North West business briefs: Southerns Solicitors; Yourgene Health; Warwick NW; CoolKit; Raptor Titanium; Hydes
Southerns Solicitors, which was founded in 1792, has acquired odonnells Solicitors, a long standing and distinguished firm based in Lancashire, for an undisclosed sum. The deal will consolidate Southerns’ position as one of the leaders in the field of Mental Health, Court of Protection, and Community Care.
The combined team will operate from Glovers Court in Preston and Cooper House in Burnley, bringing together a wealth of talent and experience in this specialist area. With this expansion, Southerns will have 10 Law Society Accredited Mental Health Representatives, rising to 11 later in October and four Court of Protection Accredited Legal Representatives (ALRs).
Neil Cronin, Managing Director of Southerns, who also sits as a fee-paid Judge in the Mental Health Tribunal and is the current Chair of the Mental Health Lawyers Association, said: “Bringing together both firms was an easy decision to make. Both Rachel Eastham of Southerns and Philippa Curran of odonnells have devoted their careers to defending the rights of the most vulnerable through their work in mental health and mental capacity law.
“Their combined expertise and leadership will significantly enhance the support and advocacy available to those in need.”
Philippa Curran said: “We look forward to the future and the new opportunities this deal will bring. Our combined skills and shared values make the team a powerful force as we are committed to delivering outstanding legal services and protecting the rights of our clients.”
Curly Top, Forbes Solicitors, Harrison Drury and MHA Moore & Smalley advised on the deal.
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Lyn Rees
Manchester-based molecular diagnostics specialist, Yourgene Health, part of the Novacyt group, has installed the first non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) workflow in Colombia at Genetix, a high-tech medical organisation specialised in human genetic diagnosis.
Genetix introduced its NipTest at a launch event held in Bogotá, Colombia, this week to raise awareness of this new local NIPT provision to clinicians in the region. The service will utilise Yourgene’s IONA Nx NIPT Workflow to deliver fast, accurate NIPT results for expectant parents in Colombia, helping to reduce turnaround times and shipping problems.
The IONA test has been validated on a highly flexible and scalable workflow, suitable for low- to high-volume sample throughput, enabling the growing clinical laboratory to meet rising demands.
The NIPT is performed using cell-free placental DNA from maternal blood to screen for aneuploidies: trisomy 21 (Down’s syndrome), trisomy 18 (Edwards’ syndrome) or trisomy 13 (Patau’s syndrome), and can also be used to determine the sex of the fetus.
Previously, blood samples collected in Colombia were sent to the USA for testing, delaying turnaround times and increasing costs with additional shipping expenses. Lyn Rees, Executive Director, Yourgene Health, said: “We are thrilled to support Genetix by enabling them to deliver an advanced prenatal screening solution locally to the pregnant mothers in Colombia. We look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with their pioneering team.”
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Greg Johnson
Merseyside window and door maker, Warwick North West, has announced new investment and jobs at its factory in Bootle amid strong September sales.
Warwick produces windows and doors for the North West housebuilding sector. It already employs more than 120 people and this latest investment is likely to see headcount increase further.
Managing director, Greg Johnson, said the company is installing a new Schirmer saw: “This will mean we can further increase productivity at the factory and we hope to create up to eight new jobs as a direct result of this investment.”
Warwick revealed a surge in sales across the week beginning September 23. During the week the firm secured new sales of £387,000, well above the usual weekly average of £250,000. The firm is also seeing healthy growth in its order book which, at the halfway point of its financial year, stands at £6.2m – six per cent higher than the £5.8m of orders secured at the same point last year.
Before the pandemic Warwick was generating annual revenues of around £5m. Since Greg took over the business in late 2021 that figure has reached £12m and is set to grow further in the coming years.
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From left: Daniel Miller, Rupert Gatty (CoolKit), Ian Knight (Mercedes-Benz Vans UK), Cameron Javed (CoolKit)
CoolKit, the Blackburn-based specialist in temperature-controlled van conversions, has been awarded VanPartner status by Mercedes-Benz, which recognises converters that deliver high quality products, enhance customer satisfaction, and boost productivity.
Daniel Miller, CoolKit’s Managing Director, said: “Being recognised as a Mercedes-Benz VanPartner is a significant milestone for us. It not only strengthens our relationship with Mercedes-Benz but also serves as a prestigious seal of approval, endorsing the quality of our engineering and manufacturing processes, which we take great pride in.”
He added, “Alignment with a world class manufacturer like Mercedes-Benz underlines the high standards we uphold at CoolKit, providing customers with added assurance of what they can expect from a CoolKit product.”
Marsha Thomas, Head of Marketing at Mercedes-Benz Vans in the UK, said: “The launch of our Bodybuilder Programme, with our internationally recognised VanPartner accreditation at its heart, recognises bodybuilders such as CoolKit who are ensuring quality products and customer satisfaction – giving customers the confidence they are getting the best service and product possible.”
Looking ahead, CoolKit aims to use the accreditation to enhance its product offerings and expand its market presence by spurring new innovations and drive the development of state-of-the-art solutions.
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Raptor Titanium, which manufactures competition motorcross footpegs that are the choice of several current world champions and numerous professional competitors worldwide, has received its 2024 King’s Award for International Trade.
His Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire, Mrs Amanda Parker, accompanied by Deputy Lieutenants Robert Parker and The Hon Ralph Assheton, presented the award to Jack Ingham, founder and co-director of ther Barnoldswick-based firm, and Barrie Jackson, director, at the business premises on Crownest Industrial Estate.
The Mayor and Mayoress of Pendle, Councillor Mohammad Aslam and Mrs Shamim Akhtar Aslam, were among the guests at a special presentation.
Jack Ingham, 77, founded Raptor Titanium in 2011 after retiring from Rolls Royce Aerospace. Barrie Jackson joined the company in 2019 as equal partner with Jack as technical director, having worked with together since 2001, supplying titanium laser-cut parts for Jack’s footpegs.
Over the years, Barrie invested in Raptor and, in 2022, rose to managing director taking over the full time running of the company, bringing his aerospace and management expertise to the table. allowing Jack to focus fully on research and development.
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Dave Oldham
Salford-based brewer and pub retailer, Hydes, is gearing up for a bumper festive period with bookings for 2024 already at maximum capacity for Christmas day dinners, it has revealed.
The family-owned independent business reports that Christmas Day bookings for pubs across its estate were already at 75% capacity by July. Last year, more than 1,000 6-7kg turkey crowns were served to visitors to Hydes’ premium dining pubs between November 22-December 31, equating to in excess of 12,500 Christmas dinners and resulting in Hydes’ most successful Christmas on record.
Hydes’ catering development manager, David Oldham, predicts that advance sales of turkey Christmas dinners are already significantly up on last year, resulting in a 10% uplift in sales for 2024. He said: “We start planning our festive menus in January so they can be printed and, in the pubs for the start of July, and it’s around this time I begin conversations with all my suppliers.
“We needed to be even quicker off the mark this year as one of the biggest suppliers of turkey in the UK unexpectedly decided not to produce any turkeys this year, choosing instead to concentrate on supplying chickens. This is bound to have an impact on turkey supplies for the hospitality trade but thankfully visitors to our dining pubs will not miss out on their turkey dinners.”
Managing director, Adam Mayers, said: “This Christmas looks like being our busiest ever and we are looking forward to welcoming lots of families who enjoy getting together to eat in one of our pubs, with the real fires burning and drinks flowing – and nobody has to wash up.”
