North West business briefs: Everton FC; Fusion21; YoungOnes; DSW; LCRCA; Century Sim Racing; Armstrong Watson
Liverpool City Council leader, Liam Robinson, has hailed Everton Stadium as a “phenomenal addition to the city”.
Cllr Robinson, who was formally confirmed as leader of the council in May 2023, was speaking on his first visit to the club’s future home at Bramley-Moore Dock. He was given a guided behind-the-scenes tour by Everton’s interim chief executive, Colin Chong, and was joined by the council’s recently appointed chief executive, Andrew Lewis, and director of development, Nuala Gallagher.
Cllr Robinson said: “It’s been amazing to come down here and confirm that we will have one of the very best stadiums in Europe, right here on the iconic Liverpool waterfront. We get very excited about how successful this can be for the wider city on so many levels, so it’s great that it’s coming to fruition and not just being talked about.
“This is my first visit, having only previously seen it from outside. It’s even more powerful when you get inside and now I’m looking forward to seeing how it all comes together. It’s going to be a phenomenal addition to the city, especially when you think about the location, on the wonderful, Liverpool waterfront.
Cllr Robinson heard first-hand about how the development will generate a £1.3bn boost for the UK economy, generate tens of thousands of jobs and attract 1.4 million new visitors to the city. And with plans progressing on improving the surrounding infrastructure, he vowed to continue to support the club in its transition from Goodison Park. He said: “The club has been doing a great job in pulling together this stadium and I am really proud of how the council has helped with that and supported it. It’s great to see some of the impact it’s had on local employment, for example. In fact, six per cent of the staff come from the Kirkdale neighbourhood, very local to the site.”
Colin Chong said: “All the way through the consultation process the support from the council has been there, so it was important to let their new leadership team see the amazing progress we’ve made and how close we are to completion. The job isn’t done yet and we will still need their assistance and expertise, but we wouldn’t have got this far without the help, knowledge and assistance from Liverpool City Council, particularly planning, building control and licencing department, who are definitely going to come into the forefront of what we need to do in the next nine months.”
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Procurement organisation and social enterprise Fusion21 has announced the fourth generation of its national Heating, Renewables and Electrical Framework worth up to £820m over four years and is now inviting bids from interested contractors of any size, providing local, regional or national coverage.
This framework is being setup to help the owners of domestic and non-domestic buildings to ensure they are safe and compliant in respect of heating and electrical installations and to support their journey to carbon net zero.
Alongside traditional heating installations and electrical testing/works it also covers innovative technologies dedicated to sustainable heating solutions (including ground source and air source heating) and quality assurance audits. The framework is specifically designed to support public sector organisations, including housing, education, and healthcare providers.
Split into a total of 10 lots, the structure is: Lot 1 Domestic Heating (Combustibles); Lot 2 Domestic Heating (Electric); Lot 3 Domestic Heating – Air source heat pump (ASHP); Lot 4 Domestic Heating – Ground source heat pump (GSHP); Lot 5 Commercial Heating (GSHP); Lot 6 Commercial Heating (All); Lot 7 Electrical Testing; Lot 8 Electrical Works; Lot 9 Solar PV & Battery Storage; Lot 10 Quality Assurance Audits.
Peter Francis, executive director of operations at Huyton-based Fusion21, said: “Due to launch in January 2024 and developed in response to member and supply chain feedback, we’ve streamlined previous lots to create a new generation of the framework which combines a full heating offer, renewable technology, quality assurance audits and two electrical lots. We welcome bids from all organisations, large or small, to provide specialist services for our members.”
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Pim Graafmans
Freelance staffing platform YoungOnes is expanding its UK operations into a second city – after it hit a new milestone of having provided seven million hours of support to businesses.
The Dutch start-up has now launched in Manchester after first landing in London in 2021. It was founded by Pim Graafmans, in Holland in 2017 as an offshoot of YoungCapital recruitment agency. The platform turbocharges how businesses connect with quality freelancers to meet both long term and last minute workforce needs.
Since its launch, it has helped connect businesses across a range of industries including retail, logistics and events with trusted and reviewed staff at short notice. YoungOnes has seen almost 350 UK businesses sign up to the platform to find quality freelancers since 2021. The platform already assists an array of big names with their staffing needs including Nando’s, HelloFresh, IKEA and H&M.
Ian Brown, head of operations at Manchester-based sales samples company, Showcase, said: “YoungOnes have been an invaluable support. While running pop-up luxury sample events in Manchester, finding staff on the platform has been easy. It is especially great to be able to see freelancers’ star ratings and know you will be getting quality people to join the team.”
YoungOnes set its sights on the hospitality and industrial hotspot of the North, to help the city’s fast moving businesses meet their ever-changing staffing needs. YoungOnes City Launcher, Joe Loughlin, said: “YoungOnes’ fantastic success in the Netherlands has continued since its launch in the UK and, as we reach nearly seven million hours of work provided to our freelancers, we’re delighted to expand to the Northern powerhouse of Manchester.”
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James Dow, Koo Aseeley Michael Dunn
Daresbury-based financial advisory firm, Dow Schofield Watts (DSW), has expanded its reach with the launch of a new corporate finance team based in Cardiff.
The new team will be led by Koo Aseeley and Michael Dunn and will support businesses in Wales and the South West. Their arrival comes just weeks after DSW launched a corporate finance team in the East Midlands.
Both partners have 10 years’ experience in financial services and most recently worked at Gambit Corporate Finance, where they completed an array of high profile M&A and fundraising transactions. Prior to this, Michael was an international trade finance specialist in the London insurance market, while Koo began his career with PwC in London where he advised some of the UK’s best known corporates before moving to mid-market firm Menzies Corporate Finance.
The new team will advise on transactions such as mergers, acquisitions and fundraising and provide a wider service helping businesses to achieve their growth aspirations and maximise value. Dow Schofield Watts now has more than 100 professionals in Aberdeen, Cardiff, the North West, Leeds, Leicester, London, Nottingham and Reading.
Dow Schofield Watts offers an alternative to traditional accountancy firms by enabling professionals to run their own business as part of the network. James Dow said: “We are pleased to welcome Koo and Mike to the network. Their arrival gives Dow Schofield Watts a presence in Wales for the first time and, as the second new team to launch within a month, will further strengthen our reputation as a leading force in corporate finance in the UK. It is also in line with our goal to attract new teams of high quality people into the network. We look forward to working with them as they develop and grow their business.”
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Steve Rotheram
Liverpool City Region Mayor, Steve Rotheram, has granted funding of £5.25m to extend the groundbreaking ‘Cradle to Career’ programme across the region’s most deprived areas, tackling inequalities faced by families in the region.
Cradle to Career was first launched in North Birkenhead in 2021 in partnership with Wirral Council, instigated and funded by the Steve Morgan Foundation, with founding support from SHINE and UBS Optimus Foundation.
It is delivered by Right to Succeed in partnership with more than 30 local organisations and has significantly improved literacy standards among children, given families easy access to the support they need, and created more opportunities for local children and young people. Cradle to Career North Birkenhead has brought together 33 community groups and organisations, seen a 42% rise in high-ability readers, and been used as an example of best practice family support in a Joint Area Inspection by Ofsted and CQC.
Following discovery phases in Halton and Knowsley, bespoke Cradle to Career programmes have now been developed for communities in Halton Lea and Northwood. These will focus on supporting vulnerable learners, reducing the number of post-16 school leavers not in education, employment or training, developing robust facilities and activities for all, and creating a family support hub to support social, emotional and mental wellbeing in the community. Further discovery phases are currently under way in Sefton and St Helens, with a vision to continue expansion across all six boroughs of the city region.
Steve Rotheram said: “It is a gross injustice that children’s whole lives are mapped out before they ever leave the maternity unit – a postcode lottery dictating their bank balance, the food they can afford, the diseases they’re likely to develop, the quality of the air they will breathe and how long they will live. Addressing that imbalance is central to my politics. Cradle to Career is a radical, bespoke approach that works with the communities to identify local issues – and empowers them to come up with the solutions.”
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Adam Rydings (leveltap), James Whitehouse (Century Sim), Callum Wilson (leveltap)
Century Sim Racing, the North West motorsport simulator racing centre, has moved its operations to Liverpool’s specialist esports venue, leveltap, offering customers the chance to test their driving skills on some of the world’s most iconic tracks.
Century Sim, in Liverpool One, provides an endless combination of cars and tracks, from cruising around Silverstone in a BMW M3 to racing around Monaco in a Ferrari Formula 1 race car. Racing novices and pro-gamers can experience what it’s like to be like Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen and improve their skills in their own true-to-life race car.
Visitors to leveltap, the city’s only dedicated esports and gaming venue, will be given a 180-degree view of the track using three panoramic screens surrounding each of the eight simulators. Speedsters can also become part of a racing community with an interactive best lap time leader board to keep track of their progress each time they visit.
Century Sim Racing was founded by James Whitehouse and Chris Stapleton who met at TeamSport Go Karting in Liverpool. They have been offering their realistic racing experience in Warrington since 2019. James said: “The chance came up to partner with leveltap and bring our state-of-the art technology to a bigger audience – leveltap is an awesome and cool place which is designed specifically for competitive socialising and fans of gaming and esports. It’s the perfect fit for us.”
Adam Rydings, co-founder of leveltap, said: “Since opening leveltap our own racing sims have proved very popular, but Century Sim’s amazing and sophisticated technology takes it to a different level. It’s great to have James and Chris helping to drive this latest phase of our growth. Whatever anyone’s need for speed is, we now have it covered for everyone.”
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Paul Moody, Justin Rourke, Sarah Tallentire, Nick Birtle
Armstrong Watson has acquired Penrith-based financial services firm 3G Financial, for an undisclosed sum. The deal between the two Cumbrian firms took effect on August 31, 2023.
Charles Graves, owner of 3G Financial, decided to take a step back from advising after almost 16 years in business, and 45 years working in financial services. Armstrong Watson said it will continue to provide the advice and service that Charles has prided himself on providing over many years, with his ongoing support to ensure a smooth transition for clients.
Armstrong Watson’s long established financial planning division has been providing financial advice to clients for more than 50 years. Armstrong Watson Financial Planning is headed up by managing director, Stewart Crockett. Across the firm’s 16 offices, he leads a 55-strong team, including 19 independent financial planning consultants – three of which are based in Penrith, along with head of advice, Justin Rourke.
Charles Graves said: “Armstrong Watson is a very natural choice – their wealth management and financial services are well respected, and I have confidence that the skilled Penrith team will look after my financial services clients well.”
Stewart Crockett, Armstrong Watson Financial Planning mangaging director, said: “With both Armstrong Watson and 3G Financial being long established firms in the Penrith and Eden areas, we have many mutual client and business relationships and both firms share common values. We look forward to welcoming the clients of 3G Financial.”
