NW business briefs: Visa; Rossendale Holiday Cottages & Glamping; Alcedor Care; Liverpool College; UAP; Charge-M8; LCR Pride
Two North West locations are among eight chosen as the UK’s best towns, in the Let’s Celebrate Towns awards, backed by digtal payments expert, Visa, and the British Retail Consortium.
The eight winners are Altrincham, Armagh, Boscombe, Northwich, Sherborne, Shrewsbury, Waltham Cross, and Weston super-Mare.
This initiative builds on the success of 2023, which saw winning towns invest in a range of exciting community projects – from historical tourism in Annan, Scotland, to cultural events in Pontypridd, Wales – and has provided opportunities to highlight what makes our towns unique, encouraging adoption of best practice business-led growth across the nation.
Let’s Celebrate Towns this year was no different. From a shortlist of 32, eight towns have been recognised for their contribution to driving growth in their local economy and community and were judged across four key categories identified by Visa’s ‘Towns Vitality Roadmap’. The showcase categories were Business Environment, People & Skills, Infrastructure, and Sustainability.
The towns will now receive £15,000 of direct investment into a local community project or initiative and receive a dedicated programme of support for local businesses. Mandy Lamb, Managing Director UK & Ireland, Visa, said: “At Visa, we’re committed to uplifting economies so that everyone in the local communities they serve can benefit. This initiative places towns at the forefront of our efforts and supports Visa’s aim of nurturing growth and prosperity at a local level.”
Helen Dickinson, CEO, British Retail Consortium, said: “Following its success in 2023, and the valuable insights gained from different towns across the country, it is exciting to hear more examples of how areas are helping to support high streets and communities, so that best practice can be spread more widely across the country.”
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A former Lancashire colliery site has been granted a licence to stage weddings.
Rossendale Holiday Cottages & Glamping was given planning permission to convert the site into a collection of holiday cottages and glamping pods in 2018. Jonny and Rachel Wilson, from Summerseat, bought the 20 acre-site on Dean Lane, Water, in 2010 on a speculative basis and opened the tourist attraction in January 2019.
In June 2020 the site hosted a photoshoot by US singer, songwriter and actor, Nick Jonas. Now it is offering to host weddings in a rural setting, welcoming up to 60 guests with on-site accommodation available, including converted cottages, glamping pods and lodges. Ceremonies can take place in several stunning outdoor settings, all surrounded by nature, including: The Hidden Lake; The Pagoda; The Island; while an indoor barn-style ceremony venue is also available.
Jonny Wilson said: “We are really excited to start offering weddings here in Rossendale. When we first took over this space back in 2014, there were just a few stable blocks. We’re so proud of how far we’ve come and can’t wait to host our first wedding.”
The site is hosting a wedding fayre on Sunday, April 14.
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Mel Lyon
North West independently-owned and family run home care specialist, Alcedo Care Group, has arrived in Warrington, opening a new branch at Trident Business Park in Birchwood, creating up to 100 jobs.
The new branch represents a £225,000 investment for the home care provider and brings the group’s total number of offices across the North of England and Wales to 21.
Managed by experienced Alcedo home care professional, Mel Lyon, the new branch and its dedicated team of 30 carers will deliver a portfolio of home care services including personal care, nursing, nurse-led complex care and support and companionship to those looking to remain independent in their own homes across Warrington and the surrounding areas.
Managing director, Andy Boardman, said: “It’s great to have opened a branch in Warrington, strengthening our presence in Cheshire. I’d like to wish Mel and her team well as they establish the new branch and welcome clients from across Warrington.
“Our expansion across the North of England and Wales is continuing at pace – it’s wonderful to see growth in key strategic areas and support this with job creation, with the new branch Warrington a perfect example.”
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City of Liverpool College
A recent Ofsted report has applauded The City of Liverpool College’s outstanding contribution to meeting the economy’s skills needs, citing the College’s ‘exceptional’ network of stakeholders across civic, community, education, and employer communities.
The report recognised the college experience as ‘transformative and life-enhancing’, with the college going above and beyond to develop its students beyond a qualification under its approach of ‘careers, not courses’ and meeting employer needs.
The college received a ‘Good’ overall grading, with ‘Outstanding’ awards given to its personal development and adult learning programmes. In 2022-23, only 10% of colleges inspected by Ofsted received an ‘Outstanding’ accolade in adult learning, highlighting the college’s success in this area.
The comprehensive inspection assessed the college’s contribution to meeting the skills needs of the economy as ‘strong’, the highest possible grading and one only a handful of colleges have received since its introduction – further strengthening The City of Liverpool College’s reputation as ‘the college for business’.
College Principal, Elaine Bowker, said: “We are thrilled by the incredibly positive comments made by Ofsted inspectors, particularly around our outstanding personal development and adult learning opportunities. Our partners in industry and across the city region have been integral in supporting us to get to this point, recognised in the references in the report to the ‘exceptional’ contribution we make to meeting the skills needs of the economy.”
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David Jennings
Bury-based UAP, the specialist in locks and hardware for doors and windows, has invested in a new metal coatings business, including a unique anti-viral door hardware range.
A university spin-out, Armadillo, was established to improve people’s health and safety across environments ranging from healthcare facilities to homes. The company has developed Armasmart, a door hardware range which is the first on the market to eliminate 99.98% of viruses, including Covid-19.
Featuring a patent-pending coating, Armasmart products will enable fabricators to offer specialist solutions for buildings where door hardware is frequently touched. The cutting-edge technology stops harmful bacteria from collecting on stainless steel surfaces, making it ideal for hospitals, care homes, hotels, offices and multi-occupied residential schemes.
The Armasmart range comprises pull handles, push plates, door closers, kick plates, signage, bathroom turns, escutcheon hinges, and lever handles. Armadillo also has the expertise to create bespoke products to meet specific design preferences for door manufacturers and their clients.
David Jennings, UAP CEO, said: “To meet our customers’ changing needs, we seek to continuously evolve our product range while prioritising innovation. Our investment in Armadillo is key to this strategy. By working in partnership with its highly skilled team, we can accelerate the development of truly unique products across a range of sectors.”
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Charge-M8 team
EV charging specialist, Charge-M8, has more than doubled the space at its headquarters on Carrington Lane in Sale, creating more room for its expanding team.
Charge-M8 started life as a team of three working remotely from home back in 2021 and has quickly grown to 11 full-time employees including EV engineers and sales and marketing professionals in Sale and across the UK. With three more positions currently being advertised and more in the pipeline, doubling the office space and taking a further option on the vacant floor above underlines Charge-M8’s commitment to its Trafford base.
CEO, Julian Smith, said: “Interest in the electric car market has increased substantially since we first started, which is fantastic to see. Workplaces and hospitality venues are really getting on board and realising that they need to provide good quality and reliable charging solutions for their employees and customers and we’re here to make this happen.
“Investing in the right people and offering first class customer service has always been our key strategy and I’m delighted to say that it’s paying off. We’ve just been welcomed by the Northern Power House Green Economy and will be exhibiting all our latest products at six of the UK’s largest tradeshows up and down the country from now till November, so having more office space is very much needed to cope with the increase in demand.”
Technical director, Iain Hughes, said: “With our expanding range of commercial charging products we wanted to build our own test centre and training facilities in-house, to enable installation partners to learn about our product range in a professional setting, with additional EV Charger installations in our car-park for real-world training and development.”
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Businesses, collectively representing thousands of regional employees, joined LCR Pride Foundation last week to get a first preview of its new initiative, LCR Proud Workplaces.
The trailblazing programme is aimed at employers in Liverpool City Region that aspire to support their employees and tackle issues that affect LGBT+ colleagues in the workplace through an annual programme of seminars and advice. Announced earlier this year, the initiative forms part of a new three-year partnership between Liverpool City Region’s LGBT+ charity LCR Pride Foundation and Barclays.
Businesses who attended the event at Fazenda Rodizio Bar & Grill Liverpool were able to learn about what resources are available to help them deliver an inclusive and equitable work culture. The event also saw the launch of the ‘Partners With Pride’ initiative. The unique scheme, which is unlike traditional models of business clubs and networks, gives businesses of all sizes the opportunity to invest and support the work of LCR Pride Foundation year-round in a genuine and meaningful way.
A variety of independent and large businesses attended from different sectors, including retailers, hospitality, healthcare and corporate businesses. Andi Herring, CEO of LCR Pride Foundation, said: “It was fantastic to see so many incredible individuals and businesses coming together, all interested in overcoming the obstacles that LGBT+ colleagues and customers may face and with a real desire to create truly inclusive environments.”
Ann O’Donoghue, Group Diversity, Equity and Inclusion from Barclays, said: “Encouraging a diverse and inclusive workplace makes LGBT+ colleagues and customers feel safer and also allows businesses to grow and evolve.”
