North West business briefs: By Miles; Ecogee; Everton in the Community; DWF
A report by an expert from The University of Manchester has found that low income drivers are effectively being charged more than double (212%) per mile to subsidise more wealthy road users.
The research for insurer By Miles, registered in Bootle, Merseyside, shows that households with an annual income of under £18,125 drive fewer miles, make fewer trips and are priced out of buying more efficient, newer cars. Despite this, vehicle excise duty – often referred to as road tax – is still charged at flat rates, which means that lower income households end up effectively paying for wealthier households to use the roads.
When the driving habits of lower and higher income households were compared, the analysis shows driving distance, frequency and affordability as the key differentials. Lower income drivers have significantly less impact on UK roads, covering 40% fewer miles and making 17% fewer trips than those in the higher income bracket. When comparing the two groups, this gave an effective car tax rate of 10p per mile for lower income drivers, while higher income drivers enjoyed an effective rate of only 3.2p per mile.
When it comes to buying newer, greener vehicles, just one in seven (15%) households in the lowest income group own a car less than three years old, compared with three in 10 (28%) highest income households. Additionally, drivers from low income households are less likely to be able to afford more efficient cars such as electric or hybrid models, with just a fifth (22%) of this group owning cars in the lowest tax bands.
Report author, Dr Diego Perez Ruiz, from Department of Social Statistics at The University of Manchester, says that with the recent UN report claiming that irreversible damage has already been done to the planet by humans, it is clear that policy needs to adapt to ensure that further harm is limited and drivers of fossil-fuel powered vehicles are actively incentivised to drive less. There is a call on the Government to implement a new pay-by-mile car tax system that would be usage based, and result in cheaper car tax for lower mileage drivers. This encourages everyone to drive less, while cutting emissions and helping to build a fairer, greener future for all road users.
Diego said: “This new analysis clearly demonstrates that low income households are paying a ‘poverty premium’ to use their cars. Any future reforms to the Vehicle Excise Duty system should pay close attention to this and aim to alleviate the disproportionate burden placed on poorer families.”
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Brendan Helm at Baltic View
Liverpool-based property services company Ecogee has unveiled the recent completion of one of its most notable projects to date, Baltic View.
Following a year of growth for the firm, which has seen it double its turnover in the past 12 months to £10m, the team delivered exterior brick slip and rendering work to the value of £700,000 on the award winning development project by Crossfield Construction, which has provided 130 new one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and a total of nine commercial units, all located in the sought after L1 postcode area.
Led by managing director Brendan Helm and business development director, Denis Hennigan, Ecogee has seen increases across all of its services, including a number of commercial and residential builds working with the likes of Prima Housing, SSE Energy, Scottish Power and One Vision Housing. The number of projects undertaken by the firm in the past year has risen by 25%, despite ongoing COVID-19 restrictions.
Brendan Helm said: “Despite some minor setbacks as a result of the ongoing pandemic, we are delighted to have completed this major project at Baltic View with the accommodation now seeing its first residential occupants moving in. It was a privilege to be able to work on a site of this scale and in such an iconic and up and coming area of Liverpool, having secured the job after going through a competitive tender process.
“Ecogee has been established for almost nine years now and together Denis and I have over 60 years’ combined experience in construction and energy solutions alongside a team of highly skilled people around us – it was our knowledge and portfolio of past work that I think really set us apart for this job.”
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From left: Sarah Atherton (EitC), Rosie Kenyon, Michael Salla, Jon Fell (Contact Sport), Steve Johnson (EitC)
Everton in the Community, the charity arm of the football club, is joining forces with a new Liverpool-based sport and networking company. Contact Sport – which provides ‘feel good networking’ as well as corporate sports opportunities – is offering access to a range of health and wellbeing resources.
The charity will be providing various services to Contact Sport members. Rosie Kenyon, managing director of marketing agency Kenyons and co-founder of Contact Sport, said: “We’re absolutely delighted that EitC have come on board as a partner. We want to be able to offer a range of services promoting corporate health and wellbeing, alongside our business networking programme, and Everton in the Community’s outstanding programmes will be a real resource for organisations to tap into.”
Everton’s Michael Salla, director of health and sport, said: “Linking with Contact Sport will help us work with the city region’s business community and show organisations, large and small, how we can support them. We’ll provide a range of services including mental health awareness training, bespoke teambuilding workshops and motivational talks from speakers with a range of backgrounds.”
Contact Sport is officially launching next month in Liverpool. A series of events is planned to help people build their business networks – and Contact Sport will also be offering advice and support to organisations across the city region around health and wellbeing, and promoting sport and exercise in the business community.
Rosie Kenyon added: “There’s something for everyone, with events ranging from indoor socials with pool and table tennis to city walks or treks in the hills, from paddleboarding to go-karting, yoga to tennis. The events are designed to give businesspeople a way to look after themselves as well as their business interests. And as well as taster sessions in sports people may not have tried, we’ll be organising events around golf, football, cricket, featuring coaching as well as competition, all with the aim of making networking feel good.”
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Kirsty Rogers
Law firm DWF is saying a collective ‘Thank You’ to front line workers for their dedication during the pandemic, by supporting the Gratitude campaign to raise funds for NHS Charities Together.
Gratitude, a touring art installation by global public art producers Wild in Art, will be at St Peter’s Square in Manchester from September 3-12. It is a collection of 51 individually-painted human form sculptures, all designed by individual artists from across the UK, and curated in partnership with creative ambassador Dame Zandra Rhodes.
The sculptures represent front line workers such as NHS staff and other key workers standing together, but socially distanced, and people are invited to come together to reflect and show their appreciation as the art installation tours four UK cities, where they will be able to make a donation: Following the tour, the sculptures will be auctioned with substantial proceeds donated to NHS Charities Together, which supports the NHS, including its hospitals, ambulance services, community and mental healthcare providers and vital partnerships.
DWF, which has Manchester city centre offices at Scott Place in Spinningfields, has chosen to work with artists Dan and Charlotte of Art + Believe who have designed the ‘Blanket of Unity’ sculpture, sponsored by DWF, which incorporates some of DWF’s own vibrant brand colours into the piece. A blanket is nurturing and protective, much like the commitment, efforts and talent shown by key workers across the UK. In gratitude to them, a vibrant, colourful, geometric blanket wraps around the sculpture to represent their commitment and unity to all.
Kirsty Rogers, office managing partner for DWF in Manchester, said: “The Gratitude sculptures are a fitting way to highlight and celebrate the contributions of many people on the front line during this unprecedented time including our NHS workers. Many key workers have worked through stressful and sometimes life-threatening circumstances and some have even lost their own lives. So many people have put others first to ensure we get through this difficult time and this is why we are proud to support Gratitude. Collectively, we can say thank you to all key workers and volunteers while raising money for the NHS Charities Together.”
