhance the environment, make them more people-friendly and help ensure their local businesses continue to thrive.
“Although these initial ideas are in the very early stages, it’s clear that we have a real opportunity to invest in Queens Road and make it an even more attractive place for residents, local business and visitors.
“These early thoughts have already been shared at a meeting of Friends of Clarendon Park and we’re very keen for the local community to be an integral part of the creative process as this scheme develops.”
The city council expects to firm up proposals for Queens Road over the coming months, with a view to inviting feedback on final design plans from local residents and businesses this summer.
Derby out of the running to become UK City of Culture 2025
Derby is out of the running to become UK City of Culture 2025, but the council says it is not disheartened.
As the Government announces its shortlist of four, the team behind Derby’s bid is now looking to the future, using all the support it has won over the past few months to set its sights on becoming UK City of Culture 2029.
Arts Minister Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay said: “The UK City of Culture competition is a brilliant opportunity for places to increase people’s interest in the arts while benefiting their local economies. I offer huge congratulations to Derby for making it this far in the process and I hope that being part of the 2025 longlist will leave a rich cultural legacy for the local community.”
What began as an expression of interest put together in just a few weeks quickly gathered momentum, uniting the arts and business sector, local authorities, environmental organisations, politicians and even Derby’s twin city of Toyota in Japan to get behind the ambition.
Even before the initial bid was submitted, Derby’s culture and heritage was at the forefront of the city’s economy and recovery. From being the birthplace of the industrial revolution and home to Rolls-Royce, Alstom and Toyota, to the delivery of the new 3,500 capacity Becketwell venue, Derby’s bid was seen as a springboard for culture-led regeneration in the city.
Using culture as the starting point to improve citizens’ wellbeing, opportunities and social mobility was also vital to the bid, and that ambition is set to continue.
Adam Buss, interim director of Derby’s City of Culture bid, said: “This process has never been just about winning a competition. It’s been about recognising the role of culture in making our city a vibrant place to live and work.
“Congratulations to those cities moving forward, and to those like us who did not make the final four. Everyone has worked so hard and the diverse group of places represented is testament to the competition and its potential to transform not only those places but the whole of the UK.
“For Derby, it’s now time to reflect on how far we’ve come in such a short space of time, having won the support of the city’s sectors. Industry, the arts, education, sport, politics and the environment – all of Team Derby – will continue to be behind us as we move forward.
“There is more understanding now of how important culture is to the city, not only in terms of regenerating buildings and public space, but also to the wellbeing and prospects of our citizens, and this work will continue. Being UK City of Culture 2025 would have opened up opportunities to make this happen more quickly, but our ambition remains as we set our sights on winning the status for 2029.”
Councillor Chris Poulter, leader of Derby City Council, said: “There is no reason for us to be disappointed today. A huge amount of hard work went into Derby’s bid and it was a prime example of the city working together in partnership. We’ve built a foundation for the future and I’m very proud of Derby for getting this far in such a short space of time.
“Putting culture at the heart of our plans for Derby’s regeneration was a priority even before we submitted our expression of interest. It’s about improving our city, making it a vibrant place to live and work, and setting the scene to make culture shine through. This will continue to remain our vision as we bid to become UK City of Culture 2029 and beyond.”
Bradford, County Durham, Southampton and Wrexham County Borough have been unveiled as the four areas shortlisted to be UK City of Culture 2025.
The correct footwear for each working condition
Whatever you happen to be doing with your working day, it’s essential that you’re wearing the right shoes. Arguably more than any other item of clothing, the shoes we wear play a critical role in protecting us from the world and safeguarding our general well-being. After all, your shoes are there to not only cover your feet but support your entire body.
The type of work you’re doing, and the environment in which you’re doing it, should both inform the type of footwear you wear. Here, we’re going to look at exactly how.
Safety Footwear
Wherever there’s a risk of injury to your feet, you should be wearing protective footwear. Shoes of this sort might incorporate metal caps around the toes, or the soles. If you injure your feet, then your ability to work will be severely impacted – especially if you’re doing an active job. Potential sources of injury might include slipping, standing on something sharp, or being splashed by chemical spillages. Research your options and invest in something that will provide the appropriate level of protection. It’s usually better to spend more if it means avoiding pain and a lengthy spell in recovery.Electrical Hazards
Particularly worthy of consideration in some professions is the danger posed by electricity. If you’re dealing with high-voltage machinery, then you need to ensure that the shoes you’re wearing are non-conductive and resistant to electrical shock. This will help reduce the likelihood of you inadvertently completing a circuit and channelling thousands of volts into the Earth. While safety footwear won’t guarantee that you don’t get a shock, it can reduce both the likelihood and the impact of an injury. This is especially important if you’re working at a height, or in an environment where a shock might be compounded by other hazards.Explosives
On the other hand, you might also wish to avoid building a static charge yourself. If you’re working with explosives, then you might inadvertently generate a spark, which might ignite the fuel source. This means conductive shoes with socks that don’t generate static electricity. While the risk of this kind of scenario unfolding is very small, the potential costs can be catastrophic. It’s therefore worth doing everything you possibly can to reduce the risk.Blades
If you’re handling sharp objects, then there’s always the possibility that they’ll slip from your grasp and land on your toes. If you don’t have the right shoes on, then you might suffer a serious injury. This is where robust, steel-capped boots of the sort we’ve already talked about come in handy. In certain cases, you might look for boots that are specially designed to deal with special kinds of hazards, like chainsaws.Establish new connections and strengthen old ones at the Property & Business Investment Lincolnshire Expo
Free to attend, The Property & Business Investment Lincolnshire Expo will return on Wednesday 27 April 2022 at The Bentley Hotel, Lincoln, presenting an ideal opportunity to forge new contacts and reconnect with old ones.
Business Link is a proud partner of the well targeted event aimed at the Construction, Property, Business, Investment, Finance, Professional Services and related B2B markets, which will include exhibitors such as Aspbury Planning Ltd, Belvoir, Business Lincolnshire, BSP Consulting, Delta Simons, the Federation of Small Businesses, J Tomlinson, NatWest, Willmott Dixon, and YMD Boon, to name a few.
To see the full list of who is exhibiting click here.
Opening at 9am, the expo will also host a seminar, and as the exhibition closes, it will roll directly into an informal, open buffet style network lunch – tickets are just £25 plus vat and can be ordered and paid for directly online. Spaces for the lunch are limited, so order as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
Tina King, of Business Shows Group, said: “It’s been a long time in the making thanks to the pandemic, but we are finally nearly there, The Property & Business Investment Lincolnshire Expo is gearing up to be one of the best to date!”
To attend the event, register for free here.
To generate opportunities by exhibiting at the event, click here.
Purchase tickets to the networking lunch here.
Meet more potential clients in one amazing cost effective day, than it would take months out on the road.
Leicestershire’s Business Gateway offers green suppliers a shop window for sustainable products and services
The Business Gateway for Leicester and Leicestershire is calling on suppliers of environmentally friendly products and services to make contact, so that it can showcase these to local businesses trying to become more sustainable.
Rachel York, manager of the Business Gateway, explained: “We are consistently encouraging small local businesses to reduce waste, find a renewable supplier for their energy and make other changes to reduce their carbon footprint.
“This will save them money and attract new customers, so it makes business sense. However, we are aware that it can be difficult to find suppliers of these green solutions and we wanted to make it easier for our small business clients.”
The Business Gateway plans to include details of green suppliers in its Business Support Finder. This is a searchable directory of services which small business clients may find useful in supporting their growth. It is part of the website www.bizgateway.org.uk.
Mrs York added: “Ideally we would like to prioritise suppliers who are based in Leicester or Leicestershire to retain the business locally but suppliers from outside the region are also welcome, particularly if they offer something that no one else does.
“One thing we ask from suppliers is that, as well as being environmentally focussed, they try to meet some of the criteria from the Social Value Act that we follow. Being a publicly funded body, we can’t recommend these suppliers, of course, but we think it is valuable to make our clients aware of them.”
Over the past year, the need for businesses to operate more sustainably has become a priority as the UK strives to reach Net Zero by 2050 and Leicester City Council aims to do the same by 2030.
The Business Gateway has delivered two programmes of webinars on the theme of ‘Reducing Carbon Emissions in your Small Business’, both of which proved very popular.
It has also worked with the LLEP to launch the Zellar carbon reduction scheme to nearly 100 small local businesses. This pilot scheme is the first of its kind in the Midlands region and only the second in the UK as a whole.
Any business wishing to find out more should email peter.allen@bizgateway.org.uk and mark their message ‘green supplier’.
Image credit: Naja Bertolt Jensen on Unsplash
