North West business briefs: Conlon Construction; Recircle; Avoira; Together; Steve Hunt Associates; Derian House
Manchester United star Jess Simpson officially opened a new £6m sports village at Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone following its completion by Conlon Construction.
Common Edge Community Sports Village will transform young people’s experience of sport in the region for generations, boasting 14 new grass football pitches, a full-sized 3G football pitch, a sports pavilion with changing rooms and community space, plus a grass rugby pitch and training area. The new sports pavilion also comprises six changing rooms, two officials’ rooms, two kitchens and a large community room. A 194-space car park with sustainable drainage and a new access road to the sports village has also been delivered as part of the works.
Its opening marks the completion of the first phase of development at Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone, a scheme that is hoped will ultimately create 3,000 quality jobs for local people and spark £300m of private sector investment in the town.
Michael Conlon, chairman at Conlon Construction, said: “This marks the beginning of an exciting era of sport in Blackpool. The facilities at Common Edge are exceptional and set the tone for a new generation of fitness-focused youngsters. We’re committed to delivering projects that leave a lasting legacy beyond just bricks and mortar, and Common Edge Community Sports Village represents precisely that.”
Cllr Mark Smith, cabinet member for levelling up (place) at Blackpool Council, said: “This is the first completed phase of our investment into the Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone by providing a high quality community facility that people of all ages will enjoy for years to come. Equally, it allows us to move forward with our plans to attract new businesses onto the Enterprise Zone, and in turn, create hundreds more quality jobs that local people can benefit from as we work to make Blackpool better.”
Support to build a new access road to the sports village, as well as the new access road to Amy Johnson Way, was provided through a £7.5m grant from the Government Town Fund, while £250,000 of funding for the construction of the sports pavilion was granted by Football Foundation.
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Recycling and industrial biotechnology innovator, Recircle, has relocated to the North West’s sci-tech hotspot, Daresbury Science Park, with a new, tailor-made workspace combining a trifecta of laboratory spaces with modern offices.
Recircle’s work is dedicated to keeping valuable rubber materials within the resource stream by transforming end-of-life rubber waste into premium quality and high performing compounds. Its breakthroughs are helping to minimise deforestation and the demand for the harmful oils present in rubber manufacturing.
Quadrupling its existing operational capacity, the 5,000 sq ft facility empowers Recircle’s work across biotechnology, engineering, polymer science and rubber technology. It also represents the first time Recircle’s unique suite of laboratories has been situated under one roof. Its rubber lab brings together advanced material testing instruments and sensitive analytical equipment.
Moving from two separate sites in Hertford, this new era underlines the extent of the business’s rapid growth. The project was delivered by Wigan-based workspace design and fit-out specialists Eatock Design & Build (EDB) over a tight 12-week timeframe.
Dr Barry Van Bergen, CEO of Recircle said: “The new workspace is an exciting milestone for Recircle as it brings together all our advanced biotech research and rubber recycling technology in one state-of-the-art facility. Our people are what make Recircle great and you can feel real energy and enthusiasm in the team in the new space.”
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Andrew Roberts
Technology solutions specialist Avoira has been named as a supplier on Crown Commercial Service’s Network Services 3 (NS3) framework (RM6116), for six lots, including: Lot 1a: WAN – Data Access Services; Lot 2a: LAN – Local Connectivity Services; Lot 1b: Commercial Radio; Lot 4b: Digital Communication Services (Unified Communications); Lot 4c: Contact Centre; Lot 4e: Paging & Alerting.
As a result, Bury-based Avoira can supply services Wide Area Network (WAN) and Local Area Network (LAN) connectivity, contact centre solutions, paging and alerting services and commercial two-way radio systems to public sector organisations, including central government departments, the NHS, local authorities, and universities.
Avoira is also able to supply services for the digital communication services, Lot 4b. This category encompasses a wide range of technologies, including IP telephony, audio and video conferencing, collaboration software and unified communications.
Andrew Roberts, Avoira MD, said: “CCS maintains stringent standards for suppliers named on their agreements based on expertise, service, and value, so achieving successful accreditation across such a broad range of categories under the Network Services 3 framework is a great achievement. It’s one which will undoubtedly power Avoira’s growth and enable to further extend our reach in the public sector.”
Avoira already serves more than 300 public bodies. These include local councils, central government agencies, the NHS, schools, colleges and universities.
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Kevin Fisher
Cheadle-based specialist lender, Together, has donated more than £1m to charity in the 2023 financial year.
The funds, donated to local charities across the region, have been used to support a range of projects, from new affordable housing for young people facing homelessness to providing materials and supplies to a local college to aid them in their education in the construction industry.
In 2023, the lender has supported a number of charities, including Manchester-based Centrepoint, which received a £250,000 donation for the charity’s Independent Living Programme. The program provides high quality, affordable housing for young people to create a home of their own.
Together also donated £100,000 to charity Forever Manchester. The finance was used to establish a ‘Together Energy Fund’, which will support local community centres and hubs across Greater Manchester help with rising energy costs. Charites such as St Anns Hospice and The Joshua Tree also received donations from Together, which have enabled them to continue to support those who rely on them.
Colleagues from Together spent more than 2,700 volunteering hours to support the heart of the community, from landscape restoration work with The National Trust, to running the Manchester Marathon. Kevin Fisher, group people director, said: “Supporting local charities is at the very heart of Together’s ethos. Our commitment for 2023 was to deploy in excess of £1m in to the community through our Let’s Make it Count Programme and for 25% of colleague volunteering days to be used, and we’re incredibly proud to have met those targets.”
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Steve Hunt, centre, and management team
Mechanical and electrical engineering specialist, Steven Hunt Associates, has secured a host of project wins across the UK, with the total contract value in excess of £68m.
Founded in 1989, the Liverpool-based company starts the second half of the year with confidence securing new projects with the likes of the deconstruction of the old Royal Liverpool University Hospital, worth £15m in construction costs, £4m-worth of council projects across Rochdale, remodelling of the International Slavery Museum with the National Museum of Liverpool totalling £27m in construction costs; £10m-worth of projects for Sandway Homes; and various projects with the University of Liverpool, one being an extension to the Sydney Jones Library, worth £7m in construction costs.
The success comes more than a year after the firm appointed four new directors in 2022. Led by managing director and company founder, Steve Hunt, the expanded leadership team also includes directors, Neil Baines, Dave Kelly, Anne King and Dominic Sibbring.
Steve Hunt said: “It has been a fantastic first half of the year for the business, and we go into the second half with real confidence and optimism for continued growth. The recent projects also demonstrate our expertise and experience across a wide range of sectors.”
The firm, which employs a team of 23, works across a wide range of sectors including healthcare, residential, education, commercial, care and extra care, social housing, hotels and industrial.
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Ellie Biggs with mum and dad Amy and Adam
A truck designed by a talented young artist has helped to raise a whopping £15,000 for Derian House Children’s Hospice during the charity’s 30th anniversary year.
Ellie Biggs, 11, won the ‘Draw it for Derian’ art competition held by truck dealer Thomas Hardie Commercials earlier this year with her eye-catching design that was emblazoned on a brand-new Volvo FH Globetrotter. The truck has since been touring the UK encouraging donations with a ‘text to donate’ number, and encouraging customers who loan the demonstrator to make a charitable donation of their choice. Derian House is a charity that looks after 400 children with life-limiting conditions from across the North West.
In March, Ellie and her parents travelled 250 miles from her home in Devon to Derian House in Chorley to see the truck unveiled for the first time – adorned with birthday cake, presents, and party balloons to celebrate the charity’s birthday. It was especially fitting as Ellie’s parents, Amy and Adam Biggs, both work at Volvo dealers. Stuarts Truck & Bus.
Ellie said: “My mum told me about the competition. I love Volvo trucks because they’re a big part of what my family does – it’s the family business. I’ve always loved art, too, and I’m so happy that my art is helping children at Derian House. One of my friends saw the truck out and about. Me and my mum think it’s wonderful how much Thomas Hardie has raised so far.”
Thomas Hardie Commercials has, so far, raised more than £65,000 for Derian House over the years by hosting a variety of different events and charity days. Steve Wilson, sales and marketing director, said: “We understand how important the work that Derian House Children’s Hospice does, which is why we’re so passionate about helping them make a difference, with financial donations, fundraising, and volunteering.”
