Yü Group handed customers of bust energy supplier
Nottingham’s Yü Group, the independent supplier of gas, electricity and water to the UK corporate sector, has been appointed by Ofgem as Supplier of Last Resort (SOLR) for Ampoweruk Ltd (Ampower) and agreed to take on their electricity and gas customer book from Sunday 7 November.
Ampower supplied 8,158 predominantly electricity business sites, increasing the group’s meter portfolio by 38%. Group revenues are forecasted to immediately increase by over £7.5 million per month. Earnings will be enhanced immediately.
Under Ofgem’s SOLR process, business customers transfer to a new supplier on a flexible, “deemed”, basis with a variable tariff reflective of current market conditions. Yü Group said it is “confident in its ability to retain a significant proportion of the Ampower business customer book, leading to substantial increase in forward contracted revenue.”
Ampower ceased trading on 6 November 2021.
Bobby Kalar, Group Chief Executive Officer, said: “I’m very pleased to have been awarded the Ampower customer book. In recognition of our strong systems and experienced team these customers have already been migrated onto our scalable operating platform seamlessly over the weekend with negligible impact on resource or capacity.
“Our experience and track record means we are confident the customer transition will be seamless, quick and well communicated.
“Our robust hedging strategy and strength of balance sheet are underpinned by a proven business model and a solid and scalable platform. This gives the Board confidence that we are well positioned to deliver a good blended mix of both organic and inorganic growth and we are proud to be in a strong position to allow us to play a part in supporting the industry.
“We remain well disciplined, selective and focussed on achieving good profitable growth. I would like to thank my team for their phenomenal performance and unwavering support.”
Call for action as the fragile road to recovery causes small business confidence to decline significantly in the East Midlands
Confidence amongst small firms in the East Midlands has fallen significantly, according to the latest survey by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).
The business group’s quarterly Small Business Index shows confidence has fallen to 0 per cent in the region for Q3, following a strong start to 2021, with both Q1 and Q2 confidence indexes at 50 per cent.
This fall in confidence is the first time a more negative sentiment has begun to creep back into the region, where close to a third of small businesses are now less confident about their prospects in the coming months (a sharp increase of 19% vs. Q2).
While most regions in the UK have seen a decline in confidence, particularly compared to the same time last year, positivity in the East Midlands has dropped below other UK counterparts, with London (38%) the most confident and the East of England most pessimistic (-1%). The UK average for Q3 is 16 per cent.
During the quarter, one in ten small firms (11%) had reduced their staffing numbers, and six per cent increased theirs. At the end of Q2, only four per cent had anticipated cutting staff levels.
However, wage growth in the East Midlands remains fairly stable as almost half of small firms in the region (48%) increased the average salary awarded across their business over the last 12 months, with 43 per cent increasing wages by two per cent or more. This represents only a slight fall from the amount of businesses increasing salaries in Q2, where 52% reported wage growth.
A drop in confidence also appears to be hampering growth intentions. The survey shows 38 per cent of small businesses in the East Midlands said that their growth aspirations in the next 12 months were to grow either rapidly (increase turnover/sales by over 20%) or moderately (up to 20%). This represents a significant fall from Q2 where 58% reported aspirations to grow their company.
The coming winter months and beyond look tough for businesses with many citing the domestic economy (59%), consumer demands (48%) and access to appropriately skilled staff (30%) as the greatest perceived barriers to growth over the next 12 months.
Nationally, Treasury’s plans to increase Class IV and Employer NICs as well as dividend taxation by 1.25 percentage points in the Spring will add inflationary pressures, causing firms to put the brakes on hiring and discourage investment, the research finds.
Clare Elsby, FSB’s East Midlands Policy Representative, said: “This quarter’s Small Business Index (SBI) is a stark reminder the road to recovery is a fragile one and that small businesses in the East Midlands are still facing significant challenges.
“A startling drop from steady confidence levels in Q1 and Q2, that were well above the national average, to levels far below it must be taken as a warning that regional investment and strong local leadership are of utmost importance.
“As an organisation we voiced our concerns that the removal of some of the support measures brought in to hold off the worst effects of the pandemic on businesses would be tough for many to navigate and potentially present a dangerous moment.
“Unfortunately, this seems to be the case and was made worse by rising Covid-19 cases, the pingdemic and consumer demand not bouncing back as quickly as predicted.
“Here at FSB we have made a commitment to work hard with our members and stakeholders to understand why our region, more than others, has faced such a dent in confidence. I would ask that all our valuable partners work with us to unravel the localised barriers that our small businesses face.”
East Midlands business activity growth quickens in October
The headline NatWest East Midlands Business Activity Index – a seasonally adjusted index that measures the month-on-month change in the combined output of the region’s manufacturing and service sectors – registered 52.6 in October, up slightly from 52.4 in September, to signal a modest expansion in business activity across the East Midlands private sector.
The upturn in output was attributed to greater new order inflows and stronger demand. The rate of growth was slower than the UK average, however, and was the third-softest of the 12 monitored UK areas (quicker than only the North East and Northern Ireland).
Private sector firms in the East Midlands signalled a quicker upturn in new business during October. The rate of growth accelerated to the fastest for three months and was sharper than the series trend. The pace of increase was, however, slower than the UK average. In fact, of the 11 monitored UK areas that registered growth, the East Midlands recorded the second-slowest upturn (quicker than only the North East).
October data signalled broadly upbeat expectations regarding the outlook for output over the coming year among East Midlands private sector firms. Optimism was often linked to hopes of a pick-up in client demand and an end to COVID-19 uncertainty. That said, the degree of confidence dropped to the lowest since January as firms noted concerns regarding supply chain issues and material shortages.
Private sector firms in the East Midlands signalled a strong expansion in workforce numbers at the start of the fourth quarter. Where an increase in staffing numbers was recorded, firms linked this to faster new order growth and greater business requirements. The rate of job creation was the fastest for four months but was among the slowest of the 12 monitored UK areas.
The level of outstanding business across the East Midlands private sector rose steeply in October, with the rate of expansion reaching a fresh series record. The pace of increase was quicker than that seen across the UK as a whole. Companies stated that backlogs of work were driven up by solid sales growth and severe supply chain disruption which exacerbated pressure on capacity further.
Companies in the East Midlands registered the fastest increase in cost burdens since data collection began in January 1997 at the start of the fourth quarter. The rise in input prices was commonly attributed to severe raw material shortages, higher transportation surcharges and increased wage bills. The rate of cost inflation was quicker than the UK average.
In line with the trend for input costs, East Midlands private sector firms indicated the steepest rise in output charges in the series history. The increase in output prices was also faster than that seen across the UK as a whole. Anecdotal evidence suggested the uptick in charges was due to the pass-through of higher costs to clients.
John Maude, NatWest Midlands & East Regional Board, said: “October data signalled a stronger upturn in business activity across the East Midlands private sector, as greater client demand spurred a faster rise in new orders.
“Pressure on capacity led firms to expand their workforce numbers at a sharper pace, however ongoing material shortages resulted in a continuous record rise in backlogs of work. Severe supplier delays and uncertainty regarding rising COVID-19 cases hampered business confidence, which dipped to the lowest since January.
“At the same time, supply chain disruptions and labour shortages pushed up cost burdens to the greatest extent in almost 25 years of data collection. Firms were able to partially pass-through higher costs to clients, as charges rose at the sharpest pace on record.”
Derby’s Light Science Technologies secures contract worth £13.8m
Derby-based Light Science Technologies, the controlled environment agriculture (CEA) technology and contract electronics manufacturing (CEM) group, has secured a contract with Zenith Nurseries with a total potential value of up to £13.84 million.
The project involves a consortium (Light Science Technologies Ltd, Zenith Nurseries and Morrish Engineering Limited) developing a cloche lighting and sensor technology system.
This product seeks to bring lighting and sensor technology to the controlled environment technology market for growers in polytunnel and glasshouse environments. The solution is intended to extend the use of the company’s nurturGROW Sensor to new market applications, such as agriculture fields.
The cloche lighting and sensor technology system is expected to be the first retrofittable, all-in-one lighting-sensing-automation rig providing year-round harvests for the grower across multiple plant varieties.
With an initial potential UK market of 4,000 industrial growers, producing over 300 types of field-scale and protected vegetable and salad crops, and tree and berry fruits, the solution will aim to improve productivity by increasing yields.
It will look to help growers by providing a possible solution to labour shortages and reduce the need for import substitution by extending the harvest window.
Meanwhile the UK Circuits and Electronics division has received new orders from Rentokil Initial plc totalling £580,900 which are expected to be delivered through the first half of FY 2022.
The forward order book for UK Circuits and Electronics Ltd currently stands at approximately £5 million.
Simon Deacon, CEO of Light Science Technologies Holdings plc, said: “The development of the LED grow lighting cloche/rig solution is an exciting progression in our product portfolio.
“We are delighted to be working with growers in the development of tailored supplementary hybrid lighting (LED and natural light) system providing targeted, actionable data insights of the nine cardinals of plant life and soil health, based upon the data collected.
“We already have good levels of visibility across both our divisions which provides a solid platform for growth. Importantly, we have a growing number of routes to increased commercialisation and believe that we are well placed to scale up rapidly.”
BHP investing in ‘partners of the future’ with 34 new trainees
Yorkshire and North Derbyshire’s leading accountancy firm, BHP, has welcomed 34 new starters this month.
A total of 20 graduates, 11 trainees and three placements have been appointed across offices in Sheffield, Leeds, York, Cleckheaton and Chesterfield.
This is the third year in a row where BHP has welcomed more than 30 grassroots trainees and the new starters will be joining all departments of the business including Tax, Corporate Finance, Audit and Financial Planning.
Lisa Leighton, Joint Managing Partner at BHP, said: “At BHP we have a real focus on training, mentoring, qualifications and career progression.
“The last 18 months have been challenging for young people in a number of ways, and we want to offer stand-out career opportunities in a happy, inspiring workplace.
“We’re very proud of our yearly intake of new starters – it’s an opportunity for us to support young people and our local economy but also inject fresh enthusiasm and ideas into our business.
“This signifies our long-term commitment to bringing through our own partners of the future and it is one of the most exciting parts of the year, we can’t wait to get to know everyone.”
The intake this year sees two graduates join BHP’s tax team. This follows the recent appointment of Carla Horsfall as a Director in the team.
Zoe Roberts, Tax Partner at BHP, said: “This year has been really busy for the tax team and we’re projecting more growth over the coming months. We’re very proud of the level of specialist expertise and depth of knowledge in the team, and we’re so excited to welcome two bright, enthusiastic new graduates who will be able to learn quickly and progress.”
Tax Trainee Rebecca Nundy added: “Joining BHP represents a completely new challenge for me in my career. Since joining a few weeks ago, everyone has been so welcoming, and I am excited for the new journey ahead. I believe BHP will be a great environment for my personal and professional development, allowing me to build on the accounting knowledge I have gained to date and also providing many new opportunities along the way.”
BHP has been ranked the second-best accountancy firm to work for in the UK, and the 35th best company to work for across Yorkshire and the Humber in the Best Companies survey 2021.
The independent accountancy firm is made up of over 400 professionals working across a wide range of specialities including audit and assurance, consulting, corporate finance and taxation.
East Midlands Chamber to help create jobs after securing £5m from Community Renewal Fund
More than 1,000 jobs in the region will be safeguarded, 200 new roles created by the middle of 2022 as part of an East Midlands Accelerator project to be delivered via the Community Renewal Fund (CRF).
The five-strand programme, which will also aim to establish 100 new businesses and support 160 companies to decarbonise, will be led by East Midlands Chamber across seven local authority areas in Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire after the region’s leading business representation group successfully bid for £5.36m of the Government’s new £220m fund.
The CRF is the forerunner to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which will eventually replace EU structural funds that help to deliver local business support and skills development programmes.
The East Midlands Accelerator, which will be delivered in conjunction with local authorities, universities and other business support services in the region, includes a Race to Zero-Carbon Accelerator, Digital Transformation Accelerator, Start-Up to Scale-Up Accelerator, Kickstart Accelerator and Financial Accelerator.
Diane Beresford, deputy chief executive of East Midlands Chamber, said: “We are delighted our bid has been successful and believe it could have a transformative impact for so many businesses and individuals in the East Midlands.
“The idea is to enhance and improve access to the existing support out there for businesses, particularly those most affected by the pandemic. The East Midlands Accelerator project will look at what the needs are locally and seek to address them with targeted, bespoke support that brings together key stakeholders across the region – with each strand connected by the golden thread of acceleration.
“Many businesses are aware of the need to decarbonise, and want to be greener, but unsure about how to get there. We’ll therefore be helping them to make the first big steps towards a sustainable future, enabling them to meet low-carbon targets – while also boosting key skillsets that will help firms grow in a digital world.
“We’re also excited about building on our success in the Kickstart Scheme, having been the UK’s largest and most successful gateway organisation in helping businesses to create more than 1,300 placements in our region.”
Rolls-Royce completes sale of civil nuclear I&C business
Rolls-Royce has completed the sale of its civil nuclear instrumentation & control (I&C) business to Framatome.
The completion of the transaction, which was first announced on 7 December 2020, follows recent clearance from the relevant regulatory authorities.
The proceeds received by Rolls-Royce contribute towards its target to generate at least £2bn from disposals, as announced last year, and will be used to help strengthen the Rolls-Royce balance sheet in support of the company’s medium term ambition to return to an investment grade credit profile.
The I&C business, which in 2020 reported revenues of £74m, includes all the Rolls-Royce activities and teams based in Grenoble (France), Prague (Czech Republic), Beijing and Shenzhen (China).
No UK-based employees are impacted as this agreement does not include Rolls-Royce’s UK civil nuclear business, or small modular reactor activities, which will continue contributing to the provision of low carbon power for the UK.
Winners unveiled in Midlands Director of the Year Awards
The Institute of Directors (IoD) has announced the winners of its Midlands Director of the Year Awards 2021.
The winners were unveiled at awards ceremonies at the National Space Centre, Leicester and The Grand Hotel, Birmingham.
The Chair’s Award for Excellence for the East Midlands went to Kerrin Wilson, Assistant Chief Constable of Lincolnshire Police.
Gary Headland, IoD East Midlands regional chair, said: “Congratulations go to all our winners who demonstrated excellence and outstanding success in their individual sectors.”
The winners are:
Young Director of the Year – Adam Kiani, PT Academy, West Midlands
Agility and Resilience Director of the Year – Marisa Firkins, Safety Forward, West Midlands
Start-Up Director of the Year – Matthew Bacon, TCC Casemix, East Midlands
Sustainability Director of the Year – Dale Parmenter, DRPG, West Midlands
Highly commended – Lee Marshall, Viridis Building Services, East Midlands
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Director of the Year – Sube Liburd, ABSTRACT, East Midlands
Public Sector Director of the Year – Kerrin Wilson, Lincolnshire Police, East Midlands
CSR Director of the Year – Dale Parmenter, DRPG, West Midlands and Bushra Ali, Bushra Ali Solicitors, East Midlands
Highly commended – Emma Hallam, Alex’s Wish, East Midlands
Family Director of the Year – Ashish Kumar, Web Alliance, East Midlands
Highly commended – Julie Jordan-Spence, Jordan Motors, East Midlands
SME Director of the Year – Alex Roberts, Forest Holidays, East Midlands
Non-Executive Director of the Year – Shameem Kazmi, Birmingham County Football Association (supported by Britvic plc), West Midlands
Highly commended – Philip Brooks-Stephenson, Backlit, East Midlands
Innovation Director of the Year – Matthew Bacon, TCC Casemix, East Midlands
Highly commended – Tom Marsden, Lincoln College Group, East Midlands
Third Sector Director of the Year – Andrew Thompson, Groundwork West Midlands
Leicester ERP company acquired by Norwegian firm
Arribatec Group ASA has acquired Integra Associates, to create the “world’s largest” provider of Unit 4 ERP services and solutions.
The Leicester-based ERP company, with its team of 45, will be part of the Arribatec Business Services vertical, bringing 25 years of expertise and experience directly to the heart of the Norwegian, multinational, stock exchange listed company.
CEO at Arribatec, Per Ronny Stav, says: “A strong company with a solid experience like Integra, strengthens the offer and the support services guaranteed by Arribatec. The merger will bring a unique value to our customers and a priceless internal richness for our staff.”
Mark Bloomer, CEO of Integra Associates, says: “Joining Arribatec takes Integra to the next level in terms of the expertise, services and products we can offer our customers. I am delighted and proud that we are joining of Arribatec, and look forward to what we can do for our customers together.”
Midlands M&A market has two different trajectories – Experian M&A Review
In 2021, so far, the Midlands M&A market has two different trajectories, according to Experian’s latest M&A Review, with overall activity receding after a flurry of deals recorded in the first quarter, even as the total value of deals continues to rise from the troughs experienced in Q2 and Q3 2020.
Taking the first nine months of the year as a whole, transaction volume was up by 27% to 745 transactions, while the total value of Midlands M&A reached £17bn – compared to only £3.4bn at this point in 2020 – with over 50% of this figure announced in the third quarter.
Drilling down, small and mid-market deals have both improved from last year by approximately 20%, large deals were up by around 67%, while the biggest impact on the overall value figures has come from the four deals with a value of £1bn and above announced during this year – there were no such deals recorded in 2020.
The Midlands was the UK’s third most active region for deal making in the first nine months of the year, with an involvement in 14.5% of all UK deals by volume and 6.7% by value.
There were four mega deals in the top ten in the Midlands for the first nine months of 2021, with three of the largest transactions featuring a US bidder seeking a Midlands based target company. In August Parker-Hannifin Corp announced a recommended cash acquisition of £6.3bn for the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of Coventry-based Meggitt, which designs and manufactures systems and components for the aerospace, defence and electronics markets.
Announced during Q2 was the £2.6bn acquisition by US engineering company Madison Industries of the Nortek Air Management division of Melrose Industries, an investor in manufacturing and engineering businesses and US private equity group Blackstone’s £1.2bn buy-out of St Modwen Properties. Overall during the first three quarters of the year there were 20 transactions with a US-based bidder, and five transactions involving a US target with a Midlands-based bidder
The most active industry in the Midlands M&A market remains manufacturing, with a total of 224 transactions, up from 150 during Q1-Q3 2020 – a 49% increase. Wholesale and retail was the second most active industry with a total of 183 deals, up by 46% on the 125 recorded last year. The most valuable sector in the region was also manufacturing with £11.8bn worth of transactions.
While the construction industry saw volume rise by 50%, the real estate sector was one of the few to decline by around a third year on year, with 26 transactions so far in 2021 compared to 39 at this point in 2020. It was a different story in terms of value, with the combined consideration of deals in the construction sector dropping by 82% from £556m to £100m, while real estate deals increased from £738m to £1.5bn.
While the volume of development capital transactions has dropped from 97 deals down to 75 during the first nine months of the year, the number of private-equity funded transactions actually increased slightly, from 98 up to 106. This is perhaps a result of the increase in the number of PE-backed management buy-outs recorded so far this year, with 49 MBOs in all, compared to 34 last year.
The most active capital provider in the Midlands was the Business Growth Fund with nine transactions. The volume of bank debt funded deals has also increased, with Maven Debt Finance a key player with 13 transactions, followed by Shawbrook Bank, which supported a total of nine deals.
The top-ranking advisor for the Midlands was Gateley with a total of 63 transactions, retaining the top spot they enjoyed in the last report. Harrison Clark Rickerbys was in second place, advising on 38 deals in the first nine months of the year, while Higgs are third with 32 assists.
In terms of value, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer was the highest-ranking advisor with £7.6bn worth of transactions, followed by Slaughter and May and Weil Gotshal & Manges. K3 Capital were top of the Midlands financial advisers with 46 transactions, followed by Grant Thornton with 38 and RSM assisting on 35 deals. The value table is headed by Citigroup on £8.9bn, followed by Morgan Stanley and Bank of America.
