North West business briefs: DJS Research; Burnley FC; Ridge & Partners; HPP; Vital Life
North of England market research agency, DJS Research, has become an employee-owned company following two decades as a highly successful family-owned business.
The company, which has offices in Stockport and Leeds, as well as a growing network of permanent remote working staff, is now one of 500+ employee-owned trust (EOT) businesses in the UK, and one of just three employee-owned market research companies nationwide. Taking the business forward in this way will ensure DJS Research remains independent for many years to come and stays firmly in the hands of the employees who have driven its success and who champion its values and vision for the future.
The new ownership structure has a proven track record in creating long term growth and security as well as boosting productivity and innovation, and being resilient in times of economic turbulence. DJS Research has been working closely with the Employee Ownership Association (EOA) to prepare for the transition, which saw all employees become majority owners from July 1, 2021, which was also the company’s 20th anniversary.
The company leadership will remain largely unchanged, however, Alasdair Gleed, who has been a DJS Research board director for more than 10 years, will take over the role of managing director, while company founder and current MD, Danny Sims, will move to a chairman role during the transition.
Danny Sims said: “We are so proud of the company we have created and how it has grown and evolved, and it’s really important that we protect its legacy and ensure it remains independent for many years to come. Employee ownership is a way to do this, it’s progressive and forward thinking and offers a way to give back to our incredible and talented workforce who have made DJS Research everything it is today.
“The company is going from strength to strength and our 20th anniversary is the perfect time to start our exciting new chapter. We will continue to listen to our staff even more than before and deliver excellent research, while showing our clients the value of an employee-owned company through everything we do.”
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Ben Bottomley, centre, with foodbank delivery driver Josh Dunne, left, and warehouse and distribution coordinator Nathan Norris
Escalating demand for help from in and around Burnley has led to the foodbank run by the football club’s charitable arm, Burnley FC in the Community, distributing record quantities of food since the start of 2021 to ensure financially struggling local people and their families do not go hungry.
Since January the foodbank, which ships food parcels from its distribution hub in Charter Walk Shopping Centre direct to customer’s own homes at no charge, has distributed an incredible 2,923 food parcels and fed 7,235 people, including 2,738 children. In total the foodbank has distributed enough food since January to feed 10,000 people.
Sara Ward, chief executive of Burnley FC in the Community, said: “The foodbank is something that should not have to exist but, as a result of the pandemic, so many more people are really struggling even to put food on the table for themselves and their families. It’s fantastic that, partly as a result of our partnership with businesses such as Warburtons, Kellogg’s and Fairshare we have been able to step up and help the community in this way, even in the face of such unprecedented demand.
“We’re proud of this amazing team effort from everyone involved, many of whom are volunteers and local businesses, and that we have distributed enough food to prevent 10,000 people from going hungry. As a community charity this is exactly what we are all about – making a positive difference where it is needed.”
Through the foodbank, which it runs with the Burnley Together community hub and is supported by Burnley Borough Council, the charity has also indirectly fed a further 2,887 people since the start of the year by distributing its stock to other charities and foodbanks. Pet food parcels have also helped 731 people in need to afford to feed their cats and dogs. Burnley FC in the Community’s partnership with bakery firm Warburtons has also helped to feed an additional 2,000 children a week by distributing bread and breakfast products via its warehouse, through its Early Kick Off scheme.
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Proposed Britishvolt factory
A joint Liverpool and Manchester team from multidiscipline property and construction consultants Ridge and Partners has played a key role in securing planning permission for one of Britain’s largest ever industrial investments.
Manufacturer Britishvolt has received a huge boost by obtaining planning permission to regenerate the 92.2hectare disused coal stocking yard – used as part of the former Blyth Power Station – in Northumberland into the UK’s first battery Gigaplant with a gross internal floor area of 386,357 sq m that will have the capacity to produce 300,000 batteries per annum for the electric vehicle market.
A total investment of £2.6bn will make this one of the UK’s largest ever industrial investments creating 3,000 highly skilled jobs and up to 5,000 more in the wider supply chain. Electrification of mobility, including domestic battery cell production, is strategically important to the UK automotive industry and a key component in Boris Johnson’s 10-point plan for the UK’s green recovery and a key step towards the net zero carbon economy by 2050.
The Ridge team comprised Jack Stell (architecture) and Matt Biggs (QS) from Liverpool, and Fergus Denton (architecture), Khezar Khan (architecture) and Michael Watson (project management) from Manchester.
Britishvolt CEO, Orral Nadjari, said “We are delighted to be awarded planning approval for this fantastic project. The Ridge team has been professional and diligent throughout, acting as lead consultant through the planning process and helping us to develop our bespoke sustainability and ESG model for the UK’s first full scale lithium-ion Gigaplant facility. We have worked with the Ridge experts to align the corporate and stakeholder framework to deliver our highly ambitious ESG and sustainability credentials. The Ridge multidiscipline team has gone above and beyond our expectations.”
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Oldham-based furniture components manufacturer and distributor Hill’s Panel Products (HPP), which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, is investing in workforce development with 17 staff joining an ILM Level 2 qualification course for leadership and team skills.
HPP serves the national kitchen and bedroom fitting industry. It has more than 2,000 trade customers, including installers and showrooms, and supplies in excess of 6,000 products including its own brands of doors and cabinet components.
Reflecting the size and complexity of the business, the company offers a wide range of career roles including manufacturing, factory maintenance, warehousing, logistics, sales, accounts, marketing and IT. It said a first cohort of supervisors and team leaders has passed the ILM course while a second group has started the course and a third group will begin in coming weeks.
ILM is a City & Guilds training business and the Level 2 qualification looks at leadership and teams. The qualification is designed to help individual staff improve their performance as team members and assist their transition from working in a team to leading a team. It also helps practising team leaders to be more effective and confident in their work.
Dan Mounsey, HPP’s director of marketing and business development, said: “Our business is committed to skills and training right across all departments and at all levels. It’s great to see 17 staff involved with this Level 2 programme. It will enhance our operations in many ways by giving staff more insight, skills and understanding of business needs and issues. It’ll boost both individual and team communications, direction, productivity, planning, problem solving and development. We are also looking to progress staff onto the next Level 3, building on this.”
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Blackburn-based hand sanitiser producer, Vital Life is to donate more than 1,000 bottles of its bacteria-fighting product to The Hygiene Bank.
The donation comes in support of National Hygiene Week, a national initiative set up by The Hygiene Bank to help raise awareness about hygiene poverty that is a hidden crisis in the UK. The annual event, which takes place from July 5-11, aims to encourage everyone to ‘Look Up’ and help tackle hygiene poverty in their community.
For every sale of hand sanitiser between July 5-August 5, Vital Life has pledged to donate one bottle of hand sanitiser to The Hygiene Bank – committing to a minimum of 1,000 hand sanitisers in total by the start of August.
Vital Life’s donations will go directly to The Hygiene Bank Darwen Project, an initiative set up to support those within the Blackburn and Darwen area. The donation of hygiene products will be distributed to a variety of charities such as ‘Hands of Hope’ as well as local schools and community partners who need support with hygiene poverty.
Samina Adam, Vital Life managing director, said: “The partnership between Vital Life and The Hygiene Bank aims to increase awareness surrounding the importance of hygiene in our community. Vital Life’s donation is our contribution to the fight to end hygiene poverty in the UK – starting with a fantastic local Darwen charity.”
