North West business briefs: Kombucha; Oldham Council; Glass Futures; Praetura Ventures; Merseyrail
Altrincham-based Kombucha drinks brand, Hip Pop, is celebrating a new retail listing with Harrods following a period of significant growth.
Three flavours of the brand’s healthy, sparkling fermented soft drink are now on sale in food halls at the luxury London department store: Ginger & Yuzu, Blueberry & Ginger and Elderflower & Apple.
Hip Pop was originally launched in 2019 as ‘Booch & Brew’ by friends Emma Thackray and Kenny Goodman. The Harrods retail listing comes following 12 months of success for the brand, which also secured listings with Booths, Suma and Health Store and achieved 24% month on month growth last year.
The brand’s ambitious growth plans will continue to be driven throughout the next year and beyond, with a pipeline of new product development due to be released in the UK and overseas in early 2022.
Emma Thackray said: “We’re incredibly excited to have secured this listing with Harrods and to bring Hip Pop into the world’s leading luxury department store. Harrods is the perfect partner for our brand, not only because of its size and legacy, but because the retailer shares our values of quality above all else – nothing leaves our brewery unless it’s perfect.
“We’ve had an incredibly exciting 2021 full of new product development, award wins and other retail listings. To have a presence in Harrods is the best way to start the year, and we can’t wait for all that we have in store for the brand in 2022.”
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A £16m project to transform streets and public areas across Oldham Town Centre has started. Accessible Oldham will make it easier, safer and more enjoyable to travel around Oldham – especially for cyclists and pedestrians.
The first phase of works is now under way on Henshaw Street and Albion Street where trees are being planted, as well as putting in new seating, street art and bike parking to make the town centre more attractive and vibrant. The route between the town centre and bus station is also being improved.
Cllr Arooj Shah, council leader and cabinet member for economic and social reform, said: “Accessible Oldham will make a real difference to the look and feel of our town centre and complement the wider regeneration works, including the redevelopment of Spindles Town Square Shopping Centre and the creation of a brand new park in the heart of the town centre.
“Improving Oldham isn’t just about buildings – it’s about places and ensuring our town is a great place to visit, work and spend time. These improvement works will also boost walking and cycling to make sustainable travel easier than ever.”
The Accessible Oldham programme will take around four years to complete. The first phase on Henshaw Street/Albion Street is scheduled to last around 14 months. Oldham-based Rowan Ashworth has been appointed to carry out the works. Stuart Lowe, director at Rowan Ashworth, said: “We share Oldham Council’s vision to create positive change in Oldham. We are really proud to be playing an important role in improving our home town.”
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Glass Futures
Glass Futures, the £54m glass research and innovation facility in St Helens, is the latest organisation to join the North West Hydrogen Alliance (NWHA). The move recognises the central role hydrogen is set to play in energy-intensive manufacturing in the region – in particular glass production.
The not-for-profit company partners with the global glass industry and the supply chain to pioneer technologies that will revolutionise glass manufacturing. They’re behind development of a glassmaking Pilot Plant in St Helens which will feature full plant, utilities and services, a full-scale batch plant and an initial 30-tonnes per day furnace.
Now, Glass Futures has joined the 30-member strong NWHA to throw its weight behind delivery of a hydrogen-based economy in the region. Aston Fuller, general manager at Glass Futures said: “Glass Futures is committed to making glass the low carbon material of choice and the use of hydrogen in glassmaking is one of the ways we can establish a route to a cleaner, more sustainable industry.”
Glass can play a key role in the UK’s sustainable future, with the material widely recyclable when used as packaging and circular economies already in place to minimise waste and pollution. But, with intense heat needed as part of the manufacturing process, innovation is needed to decarbonise the industry.
Prof Joe Howe, chair of the NWHA and executive director, Energy Research Institute at the University of Chester, said: “Glass production is a great example of where hydrogen can play a leading role in delivering net zero ambitions on a practical scale. Creating greener, cleaner, more sustainable glass will bring us even closer to reaching those targets and reducing emissions across the industry.”
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From left: Colin Greene, Peter Mason, Dominic McGregor
Apple’s former director of US consumer retail, and the co-founder of Social Chain have been named as investors in Illuma, an AdTech business that’s spearheading the future of advertising, alongside Manchester-based venture capital investor, Praetura Ventures.
The company, which is already disrupting the digital advertising industry with its GDPR-compliant AI platform, uses contextual signals from live advertising campaigns to help brands make better decisions about where to place ads in real time, without using personal data or cookies, which are being phased out.
As well as investing alongside Praetura Ventures, Colin Greene, who is responsible for supporting Praetura’s portfolio companies and founders as an operational partner, will also join the Illuma Technology board, bringing decades of global technology and enterprise experience. Fellow operational partner, Dominic McGregor, who is also investing through Praetura Ventures, will work with Illuma as a consultant to aid the company’s expansion into social, after he and Dragons’ Den newcomer Steven Bartlett grew Social Chain into a global agency which debuted on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
Illuma, which works with several of the world’s biggest brands and advertising platforms, is expecting to capitalise on Google’s plan to end cookies support on Chrome by 2023, as more and more global brands look to re-route their ad spend. Illuma plans to use the investment to expand beyond display ads and into connected TV, audio and social media.
Peter Mason, co-founder and CEO of Illuma, said: “Illuma has the privilege of being the right technology at the exact right moment in time, and we are excited to be offering a solution to the greatest challenge in digital advertising. Bolstered by this new investment from Praetura and with the unparalleled expertise of Colin Greene and Dominic McGregor guiding our next steps, the future looks very bright indeed for Illuma and the brands we work with.”
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Merseyrail trains
Due to an increase in staff availability, Merseyrail will be increasing services across the network from Monday, February 14. Staffing numbers were impacted by the COVID Omicron variant resulting in a reduced timetable, but the rail operator is now able to provide more services across the Liverpool City Region.
On the Southport & Hunts Cross Lines, Monday to Saturday services will increase to a 20-minute frequency from start until end of service. A 30-minute service will remain in operation on Sundays. On the Ormskirk & Kirkby Lines, Monday to Saturday services will increase to a 20-minute frequency from the start of service until 20:00. They will then operate every 30 minutes until the end of service. A 30-minute service will remain in operation all day on Sundays.
Chester & Ellesmere Port Lines, Monday to Saturday services on the Chester line will increase to a 15-minute frequency from 07:00 until 19:00. They will operate every 30 minutes before 07:00 and after 19:00 until end of service. The Ellesmere Port line will continue to operate a 30-minute service all day. A 30-minute service will also remain in operation on Sundays on both lines.
On West Kirby & New Brighton Lines, services will continue to run every 20 minutes from the start of service until 19:00. They will then operate every 30 minutes until the end of service. A 30-minute service will continue to operate on Sundays. A 30-minute timetable is currently in operation until February 14.
Andy Heath, Merseyrail managing director, said: “I am happy to announce that we are now able to increase our services as the impact of the Omicron variant on our staff availability has reduced. This is especially pleasing as it coincides with more passengers returning to the network following the Government announcement of an easing of Plan B restrictions across the country.”
