NOVEMBER 2024 £3.50 YORKSHIRE & LINCOLNSHIRE’S LEADING BUSINESS MAGAZINE www.blmgroup.co.uk VOLUME 39 ISSUE 11 Promoting men’s health Clearing the lineTraining the internal teamFrom the Editor It’s hard to want to look at any news currently with every newspaper and site under the sun bemoaning a budget that has yet to come out. The budgets of the last few years have all been relatively painful, and most have failed to stimulate the kind of growth those delivering them espoused. That seems to be something people forget every time one comes around. Given the state of the economy, taxes will almost have to increase – and economists said this would be the reality no matter which party won the election. Here, in our region, businesses are caught in a strange state of perception it sometimes seems, with repeated surveys of business leaders reporting that “business confidence is high” and yet commentary from those same leaders later talking about how bad the economy is. It raises questions of how confident businesses are, and whether it’s a good rate of measurement at all since it’s in the best interests of a business for its leaders to fake confidence even – or especially – when they don’t feel it. In fact, this faking of confidence has led to the curious rise of “ghost jobs” in the UK, which are when companies promote fake jobs online and in print not with the aim of taking on new staff, but to make it “appear” as though the company is in a strong position of constant growth. Sometimes, they even exist to make current staff feel expendable and to imply that a person’s job could be at risk if they don’t perform well enough. Obviously, appearances are important in business and everyone is guilty of a little window-dressing to make things look better than they are. The same goes for political parties and budgets as well. However, if leaders aren’t honest when looking at the health of their business then it’s no different to lying to one’s doctor on a medical visit – it may make you look healthier than you are, but the consequences can be catastrophic. Better to be brutally honest, at least internally, and to look at what areas need to be improved to help a business, rather than exaggerate confidence to look good on a survey. Good reading, as always. Michael Fisher Editor Smarter, cleaner, greener. We keep world trade moving Clarksons is at the heart of global shipping Integrated service offering, powered by intelligence Tel: +44 1469 574649 enquiries.customs@clarksons.com www.clarksons.com Watch this space for exciting updatesNOVEMBER 2024 6 News The latest business news and success stories from around our region. 10 Commercial property With a major deal, plethora of lettings and new workspace coming on stream, Business Link highlights Yorkshire’s office market. 14 Manufacturing spotlight Line clearance is an overlooked part of processing, and one area in which vast efficiencies can be made. 18 Education and training Hiring is difficult right now, which is why internal training up of existing employees is the go-to option for businesses, especially in the worsening economic climate. 22 Materials handling The cost of materials handling accidents is high, as are the costs of recruitment and keeping staff. The region’s many distribution centres are having to contend with this and ever-increasing demand for their services. 25 Corporate hospitality Christmas parties are seen by some as a hassle and others as a necessary evil, but everyone knows there are risks involved when alcohol starts to flow. 28 Movember Movember is the leading charity changing the face of men’s physical and mental health, but they can’t do it alone. 32 Water and waste management As the population in the UK grows, water is becoming ever more important, and recent failures in water treatment and disposal have brought uncomfortable attention on the sector. While some businesses have been doing things the right way, others have prioritised profits over the environment – and been punished for it. 36 Business services Business services have focused on cutting costs and increasing efficiency for the longest time, but the introduction of AI is leading some to suggest a new direction is upon is. It’s not one without risk, however. 40 AutoLink As we move toward the end of 2024, it’s worth taking a look at the future to see what motors are being revealed and what we can look forward to seeing on our roads. • We take a look at the new Aston Martin Vanquish 46 Events We take a look at business events happening around Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. 50 And finally… Yorkshire-Lincolnshire- Business-Link @blmforum blmforum.net CONNECT WITH US 14 18 32Group Editor Steve Fisher (s.fisher@blmgroup.co.uk) Editor Michael Fisher (m.fisher@blmgroup.co.uk) Journalist Tess Egginton (t.egginton@blmgroup.co.uk) Editorial contact newsdesk@blmgroup.co.uk Tel: (01472) 310305 Fax: (01472) 310317 Sales Director Angela Cooper (a.cooper@blmgroup.co.uk) Tel: (01472) 310310 Accounts & Subscriptions Angela Sharman, John Downes Tel: (01472) 310301 Fax: (01472) 310311 Design & Production Gary Jorgensen, Mark Casson Tel: (01472) 310304 Fax: (01472) 310314 (studio@blmgroup.co.uk) E-Mail: yorks-lincs@blmgroup.co.uk Website www.blmforum.net Address Haychart Ltd, Armstrong House, Armstrong Street, Grimsby, N.E. Lincs., DN31 2QE. ISSN No: 1462-2092 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, photocopied, recorded or otherwise without express permission of the copyright holder, for which application should be addressed first to the publisher. While every reasonable care is taken, neither the publisher nor its participating agents accept liability for loss or damage to prints, colour transparencies, negatives or other material of whatever nature submitted to this publication. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily the views of those held by the publisher. COVER PHOTOS: ASTON MARTIN • STOCK.ADOBE.COM - LIA ARAMBURU • ANDREY POPOV • JDARIUS • SHUO 36Latest merger sees fast growing practice establish a greater presence in Yorkshire Streets Chartered Accountants has announced the establishment of Streets Spenser Wilson Chartered Accountants. The announcement follows the merger of the Halifax firm, Spenser Wilson with the fast-growing multi regional practice, Streets Chartered Accountants. This latest merger is one of more than five completed by Streets in the last six months and has seen the practice grow, now with more than 27 offices and fee income over £39 million. When asked about the merger, Chris Yewdall, Partner at Spenser Wilson Chartered Accountants, said: “Myself and fellow Partners Andrea Kennedy, Liz Short and Sally Shacklock are delighted to announce our merger with Streets and excited about the future for our team and our clients as we move forwards as part of the wider Streets team. The firm was founded in 1919 and over the years has grown into one of the leading accountancy firms in the town and wider region thanks to our strong reputation and excellent partner led service.” 6 Business Link www.blmforum.net NEWS Search is over for new owners of family business A longstanding family business that rents out plant and machinery to many of the biggest events in the UK, as well as providing industrial air compressor solutions to manufacturers and businesses across the country, is now owned by its employees, after transferring into an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT). William G Search Limited was established in Leeds in 1946 and employs a team of more than 120 people. Its clients include compressed air users, the construction industry and major outdoor events such as Leeds and Reading Festivals and Aintree Racecourse – where it has supplied equipment for the Grand National for almost 50 years. The firm was advised on its EOT by Cathy Cook from LCF Law. Richard William Search and his brother, Jamie have owned and run the business for the last 35 years. It was founded by their grandfather. Richard said: “When it came to succession planning, our children already have successful careers elsewhere, so we were keen to find the right way to secure the future of our firm for the people that matter the most – our team and our clients.” Prime Leeds industrial unit sells in £8.74m deal A prime, last-mile distribution warehouse that spans more than 100,000 sq ft just outside Leeds city centre has sold in an £8.74m investment deal. Unit 3 on Benyon Park Way, which is off Lowfields Road and close to Gelderd Road, has been sold by Alt, an online platform for investing in UK warehousing, and Inflection Real Estate to an institutional investor. Alt and Inflection were advised by Leeds property consultancy, GV&Co’s investment division and Southsea Capital acted for the buyer. The sale reflects a net initial yield of 6.75%. The building offers 105,768 sq ft of space, which includes more than 7,000 sq ft of office accommodation spread over two storeys. It sits in a large and fully secure site extending to 5.25 acres and is 1.5 miles from Leeds city centre and less than a mile from the M621. The whole site is let to Encon, the independent distributor of insulation materials, interior building products, fire protection and roofing materials. The company has occupied the building since 2008 and has a lease until 2028. Cathy Cook from LCF Law and Richard Search from William G Search Ltdwww.blmforum.net Business Link 7 NEWS Leeds intellectual property firm secures private equity investment CBPE has invested in HGF, the intellectual property (IP) firm. HGF specialises in the creation and management of IP portfolios for many of the world’s foremost companies and research institutions. Founded almost 30 years ago and headquartered in Leeds, HGF has demonstrated consistent growth year-on-year. The firm has expanded significantly, becoming the second-largest provider of IP services in the UK, with a growing presence across Europe, including the Netherlands, Germany, France, Switzerland and Ireland. The partnership with CBPE will allow HGF to accelerate its investment in people, technology and enhanced services. This collaboration will also facilitate a broader equity participation across the firm, reflecting HGF’s commitment to a culture of innovation and employee engagement. Martyn Fish, Partner, CEO, HGF, said: “This investment marks a significant opportunity for HGF and everyone in the team. I am thrilled with our decision to partner with CBPE to take the next step in our journey. Their culture and values are closely aligned with ours, and we share a common vision for the future of HGF.” Coney Street Riverside masterplan given approval in York Helmsley Group’s Coney Street Riverside masterplan has been given the green light. At a meeting of City of York Council’s planning committee, members commended Helmsley’s approach to community engagement, said its vision would revitalise a neglected area, and described the scheme as a “fantastic use of unused space.” Members voted both the masterplan planning application and a separate listed building application through with overwhelming majorities. The Coney Street Masterplan, led by the York-based property specialist, will see the creation of 250,000 sq ft of mixed-use retail, leisure, commercial and residential space. A riverside walkway will be established alongside nationally significant green and accessible public realm, both on the waterfront itself and also through the creation and rejuvenation of historic lanes and passageways between Coney Street and the River Ouse. Situated in York’s Central Conservation Area, the site consists of 19-33 Coney Street and 39 Coney Street to 2 Spurriergate and includes four listed buildings and two buildings of merit, and is in close proximity to a number of other listed buildings and buildings of importance. Mindtech raises over £4m to power the future of computer vision training Mindtech Global, the Sheffield-based company developing synthetic data to train AI vision systems, has secured £4.4m in a funding round led by Edge and including Mercia Ventures, which was investing from its own funds and the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund. The latest funding round will enable the company to further develop its technology, accelerate its presence in key markets including Japan, the US and Europe and continue its partnerships with industry leaders. Ashwin Kumaraswamy of Mercia Ventures said: “The world is on the verge of a major shift in uptake of AI in computer vision. However, there is a lack of datasets for real-world scenarios and for all eventualities, as they are hard to come by and aren’t GDPR compliant. “Mindtech is a leader in this emerging market and enables machines to be trained on synthetic datasets that are highly realistic, therefore it has the potential to be a key building block of vision AI infrastructure.” Steve Harris, Mindtech’s CEO, and Chris Longstaff, COO © stock.adobe.com/UrupongTOWER FIELD SERVICES Cat Tech Tower Field Services offers bespoke mechanical services to oil refinery and petrochemical plants all around the world. Our team has vast experience in overseeing and undertaking the installation of all types of Tower internals. Our Tower tray, packing and other internals installation services has deep roots, with several of the senior team at Cat Tech being involved in the founding of the Cana-Tex organisation. Since 1971, Cana-Tex had been the premier global Tower speciality contractor; performing Tower maintenance and plant turnaround projects around the world. These origins, with the addition of new team members, make Cat Tech Tower Field services a global operation which is both cost effective and technically experienced. We strive to create new ways to make your Tower work safer, faster and more productive and that can make very good things happen for your business. We thrive on exceeding our clients expectations and understand the need for upfront communication in relation to timescales and costs. No-one likes surprises in this industry and we ensure that everything is done, from pre-job planning, on site activities to post job reporting in a manner which allows our customers to concentrate on their core business. Let us show you what we can do. We work hard to maintain an industry reputation for safety, speed and dependability. Ours crews have been trained by us, this allows us to staff a project with the proven skills necessary to produce customer satisfaction. It is our intention to demonstrate the benefit of utilising Cat Tech for all of your Tower work. The benefits of engaging Cat Tech are: l Experienced Tower specialists. l Proven track record. l Ability to supply spares and replacements. l Spade to Spade service. l Revamps or modifications to Towers / Internals. l Inspection of Tower internals. l Supervision of external/client labour force. l Detailed inspection reports. l Cleaning of tower internals. l Reactor tray field services. l Turnkey reactor tray field services. At Cat Tech, we continue to create new ways to make Tower work safer, faster and more productive. And that can make very good things happen for your business. Contact us for further information. Our well established sales team have a wealth of experience. We take pride on ensuring all enquires are dealt with quickly and efficiently. China: Cat Tech Services (Shanghai) Ltd., Room 1230 No.1, 58 Nong Huachi Road, Putuo District, Shanghai 20061 CN Phone: +(86) 2152 9175 08 Fax: +(86) 2152 9175 05 Singapore: Cat Tech Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., 17 Fan Yoong Road, Singapore 629794 Phone: +(65) 6264 6261 Fax: +(65) 6264 6401 South America: Please contact the UK office on +44 1724 871 747 Thailand: Cat Tech Services (Thailand) Ltd., 2/1 Soi Banbon Nuenpayom Road, Maptaphut Sub District, Muang Rayong District, Rayong Province 21150 TH Phone: +(66) 894 064 100 Fax: +(66) 638 692 382 MAKING YOUR PLANT WORK… SMARTER www.cat-tech.com PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/KAWINNINGSEast Yorkshire fuel business Rix Petroleum has extended its services to domestic customers with the acquisition of a gas heating engineering business. Rix, which is part of 150 year old family business J.R. Rix & Sons Ltd, acquired Phoenix Heating Specialists, based on Staites Road, Preston, for an undisclosed sum. The move follows two other acquisitions in the domestic energy sector and completes the family company’s heating and plumbing services to residential customers across the region. Phoenix Heating Services will be rebranded as Rix Gas Services as part of the deal, and will join stablemates Rix Heating Services, Rix Electrical Services, and Rix Plumbing Services at their base in Bank Side, central Hull. Duncan Lambert, Managing Director of Rix Petroleum, said the acquisition would ‘future-proof’ the company’s domestic energy services, enabling the Group to install, service, and maintain oil, gas, electrical, and renewable-based heating systems. www.blmforum.net Business Link 9 NEWS Second letting for newly constructed Leeds Valley Park The second industrial letting has completed at the recently developed Leeds Valley Park. Located on Savannah Way, Stourton, Leeds Valley Park is owned by GMPF (Greater Manchester Pension Fund) who is advised by Catella APAM. Yorkshire-based Caddick has acted as both developer and contractor on the scheme, with Carter Towler, CBRE and Avison Young acting as joint agents. Commenting on the letting, Carter Towler’s industrial agency associate director Hazel Cooper said: “We are absolutely delighted that Leeds Valley Park is now 40% let. It is an excellent and much needed addition to the region’s mid- box warehouse and distribution property market. “It has been constructed to a very high quality by Caddick and we are already having advanced conversations with interested parties on the remaining units and will hopefully be able to announce the third letting soon.” Carter Towler has negotiated a 15-year lease deal with hardware distributor Decco for 47,000 sq ft of Unit 6. Decco are looking forward to expanding their operations in Leeds in their new premises. Decco were represented by Tom Goode of Knight Frank. This deal follows hot on the heels of the recently completed letting of 70,000 sq ft at Unit 2. Make UK acquires Sheffield-based legal practice Make UK has acquired fast-growing Sheffield-based legal practice Bhayani Law. As part of its portfolio of business services, Make UK is already one of the country’s foremost providers of employment law consultancy and advice to thousands of businesses across the UK, from FTSE100 companies and hallmark British brands through to innovative startups. For Make UK, this acquisition forms part of an ongoing strategy to strengthen and grow its employment law service regionally throughout the UK and to increase its customer base. This acquisition gives Bhayani Law access to a wide range of support and resources available from Make UK to grow their HR and employment law business to even more effectively support the business community in the South Yorkshire region. Matt Dixon (left), founder of Phoenix Heating Services, shakes hands with Duncan Lambert, Managing Director of Rix Petroleum Next >