Long established Derby Chartered surveying firms merge

Tess Egginton
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Long established Derby Chartered surveying firms merge
Two of Derby’s long established Chartered quantity surveyors, project managers and building surveyors have joined forces. Founded in the 1960s and 1970s, the merger of Armsons and Barlow & Associates under the banner of ‘Armsons Barlow’ will create a regional market leader for the property and construction industry. Operating throughout the UK, the Armsons Barlow project management and quantity surveying team aims to protect their client’s position in the costing, procurement and delivery of construction and refurbishment projects. This is supported by its building surveyors, providing pre-acquisition surveys and advice for purchasers, landlords and tenants, schedules of condition, dilapidation claims and investigation of defects. The company’s experience includes projects in the industrial, commercial, infrastructure, residential, healthcare, sports and leisure, retail, education and heritage sectors. Commenting on the merger, Stephen Fernie, director of Armsons, said: “Over the past five decades Armsons has established a reputation as one of the region’s leading firms of project managers, construction cost consultants and building surveyors. We share the same values as Barlow & Associates in our commitment to provide our public and private sector clients with a first-class personalised professional service. “Both businesses have been involved in significant regeneration projects and developments across the Midlands. Joining forces will enable us to build on the success and reputations of both firms and expand our presence across the Midlands and beyond.” Chris Mills, director of Barlow & Associates, added: “The merger brings together the considerable experience and expertise of two long-established firms. The combined experience and additional resources will enable the new company to continue to provide first class services in what is an increasingly demanding industry.” Armsons Barlow are located at 7 Vernon Street, Derby, with Armsons having relocated from their base at St Matthew’s House in Darley Abbey.

New primary school for a growing area of Derby

Eleonora Gallina
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New primary school for a growing area of Derby
An exciting project is under way to build a new primary school to serve the expanding population of Boulton Moor. Construction work on the new primary school, which will cater for more than 350 children, is set to start this Summer ready for a September 2023 opening. Derby City Council is now inviting proposals from Academy Trusts who can deliver high quality education and establish the primary school ready for opening. New housing developments at Fellow Lands Way, Chellaston and Snelsmoor Grange, Boulton Moor are creating a total of 990 new homes, leading to more demand for primary school places in the area. As a result of the new housing, a planning application for a new primary school has also been approved. The school will be located on a new site within the Snelsmoor Grange housing development and have 315 school places and 39 nursery places. The catchment area for the school will align with both the Snelsmoor Grange and Fellow Lands Way developments. The new school will build pupil numbers incrementally, increasing by one year group each year. So, when it opens in September 2023, it will admit children into the Reception year group only. In September 2024, it will admit children into Reception and Year 1, and so on, until all year groups are open. If additional places are needed in other year groups before this date, the Council will work closely with the school to open up additional capacity as required. Cllr Evonne Williams, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Skills at Derby City Council said: “The new primary school and nursery development are a welcome addition to our existing education resource in Derby. The incremental growth of the school will allow for a high-quality level of teaching for the children while allowing them to settle into school life. We look forward to seeing the school take its place at the heart of a new community.” More information about the primary school development can be found on the website, along with the specifications for potential Academy sponsors.

Return to profit for Rolls-Royce as CEO steps down

Tess Egginton
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Return to profit for Rolls-Royce as CEO steps down
Rolls-Royce’s Chief Executive, Warren East, has decided to step down at the end of 2022, after nine years on the Board and almost eight years as CEO. Anita Frew, chair, said: “Warren is an exceptional leader and has set a pioneering vision and strategic direction for Rolls-Royce to lead the transition to net zero across our markets. He has shown incredible tenacity, steering the Group through unprecedented times, and driven substantial cultural change throughout the organisation. “He has a real passion for the business which engenders pride in our people and confidence among our stakeholders. He has led Rolls-Royce to a point where we have substantially delivered on our recent commitments to investors and are now firmly set on the path to a more prosperous and sustainable future. “We are now running an open and transparent process to find his successor and ensure a smooth transition. I know that during this time, Warren will continue to lead Rolls-Royce with all the dedication he has shown throughout his tenure.” The news comes as Rolls-Royce hails an “improved financial performance driven by growth and cost reduction” in its 2021 full year results. The company posted a profit of £124m, up from a £3.1bn loss in the year prior. Meanwhile revenue declined slightly in 2021 to £11.2bn from £11.4bn in 2020. On the results, Warren East, Chief Executive, said: “We have improved our financial and operational performance, continued to deliver on our commitments and created a better balanced business capable of sustainable growth. We have achieved the benefits of our restructuring programme a year ahead of schedule, positioning Civil Aerospace to capitalise on increasing international travel. “In Defence, we have seen growth driven by strong demand in all our markets and in Power Systems we achieved record order intake in the last quarter. The positive momentum we are generating gives us confidence both in our expectations for 2022 and our future growth. “We have also made significant progress with our new businesses in electrical power and small modular reactors, both of which have the potential to create very significant long-term value. “We are continuing to make disciplined investments to develop new and existing technologies, which will enable us to seize the significant commercial opportunity presented by the global energy transition driving sustainable returns.”

Haven purchases first holiday park in six years with Skegness acquisition

Tess Egginton
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Haven purchases first holiday park in six years with Skegness acquisition
UK holiday operator, Haven, has acquired its first holiday park in six years following the growth in staycations, and its first since its acquisition by Blackstone last year. Haven has acquired Richmond Holiday Centre in Skegness from its previous family owners, who have provided thousands of families with holidays and holiday home ownership in the area for over 50 years. With Haven’s heritage firmly embedded in family ownership, the business is in a strong position to continue to deliver the holiday experience that guests and owners have enjoyed for decades. This, together with the support of Blackstone, was a key consideration for the previous owners when considering the sale. Situated on the Lincolnshire Coast, Richmond Holiday Centre has over 700 pitches offering accommodation for holidaymakers and holiday homeowners alike. The park has an extensive range of central facilities from pools to restaurants and entertainment venues and is located a short walk from the bustling resort of Skegness. With further investment planned, Haven will look to build on the work of the previous owners together with the learnings taken from improvements made across the Haven portfolio. “We believe the acquisition of Richmond Holiday Centre provides us with a fantastic platform to move into one of the UK’s prime seaside locations for the first time and clearly demonstrates our commitment to the domestic tourism industry,” said Simon Palethorpe, Managing Director of Haven. “We have a proud and rich heritage of embracing and nurturing family businesses over many years and believe we are perfectly placed to take Richmond Holiday Centre forward. With the support of Blackstone, we continue to look for opportunities to expand the business further and are always open to welcoming similar businesses to the growing Haven family in the future.” Mark Williams, representing the family owners, added: “It is always a massive decision to part with a family business such as this as it means so much to so many people – not just us as a family but also our fantastic staff and loyal customers – whether they are holiday home owners or visitors to The Richmond who return year after year. “What has been at the forefront of our minds has been to find the right ‘fit’ in the new owner, one who understands not just the industry, but our Park in particular. We believe we have found that in Haven and that they are ideally placed to take the business forward to the benefit of all involved.” Whilst Richmond Holiday Centre becomes part of the wider Haven business with immediate effect, it will continue to trade under its existing name and website for the 2022 season. The acquisition of Richmond Holiday Centre will take Haven’s number of holiday parks to 41 but with plans to further expand as Bourne Leisure continues to explore other potential holiday locations.

Property specialist to launch hub in Nottingham as part of national expansion

Tess Egginton
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Property specialist to launch hub in Nottingham as part of national expansion

Residential and commercial property specialist Centrick is launching a series of new city office hubs in a national expansion drive as it continues to secure major new building and estate management contracts across the country.

The business is investing more than £1 million this year as it recruits around 50 staff to deliver services from new regional offices in Sheffield and Gerrard’s Cross, as well as city hubs in Manchester, Portsmouth, and Nottingham.

More hubs at key locations are in the pipeline. Centrick’s building and estate management and build to rent teams will grow to more than 70 by the end of the year, handling a portfolio of over 350 developments comprising around 20,000 homes.

Centrick chairman James Ackrill said: “Our approach to expansion at Centrick has always been cautious and considered. The concept behind our national expansion program has been to try and stay true to our values of building quality local teams with local knowledge and connections that benefit the buildings that we manage.  “City hubs allow us to build a working environment closer to the buildings that we manage.   By doing this we can forge stronger working relationships both with our clients and our network of local contractors.” He added: “This blend of hub and spoke offices allows us to continue to invest within key areas of our core team, such as building safety and compliance, whilst providing a local service, on a national level. As the number of homes we look after continues to grow we expect this scalable model to expand further to meet the requirements of our clients. The teams located throughout England have the benefit of a comprehensive infrastructure of technology, knowledge and expertise all designed to fulfil the vision of Centrick, ‘helping to make our customers’ lives better’.

“The hubs will be in serviced office environments, spaces where we will create an environment that is better than working from home and better for the team. They will be a great place to be. Our teams can work and be part of a busy and energetic environment where they can meet as a team and meet clients. It is much better for collaboration and it will also help cement our relationships with local contractors.”

Group Managing Director Phil Johns said: “Both Centrick’s building and estate management and build to rent services have continued to experience strong growth over the last two years and, as part of the next phase of the company’s evolution, we will be building on our regional office network.  “To ensure high quality property management, we feel there has to be local level property managers that can build strong relationships with supply chains and contractors. This allows best value for money delivery and better knowledge of local eco-climates, which is always top of the agenda for our customers.”

Challenges remain but businesses confident about future, LLEP survey shows

Eleonora Gallina
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Challenges remain but businesses confident about future, LLEP survey shows
  An ongoing pulse survey monitoring the experience of businesses in Leicester and Leicestershire during the Pandemic has found that respondents are increasingly confident about the future.

Almost 9 in 10 businesses said they were feeling positive when surveyed by the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP) in the latest wave of its Business Tracker.

The responses from the third survey in the series, which was completed before Christmas, have now been compiled. The LLEP is continuing to monitor the views of business on key issues within the local, national and international economy as Covid restrictions further ease this week.

The LLEP has been tracking the experience of local businesses since December 2020, with the aim of using frontline responses to inform local policy and target support where it is needed most.

Kevin Harris, Chair of the LLEP Board, said latest survey results showed cautious optimism among businesses in Leicester and Leicestershire, but added that external uncertainty meant that recovery remained delicate.

“The message we took from the survey is that business is increasingly confident about the longer-term but faces a disrupted shorter-term which, for some, may mean continuing adaptation,” he said.

“Big themes in the external environment, such as the Pandemic and the ongoing effect of transition from the EU, continue to combine with threats in our employers’ microenvironments, including disrupted supply chains, recruitment gaps and the balance around hybrid working.

“We also need to remember the factors of inflation and cost of living, which have developed since the third survey was completed. All of these are challenges which will have to be managed over the next 12 months.

“That said, it’s encouraging to see businesses continuing to move towards sustainability, digital technology and inclusive working. 

“It’s also encouraging to see how optimistic our employers are about the future, despite the challenges of the last couple of years.”

More than 100 local small and medium-sized businesses, from all sectors and from across city and county, took part in the third wave of surveys attached to the Covid-19 Business Tracker.

Responses are used to monitor local business confidence, identify support needs, examine how SMEs are adapting to enforced change, and provide evidence for future funding bids.

The survey also feeds into the LLEP’s Economic Growth Strategy 2021-30, which plans a decade of regional development based on the four pillars of innovation, inclusion, productivity and sustainability.

GRP-owned PCH completes third acquisition with deal for Amba Care and Wellbeing

Tess Egginton
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GRP-owned PCH completes third acquisition with deal for Amba Care and Wellbeing
GRP-owned Premier Choice Healthcare (PCH), headquartered in Towcester, has continued to build its presence in the UK healthcare sector with the acquisition of the business and assets of Amba Care and Wellbeing (Amba C&W). Amba C&W is part of the Amba People Group, a technology business that provides clients with an eco-friendly, ethical employee benefits platform. PCH is acquiring the assets of the broking division, based in Bristol, which distributes Employee Benefits, including healthcare insurance, group life and group income protection to corporate clients. Stephen Hough, MD at PCH said the deal was the third for PCH since the business was acquired by GRP in June 2020: “Since day one GRP has encouraged our twin growth strategy of organic and inorganic business growth. “Our brief at PCH has been to mirror GRP’s acquisition strategy in UK retail commercial broking, at the same time delivering organic growth for our healthcare proposition through GRP’s retail broking portfolio. “We remain keen on making further acquisitions where broking businesses fit our deal criteria and are on the look-out for vendors seeking to crystallise value from their life’s work, or who want to be part of a fast growth, entrepreneurial business.” He added: “This is an excellent opportunity to buy the assets of a high-quality business.” Stephen said Amba C&W staff will continue to be based in Bristol and will transfer to PCH. Team leader Paul Dunsford will continue to manage the business and will become a divisional head within PCH, reporting to Darren Perkins, PCH sales director. Commenting on the acquisition, Tobin Murphy-Coles, CEO of Amba People Group, said: “PCH is the right home for our people at Amba C&W and I’m confident Stephen Hough and his team will be excellent custodians for the business. Amba C&W has a bright future under PCH and the wider GRP umbrella.” Tobin said the structure of the deal means that there is no break in service for Amba C&W clients. The team is the same. The location is the same. Clients will also now benefit from PCH’s scale. He added: “The deal allows Amba People Group to focus solely on the development and distribution of its Lumina platforms. With that in mind, I am also delighted that PCH has agreed to become a key distribution partner of Lumina.” The deal does not require regulatory approval, and the consideration is undisclosed.

University of Northampton to invest in social ventures

Tess Egginton
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University of Northampton to invest in social ventures
The University of Northampton has launched a new project called BIG22 aimed at supporting business and social enterprise ideas across Northamptonshire and beyond. BIG22 is an intensive support programme including workshops, one-to-one business mentoring and grant opportunities from a £50,000 pot, all designed to support entrepreneurship. Wray Irwin, Director of Enterprise and Employability, University of Northampton, said: “The University is committed to maximising its social and economic impact through its Changemaker Commitment to enabling businesses can start and grow. Regardless of the type of business, SME, social enterprise, large employer, or third-sector venture, UON has a range of services and support to ensure your business thrives. “Through BIG22 we will tap into the wealth of ideas of our staff, students and the wider community to tackle social problems and provide training and employment opportunities. If you have the spark of an idea, let us help you fan the flames and make the most of this opportunity.” Applications are being sought from anyone with an idea for a socially responsible enterprise or running an existing business that you would like to make more socially responsible. Wray Irwin added: “Staff from the University’s Changemaker Incubator as well as external experts will review all applications before determining the level of support needed to help develop the venture further. Applicants will be given the opportunity to attend intensive workshops to help refine their idea before having the chance to pitch for funding to turn their idea into a reality.” Those who are interested in taking part in BIG22can email BIG22@northampton.ac.uk for further information or an application form. Closing date for applications is Friday 1 April 2022.

CityFibre makes key appointment as work gets underway on Lincoln’s Full Fibre rollout

Tess Egginton
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CityFibre makes key appointment as work gets underway on Lincoln’s Full Fibre rollout

CityFibre, the independent full fibre platform, has announced its city manager for Lincoln as it starts work on a £21m project that will see almost every home and business benefit from access to a full fibre broadband network.

Lincoln has been chosen as one of the latest cities to benefit from CityFibre’s £4bn Gigabit City Investment Programme, which will bring next generation, gigabit-speed broadband to nearly every home and business in the city, and to up to 8 million premises nationwide.

Neal Wright has been appointed by CityFibre to spearhead delivery of the Lincoln project. As city manager, Neal will be responsible for ensuring a state-of-the-art full fibre network is rolled out with minimal disruption while delivering maximum benefit for the wider community.

Neal will be overseeing work on Saxilby Road, a main access route to the city centre which saw some initial work commence yesterday, with further works due to start on Greetwell Road on 28 February. The work in Saxilby Road is planned to take around two days, while the rollout in Greetwell Road is scheduled for completion on 11 March, with traffic management systems to help minimise disruption.

Works will then progress onto Monks Road, Cannon and Winn Street.

With over 20 years’ experience in the telecoms industry, Neal is passionate about technology, digital infrastructure, and the benefits of full fibre connectivity. He joined CityFibre in 2017 having previously worked in wholesale for 10 years, where he was responsible for signing on internet service providers as partners and selling private circuits and complex WAN solutions.

Neal is also currently responsible for overseeing CityFibre’s £21m full fibre rollout in Worcester, having previously led projects in Derby and Nottingham.

Building on his wealth of experience, his new role with CityFibre will position Neal as the lead point-of-contact for all of Lincoln’s stakeholders. He will also be a key advocate of the benefits that a full fibre network will bring to city’s residents and businesses.

He said: “A state-of-the-art digital infrastructure plays a crucial role in growing and protecting local economies and I’m delighted to be leading such works in Lincoln, which will transform the city’s digital capabilities for decades to come.

“While the benefits of full fibre broadband are undeniable, we completely understand that this project is a major undertaking for the community – particularly when we need to install the network in busy arteries such as Saxilby Road and Greetwell Road. We’d like to reassure Lincoln residents that we are doing everything we can to manage disruption as much as possible, and thank them for their support and patience.”

He continued: “As we roll out the new network, we will abide by all council processes and keep residents updated. Once construction is complete, households in Lincoln will be among the growing number of UK communities with access to full fibre broadband, unlocking a new world of digital opportunity.”

Construction of the full fibre network is being delivered by Trust Utility Management on behalf of CityFibre.

Plans approved for new energy efficient council homes in St Ann’s

Eleonora Gallina
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Plans approved for new energy efficient council homes in St Ann’s
Plans for new energy efficient council homes in St Ann’s have taken a step forward when they were approved at Nottingham City Council’s Executive Board (22 February). The proposals for 24 homes for affordable rent include ten 2-bed houses, five 3-bed houses and nine 1-bed apartments and will be built to higher energy efficiency standards. This will create warmer homes, using less energy, which is not only better for the environment, but will help support residents to keep their energy costs to a minimum. The homes will include triple glazed windows, increased solar power, battery energy storage, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery and wastewater heat recovery to all baths.The scheme will also contain parking, car charging points and bike storage to encourage less car use. The homes would be built on the site of a disused former care home, which was no longer fit for purpose and demolished in 2019 and would be owned by Nottingham City Council and managed on their behalf by Nottingham City Homes (NCH). The development is subject to planning approval and therefore the scheme design and detail is subject to change. Right To Buy replacement funding, the money councils receive when tenants can buy their council home at a discounted rate, will help meet up to 40% of the costs for developing the new housing. Cllr Linda Woodings, Portfolio Holder for Planning and Housing at Nottingham City Council, said: “Building council homes which are warmer and even more energy efficient is becoming increasingly important to help support residents to keep their energy costs to a minimum, as the cost of fuel continues to rise. “Sites like Oakdene in St Ann’s which are no longer fit for purpose are part of the Nottingham City Council plan to provide high quality, energy efficient homes for affordable rent across the city and will provide much needed council housing in the area for local people in need of a home.” Joanne Hill, Assistant Director of Development at Nottingham City Homes, said: “We are aware of the need for more affordable housing in the St Ann’s area, and we’re looking forward to creating new homes at this site, subject to the necessary approvals. “There will be some parking on site for residents, although part of the appeal of this location is its proximity to the city centre and major public transport links, which makes it ideal for those who want to lower their carbon footprint in this way.”
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