A new £1bn fund to help hospitality businesses through tough trading conditions has been announced by Government. North Lincolnshire Council’s leader Rob Waltham has welcomed the measures, announced by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak MP, which will see businesses access up to £6,000. Cllr Waltham said: “There are many positive things happening across the economy in North Lincolnshire with a record number of jobs being created. “However, we do understand there are some sectors which face additional challenges and pressures not least because of the impact of Covid-19. This has been recognised nationally and I welcome this latest intervention to support businesses through difficult trading. “We have had more than £200m from Government through the pandemic and that support continues now.” Sunak set out measures to help England’s hospitality sector, unveiling the £1bn fund which will include cash grants of up to £6,000 per premises for each eligible firm. Additional support will be made available for certain firms with the cost of sick pay for Covid-related absences and an extra £30m will be released to help theatres and museums. Further details for how business can apply will be released in the coming days. The cash has been welcomed elsewhere too. Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UK Hospitality, told the BBC her organisation welcomed the “unprecedented support” announced by Mr Sunak. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak said: “We recognise that the spread of the Omicron variant means businesses in the hospitality and leisure sectors are facing huge uncertainty, at a crucial time. “So, we’re stepping in with £1 billion of support, including a new grant scheme, the reintroduction of the Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme and further funding released through the Culture Recovery Fund. “Ultimately the best thing we can do to support businesses is to get the virus under control, so I urge everyone to Get Boosted Now.” Further details are available here

North Lincolnshire housing provider Ongo has built a total of 78 homes across the region for affordable rent, shared ownership, rent to buy and outright sale this year, along with acquiring 111 properties in Lincoln. This is part of their plan to increase our housing stock each year, to support ending the national housing crisis and create safe and thriving communities. Myos House, Ongo’s dementia care scheme, was just one of the developments completing this year. It’s made up of 25 two-bedroom apartments and specially designed communal spaces for residents to socialise and relax. Sharon Ross, a family member whose parent lives there said: “I think this a fantastic, lovely and peaceful place Ongo has created. “It’s going to help families as those with dementia will be able to experience activities, mix with others and have people who they can relate to. The research Ongo has done is fantastic and they have made the scheme look beautiful.” A further 19 two, three and four-bedroom homes handed over on Froddingham Road in Scunthorpe for affordable rent. They are located in Scunthorpe’s town centre so are close to shops, schools, travel links and amenities. Daniel Richardson moved into his new home with partner Sarah and their nine-month old daughter in May. When asked about his new home he said:  “It’s a great opportunity for us – not only is it spacious and has a nice garden to sit and play in, but it’s very close to where I work and we have family support nearby. “It didn’t take us long to settle in, it’s absolutely fantastic being here and having caring neighbours has been a big plus point.” Completing were also six homes for sale in Corringham, two homes at Rochdale Mews for rent to buy and one at Orangeleaf Way, Barton upon Humber for shared ownership. Further sites included nine homes at Maple Close, Kirton in Lindsey, eight homes at Sycamore Court, Scunthorpe, six homes at Northolme View, Gainsborough, one at Wilson’s Close, and one at Cottage Beck Road, Scunthorpe. All were for affordable rent. Along with building, in September this yea,r Ongo announced our purchase of 111 homes on an estate in the centre of Lincoln, to join their affordable rent, shared ownership and leaseholder tenants. Martin Phillips, Development Project Manager here at Ongo said: “Over 180 new homes is just fantastic. That’s 180 families that have a safe and lovely place to live, so I couldn’t be prouder of all we have achieved this year. “Of course our aim is to build hundreds of homes each year, so we can’t wait for some more great developments to be handed over the next 12 months. These will include more around Scunthorpe, Gainsborough and Doncaster too.” To find out more about Ongo’s homes and new developments, visit www.ongo.co.uk

Audience Collective, the insight-driven group of specialist agencies, which has headquarters in Leeds, has acquired digital transformation agency, Boxharry to meet increasing client demand. Boxharry designs, builds, upgrades and supports tech platforms to unleash the potential of existing digital infrastructures. The Brighton-based digital specialist is the eighth independent agency to join the UK collective, which now includes over 190 experts across the UK and Ireland – from PR and content specialist, The Lucre Group, to brand communications agency, Ponderosa, as well as media strategy specialist Crunch, and market research and insight agency, Spark. Steve Henry, group CEO at The Audience Collective, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Boxharry into Audience Collective. As we continue to expand our breadth of knowledge and expertise, their talented teams’ capabilities allow us to dive deeper into the digital transformation world, which is an area of great challenge for all businesses within the UK at present. Audience Collective is going from strength to strength and this year we have set the foundations for an incredibly exciting 2022.” Simon Brooks, Managing Director at Boxharry, added: “For almost 20 years we have been creating digital products by hand, using the latest technology for clients all around the world. Our ethos of creating products with the utmost precision and care has allowed us to develop an outstanding portfolio of clients around the world – including The AA, Carers UK and LeasePlan. “Joining Audience Collective will allow us to further expand our client base and gain support from other teams in the Collective. We are so excited to be onboard and take the next step in our future.” Richard Midgley, group strategy director at The Audience Collective, stated: “The addition of Boxharry is a strategic acquisition; the agency’s expertise really strengthens Audience Collective’s specialisms. Their .Net development deepens our capabilities in the areas of systems integration and implementation of CRM systems such as Salesforce, HubSpot and Dimensions, which will be beneficial for both the Collective and our clients. Many businesses are interested in integrating their technology platforms, so Boxharry will be an integral component in Audience Collective’s future success.”

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 David Armitage, chairman of York Handmade Brick, the independent brickmaker in the north of England. These are challenging times but I am confident we can maintain the progress we made this year, despite Covid-19 and the uncertainly caused by Brexit, in 2022. We are flourishing in commercial property and education sectors, whilst residential housing, which has been our staple for a number of years, remains strong. In these testing times, it is vital to spread our work across as many different markets as possible. It is also important to be optimistic. I have been in the brick industry for many years and have seen the peaks and troughs. The signs are that the economy is bouncing back and, when it does, I trust that the housing, construction and manufacturing sectors will be in the vanguard of the recovery. Despite rising inflation, which I hope is temporary, it is important to keep interest rates low. High-profile contracts that we have either started or completed during the past 12 months include Mount Row, a mixed-use development in the heart of Mayfair; a prestigious residential housing development at Kings Cross; and a new library of Magdalene College, Cambridge. Looking ahead more generally, it is encouraging to report that brick remains the building material of choice for many architects and specifiers across the UK. Provided the economy doesn’t implode, we anticipate a very successful and enjoyable 2022. We particularly value the contacts we have built up in the last 33 years with architects, planners, self-builders and developers. We look forward to continuing those relationships in the years to come.

Business confidence in Yorkshire rose four points during December to 35%, according to the latest Business Barometer from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking. Companies in Yorkshire reported lower confidence in their own business prospects month-on-month, down two points at 26%. However, when taken alongside their optimism in the economy, up nine points to 43%, this gives a headline confidence reading of 35%. The Business Barometer, which questions 1,200 businesses monthly, provides early signals about UK economic trends both regionally and nationwide. The survey captured responses between 26th November and 10th December. The first two cases of Omicron in the UK were confirmed on 27th November and nations began announcing the reintroduction of restrictions in the week commencing 6th December. A net balance of 37% of businesses in the region expect to increase staff levels over the next year, up seven points on last month. Overall UK business confidence was unchanged from November’s reading at 40%. While confidence remained above the long-term average (28%), during the second week of sampling when the Omicron variant emerged, confidence fell to 32%. Despite potential challenges from the new Covid-19 variant on the horizon, firms remained positive about their future trading prospects, up four points month-on-month to 43%. The net balance of businesses planning to create new jobs also increased by three points to 33%. Optimism in the economy overall remained positive at 38%, down just three points on November’s result. Every UK nation and region maintained a positive overall confidence reading in the December barometer, with four reporting a higher reading than last month. Alongside Yorkshire, the North East (up 13 points to 58%), North West (up 14 points to 48%) and East of England (up 12 points to 50%) all had stronger confidence readings month-on-month, with the North East and London (57%) the most optimistic overall. Steve Harris, regional director for Yorkshire at Lloyds Bank, said: “The resilience of businesses across Yorkshire is clear from this month’s figures. Despite ongoing uncertainty caused by Omicron and wider challenges in the economy, such as trade disruption and rising costs, many firms said they were optimistic about the future. “The coming weeks will be difficult to navigate for some, especially those in our region’s hospitality and leisure industries, but whatever the future brings we remain committed to supporting the region’s businesses as they look ahead to 2022.” In the industry sectors, construction recovered to 39% from November’s seven-month low of 28%, following a minor easing in supply-chain disruptions. Despite a slight fall in confidence in manufacturing to 40%, trading prospects in the sector have remained higher than the whole economy throughout this year. There were also small declines for retail (43%) and services (39%) ahead of the festive period. There have been some marked differences in these sectors in recent months, with notable strengths in the professional services sector (including finance) and in IT/communications. However, the current three-month average sentiment among hospitality firms is at its lowest level (24%) since the first quarter of the year (4%). This has been fuelled by a significant monthly drop of 48 points to 6% between November and December. Hann-Ju Ho, senior economist, Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, said: “It is a challenging end to 2021 as businesses are now having to adapt to the new Omicron variant and resultant restrictions across the UK. Nevertheless, business confidence remains resilient and above the long-term average due to a rise in trading prospects, while pay and price expectations continue to be elevated. “Businesses face into a number of headwinds and challenging trading conditions, including higher interest rates, as we move into 2022, but many remain resilient and hopeful that acute downside risks are not realised.”