A Year in Yorkshire Business – Review of the Year part two
THE summer months heated up quickly. One of the biggest deals of the year took place and one of Yorkshire’s most anticipated state-of-the-art venues opened its doors.
Huddersfield-based pharmaceutical business Thornton & Ross – which produces Covonia cough medicine and Setlers digestive tablets – was bought by German drug maker STADA Arzneimittel for £221m in August. A deal which was easily one of the biggest of the year and marked the end of family ownership for the firm which was set up in 1922.
Rewind back to May and the Yorkshire property market picked up pace.
Developer Muse completed a “landmark” deal with the British Steel Pension Fund to forward fund the new Sovereign Street Yorkshire KPMG headquarters set to open in 2015. Later in the year, KPMG also completed a deal to take the remaining space in the Broad Gate building in Leeds, in an investment that will see the firm create over 200 roles in a national Innovation and Solutions Centre.
Days after Muse’s “landmark” deal, Yorkshire Building Society revealed plans to move 800 staff into a new base in Leeds as well as plans to invest £11m in its Bradford head office site.The mutual announced its move into two floors of the Broad Gate development on the Headrow in Leeds as carrying out an ambitious refurbishment project at its Yorkshire Drive site, where 1,000 staff will continue to be based.
May was also the month Morrisons announced it was to pay Ocado up to £170m to enable the Yorkshire supermarket group to finally launch an online business. This month, Morrisons launched its long-awaited online shopping service ahead of schedule but deliveries are not available until January 10.
On the back of increasing optimism over the property market, as we moved into June, housebuilding group Persimmon stepped back among the UK elite and was promoted to the prestigious FTSE 100 Index – returning it to the ranks of the UK’s leading companies.
The York company, which was hard hit by the recession but which has recovered strongly, joined the index along with builder’s merchant Travis Perkins.
Revised plans and designs for the city’s New Generation Transport (NGT), which has the potential to create up to 4,000 new jobs and boost the economy by up to £176m per year, were published in June. The NGT team will now produce a statement of case setting out the rationale for the scheme together with the business case which will be published on January 30.
It was a busy year for Sirius Minerals – the company behind plans for a huge new potash mine. In July, it announced the planning decision on whether the York Potash mining project can go ahead was to be delayed. This month, the firm announced the arrival of a new non-executive director as it revealed an agreement with a major Chinese group.
New start-ups to international firms were among the winners of TheBusinessDesk.com’s Yorkshire Masters awards in July. Redmayne-Bentley senior partner Keith Loudon, stock market quoted Premier Farnell and thriving textile company Abraham Moon & Sons were among winners.
TheBusinessDesk.com also announced in July that it has been acquired by technology investor Mark Hales, in a deal which will see the business expand across the UK.
Rock star Bruce Springsteen road tested the new £60m,13,500-capacity first direct Arena in July ahead of its official opening in September and the Yorkshire Grand Depart of the 2014 Tour de France announced it was to get a £10m cash injection.
August was the month East Yorkshire firm Wren Kitchens & Bedrooms announced 500 new jobs as it completed the acquisition of the former Kimberly-Clark manufacturing plant in Barton-Upon-Humber. As part of the largest single investment the company has made into the region, it will be transforming the 180 acre site into its new head office.
Read A Year in Yorkshire Business – Review of the Year part one here.
