North West business briefs: Hydes Brewery; DAWS; Shoosmiths; Thinkprint; NWAA; Peel Ports
Salford-based Hydes Brewery has relaunched popular Cheadle pub The Crown Inn with a new look in celebration of the new King, following a £150,000 refurbishment programme.
Timed to be complete in time for the Coronation, the refurbishment of the traditional pub, originally bought by Hydes in 1965, includes an extensive interior redecoration, improved lighting, new booth seating and updated sound system and TVs plus a redesigned bar layout and more spacious seating area with the addition of a bar side snug. A refresh of the exterior has also been carried out, further enhancing the establishment’s appeal.
This latest refurbishment project forms part of an ongoing multimillion-pound investment programme across the Hydes estate over the next few years. Hydes committed more than £4.5m to refurbishments of pubs across its estate throughout last year and it plans to add to that investment throughout 2023.
Managing director, Adam Mayers, said: “The Crown Inn is a friendly, traditional pub which is rich with character and typical of a Hydes pub of today. It’s a great pub to relax and enjoy a memorable pint whilst watching a match or live music. The reopening has been timed to coincide with the Coronation so that customers can enjoy the celebrations and officially toast the event in an aptly named pub.
“Hydes remains fully committed to all of the pubs across its estate and the refurb of The Crown Inn is the latest in our ongoing programme of planned redesigns and refurbishments.”
Hydes, with its brewery in MediaCity, Salford, was formed in 1863 and supplies beers to wholesalers, pub companies and other brewers throughout the UK and a pub retailing estate of more than 40 pubs across the North West of England and North Wales.
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A door and window manufacturer has doubled its growth and created 15 jobs after investing £50,000 in technology, with the help of Made Smarter.
Door and Window Systems (DAWS), based in Knowsley, makes aluminium products for trade suppliers. Launched four years ago, the business has grown rapidly, but needed to improve infrastructure and introduce automation to achieve its scale-up ambitions. With the support of the Made Smarter North West adoption programme, a government-funded initiative to help SME manufacturers digitalise, decarbonise and grow through technology, DAWS created a digital roadmap and invested in a software solution to manage customer interactions and sales, and secondary software to integrate with production and dispatch.
The project had an instant impact, increasing back office productivity by 50% and freeing up staff to focus on more high value tasks and sales opportunities. As a result the company is on track to double its turnover, contribute an extra £1m to the region’s GVA over the next three years, and create 15 jobs.
Julian Wetherall, director of DAWS, hailed the partnership with Made Smarter as “transformational”. He said: “We’ve had an amazing first four years, but now we are focused on scaling the business and becoming a go-to supplier for our customers. Our move to new premises in Knowsley has overcome our storage and supply chain challenges, as well as giving us the space to grow, and so now we have all the ingredients in place to go to the next level.”
Launched in the North West in 2019, Made Smarter has supported more than 2,500 businesses. This includes 250 manufacturers who have collectively invested £18m in technologies which enable them to integrate systems, capture and analyse data, and even create simulations of their plants and processes, others are now using 3D-printing, automation, and robotics to solve business challenges and meet increased demand.
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Lisa Tye, left, and Kathryn Jump
Two female partners at Manchester law firm, Shoosmiths, who have been job sharing for 15 years, are urging employers to consider following their example when managing flexible working after research revealed a lack of support for the working practice.
According to research undertaken by the University of Birmingham and University of York, 76% of UK managers believe flexible working increases productivity in their workforce, yet attitudes to job sharing remain antiquated with 53% of managers reporting job shares weren’t available in their workplace. In addition, 44% found it difficult to approve job shares compared with other flexible working.
Lisa Tye and Kathryn Jump are partners at Shoosmiths. Each working three days a week, they share their role running one of the highest rated planning law practices in England. Lisa said: “From a business perspective, a job share makes commercial sense. The business gets so much more from it, a job share literally doubles the brain power behind the operation. There’s a natural collaboration and an in-built opportunity to bounce ideas.
“Kathryn and I wouldn’t have been able to achieve the success in our careers we’ve had without job sharing. Without it, we may have left law completely. Job sharing has enabled us to fully commit to work, while still making time for our families. Our partnership is incredibly powerful, we’ve learnt to communicate differently and have grown together over the years.”
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Northwich-based print marketing solutions provider, Thinkprint UK, has transferred the ownership of the business into an Employee Ownership Trust deal (EOT) supported by Shawbrook.
Founded in 1996 by Ian Thomson with an initial focus on Point-of-Sale (POS) marketing, Thinkprint UK is a provider of outsourced print management and marketing data procurement services.
With Mr Thomson looking to partially step-away from the business, Shawbrook provided a flexible senior debt solution incorporating a commercial loan and a commercial confidential invoice discounting line to efficiently support the transfer of Thinkprint to an EOT. The transaction will see the sale of 100% of the share capital to the EOT, allowing Thomson to partially exit the business and transition to the role of chairman. Paul Robinson will retain his position as managing director following the transaction.
Mr Robinson said: “Our industry holds great potential for expansion. As an organisation that is employee-owned, our staff now possesses a direct interest in our success, and we are confident this will motivate them to work diligently and intelligently to ensure optimal client support.”
Daniel Martin, senior director at Shawbrook, said: “Thinkprint is a prime example of a long-running UK business which is continuing to innovate in its respective sector. We have been highly impressed with the firm’s growth trajectory over the past few years, and its ambitions to diversify and expand into other areas – which is why we were eager to support Ian and Paul in this transaction.”
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Mo Isap, Paula Gill, Prof Schofield
A partnership between IN4 Group and The North West Aerospace Alliance (NWAA) will provide a pathway for more than 160 people from all backgrounds to job opportunities with employers from the advanced aerospace engineering and manufacturing supply chain in the North West.
The collaboration will support people with the training and development of the most in-demand tech skills and provide them with access to a clear pathway of career opportunities in the 125-plus companies that are part of the NWAA’s membership network. This includes 100 SMEs and blue-chip organisations such as Rolls Royce, BAE Systems, Safran and MBDA.
Each year IN4Group’s Skills City helps more than 600 Interns into tech careers. Each intern works on a live industry project over six weeks to showcase their talent to prospective employers. They can then progress as tech interns for a period of six to 12 months which offers employers a try-before-you-buy approach to talent acquisition.
IN4 Group CEO, Mo Isap, has an established relationship with the chairman of the NWAA, Prof Andrew Schofield, who was the former director of programme technology integration at BAE Systems. Mo Isap said: “The North West has a strong industrial heritage and we are proud to be working with a prominent and influential organisation like the NWAA to establish this unique skills and talent partnership in the region.”
Paula Gill, NWAA CEO, said: “The advanced aerospace engineering and manufacturing sector is increasingly adopting new digital and cyber-based technologies into their businesses. Working with IN4 Group, the NWAA can ensure that the required digital skills being brought into the talent pipeline through this innovative skills initiative will help to address the skills gap and support future development of much needed technology within the industry.”
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Seaforth Container Terminal
Liverpool-based Peel Ports is working with a consortium led by the University of Liverpool to bid for the UK’s flagship national Clean Maritime Research Hub.
As part of a wider partnership with the University of Liverpool’s School of Management, Peel Ports has committed to participating in workshops, sharing operational port data and insights and allocating staff time to the project. The designation is part of the Government’s UK SHORE programme, which aims to decarbonise the maritime sector by exploring key challenges and barriers, and encouraging research and development opportunities.
The programme is set to provide funding grant schemes for early research projects by UK universities. If successful, the university-led project will receive a total of £7.4m of funds over the course of the next four years. The research hub would make Liverpool the UK centre of excellence for clean maritime research and facilitate further academic and industrial cooperation.
Lewis McIntyre, managing director port services at Peel Ports, said: “Peel Ports has received numerous industry accolades for its efforts in reducing its environmental impact, including this year’s prestigious Clean Maritime Operator award by Maritime UK. This reflects our efforts in decarbonising our port operations as a top priority, and we are delighted to support the University of Liverpool in its efforts to bid for projects of this nature, which align to our own net zero 2040 strategy.”
Prof Dongping Song, from the University of Liverpool’s Management School, said: ”Peel Ports’ support and participation is extremely valuable for the application to establish the hub and for the future research in decarbonising maritime industry and beyond.”
