Derby retirement apartments secure £12.5m funding
Torsion Care (Derby) Devco Ltd is set to complete a new development of 64 retirement apartments, with a £12.5m development finance solution provided by Shawbrook Bank.
Founded in 2015 by Dan Spencer, Torsion Developments operates across a range of property sectors, including student and residential. Martin Hutson joined with Dan in 2018 to establish Torsion Care, with a focus on the growing demand for stylish and practical retirement housing for the over 55s market.
Last year, Torsion Care secured land at Manor Kingsway, Derby to create a new Burghley Retirement Living development with 64 individual apartments, communal lounges, a gym, a library, 2x guest suites and serviced office accommodation.
Torsion Developments was already working with Shawbrook on a 361 bed student accommodation project in Lincoln when Torsion Care approached the bank to discuss funding for the retirement development in Derby.
Supported by the bank’s specialist Healthcare Finance Team, the Development Finance Team at Shawbrook undertook a detailed assessment of the project and decided to extend its facilities to provide property development loans for the retirement and care home sector. The bank structured a £12.5m development finance loan for Torsion to progress the development.
Martin Hutson, director of Torsion Care, said: “Over the last few years, we have seen an increased need for homes that are designed to suit the independent living style of the over 55s yet have the longevity and cater for extra care facilities for later life.
“With this in mind, we introduced Burghley Retirement Living and then identified the opportunity to build a new retirement complex at Manor Kingsway. We then wanted to work with a funding specialist that grasped the overall aim of the development and could support us throughout the life of the project.”
Alastair Partridge, senior relationship director for development finance at Shawbrook Bank, said: “We’ve known Torsion for a few years now and are already working with them on an existing project, so recognise their development expertise and ability to deliver a high quality product.
“The scheme at Manor Kingsway was an interesting challenge as we were entering a new sector for the Development Finance Team and needed to consider the retirement and extra-care elements of the project. Fortunately, our in-house Healthcare Finance Team have extensive knowledge of this sector and with their assistance, we could move swiftly to support Torsion Care with this development.”
117 jobs secured as Keltbray acquires infrastructure assets from nmcn
Specialist engineering and construction company, Keltbray Holdings Limited, has agreed a deal with administrators, Grant Thornton UK LLP, to acquire a portfolio of infrastructure contracts and associated assets from nmcn PLC, which went into administration last Wednesday.
The deal ensures continuity of delivery of vital infrastructure projects across the UK, minimising any adverse delivery impacts on customers, and secures the futures of 117 employees.
The acquired contracts will be managed within Keltbray’s existing infrastructure division, reporting to Managing Director, Phill Price.
Keltbray CEO, Darren James said: “Keltbray are pleased with the ‘on strategy’ opportunities presented by the acquisition of these contracts, working with clients on some of the UK’s most important infrastructure projects.
“Today’s announcement accelerates our plans to build a resilient, growth-oriented business. Equally important, we have also safeguarded 117 valuable jobs and livelihoods that could otherwise have been lost to our industry.
“The acquisition has required a very rapid, but collaborative approach, and Keltbray would like to thank all parties for their proactivity throughout. I look forward to working with my new colleagues as we build a rewarding future together as one Keltbray.”
Construction starts on multi-million-pound hotel in heart of Peak District
Construction company Harris CM has commenced a £5 million design and build contract for a new three storey, 60-bedroom, boutique-style hotel for GiGi Developments, on the site of the former Rising Sun Hotel in the village of Hope, which sits in the heart of the Peak District.
The hotel, complete with restaurant and bar, will be operated by Bike & Boot and follows the company’s successful first venture opening in Scarborough. The completed hotel will target bikers, walkers and their canine companions and will open in the Summer of 2022.
Jason Adlam, CEO at Harris CM, said: “We are delighted to be involved with this project which will see the re-development of the site of an eighteenth century coaching inn that closed its doors in March 2017.
“We’re looking forward to once again working with AAD Architects, MAC Construction Consultants and Adept Civil and Structural Consulting Engineers to deliver this stunning project in the heart of the Peak District National Park.”
Chris Green, of GiGi Developments, said: “Our team has worked hard to devise a scheme that is appropriate to its surroundings, but which will deliver much needed new hotel rooms in the Peak District, creating jobs and boosting the local economy.
“With staying visitors spending an average five times more than day visitors, clearly encouraging overnight stays is crucial to the future of the Peak District.
“Importantly, new modern facilities like this also enhance accessibility to the Peak District by offering accommodation for all ages and interests, including older people and those with disabilities or mobility issues.”
Simon Kershaw, of Bike & Boot Hotels, said: “We are delighted to be bringing Bike & Boot to the Peak District following on from the success of the Scarborough hotel which opened in 2019. Bike & Boot is a new leisure hotel fit for the 21st century, offering great value and facilities for leisure breaks. The Peak District is an ideal place for us to introduce the second Bike & Boot hotel, one of a number planned over the next few years.”
Brace of Bridlesmith Gate investment deals agreed
FHP Property Consultants have agreed the investment sales on behalf of private clients of two blocks of prime retail assets in the heart of Nottingham city centre.
48-58 Bridlesmith Gate comprises of 4 retail units plus first floor hair salon and vacant office accommodation. The retail units are occupied by 18 Montrose, Fred Perry and Sneakrverse. The asset comprises of approximately 14,800ft² over basement, ground, first and second floor.
There was considerable interest and offers received, with a sale agreed to clients of the ALB Group, in excess of the quoting price of £1.95 million which represented a net initial yield of 12.77%.
The sale of 2-8 Byard Lane and 37-45 Bridlesmith Gate has been concluded to the ALB Group. The investment comprises of approximately 15,000ft² arranged over basement, ground, first, second and third floors. The property is occupied by Café Coco Tang, Coco Tang, Brik Barbers and The Tailor.
The property generated a significant level of interest driven by interest in repurposing the upper floors and rebasing the retail rents. There were multiple offers received with an eventual sale being agreed to the ALB Group at £1.95 million.
Alan Pearson, Director of FHP, said: “These two properties are prime retail assets in the heart of Nottingham City Centre, with the potential for repurposing the upper floors for alternative student accommodation or residential use subject to securing the necessary planning consents.
“There was significant interest in both assets with multiple offers received. I am delighted to have secured the sale to the ALB Group, an established investor in Nottingham city centre with a proven track record of repurposing upper floor accommodation throughout the region and will deliver lettings on the ground floor retail units, whilst not being constrained by historic asset values of the previous custodians.”
Arran Bailey, Managing Director of ALB Group, said: “I am delighted to have been able to purchase these two blocks as we want to make this area cool again – bring a vibrancy back that Nottingham was once known for. We want to see this part of Nottingham get a buzz like we’ve seen in areas like Hockley.
“With the neighbouring Broadmarsh regeneration core to this end of the city centre, we want to also encourage independent retailers, restaurants, bars and coffee shops to get on board and embrace our vision for a reawakened café culture and thriving retail district.”
Approval recommended for NTU’s “landmark” School of Art & Design building
Plans from Nottingham Trent University (NTU) for a new “landmark” building for its School of Art & Design have been recommended for approval by Nottingham City Council.
Designed by architects Hawkins\Brown, the new 5,300 square metre building on Shakespeare Street will provide specialist teaching spaces, quiet study spaces and a collaborative hub for social learning, designing and making, including an innovation lab.
There will be an exhibition space for students’ work as well as a seating area to meet and
socialise in.
The new nine-storey building is designed to achieve net zero carbon.
Executive Dean for the School of Art & Design, Michael Marsden, said: “This new development at 42 Shakespeare Street is not only an architecturally significant building for Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University but one which sees the school of Art & Design becoming the leading Art School for the Creative industries.
“Its bold new courses, in a newly created department, will combine traditional design practice with creative technologies that will not only produce graduates for the fastest growing sector in the UK economy, but place Nottingham as the centre for film, television, animation, UX design, games design, graphic design and more.”
BDO launches initiative to recognise emerging talent in Midlands manufacturing
BDO has launched its inaugural Future of Manufacturing initiative, designed to recognise emerging talent in a sector integral to the future prosperity of the Midlands.
The accountancy and business advisory firm is calling for nominations of people under 40 who are making a real difference, not only to the business they work for but the regional marketplace as a whole.
BDO is looking for young talent who currently work at a Midlands-based manufacturer (with a turnover of £10m-£300m) in a senior role. This is defined by (but not exclusive to) strong leadership skills, a minimum of five years’ industry and/or professional experience, advanced qualifications, leading or helping to drive significant projects or initiatives and notable contributions to the business and/or industry.
Jon Gilpin, partner and head of manufacturing in the Midlands, said: “Talent is vital to the success of every business. Each and every day, we see examples of young people who are helping to drive the agenda and no more so than in the world of manufacturing – a sector that we are firmly committed to, thanks to the strength of our client base and the in-depth knowledge and expertise of our team.”
He added: “Inspired by these stories, we want to uncover the future talent of Midlands manufacturing and gain a real understanding about how they see the market evolving in the next 10 years. This isn’t a report by numbers; this is an initiative centred around people and the very personalities that are driving change and helping the sector emerge stronger from the global pandemic.”
The Future of Manufacturing aims to uncover how the market will evolve in the next decade through the lens of key people. Entries for the Future of Manufacturing close on 19 November 2021.
East Midlands unemployment rate drops – but acute skills shortage is hampering recovery
Unemployment in the East Midlands has dropped slightly and remains below the national average, according to the latest figures.
The region’s unemployment rate for the period between June and August 2021 was 4.3%, down by 0.1% compared to between May and July, the Office for National Statistics’ latest regional labour market report revealed.
And for the third successive month it was lower than the UK-wide figure, which dropped from 4.6% to 4.5% during the same timeframe.
Before this recent period, the region’s jobs market had consistently been hit harder than the rest of the country during almost the entire pandemic – peaking at 5.9% and 0.8% above the national average.
East Midlands Chamber Chief Executive, Scott Knowles, said: “After some concerning numbers at the beginning of this year, the unemployment rate appears to have stabilised as Covid-19 restrictions have been rolled back.
“This has enabled industries that are heavily represented in our region’s economy – including hospitality, retail, and leisure and tourism – to finally reopen fully and prove they have always remained viable if the trading environment allows.
“At the same time, we’ve also seen initiatives like the Kickstart Scheme – in which the Chamber has played a key role as a gateway organisation to facilitate more than 1,000 job placements – contribute to helping young people, who had been disproportionately affected by Covid, find work.
“We expect the region’s jobs market to continue improving, with the latest data from the Chamber’s Quarterly Economic Survey (QES) for Q3 2021 showing a net 25% of East Midlands businesses saying they have increased headcount over the previous three months and a net 38% expecting a rise in employment over the coming three months.”
While the UK’s September payrolls showed another monthly increase of 207,000 to 29.2 million, the headline figure was that job vacancies once again hit a record high, with 1.1 million jobs available between July and September.
Scott added: “The record number of vacancies highlights the acute hiring crisis faced by many businesses right now. While two-thirds (67%) of companies attempted recruitment in the previous quarter, according to our QES, 71% of this cohort said they faced problems with hiring the right people.
“We have skills gaps across the board that urgently need to be addressed – something that has been highlighted most pertinently by the HGV driver shortage during the ongoing fuel supply crisis.
“Many of these are longstanding but as Brexit and Covid have driven a more deep-seated decline in labour supply, they have come to the fore more prominently.
“The end of furlough is unlikely to be a silver bullet to the ongoing shortages and these recruitment difficulties will likely dampen the recovery by limiting businesses’ ability to fulfil orders and meet customer demand.
“More needs to be done to ensure businesses have access to skills when these can’t be recruited locally – including access to rapid and agile training and re-skilling opportunities for adults in the workforce, and a more flexible immigration system that allows firms to access the high and low-skilled workers they need.”
Full year revenue dips at Shoe Zone
Revenue has dipped slightly at Shoe Zone, the Leicester-based retailer, according to a full year trading update.
Unaudited results for the 52 weeks to 2 October 2021 indicate a total group revenue of £119.1m, down from £122.6m in 2020 and £162m in 2019. The company said this was impacted by the COVID pandemic mainly in the first half of the year as stores were closed for 16 weeks.
All stores were open and fully trading as at the end of April 2021, however, enabling the business to trade over its key ‘Back to School’ period.
Digital revenue was boosted in the year at £30.6m in comparison to £19.3m in 2020 (a 58.5% increase) and £10.6m in 2019 (a 188.7% increase). This now represents 25.7% of revenue, a result of Shoe Zone’s digital investment.
The firm further noted that profit before tax is expected to be not less than £6.5m
Chief Executive, Anthony Smith, said: “Shoe Zone has weathered an intensely challenging year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The negative impact of this has been largely mitigated due to quick action taken in areas we could control, by reducing costs, continuing and accelerating investment in our digital business and improving operations. As a result, we have emerged as a leaner, stronger and more resilient business.
“These are a solid set of preliminary results but there is still uncertainty ahead of us in the next 12 months, not only with the continuing impact of COVID, but also the challenges we face with the global supply chain and inflationary pressures. We have seen a minimum of a five-fold increase in container prices over the last 12 months and this will continue to impact us for at least a further six months until the issues being experienced in the whole supply chain return to more sensible levels.”
Small firms losing £25bn a year to tax admin
The Making Tax Digital initiative, which the Government states should be “making it easier for individuals and businesses to get their tax right and keep on top of their affairs,” has, to date, significantly increased costs and admin burdens for small firms, according to the latest major report from FSB.
The business group sets out measures to reverse those trends and ensure MTD delivers on its potential to improve productivity and profitability among small firms.
FSB’s new publication, A Duty to Reform: Making tax work for small businesses in a digital world, shows that small firms are each spending an average of £4,100 and 52 hours a year on tax compliance.
For those that are participating in the Government’s MTD programme – designed to fully digitalise the tax reporting process – the average cost of compliance (£4,562) is considerably higher than for those yet to migrate (£2,960).
Those in scope of MTD must purchase compatible software, subscriptions for which have significantly added to compliance costs. There are concerns that these costs will grow further as the initiative is extended to cover more taxes.
Seven in ten (70%) small businesses have made the MTD switch. Among them, a similar proportion (71%) say that the move has resulted in increased costs and time lost to learning new processes.
Collectively, the small business community is losing £25 billion a year to tax compliance – a figure which does not reflect the 300 million working hours spent on preparing and filing records.
The report also finds that the requirement to register for VAT once a firm has £85,000 of turnover serves as a barrier to growth for one in four (24%) firms, equivalent to 1.4 million businesses across the UK.
Elsewhere, the study flags a lack of awareness among small firms of the tax incentives they’re entitled to – fewer than one in 20 (4%) see the Government’s new Super Deduction for plant & machinery investment as a top incentive to invest and expand.
When asked to identify desired tax reliefs that would assist growth, more than a third (34%) cite “a reduction in National Insurance Contributions.”
Recommendations published as part of A Duty to Reform include:
- Ensuring the Government takes a stand where MTD is concerned to prevent unfair profit-seeking behaviour among software providers, with the Competition and Markets Authority intervening if necessary.
- Installing an MTD feature which nudges businesses towards relevant tax reliefs and investment incentives.
- Increasing the VAT turnover registration threshold, which has not moved in-line with inflation, to encourage those bunching beneath the £85,000 turnover point to expand whilst adopting the Office for Tax Simplification’s proposals for a smoothing mechanism.
- Reforming the Super Deduction, with consideration given to scaling back the cost of the break – making room for incentives that would benefit a greater number of smaller firms – and changing qualifying criteria to make the break applicable to intangible assets such as software and intellectual property.
- Increasing the Employment Allowance from £4,000 to £5,000 to help firms recruit, retain and retrain more staff as furlough ends and operating costs rise.
Mixed-use scheme proposed for former Newark Marks & Spencer
Newark and Sherwood District Council has finalised its plans to transform the former Marks & Spencer site on Stodman Street in Newark to bring new homes, shops and employment opportunities to the town centre.
A planning application has been submitted by architects RG+P Ltd to build a new site comprising a mixed-use housing and commercial development featuring 29 new homes and between two to four new retail units.
The Council took ownership of the site in March 2020. Despite marketing the building, no viable offers or approaches for large retail premises were made, but it was clear there was an interest for smaller retail spaces. This led the District Council to explore how the current building could be reconfigured and repurposed.
The redevelopment of the site was one of nine priority projects set out in Newark’s ‘Town Investment Plan’ (TIP) which was developed by a dedicated Newark Towns Fund Board, including more than 30 private and public businesses and bodies. These plans were given the go ahead by central government in March 2021 as part of its Towns Fund initiative and £25 million funding was awarded to Newark.
The TIP identified concern from residents about empty properties and the lack of housing. It also found that just 3% of Newark’s population live in the town centre and noted the limited offer, especially for general market housing and the private rented sector.
To address this concern, the new homes are expected to be available for residents by 2023/4 and will comprise one and two-bed apartments for private sale. By increasing the resident population, it is forecast that the town centre will benefit from an increase in spend, use of facilities, footfall, new jobs and improved access to services.
The District Council has also secured £284k in additional grant funding for the project through the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s Brownfield Land Release Fund, in partnership with North Midlands One Public Estate. This funding will support the cost of the demolition and remediation works and will allow for the scheme to be completed sooner than initially targeted.
If planning permission is granted, demolition works are due to begin in April 2022, with construction on site targeted for a start date of November 2022.
Councillor David Lloyd, leader of Newark and Sherwood District Council and co-chair of Newark Towns Fund Board, said: “These are really exciting plans for Newark, to create new, high quality homes, retail space and job opportunities in the heart of the town centre. This will in turn drive local activity, footfall, dwell time and public spend, ultimately driving a catalyst to wider town-centre regeneration.
“I know that since the site became vacant in spring 2019 there has been a visible gap on the high street, which isn’t at all appealing to residents and visitors. Thanks to central government funding we can now submit these plans to redesign the area and bring this key site back into use for everyone to enjoy.” 