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Foundations laid for strong 2022 for Edgefold Holmes

Sam Whitear
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Bolton based Edgefold Homes has welcomed two new senior staff appointments as it breaks ground at a site in Cheshire.

Charlie Welsby has joined the company as Site Manager for a new development of seven luxury homes in Dunham Massey while Steven Bowen has joined the team as Senior Quantity Surveyor working across Edgefold’s portfolio of sites.

The two appointments and the new development has led to a positive start for 2022. The housebuilder began work on its Barns Lane scheme in Dunham Massey in early January and Charlie Welsby joined the company in December as Site Manager to lead the project.

He brings with him more than 20 years’ experience in the construction industry and he is relishing the opportunity to work at Edgefold Homes and take charge of the site. He said:

“After working as Contracts Manager across lots of different sites for many years I am delighted to have made the move to this new position.

“I was approached by management in late 2021 and I had heard a lot of fantastic things about Edgefold Homes.

“The biggest draw for me was to be able to concentrate fully on one site and ensure that the process runs as smoothly as possible and the team has been really welcoming.”

Charlie’s appointment comes following the arrival of Steven Bowen as Senior Quantity Surveyor in late 2021.

His responsibilities include overseeing all costs across Edgefold’s portfolio of sites to ensure that targets are met and exceeded.

After ten years in the construction sector, he was looking for an opportunity to work with a team that understands that price is not the only element when it comes to choosing contractors and suppliers.

He said: “I am lucky to have worked at companies of all different sizes during my career as it gave me the opportunity to decide what was important to me as an individual.

“After meeting with the management team at Edgefold I knew that they shared my vision for quality and good service, so it was a natural fit.

“The mix of office and onsite working means that no two days are the same and I am really excited about the developments I am working on.”

Edgefold Homes’ Barns Lane development will offer seven large, individual properties with elegant traditional external detailing matched with a high-quality internal specification.

The location offers countryside living close to Hale and Altrincham centres.

Jack Seddon, who is Construction Director at Edgefold Homes is looking forward to a successful 2022. He said: “We are absolutely delighted to welcome Charlie and Steven.

“Not only do they both bring a wealth of experience, but they share the ethos and values of Edgefold Homes, which is absolutely vital to us as a business.

“We have all been very impressed with the way they have integrated into the team and they have hit the ground running, which is brilliant.

‘We’re really enthusiastic about the future and it is great to see that our newest development, Barns Lane, is up and running.”

Ex-Buro Four’s Eleanor Binns leads trio of New Appointments at fast-growing Place Capital Group

Sam Whitear
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Place Capital Group, the estate regeneration specialist set up by David Smith-Milne in 2021, has announced a trio of new recruits to support its growing project and development pipeline, taking headcount to 29

Leading the expansion is Eleanor Binns who has joined as Project Director. Eleanor has previously spent 16 years with Project Management specialists, Buro Four, where she was Project Director working from their Manchester Office. Amongst Eleanor’s projects whilst with Buro Four were the Manchester Engineering Campus Development (MECD) and Gorton Monastery, where she was lead project director.

Eleanor joins Place Capital Group to head up the company’s project delivery and will lead the implementation and delivery of all of PCG’s major projects. These include the regeneration of the Shadsworth estate in Blackburn, a second major estate due to be announced soon, and increasing number of direct development projects that the business is now starting to target.

Commenting on her appointment, Eleanor said: “PCG has a unique take on the country’s affordable housing challenge, seeing potential for new, lower cost homes on our ageing, often unloved former Council estates, whilst lifting those estates through expert place making. Not only does this innovation excite me, the culture and values that the business brings to the market were exactly aligned with where I wanted to be.”

Ben Burton also joins as a Development Manager from City of York Council’s zero carbon homes programme. He supported the start-up of the 600-home programme and was development manager for two of the largest zero carbon homes sites in the UK (Duncombe Barracks and Burnholme). He was also involved in the development of extra care housing, sports facilities and community facilities, including the Burnholme Health and Wellbeing campus and Lowfield Green.

Finally, Jamie Pratt joins the team as a paid Intern. He was previously in the Royal Marines before being medically discharged through injury. He is a second-year student of Building Surveying at The University of Salford.

Commenting on the growth, which takes the number of the group’s employees to 29 based in in its HQ in Castlefield, Manchester and in London, Chief Executive David Smith-Milne said:
“We are lucky to have found three highly talented, and exceptional individuals, in what is a tight recruitment market. The new team members join our fast growing business which is expanding through recent acquisitions and new and interesting project wins across the UK.”

PRAETURA KICKSTARTS 2022 WITH £18.5M TO SUPPORT THE GROWTH AMBITIONS OF UK SMES

Sam Whitear
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Praetura Commercial Finance has provided more than £18.5m of funding to support the growth ambitions of two northern SMEs in the first month of 2022.

The first deal of the year saw Praetura support logistics and warehousing group OTIF on its £12.5m acquisition of John Truswell & Sons, the family-owned distribution business based in Barnsley, in a deal that marked OTIF’s third acquisition in five years.

OTIF is owned and operated by entrepreneur Graham Darnell, and the acquisition enables the group to strengthen its distribution network. Darnell has already recognised the opportunity for expansion and is planning to increase Truswell’s haulage capacity by more than 17 per cent, supporting the company’s wider existing expansion plans. This will be supported by the wider OTIF Group’s network combined with Truswell’s established infrastructure, including its warehousing and office facilities in Barnsley.

Praetura Commercial Finance’s team was instrumental in negotiating the deal, and a team from Praetura Asset Finance helped to create a more flexible mix of funding facilities that met the business’ goals.

Graham Darnell, managing director at OTIF Group, said: “Praetura immediately understood our long-term goals and what the company was trying to achieve. The funding process was straightforward, efficient and their team ensured we completed within our target timeframe.”

The deal was introduced and managed through Praetura’s long-term broker relationship with PMD Business Finance, a finance company known for its continued success in the structured finance arena. Callum Bull, structured finance director at PMD Business Finance, said: “We are delighted to have supported Graham with his latest acquisition, in what was an important deal for the group’s future growth plans. It was refreshing to work with a lender who was able to take a commercial approach across multiple products to deliver the required funding package.”

Praetura Commercial Finance’s second deal of the year saw the team provide a £6m growth finance facility to an innovative supplier of allergy-sensitive goods. Praetura’s client supplies some of the biggest names in the UK retail and grocery sector and whilst the pandemic has created challenges for the retail sector, the company is now pursuing further expansion following several substantial contract wins.

Stuart Bates, founder and commercial director of Praetura Commercial Finance, said: “Over the last six months, Praetura has witnessed a substantial increase in the number of funding applications submitted as UK entrepreneurs look to rebuild and grow after the pandemic.”

“Many entrepreneurs and management teams feel empowered to take their businesses into their own hands. We’ve seen a real increase in funding requests to support management buyouts, management buy-ins and acquisitions, as well as an interest in refinance deals that give businesses the financial flexibility to get back on track.

“The pandemic has clearly driven more entrepreneurs to specialist finance providers who will take the time to understand their business’ strengths, weaknesses and assets, compared to more institutional lenders who will only focus on their previous lending history. The added bonus of working with Praetura is the collaborative approach between the companies in our lending division, which increases the options available.”

According to the recent Experian M&A Review, Praetura Commercial Finance was the North West’s leading debt provider in 2021.

Both Praetura Commercial Finance and Praetura Asset Finance are part of the wider North-West based Praetura Group, a specialist equity and debt funding business aimed at providing an alternative to more rigid institutional lenders. Founded in 2011, the group posted record figures in 2021 and increased its total loan book to over £200m.

Parties who helped facilitate the deal included Teneo Advisory, Bermans, Squires, Kay Johnson Gee, and Tallon Valuers.

Camp Digital 2022 returns to Royal Exchange Theatre as hybrid event with line-up of prominent speakers

Sam Whitear
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Camp Digital, the digital, design and UX conference, will be taking place at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre as a hybrid event after a two-year hiatus on 23rd June 2022.

The event has been running since 2002, bringing together experts from the creative and tech industries, with talks and workshops covering a range of topics from the future workplace to how the work of designers and technologists could be better for people and the planet.

The 2022 event will take place as a hybrid conference, with attendees having the option to attend the full day event in Manchester, or join a live stream broadcast of all the main stage talks throughout the day. This has the positive impact of opening the event up to wider audiences from further afield and promoting a more sustainable event as attendees can benefit without having to travel to Manchester to take part.

This year’s speakers include Gavin Strange, director and designer at the beloved creative studio Aardman Animations, responsible for Wallace and Gromit. He will discuss lessons and learnings from his time in the design and media industry.

Also confirmed as a speaker is Sharon O’Dea, award-winning digital strategist who has collaborated with organisations including Credit Suisse, Standard Chartered Bank, Barnardos, the Houses of Parliament and UK Research and Design Innovation. She will be talking about the growing complexity of the world of work and how digital workplace tools and practices can help and hinder.

Eight-time published author, Gerry McGovern, will be giving a talk on the environmental impact of digital, something that often goes unconsidered. His session will emphasise the importance of thinking about the long-term implications of digital and championing sustainable design focusing on maintenance and reuse.

Kylie Havelock, head of product at Citizens Advice, will discuss how the organisation is scaling a tailored advice service for its clients. Meanwhile, Rachel Coldicutt OBE, expert on the social impact of new and emerging technologies and former CEO of responsible technology think tank Doteveryone, will help her audience think about the impact of technology in our world.

They will also be joined by Sarah Mace from Leeds City of Culture; Jaskiran Kang, head of design for the Department for Education; Trilly Chatterjee from NHS Digital and lead content designer, Helen Lawson from Co-op Digital.

The agenda is organised around interactive seminars, in which attendees will hear about the speakers’ personal and professional journeys, learn about the ways in which different organisations tailor their design and development processes in user-centric ways, and get involved in interactive challenges.

The last Camp Digital in 2019 attracted over 500 people, who saw some of the digital industry’s leading lights share their passion and experience.

Shaun Gomm, organiser of Camp Digital and commercial director at Nexer Digital, said: “Camp Digital is something we’re incredibly proud of at Nexer Digital and an annual event that we greatly missed during the pandemic. Digital, design and user experience are fast-moving and highly impactful disciplines, touching so many different industries and changing the world around us.

“Getting some of the brightest and most innovative people in the field together for the day has proven incredibly productive over previous events. The decision to make the event hybrid this year means it will be accessible to a greater number of people, and we can’t wait for Camp Digital 2022 to be even bigger and better.”

Camp Digital will take place on 23rd June 2022 at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester and will also be accessible on livestream. Early bird conference tickets can be bought before 31st March for £100 + VAT and live stream tickets cost £30 + VAT.

For more information and to purchase your tickets, please visit: https://www.nexerdigital.com/campdigital/2022/.

Manchester-based project, cost and programme management company hits two-year milestone following rapid expansion and new appointments

Sam Whitear
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Leading industry experts, Hive Projects, is celebrating two years of rapid growth, doubling its turnover, securing contract wins and expanding its leadership team.

Hive Projects is a thriving and dynamic project, cost and programme management company that works in the property, construction and healthcare sectors across the North West. Set up in 2020, the firm has defied the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic by generating turnover in excess of £1m in year two, the result of a diverse and robust client portfolio that includes the likes of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care Foundation Trust, Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, Stockport Council and Oldham Council. Its workforce has also increased fivefold in the same two year period.

Chris Waine, a former senior director at Arcadis with 20 years experience in the construction industry, joins Hive Projects’ leadership team as another equity director. Chris will work alongside fellow directors and co-founders of Hive Projects, Liz Hartley, Mackayla Colwell and Paul Roberts. Another ex-Arcadis director, Kevin Breen, also joins the Hive Projects’ senior team, bringing with him 20 years of cost and commercial management experience in the public sector, and adds a new capability to this growing business.

Liz Hartley, director, Hive Projects, said:

“To come through the pandemic and to be able to mark our two year milestone with such incredible figures and optimism is not only testament to the skill and talent of our brilliant team but also to the strong values the company was founded upon. What sets us apart from our competitors is our commitment to giving clients a thorough and personal service. And as directors we are not afraid to get hands-on in projects to get the job done. We feel that this is something that is severely lacking in our industry.

“Through our experience and connections, we have been successful in building a diverse client portfolio which I believe has helped us to be resilient and to overcome the challenges that continue to hit the industry, from the pandemic to Brexit. Our focus this year is to grow these existing partnerships and expand further with new clients. I am excited to see where these conversations take us.”

Growing tech firm makes two senior hires

Sam Whitear
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Manchester-based tech firm Shopblocks has made two key hires as part of its growth strategy.

The company, which produces bespoke ecommerce websites at scale, recently signed a six-year lease on 6,500 sq ft offices in No 1 St Peter’s Square in Stockport after closing a £1.2m funding round.

Kristian Hunt has joined as Chief Operating Officer from leading Manchester audio branding agency PHMG after an 18-month search.

Stacey MacNaught has also joined the board as non-executive director after advising the company on its SEO and follows the recent appointment of former Proactis Managing Director Craig Slater, as a non-executive director.

Hunt said: “I’m delighted to join Shopblocks on the next stage of their journey. I’m really excited by the potential and the projections for growth.”

CEO and co-founder Kevin Jones said he was delighted by the latest appointments.

“We’ve never had a COO before and it took us 18 months before finding the right one,” he said.

“It was always in our plan to recruit a third director alongside myself and my fellow co-founder Stewart Reynolds and Kristian has been able to hit the ground running.

“Kristian has come from a business in PHMG that has so many parallels to Shopblocks. He joined as account manager when they had 40 staff and rose up through the ranks and left when they’d grown to 500 staff.

“As for Stacey she’s one of the best digital marketing people there is and regularly speaks all over the world. She’s working very closely with our marketing team.”

Shopblocks was officially launched in 2018 after two years of planning and has doubled in revenue every year since and now has more than 1,500 customers worldwide.

Business and tax advisers expand in Altrincham

Sam Whitear
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Business and tax advisers expand in Altrincham

MBL (Business & Tax Advisers) Ltd is moving to Fairbank House, Ashley Road, Altrincham.

MBL pride themselves on solving the financial essentials related to running a business including accounts, administration and VAT across the property, creative, family owned and growth business sectors.

It has taken an assignment of a 5 year lease from 2020 for a second floor suite providing 1,100 sq ft, in this 9,000 sq ft office building, at a passing rent of £21,000 per annum.

Mike Bulcock, managing director, MBL, said: “We have out grown our offices in Broadheath and this move to newly refurbished offices within the town centre has met with universal approval from the team and we look forward to building on our success in the future as we continue to expand our client base”.

Daniel Lee, Regional Property Solutions, who acted for the landlord Hyrst Garth Estate Limited, said: “This office suite was previously occupied by Forever Legal which has moved to larger offices in nearby Lindley Court and we negotiated the assignment of its lease to MBL”.

Tenant Advisory Group acted for MBL (Business & Tax Advisers) Ltd.

Could an R&D Claim Help to Offset Rising Business Energy Bills?

Sam Whitear
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Ofgem’s energy price cap announcement has made clear that energy price hikes will hit consumers hard this year. Yet as the cost of fossil fuels continues to climb, soaring energy bills are likely to be just as devastating to businesses, at what has already been a difficult time for many.

Household bills are likely to jump by 50%, rising by nearly £700 for the average household. According to sources, wholesale gas prices have increased by 250%¹ since last January leading to price hikes across the entire energy market. Corporate energy bills too are rising at an unprecedented rate and the fact that the energy price cap does not cover small businesses means the impact is even greater.

A small business with an average annual electricity usage of 25,000kwh and gas usage of 30,000kwh, will likely see bills rise by up 200% based on January 2021, meaning it would rise from £5,118 to £10,236 with the changes coming into play. A medium-sized business could see bills grow from £9,437 to £18,946, based on a 50,000 KWH usage on electricity and 65,000kwh usage on gas.

In reality, prices could increase by an even largerpercentage; and all of this comes at a time when many businesses are struggling to recover to pre-pandemic levels.

According to research by payments service NatWest Tyl,almost 65% of SMEs are spending up to one-fifth of their total business costs on energy consumption, while 8% of SMEs are spending a whopping 35-50% of their total business costs². And nearly 70% of small and medium businesses believe that energy costs impact their growth.

There could however be a ray of hope for business owners faced with unforeseen charges, especially those that have undertaken research and development projects in this or the previous financial year.

R&D Claims to Offset Energy Price Rises

The HMRC tax incentive scheme was set up in 2000 to help stimulate growth and innovation across the UK. The scheme is aimed at UK limited businesses from start-ups to established firms, with the potential to access a tax refund or tax credit for any eligible research and development work conducted.

The average claim for a small to medium sized business is £53,000, which would more than cover increasing energy costs.

Our average claim of £53,000 would cover electricity and gas usage for a small business for the next five years.

A medium-sized business (one with less than £50million turnover/250 staff), could offset the costs of energy for the next 33 months (two years and nine months) with the average sum of one of our R&D claims.

Any research and development project should make a business eligible, with the only stipulations being that the project relates to your company’s trade and evidence can be provided to show how it:

• Looked for an advance in science and technology.
• Had to overcome uncertainty.
• Tried to overcome this uncertainty.
• Could not be easily worked out by a professional in the field.

The research/development phase is enough to qualify in most cases, with no rule to say the product or servicemust be finished or brought to the market.

Mark Joyner of Research & Development SpecialistsLTD (RDS) (www.randdspecialists.co.uk) a specialist firm that helps business nationwide to navigate from the exploratory phase right through to successful claims of tens of thousands of pounds, said:

“Every business has felt the pressure of rising energy bills, including our own. Many companies have been in the position where they have had to use reserves or contingency funds to stay afloat during the pandemic, so now they’re completely exposed by the rising energy bills they face.

“What I love about what we do is that we are able to help business owners with a real cash injection into their business, which can then be spent on any business need. Whether that is on further investment to grow and improve the business or to cover unforeseen costs such as rising energy bills that could not have been predicted.

“Our sole purpose is to steer business owners through the process of a HMRC tax incentive claim, by making it as easy and straight forward as possible. Very often all we need is a fifteen-minute conversation to find out if a company is eligible and then we will do all the hard work from thereon in. We are completely transparent at every stage and ensure we limit the time demands on our clients leaving them free to complete their daily operations.”

Although there are different types of R&D scheme depending on whether you fit HMRC’s guide as being an SME or large company, eligibility to claim is focussed on the research project rather than the type of business. Itis completely open to businesses in any sector. Typically, an R&D claim can be submitted for a business’s current and previous financial year.

For more information visit https://randdspecialists.co.uk/.

RAF Benevolent Fund’s new website takes flight

Sam Whitear
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The Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund has launched a new web platform https://www.rafbf.org/ to drive more online donations and provide a comprehensive audience-focused resource that can better support those who need the charity’s services.

The new platform has been designed and developed by digital experience agencyAccess.

The RAF Benevolent Fund assists veterans and serving Royal Air Force personnel with welfare support. This also extends to their families.

The new website introduces innovative technical features including a support finder tool, which provides faster access to relevant pages; a new online beneficiary form to replace a PDF process and a Progressive Web App to enable quick app installation to devices.

Site editors can also easily create and update microsite pages using the new platform. Microsites include RAF Widows’ Association, the RAF Disabled Holiday Trust and the Alexander Duckham Memorial Schools Trust. These microsites contain alternative brand colours and content. The build process included utilising a colour palette option in a settings area for the content types, and setting up a series of pages and content related to one site, where site editors can alter the colour palette for each page.

Ruth Patterson, Digital Engagement Manager, from the RAF Benevolent Fund said:
“Through in-depth audience research and user feedback we have created a web platform that will better meet the needs of all of our audiences. Our website serves two core functions, and we’ve facilitated the best user journeys for each.

“For those wanting to support us, the means to donate or get involved in fundraising is a much simpler, audience-focused journey. We’ve developed a suite of features that will help us to build stronger ongoing relationships with supporters, and promote
advocacy to get involved with us.

“For those that need support, we’ve expanded our services to beneficiaries and improved accessibility to our resources so that they are clear and easy to find. Our new site also hosts an array of content so being able to access this in a more intuitive way is a huge step forward.”

Patrick Hamilton, Operations Director at Access, said:

“Central to the new platform is that different user’s needs have been considered at all stages of the journey, alongside a fresh and inspiring design. Our development process began with in-depth audience research, creating personas and holding interviews, before moving on to prototyping and validation.

“Using our Drupal experience we’ve created a best-in-class experience that is both user friendly and easy to manage, to meet all of the charity’s objectives including a need for greater efficiency and measurability. Accessibility and the user journey is front and centre at all stages, alongside a fresh and inspiring design.”

rafbf.org/ www.weareaccess.co.uk

Social Republic Appointed By Greater Manchester Cancer For Omicron Campaign

Sam Whitear
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Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance has commissioned global social media agency, Social Republic to deliver its Omicron awareness campaign.

The agency will be responsible for raising awareness of cancer symptoms and the importance of attending hospital appointments during the pandemic across Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.
Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance has a broad focus, from prevention and early diagnosis to living with and beyond cancer and end of life care.

Anna Perkins, Communications and Engagement Lead at Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance commented:

“We’re looking forward to working with the Social Republic team to help our social media activity reach users across Greater Manchester.

It’s imperative that patients continue to contact their GP or attend hospital appointments and we will utilise the power of social networks to spread these messages.

Campaigns will provide an educational element by highlighting symptoms that people should not ignore.”

CEO of Social Republic, Rob Illidge added:

“Having previously worked alongside the NHS and skin cancer charity, Melanoma UK, we’re passionate about using social media to share timely and educational content that will benefit users within Greater Manchester.

Whilst we’re in the midst of a global pandemic and with World Cancer Day taking place on the 4th February, it’s more important than ever to produce scroll-stopping campaigns that help organisations raise awareness.”

Social Republic has established itself as a leading agency for non-profit organisations, working with the NHS, British Red Cross, Melanoma UK and Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation in the United States.

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