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.”

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.”

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

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 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