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This year, we started as we meant to go on and for Black Ox, the publishers of this magazine, that meant the acquisition of DorsetBizNews and the announcement of our plan to launch a nationwide network of county-based business news websites.
The Business Magazine will remain the flagship of our titles, providing quality regional business news and features for the South East and South West, however the BizNews network of sites will allow us to focus on the SME sector and tell the stories of the people that are very much the power behind the UK economy.
We are also hiring experienced business editors to launch the BizNews sites meaning we will have more experienced journalists on the ground in the areas that we cover.
The BizNews roll-out ties in with our core purpose. This is to bring people together so that they create meaningful connections be it through our magazines, events, listings programmes and roundtables.
Business & Innovation Magazine, which was acquired by Black Ox in May last year, will become the South West and Midlands edition of The Business Magazine
The only aspect of the magazine to change will be the masthead. The publication’s focus and coverage areas remain the same.
The magazine will continue to be edited by Nicky Godding and her team who, in a little over five years, have built a magazine with a reputation for quality which has attracted loyal readers and advertisers in print and online.
The Business Magazine website, which has seen triple digit growth over the past 12 months, will be expanded at the end of March when it incorporates Business & Innovation magazine.
Our digital team have been working hard on creating a new site which caters for the distinct needs of readers in every region we now cover.
And while we grow our own business, we continue to report on the many other business success stories across the region.
Standouts in this edition of The Business Magazine include an interview with Oyster Yachts Chairman, and former head of BBC iPlayer, Ashley Highfield, on how his team have turned around the fortunes of the boat-maker known for producing the “Bentley of the Seas”.
We also speak to Henley-based Mark Cranstoun of Total Negotiation Group about the valuable skills of negotiation, and meet Andrew Hammond who’s celebrating 50 years of his successful bike accessory and clothing business Oxford Products.
Our headline feature is on the gaming pioneers making the South East a Mecca for the computer gaming industry and look at the potential of the sector and the issues that it is overcoming.
March 8 is International Women’s Day and to celebrate the occasion we highlight the female leaders that are making their mark in the region with Red Funnel’s Fran Collins, MSP Capital’s Becky Harris and Oxford Quantum Circuits CEO Dr Ilana Wisby among the list.
The labour market still remains competitive despite a threatened recession therefore it remains imperative for companies to have an offering that is attractive to potential employees. In this edition, we look at 100 great places to work in the South East, is your company on the list?
Stephen Emerson Managing Editor stephen.emerson@black-ox.com
Starling Bank, which runs a large part of its operation in Southampton, is expecting its profits to more than quadruple in 2023.
The digital bank’s founder and chief executive, Anne Boden, wrote a new year blog looking back at 2022 and also to the future.
She said that, in December of last year, Starling generated annualised revenue of nearly £600 million for the month, generating pre-tax profits in excess of £250 million. The bank now has 3.4 million customer accounts, of which 520,000 are small businesses.
Anne wrote: “Should you wander into one of the big High Street banks, you’ll see a prominent notice on the wall with Starling’s name in the No 1 spot for overall service quality for both personal and small business accounts.
Bicycle manufacturer Brompton Bikes has submitted plans for a new £100 million factory and global headquarters in Kent. The scheme would house a world-class production facility at Ashford. By 2027, the company expects to employ more than 1,500 staff.
Once fully operational, the proposed development will result in around 4,000 jobs being supported locally, including in the supply chain, those supported by the spending of staff and the factory operation itself.
The planning application, submitted to Ashford Borough Council, details how the new factory will be constructed within a 100-acre floodplain, which will provide an opportunity to restore wetland and promote walking and cycling.
Cllr Gerry Clarkson, Executive Leaderof the council, said: “This represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the borough to develop a partnership with an internationally-renowned cycling brand that will bring jobs and opportunities to the town.
“The scheme will enable Ashford to fulfil a long-held ambition to create a wetland park that will enhance the environment and encourage more people to explore the area in a sustainable, eco-focused manner.”
He added: “Ashford has set the pace in Kent for inward investment and this new factory will bring many positive benefits and will put Ashford on the map as a cycling hub.
“The application will be subjected to a rigorous and meticulous planning process to ensure it meets the high standards upheld in this borough, which is at the heart of the Garden of England.”
“Starling was always the underdog; the diligent, hard-working, socially aware, tech-savvy fintech. Never as cool as those businesses run by those 30-year-old tech bros. But as we have seen, markets have a nasty habit of correcting.
“Many start-ups and scale-ups are having difficulty raising funding now. And it’s fair to say that for a while some private market valuations became inflated, with predictable consequences for some.
“We’re no longer up against the plucky scale-ups. We are now a big player when it comes to serving the current account market in the UK and find ourselves rubbing up against the establishment, as our Competition and Markets Authority results show only too well.”
Oxfordshire-based British Motor Heritage (BMH), which manufactures replacement classic car bodyshells, enjoyed a record year in 2022.
The company produced 45 Mini bodyshells and 32 for MGB roadsters and GTs at Cotswold Business Park in Witney, including the first order for an MG Midget body in three years.
BMH offers shells for all marks of Midget and its close cousin the Austin-Healey Sprite.
Record figures were reached by adding requirements for such ‘new’ classics as the Mini Remastered, RBW Electric MGB and the Frontline MGB to the ongoing stream of Mini and MGB bodyshells sought by those restoring original vehicles.
BMH managing director Graham Payne said: “Last year was certainly a very busy one that more than justified our ongoing investment in the refurbishment of the original BMC/Leyland tooling –the invaluable hardware which makes us the only company able to produce replacement bodyshells to the exact specification of the originals.
“Where our products do differ from the originals, however, is in the quality of the steel and the OE specification primer in which all our parts are finished, ensuring better longevity.
“As things currently stand, it looks as though this year could be at least as busy as 2022.”
British Motor Heritage was established in 1982 to support the owners of classic British marques by putting genuine components back into manufacture, using original tools wherever possible.
Since 2001, when BMH was acquired from BMW, it has been successfully run as an independent company.
Surrey Copper Distillery teamed up with AFC Energy, a provider of hydrogen power generation technologies, to produce a low-emission craft gin.
The special edition ‘Copperfield H2 Gin’ was produced in a limited initial batch of 500 bottles.
The Copperfield gin was distilled using power provided by an AFC Energy H-Power Tower which can produce electricity from hydrogen; by combining hydrogen with oxygen the fuel cell produces energy and pure water.
This results in significantly lower CO2 emissions across the distilling process.
The collaboration exemplifies British innovation and creativity, bringing together two neighbouring, Surreybased businesses.
It also highlights how hydrogen could support decarbonisation of the UK’s 400 plus gin distilleries – and the food and beverage industry to meet net zero targets.
Dr Chris Smart, founder of The Surrey Copper Distillery, said: “Our gin making process and botanical ingredients provide the best spirit flavour and aroma experiences. Our collaboration with AFC Energy demonstrates a more sustainable manufacturing process.
Adam Bond, Chief Executive Officer at AFC Energy, said: “Hydrogen fuel cell technologies can be implemented today across a wide-range of applications as demonstrated by our collaboration with our neighbours at The Surrey Copper Distillery.”
Black Ox has acquired DorsetBizNews Ltd, publisher of DorsetBizNews.co.uk, as part of the company’s continued investment in regional and local business journalism.
The Camberley publisher of The Business Magazine, acquired the Poolebased business news website for an undisclosed sum.
DorsetBizNews was founded in 2019 by veteran business journalist Andrew Diprose and has grown a loyal readership and reputation thanks to its quality content and a fresh, upbeat
approach to everything business-related in Dorset. Andrew will remain as editor of the site until a successor is recruited.
Black Ox Chief Executive Officer
Richard Thompson said: “We are delighted to welcome DorsetBizNews. co.uk to the growing Black Ox stable of online and print publications.
“We love what Andrew has built. DorsetBizNews.co.uk is a dynamic news site which has become a voice for Dorset business. We have some exciting plans for the BizNews brand and will expand its presence across
the UK, always keeping it local, always as a voice for business at the county level and with a commitment to quality content.
“DorsetBizNews.co.uk perfectly complements our flagship title The Business Magazine, the champion of regional business for the last 30 years.”
The move follows Black Ox’s acquisition last year of Gloucestershire-based Business & Innovation Magazine, extending The Business Magazine’s traditional South East reach into the South West.
A new fusion energy advanced prototype with power plant-relevant magnet technology will be built by Tokamak Energy at the UK’s Atomic Energy Authority’s (UKAEA) Culham Campus.
Tokamak Energy’s compact spherical tokamak will demonstrate the technologies required to deliver sustainable fusion energy. This includes a complete set of high temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets to confine and control the hydrogen fuel, which becomes plasma many times hotter than the sun.
Constructing the new facility at Culham Campus near Abingdon
gives the company access to leading science and engineering capabilities, including knowledge and experience in designing, constructing and operating the record-breaking Joint European Torus.
It builds on the framework agreement signed by Tokamak Energy and UKAEA last October to collaborate closer in the development of spherical tokamaks as a route to commercial fusion energy. Designs for the facility are under way with construction consultants McBains. Completion is planned for 2026.
Chris Kelsall, Tokamak Energy CEO, said: “This is a major step forward on our mission to demonstrate grid-ready
fusion energy by the early 2030s. Our next device, ST80-HTS, aims to validate key engineering needed to make commercial fusion a reality.
“It’s clear public and private partnerships of this nature that will be a crucial catalyst for fusion to deliver global energy security and mitigate climate change.”
Professor Sir Ian Chapman, CEO, UKAEA, said: “Our ability to host major facilities extends right across the supply chain from design to decommissioning. The announcement is testament to Culham’s attractiveness for fusion development as we welcome Tokamak Energy to the cluster on the campus.
Games development is now a billion-pound British industry, and a major exporter. We look at the sector and meet some of the region’s most
Around one in six adults in the UK play video games, whether that be on a smartphone, console or a computer. Yet how many of us have thought about where those games are made?
In 2019, a report from the British Film Institute found the total GVA generated by all video games developed, published and
sold in the UK to be £5.12 billion. By 2021, according to the BBC, this had risen to £7.16 billion, and there is every indication this number could be set to rise even further.
In the current economic climate, games sales are one of the few sectors to see continued growth, which is bound to see
more people entering the sector. Into Games is a non-profit organisation which aims to connect hundreds of learners, from all backgrounds, with those already working in the industry.
As its CEO, Declan Cassidy, puts it: “When times are difficult, people like to escape and games are a perfect way to do that”.
Declan’s views are backed up by statistics. The UK Safer Internet Centre found that 58 per cent of eight to 17-year-olds said playing games online had a positive change in their mood, 59 per cent said it made them feel good about themselves and 71 per cent said it made them feel more relaxed and happier.
These positive effects are not limited to online games either. A 2021 study from the Oxford Internet Institute found a positive relation between game play and effective wellbeing in players of EA’s Plants Vs Zombies: Battle for Neighbourville and Nintendo’s Animal Crossing.
Along with playing games, the UK is also great at making them according to Sam Collins, Head of Commercial and Membership at UKIE, the games trade association in the UK.
He said: “Games straddle the intersection of creative and technical capabilities and, for some reason, in the UK we’re brilliant at sitting between those things. Some countries are brilliant at specific areas like animation or design, but the UK, maybe it’s because of our hobbyist nature, is great at all of them.”
It is an industry driven heavily by smaller businesses, with 99.5 per cent of companies employing 250 people or fewer. As a whole, the industry nationwide only employs around 25,000 people.
Those small numbers go a long way, however, with each person employed in the sector contributing approximately £121,000 of GVA to the UK economy, placing it at the top of creative industries in terms of economic contribution per head.
Law firm Charles Russell Speechlys has supported the gaming industry for some years. According to partner Nick Hurley, it was a founder member of G3 Futures in 2015, which gave voice to the Guildford Games hub. “Since then, we have continually supported the games developer community in Guildford and surrounding areas, most recently with the Guildford.Games which we also founded jointly,” he said.
“We have recently established the
corporate vehicle for this enterprise and are committed to supporting the ‘Hollywood of Games’ in Guildford.
According to data from UKIE, the trade body for the UK games and interactive entertainment industry, there are 378 games businesses active in the South East, making it the second most active region for the sector in the UK.
Guildford has a strong gaming heritage dating back to the 1980s and features some of the biggest names in the industry such as EA, Ubisoft and Epic Games. Brighton, with around 72 firms, is the most popular area in the region for the games industry.
Attracting and retaining talent is a key challenge, according to Rebecca Burford at Charles Russell Speechlys. “We continue to see more consolidation driven not only by the acquisition of opportunities, but also by their strong teams of talent, or leaders who have a proven track-record of attracting and retaining talent.”
Research from the British Film Institute (BFI) found that in 2019 the video games sector in the South East generated £894.3 million GVA taking into account development, publishing and consumer sales.
While this was actually the lowest GVA
generated in the region in the three years the BFI study looked at, the subsequent industry growth during and following the pandemic means it is very likely this number has grown, possibly surpassing the £1 billion mark.
Along with its economic impact, the video games sector is also a driver of innovation, with much of the technology created by the video games sector repurposed by other creative industries.
The name for these technologies is ‘Virtual Production’, and it is an area in which the UK is a global leader, attracting domestic and international investment. Technology originally developed for the sector has, for example, been installed in Pinewood Studios and used in the production of Disney’s The Mandalorian to increase the volume of the stage.
Another example is Epic Games, the publisher of Fortnite with studios and offices across the UK, which created the Unreal engine that is used in animation in the TV and film sectors to create photorealistic CG in real-time.
We take a look at the video games sector across the South East, looking at not just the studios, but the infrastructure and ecosystem surrounding and enabling them.
While Guildford has the history, Brighton has recently grown to become a major player in the UK games industry. It has a greater concentration of smaller studios than Guildford, along with its annual Develop Brighton Conference which brings together studios from across the UK.
Notable studios in the region include Horsham’s Creative Assembly, the developers of the Total War franchise which also worked on Alien Isolation and Halo Wars and Brighton’s FuturLab, creators of PowerWash Simulator, which is currently working with the University of Oxford’s Internet Institute to study the wellbeing of gamers playing their relaxing 2022 hit.
Buzz Capital Services, a finance solutions firm focusing on advance funding tax credits for Video Games Tax Relief and Research & Development is located here, offering the industry help with raising finance. Also based here is Into Games, a non-profit organisation focused on helping people from disadvantaged backgrounds find a career in the games industry.
Guildford.Games is an organisation set up to promote and connect the games sector in Guildford and the surrounding area. As well as running networking events throughout the year, it holds annual festivals and awards ceremonies.
Dubbed ‘the Hollywood of video games’ Surrey, and Guildford in particular, has one of the largest clusters of video games studios in the UK, if not the world.
In the late 1980s, two developers named Peter Molyneux and Les Edgar started Bullfrog Productions, gaining recognition in 1989 for their third game: Populous.
In 1995 Bullfrog was acquired by its publisher Electronic Arts, with the fallout from the deal later spawning Molyneux’s Lionhead Studios, which would go on to create Black & White and Fable before
being acquired by Microsoft in 2006.
From these large studios came a number of smaller studios, including Hello Games, founded in 2008, which created 2016’s No Man’s Sky, an action-adventure survival game using procedural generation to create more than 18 quintillion explorable planets.
Two Point Studios is known for its 2018 spiritual successor to Theme Hospital, Two Point Hospital and its 2022 follow-up Two Point Campus.
Lauran Carter is Head of Communications at full-service creative production studio Liquid Crimson. She is also a founding member of Guildford.Games and explains how the town has developed into the hub it is today.
“Since the eighties, studios have made games, grown larger and larger, then shed.
The shedding can come from knowing there’s a game down the line that maybe isn’t something you’re interested in making.
“Then what we see is Guildford not just being a pocket in itself, but studios shedding once a project is finished with people deciding to start their own thing, and that growing from being a very furtive project to becoming the Hello Games or Media Molecule we see today.”
The size and history of the games industry is such that, if you’ve played a reasonable amount of games in the last few years, there’s a good chance at least one or two of them were made somewhere in Surrey.
The ecosystem here is also supported by firms including Charles Russell Speechlys, which has one of its partners sitting on the board of Guildford Games, along with the local offices of accoutants BDO and RSM.
The biggest name in gaming in the Oxfordshire region is probably the behemoth Rebellion, which aside from a 30-year history publishing video games including the Sniper Elite, Zombie Army and Evil Genius series, has also branched out into the worlds of comics, books and TV & Film.
Excalibur Publishing is a Banbury-based games company known for making simulator games for PC, Mac and VR, including train, driving and flying sims, along with a range of accessories and peripherals such as headsets and driving wheels.
Also based in the county is SpecialEffect, a charity which helps to make gaming accessible to disabled people who may struggle to use traditional input devices.
While the county has relatively few games studios, it is testament to the reach of the industry that there are still a number of active, if smaller, studios in Wiltshire.
Crooks Peak is a Calne-based developer specialising in virtual reality (VR) games. This one-man studio released Alien Extraction, a puzzle strategy game, on Steam and Meta Quest last year and is currently working on its next project titled By Grit Alone.
Swindon-based Geek Beach has created a massively-multiplayer online (MMO) game which allows players to create a planet, build a fleet of warships, explore the universe and fight other players for the Apple and Google app stores.
An area perhaps less known for its games industry, Hampshire still has an active and exciting presence within the industry.
Among the firms in the area is familyfriendly publisher Outright Games, which has worked on intellectual properties including Peppa Pig, Bratz and Transformers.
Bad Viking, based in south Hampshire, last year released the occult puzzle game Strange Horticulture, which sees the player running a local plant store with a
dark mystery unfolding in the area around them.
Also in Hampshire is Nick Parker Consulting. Nick, a veteran of the games industry, started at Nintendo in 1992 and has also worked for Atari and Sony.
His firm offers market research, financial and business planning to the games, internet, television and mobile sectors and boasts a client list including Microsoft, the BBC and Vodafone.
While less known for its specific studios, Berkshire is home to a number of the UK or European offices of some of the biggest names in the industry, with Microsoft in Reading, Nintendo in Eton and Activision Blizzard near Datchet all having a presence in the county.
TT Games, a subsidiary of Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment, was established in Maidenhead in 2005, going on to create the popular Lego
games, which have featured franchises including Star Wars, Harry Potter and Marvel.
Code Wizards, based in West Berkshire, describe themselves as doing the ‘boring’ bits of video gaming, building and integrating esports platforms, backend services for analytics, payment multiplayer and more, and linking developers and publishers into retailers’ advertising sales channels.
Perhaps overshadowed slightly by nearby Hampshire, Dorset still has a variety of businesses in the sector.
One of these is Size Five, which along with creating its own BAFTA-winning games including Lair of the Clockwork God, The Swindle and Behold the Kickmen, offers narrative design consulting services to help other studios.
Bournemouth-based studio coocoosqueaky made Tears of Avia, a strategy roleplaying and turn-based tactics game for the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.
Since 2015, the firm has played a key role in galvanising the Guildford games community, providing a forum for sharing insights, and helping to keep the Guildford games cluster strong on a national and international stage.
expertise, with a client base which includes Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe Limited (SIEE), Media Molecule, NCSOFT, SEGA and UKIE.”
“Our understanding of the cross-platform nature of computer and social gaming, combined with our understanding of the underlying technology and rights issues, means we are in a fantastic position to provide legal advice to key players in the industry as well as businesses wishing to integrate gaming into services and campaigns.”
Fully committed to the gaming sector
Charles Russell Speechlys is proud to help fuel further growth in the phenomenally successful and highly innovative Guildford games cluster through the advice it gives to clients and the firm’s ongoing support of Guildford.Games. Guildford’s reputation as the ‘Hollywood of Video Games’ is unrivalled, and the Guildford Game hub continues to develop at pace.
To find out more, please contact:
Nick Hurley, Partner at Charles Russell Speechlys said: “As a co-founder of G3 Futures and the Guildford Games Festival, we are fully committed to strengthening the Games Hub in Guildford and the surrounding areas and supporting the 60+ games studios and community of around 3,000 highly-skilled programmers who collectively develop some of the most well-known video games in the world and have been doing so since the 1980s.”
Charles Russell Speechlys’ experience ranges from assisting publishers of hardware-based computer games to operators of massively multiplayer online role-playing games. Its team advises investors, developers, publishers and licensees of computer games and esports on all aspects of regulation and compliance and wider business ventures and also supports independent developers, gaming and esport investors (and players), start-ups and educational establishments.
Nick Hurley – Partner 020 7203 5039 nick.hurley@crsblaw.com
Rebecca Burford – Partner 020 7203 8886 rebecca.burford@crsblaw.com
Charles Russell Speechlys’ gaming and esports expertise
• Licensing in-game tech
• M&A and IPOs
Rebecca Burford, Partner at Charles Russell Speechlys and Non-Executive Director of Guildford.Games explained:
“The gaming and esports sector is one where the team at Charles Russell Speechlys have built market-leading
Nick Hurley concluded, “We have an impressive track record in combining our legal expertise with our in-depth gaming sector knowledge to help clients in this industry to grow their businesses and successfully navigate all legal challenges. Our legal support for start-ups through to multi-nationals is varied – from the full spectrum of commercial work, including licensing deals and IP protection, merchandising and all forms of rights exploitation agreements, through to employment law and immigration services, and litigation support on business disputes. We have also advised on numerous investments in and business sales of gaming companies.”
• ASA issues
• IP registrations and brand protections
• Sports data collection and exploitation
• Compliance with consumer protection legislation
• Development/service agreements with tech providers
• Publishing and associated distribution agreements
• Arrangements for development and exploitation of games across all platforms.
final product to the BAFTA Young Game Designer competition, as well as meeting an industry professional.
Declan explained: “What we found quite interesting was that, while we had thought the university students would be better, in the pilots we’ve been running the college students – and we’re talking 17 or 18-yearolds – have been just as good, if not better.
“We did that because it’s great to be able to show those young people their next step in a very visceral way, in terms of the person that’s teaching them, rather than an industry professional who’s just so far away from where they’re at. Through the process we wanted to demonstrate the pathway.”
Further down the pipeline, Into Games works to support work experience as well as creating training packages for studios so they can complete the circle and support the next generation.
The games industry still has a diversity problem.
These are the words of Into Games CEO and Co-Founder Declan Cassidy. “There’s not enough women in the industry and there’s not enough people from low-income backgrounds coming into the industry.”
According to UKIE’s 2022 UK Games Industry Census, 67 per cent of the sector were male, 30 per cent were female and three per cent non-binary.
The same report found that 62 per cent of those surveyed reported living in a household where the main income earner worked in a managerial or professional job, significantly higher than the 37 per cent of the general population to grow up in those households.
Into Games is working to change this by promoting the industry as a viable career for people of all backgrounds.
Much of its focus at an early stage is letting
young people know that the industry is for them and breaking down the stigma or anxieties people from minority and disadvantaged backgrounds, or their parents, might hold.
“It’s also about letting young people know that games’ skills are applicable to the sector, but also applicable in a lot of other sectors as well – and letting their parents know that it’s a viable career path,” said Declan.
One of the ways it is doing this is through video game-making after-school clubs. The first trial of this saw Into Games installing game-making software on school computers, along with training the teachers to use it.
The training ran for six sessions, taught by either second and third-year university games students, or final year college students. The students were taken through the process of making a game from start to finish: from having their first idea, putting it into practice, then submitting the
“Once you’ve shown them that it’s a potential route, you then have to tell them how hard it is to get a job in games. Even for those that go to university, which is still the most viable route, it’s difficult because while there are jobs, there’s not a lot. So, it’s reiterating that those skills are applicable elsewhere and people will often have a non-linear route into the industry.
“It can also be down to picking a university which has strong ties to a studio, and that those ties are built-in to the course itself – which we also help with through boot camps, refresher courses and finishing schools.
“We also try to educate people on all the different roles in the industry. It’s not just programmers and tech-focused roles. We list around 160 different positions in the sector on our website, showing the industry is there for everybody.
“The games sector might be hard to break in, seeming closed off and secretive, but once you’re in it’s really open, up for doing things, taking risks and working with young people. Just keep knocking at the door.”
nDreams acquires Near Light
nDreams, a Farnborough-based games studio known for its VR games and has worked on games in the Ghostbusters and Far Cry franchises, has acquired Brightonbased studio Near Light.
The two companies have a history of collaboration going back more than five years, with nDreams having published two titles developed by Near Light: Shooty Fruity and Perfect, as well as an augmented reality
Multi-million-pound acquisitions have a long-term history in the world of video games. For example, Electronic Arts’ acquisition of Bullfrog Productions in 1995 was arguably a driving force in the area becoming the hub it is today.
Accountancy and business advisory firm BDO found that mergers and acquisitions deals for UK video game makers hit £1.9 billion in 2021, which
experience for a global toy brand. The acquisition was enabled by a $35 million investment into nDreams by video game collective Aonic at the start of 2022, which is part of a larger $100 million package of investment the group committed to for the creation of its group of smaller studios.
“This is a pivotal moment for nDreams, and I’m delighted to have the support
of Aonic, who share the same ambitious vision for the company that we do,” said Patrick O’Luanaigh, co-founder and CEO of nDreams.
“As VR continues its trajectory towards becoming a truly mass-market technology, this is the rocket fuel needed to accelerate our rapid growth and take advantage of the many opportunities that continue to come our way.”
was an increase of 63 per cent on 2020.
This was generated by 14 takeovers across the year, compared to nine in 2020 and six in 2019, indicating an expansion in the market.
According to BDO’s research, the bulk of the mergers and acquisitions value in 2021 was generated by Electronic Arts’ acquisition of Playdemic, which made Golf Clash, for £1 billion and the acquisition of the Sumo Group, designer of the Sonic Racing, LittleBigPlanet and Crackdown franchises, by Chinese entertainment
conglomerate Tencent for £850 million.
The true number may in fact be higher than this, however, as BDO make no mention of Electronic Arts’ £1.2 billion takeover of Leamington Spa-based Codemasters, creators of the DIRT, GRID and Project CARS franchises, at the start of the year.
Four of the acquisitions were made by private equity funds, with BDO stating that these organisations started to look at video game producers due to their lower valuations compared to other areas of the tech sector.
Thames Valley Police has unveiled plans for a new forensics centre in Bicester.
The centre, which will contain laboratories and dedicated training facilities, will become the main forensics hub for the force.
Plans for the forensic hub construction were approved by Cherwell City Council’s planning committee. The centre will be built on land already owned by the force near Avonbury Business Park.
Planning permission has been granted to General Fusion for a fusion demonstration plant at UKAEA’s Culham Campus.
When construction of the 10,500 sq m building is complete, General Fusion will lease the building from UKAEA.
The company’s fusion machine is expected to be commissioned in 2026 and fully operational by early 2027. The build is expected to start this summer.
“The UK has been a longstanding leader in fusion energy development. We are thrilled to join the Culham Campus and the UK’s Fusion Cluster, and anticipate creating 60 long-term jobs at the site,” said Greg Twinney, CEO of General Fusion.
“In addition, we expect the project will
generate approximately 200 jobs during construction.”
Built to 70 per cent scale of a commercial power plant, the demonstration will create fusion conditions in a power plant-relevant environment, achieving temperatures of over 100 million degrees Celsius.
This is a crucial step on the path to eventually powering homes, businesses and industry with zero-carbon fusion energy. The facility itself will not generate power.
Siting the facility at the UKAEA’s Culham Campus, part of the thriving UK Fusion Cluster, enables General Fusion to access world-leading science and engineering capabilities.
This new centre is part of the force’s three-year forensic improvement programme. Construction is expected to begin this summer and completed by winter 2024-25.
Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber said: “The programme is the result of a review of Thames Valley Police’s forensics services as a whole where we’ve identified the need to modernise facilities and increase capacity.
“In a world of rapidly advancing technology, ensuring the police stay on the cutting edge of forensics is crucial to keeping the public safe.’’
The force has also invested in frontline digital forensics tools and systems, new technologies to speed up the examination of evidence and recruitment of additional staff for the Forensic Investigation Unit.
Head of Forensic Services at Thames Valley Police Kay Hannam said: ‘’This critical investment will support forensic services across the board in adopting new technologies, developing our people and ensuring legitimacy into the criminal justice system.
“Underpinning this programme of growth is our proposed new purpose built accommodation that will bring specialisms together under one roof. Here we will have the flexibility to expand our services to meet existing and future demand.”
The University of Oxford is collaborating with the BMW Group on the development of new ideas to improve sustainable practices at the MINI Plant Oxford.
The 2023 Plant Oxford Programme will involve 15 graduate students from various disciplines at the university working alongside the MINI Plant to address employee wellbeing, community impact and environmental sustainability.
The programme aims to provide valuable skills and experience for the students and offer fresh insights for the plant’s team.
Andreas Kindler, CFO of MINI Plant Oxford, said: “Oxford SDG Impact Lab is an exciting initiative that delivers skills for those graduates taking part and provides us with a fresh perspective, bringing new ideas and experiences.
“The plant takes sustainability very seriously, from installing photovoltaic roofs on our production buildings to implementing innovative ideas such as
using recycled tyres in our new internal road surfaces.
“Tackling this challenge takes a combination of diverse perspectives and skills – and it’s something the BMW Group is famous for and is at the heart of our long tradition of university co-operation.”
Professor Alexander Betts, co-founder of the Oxford SDG Impact Lab, Associate Head (Doctoral and Research Training) of the Social Science Division and Director of the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford, said: “We are incredibly excited to partner with the BMW Group and the MINI Plant.
“The MINI Plant and the university are among the largest employers in Oxford and have a shared aspiration to have a positive social and environmental impact on our city and our community.”
The BMW Group is committed to cutting CO2 emissions and achieving full climate neutrality by 2050.
A retail park and drive-through in Slough has been sold for a combined £123.75 million.
It was sold to SEGRO for £120.25 million by Royal London Asset Management on behalf of The Royal London Mutual Insurance Society Limited, which originally acquired it from The Crown Estate in 2016.
Simultaneously, Royal London disposed of the drive-through restaurant on the site to McDonalds, which previously leased the building, for £3.5m.
CBRE and GunnerCooke advised Royal London, while SEGRO was represented by Knight Frank and CMS.
Senior asset manager at Royal London Asset Management Elise Buchanan said: “Royal London is delighted to announce the sale of the Bath Road Shopping Park, Slough.
“In a challenging market, the price achieved reflects a premium to the existing use value”.
It is challenging for many businesses at the moment and cashflow issues may also be on the horizon. B P Collins’ commercial property and corporate lawyers advise on key actions that struggling businesses may be able to take.
It’s true in any climate, and even more so in a challenging economy, that you should offer what the customer needs, within the realms of what’s permitted. A sluggish economy doesn’t mean that people aren’t spending any money, but it may mean they’re spending less. So if they’re spending money on something – what are they spending it on and can you pivot your business?
Negotiate
Have an open conversation with your customers and suppliers about how your payments could be adjusted. Can suppliers extend your credit and can customers pay more quickly to help your cashflow? Will the bank adjust loan and overdraft terms to help? Think of these discussions from the perspective of the other party. It is probably better that they receive some payment rather than nothing at all; and reputationally, do they really want to be known as helping to run your otherwise viable business into the ground? The answer is probably not, so use this to your advantage when having these necessary discussions.
Adapt
You can borrow money to keep afloat during tougher times, but before you do, it’s important to ask yourself if your business is genuinely viable, now and into the future.
There tends to be a stigma to admitting a business is in trouble and a desire to save money by avoiding the cost of advisers. But now is the time to seek the advice of professionals. In particular, insolvency practitioners and corporate recovery specialists can be extremely helpful when your business is under pressure. There could be scope to restructure your business and its finances or, if you can’t save all of it, they may be able to help you to save at least part of it.
There may be a reduction in need for office space, which now needs to be disposed of. However, the disposal of surplus office space is not that simple, especially if the lease does not provide for an early termination.
Read your lease
Always start by reviewing your existing lease, which B P Collins’ property team can help with, as this will confirm your existing assignment and subletting obligations and restrictions.
One option is to negotiate a surrender of the surplus space or an early termination of the lease with your landlord if you no longer require the space. However, it might be the case that your landlord is unwilling to take it back because it may be difficult to rent out the space again, or will consider doing so, but only for a fee or change to your existing lease terms.
Sublet
Another option is to sublet the space, which would enable you to recover some of the financial losses on the space that you will not be using. However, there are often restrictions on sublettings and not all leases permit sublettings of part. Always read the lease.
You can read the full article in B P Collins’ latest edition of Insight, which is available on its website: www.bpcollins.co.uk For further advice please email, enquiries@bpcollins.co.uk or call 01753 889995.
BT’s Digital unit has entered into a £5 million deal with Reading-based Altitude Angel, a world-leading UTM (Unified Traffic Management) technology provider.
It will enable the firm to support the development of the UK’s drone superhighway – set to be the largest and longest network of its kind in the world.
UTM is the software platform and infrastructure needed to allow drones to fly safely, without a pilot, over large distances.
The deal will accelerate Altitude Angel’s roll-out of its ARROW technology, which detects and identifies drones, while also enabling drones to safely share airspace with crewed aviation.
Richard Parker, CEO and founder of Altitude Angel, said: “With BT Group, we have a partner which shares our ambition to make automated commercial drone operations at
scale in the UK a day-to-day reality.
“Combining our ARROW technology, which allows crewed and uncrewed aircraft to share the same skies safely and securely, with BT Group’s significant communications infrastructure, we can quickly bring ARROW to the masses.”
Following the earlier success of Project Xcelerate, a consortium led by BT Group and Altitude Angel, the relationship has continued to grow under Project Skyway – the largest and longest network of drone superhighways in the world, which is backed by the UK government’s Future Flight programme.
Altitude Angel’s ARROW is the foundation technology on which Project Skyway is being built, creating a 165-mile drone corridor spanning airspace above Reading, Oxford, Milton Keynes, Cambridge, Coventry and Rugby.
Frouds Bridge Marina, a narrowboat dock along the River Kennet between Woolhampton and Aldermaston Wharf, has been acquired by Wasing Estate.
The Marina, which was originally established in 1997, has been leased by the estate for almost five years. It now has space for 160 narrowboats.
Along with the acquisition, Wasing Estate has announced plans to add a floating dry
dock and paint tent, and new out-of-water facilities in the coming months.
Matt Stroud, marina manager, said: “I am delighted to announce the official purchase of Frouds Bridge Marina by Wasing Estate. This is an extremely exciting time for us as we grow and improve our facilities.”
With 4,000 acres of land and more than 250 years of history, the family-owned Wasing Estate is an exclusive use venue.
Law firm Osborne Clarke, which has offices in Reading, has advised a leading processer of rental payments for the property management industry on significant investment.
The growth investment for Sevenoaks-based PayProp comes from a consortium of current and new investors, including Rational Expectations, Betterhome, AccelKKR, founders and management.
It will support PayProp’s expansion plans in new and existing markets, with a focus on product innovation.
The Osborne Clarke team that advised PayProp on the transaction was led by Corporate Partner Edward Persse, assisted by Associate Directors Kate Mellor and Andrew Carter, Senior Associate Stuart Miller and Associate Ben Parker.
Edward Persse said: “We are proud to have supported PayProp on this significant milestone and wish all stakeholders every success in the future. This marks another significant international PropTech mandate for Osborne Clarke, in a sector which is a strategic priority for the firm.”
The Solent Freeport is seeking business leaders for one of three voluntary positions of Chair of a Solent Freeport Skills Forum.
The Freeport, which was one of the first in the UK announced by the government last year, is looking for people with senior and strategic experience to drive regeneration and levelling up the Solent region.
Skills forums will be established at the Freeport’s three tax sites: Southampton
Water, Navigator Quarter and Dunsbury Park, which will aim to develop skills in local people so they can access the economic opportunities unlocked through the Freeport investment.
Each of these will consist of businesses, landowners, skills providers, local authorities and government agencies, who will collaborate to develop the Solent Freeport Skills Charter and give input on the skills and investment needed.
Brian Johnson, Chair of the Solent Freeport, said: “A Freeport in our region is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to level up our important coastal communities and create a significant number of high-quality jobs for local people.”
The Solent Freeport is also consulting on the first business cases to receive funding for capital projects. Up to £25 million in seed funding from Government will be provided to support development in each Freeport.
Whiteley-based Onecom, which provides business communications technology and cloud services, has made its first acquisition of 2023 by purchasing IMS Technology Services Limited, a Stourbridge-based Microsoft partner.
The acquisition, which is Onecom’s ninth since 2019, brings the IMS Technology team and its more than 600 customers under the Onecom group.
Onecom was advised by Shoosmiths and HMT Transaction Support, while IMS Technology Communications Ltd was advised by Thursfields Legal Limited.
Martin Flick, Onecom Group CEO, said: “As we continue to grow and broaden our portfolio of IT services, we are delighted to welcome the IMS Technology team and customers to Onecom in a move that further supports
our mission to build on and extend our geographic presence and technical capabilities by acquiring strong businesses that share our culture, values and ethos.”
Peter Arundal, Founder of IMS Technology, said: “We are really excited about becoming part of the Onecom Group and the benefits it will provide to our customers and people.”
Staff at Amiri Construction in Fareham have described owner Mark Vincent as a “true leader” after he lost his short battle with cancer late last year.
Mark was instrumental in the success of Amiri which included increasing the turnover to around £50 million.
He leaves behind his wife, two sons and a grandson.
Managing Director, Jon Daines, said: “Mark has been the driving force behind business development at Amiri Construction.
“A building surveyor, he had a passion for exceptional build quality. He was well respected and trusted in the
central-south construction region and had time for everyone.”
Mark was a keen windsurfer, paddleboarder and surfer and had competed at international level racing yachts.
Under Mark’s stewardship, Amiri championed the construction and property industry on the South Coast and has been a long-time supporter of The Business Magazine’s South Coast Property Awards.
Peter Laurie, Head of Client Relations at The Business Magazine, said: “Mark was a firm believer in the benefits of bringing the industry together. We miss his enthusiasm and knowledge immensely.”
The Lakeside North Harbour business park in Portsmouth has secured global online recruitment company Totaljobs as a new occupier.
Totaljobs has said goodbye to its home of 22 years at Langstone Technology Park, with all staff now relocating to the Lakeside office.
The hiring platform, headquartered in Bluefin, London and with offices across the UK, has taken up more than 10,000 sq ft of Grade A office space for 150 employees.
Plans to convert a former aggregate wharf in East Cowes to a modern marine industrial park have been approved by Isle of Wight Council. Plans drawn up by Fareham-based HGP Architects will see a new boat storage facility with wash-down capacity built on the Kingston Wharf site, which has been owned by Cowes Harbour Commission since 2012.
The redevelopment comes after the previous tenants, Isle of Wight Aggregates and Isle of Wight Fuels, left the site. Efforts to find a new operator proved unsuccessful.
The council’s environmental health officer raised concerns about the potential contamination of the site due to its previous uses, which included engineering, gas works, fuel distribution and the presence of asbestos.
Despite these concerns, the plans were approved with the condition that any contamination risks would be thoroughly evaluated and that the site would be made safe and suitable for its intended use.
The new space has been designed and fitted out for Totaljobs, and it offers collaboration, social, wellness and quiet zones for projects that need focus.
Totaljobs will join a collection of wellknown companies at Lakeside including IBM, Virgin Media, Checkatrade, SSS and AT&T.
Alex Foster, Head of HR Transformation at Totaljobs, said: “Lakeside was an ideal choice given our long-standing presence in Havant. Our new premises will offer staff improved, design-led facilities that
allow them to embrace new ways of working in modern surroundings that reflect our brand purpose.
“The site has a real community feel to it and we’re looking forward to moving in and becoming part of that.”
This latest letting follows a string of recent deals for space at Lakeside.
These include NHS Property Services, leading insurance broker Markerstudy Broking and life sciences and diagnostic equipment manufacturer Scienion.
A VAT invoice includes all the information HMRC requires and can only be issued by a VAT-registered business.
What must a VAT invoice include?
HMRC requires that it must include a unique sequential identifying number, date of the supply (tax point), date of issue (if different), business name, address and VAT registration number and the name and address of the customer.
A description of the goods or services is mandatory, including the quantity of goods or extent of services; the unit price where measurable; the rate of VAT and the amount payable, excluding VAT.
Also needed is the gross total amount payable (excluding VAT), the rate of any cash discount offered, the total amount of VAT chargeable and the reason for any zero rate or exemption.
When making both VAT-exempt and taxable supplies to the same customer it is acceptable to issue either separate invoices or a single invoice, provided it clearly shows
the VAT treatment for each supply. It is the supplier’s choice as to how invoices are raised and can be decided on a case-by-case basis.
When must a VAT invoice be issued?
An invoice may be issued promptly, especially where payment and supply are simultaneous, but delayed invoicing may also be desirable, eg to allow monthly print run for invoices.
The tax point is the date goods are available to the buyer or when a service has been completed. The tax point is brought forward if the invoice is issued or payment received before this point. It can be delayed in some circumstances.
The tax point determines which VAT return or accounting period the invoice falls within.
Please talk to Michaela
Johns, Director at HWB on 023 8046 1256 or
Hall & Woodhouse, a family brewer based in Dorset, has awarded £50,000 in 35 grants to organisations across the south of England.
The grants were awarded to charities and community groups at the firm’s annual Community Chest Awards across two events. Each event focused on different regions within its managed house estate, one for the South East and one for the South West.
In Dorset, 18 charitable organisations received more than £25,000, while
a further four charities in Wiltshire, Hampshire and Devon were also recognised at the ceremony held in Blandford’s Brewery Tap.
Mark Woodhouse, Family Director of Hall & Woodhouse, said: “Our Community Chest was founded over 20 years ago to support and strengthen the local communities which make Hall & Woodhouse such a vibrant company that is committed to providing support for those in need.
“This year, we have found the need to provide people with food, warmth and
Frasers Property UK has secured two new leases at Chineham Park in Hampshire – adding Turtle Beach Europe and a global tech communications company to its growing roster of technology-focused occupiers.
Turtle Beach Europe, one of the world’s leading gaming accessory providers, is relocating from Basingstoke town centre to a 7,000 sq ft office at the business park just outside the town.
The unnamed tech communications company has taken a new lease with almost 14,000 sq ft of office space in the newly-refurbished Rosewood building and is planning its fit-out ahead of taking occupation this year.
Tina Cosgrove, Asset Manager at Frasers Property UK, said: “Our new arrivals at Chineham Park signal the continued growth of the technology company cluster being established here.”
Frasers Property UK was represented in the deals by commercial property specialists Hollis Hockley and CBRE. The new occupiers follow a growing number of technology companies relocating to or increasing their office space at Chineham Park.
Last year Frasers Property UK announced new lettings to tech marketing agency Resource iT and cybersecurity specialists Nomios, whilst expanding long-term occupier TD Synnex into 51,000 sq ft at Maplewood.
shelter to be extremely high due to the cost-of-living crisis. It is both an honour and a necessity to provide funding for these good causes that play such vital roles in our communities.”
In Dorset, Hope Housing, Training and Support was one organisation to receive a grant, being given £3,000 to support its work with homeless, vulnerable adults in Bournemouth and Poole.
Ordnance Survey is working with CGI to investigate the role that Earth observation and accurate location data can play in detecting sewage from space.
Launched by CGI and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Sustainability Exploration Environmental Data Science (SEEDS) programme is a research initiative to challenge the thinking and practice around sustainability, providing predictive analysis and viable solutions to tackle this critical issue.
Sewage in water is not just a growing public health concern but has the potential to cause harm to the natural environment.
Hack the Box, a Folkestone technology firm taking a gamified approach to cybersecurity training, has secured $55 million in its recent Series B investment round.
The investment round was led by Carlyle and supported by Paladin Capital Group, Osage University Partners, Marathon Venture Capital, Brighteye Ventures, and Endeavor Catalyst Fund. It takes the total capital raised by the firm to date to $70 million.
Funding raised will be used to accelerate the firm’s growth, with specific focus on what it calls its “gamer-first” offering, along with its ongoing international expansion across the US, Europe and APAC.
Haris Pylarinos, Founder and CEO at Hack The Box, said: “Our mission is to create and connect cyber-ready humans and organisations through engaging hacking experiences that cultivate out-of-the-box thinking.
“The game in cyber has changed with defensive, reactive and recovery postures not being fit-for-purpose in the face of an ever-evolving wave of sophisticated attacks.”
Hack the Box was recently placed third in the Start-ups 100 Index for its realistic coding approach to cybersecurity training and has seen its platform used by the likes of EA Sports, Toyota and Siemens.
VisionTrack, the AI video telematics and connected fleet data specialist, is aiming to transform commercial fleet safety with the launch of a sophisticated AI-powered postanalysis solution.
The Tunbridge Wells company says that NARA (Notification, Analysis and Risk Assessment) will revolutionise how vehicle camera footage is assessed and help vehicle operators to dramatically reduce road deaths and injuries.
Richard Kent, President of Global Sales, said:
“Our cloud-based NARA software is a gamechanger in video telematics as it will help save time, costs and, most importantly, lives, by providing proactive risk intervention and accurate incident validation.
“NARA removes false positives and monitors driver behaviour, without the need for human involvement. With traditional video telematics solutions, commercial fleets can be experiencing hundreds of triggered daily events, so this will enable them to deliver more efficient working, while not compromising on road safety.”
London Gatwick Airport served 32.8 million passengers in 2022, according to annual traffic results released by VINCI Airports.
This represents a strong recovery with 71 per cent of pre-pandemic numbers in comparison to the 6.3 million passengers it served in 2021.
This recovery is further highlighted by the airport’s expanded long-haul network, with 42 global routes now being served, which is 68 per cent the number flown pre-pandemic.
The airport has also announced there were 213,952 total aircraft movements at London Gatwick in 2022, which is 76 per cent of the number in 2019. In comparison, there were only 52,000 aircraft movements in 2021.
Jonathan Pollard, Chief Commercial Officer, said: “The figures are extremely positive and clearly show London Gatwick’s continued strong recovery.
“We still have some way to go but we’re looking forward to welcoming even more passengers this year, including those flying to our growing choice of long-haul destinations.”
Kent’s Curious Brewery has acquired the West Country’s Wild Beer Co following its collapse into administration.
The Ashworth-based firm has bought the beer, brands and intellectual property of the Westcombe firm in a move to bolster its specialist portfolio of premium beers. Wild Beer Co was founded by Andrew Cooper and Brett Ellis in 2012 and went into administration in December due to rising production costs.
The acquisition will double the size of the existing Curious operation.
Curious beers are brewed at its modern brewery in Kent, where there is a production capacity of five million pints per year and potential to expand to upwards of 15 million pints per year.
Curious Brewery Chairman Mark Crowther said: “We are delighted to be collaborating with some of the original team from Wild Beer Co to maintain the original innovative and creative spirit of that business.
“Adding their delicious craft beers to our stable of award- winning premium brands, Wild Beer Co’s range fits perfectly alongside our existing portfolio, delivering a range of interesting and differentiated beers.”
Wild Beer Co’s portfolio will sit alongside Curious’ premium English lager, Curious Brew, which is brewed with Champagne yeast, and its Curious Session IPA and Curious Apple cider.
Beers from the enlarged business are sold in Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Majestic, Harrods and in many hotels, bars and restaurants.
Brighton-based eLearning firm
Elucidat has received a £2 million follow-on investment from YFM Equity Partners.
The private equity firm initially invested £3.5 million into the firm in 2019, which counts big-name brands such as Tesco, Kingfisher, Metro Bank and Decathalon among its clients.
The aim was to accelerate product development and drive the company’s growth in North America.
Elucidat has since reached 35 million learners, a milestone it passed last year. The newest funding round will be used to further grow the company’s global customer base of large enterprise organisations.
Steve Penfold, CEO of Elucidat said “We are delighted to continue to partner with YFM for the next phase of our growth.
“I have greatly valued working with James Savage and the YFM team as we have expanded our sales reach internationally and continue to help our customers to create impactful elearning by unlocking knowledge from any employee.”
The University of Surrey is teaming up with Imperial College London to host the National Cyber Security Centre’s (NCSC) Research Institute in Verified Trustworthy Software Systems (VeTSS).
The research institute, one of four within the NCSC, will promote digital security and resilience in the UK
by bringing together academics, industry professionals, regulators and government representatives.
The NCSC’s £1.25 million award covers hosting the institute for three years.
Supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), VeTSS will look to ensure the UK’s safety and
security challenges are considered when new software is being researched.
Dr Brijesh Dongol from the University of Surrey said: “VeTSS brings together the best minds in academia and business to stand at the forefront of research, creating industrial-strength tools with real-world applications.”
CityFibre has started work on the construction of a £50 million full fibre network in Maidstone.
Delivered by Guildford-based Lanes-I and in partnership with Kent County Council, the project aims to bring full fibre connectivity to nearly every home and business in Maidstone while minimising disruption to residents.
CityFibre will be contacting each home by post before working outside for between two and three days.
The upgrades are expected to be completed by 2027, but the first service will go live much earlier, with homes designated as ‘ready for service’ as each neighbourhood is completed.
Hove-based EMC Corporate Finance has advised the directors and shareholders of Barnsfold Nurseries Ltd, a longestablished growing nursery in Sussex, on the sale of the business.
The new owner is DJ Squire & Co Ltd, which operates Squire’s garden centres across the south-east.
The deal will see the existing management team at Barnsfold remain in place and the company will continue to supply its existing customers as part of the Squire Group.
Squire’s is a family-run business and has great synergy with the Horsham-based Barnsfold operation.
Barnsfold Director, John Turner, said: “The growing nursery and garden centre sector has seen some significant changes in recent years and we see this as a further dynamic step for Barnsfold and Squire’s that will enable us both to continue to offer
the best service and high quality products to our customers in the years to come.”
John added: “Engaging and working with Terry Rainback and Mike Gibbs at EMC proved to be an essential part of achieving our objectives and we are grateful for their support throughout the process.”
Terry Rainback at EMC added: “It was a pleasure working with John, Peter, Nigel and Debbie at Barnsfold and we are delighted to have supported them throughout the journey. 2023 is definitely the beginning of an exciting future together for Barnsfold and Squire’s.”
Barnsfold was supported by Terry Rainback and Mike Gibbs of EMC Corporate Finance, David Gordon and Daniel Jenking of Mayo Wynn Baxter and Sarah Ediss of Kreston Reeves.
Squire’s was supported by Azets Corporate Finance and Womble Bond Dickinson.
Once installed, residents will be able to choose from a range of providers including Vodafone, TalkTalk, Giganet, IDNet, Zen and others.
Anne Krausse, CityFibre’s Area Manager for Maidstone, said: “I’m incredibly proud to see our team start work on Maidstone’s full fibre network.
“As we roll out our infrastructure across the town, it’s important to remember that any shortterm disruption will pay off tremendously in the long-term.
“Our network will help ensure that Maidstone is ready to thrive in the digital age by giving almost every home and business in the town access to the best available digital connectivity.”
The fast-paced media industry has a daily ebb and flow of stories which are packaged into a printed product or curated online. It is a different world to the luxury yacht industry where a single boat can take more than a year of careful crafting before it glides on to the water.
CEO of Oyster Yachts, Ashley Highfield, is a veteran of the online and print media world with a CV that includes roles as CEO of Johnston Press, Managing Director and Vice-President Consumer and Online UK at Microsoft and Director of New Media & Technology at the BBC where he launched the iPlayer streaming service.
It was a desire for a change of pace and challenge that drew Ashley to Oyster
Yachts in Southampton where he has spent the past four years steadying the ship with owner Richard Hadida, cofounder of Evolution Gaming, who rescued the business from administration.
He said: “We work on very long cycles in this industry where we can take up to a year to build a yacht and sometimes longer for the biggest.
“I can’t think of more of a contrast to the daily cycle of a newspaper where you start with almost nothing the day before and the day afterwards there is a full newspaper on the newsstands.
“The digital industry is usually one of hundreds of thousands or millions of
users and here you are dealing with a few hundred owners. Each one you get to know as they buy a yacht and go through the process. In digital and print, you rarely get to know your end users.”
The turnaround in Oyster Yachts’ fortunes over the past four years is commendable having been acquired with mothballed yards, a depleted workforce and an order book of customers still waiting for their boats.
Ashley and Richard’s first priority on acquisition was to renegotiate with 20 customers who had outstanding orders, of which 19 were saved.
The company now has more than 500
staff across four main facilities including boatyards in Southampton, Hythe and Norfolk, a brokerage and commissioning base in Ipswich, a servicing centre in Palma and an office in the USA.
Ashley said: “You have got to be committed to this and we are four years into a10-year plan.
“We have launched three new models in the last four years, and turned the business around but there is so much more to do.
“You can’t hurry a hand-built craft business and that has been the biggest lesson I have learned, as has Richard, with us both coming from tech backgrounds where you can do things so quickly.
“However, there is a halfway house where you can bring speed of decision-making, entrepreneurialism and the speed of innovation, found in the tech industry, together with craftsmanship and a focus on quality.”
The Oyster team has invested heavily in product development and expanded the range to include a new entry-level 50 foot boat (Oyster 495) which is billed as the first step on the ladder to Oyster ownership, of which 20 have been sold in a year.
Ashley said: “We very much wanted to get the business into being cash positive while simultaneously investing in future production capacity.
“We wanted to get the EBITDA into the right place but we have been less concerned about the overall bottom line because we have been investing in growing the business.
“That’s Richard’s and my own dotcom backgrounds which is one of being able to run those two things in parallel by going for growth and getting the EBITDA in shape whilst also having enough cashflow as well.
“We are now cashflow positive and now have a healthy EBITDA going into next year.”
Oyster Yachts are known as the ‘Bentley of the Seas’ in yachting circles and the company has built a 50 year reputation for its highly bespoke sailing yachts capable of traversing the globe at speed.
Ashley said the company was uniquely placed to take advantage of the market shift away from power to sail boats.
“We are seeing a movement out of power boats and into sail boats with people becoming increasingly more environmentally aware.
“You also have children putting pressure on their parents, who are thinking of buying a boat, to buy one with a sail.
“Only five per cent of the global yacht market is sail, so only a small shift out of power and into sail can create an enormous increase in the share that sail takes of the market, and if Oyster rises with all boats on that tide, then we stand to do very well.”
The market in which Oyster Yachts operates is undergoing a transformation as sailing loses its image as being a preserve of a wealthy elite with the profile of buyers dropping in age and becoming more international in make-up.
The Oyster team is positioning for this change by providing a full service for people who want to get involved in yachting but are unsure of how to get started.
Ashley said: “The profile is changing from people in their mid-50s to 60s who have been brought up with sailing and buy a boat after a life event such as selling a business and tend to be mostly British and European.
“The age profile is coming down and we are now selling to those in their mid-40s and it is much more international. America is now our strongest growth market in absolute terms and is our second biggest market after the UK.
“We are seeing a younger demographic and a wealth of tech entrepreneurs that want to buy a boat and perhaps don’t
really know much about it. We can not only sell them a boat but help them charter it too, help them to buy their next boat with finance, find a crew for it and help with the servicing.”
The team has also invested heavily in marketing and following its takeover has thrown fresh impetus behind the Oyster World Rally which takes place every two years and sees up to 30 boats sail round the world from a starting point in Antigua.
The team expects 30 Oyster yachts to sign up for the 2026 rally with more than half of them bought by new owners specifically to undertake the circumnavigation.
Ashley said: “People are moving from buying assets to moving into experiences.
“We have established the Oyster World Rally as a biannual event and we now have a Spring Regatta in Antigua and an Autumn Regatta in Palma.
“We will look to expand this programme and create ‘money can’t buy experiences’ where your Oyster Yacht is your ticket to entry.”
Portsmouth’s leading workspace, Lakeside North Harbour, has launched a brand new occupier digital platform to help support and better their experience.
The new platform, called My Lakeside, has been months in the creation and is on offer for all organisations and businesses based across the campus. It will help streamline and simplify access to all facilities on offer at the business campus, enabling occupiers to get the most of their workplace experience.
on behalf of Portsmouth City Council, who own Lakeside North Harbour.
This is the first project that Equiem has worked on with any city council or any organisation in the Portsmouth area.
The platform will also improve both the occupier experience as well as the onsite and operational teams day to day efficiencies, create a sense of community and engagement and drive uptake and awareness of extra onsite amenities.
Lakeside has enjoyed enormous achievements over the last few years and has maintained high office occupancy thanks to its exceptional engagement programme.
“Equiem are renowned for their community engagement and service offering and they have created an app that is going to be extremely useful for everyone at Lakeside.”
The Lakeside campus is known for its rural surroundings, including pockets of rugged woodland and a large lake. It boasts wildlife walks and plenty of outdoor space, while its management delivers a range of occupier-led events designed around interacting with nature - supporting employee wellbeing and productivity.
Lakeside North Harbour has teamed up with Equiem, the original tenant experience platform, created to strengthen the relationship between buildings, workplace experience, and the people who work in them.
The Engage service of strategic real estate advisor, Avison Young, has overseen the development of the digital platform, which also has an app for mobile phone usage,
Simon Bateman, Asset Manager at Lakeside North Harbour, commented: “Lakeside North Harbour has always gone above and beyond to communicate with our occupiers and make sure that they are fully informed with everything that is happening and what amenities they can access, as well as continuing the sense of community for all.
“The My Lakeside digital platform is another way of doing that by complimenting everything that we already have in place and providing something that is quick and easy to use.
Bronny Wilson, Regional Head – Europe, Equiem added: “We’re really looking forward to launching the Lakeside North Harbour platform. We’ve seen a real enthusiasm from the client to grow and build their community and our approach is perfectly suited to deliver on their goal of creating a seamless, modern workplace. Business Campuses like Lakeside North Harbour foster some of the most innovative and important organisations in the country.
“So working in partnership with them to build their brand and streamline their operational activities is a responsibility we take seriously and can’t wait to get started.”
For more information contact: Emma Parkin on emma.parkin@avisonyoung.com
PKF Francis Clark has officially been named one of the UK’s Best Workplaces for Wellbeing (2023) by Great Place to Work, the global authority on workplace culture.
The accountancy firm, which recently opened a new office on Southampton Science Park, is ranked 40th among large organisations in the newly published list of Best Workplaces for Wellbeing.
Initiatives to promote colleague wellbeing include Wellbeing Wednesdays, an ongoing programme of events and resources focusing on physical, mental and financial wellbeing, such as webinars with sports psychologists, dieticians and other experts. The firm also has a menopause support group, as well as health and wellbeing champions and mental health first aiders in each office.
The accolade comes after PKF Francis Clark became one of only a handful of UK accountancy firms to achieve Great Place to Work certification.
Amy Taylor, chief people officer, said: “Health and wellbeing is hugely important to us, so we’re very proud to be recognised as one of the UK’s Best Workplaces for Wellbeing. We’ve invested in lots of initiatives to support the wellbeing of our people – like our Wellbeing Wednesdays and a comprehensive package of benefits, including free access to confidential counselling and an online GP service – and we’re actively looking at what more we can do.
“I’d also like to thank our network of health and wellbeing champions, mental health first aiders and local office charity, social and wellbeing committees, who play an important role in providing peer-to-peer support for colleague wellbeing.”
Great Place to Work’s culture experts analysed thousands of employee surveys, assessing people’s holistic experiences of wellbeing at work to determine the UK’s Best Workplaces for Wellbeing list. The surveys asked employees to comment on how their company supports their work-life balance, sense of fulfilment, job satisfaction, psychological safety and financial security.
Benedict Gautrey, managing director of Great Place to Work UK, said: “At the heart of every organisation are its people and looking after their wellbeing should be much more than a package of impressive perks on a careers website.
“We know when employees feel genuinely contented and at ease within their roles, they are much more engaged and productive.
“Now in our second year of the UK’s Best Workplaces for Wellbeing list, we’re once again able to showcase the leading organisations providing cultures conducive to outstanding psychological, physical and social wellbeing. A huge congratulations to PKF Francis Clark for making this prestigious list.”
PKF Francis Clark has more than 850 employees and 55 partners in Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth, Poole, Salisbury, Southampton, Taunton, Torquay and Truro. It is a member of the PKF International family of legally independent firms, which together are ranked as the 11th largest provider of accountancy services in the UK by Accountancy Age.
More information can be found at careers.pkf-francisclark.co.uk
We’ve invested in lots of initiatives to support the wellbeing of our people and we’re actively looking at what more we can do
region
Professional services firm PwC has appointed Julian Gray is its new South East Regional Market Leader. He takes over the role from Keith Harrington, who held the role for five years. Julian will continue as Market Senior Partner in the firm’s Southampton office.
South Coast law firm Ellis Jones Solicitors has made six promotions. Those stepping up the ladder are Andy Kirby to Partner, becoming the first non-lawyer to hold the position in the firm, Jennie Hedges (not pictured) to Senior Associate and Associate positions for highflyers, Georgina Emmerson, Rosemary Drew, Tim McMahon and Conor Maher. They are pictured with Nigel Smith, Managing Partner (centre).
Healthcare and pharmaceutical firm SpectrumX is strengthening its South East presence through its appointment of Samantha Gibbons to the newly-created UK’s Regional Account Manager, South East position. Samantha will be charged with building commercial relationships, leading sales strategies and generating growth in the region.
Reading-based Haslams Chartered Surveyors has promoted Associates Harry Bevins (left) and Ed Pointing (right) Partner, while existing Partner and Head of Commercial Agency, Neil Seager (centre) has taken on the role of Managing Partner.
Town planner Daniel Nunn has been recruited by the Wokingham branch of the national planning firm Boyer. He joins as a Senior Planner. Daniel gained experience in creating local and neighbourhood plans at Surrey Heath and Guildford Borough Councils.
Richard Todd has been appointed an equity partner at leading property consultancy Bidwells. Richard, who is head of the company’s Oxford office, has been integral to the success of the Oxfordshire property market over the last 15 years through his work in the education and science and technology sectors.
SimplyHealth, an Andover-based health solutions provider, has appointed Annie Coleridge to the position of product director of its corporate business. Annie brings a range of experience in Femtech and diagnostics having held healthcare leadership roles along with selling the digital menopause company she founded, Alva.
Oxford Bus Company, part of the Go-Ahead Group, has appointed Luke Marion as Managing Director. Luke, previously finance and commercial director, will replace Phil Southall, who is taking over as group-wide bus performance director at Go-Ahead’s London head office.
Law firm Trethowans has appointed Kirsteen Hook to the role of partner in its Southampton office. Kirsteen has more than 10 years’ experience working in charity law, having worked with a variety of clients from small, local or regional, charities to international household names.
Kent-based life sciences cluster Discovery Park has appointed Kirsty Budden as its new Head of Marketing. Kirsty has more than 18 years’ experience in marketing, having worked for some of the world’s biggest technology brands in Nintendo and Samsung.
In a move to bolster its executive team, serving non-executive director at Surrey-based Ergomed, Michael Spiteri (left), has been named as the Chief Transformation and Technology Officer. Jonathan Curtain (right), who joined in November as Deputy Chief Financial Officer, has since been promoted to Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director.of the Board.
Poole property finance specialist MSP Capital has promoted four staff to newly-created associate director roles. Nicky Hollamby (far right) moves into the role of Associate Director of Finance, Lee Merrifield (second left) is now Associate Director of Credit. Chris Sheppard (second right) has been promoted to become Associate Director of Underwriting, while Chris Wright (far left) has a new position of Associate Director of Valuation.
Property consultancy Vail Williams has launched a campaign to raise menopause awareness.
The campaign, started with a specialist-led management course attended by the firm’s LLP members.
The firm, which has offices in Southampton and Portsmouth, will continue the campaign throughout 2023 providing practical support and a menopause first aid kit for each office. All staff will also have access to the ‘wider awareness programme’.
Learning and Development manager at Vail Williams Tanya Horscroft said: “As an Investor in People Gold accredited company it was important for us to
embrace the topic of menopause. Without knowledge, understanding it is almost impossible.
“The awareness course was deployed to help build stronger relationships via compassionate understanding and expanded comprehension of the issue.”
Symptoms of menopause affect 75 per cent of women. A survey by the British Menopause Society revealed that 45 per cent of respondents felt that menopause symptoms negatively impacted their work.
People Management conducted a survey that found that 18 per cent of respondents wanted to leave their work as a result of menopausal symptoms.
Auditors KPMG UK have appointed Emma Gibson to lead the firm’s activity in the Solent and Thames Valley regions.
Emma Gibson takes on the role of South Hub and Reading Office Senior Partner after Will Smith stepped down to focus on his national position as head of growth for KPMG Private Enterprise Audit.
Emma has led KPMG’s regional law practice since joining in 2017. “I’m looking forward to this new challenge and working alongside the teams in the Solent and Thames Valley to ensure that we continue our legacy of successfully supporting clients in the region,” she said.
“I’m grateful to Will for his leadership and look forward to continuing to work together as part of the leadership team.”
An Associate Director in RSM UK’s Guildford office completed more than half a million press-ups in aid of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI)
James Cope has raised more than £8,500 since embarking on the task when the first Covid-19 lockdown was announced in March, 2020.
Each day James added an extra press-up to his routine, reaching 1,000 press-ups in one day by the end of the challenge which took him to a cumulative 500,500 press-ups. On day 100, James dedicated the challenge to the RNLI in thanks for rescuing him and his father in Devon around 14 years ago.
James completed his final day at the Chiswick Lifeboat Station, cheered on by RNLI volunteers and staff.
There have been recent headlines about the unsuccessful launch from Spaceport Cornwall of a LauncherOne rocket. If successful this would have been the first rocket launched from the UK.
The rocket, attached below one wing of a jumbo jet, was to be dropped above the Atlantic and, powered by its own engine, it was intended to release a payload of small satellites into the Earth’s orbit. Unfortunately, the second stage did not reach its planned altitude so the satellites were not released. However, the safety and regulatory regimes set up worked well and demonstrate a leap forward in the UK’s readiness for a national launch capability.
Due to ongoing investment in innovation and research and development into component size and associated technologies, satellites have significantly reduced in size. Now satellites the size of shoeboxes and washing machines are orbiting the Earth. The UK has invested time, energy, and skills into the space sector and is experienced and very good at developing and building small satellites, but until recently the UK space sector has had to travel overseas to launch satellites into orbit.
The satellites scheduled to launch in November formed part of the Satellite Applications Catapult’s (SACL) In-Orbit Demonstration (IOD) programme. This helps UK businesses without a background in the space sector to rapidly develop and deploy satellites into orbit. SACL’s focus is working with businesses from many different sectors such as health, logistics, and agritech to explore how satellite technology can be harnessed to benefit activities on Earth. This may include increasing surveillance capabilities to identify illegal activities or to enable in-orbit manufacturing in a purer environment. The potential capabilities are seemingly endless and perhaps are limited by imagination.
Innovation is at the heart of the space and satellite technology sectors. Innovation takes the thread of an idea and seeks to make it a reality and to understand whether there is real commercial or societal benefit. At its core, innovation fuels and is fuelled by uncertainty. At the cutting edge of innovation is the unknown, that lack of knowing whether something will be successful. Innovation requires a leap of faith to try and understand whether the research and development and investment of time, energy, effort and emotions were successful.
Innovation involves failure. The mark is not whether something fails but how someone approaches failure. Is it seen as the conclusion of something or the opportunity to learn more – to push the boundaries?
The UK government knows the value of innovation. For many years the government has invested public funds into innovative companies, whether this is by way of
grants or support for companies claiming research and development tax credits. The government has a stated aim that total public and private sector R&D spending will be 2.4% of GDP by 2027.
Failure does not prevent a company from claiming R&D tax credits. Project failure might even be a strong indicator that the company’s competent engineers are advancing science or technology. This is a fundamental principle that a company must follow to qualify for R&D tax credits.
R&D tax credits are really valuable for companies. Profit-making companies eligible for the SME scheme can currently benefit from around £25,000 for every £100,000 of qualifying expenditure, whereas those eligible for R&D Expenditure Credits (RDEC) can benefit from £10,500. Loss-making companies can also benefit. From 1 April 2023, changes are being made to these schemes. They broadly neutralise the increase in the main rate of UK corporation tax, but the changes do make the RDEC scheme more attractive. The changes also focus the benefit on R&D activity carried out in the UK, and reflect the costs of modern businesses – cloud computing and data costs will be allowable.
Further changes are expected. The government is consulting on whether to close the existing schemes and introduce a single scheme for all eligible companies.
R&D tax credits continue to be central to the government’s agenda for innovation in the UK. Innovative companies, even those that experience failure, should speak with a specialist and explore whether they can benefit from these valuable tax credits.
Crowe’s experienced R&D Team would be delighted to start the conversation with you. Please get in touch on 0118 959 7222 or email Stuart Weekes at stuart.weekes@crowe.co.uk
www.crowe.co.uk
The UK Space sector is growing. The advances being proven in space technology compete with the fantastical ideas created in movies. Innovation is taking place everywhere writes Stuart Weekes, Corporate Tax Partner at national audit, tax, advisory and risk firm Crowe in Reading.
YFM Equity Partners has partially exited planning and forecasting software business Vuealta.
YFM, which has offices in Reading, announced the partial exit of its investment in Vuealta in January through the sale of its software division to partner and supply chain solutions business Anaplan.
Vuealta was originally introduced to YFM by HMT Corporate Finance.
California-based Anaplan acquired the software division for an undisclosed sum. The deal represented a significant increase on the sum YFM originally invested.
YFM remains invested in the core Vuealta consulting business.
Reading-based David Wrench, Partner at YFM Equity Partners, said: “To realise such a strong return for our investors through a partial sale only 18 months after our original investment is a great achievement.
“It underlines the strength of the proposition built by the team at Vuealta and our ability to identify and support commercial potential in early-stage technology businesses.
“We look forward to continuing to partner with Vuealta on the next phase of its growth journey.”
YFM has invested £5.6 million in Vuealta over the past 18 months to support the growth of its services offering, and to fund the development of its software division.
Lawyers based in the Reading office of Osborne Clarke have advised AlbionVC on its investment into Software as a Service (SaaS) firm Toqio.
Toqio enables companies to create and launch fully-branded banking or finance solutions as apps or on the web in weeks, not months.
AlbionVC led Toqio’s £17.2 million Series A funding round, which also included a £1.1 million grant from a Spanish public
A Bournemouth-based provider of business telephone systems to UK small and medium-sized enterprises has hit the acquisition trail again.
4Com has purchased the business telecoms customer base of Bluebell Cloud Solutions Ltd for an undisclosed sum.
The acquisition is 4Com’s third in the past nine months. Last year it bought both Midlands-based Midshire Business Systems (Communications) Ltd, known as Midshire Telecom, and Norwichbased Eastern Telephones Limited, known as Eastern Voice and Data.
organisation for technology development. The Osborne Clarke team was led by venture and growth capital partner Justin Starling.
Toqio, which is based in London with offices in Madrid and Nairobi, has seen rapid expansion in the past 18 months.
It has grown its team from 17 to more than 100 as well as expanding its services into the Spanish market.
But unlike the previous acquisitions, which saw 4Com purchase entire companies, the Bluebell Cloud Solutions deal is acquiring the business telecoms customer base only.
The company itself is continuing to trade. Approximately 300 customers have been acquired from Bluebell Cloud Solutions bringing the total number of customers now handled by 4Com to around 13,000.
“To realise such a strong return for our investors through a partial sale only 18 months after our original investment is a great achievement”
Oxford’s VoCoVo is expanding into the USA market through the rollout of its voice communication technology.
The Fresh Market has implemented VoCoVo’s wireless headsets in 44 stores as they continue to leverage technology to improve guest experience and in-store communication.
The Fresh Market has integrated VoCoVo headsets with telephony capabilities. This allows team members from different
store areas to answer, make and transfer external calls directly from the headset to provide a better quality of service without having to compromise on current tasks at hand.
The announcement follows a successful trial in the food retailer’s Greensboro, North Carolina store last July before expanding to further 43 stores this year.
Ben Burton, Director of RetailReading-based pharmaceutical thermal protection specialist Tower Cold Chain has opened a new office in Singapore to support the company’s growth in the Asia Pacific region.
Located a 10-minute drive from Singapore Changi Airport, the facility will expand Tower’s proximity and availability to customers, improving their access to its commercial and operational personnel.
Tower builds reusable thermal containers that are rented to the global pharmaceutical industry and used to transport temperatur- sensitive products such as vaccines, blood kits, medical devices and clinical trials materials.
Niall Balfour, Tower’s CEO, said: “The opening of the Singapore office is another
important milestone in the continued global growth of Tower Cold Chain.
“The new space will support Tower’s growing global network of strategically located hubs throughout APAC, EMEA, The Americas regions – with a series of recent new hub openings including Incheon, Chicago and Milan.”
Robert Paterson, Tower’s Regional Commercial Manager of Asia Pacific, said the new location would increase the firm’s operational reach.
He added: “The expansion of Tower’s network in Singapore reinforces our ability to deliver robust, reliable, reusable temperature-controlled containers to meet our customers’ needs at every corner of the globe.”
Communications at The Fresh Market, said: “We’re committed to providing the best experiences for our guests, whenever they visit our store or seek answers to their questions via the phone.
“With VoCoVo’s smart communication technology and telephony integration, we’ve been able to ensure that calls are answered promptly, leading to faster response times and improved guest satisfaction.”
Nebula Global Services, the Wokingham-based global services firm, has opened a new office in Florida.
The new Tampa office has been opened to support the firm’s international expansion in response to an increase in projects and contracts in the US as well as building Nebula’s existing Customer Success Team, which is based across India, Malaysia and the UK.
Jim Griffin, Chief Operating Officer, is based in Tampa, and the team will grow using talent from the local area. It comes following a number of wins over the past few years, with the company saying it made the investment sooner than originally expected.
The Cyber Resilience Centre for the South East (SECRC) has set up a new partnership that will see the region’s four police forces (Sussex, Surrey, Thames Valley and Hampshire) work together to improve the cyber resilience of companies that supply goods and services to each force.
The partnership means that all companies seeking to embark on new contracts with the Police in the South East region will be required to join the SECRC as part of the
contractual process and if they are based outside of the South East then it will be their local Cyber Resilience Centre.
There are almost 850,000 businesses registered in the South East, the second highest in the country after the neighbouring area of London with 1,000,000.
Many of these businesses will have little protection from cyber-attacks and will be
unaware of the threat posed by cybercrime as a whole.
Covering the areas of Thames Valley, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, West Sussex, East Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire, and the Isle of Wight, SECRC (which was established by the Home Office) works with local universities and police forces, which gives it access to the latest local as well as national information on emerging cyber threats.
A new study from PwC has revealed that cloud security tops 2023 cyber threats, but ransomware and business email compromise attacks are predicted to increase too.
Cloud-related threats top the list of cyber security concerns that UK senior executives say will have a significant impact on their organisations in 2023, according to the company’s annual Digital Trust Insights survey – more so than cyber
threats from other sources such as laptop/ desktop endpoints, web applications and software supply chain.
A third of UK senior executives also say they expect attacks against cloud management interfaces to increase significantly in 2023, while 20 per cent say they expect attacks on Industrial Internet of Things and operational technology to significantly increase in the next 12 months.
Long-standing and familiar cyber threats remain on the horizon in 2023. Just over a quarter of UK organisations say they expect business email compromise and ‘hack and leak’ attacks to significantly increase in 2023, and 24 per cent say they expect ransomware attacks to significantly increase.
The good news is that cyber security budgets will rise for many in 2023, with 59 per cent of UK respondents saying they expect their budgets to increase.
Poole-based cyber security company C3IA Solutions has recruited another former army specialist to its ranks.
Matt Bosworth served for 23 years with the Royals Corps of Signals, retiring with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
He has joined the company as a Principal
Consultant and will concentrate on working within government agencies and departments.
C3IA Solutions has well over 120 personnel directly employed or on contract work in the UK and abroad. It operates in the private as well as public sector and covers all types of cyber-security and information assurance.
The drummer in one of the world’s most famous bands was presented with his honorary degree after meeting students from the music department at the University of Southampton.
Coldplay’s Will Champion chatted to music students and staff about what influences the band’s music, its creative processes and successes. He then received his degree as Doctor of Music from the university.
Will said: “I’m extremely grateful to receive an honorary doctorate.
“It was a lovely ceremony and a lovely opportunity to speak to music students.”
Will grew up in Southampton and attended Cantell School. His parents also worked at the university as academics for many years. When he was 14, he did work experience at the Nuffield Theatre, working in the box office and backstage.
Dan Mar-Molinero, Lecturer in Music and Head of Jazz, Pop and Musical Theatre said: “Music at Southampton is always looking to connect students with the real world; what better way than a bona fide pop superstar to help with this?
“Will was incredible and all our students were inspired by his thoughtful and humble words.”
More than 100 people have signed up to become Climate Ambassadors in partnership with STEM Learning and the University of Reading.
The scheme, which offers crash courses in climate change issues for teachers and education leaders, was launched last April.
So far, 115 climate change and sustainability experts have signed up as ambassadors through the online platform hosted by STEM Learning, making them available to provide free advice to the hundreds of registered schools and organisations.
Professor Andrew Charlton-Perez, the University of Reading climate scientist who led the scheme’s creation, said: “This landmark achievement marks the latest step in the university’s mission to share its climate change expertise with the world.
“We want to offer more than just school assemblies and we’ve done that by helping share expertise with schools and colleges across a wide variety of subjects that will arm the next generation with the knowledge they need to confront climate change. This includes teacher training days, offering practical solutions to school leaders on cutting carbon emissions, and even offering safety advice during periods of extreme weather.”
A paper that pioneered the use of volumetric capture of actors’ performances has been awarded the Test of Time Award by the IEEE Computer Society – one of the world’s most prestigious organisations in computer science and technology.
Professor Adrian Hilton, co-author of the paper and now Director of the Institute for People-Centred Artificial Intelligence at the University of Surrey, said: “Back then, motion capture required specialist suits and markers for a result that only records the skeleton motions – not an actor’s holistic performance.
“We proposed a fully automated system that used multiple video cameras to capture an actor’s true performance from different angles while they were in full wardrobe.
“Our system enabled creation of highly realistic models of people and greatly reduced the production time in the process.”
This research provided the foundation for volumetric capture used in films such as Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds and Madonna’s performance at the 2019
Billboard Music Awards. Volumetric performance capture is also used in sports for virtual camera action replays for the Superbowl, Olympics and Masters Golf Tournament.
Today, volumetric capture is used to populate the metaverse, breaking the barrier between real and virtual worlds.
The Test of Time Award recognises papers published by the IEEE that have made profound and long-lasting impacts in bridging the theory and practice of computer graphics.
Believe it or not, the internet only started to be relatively interactive about 25 years ago.
In the early days all that users could expect to see when they dialled up (remember that?) were the equivalent of promotional brochures, just online.
That, in internet jargon, was called “Web 1.0” which was mostly composed of web pages joined by hyperlinks. Experts refer to it as the “read-only” web – a web that was not interactive in any significant sense
Depending on your point of view this was either the good old days or frustratingly restrictive.
But things move fast in internet-land. Around 1999, the term Web 2.0 was coined. This enabled the public to add content, publish articles and comment on others.
Still largely centralised, Web 2.0 was dominated by companies that would go on to become household names – Amazon, Google and Microsoft.
Then along came Web 3.0, offering more decentralisation which is what cryptocurrency and metaverse companies continue to push for, although the man credited with the invention of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, appears to disagree. Last year he reportedly told a web summit in Portugal that he doesn’t view blockchain as a viable solution for building the next iteration of the internet –but that’s another article.
And so on to Web 4.0. A further development to enhance the user experience. One of the most important aspects of Web 4.0, according to experts, is its focus on collaboration and collective intelligence through an increased use of social media and mobile devices.
And finally, on to this issue’s topic: Web 5.0.
This promises to be even more decentralised, and while it’s still in
development, Web 5.0 is expected to bring about a new level of connectivity, automation and intelligence that promises to transform the way the world lives, works and communicates.
One main idea behind Web 5.0 for businesses, which will support Industry 5.0 – sometimes also called the fifth industrial revolution (where people work alongside robots and smart machines), is that companies will become more efficient by using AI (artificial intelligence) and automation to do the work for them.
It is hoped that this change will lead to higher industry competitiveness and greater profits for those companies that can successfully navigate and take advantage of the transition.
5G networks will provide the right infrastructure to support the high-speed data transfer needed by emerging technologies such as autonomous vehicles and drones.
This increased level of automated communication will, say experts, make
things such as transportation safer and more efficient.
Web 5.0, say experts, will also be able to support websites that can map a person’s emotions, using facial recognition when the user is wearing a headset, and responding accordingly.
Imagine a website being able to tell if you’re angry, sad or happy, adapting its offer to sell you what it thinks you’re most likely to buy. Or being able to offer
consolation if you’ve had a miserable day or are more seriously depressed. Some call this emotional intelligence, but can a computer have the capacity to recognise our emotions? Using facial recognition, perhaps so, but understand them too? Thats another thing altogether.
More practically, and just as importantly, Web 5.0, being decentralised, gives users more control over their identity and data and how they use it, say experts.
Depending on who you believe, and what you read, there’s a high level of expectation of other things that Web 5.0 will be able to deliver.
Those trying to manage its introduction cite the idea of harmonious human–machine collaborations, with a specific focus on the wellbeing of the multiple stakeholders (society, companies, employees, customers). But we wonder whether that’s a pipedream.
Last year, the former Twitter boss Jack Dorsey, to further confuse matters, announced a new decentralised platform called ‘Web 5’, a combination of Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 built on the Bitcoin blockchain (Sir Tim Berners-Lee won’t like that).
Whatever Web 5.0 turns out to be, it’s likely that the world will embrace it, for good or ill.
Rolls-Royce is celebrating 20 years of building its iconic cars at Goodwood this year after the business was bought by BMW Group in 1998.
It remains the only place in the world where Rolls-Royce motor cars are designed and built – still by hand.
It is also the global headquarters of a business that now operates in more than 50 countries worldwide. In 2016, the company opened its Technology and Logistics Centre in Bognor Regis, to support Goodwood’s fully integrated manufacturing processes.
The Goodwood site was designed by award-winning architects Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners, whose credentials included London’s Waterloo International railway station and the Eden Project in Cornwall. The practice created a striking, contemporary and highly sustainable building that blends into the surrounding landscape.
Rolls-Royce has built a wide range of cars at Goodwood, from the existing Phantom to the new Ghost, which became the biggest-selling Rolls-Royce in history.
Others included the Cullinan, RollsRoyce’s all-terrain SUV, which now accounts for more than a third of the cars built at Goodwood.
Last October, Rolls-Royce launched what it referred to as its “genre-defining” ultraluxury electric super coupé, Spectre. It wants every new Rolls-Royce model by the end of 2030 to be fully electric.
Around 2,500 people work for RollsRoyce at Goodwood, including 150 new posts created last year alone, from designers and engineers to the sales and office teams and other automotive specialists.
The company also offers graduate and apprenticeship programmes. Since 2006
almost 200 young people have trained at the company with many now employed there permanently.
Torsten Müller-Ötvös, the Chief Executive Officer at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, said: “Goodwood is both the physical and spiritual home of Rolls-Royce; the only place in the world where we design and handcraft our unique luxury products, with a unique, personal connection to our long history.
“Far more than just an advanced manufacturing facility and corporate headquarters, it gives visitors an immediate introduction to our brand: beautiful, elegant and impressive, yet also creative, vibrant and ever-changing.
“In its design and construction, it embodies our central values of precision, attention-to-detail and pride for this great British institution.
“We are privileged to call it home.”
Southampton-based aircraft manufacturer Britten-Norman has gained United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) type certification for its Rolls Royce model 250 powered BN2T-4S Islander turboprop aircraft. The BN2T-4S is the larger variant of the piston BN2B Islander. Certification is included under FAA Type Certificate reference A17EU Revision 22.
This change is an important milestone for Britten-Norman and complements existing type certificates for the aircraft with the UK CAA and EASA (European Union Aviation Safety Agency). The new certification opens up new markets for the company in the USA and internationally. BN2T-4S Islanders are currently in manufacture at the company’s Solent manufacturing facilities at Daedalus and Bembridge.
Britten-Norman has been building aircraft continuously for more than seven decades. In addition to manufacturing and supporting the Britten-Norman Islander aircraft and its variants, the company is also an aerospace service provider that operates in both the civil and defence sectors.
Mark Shipp, Technical Director, said: “Obtaining type certification for any aircraft is a major achievement and requires a huge amount of effort and hard work satisfying the regulator that the product is not only safe but also meets the most stringent standards. The USA is the world’s largest aviation market and the FAA is a hugely respected regulator of that market. We are very proud to have had the opportunity to work closely with the FAA to achieve this important goal and now look forward to the opportunities this will bring.”
Britten-Norman is currently progressing type certification approval for the BN2T4S Islander in India and Canada.
Goodwood is both the physical and spiritual home of Rolls-Royce; the only place in the world where we design and handcraft our unique luxury products
Over the past few years Pangea Life has been particularly active in helping businesses, as well as the professional advisors supporting them, to mitigate the potential financial risks that can be created when going through a Management Buy Out (MBO), writes
Here he asks Phil Mettam from Meridian Corporate Finance to give his views on some of the benefits of MBOS, as well as a few of the risks to look out for:
The last few years have resulted in a fairly turbulent economic and political environment – challenging businesses and their resilience. This has inevitably impacted the M&A market – both as buyers take stock and reconsider their acquisition strategies, and as investors restrict their appetite in certain sectors and take a more diligent approach to investments.
Whilst transactions involving third party buyers are becoming increasingly challenging to deliver, MBOs continue to provide vendors with a low-risk route to realise value and obtain certainty. MBOs are structures through which the existing business is purchased by the existing and/or new management team. At Meridian, we have facilitated several exits or succession plans through an MBO in the last 12 months, as the desire to exit remains (and in some cases is exacerbated). However, buyers and investor appetite is dampened and their processes are typically longer and more challenging.
For more information:
There are several nuances and the best structures are those that consider and look to address business risks and ensure longer-term business continuity, as part of the structuring process. Overall, MBOs can address a number of issues on day one including succession planning and management continuity through equity ownership. MBOs can also provide the business with the toolset to address longer-term goals such as onboarding external talent and correcting shareholding structures to reduce business risks and achieve a future third party sale.
Greater risk
MBOs incorporate a relatively modest level of external leverage (if any) and
as such, the vendors naturally take a greater risk compared to a traditional third-party sale. The vendors also have greater risk, as they are reliant on the new management team to continue operating the business to repay their deferred consideration. Whilst equity incentives are extremely strong, and the legals look to cover off a vast majority of scenarios – circumstances may be unforeseen.
Overall, circumstances vary from transaction to transaction; careful planning, prudent forecasting and careful legal documentation is key to ensure that the risks and rewards are appropriately balanced between management team and vendors.
Lee Thomas of Pangea Life.
As Philip highlights, one significant risk for someone selling their business through a MBO is that the new management team keep the business operating and profitable so that the deferred consideration is repaid.
For SMEs in particular, the people themselves are quite likely the biggest point of failure, so one eventuality that could impact on this most acutely is the death or incapacity of a key person within that management team.
To mitigate this risk, there are a number of Key Person insurance options that can be used to achieve two outcomes:
The first is that the insurance can provide a lump sum for the business to completely clear any outstanding deferred consideration, as well as any external finance owed. Not only does this allow the vendors to get their money, regardless of any jeopardy the company might be plunged into, it also leaves the business debt free, giving the new owners a better chance of rebuilding.
The second is that the insurance can provide a further injection of cash into the business to keep the business operational and profitable. This could be a combination of paying for the recruitment and salary costs of new personnel as well as replacing any lost revenue if the key person played a significant role in generating income for the business.
A further risk that can be covered is the one I discussed in my article in the previous issue – Shareholder Protection. If one of the equity partners dies, it can leave the surviving owners with the problem of needing to raise capital to buy the deceased’s shares from their estate. Shareholder Protection will provide the funds needed to do this, ensuring no new debt is placed on the business.
Covers deferred consideration and any leveraged finance
Covers costs of hiring and paying a replacement as well as lost revenue
Provides funds for acquisition of equity from estate of deceased shareholder
Business can continue to operate successfully and generate profits
100% ownership kept within existing management team
Another type of insurance that can be used to de-risk M&A deals is Warranty and Indemnity Insurance. This protects buyers or sellers of a company against breaches in representations and warranties. Insurers offer policies that are either ‘buyer-side’ or ‘seller-side’. It provides a number of advantages including:
• Removing the concern of not being able to collect on a seller’s promised indemnification.
• Hastening a business sale by eliminating the need for escrows and by covering the liabilities of future representations and warranties claims.
• Allowing a seller to fully and completely leave a business, if desired.
To find out how we can help you, please contact:: lee.thomas@pangealife.co.uk or 02382 354 354 www.pangealife.co.uk
• Making it easier for the buyer to maintain a good relationship with the seller, who may become the buyer’s employee or business partner after the transaction.
As well as using insurance to de-risk a deal, an appraisal of a company’s insurances is also a valuable exercise when buying a business. This should include reviewing the adequacy of both historic and current insurances as well as identifying future risks to the balance sheet and recommended solutions.
Selling your business isn’t without risk. If it’s an MBO with a significant amount of deferred consideration and the business is of a size where a few of its people are vital to its success, the risks are even greater. The right insurances can give both the vender and buyer an added level of protection and with it peace of mind.
The insurance can provide a lump sum for the business to completely clear any outstanding deferred consideration, as well as any external finance owedBusiness is debt free and vendors are paid in full regardless of future impact on business
Strides forward in technology that create massive economic benefits are sometimes subtle and invisible to the consumer. Cloud computing emerged at the turn of the century and took a decade before the competitive advantage to the finance, health, retail sectors and beyond, became clear.
A type of Thin-Film Transistor (TFT) technology, pioneered at the University of Surrey since the turn of the century, could provide a similar economic jolt to the UK economy through its potential to revitalise the country’s electronics manufacturing sector and via the development of inovative new devices.
Thin-Film Transistors are a type of circuit which have gained a foothold in the display market where they regulate the brightness and colour of pixel displays on screens.
Traditional circuits that regulate screens have a complex manufacturing process which results in the waste of valuable materials involved in their production.
Surrey’s TFTs can be printed on plastics or glass and use quantum effects that arise at the contact between metals and semiconductors to achieve better
robustness and fewer ageing or complexity problems than traditional TFT circuits.
Such contact-controlled, source-gated and multimodal transistors (SGTs and MMTs) can also be more energy-efficient and have better electrical performance, as they are less complex than traditional circuits. There is also less chance of failure meaning better production yields during the manufacturing process.
context as similar to that of a “water tap”.
He said: “Display screens are just an array of pixels, millions of them, but all of them need to be controlled by an electronic device. TFTs act like a tap for electricity that tells each pixel how bright to shine, and we think we have a better tap.
“If you can drive a display screen using TFTs then, with a little effort, you can begin to make other types of electronic circuits on glass or plastics which could be used to develop sensor-based and wearable devices.
Senior Lecturer in Semiconductor Devices at the University of Surrey, Radu Sporea, describes the TFT’s function in a display
“Our improved thin-film transistors are applicable to all sorts of materials and all sorts of ways of making these new electronics. There is a lot of potential once you crack it in the display market.
“For the users, our devices will be a seamless experience. Their screens may be more energy efficient, and they may be more cost- effective for the manufacturers to produce.”
The University of Surrey’s new circuit type could put the South East at forefront of emerging industry
Stephen Emerson, Managing EditorThe type of Thin-Film Transistor technology being developed by the University of Surrey
The war in Ukraine and the extended lockdown in China have refocused the UK political agenda on creating a stronger manufacturing base to increase the robustness of the country’s economy against future supply chain shocks.
Radu said: “There is a lot of talk about bringing back manufacturing. You need to have vast factories with high initial capital costs to create highly complex chips like general purpose processors or AI accelerators.
“If you are using Thin-Film Transistor technology to design relatively simple circuits that are going to be disposable or for low-cost sensors, then these can be made in relatively cheap manufacturing facilities.
“You are talking millions rather than billions so you can easily set yourself up to make something quite custom and with a quick turn-around from idea to application.
“There are a number of companies in the UK that are looking at building these facilities.”
TFT-led factories would not only be less expensive to set up, their manufacturing process would also be more efficient
and have less of an impact on the environment.
Radu said: “Making circuits traditionally is a subtractive process where you put vast quantities of materials into the production process but use only two per cent of it and the rest is wasted. With printing technologies you only use what you need.”
While TFT use may be most advanced with displays, it is the use of this technology across other devices that has the most economic potential.
These include wellbeing wearables, air quality sensors and medical devices.
Radu points to the potential for TFT to be used in ‘lab on a chip’ devices which could be used to analyse blood, sweat or saliva.
He said: “If you think that anything could be made on a plastic film with electronics on top then wouldn’t it be fantastic for distributed autonomous sensors or smart plasters to be created?
“If you consider the display is basically a sheet of glass with electronics built in a thin layer on one side, then you could
use the same technology to make a disposable lab on a chip.
“In this application, you need to manipulate the liquid sample by putting it in the right place for analysis to be performed.
“All of this can be automated by controlling electrical properties through a control mechanism in a piece of glass or plastic, and TFTs provide this electrical control.”
Radu emphasised that TFT technology had opened the door to manufacturers to radically change the way that they produce their electronic goods.
However he acknowledged that it would require large investment on their part, especially for TFTs with novel operation such as source-gated and multimodal transistors.
He said: “Our transistors have performance and manufacturability advantages, but the design rules and thinking are completely different.
“To convince large manufacturers to do this would require a large capital investment and for that they would have to see a big increase in performance or another metric they are interested in.
“Even so, this technology is opening a door to being inventive from the ground up and I think this is a real opportunity.”
UK’s most successful designer and distributor of motorcycle and bicycle accessories is revving up to celebrate 50 years in business
If you travel on two wheels, engine or pedal-powered, it’s almost inevitable that you’ll have bought something from Oxford Products.
The Witney-based business, which is celebrating 50 years this year, sells more than 12,000 motorcycle products, the vast majority designed and tested (exhaustively) at its Witney headquarters.
From handlebar muffs which keep a rider’s hands toasty-warm in the cold weather to its full range of motorcycle rider wear for men and women, much of which looks as fashionable as high street retail (despite having to meet rigorous UK safety rider clothing regulations). Other new products even include a foldaway camping chair and stainless steel firepit for those who fancy a two-wheeled camping trip.
Employing around 140 members of staff
– and always looking for more, with a turnover tantalisingly close to £50 million (boss Andrew Hammond is confident of smashing this target in 2023), Oxford Products’ goods are now sold all over the world.
And its international business is growing, – the Witney warehouses hold huge pallets ready to ship to Singapore, the USA, France, Germany – even Ukraine.
The company was established in 1973 by chairman Alec Hammond who, at the age of 28, decided to do a spot of moonlighting selling motorcycle accessories out of the back of his car while employed as a sales manager in the pharmaceutical industry.
The after-hours entrepreneur was so successful he bought a transit van and said adios to the day job.
In 2001, he handed the day-to-day running of the business over to his son Andrew, now 51, under whose watch the family business has continued to grow, organically and through targeted acquisition. Its range includes everything from helmets and armoured clothing to motorbike covers and thousands of accessories to make motorcycle, and bicycle riding, even more fun.
The company’s design office is full of clothing and accessory designers, most of whom ride motorcycles themselves. It’s where the idea for its new firepit and camping chair came from after some of the team returned from a camping weekend complaining that they didn’t have all the kit, so they designed and
produced what they wanted themselves. The business has invested significantly in research and development. Last year it expanded into a new building just a five minute walk from its Witney HQ. The site now includes a full product testing facility. Even Covid couldn’t keep the business down for long.
“At the start of lockdown, we wondered whether we would have to lay staff off,” said Andrew. “We’d made a profit in the previous two months, which we reckoned could fund us until the end of June. Then furlough was announced.
“It wasn’t so much that we were worried about not being able to pay our staff, more that we didn’t want brain drain. Recruitment is hard enough at the best of times – we didn’t want to lose all our great people.”
He needn’t have worried. While initially sales slowed, by the end of that first May they’d shot up again.
“People dusted off and fixed their old bicycles and bought new ones where they could,” said Andrew. “Our bicycle accessories business doubled overnight. We could have sold more if we’d been able to increase our stock. It was crazy.”
Andrew, as much an entrepreneur as his father, decided to temporarily expand the company’s product range into selling complete bicycles.
“We found a manufacturer in Poland and imported as many as we could. We sold £1 million worth of bikes over 2020 and 2021 – bicycle retailers took anything we could import.”
Like every other company during Covid,
Oxford Products discovered the rules of business had adapted. “All global travel was cancelled, as were bike shows,” said Andrew. “We saved huge amounts on marketing and point of sale, and the business saved 35,000 litres of fuel because our sales team couldn’t travel.
“Sales were up, and margins were also off the scale because we’d saved so much in costs.”
The inflated profits lasted two years, but by last year life had returned to normal. Some things, however, have changed for good. “We have returned to visiting customers and our factories in Asia, but make fewer trips and follow up on Zoom,” said Andrew. “We won’t abandon these visits because we need to keep a close eye on product development and production.”
“We found a manufacturer in Poland and imported as many as we could. We sold £1 million worth of bikes over 2020 and 2021 – bicycle retailers took anything we could import”Andrew Hammond
With Covid (hopefully) in the rear-view mirror, but the cost of living rising, last year Oxford Products saw some staff struggling and decided to give everyone £150 extra a month, which lasted all year. This was on top of a head office bonus scheme which is offered to everyone – from warehouse staff to those in the offices – when sales rise. “Our sales team have a well-defined bonus and target structure, but we want to reward everyone. If a business does well, we think success should be shared,” said Andrew.
Andrew’s management style is collaborative and motivational. “My board of directors have been with me for more than 20 years and we have grown this company together, but I am proud of everyone here.”
As we walk around the warehouse, he points out Karen who is Oxford Product’s best picker. “She only joined a few years ago – her daughter works in the finance team – and she’s given some of our younger pickers a run for their money.”
What’s his advice for would-be managers?
“If you’re a worrier, you’d be a wreck. I’m able to box things off. Today something will go wrong in this business, perhaps in the warehouse, perhaps in the offices. That’s life. We manage the situation and I’ll have another cup of tea.”
While car sales are slowing, motorcycle sales continue to tick over and Oxford Products grew again last year.
“One area where we have expanded is with delivery drivers,” said Andrew. “Tens of thousands work for companies such as Deliveroo or Just Eat. Almost every one of them will have our heated handlebar grips and many have bought other kit, from garments to helmets.”
When food delivery service first expanded into the UK, new riders bought the cheapest kit they could, but soon realised it was a false economy. “Accessories need to be waterproof, warm and protect more efficiently so riders are buying better kit,” said Andrew. “They are also buying communications systems and higher quality locks to stop their bikes and scooters getting stolen.”
Another growth area is catering for increasing numbers of women riders.
“I reckon we will sell around £2 million in women’s clothing this year,” said Andrew.
“Some retailers haven’t yet cottoned on to that growth and don’t dedicate much retail space to it. They may have a poor display and little choice. A potential buyer leaves the shop without buying anything and the retailers says it doesn’t sell. Not surprising. A better- nformed retailer will give more space and reap the rewards.”
The recession also offers opportunities. “Some young people will trade in their car, which is expensive to run, for a bike on which they can still get to work.”
The future is bright for Oxford Products, and Andrew is as enthusiastic about the business as ever. “We are expanding our market share and diversifying into new areas where we see demand.
We’re celebrating 50 years and looking forward.”
Today’s business world is very much built on shifting sands with the old certainties long swept away by progress and technology, which is why negotiation as a skill is increasing in value to companies and their employees.
The benefits that negotiation can bring to a company’s performance was spotted by Mark Cranstoun early in his career which has seen spells at global market leaders including Diageo, Mars and NatWest.
Mark set up Henley-on-Thames-based Total Negotiation Group in 2009 with business partner Mark Grice, when he was in his late thirties.
Total Negotiation Group helps companies
with business negotiation problems including improving profit and loss, cutting supply chain costs and ensuring price increases while improving the capability of sales teams.
More than 50 per cent of the Total Negotiation Group’s clients are in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector with business also coming from other industries including pharma, travel, telecoms and banking.
The team’s most unusual experience was helping a UK Premier League football team with their January transfer window activity.
Alongside its Henley-on-Thames base, the company also has a Canadian office
in Montreal and franchise partnerships around Europe, the Gulf states, Australia and New Zealand.
Mark said: “I am a great believer that the most successful people in life are those that have the greatest flexibility of interpersonal styles.
“The most important step in becoming a good negotiator is to understand yourself. If you can’t do that then you won’t be able to understand anyone else. People think that being a great negotiator is bullying and shouting at someone when it’s really not.”
The demand for negotiation among companies in the UK and beyond is reflected in the growth of Total Negotiation
Mark Cranstoun of Total Negotiation Group says strengthening staff negotiation skills can deliver a competitive advantage
Group which went from a turnover of £300,000 in its first year in 2009 to close to £8 million just 13 years later.
The two Marks started the business working out of their contact books.
However the real growth came when they expanded into international markets and offer Total Negotiation Group courses in different languages.
This opened the door to increasing numbers of multinationals which were keen
for one firm to teach the same negotiation skills at their offices around the world.
The company has also branched out from negotiation into other services including selling skills, customer account management, trade terms and revenue management.
Mark said: “We thought long and hard about expanding our services, as customers initially liked the purity of our business.
“However, when we do a great job for someone in negotiation, they wanted us to provide other services. We realised if we didn’t expand then we would be allowing others in.” Mark said that the best
negotiators look to achieve outcomes that increase the value for everyone involved in the negotiation.
He said: “For too long negotiation has been about negotiating around share of the pie, however great negotiators grow the size of the pie. Suppliers need to realise that even though retailers push back on cost price increases they also need them to maintain or grow their own profit.”
Total Negotiation Group runs off-the-shelf and bespoke courses that are adapted to differing and specific customer needs.
I am a great believer that the most successful people in life are those that have the greatest flexibility of interpersonal styles
Their programme is based on a 10step process geared around complex negotiations with a six-step process in place for simpler negotiations.
Mark and the team encourage course participants to engage within the shifting landscape of negotiations and appreciate the different views involved.
He said: “We encourage people to have a kaleidoscopic view of the negotiation where they see different shapes and patterns.
“Everybody sees something different and what you see will change over a period of time. Nothing is ever static and the more perspectives you can get then the more effectively you can negotiate.
“People get so fixated on their own side of the argument and great negotiators are able to plan for and anticipate what the other person is looking for.”
Once the ‘negotiator’ mindset has been established, Mark and his team work with participants so that they gain an appreciation of the variables that exist in all negotiations.
A negotiation involving buying a house may involve one variable whereas one between
a supplier and a supermarket may involve dozens.
He said: “You should consider what type of negotiation you are going to have and what you are prepared to do and commit to. Be clear on your objectives and the variables that can change during a negotiation.
“Also consider the risks of the negotiations and do you need to change the balance of power? Some negotiations take place over a significant amount of time and you need to consider what your stance will be over multiple phases.”
Mark said caution should be applied to the outcome of negotiations where it is clear you have ended up with a significantly better deal than the other party.
A delegate in the travel sector, Mark said, once negotiated a 40 per cent discount off the price of a widget only for the company to go bust two years later leaving just one industry supplier.
This led to the company having to pay 60 per cent more for the original product.
“In real life business situations, what you do
today does have an impact tomorrow”, he said.
“The trick in a negotiation is to win 3-2 but the other side feels that you’ve drawn 2-2. If I beat you 7-0 in a negotiation then next time you will want to beat me 8-0 – that isn’t a healthy or sustainable position.”
Total Negotiation Group shifted to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) model in March last year which gave the company’s 36 employees indirect ownership of the company.
The EOT model is proving popular in the UK as a means of attracting talent, keeping companies in communities and ensuring that staff share in the success of the firm.
Mark said: “We have been approached by bigger consulting firms and a lot of people that join our business do so because they don’t want to be in a big consulting firm.
“We didn’t want to get taken over, get folded in and then in a few years’ time there is nothing recognisable left.
“An EOT allowed us to secure an exit and we are working hard on bringing in the management team that will be here when Mark and I finally leave.”
“The trick in a negotiation is to win 3-2 but the other side feels that you’ve drawn 2-2. If I beat you 7-0 in a negotiation then next time you will want to beat me 8-0 – that isn’t a healthy or sustainable position”
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The Rose Review, published
Following the Rose Review, the government published the Investing in Women Code, a commitment by financial services firms, aimed at increasing funding directed towards female entrepreneurs. More than 130 firms had signed up by last year. In 2022 the Rose Review published a progress report, and there are positives.
Two years into the pandemic, female entrepreneurship has proved exceptionally resilient. Awareness has grown of the benefits and importance of supporting female leadership, and initiatives designed to encourage networking and sharing of experience, such as law firm Blake Morgan’s Women in Leadership forum (blakemorgan.co.uk/women-in-leadership/ ) and Investing in Success (blakemorgan. co.uk/investing-in-success/) programme offer support to female leaders.
The progress report shows more women than ever are starting new businesses. More than 140,000 all-female-founded companies were created last year, and this figure is growing by around a third each year. Tens of thousands of entrepreneurs have benefited from advice and mentoring schemes and thousands of students have received enterprise training. It means that more than 20% of new firms are now led by women – a record high.
A key part of inspiring this change is to
see senior women leading successful businesses, especially those in traditionally masculine professions. Since her election in 2021, Kath Shimmin, Banking and Finance partner and Chair at Blake Morgan, has supported the firm’s work in introducing new opportunities for aspirational women and female entrepreneurs.
“It’s fantastic to see so many women founders and leaders driving their businesses forwards,” Kath said, “but we need to do more to support them, and to make it easier for more women to reach their potential. Networking forums like the ones run by Blake Morgan can help by providing opportunities for female entrepreneurs to connect with others in similar roles and to learn and develop leadership skills, but there’s still more to be done, some of which involves changing the culture in the businesses in which women in male dominated sectors seek to progress.”
Despite the progress made, Alison Rose, CEO NatWest Group and author of the report, warns that the pandemic has exacerbated the challenges faced by female entrepreneurs in starting and scaling their businesses.
The review found that female entrepreneurs spent twice as long on caring responsibilities during the pandemic as their male counterparts, and their
businesses were less likely to recover. As a result, an unacceptable disparity between men and women starting businesses remains. Female-led businesses are still underfunded, and new businesses are almost three times as likely to be started by men than women.
And the UK economy is missing out as a result. According to global consultancy, Boston Consulting Group, start-ups founded and co-founded by women actually performed better over time, generating 10% more in cumulative revenue over a five-year period. “Ultimately, investing in women entrepreneurs isn’t just the right thing to do, it also makes financial sense for businesses and the wider economy,” commented Shimmin.
Alison Rose commented on the progress report findings, saying: “Women still don’t receive all the support they need and the pandemic risks holding back progress, so we must go further to achieve the goals of the Rose Review.
Data shows that more women than ever are starting new businesses and we must harness this potential. That means more financial institutions committing to delivering change and funding. We also need more direct support for businesses across the UK and we must propose fresh, imaginative solutions to the challenges posed by women’s caring responsibilities.
in 2019, revealed that better support for female entrepreneurs is the key to realising up to £250 billion of additional value for the UK economy – but more needs to be done to unlock this potential.
This month the world marks International Women’s Day, an annual celebration of inspiring women that has (surprisingly) been going on for more than a century.
More recently, the day has also marked a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.
While great progress has been made over the most recent decades for women’s rights across much of the Western World (and we use this geographical reference on purpose to acknowledge the recent shocking attacks on women’s rights in Afghanistan), there is still a way to go.
Scroll through LinkedIn and most of the top jobs are still held by men. But things are changing as more family-friendly working practices are being increasingly adopted by both corporate and commercial companies.
And more women are confident enough to go for the top job. Kath Shimmin is the female chair of national law firm Blake Morgan, and is based in their Southampton office.
Kath had founded and run the firm’s banking group for years. She had a lot of influence across the partnership because of the team she ran but when the opportunity arose to put herself forward for the role of chair in 2021, she initially held back.
“Even though I was very engaged with the growing equality, diversity and inclusivity agenda, I hesitated. Then one of my colleagues asked why I wasn’t standing, and I realised that talking about female ambition wasn’t enough, I had to take my own advice.
“Having been elected to the role, I am now keen to make the most of the opportunities it offers for me to champion equality, diversity and inclusivity, both within Blake organ and more widely.”
From a business perspective, encouraging women in business is a no-brainer.
The 2019 Rose Review, commissioned by government, which shed light on the barriers women face when starting and growing businesses, highlighted that if women started and scaled new businesses at the same rate as men, up to £250 billion of new value could be added to the UK economy – money this country could certainly do with.
We can continue to drive change through example. In this feature we highlight successful women from across the region who are blazing a trail – and not always in stilettos.
Women-friendly policies, are good for everyone. We look at how supporting women in business can deliver business benefitsKath Shimmin, Chair of Blake Morgan
Even though I was very engaged with the growing equality, diversity and inclusivity agenda, I hesitated
Dame Sharon White is the chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, which includes Bracknell-based Waitrose.
When she took up the position in 2020 she was the first woman to lead the partnership in its near 100-year history.
The daughter of Jamaican immigrants, Dame Sharon grew up in East London and attended Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, from where she received a BA degree in economics. She later earned an MSc in economics from University College London.
From there she pursued a career in government, winning jobs at the Treasury – where she supervised a review of the Treasury’s management response to the international financial crisis of 2007–08 – and then at the British Embassy in Washington.
Tech entrepreneur Nicola Hartland was made chief revenue officer at Readingbased cyber security firm Falanx Cyber in November, having joined the company as senior vice-president in March last year.
A serial entrepreneur, Nicola has founded, built and sold several businesses, including Basingstokebased iCaaS, an IT Channel-based solution that simplified GDPR data compliance and protection for SME businesses.
Nicola has held a series of executive positions at technology firms across the UK, including chief revenue officer and board director at emerging cybersecurity firm Cybercrowd.
When the pandemic hit, Nicola launched Just Sanitise Ltd, an alliance of businesses taking a Word Health
Organisation-approved sanitiser formula to public and private sector organisations.
Just Sanitised is distributed across more than 300 UK supermarkets and in seven other EU countries.
With ethical values at the core of the business model, Just Sanitised was established to help lead the fight against Covid. And through its charitable work the company donated a percentage of all profits to NHS Charities Together.
In 2019 Nicola was presented with the Role Model Award at the Women In
In 2014 she was appointed chief executive of Ofcom.
As chairman of John Lewis she heads a team of executive directors where five of eight are women, and a board of which five of eight are female.
In 2022 she gave a talk on The Role of Business in Society at the Resolution Foundation. She argued that consumers and the wider public want businesses to be more active on social and environmental issues.
She lamented that businesses trying to do good had been ‘caught up in the culture wars,’ being dubbed as ‘woke capitalism’ and ‘virtue signalling’ by some sections of the media.
But, she argued, “doing good and doing well can and do go hand in hand”.
Business Awards and was a finalist in the Women of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year and Business Person of the Year too. The following year she was asked to mentor for the 2020 Santander Breakthrough Women Business Leaders programme.
“Guiding young aspiring women on their business journey was an incredibly rewarding experience and genuinely inspired me to push ever harder against my own career horizons,” she said.
Nicola is also well known on the public speaking circuit.
Fran Collins is the CEO of Southampton-based Red Funnel, a position she took up in 2018.
She was previously executive director at Condor Ferries.
She is also a non-executive director of Saga Cruises and was appointed to the board in 2021.
Fran has more than 20 years of experience in the shipping and travel industry. She started her career as a cadet in the Merchant Navy before joining Condor, where she climbed the career ladder – or maybe that should be rigging – over 16 years.
She trained to become both a Master Mariner and Chief Engineer, but found that life on the bridge suited her better.
She is passionate about changing the culture of the maritime sector and making the industry more attractive to young people.
Ruth Cook is one of the founding directors of Swindon-based packaging company GWP Group, having worked for the company since its inception as Great Western Packaging in August 1990.
Originally financial director – a role she held until 2008 when she became managing director of the GWP Packaging division – Ruth has an intricate
Debbie Crosbie is chief executive of Nationwide Building Society, which has its headquarters in Swindon.
She joined the UK’s biggest mutual as CEO in June 2022, succeeding Joe Garner.
Debbie was born and raised in Glasgow, the daughter of an engineer father and a care worker mother. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Strathclyde. She started her career in the Prudential graduate training programme, working in the City of London.
Debbie was previously CEO at TSB where she led a successful turnaround by transforming customer experience, making the bank more competitive, improving its reputation and increasing colleague engagement and diversity, delivering the
knowledge and understanding of everything happening at GWP.
This covers virtually every area of the business, from production, planning, design, sales, purchasing and all the way through to customer service and support. This diverse knowledge and expertise has been a key factor in GWP achieving significant growth over the last few years.
Now managing director of GWP Group, Ruth has also been on the board of directors of Corrboard – the corrugated material manufacturer with which GWP has a close, long-standing relationship.
bank’s three-year growth strategy a year early.
Prior to TSB, Debbie had extensive experience of leading turnaround strategies and, while Acting CEO of Clydesdale Bank, led preparations for its successful demerger and subsequent IPO. Debbie has overseen the execution of several far-reaching transformation projects. Debbie is also Non-Executive Director at SSE plc.
She took up her post with a commitment to Nationwide’s 2019 ‘branch promise’ to keep bricks and mortar branches open. The building society’s commitment not to leave any town or city currently served by Nationwide without a branch means that in many market towns it is the last banking presence.
Anne Boden MBE is a British tech entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Starling Bank – Britain’s first digital bank.
Born in Swansea, the daughter of a steelworker and a department store worker, Anne graduated from Swansea University in 1981 with a degree in Chemistry and Computer Sciences before embarking on a career in banking as a graduate trainee with Lloyds Banking Group.
She joined Allied Irish Banks in 2012 as chief operating officer to help turn round the bank’s fortunes after the financial crisis of 2008.
She founded her online banking business in June 2014. Her objective was to create an entirely online bank that gave easier feedback to customers.
Anne has spoken frequently about gender equality in the finance industry, telling one publication: “When I started, people didn’t talk about the lack of women at all. It was how it was and we got on with it. The gender gap didn’t preoccupy me and I wasn’t sensitive to it. But only in recent years did I realise it was harder and I had to struggle more because I was a woman.
“I was never particularly paranoid but always managed to achieve when people
Catherine Bond is owner/director of Reading-based Blue Peak, a company made up of Big Four tax and accounting professionals with experience in practice and industry in technical and commercial roles.
Catherine is a qualified tax professional and advises businesses from sole traders right through to large corporate companies on how to maximise tax efficiency, at the same time as remaining compliant.
Having qualified and spent 12 years at EY, which she left as a director in 2018, Catherine initially worked in
said it was not possible. Only when you look back do you realise it was so difficult. And really the banking sector is a much better place for the women in it today.”
Starling Bank, which runs a large part of its operation in Southampton, is a signatory of the Women in Finance Charter, which aims to achieve a gender-balanced financial services sector. In 2017, when the charter was signed, 27 per cent of senior roles were occupied by women. By 2022 it was 43 per cent. Forty-four per cent of the company’s workforce, 42 per cent of the executive team, 40 per cent of the board, and 43 per cent of senior managers are women.
expatriate taxation, before diversifying. She has experience in some of the more complex areas of personal and employment tax, including share plans and dealing with HMRC investigations and has dealt with a range of clients from individuals and start-ups, through to multi-million pound international businesses.
When not in the world of tax and accounting, she can usually be found on the dance floor where she competes internationally in Ballroom and Latin dancing and has four world amateur titles.
Becky Harris joined MSP in 2015, having qualified from Loughborough University with a degree in banking and financial management. She previously worked for Grant Thornton, where she qualified as a chartered accountant.
Since joining Poole-based MSP, Becky’s focus has been to grow and develop the financial and operational structure of MSP. This has included several structured finance transactions over the past six years including the prominent private equity transaction with Cabot Square Capital in 2018.
Now, as finance director and member of the board, Becky’s focus is to use her years of experience in the finance industry to guide the strategic growth and operational management of MSP.
Alongside this, Becky is responsible for the structured finance of the group and building on MSP’s relationships with institutional investors.
Becky was a finalist in the hunt to find the top performing mid-market finance director of the Central South of England, 2020.
The entertainment industry has always been better at putting women into space than the scientific community – think Star Trek’s Lieutenant Uhura or Ripley from Alien.
Far less well known than her colleague Tim Peake, but arguably no less influential – a regular face and voice on radio and TV where she shares stories of human spaceflight – is Libby Jackson OBE, head of space exploration at the Swindon-based UK Space Agency.
Libby, who lives in Swindon, modestly describes herself as “just a civil servant”. Educated in the UK, where she got A-levels in physics, maths, further maths and music, she did her work experience at Space Center Houston.
She went on to complete a BSc in physics at Imperial College London in 2002 and an MSc in Astronautics and Space Engineering at Cranfield University in 2003 before landing a job as a graduate engineer at the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company.
She became director for the ISS European Space Agency Columbus Module in 2010
before joining the UK Space Agency in 2014, and becoming the spokesperson for Tim Peake’s mission to the International Space Station.
In July 2019 she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree by the University of Kent, and in the 2022 New Year Honours was awarded an Order of the British Empire for Services to the Space Sector.
She also – literally – wrote the book on women in space. A Galaxy of Her Own: Amazing Stories of Women in Space tells the stories of Mary Sherman Morgan, who invented Hydyne – the fuel that powered the Jupiter-C rocket into orbit in 1957, and Margaret Hamilton, who wrote the computer code for the Apollo space programme, and coined the phrase ‘software engineering’.
Meanwhile it was Helen Sharman – not Tim Peake – who was the first astronaut to wear the Union Jack on her spacesuit, back in 1991 in a joint Soviet-British mission to the Mir space station. She was the first Brit and first Western European woman in space,
These women, argues Libby, deserve to be remembered as much as Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong.
Dr Ilana Wisby is the CEO of Readingbased Oxford Quantum Circuits, which operates the UK’s most advanced and only commercially available quantum computer.
She became the company’s first CEO in 2017, the year it was spun out of the University of Oxford by founder Dr Peter Leek, who had developed a quantum bit (qubit) with commercial potential.
Under her leadership the company moved into new offices at Thames Valley Business Park in Reading where it has built a commercial quantum laboratory, staffed by quantum physicists with PhDs, software engineers, electrical engineers, project managers, commercial and business minds.
“If I built a team of entirely academics, I wouldn’t be building a company but an academic research group,” she explained.
Ilana grew up in Hampshire and attended her local comprehensive school. She studied physics at Royal Holloway, University of London, and went on to complete a PhD in quantum physics at the National Physical Laboratory at Teddington.
As she was completing her PhD, she began working with tech start-ups, and decided it wasn’t academia that floated her boat, but the chance to make a difference in the real world.
“I loved the start-ups’ fast pace and amazing can-do attitude. I found my passion for entrepreneurship as I developed programmes, managed teams of international remote workers and talked to customers,” she said.
She is a champion of diversity in science and technology. “It is a challenge being a woman in this world. Making sure I have a really robust support network has been very important for me personally – finding my tribe of women, my cheerleaders who help me understand the daily challenges,” she said.
“We are not yet near where I want to be in terms of diversity within Oxford Quantum Circuits, but it is something we are focused on in our recruitment. Making sure that I am visible, able to represent women to inspire and mentor other women and minorities in this space is really, really important to me.”
Caroline Rowland has become the first-ever chief people officer at Oxford-based biotech company Exscientia.
Caroline now leads the firm’s People and Places functions while developing its talent, training and employee experience strategies.
Caroline joined Exscientia from Arm, where she held multiple roles of increasing responsibility and led the firm’s talent, business partnering, shared services, global integration and diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Her final title upon leaving was vice- president of talent.
Prior to Arm, Caroline spent eight years leading executive performance strategy, global mobility and talent management at Diageo; and five years as a management consultant advising corporate clients with Human Capital, Deloitte, where she was seconded to Hyderabad, India as well as New York.
She currently serves as a board member for the not-for-profit Cambridge Network, which focuses on bridging the technology and education sectors of the city.
Caroline holds a BSc in business studies and human resource management from the University of Salford.
Last year the UK’s leading space laboratory, RAL Space, appointed Dr Sarah Beardsley to advance its ambitious programme of space science and technology development.
Sarah was previously head of continuous improvement at RAL Space and head of its space engineering and technology division for eight years.
She was also an instrument scientist on RAL Space’s first mission to the moon and a project manager on various high-profile missions.
Sarah has been active in defining the UK and European strategies for solar system science, sitting on several national and international advisory panels for the community.
She is passionate about early careers development and is a proactive supporter of both graduate and apprentice development, sitting on the Science and Technologies Facilities Council governance boards for both.
RAL Space conducts and enables scientific research in disciplines such as climate science, solar physics and astronomy. With more than 60 years’ experience in space programmes, it runs some of the UK’s most advanced space and science facilities for UK industry and academia.
It employs more than 335 highly skilled staff at the Harwell Space Cluster and at Chilbolton Observatory.
Construction is one of the most maledominated – some might argue macho –industries in the world. Only 12 per cent of the sector workforce is female.
Enter geologist and environmental engineer Roni Savage, who founded Uxbridge-based Jomas Associates in 2009.
“Having a woman turn up in a white van on site isn’t something that people were used to when I started my career,” she told Harper’s Bazaar last year. “So, you’re dealing with stereotypes and the comments that come with that, but you develop a really thick skin so that you can just get on with it.”
Roni studied engineering geology at Portsmouth University and, while working, completed a distance learning master’s degree, securing a distinction in environmental management.
She has worked on many major construction schemes, including the widening of the A406 and M25. When she started in business, Roni decided not to put her face to her name, fearing her sex and ethnicity would dissuade potential clients.
Since then she has won a string of accolades. In 2017, Jomas Associates was named by Goldman Sachs as a high-growth company.
In 2018 she was named Black British Business Person of the Year. in 2019 she received the highly prestigious presidential invitation to Fellowship of the Institution of Civil Engineers. And last year she was voted the Most Influential Woman in Construction.
She is also an ambassador for the charitable organisation Start Her Enterprise (SHE), which aims to make a difference to women’s lives in some of the poorest parts of the world by supporting female entrepreneurs, equipping them with business skills and providing the start-up capital that will enable them to build an independent income.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Roni has become a champion of women in the industry. “I spend as much time as possible aiming to raise the profile of women in engineering and to encourage more girls to join the profession, so being a mentor to others is an important part of what I do daily,” she said.
Most of us will spend around a third of our lives at work, so if you are lucky enough to enjoy job satisfaction and the recognition of your employer, you’re likely to be happier and healthier in other areas of your life.
The employment landscape took a battering during the pandemic. While the government’s furlough scheme saved thousands of careers, with Covid (hopefully) now largely behind us, it’s easy to forget how worried we all were about our jobs.
The upshot of all this appears to be a new phenomenon: the great resignation. When the world began to open up, many workers decided that they no longer had to accept a return to the status quo. Some quit their jobs, others refuse to return to work fulltime.
Last year, research from the Chartered Institute for Professional Development revealed that more than 6.5 million people in the UK expected to quit their job in the next 12 months. Those reporting the poorest job quality were the most likely to have itchy feet.
Are companies responding? Research by LinkedIn revealed that improving employee retention and supporting career development are among global leaders’ top five business priorities over the next six months. If that’s the case, surely bosses will have to accept compromise on how and where staff are prepared to work?
LinkedIn research revealed that helping employees transform their careers as their interests shift – instead of keeping people in rigid pathways – will make it easier to keep talent.
Other research shows the positive impact of helping people explore new roles.
Employees who have moved around internally have a 64 per cent chance of staying with the organisation after three years; the percentage lowers to 45 per cent for those who haven’t moved.
For this feature we went hunting for businesses which are really investing in their staff.
Businesses including in the listing will have their head office, or a large proportion of staff, based in the region this magazine covers. They may have won a nationally recognised employers award or run an established and respected training scheme (including apprenticeship training). A business may also be included if it has been nominated and the nomination has been checked and verified by our editorial team, or has a dedicated and publicly-accessible area of its website which properly shows the company’s approach to employee support and career development, which may include case studies from employees.
companies are competing for staff, we ask how they can better attract and keep staff, and celebrate some of the region’s best companies to work for
Good pay and generous perks used to be the two key things that a company could offer to get the best talent.
That’s still true to a certain extent, but there’s much more to it than that to keep the skilled people you’ve recruited (often at some expense), and then ensure they stay as your business grows and adapts to the changing business landscape.
For that, a company needs to be well managed, offer good professional development, engage employees in more than just the nine to five, and provide opportunities to retrain if they want to, because the world of work is changing faster than most of us realise.
Carmen Watson is chair of one of the UK’s best-known recruitment agencies, Pertemps Network Group. Having worked in the recruitment industry for almost all her career, she has experience and perspective on the issue.
“By around 2030 almost half of the workforce is going to have to be reskilled in some way. Many industry sectors are increasingly adopting digital technology and there has been a huge rise in demand for people with skills in programming, data analytics and machine learning. There is also a big increase in companies asking for people with skills in the ‘green’ sector, but many can’t yet properly define what they really mean by that.”
Retraining and upskilling existing employees should be a priority for employers to aid attraction and retention, and employers must demonstrate their understanding and appreciation of employees.
Carmen asks: “What is your company doing to nurture, engage, develop, promote? There is a lot of untapped talent out there. Companies can show their commitment on their website, including case studies of people who have progressed through the business, their approach to equality, diversity and inclusion and what training opportunities they offer.”
She warns that the UK’s productivity (which is already an issue), will fall further if we can’t get the skills problem sorted.
There are, though, some initiatives led by the Institute for Employment Studies currently in play which are addressing what support and coaching can be offered to people in career transition.
“These initiatives will help fill a gap which has been there for a long time,” said Carmen. “The government also needs to
keep banging the drum about the way the world of work is changing, encouraging people to skill up. Smaller businesses in particular often don’t have the time or resource to skill up their staff, or identify what skills they will need in the future and need the help of government.”
For Carmen, it’s about pulling these strands together. “Currently, if a company makes more than 20 people redundant, it must register that with the government. Let’s flip that around and consider a central government database where businesses can update if they are looking to recruit more than 15 to 20 employees. That will give us a better perspective on what skills are in short supply, where there are clusters of opportunity.”
Once the government has that data, Carmen argues, we, collectively, can better plan training needs to ensure that the graduates who emerge from education three to four years from now have the right skillsets for the modern world.
If you want to keep valuable staff, offer them retraining or upskilling, says the boss of recruitment agency PertempsCarmen Watson, Chair of Pertemps
Julia’s House, the Wimborne, Dorsetbased children’s hospice charity, has been recognised as a world-class employer, receiving a sought-after national industry standard at an awards ceremony held by Best Companies.
The charity was commended for its commitment to employees by being named the Number 2 Charity to Work For in the UK – the highest ranking in the South of England and highest ranked healthcare charity overall. In addition, Julia’s House appeared in the list of the UK’s Top 50 Companies To Work For
(ranked 42) and the South West’s Top 25 (ranked 16).
Julia’s House received the achievement as result of implementing a wide-ranging programme of employee initiatives including a staff counselling helpline, wellbeing advice and support, training for managers in advanced people skills, staff surveys, an employee forum to enable staff to voice thoughts and ideas, virtual coffee mornings with the CEO and fun, informative employee bulletins.
Julia’s House chief executive Martin
Marlow-based innovation management software company edison365 has been ranked as the second best small tech company to work for in the UK.
Great Place to Work UK’s 2022 Best Workplaces in Tech placed the company near the top of the 140-strong list.
edison365 cites a four-day working week as one of the reasons for its strong position. Four-day working weeks are gaining increasing traction, as employees commit to maintaining productivity at 100 per cent, while
working just 80 per cent of their weekly hours for 100 per cent pay. edison365’s CEO, Ivan Lloyd, said: “Our team has been putting a lot of hard work into making edison365 a place where people can achieve a true work-life balance. We champion innovative new ways of working and are moving away from the status quo.
“Seeing edison365 come second confirms what we already know –that we have created a place where people can reach their full potential and enjoy what they do for a living. It’s exciting to get official recognition as one of the top companies in tech.”
Edwards, who attended the awards with colleagues said: “We hugely value everyone who works at Julia’s House and are committed to making the organisation a great place to work, where people know their wellbeing is important, they are supported and listened to and have the chance to grow and develop.”
“Our nurses, carers and other amazing colleagues go the extra mile every day for the children in our care. We all look after each other and it is a huge privilege working with this extraordinary group of people.”
Tech firm NVIDIA has been named the best place to work in the UK by Great Place to Work.
The Reading-based firm took the title in the large (251-1,000 employees) category.
Great Place to Work also awarded the firm ninth place for Wellbeing and seventh place for Best Workplace in tech.
Globally, it has also been named America’s best place to work by Glassdoor, and one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For by Fortune magazine.
NVIDIA works in areas as diverse as healthcare and robots, self-driving cars and blockbuster movies. It boasts a workplace “like no place you’ve ever worked.”
An employee stock purchase plan, programmes for parents, and match-funding for voluntary efforts are among the benefits that employees enjoy.
Christchurch law firm Frettens has been recognised as an outstanding workplace after an anonymous survey by Best Companies, the organisation behind The Sunday Times awards.
Ninety-three per cent of team members at Frettens Solicitors completed the survey which asked questions about leadership, management, culture, colleagues, remuneration and charity work.
Managing partner Matthew Fretten said: “To be recognised as a leading employer is excellent, however it is not the reason for doing it.
“We want to be the best law firm to work at in the area, and the best way to find out how we can get there is by asking the team.
“We have carried out the survey with Best Companies since 2018.
“Every year we look closely at the results to identify ways we can make working at Frettens even better for our colleagues.
“The reason for almost all of the big changes we have made in recent years can be traced back to these annual results and it is really encouraging to see the levels of engagement continue to improve.”
Renewable energy supplier Good Energy has been praised for being a world-class employer after achieving the highest possible accreditation in the Best Companies to Work For scheme – as well as being named among the Top 100 large companies in the UK.
The Chippenham-based renewable energy business received the maximum three-star rating in the annual Best Companies Index which celebrates employee engagement –with nine in 10 staff saying they loved working there.
Good Energy was also ranked second in the national list of utilities employers, 52nd in the national list of large employers, and 22nd in the South West regional list of all employers.
Good Energy was praised for its efforts after being independently assessed, based on feedback from a survey of staff.
An impressive 91 per cent said their manager cared about how satisfied they are in their job and 90 per cent said they ‘loved’ working for the organisation.
In addition, 85 per cent said their team was fun to work with, and 79 per cent said their job was good for their personal growth.
Fran Woodward, Good Energy’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “This accreditation is a huge achievement, especially given the challenges we have faced in the last few years from the pandemic to the energy crisis.
“We’ve succeeded in building a great culture, one where our purpose and values are reflected in how everyone acts and how we operate as a business.
“Peer-to-peer support and real teamwork are at our core, and it’s been great to see that shine through in the feedback from colleagues.”
Lead Forensics has been named one of the best places to work in tech for the second consecutive year by Great Place to Work.
Portsmouth-based Lead Forensics is an industry-leading B2B SaaS company that enables organisations to grow revenue
and generate new leads using website visitor identification technology and the world’s largest B2B database.
The company also has an office in Bournemouth.
The firm scores well on jobs site Indeed
for work-life balance, pay and benefits, job security and advancement, and workplace culture.
The firm also has a strong focus on community and giving back, encouraging team members to get involved in charity and volunteering activities.
Law firm recognised as one of UK’s best places to work
Company name Area Sector Description
Oxfordshire, Thames Valley and Bucks
Abbott Healthcare Maidenhead Healthcare
Accenture Reading IT services
Adobe Maidenhead Software development
Algolia Reading Software development
Brainomix Oxfordshire Life Sciences
BestOutcome Gerrards Cross Software development
Boehringer Ingelheim Bracknell Pharmaceutical manufacturing
Cadence Design Systems Bracknell Training Provider
Cisco Systems Feltham Software Development
Coeo Reading Data Management
Computer Task Group Reading IT services
Dell Technologies Bracknell IT services
Accident insurance, private health cover, group income protection, life assurance, member of the Top Employers Institute
Flexible working, training and development, LinkedIn Top Companies 2022
Ongoing training, paid sabbatical every five years, charity donations matching, training and development opportunities, a Glassdoor Best Places to Work employer
Medical benefits, wellness days, life insurance, named in Great Places to Work in Tech 2022
Michailes Papadakis, co-founder said: “We have a clear pupose that everyone can subscribe to. It’s about giving ownership and having trust in your team.”
Hybrid working, private medical cover, wellbeing support, named in Great Places to Work in Tech 2022
Continuous professional development, anniversary bonuses, wellness schemes, flexible working, life, legal and business travel cover, corporate benefits, member of the Top Employers Institute
Named in Great Places to Work in Tech 2022
Stock purchase programme, employee discount programme, personal development scheme including job swap, a Glassdoor Best Places to Work employer
Recognised by Best Places to Work for Wellbeing, as a medium employer, and in tech
Health plans, volunteering opportunities, named in Great Places to Work in Tech 2022
Recognition in Top 100 Remote Work companies, World's Most Ethical Companies, Best Places for Work for LGBTQ+ and Equality, a Forbes World's Best Employer
DHL Slough Transport and logistics Medical and dental cover, pension scheme, retail discounts, flexible working, sport card funding, member of the Top Employers Institute
edison365 Marlow Software
Goldman Sachs Kingston upon Thames Financial services
Good Energy Swindon Utilities
Ranked as the second-based small tech company to work for in the UK by Great Place to Work
Health benefits, pension scheme, fitness schemes, flexible working, LinkedIn Top Companies 2022
Maximum three star rating in Best Companies Index
Company name Area Sector Description
Oxfordshire, Thames Valley and Bucks
Huawei UK Reading Telecommunications
IQVIA Reading Hospital & healthcare
Health, dental and vision insurance, pension scheme, health and wellbeing programme, member of the Top Employers Institute
Health and well-being, flexible working, learning and development, community engagement, LinkedIn Top Companies 2022
Iris Software Slough Software Charity/volunteering days, private healthcare, cycle to work scheme, named in Great Places to Work in Tech 2022
Johnson & Johnson High Wycombe Healthcare Exercise reimbursement programme and on-site fitness centres, employee assistance programme and work-life services, wellness and health promotion programmes, a Glassdoor Best Places to Work employer
Logicalis Maidenhead IT services
Mars Slough Confectionary manufacturing
Career development, inclusive employer, flexible working, named in Great Places to Work in Tech 2022
Pension, private healthcare, great company culture, free chocolate, a Glassdoor Best Places to Work employer
Microsoft Reading Software development Health insurance, life insurance, dental insurance, profit sharing, pension plan, a Glassdoor Best Places to Work employer
NVIDIA Reading Computer hardware manufacturint Employeew stock purchase plan, charity/volunteering days, programmes for parents, named in Great Places to Work in Tech on 2022. No 1 Best Places to work (large)
O2 Slough Telecommunications Health fund and dental insurance, buy or sell holidays, retail discounts, learning fund, friends and family staff discounts, pre-sale offers on O2 Academy events, a Glassdoor Best Places to Work employer
Pepsico Theale Food and beverages Health and wellbeing programmes, flexible working, pension scheme and life assurance, member of the Top Employers Institute
Perfetti Van Melle UK Windsor
Food and beverages
Premier Group Recruitment Reading Recruitment
Reckitt Slough Health manufacturing
Softcat Marlow IT services
Tanium Reading IT services
Trust ID Reading IT services
Wipro Reading IT services
Zurich Insurance Swindon Insurance
Supportive and empowering culture, employees work on global, influential fun brands, innovation encouraged, global presence, member of the Top Employers Institute
Rated No #1 best medium company to work for by Best Companies
Paid Give Back days, generous holiday allowance, staff shop very cheap for branded products, enhanced parental leave, member of the Top Employers Institute
#1 Apprentice Programme by Rate My Apprenticeship, Top 5 Places to Work Glassdoor, rated #2 for Work Life Balance by Glassdoor
Equal opportunity and affirmative action employer, charity/volunteering days, named in Great Places to Work in Tech 2022
Nominated by employees for its great company culture
Restart programme for women on a career break for more than six months, World's Most Ethical Companies listed, LinkedIn Top Companies 2022
Recognised as the #1 best place to work in the insurance industry by Glassdoor
Surrey, Sussex and Kent
Brighton
development
healthcare scheme, life insurance, confidential counselling scheme, a Great Places to Work in Tech 2022 employer
Amadeus IT Services Hounslow Software development Annual bonus, equity plans, wellbeing programmes, flexible working, learning environment, member of the Top Employers Institute
Ambassador Theatre Group Woking
American Express Redhill
Arts
Places to Work 2022 (Superlarge) certified by Great Place to Work
services Health benefits, flexible working, Fortune 100 Best Workplaces for Millennials, LinkedIn Top Companies 2022
Choice Support Maidstone Healthcare services
Consilient Health Richmond
Workplaces 2022 (Superlarge) certified by Great Place to Work
Places to Work 2022 (Medium) certified by Great Place to Work
Elucidat Brighton
Software
Places to Work 2022 (Medium) certified by Great Place to Work Fittleworth Medical Littlehampton
by the Top Employers Institute, Great Places to Work Institute, Bloomberg Global Gender Equality Index 2022 Hitachi Capital Staines
to learn, volunteering days, inclusive environment, a Glassdoor Best Places to Work employer Hyve Managed
working, social activities, a Great Places to Work in Tech 2022 employer Infigo Software
Great Places to Work in Tech 2022 employer
scheme, private medical insurance, remote working options, a Great Places to Work in Tech 2022 employer
Weybridge
Member of the Top Employers Institute, Gold workplace wellbeing award from Mind, Investors in People platinum, Armed Forces Covenant signatory
to the Better Workplace Mental Health Pledge, the Mindful Business Charter and certified a Great Place To Work for two years in a row. Oliver Bonas Chessington Retail Benefits scheme, inclusion policy, a Glassdoor Best Places to Work employer
Company name Area Sector Description
Surrey, Sussex and Kent Peak15 Horley Disability services & support organisation
Pfizer UK Tadworth Pharmaceuticals
Procter & Gamble Weybridge Manufacturing
Propellernet Brighton Advertising & marketing
Retail Insight Richmond IT services
SAP Feltham Software development
UK Employer of the Year (250+ employees). Accredited at the Investors in People Awards 2022
Recognised as a Top 5 UK Top Employer for past eight years by the Top Employers Institute
Health benefits, family-friendly policies, flexible working times, remote working options, a Glassdoor Best Places to Work employer
Best Places to Work 2022 (Small) certified by Great Place to Work
Personal and professional development opportunities, companywide success bonus, day off on birthday, a Great Places to Work in Tech 2022 employer
Corporate Social Responsibility scheme, Autism at Work programme, Pride LGBTQ+ network, career development and benefits
SC Johnson Camberley Household goods manufacturing Best Workplaces 2022 (Large) certified by Great Place to Work
ServiceNow Staines Software development
Paid volunteer time, flexible working, generous family leave, a Glassdoor Best Places to Work employer
Something Big Guildford Creative Communications Best Places to Work 2022 (Small) certified by Great Place to Work
TeamSport Indoor Karting Farnham Hospitality Best Places to Work 2022 (Large) certified by Great Place to Work
Thorpe Lea Dental Staines Dental clinic
The Award for UK Employer of the Year (2-49-employees): Silver at the Investors in People Awards 2022
Treasury Wine Estates Twickenham Manufacturing & production Best Places to Work 2022 (Medium) certified by Great Place to Work, UK's Best Workplaces for Wellbeing, UK's Best Workplaces 2022, UK's Best Workplaces for Women 2022
Unipro Chichester IT services
Named 2022 UK’s Best Workplace in Tech, employee perks, pension scheme, private healthcare
Vivup Farnham HR UK Employer of the Year (50-249 employees) : Accredited at the Investors in People Awards 2022
Vmware Staines Software development
Recognised by Best Places to work for LGBTQ+ and Equality, for disability inclusion, and by Forbes for Diversity
Wild Nutrition Lewes Speciality retail Best Places to Work 2022 (Small) certified by Great Place to Work
Company name Area Sector Description
Solent and South Coast
Abri Eastleigh Housing association
Ageas Eastleigh Insurance
Named in best large companies to work for by Best Companies
Generous holiday entitlement plus chance to buy and sell holidays, pension, cycle to work scheme, health cash plan, critical illness cover, dental insurance and health assessments, member of the Top Employers Institute
Alphabet (GB) Farnborough Automotive Private dental insurance, travel insurance, personal accident/critical illness cover, member of the Top Employers Institute
b4b marketing Poole Advertising services Training opportunities, team socials, great company culture, birthdays off, hybrid working
Bacardi UK Winchester Drinks manufacturing Best Places to Work 2022 (Large). Certified by Great Places to Work
Carrington West Portsmouth Recruiter Employer of the Year (50-249 employees): Platinum at the Investors in People Awards 2022
Checkatrade Portsmouth IT Best Places to Work 2022 (Large) certified by Great Place to Work
Coty Bournemouth Beauty products Best Newcomer at the Investors in People Awards 2020
FatFace Havant
Fashion retail Staff discounts, sabbatical leave, employee assistance partners, dental and eyecare scheme, early finish Fridays at HQ
Frettens Solicitors Christchurch Law firm
Globalstep Farnborough Game and app development
Hobbycraft Christchurch Retail
IBM Portsmouth IT Services
JP Morgan Bournemouth Financial services
Named a best small company to work for by Best Companies
Named in Great Places to Work in Tech 2022
Named the No #5 best big company to work for by Best Companies
Named one of Best 100 Student Employers by RateMyPlacement and Winner of the National Graduate Recruitment Awards 2021
Health care and insurance plans, pension, wellness programmes, family care, LnkedIn Top Companies 2022
Jargon PR Basingstoke Public relations agency Winner: Best Employee Development Programme at the Company Culture Awards 2022
Julia's House Children's Hospice Wimborne Charity
Named in best large companies to work for by Best Companies
Company name Area Sector Description
Solent and South Coast
Lead Forensics Portsmouth IT Services
Named a best employer in the technology sector by Great Place To Work
Lush Poole Cosmetics manufacture and retail Top 10 employee-rated business according to Indeed, employee-owned
Maples Day Nursery Winchester Childcare
McCarthy Stone Bournemouth Construction
MSP Capital Poole Financial services
Paris Smith LLP Southampton Law firm
QinetiQ Farnborough Defence technology
Red Hat UK
Farnborough Software development
Rockfish Poole Restaurant
SII Services Farnborough IT Services
Teachers Building Society Wimborne Minster Building Society
Trethowans Southampton Law practice
Twenty7tec Bournemouth Mortgage fintech
Recognised by Best Companies to Work For, employee-owned
Certified as a Great Place to Work in 2022 and a Best Workplace for Wellbeing in 2023
Health and wellbeing focus with onsite gym, team building, community support, 40 hours training and development time as standard per year
Mental health support, employee assistance programme, skills training through Paris Smith Academy
Rewarding for Performance programme, All Employee Incentive Scheme, great reputation for training and learning and career development
Career and growth development, remote working options, health and wellbeing initiatives, named in Great Places to Work in Tech 2022
Named a best large company to work for by Best Companies
Named in Great Places to Work in Tech 2022
Named a best small company to work for by Best Companies
Pension scheme, healthcare cash plan, income protection scheme, membership fees for professionals, online retail discount platform.
Named a best medium company to work for by Best Companies
Twinings Andover Beverage manufacture and retail "We’re not big on rules and regulations – our culture is about empowering you to have an impact and be the best you can be."
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Cash is back as a source of meaningful returns (BoE rate at 4% now), after 14 years since the Global Financial Crash and subsequent ‘cheap’ money. With inflation still around 10% (but trending downwards), cash won’t preserve purchasing power, but for many fearful investors, ‘risk-free’ cash is appealing. We must remember that some investors have come into the market because of the low returns on cash for the last decade. So, we might expect to see this trend reverse.
Credit and leverage will consequently come under review. Meanwhile many clients have used cheap debt to build up leveraged property portfolios and to buy bigger houses. With 2022 having seen sudden reversion to historically more ‘normal’ rates, the cost of credit will bring challenges. Property as an investment will always be favoured by many, but now demands much more careful scrutiny. Furthermore, with the reduction in set-off allowances and other administrative burdens, property investment
may look unattractive. We offer a case study here to bring this alive in the real world.
• Depending on what occurs, we might see planning needed around any changes to lifetime allowance.
• Contribution advice will continue to be a hot topic for high earners as they try to get to grips with what they can and can’t contribute.
• Those clients getting the wake-up letter 5 years from retirement will have an annuity as a consideration. While these have been poor value for the last few years, they may look more attractive.
• Any changes to income tax, dividends or CGT are likely to bring these more into focus for clients. Should tax rates become overly onerous, structures
jeremy.hill@kleinworthambros.com
come more into focus to try to reduce this when taxation increases.
• Non-domicile regime would appear to be under review and so those currently utilising will need to consider.
Inflation will continue to concern investors as they look to try to keep up with the increasing costs that they face. This is both those in accumulation phase, (does this mean I need to save more?) and those in decumulation (the buying power loss that they may face). Clearly if inflation does come down sharply this may well reduce. However, the more persistent inflation is the more challenging for the investor.
Hopefully 2023 will be a better year for investment than 2022 has been to date. It is likely we will continue to see volatility. Focusing on objectives and filtering out the noise will continue to be one of the foundations of our service.
Whether you are reading this as a business-owner, professional advisor, or an investor, we all must try to make sense of the world in 2023, with so many clear challenges and threats, yet still with opportunities. What might 2023 have in store for us and our financial plans?
At Kleinwort Hambros, a banker was introduced to an entrepreneur who had set up a Tech Company that, with the help of early level investment from the Private Equity sector, had started to make steady progress in both terms of turnover and market awareness.
As the company was very much in the initial stage of growth, the individual was taking a modest income from the business. However, this wasn’t the clients first start up and with a previous success behind them thought that they could afford an upsize in property (£3m to £7m) and had already found the dream family home.
The property was in high demand so the client needed to move quickly, and it became apparent that they would need to transact before they sold their existing property and therefore an open bridge was required.
As with most Entrepreneurs and Business owners, income from their ventures is not always uniform or contractual, so obtaining mortgage finance can be difficult through the regular high street channels as this does not meet prescribed income multiple underwriting criteria.
They had no relationship with Kleinwort Hambros, but the introducer felt that we would be best placed to provide for their personal circumstances and requirements.
Time was scarce, so we needed to direct resource with speed and precision. The banker and a member of our Credit Advisory team therefore met with the client’s CFO, Accountant and Solicitor within 24 hours in order to achieve an appropriate level of understanding of their credible income and repayment options.
By working as a team with the client advisers, and by analysing both personal and business assets and income we were able ascertain suitable and appropriate levels of income and repayment strategies to cover both a short-term open bridge and longer-term mortgage finance.
The open bridge was provided over an 18-month term which provided enough time for the clients existing property to be sold. The interest rate was variable, and the reference rate was over KH Base Rate. No early repayment fees applied.
The longer-term mortgage was provided over 7 years, which accommodated for the sale of the client’s company. The amount was split into variable and fixed parts, which provided the client with an appropriate level of protection from rising rates whilst having
the flexibility to repay the variable rate portion without any early repayment charge. The speedy execution of the transaction was such that the client was able to move in within 6 weeks of receiving our offer letter.
Interest rates on the loan may exceed any gain on the investment. They may also change during the term of the loan. There may be an extra risk if you borrow in a different currency to the currency of the assets in your portfolio. We recommend you consult your tax adviser before using the service. Property is a high-risk, long-term investment, so it may not be suitable for everyone.
Your home may be repossessed if you don’t keep up repayments on your home mortgage.
Home-grown businesses are embedded in the fabric of their communities. However, when an owner decides to sell, operations can be skimmed down before being transplanted elsewhere, with the built-up jobs and wealth vanishing with them.
Employee Ownership (EO), either through a trust or shareholding, offers the seller an attractive and potentially tax-efficient exit, while also rooting the firm where it is based and safeguarding its culture and employees.
The Graeme Nuttall review of employee ownership published in 2012 set out measures to encourage EO and outlined three models – Employee Owned Trust
(EOT), direct shareholding and a hybrid approach.
EOTs see ownership of a business pass to employees via shares in a trust held for their benefit, while direct shareholding sees a small or larger group of employees taking on shares in the company.
The hybrid approach of ownership which combines majority shareholding in a trust with direct ownership by some employees is also gaining traction.
The Employee Ownership Association put the number of EO businesses across the UK at 1,300 at the end of 2022 which was up from 285 the previous year.
EO is proving particularly popular in the consultancy services industry with Guildford-based architects Scott Brownrigg and Bournemouth planning specialists
An Introduction to Employee Ownership Trusts
Where: Easthampstead Park Hotel, Wokingham
When: 22 May from 8.30am to 3.30pm Visit: thebusinessmagazine.co.uk/events
Terence O’Rourke both switching to an EOT in 2022.
Fieldfisher is one of the UK’s leading advisers when it comes to EO and has EOT report author Graeme Nuttall as a Partner.
Neil Palmer, also a Partner at Fieldfisher, said: “EO provides a good way of exiting or putting together a succession strategy that enables you to structure an exit in a measured and thoughtful way as opposed to the big shouting match that a trade sale can become.
“It suits founders who want to protect their staff and the value that has been built up, as it is a way of locking in all the good things you have developed alongside preserving the ethos of the company.
“The business also remains rooted in the community. If you get acquired by a foreign entity then the business might move abroad whereas with EO the continuity is preserved.”
Neil said that EOTs work well with companies that have strong financial performance and that it is not the ideal solution for every business or founder.
He said: “EO is not for everybody and there are different ways of exiting a business or structuring a business.
“The valuation of the business will also come from an independent valuation (to determine the market value) meaning you don’t get that competitive tension where you have people bidding for a business. A conventional trade sale could lead to a higher price.
“EO suits good businesses with good finances. Founders have to be patient as they will be paid over a number of years and need to satisfy themselves that the company will generate enough money to pay them out.”
One of the main incentives for founders in moving their business to an EOT model means that they forego Capital Gains Tax allowing a tax efficient exit of their company.
James de le Vingne, CEO of the Employee Ownership Association, said that companies that transitioned to an EOT where the founders’ motivation was solely based around a tax incentive could run into future difficulty.
He said: “EOT is a highly tax-efficient way to dispose of a business. However if this is the only reason, then the new employee owners are unlikely to be aware of the potential opportunities that will enable them to unlock good employee ownership.”
EOTs are designed to be a settled state for a business, according to Neil Palmer, who said that reversing the trust arrangement presented some challenges.
He said: “It is not irreversible but it is considered by most in the sector as an end state and it is more challenging to change the structure in future.
“When you sell a business that is in an EOT, you are selling it out of trust, which is a disqualifying event for the tax relief, meaning the trust or founders would have to pay the Capital Gains Tax.
“It’s not a mechanism which lends itself to future change, be it a merger, offer or IPO. It can be done but there is a tax price to pay.”
James said that good employee ownership is built around the three pillars of governance, communications and
engagement alongside strong leadership. He said: “When all those three things are firing and working well then you activate great EO.
“You want everyone in the business to be able to respond to relevant financial information and you do this by communicating this information in an engaging way so that it is a two-way exchange.
“In an EO model, leadership happens within every level of the business and middle managers in particular need to be equipped with the right information to deal with this, and set parameters.”
EOT models have the share-holding trust at their heart, with companies that have successfully transitioned supplementing it with a management board and various councils and voice groups that feed into the management structure.
Neil Palmer said: “The real work starts when you have completed the deal, and set it up as people have to be invested in the structure to make it work.
“There has to be the energy, enthusiasm and entrepreneurialism that was once provided by the founder, and effort put into ensuring that EO is and continues to remain relevant.”
EO models can also provide a competitive edge in the marketplace particularly when it comes to attracting and retaining staff while better deals can be struck with suppliers who know they are dealing with a robust entity that it is unlikely to deviate on terms.
James said: “EO offers employees a meaningful say in how the business is run so is therefore a key retention tool.
“It also speaks to the cultural change that is happening within the workplace where there is an expectation, especially in the younger workforce, to have a say in where they work.
“The Graeme Nuttall review found that EO leads to better staff engagement, better productivity and more sustainable businesses.”
An Introduction to Employee Ownership Trusts
Where: Easthampstead Park Hotel, Wokingham
When: 22 May from 8.30am to 3.30pm
Visit: thebusinessmagazine.co.uk/events
Scott Brownrigg is ranked in the World Architecture top 100 Architects in the world and has studios in Guildford, London, New York, Singapore, Amsterdam, Cardiff and Edinburgh.
The firm completed the process of transitioning from an Employee Benefit Trust (EBT) to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) at the end of 2021.
Scott Brownrigg was founded in 1910 and has evolved from a partnership, to a limited company, to an EBT, in which assets of the company were held on employees’ behalf since 1993, to its current form as an EOT.
CEO Darren Comber said the move will allow all employees to contribute to the company’s growth and will also mean they have a say in succession planning.
g“Providing a framework for effective career development and succession is one of the most challenging and important areas that any architectural practice faces in planning for the future, he added.
“Ensuring there are opportunities for progression is fundamental to both individual satisfaction and the development of the practice.
International B2B tech PR and marketing agency Napier has a strong client list which includes Nokia and Airbus.
Employees of the Chichester firm took a controlling 70 per cent stake in the company from the end of June last year with the management team retaining the remaining 30 per cent of the company’s shares.
Founder of the firm, Mike Maynard, will remain in a leadership role.
He said: “Employee ownership preserves Napier’s culture and values. Employee
“The decision to transition to an EOT was fundamentally aligned with the desire to meet key components to be able to fulfil the drivers and ambitions of the business vision and strategy, support the next generation of ownership of the business, provide the right platform for the business to succeed in the future and maintain and secure the legacy of Scott Brownrigg for future generations.”
ownership means there is a great reason for our talented team to stay at Napier.
“The UK Government is very supportive of employee ownership. So, the bonuses paid by the Employee Ownership Trust are tax-free (up to a certain level). This makes it even more rewarding for the team.
“Having the ownership through an EOT gives the team more opportunity to influence company strategy and direction. It also ensures that the company will remain independent.”
An Introduction to Employee Ownership Trusts
Where: Easthampstead Park Hotel, Wokingham
When: 22 May from 8.30am to 3.30pm
Visit: thebusinessmagazine.co.uk/events
We look at four South East companies that have successfully made the transitionArchitects Scott Brownrigg moved to an EOT last year Napier’s Mike Maynard
Thames Valley-based BCMS specialise in advising privately-owned businesses on company sale transactions.
Last July the company announced that it is now majority owned by its employees under an EOT model.
This has seen the majority stake acquired from the founders of the business on behalf of its employees.
The change in ownership came in a successful year for BCMS, which, among a number of notable transactions, advised on the sale of Geotek to Judges Scientific.
BCMS has also posted its highest end-ofyear profits since 2016.
CEO, Jonathon Dunn, said: “This is fantastic news for BCMS and our clients and allows us – as employees – to really drive and deliver our future success. We’re now all in this together, officially, as co-owners.
“The new structure engages colleagues across all roles here at BCMS, encourages an even greater sense of belonging and unity and allows every employee to benefit financially from our ongoing success. We’re also expecting to attract new talent to join us as they seek to further their careers
Terence O’Rourke is a planning, design and environmental consultancy and moved to an EOT model of ownership in February last year.
The firm, which has offices in Bournemouth, London and Birmingham, works with landowners, developers, investors, promoters and companies on a variety of development projects.
Terence O’Rourke is a long-term advisory partner of McLaren and secured outline planning consent in 2016 for the McLaren Applied Technology Centre in Woking.
Founded in 1985, Terence O’Rourke has remained in private ownership for more than 36 years. However, its board wanted
and enjoy the numerous benefits of this approach.”
The Rebbettes family, founding shareholders of BCMS who established the company in 1989, will retain a large minority stake.
Dave, Steve and Brian Rebbettes said: “We’ve enjoyed seeing BCMS evolve under the current management team, and now is the perfect time for the whole staff base to literally take ownership of our future success and direction. It is exciting to see the business we started move on to the next chapter.”
to plan a succession strategy so began exploring EOT.
Managing Director Jacqueline Mulliner said: “The EOT represents a fantastic legacy. All the current directors have been with the business for much of their careers and have appreciated the independence and support the company has been able to offer.
“Being able to secure career opportunities for current and future staff is a significant moment in the firm’s history and progression. Before finalising the EOT we spoke to our staff and gained unanimous support for the approach.
“Transition to an EOT is something of which we are all very proud.”
An Introduction to Employee Ownership Trusts
Where: Easthampstead Park Hotel, Wokingham
When: 22 May from 8.30am to 3.30pm
Visit: thebusinessmagazine.co.uk/events
Technology may have moved on exponentially over the last 40 years, but there’s one place on the South Coast that’s kept pace. In 2023, as the University of Southampton Science Park celebrates its 40th anniversary, it has never been more influential in placing the region on the UK’s innovation map.
In the early 1980’s shuttles were finding their way to space for the first time, while down on planet earth, MTV, CD players, personal computers and camcorders began to find their way into our homes. It was then that, in a little leafy corner of Hampshire, the idea of a home for science and technology companies in the south became a reality.
Southampton Science Park, celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, has been a flagship for South Coast innovation ever since. So much so, that it was recently recognised as Commercial Landlord of the Year at the South Coast Property Awards.
Today, the Park offers a wide range of quality commercial offices, laboratories, meeting and conferencing facilities in 19 properties set in 75 acres. The employees of its 100 resident businesses benefit from coffee shops, early-years childcare, a gym, plenty of healthy open space and an historic conservation area to enjoy.
Its location in Chilworth couldn’t be more convenient for employee wellbeing, just minutes away from the vibrant coastal scene and the New Forest and South Downs National Parks, while the port,
airport, motorways and rail networks, that provide superb commercial connectivity to London, the rest of the UK and Europe, are a mere stone’s throw.
There’s no doubt that Southampton Science Park is a prestigious environment from which to do business but what is it that’s made it so exceptional for so long?
Chief Executive, Dr Robin Chave, explains: “We have never been about just giving businesses a physical base from which to operate. A big part of what we do here is to foster the growth of innovative technology businesses and the wider regional economy. We welcome entrepreneurial people with great ideas and businesses at all stages and work with them in a number of ways to give them every opportunity to compete on the world stage.
“We do this through retaining close links to the research-intensive University of Southampton – a global top 100 university and founder member of the celebrated Russell Group – and its graduate talent pool. This close connection provides a logical location for the commercialisation of research and spinouts from the University. We also run multiple business support schemes and encourage knowledge share via a business and social events programme.
“Last but not least, our onsite leadership team has extensive commercial experience in both public and private sectors across the SME and corporate landscape which
means that we speak the language of science and technology, of research and innovation, and of commercial success. We understand the needs of innovative companies and work hard to ensure that these needs are met, remaining flexible in our support when needed.”
Business support is a core component of the Park, and therefore its resident businesses’ success. Focused on connecting business founders with mentors, advisors and investors, schemes range from one-to-one growth clinics and informal CEO breakfasts to structured coaching programmes like its business accelerator, Catalyst. Launched over ten years ago, Catalyst has so far worked with 83 companies, helping them to secure over £48m early-stage funding and creating over 230 jobs. The Science Park is also home to the globally renowned business incubator, SETsquared, which offers bespoke support for growing member businesses alongside physical space in an Incubation Centre.
It’s an approach that works exceptionally well. The Science Park delivers an estimated £350m in gross value added to the local economy, and, despite shifts towards hybrid working practices, occupancy levels remained consistent throughout the pandemic and are at their highest level for a decade.
As well as being named Commercial Landlord of the Year, it has also been recognised as a regional ‘Jewel in the Crown’, with the Local Enterprise Partnership noting that it is an “outstanding asset that plays a significant role in contributing to the economy and wellbeing of communities and offers a unique array of benefits to the wider region, making it a vibrant place to live, work and invest”.
In its 40th year, Southampton Science Park will not be resting on its laurels as it continues to invest in responding to evolving commercial and environmental needs.
This year, a brand-new Engineering Centre will be unveiled; a development which will provide high-quality workshops and offices, and accommodate a Future Towns Innovation Hub, an industryacademic centre of excellence which aims to help make our towns happier, healthier, and cleaner places to live. Work conducted here will address the important challenges of energy-efficient housing, water conservation, sustainable transport, carbon-neutral waste management and recycling, and improving health outcomes.
Chave is highly enthusiastic about this prospect. “We are uniquely positioned to host this new facility and delighted to be at the forefront of this exciting initiative. I’m confident that the positive societal impacts arising from the work conducted in this new centre will resonate significantly beyond our region’s boundaries and for generations to come,” he said.
With sustainable development at the forefront of future planning, the Science Park is also working to minimise its environmental impacts and reach net zero carbon for scope 1 and scope 2
emissions by 2030. This work includes investing in solar power, higher-grade insulation and LED lighting. It hopes to take resident employees on this journey too, with a number of initiatives designed to encourage alternative commuting practices including a Science Park bus service, car share scheme, bookable ondemand hybrid vehicles and a rollout of EV charge points.
Meanwhile, across the Park today, some of the south’s best businesses are using emerging technologies to solve the critical conundrums of our time. AIpowered health monitoring, gas network optimisation, nanoclay orthopaedic treatment, solar power expansion, listener-adaptive 3D audio experiences, mission-critical software, speciality optical fibres, offshore energy, drug discovery, spacecraft propulsion, digital signage, air cargo drones and many, many more exciting concepts are emanating from companies there.
There can be no doubt that Southampton Science Park will retain its reputation for shaping and enabling South Coast innovation another 40 years from now.
George Freeman, the UK’s Minister of State in the new Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, was elected to parliament in 2010 after a 15-year career in science, research, technology and innovation, when he founded, financed and managed tech start-ups.
He was the first Minister for Agri-tech, the first minister for Life Science and the first Minister for Transport and Transport Tech. He knows that to be a science
superpower, the country needs to improve the depth and breadth of the innovation economy across the UK supporting regional customers of science, technology and innovation excellence.
Across the UK there are more than 130 science parks. Often clustered around the country’s top universities (such as the Universities of Oxford, Warwick and Bristol), they are also attracting increased investment from commercial and
Harwell campus is a collaboration between government, academia and industry.
A number of major UK scientific firms are based on the campus, such as the National Quantum Computing Centre and the Central Laser Facility, anchor organisations like the European Space Agency, innovative private sector organisations like Oxford Nanopore and Astroscale alongside teams from 30 UK universities.
The campus is managed and developed by a group of organisations – the Science and Technology Facilities Council, the UK Atomic Energy Authority and a private sector investor, Brookfield. It is investing
significantly in the campus to add homes, facilities and more R&D space.
Last year Harwell became part of the Advance Research Clusters (ARC) network. This is an alliance of innovation campuses funded by Brookfield in the UK and Europe.
The network provides membership to those who work at the campus, including free events, discounts and access to space at other ARC campuses.
Brookfield has five million sq ft of development potential planned across the UK’s Golden Triangle, with three million planned at the 700-acre Harwell site.
institutional investors which recognise the economic, social and investment value of science parks.
Science parks also support the local economies where they are based as they grow to meet the needs of the people that work there.
This boosts local employment thanks to cafes, shops, gyms, pre-school nurseries, hotels and transport links.
With demand for lab space in Oxfordshire reaching almost 860,000 sq ft, late last year Brookfield launched ARC Oxford, which was previously Oxford Technology Park.
Brookfield, which also manages Harwell Campus (see story to the left), is set to invest more than £1 billion into Oxfordshire by the end of the decade. Plans being considered could see the current 514,000 sq ft Oxford City space double in size as it brings new laboratories, cleanrooms, offices and R&D facilities to the campus.
Brookfield acquired Oxford Business Park in 2021 and has already speculatively redeveloped, refurbished and let around 60,000 sq ft of space geared towards life sciences lab space.
The UK has set its sights on becoming a science superpower. And it’s put a man in charge who could actually help realise
One of Europe’s leading science parks, The Oxford Science Park, is majority owned by Magdalen College Oxford in partnership with global investor GIC.
Last November, the park announced the next step in its development plan with the submission of a detailed planning application for a new laboratory and office building on Plot 27. The new building, which will comprise more than 75,000 sq ft of laboratory and office facilities, is expected to complete at the beginning of 2025.
Milton Park is home to 250 companies and more than 9,000 people, many of them working on translating science innovation into commercial products and services.
But what Milton Park identified a few years ago was that it’s not enough for science parks to offer lab and office space to help attract the skilled people its tenants expect – the park must provide first-class travel and community facilities for the people that work there.
Over the last few years, as part of its 2040 vision for Milton Park, owner MEPC is investing in a comprehensive range of amenities alongside its continued development of office and laboratory space, from sustainable transport to new cycle
and footpaths, all wrapped up in extensive investment in biodiversity projects.
Alongside this, work is ongoing on the development of a new tech box scheme.
The scheme, to be named Nebula, has been designed with space, technology, life science and engineering companies in mind, promoting the growth of start-ups and cross-industry collaboration within the science and technology community.
The development will comprise a total gross internal area of just under 80,000 sq ft, featuring seven new research and development workspaces ranging from 6,000 sq ft up to a single building of 30,000 sq ft.
The Park, already home to 3,350 people and more than 70 businesses from start-ups to major international companies, has ambitious plans to create an additional 500,000 sq ft of laboratory and office space over the next three years.
The Oxford Science Park is also developing Oxford North, a new science park closer to the city centre, to include housing and other amenities on 64 acres. The £700 million innovation district received planning permission for its masterplan in 2021 and infrastructure construction works completed earlier this year.
Thomas White Oxford, which is delivering this major project, is working with developer Stanhope to deliver one million sq ft of laboratories and workspace, along with amenities and infrastructure. This is in addition to a residential development partnership with Hill Group to deliver 317 new homes on the site south of the A40.
The medium (2030) to long-term (2050) carbon emissions reduction targets are in anticipation of future innovation, relying on technologies not currently available, or that are undeveloped and untested, such as green hydrogen and/or carbon capture. While many have begun to invest in innovation, technologies and materials that are more sustainable, there’s a lack of transparent funding, direction and education.
The journey to an integrated environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and Net Zero economy will prove to be the greatest business challenge of the decade. With risks and opportunities brought by climate change and other ESG factors, investors, consumers, capital providers, supply chains, colleagues and competitors are increasingly focusing on in decision making.
Industrial sectors, including construction, manufacturing, and engineering, with a heavy reliance on carbon intensive materials and processes, face significant challenges meeting the UK government’s net zero target by 2050; especially those in heavy industries and transport, known as “hard to abate”, due to the immense challenge of electrification and costs of transition. At COP26, global leaders agreed the Glasgow Climate Pact, securing a near-global net zero target, with over 90% of world GDP now subject to net zero commitments.
Many of these climate commitments (such as replacing diesel engines with batteries) create significant supply issues. Demand is likely to outstrip the availability of key components such as copper, lithium, nickel and other vital raw materials, potentially creating material business disruption for the industrial sectors to become net zero.
Concerns over cost, availability, longterm performance, safety and future maintenance of new technologies, as well as the skills required to install or use them, mean tried and tested solutions still provide greater confidence and less risk at the moment. However, investors and financial markets are increasingly demanding a transparent and robust ESG strategic plan and credible transition plan to become net zero. While the challenges are great, the commercial and societal importance of ESG mean businesses must act now to ensure future compliance.
Governance: Climate change is a board level issue. Decide how you will allocate responsibilities between the board and management team to manage climaterelated risks and opportunities. Consider if the board has the right skills to discuss and understand the meaning of Net Zero, the TCFD framework and scenario analysis, or if external training is needed.
Risk management: Perform a risk assessment on the impact of physical risks (such as changes in frequency and magnitude of weather events) on
operations, employees, engineers and supply chain.
Identify critical stakeholders: Many companies have, or will disclose scope 3 emissions during the current reporting period, which will directly affect industrial businesses net zero journey. Speak to customers to understand their net zero journey.
Awareness: Ensure employees are aware of and understand your roadmap and what are the short, medium and long-term targets to become a carbon neutral & Net Zero organisation.
Focus on quick wins: Such as measuring scope 1 and 2 emissions!
Ensure financial reporting is compliant with existing and emerging legislation such as streamlined energy and carbon reporting and TCFD and keep you abreast of emerging legislation such as Future Home Standard; and the potential impact to tax and finances.
Ensure governance, risk management and associated non-financial controls and data meet external reporting requirements including, where applicable, wider social and economic benefits.
Assess and meet voluntary reporting standards to aid stakeholder relationships and transparency on sustainability and climate change impacts.
Provide independent assurance across key non-financial metrics, providing greater transparency, trust and confidence with key stakeholders.
Justin Moss, Partner and construction specialist at MHA outlines the challenges and opportunities of Net Zero for construction firms.A report by policy and economics consultancy London Economics has found that the University of Southampton contributed £4.14 billion to the UK economy in the 2020-21 academic year.
The report highlights the role that Southampton Science Park plays in attracting talent and investment to the
region. The Science Park itself delivers an estimated £350 million in gross value added to the local economy.
Professor Mark Spearing, Vice-President (Research and Enterprise) at the University of Southampton, said: “We welcome this report which not only underlines the University’s importance to the UK economy but across
Last year was a good one for Surrey Research Park.
The park, which was established in 1985 and is owned and operated by the University of Surrey, reported high occupancy, averaging 97 per cent throughout the year. It currently has 70,000 sq ft of new development under discussion.
Despite economic uncertainty, Grant Bourhill the CEO at Surrey Research Park, said outlook for the park remains cautiously optimistic due to the breadth and quality of innovative companies located there, with clusters overlapping the government’s priority areas, namely space, sustainability, animal and human health and digital.
In his review of 2022, Grant says there are many achievements to celebrate by companies based on the park. From new RNA delivery mechanisms to managing clinical trials of Lecanemab,
hailed as an “historic moment” in Alzheimer’s treatment. From building new satellites, changing the way animal cancer is treated, developing a global atlas of environmental DNA data, to FDA approval for early-stage cancer detection.
In its first development since 2014, Alliance Medical opened a cancer screening facility, containing a digital PET-CT scanner, one of only two in the UK. This will be used to improve health outcomes locally, in addition to research on cancer and dementia with the university, the Royal Surrey County Hospital and the National Physical Laboratory.
The park continues to strengthen links between businesses on the park with the university, for research collaboration and student talent flow, with a working group made up of tenants and university colleagues helping to drive this initiative.
the world. More than that, it demonstrates the far-reaching impact our research and enterprise has, leading on innovation and nurturing talent for the future.
“More directly, the huge impact we have on our host city Southampton, especially as our region emerges from the effects of the pandemic.”
ARC Oxford (formerly Oxford Business Park North)
Begbroke Science Park, Oxford
Culhum Science Centre, Oxford
Discovery Park, Kent
Harwell, Abingdon
Kent Science Park, Sittingbourne
Langstone Technology Park, Hampshire
Milton Park, Abingdon
Oxford Technology Park
Surrey Research Park, Guildford
The Oxford Science Park
University of Reading Science & Technology Centre
University of Southampton Science Park
Westcott Venture Park, Buckinghamshire
Kent Science Park is home to one of the UK’s largest communities of agritech, biotech and biopharma businesses.
Set in 65 acres of beautiful grounds, the biotech incubator is made up of high specification labs, office and co-working spaces across 47 buildings.
Discovery Park is an ecosystem and community thriving in collaboration. Across 220 acres, it has created a flourishing life sciences and technology campus home to global players including Pfizer, as well as innovative start-ups.
Discovery Park recognises that startups are the lifeblood of the life sciences community and is prepared to take risks on these businesses by offering payas-you-grow models with significantly reduced rent plans to support companies in their infancy.
Through its Skills Hub, it acts as a conduit bringing academia and industry together to support research and data needs and its new Incubator facility - 50,000 sq ft of
The site is just one of nine fully integrated science parks owned, developed and operated by The Pioneer Group, which also offers accelerator programmes and an internal VC fund, to help occupiers turn their ideas into reality.
Last year the company published a UK Life Science Start-Up report in association with property consultants JLL. The report highlighted the continued growth in the number of life science start-ups in the UK, which has increased by 24 per cent in the five years from 2016 to 2020. It says this rise is thanks to more investment in start-
wet labs and workspaces - is enabling start-ups to become established.
Discovery Park is also home to a Barclays Eagle Lab, one of the largest co-working and incubator networks for start-ups and scale-ups in the UK, which supports entrepreneurs and ambitious businesses to collaborate, innovate and grow. Through Discovery Park Ventures, it is forging ahead with investments in early-stage life science and technology companies, allowing them to scale at speed.
Discovery Park is continuing to expand its focus beyond the Golden Triangle and is building collaborative links with the Knowledge Quarter at St Pancras, home to The Crick Institute and Digital Catapult.
ups, the impact of cluster development and a growth in the availability of space for early-stage companies.
A lack of space, it says, hinders growth in a particular location, while space coming on stream can boost these numbers. Further underpinning the growth of start-ups has been the increasing breadth and sophistication of accelerators and other company start-up support. The Pioneer Group, for example, now operates its accelerators across much of the UK.
Over the next three years, the UK’s science and tech industries are predicted to grow by more than 50 per cent, but it’s operating in a fragile ecosystem, according to Oxford-headquartered property consultancy Ridge and Partners.
Late last year the consultancy questioned senior decision makers from more than 100 of the UK’s most ambitious and fast-growing science and technology businesses for an in-depth study.
Despite this forecasted growth, many UK technology and science businesses have their sights set abroad. One in six plan to move, 88 per cent have considered it, and of our largest organisations, 75 per cent are not ruling it out.
This potential exodus is not a whimsical desire for greener pastures, says the study, it’s a response to a lack of necessary resources and infrastructure.
Building issues are one of the biggest challenges for the science and tech industries. Forty-nine per cent of businesses are worried their premises will not meet their long-term needs, and one-fifth feel their premises need to be more environmentally sustainable and aesthetically attractive.
The study reveals that the UK needs fitfor-purpose facilities – only 51 per cent of businesses believe their current building will accommodate their future needs. Of smaller companies, only 22 per cent believe this to be true.
Companies also want facilities where they’re needed – 31 per cent of businesses say it’s essential to be nearer to a larger talent pool.
These facilities need to be built where people prefer to live. Proximity to major academic institutions is also a must.
Modern, unique designs, better access to these premises via public transport and more science parks are also called for.
The science and tech community rely on collaboration to thrive. Thirty-one per cent want to be nearer to others in the sector. The industry prefers science parks for their proximity to other similar businesses and the facilities geared to their industries.
Sustainability is rising in the consumer conscience, and hotels are meeting this challenge by adapting their physical spaces and services to a clientele that is increasingly aware of the impact travel has on the environment.
The task of making the easyHotel group more sustainable was not a seismic shift, according to CEO Karim Malak, but rather a gradual tuning of an offering which was already making less of an impact on the environment than some other players in the hotel industry.
The company, which opened a new hotel in Oxford last year, now has 44 hotels globally with a further 22 across 15 countries due to open over the next 18 months.
Karim describes the company’s business model as having a “sustainability bias” with its compact rooms, close proximity to public transport, focus on high occupancy and choice not to have restaurants.
He said: “A lot of hotel operators will focus on banning operations such as single use plastic which is very good. However it’s important to consider the entire life cycle
of a hotel from construction, operation and then its phasing out after 30 years.
“We have compact rooms which are smaller than the competition and therefore use less concrete.
Concrete and the actual building of the hotel represents 75 per cent of carbon emissions of its entire life cycle.
“Food waste at hotels typically eats up 12 per cent of carbon emissions and we have chosen to encourage guests to explore the restaurants around the hotel.”
easyHotel has also focused on its capital expenditure to ensure its hotels are as energy efficient as possible through replacing boilers and windows alongside implementing a new room design with furniture that is entirely recyclable.
The company has also invested in its smart buildings systems to regulate energy which can also alert guests about how to be less energy intensive during their stay. Rival operator Airbnb, which sees owners
rent out rooms or homes through the online platform, has come in for increasing criticism over its impact on the property market in the areas that it operates.
Karim said: “We use assets in a more sustainable way as the square metre equation is not as good.
“I am never a fan of taking an apartment of someone who could be involved in the community, and with our hotels we are seeing locals use them with that percentage in some locations being up to 20 per cent.”
The hotel market is polarising into high end luxury and basic offerings which has been hastened by recent soaring inflation rates.
Karim says easyHotel’s positioning puts it in a strong position for growth.
“There is a real need for hotels to be specific in their offering rather than having an average offering for everyone.
“You need to be specific about the clientele you want and add value drivers for those clients.”
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The Business Magazine runs a variety of awards, conferences, roundtable discussions and other events throughout the year, bringing together business communities to connect, inform and promote business in the region.
March
Venue
Thu 16 2023 Business & Economic Outlook Henley Business School
Thu 23 Solent Deals Awards 2023 Hilton at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton
Thu 23 Manufacturing Live Ontic, Cheltenham
April
Thu 27 Solent 250 Dinner & Awards Harbour Hotel, Southampton
May
Thu 4 Thames Valley 250 Dinner & Awards Easthampstead Park Hotel, Wokingham
Mon 22 Introduction to Employee Ownership Trusts Easthampstead Park Hotel, Wokingham
June
Thu 8 South Coast Property Awards 2023 Hilton at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton
Wed 14 Surrey Kent Sussex SME Growth 100 Denbies Vineyard, Dorking
Tue 20 Introduction to Employee Ownership Trusts New Place Hall, Southampton
Thu 22
Thames Valley Tech Awards Finalists event Malmaison, Reading
Thu 29 Surrey Kent & Sussex 250 Dinner & Awards The RAC Club, Epsom
July
Wed 12
Introduction to Employee Ownership Trusts Alexander House, East Grinstead
Thu 13 Thames Valley Tech Awards 2023 Reading FC Conference Centre
August
September
Venue
Thu 14 South Coast Tech Awards Finalists event TBC
Thu 21 Thames Valley Property Awards 2023 Ascot Racecourse
October
Thu 12
November
South Coast Tech Awards 2023
Thu 23 Thames Valley Deals Awards 2023
December
laura.clarke@black-ox.com
Hilton at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton
Reading FC Conference Centre
Jo Whittle Operations Director jo.whittle@black-ox.com Laura Clarke Editorial and Event Researcher Pauline Moore Event & Client Manager pauline.moore@black-ox.com Ashleigh O’Shea Events and Office Executive ashleigh.oshea@black-ox.com