New affordable rental homes to be built in Mansfield
Work will start later this year on a new homes development consisting of 44 houses for affordable rent in Mansfield, after planning officials at Mansfield District Council gave the scheme the green light.
The scheme will be developed by York-based Urban Group (York) Ltd for social housing provider, PA Housing, and the detailed plans for the homes, including the floorplans and elevations, have been designed by Leeds-based Brewster Bye Architects.
The vacant site sits within the urban boundary of the Mansfield District Council District Local Plan and is accessed from Sherwood Avenue, close to Sherwood Oaks Business Park, which is less than three miles southeast of Mansfield Town Centre.
The scheme forms part of The Berry Hill development, which will include up to 1,700 new homes. It will also neighbour a 169-home development off Old Newark Road and Bellamy Road, which secured planning permission last year.
Nick Gould, Managing Director of Urban Developments (York) Ltd, said: “This development will offer a superb range of high quality, two, three and four bedroom homes with gardens and parking.
“It’s in a popular area, that is currently benefitting from a wide range of residential and commercial development, as part of The Berry Hill development, and it’s exciting to be contributing to this major regeneration scheme, alongside national housebuilders and PLCs close to the recently opened Aldi supermarket as well as a new pub, coffee shop and food outlets. It’s also within walking distance of several schools and benefits from good transport links, which will make it a popular place to live.”
Mark Henderson, from Brewster Bye Architects, said: “These homes will appeal to a wide range of residents and families who want a contemporary new home, for an affordable price, in a sought-after area.
“Every house has been carefully designed to offer spacious, light and well-proportioned living spaces and the whole development has the potential to become a vibrant and sustainable community with an attractive street scene and distinctive character.
“This is enhanced by retaining existing landscape features around the edge of the site, as well as a central hedgerow, which runs right through the middle of the development. All this combines to offer privacy and further improves the attractive street scene that the development will enjoy.”
Midlands contractor wins national award
Midlands-based contractor G F Tomlinson is celebrating after its recent project for Nottingham Trent University was crowned a winner at the national LABC Building Excellence Awards last week.
The contractor, which has offices in Derby, Newark and Birmingham, saw its Medical Technology Innovation Facility (MTIF) for client Nottingham Trent University named nationally as Best New-Build in the non-residential category.
The construction of the £5.5million Medical Technology Innovation Facility was completed in winter 2020, with G F Tomlinson working alongside Maber Architects on the scheme. The project was supported by the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership with funding received by the University through its Local Growth Fund allocation.
The facility focuses on the research and development of innovative products and advanced materials to meet future healthcare needs – the key aim is to improve patient care by speeding up medical product development and ensuring innovations reach the market as quickly as possible, which is critical for patients, business, the NHS and regional economic growth.
The scheme was crowned a winner at the awards ceremony which was held at Park Plaza Westminster Bridge in London, with more than the 700 guests in attendance at the prestigious event.
This national award win comes after G F Tomlinson celebrated success at LABC’s regional Building Excellence Awards last year, winning three accolades which were subsequently named as finalists in the national awards.
As well as the success of the Medical Technologies Innovation Facility, the regional awards saw G F Tomlinson’s flagship project for Nottingham Castle win Best Non-Residential Conversion, with its Tower Garden Pavilion scheme in Skegness winning Best Public or Community Building – a project which was successfully delivered via the company’s ongoing involvement on the Scape Regional Construction framework.
Chris Flint, Managing Director at G F Tomlinson, said: “We are extremely pleased to have won this national accolade at the LABC awards – it is wonderful to be recognised amongst such strong competition that highlights all of the fantastic work that has been happening in the industry over the last year.
“The Medical Technologies Innovation Facility at Nottingham Trent University is an impressive building for many reasons – both in the way it has been designed and constructed, and in its purpose in progressing the development, clinical production and commercialisation of new medical technologies.
“There were several technical aspects we had to get absolutely right in order to provide the best possible working environment – including ensuring that the facility has the correct pressure, ventilation and seals needed, as well as the placement and optimum performance of highly-specialised laboratory equipment.
“It is exciting to see our other two regional-winning projects recognised as national finalists, too – Nottingham Castle is our flagship project to date and we were pleased to work with so many different local and regional specialists and teams to complete the work on time. It is also rewarding to see a smaller value project like the Tower Gardens Pavilion in Skegness pick up so many regional awards over the last 18 months and go on to national recognition. Working jointly with our partner, Scape, this project has a strong community story to tell.”
Leicester pensions expert appointed interim chair of national industry body AMPS
The Association of Member-Directed Pension Schemes (AMPS), the industry body representing SIPP operators and SSAS practitioners, has announced that Martin Tilley, director and head of technical at Westbridge SSAS has been appointed interim chair until the next AGM scheduled to be held in October this year.
Martin takes over from Claire Trott who took up the appointment in 2018.
Martin is an industry veteran having spent over 30 years at SIPP and SSAS practitioner Dentons Pension Management, before taking senior roles at Hurley Partners and latterly Westbridge SSAS which operates nationally and has its HQ located in Meridian Business Park, Leicester.
Martin Tilley, who joined the committee in October of 2021, said: “I am sure I speak for the whole committee in thanking Claire for the hard work she has put in while chair of AMPS. I would also like to thank her for the support she has provided to the whole committee and to the membership in general. I have known Claire for many years and know that she would not have taken the decision to step down lightly and we all wish her well for the future.
“I look forward to serving the committee and membership to the best of my ability and to seeing membership representatives at our annual conference to be held on 25th May at 1 Wimpole Street in London. This will be the first live event that AMPS has been able to host since October 2019. It looks set to be a packed event and will be a great opportunity to network and hear from high quality speakers.”
Mr Tilley will be supported by the committee which consists of:
- Geoff Buck, Vanguard Asset Management
- Sarah Hawkins, Punter Southall SIPP
- Ian Linden, James Hay Partnership
- Andrew Phipps, Embark Group
- Debbie Seaton
- Zoe Smith, Barnett Waddingham
- Tasneem Ul-Haq, Aviva
- Joy West, Hartsfield Trustee Services
Business rescue and recovery strategist joins law firm
Sills & Betteridge LLP’s corporate offer has been boosted this month with the appointment of consultant solicitor Robin Johnston.
Robin supports insolvency practitioners, creditors (including lenders, suppliers and shareholders) and turnaround investors, typically advising on businesses in distress, refinancing, turnaround and rescue strategies and accelerated M&A. He is experienced in dealing with all aspects of insolvency processes including administrations, liquidations, receiverships and voluntary arrangements.
He is a member of R3 the Association of Recovery Professionals and the Turnaround Management Association.
Robin will work alongside James Conduit’s corporate team in Lincolnshire, the wider East Midlands and South Yorkshire.
Dunelm hails record performance
Dunelm, the Leicestershire-based homewares retailer, has reported strong sales growth and record pre-tax profits in its interim results for the 26 weeks to 25 December 2021.
In its first half, total sales grew by 10.6% (36% on a two year basis) to £795.6m, up from £719.4m in the same period of the year prior. Dunelm noted that digital sales made up 33% of total sales in the half and performance in stores was also “very encouraging.”
Meanwhile the company delivered record profit before tax of £140.8m, up 25.3% from £112.4m.
Nick Wilkinson, Chief Executive Officer, said: “I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all my colleagues and our committed supplier partners for their adaptability and achievements and for living our Dunelm shared values every day.
“Together we have navigated another period filled with significant and evolving external challenges and delivered a very strong performance in the first half, with continued growth in customer numbers, further market share gains, record sales and particularly strong profitability.
“When we announced our interim results in 2020, we were weeks away from the world being turned upside down. Two years later, we are moving forwards as a bigger, better business, with more capability, more resilience, more ambition, and delivering accelerated growth.
“We have not only worked hard and innovated to enhance our customers’ experience across all channels and categories, but have also continued to develop our customer proposition and capabilities at pace to support our future growth.
“Our product range is now broader and better than ever, with an increasing focus on sustainability, as demonstrated in our new collection which has been curated in collaboration with the Natural History Museum.
“We look to the future excited, energised and eager to continue being our customers’ 1st choice for home.”
Updated report sets out strategy for local skills development
The Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership has refreshed its Local Skills Report.
The new report sets out the actions needed to make sure everyone has the skills which will allow them to get good jobs, both now and in the future – and it also addresses how it will contribute to other issues, from climate change to levelling up.
Since 2018 Skills Advisory Panels have been bringing together employers, skills providers and key local stakeholders to better understand and resolve skills mismatches at a local level.
The Greater Lincolnshire LEP leads the area’s Skills Advisory Panel (SAP) and is fostering greater collaboration and engagement with key local stakeholders to support its leadership role in the local economy.
The Lincolnshire Local Skills Report is a framework for skills ambitions and offers a wealth of insights and ideas by organisations that have an interest in skills development in the area.
The report published in March 2021 has been updated to reflect ongoing challenges in the labour market as a result of Covid-19.
Since that first report Greater Lincolnshire has been successful in securing additional funding for a new Career Hub, allowing expansion of its support to secondary school; resources to address skills mismatches such as digital skills bootcamps at Grantham College and short courses delivered through the Greater Lincolnshire Institute of Technology led by the University of Lincoln; and the Skills Capital Programme which is continuing to enhance training facilities to meet our industry sectors’ needs.
The refreshed report provides stakeholders, including Government departments, schools and post-16 skills providers, with a DfE-approved common evidence base and a strategic framework for actions that will contribute to recovery from Covid-19 and economic growth.
Local Skills Reports will provide a clear and consistent view of local skills needs across areas in a relevant and engaging format for local partners.
Reports will be a key source of local skills information that better enable cross-area comparison and help feed local intelligence to central government and the national-level Skills and Productivity Board (SPB).
Local Skills Reports will help to maximise the influence of SAPs locally by:
- Acting as an engagement tool – a vehicle through which SAPs can directly engage, influence and rally employers and providers in their areas to support the local skills agenda.
- Being a ‘go-to’ document for everything local-skills related – bringing together existing and new skills information into a consistent format common to all SAPs.
- Clearly setting out key skills needs – ensuring local skills needs are visible to local partners who can then engage with them.
- Offering valuable insight and evaluation – detailing the progress made on current local skills initiatives and outlining future skills plans to plug key skills gaps.
- Which areas of the economy face the most significant skills mismatches or present growing areas of skills need?
- Can the board identify the changing skills needs of several priority areas within the economy over the next five to 10 years?
- How can skills and the skills system promote productivity growth in areas of the country that are poorer performing economically?
Phase 2 begins at residential Sudbrooke development
Construction works have now commenced on the second phase of The Parklands, a new residential community in Sudbrooke, Lincoln, bringing new homes to the market in 2022.
Works started on the 155-home development in 2018 and developer Jackson Living – part of Jackson & Jackson Developments – has now moved into the second phase.
Sitting north of phase one, phase two will see the delivery of 41 homes, including 11 five-bedroom properties – including a landmark home with a thatched roof – and 12 affordable homes, all overlooking Sudbrooke woodland.
The exclusive 46.7-acre development is made up of 24 individual house designs and will feature two, three, four and five-bedroom homes in a unique woodland setting. The final phase, phase three, will commence next year in 2023.
Due for overall completion in 2024, The Parklands has taken its design inspiration from the surrounding, historic woodland and traditional village setting and will feature communal outdoor spaces, woodland footpaths, a restaurant, kitchen garden and community allotments.
Landscape and green space play a key part in The Parklands. As part of phase one, newly created footpaths were added around the existing ponds, native tree, shrubs, hedgerows and wildflowers were planted. Further work will include community allotments and a kitchen garden including heritage fruit trees, flower beds and space for sheds and glasshouses.
Jackson Living worked with Newark-based firm Influence Landscape Planning and Design across all phases at The Parklands with the company designing the on plot gardens and public spaces. As part of phase 2, Influence Landscape Planning and Design produced the landscape plans which include open grass and wildflower areas, native tree planting and mixed shrub planting.
Lindsey Arkley, senior landscape architect at Influence Landscape Planning and Design, said: “The existing site features of The Parklands, such as the ponds and trees, significantly led the landscape design process as they naturally informed the layout. We then created a landscape masterplan that reflected and respected the historic setting and promoted and enhanced the biodiversity and ecological value.
“Our landscape designs include significant outside areas to encourage natural play and nature and alongside the developer, have chosen to plant species that are appropriate to the local area and are of benefit to local wildlife. We have also worked around existing parkland trees which are a beautiful asset within the development, and new trees are being planted and where relevant, reinstated. We are very pleased to be involved on such a special site.”
Jackson Living project manager, Ben Martin, said: “As new home owners buy the final few plots of phase one, we are now moving onto phase two to continue to create this thriving, new neighbourhood.
“Our homes are carefully considered in terms of materials and design, but we also place great importance on the green areas at The Parklands. A great deal of time has been channelled into the landscape side to ensure we maximise the opportunity to enhance the many beautiful and historic existing features and create new ones. We have been working with the team at Influence since 2016 and their expertise in creating and nurturing habitats is hugely important to the site.
“All of the progress at The Parklands to date is a true testament to the overall position of what The Parklands offers, from the quality of the buildings to the natural landscape and woodlands. As part of phase two we are delighted to be able to release more plots and look forward to welcoming more residents to our exciting community.”
Ideagen strikes first deal of 2022 as acquisition and growth drive continues
Nottinghamshire-based software firm, Ideagen Plc, has revealed its first acquisition of 2022, with the purchase of MailManager Limited.
The acquisition is an indicator of Ideagen’s ongoing and rapid growth strategy and was completed for an upfront cash consideration of £26.4 million.
MailManager, a London-headquartered email management provider, helps businesses manage emails more efficiently and significantly improve control, collaboration and compliance, which is complementary to Ideagen’s existing regulated collaboration suite.
Its software is designed to integrate into clients’ existing IT infrastructure to help file and search critical correspondence to improve productivity, ensure information visibility and accessibility, and to mitigate risk.
The purchase expands Ideagen’s footprint in the UK and comes less than two months after the company announced it had raised £103.5 million to fund its acquisition pipeline and accelerate further growth.
MailManager’s clients span a broad range of mid-market to enterprise accounts, and has a particularly strong footprint in the architecture, engineering and construction sector, where Ideagen sees compelling cross-sell opportunities.
Ben Dorks, CEO of Ideagen, said: “What a great way to start the new year by giving a very warm welcome to everyone at MailManager. It has a resilient business model, a quality customer base, a strong team and outstanding technology.
“MailManager joins our growing suite of leading collaboration software, enhances our ARR base and has a strong presence in key end markets where we expect to be able to drive group-wide growth.
“Our mission is to help customers effectively navigate highly regulated environments through great software and we look forward to making further complementary acquisitions from our pipeline in due course.”
MailManager has annualised recurring revenues of approximately £5.1 million as of 31st January 2022. Ideagen expects that MailManager will benefit from the Group’s operational leverage and achieve EBITDA margins comparable to the Group’s margins within the first full financial year of ownership.
The acquisition will be funded from the Group’s existing resources and is the first acquisition following the Group’s equity fundraise in December 2021. The group continues to pursue a healthy pipeline of further opportunities in line with its M&A strategy.
Notts County Foundation appoints new trustee to board
Local charity Notts County Foundation has appointed Raj Randhawa to its board of trustees.
Quoting a passion for harnessing the power of football to drive positive social change, Raj started his career as an education officer at Newcastle United Football Club’s academy, after which he took on the head of community role at the Lincoln City Foundation in October 2017.
Raj currently holds the position of northern grassroots officer at Kick It Out – English football’s equality and inclusion organisation, where he works alongside the Football Association (FA) to identify and support the needs of local clubs.
Raj said: “I am delighted to have joined Notts County Foundation’s board of trustees at what is a really exciting period of growth for the charity. Football is a vehicle for change and can be used to positively impact the lives of people from all walks of life.
“My belief is that Community Club Organisations (CCO’s) play an invaluable part in transforming local communities, and I look forward to supporting the direction and development of Notts County Foundation’s programmes across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.”
In addition to his role at Kick It Out, Raj offers consultative services with a focus on education, diversity, and inclusion and anti-discrimination governance to grassroots football clubs and organisations.
Sam Crawford, head of business development at Notts County Foundation, said: “Everyone at Notts County Foundation is thrilled to welcome Raj to the board of trustees. It goes without saying but Raj’s experience and expertise will be fundamental to the development of the charity throughout 2022, especially in relation to our commitment to providing equal opportunities for everyone in our local community. I am very much looking forward to working alongside Raj and formally welcoming his to Notts County Foundation.”
Raj added: “I am so proud of the work that Notts County Foundation do for all throughout the city and county across its five ‘SHINE’ areas – sport participation, health and wellbeing, inclusion, national citizen service, and education. Having dedicated a large portion of my career to working for community-focussed organisations and charities, I appreciate and understand how valuable charities like Notts County Foundation are.”
Derby-based construction company offers employment opportunities to local students
Derby-based contractor, G F Tomlinson, has highlighted the success of its annual apprenticeship programme and role as a Cornerstone Employer as it supported 25 apprentices last year alone.
The contractor, which has headquarters in Little Eaton, Derby, operates across the East and West Midlands delivering high-value construction projects in various sectors including healthcare, education, commercial, industrial, restoration, leisure and residential.
Its annual apprenticeship programme enables G F Tomlinson to employ young people and mentor them through hands-on work in the business whilst also supporting them to achieve their professional qualifications.
One of those young persons is Ed Smith, who was employed by G F Tomlinson aged 16 whilst undertaking a level 3 course. Now aged 22 Ed has completed his HNC course (Higher National Certificate) and his HND (Higher National Diploma) in Construction in the Built Environment at Derby College, whilst working on site four days a week.
Following the completion of his studies with the college, Ed has become the first Derby College apprentice to achieve the new level 4 construction site supervisor higher apprenticeship standard.
During his time with G F Tomlinson to date, Ed has progressed to the role of assistant site manager, helping to successfully deliver high-profile schemes, including the Advanced Manufacturing Building and Biodiscovery Institute for the University of Nottingham and most recently the major extension to Barr’s Hill School in Coventry.
On his role and experience, Ed says: “I spent time getting to know all the departments, including design, estimating and quantity surveying and have since decided to progress my career within a site management role.
“One of the best things about working as an assistant site manager at G F Tomlinson is the chance to work in lots of different places, meet many different people and work on some very interesting projects.
“I’ll be studying for my degree for the next three years at Nottingham Trent University, and once I’ve got my degree I’d like to work as a project manager, eventually managing £20million plus projects.”
Another apprentice, employed by G F Tomlinson in 2019 is Tiarna Powell, who completed her HNC course at the Roundhouse with a distinction, and is now studying for her HND with the Derby College Group.
Tiarna is working four days a week, gaining hands-on experience within the quantity surveying team having worked on projects including the Blythe Valley M2 residential mixed-use scheme in Solihull and a large industrial scheme on the new Wakefield Hub for developers HBD and Yorkcourt.
She will also be starting her degree in quantity surveying at Nottingham Trent University this year.
Tiarna says: “Through my work at G F Tomlinson I have been able to start my career in quantity surveying and study at the same time to gain my professional qualifications.
“I’m grateful that I have the opportunity to meet and work with so many different people at G F Tomlinson, and have the chance to work on a range of projects including Derbyshire Care Homes and Tunstall Town Hall – both exciting restoration projects which are bringing the buildings back to their former glory, whilst providing a modern upgrade to the interiors.
“I’m looking forward to starting my degree at Nottingham Trent University this year and continuing to progress in my career at G F Tomlinson.”
Working with the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership as well as local businesses and education providers, G F Tomlinson’s status as a founding member of the Cornerstone Employers group sees the contractor provide opportunities for younger people to gain knowledge and experience that can help them on their path towards a career in the construction industry.
Recently, G F Tomlinson’s construction director Kevin Dodds spoke at the launch event of the Derbyshire South Career Hub – a new scheme that aims to facilitate opportunities for young students to interact with local universities and other training, education and professional organisations – as well as strengthen links between education providers and local businesses to ensure students are prepared for their step into professional careers.
Kevin Dodds says: “It is wonderful to see apprentices such as Ed and Tiarna accomplish such a strong start to their careers in the industry, and we’re proud to be able to provide that opportunity for them.
“At G F Tomlinson, we are committed to delivering social value in the areas and communities in which we work, having supported 25 apprentices in the past year – providing investment and involvement into education is a huge part of that to inspire and support the next generation.
“Through our work we are able to engage with hundreds of school pupils, college and university students via a number of means including offering construction site tours of our projects, attending careers events and welcoming apprentices and work experience placements to join our team.
“Congratulations to Ed and Tiarna for all their hard work and achieving great results in their courses so far, and we wish them the best of luck towards their successful careers in the construction industry with G F Tomlinson.”
