Business & Innovation Magazine - Issue 18 March 2020

REGIONAL

INTERVIEWS:

JAMES GARDINER, GARDINERS

JAMES WOOLLARD, POLYTHENE UK

LEADING WOMEN IN INDUSTRY

Oxford-Cambridge Arc, Midlands Engine, and The Western Gateway

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY Regional

Covering

Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire & The Thames Valley, Worcestershire, Coventry, Warwickshire & North Wiltshire

Editor-in-Chief and Co-Publisher

Nicky Godding Tel: 07966 510401

nicky.godding@nkmedia.co.uk

Commercial Director and Co-Publisher

Kirsty Muir

Tel: 07971 912020

kirsty.muir@nkmedia.co.uk

Chairman, NK Media Ltd

James Palmer

Regional Account Manager

Rosemary Henderson

Tel: 07889 227432

rosemary.henderson@nkmedia.co.uk

Operations and Events Manager

Lizi Clapham

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Chief Photographer

Rob Lacey www.roblaceyphotographer.co.uk

Contributing Editor

Anita Syvret www.syvretmedia.co.uk

Contributing Columnist

Ian Mean

Sub Editor

Joyce Matthews

Guest Editor

Peter Davison

Publisher - NK Media Ltd Unit B, 76 Kingsholm Road Gloucester, GL1 3BD 01452 203399

Registered Office: McGills, Oakley House, Tetbury Road, Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 1US Company number 10569394.

Regional Coverage:

Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire & The Thames Valley Worcestershire, Coventry & Warwickshire and North Wiltshire

NEXT ISSUE: MAY/JUNE 2020

PRINT DEADLINE: 20TH APRIL 2020

Business & Innovation Magazine is a bi-monthly magazine published by NK Media Ltd. Our readers are business owners, senior executives, key influencers, entrepreneurs, innovators and those working in further and higher education, and government departments. Any opinions expressed by those quoted in this magazine are their own and do not necessarily represent or reflect those of Business & Innovation Magazine, or of NK Media Ltd. No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form of advertising or promotion without the written permission of the Editor-in-Chief or Commercial Director.

The editor’s view

Nicky Godding Editor-in-Chief

07966 510401

nicky.godding@nkmedia.co.uk

@Nickywritesbiz

We’re out. Has the world stopped turning? Are our supermarket shelves bare? No, of course not. So it’s only the first step and negotiating trade terms with our former union-mates will be particularly painful, but we are edging forward. And another piece of news: HS2 is going ahead. Whether you’re for it, or vehemently against, the government – for the moment at least, appears all steam ahead in its strategy of levelling up the regions.

I recently met a former Network Rail Board member. She is frustrated at the media constantly reporting that people think that HS2 isn’t worth it because who cares if it shaves just half an hour off a journey from London to Birmingham? That’s not the point, she said.

I don’t live close to the proposed new track so I’m not going to be personally affected (and I accept I might feel differently if I did), but that does allow me to look at it from a wider perspective.

The stark facts are that much of our rail infrastructure was built more than a century ago. Our trains are full, the tracks are full and if we are serious about getting people out of cars and onto public transport, the country must invest in major transport infrastructure.

Yes it will be eye-wateringly expensive (and HS2 is certainly that – why is it so overbudget?). To mollify those against the plan, Boris has launched a £5 billion fund to boost cycling and bus travel.

This issue looks at our regional economies. The Midlands is already benefiting from HS2 – because private money follows goverment investment.

And we also look at intellectual property – if you have a good idea, make sure it’s you who benefits. We also celebrate some of the region’s most successful women in industry.

And among all that, there’s our usual coverage of new companies, new investment and new ideas from across the region. Enjoy the read.

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY NEWS

IN THE HEADLINES

NEW:

INTERNATIONAL NEWS FROM OXFORDSHIRE AND THE THAMES VALLEY

INTERVIEW:

JAMES GARDINER PUTS HIS BEST FOOT FORWARD

FEATURE SPECIAL:

THE VALUE OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

LEADING WOMEN IN INDUSTRY

LET’S HEAR IT FOR THE GIRLS

P100 P104

SPOTLIGHTS ON: CYBER SCIENCE & TECH MANUFACTURING

INTERVIEW: P30

JAMES WOOLLARD, POLYTHENE UK

BRITISH SHIRTMAKER INVESTS IN LOCAL TALENT TO DRIVE INDUSTRY

Celebrated British shirtmaker throws her support behind a new community sewing studio in Gloucester

Five years ago, Emma Willis, MBE DL, whose shirt-making factory is based in a beautiful old building in the centre of Gloucester, was invited to No 10 Downing Street to talk about British manufacturing and her concern that the country wasn’t capitalising on the value of the “Made in Britain” label.

The government introduced Emma to Jonathan Newhouse, Chairman of Conde Nast International, which was also championing the British clothing manufacturing industry, and together they set up the Emma Willis Sewing Scholarship.

The scholarship involves a year’s paid training at her Gloucester factory.

Now Emma has supported one of her sewing scholars, Aysha Randera, in setting up a studio, based in the Friendship Café in Gloucester. The studio will offer free clothes-making facilities, sewing classes and a social place to make new friends in this multi-cultural city.

Government data reveals that in 2017, 109,000 people were employed within textiles and apparel manufacture (excluding the self-employed), an increase of one per cent on the previous year.

Initiatives such as Emma’s are helping to boost the numbers which show a steady growth.

Aysha, who runs The Friendship Café with Imran Atcha, is Emma’s fifth sewing scholar. Aysha now wants to pass her skills on to others in the city, for their pleasure or to pursue careers in the industry.

Emma’s company donated four industrial sewing machines to the café, as well as a £25,000 4x4 to partner charity City Farm. The cost of creating the new studio was covered by local Gloucestershire families who have also given support to City Farm and The Friendship Cafe.

Much of the refurbishment work was provided by local volunteers including a team of offenders and ex-offenders as part of the Gloucester Community Pay Back programme. The classes at the studio are particularly attended by refugees with sewing skills who find a place to make new friends and practise their sewing and English which is also taught.

The UK’s fashion and textile manufacturing sector produces products worth £9.1 billion, ranging from designer creations seen at the leading catwalks to fabrics used in medical, defence and transport industries.

Outside Emma Willis’s Jermyn Street store in London: Kath Muir, Head of Production, Emma Willis and Aysha Randera who runs the Emma Willis Sewing School at The Friendship Cafe in Gloucester

“The Emma Willis Sewing Scholarship involves a year’s paid training at her Gloucester factory”

Aysha Randera

HERU partners with Siemens to develop boiler tech

The groundbreaking Home Energy Recovery Unit (HERU), has announced a new partnership with Europe’s largest industrial manufacturing company, Siemens.

Developed in Worcestershire, the HERU takes items destined for waste, such as coffee cups, nappies and plastics and converts them into energy to heat water.

The invention is already using Siemens’ technology and this new partnership will see Siemens support production of HERU’s Hybrid Water Heating System.

Research has shown that a HERU could take an average sized home with an average 2.4 person occupancy producing one tonne of waste from creating 1.6 tonnes of CO2 per year to minus 80kg CO2 per year for heating and hot water.

The announcement follows the appointment of James Clark Technologies as UK manufacturer for the commercial HERU. It builds on the expertise provided by the Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry, which has been working with HERU since 2018.

Founder and CEO of HERU, Nik Spencer said: “Siemens’ knowledge and expertise of mass industrial manufacturing is invaluable to HERU’s production and we look forward to working with them to drive future innovation of domestic and commercial HERU units.”

Professor Alan Norbury, Chief Technologist, Digital Industries at Siemens, said: “Siemens is excited to help with the future development of the HERU, particularly in the production phase where we can share 170 years of best practice and experience from our factories.”

This announcement comes after 10 months of successful technical evaluations at Wychavon District Council and six months of trials at Hillers Farm Shop in Warwickshire.

In the headlines

Electric vehicle company Arrival, which can now claim “unicorn” status (start-ups valued at more than $1 billion, or £770 million), is celebrating winning a major contract to build 10,000 electric vehicles for international courier company UPS.

The company’s unicorn status was achieved in January, after Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors Corporation revealed an investment of 100 million Euros in the company. UPS’s venture capital arm also has a minority investment in Arrival, which has its research and development, and a manufacturing base in Banbury.

From 2020, the vehicles will be deployed across the UK, Europe and North America, and UPS has the option to purchase a further 10,000 vehicles during this period.

The vehicles will be built using Arrival’s new method of assembly using low capital, low footprint microfactories in local communities.

Denis Sverdlov, founder and CEO at Arrival, said: “Arrival first announced a partnership with UPS in 2016 to develop electric vehicles.

“Together our teams have been creating bespoke electric vehicles, based on our flexible skateboard platforms, that meet the needs of UPS from driving, loading and unloading, depot and back office operations. We are pleased that this investment and vehicle order create even closer ties between our companies.”

Juan Perez, UPS Chief Information and Engineering Officer, said: “As mega-trends like population growth, urban migration and e-commerce continue to accelerate, we recognise the need to work with partners around the world to solve road congestion and pollution challenges for our customers and the communities we serve.

“Electric vehicles form a cornerstone to our sustainable urban delivery strategies. Taking an active investment role in Arrival enables UPS to collaborate on the design and production of the world’s most advanced electric delivery vehicles.”

Major electric vehicle order arrives from global courier company

The HERU

Passport to science and tech paradise at Oxford Technology Park

It can be difficult negotiating Oxfordshire in the rush hour, but national and international connectivity will certainly be less of a problem for those working at one business park.

Oxford Technology Park sits next to London Oxford Airport and just a short distance from Oxford’s new(ish) Parkway Station.

A total of 14 high-quality units are now planned for the park, along with a new innovation quarter. The first two units and the innovation quarter, all built speculatively, are now being readied for occupation.

The team from Hill Street Holdings, the company behind the privatelyowned Oxford Technology Park, have experience in the high tech market from Cambridge and East Anglia. They identified the opportunity in North Oxford for a full science and technology park some time ago.

The new innovation space will comprise smaller units, around 4-7,000 sq ft each, and will address the demand for grow-on space from serviced office, business incubation and smaller premises for up to 30-40 staff. There will be a mix of research and development, small production or manufacturing accommodation, married to office space.

And as with many of Oxfordshire’s growing number of science and technology parks, there’s lots of amenities from a gym, nursery, cafes and a new hotel and restaurant.

The proposed Oxford Technology Park development

ELECTRIC SUPERBIKE DESIGNED BY STUDENTS TO RACE THIS SUMMER

A team of undergraduate engineers are designing and building an electric superbike to race this summer. The team of 40 students from a range of University of Warwick departments are working on the project and have secured superbike racer Tom Weeden to ride the bike. He will also be involved in the testing and trials.

With the government announcement that it intends to ban the sale of petrol, diesel and hybrid cars by 2035 the race to electrify the motor industry is on, and motorbikes aren’t to be overlooked.

The 40 University of Warwick students from a range of departments including: WMG, School of Engineering, Computer Science, Physics and Maths will work together to make the electric

superbike possible with thanks to support from Rajputana Custom Motorcycles and Mupo Race Suspension.

School of Engineering student Aman Surana is managing the Warwick Moto team. He said: “The reason why I’m doing engineering is because of my interest in motorsports, be it four wheels or two. More than theory and the principles behind engineering concepts, it’s about the practical experience and finding real solutions rather than just what works on paper.

“It’s great to have the support from our sponsors Rajputana Custom Motorcycles and Mupo Race Suspension, and further support from WMG centre High Value Manufacturing Catapult, leading academics in the industry are helping us to make this possible.”

A ticketer to Norway will make travel easier

Hungerford-based Ticketer ended the year 2019 on a high by acquiring Norwegian ticketing company FARA, which has offices in Poland, Sweden, Finland and Denmark.

Ticketer’s investment in FARA will increase the company’s product portfolio and strengthen its expansion into mainland Europe.

Like Ticketer, FARA (an old Norse word for travel) wants to make travel easier for passengers. Through the latest technology in electronic ticketing machines, back office software and passenger-facing apps, they focus on providing real-time information for use on board, online

and on mobile to increase the use of public transport.

John Clarfelt, Ticketer CEO, said: “We are thrilled to bring together two leading payment providers in transport. By virtue of working together, in future we will have significantly wider development capabilities and product portfolios for our customers both in the UK and across the rest of Europe.”

FARA and Ticketer both specialise in ticketing and location-based solutions for public transport and share many similar business attributes. Both companies are leaders in their respective markets and have a strong reputation for industry leading R&D and delivery.

GARDINERS TAKE GIANT STEPS INTO THE NEW RETAIL LANDSCAPE

On a windy industrial estate on the edge of Gloucester, inside a group of ordinary-looking warehouses, sit almost one million pairs of shoes ready for despatch

By Nicky Godding

From Hush Puppies to Muck Boots, Crocs to Dr Martens and Rocket Dogs, pretty much every form of shoe attire, apart from really high-end fashion (we’ll come to that later), can be found on the racks of Gardiners, the UK’s biggest distributor of everyday, work and safety footwear in the UK.

This 140-year old family business, which turns over £50 million annually, is now being run by the descendants of the first Gardiners, who started the business in Alvin Street, Gloucester in 1860.

A matching pair of businesses embrace diversification to grow

The Gardiners Bros Group is two businesses: Footsure and Gardiners.

Footsure distributes primarily work and safety footwear and the CAT range of work clothing. Its biggest accounts include Screwfix, Mole Valley Farmers, Wynnstay and independent construction or agricultural retailers.

Gardiners distributes non-safety related footwear and sells dozens of well-known brands.

The backbone of that business was the smaller independent retailers, but increasingly the company is servicing national retailers such as Debenhams and John Lewis, where online e-commerce is

as important as the traditional stores.

Footsure makes up around 60 per cent of the Group’s business.

The Group’s brand extension business, where it buys and holds brands to sell through retailers’ websites, makes up around 20 per cent of the whole business.

Gardiners

James Gardiner, Chief Executive, The Gardiner Bros Group

Chief Executive James Gardiner, 45, works alongside his cousins, directors Ben Gardiner, 45, and Mark Holloway, 47.

James, an accountant by profession, joined the business in 2000, moving back to Gloucestershire from London. Ben arrived three years later and Mark joined around 10 years ago, bringing IT expertise from running a technology business.

The family members sit within a sevenstrong management team that has grown an already successful business from an £8 million turnover when James arrived to work alongside his father and uncle, Jolyon and Peter Gardiner, to its current turnover of around £50 million.

Now the company is aiming to double its turnover again. But with high street retail struggling, the company’s traditional

customer base – how come the business is doing so well?

While fewer of us shop in store, more are buying online. And Gardiners adapted early and successfully to online retail.

Visit a bricks and mortar store such as Next, and you’ll see a limited range of shoes. Visit the website and there are dozens more. Called range extension, this is where Gardiners is winning.

James explained: “We list additional products on their website, uploading images and data, integrating with their systems.

“Their orders filter through to us and we despatch to the consumer. This widens consumer choice without the retailer taking the stock risk.”

The retailer can try out new brands and Gardiners can put its huge stock-holding

through many different retailers. To achieve this the business has invested heavily in technology, employing four full-time developers building the software to integrate with its customers’ systems.

“We all need shoes. Apparently, the average man owns 12 pairs of shoes, women can own 24, and more of us are buying online. A good thing then that Gardiners adapted early and successfully to online retail”

A great Hush Puppies story

“We are working work with more multichannel retailers and offering more brands,” said James. “Ben has done a particularly great job over the last couple of years with Hush Puppies. This is a great success story for us.”

Hush Puppies is owned by American company Wolverine, which also owns Caterpillar footwear. “Wolverine licensed Hush Puppies to us two years ago and Ben, along with his design and resourcing team, put together a range which is growing rapidly. Another exclusive brand success story for us is Muck Boots, and our own brand, Cotswold, won outdoor brand of the year last year.”

Gardiners’ success lies in its relationship with retailers and brands. “We may launch a brand in the UK and grow it to a size where it’s no longer sensible for a retailer to use us as a distributor,” said James. “It becomes more costeffective for them to buy direct from the manufacturer and we help them do that.”

He cites the example of Timberland Pro. “Around four years ago the company which owns Timberland Pro relaunched the brand through us in the UK. Last year it bought out the cool work-wear brand Dickies, and it made sense for Timberland Pro to sell through Dickies in Europe rather than through us as distributors.”

It seems a bit unfair for Gardiners to lose out after successfully introducing a brand, but James doesn’t see it like that.

Taking big steps in growth ambitions

The Gardiner Bros Group is aiming to double its turnover during the next five years, driven predominantly by the UK market, but it is looking at other markets which have similar bricks and online retail models.

Europe is a good place to start, as the company has customers in France, Holland and Germany.

“If a retailer is selling 500 pairs, it should buy direct because we add in cost. Accepting this gains us the trust of the retailer and the brand, which means they offer us new brands and we only work where we add value.” In the case of Timberland Pro, Gardiners hasn’t lost out completely, it still distributes some of the brand for Dickies.

You can’t argue with the figures. Over the last five years Gardiners has averaged around 10-15 per cent growth a year.

What the company doesn’t generally sell is high fashion (although I spotted some rather nice zebra-print high heels on its website), because the return rate on some fashion ranges can be high. “We buy the products and take the financial risk. Hence the need to stay predominantly with products that don’t have high writedowns or returns,” said James.

“We are open-minded about how we expand overseas and will be driven by where we find a retailer that we can work with,” said James.

“We could look at a market, do a big appraisal, put in a sales team – or we could do it by finding areas of success and build around it. I think that approach is probably more viable for us.”

The company is also moving to seven day working to keep up with service level agreements.

With some retailers offering customers next day delivery if orders are placed up to 10pm at night, Gardiners must pick and pack later into the evening.

The company has a pretty low staff turnover and James hopes this will continue. “We employ around 150 people and try to treat them properly, not measuring their every step. Our warehouse manager has been with us for 40 years and has supported the changing business.”

Housing the business in one big warehouse will help and the company is currently hunting for a 100,000 sq ft warehouse close to its current location. “We hope to have moved by the end of 2021,” said James.

There seems to be no let-up for this successful business. “We have a tight management team and despite it being a family business there are no secrets and very few politics. Our success is down to the management team as a whole.”

Gardiners

Gardiners

NEW £13 MILLION RIBENA BOTTLING LINE OPENS IN FOREST

A year after Japan-based Suntory Beverage & Food announced its £13m investment in Lucozade Ribena Suntory’s Coleford factory, its new energy and waterefficient production line has opened.

The high-speed bottling line fills 55,000 bottles an hour, enabling Lucozade Ribena Suntory to keep up with demand, including for its British favourites, Lucozade and Ribena.

This is in part due to innovation such as new dry aseptic technology, which uses heat and pressurised air instead of water to clean bottles before they are filled.

“It’s fantastic to have been able to invest £13 million in this line and to deliver a 40 per cent reduction in the energy and water required to make each bottle”

Suntory says this new line forms part of its global sustainability strategy by reducing the amount of water and energy used during the manufacturing process.

Producing a bottle on the new line requires 40 per cent less energy and water than the previous line.

This investment sets Lucozade Ribena Suntory up for future success as the additional capacity for bottle production allows the factory to evolve alongside consumer tastes.

The new line will provide flexibility for future innovation, particularly around low-calorie options.

Carol Robert, Chief Operating Officer at Lucozade Ribena Suntory, said: “It’s fantastic to have been able to invest £13 million in this line and to deliver a 40 per cent reduction in the energy and water required to make each bottle. We are

Tourism sector joins forces across counties to drive industry growth

More than 160 people from Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire gathered in Cheltenham to debate how to boost the region’s tourism.

Steve Gardner-Collins, Sales Director for The Hatton Collection and organiser of the event, said: “Sharing best practice is an essential part of developing what is a vital industry for the region.”

The event was supported by Marketing Cheltenham, The Cotswolds, Marketing

Gloucester, Wye Valley & Forest of Dean Tourism, Visit Worcestershire, Worcestershire Vale & Spa, North Worcestershire Economic Regeneration and Development and Visit The Malverns.

Tourism contributes £146 billion, (more than seven per cent) to the UK’s GDP. Having left the EU, a key government objective is to increase the UK’s global influence. It sees tourism as key way to achieving this.

making an important commitment to the environment and our consumers.

“This investment is a vote of confidence by Suntory Beverage & Food in our UK and Gloucestershire operations, ensuring our factory in Coleford continues to be a best-in-class facility for years to come.”

Care home business boosts portfolio with new acquisition

Stroud-based care home company JAMMAC Group has purchased Longview Care Home in Truro. The home specialises in care for those suffering from dementia and mental health conditions.

The acquisition marks a continued period of expansion for the Brimscombe-based family business, which is led by husband and wife, Mike and Christine Westmore with support from their three daughters and son.

JAMMAC Group also owns care homes in Newquay and Saltash.

Mike Westmore said: “Longview provides some of the best care in the area. We look forward to getting to know the staff and residents and adding value to this already excellent facility.”

Tourism conference participants

The new £13 million bottling line at the Lucozade Ribena Suntory factory in Coleford

ProCook dishes up record trading figures to date

While many retailers suffered a lacklustre Christmas trading period, kitchenware company ProCook bucked the trend, reporting record sales for the eight week peak trading period to January 5.

The multi-channel kitchen equipment retailer based in Gloucester, posted almost £10 million in sales during the period, a 20 per cent like-for-like increase on last year.

The increase was driven by a 13 per cent like-for-like lift in retail sales and a 28 per cent increase online.

ProCook founder Daniel O’Neill said: “Our retail growth was the stand-out performance with a 13 per cent like for like increase – unheard of in today’s retail climate.”

Last year ProCook opened 13 High Street stores following its acquisition of Steamer Trading and a further new unit in the Icon Outlet Shopping Centre at London’s O2.

Daniel added: “The High Street model has many challenges and we’re working hard to overcome these and make progress in this area. Our strong results can be attributed to both the strength of the team at ProCook and the introduction of many new products. Although cautious we are confident of continued success in 2020.”

ProCook was founded more than 20 years ago. With more than 50 UK stores, a fast-growing e-commerce business it also has a strong international presence within seven European markets. The retailer designs and manufactures around 1,200 exclusive products.

MULTI MILLION POUND REBRAND FOR CHELTENHAM HOTEL

A multi-million-pound refurbishment, has seen the Cheltenham Chase Hotel rebranded to “Delta by Marriott”. It is only the second Delta Hotels by Marriott venue in the UK.

The £2.5 million transformation included modernisation of 122 bedrooms, lounge, restaurant and bar.

The investment was made by Almarose Hotel & Resorts, the hotel management arm of Aprirose, formed following the acquisition of Qhotels in 2017.

Almarose is now responsible for 20 hotels operating under the QHotels, Doubletree by Hilton and Delta by Marriott brands.

Crime reduction business looks international for growth

Recipero, the Gloucester-based business which collects and securely stores information about serial numbered property, everything from mobile phones to power tools, has been bought by its management team, Les Gray and Steve Shepherd, from the American company that acquired it in 2016.

Recipero collects transaction data involving identifiable property.

Everything from retail sale to loss and theft reports and second-hand trade is collected, building a unique history of each article.

Co-owner and Chief Operating Officer, Les Gray, described what the business does as “similar to the vehicle checks we’re all familiar with, but for everything else, revealing outstanding finance, loss theft or other factors that a potential buyer should be wary of.”

The company’s customers include all UK law enforcement agencies, the largest online retailers and every responsible high street name

which offers trade-in or trade-up of consumer electronics.

Recipero provides around five million checks a month when devices change hands, and its ecosystem combines this with data from insurers, police and the public to determine the legitimacy of goods they are buying, prevent insurance fraud and putting the police in contact with the rightful owners.

Les and Steve share decades of technology experience and were programmers of the first versions of the software that forms the basis for Recipero today.

“We have seen growing interest in our ecosystem throughout international law enforcement agencies,” said Les. “The UK is a leading example of what can be achieved through sharing of non-personal data between government, business and consumers. Our new independent status allows us to capitalise on this interest to accelerate international growth.”

Recipero has been growing at a rate of around 25 per cent a year, and turnover last year was just under £5 million.

Regional round-up

The Cheltenham Chase Hotel, now Delta by Marrott

Tom Henson, Client Services Director at the technology outsourcing company

First Solution, talks about how a modern workplace strategy can transform a business’s operation.

It is clear that technology has hugely impacted people’s personal lives enormously over the past 20 years. We are now able to communicate instantaneously with our family and friends across the world, have an encyclopaedia of information available at our fingertips, and even have the ability to control much of our environment by using only our voices. By some estimates, change is happening ten times faster and at 300 times the rate of the First Industrial Revolution. Many experts are calling this change the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

However, often these changes are not touching people’s business lives to the same degree. Many business working environments do not look that much different to what was being employed in the year 2000.

Tom Henson: ‘I talk to many businesses who haven’t changed the way they work much, if at all in the past 20 years. As much as they have tried to adapt to new technology, most of their staff working environments still consist of word processing, spreadsheets and email. I don’t think this is their fault, in my opinion the technology industry has done a bad job in helping them through the process.’

‘The good thing, however, is that the big technology providers have realised this and changed their approach. They have spent years, and millions of pounds developing technology and now they realise that’s not of much use unless businesses are using it’

Tom Henson, Client Services Director, First Solution

‘Take for example Office 365. This has been a resounding success for Microsoft, at least in the fact that it’s had a very high adoption rate in business. But if you look at the elements of the service businesses are using, it’s a very small proportion of what the product can do – it is still generally Word, Excel and Outlook. However, Microsoft have realised this is a problem and are looking to address it.’

First Solution are working with Microsoft to help businesses adopt a Modern Workplace strategy. By fully utilising platforms such as the Microsoft 365 platform, a business can fundamentally change the way their staff work and give them the technology to make them more dynamic and productive.

‘We are saying to our customers – you are sitting on a goldmine. You have already got the technology in your business, ready to go. With First Solution’s expertise on how to employ this technology to solve your business challenges you can give your staff the tools to excel in their roles.’

“We’ve had some great results working with our customers on adopting a Modern Workplace strategy. By laying a solid foundation for their business operations using a technology like Office 365, businesses can do things they never thought imaginable, like automating processes within a couple of days, or enabling team working and collaboration overnight.”

Tom Henson, Client Services Director First Solution Technologies

If you are an organisation who is looking to grow and are interested in how technology could potentially help you scale up then the team at First Solution are the people to talk to. Contact Tom Henson on 01242 335 549.

Look to the modern workplace to improve staff productivity, collaboration and engagement…

KOHLER JOINS THE UK’S LARGEST BUILD TO RENT DEVELOPMENT AT WEMBLEY PARK

Cheltenham-based Kohler, part of Kohler Mira, has been awarded a contract to supply bathroom and kitchen products for residential properties in the largest build to rent development on a single site in the UK, at Wembley Park, London.

The 85-acre site, being developed by Quintain, forms the largest Kohler project of its kind in Europe, where the manufacturer will supply more than 55,000 individual components.

The residential buildings will be managed by Tipi, Quintain’s lifestyle rental brand.

Kohler, a global manufacturer of kitchen and bathroom sinks and showers, will have its products in more than 4,200 bathrooms and 1,200 kitchens.

Mary Kelly-Mannion, Head of Procurement for Quintain, said: “Working with Kohler has been a great experience because we have formed a partnership of mutual design understanding.”

As part of its partnership with Quintain, Kohler has custom-designed and manufactured a bathroom basin especially for Wembley Park.

Delphi Technologies sold to American manufacturer for $3.3 billion

Delphi Technologies, which sells its propulsion technologies worldwide, is being bought by USA-Based BorgWarner, a global product leader in clean and efficient technology for combustion, hybrid and electric vehicles.

Delphi has a major manufacturing site at Stonehouse in Gloucestershire where more than 1,000 people are employed.

The sale values Delphi Technologies at approximately $3.3 billion.

BorgWarner says that the acquisition will strengthen the company’s power electronics products, capabilities and scale.

Frédéric Lissalde, President and CEO of BorgWarner, said: “Delphi Technologies will bring proven power electronics technologies, talent and scale that will

Housing company retains top credit rating

One of the South West’s largest housing associations has preserved its leading A+ credit rating after being praised for its “very strong liquidity” and “exceptional asset quality”.

Bromford, which owns or manages thousands of homes across Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire, received the continued endorsement from S&P Global after the rating agency acknowledged the landlord’s strong financial performance.

complement our hybrid and electric vehicle propulsion offerings.”

He added, “We have a great deal of respect for Delphi Technologies’ team around the world and look forward to welcoming them to BorgWarner.”

Richard Dauch, CEO of Delphi, said: “Delphi Technologies’ portfolio is highly complementary to BorgWarner’s and together we plan to create a pioneering propulsion technologies company uniquely equipped to serve original equipment manufacturers and aftermarket customers around the world.”

The deal is expected to complete later this year, subject to approval by Delphi Technologies’ stockholders, and receipt of regulatory approvals.

The announcement comes a month after S&P confirmed it was revising Bromford’s rating outlook to stable from negative, reflecting its overall revision of the UK sovereign credit rating and the housing association’s focus on a greater delivery of social and affordable housing.

S&P also pointed to Bromford’s revised new homes plan which aims to deliver more than 13,000 new homes by 2028 and has been strengthened through its strategic partnership with Homes England.

Imran Mubeen, Bromford’s Head of Treasury, said: “We are really pleased to yet again preserve our A+ rating which is testament to our focus on maintaining our strong credit profile against a backdrop of increased levels of debt and a significant acceleration in our housebuilding programme.”

Imran Mubeen, Bromford’s Head of Treasury

Kohler bathroom destined for Wembley development

MONEY MAN COMES UP WITH SUSTAINABLE EDUCATION BUSINESS IDEA

Chris Morling, the man who launched Cirencester-based financial comparison website Money.co.uk in 2008 and sold it to Zoopla in 2017 for £140 million, is aiming to disrupt the international education market.

Along with best friend Simon Andrews he has set up a new company, Studee, to transform how international students find their university abroad.

Simon has worked in the global higher education sector for more than 20 years, building the Big Choice Group which helped millions of young people with their careers.

Chris says the process of enrolling at a university for international students is outdated for today’s centennials. Studee has a multilingual team of advisers to help students from application to enrolment.

Studee will also plant trees for every student enrolled, to contribute towards absorbing CO2 released each time they fly to university.

Chris said: “Studee is reinventing the way international students find a university while adding transparency in an industry which has suffered some corruption and has largely ignored the climate crisis.”

Pioneering sustainable hygiene brand urges businesses to join the refill revolution

A UK manufacturer of rinse-free bathing products, based near Stroud, which has pioneered sustainable hygiene for businesses since 2010, is calling for more companies to join the refill revolution.

Waterless wants people to switch to using Nilaqua, its refillable, bulk, vegan and alcohol-free, Norovirus-killing sanitizing product.

Manufactured in Brimscombe, the carbon footprint of making Nilaqua is minimal, the company says. Its floor cleaner, surface spray and hand sanitizer are available in five-litre refill bottles.

Packaging is made from 25 per cent recycled plastics, with a local return system, meaning zero waste.

Being a water-based product, the sanitizers can also be used frequently without drying out hands.

Waterless was launched in 2009 by Peter Efford, now Managing Director. “I developed the product to help those who found traditional bathing difficult, such as the elderly and infirm,” he said.

But the business found that its products were also perfect for the expanding UK

Pennant wins two international contracts

Pennant International Group, the Cheltenham-based supplier of integrated training and support in the defence and regulated civilian sectors, has been awarded two new overseas contracts, in Australia and the Middle East.

Pennant Australasia Pty Ltd (the Group’s wholly-owned Australian subsidiary) will supply training aids and services for aviation technician training for the Australian Defence Force at a new training facility in Nowra, Australia.

The Group also received an order of around £1.5 million to provide additional training aids to the Middle East.

Pennant Group CEO, Phil Walker, said: “These exciting new contracts demonstrate not only the increasing diversity of our product and services portfolios but also the Group’s continued ability to win business internationally.

summer festival culture, for outdoor military uses and where water itself is scarce. Waterless products have been used in the Western Sahara and South Africa where droughts are a regular fact of life.

Waterless Ltd’s Nilaqua is helping reduce plastic waste

Simon Andrews and Chris Morling have launched Studee

“Studee is reinventing the way international students find a university”

Stock photography business snapped up by media group

ECO-FRIENDLY CLEANING COMPANY CELEBRATES 10 YEARS IN FRANCHISING

A national award-winning domestic housekeeping business has celebrated its 10th anniversary in franchising with a head office move from Manchester to Oxfordshire.

Bright & Beautiful has relocated to Horse Fair, near Banbury Cross. The company is part of Neighbourly, the world’s largest franchisor of home service brands, following its acquisition by the group in 2017.

Bright & Beautiful set up its first pilot franchise in 2010 in Altrincham, Greater Manchester.

The ethical business has since grown its national network to more than 65 franchise owners, created a workforce of more than 850 people and in 2019 hit a record turnover in excess of £8 million.

In 10 years, the fully managed servicebased franchise, which provides ecofriendly cleaning, tidying, laundry and

ironing, has delivered more than 150,000 home service cleans and oneoff cleans every year.

Further growth is planned for 2020, including generating new professional housekeeping roles to bring the workforce to more than 1,000 and achieving an annual turnover in excess of £10 million.

Sue Moore, Managing Director of Bright & Beautiful, said: “We’re proud of reaching our10-year anniversary in franchising and to relocate to Banbury, where we can join the rest of the Neighbourly family and be more cohesive as an organisation.

“We are growing our network of more than 65 franchisees, who are providing hundreds of local jobs across the UK, and offering career opportunities for their professional housekeepers, including promotions to customer service and senior operational roles.”

Alamy, the Abingdon-based supplier of stock photographic imagery has been sold to PA Media Group.

Founded 20 years ago, Alamy has one of the world’s most diverse creative and editorial stock imagery collections, comprising almost 200 million photographs. The business has close to 100,000 customers in more than 150 countries.

The acquisition sees the PA Media Group enter the stock imagery market for the first time. It also supports the Group’s ambition to diversify its business and consolidate its position as the UK’s leading provider of cross-platform news, sport and entertainment data, content and services.

James West, co-founder of Alamy, said: “PA Media Group is a natural home for Alamy. As well as having one of the UK’s most comprehensive photo archives, PA has an excellent reputation built over 150 years.”

Clive Marshall, Chief Executive of PA Media Group said: “Alamy has created a fantastic ecosystem of content creators and content users around a superior e-commerce platform.”

Angel networks in Oxford merge to speed up early-stage tech investment in the Oxford Cluster

Oxford Investment Opportunity Network (OION) and Oxford Angel Network, part of Oxford University’s commercialisation arm Oxford University Innovation, have merged.

The organisations said the move would contribute significantly to strengthening the appeal of the Oxford Cluster as a great place for companies to flourish.

OUI and OION will collaborate in the selection of companies to be invited to pitch at seven annual investor showcase events. The merger of the two networks will give both new and existing angels an opportunity to invest in new tech companies from the Oxford Cluster and the wider UK, all under

one roof. Potential opportunities will include a diverse range of tech firms, from innovative software start-ups to deep tech university spin-outs.

Jens Tholstrup, Executive Chairman at OION, said: “This is a combination that will help ambitious companies access early stage finance to help develop and grow their businesses and will provide the community of investors with an even greater selection of innovative technology and knowledge-intensive businesses.”

Jens Tholstrup, Executive Chairman at Oxford Investment Opportunity Network with OION investees Learning With Experts’ Elspeth Briscoe and Daniel Rosewarne

Creative consultancy becomes employee-owned enterprise

An independently-owned creative consultancy has announced it is moving to employee ownership through the creation of an employee ownership trust (EOT).

The move to the EOT model was managed by accounting and advisory firm Grant Thornton. It will see Bicester-based Emperor follow in the footsteps of around only 350 companies that have made the transition since legislation was passed in 2014 to provide a route to employee ownership.

Collectively, Emperor employees with 12 months’ continuous service will now indirectly own a 67 per cent majority stake in the business, with the remaining 33 per cent being held by the three founder Steve Kemp, Noel O’Connor and Kingsley James.

The management team will be joined by an Employee Board comprised of six members to represent the interests of employees from all parts of the business and offices.

The Employee Board will elect representatives to ensure the employee

voice is heard and can help guide the future direction of the business.

Founded in 1996, Emperor specialises in corporate reporting, brand, employee experience and sustainability across numerous channels.

With more than 200 employees and six offices across the UK and the Middle East, it maintains a diverse and international client base across many sectors.

Steve Kemp, Emperor CEO, said: “Our decision to move towards employee ownership is rooted in our deep appreciation for the contribution our employees have made over our 24-year history.

“Emperor has built a collaborative culture that promotes the best talent and innovation. This move will only strengthen it by emphasising our shared purpose and reinforcing the inclusive nature of our business. I believe this will put us in the best possible position to achieve our future aspirations as an independent agency.”

Comms specialist acquires PR firm

Communications specialist The CI Group has added PR to its range of services with its acquisition of B2B and consumer media relations and influencer specialist Clareville.

The acquisition of the London-based agency takes Banbury-based CI Group closer to its target of £20 million a year turnover and £5 million gross margin by the end of 2020.

The integrated communications business now comprises six agencies, with

Management buyout at engineering firm

Engineering, design and surveying consultancy Glanville is under new ownership following a management buyout.

The Didcot-based firm was founded in 1972 by John Glanville to provide a civil and structural engineering design service. The company now also provides geomatics, building surveying, highways and transport planning services to clients across both the public and private sectors.

“One of the things that sets Glanville apart is that many of the directors and owners over the years have come up through the ranks within Glanville and so completely understand the company and its values”

Corporate Innovations specialising in experiential, live events and reward programmes, Roundtable in digital strategy and brand development, and Ellipsis, a design and creative agency.

Clareville develops successful media relations and influencer programmes for major consumer and B2B brands. Clients include Baby Bjorn, Green People, Bing, G-Tech and most recently Spacebit, the first UK rover going to the moon.

Howard Gell and John Birch, who became shareholders in 2007, will continue and are joined by existing Directors Tim Foxall, Hylton George, John Hanlon and Andy Smith. The two retiring shareholders are Chris Edge and John French.

Howard Gell, Managing Director, said, “One of the things that sets Glanville apart is that many of the directors and owners over the years have come up through the ranks within Glanville and so completely understand the company and its values. This is true of the new owners and there will continue to be opportunities for our staff to progress in the same way the new shareholders have.”

It’s all smiles among the staff at creative consultancy Emperor

Organised and supported by 14 of the county’s leading organisations, the Awards are firmly established as a benchmark for business excellence.

 The Bicester Village Retail Award

 The BRITA Green Award

 The CIS Technology Excellence Award

 The Oxfordshire LEP New Business Award

 The Ridge and Partners LLP Business of the Year Award

 The Royds Withy King Small Business Award

 The Shaw Gibbs Young Business Person of the Year Award

 The Shaw Gibbs Business Person of the Year Award

 The Oxford Science Park Innovation Award

 The Syndicut Marketing Excellence Award

BARCLAYS TO OPEN NEW EAGLE LAB IN OXFORD

Barclays has launched its latest Eagle Lab at the Wood Centre for Innovation in partnership with The Oxford Trust.

The Barclays Eagle Labs network is one of the largest incubator networks for start-ups and scale-ups in the UK, providing a platform to connect the UK’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The labs are spaces to help entrepreneurs and ambitious businesses to access a broad range of skills to stimulate

innovation, promote collaboration and enable skills development. The Eagle Lab at The Wood Centre is Barclays’ first dedicated science and technology lab. It will provide space for up to 40 entrepreneurs while offering onsite facilities, including 28 permanent and 12 hot desks. It is expected to open this month.

Barclays now has a network of 25 labs, including Oxford, which are helping nearly 2,000 entrepreneurs.

Business Park owner announces expansion of Chalgrove site

Global investment manager Hermes has acquired MEPC, the UK commercial real estate developer and asset manager whose portfolio includes Milton Park, a major science and technology park in Oxford.

Beside Milton Park and a similar facility at Silverstone, MEPC is developing mixed-use urban regenerations in Manchester, Leeds and Bristol.

Chris Taylor, CEO of Hermes Real Estate, said: “This acquisition of MEPC provides Hermes with a conduit for best in class development management expertise, supporting our ambition to be the leading provider of great places,

which deliver positive outcomes for both society and the environment. There are many synergies between the two brands and an already long-lasting and successful relationship, which can now be built upon further.”

James Dipple, Chief Executive of MEPC, said: “This is an exciting transaction for MEPC, allowing us to combine our long track record of success with a leading real estate investment manager.

“Our strategic ambitions for the future are fully aligned with those of Hermes and, therefore, a strong basis for the growth of MEPC.”

REGIONAL ROUND-UP OXFORDSHIRE

Historic Oxford builders go into administration

Symm, One of Oxford’s oldest and most respected building companies has fallen into administration.

Lawrence King of Critchleys LLP has been appointed administrator and a statement on the firm’s website said: “The company has experienced recent tough trading conditions and the current pipeline of work is not sufficient to continue this longstanding and highly regarded Oxford brand. The directors have explored various alternative paths but have taken the difficult decision to appoint an Administrator.”

The company, which employed around 150 people, operated its joinery and cabinetry business from Pershore, Worcestershire with its main construction function based in Oxford.

For decades Symm, which had its headquarters at Cumnor in the city, was synonymous with quality and heritage and worked on some of Oxfordshire’s most prestigious buildings.

Last September Symm Chairman James Axtell, participated in a Business & Innovation Magazine round table. He said the company’s future was about trying to retain what it excels at but encouraging more sophisticated ways of delivering it. “Rigorous financial controls are going to be critical for us,” he said at the time.

The founders of Symm were Daniel Evans, born around 1769 in Fairford, Gloucestershire, and Joshua Symm from Northumberland. The men were awarded an Oxfordshire Blue Plaque in 2004, mounted on 34 St Giles, part of a terrace of three houses that Daniel designed and built in 1829.

The Wood Centre for Innovation is to host Barclays Eagle Lab

Operating a payroll can be both time consuming and complicated, and the introduction of Pensions Auto-enrolment has increased the burden on employers, heightening the potential risk of penalties for noncompliance or late submissions.

The Pensions act of 2012 introduced new legislation that made it compulsory for all employers to implement a company pension scheme irrespective of the size of their business. Since then, all companies must offer their staff the opportunity to re-enrol into the scheme every three years.

Whitley Stimpson, one of the largest independent accountancy practices in the area, with offices in Banbury, Bicester, High Wycombe and Witney, has a dedicated payroll team supporting clients in dealing with all the everyday issues associated with employing staff, including Pensions. It offers a confidential, cost-effective solution to meet individual business requirements, whatever the size or complexity of your business, or simply provides support when needed.

Earlier this year the Pensions Regulator announced a new wave of short-notice mandatory inspections targeting employers that they believe are ignoring their automatic pension enrolment duties. The inspections started in the summer and are ongoing, with failure to comply a criminal offence. The message from the regulator is clear: break the law, and you’re very likely to get caught.

Tracy Gill heads up Whitley Stimpson’s payroll team of five and explains: “Inevitably there will always be a small number of rogue businesses that seek to flout the rules but sometimes law-abiding

businesses that have made entirely innocent errors or accidentally missed deadlines are at risk of action from the regulators.

“Re-enrolment comes with complex rules, for example - the re-enrolment date must fall in the three months either side of the first anniversary of an employee’s staging date. That’s the date their workplace pensions started. And whatever the outcome, employers must then submit an online declaration of compliance form to confirm to the regulator that they have met their re-enrolment responsibilities.”

Our focus is not just on aiming for continuous improvement here but working with clients to improve their whole approach and this includes compliance with pension auto-enrolment.”

The Whitley Stimpson payroll team has enjoyed tremendous growth over the last few years, with an average of 10% yearon-year increase in the number of new

“The aim for 2020 is to actively market a newly streamlined accountancy payroll service and to look to recruit even more people to support this growth and maintain our excellent work on behalf of our clients. Our focus is not just on aiming for continuous improvement here but working with clients to improve their whole approach and this includes compliance with pension auto-enrolment.”

clients. The team was named as a finalist in two Reward Strategy Awards categories this year for the Service Provider Team Award and The Next Generation Award.

speak to one of Whitley Stimpson’s payroll experts please contact Tracy Gill on 01295 270200 whitleystimpson.co.uk

Does your payroll comply with pension re-enrolment legislation?

Tracy Gill, payroll expert Whitley Stimpson

MOTOR ENTHUSIASTS FLOCK TO BICESTER HERITAGE

Crowds of motoring enthusiasts braved an early start in January to enjoy a Sunday Scramble meet at Bicester Heritage.

The company behind the transformation of RAF Bicester wants the site to become the world’s leading destination for motoring past, present and future.

Founded in 2013, Bicester Heritage is now home to 40 specialist motoring businesses, with a collective turnover of more than £40 million.

The businesses are based at a beautiful 444-acre Second World War former RAF Bomber Training Station.

Daniel Geoghegan, Chief Executive of Bicester Heritage, said: “The Sunday Scramble was the ideal opportunity for us to welcome visitors to the world’s only centre of excellence for historic cars, skills and apprenticeships.

“The relaxed, family atmosphere was a true reflection of the vibrancy and welcoming nature of Bicester Heritage and the classic car world it represents.”

The airfield hosted to a wide selection of car club gatherings, from the Cold War Classic Car Owners Club through to the members of the Lotus 7 Owners Club, many of whom had also driven roof-down to attend, a brave move with temperatures well below double digits for the day.

Bicester Heritage’s insurance partner, Hagerty UK, also returned with its free valuation service for cars attending.

Offering owners an expert opinion on market values, it had proved popular at previous Scrambles and every appointment was booked out in advance of the day.

Stay in the loop with energy-saving assistant

Oxford-based data and technology

business Trust Power has launched Loop, an innovative energy-saving assistant that allows households to see and understand their live energy usage, while simplifying the process of switching to a better energy tariff.

Loop allows users to track their energy usage and spend through a user-friendly app and helps them to make changes that could lower their energy bills and reduce their impact on the environment.

One innovation is to help users identify ‘Phantom Loads’ – devices that

are left turned on or on standby all the time.

Trust Power founder Roy Bedlow, said: “We wanted to create something that was user-friendly and provides real-time information, so people can immediately see the impact they can make.

“Loop allows users to build an understanding of how they consume, and more importantly, waste energy, whether that’s by leaving things on or on standby unnecessarily, or by simply not being aware how much something costs to run.”

Oxford solar tech business named a 2020 Cleantech 100 company

Oxford PV – The Perovskite Company, a leader in the field of perovskite solar cells, has been selected from thousands of innovators worldwide for a place on the 2020 Global Cleantech 100 list.

The list that features in Cleantech Group’s respected annual report identifies leading companies with sustainable innovations poised to solve the world’s biggest challenges in the next five to 10 years.

Frank Averdung, Chief Executive Officer at Oxford PV, said: “Inclusion on this prestigious list reinforces the confidence in our technology and its ability to make a real difference to the world.

“Solar panels built with Oxford PV’s perovskite-on-silicon solar cells will generate significantly more power than panels with standard silicon cells – making solar energy more affordable, accelerating its adoption, and addressing climate change.”

Oxford PV announced in 2019 it was preparing for volume production of its efficient “plug and play” perovskite-on-silicon solar cells – a direct substitute for conventional silicon solar cells, that will be assembled into industrystandard PV modules.

Manufacturing equipment orders were placed in 2019. The complete production line will commence perovskite-on-silicon solar cell production at the end of 2020.

Oxford PV was established in 2010, as a spin-out from the University of Oxford.

“The Sunday Scramble was the ideal opportunity to visit the world’s only centre of excellence for historic cars”

Current and future motor enthusiasts at Bicester Heritage

Oxfordshire Business Awards 2020 launches and is open for nominations

This year’s Oxfordshire Business Awards (OXBA) were launched at the Oxford Science Park. Businesses from across Oxfordshire can now enter the 2020 awards. Business & Innovation Magazine is delighted to have been chosen as the official media sponsor for the awards. Since 1994, the OXBAs have recognised the achievements of thousands of the county’s businesses, including new businesses, small businesses and the county’s larger businesses. The launch event was a fantastic opportunity to welcome previous award winners, along with new and emerging businesses.

The Oxfordshire Business Awards take place on Friday 12 June at the John Henry Brookes Building at Oxford Brookes University. www.oxfordshirebusinessawards.co.uk

PHOTOGRAPHY: ROB LACEY

Tanja Melling from Santander with Nick King from South and Vale District Council and Kate Benefer and Lucy Nash from Royds Withy King

Peter O’Connell from Shaw Gibbs and Nigel Brooks from Lloyds Banking Group

Nicky Godding from Business & Innovation Magazine and Sue Staunton from James Cowper Kreston

Mark Nieuwenhuys from Ridge and Partners with Mike Hemming from Lloyds Banking Group

Paul Lowe, Chairman of OXBA with Richard Wratten from Hays

Proud Media Sponsor

Neill Lawson-Smith from CIS with Jeff Hutchinson from NatWest and Nigel Tipple from Oxfordshire LEP

Sam Goose from Abingdon & Whitney College and Sam Daniels from Shaw Gibbs

Sarah Gardener from Shaw Gibbs and Kirsty Muir from Business & Innovation Magazine

Jon Silversides from Carter Jonas with Dr Roger Mould from HSBC and Simon Bassett from Royds Withy King

Ian Butler from Royds Withy King and Matt Povey from HSBC Steve Icke and Andrew Davies from Barclays

James Latham from Oxford Science Park and Sarah and Matt Jaycock from High Spec Composites

Elaine Adams and Jane Rendle from ARCh and Mike Karim from Oxford Endovascular

Peter Woolsey from Positive Concepts and Patric Vale from Ridge and Partners

Duncan White from Marks & Clerk and Stefano Pratesi from SP1 Solutions

James Benson from Ridge and Partners with Phil Saville from CIS

POLYTHENE UK WRAPS

UP FURTHER GROWTH THROUGH INNOVATION

By Nicky Godding

Everything comes wrapped in polythene. From nuts and bolts to new sofas – even an entire modular hotel bathroom can now be built off-site and protected in transit by metres and metres of this wonder material.

Polythene, the most common form of plastic, is essential to modern life. It protects goods in transit and preserves products for longer, reducing waste.

For years this versatile material (discovered accidentally by a British polymer chemist in 1933) has enabled global trade, and doesn’t deserve the bad press it’s getting.

Because the only negative thing about polythene is that it has traditionally come from fossil fuel.

But what if the polythene that wraps pretty much everything which needs to be transported on ships, lorries and vans, was made from recyclable waste?

It’s not a pipe dream, says James Woollard

of Witney-based Polythene UK, which is pioneering a new plant-based polythene made from the waste produce of sugar cane. Called Polyair, James says it is the first packaging product to be certified as carbon neutral by the Carbon Trust.

“This is waste produced from an existing crop which would otherwise go to landfill,” he said.

“The UK is a net importer of the raw material from Indonesia, Brazil and Saudi Arabia, so we might as well import something that’s carbon neutral.”

But James didn’t launch Polythene UK in 2008 to save the planet. “I wanted a company that was better at delivering

than anybody that by a mile. I didn’t set out to reduce the world’s carbon footprint, but I’m pleased we do.”

Polythene UK’s core business is to develop thinner, stronger polythene. The company aims to reduce polythene thickness by 20 per cent, which reduces waste – and cost to businesses.

Manufacturing businesses pay around £400 a tonne for the polythene they use. This goes via the Environment Agency to improve and expand our recycling capabilities.

“Using thinner material, a business’s 10 tonnes of polythene becomes eight

Polythene doesn’t have to be the enemy of climate emergency protesters, says James Woollard of Polythene UK

tonnes,” explained James. “Each one tonne of polythene costs the planet 2.6 tonnes of CO2. So that’s 5.2 tonnes of CO2 saved just by reducing the thickness of the polythene. It’s the simple things that count and the plastic is as strong.”

Since its launch in 2008, Polythene UK now turns over £14 million annually and last year hit £1 million profit.

The company doesn’t manufacture its polythene in bulk, it has contracted with factories in Southampton and Hereford to do that. An unremarkable (but carbon neutral, James points out), factory on a Witney industrial estate is home to its research and development department, a small samples production plant and 29 staff.

Sweet! Plant-based packaging

Polyair ™, Polythene UK’s “wonder” material is made from sugar cane.

Sugar cane absorbs CO2 as it grows, giving back oxygen through photo synthesis. The crop is turned into sugar beet. The waste sugar beet can be turned into alcohol, the alcohol into ethanol, ethanol into ethaline –exactly the same product extracted from a barrel of oil.

This sugar cane-derived material looks, behaves and recycles the same. But it’s carbon neutral.

Don’t confuse recyclable with compostable polythene

James Woollard

Understanding what can be recycled or reused is increasingly confusing as new materials are released into the market.

Take compostable polythene, now being used by some of the UK’s major supermarkets. It’s made out of waste products such as potato or corn starch which will decompose within two to six weeks. Great for UK households which compost (around three per cent). But for the whopping 97 per cent which don’t and whose food waste is collected

weekly, a headache for the anaerobic digesters they are destined for.

Compostable bags are stretchy, clog up their systems, and don’t rot down fast enough for the UK’s anaerobic digesters to compost them. Instead, the bags and their contents have to be shredded and incinerated or sent to landfill.

Recyclable polythene is different. It can be washed, sorted, chopped and reinstated into “new” polythene in a perfect example of the circular economy.

But until 2017 the UK didn’t have to adopt the technology required to do this because we sent a significant amount of our waste to China. Now the world’s most populated nation no longer accepts our rubbish.

“The UK is a net importer of the raw material from Indonesia, Brazil and Saudi Arabia, so we might as well import something that’s carbon neutral”

James Woollard

The UK should take lessons from France, says James. He cites the example of Groupe Barbier, a major producer of polythene films for agriculture and industry which has invested 50 million euros in a recycling centre

Plastics are dropped into a 100-metre pool underneath its production plant that cleans and segregates the materials (which float at different levels based on their densities), to be recycled appropriately. There is no such facility in the UK – yet, but James is calling for local councils to collaborate and invest. Such a facility could, he says, provide them with a valuable revenue stream.

“100,000 tonnes of polythene waste a year would produce £40 million in tax revenue to fund the plant. If a consortium of 40 councils invested £1 million each, they would get their investment back after one year and the investment would begin to produce revenue for them, because the recycled polythene will have a high resale value.”

A natural born salesman

It’s not difficult to understand why Polythene UK has been so successful so quickly. James is a fast-thinking, fasttalking salesman who harnesses logic to engage with customers.

Now 43, his first experience of selling was work experience at 14 years old, when he was asked to sell specialist insurance to hotels.

“I made about 20 appointments in my first morning, so my sister suggested that when I left school, I should apply to work for the double glazing company in London that employed her.”

Aged 16, James was in a cubicle for eight hours a day cold calling from a telephone directory and offering no-obligation quotes. “I couldn’t understand why people who didn’t have double glazing wouldn’t want a quote,” he said.

“I said to them ‘our salespeople can’t force you to buy it, don’t be scared’. I needed to make four appointments a week.” He was making 16.

A job offer in Swindon saw him relocate. He found a flat in Carterton where the former tenant was a sales manager for a local polythene company. They got chatting and he persuaded James to forego the 45-minute daily commute to Swindon and join the Carterton company instead.

“I started selling polythene and realised the stuff was everywhere,” said James. After two years he was outselling his sales manager, who left when James was promoted over him.

He might have been selling well, but the company James worked for was poor at

customer service and quality control, So he set up his own company, Polythene UK, to run a business how he thought it should be run.

And he stuck to his commitment to put the customer first. “We even hired a helicopter to get polythene to a customer on time. Years later we still have that customer.”

He also paid attention to emerging polythene technology, developing a wider product offer, and built his customer base from the SME sector.

“I don’t like dealing with very large companies,” he said. “The buyers are rude, there is no loyalty and they can quickly switch suppliers. With smaller companies we can build up a relationship, I understand their issues better and know some of the names of their kids.”

His ambition for the business remains, and his enjoyment too – there’s still a lot to achieve. “We want to continue to deliver 10 per cent growth in profit year on year and I want to invest in my staff.

“We all live fairly close to the office; I like the people I work with and thanks to the success of the business I am able to attract those who have the skills to grow the business faster.”

“100,000 tonnes of polythene waste a year would produce £40 million in tax revenue to fund the plant. If a consortium of 40 councils invested £1 million each, they would get their investment back after one year and the investment would begin to produce revenue for them, because the recycled polythene will have a high resale value”

James Woollard

INDEPENDENT CATERING COMPANY LAUNCHES APPRENTICESHIP ACADEMY

The hospitality sector created half a million new jobs over the last decade and has the potential to create hundreds of thousands more over the next, according to trade body UK Hospitality Chief Executive Kate Nicholls.

Rising to the challenge of training the next generation, Reading-based catering company CH&CO launched a new apprenticeship academy during National Apprenticeship Week.

The academy includes a chefs academy, service academy, business academy and a leadership academy.

A new online CH&CO “Grow With Us” Apprenticeship Academy prospectus has been launched across the business, which operates in more than 1,000 sites and employs more than 10,000 people, to inspire team members to join the academy or offer an apprenticeship in their part of the business.

Terry Waldron, Chief Operating Office at CH&CO, said: “People are at the heart of hospitality and we want our people to feel valued. Our focus on developing and supporting them never stops – they are our greatest asset; from the chefs and on-site teams serving our customers to our people working in the offices supporting our operations and clients.”

Financing firm celebrates first decade with strong results

Financing firm Pulse Cashflow increased its number of finance facilities to SMEs by almost a quarter in its latest financial year as it prepares to celebrate its 10th anniversary.

The Basingstoke-based firm saw a 24 per cent increase in the number of finance facilities offered to UK SMEs as its client portfolio grew to 40,000 businesses.

Client turnover peaked at £200 million while profitability grew by 34 per cent – the result of an ambitious growth drive which saw the company targeting higher value clients.

“In what is a relatively flat market, we are delighted with our performance,” said Managing Director Toni Dare. “We have had a really strong year and we continue to see an increasing number of UK businesses looking to access flexible funding solutions.”

Change of ownership at design agency “not a management buy out”

Strategic design agency fst has undergone a change of management – which bosses are insisting is not a management buyout.

The Marlow-based company has a roster of clients including Canon and the England & Wales Cricket Board.

The founding partners were reluctant to sell the business to a larger competitor and see the firm’s identity disappear. So it recently unveiled its “legacy deal” which

sees three new partners appointed from within the business to lead the firm.

Design director Charlie Butterfield, strategy director Alex Cleveland, and client service director Andrew Brennan have been in the business for the past seven years.

The value of the business will be repaid to the founders over time. Founder Otto Marples, said: “Charlie, Alex and

Andrew know the ‘fst way’ and, more importantly, they can take fst forward for another 25 years.

“For many people, this deal will be seen as an MBO because people need to categorise it. For me, this is not an MBO. Did the new partners buy out the founding partners? No. I believe this should be called a legacy deal as it is about passing the business on to the next generation.”

Regional round-up

“People are at the heart of hospitality and we want our people to feel valued. Our focus on developing and supporting them never stops”

SWINDON DESIGN AGENCY ADDS TO ITS COLLECTION OF RAILWAY-INSPIRED ‘HIDDEN GEMS’ POSTERS

A Swindon-based creative agency has expanded its evocative collection of posters celebrating its hometown.

The prints – reminiscent of the posters designed by railway companies in the 1930s to promote holiday destinations – are the brainchild of Nathan Sandhu, founder and creative director of Jazzbones in Swindon’s Old Town.

Three years ago Nathan created a set of six posters featuring Swindon landmarks Coate Water Country Park, the David Murray John Building, the Renault Building, Lydiard Park House and Grounds, The Locarno and The Oasis Leisure Centre.

Now four more scenes have been added to the ‘hidden gems’ collection: Liddington Hill, Old Town Gardens, Peatmoor Lake, and Silbury Hill.

Liddington Hill, which overlooks the town, is the site of an iron age fort and was a haunt of one of Swindon’s favourite sons, the nature writer Richard Jefferies. The poster shows a modern GWR train speeding towards the town from London, with Liddington Hill in the background.

Old Town Gardens is an oasis created in the late 1800s as the railway town grew. A Grade II listed cast-iron octagonal bandstand with square clock tower forms the focal point of the gardens, and also the poster.

Peatmoor Lake is another oasis, around which 20th century housing estates and business parks sprang up. The lake is overlooked by a Chinese restaurant built in a pagoda style. The pagoda and its reflection in the water, with the setting sun behind, are captured in the poster.

IT consultancy Invenio Business Solutions, which has just been named in the Sunday Times International Track 200 as one of Britain’s top mid-market companies with the fastest-growing international sales, has announced a partnership with Deep-Insight, an organisation which assesses relationship quality and runs customer experience programmes.

The programme will enable Reading-based Invenio to better understand customer needs, address concerns, and help enhance relationships and customer experience.

Deep-Insight’s in-depth assessment will identify gaps in Invenio’s customer experience offering and help build lasting customer relationships with personalised plans across each account.

Invenio CEO Arun Bala said: “My focus has been and will continue to be on delivering success for Invenio’s customers while driving transparency and value through all customer engagements.”

Buckinghamshire Business First joins forces with EU partners

Buckinghamshire Business First has joined forces with nine countries in the EU to work jointly on a new initiative called Inno Industry, which seeks to better understand if and how current regional and national strategies are helping businesses to become more digitalised.

The project’s aim is to increase the number of business clusters that are supporting the transition to “Industry 4.0” (the trend towards automation and data exchange in

manufacturing) and to create best practice to support businesses in clusters to take up new digital technologies, such as big data and artificial intelligence.

Heather Dean, Head of Skills and Business support at Buckinghamshire Business First, said: “In Buckinghamshire we have strong business clusters, including high performance engineering, assistive technologies and the creative industries clustering around Pinewood

Studios, which could benefit greatly from this initiative.”

The project partners aim to improve local, regional and national policies in order to increase the rate of clusters that develop activities to support digital transformation.

Inno Industry is funded by Interreg Europe, a programme funded by the European Regional Development Fund.

Gaining a deeper insight into better customer experience

Jazzbones creates posters to celebrate Swindon

BUSINESSES LOOK TO NEW MARKETS FOR GROWTH

HSBC recently released our 2019 Navigator report. It identified that nearly 80 per cent of UK businesses were optimistic about sales growth this year. The question then becomes, given what has been a very challenging external environment in the past months – why are they so optimistic? One reason cited by the research is that businesses are looking to open up new markets.

In a similar piece of research HSBC conducted through YouGov in 2019, we surveyed more than 2,000 UK companies, including some of the country’s Intrepid Exporters. UK businesses export for a variety of reasons, not the least is the opportunity to grow; but often what triggers the move to international trade is the superiority of product relative to what’s available in international markets, unexpected orders from overseas and rather interestingly, new routes to market being created. Some UK businesses will take comfort

in the fact that Brexit is now going to happen and as we move through the transition period, details such as new trade arrangements and a more permanent long-term agreement with the EU, will ideally become known.

Businesses looking for growth – through existing exports or super-charging a strong performing domestic business by starting to export – will have their eye on what’s happening with the shifting trade landscape and will be looking to take advantage to grow market share and expand into new regions.

Whether you’re an exporter today, or looking to drive growth through international markets, we want to help the UK’s best and brightest businesses take their products and services to new markets.

OXFORDSHIRE & THAMES VALLEY

Dogs rock worldwide for Podium Pet Products

Podium Pet Products, the Maidenhead-based company which sells innovative pet products, wrapped up 2019 by selling more than two million of its Dog Rocks packs worldwide.

Dog Rocks help stop pet urine burning patches on lawns, grass and hedges.

In September, the company announced that it had secured a new contract with a Canadian pet supplies company which is set to increase its annual turnover by 20 per cent to £2.4 million.

Founded in 2006 by three former athletes with a passion for pets, Podium Pet Products develops and manufactures a wellbeing and grooming range for domestic animals which includes aloe-enriched shampoo bars, soothing balms and odour eliminating candles.

Oxfordshire-based Electric Assisted Vehicles Ltd (EAV), which manufactures electrically-assisted eCargo lightweight commercial vehicles, is enjoying strong demand for its recently-launched EAVcab.

It follows the success of its EAVan, developed to combat urban congestion and pollution. “We’ve supplied EAVans to Ireland, Spain, Germany, Portugal and France to help support British manufacturing and exporting abroad,” said Adam Barmby, EAV’s Founder and Chief Executive.

“We’re now experiencing strong interest

from European businesses, illustrating their focus on clean city, ultra lightweight transport.”

EAV has now launched its EAVcab, a chassis cab development from the EAVan. The purpose-built quadracycle weighs in at 120kg and can currently carry a 120kg payload.

The deal will see the company’s complete product range stocked in 600 PetSmart stores across Canada with this expected to extend to the chain’s American stores as well. The company’s flagship product Dog Rocks is already being sold across 1,500 PetSmart stores in the United States.

Carina Evans, CEO at Pet Podium Products said: “Exporting was an important part of our business strategy from the very beginning. It was a no brainer as the North American market is huge with plenty of opportunity for a business like ours.”

Cameron Rathwell, Area Director & Head of Corporate Banking in the Thames Valley, HSBC UK looks at why UK businesses are so optimistic

Cameron Rathwell

EAV drives commercial opportunities across the world

Hallmark Hulme Solicitors – Employment Law Changes Preparing for April 2020

a process which complies with the new holiday pay calculation.

Statement of Terms

are required to implement with effect from 6 April 2020.

Holiday Pay

In the Good Work Plan, the Government committed to improving holiday pay arrangements for seasonal workers. To achieve this, the reference period for calculating a worker’s average weekly pay will increase from 12 weeks to 52 weeks (or the actual number of weeks worked if less than 52).

Employer Action Points

Employers should consider which workers are covered by this new reference period, ensure that pay records from 6 April 2019 to 6 April 2020 are accurate and implement

Employers are already legally obliged to provide a written statement to employees within 2 months of starting employment. They will now be obliged to provide a written statement to all workers on the first day they start work. The written statement must include details about pay/benefits, working hours, holiday, notice provisions and eligibility for sick leave, maternity leave and paternity leave.

Employer Action Points

Employers should issue written statements to all workers containing these terms and update recruitment processes to ensure that documentation is issued to workers and employees on or before the first day of work.

Extension of IR35 to Private Sector

Medium and large sized private sector

businesses will become responsible for assessing employment status of the off-payroll workers they engage.

Employer Action points

Employers should review their consultancy arrangements to ensure compliance with these new rules. A good starting point is HMRC’s online tool “Check Employment Status for Tax”.

Parental Bereavement Leave

Employees who lose a child under the age of 18 or suffer a still birth from the 24th week of pregnancy will be entitled to 2 weeks unpaid parental bereavement leave. Employees will have this right from day one of their employment.

Employers Action Points

Employers should have a written parental bereavement leave policy in place which reflects the requirements of the legislation.

Claire Cole, Partner and Head of Employment at Hallmark Hulme LLP, summarises the key legislative changes which employers

Low carbon programme extended for three years

A programme helping businesses across Worcestershire to generate their own energy, has been extended for another three years.

The project also allows businesses to develop goods and services that reduce carbon impact, as well as creating their own energy.

FULL STEAM AHEAD FOR NEW WORCESTER COFFEE SHOP

Independent coffee house owner Aasia Baig has opened her third Centenary Lounge coffee house near Foregate Street, Worcester thanks to Central Business Finance.

The Midlands-based, independent FCA approved finance broker secured a half a million pound funding package to support the entrepreneur’s growing coffee empire. It included a commercial mortgage, development loan and additional finance to buy the building, which was a dilapidated Grade II, Georgian building when she took it on.

Deco era has been challenging but enjoyable, and the challenging part was mainly managed by Central Business Finance.

“Supporting the growth of independent coffee houses across the Midlands and seeing Centenary Lounge come alive from concept to completion is certainly worth investing in”

“Designing and developing an eatery, the largest in our portfolio, across two floors is what I enjoy and what I pride myself to be good at, but understanding business finance and accessing the right funding package was crucial to getting the space and to fund its redevelopment.”

The European Regional Development Fund has awarded the scheme a grant of more than £1.6 million.

The Low Carbon Opportunities Programme (LOCOP), managed by Worcestershire County Council, has provided technical advice and support to more than 80 businesses, and £822,000 in grant funding.

Most of the renewable energy grants awarded have been for solar PV systems to generate clean electricity, reducing bills and the need for fossil fuels.

Other low carbon energy generation technologies that have featured in grant funded projects included heat pumps, bio-mass and battery storage solutions.

The programme also supports businesses in clean tech innovation, or those who want to diversify into this sector through the development of new low carbon technologies which will help others to be green.

Centenary Lounge is Aasia’s third coffee house venture. Her first two are based at Birmingham’s Snow Hill Station and Moor Street Station.

Aasia said: “Reforming the building to a bygone era, resplendent of the 1930s Art

Chris Brown, Director, Central Business Finance, added: “Seeing Centenary Lounge come alive from concept to completion is certainly worth investing in.

“Witnessing the transformation of the Georgian building into a refurbishment that even the Great Gatsby would be proud of has been a delight – not to mention the creation of 11 new jobs.”

One example of innovation which has been grant funded is the HERU (Home Energy Resources Unit) which takes domestic waste and turns it into heat for use in the home (read an update on HERU on page 7 of this issue)

The LOCOP programme will continue until September 2022.

Manufacturer switches on to international opportunities

Bromsgrove-based lighting manufacturer Luxultra has achieved accreditation to the Made in Britain organisation.

Made in Britain aims to unite the British manufacturing community, with the use of the registered collective mark. The mark is protected and can only be used by its members that meet the criteria it sets to guarantee the member is a British manufacturer.

Luxultra Lighting’s luminaires (light fittings) are innovative and technically advanced.

Luxultra Director, Stuart Besford, said: “We use the very latest LED driver technology, energy-efficient LED Boards and optical lenses from world-class suppliers. The result is a performance-driven fixture that delivers on maximising energy savings with the option of integrating a Connected Lighting System.

“Being a member of Made in Britain gives our company credibility of being part of an accepted ‘marque’ which stands for British engineering, quality and a sense of pride in what we do as a company.”

CITY SIGNS ARE A DIAMOND COMPANY

Professional signs, banner printing and vehicle graphic business City Signs is celebrating its diamond anniversary after clocking up 60 years in business this year.

Founded in 1960, the Worcesterbased company is celebrating by fundraising for the Grace Kelly Childhood Cancer Trust.

Family-owned City Signs aims to raise £6,000 for the local cancer charity by holding fundraising events throughout the year.

City Signs, based in Hallow, was founded by Horace Wilkins in Luton, Bedfordshire.

Five years after completing his apprenticeship in signwriting, he moved to a modest shop unit on Foregate Street in Worcester and began specialising in traditional signwriting.

Darren Wilkins, CitySigns’ Managing Director, said: “What better way to mark our 60th anniversary than supporting a charity which matches our own family values.

“Grace Kelly was a special little girl who was taught to dance by my sister Debbie, the owner of Happy Steps in Worcester. We feel passionate about putting our celebrations to a good cause to raise awareness and funds for a charity so ingrained in our community.”

Midlands firms advise on software company employee buyout deal

A Midlands law firm and a national accountancy practice have played lead roles advising over the employee buyout of award-winning Alcester software company, Vectric Ltd.

Corporate partner Clare Lang and trusts expert Gary Priest from mfg Solicitors advised founder Brian Moran and the firm’s executive board on the deal, which has seen the company’s 24 employees take

a controlling stake in the business through an employee ownership trust.

Chartered accountants and tax advisers, Toby Stephenson and Jay Boyce from MHA MacIntyre Hudson structured the deal, providing tax and accountancy advice and working closely with the mfg team.

The CNC software firm, which has previously received two Queen’s Awards

for Enterprise and International Trade, is a specialist in creating software for CNC routing, milling and engraving. Its speciallydeveloped software helps clients to quickly create precise toolpaths and designs.

Founded in 2005 by Brian Moran, the company will continue to be headed by Managing Director Edward Powell with Brian stepping back from day-today control.

New ideas are central to the innovation process and protecting them is critical to successful development and commercialisation. WINN’s Proof of Concept Manager Hannah Ross works closely with the business community to provide grant funding and business support, which can help businesses to understand and access IP information, support, and services.

“Creating a new idea can be a true ‘lightbulb’ moment, but safeguarding that idea can be daunting and complex. For me, it’s really important that innovators can access the information and support required to protect their intellectual property, so they can get on with the exciting business of commercialising!”

Proof of Concept Grant Funding

Proof of Concept is a grant fund that supports businesses to create, develop and commercialise new products and services. Grants of up to £30,000 can be used for:

 New tooling and equipment

 Creating a prototype, including necessary raw materials

 Product testing and certification

 IP/trademark protection

 Outsourcing costs for first production batches

 External market research

 Marketing material

 Product launch

Proof of Concept has been available since 2016 and many applicant businesses have used the funding to pursue patents and trademarks or register design rights. In these cases, grant funding has helped businesses to overcome the major financial barriers preventing them from developing and commercialising their IP.

Innovation Launchpad

WINN’s new business support initiative, the Innovation Launchpad has been designed to help businesses transform their mindset, define their goals and access the specialist support required to accelerate their business success.

Phase 1: businesses receive 1:1 transformational coaching, critical business planning, and hear from innovative speakers during a 6hr ‘mission day’.

Phase 2: businesses receive four 1:1 bespoke specialist support sessions delivered at their business premises.

Intellectual Property expertise is available in Phase 2 and can help businesses to identify their IP and understand how it can be protected. This won’t always involve patents, and businesses can really benefit from understanding the best approach to adopt.

Intellectual Property Insight

In partnership with The Hive, Hannah will be providing impartial IP support at

several county libraries. The initiative is supported by the Business and Intellectual Property Centre (BIPC), which is a partnership between the British Library and the UK Intellectual Property Office. This partnership is aimed at providing free or very low cost business and IP support to entrepreneurs and SMEs through 1-1 sessions, workshops, networking events and free access to a variety of resources such as market research databases. Worcestershire Libraries will be joining the BIPC network later this year with The Hive being the central hub however, IP support will be in place starting March 2020.

If you are interested in any of these initiatives, please visit WINNs website winn-hub.com

The Proof of Concept Project has received £2,575,157 of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020. The Department for Communities and Local Government (and in London the intermediate body Greater London Authority) is the Managing Authority for European Regional Development Fund. Established by the European Union, the European Regional Development Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations.

For more information visit www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding

WINN (Worcestershire Innovation) is a local initiative that provides support to Worcestershire’s innovation ecosystem. Its many streams of activity have encouraged creativity, fostered collaboration and celebrated innovation.

Hannah Ross

© PHOTOGRAPHY: TERRY LIVESEY DT STUDIOS

Quick, there’s just time to enter the 2020 Chamber Awards

You have until Friday March 27 to enter the 2020 Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce Business Awards.

The awards, sponsored by FOLK2FOLK, are a main highlight in the counties’ business calendar and celebrate the achievements of the local business community. With around 680 attendees, the awards are free to enter for members and non-members.

This year, the awards ceremony once again takes place at the Worcester Arena on July 2.

Tech accelerator programme on hunt for new candidates

BetaDen, the Malvern-based technology accelerator is searching for its third cohort.

BetaDen is now accepting applications for its nine-month accelerator programme from technology entrepreneurs to small technology businesses that are “minimal viable product” ready or in a position to develop to this stage.

BetaDen is offering a package of business support, worth more than £50,000, that will be awarded to between eight to 10 entrepreneurs or companies.

The third cohort will start in May and the programme will include access to office space at BetaDen’s hub at Malvern Hills Science Park, coaching, marketing funding and commercial meetings to help develop a successful route to market.

LACK OF AVAILABLE SPACE LIMITS WORCESTERSHIRE’S COM PROP MARKET

A shortage of office and industrial units in Worcestershire, coupled with high demand for space, will push up the county’s commercial property prices in the next 12 months according to a new report by Worcestershire commercial property agency GJS Dillon.

Leading figures from the commercial property sector, along with representatives from the Chamber of Commerce and Worcestershire Local

Enterprise Partnership attended the launch of GJS Dillon’s Worcestershire Commercial Property Market Report for 2020. The event, held at Sixways, was co-hosted by Harrison Clark Rickerbys.

“The growth of Worcestershire’s office market is being stifled by the lack of new developments for the SME sector”, said Andrew Lewis, GJS Dillon’s Associate Director, who authored the report.

Kidderminster Harriers appoints interim chief executive

Kidderminster Harriers FC has revealed successful businessman Neil Male as its new interim Chief Executive.

The appointment was made by the Kidderminster Harriers owner Richard Lane.

Richard said: “We are pleased to welcome Neil.

“With his business and leadership skills, enthusiasm for football and being a well-rounded leader, he will add real energy and support.”

Neil said: “The role of Chief Executive at Kidderminster Harriers is an exciting opportunity and I am looking forward to meeting the challenges. I feel privileged to have been given the opportunity to support Richard in leading such a fantastic football club with a great history.”

Neil, who played professionally for Torquay United, is also CEO of Bromsgrove-based GMS Group, one of the largest privately-owned security specialist companies in the West Midlands, and was recently awarded Transformational Leader in the West Midlands Leadership Awards.

Pay-as-you-go community and working space is officially opened in Coventry

SUCCESS FOR KENILWORTH BOOKSHOP AS IT BUCKS RETAIL TRENDS

Unlike the Petersfield Bookshop in Hampshire which hit the national headlines after going a whole day in January without selling a single book, one independent Warwickshire bookshop has enjoyed its most successful year thanks to many new customers choosing to shop there.

Luckily for the Petersfield Bookshop, a desperate tweet by an employee was spotted by author Neil Gaiman who retweeted it to his more than two million Twitter followers who inundated the shop with orders.

However Kenilworth Books, in the town’s Talisman Shopping Centre, attracted more visitors and organised more successful events than ever before in 2019.

Christmas was especially successful for the shop, with a 20 per cent increase in sales on 2018 and 400 people visiting the shop on December 23 – a record for a day’s trading.

Judy Brook, Kenilworth Books’ owner, put the success down to the hard work and enthusiasm of her team and their many regular customers, as well as a noticeable increase in new customers re-discovering the pleasure of shopping on their local high street.

She said: “We’ve had a really extraordinary year. On top of the really phenomenal sales in the shop, over the last year we’ve organised events on a larger scale than ever before.

“Nearly 400 people joined us for the publication event of Chocolat author, Joanne Harris’ latest book, The Strawberry Thief.

“We’re hoping this trend carries on and with authors such as Dan Snow and Sophie Hannah appearing at events this year, we’re confident of further success.”

Judy took over Kenilworth Books in 2014 and has seen year-on-year increases in sales during that time.

A unique pay-as-you-go community and working space in the heart of Coventry has opened its doors to the public.

Based in Spon Street, Ziferblat is unique because visitors do not pay for the items that they use but instead pay for the time that they spend there.

It costs eight pence per minute for the first hour of a person’s visit and then five pence per minute after that. There is a payment cap of four hours or £13.80, but there is also weekly and monthly subscriptions for people to explore.

Guests have access to facilities such as WiFi and unlimited food and drink.

Elena Ignateva, director of Ziferblat Coventry who is also studying for her Master’s Degree at the University of Warwick, recognises that the city has a huge amount of potential.

“With Coventry being UK City of Culture next year and with so much happening and a huge amount of development going ahead in the city centre, we wanted to be a part of that.”

Warwick tech company secures a series of global contracts

A Warwick technology company is proving to be a world leader in its field after securing a series of global contracts.

Abicom International was founded by David Edwards in 2001 and moved into the University of Warwick Science Park’s Warwick Innovation Centre in 2015.

The company’s projects include a CCTV

initiative in India, connecting videoing technology over long distances, and teaming up with the navy in the United States on long range communications.

Abicom is also working on video streaming technology that could have a huge impact on motorsports. The company has joined forces with a leading motorsport telematics provider to create

a system that increases the efficiency of wireless technology, which improves communications and video streaming speed capacities at events.

David said: “We are working with clients throughout the world and it is great to see these projects developing and how we can strengthen WiFi to apply it in so many different ways.”

Kenilworth Books celebrates seasonal success

NAEC Stoneleigh steps in to save 60 jobs after closure of security firm

WARWICKSHIRE FARM ENJOYS BUMPER YEAR AFTER EXPANDING FACILITIES

A Warwickshire family farm attraction has increased its turnover and is creating new jobs after investing in an all-weather play barn facility, thanks to a £250,000 funding package from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking.

Umberslade Farm Park offers a range of farm-based activities for children from play areas to interacting with animals at the working farm.

Since the play barn opened to the public, the company has seen an uplift in membership and online ticket sales, resulting in a 40 per cent increase in its turnover. As visitor numbers grow to 80,000 per year, the farm is also planning to recruit two new members of staff to help meet the increasing demand.

“The new indoor play barn is a great addition to the farm and means our indoor facilities are now just as strong as our outdoor offering”

The business needed to improve its indoor facilities to make a good farm experience less weather dependent.

The funds have allowed it to buy a new, fully-insulated indoor play barn, with classrooms on a mezzanine, a modern toilet block and baby changing rooms. The funding package forms part of Lloyds Bank’s pledge to lend up to £2.5 billion to Midlands businesses this year.

Oliver Muntz, Director at Umberslade Farm Park, said: “The new indoor play barn is a great addition to the farm and means our indoor facilities are now just as strong as our outdoor offering. As Umberslade Farm Park is family-owned, it’s vital to continue investing in the farm’s development and growth to ensure the next generation can continue our successful legacy.”

Noshad Khowaja, Relationship Manager at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, said: “The farm’s success and continued focus on investment demonstrates its ambition for the future.”

IT firm celebrates 15 years in business in Coventry

A Coventry IT firm that began life in a shared council office for startup businesses, is celebrating its 15th anniversary on the back of a record year.

PS4B was established by Richard Hooper in Coventry City Council’s Steeple House in 2005. He used some of his own

savings and a loan from NatWest to get started and the company now employs six staff and supports clients across the Midlands. PS4B landed a string of new customers in 2019 –including a portfolio of clients from a Black Country IT company that was winding up operations.

Events and conference centre, the National Agricultural Exhibition Centre (NAEC) Stoneleigh, has saved around 60 jobs threatened by the closure of a West Midlands security firm.

Solihull-based Securex provided security and stewarding staff to help manage the thousands of visitors attending more than 275 events every year at the centre, which is based at Stoneleigh Park, Kenilworth.

With Securex closing down, NAEC Stoneleigh stepped in to create Grandstand Security and Stewarding, to save the jobs of dozens of workers who have been trusted faces at the renowned conference site for many years.

Rob Patterson, Head of Venue Operations at NAEC Stoneleigh, said: “As soon as we heard the business was closing, we decided to take all of our security and stewarding needs in-house under the banner of Grandstand Security and Stewarding and, at the same time, protect the jobs of up to 60 dedicated staff who have worked with us for so long – many of whom live locally to Stoneleigh.”

Oliver Muntz, director at Umberslade Farm Park with Noshad Khowaja, relationship manager at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking

NAEC Stoneleigh’s security manager, Shirley Dolphin and head of venue operations, Rob Patterson

IT’S GAME ON FOR LEAMINGTON SPA AS HUNDREDS OF NEW JOBS ARE CREATED

A total of 500 games jobs are set to be created in Leamington Spa.

The Leamington Spa games hub will create 500 new game development jobs over the next two years, opening up huge opportunities for young people and graduates.

Research carried out among video games companies within the Leamington Spa area comes as the town hosted the second Interactive Futures conference and expo – a celebration of the talent and culture within

Warwickshire business branches out

Leading tree and ecology consultancy Wharton Natural Infrastructure Consultants has moved to new offices in rural King’s Coughton.

Wharton, previously based at Minerva Mill in Alcester, was founded and headed by Peter Wharton. It manages natural infrastructure projects and developments, providing a full service in land, tree, ecology and landscape architecture advice.

At a time when the need to plant trees and protect nature has never been higher on the agenda, the team encourages clients to see natural landscaping as a fundamental part of their schemes.

the area, now one of the largest games hubs within the UK games ecosystem.

The report lists eight towns and cities where the games industry generates more than £60 million in GVA: Leamington Spa, Edinburgh, Newcastle upon Tyne, Crawley & Horsham, Manchester, Guildford, Slough & Heathrow and London.

In terms of jobs types, the top five roles being sought are artists, designers, producers, programmers and engineers,

with other roles such as marketing, HR, administration, community support also up for grabs.

Sarah Windrum, chair of Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership’s Digital Creative Business Group, said: “It is testament to the talent and creativity of the area that we continue to attract businesses to the region.

Mayor of West Midlands praises innovation at Coventry-based engineering company

Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, has lauded a Coventrybased design engineering company after experiencing the world’s first 3D printed window regulator during an official factory visit.

Andy was shown the design for MarchantCain’s new acoustic barriers for the rail sector, designed to absorb sounds radiated by HS2 and other infrastructure projects.

He also saw technology that can automate the entire logistics process to enable drivers to deliver 50 per cent more parcels per shift.

The highlight was MarchantCain’s 3D printed window regulator, which is being incorporated into the first-3D printed car.

The innovation is a result of decades of experience designing window regulators which enable glass to fit and move in specialised cars. This, together with soaring demand for active aerodynamic components is fuelling significant growth for the company, allowing it to move into a much larger factory.

Rob Marchant, Managing Director, said: “We were delighted that the Mayor was so impressed by the work that goes on here every day.”

Game on for Leamington Spa

The Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street with Rob Marchant, Pam Cain and the MarchantCain team

The Wharton Natural Infrastructure team

POWER TO THE PEOPLE: INVESTING IN THE REGIONS

to get their way

By Nicky Godding, with additional reporting by Ian Mean and Peter Davison

In 2014, Chancellor George Osbourne launched The Northern Powerhouse to boost the North of England’s economy after decades of being left behind by the south.

Has it worked? A report published last year by the Institute for Public Policy Research says there’s a way to go, but highlights the positives. Economic growth was marginally higher in the North than the national average, and the productivity gap with the rest of the country has narrowed slightly. Employment also grew more there than elsewhere, especially in the manufacturing, science and technical sectors.

Early days, but a good idea? The Midlands thought so. The following year The Midlands Engine was established encompassing England’s central belt from Herefordshire across to Lincolnshire.

The Midlands Engine seems to be having a positive effect too, and there certainly seems to be a lot going on. A report published this year by national law firm, Irwin Mitchell, revealed that Birmingham, its epicentre, is set to be one of the fastest growing economies by the end of this year. The city’s GVA is expected to grow by 1.2 per cent in 2020, taking the total value of the city’s economy to £28.3 billion.

What’s sauce for the goose, as they say, and last year saw the launch of the Western Gateway. This followed publication of The Powerhouse for the West report, commissioned by Bristol City Council, Cardiff Council and Newport City Council. The Western Gateway stretches along the M4 corridor from Swindon and across the Welsh border to Cardiff and

Swansea, and in the north from Gloucester and Cheltenham to Bath and Bristol. Western Gateway partners now include Bath and North East Somerset Council, Gloucestershire County Council, Swansea Council and Swindon Borough Council.

Oxfordshire has long been discussing similar ambitions with Cambridgeshire on developing an Oxford/Cambridge Arc, and government agrees.

The land from Oxford through Milton Keynes to Cambridge already contains globally-renowned universities and a vibrant and ambitious business, science and technology ecosystem.

What’s exciting about these powerhouses/ gateways/arcs, whatever we call them, is that organisations within them want to work together. It’s been tried before –some remember the regional development

agencies in the 1990s and early 2000s. But this time the initiatives aren’t being driven by central government, although it is supporting them – it’s being driven by the regions themselves.

Don’t compete, collaborate with your neighbours

Each region excels in key industry sectors.

The Midlands has automotive excellence in abundance and the Oxford/Cambridge Arc excels in science and space technology. The Western Gateway has unrivalled aerospace expertise and could be an exemplar in sustainable energy, but each region is strong in manufacturing and services, and offers land and investment support.

We urge these regional powerhouses to work together in a spirit of collaboration, not competition.

The 17th century English poet, John Donne, wrote: “No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”

It would seem that individual councils and local enterprise partnerships and have finally realised that more can be achieved by working together, and they’re doing just that.

(But perhaps we won’t mention that John Donne’s poem goes on to say: “if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less.” That’s a discussion point for another feature entirely).

Britain’s regions want a bigger bite of the economic cherry, and they’re determined

Iconic images at the heart of the region’s powerhouses: The dreaming spires of Oxford to Birmingham’s Bullring and the Severn Bridge linking the West and South Wales economies

THE MIDLANDS ENGINE, EAGER TO DRIVE UK GROWTH FROM THE CENTRE

In 2015, the then Business Secretary Sajid Javid MP, welcomed the proposal for the Midlands Engine, which followed the establishment of the Northern Powerhouse.

The Northern Powerhouse aimed to boost Northern England’s economy through investment in skills, innovation, transport and culture, and Central England didn’t want to get left behind.

At the time Sajid Javid said: “For too long the Midlands has been less than the sum of its parts. Unlike many other areas of the UK it has always lacked a sense of place. Northerners think it’s in the South. Southerners think it’s in the North. And Midlanders aren’t really sure either way.”

Between 1997 and 2010, manufacturing output in the Midlands fell from more than £15 billion to under £12 billion – the highest percentage fall of any UK region. And the region’s productivity was around 10 per cent lower than the national average.

The MP for Bromsgrove, who became the Chancellor of the Exchequer last year, before his surprise resignation last month, added: “As a proud Midlands MP, I’m not prepared to stand by and let that continue. Which is why the government fully supports the Midlands Engine.

“It’s not a cheap knock-off of the Northern Powerhouse. It’s not an empty piece of political rhetoric. It’s a real programme to deliver the jobs, growth and productivity that the people of this region deserve.”

And so, the Midlands Engine, which includes nine Local Enterprise Partnerships, was formed.

Chaired by Sir John Peace, who has vast experience in technology, financial services and retail, including as Chairman of Experian and upmarket British brand Burberry plc, the Midlands Engine now aims to speak to government on behalf of the region, making the case for greater investment to drive economic growth.

Midlands Engine priorities and achievements

In 2017, the Midlands Engine published its vision for growth, setting out five priorities for investment to drive economic growth.

These were to improve connectivity, including preparing a transport strategy and accelerating the delivery of HS2; grow trade, investment and create new jobs; promote the Midlands as a great place to live, learn, visit and work; invest in infrastructure, including the creation of a 5G testbed and developing more logistics sites, and finally to increase innovation and enterprise.

Last year the organisation revisited these priorities. The Midlands Engine says it is now the fastest-growing economy outside London and contributes more than £90 billion to the national economy

through its international activities, and wants to grow this by a further £26 billion.

To support this ambition, in February last year it launched the Midlands Engine Internationalisation Strategy.

Two key cultural events will see the region showcased on the world stage. In 2022, the Commonwealth Games will be held in Birmingham, when a global viewing audience of three to four billion is expected, and next year Coventry will become the UK City of Culture.

Another major project launched last year by Midlands Connect (the transport arm of the Midlands Engine), was Midlands Engine Rail, an ambitious £3.5 billion plan comprised of seven projects across the region which could result in up to

60 locations benefiting from improved services, and 736 more passenger trains on the network every day.

Last year the region was chosen to host the fifth UK-China Regional Leaders Summit in Birmingham. While the outbreak of Coronavirus put paid to this and the prestigious summit had to be abandoned, ongoing relationships with China are set to continue after an agreement was signed to promote science and technology cooperation between the Midlands Engine and the Province of Zhejiang.

Other successes for the Midlands Engine include a £4.9 million government grant for Worcestershire’s 5G testbed, and significant investments from Amazon for two shipping and distribution centres in Coventry and Rugby, totalling £86 million.

“For too long the Midlands has been less than the sum of its parts. Unlike many other areas of the UK it has always lacked a sense of place”

CGI of the proposed the new HS2 Curzon Street Station in Birmingham

Midlands Engine Investment Fund reaches £50 million milestone

Last year the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF), launched in 2017 by the government-owned British Business Bank, announced that it had secured £50 million investment into the region.

This has involved investing in 150 firms across the region and includes more than £19 million of private sector leverage.

Investments from the MEIF are made by one of six appointed fund managers working across the East, South-East and West Midlands, supported by Local Enterprise Partnerships. The £250 million fund offers debt and equity investment between £25,000 to £2 million.

One company which has benefited from investment is Oneskee, a Warwickshire snow sport apparel company. Last November Oneskee secured a six figure investment from MEIF. Co-founded in 2014 by brothers Josh and Scott Clifford,

R&D investment secured thanks to MEIF investment

LT Security has developed a surveillance system which uses radar, cameras and a mobile tower to track movements within a 400-metre radius. The firm secured £30,000 from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund to invest in research and development, and recruit two new staff.

Built at the company’s site in Malvern, the firm’s system “STL Leviathan” has a number of applications including border protection and surveillance in difficult and dangerous areas.

David Beech, Managing Director at LT Security, said: “The STL Leviathan uses radar-driven pan and tilt cameras to track multiple objects. If it detects something, an alert is sent via 3G, 4G or 5G to a central station, where security personnel can be dispatched to deal with the security threat. Our aim was to make

Oneskee is modernising the traditional all-in-one snowsuit design by developing an alternative for the younger generation of winter sports enthusiasts.

With Oneskee products now available online in 54 countries, the company has expanded its offering to include waterproof hoodies, puffer jackets and après-ski clothing.

Midven’s investment will allow it to develop new sales channels and build on

increased demand from retail stores across Europe and America.

The MEIF has also appointed a new fund manager, The FSE Group, and will make £40 million available to invest in the region’s small businesses.

The FSE Group will manage the £40 million debt fund, with the capability to invest between £100,000 and £1.5 million in businesses based in the West, East and South East Midlands.

protecting vulnerable areas safer by using technology instead of putting lives at risk.

“Securing a loan of £30,000 enabled us to research and install solar technology on our tower which means it is a practical solution in remote areas and is completely environmentally sustainable

– reducing carbon output by several hundreds of tonnes. It has also allowed us to employ young people and help them develop vital skills in electronics, engineering and business acumen. We have also been able to attend an exhibition that has generated a healthy sales pipeline of £1.7 million.”

Ben Reed (Midven), Ryan Cartwright (BBB), Scott Clifford (Oneskee), Josh Clifford (Oneskee), Giovanni Finocchio (Midven).

Angie Preece (BCRS Business Loans) and David Beech (LT Security)

MIDLANDS REGIONS TO SHOWCASE BILLIONS-OF-POUNDS’ WORTH OF INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES

More than 85 private and public sector organisations from across the Midlands will showcase billions of pounds’ worth of investment opportunities, as part of the Midlands UK delegation at MIPIM 2020 this month.

The Midlands UK delegation, which is supported by Midlands Engine and Department for International Trade, will highlight the region’s top schemes to global investors at MIPIM, one of the world’s biggest real estate shows.

Projects being showcased from across the region include redevelopments, regeneration projects, enterprise zones, a space park and in this region, Herefordshire Council’s £9 million Cyber Quarter a Midlands Centre for Cyber Security, which is due to open later this year.

Investors will also hear about the £105 million 70 hectare Skylon Park and a £7 million Business Incubation Centre inside the Hereford Enterprise Zone, which is already home to investors operating in offshore oil and gas, avionics manufacturing, advanced airborne systems and the defence and security sector.

“The reason we attend MIPIM each year is simple: it brings investment into the Midlands which in turn creates regeneration, infrastructure, jobs and money for the public purse.

“All of these factors add to a strong UK economy, which ultimately enhances prosperity and quality of life for the people who live and work here.”

“The reason we attend MIPIM each year is simple: it brings investment into the Midlands which in turn creates regeneration, infrastructure, jobs and money for the public purse”

Some 70 private sector partners will join the group attending MIPIM, including Birmingham Airport and Coventry-based development company Cassidy Group, and Beaconsfield-based motorway services group, Extra MSA Group.

Road student accommodation scheme based in Coventry. The project will create 436 new student beds in Earlsdon, a prime location for students.

Patric Cassidy, Director of Cassidy Group, added: “Joining the Midlands’ public and private sector organisations at MIPIM enables us to have important conversations with key players and network with global investors to bring home fresh investment for not only Cassidy Group but also the whole region.”

Midlands gets serious about Medtech

Sir John Peace, Chairman of Midlands Engine, said: “The Midlands is open for business and MIPIM is the best place to tell the world about it. The region’s outstanding infrastructure, connectivity and talent pool of more than 11 million people makes it the perfect investment destination.

Cassidy Group will be unveiling a number of UK residential projects with values from £10 million to £100 million. The Group’s portfolio contains projects from eight cities across the UK with a focus on student accommodation, private rental schemes and the build-to-rent sector.

The Coventry-based group, which has a development portfolio valued at £1 billion, will be highlighting various projects including its £42 million Albany

Medtech contributes an estimated £1.6 billion in gross value added for the region annually, according to a new report published by the Midlands Engine last year.

There are close to 1,000 medtech businesses operating across the Midlands, the largest number in any region in the UK, said the report. The sector also employs 23,600 people, offering the second highest number of jobs in all UK regions.

Sir John Peace, Chairman of Midlands Engine

Who’s involved in the Midlands Engine

This feature focuses particularly on the success of the Midlands Engine in the West Midlands, Worcestershire and Herefordshire, but the Midlands Engine covers a huge swathe of land across central England.

Local Economic Partnerships

Black Country

Coventry and Warwickshire

Greater Birmingham & Solihull

Greater Lincolnshire

Leicestershire

Local Authorities

Derby City Council

Derbyshire County Council

Leicester City Council

Leicestershire County Council

North East Lincolnshire Council

Lincolnshire County Council

North Lincolnshire Council

Nottinghamshire County Council

Nottingham City Council

Stoke-on-Trent City Council

Herefordshire Council

Universities

Bishop Grosseteste University

De Montfort University

Keele University

University of Leicester

Loughborough University

Newman University

Staffordshire University

University of Warwick

University of Worcester

University College Birmingham

Marches (Herefordshire & Shropshire)

Stoke on Trent & Staffordshire

Worcestershire

D2N2 (Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire)

Worcestershire leads the way in 5G testing

In 2018, Worcestershire became the home of a new 5G Testbed, putting the county at the forefront of technological innovation.

5G, or fifth generation, is the next generation of mobile technology. When it becomes available in the UK in the next three years, 5G is expected to have a profound impact on the economy and the way people live their lives.

While there was concern that the government was going to halt the involvement of Huawei in the provision of equipment to build the 5G network, Boris Johnson’s decision in January to allow the Chinese firm a restricted role in the UK’s 5G networks should see the roll-out continue without significant hiatus.

Staffordshire County Council

Worcestershire County Council

Shropshire Council

Warwickshire County Council

Birmingham City Council

Coventry City Council

Wolverhampton City Council

Dudley

Sandwell

Solihull

Birmingham City University

Nottingham Trent University

University of Wolverhampton

University of Derby

Coventry University

University of Lincoln

University of Birmingham

University of Nottingham

Aston University

Harper Adams University

The Worcestershire 5G Consortium is undertaking the country’s most comprehensive industrial 5G Testbed trial with a team of 5G specialists and business experts pioneering the concept of “Industry 4.0” (which refers to the fourth industrial revolution, the trend towards automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies and processes).

The focus was on live trials in the Worcester Bosch and Yamazaki Mazak factories investigating increased productivity in manufacturing; detection and prevention; remote maintenance; new models for manufacturing as a service; security by design and training the next generation of 5G engineers.

5G testing at Worcester Bosch

MIDLANDS ENGINE

ARC WOULD CREATE UK’S ‘SILICONE VALLEY’ ON OUR DOORSTEP

With two of the world’s renowned universities spinning out science and technology companies, it’s no wonder that government and business leaders see opportunities to connect Oxford and Cambridge, via the 20th century new town of Milton Keynes.

The area is already rich with some of the UK’s most innovative businesses, in fields such as life sciences, energy, aviation, space, advanced manufacturing, transport and the digital sector.

“The area is already rich with some in the UK’s most innovative businesses, in fields such as life sciences, energy, aviation, space, advanced manufacturing, transport and the digital sector”

The Oxford-Cambridge Arc – somewhat inevitably dubbed “the UK’s answer to Silicon Valley”, or an “innovation engine” to complement the industrial engines of

The self-driving vehicle RACE is on

Oxfordshire is at the forefront of Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAV) development; this is a vanguard use of Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS), in which RACE (Remote Access in Challenging Environments) at Culham Science Centre – one of the four national CAV testbeds – is a key UK centre of excellence.

RAS demonstrates how robots can move people and goods more efficiently with far-reaching implications across many sectors. Oxford Robotics Institute kick-started the UK’s CAV programme in 2010; its spin-out Oxbotica is currently leading a UK consortium testing a fleet of driverless vehicles completing a successful journey from Oxford to London.

the Midlands and the north – has been a talking point for nearly 20 years.

Way back in 2003 the erstwhile East of England Development Agency, East Midlands Development Agency, and South East England Development Agency, published their vision for an “arc of innovation and entrepreneurial activity”.

More recently, the government invited the three Local Enterprise Partnerships of Bucks LEP, OxLEP, and SEMLEP, which cover the corridor, together with the Mayoral Combined Authority for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, to work together in developing a shared economic vision across this Arc.

According to the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC), the executive agency responsible for providing expert advice to the government on infrastructure challenges facing the UK, the Gross Value Added (GVA) of the corridor in 2016 was £107 billion. By doubling housebuilding rates in the area this could increase to £250 billion.

In its response to the NIC report, the government designated the Arc as a key economic priority, outlining a breadth of actions to seize the opportunity for growth identified in the report. The government also affirmed its ambition to

deliver more homes in the Arc, supported by measures such as the £215 million Oxfordshire Housing and Growth Deal and the recent confirmation of £445 million Housing Infrastructure Funding for the Arc.

But new infrastructure is vital. Collaboration requires connectivity, and currently a rail trip between Oxford and Cambridge means a diversion via London, while driving the 90 miles between the cities takes more than two hours.

The solutions to the connectivity issue are the proposed East West Rail and the Oxford to Cambridge Expressway.

East West Rail would connect Oxford to Cambridge, and onwards into East Anglia, following the abandoned Varsity Line which was closed in the 1960s. The Oxford to Cambridge Expressway is a proposed dual carriageway between the A34 near Oxford and the A14 near Cambridge, via Milton Keynes. Construction costs are likely to exceed £3 billion.

As Business & Innovation Magazine went to press, the government confirmed its preferred route for the eastern section of the line – a boon for the economies of St Neots and Cambourne.

And while a new dual carriageway cutting through shire county greenbelts and rural landscapes remains a contentious issue, government and business leaders say the Arc is vital for the future prosperity not only of Oxford, Cambridge, and Milton Keynes but the UK as a whole.

The view from Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire has been at the centre of innovation in the UK for centuries. National and local investments have built up a network of science parks and innovative firms across the county. Now it has ambitions to become “one of the top three global innovation ecosystems by 2040”.

“Oxfordshire is the UK’s engine for innovation: ground breaking research and development is driving the creation of new, dynamic businesses hungry to grow and scale up; cutting edge products and services are solving the challenges in healthcare, mobility, energy and communications; and commercialisation of these new ideas is delivering manufacturing and supply chain opportunities across the length and breadth of our country,” said Jeremy Long, chairman of the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership, launching the Oxfordshire Local Industrial Strategy last summer.

The county, he said, should be a “playground for innovators and entrepreneurs to translate big ideas into commercially successful products and services.” It should, he said, be “a pioneer

for clean and sustainable growth.”

Oxfordshire has one of the strongest economies in the UK, contributing £23 billion Gross Value Added (GVA) to the UK exchequer in 2017. It is also growing rapidly at an average of 3.9 per cent growth yearon-year since 2006. It is home to a world-leading bioscience cluster, with an estimated 180 research and developments companies and more than 150 companies in associated industries.

It has world-class research and developments facilities, with four new innovation centres at the Oxford BioEscalator, the Begbroke Accelerator, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus and Culham Science Centre. It also has significant strengths in the space and satellite sector. The Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire

County is a hotbed of cryogenics research

Oxfordshire is the global leader in cryogenics – the production and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures –with the most powerful concentration of cryogenic expertise in the world. This is a critical enabling technology that underpins high value manufacturing and engineering across a broad range of sectors.

The Oxfordshire cryogenics cluster includes Rutherford Appleton Laboratory at Harwell Campus, which pioneered the development of a multifilament superconducting cable known as the Rutherford Cable. This is a key technology for superconducting accelerators such as the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Switzerland.

comprises more than 90 space organisations employing nearly 1,000 people and is the largest space cluster in Europe, incorporating the European Space Agency, the Space Applications Catapult and the National Satellite Testing Facility.

And in manufacturing, Motorsport Valley extends from Northamptonshire into Oxfordshire – more of this later.

Meanwhile, the county has the highest intensity of university spin out companies in the UK. The University of Oxford continues to generate more spinouts than any other university nationally. Between 2014 and 2015, a total of 136 spin-out companies generated approximately £147 million of GVA, supporting 2,421 jobs in the Oxfordshire economy. On a per-head basis, the output of local workers is in the top 20 percent of English regions.

“Oxfordshire is the UK’s engine for innovation: ground breaking research and development is driving the creation of new, dynamic businesses hungry to grow and scale up”

The ATLAS detector on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN uses technology developed by Rutherford Appleton Laboratory

The view from the Thames Valley

While Milton Keynes and Buckingham don’t get name-checked in the titular Arc, both have a vital role to play in its development. Both towns are on the proposed East West Rail route and Milton Keynes, particularly, has the capability to expand.

Bucks LEP’s Local Industrial Strategy confirms the county’s ambitions to have leading sectors like space and creative industries capture the world stage and sets out how the area will maximise the economic opportunities of the Oxford-Cambridge Arc to boost productivity and economic potential.

Andrew Smith, Chair of Buckinghamshire Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “Buckinghamshire has many world-leading businesses and business clusters operating at the heart of the Oxford to Cambridge Growth Arc. Many of these including, Robert Bosch, Silverstone, GE Healthcare, Johnson & Johnson, Boundless Productions and Pinewood Studios will be critical in delivering the success of our strategy.”

The UK Space Agency recently invested £4.12 million in Westcott Venture Park to develop the National Space Propulsion Test Facility, and the new strategy sets out how the cluster will grow, addressing skills shortages for technicians and propulsion test specialists.

WORLD’S LARGEST FUSION DEVICE IS RESULT OF NATIONS COMING TOGETHER

Oxfordshire is home to a nationally leading energy cluster. It is unique in the UK for its specialism in developing future energy systems that can work at scale; these have significant overlaps with other sectors, such as transport and electricity. This includes strengths in areas such as high-capacity batteries, battery management systems, and data analytics.

Oxfordshire’s cluster includes nuclear fusion research, centred on the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy and the Faraday Institution. The UK

Rocket developer finds new space across county border

A good example of companies already seeing the benefit of investment and proposed new infrastructure is Reaction Engines, an Abingdon-based company, which has chosen Westcott in Buckinghamshire – part of the Aylesbury Vale Enterprise Zone – as the site for developing its new, innovative SABRE engine technology.

The company is working on a hybrid airbreathing rocket engine that can power an

aircraft from a standing start to over five times the speed of sound for hypersonic flight in the atmosphere, and over 25 times the speed of sound for space access.

The fast-growing, innovative company represents the type of organisation that could crystallise into a major international competitor in the space sector given greater infrastructure investment and talent retention across the Arc.

Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) at Culham Science Centre is a lead participant in the coordinated EU fusion programme managed by EUROfusion, and operates JET (Joint European Torus), the largest fusion device in the world.

Since it began operating in 1983, JET has made major advances in the science and engineering of fusion. Its success has led to the construction of the first commercial-scale fusion machine, ITER, and has increased confidence in the tokamak as a design for future fusion power plants.

Reaction Engines at Westcott Venture Park

Prime Minister Boris Johnson during a visit to Culham Centre for Fusion Energy last year

Think tank launches Radical Regeneration Manifesto to help drive growth

A think tank representing the property sector has launched a Radical Regeneration Manifesto to ensure the area’s knowledgebased economy – home to over two million jobs – remains competitive on the global stage post-Brexit.

The manifesto sets out 16 policy recommendations to radically overhaul how the public and private sector deliver housing, workspace, and infrastructure within the Arc.

Co-authored by property consultant Bidwells, alongside global architects Perkins and Will and policy advisory firm Blackstock Consulting, and including contributions from Legal & General, Barratt Developments and Countryside Properties, the manifesto is intended to offer a blueprint for future regeneration projects nationwide.

The recommendations include:

 Creating a singular body to fasttrack key development across the Arc, whether it’s homes, transport infrastructure or lab space. This could include permitted development rights around brownfield sites meeting an agreed criteria and density of sites linked to transport hubs for example

 Update archaic planning rules enabling quicker change of use and more flexibility over how sites can be used, given that many fast-growing businesses have no idea where they will be in two years. Alongside this, extending permitted development rights for brownfield sites and mandating that younger people get involved in community engagement through the use of apps rather than just town halls.

 Fixed regulation that mandates zero carbon, and ideally, carbon negative, development. Passivhaus should be as standard for housing, because without this there will be no way to really build trust and galvanise communities to become ambassadors, rather than opponents, of development in areas of natural beauty

Patrick McMahon, Senior Partner at Bidwells, said: “There is already evidence of the global force the Arc can become. We’ve launched this manifesto to highlight the need to tap into the different expertise that the public and private sectors possess at a time when it’s crucial.”

Motorsport Valley is driving economy forward

Silverstone – which sits between Banbury to the west and Milton Keynes to the east – is the heart of the advanced tech sector in the Arc. It is home to 40 advanced manufacturing companies, testing facilities for materials and vehicles, the Silverstone circuits including the iconic F1 Circuit, and a rapidly growing Enterprise Zone.

There are more than 4,000 companies, employing 36,000 people, operating in this sector and based within a one-hour radius of Silverstone. This brings significant benefits of co-location, networking and a specialist skills pool with strong local roots, with the scope to accommodate further business growth opportunities for high value manufacturing.

Harwell shines a light on collaboration

The HealthTec cluster in Harwell is able draw on the expertise and strengths across 200 organisations based at the site, such as the space and computing clusters. The crossfertilisation of ideas across different fields is typified by Diamond Light Source, the UK’s national synchrotron facility at Harwell.

Its purpose is to produce intense beams of light whose special

characteristics are useful in many areas of scientific research.

The intense beams of light that it can produce have many uses for aerospace and engineering component design as well as investigating protein structure for new drugs. Cross fertilisation has helped to grow several areas of production simultaneously, with the site due to expand by more than 1,000,000 sq ft in the coming years.

Silverstone Technology Cluster

“A POWERHOUSE WAITING TO HAPPEN”

Katherine Bennett

Last November, taking inspiration from the successful Northern Powerhouse and Midlands Engine, The West of England revealed it was joining forces with South Wales to pool cross-border skills and expertise on both sides of the Severn estuary.

For Katherine Bennett, Senior Vice President of Airbus and now Chair of the Western Gateway, this is an exciting project.

“South Wales and Western England has long been a powerhouse waiting to happen, and has phenomenal potential to drive Britain’s cleaner, greener and inclusive future,” she said.

“Together we could add more than £56 billion to the UK economy by 2030, releasing the untapped potential of our cities, towns and villages, making a huge difference to people’s lives”

“Having lived and worked in the area for the last 15 years, it is super to have an opportunity to help shape that potential. Bringing people together around this agenda is a privilege.

“We believe we could benefit the UK economy through excelling at innovation and transition to a greener economy. We are developing our priorities, which will speak to our three main ambitions: improving physical and digital connectivity; increasing export and investment-led growth; and sparking more collaboration and innovation in our distinctive high-tech sectors, universities and R&D assets.”

“Together we could add more than £56 billion to the economy by 2030, releasing the untapped potential in our

cities, towns and villages, making a huge difference to people’s lives.

“We offer great places to invest, live and work. Strong industries such as advanced manufacturing and engineering; creative, digital and cyber; and finance, business and professional services already thrive across the area. We also offer growth sectors such as clean energy and low carbon, health and life sciences.”

The removal of the tolls on the Severn Crossings has helped, says Katherine, but she’s keen to strengthen digital connectivity and emphasise the value of relationships rather than focusing just on physical infrastructure.

“We want to make it easier for companies to collaborate while offering opportunities to make collective use of our soft power.

“I am enjoying learning about businesses in different sectors to mine. From the perspective of my own employer, where we have employees who travel to our sites

in Newport, Bristol or Chippenham, we can see the advantages of working across county borders and I am happy to share that story.”

But there are others issues the Western Gateway should tackle, she added.

“The vital challenge of decarbonisation and net zero and making sure that economic growth is as clean as possible must be baked into our work from the outset.”

Western Gateway is to commission an Independent Economic Review to help develop its medium-to-long-term work.

“I have been bowled over by the enthusiasm of local authority leaders, combined authorities, LEPs, business organisations and government to support the formation of the Western Gateway, added Katherine.

“We have come so far because of their work already in the areas they represent. I’m really conscious of the need to engage with people and go on this journey together. Much of my time so far has been spent on forming those relationships and over the coming year the partners plan to work together to bring people on the journey and work in a balanced, evidence-driven way to build our longer-term vision and strategy.”

CBE, Senior Vice President of Airbus, is ambitious for the new Western Gateway

Katherine Bennett, Senior Vice President of Airbus, and Chair of the Western Gateway

What’s so special about the Western Gateway? It’s up to us to decide

Business West, the not-for-profit company which is supporting thousands of businesses across the West of England, has welcomed the idea behind the Western Gateway initiative.

Phil Smith, the organisation’s Managing Director, said: “Bristol, Bath, Swindon, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire are not, by themselves, necessarily big enough to attract interest from Perth in Australia, for instance, but the Western Gateway should have the assets and scale, and a name with a ring to it that should be able to forge a worldwide presence.

“Business needs to speak with one voice to ensure we get the maximum benefit from government policy and spending, and in Katherine Bennett of Airbus, the new chair of the Western Gateway, we have a very strong supporter from business.”

Cross-border Western Gateway will form new UK economic powerhouse

The Western Gateway is a new strategic partnership aiming to promote and maximise economic growth across south Wales and the west of England.

Its objective is to create jobs, boost prosperity and support universities and businesses across the region.

Linking towns and cities either side of the River Severn, the Western Gateway will mirror the successful work of the more established Northern Powerhouse and Midlands Engine and will seek to ensure that the region is globally competitive.

Supporters say that the Western Gateway has the potential to transform

What is so special about the South West? The region already leads in aerospace. “Perhaps we could also become the country’s leading region in tackling the climate crisis,” added Phil.

“We have seen Stroud’s green revolution and its ambition to be the UK’s first carbon zero town, and we at Business West are aiming to be carbon neutral for all our UK-based operations by the end of the year. We would be the first UK Chamber of Commerce to achieve this.

“We know that skills are important, and that productivity is very important too and our businesses and Local Enterprise Partnerships – with their local Industrial Strategies – are working on those.

“But a region-wide ambition to be at the cutting edge in tackling the global environmental agenda ought to attract more government patronage.

“This should give us a clear regional unique selling point.”

the economic prospects of the region. The government is providing £400,000 to kick-start the partnership and Katherine Bennett, Senior Vice President

of Airbus, is the Western Gateway’s acting chair. She will lead and shape the governance, management and initial priorities for the partnership.

Western Gateway Leaders group

WHAT WILL THE WESTERN GATEWAY

MEAN FOR GLOUCESTERSHIRE ?

We challenged Ian Mean, Gloucestershire Director of Business West and a former regional newspaper editor, to find out.

If we are absolutely honest, this region has never really had a clear vision of what it stands for and how its businesses can together drive its economy forward.

With the new government promising big ideas, I think we finally have the chance of coming out of our shell to convince Whitehall we mean business.

I sat down with Mark Hawthorne, Leader of Gloucestershire County Council and Colin Chick, his new Director of Economy, Environment and Infrastructure to discuss our future.

I have always been amazed that here in the West we have been unable to come up with a clear, economic unique selling point for this region which has so much going for it in terms of business growth.

Mark Hawthorne: “The government seems to want two words in their descriptor for these regional powerhouses, thus the final establishment of the name.

“Ours will now be called the Western Gateway, erstwhile the Western Powerhouse following the Northern Powerhouse and the Midlands Engine et al.”

The Western Gateway has just appointed a rather good chair in Katherine Bennett of Airbus in Filton and given it a wad of cash, about £400,000, to get the ball rolling.

Mark: “It was an initially an M4 corridor

initiative—Bristol, Cardiff and Newport which then got extended to Swansea.”

Gloucestershire’s inclusion seemed to be an afterthought, I suggested. Mark thinks there was a challenge back from government to broaden it out.

“Because we had already been in discussions with WECA (West of England Combined Authority) there was a realisation that M4-M5 made sense as much as M4 on its own,” he said.

“If you want to have a powerhouse, it must have depth to it.

“You are looking at functional economic areas and the whole basis of the Northern Powerhouse is spreading the wealth out into the areas.

“Just going down a corridor wasn’t logical but with Gloucestershire in it, and Wiltshire as well, it has certainly got a lot

more credibility as a powerhouse.”

What are we going to get out of it, because to me Gloucestershire has never had a clear unique selling point?

Colin Chick is forthright. He has built a reputation of questioning and knocking heads together. He’s an action man and there are not too many of them in local government.

He tells me: “I think Gloucestershire has been overlooked and the new Western Gateway gives us a position and a critical mass with the others.

“The government have got to stand up and look at Gloucestershire.”

He’s right. We have failed to really make an impact in Whitehall. It has been rather too cosy here in Gloucestershire.

Colin added: “Gloucestershire, in strategic military terms, stands in a powerful position. You cannot get to the south coast from the Midlands or the North without going through the county.

Mark Hawthorne, Leader of Gloucestershire County Council

“You are looking at functional economic areas and the whole basis of the Northern Powerhouse is spreading the wealth out into the areas”

“Strategically, we are very important but we have to fight for every little bit of money we want for a road and rail network that is absolutely critical to UK plc.”

So, why have we been overlooked? I ask.

“I think you have hit the nail on the head” he says. “It’s a bit about our unique selling point. It’s almost because of where we are and how we sit between all those areas.”

And Mark added: “It’s how government looks at things. Bristol is a block, Cardiff is a block.”

Gloucestershire, in view of the fact that it’s split into six district areas, has never been viewed as a block.

“I think we are trying to change that narrative, and we have just declared ourselves as a city region to define ourselves as a block,” said Mark. “Look at it that way and we are suddenly a growth area of significant size, and something worth investing in.”

What do we get out of that scenario? I ask.

Mark puts his view: “You can’t argue that if you are just Gloucestershire, but you can if you are part of a bigger package of

economic activity because the numbers stack up better and the yield is better.”

What is this new Western Gateway going to give us?

Mark: “I think you could get a boost for the economy in terms of funding for key infrastructure and support for transport improvements so badly needed.

“There will be a realisation that what we do in Gloucestershire affects Birmingham, Bristol and the whole of the country as well as this county. That is where we start to get that credibility.

“Everybody gets impacted with what Gloucestershire suffers from. We are not just banging our own drum—there are a lot of other people banging the drum for us as well.

“We will be part of a bigger club.

“We can put a case together—that’s where it gets its first tranche of what we are trying to achieve.

“The second one is about inward investment and overseas. We have been trying but we are not, on our own, big enough to make that pitch.

“Collectively, as Western Gateway working with Bristol, Swindon and Cardiff, we are already talking about going MIPIM London next year.”

(MIPIM is Europe’s biggest annual real estate exhibition where almost 30,000 international property professionals gather in the South of France).

Only one per cent of the population in Gloucestershire are using rail regularly whereas five per cent are nationally.

Colin, an engineer, said: “The motorway is overloaded but the train carries only one per cent of the traffic from Bristol to Birmingham.”

“If we are going to drive sustainable future growth, if we are going to get Gloucestershire where we want it to be with its offer on housing and economic growth over the next 30 years, and deliver our 2050 Vision, we can’t just do it on the motorway alone.

“If we do that it will be overloaded by 2030.

“I don’t know another corridor like it. I was at a European conference recently and I asked them what they thought the modal split is (between rail and road).

“When I told them it was only one per cent, they were absolutely gobsmacked. They expected me to say 20-30 per cent.”

And Mark says: “This is all part of the 2050 journey. It was the start of a conversation reflecting that we didn’t have a pipeline of projects going forward.

“Western Gateway is a continuation of that story. It is about us finding a subregional partnership for delivering some of what we want from our 2050 vision for Gloucestershire.”

Colin Chick, Gloucestershire County Council Director of Economy, Environment and Infrastructure.

Gloucester Docks

“The motorway is overloaded but the train carries only one per cent of the traffic from Bristol to Birmingham”

THE MEAN VIEW

Land and skills: business needs more of both

By Ian Mean

Councils should wake up to the need to increase land availability before big businesses go elsewhere.

Business is currently plagued by two big issues. One is recruitment and getting the right people with the right skills.

The other is employment land, or rather the lack of it all over this region.

I am particularly talking about Gloucestershire which I know best, and where the challenge of companies wishing to expand and grow their business has reached crisis point. But this is an issue across the region, if not the whole of the UK.

In my view, the lack of viable employment land with good communication is now leading companies to think the unthinkable.

To move elsewhere taking all the jobs with them.

Scaremongering, you may say. I don’t think so when you listen to some of the key figures in planning and land development I have been talking to about the challenge facing business.

“Certainly, within Gloucestershire, there is a significant lack of employment land”, says Simon Tothill, property and development director for Robert Hitchins.

“Employers will look elsewhere and they will take those jobs elsewhere. They cannot afford to stand still. If you stand still in the market you go backwards.”

He is right. Why don’t our councils, particularly here in Gloucestershire, wake up and smell the coffee. That our economy and productivity will only really grow if companies grow their business.

And investment and expansion is a key route to that growth.

Companies seeking to expand in Gloucestershire are too often banging their heads against a proverbial brick wall in trying to get our myriad of councils – six districts in all – to provide good employment land.

Is this really so difficult?

It would naturally be a lot easier if our governance in Gloucestershire was not hindered by the six councils and a county council often having variable views.

But that is not going to change anytime soon, because it’s politics.

And politics plays a big part in potential employment land in Cheltenham, Tewkesbury and Gloucester where there are conflicts with the surrounding green belt.

That’s very emotive to councillors and communities, of course.

In my view, a lot of this so-called “green belt” is simply low grade agricultural land.

And Simon Prescott, a partner with

the Bristol planning firm of Barton Willmore echoes my view.

“I get annoyed when the desire to leave the green belt alone distorts or leads economic strategies”, he tells me.

I ask Simon Tothill what he would do about the green belt if he was in government.

“I would have an immediate review, and I would identify what is effectively strategic green belt that needs to be retained.

“I would also identify areas of land that might come out of that green belt.

“We cannot afford to delay and waste time. There is so much regulation in the planning process and the wheels turn so slowly. I would take some action and quickly.”

Business is a cause for good in our communities. Councils must not ignore it.

Ian Mean is Gloucestershire Director of Business West, and a former regional newspaper editor.

He is an honorary vice-president of Gloucestershire College and has an honorary doctorate of philosophy from the University of Gloucestershire for supporting business in the county.

Ian is also chairman of the Gloucestershire Hospitals Trust Organ Donation Committee and a board member of Gloucestershire’s Local Enterprise Partnership, championing small and medium-sized businesses.

Ian Mean

CAREER AHEAD

Alison Webster has been appointed CEO for Thames Valley Berkshire LEP. Prior to joining the Partnership, Alison was Strategy and Policy Director at the Rural Payments Agency (RPA). She also led on collaboration with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and managed the RPA’s relationship with the Devolved Administrations.

PAUL STEPS UP AT WARWICK CONFERENCES

Warwick Conferences – the University of Warwick’s conference, meeting and events organisation – has appointed Paul Bartlett as director. Paul became head of sales for Warwick Conferences in June 2018 and takes over the senior role at a vital time in the region’s visitor economy.

COTSWOLDS’ LARGEST LAND AGENT APPOINTS TWO

West Midlands 5G Limited (WM5G), a new organisation delivering the UK’s first region-wide 5G testbed, has appointed Michel Sabatier as Business Development Director. Michel has working for tech companies such as Atos and Nokia. He has co-founded software start-ups and invested and advised national and international tech scale-ups.

NEW CHIEF EXECUTIVE ANNOUNCED FOR FEDIP

The Federation of Informatics

The Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership Growth Hub has appointed urban planning specialist Chris Lawes as account manager.

Chris joins from Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council where he delivered the economic development strategy for the borough.

Cirencester-based provider of rural and agricultural services Moore Allen & Innocent, has appointed two new associate partners. Amy McDonald joined the company in 2009, after earning a masters in tourism and business. Anthony Wright studied rural land management at the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester, before joining the firm in 2013.

Professionals (FEDIP) – the Swindonbased body leading on professionalism for the healthcare IT community – has appointed former Director of the NHS Wales Informatics Service, Andrew Griffiths, as its Chief Executive. Andrew has a successful career in digital health and made an outstanding contribution to the development of information and technology services in NHS Wales.

THAMES VALLEY BERKSHIRE LEP APPOINTS CEO

BLAKE MORGAN TAKES ON PROPERTY PARTNER

The Thames Valley offices of national law firm Blake Morgan has appointed Rob Lynch as a property partner. Rob joined from Harrison Clark Rickerbys where he spent almost 10 years providing specialist real estate and land development advice.

JOHN TAKES ON ROLE WITH TRAVELPORT

Travelport, a Slough-based technology company serving the global travel industry has welcomed John Elieson as its new Chief Operating Officer at Travelport’s global headquarters in Langley, Berkshire. John was previously President and CEO of Radixx International, a company providing passenger services system technology to the airline industry.

MIGRATION FIRM FURTHERS BREXIT GROWTH WITH CONSULTANT POST

Abingdon-based law firm, Migrate UK, has appointed Paralegal, Judit Adorjan, as Immigration Consultant. Based in Milton Park and Tianjin, China, Migrate UK specialises solely in immigration law for organisations and individuals. The firm has seen a major increase in enquiries from both skilled EU professionals and employers concerned about their workers’ futures.

EDGARS MAKES PLANS FOR GROWTH

Real estate consultancy Savills, has appointed chartered town planner David Bainbridge as a Director in its Oxford planning division. David specialises in strategic residential and mixed-use development. He has joined Savills after fifteen years at property consultancy, Bidwells, where he was a partner.

THURSFIELDS APPOINTS FARMING AND LANDED ESTATES EXPERT

Thursfields Solicitors has appointed Jon Clifford as Head of Agricultural and Rural Affairs. Jon has lived on the Worcestershire/Herefordshire border for almost 20 years advising farmers and landowners across the Midlands and beyond. Jon (left) is pictured with Nicholas O’Hara, Thursfields’ Managing Director.

SPORTING CHANCE FOR MIKE BURTON’S CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER

The Mike Burton Group, the leading commercial ticketing business in the sports sector, has appointed Justin Hopwood (above left)in the new role of Chief Commercial Officer. and to the Board as a Director alongside Chairman and founder Mike Burton and Chief Executive Officer Ian Edwards (above right).

CONSTRUCTION COMPANY RAISES ALMOST £20,000 FOR CHARITIES

Race nights, quiz nights and a 300-mile bike ride by staff at Gloucester-based construction company EG Carter & Co, raised almost £20,000 for charities.

Employees presented a cheque to Rose Hedges, representative of Herefordshire MIND and Sarah James from The James Hopkins Trust. The money will be split equally between the James Hopkins Trust, Crohn’s and Colitis and Herefordshire MIND.

Kimberley Clay, PR Coordinator at E G Carter & Co Ltd said “To have raised this amount of money after a year of fundraising is incredible.To see what the money will go towards has made the hard work worth it.”

Celebrating ten years of business at security firm

A Coventry security firm which aimed to raise money for ten different charities during its tenth anniversary last year raised more than £10,000 after taking part in more than 30 fundraising events.

Stadium launched its appeal with its male staff braving a charity spray tan.

Further events included the Three Peaks Challenge, abseiling down Coventry Cathedral, a 5km ‘Pretty Muddy’ obstacle course, and flying across the Ricoh Arena on a zipwire.

The money will be shared between Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance, Alzheimer’s Society, Cancer Research UK, Coventry & Warwickshire Mind, Emmaus, Macmillan Cancer Support, Myton Hospices, The Forest Hermitage, YoungMinds and Zoe’s Place Baby Hospice.

“To have raised this amount of money after a year of fundraising is incredible. To see what the money will go towards has made the hard work worth it”

Warwick charity launches major fundraising dinner at Ricoh Arena

A national charity near Warwick that enriches the lives of thousands of disabled children and adults through horses is launching a new sports dinner to raise muchneeded funds.

Riding for Disabled Association (RDA) – whose horses benefit the lives of 25,000 children and adults at 500 locations across the UK – is hosting its Charity Sports Dinner at the Ricoh Arena this month, with Rugby World Cup referee Wayne Barnes attending as the headline speaker.

The event comes a year after the organisation moved its headquarters to newly-built premises at the RDA National Training Centre in Old Warwick Road, Shrewley.

EG Carter staff present cheque

Riding for the Disabled

Gloucestershire

charities

scoop

share of £120,000 festive financial boost

Ten Gloucestershire charities won a £1,000 boost thanks to nominations from the public. The charities have won a share of £120,000 as part of specialist insurer Ecclesiastical’s annual 12 days of giving Christmas campaign.

Charities benefitting include The Willow Trust, which offers disabled and seriously ill children and adults the chance to enjoy a day on board a canal boat, and Scrubditch Care Farm, which provides therapeutic farm-based activities for vulnerable people.

Mark Hews, Group Chief Executive at Ecclesiastical, said: “Our core purpose is to contribute to the greater good of society, so charitable giving is at the heart of our business.”

Rugby legends swaps shorts for swimmers to raise money for hospice

Worcester Warriors legend Alex Grove is hoping to raise £15,000 for Acorns Children’s Hospice when he swims the English Channel in August, sponsored by Worcester law firm Hallmark Hulme.

The former Worcester Warriors centre and Scottish International has already completed several marathon swims, including the 18km Windermere One Way, but is in training to take on his next epic plunge to raise funds for the local Worcester hospice.

Rebecca Widdowson, Managing Partner at Hallmark Hulme, said: “We will be supporting Alex and following his training as he approaches the big day. Our sponsorship will go towards covering his costs for the pilot boat etc, so all donations will go direct to Acorns.”

Chef raises £2,600 for Springboard charity

A senior commis chef employed by leading independent hospitality provider, BaxterStorey, based in Reading, has raised an impressive £2,600 for The Springboard charity, which helps young people achieve their potential and nurtures unemployed people of any age into work.

Ryan Smith raised the money following a charity dinner, hosted at Said Business School, Oxford.

The fundraiser was the culmination of several months of fundraising for Ryan, who is one step closer to reaching his target of £3,500. More than 50 guests were treated to an innovative three-course menu focused on plant-based, zero waste ingredients.

The evening included an auction with prizes donated by local suppliers, including a Roots of Oxford hamper and Oxford United football tickets.

This month Ryan will be heading to Nicaragua for Springboard’s 30th annual trek. He’ll be combining the challenge of four immense volcano hikes with a community outreach project, providing life-changing relief to the local people of Rota.

Ryan said: “I am so grateful to be given the opportunity to support such an amazing charity. It is a cause close to my heart as BaxterStorey’s Chef Academy have supported me in the same way, giving me the knowledge and skills to grow as a person. Thanks to their generosity, I’m now able to pay it forward and give to others.”

Rebecca Widdowson with Alex Grove

ROLE MODELS IN BUSINESS

Judi: Being identified as a woman in industry does matter. It’s an endorsement of the achievement of women who have overcome challenges over the years to triumph in being able to take on these roles. Women have only been allowed to become lawyers in the last 100 years. But there is still a way to go and to inspire and empower women. We represent nearly half of all solicitors, yet at senior levels only 27 per cent of women account for partners. At WSP Solicitors women account for 67 per cent and we have more women as lawyers and in senior positions. That is not a deliberate policy but just how we have evolved which reflects positively on the previous leadership of WSP Solicitors to recruit and promote on merit.

Linsey: Everyone is trying to achieve equality and fighting to be treated the same. We should be celebrating the successes of men and women in business. I say this however, from a view of

someone who has never experienced any issues or barriers. My perspective on this may have been different if I had experienced any issues. I do think it is important to encourage women into higher level roles and if this is the way we do it by showing them other females who have managed to do it, then I am not against that.

Lynis: I have worked in male and female dominated environments. I believe it is important to act and showcase your success as a female in order to inspire others. I have been fortunate that I have never felt that my gender has worked against me, if anything I have made it work for me. There are advantages and disadvantages of finding success in the workplace as a woman. As a woman I believe it is good to focus on the advantages and find other ways to approach or deal with any of the disadvantages.

LINSEY TEMPLE – Chief Executive at Gloucestershire Engineering & Training, based in Gloucester.

LYNIS BASSETT – Founder and Chief Executive of Cheltenham-based educational consultancy, Class People.

All of them have completed management training programmes with QuoLux. Linsey has undertaken LEAD, GOLD, GAIN and did an MBA with QuoLux.

Judi completed LEAD, two of her managers have completed LEADlight and 18 WSP staff are currently going through Planning2Win.

Lynis and her daughter Naomi, who is Managing Director of Class People, have completed LEAD.

We all need role models in business and with fewer women than men in senior roles, we invited three businesswomen to talk about some of the issues they had faced around being a woman in business

Should successful women stand above the parapet to inspire confidence in others who may feel that their gender could count against them?

JUDI BONHAM – Managing Director at WSP Solicitors in Stroud.

Judi Bonham

“Being identified as a woman in industry does matter. It’s an endorsement of the achievement of women who have overcome challenges over the years to triumph in being able to take on these roles”

Were any challenges you have faced in your career associated with being a woman?

Judi: I hadn’t really considered being the next Managing Director at WSP Solicitors, and I was daunted by the thought of it. Rather than dwell on why, I seized the opportunity to do a Lead management course with QuoLux. It boosted my self-belief and inspired me to improve my performance, and that of my teams and the business.

Linsey: I have never faced criticisms about my gender (or my age, as I was young, 30 years old, when became CEO). My biggest challenge was with myself and building my confidence to be in a room with men, generally in the older age range. I do think, however, that sometimes I am invited on to working groups or panels so that there is a good gender balance rather than necessarily being there based on my views and experience – again that is an assumption of mine.

Lynis: The teaching profession is a female dominated one. Male figures are in high demand in the teaching profession for many reasons. In my teaching years, it appeared a male figure would fast-track much quicker than a female teacher, whatever the competencies.

Are there any benefits to being a woman and doing the job you do?

Judi: Being a good listener and having an open door is invaluable. Being able to understand and care about a client or helping colleagues develop their own potential, such as encouraging them to go on QuoLux’s Leadlite or take part in other training has really made a difference. Whether these are because I am a woman or just because this is how I approach my role is difficult to say.

Linsey: From a sector point of view I find that the men are more polite and mindful of their language around me because of my gender but I am not sure I would call that a benefit.

Lynis: having been a teacher in a femaledominated environment, it allowed me to understand challenges that other females may face within the environments we work. As a leader I don’t believe it makes any difference to my leadership style. After all, we don’t say, “this is how you lead as a male, this is how you lead as a female.”

Did you always aspire to do the type of job you do, or did your role come about through seizing a new opportunity?

Judi: I have always wanted to practice law since I was at school. I left the firm where I did my training because I felt there was a glass ceiling and moved to WSP Solicitors where I was tasked with building the Family Team. That was 22 years ago and now the team is seven-strong.

I was offered a partnership in 2000 when I was 29 and pregnant. Such a position wasn’t on my radar, but I became a partner nine months after my son was born. Four years ago the previous Managing Partner had been in the position

for 10 years and wanted a change. After completing QuoLux’s Lead training I felt more confident in leading a business. I have always been able to blend work with family life successfully. I know that this has not been an experience all woman have enjoyed. That isn’t to say it hasn’t been hard work – there are long hours and juggling responsibilities with running a home and bringing up a family.

Linsey: I started as a business administration apprentice and just made the most of the opportunities that presented themselves which has resulted in where I am today. I never had the ambition or desire to be a leader of a business and probably didn’t have the self-belief that this was possible when I started out in the world of work. I had an extremely supportive boss who encouraged me every step of the way and kept telling me I was capable.

Lynis: I qualified in 1997 as a teacher (mature student), and I was inspired to be a head teacher. The job I do today was never on the radar. However sometimes in life you find yourself on an unexpected path. Frustrated with the teaching profession and all the bureaucracy, I did supply work while I considered my way forward. While doing supply I saw an opportunity. Although 17 years on there was never

Lynis Bassett

a plan to be where we are today. Over the years I have invested in leadership development through QuoLux’s LEAD programme which has allowed me to develop professionally and personally and bring many learnings into the workplace. Having built this business today I now understand why I was never going to conform in the classroom.

Do you still have career goals?

Judi: As Managing Director at WSP Solicitors I am at the “top” of this tree but that doesn’t mean to say I don’t have career goals – these focus on inspiring and encouraging colleagues to develop themselves and become the best they can be. I also continue to love the client work I do.

Inspiring belief to take the lead

Jo Draper, Director, QuoLux

Sadly, women are still underrepresented in leadership teams across the UK – even though evidence shows that a more balanced representation of women in top leadership positions produces better financial results.

We’re bucking that trend here at QuoLux. Our board of three includes two leading women, with our head of operations also flying the female flag.

Reassuringly, it’s a similar theme that’s emerging through our leadership programmes. Women make up half of those undertaking our GAIN and MBA programmes and 40 per cent on our GOLD programme.

LEAD is the first step in the series of our leadership programmes and we know from benchmarking against recent research that we have more than a third of ladies than those on typical national programmes, which is great, but it’s a long way from being 50/50. So, why the discrepancy?

We find that confidence is often key. The Women in Leadership Report (2019) revealed that 75 per cent of women felt that they had experienced a “lack of confidence” that had held them back at some stage of their careers. In fact, many of the women we first speak to about leadership often don’t have the self-belief to see themselves in that role, even though they are, invariably, already leading. Unlocking this confidence comes through reflection, collaboration and support.

Linsey: There is still a lot that I want Gloucestershire Engineering and Training (GET) to achieve so more business goals rather than career goals. I have worked at GET for 24 years and have never really thought about working elsewhere (at least until a point where I think the business could run effectively under someone else’s leadership).

Lynis: I want to continue to develop my leadership and link my professional and personal goals to drive the company into its next chapter. My greatest pleasure is in seeing the younger generation within the company develop. Today we are a family business. We have solid succession planning and again the support of QuoL ux and its LEAD programme has allowed us to put this in place and work towards it.

We see it first hand on our LEAD programme where, by bringing together peers from other companies to learn, share, reflect and support one another as they work on real life business issues they feel better equipped, and more confident, to deal with whatever is thrown at them. They inspire belief in one another.

Linsey, Judi, Lynis and her daughter Naomi have all been through our LEAD programme. With access to tools, techniques and frameworks through the course and that powerful community of support, each of them was able to explore and reflect on their leadership skills, building their confidence and ultimately supporting success. We’re incredibly proud of all that they’ve achieved and to watch now as they “pay it forward” developing their next generation of leaders in their businesses.

www.quolux.co.uk

Funded skills training is supporting women in business to progress to the next level

their workplace.

The training is delivered as part of the Skills Support for the Workforce (SSW) programme, which Serco is managing across 16 regions in England, including Coventry and Warwickshire and Worcestershire. Serco works in partnership with the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to provide bespoke skills development that focuses on upskilling employees in key priority sectors.

How could your business benefit?

SSW provides recognised, accredited qualifications and bespoke training courses to enhance employees’ skills and increase the competitiveness of businesses to help boost the local economy.

Coventry and Warwickshire and Worcestershire based businesses are being urged to take advantage of a £6m skills training fund. Employers who have already engaged with the SSW programme have typically seen benefits including:

 Increased in-house efficiencies and productivity levels

 The development of a highly skilled workforce, delivering better quality outputs

 Improved business performance to gain a competitive edge

 Being considered an ‘Employer of Choice’ for new recruits, reducing recruitment costs

 Creating a valued and empowered workforce, demonstrated by improved staff satisfaction and decreased turnover

Esmie’s: Boosting Productivity

Through Customer Service Training

PET-Xi is an expert training organisation chosen to deliver the SSW programme

in Coventry and Warwickshire on behalf of Serco. PET-Xi worked closely with Esmie’s Caribbean Kitchen to deliver fully funded vocational training which was tailored to the needs of both individual employees and the business.

Esmie’s is a family-run restaurant. Having grown from street-food beginnings, the successful business had undergone a restructure and has a new brand profile. This change has provided scope for the front of house team to benefit from further training in Customer Services. Through PET-Xi, SSW delivered training that was flexible, allowing the learners to select either full qualifications or mix and match individual units relevant to their work. Esmie’s management team wanted to improve the personal development of the team as a means to boost overall productivity, making it a great fit for the programme.

Five of the business’ employees completed an NVQ Level 2 in Customer Service. This qualification provides learners with the knowledge and understanding to deal with a variety of Customers and is a transferable skill within a variety of work environments. The accredited qualifications that were attained by different members of the team, included:

 NVQ Level 2 in Customer Service

 NVQ Level 2 in IT Training

 NVQ Level 2 in Team Leadership

Julia works as a waitress at Esmie’s. She enrolled on the programme to improve her knowledge on how to enhance the Customer’s experience. Reflecting on her training, Julia said:

“I have progressed and gained better understanding of customer service and developed skills in handling customer problems and working effectively as a team. I now understand the importance of applying interpersonal skills within the team to improve our effectiveness and productivity.”

Julie,

“In the current financial climate, employee development training like the Skills Support for the Workforce programme is invaluable in helping businesses to flourish and grow. Skills growth is supporting employees not only to stay in secure employment but also to progress, by gaining more responsibility and improving their earning potential.”

Fleur Sexton, Managing Director, PET-Xi

Get involved – How could upskilling improve your workforce?

The SSW team are especially keen to hear from businesses and employees operating in key priority sectors in your region, which include: Construction, Education, Retail, Advanced Manufacturing & Engineering, Agri Tech, Cyber and IT.

www.serco-ssw.com

skillssupport@serco.com

Delivered by:

Co-financed by:

Over 6,000 female learners have now taken advantage of funded skills training to upskill, reskill and progress within

The SSW programme is co-financed by the European Social Fund and the Education and Skills Funding Agency. Serco has partnered with expert training organisations, who know the local business landscape, to offer both accredited qualifications and bespoke training courses.

Waitress Esmie ’s Caribbean Kitchen

LET’S HEAR IT FOR THE GIRLS

More women than men work in high-skilled professions, but men are more likely to be managers, directors or senior officials says government research. We meet some of the women bucking the trend

Last August it was widely reported that there were more companies in the FTSE 100 with chief executives called Steve or Dave than there were women bosses.

Our team at Business & Innovation Magazine repeated the research last month, and things have hardly changed.

There were seven Petes and seven Daves (but now just five Steves), against just seven women in total, one of which (Liv Garfield of Severn Trent Water), is included in this feature.

However, things are improving. The latest government-backed Hampton-Alexander Review, published in February, revealed that a third of all board positions in the UK’s FTSE 100 companies are now held by women.

However, men are more likely to be involved in early stage entrepreneurial activity according to government statistics.

On average, women get paid less – around £100 a week less in fact, and only 19 per cent of small and medium-sized enterprises were led by women in 2017 (and we can’t see that it would be very different now).

More women work in health and social work, education, wholesale and retail than in any other sector. We’re not saying that these sectors aren’t of critical value, of course they are, but it would be great to see

more women in senior positions in some of the UK’s leading industrial businesses.

Companies can’t argue that they don’t have the skills. Women are more likely to enter the workforce with higher qualifications than men, but they will earn less per hour. And that pay gap increases sharply at the point that they have children.

But the thing is – diversity works for business. UK companies with a more diverse workforce are nearly a quarter more likely to have profits about their industry average says the government – and others.

Improving the ratio of women to men in science, technology, engineering and maths by just one per cent could increase company revenues in those sectors by more than £300 million per annum, according to WISE, the campaign for gender balance in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Why aren’t more companies busting a gut to get women on board? It is fair to say that some are.

This feature celebrates just some of the region’s most successful women in industry. There are many more equally successful.

Our final pick aims to shows women succeeding in every industry. So let’s hear it for the girls.

EQUALITY ACT — WHAT EQUALITY ACT?

BBC presenter Samira Ahmed successfully took the broadcaster to court after she discovered she was being paid less than a male colleague doing similar work.

Sue Waters, Director at Gloucestershire-based recruitment agency GB Solutions, says that it’s remarkable that the issues raised in her case remain unresolved in 2020.

“We often meet candidates totally prepared to compromise on salary to manage family responsibilities and their desire to make a real contribution to a business. Why should a career come to a crashing halt because of a life event?

Why should only one half of the partnership have to compromise on salary when both partners have family responsibilities?

“Employers are frequently worried about creating a precedent, but by offering some flexibility to candidates we explain that they can get much more bang for their buck. Yes, if you offer it to one you must offer it to all, but when business leaders realise that they too could spend more time with their kids before and after school, help with homework and call in on elderly parents, they will be keener to rewrite the rule book for all.”

LIV GARFIELD, CEO, SEVERN TRENT WATER

Liv became Chief Executive of Severn Trent in April 2014.

The Coventry-based water and waste company, which serves around eight million people across the Midlands, mid and north Wales, is one of the UK’s three large water utilities, and is listed on the Stock Exchange.

In January the company was included in Bloomberg’s Gender Equity Index, a worldwide index that looks at thousands of companies.

Liv said: “The fact that we’ve been named as one of the top companies just shows our commitment to gender equality which is all part of our move to becoming a more socially purposeful company.”

Before moving to Severn Trent, Liv worked at British Telecom. Her last role was as Chief Executive of Openreach, BT’s engineering division where she was responsible for the delivery of one of the fastest and most ambitious deployments of fibre broadband in the world, delivering the rollout across two-thirds of UK premises 18 months ahead of schedule.

She spent nine years in a variety of sales, service and strategy roles within BT before joining Openreach. This included four years as BT’s Group Director of Strategy & Regulatory Affairs and a number of roles motivating sales forces, managing call centres and leading largescale service provision and repair teams across the UK.

Liv is originally from Harrogate in Yorkshire, and is married, with two boys.

YOLANTA GILL, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, EUROPEAN ELECTRONIQUE

European Electronique is a leading UK systems integrator, specialising in the delivery of secure technology platforms including hybrid IT, cyber security and networking infrastructure.

Born and educated in Poland, Yolanta moved to the UK after gaining a Master’s Degree in Law at the University of Warsaw. She studied for her MBA at Oxford and joined the company in 1996, working alongside Mike Gill, until his retirement some 10 years ago.

Over the years European Electronique, which is based in Witney, has grown into the flourishing, market leading professional organisation it is today with a turnover approaching £60 million. Yolanta’s drive, passion and determination has steered the company to unrivalled success in delivering ICT infrastructure into both public and private sectors.

MARGHERITA DELLA VALLE, GROUP CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER, VODAFONE

Margherita was appointed Group Chief Financial Officer and a member of the international telecoms company Vodafone Group Board in 2018.

She joined Vodafone, which has its headquarters in Newbury, through Omnitel Pronto Italia in 1994, which later became Vodafone Italy, where she held key senior positions in consumer marketing, business analytics and customer base management before moving into finance. In 2000 she became Vodafone Italy’s Chief Controller, before being promoted to Chief Financial Officer for Vodafone Italy in 2004.

Margherita’s success in Italy was replicated as first she moved to Chief Financial Officer for Europe in 2007 before becoming the Group Financial Controller in 2011 and then Deputy CFO in 2015. In these later roles she had a major impact on the success of Vodafone globally.

ISOBEL SHELDON, HEAD OF BUSINESS

UKBIC (UK BATTERY

DEVELOPMENT,

INDUSTRIALISATION CENTRE)

Isobel has lived and breathed clean tech for the majority of her career, delivering technical innovations from within small start-ups and semi-government institutions to business turnaround within divisions of publicly listed corporations.

She became Head of Business Development at the UKBIC in 2019. The Centre, a new national facility for battery manufacturing development, will open this year and aims to turn the UK into a world leader in battery design, development and manufacture for vehicle electrification.

HONORARY DEGREE FOR UNIPART MANUFACTURING BOSS

One of the West Midlands’ leading female industrialists has been awarded an honorary degree by Coventry University.

Carol Burke CBE, Managing Director at Unipart Manufacturing Group, was granted the title of Doctor of Technology in recognition of her pioneering work in setting up the Institute of Advanced Manufacturing & Engineering (AME) more than five years ago.

The experienced engineer was one of the driving forces behind the UK’s first “Faculty on the Factory Floor”, helping support a new approach to developing the graduates of the future by making them more industryready through access to real-life manufacturing projects.

It is an approach that has already led to more than 100 new manufacturing professionals joining the sector and, due to AME’s ability to commercialise research and development, leading to a string of multi-million pound contracts for Unipart Manufacturing Group.

“While I’m personally delighted to receive the honorary degree, I do feel the title is more recognition of how successful the Institute and its bold approach to bridging the skills gap has been,” said Carol, who started her career with GKN.

“Industry and academia coming together hasn’t always been the easiest of marriages and, although there has definitely been soul searching on both sides, we have proved that the model works.

“The R&D work we have successfully carried out together includes projects as diverse as supporting the development of new fuel rails, as well as creating a new battery manufacturing facility. We feel we have found the blueprint for other companies and universities to follow.”

AME is based on one of Unipart Manufacturing Group’s sites in Coventry. Based in a purpose-built 1,700 sq m hub, more than 200 students have completed or are working towards their degrees, using the latest robotics, automation and welding technology.

ANN KRAMER, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, THE ELECTROSPINNING COMPANY

First established in 2010 as a spin-out from research undertaken by the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), The Electrospinning Company uses technology called electrospinning to design, develop and manufacture biomaterials that are used in tissue regenerative medical devices and drug discovery tools. Ann joined the company as Chief Executive in 2012.

Under her leadership, The Electrospinning Company developed the first electrospun material to be used in a Food & Drug Administration (FDA)-approved medical device and has now been selling this product in the United States for more than two years. The company is based in the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, near Oxford, where the scaffolds are manufactured on site in a purpose-built facility.

Ann graduated from the University of Cambridge with a degree in Natural Sciences and joined ICI Agrochemicals. Over almost 20 years with ICI, Zeneca and Syngenta she gained experience across the business including in research, sales, business development and M&A, with roles in the UK, USA and Switzerland. She managed the development of genetically modified food business streams in fresh produce crops. Since 2006 she has worked in the SME sector in the UK as Head of Business development for Oxitec Ltd (acquired by Intrexon in 2015), Chief Operating Officer of cancer biotech company Immunocore Ltd and Chief Executive Officer of Biosyntha Ltd.

PRIYA MANDE, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, PSIOXUS THERAPEUTICS

Priya Mande has more than 25 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech sector, 12 of which were at Glaxo Wellcome and GlaxoSmithKline where she was Senior Director of Research and Development Business Projects. Priya was the Vaccine Research Project Leader for Influenza at Pfizer before becoming Chief Operating Officer of Hybrid BioSystems in 2009 which then formed PsiOxus Therapeutics in 2010. She joined the PsiOxus Board of Directors in 2016.

PsiOxus works on discovering and developing innovative gene-based immuno-oncology treatments for solid tumours using its proprietary intravenously administered virus platform.

She has overseen the growth of PsiOxus in the UK and USA and held responsibility for various parts of the business including project management, clinical development, regulatory, quality, legal, operations, HR, finance and company secretary. Priya studied Applied Biochemistry at Brunel University London, has a Diploma in Company Direction from the Institute of Directors and received her MBA with distinction from the London Business School.

RBS ANNOUNCES £1 BILLION FUNDING FOR FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS

RBS has announced a new £1 billion in funding through NatWest to support female entrepreneurs in the UK to scale and grow – the largest intervention by a UK lender focused specifically on female-led businesses.

The Female Entrepreneurship Funding builds directly on a key finding from The Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship (The Rose Review), that the single biggest issue holding female entrepreneurs back is the lack of funding directed towards them.

RBS Chief Executive, Alison Rose, said: “The funding we have announced will help support anyone who is thinking about starting a business throughout the UK. There is much more to come.

“Building a business is often tough and lonely and can be harder than it needs to be. By tackling the most important issues facing our entrepreneurs, we can make a real difference to those who need it most, especially in femaleled businesses.”

Louise is Head of Customer Marketing at 9 Group, the multi-million-pound turnover telecoms company based at Stonehouse.

Louise has been in the role since 2015 and is a strong and vocal advocate for not only more women in the workplace, but for more diversity and inclusion in general.

“Those who are embracing diversity in the ICT sector at all levels are welcoming new voices and fresh ideas to the table,” she said. “Their inclusive approach leads to innovation, which is fundamental for our industry’s future success.”

It is fair to say that the communications industry hasn’t really been able to boast about its diversity, but 9 Group is one telecoms company actively pioneering a diversity and inclusion agenda and the age of male domination could be ending.

Louise said: “Businesses which include staff from a broad range of backgrounds have been found to outperform firms with a less diverse workforce. This approach has enabled us to identify new opportunities and explore innovative ideas.

“As well as having an eye on increased profitability, businesses have the unique transformative power to facilitate a fairer and more prosperous world. Leaders can positively contribute to a more inclusive society by empowering marginalised groups. The ethical argument is strong enough on its own, but when coupled with the proven positive financial impact that diversity can bring, it’s a no brainer.”

LOUISE ABBEY, HEAD OF CUSTOMER MARKETING, 9 GROUP

Alison Rose, Chief Executive of RBS

JULIET DAVENPORT OBE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, GOOD ENERGY

Juliet Davenport founded Chippenham-based Good Energy to tackle climate change by generating and investing in renewable energy.

Since it started, the company, which is now a 100 per cent renewable energy company, has been supplying clean power, sourced from its own generation assets as well as from independent, UKbased renewable generators.

Good Energy also pioneered a more localised approach to energy by supporting home generation, launching the HomeGen scheme in 2004, which became the blueprint for the Feed-in Tariff.

It continues to support and invest in localised energy generation.

In 2012, Good Energy floated on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM), over the year raising £4 million in equity, to support the growth of the business.

Juliet continues to lead and innovate in the energy sector. In 2013 she was awarded an OBE for services to renewables and in June 2015 was appointed to the board of the Natural Environment Research Council.

She has various appointments with academic organisations, including the University of Wales, Imperial College, Bristol University and London School of Economics LSE, where she works on innovation and, where possible, influencing the next generation to think about the energy transition and our low carbon future.

LORAINE WOODHOUSE, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER, HALFORDS GROUP PLC

Loraine has been Chief Financial Officer at automotive retailer Halfords since 2018. Prior to joining Halfords, she spent five years in senior finance roles within the John Lewis Partnership. In 2014 Loraine was appointed Acting Group Finance Director and then, subsequently, Finance Director of Waitrose.

Prior to that, she was Chief Financial Officer of Hobbs, Finance Director of Capital Shopping Centres (now Intu) and Finance Director of Costa Coffee. Loraine’s early career included finance and investor relations roles at Kingfisher.

JO COLLINSON, MANAGING DIRECTOR, HELIPEBS CONTROLS

Gloucester-based Helipebs is a market leader in the design, manufacture and application of pneumatic and hydraulic cylinder technology.

Jo joined Helipebs in July 2018 as Finance Director and took the Managing Director role in June last year. A qualified accountant, her experience had been mainly in financial services. She has also worked for a private hospital chain and a warranty company.

Manufacturing was a new industry for her, but accountants have many transferable skills and she was also attracted to working in a smaller company and being very hands on. She hasn’t been disappointed. “I find it fascinating watching our product take shape – from the design on

DR SIMONE LOWTHE-THOMAS, CEO, SEVERN WYE ENERGY AGENCY

As the world unites around addressing the big environmental challenges of our time, Simone Lowthe-Thomas is leading the charge at sustainability non-profit company Severn Wye.

Originally trained in Ecology, Conservation and Environmental Management at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, Simone undertook doctoral research into biomass and energy crops – studies foundational to leading an organisation driving sustainable development and renewable energy.

She joined Highnam-based Severn Wye in 2010, pioneering community-owned renewable energy generation projects across Wales. Serving as Head of Community Energy, Director for Wales and later Director of Operations at Severn Wye, Simone became CEO in January 2018. Under her leadership, Severn Wye has built a strong portfolio of innovative projects delivering practical household energy efficiency, renewable energy, biodiversity, low-carbon education, community regeneration and business energy services –representing millions of pounds of investment into the sustainability of the region.

CARMEN WATSON, CHAIR AND MANAGING DIRECTOR, PERTEMPS

Carmen is Chair and Managing Director of Pertemps, a £500 million-turnover business based in Meriden, Warwickshire that has around 150 UK offices.

She joined Pertemps as a secretary in the 1970s and quickly rose through the ranks. By the age of 24 she was running a £5 million turnover branch in Wolverhampton.

Carmen joined the Board aged 30 and is a staunch advocate of equality and diversity, believing that everyone should have equal opportunity to shine and progress.

She had led the UK recruitment company for more than 13 years, supported it through challenging business climates, implemented a strategy which has driven growth, and positioned Pertemps as a market leader, servicing a broad range of industries and public-sector bodies.

By promoting and delivering best practise in attracting, recruiting and retaining a diverse range of talent, Carmen’s strategy has delivered an impressive client portfolio and won many industry awards. She believes that the UK’s service-based economy must be supported by a strong underbelly of good talent management practices with diversity and inclusion at the fore.

She sits on Business in the Community’s Race Equality Leadership Team, is a Fellow of the Institute of Recruitment and Employment Confederation and is Trustee and Chair of the Women in Business Patron’s group of the Lord Mayor of Birmingham’s charity.

Carmen is also a sponsor of the Women of the Year awards and Commissioner for the HRH Princess Royal Training award, which celebrates employers which have created outstanding training and skills development programmes.

screen through to the finished product. The variety of end users of our product is quite diverse. I also enjoy the challenges facing companies such as ours,” she said.

“It would be great to see more women in the machine shop – we currently have one woman who has qualified with us through an apprenticeship, and one woman in the assembly area. Our engineering department is 50/50 split.”

Recruitment governing body, the Institute of Recruitment Professionals presented Carmen with the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018. The same year she was named West Midlands Director of the Year by the Institute of Directors.

For the last three years Carmen has been named in the Staffing Industry Analyst’s top 100 Global Recruiter list.

Developing & implementing a commercially robust IP strategy

On 13 February 2020, Mathys & Squire hosted a seminar entitled ‘Developing & implementing a commercially robust IP strategy’. Here, Vicki

IP managers and decision makers for a number of var ying sized companies attended, all of whom rely on innovation to set them apar t from their competitors and ensure that they continue to prosper and grow

We were delighted to welcome our guest speaker, Michael Edenborough QC – a seasoned silk and IP barrister who has been in practice for over 25 years He was joined by Mathys & Squire par tners Margaret Ar nott and Dani Kramer, who shared their exper tise in creating a for malised IP strategy; building a litigation strategy into business planning; and maximising the commercial value of IP.

Mr Edenborough kicked off the discussion, highlighting the impor tance of IP to business He obser ved that IP is still under valued by a majority of businesses, and that around 76% of companies do not have a for mal IP strategy. As repor ted in Mathys & Squire’s recent publication ‘Trends in IP litigation’, around 77% of companies have not perfor med a for mal IP audit and, as such, may not be cognisant of all of their IP. Registered rights, such as patents, registered designs and registered trade marks are reasonably easy to list However, unregistered rights are often overlooked and, in many cases, are just as (if not more) valuable. These include know-how and trade secrets, which may be intangible but can be crucial to a business so it is impor tant to recognise their full extent and include in your IP strategy a means for protecting/safeguarding them

Mr Edenborough closed with his top tips for a robust commercial IP strategy in the

Margaret Ar nott followed with some which provide the oppor tunity for strategic management. She recommended taking an ‘outside the box’ approach - in other words, don’t just consider ‘traditional’ marks, but think about whether there are other elements of your commercial ‘get up’ that could and should be protected to optimise your market position (e.g. the red soles of Christian Louboutin shoes)

Finally, Dani Kramer discussed registered designs, which protect the appearance of products. He explained that these rights are often under-utilised and overlooked, but that they can be a ver y powerful, (quick and relatively cheap), for m of protection that can be enforced against early competitors and copycats. Registered design protection can be considered for more than just a product itself , but also for packaging, user interfaces, icons, logos and

Whether or not a company deals in technical innovation, the message is clear: a robust IP strategy would include ensuring that all impor tant elements of your products/ser vices are covered by registered rights such as patents, registered designs, and registered trade marks, but also ensure that you know what unregistered IP rights you have, and how to protect/safeguard them. Once you have perfor med an IP audit, develop an IP

remember that contentious issues rarely progress to full cour t proceedings: there are many different litigation strategies available that can be conducted and concluded at relatively little cost

IP strategy - the basics

 Perform an IP audit (updated regularly) so that you know exactly what IP you have

 Use and protect what you now know you have or will have

 Leverage what you have to its fullest extent

 Consider the five ‘Es’:

Education: ensure you know what you have, how to identify elements of IP, and when protection is required.

Entitlement: who owns the IP? Contractors? Joint Venture? Collaboration Agreement?

Exploitation: are you going to manufacture? Or license? If licensing, what type of license will you o er?

Enforcement: do you have a strategy in place for identifying and quickly dealing with infringement of your rights?

Evasion: what do you do to ensure that you are not infringing others’ IP rights?

For further information about performing an IP audit, valuing your IP, oe developing a robust commercial IP strategy, contact:

Vicki Strachan

Patent Attorney & head of Mathys & Squire’s

vjstrachan@mathys-squire com

www.mathys-squire.com

PENNINGTON MANCHES LAWYER CAREER AHEAD 06

WORCESTER LAW FIRM

Scaiff LLP has appointed Nicola Arlin(above right) to its conveyancing team. Nicola specialises in new build properties and has worked for various national house builders as well as smaller builders. Also joining is paralegal, Philippa Baker (above left), who has worked as a conveyancer for 20 years.

AVID VOLUNTEER JULIA POULTER JOINS CROWE’S NON PROFITS TEAM

Audit, tax, advisory and risk firm Crowe has appointed Julia Poulter as partner in its Non Profits team. She joins from the charity team of a top five accountancy firm. An avid volunteer, including being a Scout Leader and supporter of the Gurkha Welfare Trust, she was also the first female national standard bearer of the Royal British Legion.

APPOINTED THAMES VALLEY WOMEN IN 07

04 04 03 01

LEAMINGTON AGENCY GROWS WITH SENIOR HIRE

Communications agency Palmer Hargreaves has appointed Julie Stanford as Account Director. Julie joins following senior roles at Spark 44, Epsilon and Cogent Elliott, having also spent time working within Jaguar Land Rover. The appointment follows a period of significant growth for Palmer Hargreaves.

Laura Gorman, a senior associate in the real estate practice at Penningtons Manches Cooper, has been named Chairman for Women in Property, Thames Valley branch. Laura takes the regional role for the national property and construction industry lobbying and networking organisation for one year.

ZARA TINDALL APPOINTED CHELTENHAM RACECOURSE DIRECTOR

THURSFIELDS STRENGTHENS ITS COMMERCIAL PROPERTY TEAM

Thursfields Solicitors has recruited an experienced American lawyer to join the Commercial Property team at its Worcester office. Katherine Hall has joined after spending the last five years working in Worcester having trained at a local firm and qualifying as a UK solicitor in August 2015.

TOURISM

01 02 05 businessinnovationmag.co.uk

Shakespeare’s England, the destination marketing organisation tasked with promoting tourism in South Warwickshire has recruited two new members to drive its digital marketing. Ruth Webb (pictured right) and Kate Varvedo (left) with Shakespeare’s England CEO, Helen Peters.

DON’T LET SOMEONE ELSE MAKE MONEY FROM YOUR IDEAS

Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) protect the intangible property of your business. Most companies will have created original works that are protectable as IPRs, adding value to the business. A basic understanding of these rights is important, especially as protection may require early action to secure valid rights.

Different types of IPRs exist, some or all of which may be relevant to your business.

IPRs provide you with the right to stop other parties copying your work for a specified time and territory and you can exploit the work by granting a third party permission to use your creation in return for payment. IPRs include Patents, Designs, Trade Marks and Copyright.

Patents

Patents protect new, non-obvious inventions, including chemical processes, drugs, machinery, tooling, medical devices and consumer products.

Critically, you must file an application at the Patent Office before any public disclosure of your invention. This is a trap many businesses fall into, presenting or even selling their product before an application is filed which invalidates their protection. Seek advice early.

A patent application includes a description of your invention with drawings and legal claims. Once filed (“patent pending”) details of your invention can be publicly disclosed. The application is searched and examined and if found novel and inventive, a patent is granted. This can take a few years.

The patent remains in force for 20 years upon payment of annual renewal fees.

Patents can be costly, but they provide the broadest protection, covering the underlying concept rather than one specific embodiment. Costs vary depending upon the technical field of the invention, the objections raised to the application and the territorial scope of protection.

UK protection may be obtained for a few thousand pounds. Foreign protection must be sought within 12 months of the UK filing date.

Riyaz Jariwalla, Partner at Cheltenham-based BPE Solicitors, who specialises in Intellectual Property, stresses the importance of carrying out regular IP audits. “This helps not only to identify current IP, but also to identify future IP and any possible risks such as litigation, dilution of a brand, or third party challenges for non-use, that may exist.”

Read Riyaz's full advice later in this feature.

Registered Designs

A new design is protectable as a Registered Design, such as a product’s shape, decoration or packaging. Registration gives you the right to prevent others using the design for up to 25 years, provided that renewal fees are paid every five years. Design registrations are normally cheap and quick – most applications go straight through to registration. However, protection is more limited in scope.

Kate Lees qualified as a UK Patent Attorney in 1996 and is a Registered UK Patent Attorney and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA), a qualified European Patent Attorney (EPA), an Affiliate Member of the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (ITMA), and a Professional Representative for European Trade Marks and Designs.

Trade Marks

Signs used in business to distinguish your products or services from others can be protected by registration. Examples include company names, logos, brand names, slogans and even shapes, jingles and smells.

A registration covers specific goods or services sold under the mark and provides you with the exclusive right to use that mark or a confusingly similar mark for identical or similar goods and services.

It is normally straightforward to obtain registration, provided the mark is not descriptive of the goods or services and another party does not possess earlier conflicting rights. Once registered, the mark can remain protected indefinitely, subject to its continued use and payment of renewal fees every 10 years.

Unregistered Rights

Some IPRs exist automatically and provide your business with a certain level of protection at no cost. Examples include unregistered design right, unregistered trademark rights and copyright.

Every business will own some form of IP. It could be the business name and logo, designs, inventions, works of creative or intellectual effort, or trademarks that distinguish a business. But do you know how to protect and exploit these intellectual assets?

Kate Lees, founder of Sapphire IP based in Worcester, offers a definitive guide to IP

CHELTENHAM RACECOURSE OWNER TOOK ACTION TO PROTECT FESTIVAL BRAND

The Cheltenham Festival is one of the biggest meetings in the National Hunt racing calendar, with prize money second only to the Grand National.

Taking place annually in March, it attracts more than 70,000 racegoers a day over a four-day period, with nearly a million more watching on television. Hundreds of millions of pounds in bets are placed over the week.

With its Royal Charter, Festival organiser The Jockey Club acts for the long-term good of British racing. All of the profits it generates go back into racing.

But unscrupulous imitators are always seeking to profit from the brand, which needs ongoing protecting and policing.

Fifteen years ago, the then Managing Director of Cheltenham Racecourse, Edward Gillespie, appointed Cheltenhambased Wynne-Jones IP to secure The Festival trademark for National Hunt Racing.

The biggest challenge for The Jockey Club has been protecting its online presence from imitators looking to exploit the brand with similar domain names.

“Wynne-Jones IP have been able to support us in protecting our brand and we’ve been able to close down some accounts,” said regional head of marketing Matthew

Foxton-Duffy, who looks after trade marks and monetisation of the brand at Cheltenham to ensure that a global audience and brands recognise The Festival as the pinnacle of Jump racing.

“We have been provided with advice and support that means our trade mark and protection of the brand is very strong, even ahead of naming meetings the advice we have received has been an important consideration, because before we invest in developing a brand we need to know that we can protect it.

“Having our brand protected also adds gravitas and value to our sponsorship packages and when working with official partners.”

Matthew said it was important for The Jockey Club that they used IP specialists.

“This investment has helped strengthen our brand. We have been in meetings where general legal practitioners have been trying to apply general legal principles to a very specialist situation and it’s been quite an eye-opener,” he said.

“They found that they couldn’t deal with the matter. The power of using a specialist shouldn’t be underestimated and we have been very glad to have that specialist support from Wynne-Jones IP.

“When you are in a dispute situation and want to work with the other side to reach a resolution it’s important that you don’t do it alone.

“If you try to navigate complex areas of law without the support of a specialist, you will fail. It costs money, but intellectual property is such a niche area of law it’s important to make that investment.”

Victor Caddy, trade mark attorney and Director at Wynne-Jones IP, said that as a brand-rich company, intellectual property is The Jockey Club’s most important asset, and it pays not to take risks in protecting it.

“Over the years we have developed a strong working relationship with The Jockey Club and have gained an understanding of their goals and brand strategy, which means we are able to offer advice during the early stages of their business planning so that they can be confident in their brand position security from the outset,” said Victor.

“As intellectual property law specialist attorneys our expert knowledge and

Cheltenham

“Having our brand protected also adds gravitas and value to our sponsorship packages and when working with official partners”

Victor Caddy, Wynne Jones IP

Firms that export globally need worldwide protection

Gloucester-based Ruroc’s mission is to create quality helmets to enhance head protection in the most extreme environments. The company has grown to become a respected and sought-after brand. But in a highly competitive market, how do you protect it from imitation?

Cheltenham IP Attorneys, Albright IP, explains how it helps to protect the Ruroc brand across the globe.

Fifteen to 20 years ago, helmets were rarely worn on the ski slopes but thankfully these days nearly everyone is wearing one and Ruroc has played a key role in bringing new and innovative designs to the ski helmet industry.

“From an early stage, we set out to push the boundaries of design and safety and bring full-face helmets into the mainstream ski and snowboard markets. Today, through popular demand, we have focused our technology and design on the motorcycle market, launching our new Atlas design back in 2017, explained Dan Rees, Ruroc’s Managing Director.”

Intellectual Property protection has always been a key part of the design process

for Ruroc. Its patented helmets have a unique front opening system with special magnetic goggles. However, it was a trade mark issue that presented the company with a commercial challenge.

“The patents were in place pretty much from the start. However, we only really started to think about our trade marks about two years in,” said Dan.

“We started to realise that the brand was growing and it was growing rapidly. We then started having problems in South Korea with our branding being copied. It was then we realised that our brand was going global and we needed wider territorial protection. Luckily Albright IP came into play and provided us with wide-reaching international trade mark protection.”

Like Ruroc, for any business or entrepreneur looking to expand its brand internationally, it’s important to think about how the brand will be received in a new market. Trade mark rights are territorial, and it cannot be assumed that because registered rights have

been secured in the UK, these will provide any protection, defence or enforcement rights in other countries.

Julia House, director at Albright IP said: “Exporting is a fantastic way to rapidly expand a business like Ruroc to an uncapped audience. However before ‘dipping a toe’ into the water, it is critical to determine the choice and availability of branding, and that you undertake relevant checks and searches to ensure that your brand is not only protected but is also free to use in a target country.”

“To protect a brand like Ruroc, we start with local checks and searches as soon as they start exploring the potential for operating in a new country. We look ahead, so that when they launch a new product into a target new market, trade mark applications have already been filed, and ideally registration will already have been granted. This protection will support Ruroc’s marketing and business development strategy.”

Dan added: “As experienced and professional IP attorneys, Albright IP are a massive support. They are our eyes and ears, and a day doesn’t go by when I don’t get an email from someone there. They provide a trade mark ‘watching service’ for us, and are constantly identifying anyone who is potentially copying our branding or encroaching on it.”

experience means that we are able to offer quality advice in the most complex areas of IP law.

“Chartered IP attorneys give the most robust and detailed IP advice you can find, particularly for complex and international IP matters, and this robustness is absolutely necessary for a safe and efficient solution to IP problems.

“Like Matthew, we would always advise businesses to instruct a specialist trade mark attorney rather than a generalist to protect your brands and enforce your rights.”

Ruroc Helmet

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Intellectual Property Protection

Patents  Trade Marks & Brand Names  Designs

All businesses have intangible assets that are worthy of protection, be it their company name, brand identity, product design, their way of carrying out a particular process or other invention. Protection of these assets via intellectual property rights should feature as an essential part of the business.

Here at Sapphire IP, we specialize in the protection of your intellectual property rights and are keen to help you identify, protect and exploit these valuable assets.

Please get in touch:

T: 01684 311355 | E: office@sapphireip.co.uk

Office 5, Acorn Business Centre, Hanley Swan, Malvern, Worcestershire WR8 0DN www.sapphireip.co.uk

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DESIGN FIRM MAKES IP PART OF THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

A Hereford design company is putting IP at the heart of product development, by collaborating with legal experts.

Simple Design Works has teamed up with Barker Brettell Intellectual Property, based in Birmingham.

The innovative collaboration means that IP issues can be identified and addressed as an integral part of the product design process.

The company also collaborates with branding experts, and with Warwickshire-based GTMA, a trade association representing companies in precision engineering, rapid product development, tooling, metrology and other manufacturing-related products and services.

“Our focus is not just on designing a product,” said Kristo Shivachev, Managing Director of Simple Design Works. “We want to see it selling. A lot of people leave design houses with sketches on a piece of paper – we offer access to the best people to get their product to market.”

The collaboration with Barker Brettell also speeds up the process. “Preparations for registered design, trade mark and patent applications can take weeks if clients are dealing with an external IP company. We can usually get an answer the same day, allowing the process to continue through the concept stage without interruption. Of course, the full

registration and protection process can still take months, or even years. However, submitting the application as soon as possible is always the key.

And, as Neil Kilpatrick, a partner at Barker Brettell, explained, IP is a vital part of the process. “Once the technical features of the design begin to crystallise, one or more patent applications should be filed to protect the invention or inventions,” he said.

“Depending on the idea and the budget, one single application covering the product as a whole may be filed, using all the preferred and discarded design concepts as optional or fallback positions.

“First and foremost, this seeks to protect the commercial product to stop copycats.

“Having the designer and patent attorney working in tandem ensures that key features are described properly and that all functionality of the concepts, in fact all of the concepts, are covered.”

No hang-ups over IP for medical lift firm

Joerns Healthcare is a leading supplier of patient handling products for the NHS and across the world. It was established in the 1950s as Oxford Hoists, but is now based in Pershore.

The company makes lifts and slings which help to get elderly or infirm patients in and out of beds and chairs.

Bringing a new overhead hoist to the market meant redesigning the clip

that attaches the sling – which the patient sits in – to the hanger bar. The company was keen to ensure that the clip did not infringe any existing protections while ensuring its innovative new design could not be copied.

With IP checks cleared, and the design protected, the clip is now in the manufacturing process and should be ready for market by the summer.

Quick turnaround for rotating seat idea

Camper van specialist, Original Rusty Lee Rock & Roll Beds, restores classic VW camper vans and converts modern commercial vans into campers.

In developing a new double swivel base, which allows the front passenger seats to be turned inwards creating a living space, the Hereford firm was keen not to infringe a registered design held by a competitor, while protecting its own design.

“With the help of our IP specialists we were able to create a design that we are confident will clear the protection,” said Kristo. “We’ve even managed to add another couple of features making our client’s solution better than anything already on the market.”

Original Rusty Lee Rock & Roll Beds

Brexit day: no change to IP protection for now

The UK might have left the European Union, but this has no pratical impact on European IP rights for the time being, because the country has entered a transition period scheduled to last until December 31, according to Mathys & Squire, a leading Oxfordbased intellectual property services provider.

The European Patent System is not affected by Brexit. The UK is, and will remain, a member of the European Patent Convention (EPC), which is unrelated to the EU. Other non-EU countries are members of the EPC. Patents will continue to be enforced against infringers in the national courts, as before.

The proposed pan-European Unitary Patent system has been delayed, but the UK government is exploring ways to ensure that the UK can participate in any system that is brought into effect.

UK-based companies can continue to file and own EU trade mark registrations (EUTMs), however after the transition period, new EUTMs will no longer extend to the UK, but will automatically be “cloned” to create equivalent UK rights. A separate UK Trade Mark Registration will be needed to obtain protection for new marks in the UK.

Use of a trade mark only in the UK will no longer be sufficient to keep an EUTM registered.

Designs that are protected in the UK as EU Unregistered Design Rights at the time of Brexit will continue to be protected in the UK as Continuing Unregistered Designs (CUD), which will be established automatically at the time of Brexit.

A new “EU equivalent” UK

Supplementary Unregistered Design (SUD) right is being introduced to mirror the protection currently provided by EU Unregistered Design Rights.

LAW FIRM ADVISES SCHOOL ON FORGOTTEN TOLKIEN POEMS

Swindon-based commercial law firm Thrings has given specialist copyright and intellectual property advice to the principal of a school where previously forgotten poems by author JRR Tolkien have been rediscovered.

The two poems – The Shadow Man and a Christmas poem called Noel – were found in the 1936 annual magazine of Our Lady’s School in Abingdon, Oxfordshire.

They are thought to have been written while Tolkien – best known for writing the Lord of the Rings fantasy trilogy – was a professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University.

The poems were printed a year before Tolkien’s first literary classic The Hobbit was published.

The Shadow Man is an earlier version of a poem eventually published in 1962 in Tolkien’s Adventures of Tom Bombadil collection.

The discovery was made after American Tolkien expert Wayne G Hammond found a note from Tolkien in which the author referred to two poems he had submitted to the Abingdon Chronicle.

Tracking the reference to Our Lady’s School magazine, Hammond contacted Principal Stephen Oliver who passed the query on to archivists at the Bermondsey convent of the Sisters of Mercy, who founded the school in 1860.

But, while preparing for an event for school alumni, Mr Oliver came across an original copy of the magazine, complete with the two poems in question.

The poems have sparked a huge amount of interest among Tolkien enthusiasts and media around the world. Recognising their considerable literary significance, Mr Oliver took steps to establish the legal status of the poems, and to ensure there was no unauthorised publication or breach of copyright.

The school’s original copies of the newspaper will now be worth considerably more than they were before.

The value of the poems’ copyright, however, belongs to Tolkien’s estate. Only they can authorise any further publication.

Our Lady’s School in Abingdon, Oxfordshire

THE POWER OF IP STRATEGY

Strategically managing your Intellectual Property (IP) is essential when designing, developing and marketing any brand, idea or invention. Riyaz Jariwalla, Partner at BPE Solicitors, says knowing when to register your IP, in what sequence in different jurisdictions, could be the difference between getting first past the post or losing it all

All businesses have IP in some form or another. The most common form of IP rights include copyright, trade marks, patents and design rights, which protect the visual appearance of either a whole or part of a design, such as texture, colour or shape. Especially in the manufacturing, print and fashion industries, if acquired accurately these IP rights can result in the rapid removal and often destruction of infringing goods.

At BPE we continue to stress and underline to our clients the importance of carrying out regular IP audits, not only to identify current IP, but also to identify future IP and any possible risks (such as litigation, dilution of a brand or third party challenges for non-use) that may exist.

Audits also allow businesses to visualise their IP portfolio and any corresponding value. This could serve to increase their value and allow businesses to commercialise and exploit rights that were identified in the process. Remember, you cannot commercialise what you do not know.

Growing numbers of businesses are doing exactly this and registering new IP. This inevitably means that they are potentially obtaining a silent advantage over their competition. In 2018, 3.3 million patent applications were filed globally, a 5.5 per cent increase on the previous year and the ninth straight increase. Global trade mark filings reached 14.3 million, increasing by 15 per cent from the previous year with global design applications reaching 1.3 million . It is expected that the 2019 figures will follow the same trend.

Should I register my IP?

Not all rights need to be registered to enable owners to enforce them. For example, copyright, unregistered designs, know-how, confidentiality and goodwill are all capable of existing (subject to such rights being capable of subsisting in the first instance) without registration with the relevant Intellectual Property Office. The commercial decision to apply to register IP rights often involves questions such as, “How much will it cost?” and “How long will it take?”. These are very valid questions, but sometimes applying to register can lead to your competitors or cyber-squatters to get “past the post” before you.

This is why an IP strategy is so important to ensure that businesses do not leave themselves exposed to infringement and the possibility of expensive rebrands because IP has not been registered in the correct way.

KEY STEPS

Below are some key steps to follow when designing, developing and marketing any brand, idea or invention.

STEP 1: Carry out a thorough IP audit to identify what protections are required.

STEP 2: Clearance searches and “freedom to operate” checks will identify

any risks in your target marketplaces with regards to similar or identical pre-existing IP. You will then have the information to make a commercial decision whether to proceed with your chosen brand or consider a new one, which can save you significant time and costs in the future. Searches must be done by jurisdiction.

STEP 3: Create an IP strategy which sets out the acquisition sequence of the IP portfolio. It is essential to strategise the order of your filings as different countries have different deadlines to claim earlier filing dates and requirements for registration.

STEP 4: Following registration, consider commercialisation and exploitation of your IP by way of potentially licensing or assigning.

STEP 5: Finally, it is important to actively police and protect your IP portfolio from third party infringers and take necessary steps to make sure your rights are not diluted and/or tarnished due to unlawful use. For trade marks, if unlawful use is not prevented, it could lead to the trade mark becoming commonplace and no longer capable of functioning as an indicator or origin – a key function of a trade mark.

For advice on how to use and protect your IP strategically, contact Riyaz.jariwalla@bpe.co.uk www.bpe.co.uk/ip

MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR INVENTION…

Eureka! You’ve had that lightbulb moment, but what next?

Some of the most successful companies in the world are also some of the most innovative. Apple, Amazon, Dyson and Rolls-Royce are all familiar companies that use innovation to fuel their growth strategy and rely on protection from patents and design registration to protect their ideas. Innovating and protecting their innovations help them to grow by enabling them to offer unique products to their customers and create dominance in the market.

Trying to turn an idea into a commercial success, however, is far from easy and most ideas never progress past the drawing board. So, what steps can you take to give yourself the best chance of turning that lightbulb moment into a valuable asset for your business?

Unfortunately, there isn’t one easy answer and it will depend entirely on your individual situation. First thing’s first, however – you must identify that you have invented something potentially valuable before you can do anything.

“Invention harvesting” relies on your researchers/engineers having at least a basic understanding of intellectual property (IP). Without this, inventions could go unnoticed and their full benefit unrealised. Our experienced patent and trade mark attorneys can provide inhouse training to help you identify your inventions and we can also provide IP audits to evaluate your existing IP assets. Once you have recognised that you have an invention, the natural reaction is to shout about it but this could be catastrophic to your ability to protect it and so it’s important to talk to your patent attorney early on, who will be able to advise on the most appropriate next steps.

What those next steps are will vary depending on your individual circumstances but will generally include devising a strategy that considers how you can use your invention to deliver your business goals. You’ll also need to consider how you should protect your IP; should you file for a patent, a registered design, a trade mark, or perhaps keep the know-how in-house as a trade secret? In

any case, it is fundamentally important that your IP strategy helps you achieve your overall business goals.

Admittedly, protecting your IP does not automatically lead to commercial success. However, an effective IP strategy can allow you to exploit an invention to its full potential. For example, filing a patent application can be attractive to investors, and may entitle you to put “patent pending” on your product. This can deter competitors from copying your product and create a unique space on the market. Also, owning a granted UK or European patent may permit you to claim tax relief through the Patent Box scheme, and can be helpful for obtaining R&D tax credits. The benefits available through these schemes should not be understated.

So, how can you make your IP strategy robust?

The first thing to do is look at your business across all of its activities and identify the core technologies or science areas that are critical for delivering your business goals. These are your Crown Jewels, the innovative areas that need to be protected at all costs to secure the revenue and profit that you have laid down in your business goals.

You also need to look at your business strategy; are you seeking investment for growth? Are you looking to buy a company or to be sold? Are you looking to license technology to create a revenue stream from royalties?

All these activities will require that certain IP provisions are in place.

Do you need an IP valuation, for example?

Do you have a technology or invention that is unique in the marketplace?

You can get an idea of the latter by using patent analytics.

Patent analytics can provide a valuable insight into the commercial potential of your invention. It can provide a useful indication of whether your idea might be patentable, whether your product might infringe somebody else’s IP, and

could identify companies that might be interested in licensing your invention –another possible source of revenue. This information can be key when deciding how to best protect and exploit your IP as part of your IP strategy.

Once you have established the position on all the above, you can’t rest on your laurels. It’s important to continuously review your technology developments to make sure your new inventions are exploited to the fullest extent as advancements and developments may also be worth protecting and help ring-fence an area in your market.

Timing is also critical when implementing an IP strategy. Knowing when to protect your IP, when to apply for funding or investment, and when to launch your product to maximise the return for your investment. There are many ways to

take an idea from the drawing board to a commercial reality. However, investing in a carefully crafted IP strategy that complements your overall business plan is generally one of the most effective ways to turn that eureka moment into a very valuable asset for your business.

Wynne-Jones IP has an experienced team of patent attorneys, trade mark attorneys and tech business strategists who can provide expert advice on all aspects of IP strategy, whatever size of company you are.

Should you wish to discuss with us further please contact Dr Christopher Hotchen on 01242 267600 or email chistopher.hotchen@wynne-jones.com

Dr Christopher Hotchen

Employee sick days bad for our business’ health – affecting productivity, profit and morale

Whilst the Office of National Statistics (ONS) is yet to release 2019 employment absence data, experts believe that days taken through sickness account to 6.9 per employee on average, costing organisations more than £550 per year, per employee, with predictions that this figure could rise to £21 billion in 2020.

It’s not a surprise that unplanned absence from employment has a detrimental effect on the workplace, with reduced productivity, wasted manpower and low morale for those picking up a work colleague’s to-do list.

The four most common reasons for absence were minor illnesses such as coughs and colds (25%), musculoskeletal problems (back, neck and upper body pain) 20%, accidents and mental health conditions came in at 12%.

The tally of sick days was 50% higher in the public sector than the private where

sick pay provision may not be as generous. 2017 was the lowest figure since records began of sick days.

HR experts advise tracking employee absence and making efforts to explore what might be at the root cause. Recurring sick leave could be an indicator of an employee’s unhappiness in their job or perhaps issues outside of the workplace that may have an effect on their work/ life balance. Tracking sickness will help a business to identify weak points and put contingency plans in place.

Best practice is that a company should record all absences and the reason for

it. Return to work interviews are helpful in order to understand the reasons why an employee has taken time off sick. It is important to remember that all this data is sensitive personal data and should be treated with confidence and in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998.

To understand how you can streamline your absence management process as well as all your other HR tasks, visit www.identecoHR.co.uk or call 01778 382 707 for a free demo

Transform your HR function with our online toolkit to streamline tasks, increase productivity and improve attendance

TAXING THE DIGITAL ECONOMY

By Gemma Brindley,

The UK is set to introduce its own digital services tax (DST) from April 2020. The announcement was confirmed last July when the UK Government published its Finance Bill 2019-20.

July was also when President Macron signed the French DST legislation, with the new tax backdated to 1 January, 2019.

However, the French government has now announced that it will not implement its proposals for a DST until the end of the year at the earliest.

With the new Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Budget set to take place this month, many will be waiting to see how DST is addressed from a UK perspective.

How to tax the digital economy has been a somewhat contentious subject for all countries across the globe.

All governments are agreed on the need to address this area, but controversy comes into play as it risks upsetting the US president during an election year and at a time when the UK is seeking advantageous trade terms with the US.

With an eye on pending US-UK trade negotiations, the US has objected to the

introduction of a UK DST, but before the previous chancellor resigned, the Treasury had confirmed its commitment to the introduction of the tax from April 2020, saying it would be repealed when a global solution is in place.

The new UK legislation introduces a DST of two per cent on digital services revenues that are derived from social media platforms, running search engines and online marketplaces like Amazon –it does not simply mean anything sold on the internet. Financial and payment services are exempt.

Although the thresholds where DST is applied are high – groups with global digital services revenues of more than £500 million and UK digital services revenues of more than £25 million – it will still encompass many successful brands with a UK and global reach.

Online marketplace transactions will be considered to involve UK users if at least one of the parties is UK-based, but if one of the parties is based in another country

with a similar tax to DST, the tax charged will be reduced by 50 per cent.

If an advert is intended for a UK audience, then the advertising revenue produced will be judged to have come from UK users.

That, in essence, is how DST is intended to operate, but with only a few weeks to April 1, 2020 we are still notably short on detail.

We do know that the legislation will not provide a particularly significant contribution to the UK economy.

It is projected to raise £275 million in its first year, rising to £370 million thereafter. To put this into context UK tax receipts amounted to approximately £623.4 billion in 2018-19.

For now, we await the Budget.Crowe will be following any developments closely and we are well-placed to discuss and advise on the potential impact of a future DST on your business.

www.crowe.co.uk

Corporate Tax Director in the Cheltenham office of national audit, tax, advisory and risk firm Crowe UK

Gemma Brindley, Corporate Tax Director

“With the new Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Budget set to take place this month, many will be waiting to see how DST is addressed from a UK perspective”

BLAKE MORGAN OVERSEES READING COUNCIL LEISURE DEAL

Oxford law firm Blake Morgan advised Reading Council in its appointment of Greenwich Leisure Ltd as the preferred bidder to design, build, operate and maintain Reading’s leisure service. The contract, which will last 25 years, comes as part of the council’s commitment to invest more than £40 million in new and existing facilities across Reading, including two major swimming facilities at Palmer Park and Rivermead, as well as upgrades to existing services.

Midlands law firm helps UK charity in major national property deal

“I am delighted to announce GLL as our successful leisure partner, who – working closely with the Council – will transform leisure facilities in Reading”

for Sport, said: “I am delighted to announce GLL as our successful leisure partner, who – working closely with the council – will transform leisure facilities in Reading.”

Penny Rinta-Suksi, Partner and Head of Local Government England at Blake Morgan, said: “The new design, build, operate and maintain contract we’ve worked with Reading Council to develop will safeguard the council’s investments and allow them to deliver best-in-class new facilities and operate them successfully long into the future.”

BPE acts for HiETA Technologies in investment deal

Cheltenham-based law firm BPE Solicitors has acted for HiETA Technologies Limited on a significant investment from Meggitt (UK) Ltd.

HiETA Technologies has been providing the automotive, aerospace, defence, energy and motor-sports industries with products and services using additive manufacturing techniques since 2011.

Meggitt (UK) Ltd is a subsidiary of Meggitt, a global business specialising in advanced products and technology for the aviation, defence and energy sectors.

The investment from Meggitt will enable HiETA Technologies to accelerate

the development of the next line of thermal technology systems.

These systems are key for HiETA as they will enable the continued development of sustainable aviation and low carbon power generation.

HiETA Technologies’ CEO and co-founder, Mike Adams said: “We are delighted to have secured the investment from a leading international company in high performance components and subsystems for the aerospace, defence and selected energy markets, bringing us an incredible wealth of experience.”

A Midlands law firm has helped a UK charity in a major national property deal that will mean it can reach more disabled people with vital services.

Wright Hassall, based in Leamington Spa, acted for charity Leonard Cheshire in the sale of 17 care homes to care provider Valorum Care Group which will now run them.

The deal will allow Leonard Cheshire, which provides services and support for people living with disabilities, to expand its services in the community and to support more individuals with disabilities.

Leonard Cheshire has around 130 services across the UK, 5,000 staff and 8,500 volunteers. Founded in 1948, last year it reached more than 46,000 people through its work in the UK and internationally.

Wright Hassall acted for Leonard Cheshire on the sale of the real estate while Linklaters LLP of London advised Leonard Cheshire on the business sale.

Gill Worthington, Partner at Wright Hassall said: “This sale is a really important development for Leonard Cheshire enabling them to grow their services, extend their reach and continue to provide quality care for people with disabilities and long-term health conditions.”

Hugh Fenn, Leonard Cheshire’s Executive Director of UK Care Service, added: “The sale will result in the kind of investment at the services that we as a charity could not justify. Funds raised from the sale will be invested by Leonard Cheshire to increase the difference we make to disabled people’s lives and widen the range of support we offer in communities across the UK.”

Councillor Graeme Hoskin, Reading Borough Council’s Lead Councillor

MBE FOR CYBER SECURITY EXPERT

A leading light in the cyber security field was awarded an MBE for services to International Trade and Diversity in the Queen’s New Year’s honours list.

Nicola Whiting, chief strategy officer at Worcesterbased software development company Titania, is an awardwinning mentor who through her work with Local Enterprise Partnerships and government cyber accelerators, has contributed for many years to business growth both locally and nationally.

She served as Worcester’s commissioner for the UK Cyber Science and Innovation audit and is a board member of multiple commercial and charitable organisations which drive innovation, growth and inclusivity.

Nicola believes that business growth and diversity are inexorably linked and organisations that haven’t invested in diversity are at risk of “groupthink” (the tendency for similar people to generate similar ideas).

“Groupthink stifles innovation and is linked to poor quality, unchallenged decision making,” she said. Boards who are serious about innovation, business growth and resilience from risk, look at diversity not as a social exercise, but rather as a key success metric.”

Nicola has received recognition for her work in these areas in the past, including the Sparky Baird Award for her work in AI, the UK Cyber Citizen award, and most recently the Inclusive Tech Alliance Diversity Champion award.

“I’m overwhelmed to be awarded an MBE for services to International Trade and Diversity and incredibly grateful that the honours committee felt me worthy of such an immense honour,” said Nicola.

“Being recognised for work that I am truly passionate about is a fantastic way to start a new decade – it inspires me to continue to serve our local and national communities.”

New technology security a concern for small and medium-sized businesses

A new research report reveals how technology decision makers at Midlands SMEs are prioritising new technologies, digital transformation and cyber security to ensure business continuity.

The State of Technology at UK SMEs report commissioned by Kidderminster based OGL Computer, an IT services provider, has revealed the top technology concerns and priorities for Midlands SMEs.

The report also highlights newer technologies such as robotics and AI that

SMEs plan to adopt, how businesses are using technology to power remote workforces and what technologies they are adopting for growth.

Paul Colwell, Technical Director at OGL Computer and its cyber division CyberGuard Technologies, said: “The inaugural State of Technology at UK SMEs report reveals that IT decision-makers at SMEs have clear strategies for the future, and understand the opportunities and challenges that face their verticals in 2020.

“These range from the ever-present threat of serious cyber attack or data breach, to effectively managing the increasing amount of data flowing through all organisations. Moving to the Cloud securely and an ongoing lack of technology-savvy workers emerged as key themes.

“Handling these challenges, all with a fraction of the resources of their larger, corporate counterparts, requires flexibility and demonstrates the resilience that gives SMEs the power to succeed.”

Nicola Whiting of Titania

“Being recognised for work that I am truly passionate about is a fantastic way to start a new decade - it inspires me to continue to serve our local and national communities”

We’ve all seen the films. The malevolent computer nerd working out of a darkened basement using sophisticated malware to siphon money from unsuspecting members of the public. Dan Goldsmith, Lecturer in Ethical Hacking and Network Security at Coventry University says that although these people exist, around 90 per cent of all cyber security attacks rely on social engineering.

“Broadly speaking, social engineering is the art of psychologically manipulating someone into divulging confidential information. Perhaps the most common form of social engineering is phishing. The practice sees attackers pose as trustworthy sources and send fraudulent emails in an attempt to deceive the recipient into parting with their money and/or personal data.”

At the more sinister end of the spectrum are those who claim to have hacked your email account and attempt to blackmail you into sending them money, says Dan. But he says one of the most common forms of email phishing are the urgent –and grammatically questionable – pleas for money. These amateurish appeals tend to be intercepted by your email’s spam filter, but are a nuisance nonetheless.

Surely noone is going to be duped by these typo-ridden emails written exclusively in capital letters? Wrong.

“Around 30 per cent of phishing messages are opened by targeted users and 12 per cent of those users click on the malicious attachment or link. All it takes is for one employee to accidentally engage with these emails and the whole company becomes exposed,” he said.

“Alarmingly, around one in seven large corporations report a zero spend when it comes to online security. As these social engineering attacks become more sophisticated, it is vital that senior management – often the most targeted by online hackers – raise cyber security awareness within the company.”

Coventry University’s Institute of Coding (IoC) is an Office for Students initiative, made up of 25 higher education institution partners and more than 60 industry partners to develop the next generation of digital talent at degree level and above. Aimed at non-technical computer users who wish to improve their online security Coventry University’s “Introduction to Cyber Security” training course sees students exposed to the methods used by attackers to compromise systems in a safe environment.

Coventry University’s Institute of Coding’s top three tips for good cyber security practice in the workplace:

1. Trust your gut. If it seems suspicious, it probably is

2. Antivirus software alone does not guarantee safety

3. Establish a sensible password policy

Expanding business moves into new premises

Cyber security firm Omni has moved into new offices at a business centre in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Omni Cyber Security has taken over two offices at Venture House, which is owned and managed by Stratford-on-Avon District Council.

The firm, which previously occupied a shared office in Solihull, is a specialist in IT defensive security, offensive security and compliance services and is led by business partners Philip Ridley and Andy Collins.

Its new headquarters, Venture House, opened for business earlier this year following the completion of a major project to turn a redundant council building into a facility for small businesses and new business start-ups.

The project has been funded by the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) through an award of £450,000 as part of the Growth Deal initiative and led by a team from Stratford-on-Avon District Council.

Omni Cyber Security, which is a certifying body of the Government’s Cyber Essentials scheme, was among the first businesses to occupy space at the centre and Philip said the move had worked out well.

“We’ve been operating for two years now and have grown consistently during that time. We now have a team of eight and we have fairly ambitious plans to keep growing,” he said.

Think you won’t be duped by those typo-ridden emails? 30 per cent of us are

Andy Collins and Philip Ridley of Omni with Nancy Singleton, Centre Manager, at Venture House

BBC PRESENTER HELPED TO OVERCOME FEAR OF HEIGHTS WITH IMMERSIVE TECHNOLOGY

Oxford VR’s immersive virtual reality technology has helped a BBC Two presenter ovecome his crippling fear of heights.

Dr Alain Gregoire from Trust Me

I’m a Doctor invited Professor Daniel Freeman, co-founder of Oxford VR, to demonstrate the technology on the programme. After just two hours of treatment, viewers could see firsthand how Dr Gregoire had overcome his fears.

The VR therapy builds on Professor Daniel Freeman’s pioneering research at the Department of Psychiatry, Oxford University. The company is developing evidence-based automated psychological treatments using immersive virtual reality.

Oxford VR treats patients with a variety of mental health conditions – like fear of heights or psychosis – by creating virtual scenarios in which psychological difficulties occur.

Daniel launched Oxford VR as a University of Oxford spin-out, with

funding and support from Oxford University Innovation and Oxford Sciences Innovation. They raised seed funding in 2017 with a further funding round in August 2018.

Katie Bedborough, Oxford VR’s Chief Operating and Financial Officer, said: “VR allows the patient to experience situations they find troubling in a safe, controlled environment.”

Oxford VR has two main projects under way – one on acrophobia (fear of heights) and the other called GameChange. Its VR-enabled cognitive behavioural therapy for acrophobia is available through NHS clinicians in Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Bristol (Oasis Talking Therapies), Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. The £4 million GameChange project is being run in partnership with the University of

Oxford and the UK National Institute of Health Research. It is a multi-site trial of the VR programme to help those with psychosis overcome the anxieties such as doing the shopping, speaking to other people and getting on the bus.

Katie added: “Oxford VR’s vision is to transform mental health treatment for millions. We have high quality, evidencebased psychological treatments for many mental health problems but we don’t have enough skilled clinicians to deliver them. Oxford VR’s tech-enabled solutions improve access for patients.”

“VR allows the patient to experience situations they find troubling in a safe, controlled environment”

Katie Bedborough, OxfordVR’s Chief Operating and Financial Officer

Oxford VR

OrganOx receives £4.6 million investment from BGF

OrganOx Ltd, based at the Oxford Science Park, has received a £4.6 million investment from UK investor BGF.

The investment will fund commercial expansion of its first product, the metra, in the US – building on commercial traction it has gained in Europe, Canada and Australia.

OrganOx metra is the world’s first fully automated system for keeping a human donor liver functioning for up to 24 hours outside the body. The invention doubles the time that donor organs can be preserved.

The device mimics the environment of the human body with warm, oxygenated blood and nutrients supplied to the donor liver in the crucial time between donation and transplantation. Through developing the metra, OrganOx has enabled transplant teams to objectively assess the function of a donor liver before a transplant, something which is impossible with ice storage.

So far, more than 600 patients have received a liver preserved with the OrganOx metra. It is commercially available in Europe and has been used clinically in North America and Australia. The underpinning technology was developed at the University of Oxford, and OrganOx Ltd was spun out from the university in 2008.

Craig Marshall, CEO of OrganOx, said: “The funding will allow us to execute our commercial plans in the US and having BGF at the board table will ensure we leverage its impressive track record of successfully guiding growing businesses to achieve their full potential.”

Harwell Campus launches technical living lab to tackle climate crisis

Harwell Campus is calling for UK energy innovators to help mitigate climate change with next-generation energy solutions. The invitation is open to organisations with an interest in creating global-impact energy solutions.

They will work with Harwell Campus, the major UK science and technology hub based in Oxfordshire, to establish a Technical Living Laboratory which will allow new technologies to be piloted in a realworking environment.

With new challenges such as the rise in increasingly energy-hungry technology and a growing global population, the energy challenge is growing in severity, but investment into clean tech is falling, according to the World Economic Forum. At Harwell, major corporates and emerging energy companies can test new technologies using world-leading research and technical facilities, such as the UK’s only synchrotron, the Diamond Light Source, based on the site.

Dr Barbara Ghinelli, Director at Harwell Campus Business Development and Clusters, STFC-UKRI, said: “With its Technical Living Lab status, worldleading facilities and diverse knowledge and skills base, Harwell can be a driving force in helping the UK realise its national carbon targets and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to almost zero by 2050.”

Of the more than 200 organisations at Harwell, 59 form the Harwell EnergyTec Cluster and are working on clean and green energy solutions. One company working to reduce national carbon emissions is Qdot, which is exploring ways to lessen the charging time of electric vehicles. Dr Jack Nicholas, Director at Qdot Technology, says: “One of the fundamental challenges holding back the mass uptake of electric vehicles is their long recharge times. Qdot is collaborating with AMTE Power to develop technology with the aim of reducing recharge times by a factor of five.”

OrganOx’s metra

USED NISSAN LEAF BATTERIES

LIFE

A new fast grading process, essential to make batteries available for “second life” has been developed by researchers at WMG, University of Warwick for car manufacturer Nissan.

When electric vehicles end their life the remaining storage capacity of the lithium battery is expected to be higher than 70 per cent. After this, they can be reused for less demanding “second life” applications such as domestic and industrial energy storage.

Car company Nissan was keen to explore ways to make a much faster grading process for its used Li-ion batteries from the Nissan LEAF – allowing re-use of old battery packs or modules instead of disposing or recycling them.

Part-funded by the government’s Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy department, the UK Energy Storage Laboratory project was launched.

Professor David Greenwood from WMG, University of Warwick said: “Automotive batteries deliver some great environmental benefits, but they consume a lot of resources in doing so. Opening up a

second life for batteries improves the environmental and the economic value we draw from those resources before they need recycling. I’m delighted that by working with the partners in this project, we’ve made it much easier to access those second life applications.”

Francisco Carranza, Managing Director from Nissan Energy, added: “The number of electric vehicle batteries reaching end-of-service is set to increase from thousands to tens of thousands per annum by 2025. These batteries typically retain significant capacity and power delivery capability, and their re-use in so-called second-life applications has been proposed as a means to extend the battery value chain and minimise waste by deferring recycling.”

Worcester launches hydrogen boiler system

Worcester Bosch has developed a fully functional boiler system that runs on 100 per cent pure hydrogen gas.

With major steps being taken in transport to develop electric and hybrid cars, removing carbon from the heating and hot water industry is proving much more difficult. With a third of UK greenhouse gases coming from homes, the UK will not meet its climate change targets without a revolution in home heating.

The only by-product of burning hydrogen gas is water, which is why Worcester Bosch believes this has the potential to be one of the main solutions that could help decarbonise heating and hot water in UK homes.

The prototype has been designed to also run effectively on natural gas. This means that in the future if hydrogen gas becomes reality, those who have a ‘hydrogen-ready’ boiler can convert to hydrogen without the need for an entirely new heating system.

The development of hydrogen-fired boilers will mean the millions of heating systems that will already be installed can be used rather than replaced.

Cirencester agri-tech business secures EU approval for organic farming products

Eden Research, based at Poulton near Cirencester, has confirmed that three of its EU-registered active ingredients, geraniol, eugenol and thymol, have been approved for use in organic farming following inclusion in the EU’s Organic Production Regulation.

Eden, which develops sustainable products for crop protection, animal

health and consumer products around the world, can now make its products available to organic growers with the levels of success often associated with conventional chemical pesticides, providing the company’s growers with another alternative and sustainable solution. Eden says it is the only UK listed company focused on biopesticides for sustainable agriculture.

It invests in research and development concentrating on protecting highvalue crops, improving crop yields and marketability.

Sean Smith, CEO of Eden Research, said: “It is clear that there is growing demand from consumers within the EU for organic products and this is matched by rapidly growing production.”

The team at University of Warwick work on the Nissan LEAF battery

“The number of electric vehicle batteries reaching end-of-service is set to increase from thousands to tens of thousands per annum by 2025”

LEAMINGTON MANUFACTURER EXPANDS FOLLOWING RISING DEMAND FOR AIR COMPRESSORS

An expanding Warwickshire company, whose technology reduces harmful carbon dioxide emissions, has moved into new facilities in Leamington Spa following rising demand for its products.

Aeristech’s 11,000 sq ft new premises in Hermes Close in Leamington were officially opened by the Royal Leamington Spa Mayor, Councillor Bill Gifford and Warwickshire County Council leader, Councillor Izzi Seccombe OBE.

Aeristech, which designs and manufactures clean energy applications,

develops electric air compressors for the international automotive industry.

Aeristech secured £50,000 in grants with help from the Coventry & Warwickshire Business Support Programme which is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) via Coventry City Council and the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) Growth Hub.

This grant contributed towards building Aeristech’s new engineering and development floor.

“This move marks the transformation of the company from high-tech developer to serious commercial player”

Richard Wall, CEO at Aeristech, said: “This move marks the transformation of the company from high-tech developer to serious commercial player. The production facility will enable us to deliver 30,000 centrifugal compressors a year with a potential of upping that to 200,000 units.”

Global value engineering business secures major investment

Severn Glocon Group, the global valve engineering business, has secured multi million-pound investment from energy investor Blue Water Energy.

Colin Findlay, a member of Severn Glocon Group’s management team, has become Chief Executive to lead its expansion and focus on new product development.

Severn Glocon is one of the biggest manufacturers of control valves for the

oil and gas industry, and employs more than 900 staff worldwide including 370 in the UK.

The Gloucester-based company, which has manufacturing locations in Gloucestershire, Yorkshire and Chennai and service operations globally, now has a fully-funded growth plan to the next level.

Blue Water Energy is a specialist international private equity firm focused

on the mid-market energy sector. Severn Glocon founder Maurice Critchley steps into a non-executive director role and remains as an investor in the company.

Maurice said: “Having created an excellent global manufacturing business over the past 30 years, I am pleased to see it in good hands and I look forward to supporting our new CEO, Colin Findlay, and Blue Water Energy in taking Severn Glocon to the next level.”

Izzi Seccombe OBE, Richard Wall, Bill Gifford, Simon Reader, Mike Woodroffe and Martin Nwangwa

Surface coating business raises £2.5 million to invest in

new equipment

Bicester-based Hardide, which develops advanced surface coating technology, has conditionally raised £2.5 million in new ordinary shares following significant demand from new and existing investors. The Board said the placing was significantly oversubscribed.

With these new funds the company plans to invest £1.5 million in replacement and additional modern equipment in connection with a move to new premises in Bicester this year.

The move will mean improvements to capacity, capability and environmental performance, said the company.

A major factor in the decision to buy new equipment is the need to keep the processing capability for Airbus components at the present UK site during the move to the new Longlands Road site. This is because Airbus approval is specific to equipment and its location. The new site will require its own audit and approval.

Secretary of State steps in to investigate Chinese approach for Redditch business

A proposed acquisition of Redditch-based Mettis Aerospace by Aerostar, a fund established in China, has prompted intervention at the highest level.

The former Business Secretary, Andrea Leadsom, issued a public interest intervention notice on the grounds of national security.

The Competition and Markets Authority is required to submit a report this month.

A statement on Mettis’s website said: “As a successful, growing company, we are regularly approached by organisations interested in Mettis Aerospace. We recently received an unsolicited approach from Aerostar. However, we are not having ongoing discussions and are not considering selling Mettis to Aerostar. We have invested over £25 million in the last five years in our forging, machining and sub-assembly capabilities and have invested in a new factory which is opening in early 2020. We have been creating jobs and winning key contracts for the West Midlands region.

“We are proud to be based in the UK and continue to be committed to Mettis Aerospace’s success into the future.”

A West Midlands manufacturer has won the contract to develop revolutionary charging points for electric vehicles. Coventry-based Sarginsons Industries, which traditionally supplies aluminium castings to a range of sectors including automotive and energy, is diversifying its business after becoming the sole supplier to Char.gy.

Char.gy has developed technology which sees charging points either mounted on to lamp posts or separate charging bollard units that can draw from the electricity supply to lamp posts.

The technology means that vehicle owners in urban areas where only on-street parking is available can access charging points for their all-electric or hybrid vehicles.

Char.gy, based in London, is already working with a number of UK local authorities to fit the technology in urban streets, with Coventry being one of the first to see units installed around the city.

Sarginsons will now supply the full unit to Char.gy including the aluminium castings as well as internal assembly, including the electronics.

The firm’s new Technology Centre Manager, Gavin Shipley, will oversee the project – he has worked with the company on the design and development in a previous role. Further new jobs will be created to work on the manufacture and assembly of the products.

Anthony Evans, Managing Director of Sarginsons Industries, said the work with Char.gy was part of the firm’s future plans to develop its offer in Design for Manufacture excellence.

“The core of our business is very much around lightweighting and we have put sustainability and green technologies at the heart of everything we do. So it’s great to be working with another business who have this at their core.”

Coventry manufacturer charged with success

Anthony Evans (Sarginsons), Myles Roberts (Char.gy), Gavin Shipley (Sarginsons), Richard Stobart (Char.gy)

VINCE FINALLY GETS GO-AHEAD FOR ECO-FRIENDLY FOOTBALL STADIUM

Forest Green Rovers football club has won the go-ahead for its ecofriendly 5,000-seater wooden stadium alongside the M5.

Stroud District Council’s planning committee voted six to four in favour of an outline application which was rejected at the first attempt in June 2019.

Eco Park, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, will be a state-of-the-art structure at Junction 13 near Eastington, along with landscaped parking and two pitches, one of which will be available to the local community.

Club Chairman Dale Vince (and Ecotricity boss) said it was “the right decision”

following a five-year journey through the planning process. “This is a great project for Stroud,” he added.

It is expected to be at least three years until the League Two side moves from its home at New Lawn in Nailsworth.

The current ground is powered by renewable energy, recycles rainwater and serves nothing but vegan food. The new one is expected to be the ‘greenest’ in the world.

The planning application was supported by Gloucestershire Local Enterprise Partnership which said it would bolster the local economy, training opportunities and links to colleges, but there were objections

from the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England, Eastington Parish Council and some district councillors.

The original submission included an eco technology park which was subsequently removed.

Arlington proposes new logistics park alongside Madejski stadium

Developer Arlington has submitted an outline planning application to Reading Borough Council for a 162,250 sq ft warehouse logistics park close to the Madejski Stadium.

The 8.5 acre site, next to Reading International Logistics Park at Junction 11 of the M4, will provide four industrial/ warehouse units, ranging from 24,150 sq ft to 69,070 sq ft, plus 145 parking spaces.

It offers design and build options from 20,000 to 120,000 sq ft.

The site was once earmarked for a substantial office scheme.

The development area, three miles from Reading town centre, is already home

to businesses and distribution occupiers including Tesco, DPD, DHL, Yodel, Argos and food service company 3663.

The Centre for Cities Outlook 2018 report lists Reading as second in the UK for wages, behind only London. The town also ranked in the top three for jobs, high skills, productivity and business start-ups.

Letting agents for Reading International Logistics Park are Lambert Smith Hampton and Haslams Chartered Surveyors.

“The current ground is powered by renewable energy, recycles rainwater and serves nothing but vegan food. The new one is expected to be the ‘greenest’ in the world”

The proposed wooden football stadium destined for

PROPERTY IN THE HEADLINES

VivoPlex brings fertility sensors to Milton Park and hopes to expand

VivoPlex Group, which is developing technology to improve the success rate of fertility treatment, has taken on laboratory and office premises in Milton Park, Oxford.

The health technology company’s new HQ accommodates its 15 research and development, and corporate staff and allows for recruitment under the leadership of new Finance Director Stuart Webb.

The new facilities will also incorporate a clean room for in-house manufacture of its intra-uterine device.

The company, a spin-out from the University of Southampton, produces wireless, battery-free sensors which monitor three parameters in the uterine environment – temperature, pH and oxygen level – to optimise fertility and uterine health.

Joanna Smart, CEO of VivoPlex, said: “Our expansion to Oxford is an

important milestone in VivoPlex’s development, bringing us the facilities we need to move our intra-uterine biosensor through the next phases of clinical and commercial development.

“Location in this medtech and digital health cluster also provides access to the talent, expertise and funding which will drive our future growth.”

Around 12 per cent of women wishing to have a child experience subfertility and the IVF market is growing at 11 per cent a year, driven by factors such as rising age at which women are having children and increasing disposable income globally.

The VivoPlex product comprises an insertable monitor no bigger than an intra-

uterine device (IUD or coil) plus discreet briefs which provide wireless power to the device and transmit data to software for use by the fertility specialist.

It has generated positive results in early studies and has potential in a range of other applications such as livestock monitoring and animal welfare.

More commercial stock is desperately needed, says Bromwich Hardy

A new report into the state of the regional commercial property market has been launched by a Coventrybased property company and highlights a desperate shortage of stock.

The first annual Bromwich Hardy Barometer contains facts and figures

about the office and industrial market across Coventry and Warwickshire.

Partner Tom Bromwich said it clearly demonstrates the need for more newbuild commercial stock to be built across the region. “The previous 12 months have been challenging in many

parts of the market,” he said. “The national political backdrop, dominated by Brexit and culminating in the general election, was a constant source of frustration to the business sector and undoubtedly affected investment decisions.

“Closer to home, a shortage of highquality, newly-built stock remains an issue across this region – and is likely to do so for some time yet. In four of our local authority areas there is no new office space under construction at all and the picture is only marginally better when it comes to industrial development.”

The Barometer was launched at a reception at the Leamington Tennis Court Club with a presentation by partner David Penn.

“Location in this medtech and digital health cluster also provides access to the talent, expertise and funding which will drive our future growth”

David Penn with Richard Hardy and Tom Bromwich from Bromwich Hardy at the launch

GJS Dillon launches Worcestershire Commercial Property Market Report for 2020

Leading figures in the Worcestershire commercial property industry, along with representatives from the Chamber of Commerce and Worcestershire LEP, were out in force on Thursday morning for the launch of GJS Dillon’s Worcestershire Commercial Property Market Report for 2020. The report provides in-depth analysis of the key trends and performance of the office and industrial markets within the county and its districts. The event, which was held at Sixways, was co-hosted by Harrison Clark Rickerbys.

A copy of the report is available at www.gjsdillon.co.uk/marketreport/

PHOTOGRAPHY: COLETTE HILSON, F8 Photography

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John Dillon from GJS Dillon, Caroline Pearson and Amanda Sutcliffe from Sutcliffe & Co and Philip Parkinson from Harrison Clark Rickerbys

Sam Coleman and Corrina Watson from Greyfort

Ian Williams from Handelsbanken Worcester with Louisa and Richard Sheard from NatWest

Ostap Paparega from NWEDR, John Dillon from GJS Dillon and Nick Jethwa from Gemini Property

Simon Fidoe from The Eades Estate, Andrew Lewis from GJS Dillon and Neil Baldwin from The Eades Estate

Andy Cole from Lloyds Banking Group with Vince Hopkins from BRI Wealth Management Gary Rouse from BDO with John Dillon from GJS Dillon

Hannah Moule from Moule & Co with Tudor Davies from Maple Aion

Sandra Hudson from Malvern Hills District Council with Brad Faulks from GJS Dillon and Tim Deakin from Wychavon District Council

Andrew Pollard from Place Partnership, Mike Parker from Wyre Forest District Council and Kevin Moore from Worcester City Council

Nathan Guest from Harrison Clark Rickerbys with Chris Orr from Handelsbanken, Worcester

Rosie Henderson from Business & Innovation Magazine with Philip Fowler from The Move Master and Andy Hemming from Action Coach

TrustFord snaps up an extra 5.5 acres at Meon Vale

TrustFord has expanded its fleet and national logistics centre by acquiring a further 5.5 acres at Meon Vale Business Park in Warwickshire.

BEAUTY BUSINESS FINDS FOUNDATION FOR THE FUTURE IN ALCESTER

Offices in one of Alcester’s historic buildings are the new home of a thriving cosmetics clinic, thanks to the help of property agents John Truslove.

Marie Dolan has moved her Define business into Shakespeare Chamber at 3c High Street, taking a three-year lease on 699 sq ft at £8,500 per annum.

“It’s a lovely building dating back to around the 17th century with exposed beams and whitewashed walls. It provides lots of space as I expand my business,” said Marie.

A qualified nurse, she has worked in the aesthetics industry for 12 years and decided to set up on her own providing cosmetic injections, anti-ageing treatments,

dermal fillers, lip fillers and skincare. “I wanted somewhere that would be central and easy to access but would also provide a degree of discretion,” she said. “At the same time, given the enormous growth in aesthetics and the clinical cosmetics market, I needed somewhere where my business could expand.”

Landlord Larry Brown was happy with the deal. “The premises were only empty a couple of days before the new tenant moved in,” he said.

Ian Parker, joint managing director at John Truslove, said: “We are delighted to have been able to bring together a landlord and tenant in such short order.”

Kite Creative swaps garden studio for Manor House view

Interiors design and build business Kite Creative has moved to new offices in a former stable block at Howbery Business Park near Wallingford.

Now in its sixth year of business with 30 sub-contractors on its books and several employees, Kite Creative had outgrown the purpose-built studio in the garden of its co-founders and directors, Helen and Bruce Gordon.

Bruce, Kite Creative’s Managing Director, said: “I can’t think of a nicer place to have

an office in the area where we live. I love the way things are run here and it’s a very calming environment.”

Creative Director Helen specialises in the interior design side of the business while Bruce focuses on construction and project management.

Donna Bowles, Estates Manager at Howbery Business Park, said: “We aim to provide convenient office spaces in a natural, calm environment that supports a work-life balance.”

The UK’s largest Ford dealer group has signed a seven-year lease and becomes the biggest occupier for site owner St Modwen.

Stuart Foulds, Chairman and Chief Executive at TrustFord, said: “This expansion of acreage reflects our ongoing dedication and investment in our industry-leading fleet and national logistics centre. The location is perfectly situated as our national hub for vehicle preparation and delivery.”

TrustFord arrived at Meon Vale Business Park near Junction 15 of the M40 in 2014: it signed a fiveyear lease to occupy a 10,000 sq ft warehouse and storage unit.

Developer St Modwen has now let more than 500,000 sq ft of warehouse accommodation to businesses across multiple sectors at Meon Vale in the last year.

Occupiers include Unipart Logistics, Desire Tech Ltd and Berkeley International Services Ltd.

Gemma Butler, Asset Manager at St Modwen Industrial & Logistics, added: “The deal reaffirms our industrial and logistics strategy, illustrating clear market demand.”

David Penn of Bromwich Hardy and Chris Keye of Darby Keye are joint agents for the site

Ian Parker from John Truslove with Marie Dolan of Define

TrustFord premises at Meon Vale

County ploughs £19.5m into business centre to transform Nuneaton

Warwickshire County Council has agreed to invest nearly £19.5 million in the Transforming Nuneaton project by building a new library, café and business centre in the town.

The aim is to help create a vibrant economy in the town centre which will attract businesses and unlock other land for private sector development.

The investment from the authority’s Capital Investment Fund is earmarked for the Church Street area, currently occupied by Wilkos, Powell House and the Royal Mail. The buildings and land are owned by Warwickshire County Council and Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council.

The ground floor of the new building will provide a new library. The first floor will consist of office space for county council staff and a reception area for the business centre offering approximately 70 offices, aimed at small start-ups. Revenue will be generated from rent at the business centre and the café – an estimated £490,000 per annum once target occupancy is achieved.

REFURBISHED UNITS AT MARLEY WAY MAKE FOR A FULL HOUSE

Marley Way, one of the busiest trade destinations in Banbury, is now fully let following a substantial refurbishment by owners Dunmoore.

Dunmoore, a privately-owned property investment and development company, bought four industrial units at Marley Way in 2018.

It carried out a £750,000 refurbishment and created the new Banbury Trade Park Development.

Marley Way, on the edge of Banbury opposite the new Waitrose, includes Homebase, Halfords, B&Q and GSF Car Parts.

The four refurbished units have new glazed frontages, an open plan trading

area, level entry doors, good natural light and improved signage. Tenants include Banbury Heating Supplies, Toolstation and Crown Paints.

“We have not only improved the appearance of the estate dramatically but also the tenant profile on the terrace with some hands-on asset management”

Andrew Scott, Investment Surveyor at Dunmoore, said: “We have not only improved the appearance of the estate dramatically but also the tenant profile on the terrace with some hands-on asset management.”

Chris White, Managing Director at White Commercial Surveyors, added: “The scheme witnessed a good deal of interest from occupiers wishing to be located in this prime trade location in Banbury.”

City council splashes out on second shopping centre

Gloucester City Council has acquired the long-term lease on Eastgate Shopping Centre, just months after spending £54 million on St Oswald’s Retail Park.

It already owns the freehold of the shopping centre and has leases on the rooftop car park and indoor market hall.

The council plans to work with business, community and public sector partners to refocus the city centre, relying less on traditional retail. It believes that getting more people to live and work in the city centre and developing heritage and leisure experiences will help counteract reduced demand for retail space.

The council’s vision is that by 2025, the city centre will be transformed from providing traditional retail to offering a variety of experiences, both day and night.

It has already secured £1.9 million of investment as part of the government’s

High Street Heritage Action Zone initiative. By purchasing the Eastgate Shopping Centre, the authority intends to proactively manage the retail offer in large parts of the city centre and rebalance the mix of uses. The purchase also provides a long-term income.

Coucillor Paul James, cabinet member for regeneration and economy, said: “It makes good long-term commercial sense for us to control (the Eastgate centre) in its entirety. It also enables us to resolve the future of the indoor market and give traders the certainty they have been seeking.”

Eastgate Shopping Centre

Private investor snaps up landmark motoring pub for £3.2 million

The Flying Standard pub in Trinity Street, Coventry, has been bought by a private investor for £3.225 million.

The deal was brokered by property agents Bond Wolfe.

The medieval-style building near the Cathedral Quarter is home to a Wetherspoons pub on the ground and first floors with two self-contained apartments on the second floor.

It offers 12,170 sq ft plus a roof terrace of 685 sq ft.

Bond Wolfe managing partner James Mattin said: “City centre freehold properties rarely come to the market so we were delighted to work with the purchaser and advisers Coffer Corporate Leisure.”

The property derives its name from one of the many cars made in Coventry by The Standard Motor Company from 1903 until the 1960s. The Flying Standard model made its debut in 1936.

The seller was represented by VKM Solicitors in Wolverhampton and the purchaser was advised by McLellans Solicitors in Hertford.

APTECO CHOOSES HISTORIC ATHENAEUM FOR ITS WARWICK TEAM

International software company

Apteco has bought the historic Athenaeum building in the centre of Warwick.

The company, which develops and sells software to marketing professionals across the world, has its HQ less than 500 metres away and plans to move its staff into the Grade II* listed building in the summer after an extensive refurbishment.

The premises in Church Street were built in the 1780s. They became offices in the 1980s.

Commercial property agents

Wareing & Company marketed the property on behalf of the owners, Education for Health, which has moved to Wellesbourne.

Apteco, founded in 1987, employs 60 staff primarily in Warwick with offices in Frankfurt, Sydney and Rotterdam.

Founder and Managing Director James Alty said: “We have always

provided great working environments for our staff so our buildings are key.

“We have commissioned a historic building appraisal which will identify the historic merits of the building and its features but the main historic asset is the grand stone frontage which was added in 1780.

“Seeking a town centre location was a priority for a number of reasons. For example, we incentivise colleagues to cycle to work and we provide bike storage and showers to make that practical.”

The company will keep its current headquarters at Tink-A-Tank House in neighbouring Jury Street.

Initium invests in trade units at Blackpole Trading Estate

An office and workshop building on the Blackpole Trading Estate West in Worcester has been snapped up for more than £300,000.

The vendors Dolphin Computer Access instructed Harris Lamb to place the freehold opportunity on the market.

The 4,655 sq ft premises, units 96C and 96D, were purchased by

Midlands-based property company Initium Holdings.

Sara Garratt, of Harris Lamb’s Agency team, said: “Commercial opportunities of this type don’t come to market often, and with demand for space throughout Worcestershire being at a premium, we knew there would be a lot of interest.

“Initium Holdings is now set to embark on an extensive refurbishment of the property.”

James Alty and Jonathan Blood at the Athenaeum

The Flying Standard pub in Trinity Street, Coventry

West Berkshire Property Forum hosted by Evans Jones

Evans Jones Chartered Surveyors and Planning Consultants hosted their bi-annual West Berkshire Property Forum at The Vineyard Hotel & Spa in Newbury. The breakfast event attended by senior property professionals heard from guest speakers on ‘A New Vision for Newbury’ with thought-provoking discussion on the Newbury vision. Chaired by David Jones, Managing Director of Evans Jones Planning & Property Consultancy, guest speakers included, Nick Carter is CEO of West Berkshire Council and lead for the 2036 Newbury Vision/Project, Russell Downing is Founder Member and Director of the Newbury West Berkshire Economic Development Company Stakeholder Group, Richard Stacey is Managing Director of Evoke Transport Planning and sits on the Property and Infrastructure Committee of Newbury West Berkshire and Ian Blake is Director of Morse Webb Architects and has led many town centre projects, including the Parkway Centre development.

PHOTOGRAPHY: PAUL STALLARD, CANDID PICTURES

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Guest speakers David Jones, Managing Director Evans Jones, Nick Carter, CEO, West Berkshire Council, Richard Stacey, Managing Director of Evoke Transport Planning, Ian Blake, Director, Morse Webb Architects and Russell Downing, Director of the Newbury West Berkshire Economic Development Company Stakeholder Group

Nick Carter from West Berkshire Council with Clare Giannini from Kier Construction Central and Jim Bailey from Pegasus Planning Group

Derek Ching and Tim Blackman from Boyes Turner LLP and Alec Turner from Evans Jones

Chris Marsh from Evans Jones and James McNicoll-Norbury from ADAS

David Fletcher from Evoke Transport Planning, Liz Alexander from Bell Cornwell and Phil Simmons from Donnington New Homes

Glen Langham and Emily Harvey from Bloor Homes Southern

Graham from ADAS and Rupert Holtby – Greenham Business Park

Tim Major from Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce and Nicky Godding from Business Innovation Magazine Guests enjoying discussion over breakfast

AND CONSTRUCTION

First phase completes at St. Modwen Park, Gloucester

Developer St. Modwen has completed its first phase of speculative development at St. Modwen Park Gloucester, delivering more than 174,000 sq ft of space in three new units – with unit 2 of 56,262 sq ft already let to a leading heating specialist.

Expected to create around 230 jobs once occupied, the units provide flexible space, ideal for medium-sized industrial and logistics businesses.

The 58-acre site is close to the M5 at junction 12. Build to suit opportunities are also available to meet specific requirements on the site up to 400,000 sq ft.

Peter Davies, Development Director at St. Modwen Industrial & Logistics, said: “St. Modwen Park Gloucester is an important strategic site for our continued delivery of high-quality industrial and logistics space. The market demand for schemes of this nature within the Gloucestershire area is high.”

WILLMOTT DIXON APPOINTED TO DELIVER FOURTH SCHEME AT UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK

Willmott Dixon has been appointed to deliver the last phase of a £33 million investment in Warwick Arts Centre to create the region’s leading cultural centre when complete in early 2021. The centre will be a key venue in Coventry’s year as UK City of Culture 2021. It follows the company’s selection in September to build the Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Building (IBRB).

The centre has been designed by Ellis Williams Architects with Bond Bryan as delivery architect and project managed by Turner & Townsend. It involves a complete upgrade to the original building as well as adding a new-build that houses three HD digital auditoria, a large ground floor gallery to exhibit contemporary art, sculpture and photography, plus a spacious newlook foyer.

Purewal Commercial gets cracking on new-build after fire damage

Plans to build a new commercial unit on the site of a former fire-damaged industrial building in Coventry have been given the green light.

Work is set to begin on a new warehouse/ trade counter property in Herald Way, Binley, after planning permission was granted. It will be carried out by Coventry-based McCarthys.

The unit will be built on the site of a building which was hit by fire last July and

The new 8,600 sq ft building should be complete this summer.

Jonathan Moore, director of Holt

The arts centre continues Willmott Dixon’s presence on the university’s campus transformation that has seen the company deliver the awardwinning Oculus Building in 2016 and the Sports and Wellness Hub earlier this year, before being appointed for the IBRB scheme in September.

When completed, the development will sustain more than 30 full-time and potentially 20 part-time jobs, while also offering five apprenticeship roles. It will also assist up to 35 small businesses through engagement and commercial relationships with the centre. Willmott Dixon has committed to investing in local social projects including work experience placements and school engagement to the equivalent of £2.1 million.

Commercial which is also marketing the site, said: “There is huge demand for this type of industrial property.”

Jat Purewal, from Purewal Commercial Estates Ltd, added: “We hope to attract a tenant which will create new employment opportunities for the local area.”

Artist’s impression of the new commercial unit in Herald Way, Coventry then purchased by Purewal Commercial Estates Limited, with the assistance of Holt Commercial.