North West business briefs: UCLan; Pentonbridge Inn; Evove; Sale Sharks; Russell WBHO; WeDo Business Services
Aerospace engineering at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) has been given the seal of approval by two prestigious industry bodies.
UCLan’s undergraduate and postgraduate aerospace degree courses are now recognised by the Institution of Engineering Designers (IED) and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), in acknowledgment of their relevance and credibility in industry.
It means that BEng (Hons) and MEng Aerospace Engineering graduates can register as members with the two professional bodies and takes them a step closer to a Chartered Engineer status. The courses now join UCLan’s undergraduate and postgraduate mechanical and motorsport engineering degrees, which already have the backing of the IED and IMechE.
Alongside demonstrating traditional skills needed to work in engineering, UCLan had to show its commitment to health and safety, ethical practice and sustainability in its teaching of aerospace engineering, as well as ensuring students display innovative design ideas.
Professor of Aerospace Engineering at UCLan, Darren Ansell, said: “We’re proud and delighted that these two respected institutes have recognised our aerospace engineering courses and the quality of teaching we provide to prepare our graduates for careers in industry. It is an important milestone for the School of Engineering at UCLan.”
MEng Aerospace Engineering graduate, Kieran Steele, is now a graduate trainee with Roll-Royce. He said: “These accreditations will give me more opportunities throughout my career at Rolls-Royce and focus my drive on becoming a chartered Engineer with the IMechE.”
::
Pentonbridge Inn
A North Cumbrian fine dining restaurant has seen a huge increase in bookings after receiving a glowing review from food writer and presenter Grace Dent.
Pentonbridge Inn, near Carlisle, has been inundated with requests from diners following the publication of the restaurant review in The Guardian last month. In her review, Ms Dent said the restaurant’s eight-course tasting menu was ‘the sort of food that makes me giddy’ and questioned why Pentonbridge Inn did not have any Michelin stars, saying it was worth at least two. She described head chef Chris Archer’s menu as having ‘extraordinary confidence’ and said ‘cooking at this level is something Britain should be proud of’.
Gerald Smith, who owns and operates Pentonbridge Inn, said: “We are absolutely delighted with the restaurant review, and we’re proud of the whole team who work so hard and put so much pride and attention to detail into the food and service at Pentonbridge. In the weeks since the publication of the review we have seen a seven-fold increase in bookings for the restaurant compared to the same period last year and experienced a spike in followers on our social media accounts. It’s been a fantastic way to start 2023.”
Pentonbridge Inn, which sits in countryside close to the Scottish Border at Penton, holds three-AA Rosettes. It was named Newcomer of the Year in the Good Hotel Guide’s 2019 César Awards and picked up an Editor’s Choice Award for pub-with-rooms in 2022. The restaurant retained its listing in the Michelin Guide in 2022, having first been included in 2021.
Chris works closely with the garden team at nearby sister business Netherby Hall, to source the fruit, herbs and vegetables for the seasonally-inspired dishes from its restored walled garden, as well as working with local suppliers from across Cumbria. He honed his modern British style of cooking through working at Michelin-starred and AA Rosette restaurants across the UK including Winteringham Fields, Midsummer House and The Cottage in the Wood, near Keswick, where he took on his first head chef role in 2014.
::
MoU agreement
Daresbury-based Evove, a water filtration specialist, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Saline Water Conversion Corporation in Saudi Arabis to take advanced membrane technologies to industrial trials for water and mineral production from sea water.
During this week’s ‘Evolve – Enabling the Future of Desalination in KSA’ event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, SWCC gathered solution providers from around the world to present and discuss how to create the next generation of desalination in the Kingdom, not least Evove.
Evove CEO, Chris Wyres, gave a keynote presentation and said: “As society decarbonises, building new capacity for low energy water production is key, as water touches all aspects of life.
“SWCC have a leading position in green desalination which they wish to utilise both within Saudi Arabia and abroad. We will see desalination becoming a part of many more nations water supplies and the ability to make transformational desalination membrane technologies is a key factor in circular, green water and mineral factories.”
Head of SWCC’s DTRI (Desalination Technologies Research Institute), Tariq Al-Ghaffari, was instrumental in engaging with Evove about the use of its highly selective graphene membranes and 3D-printed spacers to reduce energy consumption in the reverse osmosis process. Being able to couple water production with the recovery of precious resources, especially magnesium, from desal brines is a key additional advantage of Evove’s proposition. He and Wyres formally began the partnership with the MoU on stage, which will lead to industrial-scale piloting in the Kingdom.
::
Sale Sharks Foundation, in partnership with Chester-based national credit card provider MBNA, has announced a new disability and inclusion programme designed to encourage those living with disabilities into sport
The programme, Tackle Together, will include inclusive tag rugby sessions, wheelchair rugby and Down’s Syndrome rugby sessions and will reach more than 1,000 young people
Those taking part in each of the sessions will also receive complementary tickets to a Sale Sharks game alongside family members.
Phil Ball, Community Inclusion Manager at Sale Sharks Foundation, said: “We’re extremely proud to be launching our latest disability and inclusion programme, Tackle Together, as we know how these sessions really can change lives. It’s important to us that everyone has the opportunity to be part of the fantastic rugby community, and these sessions will allow those living with disabilities to learn the basics of rugby and make some great friends in the process.”
Victoria Dowd, Sponsorships Manager at MBNA, said: “The sessions have been designed so that we’re able to engage as many young people as possible, whether that’s through mainstream schools learning about disabilities in sport through to giving more access to specialised tag and touch rugby sessions, the Tackle Together programme is a special one and we’re proud to throw our support behind it.”
::
Manchester-based regional main contractor Russell WBHO has been certified as a CarbonNeutral company. The accreditation is the first major milestone on the construction company’s road to becoming Net Zero by 2038.
CarbonNeutral company certification is awarded to firms operating in accordance with The CarbonNeutral Protocol, the global framework for carbon neutrality. The company has fully audited its greenhouse gas emissions, implemented carbon reduction measures across the business, and offset carbon emissions to compensate for what cannot currently be avoided by providing finance to projects across the globe.
The company has pledged a future reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by a number of methods including transferring to a green energy supplier, installing solar panels at the Trafford Park headquarters and on the roofs of project site facilities, improving office lighting and heating efficiency, and decarbonising further by transferring site generators from diesel to biofuel. This is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 77% by 2030, the half way point in the Net Zero by 2038 strategy.
The company will also continue rolling out existing carbon reduction initiatives which have already helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions since the firm embarked on its road to Net Zero in 2020. Petrol and diesel fleet vehicles are being replaced on a rolling basis by electric vehicles, and EV chargers are already installed at head office and construction sites. The team will also maintain its long term commitment to the sustainable sourcing of materials, and employing local labour and sub-contractors.
Managing director, Gareth Russell, said hitting the first of the Net Zero strategy’s target sent an important message: “As part of our Net Zero by 2038 strategy we set a series of milestones, the first of which was to achieve CarbonNeutral company status. We recognise that construction contributes a major carbon footprint and that improving this position is the responsibility of us as a business and of the sector as a whole. Having embarked on our journey to Net Zero we know there is a long road ahead but, by achieving CarbonNeutral company status now, we are making an immediate impact on tackling climate change and demonstrating a clear commitment to delivering results along the way.”
::
Robert Hawley, Rebecca Jennings, Chris Robinson, Mark Lindsay, Greg Adams, Rhys Bishop
Fast-growing Oldham-based business services group, WeDo Business Services, has stepped up its expansion with the launch of an accountancy division which has created 12 new roles in its 15-strong team.
The new division provides a range of accountancy services to SMEs and their directors across the UK. These include annual and management accounts, bookkeeping, VAT and payroll services, self-assessment tax returns and advisory services. The venture is called WeDo Accountancy Services.
Greg Adams, who has eight years’ accounting experience and has run his own practice, has been recruited to lead the new division’s management team alongside Robert Hawley, Rebecca Jennings and Rhys Bishop, who have moved from other roles in the group.
The WeDo group has its headquarters in Oldham and additional offices at MediaCityUK in Salford, Sheffield, Bromsgrove, Swindon and Colchester. Founded in 2019 by Mark Lindsay and Chris Robinson with just four staff, the group has grown organically and through acquisitions and now employs more than 100 people.
Chris Robinson said: “Our aim is to create a one-stop shop for small and medium-sized companies, so accountancy is an ideal complementary service to bolt on to our existing offering. We already manage back-office functions such as HR and finance for a lot of our clients, so it makes sense to provide the accountancy services that growing businesses require.”
