The future is looking bright for the East Midlands

Business confidence is strong in the East Midlands area with companies located in the region quoted as having the third-highest overall confidence levels in the UK (source: Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking Business Barometer), says Karen Edwards, director at Clearwater International.

The East Midlands is buzzing with a number of large regeneration projects and Midlands Engine initiatives, for example, Waterside in Leicester and Nottingham’s multimillion-pound Southern Gateway regeneration – including the intu Broadmarsh shopping centre, Nottingham College City campus, and HMRC’s 10 storey hub.

The region has continued to attract significant employment and investment from a diverse range of businesses from successful professional services firms such as Experian and Capital One, leaders in innovation such as BioCity, and large logistics centres for retailers and parcel carriers such as Amazon, Shop Direct, DHL, and UPS attracted by the proximity to the M1 and East Midlands Airport – the second-largest freight hub after Heathrow. The region is also seen as a centre of excellence for manufacturing providing the base for prestigious names such as Rolls Royce, Toyota, and Bombardier.

Economic strength has, in turn, led to a strong demand for housing and leisure activities within the region which is perhaps not reflected in its main cities’ high streets, as they continue to struggle with many shop closures and empty units. It is disappointing to see that the East Midlands is not represented on the list of 14 town centres to benefit from the £1bn government fund to improve high streets. Hopefully, we will be on the list next time.

However, it is pleasing to note that some of the region’s retailers, such as Next and Sports Direct, are bucking the trend by announcing improvements in performance in very challenging conditions.

Uncertainty created by the hung parliament has now diminished with the recent Conservative landslide win in the UK General Election. Additionally, the Conservatives manifesto suggests billions of pounds of investment in the East Midlands from its £100bn infrastructure fund which should drive further prosperity in the region. This should all help to pave the way to release pent-up M&A activity.

With strong liquidity from private equity funds, banks and other funds, increased investment, and a thriving economy, assets in the East Midlands are well sought after. Lloyds Bank has demonstrated its confidence in the region by pledging to lend £2.5bn to Midlands businesses in 2020.

Clearwater International successfully completed a number of deals in the East Midlands in 2019 including the MBO of Dimensions Group, the sale of Bridge Farm Nurseries to Sundial Growers Inc., the sale of Littlefish to LDC, and the sale of Tarpey Harris to Morvern Group.

At the start of 2020, the future is looking bright with Clearwater International’s live deals in the East Midlands hitting double digits