North West business briefs: LYVA Labs; Lancaster Spirits Company; Poundland; Sale Sharks; Bensons For Beds; HMRC
Continuing to move through a pipeline of health and life science investment, LYVA Labs, the Liverpool City Region’s innovation commercialisation organisation, has announced its latest investment in emerging biotech, Daresbury Proteins.
Halton-based Daresbury Proteins produces proteins used in academic and industrial research. The ‘one of a kind’ catalogue of proteins was produced for university-based scientists and is unavailable commercially elsewhere. Most recently, Daresbury Proteins was able to develop an ultra-sensitive COVID-19 test to assess the effectiveness of the vaccines and natural infection. The research reagents market topped $3.88bn in 2021 and is projected to grow at a rate of 11.33% next year.
The company has previously received funding from Mayor Steve Rotheram’s £3.2m Future Innovation Fund. Now, LYVA Labs has made a £250,000 investment from its Health and Life Science Challenge fund and three new jobs will be created at Daresbury Protein, with plans to expand this to 50 jobs within the region in the next five years. The investment into Daresbury Proteins will enable the development of its proprietary-enabling technology for difficult-to-express biotherapeutics.
As the city region’s dedicated innovation commercialisation vehicle, LYVA Labs is key to achieving Mayor Rotheram’s ambition to invest five per cent of regional GVA on Research and Development (R&D) by 2030 – nearly double the Government’s national target.
Jennet Beesly, director at Daresbury Proteins, said: “The growth of the market is attributed to some key driving factors such as increasing incidence of chronic diseases, growth in the geriatric population, and increasing demand for protein biologics. Emerging economies are likely to create significant growth opportunities for players in the market, and companies, such as LYVA Labs are noticing this and understanding the impact this sort of business will have on the region.”
Lorna Green, CEO of LYVA Labs, said: “It’s an exciting time for biotech and in particular the global protein expression market, and innovators like Daresbury Proteins are impacting the industry in a big way. Bringing such an interesting, and growing, sector to the city region, as well as the opportunity for the increased workforce, is great, and we’re proud to be a part of Daresbury Proteins’ journey.”
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The first two products from a new Lancaster distillery will go on sale this month. English Grain Vodka and Firecracker Gin are being launched by The Lancaster Spirits Company.
Alongside the home of multi award-winning Lancaster Brewery, The Lancaster Spirits Company is a grain-to-glass distillery, utilising decades of brewing know-how and distilling processes, to produce premium quality, small-batch gin and vodka. It has taken an unusual approach to create its base grain spirit by distilling from its own specially concocted beer.
Using a secret blend of wheat and rye grains, a 200-year-old Lancastrian live yeast and water drawn from an artesian well, the spirit has been created following many dozens of test brews carried out over an 18-month development period. Even the bottle has involved scrupulous thought and regard. The design is based on a 19th century Lancaster based brewery (Yates & Jackson) beer bottle and then carefully modified to allow space for the label and etched with the distillery’s name.
Firecracker Gin expresses the profiles of 17 botanicals and is described as a big, forward and powerful gin that is both silky smooth yet offers a mosaic of flavours wrapped up in a long, satisfying finish. English Grain Vodka is a rich and silky-smooth vodka which contains gentle hints of wheat on the palate, with a long and satisfying finish.
Phil Simpson, MD of The Lancaster Spirits Company, said: ‘’We’ve taken our time to get our spirits right – 18 months of recipe tweaks, plant investment, trials and blind tastings to create a gin and a vodka that exceed our stringent quality standards. Every ingredient has been chosen with balance and harmony in mind. We are sure our customers will appreciate the great lengths we’ve gone to to ensure the unique provenance of every element of the spirits we craft.’’
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Poundland is putting the finishing touches to its new store in Morecambe as it prepares to make the move to a larger unit the Arndale Centre just in time for Christmas. The new store, at 20 Royalty Mall, opens on Saturday, November 12, just a few yards from the existing store it replaces.
At nearly 10,000 sq ft, the new unit has given Poundland the opportunity to expand, with a 21-strong workforce, including seven new recruits.
The new store, previously occupied by Home Bargains, is in a prime location in the Arndale, in the heart of the town centre. Poundland says its investment marks a vote of confidence in Morecambe town centre and the Arndale Centre, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.
It is one of the growing number of new and existing stores – set to reach around 350 this autumn – to get a makeover as part of Project Diamond, including the introduction of a wide range of chilled and frozen food.
Poundland’s director of retail, Darren Kay, said: “Morecambe is a great location for us and the move gives us the opportunity to open a store that shows Poundland at its best.”
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George Ford, of Sale Sharks
The Turmeric Co will continue to partner with Premiership Rugby powerhouse, Sale Sharks, into the 2022/23 season. The extended collaboration will allow the club’s first team players to continue using The Turmeric Co’s raw turmeric shots, as they remain a core component of the club’s nutrition plan.
Founded by Welsh international footballer, Thomas ‘Hal’ Robson-Kanu and developed over 15 years, The Turmeric Co produce four functional flavours of shots. These include Original Raw Turmeric, Raw Turmeric & Ginger, Raw Turmeric & Beetroot and Raw Turmeric Vitamin C & D3.
The Turmeric Co also works closely with a range of other elite rugby clubs including fellow Premiership side Leicester Tigers, Championship table-toppers Ealing Trailfinders and Rugby League’s St Helens and Salford Red Devils.
Rick Swaby head of sports science at Sale Sharks, said: “It’s fantastic to be able to offer our players a natural alternative to aid training and injury rehabilitation alongside their nutritional plans. We’ve found the product extremely helpful when it comes to managing the wellness of our players throughout the season, especially after matches where the naturally occurring anti-inflammatory properties within The Turmeric Co’s formula allow us to enhance our players’ recovery, allowing them to train and play harder each week.”
Thomas ‘Hal’ Robson-Kanu said: “We are proud to have continued our partnership with Sale Sharks and have seen great results with player performance and recovery. Our unmatched formula is being utilised by so many professional athletes to give that much-needed marginal gain from a nutritional perspective, and we are thrilled that our blends have had such an impact at Sale Sharks.”
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Bensons for Beds, the Accrington-based bed and mattress retailer, is opening a new outlet store, Bensons Outlet, at Doncaster Lakeside Village, South Yorkshire, on October 28.
It will offer leading brands in beds, mattresses, bedroom furniture and bedding at up to 60% off the recommended retail price. Items will include sale and clearance lines and fully refurbished returns from Bensons for Beds stores across the country.
The 4,700 sq ft store was previously occupied by GAP and will employ five colleagues from other Bensons for Beds stores in the region.
Bensons for Beds chief customer officer, Frankie Haynes, said: “We know that households are feeling the pinch right now and Bensons Outlet is an exciting new pilot. It goes without saying, all our other Bensons stores will continue to provide discounts and value for money, but our new Outlet in Doncaster will be special, giving customers special deals.”
Bensons Outlet is the latest investment by Bensons under its transformation plan and follows the opening of around 20 stores since the beginning of December.
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With 100 days to go until the deadline for online returns, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is reminding self assessment customers that the countdown to complete their tax return has begun.
Self assessment customers have until January 31, 2023, to submit their online return for the 2021 to 2022 tax year. More than 66,000 taxpayers beat the clock and filed their tax return on April 6 – the first day of the new tax year. HMRC is encouraging others to complete their return as soon as they can, so they know what they owe and can budget to make the payment by January 31, 2023. This also means that if a repayment is due, it can be claimed back sooner.
Last year, more than 95% of customers filed online with many choosing to start it, save their progress and go back to it as many times as they need before it’s ready to submit. Those who submit their returns early still have until January 31, 2023 to pay.
Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Services, said: “With 100 days to go until the online deadline, there’s still time to complete your tax return, to budget and look into the range of payment options if you need to.
“Help and support is available online to help customers with their tax returns. Just search ‘Self Assessment’ on GOV.UK to find out more and get started today.”
