North West business briefs: THG; Vertex Hydrogen; Naimuri; Bring Digital; Fuuse; Meraki HR Solutions North; Sovini Group

Manchester-based online retail group, THG, has gifted £50,000-worth of shares to two members of staff as part of its annual awards ceremony.

James Robinson was named Group Employee of the Year, and Charlotte Pratska was hailed Group Newcomer of the Year.

Both were awarded £50,000 in THG equity to recognise their achievements in 2022.

Senior data analyst, James Robinson, said: “I am proud to have worked at THG for four years and am delighted to have won Employee of the Year. The best thing about working at THG is the hard working and passionate people I work alongside – there are so many people who are willing to help and support no matter the issue.

“They truly are some of the best and they make THG what it is. 2022 was a year of change in my career, seeing me step into a new leadership role managing both the CRM and data functions in THG’s Nutrition division. I am proud to have taken the challenge head on and to have received recognition from the business with this award.”

In July last year, THG co-founder and chief executive, Matthew Moulding, gifted almost £821,000-worth of shares in the group to his friends.

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Pilkington

Vertex Hydrogen has signed a ‘Heads of Terms’ offtake agreement for low carbon hydrogen with St Helens glass manufacturer Pilkington UK.

Pilkington, part of the NSG Group, has led the flat glass sector in the switch towards low carbon fuels, completing two world-first trials of hydrogen being fired in a glass furnace. The agreement sets Vertex up to supply Pilkington UK with hydrogen as the manufacturer continues to develop low carbon ways of manufacturing glass.

Vertex Hydrogen was formed last year as a joint venture by Wirral-based oil refinery, Essar, and Progressive Energy, with plans to build the UK’s largest hydrogen hub at the Stanlow manufacturing complex on the banks of the River Mersey, in a £1bn investment.

Joe Seifert, CEO of Vertex Hydrogen, said: “Pilkington has long been admired as an innovator in the glass industry and led a world first trial of flat glass from hydrogen in 2021 at its famous St Helens facility. The offtake agreement is another iconic name in the North West manufacturing region switching to Vertex’s low carbon hydrogen.”

Neil Syder, managing director of Pilkington UK, said: “We are fully committed to our NSG Group target of achieving net-zero by 2050. Firing the float glass furnace using hydrogen instead of natural gas is a key part of our strategy to reduce carbon emissions. Decarbonising the glass making process represents a significant challenge so it’s critical that we partner with academics and industry groups, particularly here in the North West.”

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Carl Roberts

Salford-based data intelligence company Naimuri, has doubled its headcount and seen turnover substantially increase, since it was acquired by global defence company QinetiQ back in 2020.

The company is projecting more than 25% growth in 2023 following a similar increase in 2022, as it widens its client portfolio, supporting more projects in national security and law enforcement and winning new work within the defence sector.

Naimuri was founded in 2015 and has seen its staffing increase from 70 to more than 140 including a significant increase in its gender diversity. The company continues to attract new talent to help it meet its growing pipeline of work and to fulfil its mission to ‘make the UK a safer place to be’.

Managing director, Carl Roberts, said: “It has been an exciting time since our acquisition by QinetiQ and despite events of the last few years and the current economic challenges, we have continued to grow, winning new clients and widening our work with existing clients.

“This growth has been achieved by the increasing number of software developers, cloud engineers, business analysts, delivery managers and data scientists who are at the heart of delivering operational impact. As part of our growth we have seen a positive increase in the diversity of our people, which is hugely important to us, as we continue to make Naimuri an inclusive place to work. We look forward to what can be achieved in 2023.”

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The Bring Digital team

Performance marketing agency, Bring Digital, has launched a new global localisation service to support the international growth of its partner eCommerce brands.

The Manchester agency has developed the in-house capability and infrastructure to offer eCommerce brands full translation services including subtitling and voice-over in more than 200 languages, to support advertising and content marketing expansion across global territories. The new strategic offering supports the agency’s existing delivery reach globally for brands including Formula One, Cotton Traders, and Beauty Bay.

Bring Digital CEO, Justin Young, said: “Having seen the continued trend of growing eCommerce demand across international territories, we’ve worked hard to build the infrastructure to offer professionally accredited translation services from native speakers across so many languages.”

“We are delighted to launch this service going into 2023, and we’re looking forward to helping our brand partners extend their reach to a truly global audience.”

This service expansion follows a record year for the Manchester-based agency. In 2022, Bring Digital added 10 new digital specialists to the team, as the agency delivered revenues in excess of £4.5m.

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Alex Baker

Lancaster-based EV charge point management platform, Fuuse, continues its accelerated growth with expansion into Ireland. The EV charging platform and fleet transition partner has appointed Alex Baker, a veteran fleet innovator, to deliver ambitious expansion plans across the country.

Initial projects in the region include powering Siemens’ chargers, installed at Dublin City University’s Innovation Campus, and working with installers eCharge to provide EV charging at the five-star luxury Castlemartyr Resort Hotel in County Cork.

Fuuse offers a comprehensive platform to configure and manage the EV charging operations of entire fleets and manage multi-hardware networks of chargers from one easy-to-use system. Working with both public and private sectors, Fuuse enables flexible access controls – meaning chargers can remain private for authorised drivers or be opened to the public to generate revenue. In addition, operators have extensive configuration options to set different rules for driver groups, including opening times and managing multiple tariffs.

Alex Baker brings 20-plus years of experience in fleet and technology, well versed in helping organisations with EV strategy, e-mobility and V2G projects. He said: “With a target of nearly a million EVs on the roads in Ireland by 2030 and following several new initiatives to encourage EV adoption across the country, the need for robust and scalable charging infrastructure is now paramount to Ireland’s climate action success.”

Owen Murray, Siemens eMobility lead in Ireland, highlights the acceleration needed in Ireland to drive the transition to electric fleet and how the relationship between Fuuse and Siemens will further support this: “In order to meet targets for electric vehicle adoption, we must ensure electric vehicle infrastructure across Ireland is accessible to everyone. Working with our preferred software supplier, Fuuse, we’re installing charging stations, which can optimise energy consumption, and provide opportunities for additional revenue, perfect for use across commercial premises – offices, hospitals, university campuses and more.”

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Emma Browning

HR consultancy, Meraki HR Solutions North, has expanded and opened a Northern division based in the Kendal Business Hub at South Lakeland House.

Founder and managing director, Emma Browning, who launched the firm in Oxfordshire in 2014, has already taken on Melissa Oliver as an HR administrator at the Kendal office and hopes to recruit more staff as the Northern division expands.

She said: “My biggest concern moving to the Lake District was that I’m a southerner and whether I would be accepted, but everybody I have met within the local business community has been incredibly supportive and welcoming and I am really excited about the future.”

She added: “Meraki is a word, often used by modern Greeks, to describe doing something with soul, creativity or an absolute passion — when you put something of yourself into what you’re doing. Meraki is who we are and what we believe in.”

Before setting up Meraki Emma’s roles included HR manager for Porsche Cars Great Britain, where she completed her Masters Degree in the Management of Innovation and Change, and HR director for Harley-Davidson Europe, Middle East and Africa, where she became a qualified MBTI and Gallup Strengths Coach. She is a member of business networking group Kendal BNI.

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Paula Robinson

The Sovini Group is working to stamp out poverty pay and improve working practices across the Liverpool City Region.

The Fair Employment Charter, a campaign from Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram, sees employers pledging their commitment to protect workers being hit by the worst cost of living crisis in a generation.

The Bootle-based Sovini Group is joining an elite group of 50 organisations from across the region who have been awarded Aspiring status of the Mayor’s Fair Employment Charter, which encourages businesses to pay staff a Real Living Wage, clamp down on the use of zero hours contracts, provide mental health support, encourage flexible working and engage with trade unions.

Paula Robinson, interim chief people and communications officer for The Sovini Group said: “At The Sovini Group, we know that our people are our biggest asset and we are committed to ensuring our employees receive fair pay for a fair day’s work.

“We are proud to be one of the first organisations to sign the Fair Employment Charter, which is such an important initiative for the Liverpool City Region, and would encourage other businesses to join us to ensure the region is one of the fairest places to work in the UK.”