Rapid growth in the pipeline for Yorkshire manufacturer
A specialist manufacturer is on track to double turnover within five years with a six-figure cash injection helping to turbocharge organic growth.
Wath Group is a designer and manufacturer of jet wash hoses, control equipment and cabling, and trace heating solutions. Founded in 1980, the family business has evolved from supplying primarily to the mining industry, to supporting a broad range of sectors including automotive, renewable energy, consumer electronics and pharmaceuticals.
Through its specialist safety and security brand, SecurEx, it also provides products for use in hazardous and explosive environments. And, it recently partnered with Hogen Systems to develop a pioneering Atmospheric Water Generator (AWG) that produces clean drinking water from the atmosphere.
A key local employer, it currently employs 40 staff at its HQ in Rotherham. Over the past few years, turnover has grown steadily from £2.6million in 2017, to £5million in 2021. And now, with the support of a £308,700 hire purchase facility from Lloyds Bank, Wath Group is investing in two new HAAS Machining Centres – highly-specialist automated cutting tools – and is on track to double turnover to £10million within five years.
Matt Bedford, director at Wath Group, said: “Over the last 40 years, Wath Group has transformed from a small supplier to a major producer. We pride ourselves on our adaptability, working to tailor and expand our offering to meet market demand and support a growing range of sectors – and this investment is the latest step in our expansion strategy.
“With the Bank’s support, we can continue to grow organically by bringing in new, state-of-the-art equipment and machinery to boost production across all of our core product ranges, as well as find new opportunities to innovate and partner with other organisations on ground-breaking projects.”
Ben Cutts, relationship director at Lloyds Bank, said: “Wath Group’s track record speaks for itself – it is a team that has never shied away from new avenues to growth, helping them remain a key player in a market that is constantly evolving.
“As their partners for over two decades now, we are excited to remain by their side in this next phase of expansion.”
The transaction was led by Ben Cutts and Lee Mcallister, regional manager at Lloyds Bank.
Sheffield’s £470m Heart of the City development scheme forging ahead
Progress on Sheffield’s £470m Heart of the City development scheme is forging ahead as a deal is agreed between Sheffield City Council and John Lewis and Partners following their decision to permanently close the Barker’s Pool store.
The site will play a central role in the development of the city centre, with public consultation on future uses set for the New Year.
A report on Heart of the City, which will be presented to the council’s Co-operative Executive committee on 15 December, highlights the rapid progress being made across the scheme, which is set to be completed in 2023 – with 40% of the development already complete and interest from commercial and leisure occupiers gaining significant momentum.
Construction on the new Radisson Blu hotel with rooftop bar continues at pace, with completion of the works expected in Summer 2023.
Alongside the hotel, preliminary work has also begun to revitalise the Gaumont Building, which is set to become a new leisure destination for the city, with a design that incorporates an innovative sustainable green ‘living’ wall.
Over on Pinstone Street, Isaacs Building and Burgess House are the next two major developments set to open in February next year – offering high-quality homes and workspace. Around half of the apartments in Burgess House have already been sold, with new commercial tenants expected to move into the 38,000 sq ft of office space available.
A deal is also close to being finalised underneath Telephone House, where the positive design changes – including the car park’s striking new cladding – are expected to result in the leasing of 15,000 sq ft to an exciting leisure tenant – opening in Spring 2022.
These forthcoming tenants will join the operators already appointed on the developments on Cambridge Street; Cambridge Street Collective and Leah’s Yard.
Cambridge Street Collective will be run by The Milestone Group, who will deliver a food hall and fine-dining venue, and Leah’s Yard will be run by Tom Wolfenden, who manages Sheffield Technology Park, and James O’Hara of the Rockingham Group.
Plans for Leah’s Yard, which will see the creation of a local hub for creative businesses and independent retailers, were approved last month with support from Historic England. Both Leah’s Yard and Cambridge Street Collective will open in 2023.
The report also confirms that agreement has been reached with John Lewis & Partners, following their decision to permanently close the Barker’s Pool department store. The retailer will pay £5 million to the council to surrender their current lease and obligations, which was due to continue until 2040. The payment will be used towards the future redevelopment of the site.
Councillor Mazher Iqbal, Executive Member for City Futures, Development, Culture and Regeneration, at Sheffield City Council, said: “It’s great news that an agreement has now been reached with John Lewis with no cost impact to the city. We now have full ownership of the Barker’s Pool building and site, and importantly, its future is now in the hands of Sheffield.
“It is an anchor site within the Heart of the City masterplan, with so much potential and the Council is one hundred percent committed to creating something special that the city can be proud of.
“Earlier this year, we instructed sector experts Fourth Street, Queensberry and Arup, to start to examine the condition of the building, as well analyse the costs, market interest and sustainability of all of the available options for the building. In the new year we’ll be launching a consultation to find out what the people of Sheffield think about the future of this important site in the city centre and what they’d like to see.
“There have been some really exciting developments on Heart of the City this year, we’re really seeing it take shape now, the vision coming together, and there’s more to come in 2022 – it’s a great time to be living, working in and visiting Sheffield.”
Andrew Davison, Project Director at Queensberry, said: “Letting interest in Heart of the City continues to accelerate with several key lettings in various buildings across the scheme currently being finalised with details to be shared in the new year.
“The retail market is extremely challenging at the moment and is not isolated to Sheffield. National retailers continue to be cautious, with many understandably keen to see completed schemes before committing. However, we are extremely confident that the high-quality leisure and commercial occupiers we have secured to the city centre will continue to act as a huge catalyst in attracting exciting new retail brands.”
Barnsley Property Investment Fund set to further boost economic growth
Barnsley Council will launch the third stage of the Property Investment Fund scheme to help boost further economic growth in Barnsley.
Stage three of the scheme follows on from the success of the first phases, which started back in 2014 and has created over 400,000 sq ft of commercial property, providing jobs across the borough. This scheme has worked with local property developers and succeeded in attracting major global companies to the area while also supporting local businesses to expand.
Despite the impact of the pandemic, Barnsley is experiencing some of the highest ever levels of uptake for commercial property. The PIF scheme will make sure there is a future supply of suitable business premises.
The formal launch of the scheme will be on Thursday 9 December. The first stage will allow property developers to submit their applications.
Cllr Tim Cheetham, Cabinet Spokesperson for Place, said, “It is extremely positive news that our successful PIF scheme will launch its third phase.
“It shows that by having those long-term plans and funding in place for commercial developments, we have continued to attract businesses and create jobs.
“As part of our vision for 2030, economic growth in Barnsley is a key priority, and PIF3 will help us to secure future investment and support our Jobs and Business Plan to attract 1,600 new businesses by 2033.”
2022 Business Predictions: Mandy Watson, MD at Ambitions Personnel
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 Mandy Watson, MD at Ambitions Personnel, a recruitment expert headquartered in Lincoln.
2021 has been somewhat of a hangover from the events of 2020. 2022 will be slightly different, but we envisage staff and skills shortages will continue as the unpredictability carries on.
The realities of the issues associated with this are yet to be really perceived by the public. As a result of labour shortages, some employers may have to reign in their product range or level of services.
Consumers may well have to accept a more limited array of products to choose from than they are used to and less chance to enjoy perks like same day or next day deliveries. Fulfilment may well be an issue.
Employers will also have to continue to increase offerings, although possibly not salaries as these have already been pushed to the limit of what firms are comfortable and able to pay. This is where working conditions and other benefits become important. Therefore, employer branding is more important than ever and those who are simply returning to a ‘business as usual’ model pre-pandemic might find themselves the ones not able to attract talent.
As a recruitment operator in the East Midlands, we are already seeing businesses who don’t believe the labour market will become favourable again, they are turning to automation as the solution and we could expect to see a gradual reduction in the demand for low-skilled positions in the longer term.
Clarion helps fire up Yorkshire’s space strategy
With the UK well positioned to take advantage of the growing space industry, a new Yorkshire initiative, Space Hub Yorkshire, is working to bring together the public and private sector and academic organisations to attract Space technology opportunities to the region in order to boost investment and job creation.
Law firm Clarion, which is well versed in market disruption and change dynamics, recently hosted a roundtable event at its offices in Leeds. Leading regional stakeholders heard about the developments in this emerging sector and Mandy Ridyard, chair of Space Hub Yorkshire (SHY), shared the body’s strategy for the region.
Mandy, who is also finance director of West Yorkshire-based precision engineering business Produmax, explained how SHY, supported by the UK Space Agency, was working with businesses, regional Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPS), Yorkshire Universities and research and educational institutions to capitalise on the region’s strengths and assets in the Space sector.
By 2030, the UK space sector is forecast to be worth £40 billion – as well as driving significant investment and job opportunities, Space technology is also expected to bring digital transformation for businesses across many sectors.
Mandy explained: “Although not well known, Yorkshire has a Space heritage – from its history of world-class manufacturing and engineering to the first British female astronaut, Helen Sharman, having hailed from Sheffield. After carrying out an extensive Space cluster mapping exercise across the region, we believe SHY can help to accelerate the development of a thriving, resilient and well-connected ecosystem to ensure Yorkshire can capitalise on the opportunities Space can bring.
“With four LEPs in Yorkshire, 6% of all UK companies and 200k university students, the region is in a strong position to build our capabilities in British Space development. Already, there are over 350 Yorkshire businesses that have been identified as being relevant to the Space industry and there is huge potential for growth. We believe Space technology will act as a catalyst for innovation in business too – our vision is to leverage the region’s space assets and unlock Space for the people and businesses of Yorkshire.”
Other speakers at the event included Colin Baldwin, Head of Local Growth Strategy at UK Space Agency, who discussed how the organisation plans to deliver the Government’s vision to build one of the most innovative and attractive Space economies in the world and its commitment to developing clusters of regional excellence.
Glenn McCauley and Ruth Amey from the University of Leeds highlighted the initiatives that SHY were implementing as part of the development of a virtual Space Campus to improve collaboration between academia, FE Colleges, and the private sector in relation to the innovation and skills agenda.
Finally, Angela Stalker, HR director and colleague Brett Sturrock, Recruitment Manager for Teledyne Technologies, the Shipley-based defence and space business, explained some of the challenges facing the sector, particularly in recruiting specialist engineers. Angela said that working with the region’s universities to develop relevant skillsets, and increasing diversity in the sector, would play a key role going forward.
Clarion director Steve Crow, who chaired the roundtable, commented: “There’s no doubt that the growth of the Space sector represents a huge opportunity for the region. We have a wealth of talent here across our universities, businesses and support bodies and it’s fantastic that an organisation like SHY is leading the charge. By joining forces and collaborating, we will be better placed to take advantage of investment opportunities in areas such as manufacturing, earth observation, internet connectivity, data services, robotics and low-cost access to space.
“A thriving economy needs innovation and we believe that the focus on developing space technology can really help to drive this. SHY will be able to play a vital role in helping businesses navigate their way through and identify both opportunities to support the space initiative, and also ways in which some of these innovations can benefit their own operation.”
To find out more about future space technology events, contact alanta.foley@clarionsolicitors.com or to find out more about SHY, visit spacehubyorkshire.org
First glimpse of new multi-million pound Leeds development
Homebuyers, investors and the people of Leeds have been given their first glimpse of a new £23.5 million city centre apartment development, after its scaffolding and site hoardings were taken down as the scheme approaches completion.
This follows last month’s topping out of The Residence, which sits at the very eastern end of Kirkstall Road. The development by KMRE Group, consists of 111, one, two and three bedroom apartments, as well as two penthouses with large terraces and views across Leeds and beyond. The ground floor of the development offers 2,400 sq ft of commercial space and there are also 25 parking spaces.
More than two thirds of the homes in the 10-storey building, which are being marketed by Linley & Simpson with Morgans, are already reserved.
Kam Mogul, Managing Director at KMRE, said: “The Residence is progressing well and the topping out of the development, as well as the scaffolding and site hoarding removal, are significant milestones that have given people their first opportunity to see how our landmark building looks. The response from both our buyers and the Leeds community, has been extremely positive.
“The Residence will be the first development to complete on the Kirkstall Road corridor, which will soon benefit from hundreds of millions of pounds worth of investment and development that will create thousands of new homes and a vibrant community in the area. We’re extremely proud to be setting a benchmark with The Residence for surrounding developments to follow.”
Senior lawyer reappointed to STEP board
Private client lawyer Amanda Simmonds has been re-elected as a director of the board of STEP, the worldwide body for professionals helping families plan for their futures.
Amanda is a senior associate solicitor with Yorkshire law firm Lupton Fawcett where she heads the firm’s Business Families team.
She provides legal advice on all aspects of private client work including: wills, trusts and estates; Lasting Powers of Attorney; Court of Protection; and personal tax planning advice particularly to families who hold interests in family-run businesses.
STEP is regarded as the gold standard for anyone undertaking private client advice. STEP members are lawyers, accountants, financial advisors and other professionals.
Amanda is deputy worldwide chair of STEP and one of only eight STEP board members. The board is responsible for the strategic direction of STEP, and Amanda will serve a second term of three years.
Amanda said: “In my role as a board director, I have enjoyed contributing to the future shape and development of STEP which is a highly respected, global and multi-disciplinary professional body.
“Many members of Lupton Fawcett’s private client team are members of STEP as we recognise its commitment to promoting high professional standards among trust and estate practitioners.”
One year on: How EMIS has powered 75 million Covid-19 vaccinations
One year on from the first Covid-19 vaccination (8 December 2020), EMIS has helped to power and record more than 75 million vaccinations in England.
EMIS was the first UK health-tech provider to launch a clinical software system that could support the NHS in mobilising the largest vaccination programme in its history.
With 98.9 million doses administered in England so far, EMIS has supported 77 per cent of all vaccinations.
For the first seven months of the programme EMIS remained the only provider of the technology needed to drive and record vaccinations within GP practices, pharmacies and mass vaccination centres across England.
Richard Jarvis, chief technology officer of EMIS said: “I’m incredibly proud of what the EMIS team has been able to deliver over the last 12-months and how it continues to support the NHS in the largest vaccination programme on record.
“When the NHS asked for our help we mobilised a programme to support them. The team worked extremely hard to develop a point of care system that could be ready by day one of the vaccination roll-out.”
Richard Jarvis, chief technology officer of EMIS
“It’s now a year since the first vaccination was given and it’s rewarding to see how that hard work has helped so many millions of people in England.”
The software, which was delivered within an impressive eight-week timeframe and continues to evolve through the roll-out of the booster vaccination drive, was built using the IT system Outcomes4Health.
Outcomes4Health was developed by Pinnacle, a company acquired by EMIS Group in early 2020 to record clinical services provided by community pharmacies, including the annual flu vaccination programme.
For each of the 75 million vaccinations recorded to date through Outcomes4Health, the patient record is collated and shared through interoperability to the National Immunisation Management System (NIMS) and GP clinical systems within a matter of hours. It then appears for patients to see via the NHS app and Patient Access.
In addition to helping mobilise the Covid-19 vaccination programme, EMIS also played a vitally important role in the research which identified the 1.5 million people most at risk from the disease and who should be prioritised for early vaccination. This research also raised public awareness of key Covid-19 risk factors such as age, ethnicity and body mass index, as well as certain medical conditions and treatments.
Through Outcomes4Health EMIS also helped to administer over 2.2m flu vaccinations in England during 2020.
CapVest’s Inspired Pet Nutrition acquires super-premium pet food company Pet Food UK from Piper
Founded in 2009, Pet Food UK sells high quality and distinctively branded premium dog and cat pet food and treats in the UK and internationally. Its key brands, “Barking Heads” for dogs and “Meowing Heads” for cats, are predominantly premium natural pet food ranges formulated with the highest quality ingredients. The brands are synonymous with quirky names such as ‘Fat Dog Slim’ and ‘So-fish-ticated Salmon’, highly distinctive packaging, and strong consumer loyalty. In 2014, PFUK introduced the “AATU” brand, an uber-premium product following the 80/20 rule (80% meat, 20% vegetables), which was the world’s first single protein source dry pet food.
IPN, best known for its high-quality natural dog meals and pet treats under the “Harringtons” and “Wagg” brands, was acquired byinternational investment firm and buy-and-build specialist CapVest in December 2020. The acquisition of PFUK is the start of an ambitious growth strategy, which will see IPN build scale and internationalise over the coming years.
James Lawson, CEO of IPN, said: “We are very excited to acquire PFUK, which is highly complementary to our business and our values. This acquisition is consistent with our vision to create a unique portfolio of loved and sustainable pet care brands helping make quality pet care affordable and accessible to all. PFUK brings to IPN highly recognised super and uber-premium brands with a strong digital presence to augment our strong product portfolio and distribution channels. We are impressed by the great progress of PFUK in recent years and we look forward to welcoming the team and further supporting the company to continue to grow.”
Kate Briant, CapVest Partner said: “Pet Food UK is a fantastic addition to IPN which helps broaden and supplement our offering. It adds high quality brands to the portfolio, creates access to new segments and geographies and unlocks more distribution channels to further enhance our growth prospects. We are very pleased to support IPN with its first step in what we hope will be an active acquisition-led growth strategy.”
Piper Investment Director, Rory Gibbs, said: “We are very proud of the team we helped to build at Pet Food UK. Through our partnership with them we were able to deliver significant growth, doubling sales and developing the brand into a digital first business. At investment only 10% of sales in the UK came from digital channels. This has increased to nearly 60%, with 30% of revenue coming from international markets. The interest in Pet Food UK is testimony to the appeal of its brands (Barking Heads, Meowing Heads and AATU), the quality of its pet food and the work done in recent years to build a loyal customer base. We are delighted to see Pet Food UK join IPN, who share its values and commitment to the high-standards of product quality, innovation and sustainability, and we know the company and its brands will continue to flourish under their ownership.”
Completion of the transaction is subject to conditions, and it is expected that the transaction will be completed in the coming weeks.
IPN was advised by DLA Piper (legal), OC&C (commercial) and KPMG (finance & tax).
Piper and the other selling shareholders of Pet Food UK were advised by Houlihan Lokey (Corporate Finance) and Womble Bond Dickinson (Legal).
Ripon Farm Services wins prestigious international award
Ripon Farm Services (RFS), the agricultural suppliers, has scooped a prestigious international marketing award.
RFS has won the 2021 Best Brand Ambassador category in the inaugural Kramer Digital Dealer awards.
The company, based in Dallamires Lane in the city, defeated short-listed competitors from Spain and the Ukraine to win the award.
This is the first time that Kramer, the German manufacturer of compact construction machines such as wheel loaders, has held these Digital Dealer awards.
Geoff Brown, Managing Director of Ripon Farm Services, said: “We are immensely proud and honoured to have won this very special award. Our success is due to an excellent relationship with Kramer and the quality of their machines, together with our hard-working and dedicated staff, who promote the Kramer brand so effectively.
“Kramer is now an absolutely crucial part of our business – indeed they are now second only to John Deere in volume of sales. Their machines, from small wheel loaders for the Dales farmer to the biggest telescopic handler, are increasingly popular at our working demonstrations, open days and shows.”
Ian Moverley, sales manager for Kramer in the UK, said: “Ripon Farm Services are worthy winners of the Best Brand Ambassador award. Their sales team consistently go the extra mile with their marketing activities to promote Kramer and their commitment and dedication to our brand is exceptional.
“RFS were one of the first dealers in the UK to be appointed by Kramer back in 2017 and the growth is sales has been continuous from the very start. They have been successful in selling the whole range of our machines since then, with focussed and effective promotions and marketing.”
Ripon Farm Services are one of the biggest employers in the Ripon area, with some 260 staff and an annual turnover of more than £100 million. The company has 11 depots and groundscare machinery departments as well as three Ifor Williams trailer dealerships and a newly opened vehicle Paint and Body facility.
