JANUARY 2023 EAST MIDLANDS LEADING BUSINESS MAGAZINE www.blmgroup.co.uk WWW.EASTMIDLANDSBUSINESSLINK.CO.UK WWW.EASTMIDLANDSBUSINESSLINK.CO.UK £3.50 Thinking of the future Updating your systemsLooking ahead 01.qxp_Layout 1 06/01/2023 10:06 Page 1Armstrong house Armstrong House, Armstrong Street, Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire DN31 2QE Tel: (01472) 310301 Email: s.fisher@blmgroup.co.uk Superb Location - - Close to the ports of Grimsby & Immingham - Great motorway links - Close to the town centre Secure off street parking High speed internet availability A range of affordable office sizes 3 3 3 3 Last remaining office suites Prime location in Grimsby Offering a prime position in Grimsby, Armstrong House on Armstrong Street is ideally located. Close to the ports of Grimsby and Immingham, motorway links and the town centre, off-street parking is also available for all staff and visitors, meaning it’s convenient too. Our spacious, welcoming offices are located on the ground floor and are both secure and CCTV-monitored, giving you the ultimate peace of mind. At Armstrong House, when it comes to affordability and with a range of office sizes there are opportunities for all types of business. If you require virtual office services, prices start from just £15 per month. For more information, or to discuss your office requirements call 01472 310301. 02.qxp_Layout 1 06/01/2023 10:06 Page 1www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.ukEast Midlands Business Link 3 EDITORS NOTES It’s a new year, a new set of opportunities and quite possibly a lot of new challenges for businesses in the East Midlands. While we do try to be positive where we can, there’s no denying 2022 ended on a sour note with industrial action by public servants, and a complete refusal for anyone in power or government to accept responsibility in any way. That’s been a factor of governance for a while sadly, and it’s been an ever-present problem since Brexit some 6-7 years ago. It’s unlikely this will change in 2023 and it might not change at all until 2025 with the next general election where, even if the Conservatives win again (which all pundits say is unlikely) they will at least be blaming the old administration and pretending they had no part in it. Yet again, it’s up to our region to take matters into our hands and try to make the best of what we have. The focus this year is undoubtedly going to be on squeezing more out of existing assets rather than big investment in new ones, and that’s going to mean taking a deep look at how businesses are run and how to make them more efficient. We’ll be keeping with you all along the way and doing our best to help out, so let’s put our heads together and fix the economy ourselves. It doesn’t look like anyone else is going to. Good reading, as always Michael Fisher Editor 03.qxp_Layout 1 06/01/2023 10:07 Page 1@BLMEastMidlands BLMEastMidlands Latest news 6 A round-up of the latest news from our region. Stokes Tea & Coffee Q&A 16 For some independent businesses, market challenges can be the catalyst for change and innovation. This is true for Stokes Tea & Coffee, a family of coffee roasters that has been operating for over 120 years. New year - new suppliers 18 The last year was a tumultuous one and that’s likely to continue into 2023, which is why it’s important to make sure you have the right team of suppliers on hand to fulfil your needs. • Severn Trent ST Connect Q&A 2023 business predictions 22 It’s that time of year, when Business Link Magazine invites the region’s business leaders to offer up their predictions for the year ahead. Commercial property 26 The rules are in and the property industry must comply – we look into what people should expect as we move into 2023. Logistics and transport30 There are big investments on the horizon for the East Midlands logistics sector, but how robust is the infrastructure, and can the pool of recruitable candidates justify more? Tax34 James Pinchbeck, partner at Streets Chartered Accountants, considers the importance of optimism for businesses. Productivity and efficiency in manufacturing 36 It’s no good having a fast production line if it takes too long to check and approve the finished goods, or to switch the line over to a new batch. IT and communications 40 From robust cybersecurity measures to efficiency gains, there are many reasons to look at updating your IT systems. Public relations44 Greg Simpson, founder of Press for Attention PR, discusses awards and taking advantage of them even if you lose. AutoLink 46 As the world emerged from lockdowns and restrictions, fuel prices – which had been at their lowest for many years – surged following a massive increase in demand. Corporate hospitality 50 For corporate events to be successful, solid planning is essential. JANUARY 2023 EAST MIDLANDS £3.50 LEADING BUSINESS MA AGAZINE efutur Thinking of th Updating y he Loyour systems ooking ahead www.blmgroup.co.uk Cover photographs courtesy: stock.adobe.com/offcaania • Evgen3d • Pugun & Photo Studio • hansenn • Tobias Arhelger Contents January 2023 Renewables 52 COP27 and various organisational bodies are telling us we need to start thinking about the environment, and this need not be an expensive thing. The East Midlands has great potential in the environmental game, and it’s an avenue worth exploring. Events56 A timely look at forthcoming business events around the East Midlands. And finally...58 Here’s Frazer’s collection of the weird and wonderful ‘news’ that came his way over the last few weeks. 04-05.qxp_Layout 1 06/01/2023 10:08 Page 136 Group Editor Steve Fisher s.fisher@blmgroup.co.uk Editor Michael Fisher m.fisher@blmgroup.co.uk Journalist Tess Egginton t.egginton@blmgroup.co.uk Sales Director Angela Cooper a.cooper@blmgroup.co.uk Tel: (01472) 310310 Accounts & Subscriptions Angela Sharman accounts@blmgroup.co.uk Tel: (01472) 310301 Fax: (01472) 310311 Design & Production Gary Jorgensen, Mark Casson studio@blmgroup.co.uk Tel: (01472) 310304 E-Mail: eastmidlands@blmgroup.co.uk Publisher Haychart Ltd, t/a Business Link Magazine Group, Huntingdon House, 278-290 Huntingdon Street, Nottingham NG1 3LY All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, photocopied, recorded or otherwise without express permission of the copyright holder, for which application should be addressed first to the publisher. While every reasonable care is taken, neither the publisher nor its participating agents accept liability for loss or damage to prints, colour transparencies, negatives or other material of whatever nature submitted to this publication. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily the views of those held by the publisher. 04-05.qxp_Layout 1 06/01/2023 10:08 Page 2 East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk GENERAL NEWS Aggregate Industries appointed to £1.3bn national roads delivery framework Leicestershire-based Aggregate Industries has won a place on a billion pound national contract to maintain surfaces on the country’s motorways and A roads. National Highways, the Government company which maintains and operates England’s strategic road network, announced its selected suppliers for the £1.3 billion Pavement Delivery Framework (PDF), with Aggregate Industries one of the 12 successful companies. Aggregate Industries won a place to deliver the contract, which covers the supply of materials, plant and labour to carry out National Highways’ road surfacing (“pavement”) and construction works for National Highways’ Operations Division, in both the North and South “super” regions for the next five years. The new agreements, which run from April 2023 to March 2028, promote the use of low-carbon materials. As part of this focus, National Highways has designated warm mix asphalt (WMA) as the contract’s default material of choice. Aggregate Industries made the switch to WMA as standard earlier this year. Green jobs in the East Midlands double in the last 12 months The second edition of PwC’s Green Jobs Barometer has found that the number of green jobs advertised in the East Midlands has almost doubled in the last year, providing encouragement that the economy is becoming greener. There were 20,432 green opportunities advertised in the region in 2022, compared to just 8,752 in 2021. Green jobs accounted for 2.17% of total overall roles in the region in 2022, compared to just 1% in 2021, with an absolute increase of almost 134%. The Green Jobs Barometer, which first launched in November 2021, tracks movements in green job creation, job loss, carbon intensity of employment, and worker sentiment across regions and sectors. In the year to June 2022, every region of the UK saw green jobs accounting for a greater share of the job market, and the number of green jobs at least double in absolute terms. Green jobs are growing around four times the rate of the overall UK employment market, with 2.2% of all new jobs classed as green. Nottingham heritage consultancy merges with planning, design and development consultancy Nottingham-based heritage consultancy Locus is merging with Midlands, London and South West-based planning, design and development consultancy Marrons – adding a new service line to its portfolio. Taking on the Marrons brand, the team of four have more than 40 years’ combined experience in planning with all aspects of the historic environment. Joining Marrons is heritage partner Adam Partington, principal heritage planner Tom Street, senior heritage planner Robert Templar and assistant heritage planner Brixie Payne. Adam said: “Our historic environment plays an important role in shaping distinctive places. Taking positive development-led approaches to planning with heritage assets is key to reconciling agendas of growth and conservation effectively. “We are really excited to be joining our colleagues at Marrons. The merger will augment the design and planning service already offered by Marrons, to create a multi-disciplinary team that offers our clients a truly integrated service when planning with heritage assets.” © stock.adobe.com/ sidorovstock L-R: Robert Templar, Brixie Payne, Adam Partington, Tom Street 06-15.qxp_Layout 1 06/01/2023 10:13 Page 1East Midlands businesses back a better 2023 as turnover prospects shine brighter The majority of East Midlands businesses expect 2023 to be more successful than 2022, despite challenging economic forecasts, according to the latest data from Lloyds Bank. Almost two-thirds (65%) of the region’s businesses said they are confident they would have greater success in the coming 12 months, compared to the past year. A fifth (21%) were not confident about being more successful in 2023, and nearly one in 10 (8%) expected their business to perform at the same level in the next year. Firms in the East Midlands projected a more upbeat outlook for 2023, with over half (51%) expecting a higher turnover than in 2022. One in five businesses (19%) expect turnover to increase by between 5% and 19%, and a fifth (20%) anticipate turnover to increase by more than 20%. When businesses were asked what they would do to fuel growth, 91% said they were planning an investment drive, with funding used for staff training (38%), new technology (34%) and developing their company (32%). www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link GENERAL NEWS • Commercial • Events • Headshots • Automotive • Fashion CALL OR EMAIL FOR A QUOTE 07506 998855 STEVE@STEVEEDWARDSPHOTOGRAPHY.COM STEVEEDWARDSPHOTOGRAPHY.COM Creating eye-catching images to help businesses build their brands and engage with clients. DMU wins funding to help businesses turn ideas into reality Academics will be working with a range of companies on a new series of short-term projects designed to get innovative ideas off the drawing board and into reality. De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) has won funding for five projects as part of the Government’s new £3m Accelerated Knowledge Transfer to Innovate programme. It was launched last year to deliver short, fast and targeted projects that can make significant impact for a business. DMU won funding for all five applications it made, led by the university’s knowledge exchange team of Dr Rhianna Briars and Darsh Chauhan, working with academics across the university. DMU was awarded more than £143,000. Each project has a maximum funding amount of £35,000 and runs between two and four months. Dr Briars said: “DMU is always looking to collaborate with local businesses and SMEs to match our areas of expertise with companies in a way that adds real value to the region’s economy. We have been delighted with the response from businesses and our academics, and to have all five projects win funding is a great result.” © stock.adobe.com/ EtiAmmos © stock.adobe.com/ Pawel Pajor © stock.adobe.com/ Pcess609 06-15.qxp_Layout 1 06/01/2023 10:13 Page 2APPOINTMENTS Keepmoat appoints new land and partnerships director to support business growth Matt Barker has been appointed as Keepmoat’s newest land and partnerships director and will be using his 24-year industry expertise to oversee land opportunities to regenerate communities in the Yorkshire East and East Midlands regions. To align with Keepmoat’s plans for regional growth, Matt, who was previously land and planning director at Persimmon Homes, Linden Homes and Redrow Homes, has been appointed to support the existing land teams in the housebuilder’s East Midlands and Yorkshire East regions. Based in Lincoln, Matt will be looking to fill gaps within the business’s development portfolio, and secure land opportunities to align with the homebuilder’s growth plans. His main focus will be to expand Keepmoat’s operations into the Lincolnshire area, covering towns such as Scunthorpe, Grimsby, Stamford, Grantham, and others, with a view to delivering much needed, energy-efficient homes that are fit for the future. When asked about his ambitions for the region, Matt Barker said: “The East of the country, most specifically Lincolnshire and the East Riding, are areas of great potential for housebuilding, with some booming industries adding to the appeal, such as large-scale agriculture, engineering, and manufacturing. “The region is also fantastically placed with towns such as York, Grantham, Newark and Retford having convenient rail and motorway connections, and there are some exciting developments proposed in North and North East Lincolnshire, which is also driving housing growth in the area.” East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk Three new appointments at WestBridge Group Leicester-based tax consultancy and SSAS administration specialists, WestBridge Group has further strengthened its team following the appointment of Matt Gardiner, Hugo Witts and Sian Shade. Matt and Hugo join WestBridge SSAS as account managers having previously worked in similar roles at Mattioli Woods. Sian joins WestBridge Tax as a senior associate having previously worked at Grant Thornton. The new appointments are part of an ongoing strategy of growth which recently saw WestBridge Group acquire the employees, clients, and assets of Rowanmoor Executive Pensions Limited’s (REPL) book of 3,500 small self-administered schemes (SSAS), for an undisclosed sum. Following the acquisition of the REPL book, the firm now has offices in Salisbury and Bolton. Matt said: “As well as carrying out SSAS administration on behalf of a portfolio of clients I am looking forward to being responsible for mentoring new starters and helping with the ongoing training of established team members.” Hugo also lives in Leicester and has a BSc Economics and Politics and a Diploma in regulated financial advice. He said: “I enjoy working directly with clients and this will role give me an opportunity to look after my own pension clients whilst also adopting a pro-active approach to using systems to submit reporting information.” Sian said: “I chose to join WestBridge Tax as they are a recognised provider of quality tax advice and I will get the opportunity to be involved in high quality and challenging projects. The company offers the perfect mix of experience and breadth of knowledge whilst also retaining the personal approach and feel of a smaller firm.” Freeths bolsters real estate offering with strategic promotions Law firm Freeths has promoted partner James Hart to lead the real estate team across the Midlands region and Patrick Adie has been named national head of housebuilding & strategic land. James is now responsible for coordinating the firm’s real estate teams across its four Midlands offices in Birmingham, Derby, Leicester and Nottingham. With a long-standing reputation in the region, he leads the relationship for some of the firm’s largest clients. Patrick Adie has been promoted to national head of housebuilding & strategic land, with responsibility for promoting the firm’s offering in these key sectors. Patrick is an award-winning solicitor and is ranked as ‘Up and Coming’ in Chambers and Partners 2023. Partner and national head of real estate at Freeths, Darren Williamson said: “Both James and Patrick are ‘home grown’ talent, having trained at Freeths and built outstanding practices over their careers, which serves to highlight why Freeths is such a great place to work. It is a huge pleasure to welcome them into their new roles.” James Hart, Darren Williamson, Patrick Adie Matt Gardiner, Hugo Witts, and Sian Shade Matt Barker 06-15.qxp_Layout 1 06/01/2023 10:13 Page 3BDO expands Midlands team with M&A hire Accountancy and business advisory firm BDO LLP has bolstered its M&A team with the appointment of Ben Dawson as director. At BDO, Ben will be responsible for supporting business owners and management teams in the East Midlands on mergers and acquisitions, raising capital, as well as designing and delivering successful, value maximising exit strategies. As a qualified chartered accountant, Ben joins from Ideagen – a fast-growing, PE- backed, global software business, where he had responsibility for leading its M&A growth strategy. Ben has 16 years’ experience working in the Midlands corporate finance market in a variety of roles, including at KPMG, Natwest, and Foresight Group, where he led and managed several investments in regional SMEs. Roger Buckley, corporate finance partner at BDO in the Midlands, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Ben to the team – someone who has vast experience and a depth of understanding of the Midlands corporate finance market that adds real strength to our proposition. “As the UK braces itself for the biggest downturn of any advanced economy, regional businesses will be looking at alternative ways to secure financial stability and diversify their offering. The role of M&A will be important, as investor cash continues to follow fast-growth and scalable businesses, with a strong ambition and clear strategic intention.” Auctioneer reinforces senior management team with new director promotion Nottingham-headquartered national auction house, John Pye & Sons Ltd, has reinforced its senior management team by appointing Addison Pye to the Board of Directors. Addison Pye, grandson of founders Ann and John Pye, has been promoted to director from his previous position as a commercial manager, providing security and clear succession among the firm’s senior management. With more than seven years of experience throughout the business, starting as an auction porter, Addison has more recently led expansion projects in Europe with a new facility in Zaragoza in Spain. In addition, Addison has played pivotal roles in the development of new initiatives within trading and delivery departments, with him and his team often acting as the bridge between many operational departments, from IT to the sale rooms and marketing. Addison Pye, director, said: “I’m excited and honoured about the director’s decision to elect me to join the John Pye & Sons Ltd Board. I look forward to bringing my ideas to the table and continuing the rapid expansion of this dynamic business. “It feels surreal to be following in the footsteps of my grandparents, the founders of the business, and I’m delighted to now be a part of the company I’ve grown up being fascinated with. I’m extremely driven to make the family and company proud and achieve our full potential over the years to come.” www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link APPOINTMENTS Axil Integrated Services appoints new head of sustainability and zero-waste Axil Integrated Services has appointed Gina Rudkin as head of sustainability and zero-waste. In this role, Gina is responsible for leading the company’s efforts to reduce its own environmental impact and drive sustainability initiatives across all aspects of its operations, as well as supporting Axil’s clients with their initiatives. Gina brings a wealth of experience to the role, having spent the past 25 years working in the waste management field. She has a proven track record of driving change and implementing sustainability and zero-waste strategies within organisations and is a Certified Green Business Council TRUE Zero Waste Advisor. In 2021, she was appointed as a Chartered Institute of Waste Management (CIWM) Fellow, becoming the 36th female Fellow since the organisation’s inception in 1898. Such awards are offered to leading professionals in resources and waste management as a formal acknowledgement of their outstanding achievements in the sector. Gina said: “I am excited to join Axil Integrated Services to build on its impressive environmental agenda and clear commitment to finding innovative ways to make positive environmental and social impact.” Addison Pye Gina Rudkin Ben Dawson 06-15.qxp_Layout 1 06/01/2023 10:13 Page 4Next >