NW business briefs: Home Handbooks; The Cumberland; Netcom Training; CMAC Group; TotalCool; Pandemic Institute
A Preston business which operates a number of local business directories is aiming for expansion and looking to increase full time staff numbers after undergoing a management buyout with the help of a Rosebud loan.
Home Handbooks operates six high quality directories in the Greater Preston area on an 18-month cycle, with local tradesman and other businesses paying to be featured within its pages. It currently employs one full-time member of staff, with a number of seasonal roles. It was started in 2010 by ex-Blackpool Gazette journalist Peter Ward and has recently been purchased by Preston businessman Danny Garratt who also owns Preston Tuition Centre.
The MBO is being funded with a £55,000 loan from Rosebud. As well as facilitating the purchase, the loan will also be used to invest in the growth of Home Handbooks over the coming years, which includes increasing the company’s headcount.
Danny Garratt said: “I am keen to modernise the company’s website. There’s a generation of people that may not even look at the physical handbooks, a generation that will use both the website and the physical magazines, and a generation who will only use the handbook. We want to cater for everyone’s needs. We will look at how we could monetise the website and may take on an additional member of staff to operate it.”
Rosebud is owned by Lancashire County Developments Ltd (LCDL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Lancashire County Council. It aims to support the growth of Lancashire businesses and the local economy, offering loans between £10,000 and £300,000 as well as high quality business support.
Danny was introduced to Rosebud by Cassim Patel at Lancashire’s Access to Finance service, who approached Rosebud and arranged a meeting with Rosebud fund manager Jonathan Nelson, who said: “Rosebud’s loans can be used to facilitate growth for Lancashire businesses in whichever way is most appropriate. For Home Handbooks, Danny’s purchase of the business from Peter has the potential to unlock real expansion.”
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Andrew Gordon
Carlisle-based building society, The Cumberland, will extend its partnership with the town’s football club for two more years in a deal that will enable thousands of youngsters to see Carlisle United matches for free this season.
The organisation will continue as sponsor of the club’s Community Ticket Scheme and also retain the naming rights to the Community Stand.
The Schools and Community Ticket Scheme provides local primary schools and community groups with up to 300 free tickets for home football matches during the season. The Cumberland’s sponsorship of the scheme has now been in operation for just over 12 years and the community-based partnership took another step in 2013 when the club’s A Stand was rebranded as the Cumberland Community Stand. Strong supporters of the Blues, The Cumberland had previously sponsored the East Stand and a number of other initiatives in and around Brunton Park.
Debbie Huddart, commercial sales manager at Carlisle United, said: “We would like to say thank you to The Cumberland for their continuing support for the club and we are delighted that they have chosen to continue with their fantastic sponsorship of the Community Ticket Scheme and the Cumberland Community Stand.”
Andrew Gordon, business development manager at The Cumberland, said: “By sponsoring the Community Ticket Scheme we are able to provide hundreds of free tickets to local primary schools and community groups in the area and help the club to develop its next generation of fans.”
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Kevin Vashi
Digital skills specialist Netcom Training has secured almost £6m in government funding to deliver courses to more than 500 learners across Manchester and Liverpool, to plug the skills gap by enabling learners to get into work.
In Liverpool, funding has been allocated to Netcom by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA) from the Government’s Adult Learning Budget to create more than 350 fully funded places on digital courses over the next five years.
And in Manchester, funding from the Government’s Lifetime Skills Guarantee fund has been allocated by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority as part of its Skills Bootcamps, to create 150 fully funded places. Across the region, places will be available on Netcom’s Level 2 course in Digital Skills for the Workplace, as well as Level 3 courses in Web Design and Marketing for Entrepreneurs, IT Technician, Business Data Analyst, Cyber Security and AWS re/Start (cloud computing) in collaboration with Amazon Web Services.
Kevin Vashi, Netcom Training managing director, said: “Learners of any age should always be able to access the skills they need to change the direction of their lives, and forge a career that will make a true difference to all our futures. The funding we’ve received from both the LCRCA and GMCA demonstrates they share that vision with us.”
Learners must be aged 19 or over and live in either Greater Manchester or Liverpool City Region.
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Launch of the CMAC-FAA partnership
CMAC Group, the Accrington-based global managed ground transport company, has announced a strategic partnership with the Foreign Airlines Association (FAA) providing reliable, resilient solutions to minimise the impact of disruption within the aviation industry.
As a result of the partnership, FAA members have ready access to CMAC’s managed ground transport solutions, including crew ground transport and accommodation as well as necessary travel and accommodation for passengers affected by irregular operations (IROPS).
Peter Slater, CMAC Group CEO, said: “It is no secret that the aviation industry is facing significant logistical challenges at this time, and as a result, we are firmly committed to providing a quick, efficient, and reliable service to clients within the sector.”
Also, in a bid to become a carbon neutral organisation by the end of 2023, CMAC Group has announced a partnership with Trees4Travel, an initiative dedicated to neutralising travellers’ impact on the environment through reforestation in developing countries.
As part of the collaborative project, CMAC’s clients can choose to decarbonise their ground travel and the company will facilitate reforestation projects on their behalf. Trees4Travel will calculate and grow the necessary trees to neutralise the emissions, translating trips into trees. Each tree will absorb an estimated 164kgs of CO2 in its first 10 years.
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Vicki Taylor
Clitheroe-based manufacturer of portable leisure and camping goods, TotalCool, has secured a £500,000 capital investment from alternative funding provider Growth Lending, to support the firm’s cash flow during an important period of expansion.
Founded in 2015, TotalCool specialises in the leisure and camping industry and will use the funds to support its goal of expanding into the B2B market, using its enhanced working capital position to reinvest in growth and the continuous innovation of its new product line.
TotalCool manufactures a wide range of leisure and camping equipment, such as air conditioning units, portable fridge freezers, solar panels and portable rechargeable batteries. TotalCool’s products are designed to work together in off-the-grid locations, featuring rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, powered by a foldable and portable solar panel.
Growth Lending is a provider of fast, flexible and tailored funding for high-calibre B2B firms. The team – based in London, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol and Wales – has decades of experience with institutional lenders, alternative finance and invoice discounting.
Vicki Taylor, principal at Growth Lending, said: “This was a brilliant opportunity to work with an innovative and determined team wanting to expand its clientele to new levels. We are happy to have been chosen to provide TotalCool with the funding to support that growth.”
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The Spine, Liverpool
The Pandemic Institute, headquartered in Liverpool’s The Spine building, has awarded nearly £500,000 to Liverpool researchers to help tackle the growing threat of monkeypox.
The viral infection is usually found in West and Central Africa but an increasing number of cases have been identified elsewhere, including the UK – standing at 2,208 confirmed cases as of 21 July 2022 – and the World Health Organization (WHO) has now classified the outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern, putting monkeypox on a par with diseases such as COVID-19, Ebola and polio.
The funded projects include research on the origins of the outbreak in Africa, studies of transmission and spread, development of rapid diagnostics, investigation of the body’s immune response to help vaccine development, studies of new drug treatments, and understanding of stigma around the disease.
Prof Tom Solomon, chair of neurology at the University of Liverpool and director of The Pandemic Institute as well as the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Protection Research Unit in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections, said: “We are currently dealing with an unprecedented outbreak of monkeypox in the UK and beyond. It is important for us to respond quickly to this emerging threat.
“In just a matter of weeks The Pandemic Institute has identified, via a peer review process, 11 high priority projects to address this new threat, and respond to the G7 challenge of producing diagnostics, treatments and vaccines within 100 days of a major emerging infection.”
