In Brief: KCOM Group update; Bill Plant; Crown Care

KCOM Group today said it is continuing to develop opportunities in its key markets.

Ahead of its annual general meeting this morning, the Hull-based group said that the outlook for the business since its full year results in early June remains unchanged.

“We have continued to focus on exploiting the opportunities that exist in our key markets. We continue also to invest in expanding the reach of, and building consumer demand for, our fibre-based broadband services in Hull and East Yorkshire, alongside the delivery of value added services to the enterprise market,” it said in an interim management statement to the stock market.

Subject to shareholder approval at today’s AGM, the group will pay a final dividend for the year ending March 31 of 3.254p (2013: 2.97p) making a total dividend for the year to 4.88p per share, an increase of 10% year on year.

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BILL Plant School of Motoring, one of the UK’s largest driving school franchises, has appointed Yorkshire accountants and business advisers Garbutt & Elliott to help support its drive for growth.

Bill Plant, based in Ripon, operates a driving school franchise and has more than 700 driving instruction franchisees across the UK.

Jeremy Oliver, partner with Garbutt & Elliott, which has offices in York and Leeds, said: “This is a prestigious and exciting appointment for us. Bill Plant School of Motoring has undergone significant expansion across the UK during the past five years and has ambitious plans for future growth.

“The company now needs strong financial management and professional advice to facilitate its growth plans, particularly around the area of corporate finance, to enable it to access the funds it needs to continue to expand.”

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A FORMER West Yorkshire pub has been transformed into a luxury care home, creating 100 jobs.

Crown Care has recruited staff for the 85-bed home, called Holyrood House, on the site of the Green House Public House off Spawd Bone Lane, Knottingley, Wakefield which is due to open next month.

It will be the company’s eighth home in Yorkshire having opened Osborne House in Selby last December.

Crown Care is rapidly expanding and is on schedule to open another home in Ponteland, near Newcastle upon Tyne next year meaning the company will have more than 850 beds in the North East and Yorkshire.

The company is also looking to spread its geographical coverage and is in negotiations to buy three sites in the Midlands.

Crown Care’s chief executive Baldev Ladhar said: “We are proud of the service we provide at our existing homes and that we have continued to expand , despite difficult economic conditions, creating quality developments and hundreds of jobs for local people.”

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