A TASTE FOR CHANGE SEES UK FOOD BUSINESS BOUGHT BY ITALIANS

A company that develops seasonings and flavours has been bought by Europe’s largest sustainability-focused private equity investor.

TasteConnection, based near Wottonunder-Edge in Gloucestershire, was acquired by Ambienta in April.

Founded in 2002, TasteConnection is a leading manufacturer of innovative seasonings and flavourings, with a core focus on the snacks and savoury markets. TasteConnection has a strong presence in the handmade crisps, chips, and ready meals markets and a client base of more than 70 of the largest UK snacks producers and food brands, as well as many niche UK brands.

Andrew Sainsbury, Co-founder of TasteConnection, said: “We have ambitious growth plans for TasteConnection; this move was the logical next step in securing our future and ability to provide our customers with cost-e ective, industry leading seasonings and provenanced ingredients.”

UK’s appetite for pizza sees revenues surge at Redditch oven supplier

The huge surge in demand for delivered pizza has seen turnover at White’s Foodservice Equipment in Redditch grow to a record £4.5 million over the last year.

Business boss Tim White supplies pizza ovens, spares and food preparation equipment to major names including Domino’s Pizza, Papa John’s and independent operators across the country.

He said: “Business has gone through the roof over the last year. We operate a spare parts website as well, and supply woodfired and normal commercial pizza ovens made by the leading manufacturers in the industry.

“We now have around 15 full time staff and will be aiming to recruit two or three more over the next 12 months.” shareholders and significantly accelerates the value that could be realised by St. Modwen if it were to remain independent.

“Additionally, the board is reassured by Blackstone’s views and approach to investing in the business and supporting our people.”

Bristol vertical aerospace company to launch on New York Stock Exchange

Vertical Aerospace Group Ltd, the Bristol-based engineering and aeronautical business developing electric Vertical TakeOff and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft, has merged with Broadstone Acquisition Corp, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in order to launch on the New York Stock Exchange.

The transaction will result in Vertical becoming a publicly-traded company valued at approximately £1.5 billion ($2.2 billion).

The listing on the New York Stock Exchange is expected to close in the second half of 2021.

Vertical was founded in 2016 by Stephen Fitzpatrick, an established entrepreneur best known as the founder of the Ovo Group, the energy company which wants to create a world without carbon and which includes Ovo Energy, the UK’s second-biggest energy retailer with revenues of £4.5 billion.

Vertical’s mission is to make air travel personal, on-demand and carbon-free.

Partners&: A brand that is challenging the status quo…

When we were creating the Partners& brand, we did a lot of research into what prospective clients were looking for in their broker. We wanted to make sure that the brand we were creating challenged the status quo and really addressed the needs of our clients.

In our view, the insurance sector had found itself in a difficult position. What was once regarded as an industry acutely focused on relationship, today is characterised as transactional, impersonal and bogged down in red tape.

We’ve all experienced it – call centres, ever changing teams, increasing fees, decreasing service levels, reams of unintelligible documentation - you are left feeling uncertain about whether you’re adequately covered or not, and frankly, just proceeding on blind faith.

We wanted to get away from all that. So we engaged in focus groups to get an understanding of what really mattered.

We started from the premise that we’d hear what most of us in the professional services sector would expect: experience, technical expertise, sector understanding…sound familiar? Interestingly, in our clients’ minds these were givens.

Clients expected this, but it wasn’t enough to get them to turn their heads and break free from the inertia which characterises the industry.

The feedback we received from these focus group participants was compelling. It spoke directly to the poor experiences they had almost become resigned to receiving.

What they wanted all pointed to relationship. They wanted their broker to spend time building a rapport with them, developing insight, and to express a degree of care for them and their business.

They wanted their broker to “speak plain English”, to help them understand the fine print and to explain what insurance they have and why they have it.

When the time came for a claim, they wanted their broker to be there for them, standing shoulder to shoulder with them, fighting their corner to help secure the best outcome.

Finally, they wanted a broker to work in partnership with them, to co-create a programme that is spot on for their business – not an off the shelf solution, but one that addresses their specific risks.

I’m sure these comments will be familiar to others in the wider professional services sector. In the race for profit, and focus on spreadsheets and shareholders, many have forgotten that we actually are people businesses.

“We exist to support our clients, to provide important advice to help them, their businesses, their employees and their families to succeed, thrive and achieve their goals”.

- CEO Phil Barton

The last year has brought about many changes in the way we conduct business. Let’s hope one of the lasting impacts of the pandemic is a return to focusing on people – our clients and our colleagues. As we challenge the status quo, that’s exactly what we intend to do.