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It’s a well-known aphorism trotted out regularly by companies of all sizes that “our people are our greatest asset”.
Are they? Really? Let’s be frank – they can also be a company’s biggest liability. Few of us will have been lucky enough not to have locked horns at some time with a difficult boss or challenging employee. And perhaps we might be guilty ourselves.
More than ever before – thanks perhaps to social media which can leave few anywhere to hide, companies are having to not only treat their staff properly, but be seen to do so.
Our long-read features in this issue all concentrate on people. We look at where the next generation of skilled workers will come from (pages 50-63), and highlight 100 companies which are going the extra mile for their employees (pages 64-73).
We also went looking for the coolest workplaces (pages 88-95). Gone are the days when all an employee could expect was a desk, chair and access to a kettle for their morning instant coffee.
Now some big companies are offering cinemas, yoga studios, sleeping pods and fancy-pants cappuccino machines alongside complementary bowls of healthy snacks. One wonders how the small companies, which don’t have such deep pockets to invest in smart workspaces, can compete for the skilled workers they need.
But perhaps they have what bigger businesses often lose as they grow: a strong sense of community and mutual support.
Whatever the size of your business, your staff will be an asset if they’re treated with respect and consideration.
The companies we all most want to work for will offer staff/employees/colleagues (whatever you want to call us all), a friendly, inclusive, collaborative workplace where everyone is given the autonomy to undertake the role they were employed to fill, training opportunities to develop their skills further if they want, and the understanding that sometimes home life, or personal emotional challenges crash into work time.
On the flip side, employees should understand that business owners or directors have their own challenges and respect should go both ways.
The pandemic has changed, probably irrevocably, our working lives with work from home, hybrid working, and some companies even offering four day weeks.
But does this adaptation of working practices threaten (or perhaps just
change), that warm feeling of camaraderie of the five-day-a-week, 9-5.30 work ethic where we all engage with colleagues in the same physical space, sparking creativity and enthusiasm in each other?
The jury’s still out on this.
We all need creative interaction to drive ideas and deliver better outcomes for business and the wider economy.
Enjoy reading our latest packed issue, which also includes inspiring interviews with Dominic Threllfall, the boss at Swindon and Cirencester motor dealership Pebley Beach, which isn’t shy of embracing technology to engage better with customers (pages 30-32) and Philip Johnston, the boss of Tewkesbury-based Trackwise Designs which last year broke its record for manufacturing the longest multi-layer flexible printed circuit at 72 metres (pages 76-78).
Nicky Godding Editor-in-Chief and Co-Publisher
Kirsty Muir Commercial Director and Co-Publisher
A novel wall climbing robot, designed and built by West Midlands-based HausBots could reduce the number of workplace accidents say its creators.
Working with WMG (Warwick Manufacturing Group) at the University of Warwick, HausBots has developed a robot which can climb vertical surfaces and be used for inspection and maintenance tasks such as building and infrastructure surveying – even painting.
The HausBot started in the co-founder’s garage, and with the help of a team from WMG which regularly works with young businesses, the robot was brought to life.
But to ensure the robot itself doesn’t fall off vertical surfaces, it had to undergo extensive electro-magnetic compatibility testing in a special chamber at the university to make sure the fans, which essentially attach it to the surface, function correctly.
Dr David Norman from the WMG SME group at the University of Warwick, said: “The concept of the robot is incredible, and could save lives and reduce the number of workplace accidents.
“Our facilities and expertise helped HausBots develop a market-ready product which has carried out many jobs, from painting to cleaning the graffiti off the spaghetti junction in Birmingham.
“We hope to continue working with them in the future and can’t wait to see where they are this time next year.”
Jack Crone, CEO and co-founder of HausBots, added: “We have worked tirelessly over the last three years to make HausBot, and have sold our first one to a company in Singapore.
“We hope to continue our work with WMG at the University of Warwick to make more robots for other uses.”
Five women in the UK have become the first in the world to receive a tiny wireless implant developed by Abingdon-based Verso Biosense that could revolutionise fertility treatment.
The micro-sensing device, developed by engineers at Verso Biosense alongside fertility experts and engineers at the University of Southampton, monitors oxygen, pH and temperature levels inside the womb.
These critical measurements have never been recorded in vivo before and represent a breakthrough in fertility assessment and treatment says the company.
The technology enables clinicians to assess and diagnose some of the causes of unexplained infertility before any treatment begins, and find simple solutions to change the condition of the womb, such as probiotics or aspirin.
The breakthrough could lead to clinicians being able to assess the health of the womb in a similar way to taking a patient’s blood pressure or critical organ measurements and enable doctors to offer more tailored fertility care.
Dr Joseph Cefai, Head of Product Development at Verso Biosense, said: “It is always exciting to work on a first-of-its-kind, breakthrough medical device. The Verso product, for the first time, provides a continuous, in-situ view into the physio chemistry of the human uterus, an organ that despite its importance to mankind, is still referred to as a ‘black box’.”
“ e concept of the robot is incredible, and could save lives and reduce the number of workplace accidentsThe HausBot
A young Stroud events company is harnessing the metaverse to create business and corporate events which are securing astonishing levels of client and staff engagement.
Twist Events, led by events professional Kate Brown, is using the metaverse – a network of 3D virtual worlds focused on social connection, to deliver conferences and staff training, most notably for global healthcare company Johnson & Johnson.
Kate explained: “Effective product training for healthcare professionals is essential, but the pandemic drove Johnson & Johnson’s conferences and training online. Zoom was the early answer, but its engagement tools were limited.”
Kate worked with Johnson & Johnson Vision, the company’s eye care division, developing online digital training for its Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) group, consisting of professionals from around 40 countries.
“Their Professional Education Development Team comprises scientists, biologists, surgeons and other professionals at the top of their game,” she said. “They challenged us to develop innovative and engaging online tools to help them train eye-care professionals in opticians, hospitals and other relevant eyecare settings.”
Twist Events built an immersive digital environment – a metaverse. Participants logged on via their computer to a short
video introducing them to the digital environment and welcoming them into the metaverse. Participants were guided to interactive points where “play” buttons delivered specially created content.
Individual photographs of the Professional Education Development Team hung in the space, and participants could click on each one to reveal short videos (filmed prior to the event).
Kate explained: “Despite being in different countries, we wanted people to know each other better, to help bridge geographical gaps. Developing the sense of community was a key part of our response to the brief.
“We wanted to make the event as personal as possible and incorporate as much real life ‘back home’ content as we could. All with a view to celebrating the rich cultural diversity of the team.”
She added: “We also ran a globetrotter’s quiz to get people mixing online and having a bit of fun in teams.
Some contributed home photographs which were incorporated into the questions. This proved a big hit and did wonders for strengthening existing bonds.”
But Twist didn’t abandon participants in this 3D world.
The event was professionally hosted and offered a real time live stream. The host engaged with participants, guiding them around the 3D environment.
Twist also built a 3D “wellness dome”, offering opportunities such as a 20-minute yoga session and a three-minute meditation.
Johnson & Johnson’s Professional Education Development Team can now use the technology to run individual training sessions.
Kate secured the digital engagement metaverse project after delivering Johnson & Johnson Vison’s national sales meeting last year, achieving a 90 per cent engagement success rate – one of the best results the healthcare company has ever had.
Kate added: “We’ve all missed physical events, but in an increasingly global world, getting people together is more difficult.”
What Twist achieved for Johnson & Johnson Vision is just the start, said Kate. “Our technology can now build interactive experiences on a new level.”
Plans to create an international inclusive cricket education centre in Worcester have been given the go-ahead by city planners.
The University of Worcester will develop the centre and associated infrastructure to support the wider campus alongside the River Severn.
The Severn Campus for health and wellbeing will also include a new
teaching facility for health students, already under construction on the site of the former Berrows House building.
The building will become home to the university’s new Three Counties Medical School, announced last year.
The development has gained the support of Worcestershire’s Local Enterprise Partnership, local businesses and Worcester MP Robin Walker, and has already attracted £2 million in government funding and £3 million from the Local Economic Partnership’s green recovery package.
The Transformation Chef, a family business which provides healthy homecooked meals, is looking to grow its sustainability-focused brand.
The Thatcham company is planning to scale up its operations to capture a bigger bite of the UK’s ready meal and ready-to-cook market, which is currently valued at £3.1 billion per annum.
The Transformation Chef was launched in 2018 by husband-and-wife team Chris and Rachel Connor.
Chris had spent 15 years working in the hospitality industry, including as chef patron of his own restaurant while Rachel worked in the events sector.
From its kitchen in West Berkshire, the company now produces a range of “heatto-eat” restaurant-standard frozen meals which are free from gluten, dairy and refined sugar.
And the meals, which are packaged in sustainable and recyclable materials, can be delivered across mainland UK.
The company’s sustainable credentials includes procuring food and ingredients directly from source wherever possible; using food waste to support sustainable energy projects and carbon offsetting of all the company’s delivery miles with a returns option for packaging to be used again.
Earlier this year, The Transformation Chef launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise a minimum of £125,000.
The investment will go towards new frozen storage space and packaging capability to support higher volumes on the back of increased sales which are forecast to rise to £1.5 million next year and it predicts to nearly £5 million per year by 2024.
Chris Connor said: “We are proud of what we’ve achieved since setting up the business in 2018. The UK ready and frozen meal market is huge and now experiencing further post-Covid growth so we feel this is the perfect time to take The Transformation Chef to a higher level.”
The team behind the UK’s first female urinal, Peequal, have raised £250,000 in their first funding round, as they strive to pioneer ‘pee-equality’ for women and make long queues for the ladies a thing of the past.
University of Bristol graduates
Amber Probyn, 23, and Hazel McShane, 25, say their flatpack portable urinals made of recycled sea plastics are six times faster to use and produce 98 per cent less carbon than traditional portable toilets.
And investors agree. Peequal has closed its first funding round, with a quarter of a million pounds raised to take the business into its next phase.
The investors are the British Design Fund; Monzo Bank cofounder Tom Blomfield; former Gü Chief Operation O cer Sarah Jones alongside angel investors Chris Stamp and Elaine Groenestein.
Amber and Hazel’s urinals will become a common sight at British festivals and events, with 250 units currently under construction and several deals being signed with large-scale festival operators.
Deals are also under way with European festivals for the 2023 season.
Richard East, Chairman of Cheltenham headquartered RE Recruitment, looks the recruitment market and the importance of evolution in the workforce.
policy to counter reduced productivity or even mental health challenges.
At RE and Safehands Recruitment, we advise clients to ensure they are attractive to the very best candidates whilst continuing to retain their existing talent.
cultural improvements that skirt around the real challenge. Covid has caused many people to reflect on their work-life balance, and many are looking for a change.
Companies will need to look at the bigger picture and to attract talent, they will need to be bold.
As a recruiter, there are so many things that I could write about currently with a view to opening up discussion around the current UK Labour market. Still, the point I focus on today is a brief examination of how businesses will face a continuing evolution within their workforce.
In 2022, it is first imperative that companies do not fall into the trap of seeing the disruptions to the workforce during the covid pandemic as an anomaly and to misconstrue the idea that employees will willingly return to the previous status quo because they absolutely will not. Most of the changes are here to stay and will evolve further.
Many of the responses to the pandemic that affected the workforce were trends emerging before covid had been heard of. The lockdown periods merely accelerated the change process, but what this acceleration stole from us was the opportunity to experiment.
This missed opportunity may yet raise cause for concern in the future, particularly if companies must turn back on a new
Companies will have to adapt and improve the internal process to genuinely consider the changing workforce demographic and maintain fairness across all styles of work options. Companies will need to broaden their minds to the changing market and ditch irrelevant, old-fashioned, dated views around criteria. In the blue-collar sector, the idea that companies can continue with poor attrition of low-wage workers will prove to be a costly mistake.
It’s my view that companies need to consider the possibility of a complete overhaul of their internal job descriptions and redesign how best to benefit from a workforce far more certain of their value and expectations than pre-pandemic. This workforce could absolutely improve businesses for the better if given the freedom to grow.
At RE and Safehands Recruitment, we are fully engaged with many customers, working alongside their HR departments to explore new ways of engaging with and attracting talent.
We’ve been providing more personal, more dependable and more imaginative recruitment solutions for more than 20 years.
Those who embrace the new order will reduce staff turnover and improve productivity; those who don’t will struggle to service this year’s peaks. In the whitecollar environment, I see many ‘faddish’ ideas to engage with employees’ so-called
Companies must invest in better wages, upskilling programmes, and improved work environments to retain the hard sought workforce that was so much easier to recruit in earlier years.
If you would like to talk with us to find out more, please get in touch.Richard East, Chairman of Cheltenham headquartered RE Recruitment
Clarkson Evans, the UK’s most successful new-home electrical contractor, has undergone a management buy-out.
Clarkson Evans is the largest electrical contractor serving the new-build housing sector. It achieves an annual turnover of around £65 million, with 21 branches around the country, and typically wires around 24,000 new homes each year.
It employs around 850 staff, three quarters working on-site each day.
The MBO has been initiated by Steve Evans, who founded the business as a sole trader in 1981, and it sees control pass to the existing management team. Currently chairman of the business, Steve will become non-executive chairman, with his son and former Clarkson Evans managing director, Nathan Evans, also taking on a non-executive role.
Steve said: “At the age of 65, I felt it was time to step back further into retirement and I’m delighted to be able to do so knowing that the company will be in safe hands.”
The MBO is being led by the existing management team, headed up by Lindsey Young, 43, now the company’s CEO, who joined the company more than 20 years ago.
Along with Lindsey, the team includes production director, Chris Pike, commercial director, Tim Bisp, technical director Leigh Mason and finance director Doug Sparrow.
Clarkson Evans was established four decades ago. By the late 1990s the countractor had established commercial premises at Meteor Business Park, Staverton which is still its HQ, along with additional premises nearby at Anson Business Park. In 1999 it opened its first purpose-built centre for training apprentices at the site and began delivering classes in-house.
It has always invested heavily in apprenticeships, training them in-house to gain a nationally-recognised qualification while mastering the skills needed to wire new homes, and employs its staff directly rather than using sub-contractors.
Lindsey said: “Clarkson Evans has always had strong values and we will run it along the same lines. Our management team have a combined experience of 75 years within the business, so the MBO will feel less a sale and more
like the business being handed over to extended family.”
While Lindsey is keen to emphasise that it will be “business as usual” for the company as it continues to wire new homes across the UK, she has also said that in the interests of offering staff new opportunities within the business, there may be opportunities to diversify.
“Clarkson Evans has been built on firm foundations under the guidance of our founder and over the years those we have trained have wired tens of thousands of new homes. But some of our qualified staff want to widen their careers, and we would like to be able to offer them a more diverse career progression.”
While any diversification is still in the very early discussion stages, it’s likely to include green technologies such as electric vehicle charging.
“Our management team have a combined experience of 75 years within the business ...
A Queen’s Award-winning digital marketing agency has been acquired by French digital marketing group JVWEB. The purchase price was not disclosed.
Based in Cheltenham, Ocere was launched by Tom Parling in 2009 and manages more than 220 active clients across a wide range of sectors, including gaming, technology and finance, and more than 40 languages.
Tom who will be staying with the business, said: “We are excited to become part of an ambitious international group, develop our service o erings and continually improve our proposition to clients worldwide.”
Last year the French group raised €25 million to support its doubledigit growth and to strengthen SEO capabilities as well as its international network.
With rapid growth in recent years (including 113 per cent revenue growth in 2020, and 63 per cent in 2021) Ocere is a major player in search engine optimisation, specialising in premium outreach, SEO performance and content creation.
The bakery chain Janes Pantry has opened its biggest outlet to date at the new district centre in Twigworth, at Twigworth Green near Gloucester.
This is the family-run business’s 11th store and represents a £300,000 investment.
Owner, Neville Morse, said: “We’ve got great food, a full brunch menu, burgers, vegan meals and we’ve applied for an alcohol licence.”
Neville runs the 48-seat café with his wife Tania, accountant daughter Amy and area manageress Tracy Burris.
Karen Vaughan-Edwards, Asset Manager at developer Robert Hitchins Ltd which is bringing forward the Twigworth Green development said:
“The centre provides much-needed facilities for Twigworth residents and commuters on the A38.”
The first Janes Pantry opened in 1971 in St Aldate’s Street, Gloucester. Owners Tony and Barbara Phillips named the business after their youngest daughter.
it has become a major city employer, with more than 100 staff.
Business confidence in Cheltenham is up with several new businesses setting up shop across the town centre over the last few months.
Sweaty Betty opened its third South West store in January, with the new Superdry Boutique store, the first of
its kind, taking up residence just a few doors up the Promenade.
The town’s Regent Arcade shopping centre welcomed sportswear giant Decathlon into part of the former BHS unit, whilst JD Sports found a home in the arcades Topshop unit. Boutique
shops and galleries are on their way too.
Artist-run gallery and exhibition space Spring Cheltenham opened in September in Montpellier, close to specialist dog outfitters Archie’s, closed during lockdown, which has now moved into a much larger property.
Tewkesbury home improvement company The Joedan Group is celebrating 35 years in business this year.
The Joedan Group, which is part of the Conservatory Outlet retail network, has seen sales increase by 25 per cent since lockdown eased and has ambitious expansion plans to boost turnover to £25 million by 2026.
The business moved into the building, a classic Georgian style property with views of Gloucester Cathedral and its historic docks, in 2014.
Last year it attracted a visit from The Prince of Wales who met her cutters, seamstresses and pattern makers including those who had trained under the company’s Conde Nast Sewing Scholarship set up by Emma and Conde Nast International chairman Jonathan Newhouse.
Emma has thrived in the male-dominated world of shirt tailoring for nearly 30 years.
In 2008 she founded the charity Style for Soldiers in response to the casualties incurred in Iraq and Afghanistan. She regularly visited patients at the Military Rehabilitation Hospital, measuring them for a bespoke shirt as a gift of thanks for their bravery and sacrifice.
As demand grew she approached various English brands to assist. Since then Marks & Spencer has given more than 750 suits.
Russell & Bromley has given 250 pairs of shoes and Burberry donated 200 trench coats and scarves.
Over the years, she has gathered a loyal following of international clients, including The Prince of Wales, and has become a chosen shirtmaker for top UK film studios.
Many British actors now wear Emma Willis shirts, including Charles Dance, Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch and Daniel Craig.
Joedan, which employs 148 people across its five sites in the UK, has its own production facilities and fabricates its own aluminium windows and doors.
The design and strength of the aluminium means that the frames can be thinner, allowing more glass to be used which lets in more natural light.
John Purcaro, Founder of the Joedan Group, said: “One of our key commitments is to reduce our carbon footprint, and our environmental philosophy and the operational choices we make reflect this. Our manufacturing, supply and installation operations follow strict recovery and recycling policies.”
Bedfolk, the Cheltenham online bedding business and homewares business which launched in 2018, has raised £1 million in it latest Enterprise Investment Scheme round.
Founded by husband-and-wife team, Nick and Jo James the company, which
last year secured £1 million investment from retail and consumer sector specialist investment firm True, has since expanded into duvets and pillows, towels and robes, and has plans to further expand the product range.
One of the company’s new products is
a recycled down duvet. Kinder to the environment, this eco-duvet is filled with 100 per cent recycled down taken from luxury clothing and regenerated via environmentally friendly practices.
The company has 25,000 customers and has shipped more than 35,000 orders.
Veloci-tech officially launched their businesses accelerator with drinks at The Ivy Brasserie in Cheltenham. The launch brought together business leaders to celebrate the partnership between Danielle Cole and partner consultants; Paul Holmes – PCH Business Consultants and Gordon Petrie – Indesosa. The Veloci-tech business accelerator is designed to help businesses grow and scale up, with expert support on strategic planning, finance, operations and commercial activity.
Photography: Kay Ransom
An app offering engaging audio city guides for some of Europe’s most beautiful and historic cities written by cultural experts and local writers, has smashed its crowdfunding target, raising more than £175,000.
the much-coveted RIBA House of the Year award.
“It was a fantastic project to be involved with and great to see it get the recognition that it deserves.
Urbs Travel was set up by Cheltenham man William von Behr to take advantage of the tours and travel activities market, which is worth $150 billion. There are also more people consuming audio content –more than 16 million podcast listeners in the UK alone.
House on the Hill – formally known as Windward House – in the Forest of Dean was designed by Alison Brooks Architects and built by EG Carter.
The restoration took more than 10 years, and the RIBA jury commended the house for the “amalgam of architecture, landscape, inhabitation and art” that aptly manages to create a light and calm atmosphere.
Mark Harries, EG Carter associate director, said: “It is a huge honour for EG Carter to be associated with a project that has won
“The house really is one of a kind and it took some of our highly skilled tradespeople to achieve the very high standard of craftmanship capable of winning an award of this stature.”
Architect Alison Brookes, added: “I see private house commissions as a rare opportunity to test new ideas in a concentrated form – they are the built equivalent of writing an essay. So, this accolade is a testament to my client’s belief in the value of architecture and their willingness to embrace the new.”
Barnsley House hotel, once the home of the renowned garden designer Rosemary Verey, has a new owner after upmarket British furniture brand Timothy Oulton acquired the hotel from previous owner the Calcot Collection, which bought it out of administration in 2009.
The new owners, who have also purchased the nearby Village Pub, are continuing to operate the venue as a luxury hotel, spa and pub with rooms.
Having divested itself of Barnsley House The
Collection still owns three hotels: Calcot Hotel near Tetbury, The Painswick, at Painswick near Stroud and the Lord Crewe in Northumberland.
Tim Oulton said: "Barnsley House and the Village Pub are exactly the kind of property we have been wanting to bring into our group, with our focus on creating authentic, award-winning experiences in home, retail and hospitality.”
Urbs is a mobile app that offers unique audio content, customisable routes, ticket booking integration so people can skip queues, accommodation booking and a social function where users can share their routes.
Launched last September, despite the pandemic Urbs’ user base had grown by 50 per cent to 252 monthly active users by November.
William believes that the city guide industry is outdated. Modern travellers can either hire a tour guide (inflexible and expensive) or carry around a bulky written guide (not immersive). Digital solutions are fragmented: quality navigation lacks original content, whilst quality audio lacks maps, he said.
William and his co-director Luke Smyth-Osbourne, the company’s chief technical officer, have worked with more than 20 leading experts to produce content for seven cities across Europe so far, with two more in the works.
Will was pursuing a Masters at Oxford before he decided to found Urbs. Prior to that he spent two years advising on the mergers and acquisitions of consumer goods companies.
Hercules Site Services plc, the Cirencester-based labour supply company has floated on the London Stock Exchange.
The business raised £8 million to rapidly deliver on the demand it is experiencing for its services across the UK infrastructure sector.
The investment will help Hercules scale up to supply labour to the northern section of the HS2 rail project from London to Birmingham.
Founded in 2008, Hercules’ digitalfirst approach has helped attract a blue-chip client base including Balfour Beatty, Skanska, Costain and Kier.
The company has grown its revenue from £9.7 million in 2015 to more than £30 million in 2019 and has experienced a strong rebound following Covid-19.
Hercules CEO Brusk Korkmaz said: “Over the past 12 months we have achieved significant momentum and milestone contract wins, which has culminated in the successful AIM listing.
“We have built Hercules to become a leading labour supply business over the past 13 years. Our delivery track-record has led to our work with our long-standing partner, Balfour Beatty, on HS2; this is expected to significantly stepchange our growth in the next 12 months and beyond.
“This IPO will enable Hercules to capitalise on the rapidly growing opportunity in the labour supply market; the demand for skilled labour is higher than ever before due to the multi-billion infrastructure commitments made by the UK government demand.”
The white domes of Bentham at Leckhampton near Cheltenham have been visible from miles around for years. But they have now been deflated to make way for the development of the UK’s first dedicated climbing park.
The removal of the domes is the first phase in the creation of a new £7 million climbing centre and sports activity park on the site.
The project will see the redevelopment of the former Bentham Country Club, situated between Cheltenham and Gloucester on the edge of the Cotswolds, into one of the best climbing facilities in the country. Once complete, the climbing park will offer a range of outdoor activities, plus a dynamic indoor facility for elite climbers as well as
providing a new attraction for novices, families, clubs, schools and colleges. Major construction work is due to begin shortly with a phased opening planned for later in the year.
The company appointed to build the new centre is Banbury-based The Hawkins Group.
Construction and engineering company VolkerFitzpatrick is carrying out a major upgrade work on Gloucestershire Airport, which includes resurfacing two of the runways. There will also be new runway lighting and upgrades to signage and drainage, as well as the installation of below-ground infrastructure in readiness for a new radar system.
One of the airport’s three runways will remain open while works are carried out, operating at reduced capacity. When all work is complete, the airport’s existing
‘north/south’ runway will permanently close to make way for the development of the new business park, CGX Connect.
Karen Taylor, Gloucestershire Airport Managing Director, said: “These are transformational times for Gloucestershire Airport.
“These upgrades are essential to the continued smooth running of operations and, along with CGX Connect, will really elevate the quality and status of the airport.”
CGI of the new climbing centre at BenthamMajor growth for online pharmacy PillTime has prompted the Bristol business to acquire new headquarters.
PillTime is one of the only pharmacies in England to provide medication in daily dose pouches – helping patients to better manage to their medication routines.
Under the leadership of CEO Leighton Humphreys, PillTime expects to grow its current workforce of 65 employees by 20 per cent this year, helping to cater for an increased demand for its service.
It is also moving from Avonmouth to expanded 26,000 sqft premises at Cribbs Causeway and investing heavily in technology, including robotic automation to boost productivity and capacity.
“We are operating in a huge market sector, around £9 billion in size, which is ripe for digital disruption,” said Leighton.
“Existing online pharmacies are currently servicing less than five per cent of the total prescriptions dispensed, and the needs of patients are evolving.
“PillTime provides a service that offers far greater lifestyle convenience, correct dosage adherence and reliability for people who depend upon multiple medications. A step change against some of the traditional tools such as daily dosette boxes.
“We know that around 6.5 million people in the UK take five or more medications per day and that number is growing.
“So, even with the growth we expect to see over the coming months, it’s hardly a drop in the ocean of our potential expansion.”
Leighton was appointed CEO towards the end of 2020, and has wasted no time in pioneering change in a rapidly-growing market sector.
“We’ve built on established foundations and readied PillTime for its next phase of growth, with significant work done to optimise operational efficiencies and the securing of partnerships which are crucial for our future,” he said.
Cyber Group Studios, a Paris-based producer and distributor of animated series has acquired a majority ownership stake in A Productions, a leading Bristol animation production studio.
A Productions is a creative-led, multidiscipline studio with a strong reputation for producing award-winning children’s content for many major UK and US broadcasters and streamers.
Founded in 1985, the studio is led by joint managing directors Katherine McQueen and founder Mark Taylor.
Cyber Group Studios – best known for its award-winning series Gigantosaurus – has teamed up with A Productions as part of a wider business strategy to expand into new global markets.
Together, the French and British studios will collaborate in developing new content for audiences across Europe and the globe. In 2022, the studios will start jointly producing Digital Girl, a new kids animated series.
The Bristol-based company behind an eco-friendly water treatment that will clean up polluted rivers and seas, has raised a further £700,000 to help roll its technology out at more municipal water plants.
I-Phyc has secured investment from asset management company Mercia’s Proof of Concept & Early Stage Fund, which is part of the Midlands Engine Investment Fund, alongside capital from Trowlock Strategic Planning, Namier Capital and private investors.
I-Phyc’s system – which is chemical free – uses microalgae and technology to remove phosphorus, ammonia and other contaminants, while locking away carbon and creating sustainable
by-products such as biomass. It is already in operation at a number of sites.
The company, which currently employs 15 staff at its West Midlands headquarters and laboratory in Bristol, is also in discussions with all other major operators.
The latest investment, which brings the total raised by the company to date to more than £2 million, comes amidst growing pressure for water companies to reduce pollution levels and follows the introduction of stricter limits on phosphorus and other contaminants, which many operators are unable to achieve economically and environmentally using current technology.
Blenheim Palace’s dedicated team of cleaners has been nominated to become VisitEngland’s Tourism Superstars of 2022.
Now in its tenth year, VisitEngland’s Tourism Superstar competition celebrates the dedication of those working in the tourism industry.
This year’s competition also recognises the amazing efforts made by teams across the industry in the face of the pandemic.
Deputy Collections Manager Carmen Alvarez, who nominated them for the award, said: “Our incredible cleaning team take on board jobs that only a very few people are willing to do, and they work incredibly hard to make sure the Palace always lives up to the high standards that our guests deserve.”
“Throughout the pandemic cleaning and disinfecting became a huge part of the reason we were able to open our doors to visitors between lockdowns, and they made sure our guests felt safe and happy to come back.
“As well as cleaning, they also play a vital part in monitoring this historic building and the priceless artworks, furniture
and objects it contains. This side of their role was also an important one during the lockdowns as they had to look after more than 100 separate rooms as well as the staff areas – often working in isolation.
“They created their own rotas to make sure they didn’t miss a thing and they stayed on throughout caring for the collection, checking environmental levels, keeping away pests and dust accumulation,” she added.
Now in its tenth year, VisitEngland’s Tourism Superstar competition celebrates the dedication and passion of those working in the tourism industry. Run in partnership with the Mirror newspaper, the competition recognises and celebrates those in the industry who go the extra mile to ensure tourists have an amazing and unforgettable visitor experience.
Blackwell’s Bookshop, which opened its first store in Oxford in 1879, is up for sale – with bookseller rival Waterstones reportedly interested in buying the chain.
The business, which now has 18 stores, is working with advisers at Begbies Traynor, on a potential sale.
According to its latest accounts, the Group turned over more than £88 million in the year to January 2021, up from £58 million the previous year. Gross profit for the period was £18 million.
However, the Group made a pre-tax loss of £1.3 million in the 18 months to 2 January 2021.
The first bookshop opened by a member of the Blackwell family was in Oxford in 1846, but the family-owned business takes the year 1879 as its founding since it was on January 1 of that year that its bookshop on Broad Street, Oxford first opened its doors.
The Oxford bookshop itself has grown sideways, upwards and, most notably, underground.
The Norrington Room in Oxford was opened more than 50 years ago and for many years was proudly listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the single largest room in the world selling books.
In 1929 Blackwell’s bought George’s in Bristol, its first bookshop outside Oxford.
The shop has garnered mentions in numerous books, employed booksellers who have gone on to be award-winning authors, featured in a variety of films, and been a haven for the bookish from all parts of the globe.
“Our incredible cleaning team take on board jobs that only a very few people are willing to do”Blenheim’s army of dedicated clearners The Norrington Room at Blackwell’s bookshop
Bicester Motion, which is based at the former RAF Bicester and plans to be the first UK’s first automotive resort, has secured a positive determination for its Experience Quarter from Cherwell Planning Committee.
The Experience Quarter is a strategic development site for heritage tourism uses, leisure, recreation, employment and community, having been subjected to several years of pre-planning application.
Bicester Motion plans to develop four quarters which it identifies as heritage, wilderness, innovation and experience.
Oxford-based Ridge & Partners provided architecture with multidiscipline engineering and sustainability consultancy.
The new hub will provide an active airfield, driving training and handling tracks as well as walking and cycling trails.
The planning determination was applauded by Visit England.
Andrew Stokes, Visit England Director, said: “A major investment in a development such as this would be a vote of confidence for the UK tourism sector. A world-class development can put a destination on the global map. We therefore support both development and planned growth that could aid an industry that accounts for 10 per cent of all jobs.”
Nigel Tipple, Chief Executive for OXLEP (Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership) added: “This new development will open up countless opportunities for Bicester and Oxfordshire and create significant benefits locally and nationally – including economic growth, training and job opportunities and new cultural leisure activities for residents and visitors alike.”
Daniel Geoghegan, CEO, Bicester Motion said: “The Experience Quarter will act as a location for businesses to connect with allages, making a range of experiences and motion-based opportunities accessible to all. As we continue with the delivery of our masterplan and the wider Bicester Motion site, the Experience Quarter provides the missing link between our historic site and the future, not only of benefit to Bicester and the local area but also of benefit to the UK as a whole.”
Oxford attracted more venture capital funding in 2021 than all other regions outside London combined, according to figures from the Digital Economy Council.
Using data from database management company Dealroom, and job search engine Adzuna, the government’s Digital Economy Council Levelling Up Power Tech League revealed that between January and November 2021 Oxford-based firms attracted £1.3 billion in funding.
By comparison, all the other regions analysed – including Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Cardiff, and Belfast –raised a combined total of £1.275 billion.
Oxford’s figure was driven by a number
of high-profile, high-value deals, including the £396 million Series D raise by newlycrowned unicorn, AI drug discovery Exscientia, and £127 million raised by biotech company Vaccitech which helped create the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.
Oxford was also home to the joint highest number of regional venture capital rounds, with a total of 49 rounds taking place in Oxford in 2021, putting the region on par with Cambridge.
All these achievements combined to see Oxford placed third in the overall ranking of UK’s leading regional tech hubs, behind Cambridge and Manchester.
Oxford lost to these cities because there were fewer available tech jobs in the city
at the time of research (1,408), and the advertised average salary was on the lower end of the scale at £51,315.
This regional growth took place against the backdrop of an incredible year for the UK tech industry.
Tech investment grew 2.3 times in 2021, the highest growth since 2014 when it grew from £1.5 billion to £3.5 billion.
The £26 million raised by UK start-ups and scale-ups was nearly double that raised in Germany (£13.5 million) and more than three times that raised by French companies.
UK tech investment made up 35 per cent of the total £76 billion that flowed into the European tech ecosystem this year.
Necessity is the mother of invention and the increasingly urgent need to discover new ways to harness technology to benefit mankind, means new ideas and ambition are needed now more than at any time in a generation.
Inventions help people around the world live longer, healthier and more productive lives and provide new ways to build, move, communicate, heal, learn and play. New tools, software, devices, processes and medicines, are providing significant benefits to society.
“Real innovation is not necessarily all about large scale changes, but often about making smaller incremental changes that make things radically better.”
“Innovation is something that makes a positive impact on humans or the planet – it’s where you think about your product and how it fits in with the wider picture.”
Recently I have supported an Oxford based spin-out company developing fingerprint technology, in the use of smart cards, to create a more secure system for the user - a small change that will make a big difference with big benefits.
Innovation is at the heart of what drives business growth. Technology innovation spans across many sectors including manufacturing, engineering, autonomous technologies, mobile, digital and
software innovations, VR, robotics, space technologies, health-tech, bio-tech, greentech, agri-tech and consumer products to name a few.
Innovation is vital, because it gives companies an edge in penetrating markets faster, which can lead to bigger opportunities. This is what excites me about innovation.
“I find entrepreneurial spirit, and a willingness to try something new and push the boundaries of what’s possible, hugely exiting to be a part of.”
Being based in Oxford, I am surrounded by innovative companies. Take OxWash for example, who have taken a simple concept of laundry and cleaned it up. They made the laundry process different through innovation. They are delivering real change in the way we do laundry and have attracted investment from Holly and Sam Branson, who backed them as the UK’s first sustainable on-demand laundry service, aiming to achieve net zero carbon emissions for the whole process, from collection, through washing, back to delivery. They are using less water which is good for the planet and achieving business growth in the process.
Oxfordshire has been at the centre of innovation for centuries. The OxfordCambridge Arc is renowned for worldleading research and development, and its innovative science and technology sector. With thousands of great businesses
headquartered here, the county is one of the strongest engines for growth in the UK.
Being in a position where I can help companies with their innovation journey is extremely rewarding. We are currently helping one of Oxford’s fastest growing life sciences companies to develop their engineering capabilities, and clinical diagnostics for rapid expansion.
Also recently I have helped our client, Centrica plc, on its investment in HiiROC Ltd, a company that is helping to combat climate change by developing “green” hydrogen.
I love the ambition of the people behind the businesses here in Oxfordshire. It challenges me personally to look at how we deliver our services and to be adaptable to the constantly changing environments businesses operate in. With our clients we push each other to be better, do better, and to think differently.
My main role at Freeths is to help clients with their challenges. We do that by learning about their industry, which means we can help them both spot opportunity and also avoid problems before they even arise.
“We are business people first and lawyers second which is why at Freeths we are committed to supporting companies with innovation at the core of their business.”
Larsson,
Partner in the Oxford office of Freeths, considers what it really means to innovate and why driving innovation in your company’s technology is vital for the future…
Why Innovation is so crucial to your organisation.
It is exciting to talk to new businesses about what they are developing. We want to meet great businesses and support your innovation, so call us to discuss to your ambitions or challenges and we can help you early on.
Nearly all innovations need to secure the trust of the public, to gain the widespread adoption needed to be commercially successful and justify the millions of pounds invested in their development by the private and public sector.
Research from LawtechUK, the governmentbacked initiative within Tech Nation, revealed last year that legal tech firms are needed to support small to medium businesses (SMEs)
with their legal issues around innovating. It found that many SMEs do not know when or whether to involve lawyers – and some do not recognise when they have a legal problem.
The right innovative legal techniques can help you save precious time and money, and give you a competitive lead in expanding your business.
“My objective is to make the whole process of legal consulting as easy as possible for clients who need our expertise.”
My approach to clients on their innovation journey is to consider the whole picture, and apply a range of service delivery methods to help them innovate and grow.
Malin Svanberg Larsson, is Corporate Partner who specialises in Technology in the Oxford o ce of Freeths, a national, top 50, full service law firm. Malin specialises in advising businesses on a wide range of corporate matters from starting up, early-stage investment (including S/EIS funding) right through to exit (whether that is to private equity, or national or international acquirers). She also advises on joint ventures, strategic acquisitions and corporate governance. She advises for clients across a range of sectors including technology, manufacturing and consultancy. Malin is well regarded for her highly attentive and solutions-orientated approach and is known for bringing sound commercial understanding of achieving business goals and objectives.
Malin Svanberg Larsson - Corporate Partner
0792 160 3252 | malin.svanberglarsson@freeths.co.uk
Freeths is committed to cultivating innovation in the region and are supporting a number of innovation initiatives.
Powered by TBAT, The Innovation Challenge brings together key partners to support SMEs to innovate. The Innovation Challenge will culminate in June with the opportunity to win an exciting prize package of £5,000 and a tailored support packages from a selection of the partners.
Freeths, The Oxford Trust, Oxford Innovation and Barclays Eagle Labs are launching an expert-led event series for science & tech start-ups and spin-outs based in innovation centres in Oxfordshire. The series is designed to help these businesses scale and grow and will go live in April.
Freeths and James Cowper Kreston have launched an Entrepreneurs Growth Hub. It caters for regional entrepreneurs who are looking to de-risk their business growth.
It was back in 1965 that Malcolm first started work as an articled clerk to Jack Whitley who was a main partner along with John Stimpson at the office in Lincoln Chambers, in the Market Place, Banbury.
The clients at the time were heavily farming based as Banbury was a market town with weekly cattle sales at the stock market.
Malcolm said: “There are a few clients I worked with back in 1965 that are still with us”.
Malcolm qualified as an accountant in 1971, became a partner in 1973 and senior partner in 2003 and there has been considerable growth during that period. He saw the firm celebrate its 90th year last year.
He added: “We’ve gone from a partnership to an LLP then to a limited company and we’ve merged with businesses in High Wycombe, Bicester and Witney.”
Whitley Stimpson’s client base now stretches from the Midlands to London, employing more than 80 staff and it has been ranked as one of the country’s top accountancy firms for the eighth year running by the prestigious Accountancy Age 50+50 survey.
A key theme throughout its history has been its commitment to friendly and personal service as well as its dedication to nurturing young talent among its ranks. Laura Adkins, head of Whitley Stimpson’s Witney office said: “Malcolm has been the figurehead of Whitley Stimpson and has always had the best interest of the firm and the people within it at heart. Rather than just go through the motions, Malcolm has always made his clients feel listened to, nothing has ever been too much trouble, and he has always been able to find creative solutions to any business challenge. He genuinely cares for his clients and the Whitley Stimpson people, supporting their professional development every step of the way.”
Jonathan Walton, director of Whitley Stimpson explained: “Malcolm has always had tremendous ambition for the firm to be successful throughout Oxfordshire and moving into Buckinghamshire. He’s the glue that’s bonded the management board together and he’s also been very loyal to his team and clients”.
“He’s been an inspirational senior partner and is the architect of the firm today. Malcolm has led the business with energy, creativity and humanity, building a positive culture for our sta and delivering excellent outcomes for our clients.”
Malcolm is confident of leaving the 90-year-old firm in safe hands. He said:
Malcolm’s client portfolio will be taken over by Frances Cartwright and Hermione Hymers – both directors at the Banbury office - who have been gradually taking over responsibility for his clients during the last year.
Their involvement also represents another sea change in the profession with Malcolm noting that the number of women accountants has grown from virtually none in 1965 to a point where the firm now has more female directors than male.
For more information about how Whitley Stimpson can support your business visit www.whitleystimpson.co.uk
Malcolm Higgs, senior director at accountants Whitley Stimpson, is stepping down after dedicating his entire career to the firm.
“Whitley Stimpson has a really strong team of very talented people so the business can only succeed moving forward.”Malcolm Higgs, Senior Director at Whitley Stimpson
A week after the Prince of Wales visited the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) at Culham in Oxfordshire to discover how fusion energy could play a key role in addressing climate change, the UKAEA revealed record results – the clearest demonstration worldwide yet of the potential for fusion energy to deliver safe and sustainable low-carbon energy.
The experiment at the Joint European Torus (JET) at Culham in December saw a super-hot plasma sustained for five seconds, producing a record 59 megajoules of heat energy. JET’s previous record was 22 megajoules for less than a second, set in 1997.
Researchers from the EUROfusion consortium, which is co-funded by the European Commission, more than doubled the 1997 record achieved at Culham using the same fuel mixture to be used by commercial fusion energy powerplants.
JET is the largest and most powerful operational tokamak machine in the world. It uses a magnetic field to confine plasma in the shape of a torus. The tokamak is one of several types of magnetic confinement devices being developed to produce controlled nuclear fusion energy.
Professor Ian Chapman, UKAEA’s CEO, said: “These landmark results have taken us a huge step closer to conquering one of the biggest scientific and engineering challenges of them all.
“It is a reward for more than 20 years of research and experiments with our partners across Europe.
“It’s clear we must make significant changes to address the effects of climate change, and fusion offers so much potential.
“We’re building the knowledge and developing the new technology required to deliver a low carbon, sustainable source of baseload energy that helps protect the planet for future generations. Our world needs fusion energy.”
JET was officially opened by the Queen in 1984.
Almost 40 years later, experts based at Culham Science Centre discussed with the Prince of Wales how fusion promises to be an important part of the low-carbon energy mix in the second half of this century, at the same time presenting a significant economic opportunity for Britain.
Professor Chapman added: “It was an honour to welcome His Royal Highness to our world-leading fusion energy research and development facility and showcase the ground-breaking JET machine.
“We agreed significant changes are needed to decarbonise the energy supply, and how fusion energy has huge potential to address that challenge.
“The Prince of Wales was very keen to understand more about how fusion can be a critical piece of the future global energy puzzle and Britain’s leadership position in overcoming the great scientific and engineering challenges set before us.”
Fusion, the process that powers the sun and stars, promises a near-limitless green electricity source for the long term but is one of the biggest scientific and engineering challenges of them all.
The fusion reaction does not release carbon into the environment, unlike energy produced by burning coal, oil, or gas.
JET’s experiments are run by the EUROfusion consortium – 4,800 experts, students and staff, co-funded by the European Commission.
“Our world needs fusion energy”
As technology continues to develop, thanks to a reported £3.7 billion investment in R&D per annum, consumers too are being given innovative ways to research and engage with their favourite brands, from online experiences and interactions to pop-up ‘experience centres’.
The £74bn per annum automotive sector is no exception, with a plan by Government to phase out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030, creating a battery market alone that will be worth around £9 billion by 2040. Mobility, and the infrastructure needed to develop and respond to these changes, is having to adapt and react rapidly, prompting demand for bases from which to respond to these new opportunities.
Bicester Motion aims to introduce a footfall of one million per annum to the mobility industry at its ‘blank canvas’, 444 acre destination development in the centre of the UK. Not only will it allow mobility equipment manufacturers to offer an experience to their audiences, as well as promote its community, but also debug the myths around innovative and sustainable transport solutions. And all within a site that promotes shared values and a strong community ethos. Divided into four
quarters – Heritage, Wilderness, Innovation and Experience, with a grass airfield at its centre – Bicester Motion has already evolved with impressive speed.
It could hardly be better located as a hub, connected by two rail stations and situated just five miles from two M40 junctions, and some 90 minutes from half of the UK’s population. It's a location that provides the perfect foundation for Bicester Motion's ambitions – within ten years it aims to be a top-20 visitor attraction in the UK. Sitting at the heart of the Oxford-Cambridge Arc –home to the UK’s high-tech manufacturing, science, and innovation eco-systems – it’s already part of a thriving area of disruptive businesses.
With the Heritage Quarter already well established as a national hub for historic motoring excellence, the next few years will see the development of the remaining Quarters, celebrating innovative areas of motion. Within this campus complex, visitors will also be able to explore open parkland and lakes, as well as discover an array of overnight-stay opportunities, including a 200-key hotel, conference centre and spa.
The Experience Quarter is the latest to be given the planning go-ahead.
The Quarter will be a collection of automotive, aviation and cycling brands housed in eight buildings, providing unrivalled facilities alongside an active airfield, driving training and handling tracks as well as walking and cycling trails. The development has gained recognition from both Visit England and OXLEP, who have applauded the approach in aiding the UK tourism sector and providing both local and national benefits – including economic growth, training and job opportunities and new cultural leisure activities for both local residents and visitors alike.
As transport evolves to become smarter, with connectivity and options for autonomy now shaping the future of the UK road network and beyond, the Innovation Quarter will serve as the ideal home for industry-leading technology looking to both create solutions and shape the talent of the future.
The world of mobility is changing beyond recognition: new products, propulsion technology, buying models, manufacturing needs and customer demands are all on the move, all at the same time. And the industry is racing to catch up.
Those businesses developing exciting, and critical, technology will be at home in the Innovation Quarter, a zone nurturing training, technology design, development and engineering. Spread across six buildings, opportunities abound for ‘market disruptors' within future mobility, designing and building key components, researching connectivity and autonomous-driving, even electric flight, to name but a few.
Founded in 2013 as a response to a change in the historic motoring industry and, nine years on, The Bicester Heritage Quarter is considered to be the home of historic motoring enterprise in the UK. More than 45 different specialist businesses occupy the site, including Motorsport UK, the governing body for motorsport, Morgan Motor Company who offer a customer experience and ontrack driver training and HERO-ERA with their range of UK and International historic rallies such as the renowned Peking to Paris Rally. The Wriggly Monkey Brewery and an on-site gin distillery, Sky Wave Gin, also add to the unique ‘motoring marina’ ecosystem.
The Bicester Aerodrome Company sits within this Quarter, following its launch in 2020, offering hangarage and historic grass runways. Providing a future for powered flight at Bicester was just as important as the refurbishment of the historic buildings onsite.
Bicester Heritage is held as an exemplar of constructive conservation by Historic England, crucially maintaining the look and feel of the nation’s best preserved WW2 RAF Bomber Station. In summer 2020, Bicester Heritage completed construction and delivery of ‘The Command Works’ – the first significant new-build construction in 80 years at the location. But it’s far from the last.
A vital piece of the masterplan is the Wilderness Quarter, currently in preapplication planning. It will seek to regenerate a former Quarry with its three lakes at the northern edge of the site through the delivery of a wilderness park, promoting a healthy lifestyle, ecology and outdoor activities.
This Quarter will be delivered in two phases:
on the northern lake edge is a reserve that will provide a place for the local community to explore nature along a discovery trail, with areas to relax and appreciate the beauty of the surroundings. The southern lakes will provide eco-lodge style accommodation for overnight visitors.
www.bicestermotion.com
For the latest information on tickets to Bicester Heritage’s Scramble events and specialist businesses, please follow their LinkedIn and Facebook pages.
“Bicester Motion will be one to watch within Oxfordshire and beyond. We want to project the future of mobility from Bicester through the lens of leisure, experience, culture and tourism. We’re at the heart of the UK technology, mobility and tourism clusters and it’s that connectivity that will disrupt how business is done, and provide a vision for how the mobility industries, and their audiences, interact.”
Concludes Dan Geoghegan, CEO.Fun at the January 2022 Scramble event Daniel Geoghegan, CEO, Bicester Motion New meets new: a Polestar and a Morgan
The UK export minister dropped into one of the world’s leading science parks based in Oxfordshire.
Mike Freer MP, the Department for International Trade’s Minister for Exports, travelled to Harwell Campus to visit Oxford Space Systems and meet with representatives from The Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OxLEP), Harwell Campus, the Satellite Applications Catapult and Harwell space sector companies including Lockheed Martin and Open Cosmos, long with Abingdon based Zircotec.
Mr Freer discussed global exporting opportunities and investment into the UK’s space sector – an area in which Harwell Campus has particular expertise.
Mike Freer said: “The UK is a global science superpower thanks to businesses like those in and around the OxLEP partnership. It’s great to see their dynamism and innovation that helps the region to grow and thrive.
“Exporting their technology around the world, and securing valuable investment, shows how trade can level up every part of the UK.”
Nigel Tipple added: “The visit provided an excellent opportunity to demonstrate how OxLEP has a longterm commitment to highlighting and supporting investment opportunities for Oxfordshire – particularly important following the recent publication of the Levelling Up White Paper.”
A 28-year-old from Oxford is one of this year’s Innovate UK Young Innovators.
In 2020, when the whole world needed to be able to get people onto ventilators, two Oxford Global Insight Fellows, Mihir Sheth and Dr Myra Malik partnered up to wean patients off them faster.
RespiTrain is being developed to reduce the time spent by patients on a ventilator by 30 per cent, saving the NHS more than £1 billion annually.
Mihir co-invented Inspiritus Health, a simple to use, non-invasive medical device that keeps patients’ muscles engaged when they are on a ventilator to prevent muscle wastage.
Mihir Sheth, said: “During the pandemic, naturally the attention globally was on the need to get seriously ill patients on ventilators.
“But I became increasingly frustrated as I saw patients slowly wasting away, with
no one considering how to quickly get patients off the ventilators.
“After six days, a patient can lose up to 32 per cent of their respiratory muscle strength.
“I paired up with a consultant anaesthetist to develop a non-invasive device to keep the patient’s muscles engaged from the first day of ventilation.
“I feel incredibly grateful to be part of this cohort of winners.”
TBAT Innovation, based at Milton Park in Oxfordshire, along with a team of expert partners, including Freeths, Oxford Product Design, Forresters, British Business Bank and more have launched The Innovation Challenge to provide expert advice to growing companies in key areas. The Innovation Challenge will see partners deliver four free workshops on finance, people and recruitment, product design and protection, and strategy.
The workshops will be held throughout Spring 2022. In May applications will open for businesses to submit a full business plan and be
eligible to win a £5,000 cash prize and tailored support packages from partners. Two runners up will also receive a support package from partners.
In June the finalists will have the opportunity to present their business in a 10-minute pitch in front of key investors, and the winner announced.
Matt Symonds, managing director of TBAT Innovation Ltd, said:
“We’re really excited to launch the Innovation Challenge and to be working with a great set of partners to support and stimulate businesses to innovate and develop.”
Young Innovator Mihir ShethTelecommunications giant Vodafone has announced the retirement of its 3G mobile data network next year.
The Newbury-based company says it will use the freed-up spectrum to expand its 4G and 5G networks.
The company has 18 million customers in the UK – and it reckons that between two and three million people across all network providers are still using an older handset that is not capable of connecting to the newer 4G or 5G networks.
Vodafone said that just four per cent of the data used on its network now travels via 3G, compared with 30 per cent in 2016.
Vodafone’s
“We’re building the UK’s most reliable mobile network, and focusing on the technologies that best connect our customers and have the least impact on the environment. 3G has connected so many customers over the last 17 years, but the future is 4G and 5G.
3G came to the UK in 2003 with Hutchinson’s Three. Vodafone launched its own 3G service 18 months later in 2004.
4G arrived in 2021, with EE rolling the service out to 11 cities, including Bristol. But the faster network is still unavailable in some rural areas.
5G arrived in May 2019 with EE and Vodafone at the vanguard and is still being rolled out. The network is limited to users in urban areas on the latest handsets.
Demand for part-time jobs at Swindonheadquartered insurance giant Zurich have doubled since the company launched a new flexible work programme two years ago.
Demand from women for part-time roles has been especially high – up 83 per cent compared to pre-pandemic levels.
But despite the initiative being genderneutral, uptake from men has remained at just two per cent.
And as companies struggle to attract talent in a competitive market, Zurich revealed applications have increased by 66 per cent since the initiative was introduced in spring 2019.
It was in March of that year that Zurich introduced a first-of-its-kind initiative to advertise all new vacancies as a potential part-time, job share or full-time opportunity – alongside flexible working.
This was coupled with the use of gender-neutral language in every job advertisement.
Over the past 12 months alone, nearly one in four new female hires has been appointed on a part-time basis, up from just 10 per cent in 2019.
Nationally, half of the UK’s workforce works flexibly in some form, with parttime working the most popular option for over 27 per cent.
Reading has proven to be one of the country’s best economic performing areas over the course of the pandemic, and its GVA has already increased by four per cent relative to its 2019 size – the biggest increase for any area in the country, according to new research published by professional services provider EY.
EY’s Regional Economic Forecast says the South East will be the second-fastestgrowing region over the next three years, with its Gross Value Added set to expand 2.9 per cent per year between now and 2025 – ahead of the UK average of 2.8 per cent growth and behind only London’s 3.1 per cent growth.
Employment in the region is forecast to rise 1.1 per cent per year to 2025, while the South East is one of just four regions in the country expected to see its working-age population grow over the same period.
Despite Reading’s strong performance, the rest of the region experienced an above-average economic contraction over the first two years of the pandemic.
The South East’s GVA recovered to 96.9 per cent of its 2019 size by the end of 2021, below the national average of 97 per cent and above only London (96.4 per cent), the North West (96.1 per cent) and West Midlands (94.5 per cent).
Richard Baker, managing partner at EY in the South East, said: “The South East’s mix of sectors has meant the region, like many others, has seen some considerable challenges due to Covid-19.
“Post-pandemic, there are positive signs of recovery, which will be driven by a bounce back in key regional sectors.”
Only two regions – the East Midlands and South West – are forecast to gain economic ground on London by 2025, with the capital on course to overtake again in the years afterwards.
By Peter Davison, Deputy
On March 16, just five days after the World Health Organisation declared Covid-19 a pandemic, motor dealer Pebley Beach became one of the first companies in the South West to publicly react to the threat.
Customers who became sick with the virus, or were forced to self-isolate, could have their car collected and delivered back by a Pebley Beach driver for its MoT, repairs, or service.
The Doorstep Advantage scheme would cost customers a not-unreasonable surcharge of £10, which would be donated to a local food bank.
"This is a challenging situation, but one we'll all get through by supporting each other," managing director Dominic Threlfall told the local media. "As always, we want to do our best for our customers and our local community."
For customers of the Swindon-based Hyundai and Suzuki franchise, the initial announcement from Pebley Beach came as little surprise. Dom has a well-deserved reputation for putting customers and the community at the heart of his business operation.
In the early days of the pandemic, Pebley beach offered free vehicle maintenance to keep key workers on the road. With
Embracing technology and innovation while employing good oldfashioned customer service has driven Swindon motor dealer Pebley Beach for 30 years – and was the firm’s key to success when the pandemic struck
Editor
most staff furloughed, Dom was driving into the showroom every day to keep an eye on things. On his way home he'd often call at a customer's house with a set of jump leads to get their car started.
"Cars were sitting on the driveway for weeks. When people needed them, often they couldn't get them started. We had so many calls and emails about vehicle maintenance. I reckon I jump-started 20, at least."
Dom grew up near Cirencester and after A-Levels at the local Deer Park School he headed to Australia for a year. “My parents paid for the flight out, but I had to earn my passage back.”
He moved to Shark Bay in Western Australia, where he would dive for pearls, and he joined the crew of a fishing boat catching Spanish mackerel.
Back in England, he joined the bottom rung of the family firm – Pebley Beach –which operated six petrol forecourt sites in and around Swindon.
As he learned about the retail business he quickly realised that technology could benefit businesses and customers. He was an early adopter of barcodes, doing away with price stickers and introducing scanners to the forecourt shops in 1991.
The petrol site in Wroughton, just outside Swindon, had a Lancia car dealership attached to it. In 1993 Dom acquired the franchise to sell Suzuki cars there. Within four years it was one of the highest-volume Suzuki dealers in the UK.
A second Suzuki dealership opened in Cirencester in 2002, and in 2005 Pebley Beach acquired Swindon Hyundai. In 2011 the company amalgamated its Wroughton and Swindon operations, moving into new premises on Paddington Drive. Pebley Beach now turns over an average £20 million every year.
Over the past decade, Dom has continued his two-pronged strategy to drive sales: early adoption of technology that will enhance the customer experience and make life easier for staff, and a concern for the community through charitable giving and practical assistance, which has helped to grow the brand’s reputation.
“Pebley Beach is at the forefront of innovation,” says Dom. “I like to adopt technology from other sectors. I see an idea and think ‘how can I replicate that?’”
One such innovation was adopted from pizza franchise Dominos. “When a registered customer phones through to Pebley Beach their information will flash up on the computer monitors. As the staff answer the call, they already know who they’re likely to be talking to and what the call might be about. It allows us to route calls far more effectively.”
“Another innovation is ANPR cameras. If we have your vehicle registration then when you drive on to the site you’ll be directed by a display screen to an allotted parking space, and a member of staff will be ready to receive you.”
But behind every tech innovation is what Dom calls “old-fashioned customer service.”
“We operate a SSSH philosophy,” explains Dom. “See, Smile, Say Hello. Every visitor to the site is made to feel welcome.”
Concern for his staff is as high on Dom’s priority list as customer care. The business
“Another innovation is ANPR cameras. If we have your vehicle registration then when you drive on to the site you’ll be directed by a display screen to an allotted parking space, and a member of sta will be ready to receive you”
has extremely low staff turnover, and the company operates a Train To Leave policy. Staff have an agreed training programme and clear career progression, which might ultimately lead to them leaving the company.
One of the group’s particular success stories is Mark Illsley, who joined the firm as an 19-year-old apprentice in 2005 and climbed the career ladder to become a Master Technician – the highest qualification a mechanic can earn – and winner of the coveted Suzuki Motor Technician of the Year award.
His Train To Leave programme took him outside the company, to a UK-wide role with Hyundai. But in 2020 he could not resist the offer of returning to Pebley Beach as workshop controller, with a team of seven technicians – including apprentice technicians – working under his watchful eye.
Pebley Beach is as successful at retaining customers as staff – it is around 50 per cent more likely to retain customers than the average motor dealer, says Dom. “We’ve had some customers for more than 20 years and some are on to their 15th or 16th car with us.”
And it was the commitment to customers and embracing of technology that helped the group through the pandemic more successfully than others in the sector.
“Customers were already doing their research and buying cars online. By the time they got to us they were already pretty sure they were about to test drive the car they wanted.
As non-essential businesses, car showrooms were shut during the first lockdown. The day after Dom announced the launch of a Click and Deliver service –an industry first – he sold five cars.
The biggest challenge for the business now is availability. The adoption of electric vehicles and the pandemic created a perfect storm, says Dom.
“There are three factories in the world making microchips. At the start of the pandemic production stopped. At the same time demand for chips shot up –there was a boom in demand for consumer electronics, and motor manufacturers needed far more to run electric vehicles –maybe 3,000 per car.
“The short-term impact of the pandemic has meant we struggle to get enough cars to meet demand. But the shortage means we don’t have to discount, and the price of the used cars we sell has increased. At the same time the aftersales side of the
business – MoTs, services, repairs – is doing really well.
“The next 12 months will be challenging, but the order books are full and Hyundai, especially, is well-placed to deliver.”
The next 10 years will be an interesting time for the motor industry. Customer adoption of electric vehicles will, Dom is certain, come much earlier than the government’s mandate of 2035.
And autonomous technology means that, in urban areas, drivers may stop owning cars altogether – ordering a car via an app when they need one. “We could be a car hire company before too long,” says Dom, “cleaning and servicing them overnight when demand is lower.”
Not that he’ll be in Swindon to see it.
“I still want to retire at 55,” says the 51-year-old. He’s training his son Harry, 24, in the ways of the business and his other son Ben, 21, is keen to join the firm when he finishes university. In typical Pebley Beach style, Harry is starting at the bottom – manning reception and managing the social media accounts.
“I’ll be available to lend a hand, but with a light and remote touch,” says Dom. “Last year I took my phone to Tenerife and ran the business from beside the pool. I could get used to that.”
A Redditch company has secured an order for its first true Hydrogen Fuel Cellpowered refuse collection vehicle.
FAUN-Zoeller UK, based in Redditch and part of the Kirchhoff Group in Germany, has developed the chassis in collaboration with Daimler AG in Stuttgart.
Simon Hyde, Chief Executive of FAUNZoeller UK, said: “Since 2016 the Group has invested around £15 million in the product which has the performance, manufacturing capability and capacity to provide a robust solution to the challenge of decarbonisation.”
The first customer for the vehicle, the Faun Bluepower, is St Helens Borough Council.
Cllr Andy Bowden, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport at the council, said: “We are delighted to be leading the way with such a pioneering project that is the first of its kind in the UK. The decarbonisation of our fleet is a key element of our net zero plan, and this investment reinforces our commitment”
The partnership will also see the rollout of a green skills and training programme for
the council’s workforce, local colleges and businesses to help them to prepare for the opportunities that new technologies like hydrogen present.
This is a significant step for Simon Hyde, at FAUN-Zoeller, who has been working on the company’s hydrogen vehicle project since 2016.
One of the reasons local authorities haven’t been faster in adopting this new technology is that’s it’s not cheap. Buying new refuse collection vehicles, particularly those that don’t use diesel, can be cost prohibitive.
But with councils being forced to embrace a zero-carbon strategy, Simon says that the initial investment will pay back in the medium and longer term.
“Now is the time to look at why a dust cart goes out at 6am in the morning and comes back at 2pm and stops. Why are councils not sweating the asset? Councils can’t double shift on an electric truck, because they take six hours to power up after a shift. A hydrogen-powered truck takes just seven minutes to fill up so it can be used again for a second shift.”
A Worcester entrepreneur behind a new property management platform has raised £275,000 to establish it as the ‘Airbnb for shared living’.
Vann Vogstad has raised funding from a fund managed by asset management company Mercia and private investors.
COHO was inspired by his experiences of house sharing in Birmingham after leaving university. After building and selling two successful software companies, Vann – now a father of four – decided to address a gap in the market by creating the only platform of its type specifically designed for houses of multiple occupation (HMOs).
COHO aims to accelerate the growing trend for co-living among people of all ages. It allows property investors to manage their portfolio and tenants to find a suitable house share with like-minded people.
Vann joined forces with longterm collaborator Liam Cooper to launch the platform in 2021. They have since signed up more than 80 landlords and lettings agents managing thousands of rooms between them.
The funding will allow the Worcester-based company to further expand the team and develop a host of new features to improve the management of shared living.
Giganet, one of the UK’s leading Internet Service Providers (ISPs), is encouraging Coventry businesses to shop around for their business internet or simply choose an ISP that can find the best price, service and availability from all major UK carriers.
With many operational costs soaring, comparing pricing on mission-critical services like business internet can be one of the best ways to slash budgets. Organisations that stick to one provider are often tied to ever-increasing rates, with little flexibility.
They can also be hindered by network capability that does not provide the best speeds or resiliency options.
To offer businesses a savvy alternative, Giganet has a unique relationship with all major UK Tier 1 carriers. This means companies can see the best price, SLAs, customer service and network capability for their postcode – all in under a minute.
It’s not only monthly costs that can rise if you don’t shop around. Unreliable and slow internet has been proven to affect productivity and efficiency, causing losses of both time and money. It’s important to look for resilient connectivity options, with backups where necessary and a reliable network. As an ISP in its own right, Giganet manages its own network end-to-end, with in-house engineers, dedicated provisioning and award-winning customer service teams – backed by an ‘Excellent’ rating on Trustpilot.
Built on almost two decades of experience, Giganet’s relationship with 15 Tier 1 carriers means they can find the best possible connectivity solutions. This makes Giganet’s award-winning comparison site (www.giganet.uk/business) a valuable tool for anyone looking to save money.
To supercharge your business’s connectivity even further, Giganet is currently offering three months of absolutely free, reliable
business internet*. That’s saving of up to £1,000. But, with limited availability and on a first-come, first-served basis, eligible businesses must act fast.
Secure, reliable full fibre connectivity gives stunning speeds that unlock new levels of productivity. Dedicated leased lines boast symmetrical upload and download speeds of up to 1Gb/s and the connection is private, rather than shared. With this stable and resilient connection, teams can share large files instantly, run phone systems more cost-effectively over VoIP, enjoy crystal clear voice and video calling and ensure all devices stay connected without disruption.
For those still in contract, there is the option to act now and pay later. Giganet allows eligible businesses to secure the three months free offer on any CityFibre business internet service, and set an installation date for up to six months in advance. With nothing to pay until go live.
A high-tech horticultural company in Coventry is launching a ground-breaking system for growing crops indoors.
V-Farm, a spin-off from another Coventry company, HydroGarden, which manufactures hydroponic equipment, has spent seven years developing a vertical farming concept from its base in Progress Way on the Binley Industrial Estate.
It uses the latest hydroponics technology through a mobile rack structure fitted with trays, lighting and ventilation equipment which can be adapted to meet the available space.
The business secured a £10,000 Proof of Concept grant which forms part of the Coventry and Warwickshire Business Support Programme. A 40 per cent match funded grant was awarded with V-Farm’s 60 per cent contribution.
Stuart Green, of V-Farm said: “We believe our food production technology produces better quality produce because less
nutrients are being lost to ship it across oceans and it is building towards a greener, more sustainable future.
“Food production is a global market and years have been spent developing the technology, but it has not been commercialised until now.
“We knew we had a great product but we needed help in taking it to market.” “We have already supplied units to Brazil, Australia and China and we will be fully launching V-Farm towards the end of the year.”
Justine Chadwick, account manager at the CWLEP Growth Hub which provided advice to V-Farm, said: “V-Farm’s urban farming idea has been brilliantly developed and now manufactured here in Coventry to maximise areas throughout the world where food can be grown.
“It is also reducing our carbon footprint which will help businesses reach their net zero targets.”
Indian electric vehicle manufacturer Ola Electric is investing £100 million in a new global hub for automotive design and engineering in Coventry.
The firm, which manufactures electric scooters and other two-wheeler electric vehicles, said the new centre will house 200 designers and engineers working on four- and twowheel EV designs.
Ola Futurefoundry will work with the design and engineering teams based at Ola Campus in Bangalore, India.
Bhavish Aggarwal, Founder and CEO, Ola said: “Ola Futurefoundry is an important step in building a multidisciplinary team responsive to the needs of our consumers around the world. We are setting up in Coventry as it is a global epicenter of automotive and technology talent.”
Ola has made urban mobility available on demand for more than a billion people on three continents.
for you!
If you don’t believe… in planning for success and understanding what your business might need to look like, to make it happen – then this business accelerator probably isn’t for you
If you don’t believe… that to be successful you need to design the company to be able to run day to day without you – then this business accelerator probably isn’t for you
If you don’t believe… cashflow, profitability and planning are the heart of any successful company – then this business accelerator probably isn’t for you
Veloci-Tech
If you are an owner or director… of a rapidly scaling business and you recognise that you might not have all the answers yet to ensure the business can grow without you drowning – then just maybe, this Business Accelerator might be for you!
Are you ready to scale up ?
Contact the Veloci-Tech team on 01242 371317 or email activate@veloci-tech.co.uk www.veloci-tech.co.uk
The Veloci-tech business accelerator is designed to give Directors the stable financial building blocks and processes, that ensure your business can grow quickly, carefully and safely. It gives you and your business expert support on strategic planning, operations and commercial activity, to ensure you have the time to put the right structure, processes and decision making in place, to allow you to build the company without being all consumed by it.
Dynamic business owners who are ready to scale their established business in a sustainable and profitable way, with the support of experts, who can guide you through the common challenges associated with rapid business growth.
We work closely with you, the business owner, to identify and understand the challenges you already have in your scaling business. We establish what success should look like for you professionally and personally, we help set goals and then design the business to deliver it. We identify and pre-empt the roadblocks you haven’t seen yet that you are coming up against and then create an individual plan of ongoing support, providing high level challenge, strategic and operational accountability and direct business experience, to help your scale up process be a lot less painful and a lot more successful
With nearly 100 years combined experience in strategic financial direction, business growth, innovation, operations, resilience, planning, projects, systems and processes, we have the expertise and the personal approach to make a huge impact on your growing business!
Danielle Cole Paul Holmes Gordon Petrie
A business-backed fund has been launched to support community organisations in Didcot.
The Didcot Powerhouse Fund is inviting community-focused organisations inside the Didcot Garden Town Area of Influence to apply for grants.
The theme for 2022 is Supporting Children, Young People and Families. Didcot has a mixed profile of neighbourhoods where affluent areas adjoin those with greater need, placing some of Didcot’s wards in the top 20 per cent of the Index of Multiple Deprivation in England.
An unusually large new irrigation water tank has become the latest pioneering planet-friendly idea to take shape at Highfield Garden World at Whitminster near Gloucester.
The new 216,000 litre tank will see Highfield drastically improving water e ciency across the business.
The tank can collect a massive volume of rainwater harvested from
the various roof sections across the garden centre site – including from the revolutionary retractable roof recently constructed over the new planteria.
The captured rainwater will water the thousands of plants on site and flush customer toilets. This pioneering approach will help the business moderate and plan water use to minimise its reliance on mains water.
A new plan to put the West of England on the map for national and international success has been unveiled.
The West of England ‘Cultural Plan’ showcases the region’s artists and games designers, highlights visitor attractions and puts a spotlight on why it’s a go-to place for investment in the creative industries including in film and TV production.
The Cultural Plan is supported by
members of the West of England Cultural Compact, established last year as a collaborative vehicle to steer and support strategic activity for the creative and cultural sector
By pulling together players from across the West of England, the Metro Mayor Dan Norris says the region has a tremendously strong offer promoting creative businesses that contribute just under £2 billion to the regional economy each year.
Fuelled by financial donations from an initial core group of businesses and individuals in 2021, the Fund is managed by Oxfordshire Community Foundation.
The Fund is keen to attract many more local business donors, churches, and individuals to help fundraise, either by making donations or by offering their services or fundraising efforts in support.
Donors already committed to the project are Didcot First which hosts the fund; MEPC Milton Park, housing association Soha, drug discovery company Evotec, publishers Hachette UK Distribution, Harwell Campus, pharmaceutical company Ipsen, Asda, Diamond Light Source, Infinium and Reef Group.
He said: “The West of England Combined Authority’s recent £12 million investment in the Bottle Yard Studios sends a strong, confident, and really important message to the world – that our amazing creative sector here in the West of England is thriving and growing.
“More than 500 businesses across the South West have been boosted directly from Netflix investment creating 1,000 jobs across the UK.”
A Gloucestershire manufacturer has secured a contract to provide 87 emergency bridges for use in flood-hit areas across Ghana following a £42 million guarantee from UK Export Finance (UKEF).
Mabey Bridge will design, manufacture and export the essential infrastructure from its factory in Lydney to Ghana. It will also provide training to the Ghanaian government and local engineers on how to install them, providing the expertise to enable future construction.
UKEF’s financing for projects in Africa has significantly increased from around £600 million in 2018-2019 to more than £2.3 billion in 2020-21 – the highest amount since 2000.
Mabey Bridge has supplied modular steel bridges to rural and urban areas in more than 150 countries worldwide and has often responded to natural disasters, with its bridges rapidly deployed within days or
weeks. Working with national governments and NGOs, It has undertaken projects in North and South America, Asia, Europe, the Caribbean, Australia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Michael Treacy, CEO, Mabey Bridge, said: “Sustainable, climate-resilient infrastructure is critical to post-disaster recovery and development. The UK Export Financing will enable us to successfully deliver this ambitious programme in partnership with the Ghanaian government.”
Ghana’s coastline spans approximately 340 miles, with a quarter of its population living by the sea, and the country is badly affected by coastal erosion. High levels of rainfall have also destroyed bridges in its towns, cutting off access.
The new bridge programme has been developed by the Government of Ghana’s Ministry of Roads and Highways as part of its strategy to improve connectivity for rural communities post-disaster.
A Coventry manufacturer of anti-terrorism bollards and barriers has had new patents granted in Australia and America.
Safetyflex Barriers has been awarded new patents for its surface-mounted crash planter, following on from the granting of a UK patent last year.
The surface-mounted barriers don’t need foundations or ground
UK exporters to South Korea have landed deals estimated to be worth more than £70 million following support from the Department for International Trade.
Technology company Oxford Instruments signed a contract with a local automotive research institute to accelerate research and development.
UK-made products ranging from hydrogen fuel cells and o shore wind technology to lifejackets will be supplied to the South Korean market through deals made at DIT-supported trade shows in South Korea.
South Korea is the tenth largest economy in the world and a growing market for exports of British products. The country forms a key part of UK’s strategic tilt to the Indo-Pacific region as the country looks for new opportunities to trade.
Trade between the two nations increased by six per cent to £13 billion in the year to June 2021, and the UK exported £2 billion more to South Korea than it imported.
fixings so can provide instant protection on a permanent or temporary basis and are supplied with a bespoke cladding that means they can also be used as functional street furniture and attractive planters.
Marcus Gerrard, director at Safetyflex, said “We believe this is real game changer because of the flexibility and functionality they offer as planters or seating benches, while still providing industry-leading security protection.
Slough digital marketing agency, O’Neill Modern Media (OMM) has undergone an MBO after the partial exit of the founding shareholders.
ThinCats, the alternative lender to midsized SMEs supported the agency and the transaction was advised by HMT Corporate Finance.
Founded in 1983 OMM is an independent creative and digital print agency which also produces virtual and augmented reality projects.
Over the past 20 years it has successfully exploited the rise in the deployment of technology within both sports stadia and retail environments, with a focus on the expanding digital-out-of-home market.
Chief executive Howard Campion and chief financial officer Yousaf Ali led the MBO with funding from ThinCats providing additional working capital to
support the future growth of the business.
Howard said: “HMT were mandated to find the right funding partner to support the management buyout of the company but also one that will allow OMM to accelerate its growth plans over the coming years.
“The management team are now fully aligned to take the business forward and we look forward to working with HMT again on future projects.”
Ricky Lane, Director at HMT Corporate Finance, based at Henley-on-Thames, added: “OMM operates in an exciting niche of a growing market and, having successfully grown the business over the past 20 years, the funding structure provided by ThinCats will allow Howard and the team to further capitalise on OMM’s industry leading position. We wish the team every success and look forward to working with them again on future transactions.”
Orthox Ltd, the Oxford-based clinical stage company developing medical implants to repair damaged knee cartilage and other orthopaedic injuries, has completed a £3.2 million funding round to close its £9.2 million Series A financing round. The financing will support further clinical trials of its lead product, FibroFix, at Southmead Hospital Bristol, UK and in Budapest, Hungary.
Orthox implants are formed from FibroFix, a patented, biomaterial with a molecular structure, strength and resilience that emulates human knee cartilage. FibroFix is based on Fibroin, a protein extracted from silk fibres, which Orthox proceses using proprietary technology.
Silk is a remarkable natural material. It is many times as tough as high tensile steel while also being elastic, resilient and biocompatible – ideal qualities for repairing cartilage tissue. Orthox’s FibroFix implants are manufactured using ISO standard, commercially sourced, medical silks produced from the mulberry silkmoth, Bombyx mori.
Australian iron ore company Fortescue Future Industries is buying Grove-based Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE) from private equity firm EMK Capital and Williams Grand Prix Engineering. The value of the deal is £164 million.
WAE will bring its race-bred critical battery technology to heavy carbon emitter Fortescue Future Industries, to help one of the largest iron ore producers in the world realise its 2030 net-zero target.
Williams Advanced Engineering first announced it was working with Fortescue Metals last year, when it was commissioned to design, build, test and integrate a battery system to power an electric mining haul truck.
Fortescue Founder and Chairman, Dr Andrew Forrest said: “This is the race of our lifetimes – the race to save the planet from cooking. The speed at which we move matters. Together FFI and WAE will work to decarbonise Fortescue
– with the aim of achieving that faster and more effectively than anyone else in the world”.
Craig Wilson, Chief Executive Officer WAE said, “High performance battery and electrification systems are at the core of what we do at WAE, and this acquisition and investment will enable the company’s further growth to support the delivery of zero emission products and services across automotive, motorsport and offhighway – and new sectors too.”
Hazlewoods Corporate Finance team are celebrating recordbreaking results after advising on transactions worth more than £1 billion in 2021.
In a bumper year Hazlewoods, the Gloucestershire firm has completed 170 deals with a combined value of £1.074 billion.
Twenty Eight per cent more deals were completed, and transaction values were up an impressive 41 per cent on the previous year.
(In 2020, a total of 133 transactions worth £763 million were finalised).
Corporate Finance Partner, Paul Fussell, said: “This is the best set of results we have ever achieved in the company’s 100-year history and it is down to the hard work and dedication from everyone in the team.”
Bristol-based underwater robotic and camera technology company Rovco has secured £2 million in funding from the independent asset manager Boost & Co. The investment will be used to fund Rovco’s ongoing marketing strategy as well as bringing new employees into the business.
Rovco provides autonomous underwater vehicles and remotely operated vehicles to the offshore wind industry.
The business replaces video surveillance with 3D technology for its clients and uses artificial intelligence to complete the difficult and dangerous task of seabed mapping and sub-sea infrastructure inspection.
Coventry-based ParentPay Ltd, the UK’s leading provider of school payment and parental engagement services, has acquired London based BlueRunner Solutions Ltd which develops web and mobile-based meal ordering systems for schools, contract catering companies and hospitality.
The deal extends ParentPay’s existing meal management platform with additional functionality for meal ordering in primary schools as well as rewards, loyalty and hospitality booking for schools and tertiary education institutions.
Importantly, BlueRunner also brings a new tablet-based meal ordering and cashless
catering product for secondary schools, rounding off the Group’s primary and secondary school meal management solutions.
The acquisition expands ParentPay’s reach into the hospitality and corporate catering markets in the UK.
Mark Brant, Group Chief Executive of ParentPay said, “ParentPay has long valued its relationship with school caterers and the ability to complement our existing suite of products with additional features for primary school catering alongside new cashless catering solutions for hospitality and secondary schools, is highly attractive.”
Marlowe, a leader in business services and software has bought Redditchbased Optima Health Group for £135 million.
With additional operation hubs in Glasgow, She eld, London and Taunton, Optima is a leading provider of technology enabled corporate health and wellbeing solutions.
The company helps organisations to bring out the best in their people by actively managing their health and
wellbeing, and it supports workplace wellbeing with digital health solutions. Optima has around 1,000 employees, of which approximately 600 are clinical professionals.
Optima is part of a £1 billion UK occupational health market, which is growing at 4-5 per cent per annum. Increasing corporate and societal focus on employee health and wellbeing is driving the structural growth in this market, as are trends towards outsourcing and digitalisation.
After a record 2021 for Cheltenham creative agency PinPoint Media, the company has made new appointments. Award-winning creative and film director, Doug Hurcombe has joined the company, along with Ian Smalley who joins as the new Head of Content Strategy.
Paula Bond has joined as marketing manager and Amy Green (pictured) steps into the role of Business Development Director.
Gloucester investment specialist Blackfinch Investments has appointed Mark Brownridge as Strategic Relationship Director.
Mark has more than 20 years experience in financial services, most recently as Director General of the EIS Association, the official trade body of the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS).
Vicon, the Oxford-headquartered world leader in motion capture, has Pablo Callejo as strategic business development director. Pablo joins Vicon after nine years working at motion capture company STT Systems, latterly as managing director.
Dame Fiona Reynolds DBE, former Director-General of the National Trust and Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, has been appointed as Chair of the Governing Council of the Royal Agricultural University. Fiona lives close to the RAU’s Cirencester campus.
Bristol and London law firm GL Law has welcomed new team members across the business.
Associate Solicitor Ed Ja a joins the corporate and commercial team, paralegal Lloyd Perry joins the private client team and solicitor Emma Burnett has joined the residential property team.
Midlands law firm Wright Hassall has announced a clutch of new appointments. Associates Danielle Pawson and Maya Elci join Paralegal Gaitri Majitha within the firm’s contentious probate team. Senior Associate Deborah Beal and Solicitor Katie Deakin have joined the private client team. Danielle Pawson specialises in contentious Court of Protection work and Maya Elci specialises in wills, trusts and probate disputes. Also in the photograph are Partner Tracy Ashby with Milena Stras, Susan Floyd and Partner Katie Alsop.
The Oxford Science Park has appointed property developer Jitesh Patel to the new role of Development Manager. Jitesh joins from Kajima Partnerships where he worked on a variety of projects valued in excess of £200 million, including health care centres and housing. He has a MSc in Facilities Management and BSc in Building Surveying.
08
Bromsgrove-based Chartered Accountants Curo have taken on a new partner as it continues to expand across the West Midlands region. The firm was set up in 2005 by former KPMG colleagues Anna Madden and Julia Gallagher. Stuart Wood joins Curo from KPMG in Birmingham where he was an Audit Director for nearly 20 years.
One of the UK’s leading figures in vocational and technical learning has been appointed as managing director of the Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre.
David Grailey has more than 30 years’ experience in the UK education and skills sector.
Rebecca Craker has been made board director at chartered accountants and business advisers Whitley Stimpson.
Rebecca became director of the High Wycombe office in 2020 and was appointed board director the year following in a promotion which will see her help steer the whole firm’s strategy. She will continue to be based at Whitley Stimpson’s High Wycombe office.
Bristol manufacturer Avon Group has appointed a new finance director. Charles Toosey has previous experience in financial management and business consulting as finance director for Alvance Aluminium Group and as an associate director at Grant Thornton.
In a world of increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (UVCA) environments, managers must seek new orientations and take a fresh approach to management to bring positive results.
The VUCA world challenges you to find your own way. You will need to understand the psycho-logic and develop empathetic behaviour – in short, to be more concerned with humans and their needs.
Leaders need emotional intelligence
Leaders need humility
Leaders need good communication
Leaders need to be good at listening
Leaders need resilience
The first step to making meaningly change is the way you connect with other people, and this starts with knowing yourself.
Whether you’re leading a team, working with customers or simply building relationships with colleagues, you will make better connections if you know how you are seen by others and how to adapt your behaviour.
Complete a short DiSC questionnaire and let us show you how you can improve your self awareness, connect better, and build your emotional intelligence.
Organisations operate in ever-changing environments, so they need leaders and managers with the skills and confidence to cope. The ILM accredited qualifications delivered, by GEL and ranging from Level 2 to Level 7, develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours to help them do just that.
Our o -the-shelf programmes, listed opposite, can be delivered as in-house programmes and extended to wider qualifications through a pick-‘n’-mix of additional topics. All programmes include the elements below and delegates are given 1-year free ILM membership, giving access to a myriad of resources.
Research conducted by the ILM identified the fundamental qualities that leaders need in order to be trusted. Trust is also a powerful indicator of organisational health, with high levels of trust being linked to high levels of performance.
Below is a selection of topics we deliver via our open programme. In house bespoke solutions are also available.Courses run on the dates below:
Many of the jobs that primary school children will do have not yet been invented – and that’s only 10-15 years away.
Are we preparing them to be agile, enterprising, digitally confident and competent?
This is a key question when we consider the complexities of skilling the future generation.
These are not my words but those of a wise educational operator – Steve West, Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West of England in Bristol and President of Universities UK.
I asked him what were his top sector job tips for our future generation of young people?
He said health and social care; digital in all its formats – cyber and creative; GreenTechengineering and technology, including science and the whole service industry sector – retail and hotels.
“The universities have got to be front and centre, he said. “If we are going to get anywhere in levelling-up, we must step up and work with industry, business and schools”.
But many companies don’t invest enough in training.
“That’s a big problem”, says Steve. “The bigger companies do it because they are building their future and looking at their recruitment pipeline.
“That is going to be increasingly important to all organisations.”
Matt Burgess, principal of Gloucestershire College, tells me that in Gloucestershire
something like 95 per cent of companies were found to be spending less than £5,000 annually on training.
Too often we lambast the government over apprenticeships and training when companies should bear the brunt of criticism.
After all, they have a responsibility to their employees and their development.
Clarkson Evans, the succesful newhome electrical contractor, which has its headquarters at Staverton near Gloucester, is a stellar example of a company with a business model developed through apprentices.
Around 80 per cent of the workforce in management roles requiring technical and electrical expertise joined as apprentices. The company currently has an amazing 250 apprentices out of a staff of 850.
Chief Executive Lindsey Young said: “We are developing a workforce with the right set of values – our values.
“I think emotional intelligence is quite important in terms of skills. It’s not just what a school can deliver for technical skills it is also about how to thrive in the workplace. I believe that too many schools are not giving young people the foresight on jobs for the future to create real aspiration.”
She added: “Some of the old stuff taught in the school’s curriculum over the last 50 years might have to go to make way to teach new skills.”
Mike Holliday, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire manager for the Training Provider Network
said if that’s the case, we need to better match college courses with jobs.
He said: “In the past, colleges might say this is our offer and students would have to fit in with that, however the emphasis is changing to a more student-led approach, but I don’t think we are there fully.”
Over the next year, Mike says he will deliver the ASK (Apprenticeship/ School/Knowledge) programme to 10,000 students and parents across Swindon and Wiltshire.
“You hear the pennies dropping around the room when you start talking about apprenticeship opportunities,” he said.
“We often hear companies saying they can’t get the recruits. But if employers work with schools they can create those links.”
Colleges are currently enjoying something of a boom in apprenticeships with companies taking on more young people to combat staff shortages.
Local Enterprise Partnerships across the UK have been developing their skills strategies, and over the last few months, I have been involved in the Gloucestershire Skills Strategy which has just been published. It is a far-reaching piece of work that illustrates just how complex and challenging the issue is.
As a former apprentice journalist who left school at 16, I believe that we must work hard to create early aspirations for our young people – and their parents – with the help of local businesses. It makes so much sense, and companies must realise that growing their own people pays dividends.
The boss of Redditch-based waste management company FAUN Zoeller UK has set up Power Up, a group of local businesspeople and educationalists prepared to devote time to mentoring children and young people.
Simon Hyde said: “Young people in education are not showing enough interest in the business world. When I was young I had two brilliant mentors, without whom I wouldn’t be in the job I do today.”
One member of Power Up, Mark Ridings is founder and managing director of tooling company Lasercomb Group. He said: “There
are fundamental barriers we need to break down. School leavers are pressed hard to go to university. They are therefore avoiding the trades and engineering. Our top priorities are to open doors and engage with as many schools as we can.”
Louise Laxton heads up the careers advice and counsellor department at Trinity High School and Sixth Form Centre in Redditch.
She said: “Business has not helped itself by giving contact with education a low priority. Power Up will help inspire pupils who lack motivation because they don’t know where to start.”
Last year, Oxfordshire updated its Local Skills Plan. In its foreword, Adrian Lockwood, Chair of the county’s Skills Board, said: “Oxfordshire is the UK’s engine for innovation: research and development is driving the creation of new, dynamic businesses, hungry to grow and scale up. We are at the forefront in transformative technologies and sectors such as fusion technology, autonomous vehicles and space. To achieve this, we will continue to need a highly skilled, adaptable workforce and to ensure that they, and future generations, have the skills that businesses need and value.”
However, he acknowledged that while job growth in the county had centred on knowledge-intensive professional, technician and senior leadership roles over the last 15 years, employers report shortages of degree level (Level 4+) candidates for occupations such as programmers and software developers and those with sector-specific specialist skills. There are also, as in all other regions, longstanding labour shortages in health and social care.
With employers reporting a shortage of high-level technical skills, an increased take-up of the new T-Level, high (degree) level vocational and technical courses and apprenticeships which are adapted and aligned to emerging technologies and employer needs, could do much to address this.
Three enabling skills: AI and big data; business and digital and soft skills will be required by the majority of sectors as Oxfordshire’s economy recovers and grows.
There are more than 40,000 university graduates each year in Oxford and the county is keen to ensure that rather than leaving the county for London and the South East, they understand the employment opportunities and quality of life offered by the county.
T-Levels are new technical focussed courses being introduced nationally from September which will follow GCSEs and will be equivalent to three A-Levels. These two-year courses have been developed in collaboration with employers and businesses so that the content meets the needs of industry and prepares students for work.
It is planned for T-Levels to replace BTEC Level 3 and similar vocational qualifications as the standard qualification students gain at Level 3, if they are wanting to go down a vocational technical, rather than an academic route in their career.
Colleges like WCG (formerly Warwickshire College Group) are introducing them a few at a time, to help embed them solidly into its curriculum and plans to have a full suite available over the coming years.
T-Levels will offer students a mixture of classroom learning and on-the-job experience during an industry placement of at least 315 hours (approximately 45 days).
They will provide the knowledge and experience needed to open the door into skilled employment, further study or a higher apprenticeship.
This size of placement in industry means that learners will get a far better view of
business life and be more prepared for the workforce by the time they complete their T-Level.
A T-Level placement gives a business the chance to trial the abilities of a student, to see if they could become a potential employee or apprentice in the future, says WCG.
Students will bring in new skills and fresh ideas, up-to-date technology that they will learn on their course at college.
A business can also avoid many of the costs associated with recruitment by working with the college to connect with young people who are deciding on their careers.
This will give the HR team early sight of the new talent coming into industry.
T-Level placements create opportunities for staff to act as buddies, coaches or line managers to students. This helps existing staff gain management and mentoring skills. In an environment where staff
are doing multiple roles and perhaps struggling to meet deadlines, a T-Level placement student could help support a key piece of work.
WCG also says that commitment to T-Level placements will raise an employer’s profile, locally and nationally, especially as T-Levels become more familiar to the wider population.
In September this year, WCG will be introducing T-Levels in Design, Surveying and Planning for Construction, at Royal Leamington Spa College and Rugby College; Digital Support Services at Royal Leamington Spa College and Malvern Hills Centre for Digital & Cyber Technology; Engineering (Manufacturing, Design & Development) at Warwick Trident College, Rugby College and Evesham College and Health at Royal Leamington Spa College, Rugby College and Pershore College
Upon completion, students will receive a nationally recognised T-Level Certificate which will show their overall grade and a breakdown of what they have achieved.
“T-Levels will o er students a mixture of classroom learning and ‘on-the-job’ experience during an industry placement of at least 315 hours”
Though the spotlight has been shining brightly on the subject of skills development for industry lately, it has always been of paramount importance. The ever-changing nature of the workforce is shaped by the way that businesses evolve based on emerging challenges. Industries will continue to evolve, with some sectors experiencing the pace of change quicker than others. If modern workforces are to keep up with the pace of change, we must have different avenues of education and seamless pathways between these – whether reskilling, upskilling or new skilling the workforce.
As an education provider, we need to keep up with fast-paced technological, environmental, economic and societal changes. To achieve this, it’s vital to stay well connected. Awareness is important philosophically when we think of education as a journey. Though we operate in a certain space, that doesn’t preclude us from exploring opportunities in others. We need to ensure the diversity of our offer –from outreach, WMG Academies, Degree Apprenticeships, and undergraduate and postgraduate degree course provision, to short courses and lifelong learning– is based on constant research and assessment of what is needed for development in order to deliver industry relevant, targeted and effective skills and education provision.
To deliver relevant and sustainable education for industry, we must focus on lifelong learning. This should be manifested by encouraging a mindset
to reflect and actively seek this, by demonstrating the value of lifelong learning in the minds of learners. In the technology, engineering, mathematics, science and management space, applied learning is often preferred as it presents opportunities to the learner in a visual manner. When people can apply learnings to their roles and projects and demonstrate the difference it makes, it can have substantial impact.
In order to skill future generations, we at WMG, University of Warwick, embrace the idea of connections and breaking down the silos to take a holistic view of where and how education can work in collaboration with industry. We identified a gap in our education offering that could be filled by short courses, in which learners start with a short workshop or programme and use these as a building block for their learning, and for progression or diversification of role in their organisation. Our courses are based on research and are created with the very latest thinking and ideas in place, with significant input from businesses.
In January 2022 we launched our WMG Skills Centre, created to combat the skills shortage facing both businesses and industry. The Centre strives to enable learners to gain the maximum amount of knowledge in a short space of time to build on their existing skillset. Our Course Leads work closely with or come from industry, and so they appreciate the importance of staying ahead of the skill development curve. Our courses are designed to empower employers to future-proof their workforces.
The short courses offered by the Centre bring future skills to business today, including key areas such as Engineering, Technology, Supply Chain, Automotive Electrification, Battery Engineering, Automotive Power Electronics and Motor Drives, Digital Manufacturing and Digital Healthcare.
The Centre poses a perfect example of the benefits of university education to a company. Those teaching a subject
Skills are the foundation of our collective future, so co-creating and building that future together is essential. That is where an idea like the WMG Skills Centre can be so valuable and so exciting.
are researching it too, meaning they are forever forward-thinking. Rather than teaching a set of outdated established ideas and principles, our people build and develop new ideas and stimulating questions based on input from industries. Whilst we appreciate that learning must be tuned to the level required by the learner and their business, our ethos is to inspire people through intellectual challenge and innovation.
To optimise the impact of these education programmes for businesses, the key is to design and create frameworks in conjunction with businesses, working closely together to produce a custommade plan. We have done this recently with the National Electrification Skills Framework and Forum, which brings together and leverages on the strengths of employers and educators to the benefit of industries and their employees. As we advance through this process, we must constantly assess and finetune our strategy, based on findings and communications with the business. Contextualisation is where value can be truly enhanced, and we are always open to exploring this route – and would encourage others to as well.
To reach this point though, a business needs to truly understand what it needs, which should act as the first priority. Sometimes this gets missed and companies try to fill gaps and follow trends, but by truly realising their needs, they can start to plan sustainably.
Businesses and education providers must work together - the need for skills in this country is so great that collaboration is essential. Though time is short, we can achieve this and continue to help companies grow and thrive.
Our initial focus for the WMG Skills Centre is the West Midlands region - we are based here and have established educational programmes and research with local industrial partners. We then plan to expand and provide support both nationally and internationally. The key is to start with established frameworks, networks and collaboration, so that partners can signpost and work together. It’s not about competition.
We’ll continue to establish the Centre, respond to the underlying needs of businesses and learners, and continue to be creative in our delivery of this.
Finley Walker is Gloucestershire College’s first level 4 Software Tester apprentice to have graduated with a distinction. He is now working for the global manufacturing company Renishaw.
Finley applied to four universities and had two unconditional offers, but when he looked at the finances and how much work experience he would have achieved at the end of his university years he decided against it.
He applied to do a cyber security apprenticeship at GC (Gloucestershire College).
“The college asked if I wanted to apply for a Software Tester position with Renishaw. I looked at the job description on the company’s website, went for an interview and that is how I ended up being a Software Tester.
“The big thing at Renishaw is that they treat you as a normal employee and expect you to do everything as any other member of staff, which means I was given a lot more responsibility than some of the other apprentices I've been speaking to.”
One of the good things about apprenticeships is the networking and interaction, according to Finley.
“I visited a range of departments at
Renishaw and met a bunch of different people, including other apprentices at GC.
“And the job itself is really interesting. As a Software Tester, I get to break software. Going a step above what was expected of me and seeing people’s reaction was my favourite thing.”
When Finley completed his apprenticeship, Renishaw offered him a full-time job.
“I am now working on R&D projects, and I have bigger responsibilities and get to do more interesting projects. I still have a lot of support but more independence to do my job.”
And he’s determined to continue learning.
“The job has been a lot of fun, as it involves testing software that controls massive robots. It’s quite different to every other job I’ve seen. If there was an opportunity for me to do a degree in software testing, I would have taken it too.”
How tech-savvy do you need to be for a career in IT?
“In my workplace, there are all sorts of people,” said Finley.
“You get people who are very technically minded and love computers, but there
are others not as technically minded as a software tester. This can be advantageous, because they may pick up stuff I might miss. So just because your background isn’t technical, it doesn't mean that you will be at a disadvantage. It gives you a different viewpoint, and that's what you need in a good team.
“Cheltenham is one of the technical powerhouses in the country, and GC has a lot of connections to companies in cyber in Gloucestershire,” he went on. “So it’s a good place to start. GC’s classrooms have powerful PCs and all the equipment you need. I know that GC has been investing a lot of money into their IT and Cyber programmes and resources and it’s really good.”
Is an apprenticeship a good way into an industry?
Finley certainly thinks so. “Although apprentices work hard (and in my opinion, sometimes harder than university students), they have a massive headstart over the university graduates because of the work experience element. For example, a degree apprentice will come out with four years of great work experience where most recruiting companies require the minimum of three. University students will have the same qualifications but their work experience will be much less.”
“ e big thing at Renishaw is that they treat you as in normal employee and expect you to do everything as any other member of sta ...”
Abingdon & Witney College has launched a new full-time course in construction skills targeted at school leavers or adults wishing to learn construction skills on a full-time basis. Courses will be available in carpentry and joinery, plumbing and electrical installation, with part-time courses in renewable technologies like heat pumps and solar energy also available shortly.
Head of Faculty Shane Mumford said: ““We are absolutely delighted to be opening new construction courses in Abingdon. Our courses at Witney are
over-subscribed, and our apprenticeship provision in Bicester is in high demand.”
It is several years since the college was able to offer construction courses on the Abingdon campus. The new course offer is part of the college’s new Green Construction Skills Centre which is currently under construction itself.
The centre is part of multi-millionpound investment by the college in the construction sector and follows on from the opening of the Apprenticeship Training Centre in Bicester last year.
New research from Grant Thornton UK shows that the West Midlands’ mid-market is increasingly making use of apprenticeships as a means of upskilling their people at all levels.
With job vacancies and resignations at record highs, Grant Thornton’s latest Business Outlook Tracker survey shows that there’s an upward trend of apprenticeship use in the mid-market which is set to expand in 2022. More than half of respondents in the West Midlands agreed that more of their people will be trained using apprenticeships this year than in 2021.
Employers saw additional strategic benefits to apprenticeships with nearly half of the business leaders surveyed saying that apprenticeships had helped to improve social mobility in their business and more than half agreed that formal development supports employee wellbeing.
The study found that mid-market organisations are now using apprenticeships at all levels of the business from entry level to senior management. More than half of those surveyed said that the Apprenticeship Levy had been a motivating factor in the increased use.
A new £1.8 million electric vehicle and retrofit training facility is heading to Coventry College to help employers rise to the industrial challenges of climate change, prepare learners for careers in emission-free motoring, and build the homes of the future.
It will be the first site of its type in Coventry and Warwickshire and is expected to open this month (March). The new skills
programmes will provide businesses with the skills and knowledge to capitalise on industry opportunities and achieve the government’s net-zero targets, giving students practical experience under the bonnets of electric vehicles.
Coventry College secured the capital investment from the Government’s Strategic Development Fund.
Sue Knight, Partner and Practice Leader at Grant Thornton UK in the Midlands, said: “We’re seeing clients being ever more strategic with their use of apprenticeships to address issues such as improving diversity in the workforce, achieving sustainable recruitment and replacing traditional graduate programmes with highly desirable qualifications. The ability to tailor apprenticeships to specific requirements is especially valuable and businesses are also using these courses to bring new skills in valuable fields such as digital, finance and data analysis into their organisation.”
BPE has evolved to be unlike most other law firms, with an approach based on strong commercial realism, a reputation for the highest quality client service and a refreshingly open and inclusive culture.
We searched long and hard for a set of values that truly summed up the good parts of our culture and we constantly revisit them to make sure they are still real and true.
• We celebrate and support individuality and diversity in our clients and our people
• We work together to achieve more
• We are committed to continuous improvement
• We think and work creatively and innovatively
• We care about our people, our clients, our work and our communities
A great place to work cares about and supports its employees whilst also challenging them to grow with the organisation. At BPE we develop careers in an innovative environment. We’ve built our team on the sharpest legal minds from other law firms (including the City), from business and straight out of law college and also school. It’s the perfect blend of experience and energy and we give all our people the autonomy and freedom to find ways to work better with our clients.
Our trainees and paralegals are given real responsibility from day one – they sit and mix with senior staff and are encouraged to be themselves, chase ideas and roll their sleeves up on challenging work from the outset.
A career in the legal industry is full of
BPE is an ambitious and expanding law firm, established by innovators and mould breakers who do things differently. Innovation in law is no longer a trend or mere hype, but a tangible and urgent need. Although our leadership and people have changed over the years, our passion for innovation and our refreshing, imaginative approach remain at the core of our culture.
opportunities. Law continues to become more diverse and specialised and the expertise required to meet those broad and increasingly sophisticated client needs offers a huge opportunity to anyone wanting a career in law.
No longer is it just about being a solicitor, paralegal or PA in any one of the numerous fields of law now needing expert advisory services, it is also about legal technicians interacting with clever AI software and legal project managers co-ordinating complex transactions or legal projects.
At BPE, through our enviable client list, our people enjoy an exciting range and complexity of work, thus offering excellent, flexible career opportunities at all levels.
Any law firm that wants to be an employer of choice in the modern new world must offer greater flexibility in working patterns and typically less commuting.
Whilst the pandemic has changed the way firms work, for many the expectation of putting in very long hours remains the same, which can take a toll on personal and family life.
At BPE, we tailor our flexible working to suit every individual’s needs and believe strongly in working to achieve a true worklife balance.
We know that if our people are happy and well looked after, then so are our clients. We’re lucky enough to enjoy the best of both worlds – City-quality work with the beauty and vibrancy of Cheltenham and the Cotswolds on our doorstep.
Clients are vital, but talent is of the essence in the legal sector. To attract young talent, firms and organisations must appreciate the driving factors and goals of upcoming lawyers.
The next generation of lawyers are hungry to learn quickly and have responsibility. They have less appetite for the mundane tasks traditionally associated with a historic legal training and want to embrace the opportunities offered by technology. They thrive in a less hierarchical structure where the emphasis is on team achievement over the individual, in the same way a focus on minimising the negative impact on our world must be central to their day to day.
“A key differentiator for our people is that we encourage people to be themselves, with their colleagues and our clients, and although we're not a family firm, the support and teamwork makes it feel like one”
- Antonia Shield, Managing PartnerAt BPE we nurture talent. We are a collective of remarkable individuals and we work hard to create a business and environment to support our people to be the best they can. For aspiring people at any level, BPE offers a more rewarding career in law because of the importance we place on allowing people to be themselves and getting the balance right between life and work.
We are always on the lookout for ambitious, enthusiastic lawyers with exceptional talent.
bpe.co.uk/careers/
Most companies will say that their most important asset is their sta . But when a company’s needs change, does that mean they need new employees with di erent skills, or can they retrain existing sta ?
According to a McKinsey report, in about 75 per cent of cases, it pays for an organisation to reskill an employee—yet few do this systematically.
Its research reveals that, for UK employers, reskilling would deliver positive economic returns in about three-quarters of cases. If workers are to realise the full benefits of reskilling over the next decade, more than 90 per cent of the UK workforce will need to be trained. Yet reality currently falls short of potential: according to a UK government survey, 62 per cent of workers received workplace training in 2017. This figure includes training related to health and safety or the induction of new employees.
Kevin Holt is CEO of Gloucestershire Enterprise and Training. He said: “Sta skills may have dropped during the pandemic when many had to work from home or during furlough.
“In the past 12 months all organisations have faced unprecedented circumstances, but we know that capable, e ective and adaptable leaders will prove critical in an organisation’s recovery and growth. Not just the leaders at the top, but every level must be capable of putting their hands on the rope and pulling together.”
Gloucestershire Enterprise’s courses range from short one-day quick fixes in specific skill sets, such as time management, e ective coaching, IT skills and project management to longer sustained development programmes.
Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG), part of the University of Warwick, has opened a new skills centre offering short courses to help businesses equip workforces with the latest technical skills.
Over the last five years businesses and organisations across the UK have faced many challenges, from Brexit to Covid, with the next milestone being the urgent requirement to respond to the need to achieve Net Zero.
The WMG Skills Centre is offering courses covering digital manufacturing, energy systems, intelligent vehicles and manufacturing. Further courses will be added during the year.
The courses range from half-day workshops to five-day courses, all supporting skills growth.
Although the WMG Skills Centre is new, it is based on the success of courses previously been run by WMG, such as The Battery School.
Dr Graham Hoare, President of Global Operations at the Britishvolt the Coventryheadquartered company which is building a gigafactory in Northumberland, attended the Battery School course last year.
He said: “I have worked in the powertrain divisions of blue-chip car companies such as Ford, BMW and Jaguar Land Rover in the past.
The course at WMG effectively allows people like me, who have got good mechanical experience, to really understand and appreciate battery technology and enable us to lead teams of battery scientists in the future.”
People in South Gloucestershire will benefit from new funding to boost skills and help businesses grow.
The cash follows a successful bid co-ordinated by the West of England Combined Authority.
Pop-up hubs will be set up in vacant high streets units and shopping centres to provide training and development opportunities. Employment support coaches based in the hubs will work with businesses, training providers and other agencies to improve access to a wide range of training
courses, apprenticeship schemes and support local candidates to secure apprenticeships.
The programme is funded from the government’s UK Community Recovery Fund and will be delivered by South Gloucestershire Council. It will improve access to training for those who face employment barriers.
A proportion of the funding will be earmarked for developing green skills including the introduction of two Biodiversity Apprentices at South Gloucestershire Council.
Upskilling employees should be an important part of a company’s strategy
If your business needs talented professionals to grow, you may have to fight harder for them than ever before.
The biggest challenge to a company’s growth in 2022 will be, according to many HR commentators and surveys, a shortage of talent. It is harder than ever to attract and retain high-achieving employees.
Companies which recognised this a few years ago have a distinct advantage, because building a talent pipeline takes time – years in fact.
Added to that, every business wants to hang on to the employees they’ve got. And that means they are looking at what career growth and promotion prospects they offer, how they can make sure staff feel valued, the quality of their working environments (see our feature on cool office spaces on pages 89-95), and what they can offer them in continuous professional development, life-long learning opportunities and flexibility.
And we haven’t even mentioned the new, pandemic-driven hybrid or remote working, where your staff expect to work wherever they want, or perhaps prefer a four-day working week.
Boosting salaries isn’t always the solution. Not all employers – especially those particularly affected by the pandemic – have the scope to raise pay at the moment, and with inflation rising this year, it’s difficult to see how some companies will be able to keep up.
It starts with the interview process, where the advantage is increasingly lying with the interviewee. Even a couple of years ago the director of a cyber security company told this magazine that some new starters don’t accept that they need to prove themselves before they start discussing promotion or development opportunities.
“They wanted to know at interview, even before they’d got the job, how we were going to support their personal career progression,” the cyber boss said.
But rather than seeing this as the arrogance of an unproven candidate, the company saw it as a compliment. “If you interpret that differently, it means they already see a future with us.”
In our first ever “100 Great Places to Work” list of companies, all have either been nominated or secured national recognition for their workforce policies. This list showcases some of the great companies to work for in this region. If you believe your company should have been featured please get in touch to nominate for our next one.
If you can’t answer ‘yes’ immediately, you may well struggle to recruit this year
“ ey wanted to know at interview, even before they’d got the job, how we were going to support their personal career progression”
Job vacancies have been rising to record highs this year, but big gaps in the UK’s labour market remain.
However, it’s not just this country being affected – the World Economic Forum says there will be a global shortage of four million workers by 2024, and the world will need to retrain a billion people.
Carmen Watson, Chair of Solihull-based recruiters Pertemps, says the Covid crisis has driven more people to reconsider their job choices as well as where and how they want to work.
She said: “They are talking to us about changing direction and what they need to qualify for their ideal roles. With technology playing a part in almost every job, they will often need new skills to cope.”
According to a study by the London School of Economics, in the UK approximately half of firms are having difficulty recruiting new workers while around one in five are having issues retaining existing staff.
Around a third of firms have raised wages says the London School of Economics
study, but only around 20 per cent have invested in new technologies to help bridge the gap.
One in five businesses said that long-term skills gaps are affecting their ability to recruit workers.
Interestingly, relative to other OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries, while more of the the UK workforce have university degrees, we lag on technical and vocational skills, and the share of the workforce underqualified for work is well above the OECD average.
A business can offer benefits galore, but they need a pool of talent to draw from, and at the moment it’s just not deep enough.
More young people are rejecting the idea of university, with all the debt a degree can rack up, and are favouring those companies
which are offering apprenticeships. In fact, more than half of young people in the UK would have considered an apprenticeship had they been given the opportunity a study found.
The poll of 2,000 young people aged between 18-30, conducted by YouGov for The Chartered Institute for Professional Development (CIPD) last year found 52 per cent would have considered an apprenticeship in their chosen subject.
But not enough schools are pushing apprenticeships. Just one per cent said they received the support they needed to choose an apprenticeship. Almost three in five said their school had helped them with university applications.
The government wants to help, but there is widespread criticism of its apprenticeship levy as not being flexible enough. The CIPD says the levy has failed on every measure and without significant reform into a more flexible training levy, will undermine investment in skills and our economic recovery.
As a result, many companies have returned their unspent apprenticeship funds.
Many companies want to attract graduates, but a lack of work experience due to the pandemic has left students themselves feeling unprepared for employment, according to another report, this time published by Bristol-headquartered graduate jobs consultancy Prospects.
Those companies offering quality graduate schemes will inevitably be more attractive to those with a shiny new degree, but running such schemes is expensive. Organisations such as the Civil Service, NHS, the BBC and the UK’s top accountancy companies are regularly cited as offering the best schemes, but that leaves smaller companies without such deep pockets at a disadvantage.
UK universities producing the most employable graduates have been ranked by companies around the world in the Global University Employability Ranking 2021.
The University of Cambridge comes top, with Oxford a close second and another university in this region, Warwick, at number 14.
In work, as in life, all most of us ever want is the value of our contribution properly recognised and supported, and we are likely to stay longer in a job if it is.
Employees who feel valued and appreciated by their bosses are much more likely to go above and beyond for the company and take true responsibility for their role, and they’ll probably be happier too.
Setting clear expectations, paying attention to staff when they contribute advice and opinions, or express interest in different aspects of the business, operating transparently, providing the right equipment and workplace environment, and most
importantly treating them with respect, will ensure that your existing employees stay longer.
Our research suggests that our first ever list of 100 companies from across the region have all gone a long way to ensuring that they are an employer of choice.
Pertemps has been included in the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies to work for list for the last 16 years straight, a feat only achieved by two other companies. With 60 years in the business, they know a thing or two about creating great places to work.
Chair Carmen Watson said: “It was heartening to see that in the latest CBI/ Pertemps annual Employment Trends Survey – Investing in People –57 per cent of companies were looking to grow their workforce in 2022. However, that is set against the well-reported difficulties finding the right candidates and a skills shortage.
“The people are there but in the current climate, they can afford to be picky. It is essential that as an employer we offer the right development and career progression opportunities, a nice environment to work in and the potential for more flexible working arrangements.
There are more firms out there succeeding in doing the right thing for their employees, but no-one should be complacent.
We spend around a third of our entire lives at work, so we might as well enjoy it as much as we can, and that’s where a good employer will win the talent they deserve.
We must also ensure there is the support for wellbeing, which is so important, and a diverse and inclusive culture. With these elements, you start to build up a picture of what it is like to work for you.
“For colleagues, it is essential to ensure there is clear communication about what the business is doing and where it is going. People should feel included and everyone should have a voice in helping the business move forward.
“Recruitment specialists like ourselves are increasingly working with clients on their longer-term attraction strategies: there is less ad hoc picking up the phone when a business needs someone and more looking at how the talent pipeline can be secured going forward. A big part of that is ensuring that you have everything in place as a business to make it an attractive place to work over others out there.”
“ e people are there but in the current climate, they can a ord to be picky”Chair of Pertemps, Carmen Watson
Employee-owned – all employees are invested in making the company successful. "We aim for our people to build long and rewarding careers in construction."
“I retrained in law after 20 years in other roles but my passion lies with legal services and continuous improvement, not actually delivering law. BPE helped me make best use of my skills," said an employee.
heavily in apprenticeships, training them in-house, and employs staff directly rather than using sub-contractors.
Awarded a Best Companies ‘2-star’ accreditation in 2020, and one of The Sunday Times Best Companies To Work For.
"The firm particularly looked after employees' mental health, especially during the stamp duty holiday when those working in the property department were under increased pressure,” said an employee.
Has one of the highest retention rates of staff in the construction industry, it says. Supports staff through the Investors in People Standard, held since 1998.
The agency was recognised in the top 75 employers nationwide for social mobility in the 2021 Social Mobility Index.
a big company environment which means I get to try out more than just one type of engineering and one type of aircraft covering military and civil aviation,” said an employee. GFirst
manufacturer
“Working from home didn’t break the dynamic because the support network is embedded in the company’s culture,” said an employee.
part of its health and wellbeing strategy the company offers activities such as yoga, boot camp, cook well demonstrations and a step challenge for the more competitive employees.
Voted one of the top 25 best companies to work for last year in the “Best Companies” listing.
"”A close and social environment but definitely no ‘team building’ torture,” said an employee.
“In a time like we are in now, Prima has been outstanding. It’s nice to have an amazing team which give me constant support whenever I need it,” said an employee.
"SLG is like an incredible work family. It's great to be part of such a creative team working on fashion and trend-led designs in a fun an innovative studio,” said an employee.
and
“Great company to work for. Good work-life balance, interesting work and friendly colleagues. Lots of benefits and a nice location to work in,” said one employee.
“An employer that puts people, the local community and sustainability first. Good senior management and a very robust business that continues to grow,” said an employee.
“Our business is reliant upon our ability to attract diverse talent, but we must do more. We must foster an inclusive environment where people can achieve their potential,” said Chief Executive Andrew Croft.
"Willans are extremely proactive about supporting staff to have good mental and physical health such as lunchtime yoga classes put on in the office by a qualified member of staff."
Implemented a new factory team structure to ensure a clear path of development, from General Operator to Team Leader, to help those wanting to progress their careers within the company.
Holds the Investors in People Platinum Standard and believes in helping team members achieve their full potential.
The company's CEO started as an apprentice and continues to promote the value and importance of apprenticeships within the business.
Signed up to the Armed Forced Covenant in 2019 and has since recruited dozens of ex-services personnel.
"I love the level of responsibility I have been given, and the the variety and depth of work I do, with the help of really supportive supervisers."
Employs more than 40 apprentices in engineering, production, health & safety and HR and recognises the value apprentices add to the business.
development company
A company with a global workforce, Payara nevertheless has quick ‘stand-up’ virtual meetings to keep everyone up-to-date and eliminate any bottlenecks or blockers for completing tasks.
SJL Insurance Services has achieved ‘Investors in People’ accreditation twice in a row and believes strongly in the value of its employees in the company's growth strategy. Sanctuary Housing Association 13,000 Housing and care provider Aiming to be an employer by offering great working environments, competitive terms and conditions and nurturing potential through the Sanctuary Learning Academy.
Speller Metcalfe 215 Construction "I can be working with a director one day and a trainee the next. It doesn't really feel like there is a hierarchy. Everyone helps everyone," said an employee.
Bosch 1,800 UK market leader in domestic boilers
Yamazaki Mazak UK Ltd 880 Manufacturer of CNC and other machines
The company has four training academies in the UK, including in Worcester, and is in partnership with more than 80 training colleges.
“There is great emphasis at Mazak on investing in apprentices to help them develop into capable engineers, and perhaps more importantly – good people too,” said an employee.
“Alliance Medical has a wonderful structure in place: a safe working environment, continuous professional and personal skills development and every staff member has a voice,” said an employee.
Named a top employer in the UK for 2022 by the Top Employers Institute.
to the Black Lives Matter campaign Bravissimo create digital listening groups to hear personal accounts of discrimination experienced by employees.
The company did not furlough anyone during the coronavirus crisis. Instead, the company used the working-from-home period to improve its offices
UK’s second largest building society took on a bumper crop of 45 apprentices last year.
lifelong learning and relevant and personalised learning content.
winner of employer awards, the company aims to support employee wellbeing and encourage them to develop their
Part of a global collective of 500 influential businesses to unlock the value of the 1.3 billion people living with disabilities around the world.
have a vested interested in the business. Everyone, provided they have done a six-month qualifying period, can buy shares which Pertemps matches.
Named as a 2021 Best Place to Work in Tech. Also included in the London Stock Exchange’s Top 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain.
its people to think of every day as an opportunity to do something better. “Ambitious goals depend on forward-thinking ideas, no matter who they come from.”
The Shakespeare Martineau Academy is the firm’s “nerve centre” for training and learning resources for everyone at whatever stage of their career.
appears in Top Companies listings. Runs a support and training programme for start-ups and entrepreneurs.
of the Diversity Award and recognised as one of the Best Places to Work at the Business Best Places to Work Awards.
Launched Wellbeing@WCG for all employees. The new initiative aims to bring wellbeing to life for staff members and will focus on different topics throughout the year tailored to needs.
strive to create a culture where people can develop and have a rewarding career with an inspiring purpose.”
Job
are gender neutral to promote flexible working and make roles more attractive to female candidates and those with caring responsibilities.
A Sunday Times UK Top 100 Companies to
in the mid-sized companies category.
Recognised that Covid-19 was tough on its staff. Made a private counsellor available to all staff, for as much time as they needed. The company footed the bill.
Top 60 in the UK’s Best Workplaces 2021 Medium category by Great Places to Work.
an Investors in People Silver Award and a finalist in the international Business Excellence Forum for best company culture.
A Times 100 Graduate Employers employer. Named a Top 75 employer by the Social Mobility Foundation.
in People Bronze Award holder, Personal Development Plan for every member of staff.
14th in The Sunday Times 100 Best Mid-sized Companies to Work For 2019, named a Top 100 Large Companies to Work For by Best Companies in 2021.
To my delight, I have found that different personalities are not only welcomed at Oxford PharmaGenesis, but also embraced and cultivated,” said an employee.
Swan bronze award for advancing gender equality, a Stonewall Diversity Champion, a Mindful Employer, and holds a Race Equality Charter bronze award from Advance HE.
Named one of the Top 10 food and drink employers in the UK by Best Companies.
of the Year 2020, an employee owned company.
Has been awarded more Swords of Honour for Health and Safety than any other company in the world: 48 in the past seven years.
Large Apprenticeship Employer of the Year. A Stonewall Top 100 Employer for support of the LGTBQ+ community, a Living Wage employer.
“We’re a close-knit team who put each other first. Who care about having a great place to work, where there’s time for coffee and a catch-up as well as serious discussion.”
Offers 13 days for upskilling and innovation every year, two volunteering days and £1,000 each year to put towards benefits, a piece of tech or as cash.
gym, flexible working, relocation assistance, share ownership plan, employees can “buy and sell” up to five days holiday a year.
a Top 100 employer by Great Place to Work. Alliance offers all employees time off to volunteer for their favourite charities.
The Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology is based on campus for Dyson undergraduate engineers – who also live there during term.
In 2020 awarded an Investors in People Health & Wellbeing Good Practice Award, to go alongside the IIP Gold Status the firm has held since 2011.
Top 100 Best Companies to Work For, high retention with 40 per cent of employees working there for more than five years.
Voted a Great Place to Work in Tech. “I have worked in a few companies but few really have the same vibe of one team working together,” said an employee.
company, living wage employer, Employee Ownership Association Stories 2021 award winner for Business Resilience.
eight Employee Network Groups ensuring diversity in physical ability, gender, LGBTQ+, faith and belief, race. Supports veterans and reservists, working families, working carers.
among 100 Best Small Companies to Work for by Best Companies. 40 per cent of senior managers are women.
A Top 50 Employers for Women 2021 winner. First water company ever to be awarded Disability Confident Leader status. Real Living Wage employer.
Media Agencies to Work for by Best Companies.
of an Investors in People award, counselling programme, recommend a friend bonus.
a Glassdoor Employers Choice Award. A flexible work programme has seen demand for parttime jobs from women increase by 83 per cent.
won’t have a boss, no one does. You’ll manage your own hours. We don’t do appraisals, we just talk, like normal people do.”
Employee owned, named among 100 Best Small Companies to Work for by Best Companies.
Living Wage Employer, B Corporation, certified by Women In Business, Women In Finance, and Ethical Jobseeker.
company Voted Great Place to work in Tech in 2021. “The best thing about working at Xledger is the people, who are highly capable but also great fun to work with.”
Women’s Empowerment Programme is designed to create a culture where everyone has the opportunity to succeed.
“GKN offered the perfect mix between the shop floor and the office. I get to follow the whole cycle from design to production here.
Named one of the UK’s Top Ten accountancy and advisory practices to work for by Best Companies.
disclosed Manufacturing Rose to the Covid challenge by offering three types of working: On-site associates, hybrid associates, remote associates (home-office).
Hawkins Group is one of the UK’s fastest growing construction companies offering turnkey solutions to clients across the country and further afield.
Founded in 1978 by Mick Hawkins as a sole trader, the company quickly became known for its quality and reliable service, building the basis for a fantastic reputation the group is proud of today. Mick’s son Mike Hawkins took the helm as Group Managing Director in 2014. Since then the company has achieved huge growth in turnover, staff numbers, premises and divisions within the business.
Hawkins Group of Companies now comprises four operational subsidiaries: Hawkins Roofing, Hawkins Steel, Hawkins Projects and Hawkins Estates
Mike Hawkins knows that people are at the heart of the business and with the right people on the team, Hawkins will continue to go from strength to strength.
In the last five years the company has increased turnover by more than 82 per cent and now has a broader client base, with more technical and diverse projects being delivered. Hawkins now occupies three buildings at its headquarters on Thorpe
Way Industrial Estate in Banbury, which now includes a creative customer experience and dedicated innovation and technical centre.
Mike believes in investing in new technologies, equipment and a skilled workforce, which has resulted in the group’s remarkable and growing reputation for innovation in delivering complex engineering and construction projects.
As an employer, Hawkins strives to provide a positive and fun working environment that focuses on comfort, collaboration and creativity to promote effectiveness and success. Hawkins embraces continuous improvement and strives to enhance staff engagement, job satisfaction and wellbeing.
Hawkins’ dedication to employees and success is celebrated in its multiple award-winning history having won most notably: Employer of the Year, Family Business of the Year and Business of the Year twice in the Cherwell Business Awards, Cotswold Life Awards, Oxfordshire Business Awards and Thames Valley Business Awards.
The company’s cores values of integrity, reliability, professionalism, innovation, people and community have always been at the core of the business. And nurturing these traditional family values across the business is why Mike Hawkins believes the company is a great place to work.
For employees, learning and development starts the day they join. A personalised training programme gives new starters the tools and information to settle into their new roles smoothly. Developing everyone’s potential means employees are encouraged to be curious, share ideas, support each other and seek new ways to approach every challenge.
Mike Hawkins said “Everyone at Hawkins is committed, hardworking and passionate about what they do.”
Over the last forty years Hawkins Group of Companies in Oxfordshire, has seen significant and sustained growth, leading to a huge recruitment drive
Some Hawkins key staff and high achievers didn’t start out in construction – they changed career paths in pursuit of a career and Hawkins invested in them to achieve a win-win for everyone.
James Morrison, CAD Technician with the Hawkins Steel division said:
“Since I hung up my apron as a chef and built a new career in Hawkins Drawing Office as a CAD technician, I have continued to grow, and so has Hawkins, but despite their extraordinary growth they have never lost the close-knit, caring environment that originally attracted me. It is a pleasure to work for a company with real determination that treat their staff so well.”
Everyone at Hawkins, at all levels, enjoys being hands-on, helping drive the business forward, and that includes the site supervisors and contracts managers, who are vital for its success. They represent Hawkins every day and embody the company’s professionalism, customer service, safety and quality standards. They also play an important role in translating vision into action, which is why Hawkins is currently investing in upskilling its front-line leaders.
Matt Cartwright, Contracts Manager in the Hawkins Projects division said: “The growth, attitude and capability of our team to take on more complex and interesting jobs means there is nothing that we can’t do.”
Hawkins Group is committed to developing the construction professionals of tomorrow.
The UK construction sector faces challenges with current labour shortages. Recruitment pressures will only get worse unless companies invest now in training and development.
Hawkins understands this and is encouraging young people into the construction sector. Last June the group held an apprentice open day, working with local schools, colleges and sports clubs to promote careers in construction. The investment into the open day was significant. But as a result Hawkins took on its largest and most diverse intake of apprentices to date.
The senior leadership team are committed to the Hawkins apprentice recruitment strategy. Continuing to build strong relationships with their local communities and the wider construction community to positively shape the outlook of a career in construction is a key for the group.
Using a blend of conventional and strategic recruitment methods, they are renowned in the local area for being an employer of choice and is continually on the lookout for great people to strengthen the team.
Its commitment, investment and belief in its people is why so many employees stay with the Hawkins family for many years – more than half their employees qualify for the long service award.
Hawkins’ values and cares for its employees and o ers many benefits to support their physical and mental health and wellbeing, including access to structured counselling, employee assistance programme and other health providers. The company enjoys hosting team social events such as summer BBQ’s, family days, long service award days out, a Christmas party and other team building activities. It also brings its team together to support charity fundraisers such as cake sales and this year is organising a Hawkins team triathlon to raise money for the local hospice.
Hawkins is a growing business with endless opportunities and always wants to hear from new talent. In addition to apprentices, semi-skilled and skilled workers, it is also looking for experienced Contract Managers.
IF YOU ARE LOOKING TO BUILD YOUR CAREER IN CONSTRUCTION, GET IN TOUCH WITH THE TEAMBy Nicky Godding, Editor-in-Chief
Last year a Tewkesbury company broke its record for manufacturing the longest multilayer flexible printed circuit.
At an incredible 72 metres in length, it was designed for an industrial application using Trackwise’s patented Improved Harness Technology (IHT).
Why is this such a breakthrough? Because Trackwise’s flat printed circuits are much lighter in weight and smaller in size than the traditional, multi-coloured wire harness bundles.
This is manna from heaven for manufacturers across the world who are all trying to reduce the size and weight of their products to meet ever more demanding environmental standards.
Trackwise’s IHT is a reel-to-reel manufacturing technique which can produce multi-layer, flexible printed circuits of pretty much any length. And it believes it is the only company in the world able to do this.
This year the company is predicted to turn over more than £22 million, double what it made in 2021.
The entrepreneur behind the IHT innovation is Trackwise’s chief executive, Philip Johnston. “Everyone wants greater functionality in smaller form. Printed circuits are not new – the technology was first developed 50 years ago to replace bulky wire harnesses. The reason a mobile phone fits in your pocket is thanks to flexible printed circuit boards.
“However, our innovation removes harness size or length limit, and this can also take out up to 70 per cent of weight over conventional wire harnesses, giving huge carbon energy savings – particularly in the case of aerospace.”
Trackwise’s technology is winning business across a diverse range of sectors, from aerospace to the fast-growing electric vehicle manufacturing industry, medical equipment and industrial sectors.
“The versatility and cost-effectiveness of our length-unlimited manufacturing capability means that we are delivering improved connectivity for new and innovative product designs all the time, even where the client does not need a product as extreme as 72 metres in length,” added Philip.
Engineering innovator goes looking for a business of his own
Philip, 59, is an engineering innovator. Having completed his apprenticeship with British Aerospace in Bristol, he joined its guided weapons division. Not wanting to make missiles for the rest of his life, he soon moved to the company’s nascent space department and spent the following 15 years working across the UK space industry.
“It was at the beginning of the UK’s space ambitions and I worked for some absolutely brilliant people,” he said.
He led several government-supported research and development consortiums, including the European CleanSky programme and gained degrees in both Aeronautical Engineering and Law.
But working for a multi-national was never his long-term ambition so he went looking to buy a business where he could add value.
“Trackwise had a niche capability to make
Trackwise Designs is globally unique in its ability to manufacture almost limitless-length, multi-layer flexible printed circuits. And the world’s manufacturing companies want a piece of the action
printed circuit boards but was selling them to just one customer in the telecoms sector. There were clearly opportunities to broaden its customer base.”
Fast forward a couple of decades and Trackwise is now selling its products and innovations into the fast-growing electric vehicle manufacturing sector as well as aerospace – which is recovering faster from the pandemic than was feared this time last year.
It is also selling into the industrial and more recently the medical sector.
Here it is manufacturing the microwire replacement for small medical catheters – devices inserted in the body to treat diseases or perform a surgical procedure.
“Our circuits go inside medical catheters, which are flexible and in some cases stretchable tubes that go inside the body. The flex can carry tiny components to measure fluid levels such as oxygen content or other medical indications.
“This is pretty exciting technology, and the medical catheter market is huge,” he said.
The opportunities in the fast-growing electric vehicle sector are particularly exciting. European demand for batteries is predicted to rise eight-fold between 20202025 and Trackwise is already supplying printed circuits to a UK electric vehicle original equipment manufacturer, and is in discussions with others.
“We started our electric journey as a very
junior member of a Faraday Institution programme led by Dave Greenwood of Warwick Manufacturing Group, and it went from there,” said Philip.
Trackwise also has several companies looking at its emerging capabilities for satellites and spacecraft solar arrays, and there are opportunities in the green economy too.
To meet a fast-growing demand, last year the company purchased and is currently fitting out a 77,000 sq ft freehold property at Stonehouse in Gloucestershire.
The new site, which should be operational later this year, will enable Trackwise to significantly increase its production capacity to meet expected demand.
“Our Tewkesbury facility will remain our head office, research and development and new product introduction facility,” said Philip.
“ e versatility and cost e ectiveness of our length-unlimited manufacturing capability means that we are delivering improved connectivity for new and innovative product designs all the time ...”
The company’s success has been almost a decade in the making, and came from what Philip considers was a big, missed opportunity.
“Not long after I joined the business, Rolls Royce Aero Engines came to us with a need, but they only saw a relatively smallscale telecoms industry business and decided to develop their own product with another, larger supplier.
We had the engineering innovation to meet their need, and had we presented a more corporate face, we may have secured the work.”
Philip wasn’t about to let this happen again. He sharpened up the business, which included preparing it for a successful floatation on the London Stock Exchange and securing product patents.
This work set the company on its upward trajectory. “The knowledge and industry know-how we have built up in the last few years is phenomenal,” he said.
Trackwise floated on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM market in 2018, and in the last year alone it has bought a competitor and undergone three fund-raising rounds. The last one, which raised £7 million, completed at the beginning of this year.
“The first raise was just as Coronavirus kicked in and we managed it face to face with our investors. The second two we did virtually. I thought it would be challenging to establish new relationships
via Zoom – you can’t hand a potential investor your product to examine down a video line – but we succeeded and for that I’m grateful to our investors.
“A company can have the best technology in the world but if they don’t deliver it to the market in the right manner, it’s easy to be overlooked by big manufacturers.”
Trackwise and its technology is unlikely to be overlooked now, but leading a business in a sector changing almost daily is a challenge. “I’ll be dealing with electric vehicle, industrial, aerospace and medical applications manufacturers all in one week,” said Philip.
“But we continue to push the boundaries. A few years ago, a three-metre-long circuit was innovation. Now we are making circuits of more than 72 metres. Innovation breeds market acceptance.”
“I can be dealing with manufacturers in the electric vehicle, industrial, aerospace and medical applications sector all in one week ...”
It has not been the easiest couple of years for manufacturing with multiple challenges, not least of which has been a global pandemic.
In addition to lockdowns and furlough, manufacturing has also had to rise to the challenge of dealing with Brexit, plus global supply chain issues and shortages.
Even so, respondents to the annual Manufacturing Outlook Report survey conducted by Crowe were surprisingly upbeat.
in UK or Europe, but the survey shows a significant reduction in the influence of Brexit and trading tariffs, with the number of respondents seeing this as a barrier more than halving in 2021.
2021 covered a period where trading arrangements with the EU carried a number of interim measures designed to reduce friction, many of which expired on 1 January 2022. The full impact of the UK’s exit from the EU will only likely be felt as the interim arrangements end and trade agreements are finally put in place with various global trading partners.
Growth will place demands on working capital requirements in the short term and investment capital needs in the longer term. Availability of credit on a continued basis will almost certainly not be as easy as during the pandemic.
the unprecedented level of Coronavirus support extended during the pandemic.
Growth expectations support this, however a successful economic recovery cannot alone be based on domestic demand and therefore stimulating and supporting UK export trade is vital.
Echoing the Manufacturing Outlook Report of earlier years, Crowe’s survey has consistently revealed that businesses do not see the existing government support as effective in supporting UK manufacturers.
The survey notes that 77% of companies have made an R&D claim in the past 12 months – what about the other 23%? Are you fully aware of what qualifies as R&D? Could you be missing out on significant support?
The headline statistic that leaps out is that 74% expect turnover to grow in the next year, but worryingly, 92% feel the profitability of their business has been affected by the cost and/or availability of raw materials.
Another perennial issue is that 82% have experienced trouble in recruiting skilled employees, with 30% saying their main barrier to growth over the next 12 months will be recruiting and retaining staff.
Further concerns reveal 90% believe the apprenticeship levy is not effective, and 82% believe the government’s incentives are ineffective in promoting exporting.
79% believe their competitors are based
Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and Bounce Back lending has been replaced by the Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS) and it has been widely noted that this scheme is not getting traction with at least the ‘big four’ UK banks. Companies seeking lending for the future have experienced difficulty sourcing this without repaying CBILS/Bounce Back in full as these loans are currently not transferrable.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer set a strategy in his autumn Budget, relying on a strong economic recovery to fund
At present, 31% say their “go to” external advisor is their accountant and 71% are members of a manufacturing network. Strong relationships identified with networks and trusted advisors need to be robust to achieve the levels of growth anticipated.
At Crowe, we pride ourselves on our manufacturing knowledge, empathy and insight as well as a real desire to help you think strategically and make smart decisions that create lasting value.
Based in Quedgeley, Gloucestershire, the company designs, engineers, and produces top-quality precision dental instruments. Over the last two decades, Prima Dental Group has gone from strength to strength, developing subsidiaries and joint ventures in Brazil, China, Hong Kong and India. The company is also one of Gloucestershire’s largest exporters with distributors in 93 countries.
At the heart of every successful business are its people and this is certainly true of Prima Dental Group.
Recognising the value of its team, Prima Dental Group has heavily invested in its workforce. The company’s mission – the pursuit of better – drives all that it does, and a new high-performance culture programme supports this. The focus is around ensuring an engaged, multi-skilled workforce with defined career progression for all.
Underpinning its mission are the company behaviours; customer service excellence, collaboration, accountability, attention to detail, continuous improvement and integrity. These set the tone for Prima Dental Group’s culture and ensure a collaborative and cohesive team working environment. This includes encouraging feedback and new ideas as part of the ‘pursuit of better’ philosophy embedded within the business.
Prima Dental Group’s achievements have been recognised with two Queen's Awards for Export, while, just recently, the company was awarded a grant from Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency. This will fund a radical project worth £472,000 which is set to improve the safety of dentists and patients across the world.
Growth and success can be partly attributed to the organisation’s commitment to investment, ensuring it retains a forward thinking, market leading
position. In the last six years, more than £25m has been invested in new plant and equipment in the UK and a further £6m is ear-marked for 2022.
Sustained investment goes hand in hand with Prima Dental Group’s passion for innovation, and the company boasts its own dedicated research and innovations department. Here, the team continually explore new product ranges, driving the vision for success, alongside actionable change for dentists around the world.
People are a priority at Prima Dental Group and it’s this commitment that has helped the business to become the world’s largest dental bur (drill) manufacturer.
The Waterwells Business Park in Quedgeley is home to Prima Dental Group and its 230-strong UK team. A mix of manufacturing space and office units means the Park offers a smart and clean environment that’s easily accessible from the M5 or Gloucester.
Employees have a range of benefits including private healthcare, wellbeing support and discounted shopping vouchers. Each employee has the
opportunity for professional development sponsorship, access to a proactive, education-based occupational health provision, and a discretionary bonus scheme.
The company prides itself on having a diverse and inclusive workforce with the promotion of internal development and progression through a robust internal and external training programme. Each role gives employees a place to use their skills to the best of their abilities in an everchanging, fast-paced environment.
Prima Dental Group is committed to supporting its local community. Alongside regional recruitment drives, the company also has an active charity committee, which works closely with causes on different initiatives. These have included a 3km running/walking challenge to raise funds for Gloucester Hospital as well as numerous bake sales.
To support its continued growth Prima Dental Group is looking to expand its team further. There’s a variety of roles available within the manufacturing and support functions (with the opportunity for hybrid working and flexi-time where appropriate). Current available roles range from setters to engineers and product managers.
A project to help West Midlands manufacturing and engineering firms adopt the latest technology has seen more than £10 million in value generated since its launch last summer.
The project is part of the Made Smarter programme, a £1.9 million scheme which helps SMEs in the manufacturing and engineering sectors understand and adopt industrial digitalisation.
Made Smarter was created following an industry-led review in 2017 of how UK manufacturing industries can prosper through digital tools and innovation.
And figures from WMG, University of Warwick, and the Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry show the total three-year Gross Value Added (GVA) to companies signing up to the scheme has already reached £11.7 million from a grant spend of just over £200,000.
So far, around 175 companies have signed up to receive support through the scheme.
Each one is promised a visit from experts from either WMG or the MTC to look at the company’s operations and advise what technology could help them move forward.
A ‘digital roadmap’ is produced, showing steps the company needs to take to get there. Businesses then receive further technical support from the experts to plan, develop or implement these changes.
Advice is also given from one of Made Smarter’s digital technology specialists for each Growth Hub area, who can point the company in the right direction for grant funding and other forms of support.
The West Midlands Growth Hubs are working closely with West Midlands Combined Authority and the MTC in Coventry and WMG, at the University of Warwick.
Nasar Jockey, Principal Engineer at WMG, University of Warwick, said: “To have reached these three-year GVA figures in such a short space of time is fantastic news, and shows just how much impact Made Smarter is having.
“Having digital experts visit businesses directly, recommend new technologies to adopt and help them with applying for grants makes such a difference compared to businesses that try to go it alone.”
Meech International, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of static control, web cleaning and compressed air technology is to expand its Oxfordshire headquarters with a new 29,000 sq ft production facility at Tungsten Park at Witney.
Meech’s products are used extensively in a wide range of industries including printing, packaging, converting, plastics, automotive, pharmaceutical and food production.
In 2020, the Digital Engineering Technology & Innovation (DETI) initiative launched in the West of England to help drive a digitallyenabled recovery following the pandemic.
It is receiving £5 million from the West of England Combined Authority and is expected to deliver at least £62 million of added research and development value over five years.
And after just one year, the initiative has developed a visualisation tool that displays the carbon emissions of parts in manufacture in real-time, augmented reality that can detect faults quickly on in-service wind turbines and machine learning models that can capture and correct errors during the manufacture of an aircraft wing.
They all help manufacturers achieve better sustainability.
Chris Francis, CEO at Meech, said: “Our expansion demonstrates the growth of our business. It enables the teams to operate even more e ciently with one another and gives each of them the space they require to continue driving further expansion.
“We have seen substantial growth as a company over the years, and the new unit gives us a platform to continue developing our R&D resource to meet future demand.”
DETI has also revealed the successful trial of a digital system that monitors component build quality in realtime. Aimed at high-performance composites manufacture which must be cured in ovens, the system allows vital interventions to be made when it is impossible to visually monitor the build quality. In the aerospace, marine and automotive sectors that use this type of manufacturing technique heavily, this tool could improve sustainability and time to market substantially.
DETI is being delivered by the National Composites Centre at Emersons Green near Bristol in partnership with organisations including the Digital Catapult, University of the West of England and the University of Bristol. Industry partners include Airbus, GKN Aerospace, Rolls-Royce, and independent digital engineering research organisation CFMS.
Leading robotics and automation manufacturer CKF Systems, achieved its second-best trading year in 2021 with £7.98 million in orders.
This success paints a positive picture for the growth of UK manufacturing as well as UK businesses’ continuing investment in the latest robotic and automation technology.
Jamie Quinton, Managing Director of Gloucester-based CKF Systems said: “We have received substantial orders from both large blue-chip companies and smaller upand-coming businesses.
“This just highlights the importance of automating your operations to remain
competitive whatever the size of your business. This also shows how positive things are looking for UK manufacturing with substantial growth on the horizon.
The report, Robotics and Automation: A New Perspective, published last December by the Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry, said that to achieve the government’s target of doubling the contribution of manufacturing to the UK economy by 2030, automation and robotics must be more widely adopted.
The UK lags behind the rest of the world when it comes to productivity and ranks 24th for robot density per 10,000 manufacturing employees.
Worcester-based Yamazaki Mazak reported its highest order intake across Europe in its history in October.
Alan Mucklow, managing director UK sales, Eire and national distributors at Yamazaki Mazak, said: “October was an outstanding month across Europe that was mirrored in UK machine sales. The rebound in general subcontracting, strong sales in food and packaging, resilient yellow goods (construction and earth moving equipment), and agriculture sectors, and continued strong levels of investment from the energy-related machine users delivered outstanding sales growth.”
The company has seen strong growth in automation.
He added: “Our growing list of entry-level machines are opening up a new user demographic to the benefits of Mazak technology. We’ve also benefited from receiving further investment into our UK manufacturing facility during 2021, at a time when many industries have suffered from severe supply chain challenges.”
Gloucester-based manufacturer Prima Dental Group has received an award from Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, to fund a project worth £472,000 which could improve the safety of dentists and patients across the world.
The Quedgeley manufacturer will use the grant to fund the development of game-changing technology to help
reduce the risk of virus transmission.
This issue has been especially highlighted as a result of Covid-19 where the danger of virus transmission during routine dental procedures such as fillings, has had an enormous impact on the provision of dental care. According to the British Dental Association (BDA), there were 19 million fewer dental
appointments in 2020 leading to a dramatic impact on the nation’s oral health and the economic viability of the sector.
Prima Dental Group will be partnering with King’s College London, internationally renowned for its dentistry education, for the 14-month project to develop the technology.
Batten & Allen, a leading designer and manufacturer of high-quality precision stampings and metal pressings, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
Boasting fifty years of rich experience, Batten & Allen was established in 1972 by Alan Batten and Les Allen. It now employs more than 115 people at its Cirencester head office and sells in excess of £16 million a year, supplying precision manufactured products primarily for the electronics industry.
The company undertakes precision stamping, plating and assembly, but perhaps the most impressive fact about Batten & Allen is that it produces around six billion items a year. That’s 20 million a day, 500 million a month – all from its Cirencester facility.
Since 2020 the company has achieved record turnover,. With a global client base, across America, Europe, Central and South America, the Far East, South Africa and Australasia, Batten & Allen exports 85% of its metal stampings.
The company still retains its family ethos and Alan’s son, Shawn, is Chairman of the company. As part of Shawn’s plans to grow the company, 4 years ago he brought in an external CEO – Ian Mackinnon - to lead and develop the business.
Shawn Batten said “I am looking forward to the new Board of Directors driving things forward and developing a strong and exciting business based on the robust foundations developed over the last 50 years”.
Batten & Allen has achieved success by offering technical solutions to its customers including design assistance, prototyping,
high speed production, full testing of products using the latest laser technology and customer end-use testing. It offers customers turnkey solutions including assistance in final assembly.
Ian Mackinnon said
“We have been able to deploy and develop our core skills to many new customer applications over the last 4 years and this has enabled us to significantly increase new business wins both in the UK and internationally. By concentrating on developing our core skills, we expect to further increase our rate of growth in the future”
Batten & Allen has always continued to invest in the future. This has included a major commitment to capital investment, with around £1 million a year, over recent years and Covid-19 didn’t halt that commitment.
During the pandemic, the business invested in a new high technology plating line and two new state-of-the art milling machines. Investment commitments in the next few months include a CNC grinding machine a new high end stamping press and a further high specification plating line.
The business recognises that when you’re selling precision parts, having the right, stateof-the-art equipment is key.
Deploying the latest equipment means the company can consistently improve efficiencies and its engineers can work to even tighter tolerances. Its latest equipment can measure to a micron (one-thousandth of a millimetre), and, in the case of electroplating, to much less than a micron.
Batten & Allen undertakes a substantial amount of research and development, particularly in the plating process department, the part of the manufacturing process where its engineers interact with customers most. Batten & Allen’s team of engineers not only undertake product development but get involved in problem solving for customers too.
The company is always trying to automate and improve, and customers return to Batten & Allen because it consistently manufactures high quality parts with great attention to detail.
With an unrivalled focus on engineering reliability, Batten & Allen insist on providing a responsive and efficient service by having
a true understanding of customers’ needs. With a world class quality management system supported by the very latest tooling, measurement and production technology, this helps ensure the required accuracy is always met, along with customers environmental requirements.
Sales Director David Merchant explains ”the investment we are undertaking in equipment, technology and people increases our competitive advantage resulting in finding new customers in the ever-expanding electronics market.”
Batten & Allen understand better than most that it’s the people that work in the business which make the biggest contribution to its ongoing success.
The company values workforce continuity as very important in maintaining and developing its skills base. Batten & Allen has many long-service employees, for example, one employee, Brian Cooper, has achieved an incredible 43 years of service working in the
Precision metal stamping is a widely used manufacturing process which enables the fast and cost-e cient production of a wide variety of precision metal parts needed in many products and industries. Batten & Allen specialises in progression stamping which is a multistage stamping operation.
There is a growing demand for precision metal parts across many industries, from medical to automotive and aerospace. The process o ers a high degree of design flexibility to meet tight tolerances and unique configurations.
toolroom and, in his spare time, supporting his local football team in nearby Poulton.
While the Covid-19 pandemic affected the wider population, Batten & Allen continued throughout.
Around 70 per cent of its staff live in, or close to Cirencester, and more than half are engineers, with the rest undertaking essential critical support roles that keeps the company successful.
However, Batten & Allen also knows that a successful future lies in the hands of the next generation and it actively supports apprenticeships. In fact, two of its four Board members are former apprentices, and they recognise that offering apprenticeships is key to its ongoing and future success.
In 2022, the company is planning to work more closely with local schools, boosting its work experience opportunities and running open days to welcome the local community into the business.
For CEO Ian Mackinnon and Finance Director David Legg, it’s all about ensuring we maintain a team of well trained, enthusiastic and motivated people who are willing to go the extra mile in continuing the development of the company and ensuring we can look forward positively to the next 50 years.
batten-allen.com
Chairman, Shawn Batten and CEO, Ian MackinnonElectric flight will create a greener, quieter and more economical way to move people and things
Electric power and propulsion have the potential to revolutionise aviation, and electric flight is seen as an essential milestone on the road – or flightpath – to a low-carbon, low emission future.
From passenger and freight carriage to parcel delivery, companies across the Business & Innovation Magazine region have been playing their part in creating greener, quieter, and more economical forms of air travel.
Bristol-based aerospace giant Rolls-Royce has “smashed” the fastest all-electric flight world record in the skies above Wiltshire.
Its battery-powered Spirit of Innovation plane reached 345.4mph over three kilometres after taking off from the Ministry of Defence’s Boscombe Down – smashing the previous record by 132mph.
The Rolls Royce team was supported by Cheltenham aviation energy storage specialist Electroflight, and a team at WMG (Warwick Manufacturing Group), University of Warwick.
Rolls Royce said the plane also broke the record for 15 kilometres, achieving 330 mph, and for the fastest ascent to 3,000 metres in 202 seconds – breaking the previous record by exactly a minute.
During its record-breaking runs, the aircraft clocked up a maximum speed of 387.4 mph – which makes the Spirit of Innovation the world’s fastest all-electric vehicle.
Using facilities at WMG’s Energy Innovation Centre, researchers supported the team through the development process, conducting electrical, thermal, safety, and vibration and shock testing.
This was delivered all the way from Electroflight’s initial single lithium-ion cell selection through to the battery module and finally the battery pack for a full propulsion battery system.
Rolls-Royce CEO Warren East said: “Staking the claim for the all-electric worldspeed record is a fantastic achievement.
“The advanced battery and propulsion technology developed for this programme has exciting applications for the advanced air mobility market.”
WMG chief engineer, Mark Amor-Segan, said: “It’s incredibly exciting to see RollsRoyce’s ‘Spirit of Innovation’ awarded two new world records and officially be titled the world’s fastest all-electric aircraft.
"It has been a tremendous journey to share with Electroflight, to help create the most power-dense propulsion battery ever for aerospace."
Douglas Campbell, technical director of Electroflight said: “This has been a landmark project for our company and our industry – one which opens up a world of possibilities in the electrification of aviation. We’re thrilled to have played such an important part in this success.”
ZeroAvia, the Gloucestershire company developing hydrogenelectric aircraft has secured a further $35 million to help develop its zero-emission powertrain system for regional aviation.
New investors Alaska Airlines and United Airlines have joined Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, AP Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Horizons Ventures, Summa Equity and Shell Ventures in the round.
The company’s agreement with United anticipates an order for 50 of ZeroAvia’s ZA2000-RJ engines, with an option for 50 more.
ZeroAvia, which is based at Kemble Airport and Hollister, California, says it is on track to achieve commercialisation for its hydrogen propulsion technology in 2024.
Initially, the company is targeting a 500-mile range 10 to 20 seat aircraft for commercial passenger transport, package delivery and agriculture.
The latest funding round targets the next segment of 40 to 80-seat aircraft, then turboprops by 2026 and regional jets by 2028.
Val Miftakhov, CEO and founder of ZeroAvia, said: "As we prepare for ground and flight testing of our first commercial product in the coming weeks, this backing by our investors will enable us to accelerate delivery of our engine for larger aircraft.”
Bristol zero emissions aerospace and technology company Vertical Aerospace is to co-operate with global infrastructure company Ferrovial, on creating a network of 25 vertiports across the UK.
Vertiports are sites that enable the take-o , landing and recharging of electric vertical take-o and landing (“eVTOL”) aircraft, and will o er e cient travel across the UK.
The move will allow Vertical’s piloted four passenger aircraft, the VA-X4, to operate from these sites for the proposed launch of its UK services with Virgin Atlantic.
Vertical says that passengers arriving at Heathrow for example could take the VA-X4 to Cambridge from the airport in just 28 minutes.
Ferrovial, which operates 33 airports around the world, including in the UK being a shareholder of Heathrow, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Southampton airports, will bring its operational capabilities, design expertise and investment strength to building a UK network of vertiports.
Vertical, founded by Ovo Energy founder Stephen FitzPatrick, designs and manufactures and manages the aftersales of its VA-X4.
A new company spun out of Oxford-based Yasa last year is manufacturing electric motors and power electronics for aerospace.
Evolito is now based on the same industrial park as Yasa at Kidlington.
Yasa was acquired by Mercedes-Benz last year to exclusively commercialise Yasa’s next-generation electric motor technology and IP for the aerospace market.
Evolito says its electric motors "look set to take off in aerospace where Yasa left off in automotive".
The business’s 'axial-flux' motor technology – used in Rolls Royce's Spirit of Innovation (see main story) – has even greater advantages in the aerospace market, and Evolito says it is uniquely positioned to drive forward the commercialisation and adoption of electric flight.
Evolito’s ultra-high-performance, low-weight axial-flux motors and power electronics are smaller, lighter and more robust than competing technology, opening up a range of new opportunities for Electric Vertical Take-off and Landing (eVTOL), fixed wing and distributed electric propulsion applications such as Urban Air Mobility.
Solihull-based GKN Aerospace is teaming up with Sweden’s Royal Institute of Technology to develop an electric fan thruster for a programme called EleFanT.
The partners say the propulsion system could provide sufficient power for a small regional airliner.
The 18-month project will focus on the aerodynamic design, performance, noise, and manufacturing technology required for a new ducted fan.
The project will also determine whether the electric power should be based on batteries, hydrogen fuel cells, or some sort of hybrid propulsion powertrain.
Blythe Valley Park-based GKN says a ducted fan will be quieter and safer than a conventional propeller powerplant for a regional airliner.
"We are very positive about this initiative, which helps us to become part of the solution to aviation's climate challenge," said Henrik Runnemalm, vice-president of the GKN Aerospace Global Technology Centre in Trollhättan, Sweden.
Love it or hate it, whatever your views of working from home, increasing numbers of companies and staff are saying it’s time to get back into the office.
While we might not have missed the commute itself, millions of us have missed getting dressed for work, the camaraderie and collaboration –the water-cooler moment which sparks a creative idea. They’re just not the same over Zoom.
But there’s no doubt that an equal number of us don’t want to go in full time, so companies are having to work much harder, and spend money, to ensure that their staff ’s working environment is attractive, comfortable, inspiring – and supports their mental health.
Many are ditching the desks and
dedicating expensive office space to open kitchens, bar, or yoga studios and theatres.
Others going even further, offering “sleep pods” for powernaps. If this sounds too indulgent, look at it this way: they can be used for mindfulness medication, or a 10-minute time-out for staff to gather their thoughts for an important meeting.
What we’ve all realised over the last two years is that many of the offices of yesterday are just not going to be fit for purpose for the new generation of office workers, who demand environments which offer both stimulation and relaxation in equal measure.
Using space as flexible working areas encourages collaboration, creativity and the impromptu exchanges of information and ideas.
Just as importantly, with the current recruitment challenges, most sectors are facing, it’s going to offer a more attractive proposition to potential and current employees, making it easier for businesses to recruit and retain staff.
Joe Roberts, director at Roberts Limbrick, said: “In a world where hybrid working has become the norm, now is the perfect opportunity to re-evaluate your office space. Flexible spaces mean that you can support different styles of working, leading to a happy and productive team. We now accept that people can work anywhere, but a collaborative, supportive and inspiring atmosphere will encourage staff to return to the office.”
We celebrate some of the most inspiring offices from across the region.
More companies are spending big on making workplaces somewhere we all want to be
Reclaimed pallet-clad walls, sustainably-sourced fabric seats and tables made from recycled yoghurt pots are some of the eco-friendly features at Shakespeare Martineau’s revamped office hub in Stratfordupon-Avon.
The space is the first in Shakespeare Martineau’s property portfolio to undergo a major makeover to reflect new ways of working.
On the outside, cyber security company Titania’s head office is an unremarkable 1960s office building. Inside it’s a cool space where collaborative working is encouraged. The top floor of the building, which has views across the historic city of Worcester, offers an open plan kitchen, games room (with a sound system hidden in a life-sized Dalek) and squashy sofas.
International cosmetic brand creator and owner SLG Brands opened its new offices in Cheltenham in 2019. CEO Miles Dunkley said: “A company like ours thrives on creativity. If you can immerse your staff in a sense of design, style and cool, then your creative ideology naturally embeds. It’s an investment in our brand values. And it’s not just our staff. Customers, suppliers, associates – all who visit us feel it too.”
“A company like ours thrives on creativity.
If you can immerse your sta in a sense of design, style and cool, then your creative ideology naturally embeds.SLG Beauty
The world’s largest cookware manufacturer recently opened its new office space on the first floor of the Botanica Building, Ditton Park. It now offers four bespoke kitchen areas that provide meeting and demonstration areas, an in-house media capability and a presentation zone that can be reconfigured for events and training.
Sometimes, it’s not all about the interior, but the space outside as well. CyberCX, a cyber security services company operates from a former farm which has been converted into offices by the Blenheim Estate. The offices have unique features but the icing on the cake is its garden, and a back gate giving access to the Blenheim Estate grounds offering an amazing lunchtime walk or run.
Set in Gloucester's iconic Carriage Building, the architects' offices use period features while providing a modern, flexible working space. Responding to the changes in the way people work, they recently transformed the office into a destination: a place where people would want to work and feel productive and inspired. They achieved this by creating social areas, quiet spaces and collaborative bench-desking.
It now o ers four bespoke kitchen areas that provide meeting and demonstration areas ...
Purdicom is a wireless, cloud and security distributor which has offices in the heart of the South Oxfordshire countryside in a series of beautifully converted barns. Everything is provided for a comfortable working environment. The company says: “Our employees have everything they need to produce their best possible work every day.”
Logistics software company Vigo wanted its staff to be inspired and to be able to tell other people how cool it is to work at Vigo. They’ve certainly succeeded.
Who doesn’t want a treehouse in their o ces? Ovo Energy’s Bristol o ce is a ‘living jungle’. There are trees in the main area, 500 balcony plants and more standing plants. And you can have meetings in the treehouse, too – how cool is that?
Psychedelic images greet visitors to Buick Mackane, a recently opened canal-side co-working space in Newbury. The space is named after a song by Marc Bolan of 1970s rock band T Rex, and the colourful murals and pictures that adorn the walls of the office are inspired by his music.
Recent years haven’t been kind to our offices. Creating a shift greater than the industrial revolution, COVID-19 has turned our work culture upside down, changing corporate philosophy forever. But what does this mean for ‘The new normal’?
David Jackson (CNIDP CTPM) Managing Director of The Cabling Company based in Witney looks at the future of the office.
According to the dictionary, it’s “A room, set of rooms, or building used as a place for commercial, professional, or bureaucratic work.” But in today’s climate, the office needs an update as much as the definition.
Employers were previously required to provide spaces to work and just that. But after the biggest cultural shift of our lifetime, these spaces received criticism for their inability to acclimate to our post-pandemic economy.
They now need to accommodate new operational and environmental demands if they aim to achieve a successful return to the workplace.
COVID-19 remains a disruptive force for businesses, as many are making permanent changes to workspaces to keep their people safe, healthy, and happy.
But although ‘WFM’ is still in full effect, the office is far from over. It’s no longer a case of staying at home or working from the office; both form an admissible hybrid, forming a new work culture that is both facilitated and fuelled by technology and IoT.
Over the years, we have developed a passion for providing smarter fit-outs and maximising clients’ real-estate footprints. We create long term relationships with businesses to align our solutions with their work culture because we believe a business’ office should drive mutual benefits for owners and employees.
From increasing sustainability to nurturing team synergy, we encountered 5 main factors our customers prioritised when future-proofing their offices…
The pandemic increased demand for video conferencing and remote working, which
has continued to renew its popularity. Some businesses have stayed ahead of the curve by linking HQs to remote workers; maintaining connectivity without compromise through bespoke, business-wide audiovisual solutions.
Facilitating seamless connectivity allows the business to act as one, despite logistical factors. However, most are realising their current infrastructure can no longer cope with the challenges created by rapid upscaling.
What does this mean? Connectivity will be the key to the future of flexible working.
Cloud applications and bandwidth-hungry devices demand the best from their network, and simple plug and play solutions won’t suffice for even the smallest of infrastructures. The remedy is a network that evolves with the needs and demands of a growing business to ensure reliability now and in the future.
Providing seamless UX and fostering relationships is an equally important part of cultivating social capital. Building a healthy relationship between your business and key external stakeholders is essential for future growth, and the best way to capitalise on this is to ensure your fit-out embodies your culture.
Meeting suites host the initial insight into your business, and there are no second chances for creating a good first impression. Consider how your efforts to stay ahead of the digital curve are perceived by your clients, and how this impacts the value of partnering with your business. You need to embrace change if you want to remain competitive.
As well as clients, the office needs to entice employees back and encourage productive work cultures to pass on to new employees. While this factor of social capital is heavily determined by relationships, your physical environment plays a strong role in its development.
Layouts should be designed with the aim of ‘de-densifying’ space and eliminating technical ‘bumps’ like coverage black spots, removing the tethers that previously bound us to static desks and adopting flexibility in-house helps facilitate the fluidity needed for greater organic productivity.
Social capital is an invaluable commodity for maintaining a high performing workforce, and designing your office around this demonstrates your prioritisation of employee wellbeing. After all, the purpose of the office isn’t solely to facilitate productivity, but to also forge teamwork.
Team synergy has never been so critical and should be adopted in your design by bringing colleagues closer through more inclusive work opportunities and physically establishing the boundaries of a healthy work/life balance.
As well as investing in your team, sustainability should be a long-term goal for any forward-thinking business. Your designs should incorporate smart building initiatives- not only as a response to the pandemic, but also as part of an ongoing long-term strategy.
Sustainability comes with efficiencies, which drive cost savings and with that, the possibility for reinvestment and translation into direct stakeholder benefits.
However, current legacy systems are quickly becoming the main burden for evolving businesses, as they’re incapable of meeting demand and risk significant operational downtime. To achieve savings in power and space, datacentre design is being influenced by the need for long term economical sustainability.
It may seem daunting to overhaul a system that has been unchanged for decades, but times are changed and show no signs of slowing down.
Regardless of size or sector, businesses are run by people, for people and the new workplace should reflect that. Made easier by the incorporation of IT solutions, applications are now able to work with people and not just for them.
For us, the office is the physical heart, soul, and nervous system of a business. When you remove it, what is left to help grow your company culture?
Meeting suites host the initial insight into your business, and there are no second chances for creating a good first impression. Consider how your efforts to stay ahead of the digital curve are perceived by your clients, and how this impacts the value of partnering with your business.
More than 1.7 sq ft of office space was transacted last year across the South West, signalling that office take-up was back to its 2019 pre-pandemic level and tracking just above the five year average.
That’s according to commercial property agents Alder King.
The star performer was the Bristol city centre market where Q4 take-up last year reached 250,000 sq ft, its second highest single quarter level since 2016, beaten only by Q4 2019. Gloucester also recorded increased take-up, with a number of locations there setting new headline rents.
“The recovery reflects a growing acknowledgement of the benefits of office working, from social interaction and collaboration, community and training,” said Simon Price, Alder King’s head of agency.
“Many firms have adopted at least a shortterm move to hybrid working over the last two years but are expecting more staff to return to the office at least part-time this year as restrictions are lifted. They are also reducing the size of their accommodation but trading up in quality.”
“By far the most noticeable trend in the office market is the increased focus by developers, investors and occupiers on employee wellbeing and building sustainability, brought about in part by the pandemic but also last year’s COP26.”
According to real estate adviser Avison Young, in Bristol, the BBC’s commitment to the city was a headline deal.
The city continues to see an increased demand for flexible workspace providers, with both Runway East and DeskLodge taking space in 2021.
Demand for Grade A space continues to be relatively robust, with the secondhand letting environment seeing a greater impact.
There is continued development appetite with several schemes on site, including CEG’s 184,000 sq ft EQ, the 200,000 sq ft Wellcome building and the next 120,000 sq ft phase of Assembly,
In addition, the comprehensive refurbishments of Tower House and the Crescent Centre are due to come to market in 2022.
Commercial property agents Bromwich Hardy say “doommerchants” are wrong to write off the strength of the office market.
Tom Bromwich said: “The pandemic has dominated all markets over the past two years. It continues to change the way many companies do business – with all the knock-on effects that has for the office market – and looks likely to remain a presence for some time to come.
“We’ll wait to see exactly how the office market develops – but the initial evidence suggests that the doom-merchants who predicted its imminent collapse will be proven wrong.
“Demand for high-quality accommodation remains strong with companies continuing to seek a physical home for their businesses despite the rise in remote and hybrid working. We remain optimistic that as the pandemic recedes, the office market will respond with some strength, with a particular focus on high-quality refurbishments.”
Not as much as you might think, and developers are getting creative to attract new occupiers
“Don’t write o the o ce market” says Warwickshire commercial agentAre companies abandoning their city centre o ce space?
Work on the £6.8 million flagship scheme in Cheltenham town centre, known as the Minster Innovation Exchange, is nearing completion.
The innovative modular construction 20,000 sq ft scheme will offer flexible workspaces, a 300-person capacity performance arena, cafe, community and education space.
Stroud-based green energy supplier Ecotricity has revisited plans for its long-awaited eco- park development alongside the new wooden stadium it plans to build for football club Forest Green Rovers, next to Junction 13 of the M5 motorway in Gloucestershire.
The revisited plan includes the all-wooden 5,000 seat football stadium and the use of land on both sides of the A419 to include a green tech business park. The site will feature 38,000 sq metres of o ce space and 18,000 sq metres of industrial space, designed to host companies working in the zero-carbon economy.
The Minster Exchange will provide modern workspace for the cyber tech, digital and creative sectors, a Growth Hub to support business development.
But the modular design has caused some comment from locals, with a few not liking the urban appearance of the buildings next to the Minster, the town’s only remaining medieval structure.
Oxford-based games developer Rebellion has received an eightfigure funding package from HSBC to scale up and open bigger headquarters.
The company is purchasing a new HQ in Oxford – the former Osney Mead o ce of publishers Newsquest, which is more than twice the size of its current main o ce. The funding will also support the expansion of the game developer's Didcot studios.
The new five-acre site will more than double the size of its current space, taking it to 217,800 sq ft.
Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley said: "The new site in Oxford will allow us to continue to hire additional sta , as well as providing increased space for our o ces and creative studios.
"The funding has also allowed us to remain agile and invest in new technology, as we work within an industry that is constantly evolving. Creativity is at the heart of what we do and the support from HSBC UK has given us the freedom to continue to champion this."
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Salus Cyber has taken new o ces at Eagle Tower, Cheltenham. The company has secured 710 sq ft of o ce space in Eagle Tower on the 5th floor with views over Cheltenham College.
Salus Cyber was founded in 2017 and now has a team of 12.
Chief Executive O cer, Jason Kalwa, said: “We feel Eagle Tower facilitates growth and an opportunity to network. As a landmark of Cheltenham, we felt it was a symbolic place to HQ our business moving forwards”.
Eagle Tower is Cheltenham’s only tower block, which was constructed in 1969 for its original tenant Eagle Star Insurance. It was bought by its current owner, successful property development veteran Mel Gri n, in 2003.
A landmark office building in Coventry is undergoing a £9 million refurbishment.
IM Properties will relaunch Sherbourne House, a six storey, 90,330 sq ft building as ‘Bourn’ after an extensive rethink around its functionality as a workspace and destination.
Aiming for completion this summer, the new Grade A, high specification offices will offer wellbeing, and smart technology
Employment services company Seetec Pluss has moved into bigger office premises in Redditch.
Ben Truslove, joint managing director of John Truslove, sealed the deal for the company to take 1,852 sq ft of office space in Suite 12 of the prominent six-storey Grosvenor House, on Prospect Hill.
Seetec Pluss is set to support more than 11,000 people into sustainable employment under the new Restart Scheme over the next four years at a new Redditch site.
Grosvenor House currently houses 15 tenants, ranging from travel agents to software specialists and training companies. The landlord is Loxton Developments Ltd, which owns eight office blocks, including three in Redditch.
Mark Roberts, owner and managing director of Loxton Developments, said: “This is the most prestigious office block in Redditch town centre, and we’re pleased to welcome Seetec Pluss”
Ben Truslove said: “Worcestershire’s office market is proving highly resilient, particularly in the SME market, where there is healthy demand and continued evidence of a move to the country from densely populated areas including Birmingham City Centre.
“With the growing return to office working, whether hybrid or fully in the office, there is steady demand for good quality stock, particularly in and around Redditch, Bromsgrove and Droitwich, where there is good access to the national motorway network.
to boost a sense of community.
Rob Hemus, asset director for IM Properties said: “As well as being Net Zero Ready and targeting a BREEAM Very Good rating, its core values will encourage and support behaviours which are good for its people, the place and the planet.”
CBRE and Bromwich Hardy are acting as agents on Bourn.
“High speed broadband, and EV charging facilities are on the shopping list, with those undertaking renovations and refurbishments of existing office stock seeing the keenest demand.”
Another significant lettings in recent months, was tax consultants Clay Knox taking a further 6,000 sq ft floorplate at St John’s House in Bromsgrove.
140 Eastern Avenue at Milton Park is currently being transformed into Oxfordshire’s largest collaborative workspace: the Bee House and work is nearing completion.
A total of 51 office suites will range from 100 sq ft to 3,000 sq ft along with The Hive café with kitchen facilities, business lounge, meeting and exhibition space and a 150-seat conference space, cycle parking, shower facilities and electric vehicle charging points.
Once completed, the Bee House is expected to provide capacity for around 550 people.
Global consultancy EY is relocating to new o ce space in Reading designed for the firm’s new hybrid working model.
EY is moving to R+ on Blagrave Street which keeps the firm’s location in Reading city centre, close to key transport links. It will provide more areas for collaboration and techenabled meeting rooms, along with workstations, team areas and informal seating.
Last year, EY said it would be transitioning to a hybrid working model in the UK, enabling individuals to split their time between the o ce, client sites, or working from home. This builds on the firm’s current
The environmental credentials of the building, which will be rated BREEAM Excellent, will include a planting scheme to include wildflowers and multi-stemmed trees and planting to attract bees and bench seating for outdoor meetings. The building will also be powered by a workspace app meaning that the space will be efficient to use both in terms of booking refreshments, rooms and space and controlling light and heating.
The Bee House is part of Milton Park’s pioneering masterplan for how the park will sustainably grow to create 10,000 new high value science and technology jobs and respond effectively to the climate emergency.
Philip Campbell, MEPC commercial director, Milton Park said: “By significantly refurbishing an outdated building, we are able to provide co-working memberships and small to medium office space with short term flexible licences for the offices. With our Innovation Centre as full as it can be and the way in which we all work changing, we are seeing strong demand from people looking for a new way to work.
“The name for the Bee House derives from it being Milton Park’s spirit animal as a worker which thrives as part of a community and is important to the environment.”
Breakthrough Properties, a leading global developer of life sciences real estate backed by a joint venture of American commercial estate company Tishman Speyer and Bellco Capital, has bought the 1.7 acre Trinity House site in Oxford.
culture of flexible working, which had been in place for many years prior to the pandemic.
EY has signed an initial five-year lease on the 25,000 sq ft of o ce accommodation, which is located over two floors, and expects to move in by the Spring.
Located at the gateway of the 88-acre Oxford Business Park, Breakthrough will build a Class A office and lab environment within one of the UK’s fastest growing life sciences clusters.
Dan Belldegrun, CEO of Breakthrough Properties, said: “Oxford has long enjoyed the highest calibre academic research and talent driving innovation and discovery. What has been lacking is the life science infrastructure and ecosystems to properly support that growth.”
Global engineering and consultancy firm, Arup, is taking the entire 27,377 sq ft second floor of CEG’s EQ development at 111 Victoria Street, Bristol on a ten-year lease.
The development is Bristol's first new build office to commit to deliver Net Zero Carbon in Operation in accordance with the UK Green Building Council’s framework approach, says CEG (formerly Commercial Estates Management).
Austin Smith, Arup’s Bristol Office Leader, said: “Our decision to move to EQ underlines our commitment to Bristol city centre, which has been our home in the South West for more than 45 years. EQ’s balance of public, private, and shared
spaces, along with the capacity to bring all our people together on a single floor, complements our creative, collaborative, and flexible approach to our work.
EQ is a 200,000 sq ft office development being built in Bristol. When construction began a year ago, it was the largest speculative development underway in the south of England. Completion is anticipated in the first quarter of next year.
At the heart of EQ, the developers are building an auditorium to help bring people together, along with a rooftop lounge offering a 3,864 sq ft working environment for tenants during the day. In the evening this space will transform into a restaurant and bar.
A £1.1 million project to convert a former pub in Coventry city centre into a 5G digital space for the Belgrade Theatre will o cially open this month.
Regeneration specialist Complex Development Projects secured planning permission in spring last year to convert the premises of the un-used Jaguar Pub on Corporation Street into an immersive digital space for
Wates Construction has relocated to Newbury from its old site at Basingstoke.
The new office is the first Wates has opened since the start of the pandemic and has been designed to accommodate post pandemic working, after it became one of the first construction companies to support flexible working across its entire business last year. The building features several breakout spaces for wellbeing, including a golf putting green.
Its innovative biophilic design – a concept aimed at increasing occupant connectivity to the natural environment by using natural conditions such as green and open spaces – is similar to the concept launched at Wates’ headquarters in Leatherhead last year. The design supports employee mental health and creates a dynamic space where people will want to return to offices. In line with Wates’ target to achieve zero waste and carbon by 2025, all furniture from the old office has been recycled using Recycled Office Solutions.
The relocation will support Wates in the delivery of major projects in the South West, including Project Brunel, an office building in Bristol’s rapidly growing Temple Quarter, as well as a new data hall at Ajax Avenue in Slough, and the redevelopment of several schools in the Thames Valley area for the Department for Education.
the nearby Belgrade Theatre with two apartments for visiting performers.
The legacy project from Coventry’s year as UK City of Culture involves creating a shared working space where visitors can borrow or plug-in their own computers to access Wi-Fi to develop their own streaming content.
The project is a partnership with
Coventry City Council which has provided funding through the Cultural Capital Investment Fund as part of UK City of Culture. It has been delivered by CDP for the Belgrade Theatre on a pro bono basis to support the theatre. CDP acquired the long leasehold property in 2017 and have funded and delivered the conversion whilst the grant funding has been put in place.
Energy tech start-ups find it nearly 200 per cent harder to move to the development stage than tech start-ups in other sectors.
That’s according to a 2022 report by Harwell Campus and Tech Nation which suggests nearly half of UK energy tech companies are still at the seed stage.
The report highlighted the unprecedented growth in global investment in the energy tech sector in 2021 – up 36 per cent to £1.5 billion in 2021: more than Germany, France and the Netherlands combined, and second only to Sweden in Europe.
However, the report called for an increase in later-stage investment and clustering to boost the confidence of investors towards green long-term projects.
The report identified that clustering organisations together provides opportunities for cross-fertilisation to occur organically, which, when combined with the right infrastructure, will provide the confidence for investors to support
sustainable long-term projects that solve societal problems.
In the energy tech sector, this will lead to scaled energy technologies, allow energy tech firms to reach later growth stages and will position the UK as a global hub for net zero technologies.
The 950 UK energy tech organisations that are clustered largely in Oxfordshire – like Harwell’s Energy Tech Cluster – are fundamental in helping energy providers develop net zero technologies across a wide range of sectors, including renewables, battery research, zero carbon energy storage, zero carbon fuels, integrated energy systems, connected and autonomous travel solutions, and digital and data services.
Gerard Grech, founding CEO at Tech Nation said: "Failure to secure later stage investment is too common for scaling energy tech companies because of the inherent complexity of moving advances from the lab into the energy grid.”
Gloucester waste management firm Printwaste is urging businesses to think carefully about using misleading green credentials, warning that they could soon face a clampdown by industry watchdogs on making spurious claims.
Greenwashing is the practice of overexaggerating or even faking claims concerning environmental, social and governance (ESG) efforts as a marketing ploy to win greater favour from consumers and investors. Industries and organisations face increasing pressure to reduce their environmental impact and cut carbon emissions. Stakeholders and campaigners now have different expectations on businesses and want to see their sustainability claims backed up.
A fleet of 130 zero-emission doubledecker buses will be introduced next year as part of a £140 million project to make Coventry the UK’s first all-electric bus city.
Last year Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), which is part of the West Midlands Combined Authority, secured £50 million funding from the Department of Transport to ensure every bus in Coventry is zero-emission.
Now under a deal with TfWM, National Express Coventry is making an additional multimillionpound investment into the AllElectric Bus City project with the purchase of the 130 buses. The company is set to order further vehicles at a later date.
According to TfWM, similar agreements with other bus companies and those running subsidised services are likely to follow, with the aim of putting up to 300 electric buses on the streets of Coventry, guaranteeing an allelectric fleet by 2025.
In addition to new vehicles, TfWM is also working with Coventry City Council to create the necessary charging infrastructure to power the new buses.
This will include upgrades to bus depots and charging points at Pool Meadow Bus Station in the city.
David Bradford, managing director of National Express Bus, said: “Ten of our existing electric doubledecker buses have already driven over 850,000 miles and saved 1,400 tonnes of carbon dioxide from going out into the atmosphere. Hundreds more of these zeroemission buses are now on their way. It is really great news for Coventry."
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