Top Yorkshire stories of 2018

2018 has been a transformational yet turbulent year for Yorkshire’s business community.

Across TheBusinessDesk.com’s Yorkshire coverage, the best-read stories include office moves and work starting on the 23-mile tunnel for the Sirioius Minerals project in North Yorkshire, the creation of Bank North, a major deal for a car buying firm and award announcements.

But the best-read have this year been dominated by announcements from numerous businesses falling into administration as the hospitality and retail sectors especially were put under increased pressure.

Here are the top 20 most read stories from Yorkshire over the past twelve months:

Major city centre move for accounting and advisory firm

International accounting and advisory firm Mazars announced its move into the newly built 3 Wellington Place in Leeds.

All of the firm’s 130 employees moved into the city centre development in November, following an extensive £1.2m fit-out.

Renowned Leeds restaurant shuts its doors after 27 years

Brasserie 44, based at The Calls, closed after 27 years earlier this year.

At the time, the restaurant said on its website: “Sadly our 27 year run came to an end on May 1. We would like to thank all of our guests for their support.”

Law firm doubles profits in record year

Law firm Chadwick Lawrence announced record results after seeing profits double.

The firm, with seven offices based across West Yorkshire, reported a £1.9m profit in the year to the end of March.

Popular charcuterie and bar enters administration

Friends of Ham, a popular charcuterie and bar with venues in Leeds and Ilkley, was placed in administration in August.

The  licensed bar and restaurant opened on New Station Street in Leeds in 2012.

Friends of Ham started as a ground floor bar with a large ‘hidden; basement and expanded two years later into the unit next door. It served beer, wine charcuterie and cheese.

It was later announced that the Bar and charcuterie was saved from administration

Popular bar and charcuterie, Friends of Ham, was saved from administration by an independent buyer.

Buyers Glentrool purchased the two sites – saving 34 jobs. Glentrool has 25 years’ experience within the corporate sector and drinks industry.

City centre bar and restaurant enters administration

Ricci’s at Leeds Limited, which traded as 53 Degrees North and Ricci’s Tapas and Cicchetti,  entered administration at the start of the year.

The company was located in Goodbard House, a Grade-II listed building in the city’s financial district. Trading was ceased with immediate effect and all employees were made redundant.

Work starts on 23-mile tunnel between North Yorkshire and Teesside

Major work commenced on the first part of a 23-mile long tunnel which will be used to transport fertilizer underground between North Yorkshire and Teesside, ready for export around the world.

Jake Berry MP, Minister for the Northern Powerhouse, officially broke ground for the tunnel at Sirius Minerals’ site at Wilton International, close to the former Redcar steelworks.

Sirius Minerals said the high efficiency underground system was a low impact, low carbon method for transporting large volumes of mineral to the port.

High street carnage continues as administrators appointed to fashion firm

Administrators were called in at fashion firm Calvetron Brands (CBL), which trades as Jacques Vert, Précis, Dash and Eastex, putting around 1,000 jobs across the UK at risk.

The firm had more than 470 branches and outlets in the UK and Canada. In Yorkshire, they include Meadowhall, Harrogate, Doncaster, Bradford, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Northallerton and Hull.

Northern challenger bank launches to ‘shake up’ the SME lending market

UK-based start-up, Project Bank North, announced it was setting its sights firmly on the country’s SME sector after launching in Yorkshire in September.

With 5.7 million SMEs in the UK, the Project BankNorth team said it sees significant opportunity to disrupt the SME lending market and better support the ambitions of UK entrepreneurs and business owners.

Glazing firm enters administration just weeks after Safestyle settlement

Bradford-based Niamac Developments, trading as SafeGlaze UK, was placed in administration, with 132 people losing their jobs.

Niamac Developments ceased trading immediately and all of its employees have been made redundant.

Immediate closure of popular Harrogate restaurant announced

The well-known restaurant Norse in Harrogate closed with immediate effect just months after it publicly asked for support from guests.

Norse released a blog post in early January explaining the challenges the restaurant was facing that was widely read within the industry that prompted food critic Jay Rayner to lend his support and resulted in a positive Sunday Times review by Marina O’Loughlin.

Shortly afterwards, the restaurant returned to a more traditional a la carte format alongside their tasting menu option and also introduced an early bird offer, but this has been unsuccessful.

Construction firm collapses after wedding venue contract dispute

A Wetherby construction firm has collapsed after it ran into problems involving a major construction project to create a wedding venue near Harewood Bridge between Leeds and Harrogate.

Haresign, which was based in Sicklinghall, undertook niche construction projects, creating handcrafted buildings including a number of commercial and residential developments around West and North Yorkshire.

Administrators called in after property firm runs out of funds

A Yorkshire property developer business went into administration after running out of funds.

Gary Blackburn and Paul Whitwam from specialist business advisory firm FRP Advisory were appointed joint administrators of Bradford-based Golden Sands Developments Platinum Limited and Golden Sands Developments Bradford Limited.

Gin festivals cancelled as organiser falls into administration

A company which organises gin festivals fell into administration, resulting in the loss of 27 jobs.

Yesterday, insolvency practitioners from Begbies Traynor were appointed as administrators to Gin Festival Limited, which was trading as GinFestival.com, a business based in Keighley, which organises and manages a series of craft gin festivals around the UK.

Law firm confirms major office move

Walker Morris is relocating to 33 Wellington Street in Leeds – a move that will be the largest professional services relocation in the city for almost 15 years.

The building, Benson House, is undergoing a comprehensive £10m refurbishment to provide a premium working environment for Walker Morris with significantly improved sustainability credentials.

Walker Morris, which was advised by specialist property consultancy Fox Lloyd Jones, will move from its current locations split across two buildings on King Street into 76,000 sq. ft. of fully renovated, Grade A office space at the heart of the Leeds business district in summer 2019. 

Tributes pour in for Lord-Lieutenant for North Yorkshire killed in helicopter crash

Tributes were paid to the man who was killed in a helicopter crash near Harrogate , who was named as Barry Dodd CBE – the Lord-Lieutenant for North Yorkshire and well-known businessman who was recognised for his services to the regional economy.

Car buying firm snapped up in major deal

Aston Barclay completed the purchase of Wakefield-headquartered The Car Buying Group (TCBG) with immediate effect.

Aston Barclay’s new Wakefield Mega Centre will become home to TCBG, with current CEO Tom Marley moving his 30-strong team to the 18-acre site when it opens in quarter four.

Yorkshire Business Masters 2018: Winners revealed

More than 300 people celebrated Yorkshire business achievements at the Yorkshire Business Masters Awards, which recognised firms in categories including innovation, fast growth and turnaround.

Harrogate bookshop suffers ‘worst day ever’

The owners of a Harrogate bookshop made an impassioned plea asking customers to support a small business after the shop took just £12.34 on its “worst day ever.”

Imagined Things, an independent bookshop on Parliament Street, took to Twitter, stating: “We only took £12.34 today…if anyone was thinking about buying a book now would be a great time! Things have been tough recently – today the worst day ever.

Yorkshire Leadership Awards – winners revealed

David Brennan, the chief executive of fast-growing Nexus Vehicle Rental, was crowned Leader of the Year at TheBusinessDesk.com’s inaugural Yorkshire Leadership Awards on Wednesday afternoon.

In front of an audience of more than 230 business leaders at The Queens Hotel in Leeds, the achievements of the region’s leaders were celebrated by their peers.