North West business briefs: Liverpool FC; Purple; Peel L&P; Cartmel Shepherd Solicitors; Planisware; Mersey Ferries
Liverpool FC has agreed a new multi-year global partnership deal with Extreme Networks, which sees the global company become the club’s official Wi-Fi solutions partner.
As a part of the agreement, Extreme will fit Anfield stadium with Extreme Wi-Fi 6E access points, which will deliver the latest generation of wireless connectivity, and enable fans to take advantage of the club’s innovative digital offerings, including mobile ticketing and membership rewards. It will also provide the club with the infrastructure to roll-out pioneering and immersive new services like AR/VR in the future.
With ExtremeAnalytics, LFC will gain real time data, including fan foot traffic and app usage across the stadium. It will also allow the club to identify the points in games when fans are most digitally engaged. These insights will inform data-driven decisions, and help deliver more personalised fan experiences, while improving operational efficiencies on match days.
The wireless network will be managed by ExtremeCloud IQ, which helps stadium officials monitor and control Wi-Fi capacity and efficiency, configure devices and gain visibility into real-time analytics. This will help the club streamline management and performance of the network and scale IT operations within Anfield stadium.
Drew Crisp, senior vice president of digital, Liverpool FC, said: “This deal will provide supporters with the latest generation of wireless connectivity and enable them to take full advantage of our best-in-class digital offerings, while visiting Anfield.”
Norman Rice, chief operating officer, Extreme Networks, said: “Connectivity is the foundation of next generation mobile services like biometrics, interactive stadium apps and on-demand concessions at large venues. In a stadium like Anfield, which houses 54,000 fans, Extreme will provide next-generation wireless connectivity and deliver a goldmine of network insights that will help Liverpool Football Club better understand its fanbase, unlock new revenue streams and improve overall matchday operations.”
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Gavin Wheeldon
Manchester-based technology company, Purple, has launched a new platform aimed at helping the NHS reduce the £300m of medicine wasted every year and speed up operation waiting times.
It is estimated that nurses spend at least one hour of every shift searching for critical pieces of equipment and medication and only 31% of their total time is spent with patients due to admin. Furthermore, the £300m in lost medicines could pay for more than 11,000 community nurses or almost 20,000 more drug treatment courses for breast cancer.
Purple’s ‘Intelligent Healthcare’ technology has been created to help increase efficiency, reduce costs and improve patient experience for healthcare organisations in the UK and USA. The industry-first platform is an asset tracking, navigation and staff efficiency tool which is customisable dependent on the facility’s needs. It can serve as an interactive map for staff-only wayfinding support, for patient-experience wayfinding, to enable healthcare workers to keep track of hospital assets, or a combination of all three.
The groundbreaking technology ensures all equipment is traceable and easily findable, thereby reducing time to task, and increasing time for patient care. It also enables incidents to be reported by staff and patients in real time, eliminating potential safety risks as quickly as possible.
Gavin Wheeldon, chief executive of Purple, said: “This technology will create a new standard for how hospitals should be run, enabling critical assets to be tracked and located in a quick and easy way. Using the app will eliminate wasted time, lost drugs and apparatus and reduce safety risks. Operations are less likely to be postponed due to lack of equipment and fewer patients will be without necessary medicines due to loss or theft.”
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Richard Mawdsley (Peel L&P), Phil Kane (Wirral Chamber), Graeme Moffat and Matt Anderson (Graham)
Peel L&P and construction group Graham have partnered with Wirral Chamber of Commerce on a series of events to attract and engage Wirral-based construction businesses and suppliers on the multimillion-pound Miller’s Quay residential project at Wirral Waters.
The first event, which took place on October 5, provided an opportunity for local businesses to find out how they can benefit from the massive investment being made at Wirral Waters. Graham, which is the main contractor for the £130m development, will hold further supply chain events over the coming weeks to increase the number of Wirral based businesses in their supply chain.
During the sessions, which are being run in partnership with Wirral Chamber of Commerce, Graham will outline the opportunities available and show suppliers how they can benefit from its help to develop their own businesses. The events will include a presentation on the wider pipeline of works on the Wirral, round table discussions on their key priorities, information zones, and an opportunity to ‘meet the buyer’.
Miller’s Quay is Peel L&P’s cornerstone residential scheme at Wirral Waters and is the single biggest development to date at what is the UK’s largest and most sustainable regeneration project. The development will include 500 one- and two-bedroom waterfront apartments, including 100 affordable new homes, and is expected to take 2.5 years to complete. Rents on the affordable homes will be a maximum of 80% of open market value, delivering significant social impact.
The construction of Miller’s Quay began in July. In August, Peel L&P and Graham joined forces with Wirral Met College, to engage more than 400 students with the project so they can benefit from access to a ‘real life’ classroom and a structured programme of activity to enrich their learning and prepare them for future employment in the modern construction industry.
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Katherine Pretswell-Walker
A new training programme offering a more flexible route to qualifying as a solicitor has been launched by legal firm, Cartmell Shepherd Solicitors, which operates across Cumbria and Northumberland.
The training programme offers law graduates the chance to work part-time as a paralegal for Cartmell Shepherd while studying for their Law Practice Course (LPC) professional qualification, gaining valuable, on-the-job experience. It also allows graduates to specialise in their chosen field from the outset, instead of having to work across different departments as part of their qualification.
Peter Stafford, managing director of Cartmell Shepherd Solicitors, said the programme was designed to nurture talent and secure the next generation of solicitors: “Our training programme is designed to attract the highest calibre of legal graduates who are looking to establish a career within our specialist agriculture, business services and dispute resolution teams, with a commitment to remaining in Cumbria and the Haltwhistle and Hexham areas of Northumberland, where we are based. We have a flexible, forward thinking approach towards our team which enables people to lead successful, fulfilling careers in a supportive environment.”
Katherine Pretswell-Walker, who is part of the agriculture and estates department, which is ranked as one of the best in the country, is one of several directors at the firm who began her career at Cartmell Shepherd. She said: “Cartmell Shepherd has been immensely supportive to me throughout my career, from joining as a trainee in 2006 to being made a director of the firm last year.
“I first worked at the firm during my summer break from university in an admin role and even then I knew it was somewhere I wanted to pursue my career. Since joining Cartmell Shepherd, I have had periods when I have chosen to take a step back from my role, such as two nine-month spells on maternity leave and subsequently part-time working, but it was in the knowledge that my career would always continue to develop and progress with the firm.”
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The Planisware team
A surge in demand for its project management software has led to Planisware doubling its workforce and a move to larger offices within ARRIVE’s White Building in MediaCity, an international hub for technology, innovation and creativity, and a flexible space for growing tech companies.
Planisware’s global turnover last year (2021) was €114m and is projected to climb to €135m by the end of 2022. Within this context, the number of employees within the UK office has grown on average 60% from 2020 to 2022. Currently, the UK team comprises 18 staff and recruitment is under way to fill more roles.
In addition to recruiting computer science graduates for professional services consultant roles, Kai Ojo, UK CEO of Planisware, is keen to seek out a diverse pool of talent and is sponsoring the upcoming Manchester Tech Festival from October 17-21, in a bid to widen its net and reach candidates who might not necessarily have a degree.
Kai Ojo said: “As a young and ambitious company, we are keen to build a powerful and diverse workforce. Because we are the newest and most agile business within an international company, I believe we can lead the way and demonstrate how to do this because I believe it’s important for the future.”
Planisware was founded in Paris in 2002 and has 12 offices around the world, including the US. In 2016, Kai Ojo, who, at the time, was working in the same sector as Planisware in project and portfolio management, approached the company with a proposal to establish a UK office. He added: “I knew there was a huge opportunity here in the UK and I felt it was important to have our offices based here at MediaCity. Despite the French owners eyeing up a location in the South of England, I convinced them that Salford would be the right place for us.”
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North linkspan bridge installation at Seacombe
Mersey Ferries services are making a welcome return to Seacombe, Wirral following a major upgrade of the ferry terminal that has welcomed passengers for hundreds of years.
Both commuter and River Explorer Cruises will start running from Seacombe on Monday, October 17, for the first time since it closed nearly two years ago, and ahead of the opening of the Eureka! Science + Discovery in the coming weeks. As part of this multimillion-pound investment, both the 130-year-old linkspan bridges were replaced, signifying a major piece of engineering work.
The landing stage has been refurbished and passengers will notice new powered gangways to help people get on and off the ferry easily and safely as well as a contemporary ticket office area – integrating fully with the new Eureka! Science and Discovery attraction. Following the successful completion of this project, attention will now turn to Woodside Ferry Terminal, Wirral, which is set to close for a similar upgrade closely linked to wider regeneration plans for the local area.
Improvement works at both ferry terminals are part of the combined authority’s plans to help make sure the iconic ferries can sail along the River Mersey for generations to come, helping passengers to cross the river quickly.
Cllr Liam Robinson, transport and air quality portfolio holder for the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, said: “The re-opening of Seacombe will allow us to begin works at Woodside and bring it up to the same standard and support the ongoing regeneration works in Birkenhead. The Mersey Ferries are an important part of our cultural identity in the city region. These works at both of our Wirral terminals will make sure the ferries can continue to operate from there for many years to come.”
