NW business briefs: NWTT; Manchester College; Women Angels of the North; Inspiresport; Speedy; Addleshaw Goddard
North West Timber Treatment (NWTT), based in Ashton-in-Makerfield, Wigan, has acquired Winsford-based Percy Brierley & Co, for an undisclosed sum, as part of the firm’s expansion plans.
The deal will help family-owned NWTT, which was founded in the 1980s, to grow its geographic footprint in the North West. It also plans to expand the product range at Percy Brierley to become a full-scope builders’ merchants. The transaction enables the retirement of Percy Brierley & Co’s majority shareholder, Mark Beesley.
Sam Mayor, director of NWTT, said: “Percy Brierley & Co is a name that’s become synonymous with building supplies in Winsford having been operating since the 1960s. We’re incredibly proud to have acquired the company and to welcome the team into the NWTT family. We will ensure Percy Brierley customers get the same great product and service experience they have become used to.”
NWTT has grown to have a turnover of £11m and employs more than 60 staff. All eight of Brierley’s employees will be retained following the acquisition.
The corporate finance and tax teams at MHA Moore and Smalley, led by Stephen Gregson and Michelle Taylor, supported the transaction. Legal advice was provided by Rebecca McCann from the corporate team and Joanna Dunstan in the commercial property team at Forbes Solicitors.
Stephen Gregson, corporate finance director at MHA Moore and Smalley, said: “We’re pleased to have supported a longstanding client to start a new chapter in the company’s history. This deal sees two family-owned businesses that are committed to customer service coming together in a way that will help expand the product offering for customers.”
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Principal Lisa O’Loughlin and students celebrate first day
The Manchester College and UCEN Manchester’s brand-new state-of-the-art facility – City Campus Manchester – officially opened its doors to students of all ages across the city of Manchester this week as the new academic year gets under way.
Following build completion in July, the long awaited visually stunning four-storey campus offers a range of facilities creating an exceptional student experience and is home to the college’s Industry Excellence Academies for Hospitality and Catering, Creative and Digital Media, Music, Computing and Digital as well as their Centres of Excellence for Visual Arts and Performing Arts.
It is also home to a range of Higher Education courses such as the UCEN Manchester’s School of Computing and Cyber-Security, The Manchester Film School and The Arden School of Theatre and the School of Art, Media and Make-up.
Situated next door to the AO Arena the city centre campus provides students with industry-standard facilities including two theatres, dance and performance studios, TV, radio, and sound studios, professional art and photography studios, as well as a 40-seat restaurant run by students in the Industry Excellence Academy for Hospitality and Catering and all the latest software and state-of-the-art technology for cyber-security, 3D modelling, design and development.
Lisa O’Loughlin, principal of The Manchester College and UCEN Manchester, said: “The campus is the result of many years of intensive planning and is the culmination of a collaborative partnership approach across the city, including the support of Manchester City Council, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Willmott Dixon, Simpson Haugh and Bond Bryan architects, Pearson Fraser and many others working together to deliver a first class educational facility in the heart of Manchester.”
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Fund Her North
As part of its mission to tackle to UK funding gap for female-led UK businesses, Women Angels of the North, the all-female angel investment syndicate set up by Fund Her North, is set to launch a Women Angels Education Hub in partnership with the UK Business Angels Association (UKBAA) this Friday, September 9.
Established as a follow up to the Women Angels of the North Conference which took place on June 30, the Women Angels Education Hub has been created for women who are looking to find out more about angel investing, or who are wanting to learn more following some initial involvement. The hub will offer a full 12-hour Women Angels Investor Education Programme in conjunction with the UKBAA and part of the national ‘Women Backing Women’ campaign. The first part of this programme is being supported by the British Business Bank.
As a first of its kind in the region, the Women Angels of the North Syndicate is made up of 37 members, both seasoned and new investors. Its purpose is to support female founders operating across the innovation and creative sectors in the North with access to investment. To date, the syndicate has supported nine female-founded businesses who, in total, have raised more than £2.6m.
Jordan Dargue, co-founder of Fund Her North and the Women Angels of the North Syndicate, said: “Following our Women Angels of the North conference, it was clear that there is work to be done to help educate women on angel investing, and the opportunities it poses not just to businesses, but to the investors themselves. We identified a need to create a platform where women could access vital resources specifically on angel investment. With the majority of the investment landscape dominated by men, we are prioritising providing approachable, but not patronising, expertise.”
Dr Sophie Dale-Black, UK network director for the North of England at the British Business Bank, said: “The bank stands with Fund Her North in its mission to diversify the investment landscape and advance female entrepreneurship not just in the North, but across the UK. We are proud to support the launch of the Education Hub, which aligns closely with the goals of the Investing in Women Code, a commitment to improve female entrepreneurs’ access to tools, resources and finance, of which the bank is a partner.”
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Inspiresport, a provider of youth sports development tours, and Manchester City FC, have announced an extension of their domestic partnership for the provision of school and youth group tours.
The new agreement will take the partnership between Inspiresport and the current English Premier League Champions into a 10th year following its commencement in 2016. During that time, more than 200 groups have attended training sessions at the City Football Academy on the Etihad Campus, with in excess of 5,000 young players of all abilities participating in innovative practical sessions led by the programme’s coaching staff.
Steve Butchart, MD inspiresport Group, said: “We’re obviously thrilled to announce this partnership extension and extend our relationship with the club. From post-trip feedback received from our groups who have attended the programme, Manchester City are one of our top performing partners for all round sporting experience, quality of training sessions and expertise of the coaching staff. Add to that, the quality of the campus training facilities, the Manchester City tour option has a real appeal for groups wanting a taste of an elite sport environment.”
Jorgina Busquets, managing director, Football Education and Recreation, City Football Group, said: “Since the initiative started in 2015, we have seen thousands of young players from all over the world visit City Football Academy to train with us, learn our philosophy and develop for the future. We look forward to welcoming many more groups here for years to come.”
This new agreement between the two organisations will also incorporate the North American market for inspiresport to provide bespoke soccer training tours to Manchester City. High school and club teams from the USA and Canada will have the opportunity to travel to Manchester to participate in the football experience.
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Speedy electric vehicle
Newton-le-Willows-based national construction equipment hire and services provider, Speedy, has been ranked in the top 25% of companies for sustainability by ratings provider EcoVadis, recognising the company’s work to reduce its environmental impact.
Speedy, which employs around 3,500 staff across 200 UK locations, was awarded silver by EcoVadis in this year’s assessment, with the business scored highly for its efforts to reduce carbon emissions. It was the first hire provider to sign up to the science-based targets initiative (SBTI), where emissions targets are certified to be in line with reductions required under the Paris Agreement.
The company launched the industry’s first net-zero hire centre in Milton Keynes, certified this year with an A+ energy rating. It’s also investing in its fleet to ensure that the majority of its vehicles are electric or hybrid by 2030, with more than 50% of its capex now focused on hire products that help customers to reduce their own emissions.
The EcoVadis assessment universally benchmarks Speedy’s ESG performance across the environment, labour, ethics, human rights, corruption, and sustainable procurement. The business now plans to work closely with its supply chain of construction equipment manufacturers to help them to improve their sustainability as it targets a gold EcoVadis rating, putting it into the top five per cent of all businesses.
Amelia Woodley, director of ESG at Speedy, said: “This is a great achievement for our business. Major contractors are increasingly scrutinising the environmental impact of their supply chains. The EcoVadis rating gives them the certainty that Speedy is a responsible business that can help them to operate more sustainably.”
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Elvan Hussein
International law firm, Addleshaw Goddard, has unveiled the 13 tech businesses chosen for this year’s AG Elevate mentoring scheme. From creating a safe metaverse space for children to building industrial scale vertical farming solutions, the high growth potential businesses selected span the tech economy.
The largest AG Elevate cohort to date sees early stage companies from across the UK join the fast-track 10-month programme, which is designed to advance tech businesses in all sectors through legal challenges that arise as they scale-up.
Elvan Hussein and David Anderson, partners and co-programme leads at Addleshaw Goddard, said: “The interest in this year’s AG Elevate programme was greater than ever, and we were delighted with the response and with the final 13 businesses who will participate this year. The focus of the programme has expanded as the acceleration of tech integration in all sectors and all aspects of our professional and personal lives speeds up. We know the challenges these businesses face and our specialist mentors are ready to help them negotiate an ever-changing landscape and thrive.”
Designed, developed and delivered by AG’s lawyers, the flexible programme has now supported around 50 businesses since it launched in 2017. It helps businesses tackle the variety of legal and other challenges they may face when scaling up by providing access to legal advice, legal and business mentors and networks across the globe.
The 13 companies selected this year include a number with a strong focus on sustainability, including Scottish-based vertical farming business Intelligent Growth Solutions and SWURF, which connects remote workers with welcoming host venues. DeliveryApp from Manchester provides an environmentally sustainable courier solution, while Lancaster-based Miralis Data’s Fuuse product is a clean tech transport business with an operating system which maximises the use of EV chargers.
