Metal recycling and waste management specialist wins Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade

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Metal recycling and waste management specialist wins Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade
The Midlands’ largest independent metal recycling and waste management specialist has been honoured with a Queen’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade. Donald Ward Ltd, trading as Ward, is one of 225 organisations nationally to be recognised with a prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise. Announced today (Thursday 21 April), Ward has been recognised for its excellence in International Trade. Headquartered in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, Donald Ward Limited was incorporated in December 1976, although the business commenced trading circa 1940 at Woodville in Derbyshire. A fourth generation, independently owned family business, Ward now employs close to 400 people across its sites nationwide. The company collects and processes around a million tonnes of materials annually; recycling products such as metals, plastics, glass, cardboard, wood, textiles, soils, and hardcore to ensure its customers fulfil environmental regulations and commitments. It aims to divert 100% of the waste it processes from landfill and uses sophisticated metal sorting equipment to extract every last scrap of metal from end-of-life vehicles, as well as other waste electronic and electrical items. Thomas Ward, commercial director at Ward, said: “Winning the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade is a huge honour for the Ward team. Our core business, which represents around 80% of turnover, is the buying, selling, processing and recycling of ferrous and non-ferrous metals from a variety of sources, including end-of-life vehicles and arisings demolition projects. “Over the three years to March 2019, thanks to significant investment in deep sea dock facilities and ongoing hard work of our dedicated teams, our overseas sales grew by 84%, a growth rate of 36% per annum. We were able to expand our export capabilities to service larger customers in Turkey, Egypt, India and Pakistan.” The company wins the Queen’s Award for International Trade for Outstanding Short Term Growth in overseas sales over the last three years. Thomas continues: “We are planning sustainable growth with significant future investment into our people, processes, equipment and infrastructure. We are excited about the potential opportunities that winning the Queen’s Award could bring to help us achieve our long term ambitions.” Now in its 56th year, the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise are the most prestigious business awards in the country, with winning businesses able to use the esteemed Queen’s Awards Emblem for the next five years. Applications for Queen’s Awards for Enterprise 2023 open on the 1st May 2022.

When does creative accounting become fraud?

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When does creative accounting become fraud?
Creative accounting refers to accounting rules being bent, or questionable accounting judgements being applied in the preparation of financial statements. The term is used as an innuendo for poor accounting behaviour in organisations of all sizes. Shareholders, managers and wider civil society as a whole are all users of financial statements – they use them to be informed about the activity of an organisation. The tax authority would like to see a company’s profit before tax, a labour union would be interested in the total wage cost of the firm compared to the prior year, and potential investors would like to track growth in revenues. When creative accounting is applied, this can distort the picture shown to users of the accounts and can be considered financial statement fraud. False accounting is actually a criminal offence, as defined in the Theft Act 1968. Why do people account creatively? Accountants rarely employ creative accounting for the thrill or enjoyment of exercising power and control over the financial reporting of an institution. It is usually driven by pressure exerted on the accountants by senior management who wish to hit a specific financial target (or to not exceed a previous target by too much margin). This pressure can be explicit or exerted indirectly on the accounting team, resulting in the accountants looking for any levers within their grasp that they could use to impact a reported result. This might include reassessing the valuation of large, judgemental provisions, or failing to accrue for a cost that has yet to be presented to the organisation as an invoice, but which has certainly been incurred.  When does creative accounting become fraudulent? Creative accounting becomes fraudulent the moment it has a material impact on the financial statements. Given that creative accounting is used purposefully to impact the result, in practice, creative accounting is virtually always fraudulent. If it had no material effect then why would an accountant bother to employ it in the first place?  What should you do if you see creative accounting? The correct thing to do in these cases is to report the fraudulent accounting to your line manager or in some cases the Board of Directors or an independent whistleblowing hotline. You should be afforded some protection as a whistleblower within an organisation but this has not been the case in reality. Some companies behave in a hostile manner towards whistleblowers. As Withers Worldwide’s Meriel Schindler and Amarjit Kaur stated in a recent article, the “US Securities Exchange Commission offers whistleblowers money for reporting information that leads to a prosecution. More than $700 million has been paid to more than 100 individuals since the programme began in 2012.” The concept behind the US initiative was to provide an attractive financial incentive to report fraudulent financial reporting, to encourage employees to not worry about retaliation from their employer. The money would provide financial security to the individual if they felt they had no choice but to change jobs to improve their working environment after the news broke. Ultimately the act of reporting creative accounting is a matter of ethics, and all chartered accountants in the UK have subscribed to the ethics statement of their professional body stating that they will act professionally and ethically at all times.

806,000 sq ft of speculative logistics space let in Northampton to iForce and Hotel Chocolat

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806,000 sq ft of speculative logistics space let in Northampton to iForce and Hotel Chocolat
Panattoni, the logistics real estate developer, has fully let its 1.7 million sq ft logistics park in Northampton after signing lease agreements for the last two units with iForce and Hotel Chocolat. iForce, the UK’s fastest growing e-fulfilment, carriage management and returns recovery provider, has signed a 10-year lease for a 376,915 sq ft facility at Panattoni Park Northampton and Hotel Chocolat, the premium British chocolatier and cacao grower, has signed a 10-year lease for a 429,107 sq ft facility. These two lettings follow that to 4PX Express, the global logistics company, which signed a 15-year lease for a 250,000 sq ft facility in November last year, and the success of the first phase of 625,000 sq ft, which was pre-let to Eddie Stobart Logistics, owned by Culina Group. All three buildings in the second phase were speculatively developed to a BREEAM rating of ‘Excellent’ and an EPC ‘A’ rating. Oliver Bertram, development director at Panattoni, said: “Letting over 1 million sq ft to three different companies in just five months reflects the importance of Northampton as a logistics location and the attraction of the park to occupiers. “We are experiencing high occupier demand for immediately available logistics space, which justifies our commitment to a major speculative development programme in the UK.” Paul Thirkell, Managing Director of iForce, said: “iForce is absolutely delighted to have secured a new facility at Panattoni Park Northampton, which will help to facilitate the significant growth the business is experiencing. “The location is of strategic importance within our network and located next to three other Culina Group warehouses, creating significant synergies across the group companies.” Letting agents for Panattoni were Savills and Burbage Realty. iForce was advised by Roebuck and Hotel Chocolat was advised by Bidwells.

MBO set for UK’s largest family-owned bicycle distributor

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MBO set for UK’s largest family-owned bicycle distributor
Derbyshire bicycle supplier and distributor Moore Large has received an eight-figure funding package from HSBC UK to support the company’s growth. The funding will contribute to a management buyout, which will see four members of the senior management team, to include Andrew Walker, Dale Vanderplank, Adam Biggs and Adam Garner, take over the running of the business after 50 years of ownership by the Moore family. The move comes as chairman and Managing Director Nigel Moore begins his retirement after over 40 years at the helm. The buyout will see the company enter its next phase of growth following a surge in demand for bicycles since the pandemic started. This has given Moore Large a kickstart as it looks to grow the business by 40 per cent over the next four years by focusing on developing its house brands, which include ‘ETC’ and ‘Forme’. Nigel Moore, chairman and Managing Director at Moore Large, said: “After over 40 years leading the company, I’m excited to be retiring and entering a new phase in my life. The last few years at Moore Large have been particularly successful and now feels like the right time for me to hand over the company to the senior management team.” Andrew Walker, commercial director at Moore Large, added: “The demand for bikes continues to increase and as our long-term financial partner, the funding from HSBC UK will greatly help to support the future development of Moore Large as the new board gears up for major growth. “I’d also like to extend my thanks to David Nelson at PKF Smith Cooper, who has helped to facilitate the deal between the management and vendor.” Graham Brown, relationship director at HSBC UK, said: “The demand for sustainable travel has increased heavily in the last few years, with cycling also offering many health benefits. We’re proud to be supporting the UK’s largest family-owned bicycle distributor with this buyout and its growth plans to drive demand for bikes around the country and help people make the switch to cycling.”

New jobs set for Nottingham as KAM Project Consultants opens office

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New jobs set for Nottingham as KAM Project Consultants opens office

KAM Project Consultants is further expanding as they move into Nottingham.

The new location will allow KAM to expand on its existing portfolio in the East Midlands where they are currently working on several high-profile projects.

The office will be headed by KAM co-founder and director, Mike Wilcock, and closely supported by senior associate, Mat Daley, and associate project manager, Nick Orton. Both colleagues are re-locating from KAM’s Leicester office, with a number of new colleagues joining in the coming months.

Mat Daley said: “The East Midlands industrial market has continued to thrive, with vast amounts of money going into new warehousing thanks to the region’s central position. The opening of the Nottingham office ensures KAM are best placed to support this growing demand and allow us to better serve both new and existing clients.

“With several of the Leicester team joining me on the move, I look forward to working alongside them to embrace new opportunities and strengthen KAM’s position as market leaders.”

Addressing the Nottingham opening, Mike Wilcock said: “We are delighted to be growing our presence and expanding our team of cost managers and project managers in the East Midlands.

“We have had great success over the last eight years delivering logistics, distribution and manufacturing facilities for both developers and customers across the UK and overseas. Opening an office in Nottingham is an exciting next step in KAM’s structured growth plan and we can’t wait to see what the road ahead brings.”

Former Freeths solicitor installed as new High Sheriff of Derbyshire

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Former Freeths solicitor installed as new High Sheriff of Derbyshire

Derbyshire has a new High Sheriff who is promising to raise career aspirations of primary school pupils in the city and county.

Mike Copestake was recently installed during a ceremony at All Saints Church in Turnditch. The former corporate lawyer, who spent 26 years with solicitors Freeths, also wants to help charities that work with young people and support ex-offenders into work following their release from prison.

He said: “When I was vice-chairman of inward investment agency Marketing Derby, we would visit Cannes for the annual MIPIM; a major international property investment show. Most people thought it was a jolly but one of my proudest moments was when the Financial Times voted Derby – little old Derby – as having the best investment strategy in the world, ahead of Hong Kong and New York.

“But while this was an incredible honour, one of the biggest weaknesses in our city and in certain parts of the county is social mobility and a distinct lack of aspiration.

“The Enterprise for Education (E4E) scheme which was launched in 2014 by Derby City Council and of which I was chair until recently, does a brilliant job in helping inspire secondary school pupils with its mock interviews, career talks, and CV writing, led by manager Arshad Iqbal.

“However, through the E4E journey we came to realise that career aspirations start at primary school. The success of the London Challenge – a school improvement programme that went a long way in raising standards in the poorest areas in our capital – highlighted this and, starting with a visit to Cherry Tree Primary School in Chaddesden this month, I intend to visit as many primary schools as possible to hopefully inspire others.”

Mike hopes to visit 100 schools during his year as High Sheriff, where he will tell of a childhood ambition to become a firefighter and introduce youngsters to inspirational people from Derby and Derbyshire; people including Olympic gold medallist Hollie Webb – a former Turnditch Primary School pupil who also worked for HMRC – and ex-Alvaston Moor pupil Clive Lawrence, who grew up in a single-parent household and was awarded an OBE earlier this year for his services to education.

He has plans to become more involved with charities such as Safe and Sound, Enthusiasm and YMCA Derbyshire, who all work with young people, and the police youth engagement team. Mike is encouraging children and young people to enter the High Sheriff’s prestigious National Crimebeat Award for the most innovative and successful crime prevention projects carried out by young people.

Finalists will be invited to attend the National Crimebeat Awards Ceremony in London.

However, another passion for Mike is helping to transform the fortunes of others and following visits to Sudbury Prison in Ashbourne, he was inspired to help bridge the gap between ex-offenders leaving prison and finding employment.

According to the Centre for Mental Health, reoffending costs the economy somewhere in the region of £11 billion – but only 25% of men leave prison into some form of employment and the statistic for women in even lower at just 20%.

Mike, who is also a trustee for the Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre, said: “As a corporate lawyer, you get to talk to an awful lot of people. If you ask employers in Derby if they would take in a prisoner, most say yes they would.

“However, that doesn’t seem to be happening, so people leaving the likes of Sudbury and Foston struggle to find employment. I’d like to speak to more employers in the city and county – the likes of Trent Barton, Cosy and David Nieper have already agreed to help – about helping to unlock what it takes to get prisoners out of prison and into the working environment.”

It’s clear that Mike is on a mission to leave a lasting legacy following his year as High Sheriff; a role which has evolved over time and is a far cry from what it was initially intended to be.

Dating back to Saxon times, the role of the High Sheriff is to act as the sovereign’s representative in their county. The High Sheriff would previously wield extensive powers to maintain law and order, often demanding taxes from civilians.

Now, though, those taking up the voluntary role take an active role in making a difference. There are currently 55 High Sheriffs serving across England and Wales, who are also required to attend Royal visits to their county.

Only one week remains until the free Property & Business Investment Lincolnshire Expo – have you registered yet?

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Only one week remains until the free Property & Business Investment Lincolnshire Expo – have you registered yet?
With the Property & Business Investment Lincolnshire Expo just a week away, if you haven’t registered yet for the free event, the time to do so is now. The highly anticipated expo, for which Business Link is a proud partner, will take place on Wednesday 27 April 2022 at The Bentley Hotel, Lincoln, providing everything you require for a great day of networking and business generation. A well targeted event aimed at the Construction, Property, Business, Investment, Finance, Professional Services and related B2B markets, exhibitors include Aspbury Planning Ltd, Belvoir, Business Lincolnshire, BSP Consulting, Delta Simons, the Federation of Small Businesses, J Tomlinson, NatWest, Willmott Dixon, and YMD Boon, to name a few. To see the full list of who is exhibiting click here. Opening at 9am, the expo will also host a workshop from Team Lincolnshire and Business Lincolnshire. Running from 10:15 – 11:45, it will demystify the procurement process and explore the potential which public sector contracts could bring to your business. Team Lincolnshire ambassador Neal Wheatley, director and general manager of RG Carter Lincoln Limited, and Barry Taylor, regional director at Parker Technical Service, will be sharing insightful first-hand experiences on winning a major Lincolnshire County Council contract for the construction of the South Lincolnshire Food Enterprise Zone and how supporting the local economy is a core value within the RG Carter Supply Chain Commitment. Sign up to the free workshop here. As the exhibition closes, it will roll directly into an informal, open buffet style network lunch – tickets for the lunch are just £25 plus vat and can be ordered and paid for directly online. Spaces for the lunch are limited, so order as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. Tina King, of Business Shows Group, said: “It’s been a long time in the making thanks to the pandemic, but we are finally nearly there, The Property & Business Investment Lincolnshire Expo is gearing up to be one of the best to date!” To attend the event, register for free here. Purchase tickets to the networking lunch here. Meet more potential clients in one amazing cost effective day, than it would take months out on the road.

Gateley makes largest acquisition to date

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Gateley makes largest acquisition to date
In its largest acquisition to date, Gateley, the legal and professional services group, has snapped up Smithers Purslow for a total maximum consideration of £20 million, with an initial consideration of £12.15 million payable on completion – around 56% in shares and 44% in cash. Established in 1978, Smithers Purslow is a multi-disciplinary chartered surveying practice, comprising building and quantity surveyors and civil and structural engineers. Specialising in services to the property insurance claims market, it resolves high value claims for insurers, policy holders and their advisers. The senior management team will continue to lead the business, renamed Gateley Smithers Purslow. Smithers Purslow has delivered compound annual growth in revenue and EBITDA of more than 20 per cent over the last five years. In the year ended 30 September 2021, organic revenue increased by 22.3 per cent to £11.7 million, generating adjusted profit before tax of £2.5 million. Smithers Purslow operates from ten regional offices across the UK and employs 130 staff. Rod Waldie, Gateley Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are delighted to welcome the Smithers Purslow team to the group. This is another dynamic business that further expands the breadth of capability in our already strong Property Platform. “Smithers Purslow’s growth over the last decade has been impressive and it is a highly regarded market leader in the property insurance claims sector, in which we see significant opportunity to develop broader and deeper relationships with insurers and insurance intermediaries. “The existing synergies between Smithers Purslow and Gateley Vinden, across a number of their multi-disciplinary service lines, extend the depth of our expertise and provide additional capacity to maximise on the opportunities presented in this sizeable and growing market and the wider built-environment consultancy space. “This is our largest acquisition to date and is a clear demonstration of our commitment to invest and grow our market-facing Platforms, as well as to continue to strengthen our resilience through diversification.”

Inflationary pressure poses huge risk to Midlands businesses

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Inflationary pressure poses huge risk to Midlands businesses
Inflationary pressure poses a huge risk to Midlands businesses in the coming months, with many unprepared for the highest level of inflation in 30 years. According to accountancy and business advisory firm, BDO LLP, more than half of regional businesses have only planned for a 3-5% level of inflation this year – already well below the current 7% rate, which is the highest it’s been since the 1990s. The Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) has suggested that the impact of the war in Ukraine could push inflation to a 40-year high of 8.7% in the final three months of 2022, with The Bank of England also warning that inflation could hit double digits. BDO’s Rethinking the Economy survey has revealed that more than a third of Midlands companies are planning to seek additional finance in order to counteract rising inflation. Andrew Mair, partner at BDO and head of the East Midlands, said: “It’s very clear that rising inflation is having a profound effect on businesses in the region. Businesses have done the right thing, and planned for higher levels of inflation this year. “However, forecasts are well below the current and expected rate of inflation and, as such, businesses need to respond quickly and reassess their business plans for the remainder of 2022, in order to accommodate the record increases – whether that’s through additional financing, raising the price of goods or services, or working alongside lenders and suppliers to agree more beneficial terms. “When you couple rising inflation with significant global uncertainty and soaring costs, regional businesses are facing yet more pressure after two years hampered by the global pandemic. Unsurprisingly, more than a third of businesses admit that they intend to pass on those additional costs to customers.” The Rethinking the Economy survey showed that one of the greatest challenges facing regional businesses over the next six months is the rising cost of living (25%), whether that’s higher business costs, or reduced revenues as a result of customers cutting spending. However, companies in the Midlands are responding positively to the crisis, with 42% of businesses choosing to increase the wages of employees in an effort to tackle the cost of living – the highest rate of any UK region. That level of optimism is also reflected in the amount of time it will take regional businesses to return to pre-pandemic revenues, with 37% stating that they expect earnings to recover within this calendar year. Mair added: “Despite the plethora of challenges facing Midlands businesses, there is still a real desire to grow revenues in the next six months, as well as looking at potential overseas expansion in the next year, although this is clearly tempered by global geopolitical uncertainty. “Agile decision-making will continue to be vital over the coming months, to ensure businesses give themselves the right financial headroom to focus on areas such as cash generation, cost control and managing working capital efficiently.”

Design, engineering and project delivery company expands Derby operations

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Design, engineering and project delivery company expands Derby operations
The Derby office of an established design, engineering and project management company has expanded into 2,500 sq ft offices within the Oberoi Business Hub in Pride Park. Part of Morgan Sindall Group, a UK construction and regeneration group, BakerHicks works in a range of sectors including aviation, defence, life sciences and industry, nuclear, power, public, and rail. As one of 14 offices across Europe, the company’s Derby base originally opened in serviced accommodation at Oberoi Business Hub in St Christopher’s Way in 2017 with a core team focused on providing design, engineering and project delivery to the rail industry. They were then joined by colleagues within the BakerHicks Power sector and have largely taken advantage of the engineering skills-set available in the local area to service their growing portfolio of clients in both sectors. BakerHicks have now moved into a stand-alone office as part of the Oberoi Business Hub to house the 20-strong team with capacity for further growth. Director of Rail James Howles explained: “This is the start of a new era for BakerHicks in Derby with ambitious future plans for business growth. “It made perfect sense to base our team in Derby which is renowned as a rail city and to recruit talent from the strong engineering and manufacturing skills set here which has also boosted our power sector team. “Being part of Oberoi Business Hub has given us the flexibility to extend the accommodation for our growing team and we are delighted with our new office space.” Kavita Oberoi OBE, founder and Managing Director of Oberoi Business Hub, added: “Our aim is to provide businesses with the flexibility and support to grow – whether that is a start-up SME or an international operation looking to expand into the East Midlands. “We continue to invest and expand the Hub accommodation network in Pride Park to ensure we can provide an even wider range of commercial property here in the city’s premium business location. “We are delighted that BakerHicks have remained part of the Oberoi Business Hub community and look forward to our continued business relationship.”
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