When Cabinet meets on 14 December, it is set to approve the investment of £6.25m to bring in new high-tech fleet vehicles and take a significant step towards the greening of the council’s vehicles. The proposed investment will replace some models of ageing vehicles with electric vehicles alongside newer, greener engine models. This will include a number of electric vehicles for Waste and Recycling services including an electric refuse collection vehicle, following a successful trial. This is an extension to the previous three-year Capital Investment Vehicle Replacement Programme which was agreed by Cabinet on 11 December 2018. Councillor Will Simpson, Cabinet Member for Culture and Greener Kirklees said: “Kirklees Council has already outperformed its previous carbon reduction targets, achieving more than a 53% reduction over the last decade – but there is much more to do to meet our bold ambitions of being a carbon neutral district by 2038. “This new investment will support the Council’s climate emergency commitments and air quality improvement work across the district. As well as reducing our tailpipe emissions, it will make sure that we have a fit for purpose fleet with reduced running costs and reduced downtime and improved service delivery. “Our ultimate aim is to transition to an entirely electric fleet and we are taking significant strides with 69 per cent of the council’s operated cars now electric or partially electrically powered. “Our plans for an electric refuse collection vehicle, van tipper and compact sweeper take us even further in the right direction. This is a major step forward for the council in our aim to create a carbon neutral Kirklees by 2038, and I look forward to the Cabinet giving it its full approval.” As part of the transition to a greener vehicle fleet, £1million of the £2million Climate Emergency funding has been invested in a further 35 electric Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs). This brings the percentage of electric vehicles in the fleet up to 7.5 per cent. Approval of the proposal at Cabinet will complement and strengthen the transitions that have already taken place. If the proposals are approved by Cabinet, Transport Services will continue to manage the Vehicle Replacement Programme on a phased basis and deliver the vehicles as necessary to meet service needs.

Towthorpe Road has been chosen as the preferred site for development of a railway station in Haxby.

Engineers, maintenance personnel, managers and procurement executives with responsibility for obtaining and operating equipment for handling of biomass are set to benefit from a new course in February. From 21 – 25 February 2022 the University of Greenwich will help delegates identify and resolve common problems when handling the various biomass materials. Run over 5 sessions from 14.00 until 17:00 each day, the Biomass Operations and Handling Technology course will cover the basics of:

• Biomass macro-economics, subsidies and potential;
• Material types, flow properties and handling equipment requirements;
• Self-heating, fire, explosion and safety;
• Dust and degradation, pneumatic conveying and wear;

as well as give an insight into

• Explosion protection and ATEX regulations;
• Engineering of equipment for storage and discharge;
• Ship unloading;
• Dust control and management;
• Possible future trends in biomass

This course has an emphasis on practical aspects of technology to give a comprehensive introduction to materials handling before moving on to the more detailed aspects. The course will be delivered online via MS Teams and is led by Mike Bradley, Professor of Bulk and Particulate Technologies and Director of The Wolfson Centre. He has worked internationally on design and troubleshooting of bulk solids handling as a commercial consultant and research expert for over twenty years. Also contributing will be Richard Farnish, Consultant Engineer, with over twenty years’ experience in commercial design work related to materials handling, and Dr Baldeep Kaur, a Researcher expert in the transportation of materials in the bulk solids handling industry. The course is £775 per delegate, though discounts are available for group bookings and returning delegates. Registration and payment is available via the on-line shop. This course can also be delivered as an In-Company course over one or two days. For more information click here.

It’s that time of year, when Business Link Magazine invites the region’s business leaders to offer up their predictions for the year ahead.  It has become something of a tradition, given that we’ve been doing this now for over 30 years. Here we speak to Graham Edward, Managing Director of Edward Architecture. Our experience of the property sector looking forward to 2022 remains buoyant and will hopefully remain so whilst bank rates remain low. A recent RIBA study has found that UK based Architecture workload remains steady in key sectors like infrastructure, residential and logistics. At Edward Architecture we have a solid and exciting order book for the next 18 months. The industry is, however, having to work through supply issues in construction, materials, consultancy, legals and the planning system, which will hopefully ease as we cope with some industry inertia brought about by Brexit and Covid. To be resilient to this continued workload and retain capacity, consultancies like ourselves are working hard to both retain staff and train new blood. I think the lockdown has let down a generation of graduates, by a reluctance to employ and too much remote working. We have invested in staff training and have taken on more graduates and try to give them good office exposure. Consultancies like ourselves have also introduced flexi time and hybrid office / home working to give an optimum work life balance and a good learning environment. Another evolution as we go into the new year is digitalisation. Clients and consumers have a heightened expectation for the digital experience, much more design is BIM based and led by ‘golden thread’ central information software products such as Operance, which collates all design and build information right through to a built package stage.

In its latest Business Support Update, Streets Chartered Accountants dives into the tax rules of staff gifts and Christmas celebrations and the Self-Assessment deadline. Staff Gifts and Christmas Celebrations – What are the Tax rules? As we approach the festive season, many businesses will be considering how they thank their staff and what are the tax consequences of doing so. There are a whole host of tax rules employers need to be aware of when providing employees with the use of assets, making gifts and settling payments on their behalf. The relevant tax rules determine if there is tax payable, by whom, on what value and at what rate. Podcast: What will you be giving your staff this Christmas and will it be tax free? In this session, Tax Partner Jennie Brown focuses on the tax implications of Christmas gifts for employees. In conversation, she considers what gifts are allowable and provides guidance on avoiding the pitfalls from an employer’s perspective. Help is at hand when it comes to paying your tax With the Self-Assessment deadline of the 31st January getting closer, thoughts will no doubt turn to the tax payment due. The last 18 months have been extraordinary, even unprecedented, with many seeing changes to their income and potentially making it challenging to provide for their pending tax bill. Payroll support over the festive season Streets Chartered Accountants’ offices will close for Christmas and the New Year at 12 noon on Friday 24th December and will re-open at 8.30am on Tuesday 4th January 2021. However, the Payroll team will be available on Wednesday 29th December, Thursday 30th December and Friday 31st December between the hours of 8am and 4.30pm. The team can be contacted on 01522 551230 or 0345 099 7299. Alternatively, you can email payroll@streetsweb.co.uk

A new study from the University of Sheffield has calculated the long term economic impact of Covid-19 on city centres, and found that as the shift towards working from home moves businesses to suburban areas, centres stand to lose £3 billion in 2022.

• In 2022 the average UK worker will be working from home 20 per cent more (one day a week) than they were prior to the pandemic, having huge consequences for retail and hospitality industries
• City centres stand to lose £3 billion in revenue due to these changes
• The study reflects the economic impact of the pandemic, with workers around the world taking advantage of the new found flexibility in working location from their employers
• Approximately 77,000 hospitality and retail workers could be forced to relocate or lose their jobs completely
• New work from home restrictions announced by government will exacerbate the negative impacts for the hospitality and retail industries

A new study from the University of Sheffield has calculated the long term economic impact of Covid-19 on city centres, and found that as the shift towards working from home moves businesses to suburban areas, city centres stand to lose £3 billion in 2022. Dr Jesse Matheson, from the University of Sheffield’s Department of Economics, worked with researchers from the universities of Nottingham and Birmingham to compare how often people will be working from home in the next year compared to before the pandemic, and what effect that will have on the revenue generated by city centres. He discovered that on average, people will be working roughly one day a week more at home than they were before the pandemic, which could have huge long term consequences for the hospitality and retail industries, which have already faced a tumultuous 18 months. It is expected that the extra day of working from home will be a permanent shift as a result of the pandemic, which has seen everyone’s lives change dramatically since the first lockdown in March 2021. As people spend more time in suburban areas as a result of working from home, they will not be providing the economic benefits to city centres that office workers previously would, such as going to coffee shops, buying lunch, or going shopping after work. These shifts could see roughly 77,000 people who work in the hospitality and retail industries be forced to either relocate to jobs in suburbs or lose their jobs completely. Not only could these changes lead to tens of thousands of low income workers losing their jobs, but it could make inequalities between rich and poor areas even worse – the study found that, as people who are more affluent are more likely to be able to work from home, the money being lost by city centre shops is more likely to be recuperated in higher income suburbs. Dr Jesse Matheson, lead author of the paper from the University of Sheffield’s Department of Economics, said: “We estimate that about £3 billion in annual spending will leave city centres as a result of working from home. This decrease will be concentrated in a few very dense centres; for example, the City of London will experience a spending decrease of 31.6 per cent, and central Birmingham will experience a decrease of 8 per cent. Some of this spending will be realised in the residential areas where these workers live, but some may be lost altogether. As suburban neighbourhoods lack the density of city centres, many retail and hospitality businesses will find it is not profitable to relocate. “Workers in retail and hospitality may also find that demand has shifted to locations to which commuting is too difficult, which means that supply may not be able to keep up with demand.” Co-Author, Paul Mizen, Professor of Monetary Economics at the University of Nottingham, said: “Using a new Working From Home survey developed at the University of Nottingham in collaboration with Chicago and Stanford Universities, our team from Nottingham, Birmingham and Sheffield universities has tracked changes in commuting patterns and working from home trends during Covid lockdown periods to show that about £3 billion in annual spending could leave city centres as a result of working from home. This illustrates how sensitive retail and hospitality sectors are to changes in work location, affecting larger cities with commuting and tourist trade in particular.” As a result of this shift to working from home – or the effect of ‘zoomshock’ as Dr Matheson coined the phenomena – the report argues that city centres may have to transform themselves in order to stay relevant, by becoming more residential instead of retail focused. The research follows a previous study by Dr Matheson which found that how quickly households or businesses recover from the economic impact of Covid-19 depends on where you live and what you do, as wealthier areas will be quicker to recover. Dr Matheson says there is work to do in finding out if all of the lost £3 billion will be spent elsewhere or lost altogether. He said: “This money may be recuperated in the higher income suburbs, but in a lot of places working from home means people are more spread out, which isn’t good business for retail business like coffee shops, who require high density areas for business. So there is a risk this revenue could be lost from the hospitality and retail sectors forever. “Additionally, with the further restrictions recently announced by the government to work from home where possible as a result of the new Omicron Covid-19 variant, this will now further compound the negative impacts on our retail and hospitality sectors and the figures we have estimated could end up even higher as a result of these temporary measures, threatening even more livelihoods and business centre incomes.”

Plans for a new urban extension for Lincoln will be deliberated by City of Lincoln Council next month. The plans for Western Growth Corridor which extends to 240 hectares, and is located to the north of Skellingthorpe Road, have been jointly submitted by landowners Lindum Western Growth Community Ltd and the city council. Proposals, which will be decided upon by Full Council sitting as Planning Committee on 12 January, include: up to 3200 dwellings, with a local centre comprising of retail and commercial units and a new primary school, a commercial employment area of up to 20Ha, a regional sport and leisure complex, including a new stadium, health and leisure facilities, and a hotel and ancillary food and drink elements. This site has long been promoted for the creation of an urban extension. Plans for the site were previously submitted in 2006 by Taylor Wimpey for development of 4,500 dwellings plus employment, leisure and retail uses, open space and a park and ride site. A revised application for 5,100 dwellings was submitted in March 2008, and subsequently withdrawn in February 2016. The current application was submitted in March 2019 and is a joint planning application made by City of Lincoln Council and Lindum Western Growth Community Ltd. Western Growth Corridor is allocated as one of Lincoln’s four Sustainable Urban Extensions (SUE’s) to allow the Central Lincolnshire area to provide for both housing and employment growth through the Plan period ending in 2036. Councillors will be making a decision on outline blueprints for the entire scheme and more detailed proposals for road works, which will help facilitate the first phase of construction if approved. Kate Ellis, Director for Major Developments at City of Lincoln Council said: “The Central Lincolnshire Local Plan was adopted on 24 April 2017 and provides planning policies and allocations for the growth and regeneration of Central Lincolnshire for the period to 2036. “For the Central Lincolnshire authorities of City of Lincoln, North Kesteven and West Lindsey, a total of 36,960 new homes need to be delivered, alongside new employment, commercial and leisure developments, as well as supporting infrastructure such as schools, sports pitches and public open space. “As the biggest settlement within Central Lincolnshire, the city of Lincoln and its immediate surrounding area is required to deliver approximately two thirds of this development. “To ensure this development is brought forward in a planned and sustainable manner, the majority of Lincoln’s development is to be delivered through a combination of urban regeneration and the creation of four sustainable urban extensions (SUEs). “The Western Growth Corridor is one of these four SUEs, and its development is key to meeting the objectives of the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan and ensuring the continued growth and success of the City of Lincoln.” Lindum Planning Director Mark Foster said: “Prior to and throughout the planning process, we have continued to work closely with the Local Planning Authority and other key stakeholders, while also attempting to address the concerns of local residents where we can. “The recommendation for approval of the Western Growth Corridor scheme is the culmination of this process and represents a really important milestone for the project. “While we are extremely pleased to have reached this point, we recognise that the application now requires consideration by Councillors and we look forward to hearing their decision in January.”

Rollits has announced the achievements of three members of its team in qualifying as solicitors. Enisha Ali, Lily Dobson and Harry Spice all come from the Hull area and joined Rollits as trainees in 2019 after graduating from the University of Hull and the University of Law in Leeds. Lily and Harry have both qualified into the corporate team dealing with a range of matters including acquisitions, disposals and reorganisations. Lily attended Beverley High School and Wyke Sixth Form College and Harry studied at Archbishop Sentamu Academy in Hull. They both gained their LLB (Hons) at Hull in 2018 and followed that by securing a Distinction in their Legal Practice Course at Leeds. Enisha attended Beverley High School and Beverley Joint Sixth Form before progressing to complete her Law LLB (Hons) at Hull. She then completed her Legal Practice Course as part of her Masters in Professional Legal Practice, which she passed with Distinction at the University of Law in Leeds. Enisha has qualified into the firm’s commercial property team and undertakes work on matters including sales, purchases and leases. Partner Caroline Neadley who is the Training Principal at Rollits said: “This is a significant milestone for Enisha, Lily and Harry – and for Rollits. The firm is in its 180th year and whilst we operate regionally and nationally we remain committed to finding and nurturing talent local to join us in Hull and York. “We are delighted that we have been able to offer positions to our three newly qualified solicitors and we are pleased that these talented young people see Rollits as a good and supportive route into a legal career.”

Sheffield and Wakefield-based innovative independent logistics operator Europa Worldwide Group is on track to achieve record turnover and profits in 2021, with 2022 forecast to be even more successful. Europa’s local sites are at Unit 7, 1 Broadfield Close in Sheffield, and Unit 2, Navigation Court, Calder Park in Wakefield, Leeds, are home to almost 30 staff. All are part of Europa Road which provides road freight distribution to and from Europe and both sites opened over the past few years. Two members of Europa’s Board are Chief Operating Officer Dionne Redpath, and Branch Network and Sales Director Adrian Redmile, both work in Sheffield and live locally. Europa’s growth predications follow a hugely productive year, despite the ongoing and unprecedented challenges arising from the global pandemic and Brexit. Its Board is expecting to achieve a record turnover of £260 million this year, against £210m in 2020, increasing to £300 million next year. Profits are expected to be £10m in 2021, an increase of £6.4m over 2020 levels which were depressed by the global pandemic and related lockdowns. Rob Jones, Finance Director at Europa Worldwide Group, said: “Whilst our results for 2020 were below our expectations set at the start of the year, we are extremely proud of the way our teams tackled the severe double scenarios of the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit. Our staff were kept safe, we kept our customers freight moving and given the market conditions we can be proud of our financial results” “As a result of the work we put in during 2020, notably our preparations for Brexit and the return to more normal “post-Covid” conditions, we are delighted with the performance in 2021 and the record levels of both turnover and profit that will be achieved.” “This all demonstrates that Europa is a commercially resilient and forward-thinking logistics firm that can adapt quickly to unforeseen situations and changing market needs.” Europa Worldwide Group has six divisions – Europa Road, Europa Air & Sea, Europa Showfreight, Europa Warehouse, Europa Contact Centre and Continental Cargo Carriers and has featured in The Sunday Times Top Track 250 for three years running and in The Sunday Times Profit Track 100 Covid-19 edition.  It employs more than 1,100 staff in the UK, as well as in Hong Kong, France, and Belgium.   Brexit has been a major consideration for Europa and it has remained dedicated to finding solutions for its customers. This was why the company successfully planned the unique customs product, Europa Flow, to address short-term road freight disruption arising after the transition period. Europa Flow launched at the start of 2021, following a £5m investment into the product. It is now delivering a frictionless delivery duty paid (DDP) service with 2,000 consignments per week, easing the flow of goods between the UK and Europe and ensuring UK firms remain competitive overseas. It is one of the best import and export solutions within the market because it empowers customers and removes the hassle of customs clearance and duty payments. Andrew Baxter, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Europa Worldwide Group, said: “Despite various worldwide restrictions being imposed on the movement of goods Europa continues to trade profitably in the face of economic uncertainty and is on track. “Our approach has always been to focus on offering the best solutions to meet our customers’ needs, fortitude and dedication in adversity, maintaining the highest levels of service. I am incredibly proud of our staff and look forward to collaborating with them as we get our growth plans on track and strive to hit our ambitious £400m turnover target.” “The past 18 months has certainly been challenging for the company, particularly due to the pandemic, with all exhibitions and events cancelled and fewer planes in the air for much of 2020, but our teams have already bounced back strongly” In addition, Europa pressed ahead with the construction of its new £60m state-of-the-art third-party logistics (3pl) warehouse in Northamptonshire to double its logistics capacity. Not only was the build of this fully automated, super-sized facility completed during lockdown, it was also operationalised in June 2020 at the height of the e-commerce boom. www.europa-worldwide.com @europaworldwide

Siemens Digital Industries is teaming up with waste incinerator maker Xetrov Group to boost the production of its ground-breaking Clean6 Vortex, which is turning heads in the recycling and waste processing world because of its ability to process previously unrecyclable materials and its efficiency in using the exhaust heat generated by the Vortex to produce electricity, district heating and food production. Importantly the incinerator can recycle material that were deemed unrecyclable. The outstanding feature of the incinerator that sets it apart from competitors is that the gasification or pyrolysis technologies used in the Clean6 Vortex volatilises material at temperatures significantly higher (1,400 – 1,700°C vs. 850-1,100°C) than those found in standard incineration plants. This results in an increased efficiency, lower emissions and very low residue outputs. Siemens will supply the end-to-end solutions for producing the incinerators, including the G120 Inverter, the S7-1500 controller, the ET200 I/O for control cabinets, process instrumentation (flow and level sensors), control products, power supplies, HMI, IOT box, Scalence managed switches and some more products that are still under discussion.  This integrated approach provides diagnostic benefits, such as secure remote access and opens the door for IOT connection. Siemens’ products will be used in all four components of the Clean6 Vortex machine, including the incinerator, crusher, boiler and potentially steam turbine. Xetrov, headquartered in Yorkshire, has built and operates a waste-to-energy plant in Pollington in the county. Xetrov has created a bespoke modular solution suitable for the UK to the roll-out of decentralised waste-to-energy plants. Each module consists of three core Clean6 Vortex advanced thermal treatment units and has a maximum waste processing capacity of 3 tonnes per hour (24,000 tonnes per annum). “Siemens is delighted to have been selected by Xetrov for supplying end-to-end solutions for the ground-breaking incinerator, Clean6 Vortex,” said Brian Holliday, Managing Director, Siemens Digital Industries GB&I. “The benefits of this conversion technology to the community and its potential contribution to the UK’s net zero emissions targets are going to be huge. This technology is in sync with Siemens’ own goals of achieving a net zero carbon footprint by 2030 across all our production facilities and buildings globally.  We are fully geared and equipped to meet the specific requirements of Xetrov as it continues its mission of revolutionising waste processing and recycling.” “We have been scouting for a partner that understands and shares our goals,” said Ashleigh Ruxton, Founder and CEO of Xetrov. “Siemens brought to the table a slew of products that will go a long way in making our solution stronger and smarter. Our advanced thermal conversion technology (Clean6 Vortex or Vortex) is not only 98% efficient on waste destruction but also requires less than half the waste, compared to competing technologies, to produce power. In all this the role of the technology supplier is very critical. The digital technologies used are the future of machine development and deployment and are important for remote secure connectivity, future proofing our innovative product. We have a strong environmental and social remit and want to contribute to the UK’s zero-landfill target and a reduction of CO2,” Ruxton added. Xetrov Group’s mission embraces the circular economy, carbon reduction, low-to-no emissions, decentralised power generation, and zero landfill. The Clean6 Vortex will have a very high 98% conversion rate with only 2% residue, against the 80-90% efficiency rate of incinerators used in the industry. The Clean6 Vortex has exhaust emissions, which are significantly lower than required by the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED). In addition, the technology does not produce any fly ash, as other incinerators normally do. Inert residues are typically 2% and are certainly below many of the alternative technologies. The product is in sync with the UK Government’s target of having no more than 10% of waste going to landfill by 2035 against the current rate of 24%.