MARCH 2024 EAST MIDLANDS LEADING BUSINESS MAGAZINE www..co.uk WWW.EASTMIDLANDSBUSINESSLINK.CO.UK WWW.EASTMIDLANDSBUSINESSLINK.CO.UK £3.50 Diversifying financial avenues Decarbonising petrochemicals Land, sea and air NTERN NATION AL Fut pro Fut ture fi g coding bility ce g Labelling, c and traaceab Food scienc Environmen spotlight ntal agingkc aa P rld o our guide to the pharmaceutical wY Issue 4 1olume 1 V mpeeee T profitable Sustainable, ature er bl a Unyielding i contro em l ll a Handlingth handli M net www .pbiforum.ne SEPTEMBER 2023 EAST MIDLANDS LEA £3.50 EADING BUSINESS MAGA AZINE een going gr WW The business case eo DMS Comms, Collab WW the barriers Organisatio bs and ANDSBUSINE rstoexceence ning - onal lear ESSLNKCOU w UK .co.uk www EMPOWER Your Business T OCTOB £2.95 BER2023 BreastC Hair & B Cce Bty WithLou In Love Month Awaren B th BLM GROUP www.blmgroup.co.uk Heritage Lincolns hi WWW.LINCWWW.LINC OLNSHIRETOOLNSHIRETO ODAYNEODAYNE september 2023 yorkshire & lincolnsh £3.50 shire’s leading business ma magazine VOLUME38SSUE09 .blmgroup.co.ukwww organ c Over Automation driving adaption success Driving business ning isational lear comngbaeso V w Often Imitated - Never Equalled www.blmgroup.co.ukwww.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.ukEast Midlands Business Link 3 EDITORS NOTES There’s nothing quite like an election year to remind you that politicians are only interested in themselves. With every party busy slinging mud and trying to tell you why you shouldn’t vote for their rivals (while failing to point out why you should vote for them), businesses are enjoying the bitter taste of a recession – but don’t worry, everyone, it’s only a “technical” recession. That’s somehow meant to make it better. Thankfully, business is resilient in our region and the news of a recession probably didn’t come as a surprise to anyone running a business last year. We all knew it was a recession, only the Government were refusing to say it for the usual reasons. Even in the face of such times, there are success stories to be had that show the hard work of people in our region, and that’s something to remember in the event we tumble into a recession that isn’t just a “technical” one. Business continues, and those that can work in a recession can thrive outside of it. Good reading, as always Michael Fisher Editor@BLMEastMidlands BLMEastMidlands Latest news 6 A round-up of the latest news from our region. Commercial property 16 Holding an ideal position in the heart of the country, the East Midlands is unsurprisingly a popular location for investing in logistics schemes. Petrochemical spotlight 20 With a key role in producing most of the everyday items we come into contact with, the petrochemicals sector also has a large environmental footprint. Now under intense scrutiny, with public, government, investor and customer pressure pushing for change, the industry must focus on decarbonisation. Finance 24 In a world seemingly dominated by crowdfunding success stories, the reality for entrepreneurs is more nuanced. We explore a spectrum of funding alternatives, from management buyouts and private equity to venture capital and government grants. Tax 28 James Pinchbeck, partner at Streets Chartered Accountants, shares 10 tips for mastering financial forecasting for founders and entrepreneurs. Materials and components 30 Faced with a difficult few years post- pandemic, the construction industry appears to be on the mend. Legal services 34 In a tightly regulated business environment, legal services are indispensable when safeguarding your company’s interests and securing its success. Public relations 38 Greg Simpson, founder of Press for Attention PR, illustrates why there is such thing as bad publicity. Freight, storage and movement 40 Global politics continue to wield significant influence over the industry, necessitating greater knowledge sharing between stakeholders than ever before. Despite these challenges, the outlook for the industry is a positive one. AutoLink 44 We look at some new models and refreshed names coming to our roads this year • Porsche Taycan GTS review MARCH 2024 EAST MIDLANDS £3.50 LEADING BUSINESS MA AGAZINE sea and air INESSLINKCOUK .co.ukwww. ochemicapetr Decarbonisin W als ng avenues Diversify WWWEASTMI Land, s ying financial IDLANDSBUS Cover photographs courtesy: • stock.adobe.com/Kalyakan • EdNurg • ipopba • stokkete • bannafarsai Contents March 2024 Corporate hospitality 50 Physical event? Digital? Why not an AI event? Events54 A timely look at forthcoming business events around the East Midlands. Out of office56 Good news from across the region. And finally...58 Here’s Frazer’s collection of the weird and wonderful ‘news’ that came his way over the last few weeks.20 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. East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk GENERAL NEWS East Midlands Chamber and East Midlands Freeport sign strategic partnership Two economic heavyweights in the East Midlands have joined forces to help make the region an enticing destination for overseas investors. East Midlands Chamber and East Midlands Freeport have entered into a strategic partnership agreement that aims to maximise the economic potential of having the UK’s only inland freeport located in the region. The freeport provides tax and customs benefits to businesses that locate themselves across three tax sites in Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire with the goal of attracting foreign direct investment that will create jobs and boost skills in key sectors such as advanced manufacturing, automotive and logistics. The ability to retain business rates will also help drive economic regeneration across the region. The partnership will involve co-ordinated activity between the organisations on inward investment, harnessing the Chamber’s relationships with local MPs and Government decision-makers. The Chamber will also support the freeport to identify businesses that could become customs site operators. NTU launches programme to support female entrepreneurs Nottingham Trent University (NTU) has launched ‘Female Founders Club’ (FFC) – a fully funded programme to support female business founders across Nottinghamshire and the Midlands. Run by NTU Enterprise, the FFC is free to join, thanks to Funding from a NatWest Regional Partner Grant, which will fund the programme for a year to include monthly events and workshops to help female founders evolve their existing businesses or help them launch new ones. FFC members will meet in NTU’s Dryden Enterprise Centre (DEC), giving them the opportunity to network with the DEC’s business community alongside creating a peer mentoring group of their own. NTU Enterprise can connect female founders with other programmes of funded business support available from NTU including innovation grants, investment readiness support and programmes tailored to creative and digital businesses and social enterprises. The FFC has members from a range of different businesses including interior design, marketing, website design, sustainable goods, clothing, therapy services and creative agencies. East Midlands business confidence soars in February Business confidence in the East Midlands rose 14 points during February to 52%, according to the latest Business Barometer from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking. Companies in the East Midlands reported higher confidence in their own business prospects month-on-month, up 13 points to 52%. When taken alongside their optimism in the economy, up 15 points to also reach 52%, this gives a headline confidence reading of 52% (vs. 38% in January) – the third strongest level in the UK in February after Scotland (56%) and the North East (54%). A net balance of 35% of businesses in the region expected to increase staff levels over the next year, up nine points on January. East Midlands businesses identified their top target areas for growth over the next six months as evolving their offering, including introducing new products and services (42%), investing in their team (39%), and entering new markets and introducing new technology (both 31%). East Midlands Chamber Chief Executive Scott Knowles New enterprise centre set for Arnold Gedling Borough Council has unveiled plans to create an Enterprise Centre that will support local start ups and small medium enterprises at its flagship AMP business unit in Arnold. A report has been published by the council that is allocating a significant investment of £655,000 into fitting out the vacant first floor of the building to boost economic growth and provide a space for offices, conference and training room in the heart of Arnold. The AMP was opened by Gedling Borough Council on the former Arnold Market site in 2022 and is home to several thriving small businesses on the ground floor. The council always had plans to develop the first floor space and the project has received £655,000 from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund so that work can begin and is expected to be completed by the Autumn. The project will support several council priorities including revitalising town centres, support economic growth and creating jobs in the area. It will also increase footfall to the town shopping precinct and support the existing businesses in the area. 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. New Mayor and East Midlands Combined County Authority given final go ahead The last legal step to establish the East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) has been signed and made into law. Jacob Young MP, Levelling Up Minister, signed the regulations that allow for EMCCA to be created. It means that residents across the area will get to vote for the very-first East Midlands Mayor, with elections taking place on Thursday 2 May 2024. The new combined county authority is all thanks to a devolution deal, which will see the region benefit from a £1.14bn investment package, spread over a 30-year period, alongside devolved powers around transport, housing, skills and adult education, economic development and net zero. Plans for East Midlands devolution are similar to those already in place in other mayoral regions, like the West Midlands and Greater Manchester, and it is estimated that the region will unlock around £4bn of funding over the coming years. Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Derby and Nottingham councils approved the creation of EMCCA in December. Leader of Gedling Borough Council, Councillor John Clarke MBE at the AMP © stock.adobe.com/ Jacob Lund Jacob Young, Levelling Up Minister Image courtesy of Gedling Borough CouncilEurocell appoints new director to spearhead people first strategy Alfreton home improvement specialist, Eurocell, has appointed Cat Hambleton-Gray as its people director to drive forward the company’s People First strategy. Cat joins Eurocell with 27 years of experience in people and HR roles across several businesses, including retail, hospitality & the veterinary industry. She has led a number of long-term strategic cultural changes, employee engagement, talent management and wellbeing projects. Cat Hambleton-Gray, people director at Eurocell, said: “Employee engagement is critical to Eurocell and embedding our new purpose and values will be key this year. We will review our engagement cycle and be considering how we can enhance this and especially how we can be ‘always listening’ to our colleagues’ views and ideas. “Another key focus area will be wellbeing. We already offer a number of brilliant wellbeing benefits and our intention is to create a full wellbeing strategy which is relevant for our colleagues and will increase awareness and understanding of all elements of wellbeing. This in turn will support our colleagues to build resilience and be a support network for each other.” Darren Waters, CEO at Eurocell, added: “Cat’s wealth of experience in learning & development and HR roles makes her a great strategic leader for Eurocell. People First is a key part of our future Eurocell strategy and Cat’s approach perfectly complements our vision of a workplace where employees thrive and contribute meaningfully.” APPOINTMENTS New leadership for engineering consultancy BWB Nottingham-headquartered engineering consultancy BWB will grow under new leadership with the appointment of Graham Sant as Chief Executive. Graham, who joined the company’s board three years ago, takes over from long- running CEO Steve Wooler, who has led BWB since a management buy-out in 2008 and will stay on as a non-executive director. Graham said: “I joined BWB because it stood out as something almost unique – a consultancy of national standing that has a refreshingly agile and entrepreneurial approach, and a team of people who combine experience and intense professionalism with real ingenuity and client focus. “They’re passionate about creating places which work for everyone while preserving our planet in the process. It’s a guiding principle for them. “My remit has been to help the business build on that culture to grow the number of large, high-value projects that we are delivering on behalf of clients, and I’m delighted to be taking over the reins from Steve at a time when BWB is doing significantly more large-scale work.” Major projects BWB has delivered include SEGRO’s strategic railfreight interchange at Radlett, the BBC’s new West Midlands headquarters in Birmingham, the Hinckley national railfreight interchange with Tritax Symmetry and National Highways’ major improvement scheme on the M621 in Yorkshire. East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk Leicestershire technical consultancy appoints new board of directors A Leicestershire technical consultancy has strengthened its board of directors. MEC Consulting Group, formerly M-EC Development Technical Consultants, has promoted Tim Rose to regional director (Leicester) while adding Rob MacDonald as regional director (Birmingham) and Dave Stockton as director – Civils & Structures. MEC’s Managing Director, Alex Bennett explains: “Since becoming MD in the final quarter of last year, I’ve had the opportunity to review our business goals and reprioritise. Key outcomes from this exercise were the need to broaden client awareness of the full suite of services we offer, and to expand our work with housebuilders and developers. “To achieve this, we have deliberately recruited from within the housebuilding industry, appointing two well- connected and respected professionals in Dave and Rob. “Both have two decades’ expertise working for regional developers and national PLCs, meaning they have an inherent understanding of the quality and service required, and are entirely commercially minded. This, coupled with our collaborative approach, is what we believe will set MEC apart.” Cat Hambleton-Gray MEC’s board of directors (L-R): Tim Rose, Rob MacDonald, Alex Bennett and Dave Stockton Graham SantNorthamptonshire contractor appoints head of IT to drive digital transformation Main contractor Kori Construction has appointed a head of IT to spearhead the business’s ongoing digital transformation. Anthony Francis, 43, brings 24 years of digital experience to the East Midlands company, including stints in the legal and construction sectors. In his new role, Anthony is aiming to significantly reduce the administrative burden within business via effective enterprise resource planning (ERP), as well as optimising cyber security to ensure all business and client data is safely stored. His work will also enable Kori Construction to utilise project data more effectively to make better future decisions, and track the carbon emissions of both the business and its projects, helping to minimise its impact on the environment. Anthony said he was looking to solve the key pain points his colleagues are facing to help free them up to spend more time delivering frontline services. He said: “Digital transformation is primarily about increasing back office efficiency to support the frontline team. If we can help them to do their jobs as best they can, they can focus on providing an exceptional experience to clients. “In this respect, data is king. Data enables us to understand our processes on a deeper level and bring this understanding to our work. It enables us to make better decisions going forward and ultimately, provide a better service to clients.” Regional business leader appointed to key devolution role A top regional lawyer has been appointed to the shadow board steering the creation of the new East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA), ahead of the very first election for East Midlands Mayor in May. David Williams, chairman of Geldards, will take on the role of interim business representative on the EMCCA shadow board, joining local politicians from the four key councils involved in the East Midlands devolution deal. David said: “I’ve lived and worked in the East Midlands for over thirty years and I’m committed to doing what I can to raise the profile and economic prosperity of the region, developing the many successful partnerships between the private, public and third sectors. “I’m looking forward to working with political leaders and other partners to maximise the opportunities that devolution will bring to the region.” Councillor Barry Lewis, Leader of Derbyshire County Council, said: “David will be a tremendous asset to the shadow board and his appointment is another important step forward as we press ahead towards the creation of the new East Midlands Combined County Authority. “David brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the role and we look forward to working with him during this key period for East Midlands devolution.” www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link APPOINTMENTS BDO bolsters East Midlands team with partner hire Accountancy and business advisory firm BDO LLP has strengthened its Midlands team with the appointment of a new partner. Having previously worked at BDO between 2011 to 2018, Steve Round re-joins the firm as a tax partner in the East Midlands. He specialises in transaction tax and advising owner-managed businesses, their shareholders & private equity- backed businesses on tax issues arising during all stages of a business’s lifecycle. At BDO, he will manage a portfolio of clients across a breadth of sectors, including technology, professional services, manufacturing, business services and real estate. He will also focus on transaction work, advising on corporate structuring, shareholder exits, business acquisitions, tax due diligence, succession and the creation of Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs). Kyla Bellingall, regional managing partner at BDO in the Midlands, said: “We’re delighted to welcome back Steve to our rapidly expanding East Midlands team. “In the last 12 months, we have invested significantly in the region, cementing our position in the market with our long-term move to Nottingham city centre, while also attracting talented and high-performing individuals to strengthen our proposition. “Steve will add considerable value as we continue to grow our tax and corporate finance teams in the East Midlands.” Steve will be based in the firm’s Nottingham office and joins from Cooper Parry. Steve Round David Williams Anthony FrancisNext >