In Brief: FAB Supplies; Flood protection; Plaform Expo; Ward Hadaway

AFTER producing more than 100,000 bottles of VIP, FAB Supplies is rolling out its product across Yorkshire and the UK.

A chance meeting at the St Leger in Doncaster led to the new drinks brand created by Barnsley manufacturers Tim Gibbins, Dave Jones and Paul Graham.
VIP Pink and VIP Blue, named after the VIP day at the races where met, are already for sale in 20 bars in Barnsley.

FAB Supplies is being given business support by the Enterprising Barnsley programme, which is delivered by Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council. The free support includes website design, photography, marketing and advice on suppliers.

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PLANS to improve protection from flooding for businesses in the Lower Don Valley have taken a step forward after planning applications for the project were submitted by Sheffield City Council.

The proposals have been developed by the Council working closely with the Environment Agency, Sheffield Chamber of Commerce and representatives from affected businesses in the city.

The plans relate to three specific sites – Savile Street Saw Mill, land close to Sanderson’s Weir and Meadowhall Road. They involve the construction of new flood walls, raising and reinforcement of existing structures, reinforcement of vulnerable bridge parapets and installation of flood gates. 

In total, the project will deliver nearly 40 separate interventions along the 8km stretch of the River Don between Nursery Street in the city centre and the Blackburn Brook near the M1 motorway. 

Counc Jack Scott, cabinet member for Environment, Recycling and Streetscene at Sheffield City Council, said: “This is an innovative partnership between the Council, the Environment Agency and the private sector. We can achieve a lot by working together like this.

“This will establish a long-term mechanism for managing the River Don as a safe and attractive feature.  Flood defences are clearly required. The project is excellent value for money and it should give businesses much better protection than there is now.”

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HULL is carving out its place as a centre for creative industries and is set to host a major video gaming expo to showcase its potential.

Some of the biggest names in gaming will bring stands, demos, merchandise and speakers to the Platform Expo event next month.

It is the annual showcase of a year-round strategy to create a significant hub of independent developers within the industry in Hull.

The Platform model has been designed by Lindsay West of Garthwest Creative Agency. As part of that he created Platform Studios to give game and content creators professional workspaces to start-up businesses from.

He said: “We have exceptional talent here and we need to support that and ensure jobs are available so that we are retaining the skills and knowledge in Hull and putting the breaks on the brain drain.”

This year Platform Expo organisers are working hard to bring gaming to the masses to show exactly how it can create jobs and futures in the city.
They are hoping to attract around 20,000 visitors to the event and have secured support from Hull City Council to allow it to take place across venues in the city centre.

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COMMERCIAL law experts at Ward Hadaway have helped a fellow legal practice to rapidly expand its business.

Philip Jordan, partner in the commercial team in the Leeds office of Ward Hadaway, has led the firm’s team advising on over 20 different acquisitions of case loads for personal injury and negligence compensation claims specialist Neil Hudgell Solicitors.

The acquisitions, which have been made over the past 18 months, have seen Hull’s Neil Hudgell So-licitors acquire thousands of case files from law firms across the country.

The cases have significantly expanded the workload at the practice, which has its primary offices in Hull and Leeds and now employs 100 staff.

Following the latest in the series of caseload acquisitions, which has seen high value and catastrophic injury cases acquired from London-based litigation and corporate law specialist Harris Cartier, Neil Hudgell Solicitors is now looking to open up premises in the capital.