< PreviousR ecent advances in battery technology, too, have caused the classic argument against an electric car – ‘it doesn’t go far enough without plugging it in’ – to fall by the wayside. Indeed, just about every manufacturer is now getting in on the act. So while there is still very much a case for buying a petrol, diesel or hybrid, the case for the electric vehicle is gaining traction all the time. So, here’s a list of our top electric cars to look out for. There are no Teslas here, by the way. Why? Well, as suggestions go, we decided to look at less obvious options. BMW i4 Electric BMW’s i4 Electric is the battery- powered version of the standard 4-Series Gran Coupe. It has its own personality and design, although none of BMW’s top- notch engineering has been sacrificed in its production. An 83.9kWh battery means you’ll get up to a 365-mile range, with a 10-80% charge taking around half an hour. It’s swift and has a refined ride. But there’s also a quicker ‘i4 M50’ version producing 544PS which has been dubbed an ‘electric BMW M4’. There’s little reason to doubt that claim. Audi Q4 e-Tron Practicality and economy are personified in this crossover SUV. The vehicle is packed with the latest technology, including Audi’s excellent interior design and impressive infotainment system. It’s now available with a range of 314 miles thanks to its 82kWh battery, which can be charged Top Electric Cars As the popularity of electric cars surges, more and more of them are arriving in UK showrooms. East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk AUTOLINK 62 Á 60-63.qxp_Layout 1 04/10/2022 09:30 Page 1BMW i4 Electric www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link AUTOLINK 60-63.qxp_Layout 1 04/10/2022 09:30 Page 2from 5-80% in just 29 minutes. A higher- powered 299PS four-wheel-drive version is available, too, which gets from 0- 62mph in 6.2-seconds. It’s well-equipped and practical, while a Sportback coupe variant with a sloping roofline is also offered for those who prefer more athletic characteristics. Mercedes EQS For those wanting a big saloon, the Mercedes EQS isn’t quite an all-electric S- Class. However, there are some similarities, not least in terms of its size and luxuriousness. That said, an S-Class looks bland sitting next to it. 333PS is offered, while a humongous 108kWh battery provides a range of up to a whopping 453 miles, yet a 10-100% charge takes little more than 30 minutes. It’s a hefty car but still handles reasonably well. If money is no object, then a 658PS AMG version also exists with four-wheel drive. The EQS is also the most aerodynamically efficient production car ever made. Genesis GV60 Recently, Genesis appeared on the European scene as an off-shoot luxury brand of parent company Hyundai. The GV60 is a subcompact crossover with an ostentatious interior – far more so than the likes of BMW, Audi, and Mercedes- Benz. Meanwhile, a 77.4kWh battery provides up to 321 miles of range depending on which motor you pick (although it’s not quite as high if you choose the most powerful one, which has 482PS at the touch of a button). A 10- 80% charge can be done in just 18 minutes if you can find a quick enough charger. The looks are futuristic, while it’s practical, spacious and packed full of tech. Plus, it comes with a five-year warranty. Hyundai Ioniq 5 The Ioniq 5 is a compact crossover that looks much bigger in the metal. It’s excellent in every way, exceptionally well- equipped as standard and rapidly fast. The car has a well-designed, futuristic, spacious interior and a large, Audi Q4 e-Tron East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk AUTOLINK 60-63.qxp_Layout 1 04/10/2022 09:30 Page 3accommodating boot. What’s more, it comes with a five-year warranty. 58kWh and 73kWh batteries are available – and if you can find an ultra-rapid charger, you can get from a 10-80% charge in eight minutes. Three power outputs are offered, ranging from 170 to 217PS, while the range is between 238 and 323 miles. Alternatively, consider a Kia EV6, which is basically the same car with a different body, which can go even further. As we said at the beginning, there are dozens of electric cars now, and more are arriving all the time – and there are plenty of excellent vehicles that didn’t make this list. The future is well and truly here. Mercedes EQS Genesis GV60 Hyundai Ioniq 5 www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk AUTOLINK 60-63.qxp_Layout 1 04/10/2022 09:30 Page 4 East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk WAREHOUSING AND DISTRIBUTION G iven its central location within the UK, the East Midlands should be a warehousing and distribution hub for many nationwide suppliers. However, there is in fact a significant lack of warehousing space within the region, and the available space is so expensive that it prices many smaller businesses out of the market. Further to this, industrial units are gaining traction as trendy locations for leisure facilities such as gyms and pubs – meaning that the competition for space is growingly fierce. The Amazon business model has overhauled the way many distributors operate today. Many businesses now choose to store vast quantities of stock in centralised hubs, which can easily be selected and sent out within hours of an order being received. Due to this, the largest issue is the lack of vacant units within the region. As of June 2022, there are only 8 units over 100,000 sq ft across the East Midlands. This equates to a vacancy rate of only 1.4%. In fact, there are just three vacant units within the 200,000-360,000 sq ft range across the region. This has resulted in larger companies contracting the construction of built-to-suit units, but in the face of increasing construction costs and lengthy lead times, this is costly in both time and money. There are currently 27 units under construction, totalling a further 5.06 million square feet of space. However, a majority of these are already under offer or have multiple companies competing for them. Despite the extra units, if these were to be counted as vacant, this would only increase the vacancy rate to 5.45%. In other words, the demand for larger units continues to far outreach the supply. Many businesses are choosing to outsource space in neighbouring regions instead. This is problematic for the sustainability of East Midlands business, as this could cause a lack of infrastructure The challenges of distribution Given its central location within the UK, the East Midlands should be a warehousing and distribution hub for many nationwide suppliers. The reality is something else. The challenges of distribution 64-66.qxp_Layout 1 04/10/2022 09:32 Page 1www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link WAREHOUSING AND DISTRIBUTION © stock.adobe.com/Brian investment in the region, something which is already an issue. The massive demand for space has caused rent to skyrocket for top-quality units. This has even had a knock-on effect for lower quality space, many of which are undergoing comprehensive refurbishment to maximise profitability and secure renters. With only 3% of transacted space in 2022 being second hand, companies are willing to pay top dollar for good storage. In fact, the trend preference is for better quality units. This year, 49% of space transacted was speculatively developed, 28% of which was let before practical completion, and 48% of this was built-to-suit space. With all the available units being considered Grade A, there is no need to offer incentives to prospective renters. This pushes the net-effective rents to new heights for owners, making a rent-reprieve unlikely. To further confound the problem, industrial units are in demand for increasingly diverse purposes. Small businesses are now commandeering these units for use as trendy gyms and pubs, leaning into the recycled buildings as a quirky feature. This is increasing the competition for small units of less than 5000 sq ft, which provide more flexibility for smaller businesses. This competition is making it more difficult for smaller businesses to get themselves off the ground. Fortunately, this trend has led to speculative construction of developments of small units. An example is the Lewis Industrial Estate in Hyson Green. The estate was developed in direct response to the demand for industrial accommodation within the East Midlands. It has already committed large companies like Screwfix and Edmundson Electrical to long-term leases, proving the appetite for 66 Á 64-66.qxp_Layout 1 04/10/2022 09:32 Page 2 East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk WAREHOUSING AND DISTRIBUTION this type of space. In reality, there was double the interest by the time the steel work went up than there was space to accommodate. There is a proposed scheme at Beeston Business Park, which is anticipated to receive similar attention. The demand for space is so competitive that businesses may be forced to take smaller units than they would prefer. So, what can be done to maximise the space that is available? Generally, using the vertical space of a warehouse is just as important as the floor space. This could be done by installing a mezzanine or using tall shelving. This largely depends on whether staff will be picking the items out, or robots. It is also important to ensure safe retrieval processes are in place, such as vertical lifts or picking robots which can auto retrieve and store. Vertical storage could also extend to adding beams across the aisles, which can be excellent for additional pallets. This includes space above the dock doors. To maximise over- door storage, a simple pallet rack can be added, or over-dock systems can be specifically designed for a particular unit. Another way to maximise space is to reduce the size of the aisles, which allows more stock to be added. This is easily achieved by switching handling operations from a sitting to a standing system. Stand up trucks require 96’’ aisles, whereas traditional sit-down equipment often needs as much as 168’’. Another consideration is storage type, as not all products are likely to be suited to shelving. Diversifying storage types could include carousels or racking instead of shelving. To identify optimal storage types, companies should identify which stock is fast moving. These are less likely to need shelf space and may even be able to be floor stacked. The simple fact is that if the East Midlands is to retain its status as a central distribution hub, more purpose-built warehousing space is required. Given that outsourcing to other regions has already begun, this has the potential to encourage investment in those regions instead. There is also significant opposition from locals to be anticipated whenever new warehouses are proposed, given their purpose-built nature often leaves much to be desired with their appearance. The key takeaway is to ensure that space is utilised wisely, via storing as much information as possible digitally (implementing a paperless initiative) and employing space saving storage techniques. © stock.adobe.com/standret 64-66.qxp_Layout 1 04/10/2022 09:32 Page 3FEATURES Manufacturing Spotlight Materials Handling Water & Waste Management Education & Training Business Services Movember Charity Special REGULARS Commercial Property Motoring Corporate Hospitality Watch out too for the latest news from across the region in every sector Next month in November 2022 - Deadline 19th October Visit us at www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk where you’ll find the latest news as it breaks – and why not subscribe to our newsletters so you can have the latest news emailed to your inbox 67.qxp_Layout 1 04/10/2022 09:32 Page 1 East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk what cognitive diversity is (and what it isn’t), recognise the potential benefits and risks of cognitive diversity, depending on how it’s managed, and learn how to harness cognitive diversity in organisations. For more information visit www.emc- dnl.co.uk/connecting-you/business- focused-workshops/hr-forum6/hr- forum7/?VariantID=5370 Cyber Security Strategy for 2023 and beyond… Thursday 13 October Commerce House, Lincoln This is not a workshop to tell you what anti-virus or firewall you need, nor is it a workshop to leave you terrified after a scary sales pitch. This is a workshop focused on the security, resilience and data protection needs of Lincolnshire-based businesses in order to make them more competitive and agile than their competitors from a security perspective. For more information visit www.lincs- chamber.co.uk/events/cyber-security- strategy-for-2023-and-beyond/ FSB Leicestershire and Rutland Virtual Networking Friday 7 October Online Join this monthly networking event to make new contacts and renew old ones. Meet a broad selection of businesses from the comfort of your desk. With a chance to chat with other small business owners, you will have plenty of opportunity to set up one to ones and to find useful business contacts. Although targeted at the Leicestershire and Rutland areas, all small businesses are welcome to attend and to strengthen their business across the county. For more information visit https://bizgateway.org.uk/events/fsb- leicestershire-and-rutland-virtual- networking-9/ The Power of Difference: Enabling Cognitive Diversity Wednesday 12 October Online This session will help you understand events Optimising Personal Leadership Wednesday 19 October Online Change is now the norm. For businesses to thrive, teams and individuals must become masters of change. In this interactive workshop the nature of change is explained and demonstrated through case studies and examples. It then looks at attendee’s readiness to change before providing tools and strategies managers can use in Workplace Wellness Wednesday 12 October Online Right now, 1 in 6 employees is dealing with anxiety, stress, depression and this can stop them performing at their best. Equally important are the positive business reasons for supporting staff mental health. The world of work is changing, with employee engagement, flexible working, resilience, and talent management now common currency. Positively managing mental health underpins these approaches and can reap rewards in terms of staff morale, productivity, and loyalty. Smart employers know that organisations are only as strong as their people – they depend on having a healthy and productive workforce. They also know that people perform better when they feel able to put everything into their job and when they are confident, motivated, and completely focused on doing that. This course will introduce you to the key principles to achieve a positive wellbeing culture in your workplace. For more information visit www.d2n2growthhub.co.uk/events/workplace-wellness-cohort-8-reskill-and-recover-program/ © stock.adobe.com/See More © stock.adobe.com/LIGHTFIELD STUDIOS 68-69.qxp_Layout 1 04/10/2022 09:34 Page 1www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link the workplace to lead their teams and help through the change cycle. This event is for business owners, leaders and managers with some leadership experience within organisations who wish to develop more advanced leadership skills to increase their effectiveness. For more information visit https://bizgateway.org.uk/events/optimisin g-personal-leadership19-oct/ Tik Tok for Small Businesses Thursday 20 October Online Learn if Tik Tok is the right platform for you and your business, what features are available, and how to put these into practice. This one-part masterclass will be interactive with discussion and participation encouraged to ensure that delegates get the most out of the session and have the opportunity to raise questions and ideas about their own businesses. For more information visit www.businesslincolnshire.com/events/ event-details/ ?id=4049&navigatedFromSearch=true Supporting your Supply Chain Strategy Tuesday 25 October NTU City Campus, Nottingham Today’s supply chains across many sectors are undergoing unprecedented East Midlands Expo Monday 14 November East Midlands Conference Centre, Nottingham On Monday 14 November 2022 the East Midlands Expo will return, providing a perfect day for networking and business generation. An established event of over 20 years, for which Business Link is a proud partner, the free to attend expo is well targeted and aimed at the construction, property, business, investment, finance, professional services and related B2B markets. The exhibition will open to attendees at 9am, with a seminar taking place between 10:45am and noon. A special networking lunch will then take place between 12:15pm and 2:15pm, and the exhibition will close at 3:30pm. For more information visit https://businessshowsgroup.co.uk/nottingham/ Carbon Footprinting - The Next Steps Tuesday 11 October Online So you’ve produced your first carbon footprint, now what? This webinar will help organisations use the available information to prioritise the areas of focus for reducing their carbon emissions and the associated financial benefits. For more information visit www.emc-dnl.co.uk/connecting- you/industry-focused- events/sustainability-and-low-carbon- events/sustainability-and-low-carbon- events2/?VariantID=5355 changes and challenges. To support local businesses, Nottingham Trent University is running a series of supply chain workshops followed by company specific 1-2-1 consultancy. For more information visit www.d2n2growthhub.co.uk/ events/supporting-your-supply-chain- strategy/ 68-69.qxp_Layout 1 04/10/2022 09:34 Page 2Next >