63,000 sq ft industrial unit sold in Northampton
Property developer, SevenCapital, has agreed the sale on a 63,484 sq ft industrial and logistics unit in Northampton to global real estate investment company, Kennedy Wilson.
Situated at Pineham Business Park and within the ‘Golden Triangle of Logistics’, the unit, Seven60, neighbours big ticket occupiers including BMW, Sainsbury’s, Levi’s, Carlsberg, Royal Mail, Morrisons and The White Company.
With a 50 metre (minimum) service yard and floor loading capacity of 50kN/sq m, along with contemporary offices, Seven60 is home to global manufacturer, HellermannTyton, who signed a 10-year competitive lease without break in December 2021.
The announcement marks the final major milestone for SevenCapital following the sale of its additional 41,786 sq ft Seven40 building to global manufacturer and distributor, Conglom in July 2018.
Simon Dicken, senior director at SevenCapital, said: “Primely positioned in an established and well-regarded logistics and employment location, Seven60 offers market leading accommodation and unrivalled connectivity for servicing Northampton and the wider Midlands, East and South-East areas.
“With a well-established occupier already in place on a substantial lease term, Seven60 posed an attractive proposition for a prospective purchaser. Following strong interest in this unit, we’re delighted to have agreed this sale.”
Ben Blackwall, director at Atlas Real Estate, says: “The sale of this prime logistics asset righty generated strong competition from a number of UK Institutions and overseas investors. The sale concludes a very successful exit from this development for SevenCapital, which was the company’s first logistics development.”
The buyer was represented by DTRE.
Metal recycler offers employability support to young adults with learning disabilities
Local metal recycler EMR Lincoln, based on Beevor Street, has partnered with Linkage, a charity supporting people with learning disabilities.
Based in Lincolnshire, the charity offers high quality specialist education, care, employment and support services to people with learning disabilities. Their aim is to help the young people they support reach their full potential and do this by offering a number of services. From adult and employability skills, to sensory outreach and a children and families service, they have programmes to help young people as they grow and develop.
Through a donation offered by EMR Lincoln, Linkage will offer employability support sessions to young people between the ages of 18 and 25 years old. This programme helps individuals with CV writing as well as offering interview support skills.
Craig Wood, business development manager at EMR Lincoln, said: “Young people with learning disabilities are often excluded from the workforce due to a lack of support along the recruitment process. This is where Linkage play a vital role, supporting young people in the transition into independent living.
“In accessing Linkage’s employability scheme young people will not only gain new skills but also enhance their personal confidence, something that is vital to them finding career success. We look forward to working with the team at Linkage and witnessing the positive impact this partnership will have.”
Andrea Beer, head of fundraising and communications, added: “We are delighted and very proud that EMR has chosen Linkage Community Trust and especially the Lincoln Campus to benefit from their Young Futures Reimagined programme.
“Linkage is always keen to work with local companies who can provide support and opportunities for our students to gain work experience and fulfil their potential. We look forward to working with EMR and are grateful for their support towards enabling us to achieve our goals.”
Cellomatics strengthens senior management team
Nottingham-based contract research organisation (CRO) Cellomatics Biosciences has appointed Anand Krishna as senior director to oversee customer engagement and strategy and support its continued growth plans.
Anand brings over 25 years of executive leadership and field sales management experience in companies ranging from VC-funded dotcom start-ups, to managing sales across portfolios in tier 1 technology systems and operations integrators. His career has seen him lead and work with teams across the US, UK, Europe, India, and the Far East.
He now focuses on working with entrepreneurs across a diverse set of aspirational businesses to provide strategic support.
At Cellomatics, Anand will be a key member of the senior management team, overseeing customer care and management, sales, operations, and marketing.
Commenting on his appointment at Cellomatics, Anand said: “I have admired and followed Cellomatics from its foundation and I am delighted to be joining such a fast-growing and dynamic CRO.
“I am looking forward to the opportunity to work and learn from an energetic team of research scientists who play an active role in supporting the discovery and developments of treatments for diseases such as cancer, COPD and Alzheimer’s.
“The company is on an exciting growth trajectory, and my priority is to bring best practices and processes to the company to support the continued rapid growth.”
Cellomatics’ CEO and founder, Dr Shailendra Singh, adds: “We are on an ambitious growth curve which is fuelled by an increasing demand for our expertise in preclinical cell-based assay development in the oncology, respiratory, immunology, inflammation, and immuno-oncology therapeutic areas.
“As we grow, it is important to develop our infrastructure and bring in the expertise to support our commercial objectives. Anand’s wealth of experience in working with entrepreneurs will be an invaluable asset to Cellomatics, and I am delighted to welcome him to the team.”
10-unit Lutterworth project sold
Tungsten Properties, the industrial and warehouse developers, has sold all 10 units at its development project at Bilton Way in Lutterworth, Leicestershire to a variety of private investors and owner occupiers for £5.73 million.
Tungsten Park is in an established warehouse location and close to M1 junction 20. The units range from 2,500 sq ft to 4,000 sq ft.
The units have all been sold to companies which include County Ceramic Tiles and Bathrooms, MED Engineering and Media Duplication.
In addition, Screwfix has taken a lease on a unit which has then sold to an investor, which has resulted in all unit sales now completed.
Jenny Clarke, associate development director, Tungsten Properties, said: “All units were under offer before they were practically completed which demonstrated the current high demand in the area for small trade and industrial units by both businesses needing expansion space and property investors looking for well-built units with strong covenants. It is great to have completed another project to create jobs and opportunity and return to our investors.”
Philips Sutton and Wells McFarlane acted on behalf of Tungsten Properties.
NAHL returns to pre-tax profit while revenue declines
2021 was a “year of strategic progress” for NAHL, the marketing and services business focused on the UK consumer legal market, according to its CEO.
Final results for the year ended 31 December 2021 show that profit before tax increased to £0.2m, recovering from a £0.2m loss in 2020.
Revenue however decreased by 4.7% to £38.9m, from £40.9m in 2020, which the Kettering-based business says reflects the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on accident numbers.
James Saralis, CEO of NAHL, said: “2021 was a year of strategic progress for the Group despite the continued difficulties presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. We progressed on our key objectives, increasing enquiries placed into NAL, reducing our reliance on joint-venture partnerships and growing our ongoing claims in NAL at year-end by 166%.
“In Critical Care, we increased revenues by 9% largely due to successful new business development initiatives, with Expert Witness volumes up 21% year on year. The Group achieved this while reducing net debt and remaining profitable.
“At year-end we had 7,918 ongoing claims in NAL, up from 2,975 claims at the end of 2020 which we expect to convert into £8.4m of future cash.
“With the last of the COVID-19 restrictions now having been lifted, we expect to see mobility levels across the UK improve and for this to result in a gradual increase in the number of accidents in our markets.
“Finally, I would like to thank our employees for their hard work, support and commitment. They faced many challenges during 2021, including having to adjust to the changing COVID-19 restrictions, and demonstrated their resilience and dedication to supporting our customers and each other.”
“Extremely challenging year” for Derby recruitment business
Derby-headquartered RTC Group, the AIM listed recruitment business, remains optimistic for the future after “an extremely challenging year” saw revenue and pre-tax profit decline.
According to audited results for the year ended 31 December 2021, group revenue sat at £77.7m, dipping from £81.4m in 2020.
Meanwhile the business posted a profit before tax of £114,000, down from £870,000 in 2020.
Commenting on the results, Andy Pendlebury, CEO, said: “RTC Group, like many other companies, had an extremely challenging year in 2021.
“The COVID pandemic continued to significantly impact client demand across many markets and where requirements for contract labour remained strong this was accompanied by higher operational costs to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our workforce; candidate reluctance to change employers/careers given these turbulent times and workers self-isolating increased both direct and indirect costs as programme and project continuity was heavily disrupted.
“In addition, the sudden and immediate demobilisation from Afghanistan due to the complete withdrawal in August of all American, United Kingdom and NATO troops curtailed a large contribution of revenue from our international business. Further, the implementation of changes to IR 35 in the private sector, which finally became legislation in April 2021, heavily impacted our white-collar contracting community.
“However, despite the untimely combination and cumulative effect of all these events, the majority of which were outside of the control of the Group, we still managed to trade, albeit marginally, in positive territory. Our balance sheet remains robust and free from long term debt or the effects of dilution, a fate which befell many shareholders of other traded recruitment businesses over the past couple of years, who raised equity at sub-optimal values in order to survive, and through the Board’s successful share option cancellation programme.
“Although for many reasons we are all naturally very disappointed with the way the year played out for us, and also mindful of the fact that there are still many geo-political events and micro-economic challenges threatening the domestic and international landscape, we believe our positioning across a broad range of markets, sectors and industries, give us every reason to be optimistic about our ability to deliver long term sustainable value to all our stakeholders.”
Derby’s Mortgage Advice Bureau swoops for Bolton business
Derby firm Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB) has agreed to acquire approximately 75% of Project Finland Topco Limited, or the “Fluent Money Group,” in a £73 million deal.
Bolton-headquartered Fluent is a technology enabled telephone advice mortgage broking platform with approximately 420 employees including 125 advisers across Mortgages (first charge mortgages), Secured Personal Loans (second charge mortgages), Later Life lending and Bridging Finance.
The acquisition will be funded from renewed and increased debt facilities, existing cash resources and the proceeds of a proposed placing of new ordinary shares in the company to raise £40 million.
Completion of the acquisition is not expected to occur before the second half of 2022.
Peter Brodnicki, founder and CEO of MAB, said: “We are very excited to partner with a like-minded management team and high growth intermediary that is a leader in centralised telephone mortgage advice.
“This acquisition is a perfect example of our strategy to invest in complementary businesses and platforms to help accelerate growth by broadening our proposition. MAB has targeted the fast-growing sector of national lead generation by using technology to link together its key Appointed Representatives and invested firms seamlessly.
“Combined, we expect that Fluent and MAB will be able to grow this new market share opportunity quickly and effectively, complementing the local/regional strategy delivered by the rest of MAB’s growing distribution.”
MAB has also entered into a shareholders’ agreement with founders/management who will be retaining 25% of the issued share capital of Fluent at completion. This also provides for a put and call option for MAB to acquire the remaining stake after 6 years at a valuation subject to performance criteria relating to future growth and profitability to align with MAB’s growth objectives. The total consideration for this put and call option and a put and call option over growth shares that will be issued in Fluent to the wider management team will be capped at £118m.
Lincolnshire door and loading bay firm snapped up
Based in Welbourn in Lincolnshire, Fen-Bay, the suppliers of industrial doors and loading bays, has become part of Hörmann, the European provider of gates, doors, frames and operators.
The move will see ongoing investment in the group which includes Lincolnshire-based Fen-Bay Services and Doncaster-based Transdek. Combined, the Fen-Bay group employs 150 people, including over 100 full-time engineers who support its 24/7, nationwide service support provision.
Commenting on the acquisition, Wolfgang Gorner, Managing Director of Hörmann UK, said: “We are delighted to welcome the Fen-Bay Group to the Hörmann family. We see this as a natural fit and a key part of our drive to increase our footprint in the Industrial and Service sectors.
“The Fen-Bay Group with its excellent brand, reputation and nationwide coverage will complement our existing operations, but will allow us to compete even more so in these areas.
“We are also excited to build on the success already achieved by Transdek throughout Europe and we are committed to ongoing investment in the Fen-Bay Group operations. We see great potential moving forward.”
The owners of Fen-Bay Group engaged Duncan & Toplis to explore the potential sale of the company. Director, Damon Brain who served as Fen-Bay’s dedicated adviser through the transaction said: “It has been an absolute pleasure to work with Fen-Bay and Hörmann on this sale.
“Fen-Bay is a renowned and respected company based in our region and we’re pleased to have played a role in helping to secure its future with a committed investor that can support its continued growth and success.”
Carl Sedlan, Managing Director of the Fen-Bay Group, said: “We already have extensive experience of Hörmann and its strong family values, which resonated strongly with our Management Team. Everyone is genuinely excited by the opportunities moving forward and becoming part of such a well-known and respected Group.”
Aspire CRM appoints alliances manager
Dan Orton has joined Aspire CRM, the Derby-based Salesforce Partner, and will be responsible for the delivery of projects for both the commercial and public sector.
Dan will be working with both the client teams and the technical delivery team at Aspire CRM and will be responsible for driving customer success across all projects.
Dan has had over 15 years’ experience in IT, managing teams in sales, project delivery and service delivery and will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience into the business.
Another part of the role as alliances manager will be to strengthen relationships with strategic partners to enhance solution offerings and commercial streams.
Dan said: “Having spent the vast majority of my career servicing enterprise IT clients in the maintenance space I felt like I needed new challenge with company that has the right culture fit and the desire to do right by the customer every time.
“From the initial conversations with the Managing Director, Richard Ashmole, plus people I knew who already worked in the business, it was clear to see we all shared the same values which isn’t something I’d experienced previously.
“I’ve also been lucky to have worked closely with Salesforce in the past and have been part of a team that designed and implemented various different process flows and automation in a previous business and really enjoyed how a system can really work for you and not just be a place to log sales opportunities. I’d often joke saying ‘We are in the wrong business’, not realising at the time this was likely to be my next career goal.”
Richard Ashmole, Managing Director, Aspire CRM, said: “As we continue to grow as a business it was clear that we needed someone full time to manage our overall project delivery and relationships.
“Having spoken with Dan and understood his values and his previous experience it was clear he was the right individual to help us continue our growth and customer success. It’s a key position for the business, one that requires excellent people skills, stakeholder management and a commercial acumen. Dan ticks all of these boxes and we can’t wait to get started together.”
Progress continues on new urgent care department at Chesterfield Royal Hospital
The ‘super structure’ of the £24m Urgent and Emergency Care Development (UECD) at Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has now been completed.
The UECD, due to open its doors in Spring/Summer 2023, has now reached the next stage in its build with the final concrete floor slab now in place thanks to the expertise of specialist tradespeople.
The final section will be the base for offices, changing facilities and staff rooms.
Berenice Groves, Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer, said: “This is a great landmark moment for the development. It means we have completed a pivotal stage, without issue or concern and the structural elements are now in place. As we move forward, we’re focusing more on how the building will function and truly benefit our patients, colleagues and visitors.”
Berenice added: “The move to complete our structure of the UECD is a hugely positive and welcome one. The concrete – like many of the elements of the building – was managed by professionals, who are specialists in their area and we are very pleased with the process to date.”
The Trust recently went out to patients, colleagues and the public to ask about the colours and artwork for the new development – the results of this will be confirmed in the coming weeks.
