In Brief: Fresh boost for Pareto; pawnbroker invests; Mazars boost

MANCHESTER-based IFA Pareto Financial Planning has won a competitive tender process to administer the introduction of auto-enrolment pension services and education around the scheme for The Fresh Group.

Pareto will tackle the regulatory and practical elements of auto-enrolment for the Cheadle company’s 100 staff members, in advance of the 2015 deadline.

As part of its brief Pareto Financial Planning has helped educate Fresh Group’s staff on pensions, as well as wider financial planning issues through a series of workshops and personal briefing sessions.

Antony Wilson, financial director at The Fresh Group, said: “We’ve been impressed by the smooth roll out of our company pension scheme that Pareto facilitated and staff have thoroughly benefitted from its series of workshops – developing a clear understanding of how to get the most out of the scheme.”

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MANCHESTER-based pawnbroker and jewellers, Mays, has launched a new website specialising in one-off pieces to meet the growing demand for vintage shopping.
 
Called William May, the site offers vintage and pre-loved jewellery items, pre-owned prestige watches and design-led branded watches, from top names such as Daniel Wellington and Triwa.
 
The £100,000 venture comes as the pre-loved market continues to grow, particularly within the fashion industry. The company is set to turnover £300,000 in its first year.
 
Nick Withington, managing director, said: “We’re excited to finally be able to launch our new website which gives customers the chance to pick up one-off items. We spotted a gap in the market for high quality investment pieces which are a fraction of the normal price and decided to launch William May to capitalise on the huge market potential.”
 
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STOCKPORT brewer Robinson’s visitor centre is raising a glass to cheer  winning Marketing Cheshire’s Small Visitor Attraction 2014 and will now represent the county at the National Visit England awards for Excellence in May 2015.

Judges remarked that the Robinsons Visitors Centre had helped bring over 40,000 new visitors to the town and contributed to Stockport Old Town’s ongoing transformation as an art and culture hub.

William Robinson, managing director of family-owned Robinsons Brewery’s pubs division said: “The award is a great achievement for Robinsons. Since a multi-million pound investment in our state-of-the-art brew house and visitors centre, we have had the pleasure of sharing our beers, passion and story with many families, businesses – who regularly use our conferencing facilities – and beer enthusiasts.

“As a family brewery that has been based in Cheshire for over 175 years, we are proud to represent the county in next year’s national Visit England awards.”

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THE  Manchester office of international accountants Mazars has won three new clients.

The trio are: Lancashire-based software house, Tharstern;  home and garden products manufacturer Mantis UK, and Manchester-based TEP Events International which supplies interactive technology at corporate and fundraising events.

Audit partner Neil Barton: said: “Tharstern, Mantis UK and TEP Events International are ambitious and innovative fast-growing companies and are a perfect fit to our growing client portfolio in the North West.”