North West business briefs: GSF Car Parts; Utilita Energy; Hartree Centre; ANS Group; ACC Liverpool; Claire House
GSF Car Parts has announced the opening of new branches in Openshaw and Crayford. This marks a significant milestone in the company’s ongoing expansion, as it extends its reach in essential Manchester and London markets.
The Openshaw branch, located in East Manchester, spans 4,000 sq ft. It achieved a record-breaking opening day for sales, setting a new benchmark for the network. This new branch significantly enhances GSF’s reach across East Manchester, dramatically reducing delivery times. The branch currently operates with four delivery vans, with an additional van on the way due to the opening day’s success, along with two bikes for quick deliveries.
The new Crayford branch, spans nearly 9,000 sq ft and enhances access to south east London. It is equipped with four vans and four bikes to ensure efficient parts movement and an electric charging point is to be installed soon.
This announcement comes during a rapid expansion phase for the parts distributor, which now operates more than 190 branches and employs 3,000 team members across the country.
CEO, Steve Horne, said: “We’re pleased to welcome these new branches to the GSF network. Improving delivery times and providing greater parts availability for our customers is essential, and these locations extend our reach across two of the UK’s major cities.
“With thriving independent garage communities in both the capital and Greater Manchester, these new branches reflect our continued commitment to expanding and improving our network. These are key, strategic areas that allow us to deliver exceptional service and a wider product range to our customers across these regions.”
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College deputy principal and CEO, Helen Nellist, front left, with George Walters
Utilita Energy and Cheshire College South and West have launched a new-style smart metering apprenticeship designed to overcome many of the communications issues engineers face during a smart meter installation. The apprenticeship has the capacity to deliver 1,000 new engineers annually to plug the green skills gap.
The new apprenticeship has been purpose-built by the energy supplier and college to combat the commissioning issues that engineers face on the day of install, which is one of the three main reasons for one in 10 – or 3.4 million – smart meters being left in ‘dumb mode’ – where it is unable to communicate with the energy supplier.
The new belt and braces apprenticeship is the first of its kind in that it is being co-delivered by the private and public sector in unison. It uses the existing smart metering framework designed by a range of energy suppliers, but has been adapted to give engineers access to Utilita’s smart meter installation simulation rigs at its national training centres where they can learn to overcome the variety of complex commissioning challenges.
George Walters, Utilita Energy’s Chief Home Services Officer, said: “We installed the UK’s first smart meter back in 2003, and have successfully smart-installed 92% of the households we supply, compared to a 62% average across industry. In addition, we have a 95% on-day commissioning success rate at point of install, whereas the industry average is around 11% lower. Commissioning troubleshooting only comes with experience, and we are fast-tracking that experience by making sure engineers have access to the learning earlier on.”
The £680,000 facility allows students to work in a real life setting without being in a customer’s home. Karen Roberts, the Assistant Principal for Apprenticeships and Employer Engagement at Cheshire College, said: “The collaboration with Utilita is another meaningful step forward for our college’s sustainable ambitions. We are very excited to continue our long standing partnership with Utilita, and to support the demand for the green skills in the UK.”
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Quantinuum chip
UK industry and researchers will gain unparalleled access to the world’s most powerful quantum computers through a new agreement between the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s (STFC) Hartree Centre at Daresbury Laboratory, and Quantinuum, a global leader in quantum computing.
This collaboration aims to expand access to industry-leading quantum computing hardware for businesses and scientific researchers, supporting the UK’s roadmap to achieving quantum advantage. Quantum advantage marks the point where a quantum computer can perform specific tasks faster and more accurately than the best classical computers can do alone.
Under the agreement, Quantinuum will make available its highest performing H1-Series quantum hardware to STFC’s Hartree Centre, which will be accessible to users via the cloud or on-premise. This partnership will empower UK businesses and research organisations to explore routes to quantum advantage in areas such as quantum chemistry, computational biology, quantum artificial intelligence, quantum-augmented cybersecurity. The UK already holds a strong global reputation in each of these domains and quantum computing is expected to accelerate their development in the coming years.
Raj Hazra, CEO of Quantinuum, said: “Research and scientific discovery are central to our culture at Quantinuum, and we are proud to support the pioneers at the Hartree Centre. As we prepare for quantum computers to reach their full potential, the Hartree Centre and the UK quantum ecosystem will be on the forefront of building solutions powered by quantum computers at scale.”
Kate Royse, Director of the STFC Hartree Centre, said: “Here at the Hartree Centre, we are extremely excited to partner with Quantinuum in our mission to help UK industry and researchers realise the potential of quantum computing. Access to Quantinuum’s quantum technologies will significantly benefit research in areas such as exascale computing algorithms, fusion energy development, climate resilience, and more. This partnership is also a key component of our five-year plan to unlock the high growth potential of advanced digital technologies for UK industry.”
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Scott Fletcher
Manchester-based founder and former chair of technology company ANS Group, Scott Fletcher, has received an honorary degree for his outstanding contribution to business and his unwavering commitment to supporting his community, from University of Salford Business School.
Awarded a Doctor of Business Administration honoris causa, Scott, who was born and raised in East Manchester, has made significant contributions to the fields of technology and business, while generously giving back to the local Greater Manchester community.
Scott embarked on his career in the city he’s being awarded his honorary degree, with his first job on the Salford University Business Park before he began his entrepreneurial journey at the age of 22, launching his first tech company from his bedroom. This venture, ANS Group, was successfully sold to private equity in 2021 for more than £200m. In addition, Scott, is the Chairman of Godel Technologies, another successful technology company with a significant presence in Manchester and Poland.
On receiving this recognition, Scott said: “To be awarded an honorary degree in the city I started my career decades ago is incredibly humbling. Salford has come a long way since I first started out here, the city is flourishing and it’s great to have been a part of this journey.”
Dr Francine Morris, Associate Dean for Enterprise and Engagement, Salford Business School, said: “From a very young age, Scott demonstrated his entrepreneurial spirit by founding ANS Group from his bedroom in his early twenties. Scott’s journey truly is remarkable. Despite his great success, he continues to remain grounded, proven in his unwavering commitment to charity and helping young people, many from disadvantaged backgrounds, go on to have successful careers through apprenticeships.”
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The ACC Liverpool Group marked this year’s annual World Bee Day by welcoming some new and very exciting VIPs – ‘Very Important Pollinators’ – to its waterfront site with support from Hard FM partner, Kimpton.
The project was made possible by the support and sponsorship of a number of supply partners, co-ordinated by experts in bee husbandry. These included Sunlight Bees, Kimpton, Sodexo Live! and members of Kimpton’s supply chain, Ultra Civils, Metro Rod, ADC, North West MEWPS, AHS, AWS, and Service Graphics who all donated towards the cost.
World Bee Day was marked by a community of more than 140,000 honeybees, who were officially welcomed to Liverpool’s event campus in two new beehives, each with its own queen bee. Supported by Wirral beekeepers, Sunlight Bees, the hives have been installed in a newly planted wildflower garden on the site and following a competition on ACC Liverpool Group’s social media channels, the hives were named Oh BeeHive! and Let it Beehive!
The introduction of beehives and wildflowers to the site is an important development in ACC Liverpool Group’s sustainability journey. This initiative aims to increase the biodiversity on Liverpool’s event campus and showcases their commitment to environmental sustainability. Eddie dos Santos, Director of Operations at ACC Liverpool, said: “We know how important it is that we minimise the environmental impact of our operations to do our bit to tackle the climate crisis. The arrival of these beehives on-site marks a key milestone in our sustainability journey.”
Matt Breakwell, Business Development Manager from Kimpton, said “A crucial part of our ongoing relationship with ACC Liverpool is working in partnership to support their Sustainability Strategy. Having already completed a number of decarbonisation projects, we were delighted to be able to deliver the bees’ new home with the help of the specialist suppliers that support us to deliver the FM contract.”
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Leanne Campbell, left, and Nisha Katona
A Liverpool mum has urged her city to get behind its local children’s hospice as she paid an emotional tribute to her daughter. Hayley Smallman’s daughter, Holly, spent her life under the care of Claire House Children’s Hospice until she died aged 18.
She told how the hospice teams, who help seriously and terminally ill babies, children and young adults, created precious memories and continued to wrap their arms around them after her special, inspirational and pink-loving girl passed away.
Hayley bravely shared her story to a packed room at The Venue at the Royal Liver Building as part of An Afternoon with Claire House, which also featured a Q&A session with Mowgli founder Nisha Katona, who supports the hospice. Interviewed by radio presenter Leanne Campbell, Nisha told how having a charitable backbone to her Indian street food business gives her teams a sense of purpose.
The barrister-turned-TV chef also spoke about her own journey, saying: “Claire House feels like a child I’ve adopted. It’s an amazing charity, it changes the lives of so many incredible families. Supporting Claire House gives me and Mowgli such a sense of mission and meeting mothers whose children have been helped by the hospice was so enlightening.”
As well as raising awareness for Claire House Liverpool, An Afternoon With Claire House – supported by businesses such as Tatti Lashes, ChloBo and Think Wine – raised £12,720 for charity.
