The Business Magazine South West & West Midlands - Issue 32 July 2023

south west, west midlands & oxfordshire

INSIDE:

FLY HIGH TECHNOLOGY TAKES OFF

LIFE SCIENCES SPECIAL NEED TO KNOW: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

THE FUTURE OF OUR TOWNS & CITIES

AMBITIOUS LEADERS

Skills

Deals

International

Cyber & IT

Science & Technology

Manufacturing

Real Estate and Construction

WE’RE INSPIRED BY SUCCESS, AND POWERED BY KNOWLEDGE

This issue is packed full of inspiration, so pack it in your holiday suitcase and take your time reading our stories of success from amazing business people who unashamedly do things their way. Move over Frank Sinatra.

From the maximalist TV celebrity (and more business savvy than he might want us to think) Laurence LlewelynBowen to the Arkell’s brothers who are propelling their gorgeous, historic Wiltshire family brewery into its 181st year. Then there’s Dr Rajarshi Banerjee (known to almost everyone as Banjo), who is pioneering AI-driven imaging to improve medical diagnosis with his Oxfordshire business Perspectum, and Steve Butterworth who, along with Zoe Colosimo, is helping the UK’s biggest companies give more efficiently to good local causes through their technology platform Neighbourly. We also meet Andy Collop who is leading one of the UK’s most forward-thinking sports and agricultural universities and colleges.

Our front cover feature is Technology Takes Off. Feel guilty about flying? Well don’t beat yourself up. UK aviation can grow and meet its commitment to net zero carbon emissions by 2050, say experts, thanks to advances in sustainable aviation technology, with some innovative companies across the region determined to make it happen.

Our second feature is on life sciences, one of the most valuable economic sectors in the UK which can help dig us out of our economic gloom as well as saving lives – if we keep investing.

Elsewhere in the magazine are stories of success, a few admissions of temporary failure, but everywhere there’s determination and dedication.

Zero-emission flight won’t happen overnight, nor the burden of disease disappear fast, but as the 15th century Coventry-born and Oxford-educated poet and writer John Heywood said: “Rome wasn’t built in a day”, and more pertinently, he wrote a second bit that mostly gets forgotten “… but they were laying bricks every hour”.

So let’s all lay bricks. Success is built on firm foundations.

Nicky Godding Editor

Kirsty Muir Head of Print and Advertising

This issue is jam-packed with interviews… because there’s nothing more inspiring than reading about people who’ve boldly gone and done it already

... in the magazine are dozens of stories of success, a few admissions of temporary failure, but everywhere there’s determination and dedication

KALEB COOPER LAUNCHES NEW AGRICULTURAL BURSARY AT ROYAL AG UNIVERSITY

Kaleb Cooper, the young farming contractor who shot to fame after appearing alongside Jeremy Clarkson on Amazon Prime’s Clarkson’s Farm, has joined forces with the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) in Cirencester to launch a bursary for those wanting a career in agriculture.

Self-made entrepreneur and farm contractor, Kaleb has been working in and around farms since he was young and is a passionate supporter of UK agriculture.

He said: “Farming is who I am. I feel lucky that I knew my path from an early age and want to help spread that passion.

“Launching this bursary means so much, as it can support students who want to follow an agricultural career or who might be struggling to get into farming.”

The annual bursary will provide £3,000 to support an agricultural student and a work placement with Kaleb himself, or one of

his industry partners (we bet they’d rather work with Kaleb).

Open to RAU undergraduates living in the UK, the bursary will open for applications in September with the first student receiving their award in early 2024.

RAU Vice-Chancellor, Professor Peter McCaffery, said: “We are delighted that Kaleb has chosen to support RAU students through this bursary. His passion for farming comes through loud and clear in his appearances on Clarkson’s Farm and he has definitely helped bring farming and agriculture even more into the public eye.”

Kaleb is hoping for applicants who, like him, have a genuine interest in agriculture. He is keen to encourage applicants who are not from a farming or agricultural background and those who can demonstrate hardship or financial need.

Kaleb added: “Having come from a non-farming background myself, I believe agriculture can be for anybody. I know there’s so much potential for young people to have brilliant careers in agriculture. It should be open to all and if you have financial difficulties or you’re completely new to farming, please do apply.”

“Launching this bursary means so much, as it can support students who want to follow an agricultural career or who might be struggling to get into farming”

Kaleb Cooper with students at the Royal Agricultural University

Former IKEA building in Coventry to become cultural centre

The former IKEA building in Coventry, which closed in 2020, is to become a cultural hub for the city after planning permission was given for the redevelopment.

Now known as the City Centre Cultural Gateway, the new building will provide a new home for nationally-recognised collections and include a space for new research facilities.

The Coventry City Council-led project

will be delivered in three phases, and existing partners include CVLife, which aims to improve the city’s sports, culture and leisure provision, Arts Council England, the British Council, Arts Council Collection and Coventry University.

Phase one will see part of the building become a collections centre of national significance where the project partners will house their collections.

For phase two, Coventry University will

transform floors five and six into a cultural hub, offering teaching areas, research space and attractions.

Phase three will allow the council to enclose the internal car parks and explore alternative uses for the new space created.

Councillor David Welsh, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities at Coventry City Council, said: “This visionary project will provide a dynamic and inclusive cultural hub for our city.

“Not only will it elevate Coventry's cultural landscape, but will also reinforce our city's position as a vibrant cultural destination.”

Matthew Burl, director at architectural design company Buttress, which worked on the project, added: “We have worked extensively with all stakeholders to redesign the building to be more inviting and accessible, creating a new identity, easily recognisable as a cultural asset.”

The works will start at the end of this year with plans to open in 2025.

Could the South West become home to a major battery factory?

The government is said to be in serious talks with Tata, the Indian owners of Warwickshire-based Jaguar Land Rover, to build a gigafactory on a former Royal Ordnance site near Bristol.

According to reports, the Treasury has developed a multi-million-pound package of incentives to encourage Tata to invest in a gigafactory in the UK rather than Spain, it's other preferred location.

The location, an as-yet-to-be-built business park named Gravity by its owners, is located just off Junction 23 of the M5, on the former Royal Ordnance Factory, which was finally closed by BAE Systems (which bought it from the government in the 1990s).

BAE Systems sold the 616-acre site to merchant bank Salamanca Group in

2017 which has plans to develop it into a business park.

If the talks between the government and Tata are successful, up to 9,000 jobs would be created. West of England Metro Mayor, Dan Norris, said swift action is needed to seal the deal.

A potential gigafactory in Somerset is also well located. It's close to Bristol Port, the M4 and M5.

Over the next decade, the automotive industry will go through the most fundamental transformation since its creation – and the UK risks falling behind according to The UK's Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

In its Full Throttle Report, The SMMT said "In principle, the UK’s engineering heritage and strengths in digital and

technology position it well for a relative advantage in the future automotive industry. However, without underlying base facilities such as domestic battery production and an electrified supply chain in the UK, industry could easily underperform its potential – there is already a growing gap with less generous subsidy support in the UK compared to other destinations for investment."

It recommends that the UK needs to build 60 GWh of gigafactory supply by 2030, ensuring the country has ample battery supply to maintain current production volume, and offers significantly more generous incentives for business investment. Under this scenario, GVA and jobs return to a trajectory of steady growth. That would support the annual assembly of one million new cars, below today’s 1.3m capacity.

A CGI of the how the repurposed IKEA building in Coventry could look

NOW EVEN THE JAGUAR E-TYPE GOES ELECTRIC

Kidlington-based EV company

Electrogenic has converted its first Jaguar E-Type in a move it says shows the versatility of its core product.

The 1962 Series 1 Roadster has been converted to electric using the firm's own EV powertrain kit.

The company says the conversion device can be installed easily by its partner installers and is reversible.

Steve Drummond, Co-Founder of Electrogenic, said: “We’re delighted to reveal the first customer E-Type fitted with our game-changing dropin conversion kit. Thanks to our proprietary EV technology, the E-Type – for many the most beautiful car of all – is now just as good to drive as it is to

REDDITCH LIGHTING MANUFACTURER SECURES AWARD WIN FOR PRODUCT DESIGNED WITH ‘LOCAL SUPPLY CHAINS’ IN MIND

A product manufactured entirely in the Midlands and designed with local supply chains and energy efficiency in mind, has scooped an award win for Energy Efficiency Product of the Year at the Electrical Review & Data Centre Review Excellence Awards.

The winning product, CIRCA, was designed and manufactured by Redditchbased Tamlite Lighting’s in-house product development team.

It was recognised by the judges for its

ability to deliver high levels of efficiency and performance – as well as its low environmental impact design.

CIRCA is a low profile, high-performance circular luminaire for the retail sector. Offering 154 lumens per circuit watt, it is able to deliver impressive energy savings.

It is designed so that the fitting itself can have components replaced rather than replacing the entire luminaire – meaning less manufacturing, less materials used, and less waste. The

look at. Our drop-in kit range preserves this true British design icon for the future, ensuring it can be admired – and enjoyed – by generations to come.”

Electrogenic also offers EV powertrain solutions for the Land Rover, classic Mini, Porsche 911 and Triumph Stag.

luminaire also has lighting control systems to maximise energy efficiency, allowing for daylight dimming and presence detection, as well as emergency options.

Eduardo Oliveira, Tamlite’s Product Development Manager, said:

“This is wonderful news for our team, it demonstrates our leadership in the field of sustainable design. We feel this product marks a real milestone for our industry, and certainly it sits amongst Tamlite’s finest achievements to date.”

The Jaguar E-Type can now be powered by battery

The CIRCA light

TECHNOLOGY TAKES OFF

CAN THE UK’S AEROSPACE SECTOR CUT CARBON EMISSIONS?

UK aviation can grow AND meet its commitment to net zero carbon emissions by 2050, says industry

By Nicky Godding, Editor

The UK’s aerospace sector is a major economic driver for the country and a priority sector for the government. But with the climate change debate raging, should we be jumping on planes as much?

According to research conducted a couple of years ago by the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s RAL Space in Oxfordshire, aviation has contributed approximately four per cent to global warming to date, despite being responsible for only 2.4 per cent of global annual emissions of CO2. And the number of flights we take has increased dramatically in recent decades.

The Civil Aviation Authority revealed that 31.4 million passengers flew in and out of the UK between January and March last year on 292,764 flights.

While this represented a 42 per cent fall in passengers compared to the same period in 2019, before the pandemic, globally passenger traffic is forecast to reach 8.4 billion passengers by the end of this year says IATA, the International Air Transport Association.

The UK’s aerospace industry is also recovering. According to figures published in May by the UK’s trade association for aerospace, defence and space companies, ADS Group, our aerospace sector employs 108,000 people in the UK and supports 5,200 apprentices. Collective business turnover in the industry is now £27 billion with exports accounting for a healthy proportion of the turnover at £18.6 billion.

Can we reduce aviation’s CO2 emissions?

Reducing aviation’s CO2 emissions by introducing bio or synthetic fuels is a start. Carbon emissions will be partially compensated for during the growth of plants used to develop the fuels, or in the extraction of CO2 from the air for the production of synthetic fuels, if renewable energy is used.

The government sees it as a priority sector and companies and entrepreneurs are investing billions of pounds into innovations which will cut carbon emissions to meet the UK’s net zero commitments.

Sustainable Aviation is a collective of major UK airlines, airports, manufacturers, air navigation service providers and others aiming to bring down aerospace emissions. It says that UK aviation can continue to grow while meeting its commitment to net zero carbon emissions by 2050, thanks to advances in sustainable aviation technology already delivered in the UK which will accelerate the industry’s transition to net zero around the world.

The UK is a global leader in sustainable aviation technology, but the industry warns this opportunity is at risk without government support and is calling for an industry-funded price support mechanism to help secure private investment in UK sustainable aviation fuel plants.

A hotbed of aviation innovation

The UK is a hotbed of aviation innovation and has already delivered world firsts. Last November the RAF worked with industry to fly an RAF Voyager military transporter aircraft on 100 per cent sustainable aviation fuel, and in January this year Gloucestershirebased Zeroavia conducted the first successful UK flight of a 19-seater Dornier 228 with one of the two engines running on hydrogen fuel cells.

Later this year, the world’s first net zero transatlantic flight will take off from London to New York – using solely sustainable aviation fuel.

Matt Gorman, Chair at Sustainable Aviation, said: “This is the critical decade where aviation must prove it will decarbonise. Our updated Net Zero Carbon Road Map shows

that we have a credible path to take the carbon out of flying. Through a combination of Sustainable Aviation Fuel, more efficient aircraft and airspace, zero emission planes and carbon removals, we can protect the huge benefits of aviation for future generations without the carbon cost.

“But we’ll do it faster, and create more UK jobs and investment with the right policies, working with government.

“The US and Europe are surging forwards in the race to create new sustainable aviation fuels and technology. The UK has all the natural advantages to join them – but we need to move quickly.”

There is a collective industry voice to get the message across. The West of England Aerospace Forum is one of the largest aerospace and advanced engineering clusters in Europe and more than half of the 300 or so members of the Midlands Aerospace Alliance make flying parts, 40 per cent make equipment for design, testing, manufacturing or provide specialist services.

eVTOL hub trialled in Coventry

Another way of reducing emissions from aviation is by letting drones do some of the work previously carried out by piloted planes.

The agriculture industry uses drones for imagery, data analysis and, in some cases, spraying.

Construction, real estate, search and rescue, energy and utilities and other industries are also increasingly turning to unmanned aerial vehicles, because they’re more efficient, and cost-effective.

Last April, Urban-Air Port, a developer of ground infrastructure for air taxis and autonomous delivery drones, opened “AirOne” in Coventry, a month-long world-first demonstration of a fully-operational hub for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles – such as air taxis – and autonomous cargo drones.

Urban-Air Port’s mission is to remove the largest single constraint to sustainable air mobility – ground infrastructure – to create a zero-emission-mobility ecosystem that will cut congestion and air pollution from passenger and cargo transport.

Urban-Air Port wants to deliver more than 200 vertiports across the world in the next five years, but has not shared any information on where and when these will be built.

The South West and West Midlands are rich in aerospace manufacturing expertise

Some of the leading global aerospace companies are based in the West of England and West Midlands, including Airbus, GKN Aerospace, BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, Leonardo Group and Boeing in Bristol, Dowty Propellers and Safran in Gloucester and Meggitt in Coventry, which was bought by the USA-based Parker Hannafin last year.

Airbus’s sites at Filton and Broughton design, test and manufacture the wings for all Airbus’ A320 family, A330 and A350 commercial aircraft, sustaining more than 8,000 full-time jobs and hundreds of apprenticeships.

GKN Aerospace at Filton near Bristol designs and manufactures structural assemblies, metallic components and systems.

Rolls-Royce has its composite technology hub in Bristol developing fan blades and fan cases to significantly reduce weight in a jet engine, lowering fuel consumption and emissions while its Control Systems division is based near Birmingham.

Boeing Defence UK, closely located to MOD Abbey Wood in Bristol, plays a key role in the significant defence aviation ecosystem that exists in the South West.

The Midlands is home to more than a quarter of the UK’s aerospace industry, with more than 45,000 full-time equivalent jobs.

Last year Meggitt opened its new Ansty Park site at Coventry, bringing together its operations within a world-class aerospace engineering and technology facility.

In May, Moog Aerospace has completed the development of its new £40 million factory at Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire which it will move into later this year.

All these aerospace superstars are supported by hundreds of businesses in the aerospace supply chain employing thousands of people.

THE RACE IS ON

TO BUILD COMMERCIAL SCALE BIO AND SYNTHETIC AIRCRAFT FUEL PLANTS

Supporting the development of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is one of six key measures in the government’s Jet Zero Strategy published last year. That year, 26 million litres of SAF was supplied in the UK and the RAF flew the first wide bodied plane in the world on 100 per cent SAF. Taking off from Brize Norton, the Voyager A330 flew for 90 minutes powered entirely by 100 per cent SAF.

Later this year, Virgin Atlantic is aiming to operate the first net zero transatlantic flight, running on 100 per cent SAF, helped by £1 million in government funding.

Velocys, the Oxford-based sustainable fuels technology company, was awarded up to £27 million in government grants late last year to develop the first commercial scale waste-to-transport-fuels plant in the UK. It has now completed the work necessary to claim the first £7 million tranche.

The Altato project in Lincolnshire, being run in collaboration with British Airways, aims to turn household and office waste into jet fuel.

Converting solids into liquid fuels has been done industrially for decades. Velocys has modified the process for the production of jet fuel and other transport fuel from waste. Its proposed plant will take hundreds of thousands of tonnes per year of household and office waste (including hard-to-recycle plastics) left over after recycling, and convert them into cleaner burning, sustainable fuels for aviation and road use. This waste would otherwise end up in landfill or be incinerated.

The plant’s main product will be Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene (SPK), which is approved worldwide for commercial aviation at up to 50 per cent in a blend with conventional jet fuel.

The other product is naphtha, a constituent of petrol, which will help to reduce the net CO2 emissions of road users.

Velocys says that its fuel will have 70 per cent lower greenhouse gas emissions than conventional jet fuel. It also reduces exhaust pollutants, in some cases by 90 per cent.

From Formula 1 high octane fuel to air and water

Velocys isn’t the only company working on new aviation fuel. Paddy Lowe, who had a hugely successful career as an engineer in Formula 1 (including leading the Mercedes technical team to its most successful season), is now developing synthetic gasoline and has set up Zero Petroleum in Bicester. Rather than reprocessing waste, however, the raw materials of his synthetic fuel are simply air and water –carbon dioxide is captured from air and hydrogen extracted from water. When the fuel is burned, it emits just the CO2 that was extracted to make them in the first place and if green electricity is used to power production, the fuel is totally carbon neutral.

In 2021, RAF Group Captain Peter Hackett flew an Ikarus C42 aircraft from Cotswold Airport in Gloucestershire, powered by Zero Petroleum’s synthetic gasoline. The 20-minute flight secured a Guinness World Record for the world’s first successful flight powered by synthetic fuel.

Now the race is on between Velocys and Zero Petroleum. In March, Zero Petroleum’s plans to build the world’s first synthetic fuel plant moved forward after it partnered with the UK engineering procurement and construction company Global E&C. It plans to build Plant Zero.1, a first-of-a-kind facility to create its synthetic fuels, paving the way towards mass production.

Former F1 engineer Paddy Lowe opened his new Zero Petroleum facility in Bicester in June

The Royal Air Force performed a routine air-to-air refuelling training flight at the Sustainable Skies World Summit 2023 last year. The flight was powered by a 43 per cent blend of Sustainable Aviation Fuel made from waste-based sustainable feedstocks such as used cooking oil, which was sourced and funded by British Airways and IAG.

Zero Avia proves that hydrogen can power its aircraft

ZeroAvia, based at Cotswold Airport in Gloucestershire, is pursuing a different route and earlier this year made aviation history by flying the largest aircraft in the world to be powered by a hydrogenelectric engine.

The leader in zero-emission aviation took to the skies for the maiden flight of its 19-seat Dornier 228 testbed aircraft, retrofitted with a full-size prototype hydrogen-electric powertrain on the left wing of the aircraft.

The flight took place from the company’s R&D facility at Cotswold Airport at Kemble, Gloucestershire and lasted 10 minutes.

The aircraft completed a taxi, take-off, full pattern circuit and landing.

The landmark flight forms part of its HyFlyer II project, a major R&D programme backed by the government’s flagship Aerospace Technology Institute programme, which targets development of a 600kW powertrain to support 9-19 seat aircraft worldwide with zero-emission flight.

The twin-engine aircraft was retrofitted to incorporate ZeroAvia’s hydrogenelectric engine on its left wing, which then operated alongside a single Honeywell TPE-331 stock engine on the right.

Firefly partners with Wizz Air

And then there’s Firefly, a company spun out of Gloucestershire-based sustainable energy innovation company Green Fuels. In April, Firefly secured £5 million investment from Wizz Air.

Firefly specialises in a process which converts sewage sludge, a low-value waste product available in large quantities, into sustainable aviation fuel. More than 57 million tonnes of sewage sludge are produced in the UK each year, with the potential to produce 250,000 tonnes of SAF.

Firefly’s SAF, which will be independently certified against the leading sustainability standard RSB, is projected to deliver a 90 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to fossil jet fuel on a life cycle basis. Firefly aims to have its first commercial plant operating within the next five years.

Michael Berlouis, Head of Strategic Projects at Wizz Air, said: “SAF is crucial for

The UK needs more SAF plants

Where there’s muck there’s brass, it’s said. And with waste turning commercial, will there enough to turn into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)? According to Sustainable Aviation, the collective of UK airlines, airports, manufacturers, air navigation service providers and others, the UK does have sufficient SAF feedstocks (such as household,

commercial, agricultural and forestry waste and waste industrial gases) for domestic production to meet well over the 10 per cent UK SAF mandate requirement by 2030.

But the number of UK plants to make SAF which have already been announced would meet only a small

reducing carbon emissions from aviation. However, feedstock availability remains the key challenge for the industry. Our investment in Firefly and its sewage sludge SAF technology is a major step forward for Wizz Air in securing its long-term ability to provide low-cost fares to its customers in an ever more environmentally sustainable way. From 2028, we are aiming to procure 525,000 tonnes of SAF from Firefly over a period of 15 years. This has the potential to reduce our emissions by 100,000 tonnes CO2-eq per year, which is equal to the emissions of over 12,000 return Wizz Air flights between London and Budapest.”

James Hygate, CEO of Firefly Green Fuels, added: “ The investment will accelerate the commercialisation of our gamechanging Firefly process, with the binding offtake agreement saving a staggering 1.5m tonnes of carbon emissions. The feedstock, sewage sludge, is available in vast quantities globally and with Firefly we can put it to a truly beneficial use, reducing the use of fossil fuels in the hardest to decarbonise areas.”

percentage of this demand. And even these may not be built if they cannot raise the finance needed.

Previous analysis by Sustainable Aviation has shown a UK sustainable aviation fuel industry could create 20,000 jobs and £3 billion in economic activity by 2035.

James Hygate of Bristol-based Firefly with the Wizz Air team

ZeroAvia makes aviation history

VERTICAL AEROSPACE IS AT THE EDGE OF TECHNOLOGY WITH ITS NEW EVTOL

Bristol-based Vertical Aerospace, established by energy entrepreneur Steven Fitzpatrick in 2016, is aiming to revolutionise urban air mobility and electrify air travel.

After founding OVO Energy in 2009, now one of the UK’s largest energy retailers with 4.5 million customers, Stephen set up Vertical Aerospace to build the world’s most advanced electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft to help decarbonise air travel using the best technologies from across the aviation, energy and automotive industries.

Vertical is working with world-leading suppliers such as engineering company Rolls-Royce, which is working on its electric propulsion unit. Honeywell is developing the avionics and flight controls and fuselage development is being undertaken by Leonardo, with wing development by GKN. Materials company Solvay and ultra-high power cell maker Molicel are also in the team to build the VX4, a piloted vehicle capable of carrying four passengers at up to 200mph.

The company successfully completed its first airborne test last September and has set itself further milestones this year, to enable its VX4 to reach higher altitudes and speeds.

Even without a commercial aircraft, such is the confidence invested in his technology, Stephen already has an order book of 1,400 aircraft with prospective customers including Virgin Atlantic, American Airlines, AirAsia and Japan Airlines.

But working at the sharp edge of technology is tough. The company, which listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021, reported a net operating loss of £23 million for the three months ended March 31 this year, higher than its loss of £18 million for the same period last year.

The company said this reflects investments in its electric battery technology, achievement of eVTOL Design Organisation Approval with the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), in addition to design and test capabilities associated with its VX4 prototype aircraft.

It’s also reportedly delayed certification of the VX4 from 2025 to 2026, because discussions are ongoing with the authorities on compliance methods for the new technology – unsurprising when you’re developing world-first innovations.

Stephen Fitzpatrick remains upbeat. He said: “We have achieved so much in this first quarter. I am so proud of the team as

we were granted our Design Organisation Approval from the CAA affirming our home regulator’s confidence in our capabilities. While we have revised our target certification date, the diligence and precision of the scoping work gives us ever more confidence that our strategy is the right one, and that we will be one of the first movers in the eVTOL market.”

Vertical Aerospace has around 300 employees around the world, most of whom are engineers based in its Bristol design, engineering and testing facility. In March it also opened the Vertical Energy Centre (VEC), believed to be the UK’s most advanced aerospace battery facility, based in Bristol.

The multi-million-pound, 15,000 sq ft facility is one of the only dedicated aerospace battery facilities in the UK. It is home to Vertical’s current 50-strong battery team – drawn from the likes of McLaren, the European Space Agency, Jaguar Land Rover, Airbus, Rolls-Royce and Dyson – who are developing proprietary battery technology that is enabling greater power to weight ratios for eVTOL flight. These frontier technologies are expected to transform what has been possible with battery technology to date.

Vertical Aerospace is aiming to revolutionise urban air mobility

Aerospace and defence businesses will innovate out of recession

Aerospace and defence businesses are set to innovate their way out of the looming recession to fuel future growth, according to new research from ForrestBrown, a leading UK research and development (R&D) tax relief consultancy.

The research found that more than half (59 per cent) of aerospace and defence companies invested more than £500,000 in innovation in the last year with this showing no signs of slowing down despite the impending economic recession.

In fact, the survey revealed that 56 per cent of such companies anticipate increasing their investment in innovation should a recession occur in the next year, rather than tightening the purse strings.

This echoes the strategy the sector adopted post-Brexit, when the survey shows that 48 per cent of businesses increased their investment in R&D,

responding to economic uncertainty by embracing innovative ways of thinking to explore new products and services.

Factors including the imperative to reduce the environmental impact of flying have made innovation an ongoing priority. This is reflected in the specialist personnel employed across the industry, with 30 per cent of A&D companies having between 11 and 300 people on the payroll to drive their innovation strategy.

Sara Brigden, Managing Director at ForrestBrown said: "The UK’s aerospace and defence businesses have been at the forefront of innovation for a long time, consistently delivering game-changing technological advances.

"Despite the economic tides turning, it’s encouraging to see firms increasing investment in innovation to maintain this track record.”

New hydrogen-powered electric aircraft research set for take-o

A £1.4 million project to develop hydrogenpowered electric aircraft is set to begin at the Institute for Advanced Automotive Propulsion Systems (IAAPS) at the University of Bath.

Dr Xiaoze Pei, Director of Research Quality at the institute has been awarded a five-year EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) Open Fellowship to develop new power systems to help reduce the environmental impact of air travel.

The fellowship will tackle hurdles that stand in the way of hydrogen-powered aircraft taking to the skies – power density and efficiency, safety and reliability of on-board electric distribution network.

Dr Pei's research has been widely

recognised and is funded by the EPSRC, the UK Aerospace Technology Institute, and the Royal Society.

Her research on applied superconducting and cryogenic power electronics has enabled the development of nextgeneration cryogenic and superconductivity powertrains.

The proposed use of liquid hydrogen as a fuel source would mean aircraft would create a cryogenic environment in which to run the power system.

This presents new opportunities to exploit high-temperature superconductors and the improved efficiency of a direct current distribution network, as well as the lower weight of such a system compared with alternating current set-ups.

Collaborating with leading industrial partners Airbus UpNext, which focuses on future flying technologies, and Chippenham-based IXYS UK Westcode, which manufacturers power semiconductors, Dr Pei's team will demonstrate the viability of this innovative technology for future commercial zeroemissions and low-noise electric aircraft.

This collaboration could lead to a gamechanging power system that could revolutionise air travel.

Dr Pei said: “I have a vision to achieve net-zero transport, with an emphasis on large-scale electric aircraft. On-board electrical power distribution, control and protection remain significant challenges relating to large-scale hydrogen-powered electric aircraft.”

BETTER NEWS FOR VERSARIEN ON CEMENT INNOVATION AS IT PLANS NEW FUTURE

The Forest of Dean advanced materials innovator and manufacturer Versarien, which lost its founder Neill Ricketts after he resigned as Chief Executive Officer in March, has revealed better news.

Trials of a precast concrete containing its Cementene water-based graphene mixture were shown to maintain its strength with 20 per cent of the cement removed.

The product means a significant reduction in the CO2 emissions of cement production – up to 4.4 million kg of CO2 savings per year, said the company.

The initial results of tests conducted at Banagher Precast Concrete “demonstrate the significant potential to reduce CO2 emissions without impacting the performance of the concrete”, said the firm.

Stephen Hodge, Chief Technology Officer at Versarien, said: “The use of Cementene has been demonstrated to offer a substantial environmental benefit at a cost we believe is competitive.”

Peter Deegan, Banagher Precast Concrete's Technical Director, said: "We have been trialling many alternative additions to our concrete mixes in the drive to net zero 2050, graphene in a liquid state is one

such product. While still at an early stage, we are finding very positive results and aim to continue with the research right through to scaling up at our production plant. We are confident that graphene will play a major role in carbon reduction in the future."

In May, Versarien raised more than

Versarien said its primary focus for early commercialisation is on the construction and textiles sectors. The launch of Umbro's ProTraining Elite range, including garments incorporating the company's graphenewear technology, has been a particular highlight. Versarien is currently in talks with Umbro, BiaBrazil and Go To Gym.

£500,000 to drive commercialisation of its graphene innovations in both the construction and leisure sectors and the company has engaged business turnaround specialists Prompt Business Strategies to help develop a new strategic plan.

The aim is to preserve appropriate intellectual property within the company, while significantly reducing operational costs. The new strategic roadmap and financial plan will be announced in the coming weeks.

Graphene is the thinnest material known to man at one atom thick. It’s also about 200 times stronger than steel, an excellent conductor of heat and electricity and has interesting light absorption abilities.

Adding trace amounts of graphene into other materials can instantly increase its mechanical strength. It’s also a highly durable material that barely has any weight. This property of graphene makes it ideal for sportswear. Graphene-infused clothing is strong, durable, scratch or tear-resistant, and elastic.

Versarien is working with clothing manufacturers to test graphene in sportswear

“We have been trialling many alternative additions to our concrete mixes in the drive to net zero 2050 ...”

Cotswold Energy Group sold to Hampshire company

A Stonehouse renewable energy company has been bought by Fareham-based South Coast Insulation Services (SCIS).

Cotswold Energy Group’s co-founders, Jon Bonnar and Robin Hodge, will remain with the business as it continues to operate as a separate division to SCIS. The other co-founder, Aaron Stuart-Kelso, has left the business.

The deal, supported by FRP Corporate Finance in Bristol, will enable SCIS, which has a secondary office in Devon, to diversify into additional energy efficient technologies

and practices, including ground and air source heat pump installation. Established in 2010, SCIS’ clients include housing associations and property owners, with the firm delivering fully integrated insulation solutions as well as funding support.

SCIS CEO Nicolas Gillanders said: “The importance of the climate emergency cannot be understated and we are seeing that reflected in the demand for our services, as homeowners, private landlords and housing providers review the energy efficiency of their properties in light of both this and the costof-living crisis.”

CHELTENHAM BUSINESS BACKS STUDENT'S CAMPAIGN TO UPDATE BLUE BADGES

A Cheltenham business is backing a National Star student’s campaign to improve accessibility for people with disabilities.

Sam Vestey, who attends the National Star College in Cheltenham, is campaigning to make the familiar disabled sign more inclusive for people with non-visible disabilities.

National Star provides specialist further education, training, personal development and residential services for people with physical and learning

disabilities and acquired brain injuries.

The 20-year-old believes the wheelchair icon featured on blue badges and disabled parking bays is outdated.

Now print company Typecraft has supported Sam’s campaign by printing stickers featuring the new more inclusive logo.

“I really appreciate Matt and the team at Typecraft backing my campaign. It means a great deal to me,” said Sam. “We have

already started to share them with other specialist colleges across the country and Typecraft’s support will help the campaign grow.”

The logo shows two able bodied people with a third person in a wheelchair and the wording, “Some disabilities are visible. Some are not. Take care of each other”.

"Only seven per cent of disabled people use a wheelchair. The existing blue badge logo isn’t relevant for the other 93 per cent of people with disabilities. It’s time for a change,” says Sam who has a chromosomal condition called DiGeorge Syndrome and survived a pineoblastoma brain tumour as a child.

Sam says he and his family have often been challenged when using disabled parking spaces and he doesn’t want others to have to go through similar experiences.

“Just because people can’t see my disability, they don’t understand how much pain I am in and how fatigued I get. That’s why I have a disabled badge.”

Matt Magovern, Sales and Production Director at Typecraft, said: “When approached by Sam from the National Star College who is clearly extremely passionate about his campaign, it really was a no brainer for Typecraft to offer our services to assist.

“We are always striving to move with the times as a business and this is something that Sam is also looking to do but within a far more important realm. We wish him the best of luck with his endeavours and are pleased to be involved and help out.”

Sam Vestey and Matt Magovern with their updated blue badge design

CHELTENHAM WOMEN TAKE ON THE 'WORLD'S TOUGHEST ROW-ATLANTIC'

Cheltenham Festivals brings AI debate to Science Festival

Cheltenham Festivals convened a unique meeting of minds ahead of its annual Science Festival this year, bringing together government, academia, industry and the cultural sector for a major symposium on the future of artificial intelligence.

Across two days in June, “ChelTechne” offered senior figures the opportunity to debate an issue which is hitting the global headlines, to imagine novel solutions to one of the 21st century’s most important challenges.

On December 12, a crew of four professional women from Cheltenham, Bristol and Cardiff will embark on an epic journey which will see them row 3,000 miles unassisted across the Atlantic when they compete in The World’s Toughest Row – Atlantic (formerly known as the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge).

Investment manager Laura Langton and PR Director Beth Motley – both from Cheltenham, together with teammates Lizz Watson and Kit Windsor will leave Tenerife rowing two hours on two hours off for up to 50 days to cross the finish line in Antigua in early 2024.

The foursome, under the name Ace of Blades, aim to complete the Atlantic Challenge to fundraise for three charities: The Outward Bound Trust, Macmillan Cancer Support and Prostate Cymru.

Laura said: "This is known as one of the world’s toughest rows. Sea sickness is inevitable, as is dealing with salt sores, sleep deprivation and technical problems. Then there is doing battle with the weather in the form of violent storms and 20ft waves.”

Teammate Beth said: "The row will

push us to physical extremes, but then it’s mindset that will be all important when it comes to dealing with the vastness of the ocean.”

A premature test of Beth’s mindset came at the end of last year when her physical training suffered something of a setback when she had to have a full hip replacement in November.

Now the women are laser focused on the task ahead. They are being supported by investment advisers JM Finn and estate agency Knight Frank, and welcome other sponsors who would like to support them across the finish line.

Cheltenham Festivals, a charity which hosts four internationally-acclaimed festivals each year and maintains a year-round calendar of educational and outreach work based around science and the arts, cohosted the event with Professor Genevieve Liveley, Director of the Research Institute for Sociotechnical Cyber Security at the University of Bristol, and Reid Derby, Head of Entrepreneurship at the Office of the Chief Scientific Adviser.

“We need to imagine better how technology fits into people’s lives,” explained Derby. “Breaking down the boundaries between the sciences and the arts, between industry and culture, doesn’t happen very often – but is incredibly powerful when it does. Cheltenham Festivals, with its expertise and networks spread so widely and deeply across our ‘two cultures’, simply has unique convening power in this space.”

This year’s discussions are intended to contribute to the consultation on the government’s current White Paper on AI.

Marieke Navin, the Head of Programming for Cheltenham Science Festival, sees science and culture as working hand-in-hand. “The UK will emerge as a cybertech superpower if and when the public sector, civil society, academia, industry and private sector all come together,” she explained.

“Crucially, the general public, too, should be constantly engaged, to ensure science and technology is not perceived to be at the fringes of citizens’ lives.

Cheltenham Festivals takes seriously its role and potential as a hub for this kind of crosssociety thinking.”

Team Ace of Blades on the water

“This is known as one of the world’s toughest rows. Sea sickness is inevitable, as is dealing with salt sores, sleep deprivation and technical problems ...”

PRINCESS OF WALES PICKS COTSWOLD JEWELLERY DESIGNER’S EARRINGS FOR CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW

The Princess of Wales chose fern leaf earrings designed by Cotswold jewellery designer Catherine Zoraida on her visit to this year’s Chelsea Flower Show.

The princess joined the flower show’s Children's Picnic, and it was her first visit to the show since 2019. Her choice of earrings – shaped as a fern leaf and retailing at £165 – seemed appropriate, said the delighted designer.

Catherine has just opened a new design studio at Elkstone, near Cirencester, and will be opening her first shop there in August. The Princess of Wales was an early supporter of the designer and, says Catherine, "now has a lovely collection of Zoraida pieces."

Catherine was born in Colombia, raised in Scotland, and trained in jewellery making and silversmithing at Edinburgh College of Art before moving to Cirencester.

Mira Showers buys Recoup Energy

Cheltenham-based Mira Showers has acquired waste water heat recovery business Recoup Energy Solutions.

The acquisition of the business, founded in 2011, will expand Mira's offering in a growing area as new build developers look to achieve government-set Part L targets, and consumers look at ways to reduce rising energy costs.

Emma Foster, Managing Director of Kohler Mira, said: “The acquisition of Recoup Energy Solutions is an important step in our plan to offer our customers a larger suite of sustainable

GFirst LEP announces delivery plan to March 2024

With the government considering withdrawing support from local enterprise partnerships (LEPS), transferring their responsibilities to local authorities from next year, Gloucestershire’s Local Enterprise Partnership (GFirst LEP) has announced its 10-point plan to deliver against known economic priorities and contractual requirements to March 2024.

The 38 LEPS across England are responsible for local economic development and play a central role in determining the economic priorities and undertaking activities to drive growth and the creation of local jobs.

The chancellor said: “The government is committed to empowering democratically elected local leaders. To this end, the government intends for the functions of local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) to be delivered by local government in the future.”

Central government support for LEPS is likely to cease from April next year.

GFirst LEP is producing a Gloucestershire Economic Strategy in partnership with Gloucestershire County Council and the district authorities. It will consist of a clear five-year plan and a long-term perspective up to 2050 and will be published by the end of the year.

products and further reinforces our commitment to pioneering environmentally-friendly change through our products and services.

Kieron Dudley, Co-Founder of Recoup Energy Solutions, added: “Mira Showers is one of the most recognised and trusted consumer brands in the UK showering market. We were very impressed with Mira’s history of bringing innovation to the bathroom industry to improve their customers’ showering experience in a more sustainable way and look forward to working together to develop these further.”

This will be helpful to local authority partners as well as the private sector to support future bidding documents, it said.

Ruth Dooley, Chair of GFirst LEP, said: "The next 12 months will be a pivotal time for GFirst LEP as we continue to lead the local economy through challenging times.

“We will be working to ensure the voice of business is still as strong as ever for decision making in Gloucestershire.”

David Owen, CEO of GFirst LEP, added: “Our leadership team will focus on delivering a smooth transition over to Gloucestershire County Council and ensuring that our great assets and functions are retained.”

The princess is not Catherine's only celebrity customer. Beyonce and Rita Ora are also fans.

The Princess of Wales wears Catherine Zoraida earrings

By Nicky Godding, Editor

From Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen’s early days on BBC’s Changing Rooms to his most recent project – a gloriously over-the-top showroom in Cirencester which opened in 2021, you can’t ignore the man or his uncompromising “maximalist” taste.

The Llewelyn-Bowen shop is a riot of colour, big design and creativity, with a largerthan-life image of Laurence gazing almost malevolently at visitors when they enter.

Laurence calls himself the original gangster of maximalism but, like King Charles and his trenchant environmental opinions, he has always been ahead of his time. "Maximalism has incredible green credentials,” said Laurence. “Manmade got us into the mess we’re in, maximalism is all about reuse and repurpose.

“Forget the massive tundra of a white sitting room with oak flooring and floor-to-ceiling glazed windows which you can’t heat or cool, it’s about pulling the curtains, laying carpets to keep the heat in and improve the acoustic, and nik naks. There’s no budget to maximalism. It can be done from your attic or the local flea market.”

Why did he open a showroom? “Over lockdown my son-in-law Dan and I talked a lot about the business. I’d spent 10 years working on TV shows in Australia and Asia and at home we had a very stable and beneficial licence business with retailers like Very and Next.”

Living a wonderful design life

“Now I’m not big on legacy or how I’m going to be remembered – but I had a little moment of 'if they ever did a posthumous collection of what I'd ever done, what would it reveal?’ There would be the telepanto TV work I’d done, and a lot of grey duvet covers which paid incredibly well, and many people’s mortgages. But I felt I couldn’t face St Peter and say I’d lived a wonderful design life with that legacy.”

A mid-life crisis? Perhaps so. He was in his mid 50s with grandchildren and time on his hands. Then his friends, who happen to be the Earl and Countess Bathurst who own the Cirencester Park estate told him about a lovely but vacant old building they owned in the town. Would he like it?

“I felt strongly if we had a shop, and harnessed the incredible advantages of digital printing I could just design whatever I wanted, we could print a metre and put it in the shop. If it sold, great, if it didn’t – no matter. So that’s what we started doing.

“We have created a couture collection here. My job is to Lagerfeld it and this is now the house of Llewelyn-Bowen. Being uncommercial was the most commercial thing we have ever, ever done. Creativity has to have that sense of leadership.”

Being uncommercial in his new showroom in Cirencester could be the most commercial thing Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen has ever done

“Thirty eight years ago, Jackie was seduced by a romantic long-haired painter and found herself waking up to an orange TV celebrity”

AMBITIOUS LEADERS

With a degree in fine art and years of absorbing design and trends, Laurence also has business savvy alongside his artistic talent. He understands brand value and the responsibilities of being head of the House of Llewelyn-Bowen. “In terms of creativity, you have to be absolutely focused on your idea. I’m not a tortured creator who wants to distance themselves from society, I want my stuff to be commercial. Design is about communication, about talking with as many people as possible, and I want as many people as possible to own my designs.

“The business follows in my slipstream and picks up those pieces."

He’s not good at the dull business-y stuff – what entrepreneur is? Would we want Sir James Dyson preparing management accounts each month? Of course not. Visionary people need to be given the freedom to think big and wide.

The goose that lays the golden egg

Laurence puts it like this: “I am the goose that lays the golden egg and I need a farmer to keep me fed, watered and take the golden eggs to market.”

The farmer in recent years has been son-inlaw Dan Rajan, who has joined the family firm which comprises Laurence’s wife Jackie and daughters Cecile (who is married to Dan), Hermione and her husband Drew.

“Jackie used to do all that stuff, but Dan is now financial director and Hermione is marketing director. I love the indulgence of not having to worry about the income and VAT – not that I ever did.”

Despite Laurence’s theatricality (and he puts on a show even for this business writer who seldom finds herself in the hallowed presence of celebrities), he understands perfectly his commercial value thanks to the pandemic lockdown which the family harnessed to create new opportunities.

“An interesting business step change happened with us during Covid, and I am entirely in Dan’s debt on this,” said Laurence.

“Up until lockdown I’d been doing the telly thing for nearly 30 years. When Changing Rooms became successful in the late 1990s, my London clients were appalled. Though they liked the programme, they didn’t like the

fact that everyone now knew who I was.” He credits Jackie with the solution. “She said, if you’re losing eight clients in Chelsea, let’s go after the millions of potential clients watching the programme.”

A licence to thrill

So, long before celebrity chefs such as Delia or Jamie put their names to anything commercial (says Laurence), he and Jackie began to licence his designs. “At that time licensing agents predominantly worked in sport. We went to see a couple of them, but they didn’t really understand us and wanted to take a big percentage, so we decided to talk to retailers ourselves.”

The first one to say yes was a wallpaper firm. “I was the star turn at a DIY conference, but I got a hard time from a couple of northerners who said that Changing Rooms was killing off the wallpaper industry because we were using paint, not wallpaper.”

“I said they were killing the wallpaper industry because they were not interested in design and their wallpaper looked like paint on a roll.”

By the conference tea break Laurence was discussing licensing with the wallpaper company Graham & Brown.

At his first briefing session he was told floral and large doesn’t sell. “So my first collection

was the largest flowers you could think of, because it looks like wallpaper. I said if it looks like wallpaper, people are going to want it.”

Laurence had caught the Zeitgeist –suddenly pattern was everywhere, and that has continued to this day.

“I am emphatic about the worth of what we do. I believe people should pay for it, but I leave the sordid details of actual selling to everyone else.”

The long-haired painter returns

This year he says he’s turning his back on TV for a while and indulging himself by painting more – much to his wife’s delight.

“Thirty eight years ago, Jackie was seduced by a romantic long-haired painter and found herself waking up to an orange TV celebrity. Now that long-haired painter is back, creating grand designs for my showroom.

“Jackie’s always had this thing about derringdo. You think about British entrepreneurs such as Dyson, Branson and Jacqueline Gold. They don’t compromise.

“People are drawn to the brave and the different. At the panto, no-one fancies Peter Pan. They go for Captain Hook. He’s the one having all the fun.”

TURNING CHARITABLE GIVING INTO A SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS

By Nicky

Landmark research published earlier this year by Gloucester-based insurer Benefact Group revealed that charitable giving adds £23 billion to the UK economy – more than the sports and gambling sectors combined.

British corporates have not been slow to recognise this and many now have dedicated departments to oversee their company’s charitable programme.

But giving to good causes has always been an inexact science. How does a corporate such as Sainsbury’s or M&S decide which good local causes to support? And how do you measure (as all businesses must do with everything these days), the value of that giving?

Bristol-based Neighbourly has been helping them do this since 2013.

The business was founded in 2013 by marketeer Nick Davies, who had worked with big brands to help them build effective local community support strategies and understand their value. He knew that engaging with local communities builds trust, which is good for the businesses, as well as the causes they support

But back in the mid 2000s, finding and working with local good causes could be complex and time-consuming for larger organisations, made even more challenging by a lack of a digital or social presence amongst smaller charitable organisations.

Connecting businesses with local good causes

From here came the idea of building something online, connecting businesses with local good causes, to make investment in local communities easier, measureable and more transparent.

Neighbourly was set up as a technology platform matching charities and good causes to large companies with resources to donate, which could be volunteer time, financial support or surplus products.

By 2017, after the business had successfully raised a total of £3 million through angel investment, the company

Until recently, businesses have seen giving to good causes as a great PR tool to boost brand perception. Now many recognise its true economic potential

Godding, Editor

Chief executive Steve Butterworth with chief operating officer Zoe Colosimo

began to look for an experienced full-time chief executive to help the business grow further and faster.

Steve Butterworth joined the company in early 2018, after a few years doing consultancy work. He had the right credentials – in the mid 2000s, he had successfully co-led a management buy-out of a legal technology company, backed by Lloyds Development Capital. He moved to the US and took the company global.

A few years later, he and his business partners were in turn bought out by their management team and he looked to return home, but where would home be? “My wife had grown up in south Somerset and I had gone to university in Bristol. I never thought I’d return because I didn’t want to trample on my amazing memories of being a student here but I have experienced a very different and equally exciting side to Bristol since coming back.”

After a few years of consultancy work, Steve met the team from Neighbourly, and took on the role as the company’s CEO.

Leaving the world a better place

“I felt that we could build a sustainable, profitable, high-growth company that could leave the world a better place. Neighbourly is here to help any

businesses in any sector be better and we have a real chance to create something that’s properly meaningful. Because if you can build happy, healthy and resilient communities, that’s good for business.”

One example of where Neighbourly is helping big businesses make a difference is Sainsbury’s.

With 1,400 locations across the UK, the grocer wanted to connect with local good causes for its community programme. Partnering with Neighbourly, every day Sainsbury’s can support causes local to every one of its stores with surplus food and community grants which employees can nominate to receive support.

“Every day each store puts aside products close to their use-by date. A local good cause will collect it and put it to good use in the community. Our platform manages the relationship and logs the data, all year round.”

“We help Sainsbury’s and other supermarkets like M&S, Aldi and Lidl do this at scale, while still making it personal to each store and measuring the value of that support.”

“Our tech systems have to be seamless to work with retail operations teams and the thousands of community groups and charities that redistribute the food.

... if you can build happy, healthy and resilient communities, that’s good for business

Neighbourly works with Bristol food bank

“Our retail clients like the fact that we are a commercially-minded organisation.”

Sainsbury’s, like all Neighbourly’s corporate clients, benefits from real-time reporting dashboards that tell them what’s going on by store and region at the click of a button, whether that’s fundraising, volunteering or food redistribution, and the positive impact that’s been created.

Steve said: “They need this information because they want to know that they really are helping their local communities.”

Neighbourly has more than 26,000 vetted charities and local good causes profiled on its platform and it’s free for them to register.

“Neighbourly doesn’t take a cut of the donated money and charities don’t get charged anything to use the platform,” explains Steve.

“We are the matchmaker, the communicator and the data aggregator.”

Steve had two objectives when he joined the business. “One was to break even and become profitable, the other was to raise institutional money.”

Working alongside Steve is Zoe Colosimo, Neighbourly’s chief operating offer who has been there from the beginning. “This is really important to me,” says Steve. “She’s got the history and together we have the forward story.”

The company broke even in 18 months and

secured investment from Guinness Asset Management 18 months later. It has since invested a further £1.5 million. Neighbourly has, in total, raised £7.5 million, employs around 100 people and has a multi-millionpound turnover.

Neighbourly has traditionally worked with big businesses, and partners with around 50 large companies and global brands, who generally employ thousands of staff across multiple locations.

Widening the Neighbourly offer to mid-sized businesses

It’s now launched new features to help medium-sized enterprises (upwards of around 200 employees) increase their local social and environmental impact, with a call to these smaller businesses to be part of Neighbourly’s mission to create £1 billion of impact by 2025.

“A mid-sized company can now use our platform to find local good causes and offer their employees a volunteer programme throughout the year. And they can measure the impact,” said Steve.

Neighbourly is now working with an organisation close to its Bristol roots, offering its services through Redcliffe and Temple Business Improvement District to help members engage with their communities.

Steve hopes this will encourage other such

organisations to come on board. “We hope our work with Redcliffe and Temple BID will show other BIDs around the country how we can help them.”

Ambitious growth plans

Neighbourly has ambitions for international growth.

“The USA is known for its philanthropy but no business goes into North America half hearted. It would be a long-term play and you need to be well-funded,” added Steve.

Europe has different challenges, with varying attitudes towards charitable giving. “For instance, the Nordic countries are well known for the level of welfare support provided by the state,” says Steve.

Meanwhile there’s plenty to do here. There are more than 160,000 registered charities in the UK and more than 90 per cent of all corporate giving goes to the bigger ones. But Neighbourly knows, through its annual YouGov trust survey, that there’s higher levels of public trust for local charities compared with national or international ones. And people are also more likely to support businesses which are taking an active role in helping their local communities.

“There are thousands of businesses wanting to do the right thing but finding it difficult. We remove the friction for them, help them support grassroots causes in their communities and deliver a discoverable legacy of giving.”

A team of Neighbourly staff helping out on a project

CRAFTING A NEW BUSINESS OUT OF OLD BUILDINGS

More people have taken up crafting since the beginning of the pandemic and it’s estimated that there are now more than 19 million crafters in the UK.

And the number of crafting businesses has increased too. If BBC Dragon Sara Davies can become a multi-millionaire on the back of her hugely successful Crafters Companion business, then opportunity knocks for other aspirational crafting businesses.

The Maker Space in Nuffield, near Henleyon-Thames, which opened in 2021, is making the most of the increased interest.

Formerly a pub – The Crown – it was a 300-year-old listed building which had lain empty for eight years.

In the middle of the pandemic, Maker Space founders Jon Doughty and Kay Surman (who had left the corporate world of consumer products and licensing to follow her life-long passion for crafts).

Here’s one we made earlier: The Maker Space near Henley-on-Thames is capitalising on a growing interest in crafting

Kay Surman with Jon Doughty at The Maker Space

Inside the craft room at The Maker Space

bought the former 17th century pub building near Henley-on-Thames invested, refurbished and brought it back to life as The Maker Space.

It’s now a craft workshop and licensed café and welcomed TV personality Sarah Beeny this year when she visited for her new Country Lives series on Channel 4.

Country Lives followed Jon and Kay’s journey as they worked on the restoration.

Jon said: “Reimagining the derelict pub and starting the business itself has been a creative project, and we are delighted to be able to share some of that through the new series. It was a wonderful experience being involved in the show and we can’t wait to share some of our creative journey.”

The Maker Space hosts classes, socials, and multi-day courses covering various crafts including silversmithing, crochet, sewing, quilting, mosaics, printmaking and woodcarving. It has workrooms, a craft store, and café.

Kay said: “Our goal with The Maker Space was always to create a community hub that allowed space for creativity and made crafts more accessible. There can be so many positive benefits to crafting, especially in a social setting. We want to be able to introduce people to crafts, provide a resource and give people the opportunity to create and build community too.''

PlayMoreGolf reveals record-breaking surge in membership

Oxfordshire-based PlayMoreGolf, which says it is the first flexible golf membership linking individual golf clubs across the UK under one membership, has teed off a set of record-breaking sales figures which “signal a significant shift in golfers’ habits”, it says.

PlayMoreGolf’s new member sales soared in March to £1.25million – 48 per cent higher than the company’s previous best monthly sales figures.

The announcement by the Banbury-based business comes in the wake of a recent survey of UK golf club managers which revealed that membership resignations had risen amid the key annual April subscription renewals.

According to training and consultancy for sports clubs, Contemporary Club Leadership, membership resignation rates could be returning to pre-Covid levels, but PlayMoreGolf insists its statistics demonstrate a new trend in golfing habits rather than a sport hit by a mass exodus of active participants.

Alastair Sinclair, PlayMoreGolf’s CEO, said: “At a time when clubs up and down the country are reporting losses in membership numbers, we are seeing the opposite in what signals a significant shift in golfers’ habits.

“This move towards points-based membership highlights that golfers are not quitting the sport and they are not leaving golf club memberships.

“But they are changing the way they want to consume golf. The evidence suggests golfers still want to be attached to a club, but on their own terms, and our new sales figures bode well not only for PlayMoreGolf’s offering but for the overall health of the game.”

Now the business, which launched in 2016 and partners with golf clubs to widen membership options through its appbased platform, links 250-plus golf courses across the UK under one membership.

Oxford to Cambridge Partnership will develop

new regional investment initiative

The Oxford to Cambridge Partnership (OCP) has appointed economic development and regeneration consultancy Eksogen to develop a new investment strategy for the Oxford to Cambridge region.

Eksogen will work with the OCP and the Department for Business Trade, engaging with regional stakeholders to create a strategy to attract international investors.

The government’s Investment Minister, Lord Dominic Johnson, said: ‘’International investors want to invest in the UK, and that’s because of our people and skills, the intellectual capability and international capital we hold. The desire is for the Oxford to Cambridge region to be as successful and as strong as it can be and that the universities’ intellectual property is developed as best as possible.”

The Oxford to Cambridge Partnership brings together leaders from local authorities, universities, local enterprise partnerships and England’s Economic Heartland – the group responsible for the region’s subnational transport programme.

OCP board member, Peter Horrocks CBE, said: “By working together, we can secure the private investment needed to deliver innovation-led, clean growth.

“We have huge potential across the region. Through this work and the wider Partnership’s programme, we’ll be able to tell the global story of the region’s R&D and innovation strengths to drive sustainable business and high value jobs. We can secure the benefits of an inclusive economy, one that offers communities a better quality of life, enhances our natural environment and places the region firmly on a global stage.”

There can be so many positive benefits to crafting, especially in a social setting

BLENHEIM AIMS FOR CARBON NEUTRALITY WITH £2M ORANGERY CONSERVATION PROJECT

Blenheim Palace, the Grade 1 listed World Heritage site, is undergoing a £2 million conservation project as part of its pledge to reach carbon neutrality by 2027.

The work will see the replacement of the glass ceiling at the palace's 18th century orangery. Oxford-based property and construction consultancy Ingleton Wood is providing mechanical, electrical, and sustainability services.

The ceiling is being replaced with a timber and slate structure in the spirit of Sir John Vanbrugh’s original design, and is expected to be completed this autumn.

Thomas McCosker, senior sustainability specialist at Ingleton Wood’s Oxford office, said: "We conducted a thermal modelling exercise to establish the energy and carbon saving opportunities before upgrading the electrics to ensure they will be suitable for the new environment.

"The new fully insulated roof is designed to reduce heat loss in the winter and prevent excessive sunlight from entering in the summer, helping to keep the restaurant at optimal temperatures all-year round while minimising any use of heating or cooling.”

The original glass roof was installed after a fire broke out in an adjacent bakery and damaged the roof structure in 1861.

Kelly Whitton, head of built heritage at Blenheim Palace, added: "We are restoring the Orangery to what we understand to

be its original form. The 19th century glass roof has come to the end of its life, and it is time to make a serious change. Due to the pressures of climate change and noticeable temperature swings, we are proposing to return the roof back to slate.

"Slate combined with modern insulation will be a far more effective insulator than glass,

saving energy and helping Blenheim reach its green goals."

She added: "Every visitor has helped to make this conservation a reality and we want to thank them and let them know they are a part of Blenheim Palace’s history. Their admission goes directly towards preserving the legacy of the World Heritage Site.”

“Slate combined with modern insulation will be a far more effective insulator than glass, saving energy and helping Blenheim reach its green goals”

Blenheim Palace

Work on orangery roof

FISKER’S 550BHP ELECTRIC OFF-ROAD SUV WILL BE DESIGNED IN OXFORDSHIRE

American automotive company Fisker Inc has confirmed that its new 550bhp electric off-road SUV – described as “a beast” by the company’s founder Henrik Fisker– will be designed in Oxfordshire.

The Fisker Ocean Force E is a special off-road edition intended to broaden EV market appeal.

The Force E package is under development at Fisker’s Magic Works speciality division in Oxfordshire under the supervision of David King, who recently led a team of approximately 100 engineers to launch a series of speciality vehicles and develop Q by Aston Martin.

Force E will come with substantial ground clearance and ramp angles, 33-inch all-terrain tyres on 20-inch

reinforced wheels, and an estimated 550 horsepower.

“This vehicle is going to be a beast,” chairman and CEO Henrik Fisker said.

“We have pulled out all the stops on this one. I think it’s exciting to enter the segment. And for those who love to go off-road and enjoy nature, what better way than with zero emissions?”

Rollout is expected towards the end of this year.

Harwell Campus secures £300M expansion financing

Harwell Science and Innovation Campus has secured £300 million of financing to build new laboratory, advanced manufacturing and office space.

The finance facility was secured by the campus public-private partnership – a joint venture between asset manager Brookfield, the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA).

Harwell will use the additional funding to build 440,000 sq ft of new laboratory and R&D buildings across the campus. This will include Tech Foundry –220,000 sq ft of advanced manufacturing space, and the Linear Accelerator Building, a landmark building for starting and scaling science organisations, alongside a number of further developments across the campus.

Tim Bestwick, Chair of the Harwell Campus Joint Venture and Chief Technology Officer at UKAEA, said: “This finance facility will offer science, tech and innovation organisations the accommodation they need to grow.”

Go-Ahead group’s Oxford Bus Company buys Cotswold family coach firm

The Go-Ahead Group has bought Pulham & Sons (Coaches) Limited, one of the oldest established passenger transport companies in Britain.

Pulhams, which has a fleet of 90 buses and coaches and employs 126 people, serves communities in Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Warwickshire.

It will become part of Go-Ahead’s Oxford Bus Company division – which comprises Thames Travel, Carousel Buses and City Sightseeing Oxford as well as the eponymous Oxford Bus Company.

Based in Bourton-on-the-Water, Pulhams was founded in 1880 to carry passengers into Cheltenham from nearby villages by horse and cart.

The acquisition will expand Go-Ahead’s Oxford business to the west and see improved connectivity between Pulhams’ bus services in Oxfordshire and the wider Go-Ahead network of services. It will also enable Go-Ahead to expand its coaching operations – which in the Oxford division already include the airline services to Heathrow and Gatwick, and National Express-branded operations by developing Pulham’s coach hire across the wider business operating area.

The deal is Go-Ahead’s third acquisition in a year, following the purchase of Dartline in Devon and Southdown Buses in West Sussex.

Luke Marion, Managing Director of the Oxford Bus Company, said: “Pulhams’ buses

and coaches are familiar and well loved in communities throughout the Cotswolds. The business links nicely with our existing services in Oxfordshire and surrounding counties, and helps us diversify our business further into new market segments. We’ll be investing in developing the Pulhams business further.”

Andrew Pulham, Managing Director of Pulhams Coaches said: “I am excited to work with Luke and the Go-Ahead team in developing new business opportunities and enhancing those we already have in place. Go-Ahead’s commitment to invest in the Pulhams’ business as we look towards decarbonisation of our fleets is welcome. I remain committed to Pulhams and look forward to this next chapter in our wellestablished, successful business.”

The Fisker Ocean Force E

THE BEST OF OXFORDSHIRE SHINES AT THE 2023 OXFORDSHIRE BUSINESS AWARDS

Oxfordshire's best businesses have been recognised at the Oxfordshire Business Awards

More than 450 business people attended the ceremony at Oxford Brookes University in June, hosted by comedian Dom Joly.

Winners were revealed across 13 award categories. Oxfordshire Business Awards chairman Paul Lowe said: “We congratulate

the winners and the finalists and every company which took the time to enter.

"For 27 years, the Oxfordshire Business Awards has championed businesses and individuals who have made a positive impact in Oxfordshire.

"The OXBA continues to recognise and celebrate the entrepreneurs, businesses and indeed people, who make Oxfordshire such a vibrant place to work and live.”

Photography: Rob Lacey

THE WINNERS AND FINALISTS WERE:

Winner:

INCLUSIVE CARE & EDUCATION

Winner: OMASS THERAPEUTICS

Winner: FORTITUDE COMMUNICATIONS

THE HARTWELL CHARITY & COMMUNITY AWARD

THE HAYS EMPLOYER OF THE YEAR AWARD

THE JACK FM MARKETING EXCELLENCE AWARD

Winner: SAFETY SERVICES (UK)

Winner: ANTHONY TATTERSALL, FOUNDER, DARCICA LOGISTICS

Winner: ANTHONY TATTERSALL, DARCICA LOGISTICS

Winner: DARCICA LOGISTICS

Winner: TAP SOCIAL MOVEMENT

Winner: SAM HUDSON, BAMD

Winner: GREENPLANT

Winner: M&M WASTE SOLUTIONS

Winner: BRITISH BAKELS

Winner: NEVE’S BEES

THE STL TECHNOLOGY EXCELLENCE AWARD

THE THOMAS FRANKS BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD

THE JAMES COWPER KRESTON BUSINESS PERSON OF THE YEAR AWARD

THE OXFORDSHIRE LEP NEW BUSINESS AWARD

THE OXFORD BROOKES BUSINESS SCHOOL PURPOSEFUL BUSINESS AWARD

THE MATHEWS COMFORT YOUNG BUSINESS PERSON OF THE YEAR AWARD

THE RWK GOODMAN SMALL BUSINESS AWARD

THE NATWEST LARGE BUSINESS AWARD

THE OXFORD SCIENCE PARK INNOVATION AWARD

THE NICHOLSONS GREEN AWARD

Oxfordshire Business Awards 2023

Oxfordshire’s best businesses have been recognised at the Oxfordshire Business Awards, held at Oxford Brookes University.

Guests enjoyed drinks in the quadrangle before adjourning to the John Henry Brookes Building for the evening’s awards ceremony.

Photography: Rob Lacey

Ian Butler of RWK Goodman with Sue Staunton, Helle Farmer and Andy Cowie of James Cowper Kreston

The party from Hot Tubs Oxfordshire

Rob Fluckiger and Matt Wright of M&M Waste with Sabine North of Be Free Young Carers

James Cope, Robert Kirtland, Christian Dixon and Marc Taylor from Critchleys

Cameron Rathwell and Roger Mould of HSBC with Simon Bassett, RWK Goodman

Grant Hayward from social enterprise OSEP with Mike Foster of The Entrepreneurs Mentor

Shaw Gibbs party including from left Nik Ioannidis , Sarah Gardener, Samantha Daniels, Hayley Simmons and Peter O’Connell

Dom Joly entertains guests

The Castlethorpe Homes Group

Katherine Wilkes of Critchleys with John Hoy of Hoy Consulting

The Business Magazine editor, Nicky Godding, with Jo Whittle, Lauran Webb and Richard Thompson all of Black Ox Media, with Scott Harkness of Carter Jonas (far right) and colleague

Paul Lowe, Chair of Oxfordshire Business Awards

Dean Collins, Frank Bothwell, Susanna Lee and James Pate (all Thomas Franks)

Dupe Witherick, Thrive Alcohol Free with Emma Field of Brita

The party from DSA Prospect

Neil Butler (OKA) with Rebecca Woods and Dominic Longley of Evelyn Partners

Laura Callahan and Kate Myrie (Willow HR), Alistair Fit (Vice Chancellor Oxford Brookes University) and Darren Winter (Willow HR)

Success after £2m is invested into Worcestershire businesses

A business growth programme run by Worcestershire County Council has helped 155 businesses in the county.

Since its launch in 2020, grant funding worth more than £800,000 has been awarded to local businesses to fund growth projects. From these projects, businesses have invested a further £1.2 million, contributing to local economic growth.

SLICKER RECYCLING MAKES MONSTER ACQUISITION

Stourport-on-Severn based oil and waste recycling firm Slicker Recycling has bought fellow industry specialist Oil Monster.

Slicker Recycling collects and recycles more than 75 million litres of used oil and commercial garage waste every year.

Chester-based Oil Monster employs a team of 13 people and operates a fleet of 10 trucks which collect waste oil throughout the UK.

As part of the deal, the business, which Slicker Recycling has acquired from Cleansing Service Group Limited, will retain its brand identity and be led by respected general manager, Lorna Roberts.

Mark Olpin, executive chairman of Slicker Recycling said: “Oil Monster is a business which is trusted by its large customer base and carries an exceptional reputation for its expertise in the collection of waste lubricating oil.

“The business has an environmental vision which closely mirrors our own, so we see this as the perfect fit as we increase our UK market share. Not only is it an acquisition which delivers growth, but it allows us to support Oil Monster’s customers with their own carbon cutting

and sustainability agenda, re-refining their waste oil back into base oil through our own re-refinery.”

“We welcome everyone at Oil Monster into the Slicker family and look forward to working with them to deliver further innovation and growth in the years ahead.”

The acquisition of Oil Monster sees Slicker once again building on its environmental credentials after the 2020 opening of its £70 million base oil re-refinery in Denmark through a joint venture with German partner, Avista AG.

The Oil Monster deal is the latest in a line of mergers and acquisitions for the company. The cost of the acquisition was undisclosed.

The Elevate Programme, funded by the European Regional Development Fund, Worcestershire’s County Council, and district councils, was offered to established businesses with growth ambitions.

The support which included tailored consultancy advice and support, also helped businesses to develop a growth plan on which to base their grant-funded project.

Businesses on the programme have created 100 new jobs.

Councillor Marc Bayliss, Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Economy, Infrastructure and Skills, said: “I am very proud to see the resilience and strength of our local businesses that have not only adapted, but flourished in such a challenging environment.”

One business to benefit from the support is The Name Label Company. The programme helped the business to fund improvements to its website, e-commerce capability, manufacturing hardware and software to increase production capacity. Matt Busby, The Name Label Company Director, said: “The Elevate Programme has been fantastic, I think I would go as far as saying it is the best programme I have ever been involved in.”

Oil Monster has been bought by Slicker Recycling

“We welcome everyone at Oil Monster into the Slicker family and look forward to working with them to deliver further innovation and growth in the years ahead”

Worcestershire LEP to continue delivering 20-year growth strategy for county Blackfinch Property

The Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) will continue operations in support of the delivery of its 20-year strategy for the county.

The LEP Board, chaired by Paul Walker MBE, has reassured the local business community that despite the uncertainty surrounding the future of LEPs at a national level, the Worcestershire LEP will continue to develop its delivery priorities for 2023-24 and beyond, across the important areas of skills, business support and innovation.

The Worcestershire LEP runs a number of programmes including the Worcestershire Growth Hub, BetaDen,

the Inspiring Worcestershire Careers Hub, Worcestershire Apprenticeships.

Paul Walker MBE, Chair of the Worcestershire LEP, said: “ The Worcestershire LEP board and its partners are united in their determination to continue delivering value in support of Worcestershire and its future prosperity. This is evidenced by the unanimous decision for the Worcestershire LEP to continue with its operation.

“We have a strategy in place which all the partners are involved with and we are now able to confidently plan the delivery of programmes and projects.”

completes £2.3m development loan for sustainable housing in Droitwich

Blackfinch Property, the fast-growing lender to the UK property market, has provided £2.3 million funding to a special purpose vehicle (SPV) of Dunedin Homes which will develop seven new homes in Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire, each fitted with environmentally friendly features.

Under the terms of the 22-month deal Gloucester-based Blackfinch Property (via its property development company, Lyell Trading Limited) - part of investment manager Blackfinch Group - will fund the land acquisition and construction of seven homes, exiting the deal once all homes have been sold.

Each house being built by Dunedin Homes will be fitted with vehicle charging points, solar panels and a biodisc treatment plant. Each boundary will also be planted to achieve biodiverse ecology and the dwellings are expected to achieve an Energy Performance Certificate Rating B.

YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR HITS THE RIGHT NOTES WITH GUITAR BUSINESS

Young entrepreneur Ben Griffin is clearly hitting the right notes with his customers, after revealing his e-commerce business The Guitar Marketplace is turning over more than £100,000 per month.

The three-year-old online competition company specialises in offering guitar enthusiasts the opportunity to win their dream instruments – some of which can cost up to £14,000 – with a virtual raffle ticket costing just a few pounds.

Since 2020 he has handed over £1.7 million worth of guitars – including Les Pauls, Fenders and Gibsons – to more than 4,500 winners.

Ben has managed to grow a bedroombased business into a successful venture with a team of four employees, all hailing from the local area, with an office and studio in Brierley Hill.

“With four employees all in our early 20s, and an average age of just 24, we must be one of the youngest businesses running in the region, if not the youngest,” said Ben.

Ben – who works seven days a week –has decided to keep his business local rather than moving o a larger city – not only keeping his business in Brierley Hill but buying largely from local music shops.

John Hartigan, Investment Director at Blackfinch Property, said: “This is another excellent development by a very experienced developer, who has worked with us on their projects for several years now.”

He continued: “For the purposes of the deal, the developer had exchanged contracts to purchase the property, so all parties and their legal advisers worked very closely to ensure a smooth and on-time completion. It was an attractive deal for Blackfinch, well-structured with a £4.6m Gross Development Value.”

David Kelly, a Director of Dunedin Homes, added: “From the developer’s perspective, we feel very fortunate to have worked with Lyell and Blackfinch on several projects.”

Ben Griffin and his Guitar Marketplace

CADENT GAS WINS GREEN AWARD FOR SUSTAINABLE COVENTRY HQ

Cadent Gas, the UK’s largest gas distribution network, has won a major award for its new HQ building in Coventry.

At the Midlands and Central England regional finals of the British Council for Offices Awards, Cadent Gas won the ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) award for its 100,000 sq ft purpose-built headquarters at Ansty Park.

The judges singled out this building for its impressive design which is focused on employee engagement and the health

and wellbeing of occupants in a light-filled space.

On-site amenities include a restaurant and gymnasium, mother and baby rooms, multi-faith areas, outdoor terracing and cycle storage.

The panel also praised efforts to reduce the build’s carbon footprint.

Midlands and Central England winners will compete for the BCO National Awards on Tuesday, October 3.

SEGRO’s £2 billion investment is vote of confidence for West Midlands says mayor

Real estate investment trust SEGRO, which owns, manages and develops warehouse and industrial space, has partnered with the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) to invest £2 billion over the coming decade to deliver net-zero warehouse facilities.

SEGRO aims to deliver 13.5 million sq ft of sustainable warehouse space across the West Midlands by the end of 2033, focused on technology-enabled logistics facilities as well as purpose-built space for research, development and light manufacturing.

The investment includes the development of SEGRO Park Coventry – a 450-acre site with planning permission for 3.7 million sq ft of industrial buildings and warehouses.

David Sleath, Chief Executive Officer at SEGRO said: “There is a long-term

SSG Contracts switches to solar power with £167,000 investment

Family-run Midlands contractor SSG Contracts is installing 292 solar panels at its site in Northamptonshire, supported by a £167,000 funding package from Lloyds Bank.

Headquartered in Solihull, SSG Contracts provides construction, refurbishment, maintenance, facilities management, warehousing and logistics services.

The contractor purchased the Nene Business Centre in Wellingborough in 2021 with the support of a £2.6 million loan from Lloyds Bank, to provide office and warehousing space to its customers.

shortage of modern, sustainable industrial employment space in the West Midlands.

“Working with the West Midlands Combined Authority we can identify and unlock brownfield sites for development.

Andy Street, Mayor of West Midlands added: “SEGRO becoming a strategic partner is another welcome vote of confidence in our region.

“It is exactly this kind of private sector investment – combined with the public sector creating the right conditions – that will ultimately drive our prosperity in the years ahead.”

To coincide with becoming a Strategic Partner of the WMCA, SEGRO is relocating its National Logistics business unit to Coventry city centre.

SSG Contracts secured £167,000 of new funding and is installing a system of 292 solar panels on the roof, capable of producing 120 kilowatts of electricity each hour.

The £21 million turnover business currently employs 60 people and aims to double its turnover and headcount in the next two years.

John Fitzgerald, director of SSG Contracts, said: “We’re facing increasing demand from customers to demonstrate our sustainability credentials. By investing in carbon reduction initiatives, we hope to help our customers meet their own carbon reduction targets.”

Cadent Gas’s new HQ at Ansty Park, Coventry

STUDENTS GO WILDEBEEST TRACKING IN SOUTH AFRICA

The large game reserve is home to cheetahs, giraffes, zebras, lions, elephants, rhino and more than 300 species of birds.

The students, who were also joined by six students from Merrist Wood College in Guildford, learned how to identify and track an animal through measuring the stride length, movement and gait of a footprint, and how to spot signs of animal activity through assessing vegetation and dung.

The students successfully completed either level one or two of the CATHSSETA Cyber Tracking certificate, an internationally recognised wildlife tracking qualification.

Sophie Hands, 20, from Redditch who studies Animal Behaviour and Training, said: “From learning how to track animals to seeing rhinos, giraffes and wildebeests in the wild, the trip was such a rewarding and enrichening experience.

Students from Moreton Morrell College in Warwickshire have gained a unique wildlife tracking qualification after completing a residential trip to the South African bush.

Ten higher education students from the college, part of WCG (Warwickshire College Group), went on the wildlife tracking trip of

a lifetime to Dinokeng Game Reserve in the Limpopo region of South Africa.

The group of four BSc Animal Behaviour students and six BSc Canine Therapy and Rehabilitation students camped in the park – immersing themselves in the South African landscape.

NOHM strikes deal at historic Warwickshire venue

Growing hospitality management business NOHM has landed a new partnership with a historic venue, which has links to royalty and literature.

Coventry-based No Ordinary Hospitality Management (NOHM) has been selected to grow the conference and events business at Stoneleigh Abbey, the site of 12th century Cistercian monastery, in Warwickshire.

Stoneleigh Abbey, now a stately home, proved fit for royalty in 1858 when Queen Victoria stayed for two nights, while the building provided inspiration for Jane Austen’s novel Mansfield Park. For 400 years Stoneleigh Abbey was home to Jane’s maternal relatives, the Leigh family.

NOHM, which was launched in 2021, manages Coombe Abbey Hotel in the same region, as well as eateries, artisan

markets and florists across Coombe Abbey and War Memorial Parks. Other venues include St Mary’s Guildhall in Coventry’s Cathedral Quarter, the on-site restaurant, Tales of Tea, and IXL Events Centre, where the company is also a

“The trip has really opened my eyes to the possibility of a career in conservation, and the skills developed in South Africa will support me in my course at Warwickshire College and University Centre (WCUC).”

partner on the corporate business side.

IXL in Southam is managed by CEO, Atul Lakhani who also founded Sanjay Foods, a catering and events management business.

Ron Terry, Kathy Nakra (both NOHM), Lai-Yee Cheung (Sanjay Foods)

Students studying animal tracks

WCUC is the higher education arm of WCG.

WILLIES EXPANDS ICE HOCKEY AND FIGURE SKATING STORE IN COVENTRY

A Midlands ice sports specialist has invested £60,000 in a new 5,000 sq ft superstore in Coventry as part of a major expansion.

The new Willies retail venture at Challenge Business Park is a one-stop shop for everything ice hockey, inline hockey and figure skating, including skates, sticks, clothing and protective equipment.

The opening marks a major expansion for the company, previously based in much smaller premises in Earlsdon, close to the SkyDome Arena, home to Elite Ice Hockey League side Coventry Blaze.

Owner Luke Wilson set up the business with a friend in 2017 after being given free tickets to a Coventry Blaze game a few years earlier.

“I hadn’t played ice hockey or anything before, but after watching that first game, I was completely hooked,” said former engineer Luke, who, for the first two years, ran the company in tandem with his own building testing firm.

Joining recreational side Coventry Spitfires,

Luke got to know some ice hockey brands, who encouraged him to launch his new venture with friend Jonathan Hill, who also played ice hockey recreationally.

“We saw a gap in the market and with Jonathan’s background in retail management for brands such as Aldi, we set up the shop in Earlsdon. It involved a lot of blood, sweat and tears. Even my wife, who was eight months pregnant, helped get it all ready.”

When the pandemic hit in 2020, instead of giving up Luke and Jonathan ploughed their efforts into building an online shop to complement their physical store and invested in systems and marketing.

“It’s not in my nature to give up,” said Luke. “We put in the graft, re-fitting the shop and working with new brands, and when we reopened after lockdown, it went mad.”

Willies has gone from turning over £120,000 in 2017 to around £1.5 million in 2023. The team has also grown from two to 11, including sales assistant Calista Kou, a competition figure skater in Asia for two years who now balances her job at Willies

with studying for a biosciences degree at the University of Warwick.

Luke added: “Ice hockey is my life, and my wife and kids, who are four and two, love it too,” he said.

“I can’t wait to continue on this adventure and encourage adults and kids from the community to have a go at these amazing sports.”

Pashley Cycles takes electric cargo bike into full production

Pashley Cycles is powering ahead with full production of its electric cargo tricycle, the ALECS (Articulated, Lightweight, Electric Cargo Solution).

Designed to carry 110kg securely at 25kph it has a patented tilting front section that means its rides like a bicycle but with the stability of a tricycle.

The ALECS is just 80cm wide so it can use bike lanes and faster routesand doesn’t require a licence or road tax to ride.

It is the culmination of four years of development at the Pashley factory in

Stratford-upon-Avon, where its iconic traditional bicycles and tricycles are handbuilt by a small, skilled team before being exported all over the world.

The company also makes bikes and

ebikes for two of the UK’s biggest hire bike fleets – the Santander-sponsored Bike Share scheme in London (previously known as “Boris bikes”) and West Midlands Cycle Hire, operating in and around Birmingham.

Luke with son Tommy and Connor Ashby (warehouse and teamwear manager) with nephew Arlo after game

the ALECS, made by Pashley Cycles

TAX EFFICIENT SCHEMES CAN BENEFIT SMALL BUSINESS AND INVESTORS

Meanwhile, successful individuals maybe looking for the most tax efficient way of investing their income. The two can come together in the form of three different schemes – Investors’ Relief (IR), Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS).

Each has a different set of qualifications and advantages dependent on the circumstances of the company and those looking to invest.

Ian Parker, Director at Whitley Stimpson, said: “We advise companies and individuals at both ends of the spectrum on these schemes including small business owners looking to attract larger companies to invest. Firms tend to be tech start-ups and we advise them on how they can attract investment. We also advise higher net worth individuals or larger companies looking to invest in start-ups to save tax.”

What are the details of each scheme?

IR reduces the rate of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) charged on share disposals to 10 per cent, with a £10m lifetime limit. Relief is available to both individuals and trustees meeting certain conditions and shares must be held for at least three years.

With SEIS and EIS, the investment must be made in a small, unlisted company. Most UK start-ups will qualify although there are some restrictions on activities such as farming or running a hotel.

SEIS is specifically aimed at very earlystage companies and allows investment of up to £150,000 per tax year, with investors receiving a 50 per cent tax break. The investor will benefit from a CGT exemption on any profits from the sale of shares after three years. The company’s maximum gross assets should be less than £200,000 and there must be fewer than 25 employees.

EIS focuses on medium-sized start-ups employing under 250 staff. It allows investment of up to £1m per tax year with a 30 per cent tax break for the individual. Again, there is an exemption from CGT on

profit generated by the sale of shares after three years.

Businesses looking to benefit from these schemes should apply for advance assurance from HMRC demonstrating how they qualify. This enables companies to receive a provisional indication from HMRC whether they may be eligible to apply for tax relief for investors. Full eligibility can only be granted following the investment.

Ian added: “A major client in the tech sector saves tax by using EIS to invest in multiple engineering start-ups.

“Investors receive either 30 per cent or 50 per cent of their investment back after their first tax return, making the schemes more attractive.

“With SEIS and EIS there are no restrictions on the investor also being an executive or non-executive director to give advice and support whereas with IR you’re not allowed to be involved in the business.

“If you’re looking to invest big sums of money IR is the best option as the lifetime limit is set at £10m and established businesses can also use it. If the business floats on the stock exchange, then there is only a 10 per cent rate of tax on the investment which is clearly beneficial.”

For more information about how Whitley Stimpson can support your business visit www.whitleystimpson.co.uk

Funding is crucial to small businesses, especially during the start-up phase when overheads such as research and development or buildings and stock are high and trading income can be non-existent.

Whitley Stimpson Director Ian Parker

“We advise companies and individuals at both ends of the spectrum on these schemes including small business owners looking to attract larger companies to invest”

01 Former Rolls-Royce CEO joins Tokamak Energy Board

Warren East CBE, previously CEO at both Rolls-Royce and semiconductor manufacturer Arm, is joining Tokamak Energy as a non-executive director.

Oxfordshire-based Tokamak Energy is pursuing the global deployment of commercial fusion energy through the combined development of spherical tokamaks with high temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets.

02 Learn how to live life at uni says new Chancellor

Higher education is not just a way of getting a job, but a way of learning how to live life, says the new Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University, Paterson Joseph. The prolific actor and author has taken on the role which is largely ceremonial. As the new chancellor, Paterson will give an annual lecture, preside over certain ceremonies, and act as an inspiration and ambassador for the University.

03 Carter Jonas appoints Simon McConnell as head of Oxford office

National property consultancy Carter Jonas has appointed Simon McConnell as head of its Oxford office, taking over from Steven Sensecall who leads the firm’s South and South West Planning and Development team. Simon is well known for advising on some of the region’s most significant residential transactions. He is also a Governor of Christ’s Hospital of Abingdon, Oxfordshire’s oldest charity.

04

Phil “Emerges” as new head of innovation

Phil Ball, a leader in the technology industry, has been appointed as Head of Innovation at Cheltenham-based Emerge Digital. His appointment marks a significant milestone in Emerge Digital’s growth plans, highlighting its commitment to fostering innovation.

05 Law firm expands commercial property team with new appointment

Worcestershire law firm mfg Solicitors has expanded its commercial property department with the appointment of a new senior associate.

Based at the firm’s Kidderminster headquarters, commercial property expert Lauren Powers (centre in photograph) will work closely with partners Clare Regan (left) and Ben Rothery (right).

06 New head of defence sector for Worcester’s Harrison Clark Rickerbys

Worcester Harrison Clark Rickerbys has appointed defence and security industry expert Rebecca Kirk as head of its specialist defence, security and the forces team.

Rebecca joined the firm in May 2014. Key projects have included providing resettlement training for military personnel, and the delivery of the Three Counties Regional Defence and Security Cluster (3CRDSC) and Specialist Defence & Security Convention UK (SDSC-UK).

07 Cheltenham manufacturer Ontic appoints Chief Operating Officer

Ontic, the Cheltenham-headquartered licensor and manufacturer of complex engineering parts for the global aerospace and defence industries, has appointed Brian Sartain as Chief Operating Officer. Brian joins from AAR Corp, where he was responsible for all businesses associated with maintenance, repair and overhaul and led more than 3,500 employees.

08 Burges Salmon appoints two

Rick

09 Uni of Gloucestershire appoints UCAS boss as new Vice-Chancellor

Clare Marchant, who has been Chief Executive at the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) for six years, will join the University of Gloucestershire later this year, replacing Vice-Chancellor, Stephen Marston, who announced last year that he will retire at the end of this month.

new department heads

10 Freeths strengthen employment offering with appointment

National

firm

Read (pictured left) is law firm Burges Salmon’s new Head of Real Estate. Rick, who will be taking over from Paul Browne, is a partner in the firm’s Real Estate Investment and Asset Management team. Partner Jim Aveline (right) is the new Head of its Private Client Services department.

law

Freeths has appointed Nicola Wallbank to head up the firm’s Oxford employment practice. Nicola joins from Julian Taylor Solicitors.

FAMILY BREWER ARKELL’S CELEBRATES 180 YEARS IN BUSINESS

Even a pandemic couldn’t call time on their brewery – now directors George and Alex Arkell are full of optimism as they celebrate the brewery’s 180th birthday

By Nicky Godding, Editor

On March 23, 2020, at the height of the Covid pandemic, prime minister Boris Johnson told us all to stay at home.

In pubs, restaurants and hotels across the land (and probably in every landlord’s heart), the lights went out.

For 178-year-old family brewery Arkell’s, with almost 100 pubs across Gloucestershire and the Thames Valley, and responsible for hundreds of livelihoods, it was a looming disaster.

Managing Director George Arkell, 44, said: “The First or Second World Wars couldn’t close our pubs, but Covid did.”

George’s brother Alex, 37, added: “The brewery’s priorities were how long the business could survive with no income, and looking after our staff and landlords.”

George, Alex (Head Brewer), their father James (now Chairman), and cousin Nick are the current family custodians of the brewery.

“For our 178-year-old business, to go from being profitable to discussing the prospect of just months before we might have to close was intimidating,” Alex added.

The furlough scheme announced 10 days later was probably the reason that the

brewery is able to celebrate 180 years in business this year.

Sitting with them in the biggest pub they’ve ever built, The Strawberry Thief in North Swindon which opened last year, they don’t particularly want to look back, preferring to celebrate 180 years of brewing beer and running pubs.

As George says: “Having survived almost the worst, we now feel we’ve got a bit of body armour on.”

The first few frightening weeks of lockdown

Before we talk more about one of Britain’s most historic steam breweries, which owes its existence to the great engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, we chat more about those first few weeks of Covid lockdown.

“Having furloughed practically all staff, we needed to make sure our tenants understood the government’s guidance, which was changing almost daily,” said George.

Alex (left) and George Arkell outside their newest pub: The Strawberry Thief at Tadpole Village, Swindon

Alex added: “We collected all unsold beer and gave our landlords full credit. It was expensive, but the right decision. Most suppliers also took back their unopened beer, wines and spirits too.”

“I hitched a flatbed trailer to my car,” said George. “Alex and our operations director Craig Titchener took the brewery vans. By visiting our landlords, even socially distanced, we could say ‘don’t worry, we’re here, you’re not alone’.”

The brewery didn’t charge rent while the pubs were closed. “Our landlords had no income,” said George. “I’ve blocked out how much rent we wrote off, but it was the responsible thing to do because we had the deeper pockets.”

For years, there has been much discussion about tied tenancies which many family breweries, including Arkell’s, operate. In the tied tenancy model, a tenant leases their pub from a brewery for a lower rent in return for buying its beer, sometimes at a higher price. However, for many landlords the tied model was a lifesaver during lockdown. Arkell’s tied tenancy

agreements also usually include building maintenance, another weight off tenants’ shoulders.

“It proved that the long-controversial tied model works,” said Alex. “We took the hit rather than our tenants.”

With no pub income, the brewery switched to home deliveries, which kept George and Alex busy – even James pitched in.

“We had so little cash,” said Alex. “But George led with optimism. We had to make everyone feel this wasn’t the end. We had to come in every day.”

George added: “Alex and I ate lunch sitting on pallets in the empty brewery yard –sandwiches, crisps and a pint of beer.”

Planning the future with a pint in their hands

It was during their lonely brewery lunches that the brothers talked about the future.

“Just before lockdown we had been about to press the red button on our first

newbuild pub .for more than 15 years,” said George.

Covid had put everything on hold, but by the second or third lockdown, George wanted to get on with the project.

“It was a huge risk. Everything could have gone wrong.”

It didn’t, although their financial director Barry Russell had a few sleepless nights.

Arkell’s Strawberry Thief in Swindon, named in celebration of 19th century textile designer William Morris who lived at Kelmscott Manor a few miles away, opened in time for last year’s Queen’s Jubilee and is the biggest pub Arkell’s has ever built.

“You’ve got to build something pretty large to make the numbers add up,” said George.

The pub, built like an old barn, is beautiful. There’s a proper bar, high tables for drinkers, booths for dining and squashy sofas. There’s also a garden big enough for 500 people.

Inside The Strawberry Thief

Arkell’s historic steam brewery near Swindon

“Customers want to see what’s going on and feel the action, but the Strawberry Thief doesn’t feel like a big open space, it’s as cosy as our traditional pubs,” said Alex.

The brewery recruited young couple Tom and Mairead Titcombe as the pub’s first landlords.

“They’ve got a great sense of community,” said George “At other pubs they’ve run for us they’ve put on markets, booked local bands and raised money for good causes. We give them lots of support to create a community pub where everyone feels comfortable.”

What about the rest of the Arkell’s pub estate, which ranges from small one-bar pubs to larger pubs and town centre hotels?

George acknowledges that costs have risen sharply, but customers are going back to the pub.

“Yes, they’re being more prudent and go where the beer, atmosphere, food and staff are good, but we all want that social network, whether it’s the church, local football club, or a pub.”

Alex added: “Trade has changed, but our beer sales are good.”

Using the best tools for the job

It’s helped that Alex has invested in new brewing equipment over the last few years.

“Brewing consistently good real ale is difficult for any brewery, but we use the best equipment,” said Alex. “We also brew more keg beer than cask now, because it’s what the market wants.”

George added: “Our brewhouse has still got the old copper mash tun which chuffs away with steam leaking out all over the shop, but it’s now sitting alongside our shiny, stainless steel mash mixer.”

But the traditional method of brewing beer at Arkell’s won’t change, says Alex.

“We are much more manual than most other breweries. The brewhouse investment has been more in downstream pipework, tanks that are easier to clean, new casks and kegs.”

The lucky number for Arkell’s is 100

Arkell’s owns 95 pubs, and that number won’t change much either, says George.

“About 100 pubs is right for the size of our brewery. We visit them regularly and I know all the tenants.

“We’d rather invest in our pubs and help our landlords maximise opportunities.

“For the landlord who knows what they’re doing it can still be a profitable business,” he continues. “Don’t get me wrong, for the turnover our pubs are achieving, we should all be making more profit, but we just have to adjust to the new normal.”

And 2023 is a year of celebration. The brewery is hosting regular brewery tours for the first time in its history and running an anniversary pub trail. Later this year it’s holding a big 180th birthday party.

“There aren’t many breweries left doing what we do,” said Alex. “Our brewery is beautiful and we want to share it.”

What’s next for this brewing gem?

“We have pubs across Gloucestershire and

down the Thames Valley but Swindon is our heartland. It’s growing and we want to grow with it,” said George.

“While demographics and what people want from their pubs change – we adapt to meet that need. Dad often reminds me that in the 1980s not all pubs did food or wine. And if you wanted to take children into a pub, the landlord needed a special children’s licence.”

“And smoking was everywhere,” adds Alex.

If James, George and Alex have their way, Arkell’s Brewery won’t look much different in 100 years, and George is a true optimist.

“If energy and food prices come down, we will be back to where we were before Covid.”

That’s something to which we can all raise a glass.

Pint-sized history of Arkell’s Brewery

Arkell’s brewery was established as an offshoot to the family farm in 1843 when Brunel was building his Great Western Railway locomotive works in Swindon.

John Arkell started putting his barley to better use brewing beer to satisfy Brunel’s workers in the hot engine sheds.

Over the years John built a brewery, now considered one of the finest examples of a Victorian steam brewery anywhere in the world, and opened pubs across the town. While Swindon’s historic railway works closed in the 1980s, Arkell’s has survived and thrived.

The Arkell family still work at the brewery including chairman James, his sons George (managing director) and Alex (head brewer) and their cousin Nick Arkell who heads up the brewery’s thriving wines and spirits department. They work alongside generations of other local families brewing real ale and looking after pubs across Gloucestershire and the Thames Valley.

The Grape & Grain, Arkell’s shop and museum at the brewery

FAMILY BUSINESSES TELL IT LIKE IT IS

By Nicky Godding, Editor

Family businesses put people first, see values as an asset, have greater freedom to experiment and take risks, and put the interests of the next generation at the heart of their strategy.

So says the Institute of Family Business, and at this year’s Family Business Lunch, there was also a lot of discussion about digital improvement.

The Business Magazine’s fifth annual family business lunch welcomed family businesses from across Gloucestershire to share some of their business challenges over lunch.

Peter Bell, whose father established

groundworks contractor KW Bell Group in the 1960s, said: “With all the labour shortages in the industry, we should be innovating and investing more.

“Our innovations over the last few years have been in methodology, finding ways to do things more safely for the sake of our staff. For instance, we’ve used drone technology and built 3D models of all our sites so that when our teams are working, we know what’s underneath the ground.

He was less sure about the immediate benefits of artificial intelligence in his business “If we use that, it’s likely going to be in our back office, because AI still can’t lay curbs, tarmac or bricks.”

Robotics helps sort waste

Grundon is the advanced stages of trialing robotic pickers to help sort waste. Neil said: “For years, this has been done by human pickers, but like many other sectors we are finding it difficult to recruit, so we’re investing in technology to help us with labour shortages.”

But technology is costly, and the return on investment must be clear. Nicola Bird, Peter Bell’s daughter, is the founder and managing director of AccXel, the Forest

When family businesses get together, it’s generally a noisy, thoughtful and uplifting event. The Business Magazine’s annual Family Business Lunch was no exception

Neil Grundon is Chairman of Grundon Waste Management, one of the UK’s most innovative companies in his sector.

of Dean-based construction training centre. Opened last year, it is the UK’s first cofunded construction skills accelerator centre which she built with KW Bell. She runs it alongside Peter, her mother Yvonne and sister Natalie.

Nicola said: “New technology takes from a year to 18 months to become embedded in the business and we take that into account. We also have to ensure that the technology is understood and accepted by everyone, and that’s about culture change.”

Rebecca Pullin, director at Gloucester-based waste management and equipment hire firm Smiths Ltd, has also looked at robotics, and undertaken studies alongside universities.

“Adopting new digital or technological processes has been essential to all businesses, not just family-owned ones, and enabled many to grow significantly in the last few years”

Nick Latimer, Partner at Crowe UK

Felix Elliott-Berry, Sibling Distillery, Sharon Smith, Crowe UK with Neil Grundon, Grundon Waste Management

George Workman, Cotteswold Dairy

Henry Herbert, Hobbs House Bakery

“It’s the way the industry is heading, and we will invest. Innovation within every business is essential,” she said.

Nick Latimer, Partner at Crowe which sponsored the lunch, said: “Adopting new digital or technological processes has been essential to all businesses, not just family-owned, and enabled many to grow significantly in the last few years.

“But for any business, growth means more people coming into the business, which makes it more difficult to maintain the culture that helped them succeed in the first place.

“However, family businesses have a distinct advantage because their culture tends to have become embedded over time.”

How can we make the most of government support?

Family businesses often enjoy a quicker return on investment on research and development because they are able to adapt fast to changing trends. And the government want to support this.

Nick Latimer said: “Any investment in innovation is worth exploring to see if it would attract R&D tax credits.

Paul Cox, Corporate Tax Partner at Crowe, added: “R&D is an area of focus for HMRC at present so advice should be taken. However many businesses are still surprised how much can qualify for relief including unsuccessful qualifying R&D projects as well as projects replicating existing products and technology where

that advancement isn’t known to a competent professional in the relevant Industry.”,

Max Hough, from Workplace Interiors, can see the benefits of recognising innovation, wherever it occurs: “We have a traditional construction business, but we do some of our own R&D. We have 40 years of experience and the things we’ve tried out on site are often really innovative and worth exploring further.”

R&D – Are you aware of the changes?

• For SMEs, benefit reduced from 130 per cent to 86 per cent uplift since 1 April.

• SME payable R&D credit reduced from 14.5 per cent to 10 per cent. Have you factored that into forecasts?

• The scope of R&D is changing – data licences and cloud costs in, overseas subcontracted and externally provided workers out (change delayed for one year).

• From August 1, the introduction of a new online form; does that change how you collate information to meet HMRC specific requirements?

• New rules include earlier notification when companies make first time claim so you need to act earlier.

Companies shouldn’t assume they don’t qualify, as R&D qualifying criteria remains wide but HMRC is focusing on this area, so check whether a claim is possible, or if an existing claimant – whether your filings are compliant.

Max Hough, Workplace Interiors with Emily Crewe and Alex Davis of The Authentic Bread Company

Chris Robins, Print Waste with James Gardiner, Gardiner Bros

Don Robins, Print Waste

Technology aside, family businesses are fundamentally about people, and that fact shouldn’t be overlooked said Henry Herbert, Head of Sales at his family business Hobbs House Bakery.

Hobbs House Bakery, based in Chipping Sodbury and with shops across the region, was established in 1920. The business is currently building a new bakery at its main site which will include some automation.

This won’t affect the traditional breadmaking process but will reduce the wear and tear on those working in the bakery, according to managing director George Herbert, Henry’s brother.

He said: “Some bakeries don’t touch anything with human hands and do

everything with machines and robots. In our new bakery we have installed tippers.

Rather than a human lifting the heavy bowls, the tipper does the heavy work and leaves us to get on with the skilled side of baking.

Emily Crew of Longhope-based The Authentic Bread Company agrees with this approach. “Not enough people are choosing to go into baking, and that could limit our growth.

“In our new factory at Longhope, we have automated the work that isn’t skilled, such as the cutting. Like the Herberts at Hobbs House Bakery, we want to use the skilled people for things that need their skills.”

She goes on: “We accept the need for automation and even robots, but the reason our business was started was to counteract the Chorleywood process of bread making, which replaces the slow mixing and kneading process of traditional breadmaking with a much faster mix and a reduced first proving time.

“The Chorleywood process is full of chemicals so that it can be processed through machines.”

“Traditional breadmaking is a labourintensive industry that can’t do without humans.”

“Henry added: “It’s about having that overall view of what are you trying to do as a business. Can technology enhance that?”

Guests at lunch

Paul Cox, Crowe UK with Hannah Herbert, Guardian Preservation Services

Amber Meek, Guardian Waterproofing, Pete Bell, KW Bell Group with Lisa Smith, Smith’s

Looking to the future

A big issue for all family businesses is succession, who will take over the business and do they want to?

Nick Latimer advises that it’s never too early to talk succession planning. Having some regularly reviewed parameters that are understood by the family and others in the business, can be really helpful.

Don Robins set up Print Waste with his brother Geof in 1983. The company now offers waste management collection. They have four children between them who are all passionate about the business.

Don said: “They all have different capabilities, and our challenge is to build a new team with them and draw in external skills to complete the team if necessary.

His son, Chris, added: “Don and Geof have

established a great legacy. As a junior management team, we want to step up with a good plan for where to take the business next.”

For those at the top, running any business can be a lonely affair. For family businesses that is possibly less so because there are opportunities to chat about it at home with those who understand.

James Gardiner, of Gardiner Bros, the UK's leading distributor of global footwear and workwear brands, brought a mentor into the business early to ensure that all directors have someone outside the business, with no skin in the game, to talk to regularly.

“He supports us all individually and collectively,” said James.

This year the next generation of family businesses were at the lunch in force. Felix Elliott-Berry of Sibling Distillery,

Richard and James Markey of Markey Group, Gavin Carter of construction company E.G. Carter and Jonathan Groves, who has just taken on the role of Executive Chairman at Lane’s Health in Gloucester, which manufactures household brands such as Olbas Oil, Jakemans and Kalms.

While the guests came from many different family businesses and sectors, many of the challenges they faced were similar.

Hannah Herbert, of property care company Guardian Preservation Services, said:

“We found the lunch really beneficial, and it felt reassuring to be surrounded by other companies going through the same successes but equally the same headaches that come with running a family business.”

As the Institute of Family Business says: “Business done well is a force for good; underpinned by principles of good governance and in a supportive

Tom Lister, Lister Communications with Rebecca Pullin, Smiths Ltd

George Herbert, Hobbs House Bakery

Chris Mould, Crowe UK with Nicola Bird, AccXel

Jonathan Groves, GR Lane Health Products, James and Richard Markey, The Markey Group

regulatory environment family businesses can have a positive impact on society, the economy, and the natural world.

For leaders and owners of family businesses that presents an unprecedented opportunity to offer a model of sustainable and responsible business for others to be part of, work with, even adopt, to help both navigate the difficult times we face now, and prepare for future growth and more prosperous times ahead.”

Nick Latimer added: “The conversations we had at the lunch, and the networking alongside them, are really important.

“All these families are different businesses but with shared issues which it’s great to discuss in a forum like thi .and give those who participated an opportunity to develop and take forward new relationships formed over lunch.”

Nick Latimer, Crowe UK

Chris Mould, Crowe UK

Paul Cox, Crowe UK

Sharon Smith, Crowe UK

Emily Crewe and Alex Davis, The Authentic Bread Company

Nicola Bird, AccXel

George Workman, Cotteswold Dairy

Gavin Carter, E.G. Carter & Co

Jonathan Groves, GR Lane Health Products

James Gardiner, Gardiner Bros & Co

Neil Grundon, Grundon Waste Management

Hannah Herbert and Amber Meek, Guardian Preservation Services

Peter Heming, Heming Group

George and Henry Herbert, Hobbs House Bakery

Peter Bell, KW Bell Group

Tom Lister, Lister Unified Communications

Richard and James Markey, Markey Group

Don and Chris Robins, Printwaste Recycling and Shredding

Felix Elliott-Berry, Sibling Distillery

Rebecca Pullin and Lisa Smith, Smith’s

Max Hough, Workplace Interiors

The Business Magazine, Family Business Lunch guests

“We found the lunch really beneficial, and it felt reassuring to be surrounded by other companies going through the same successes but equally the same headaches that come with running a family business”

Peter Heming, Heming Group with Nicky Godding, The Business Magazine Editor

TOP FOR AGRICULTURE, EQUINE AND SPORT

By Ian Mean,

Hartpury University and Hartpury College is becoming something of an educational powerhouse with a clear commercial and business focus for its students.

It's impressive, with an excellent corporate identity and a new Vice-Chancellor, Principal and CEO to match.

Professor Andy Collop, 56, has an engineering background – not the fit you might expect for a man running what is primarily an agricultural and equine training centre with elite sport as part of a great mix of career opportunities for young people.

I put him under the microscope with some key questions:

What does Hartpury stand for and what are its unique selling points?

“One of the things that attracted me to Hartpury was its specialist nature and it does focus in five areas – animal, agriculture, equine, veterinary nursing and sport. We strive to be excellent in those five areas.

“We have tangible USPs. In equine, we are certainly the country’s leading provider of equine training and arguably one of the leading providers in Europe.

“It is equine training in the broadest sense

– whether it’s at degree level and anything from running racecourses to running yards. We are the biggest in the UK, and arguably in Europe, training students in this area.

“The facilities here are outstanding – there is no comparable facility in the UK. There may be one or two in Europe but not many. That puts us in a unique position to positively influence developments in the equine industry.

“There is no other university in the country that students can go and play championship rugby. That dual career pathway for sport is really important to us.

“We don’t focus on every sport – we concentrate on 10 or so areas. But we try and achieve excellence in those 10 areas.

“We focus on football, rugby and rowing and other sports where we can generate that excellence. We want to attract students who want to play at an elite level while appreciating sport can be a fickle area and they may need to have an academic qualification to fall back on.”

Agriculture is a very important sector in Gloucestershire’s economic growth-how can you help enhance that?

“The roots of Hartpury are in agriculture – that’s how it was set up after the war and I think there are some very interesting

developments in agritech. I am an engineer and there is a lot of overlap between engineering and agritech.

“We have our own farm which is a fantastic base to allow us to try things and experiment.

“If we can collaborate with other places who may have computer science expertise I can see a lot of potential there.

“So, I think agritech for us and digital farming is going to be one of our USPs. I am quite excited about it.

“I am an engineer and engineering is all about problem solving – it’s a skill set that is quite useful.

Hartpury University and Hartpury College is a unique educational powerhouse with no lack of ambition for its students

contributing editor, Vice-Chair at Gloucestershire Local Enterprise Partnership and Director of Business West

“I am an engineer and engineering is all about problem solving – it’s a skill set that is quite useful”

“One of the things we can do is bring together some of the different components. A good example of that is our agritech centre which has pulled together a list of hundreds of farms.

“Individually, they might be small but it is easier to talk to them collectively to help them understand.

“This is a challenging sector—it is about the next generation and grasping new technology. One of our greatest strengths is making sure we have work-ready 16-18-year-olds for farming.”

Is there room for more co-operation between Hartpury and the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester?

“We have complementary expertise and should collaborate because no one

institution has all the answers to solve the problems,” said Andy.

“It is about where the complementary areas are that you can develop. For me it’s about an opportunity to work together.

“From small seeds you grow these collaborations—I am very happy to find these areas of overlap with the Royal Agricultural University and the University of Gloucestershire.

“What gets me up in the morning is the knowledge that I have the ability to influence education for young people.

“I want to set them on what is hopefully a fruitful path to their future career.

“We are educating tomorrow’s generation”.

• Professor Andy Collop was at Leicester de Montfort University for more than 11 years before becoming Hartpury’s Vice-Chancellor, Principal and Chief Executive Officer.

• He has his own horse, Duffy, that is stabled at the farm, “an opinionated mare”, according to Andy.

• Hartpury has an annual turnover approaching £50 million and 4,600 students.

• Home Farm is 113-hectares with 220 Holstein-Friesian cows as well as the Agritech Centre and Tech Box Par –-part of the Digital Innovation Farm.

• A new £12.75 million university learning hub is being built for undergraduate and post graduate students.

Professor Andy Collop rides in as the new Vice Chancellor of Hartpury University and Hartpury College

THE LATEST DEAL ACTIVITY ACROSS THE REGION

JUNE 2023 | £100,000

Fitness Worx (Warwick)

Raised funds to build its seventh training centre in Stratford-upon-Avon

Lender: BCRS Business Loans via the Community Investment Enterprise Facility and the Midlands Engine Investment Fund.

MAY 2023 | £40 million

Ridge & Partners (Oxford)

Secured investment from Horizon Capital

Advisers included: law firm Shakespeare Martineau

JUNE 2023 | £Undisclosed

Cyber security company Logiq (Bristol)

APRIL 2023 | £Undisclosed

IT and digital transformation consultancy Leading

Resolutions (Swindon)

MBO backed by NVM Private Equity

Advisers included:

Corporate Finance (Vendors): Watersheds

Financial Due Diligence: Crowe

Commercial Due Diligence: Armstrong

Corporate Finance (NVM): Equiteq

Legals (NVM): Gateley, (Management): HCR, (Vendors): Gardner Leader

Management Due Diligence: Continuum

Insurance Due Diligence: Lockton

£Undisclosed

Creative Agency Milk & Tweed (Chippenham)

MAY 2023 | £Undisclosed

Cotswold Energy Group (Stonehouse)

Sold to South Coast Insulation Services

Advisers included:

FRP Corporate Finance

Law firm Foot Anstey

Nat West

KBS (Vendor)

Harrison Clark Rickerbys (Vendor)

MAY 2023 | £six figure sum

Shakeup Cosmetics (Bath)

Acquired Brighton counterpart Huxley

Advisers included: APS Advisory, Calne, Law firm Talbot Walker, Andover

MAY 2023 | £10 million

OMass Therapeutics (Oxford)

Secured loan from South West Investment Group (SWIG)

MAY 2023 | $963,000

Oxford Biodynamics (Oxford)

Secured investment from Phoenix Equity Partners

Advisers included: BDO

Secured funding from British Patient Capital

Awarded funding through US-based Foundation for the National Institutes of Health

JUNE 2023 | £Undisclosed

Infosec People (Cheltenham)

MAY 2023 | £Undisclosed

Slicker Recycling (Stourport-on-Severn)

Undergoes MBO following the exit of founder Chris Dunning-Watson on sale to managing director Ben Craig.

Advisers included: Accountants Hazlewoods

MAY 2023 | £Undisclosed

Greenway Nurseries (Cheltenham)

Acquired Oil Monster (Cheshire)

JUNE 2023 | £250,000

GB Wiring Systems (Hinkley)

MAY 2023 | £Undisclosed

Oxford Computer Consultants (Oxford)

Sold to System C (Maidstone)

Advisers included: Gardner Leader, Newbury

JUNE 2023 | £Undisclosed

Sprint Refrigeration & Catering Ltd (Worcestershire)

Sold to Burrington Estates (Exeter)

Advisers included: BPE Solicitors, Cheltenham

Acquired by autonomous passenger vehicle manufacturer Aurrigo (Coventry)

Sold to Airedale Group (Bradford), backed by investor Rubicon Partners

Advisers included: KBS Corporate

Debt lender raises further £30m following record year

Finance provider Frontier Development Capital (FDC) has raised a further £30 million from two of its existing investors after completing a record year for investment.

The additional funding, which comes from West Midlands Pension Fund and British Business Investments, will increase the size of its FDC Debt LP fund to £105 million and brings its total funds under management to £445 million.

FDC approved more than £141 million investment for SMEs and property developers across the UK in the 12 months

to the end of March this year – up 76 per cent on the previous financial year and almost four times the amount it invested four years ago.

Key deals during the year included a £2 million investment to back a management buy-out of Hertfordshire sales enablement consultancy Mentor Group, £1 million growth funding to support the acquisition of three compliance companies by Solihull-based health and safety firm Opus Safety; and a £9 million investment to enable Tamworth Cornerstone Housing Association to almost double the number of properties it owns to help families at risk of homelessness.

Last December FDC became part of Mercia Asset Management plc, one of the UK’s most active SME finance providers.

RECIPIENTS OF THE FIRST KING’S AWARDS FOR EXPORTING ENTERPRISE ANNOUNCED

contributed significantly to our success.”

Another exporting winner was Coventrybased metal machinery business AMOB Machinery. The company designs and manufactures products for industries including automobile, shipping, chemical, construction and power.

Outstanding small businesses receive inaugural government awards for export success

Businesses across the region have been recognised for their exporting success in the first King’s Awards for Enterprise.

The Awards programme, previously known as The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise, saw 148 businesses from across the UK recognised for their efforts in one of four categories: International Trade, Innovation, Sustainable Development and Promoting Opportunity (through social mobility).

In the international trade, the Award’s largest category, success was achieved by Gloucester-based AIS, which manufactures insulation and passive fire protection systems, buoyancy, and SURF (subsea, umbilicals, risers and flowlines) products.

Its focus on exporting has seen revenues in China rise from zero in 2019 to around £8.5 million in 2021, while in Brazil it rose from £0.5 million to £3.2 million over the same period. Overseas sales increased by more than 70 per cent over three years despite the pandemic’s travel restrictions.

Managing Director, Andrew Bennion said: “To receive the King’s Award for International Trade is a great honour.

“It is a testament to the strength of our export strategy that saw us emerge stronger from the challenges of the pandemic. We also understand the importance of investing in our products and people and I believe this focus has

Tyler Murray, Marketing Manager at AMOB UK, said: “We have been fortunate enough to install metal forming technology into territories as far away as Australia and New Zealand in the past three years, an accomplishment only amplified considering the challenges faced by Covid 19.”

Stratford-Upon-Avon’s Green Sheep Group has been designing and manufacturing nursery baby products since 2006, operating two brands: The Little Green Sheep and Snüz. Roger Allen, Chief Executive said: “We have grown from selling to retailers in six countries, to selling wholesale to retailers in 30 countries. Adding in direct consumer customers, we now export to 45 countries around the world.”

Another winner was Coventry-based Sonihull, which is deploying ultrasound to clean up the oceans. The firm uses ultrasonic soundwaves to prevent marine algae, weeds and molluscs colonising ocean-going vessels and structures like ships and wind farms.

This removes the need for toxic biocidal coatings which often contain chemicals and microplastics. Sonihull’s technology has been used on vessels in more than 70 countries around the world.

And British made dog food is also whetting canine palates across the world. Little BigPaw from Worcestershire’s First Class Pet Company sells natural foods and treats produced in the UK. It previously picked up a Queen’s Award in 2018. The company now sells in more than 45 countries.

The first recipients of the government’s Made in the UK, Sold to the World awards celebrating the exporting success of small businesses across the UK were announced in May.

Winners from across the region include Scanning Pens, based in Wiltshire, which promotes and distributes innovative, assistive reading technology. Its pens are being sold in more than 100 countries, including Australia, Canada, United States, Asia and Europe.

Within each category three additional businesses were also awarded highly commended status for their inspiring business stories and exporting prowess.

This year’s Highly Commended businesses included music instrument manufacturer Warwick Music Group, EBS Ltd, also of Warwick, which provides exporting consultancy and advice and Prima Dental of Gloucester, the largest manufacturer of dental burs in the world,

Business and Trade Secretary

Kemi Badenoch said: “We’re proud of our British exporters and these awards rightly highlight some fantastic businesses punching above their weight and selling UKmade products around the world. I hope they serve as inspiration to others looking to get on the exporting ladder.”

Little Green Sheep’s Snuz cot

Cybersecurity specialist Cylera forms Global Advisory Council to tackle growing cybercrime in healthcare

GLOUCESTERSHIRE UNIVERSITY CELEBRATES FIRST YEAR OF GERMAN CYBER PARTNERSHIP

The University of Gloucestershire celebrated the first anniversary of its cyber partnership with the FHM University of Applied Sciences and Düren Landraat in Germany by welcoming delegates to its campus to see the university’s Business School and find out more about its cyber and digital programmes.

These range from short digital skills bootcamps to full Masters programmes, delivered by the University of Gloucestershire in partnership with the Institute for Cyber Security and Digital Innovation (ICDI) in Düren, Germany.

The ICDI is a collaboration with the University of Applied Sciences Fachhochschule des Mittelstands (FHM) and the Düren Landraat (District Council).

Recognising the need for the North Rhine Westphalia region to lead on digital innovation and cyber skills, Düren Council invested €4.23 million over five years to establish a new facility.

Replicating the technologies accessed by students at the University of Gloucestershire, the multi-university facility features a cyber attack and defence room and digital lab.

Student enrolment targets for both the BSc (Hons) Cyber and Computer Security and MSc Cyber Security programmes delivered by the University of Gloucestershire in the ICDI have been exceeded, and a highquality team of academic and business professionals are supporting the ICDI development.

The delegates also learned more about Cheltenham’s Golden Valley cyber development and the work of CyNam – a cyber cluster involving 4,000 people from more than 150 regional cyber companies.

University of Gloucestershire ViceChancellor, Stephen Marston, said: “Gloucestershire has the greatest concentration of cyber tech firms outside of London. Both in Gloucestershire and Düren we can all see that cyber and digital will be foundational skills for innovative, successful businesses in the future.”

Professor Dr Volker Wittberg, Vice-Rector for Research and Development at the FHM University and head of the new institute said: “This innovative partnership builds on our international digital outreach all over the world, and provides new opportunities for learning, research and knowledge exchange that will give a brighter future to SMEs and young people in our region.

Cheltenham-based healthcare IoT and medical device cybersecurity specialist Cylera has formed its first Advisory Council, bringing together world leaders in cybersecurity to help tackle security challenges facing today’s rapidly digitalising healthcare sector.

As a critical infrastructure, healthcare remains a top target for cybercriminals with access to rich patient data and a potential to cause significant damage and disruption to patient care.

Sixty-five per cent of UK healthcare organisations admitted that a cyber attack could increase patient mortality rates.

Timur Ozekcin, CEO of Cylera, said: “Healthcare is undergoing a particularly dramatic digital transformation. Already medical devices account for more than 30 per cent of connected endpoints at hospitals with devices ranging from X-Rays and CT machines, mobile ultrasound machines, radiotherapy and chemotherapy devices plus online building systems and CCTVs.”

“Also, the number of remotely monitored patients has risen sharply in the past couple years.

“Remote user access, unsegmented and potentially unmanaged networks, legacy operating systems and limited visibility into IoT device risks are just some of the security challenges keeping healthcare leaders awake at night,” added Timur.

The Cylera Cybersecurity Advisory Council is made up of senior technology and information officers from major healthcare providers and hospitals, along with private sector companies.

Members of the delegation from Duren, Germany, with Professor Kamal Beckhoum, Head of the School of Computing and Engineering at the university – third left, and the University’s ViceChancellor, Stephen Marston – far right

Do we need to press pause on AI?

Almost

“The question of whether we should pause development of artificial intelligence (AI) has a straightforward answer in my opinion –and that is no.

“We should not because good applications of AI bring immense advantages to humanity and the planet.

“However, we must put into place safeguards that protect us from inadequate development practices and to prevent AI from being exploited by bad actors.

“I’d like to delve into the subject, examining the various types of risks associated with AI technology and its applications.

“Focusing on the risks of AI technology first, we have been conditioned by science fiction and movies to fear self-aware and autonomous machines that take over the world and wipe out the human race.

“In reality and currently, AI technology is still in its infancy and works through a lot of number crunching and pattern matching.

“A chatbot, for example, does exactly that; it

has no understanding of the meaning of the words it strings together in a sentence in reply to your question. It merely matches the words that fit as the best answer to your question in the context it has been trained in.

“The technology is not self-aware – at least, not yet. It is with self-awareness that the sci-fi style threats arise, where the machine becomes cognisant of its power and then acts in its own self-interest.

“As with any system, data quality can affect AI’s analysis and output. The quality can be affected by a number of issues such as the size of the data set used to train the AI, and how representative it is of its potential inputs when it goes live.

“Poor quality data can lead to issues such as some people receiving faster and better services than others, for example in facial recognition more accurate ID confirmation of men than women because the images that were used to train the AI had more images of men.

“There may also be poor development

where the intelligent application has been simply badly designed and developed and will be limited in its capabilities. These types of problems can be dealt with through best practice in design, development, and testing of AI.

“Another issue is that AI can learn bad behaviour from its interactions with malicious users. It is therefore necessary to monitor its output and to get feedback from its end-users to ensure its ongoing fitness for purpose.

“AI in the hands of bad actors can go further, for example deep fake technology that is used to alter real videos to damage the reputation of high profile people or spread misinformation. In the wrong hands AI can be used maliciously for many purposes from cyber crime to controlling human lives.

“My answer to pausing AI development is still no, but we should create a framework that allows for the responsible development of beneficial AI by putting safeguards in place and developing solutions to mitigate the potential risks posed by AI in the hands of bad actors.

Do we need to press pause on AI? Need to Know - in association with BPE Solicitors

60 per cent of people want regulation of AI in the workplace. We spoke to Sarah Burnett FBCS, former chair of BCSWomen and Founder of the BCSWomen at Swindonbased BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT

Sarah Burnett

“The first point has been covered well in a paper by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, titled: Helping AI grow up without pressing ‘pause’.

“The second point is also crucial in my opinion. We already have experience of the dangers posed by uncontrolled technological advancements in the huge rise in cybersecurity threats and fraud that we are seeing stemming from digitalisation of commerce, banking, and other sectors.

“No one foresaw this situation when the shift from brick and mortar operations to online happened.

“While there are many extremely useful and reliable applications of AI already in daily use by many of us, there may be unforeseen consequences of AI too. We should therefore think about the future risks of AI and how to mitigate them.

“I wonder if an international institute could be set up to come up with risk mitigation and other solutions? Such an institute could also provide guidance on best practice and offer training courses for would-be AI developers of the future.

“We must not forget that AI is still in its infancy and that its risks may not materialise.

“However, it is also possible that AI or its malicious use will pose a serious threat to humanity in the future. We need to be aware of the potential dangers of it or its malicious use and take steps to mitigate them while also working to develop AI in a responsible and ethical manner.”

GOOD GUIDANCE FOR AI

The National Cyber Security Centre (“NCSC”) has issued guidance highlighting the following issues regarding the use of open AI tools such as Chat GPT:

• They can get things wrong and ‘hallucinate’ incorrect facts

• They can be biased, are often gullible (for example, in responding to leading questions)

• They require huge compute resources and vast data to train from scratch

• They can be coaxed into creating tox content and are prone to ‘injection attacks’

A common concern is whether the Large Language Model (LLM) will learn from queries and offer that information up to others. The NCSC notes that currently Chat GPT does not automatically add information from queries into its model. However, the query will be visible to the organisation providing the LLM, stored and likely used for developing the LLM at some point. For this reason it is important to read the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy associated with Chat GPT and other LLMs to understand how you query data might be used. As a guide however, the NCSC recommends:

• Not to include sensitive information in queries to public LLMs

• Not to submit queries to public LLMs that would lead to issues if such queries were made public

There are undoubtedly risks involved with unfettered use of public LLMs, as

Sarah Kenshall: Sarah.Kenshall@bpe.co.uk

outlined by the NCSC above, around quality, confidentiality and data protection. There are also issues around copyright in content potentially used by the LLMs, as it is difficult to get at their sources and understand on what basis the sources have been made available – be aware that even the most permissive of creative commons licences tend to come with some constraints around use.

BPE Partner, Sarah Kenshall

“There are also issues around copyright in content potentially used by the LLMs, as it is difficult to get at their sources and understand on what basis the sources have been made available”

Aeristech works on £6.3 million London bus hydrogen retrofit

Leamington Spa-based Aeristech Ltd, which develops high-performance electric motors and compressors, is celebrating its part in Project HEIDI (Holistic and adaptivE Interface Design for human-technology Interactions). The project has been awarded £6.3 million in government funding for a revolutionary hybrid powertrain project that could transform the future of public transport.

DYSON PLANS £100M

TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH HUB IN BRISTOL

Engineering and innovation company Dyson plans to open a £100 million research and development centre in the centre of Bristol.

The hub will be home to hundreds of software and AI engineers. The new site will be built opposite Castle Park and is close to the home of the celebrated British engineer, Sir James Dyson, and his existing UK R&D hubs at Malmesbury and Hullavington.

Sir James said “Software, connectivity, AI and proprietary new technology batteries will power the next generation of Dyson technology. Just like our longterm investments in pioneering digital electric motor technology, Dyson’s next generation battery technology will drive a major revolution in the performance and sustainability of Dyson’s machines.”

Jake Dyson, Dyson’s Chief Engineer and Sir James's son, said: “We have significant ambitions and will hire increasing numbers of software, AI and connectivity engineers as part of a growing global team.”

The new centre represents a further major investment by Dyson in the UK after a Robotics Centre was announced last year at its Hullavington Airfield Campus where Dyson has restored RAF hangars and transformed them into R&D labs focused on wearables and robotics. The commitment to Bristol reflects the city’s position as an international hub for software and digital skills and will drive recruitment from the UK and around the world.

The focus at the Bristol hub will be on sensors, apps and connectivity.

The funding has been matched by the participants in the project to a total of £12.7 million and will be used to develop a fuel cell/battery hybrid powertrain for double-decker buses that is cheaper than current options and uses cuttingedge electronics and energy recovery technologies.

Project HEIDI could also create and safeguard 498 jobs and save 5.9 million tonnes of CO2. The project will see Aeristech work with Bramble Energy, the University of Bath and Norwich-based Equipmake to retrofit hydrogen fuel cell electric systems into London's iconic red buses. The collaboration will develop a high-value end-to-end electrified automotive supply chain in the UK.

Duncan Kerr, Aeristech CEO, said: "This project is not only a significant step towards achieving net zero emissions but also a great opportunity to increase awareness of hydrogen fuel cell systems in the UK while developing a sustainable and efficient public transport system. Buses are the ideal early adopters of hydrogen-fuelled powertrains as they return to depot, so there is no requirement for extensive distributed hydrogen refilling stations.”

Aeristech will design, develop, and deliver a 20kW turbo-expander air compressor that will recover heat and pressure with frictionless oil-free airbearing technology and a high-speed 90k rpm motor and controller.

The project is a significant step forward in achieving Net Zero emissions in the UK.

“We have significant ambitions and will hire increasing numbers of software, AI and connectivity engineers as part of a growing global team”

A CGI of Dyson’s planned engineering and innovation campus in Bristol

TOKAMAK ENERGY'S BOLD VISION EARNS PLACE ON FUSION DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

Tokamak Energy Inc, the West Virginiabased US subsidiary of Oxfordshire's Tokamak Energy Ltd, has been selected by the US Department of Energy (DOE) for an award as part of its bold vision for commercial fusion.

The DOE’s multi-million-dollar MilestoneBased Fusion Development Programme was established to support private companies in bringing fusion energy toward technical and commercial viability.

As part of the programme selected companies will team with US national laboratories, universities and others to address major technical and commercialisation milestones for the successful design of a fusion pilot plant.

Warrick Matthews, Tokamak Energy’s Managing Director and Chief Commercial Officer, said: “It’s a fantastic endorsement of the strength of our team, technology and path to commercial fusion energy, combining the spherical tokamak with high

temperature superconducting magnets.”

The company has also signed a memorandum of understanding with US-based General Atomics (GA) to collaborate in the area of High Temperature Superconducting (HTS) technology for fusion energy and other industry applications. The collaboration would leverage GA’s world-leading capabilities for manufacturing large-scale magnet systems and Tokamak Energy’s pioneering expertise in HTS magnet technologies.

Tokamak Energy is the only private company with more than 10 years’ experience of designing, building and

operating tokamaks. It already has strong links with national laboratories in the USA, including Oak Ridge, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and Los Alamos, as well as the University of Illinois.

It is also the first private fusion company to reach a plasma ion temperature of 100 million degrees Celsius in its ST40 tokamak, the threshold for commercial fusion. ST40 also achieved the highest triple product by a private company. Triple product is a widely recognised industry measure of plasma density, temperature and confinement, collectively a key measure of progress on the path to realising commercial fusion conditions.

Six days of Cheltenham Science Festival attracts 200,000 visitors

Cheltenham Science Festival ended its 21st year on a high after six days of talks, debates, workshops, demonstrations and discussion, helping bring science and technology to a wider audience.

138 speakers across more than 270 events discussed and debated every scientific and technological question of contemporary interest, from artificial intelligence to climate change, gender to mental health.

The Festival began with ChelTechne, an event for policymakers and other stakeholders that aimed to imagine new ways of thinking about artificial

intelligence. Featuring figures from government, academia, the cultural sector and industry, the event represented the Science Festival’s contribution to the society-wide response to the challenges of digital technology.

Elsewhere the diverse programme included a family and educational strand that hosted 7,000 school students from nearly 100 schools in Gloucestershire and beyond, there were also free events across the town.

Almost 200,000 attended the Festival. From The Arcade – powered by BAE Systems Digital Intelligence – filled

with retro and contemporary games technology, to the Discover Zone that made the latest scientific research accessible.

MakerShack offered visitors the chance to code their own robot and try out the latest technology.

Marieke Navin is Head of Science

Programming for Cheltenham Festivals, the charity which organises the Science Festival. She said: "Every year, we work harder to push the boundaries of what a science festival can do. “We are so proud to be able to bring science and technology to so wide an audience.”

Tokamak Energy in West Virginia

MOOG’S £40 MILLION FACTORY UNVEILED IN TEWKESBURY

Aerospace company Moog Inc has unveiled its new £40 million factory in Tewkesbury. The 209,000 sq ft engineering and manufacturing facility is a significant investment in Moog’s UK capability.

Over the next 12 months staff and equipment will transition from its three smaller buildings in the town to the new building, which has the capacity to accommodate significant future growth.

Moog’s Tewkesbury facility manufactures precision products for aerospace.

These include equipment which move aircraft flight control surfaces, control the flow of fuel into aeroengines, provide aircraft with steering and braking control and equip helicopters with emergency floation devices.

The new building will have the capability to roll out digital factory technologies, introduce automated technologies and incorporate new efficiencies including flow lines.

Moog has been operating in the UK for

more than fifty years, with nine locations and more than 1,000 employees. It is one of Tewkesbury's largest employers.

Work began on the facility back in March 2021, at the height of the pandemic.

The building, which is carbon neutral, is fitted with 2,400 solar panels capable of generating more than one megawatt of energy.

Mark Lawton, General Manager of the Aircraft Control Components division of Moog said: “We were delighted to announce the opening of our new facility.

“Our continued success in the marketplace resulted in us outgrowing the premises that we have occupied for more than 45 years. Our new facility will more than

double in size and allow us to incorporate modern manufacturing practices.”

Business and Trade Minister Nusrat Ghani said: "This £40 million investment in Gloucestershire will create jobs, grow the economy, and boost an already thriving aerospace sector here in the UK.

“Thanks to the work of government, the Aerospace Technology Institute and Innovate UK, we were able to provide more than £8 million in collaborative R&D funding to develop this “Open Source” Factory of the Future."

Barberry, the Stourbridge-based development and investment company, built the facility, which is near junction 9 of the M5, and has agreed a 35-year lease with Moog UK.

Our continued success in the marketplace resulted in us outgrowing the premises that we have occupied for more than 45 years

Moog’s new factory on the Ashchurch Estate

MOD extends vehicle contract with Coventry-based NP Aerospace

The Ministry of Defence has extended its Protected Mobility Engineering and Technical Support vehicle contact (PMETS) with NP Aerospace to March, 2026.

The £63 million contract covering more than 2,000 vehicles was awarded to NP Aerospace, global armour manufacturer and vehicle integrator in 2019.

Since then, as Engineering Authority for the fleet, NP Aerospace has worked on more than 140 individual tasks that maintain, sustain and upgrade the vehicle fleet for use on operations.

According to David Petheram, Managing Director & Senior VicePresident, NP Aerospace Vehicle Systems, Services & Spares, tasks range in scale and complexity from lighting systems, software enhancements and communication system upgrades, through to full scale re-engineering programmes.

He said: “Through PMETS we have introduced significant innovations into the fleet such as the Mastiff and Ridgback XC offroad platforms and hybrid demonstrator projects – both of which improve overall capabilities and operational vehicle performance.

“Working closely with industry partners, NP Aerospace is able to maximise through life capability and introduce new innovations that benefit the Armed Forces.”

NP Aerospace has worked on MOD vehicles for more than 20 years.

The PMETS contract is estimated to have generated more than 200 jobs in the UK supply chain, with NP Aerospace managing all activities on the contracts.

MORE THAN £77 MILLION COMMITTED BY GOVERNMENT AND INDUSTRY TO DEVELOP ZERO-EMISSION VEHICLES

The government has committed £77 million in new funding for projects developing clean transport technologies, with companies from across the region benefiting.

The schemes, which range from work on battery-powered buses, to a hydrogen-powered version of the iconic Ford Transit van, will support more than 4,400 jobs across the UK over the next decade.

The funding has been awarded through the Warwick-based Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) Collaborative Research and Development programme, to help build a supply chain for zeroemission vehicles (ZEVs) in the UK.

More than £38 million of this investment comes from government, backed by a further £38.7 million from the automobile industry.

Chief Executive at the APC, Ian Constance, said: “I’m pleased to have well-known brand names among this £77 million funding round through the APC, as well as innovative SMEs bringing through exciting new developments.”

This includes unlocking private investment in gigafactories, battery material supply chains, motors, power electronics and fuel cell systems.

The ATF is being delivered by the Department for Business and Trade in partnership with the APC.

The winning projects include

£6.3 million to Jaguar Land Rover’s EleVAIT, matched by industry to a total £12.6 million. This research project will develop technology for inverters – a key component in electric vehicles. Project partners include the University of Bristol, Andover-based Customer Interconnect and API Capacitors Ltd.

HYER POWER – ULEMCO Ltd

£3.9 million awarded by government, matched by industry to a total £7.9 million. This project will develop a hydrogen fuel cell range extender for electric vehicles used for special purposes, such as ambulances, fire engines and street sweepers.

Project partners include Leamington Spa-based Altair Engineering, Emergency One, Technical Services Ltd and Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue Services.

HEIDI – Bramble Energy Ltd

£6.3 million awarded by government, matched by industry to a total £12.7 million. This project will demonstrate a fuel cell/battery hybrid powertrain on a doubledecker bus. This novel product will be cheaper than the equivalents currently available for large vehicles like buses and uses innovative new electronics and energy recovery technologies.

Project partners include: the University of Bath, Equipmake and Warwick-based Aeristech.

UNLOCKING INVESTMENT INTO LIFE SCIENCES WILL DRIVE THE UK ECONOMY

By Nicky Godding, Editor

A report published last year by PwC for the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry revealed that unlocking life sciences could deliver for our economy as well as for the all-important patient health.

The government agrees. In 2021 it published its Life Sciences Vision saying that life sciences will be one of the great drivers of growth in the 21st century. Just last month it put some money where its mouth was and announced a £650 million war-chest to fire up the UK’s life sciences.

The vision is to build on the UK’s world-class science and research capabilities, make the NHS the country’s most powerful driver of innovation and create an outstanding business environment for life sciences companies.

But the UK’s share of global pharmaceutical research and development fell from 7.7 per cent in 2012 to 4.1 per cent in 2019, according to the report, and manufacturing production volumes have fallen by 29 per cent since 2009.

Currently, the UK’s £94 billion Life Science sector provides more than 250,000 high skill jobs across the UK from drug discovery to diagnostics, med-tech devices and digital health.

If the government’s Life Sciences Vision is implemented in full, the size of the prize is great: £68 billion in additional GDP over 30 years due to the benefits of increased research and development investment, along with a further 85,000 additional jobs from increased pharmaceutical exports.

And before we forget what all this investment should be about – a 40 per cent decrease in disease burden across the UK.

According to Knight Frank, UK life sciences venture capital funding reached £3.4 billion last year, a 41 per cent decline year-on-year but well above pre-pandemic levels.

Investment harder to find

In the first quarter of 2023, deal flows continued for the UK’s life science and biotech companies at all stages of development, according to the BioIndustry Association.

Private UK biotechs secured £258 million across 20 deals, with an average deal size of £13 million.

Investors were more likely to back companies with an existing track record, with five Series B deals recorded, but more reluctant to part with their cash, resulting in an average Series B deal down to £18 million, compared to £58 million in 2022.

Notable deals across the region included Milton Park, Abingdon-based Grey Wolf Therapeutics, an immune-oncology company, which raised £40 million in a Series B deal, and Akamis Bio (formerly known as PsiOxus Therapeutics), also based in Abingdon, raising £23 million to advance its gene therapy platform to treat cancer.

No initial public offerings were made on the stock exchange and just £37 million was raised by existing public companies, but that trend was replicated across the world. Investment is clearly currently harder to come by.

In the report, published by intelligence company Clarivate, BioIndustry CEO Steve Bates, said: “The quality of our science and management teams will carry us through this period, and the government’s more positive approach to R&D tax relief and continuing efforts to unlock pension funds hold real promise to super-charge the sector.”

Mike Ward, Global Head of Thought Leadership, Life Sciences, Clarivate, added: “Globally, there was a 37 per cent year-onyear decline in venture capital support for the biotech sector. This apparent loss of appetite is a reflection of the headwinds impacting the global economy as biotech innovation remains robust. It is not yet clear how long the financing drought may last.”

Life sciences is one of the most valuable sectors in the UK and could help dig us out of our economic gloom, but we need to move fast if we are not to be overtaken by other countries

Where will new investment come from?

How can the UK bring more investment into the sector? Sir John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford, suggests that pension schemes could be bundled together to create around five superfunds to invest in sectors, including science and technology.

This approach, he suggests, could stop young UK technology and life sciences companies looking overseas for investment.

In Jeremy Hunt’s March budget, he said that this year’s Autumn Statement would include proposals to unlock DC (defined contribution) pension capital to support UK growth.

What about innovation in the NHS, another ambition in the government’s Life Sciences Vision?

The NHS’s Innovation Accelerator (NIA) is

spearheading innovation among health and care innovators. The accelerator provides tailored support for each entrepreneur (or Fellow as it refers to them), from networking opportunities and mentoring to helping them understand the barriers to uptake their innovation faces within the NHS.

Since 2015 the NIA has supported the scaling of 85 innovations. Close to 60 NIA-supported innovations have been successfully marketed internationally.

In March the NIA accepted 17 new Fellows on to its 2023 programme.

These include Chen Mao Davies from Gloucestershire who has developed Anya, a 3D interactive technology to help new mothers learn breastfeeding skills. Within the app, virtual communities and AI-powered support provide personalised 24/7 assistance for parents throughout the first 1001 days of their child’s life.

Other new Fellows include Rachael Grimaldi, Founder and CEO at Oxfordbased CardMedic, an app that reduces

Life sciences companies across the region

There are almost 100 life science companies across Bristol and Bath and the region’s life science technologyrelated ecosystem is worth around £8 billion.

Across the West Midlands, there are eight hospitals, 35 regional clinical research centres and 600 companies. The University of Warwick Life Sciences school is dedicated to improving healthcare. The Birmingham Health Partnership supports businesses and

helps them with the commercialisation of innovations.

Surprising there is no up-to-date number of life sciences companies in Oxfordshire but it is likely that there are more than 450 as the county is part of the muchvaunted Golden Triangle of London, Oxford and Cambridge.

However, Oxford has major strengths in particular biotechnology subsectors, including drug discovery

health inequalities by overcoming communication barriers between staff and patients and Ross O’Brien who runs Wysa, a Reading-based AI-based mental health chatbot that offers instant, supportive, responsive, direct access to digital selfcare support. It was the first AI-based digital mental health solution to undergo a random control trial in the NHS.

Last year the government also launched its Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund to support the manufacture of new medical treatments, devices and diagnostics and allocated £60 million of the total announced £277 million of joint public and private backing.

And then there’s the Life Sciences Investment Programme, a £200 million initiative managed by British Patient Capital, a subsidiary of British Business Bank, the government-owned business development bank, which addresses the growth equity finance gap faced by high-potential UK life sciences companies. This is expected to attract at least a further £400 million of private investment.

This investment programme makes cornerstone commitments to later stage life sciences venture growth funds with a strong UK focus, typically investing between £50 million and £100 million in each successful fund.

Such pump-priming investment into smaller companies should enable them to achieve the research data they need to attract greater private sector funding further down the line.

and development, diagnostics, medical technology and imaging. There are approximately 7,200 jobs in biotechnology sub-sectors in Oxfordshire, with significant growth projected.

The Vale of White Horse in Oxfordshire had the highest employment in the medical technology sector of any UK local authority district at 3,900 people and generated the highest value of biopharmaceutical turnover (£5.5 billion).

Entrepreneur Chen Mao Davies who has developed breastfeeding app Anya. She has been made a Fellow of the NHS’s Innovation 2023 Accelerator Programme

WINNING THE SPACE RACE

£850 million portfolio of regional innovation districts across the UK.

Science Creates is a Bristol-based deep tech ecosystem including two incubators and a venture capital investor which helps scientists and engineers commercialise their scientific discoveries.

According to the latest life sciences report from Savills, published in March, the continued imbalance between supply and demand for laboratory space across the 'golden triangle' of London, Cambridge and Oxford has resulted in strong rental growth. Vacancy rates for available fitted laboratory space are close to zero in Cambridge and London and not much better in Oxford, which has a vacancy rate of just seven per cent.

This shortage has resulted in landlords retrofitting existing office stock and building speculatively fitted lab space, which they can then offer within a three to six-month timeframe. The rental premium for fitted lab space when compared to conventional office space is, on average, 70 per cent higher across Cambridge, Oxford and London.

But Bruntwood SciTech, which is aiming to create a network of quality office and lab space alongside a range of scientific services, says that some available floor space that could be viewed as potential hubs for science and technology occupiers is poor quality and not fit-for-purpose due to being built originally as retail, commercial or leased office space.

The shortage of space is particularly chronic in the centre of Oxford, with 497,911 sq ft take-up for science-related real estate in the city last year.

Science and technology companies like co-location because of the opportunities for collaboration and it’s generally easier to

attract skilled scientists and technologists who prefer to be where there are a lot of similar businesses, which is why Milton Park at Abingdon and Harwell near Didcot continue to be so successful.

But with space at a premium, why don’t life sciences companies look further afield?

Last May Bruntwood SciTech unveiled plans for a new world-class innovation cluster within the Birmingham Knowledge Quarter in partnership with Aston University and Birmingham City Council. The proposals cover 20 hectares around Aston University and sites owned by the university and Birmingham City Council, such as the former Aston Science Park, and Bruntwood SciTech’s Innovation Birmingham campus.

The masterplan forms part of Bruntwood’s strategy to invest £1 billion in the West Midlands over the next decade. The partnership will draw on Bruntwood SciTech’s expertise in developing an

In partnership with the University of Bristol, Science Creates now combines specialist incubator facilities (which include laboratories, offices, event space, deep tech and finance mentors) across two sites in the city with a dedicated venture capital fund.

Warwick University plans world-class innovation Campus

A multi-million pound scheme to build a new innovation campus for horticultural, medical and automotive research is being planned by the University of Warwick at its Wellesbourne site, which is currently home to a small number of businesses employing around 400 people.

The university is now developing a long-term strategy for the site as a new Innovation Campus covering crop science, agri-tech and life sciences, automotive vehicles and medical research.

The university has also co-founded Midlands Mindforge, along with seven other universities, aiming to secure significant private investment to support early-stage businesses across the region.

The ambitious plan will involve raising funds from strategic corporate partners, institutional investors and qualifying individuals, to help transform science and technology into successful businesses with real-world impact.

Life sciences space is at a premium in the region’s hotspots, so why don’t companies look further afield?

Milton Park

“Science and tech companies like colocation because of the opportunities for collaboration ...”

VECTURA’S £58M CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE GRANTED PLANNING PERMISSION

Vectura, the inhaled medicines business which was bought by cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris International in 2021, has been granted planning permission for a new 10,000 sq m Inhalation Centre of Excellence facility on the Bristol & Bath Science Park.

Vectura, which moved from its former Chippenham headquarters after the takeover, is one of the few companies globally with the device, formulation and development capabilities to deliver a broad range of complex inhaled therapies.

The building, which should be ready in 2025, will enable the company to expand operations, providing new career opportunities for research and development scientists and engineers in pharmaceutical and device development, as well as manufacturing and lab services.

Michael Austwick, Chief Executive Officer at Vectura, said: “The new-build will enable our successful pharmaceutical company to expand upon its vital work, providing innovative inhalation and other advanced drug delivery solutions that have the potential to improve the

lives of patients around the world.

“For nearly 25 years, Vectura has been providing a combination of formulation science, device technology and pharmaceutical development expertise, helping our partners and licensees develop products which are used by 10 million patients worldwide. This new facility will help us to build on this successful track record, increasing workspace capacity and attracting talent to the area.”

Councillor Ben Burton, cabinet member responsible for corporate resources at South Gloucestershire Council, said: “The Bristol & Bath Science Park in South Gloucestershire offers a prime location for a company of this type as it is a world-class centre for science and technology businesses with a focus on research and development, innovation and collaboration.

“This new research and development facility will bring additional high-tech employment opportunities to our area and I’m pleased to see that Vectura’s plans for the new building include a number of environmental and sustainability considerations.”

Some of the largest science parks across the region

Birmingham Health Innovation Campus

Birmingham Research Park

Bristol and Bath Science Park, Emersons Green

Bristol SETsquared Centre

Coventry University Technology Park

Gloucestershire Science and Technology Park, Berkeley

Malvern Hills Science Park

Science Creates, Bristol

University of Warwick Science Park

Where the region’s universities rank in global life sciences and medicine

Universities play an important role in attracting foreign direct investment into the UK. A report published by the Higher Education Policy Institute argues that a more co-ordinated approach could create many additional benefits for universities and local economies.

The University of Oxford comes second in the top 500 universities for global life sciences and medicine (just knocked off the top spot by Harvard in the United States).

Other universities across the region appearing in the list include Birmingham, Bristol, Warwick and Bath.

CGI of the planned new Inhalation Centre of Excellence centre

CHANCELLOR’S LIFE SCIENCES GROWTH PACKAGE TO FIRE UP ECONOMY

A £650 million war-chest to fire up the UK’s life sciences was unveiled by the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt in May.

The ‘Life Sci for Growth’ package brings together 10 different policies including £121 million to improve commercial clinical trials to bring new medicines to patients faster, up to £48 million of new money for scientific innovation to prepare for any future health emergencies, £154 million to increase the capacity of the UK’s biological data bank, and up to £250 million to incentivise pension schemes to invest in promising science and tech firms.

The Chancellor’s £650 million package also includes plans to relaunch the Academic Health Science Network as Health Innovation Networks. These will boost innovation by bringing together the NHS, local communities, charities, academia and industry to share best practice. It also lays out changes to planning rules to free-up lab space and updates a route for East West Rail (EWR), the new railway line, to

improve connections between UK science powerhouses Oxford and Cambridge, bringing more investment to the region.

There are 15 Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) across England. They were set up in 2013 by NHS England to act as innovation arms of the NHS.

These networks work locally and nationally to support all types of innovation within the NHS. They also support innovators in accelerating promising ideas from development to adoption.

Layla McCay director of policy at the NHS Confederation welcomed the government’s announcement. She said: "We welcome the government’s decision to keep Academic Health Science Networks under the new name of Health Innovation Networks and look forward to seeing what they are able to deliver with their expanded remit.

“They have done an excellent job in supporting Integrated Care Systems to

adopt and spread innovation throughout the NHS. Locating Health Innovation Networks regionally will mean that they are able to support systems even more by tailoring innovations which better meet the needs of local communities.”

The West of England Academic Health Science Network, the West Midlands Academic Health Science Network and the Oxford Academic Health Science Network all work within their regions and across organisational and geographical boundaries to develop and drive transformation.

Professor Gary Ford, Chief Executive of the Oxford AHSN and Chair of the AHSN Network, said: “It is a testament to the collective impact of the AHSNs over the past 10 years that our commissioners have issued a further licence. We welcome the opportunity and challenge this provides for our teams to identify, develop and spread innovations that meet the priorities of the NHS over the next five years.

£1.5 million investment brings Bristol University spin-out Halo Therapeutics' antiviral spray into clinic

Clinical trials of a home treatment for Covid are under way following a £1.5 million investment into Bristol University spin-out Halo Therapeutics.

The company received funding from the Development Bank of Wales alongside Science Angel Syndicate members and the KBA Group.

Based on research carried out at Bristol, Halo Therapeutics was established as a spin-out company in 2020 by CEO Dr Daniel Fitzgerald, Professor Christiane Schaffitzel and Professor Imre Berger.

The scientists discovered that exposing the coronavirus virus to a free fatty acid called linoleic acid locks the virus’ spike protein into a closed, non-infective form stopping it in its tracks.

This first-in-human study of Halo Therapeutic’s respiratory antiviral spray for coronaviruses will investigate the safety and tolerability of the treatment prior to subsequent studies being conducted in patients that are Covid positive or are at risk of becoming Covid positive.

Imre Berger, professor of biochemistry

at the University of Bristol and chief scientific officer at Halo Therapeutics, said: “Vaccination and treatments have reduced the impact of the virus but it is still a significant health risk.

"Our self-administered and cost-effective antiviral treatment stops the virus from entering and multiplying in the nasal epithelial cells, where it can then spread to the throat and then into the lungs.

"It is a potential game-changer in the treatment and prevention of coronaviruses, particularly with the emergence of new viruses."

Scarlet Therapeutics raises seed funding to develop its blood technology

New technology from Bristol-based Scarlet Therapeutics to develop red blood cells carrying additional proteins for therapeutic benefit across all parts of the body, has secured funding.

Professors Jan Frayne and Ash Toye, following their decades of research in this field. This includes their work on the groundbreaking Restore study led by NHS Blood and Transplant which is investigating transfusion of lab-grown blood into patients.

“Under the new banner of Health Innovation Networks each organisation will continue to support local innovation and transformation working with the integrated care systems within their region, support innovators to develop innovations to address local needs and come together as a national network to evaluate and spread promising solutions at scale.

“The challenges facing the NHS will only be met by widespread adoption of innovation in digital and diagnostic technology and in data to transform clinical pathways and empower patients.”

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said: “Our Life Sciences sector employs over 280,000 people. These are businesses that are growing our economy while having much wider benefits for our health – and this multimillion pound investment will help them go even further.”

The platform, developed by the University of Bristol spin-out, has raised seed funding from Science Creates Ventures, based in the city and financial advisory company Meltwind to build a pipeline of novel therapies to treat patients with a wide range of diseases, particularly metabolic disorders.

Therapeutic red blood cells (tRBCs) are very similar to standard red blood cells but carry additional proteins within them to provide a therapeutic benefit. Red blood cells have pervasive reach throughout the body and a long life of up to 120 days, and expressing therapeutic proteins inside the tRBCs keeps them hidden from the immune system.

Previous attempts to develop therapeutic red blood cells have been hindered by the level of therapeutic proteins contained in the red blood cells. Scarlet’s technologies aim to ensure a high level of therapeutic proteins inside the tRBCs.

Scarlet was founded by world-renowned University of Bristol blood scientists

Scarlet’s Chief Executive Officer, Alistair Irvine, is a scientist and experienced biotech and medtech executive who has worked in the industry for almost three decades.

He said: “Our game-changing therapeutic red blood cell-based technology allows the cells to be maximally loaded with therapeutic proteins without damaging the properties of the cells and so should be more effective. This funding enables us to further develop our technology to offer patients with debilitating health conditions more effective, longer-lasting treatments.”

Harry Destecroix, Managing Partner of Science Creates Ventures, said: “We are passionate about creating and backing great companies and are proud to invest in Scarlet Therapeutics. The technology platform is based on revelatory scientific research from Professors Toye and Frayne, and their team. It is truly groundbreaking with the potential to revolutionise how we treat disease.”

Dr Rajarshi Banerjee

Liver disease is so prevalent that if we get this right, we will make a lot of people better and will be a multi-billion-dollar business

WILL BIOPSIES SOON BE RELEGATED TO HISTORY?

Would you prefer an invasive biopsy or high-tech medical imaging to diagnose your disease? Faced with the choice, who would want the needle?

By Nicky Godding, Editor

Biopsies have been used by doctors for hundreds of years. The term was first coined in 1879 by French dermatologist Ernest Besnier, although the procedure was already centuries old.

A needle is inserted, twisted 180 degrees to extract tissue which is sent to a laboratory for analysis.

It is very invasive and, for some organs such as the heart, there is a risk. The heart won’t repair itself and the patient is left with a permanent scar.

In the 1980s, cardiologists began investigating ways of scanning the heart and Oxford University’s George Radda (now Sir George), pioneered the use of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in ‘live’ biological imaging, paving the way for the worldwide use of MRI scanning in human disease diagnosis.

As a result, biopsies are now rarely carried out on hearts. But what about the rest of our bodies?

Oxford-based Perspectum is pioneering new medical imaging to improve diagnoses including for liver disease and cancer. In March the company completed its latest $55 million funding round.

Perspectum’s software enhances the capabilities of a standard magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine and uses artificial intelligence to measure organ inflammation with much greater precision.

From PhD student to med-tech founder

Dr Rajarshi Banerjee, 45, known to pretty much everyone as Banjo, originated Perspectum’s patented technologies.

“I was an Oxford PhD student researching whether obese people are more prone to a specific kind of heart disease – fat deposited in the heart which could affect the way it pumps.

“I learned to scan the heart to measure fat content, inflammation, fibrosis and iron with great precision. I also showed that it wasn’t very useful in the non-symptomatic obese.

“But just upstairs in the John Radcliffe Hospital, where I was doing my research, people were having biopsies every day, and for those undergoing liver biopsies, the labs were looking for the same: fat, fibrosis inflammation and iron. I could scan them all to a second decimal place, so I wondered why not scan livers using my technology which is more accurate than a biopsy?”

Surely someone had thought of this before? “Experts could scan any one of these four indicators, but not all of them together like we could,” said Banjo.

Forget the parking tickets, focus on the tech

Opportunity knocked when he was called to the office of Regius Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford, Sir John Bell.

If a student gets called to the Regius Professor’s office it’s often because something really bad has happened, so Banjo went in trepidation. “All I could think of was that I was a PhD student with unpaid parking tickets.”

But it was Sir John with the problem. The UK Biobank, which held genetic and health information from half a million UK participants, and which he helped set up in 2007, had a lot of heart and brain information, but it didn’t have a liver test. He’d looked at all the UK biobank’s liver tests, but none of them were that good.

This was in 2012, when an edict had come down from the Chief Medical Officer, Sally Davies, that liver disease and obesity were now government priorities.

“Sir John had heard from the Dean of the Medical Schools, Dr Ken Fleming, about this PhD student who had come up with a scan for liver disease which was predicting biopsies and had secured patents on the technology. Sir John said he wanted to include my test in the UK Biobank, but it needed to be quality assured which meant forming a spin-out company.

“The meeting wasn’t about parking tickets, but about putting my research to practical use.”

With the help of Sir John Michael Brady, Emeritus Professor of Oncological Imaging at the University of Oxford, Banjo set up Perspectum the following year and secured seed funding from Sir Martin and Lady Audrey Wood. In 1959 they had founded Oxford Instruments, the university’s first spin-out company. And as Banjo had carried his research out while in the employment of the NHS, he also made sure that it had a legal stake in the business, alongside the university.

Enjoying the highs means navigating the lows

Perspectum has since gone on to raise a total of more than $120 million, including its latest round of $55 million.

“We are investing the funds in applied sciences and commercialisation. Liver

disease is so prevalent that if we get this right, we will make a lot of people better and will be a multi-billion-dollar business,” said Banjo. “The sustainable win is the ethical win.”

But growing a med-tech is tough and you only enjoy the highs after overcoming the lows. Perspectum has the technology, but its patents are only the start. “You have to commercialise and raise awareness, get the right people in, including legal and financial advisers as well as scientists, make the right medical and industry connections, get scanners preloaded with our software (which we are doing now), and many other things,” said Banjo.

“Even knowing that, it would take a long time to establish the business and has taken longer than I expected.”

There is an added benefit, according to Banjo, who alongside his CEO role at Perspectum, continues to work as a consultant physician with the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, where he also researches liver disease in adults and children. “Using AI in diagnosis is not only quicker and more accurate, it also frees up time for medical professionals to spend more time with their patients.

“Some medical consultants see themselves as scientists. Perhaps they have come from a molecular biology background and really prefer to be involved in trials and papers, not engaging with patients. But most of us will see a medical consultant at exactly the time of life when where we are most vulnerable.

“AI can help your diagnosis, and the doctors and consultants have more time to actually spend time with you, their patient. Surely this is better for the patient?”

Perspectum has now completed around 80,000 scans. “To achieve profitability, we need to achieve 4,000 scans a month. We are expanding first in the USA because that’s the highest paying and also has the

Artificial Intelligence frees up time for patient contact

Another challenge has been changing ingrained working practices within the medical profession. Consultants have long used biopsies as a tried and tested method of aiding diagnosis, and many must be persuaded to embrace new technology.

“Our technology is better for patients and for consultants. The pharmaceutical companies we are working with have mandated our scan, encouraging a greater uptake of our service,” said Banjo.

highest prevalence of patients with liver disease who have insurance cover for our scans. That’s how we get to our 4,000 scans per month.”

Perspectum employs 280 people, about half are based in Oxford. Banjo is keen to ensure that the company’s successes are enjoyed by all staff. “Everyone has share options. On the day that we win, we will all be able to celebrate. It makes for a better culture.

And what is a win for Perspectum?

“We want every patient to be able to access our software, wherever they are in the world.”

“Our technology is not only better for the patient, but better for consultants”

AI can help your diagnosis, and the doctors and consultants have more time to actually spend time with you, their patient

Serious about growth? – early advice is key

Freeths specialise in advising LIFE SCIENCE companies with ambition, writes

Claus Andersen Partner, Corporate, Freeths LLP

There is a general but understandable trend of entrepreneurs avoiding engaging with legal advisors in the early stage of their business. The journey of any start-up will invariably encounter turbulence, but there are a number of risks and costly mistakes that can easily navigated by seeking early advice. Set out below are out a few areas, which can support the success of your company.

Develop a robust business plan:

Any potential funder or investor will expect a clear business plan. The old adage “failing to prepare is preparing to fail” may seem harsh, but having all relevant information available and in good order can drive value. A well-structured, comprehensive business plan, company documentation and clear financial models will help investors understand your business and facilitate the transaction as investors see you as an attractive investment. This will not only help speed up your transaction but can also help you drive value.

Protect your idea:

It sounds obvious, but businesses must ensure their position and IP are protected robustly. Have clear documentation in place from the outset on the ownership of IP, and then consider if the IP needs protecting and how. Your IP is potentially your biggest asset – if it is not properly protected, there is always a risk that the business itself will suffer.

Consider corporate structure:

This is key to early-stage success. Incorporating structures and setting out what each person is entitled to may not seem vital when you and your best friends and co-founders are getting along, but what happens in the case of corporate divorce? Early advice on your structure will save you headaches in the future.

People, your businesses’ most important asset:

For organisations, the strength of its employees and their skills are vital to meeting current and future business demands. Knowing the employment rules is essential for protecting your organisation and keeping a positive business relationship with your employees. Without proper employment contracts in place, there is potential to cause significant damage to your business’s future, reputation and success.

Secure your commercial terms:

This can be your contracts with customers or terms and conditions with suppliers. Getting the small print right will save you time, reduce costs and avoid disputes.

Advisors:

Engaging early with the right advisor and securing the right support is key to unlocking the potential of your business. We specialise in helping you grow your life science business, from the early stage all the way through to exit. Timely advice will put you in the most competitive position and will help you navigate the unique opportunities and challenges in your individual business.

THE FUTURE OF OUR TOWNS AND CITIES

The region’s towns and cities are changing – but how, what’s driving the change, and does change look the same everywhere? The Business Magazine asked those in the know for insight.

New homes in city centre locations are changing the face of central Bristol

By Sally Davis, associate director at Avison Young

Over the past decade, Bristol has been one of the UK's most productive and fastgrowing cities and is a focal point for the West of England's £39 billion economy.

The capital of the South West regularly features in shortlists as one of the best places to live in the UK, in no small part due to its prestigious higher education institutions and economy built on the creative, media, technology, aerospace and engineering industries.

Increasing numbers of students and skilled new workers are attracted to Bristol, contributing to the city’s economy and growing housing demand.

The jewels in the city’s crown are its waterways which weave through the city, most notably the Floating Harbour, one of the marvels of the city’s prestigious engineering history.

In recent years many new developments have successfully capitalised on the value of Bristol’s extensive water frontage; the M-Shed, Wapping Wharf and Brandon Yard to name a few exemplar developments.

Planning permission has also been granted for the redevelopment of Redcliffe Wharf, as well as the redevelopment of Bristol O&M sheds on Welsh Back to deliver a music and food hall venue which

once built out will further contribute to the animation of the city.

As part of wider plans, Bristol City Council and The West of England Combined Authority have committed to invest in the Floating Harbour’s infrastructure, with planning permission recently granted to install floating eco-systems around new pontoons, helping to boost green infrastructure and create new habitat for wildlife, supported by £480,000 West of England Combined Authority grant funding as part of the Green Recovery Fund.

Bristol set to be transformed

Bristol is set to be transformed over the next few years as investment in new homes, transport and amenities increases. However, unlike many industrial cities, Bristol doesn’t contain substantial tracts of brownfield land or industrial dereliction which can be considered for housing-led regeneration. As a result, available land to accommodate Bristol’s housing and employment needs is in short supply.

The city council’s emerging development plan anticipates the most significant urban regeneration and transformation to take place in the form of higher density mixed use development at key city centre gateways over the next 20 years.

Proposed projects include a new city quarter at the Western Harbour; a mixed use neighbourhood at Frome Gateway beside the M32; the transformation of

Harbourside development Finzels Reach in Bristol

Broadmead and St James Barton to make more efficient use of land alongside a greater mix of uses within the city centre. Most significantly, a regenerated city quarter at Temple Quarter and St Philip’s Marsh, one of the largest regeneration projects in the UK, will be home to major housing and employment growth.

Key to the design and delivery of these regeneration areas will be prioritization of waterfront areas next to the Floating Harbour, Feeder Canal, River Avon and River Frome, promoting connectivity through new quayside walkways and green infrastructure.

A further aspiration is to deliver the ‘15 minute city’ or ‘liveable neighbourhoods’, based on the concept that all necessities and services, such as work, shopping, education, healthcare, and leisure can be easily reached by a manageable walk or bike ride from any point in the city. The end goal being to reduce carbon dependency, improve accessibility and reduce congestion.

Within Bristol, Finzels Reach (with Phase 2 nearing completion) represents a successful example of higher density mixed use residential and commercial development.

The development has successfully incorporated a quayside route and an iconic bridge across the Floating Harbour, creating an important and well used civic connection to Castle Park and the wider city beyond. Similarly, Legal and General has ambitious placemaking plans for the redevelopment of Temple Island to deliver a dwellings, offices and hotel facilities, tying in to the wider plans for Temple Quarter.

As part of the proposals, the development will celebrate its River Avon waterfront location and incorporate cycle and pedestrian connections, to stitch and repair the existing severed site into the urban fabric of the city.

Bristol is not short of ambition and ideas. The challenge for decision takers, planners and developers of these key strategic areas of growth and regeneration is to successfully meet key planning objectives, notably to deliver mixed and balanced communities, while weighing the competing demands for land in short supply across the city.

By Dorian Wragg, partner & head of the national commercial team at Bruton Knowles, chair of the GFirst LEP Retail and High Street Business Group, and board member of the Cheltenham Economic Advisory Group and Gloucester Development Forum

The planned redevelopment of Gloucester City Centre will undoubtedly change the look, feel and purpose of the city – but it has been well overdue, and this reincarnation will make Gloucester fit for future purpose.

It is setting the scene to attract future investment and occupation, but the new Gloucester will not mimic the old.

The first phase was marked by the redevelopment of the Bus Station a couple of years back. Completion on The Forum, the joint venture between Gloucester City Council and Reef Developments will mark another major stage.

This multi-million-pound scheme designed as a digital style campus with high-tech offices, leisure and retail, due to be complete by next March, is a unique offering, the likes of which seldom exist outside of London.

Then there’s the old Debenham’s site, acquired by University of Gloucestershire –which will be converted to a training centre for up to 4,000 student nurses alongside commercialised space for new MediTech sector ventures – potentially a huge growth area for the city and set to create jobs and retain graduate talent.

The area around Westgate Street, which was the main commercial street in Gloucester, close to the Cathedral Quarter – has attracted grant funding to bring disused and heritage buildings (some dating as far back as the 12th century) back to life. This will encourage repopulation of the city centre.

South of the Docks and The Peel Centre is Downings Mill, the city’s last derelict docks warehouse, now granted planning consent for a 10-storey residential scheme including retail, food and beverage.

Bruton Knowles has been instructed with the sale of three warehouses in the docks. Formerly council offices, there is a lot of

interest to develop these into residential and student accommodation.

Hopefully, the retail offer will come along behind these new works. The average vacancy rate for retail is about 18 per cent and in Gloucester its currently running at about 22 per cent. We hope to see that improve as bigger projects reach completion, new residential schemes open and new investment announced.

The focus is turning back to city centre regeneration and more people want to return to permanent office space, sometimes at the cost of serviced offices. They want smaller but high-quality locations for hybridworking, whose staff want to spend some time in vibrant city centres.

Coming down the pipeline, we have The Fleece Hotel, on Westgate Street, which links the medieval cathedral to the rest of the city. This is now the Cathedral Quarter High Street Heritage Action Zone and the city council is currently stabilising and weatherproofing the site in advance of plans to be considered for its regeneration.

We will see a high level of residential takeover in the coming years, but that’s not such a bad thing. Repopulating the city centre will help it become a viable tourist and visitor destination again. New interest attracts new investment and a new cycle of growth.

Redevelopment will help Gloucester become a viable tourist and visitor destination again

Gloucester City Council has signed a landmark deal to bring Hotel Indigo to Gloucester – part of The Forum development in the heart of the city centre

We are still not building enough houses in the West Midlands

By David Penn, a partner

There has perhaps never been a time of greater complication and uncertainty in construction and development. This is at a time when there has never been more need for construction, other than post-war.

There has also perhaps never been so much contradiction between and within sectors.

Construction’s long lead-in and gestation periods make planning and forecasting very difficult, particularly with a planning system that’s not fit for purpose.

Let’s start with the most obvious sector –the only one the media bother about and the only one politicians mention publicly – residential.

We know we haven’t been building enough houses since the 1960s to keep up with changing demographics and population growth. Every year a government will declare “We will build 300,000 houses”. No, they won’t build any houses – that's left to the private sector and partly publicly financed housing associations.

I often hear people complain about the number of new houses in … (fill the blanks with Warwick, Banbury, Nuneaton, Tamworth, etc.) followed by moans about lack of infrastructure.

But we are still not building enough houses, and relying on the big six housebuilding companies will never meet governmental declarations.

There are also numerous local authorities which haven’t had local plans adopted (Solihull MBC’s is from 2011!) which are now in limbo awaiting more tinkering with the National Planning Policy Framework.

I fail to understand - other than kowtowing to the anti-development, 'Blue-Wall' – why Michael Gove scrapped top-down, central housing targets, leaving it to councils and

local stakeholders to decide what is delivered.

Commercial development is in a bigger mess. Demand for “sheds” has ballooned with online consumerism and development has concentrated on large allocations near major infrastructure. With a chronic under-allocation of land, this means eye-wateringly high land prices and little surplus land to build for SMEs and companies which need low density commercial land.

At Bromwich Hardy we are involved with excellent new-build schemes around Coventry and Warwickshire such as Barwood Capital’s Exhall Gate, Coventry, Warwickshire Property Development Group’s Sucham Park at Southam and Wigley Group’s new scheme at Rowley Drive, where take-up and interest are very strong at high rental and sale levels.

SEGRO’s Coventry and Warwickshire Gateway Scheme is at full tilt, with massive lettings to DHL and Syncreon and two speculative units. These schemes prove that demand massively outstrips supply.

This has meant astonishing increases in rents and capital values for commercial land and buildings. There is insufficient second-hand stock coming to market and this will restrict the growth our economy needs.

The offices picture is very different. They can only be built in major business districts like Birmingham, with a rare but quality example at Friargate at Coventry Station.

Elsewhere, very high construction costs mean rents needed to deliver speculative office stock cannot be justified at feasibility stage, and finance is extremely difficult to acquire.

The British Council for Offices says we are at 85 per cent of pre-pandemic occupancy and companies tend to need more space, so we do expect demand to come back.

City centre regeneration and planning is extremely long-term but we are seeing major progress at the Coventry City Centre South scheme where Shearer Property Regen has started work to deliver new homes, a hotel, cinema, shops and restaurants, having previously worked wonders with the Cathedral Lanes scheme at Broadgate.

But, outside these areas there is little activity and considerable economic gloom, with rampant inflation, especially in construction costs, high interest rates and a tricky banking sector, and a planning system that's going backwards.

It’s a mess, but not without positives and opportunity for those brave enough to take a long-term view.

at Bromwich Hardy, specialising in commercial agency, valuations, investment disposals and acquisitions, and property development.

Construction is under way at WPDG’s Sucham Park

Worcestershire needs to start building the commercial property the county needs, says GJS

Dillon

Worcestershire is showing a resilience to economic uncertainty and businesses are benefiting from its location and the support that’s on offer, according to commercial property consultancy GJS Dillon.

"Quality accommodation that is in the right location is able to withstand the wider economic uncertainty that has become the norm. This is the case for all sectors and types of accommodation," said Andrew Lewis, GJS Dillon’s Commercial Agency Director, who authored GJS Dillon’s Worcestershire Commercial Property Market Report 2023.

While the take up of office space increased for the third year in 2022, industrial take up was down as demand far outstripped supply.

Take-up of office space in 2022 was up on the previous year with transactions totalling 167,353 sq ft compared with 161,853 sq ft during 2021. In contrast, industrial property transactions dropped by 38 per cent from 1,734,834 sq ft in 2021 to 1,095,182 sq ft in 2022.

John Dillon, GJS Dillon’s Managing Director, added: "We’ve seen really good take up this year for office and industrial property to let however it is really difficult to buy commercial property in our County.

"Income generated from our commercial property is often going out of the County. We need to start building what we as a county need rather than simply leaving it to chance and market forces.”

Phoebe Dawson, Director of Business Engagement at the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership said: "This report give us an insight into the individual sub-markets so if we are going to bid for Government development grants or have discussions with local councils we are able to make informed decisions."

The figures in the report are based on figures and analysis from CoStar, which

it uses to advise vendors, purchasers, developers, landlords and tenants. The report looks in detail at the county’s six sub-markets for both office and industrial property.

Worcestershire needs offices and logistics space

Worcestershire urgently needs a strategic plan to ensure that the right kind of office and logistics space is available for businesses.

John Dillon said: “No new speculative SME office space has been built in the county for the last 13 years. Yet the majority of businesses in Worcestershire employ 1-9 people who have nowhere to go if their business expands. They’re moving away from Worcestershire and I’m really keen to avoid that happening.’

John believes it is up to the LEP and Worcestershire County Council to take control of the situation:

“We need a strategic plan for the next 1020 years that says ‘offices over here, more industrial space there. Mid-size industrial space here, larger warehouse space there.

“At the moment we are simply hoping that the market will deliver the new commercial space that the county needs. But the market will only deliver what is profitable to build. Bringing forward office space and business units for SME businesses is just not cost-effective currently.

“There are now more than 31,000 businesses in Worcestershire, representing an increase of 40 per cent since 2010,” John added. “If I could say to business owners ‘Don’t worry, I know you can’t move now but according to the plan in 2-3 years’ time you will’ that would be great.

“It’s vital to avoid a situation where Worcestershire continues to be a lovely space to live but people go elsewhere to run their businesses.”

“Income generated from our commercial property is often going out of the County. We need to start building what we as a county need ...”

Aerial photograph of Worcester

South West & West Midlands edition: Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Bristol South Gloucestershire, Worcestershire & Hereford Coventry & Warwickshire, The Cotswolds Swindon & North Wiltshire

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