Australian property company Pexa has chosen West Yorkshire as the base for a pilot working group initiative to streamline property sales.

The Future Property Transactions Group brings together stakeholders from across the market to accelerate the transformation and improvement of the UK home buying and selling process.

The Group wants to drive collaboration between key property market stakeholders in the region, including Leeds Building Society, Legal & General, West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Mortgage Advice Bureau, and Arch Law, as well as the Open Property Data Association to help make the property transaction process more efficient and seamless for all.

Hosting its inaugural meeting as part of Leeds Digital Festival, the initiative seeks to draw the best from the region’s key strengths in the financial, legal and property sectors, promising to enhance efficiency, reduce cost, save time, and cut the risk of fraud.

Joe Pepper, PEXA UK CEO, said: “PEXA’s mission is to help address the current issues within the property market. Transactions are often inefficient because of the siloed nature of each stage of the journey and, with an overarching view of the process and the proven ability to develop and implement technology to help drive change, we are in a prime position to help bring all stakeholders together and enable better collaboration to ease the issues being faced across the board. The launch of the Future Property Transaction Group supports this aim and we are excited to see the results it delivers for all.”

Richard Fearon, Chief Exec of Leeds Building Society, said:“Our purpose is to put home ownership within reach of more people. We welcome the launch of this group and look forward to working closely with others to create a quicker and simpler process that our members could benefit from.”

Luceco, the supplier of wiring accessories, EV chargers, LED lighting, and portable power products, has acquired CMD Limited, the manufacturer of wiring accessories for the workplace, through the acquisition of its ultimate parent company, Baltic Topco Limited, from Rubicon Partners and management for cash consideration of £30m.

CMD, founded in 1984, designs and manufactures a comprehensive range of wiring accessories for commercial premises. Products include under-floor and under-desk power distribution solutions, on-desk and in-desk sockets, and a range of ergonomic products including the award-winning Miro monitor support arm.

CMD has an experienced senior management team which will remain with the business, continuing to operate from its headquarters in Rotherham.

For the audited 12-month period ended 31 December 2023 CMD reported revenue of £23.1m and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of £4m.

John Hornby, Chief Executive Officer of Luceco, said: “Luceco has a well-established position as a leading supplier of wiring accessories to the residential market in the UK so CMD, with its leading position in the commercial wiring accessories market, is a very natural fit.

“The Group’s expertise in product development, manufacturing and sourcing will enable us to accelerate range innovation and improve margins for CMD. We also see an opportunity to offer Luceco’s professional lighting range to CMD’s customer base of specifiers and contractors. The acquisition is in line with our M&A strategy and follows the successful acquisition of D-Line earlier in the year.”

Jon Holding, Managing Director of CMD, said: “CMD has been successful over many years thanks to its hard-won reputation for consistently delivering excellent customer service.  The management team and I are excited for the next chapter and look forward to growing the business with Luceco behind us.”

PMC manufactures highly specialised components for use in safety-critical subsea and surface flow control applications, serving global oil and gas OEM customers through its Al-Met, Roota Engineering and Martract operations in the UK.

PMC was identified as non-core by Pressure Technologies, with a shift in strategic focus to the development and growth of the Group’s principal division, Chesterfield Special Cylinders (CSC).

The sale simplifies the corporate structure of the Group and leaves CSC as its only operating business. The Board is now focused strategically on the development and growth of CSC in defence and hydrogen energy markets and in through-life Integrity Management services.

Chris Walters, Chief Executive of Pressure Technologies plc, said: “We are delighted to announce the sale of PMC to Raghu Vamsi Machine Tools and look forward to seeing the continued progress of the business under its new ownership, where plans for strategic development and growth present exciting opportunities for the combined businesses, their global customers and their employees.

“The completion of this strategic divestment will allow us to focus our resources on the development and growth of Chesterfield Special Cylinders in defence and hydrogen energy markets and in the provision of through-life inspection, testing and recertification services over the medium and longer term.”

Vamsi Vikas Ganesula, Managing Director of Raghu Vamsi Machine Tools, said: “We are delighted with the strategic acquisition of the PMC business from Pressure Technologies.  The respected brands of Al-Met, Roota Engineering and Martract will complement our existing engineering businesses and deliver strong operational and commercial synergies as we continue to expand our international footprint.

“We are very excited by the opportunities presented in the global oil and gas market with the blue chip customer base of PMC and will now work closely with our new colleagues in the UK to develop the long-term manufacturing capability and reach of our combined businesses.”