Professionals: Last call for Endless charity rugby match; Freeths supports oat milling acquisition; Ward Hadaway sees demand increase and DLA supports York development

Wooden Spoon event 2016

There has been one last call for entries for the 11th annual charity touch rugby tournament in aid of children’s charity Wooden Spoon tomorrow.

12 teams have entered, with businesses taking part including Addleshaw Goddard; Blacks; Bond Dickinson; Deloitte; Eversheds; EY; KPMG; Lloyds; Mazars; PwC; RFL; Squire Patton Boggs and Walker Morris.

This year’s event, on 29 June, will take place at 6pm at West Park Leeds in Bramhope, with a barbecue and drinks following the tournament.

Last year attracted around 150 players, representing 14 corporate teams including Blacks, Santander, Deloitte, Eversheds, KMPG, Yorkshire Water, PWC and last year’s winners The RFL.
Organisers are hoping to build on the £4,000 that was raised last year for Wooden Spoon, the children’s charity of rugby.

It funds around 70 projects a year to support disadvantaged and disabled children with sensory rooms and specialist playgrounds to respite and community care facilities.
The RFU help with the operational running of the tournament and referees are provided from the Yorkshire Society of referee.

To enter, each team needs seven players on the pitch, including two females, however the number of substitutes is unlimited – the more the merrier, said organisers. The cost of entering a team is £300 which goes directly to the charity.

Endless LLP, the Leeds-based mid-market private equity house, have come on board as a partner and sponsor this year. The firm’s in house charity, the Turnaround Foundation, has similar aims to Wooden Spoon in transforming the lives of children facing disadvantages.

Stuart Watson, Wooden Spoon Yorkshire region chairman, said: “The annual Wooden Spoon Touch rugby tournament has grown over the years to become one of the great summer events in Leeds. It captures the essence of Wooden Spoon as a fun event in , hopefully, glorious summer evening sunshine, whilst raising funds to support projects in Yorkshire. All of the funds we raise in Yorkshire are used to back much needed projects here in the county.

Michael Rice, associate director at Endless, said: “Having participated in the Wooden Spoon Touch Rugby tournament on more than one occasion, I am delighted that Endless LLP have been able to come on board as a partner for the event.

“The impact that Wooden Spoon has had on the lives of disabled and disadvantaged young people cannot be underestimated and we are proud to be associated with an organisation that makes such a difference to our local communities.”

To get involved contact:

Tom Holroyde, EY: tholroyde@uk.EY.com
Ben Leach, EY: bleach@uk.EY.com

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Freeths have advised on the disposal of European Oat Millers to Richardson International.

Peter Crawford and Lisa Wallis from Freeths’ Sheffield corporate team advised shareholders Bill and David Jordan on the sale of the business.

The property and tax aspects were dealt with by Peter Baker and Claire Boyce respectively, also from Freeths’ Sheffield office.

Corporate finance advice for the sellers was provided by Martin Bonynge of Prosperity Wealth Management Limited.

Based in Bedford, European Oat Millers is a leader in the oat milling business. It is the second largest oat miller in Europe, producing a wide range of oat products which sold throughout the UK, with exports to continental Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The company employs more than 140 people.

Richardson first entered the oat milling business in 2013 with the acquisition of three oat processing plants in Canada and is now the largest oat miller in North America, headquartered in Winnipeg with over 2,500 employees worldwide. Richardson International is Canada’s leading agribusiness and one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies.

Curt Vossen, President and CEO of Richardson International, said: “We are excited to build on our success in value-added processing and extend our food manufacturing footprint to a new geography. As the largest oat miller in North America, we now look forward to building a presence in Europe to enhance our ability to compete in the global marketplace.”

“European Oat Millers is a solid, family-owned business that is well-established in the UK. We have been very impressed with both the quality of the business and its people and believe it is an excellent complement to our Richardson Milling division,” says Vossen. “Looking ahead, we will build on the investments that have already been made, including increasing manufacturing capacity, and will continue to seek opportunities to expand our global business.”

Bill Jordan, who co-founded European Oat Millers with his brother, David, said: “My brother and I are very proud of the business that we have successfully grown over the past three decades. We are pleased to be passing it on to a similar family-owned business that shares both our vision for growth and our core values and we look forward to watching the business evolve.”

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The specialist property team at Ward Hadaway has seen a major increase of demand and is celebrating the sale of more than 3,000 homes in the past 12 months.

Demand for the team has reportedly risen by 20%, particularly the division’s housebuilding expertise.

The team successfully completed the sale of 3,336 new homes in the year to the end of April 2017 at many new development sites across the country.
Ward Hadaway’s 33-strong plot sales team is one of the largest in the North of England with Team members based at all three of the firm’s offices in Newcastle, Leeds and Manchester.
Lesley Fairclough, partner and head of Development at Ward Hadaway, said: “This is an absolutely tremendous performance by the Team.
“Advising on plot sales and part-exchange transactions is a key part of the housing development process and helps to keep Britain building.
“Each one of the transactions also represents someone’s home, whether buying or selling, and this is something which we never lost sight of when we are carrying out this work.
“The fact that the Team’s work involves more than 2% of all new homes being built across the country is a tremendous achievement and is a tribute to their skills, hard work and dedication.
“It is all the more impressive when you consider that the amount of work the Team has been involved with has gone up by 20% on what was a record year for the team in 2015/16.
“A number of these transactions involved the Government’s Help to Buy scheme, which has certainly had a very positive effect on house sales in the new homes sector.
“We aim to continue to help our many housebuilder clients to achieve their annual target numbers for selling new homes and to provide their customers with an efficient, professional service.”
As well as covering work on a wide range of different housing developments, including both freehold and leasehold, the Plot Sales Team has also dealt with more complex legal structures and estate set-ups.
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A team from DLA Piper has advised construction company S Harrison Developments on the completion of a purchase and onward sale of a site at Percy’s Lane in York.

The deal, which includes a forward funding agreement with student accommodation operator Empiric Student Property to develop a new 106 bed, £9m scheme, is due to be completed in time for the 2018/19 academic year.

This has been tied in with a deal to relocate the electrical contractor and retailer Herbert Todd, the existing occupier of the site to new purpose-built premises at another site at Monks Cross in York, also developed by S Harrison.

Real Estate Partner Stephen Blacksell led the team, which comprised associate Ben Hunt, legal director Lynne Auchterlonie, and senior associate Claire Glew, all Sheffield.

The team formerly acted for S Harrison in its agreement with Empiric Student Property regarding the £11.5m, 115 bed development on Lawrence Street, also in York, which completed in March 2016.

Stephen Blacksell said: “This was a complex series of transactions, requiring legal arrangements with various parties to dovetail within a challenging time frame, so that the new site could be redeveloped for student accommodation in readiness for the 2018/2019 academic year. We are delighted to have been involved with this exciting project and look forward to seeing this project come to fruition.”

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