In Brief: Humber LEP; Clough & Company; Eden Springs; Connect Gazelles
THE Humber Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is looking to address the shortage of skills across the region with the launch of a new recruiters’ forum.
The forum, which saw its inaugural meeting in December, seeks to provide real-time updates to the LEP on the skills most needed by employers, to help guide the organisation’s funding decisions.
Established by Kate van der Sluis from Welton-based recruitment agency Emmerson Kitney, the forum consists of senior HR managers from some of the region’s top companies and other director-level recruitment professionals. Its members cover a wide range of sectors including engineering, gas and oil, shipping and food, who will meet regularly to build comprehensive picture of the skills needed in the Humber region.
Lynn Benton, employment and skills manager for the LEP, said the information the organisation receives will allow it to help employers get the right skills for their companies, and give guidance to individuals looking to up-skill.
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AS THE self-assessment tax return deadline approaches, Yorkshire-based chartered accountancy firm Clough & Company is warning people not to be duped into using websites that charge a hefty fee to process the self-assessment tax return ahead of the January 31 cut-off-date.
Nigel Westman, a partner at Clough & Company, said: “People are being enticed into using these websites that have no official capacity whatsoever, and they are charging up to £1,000 for a service that is actually free if a person files their tax return through the official Revenue & Customs website.
“Although the websites are not illegal, some sites have been designed to look like the Revenue’s, using the same colours and key words to fool people. It’s essential that people avoid these rouge websites to complete their tax returns especially because the individual still has to do all the work themselves anyway submitting the information for the return.”
Taxpayers have until the end of the month to file their self-assessment tax return online for the tax year ending April 5 2013. If this deadline is not met they will be fined £100 which will then accrue at a rate of £10 a day after three months.
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EDEN Springs, which has a UK site in Leeds and is one of Europe’s leading providers of water and coffee solutions for the workplace, has bought vending supplier Kafevend.
Formed in 1992, Kafevend is one of the fastest growing workplace vending suppliers in the UK. The business supplies hot drinks, coffee vending machines, water and snack vending machines to SMEs and corporates across the UK from its headquarters in Crawley and has offices in London, Epping, Bristol, Manchester and Scotland. Turnover in 2013 was £20m and the business currently employs approximately 100 people.
Eden Springs is headquartered in Switzerland and has 2,300 employees.
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BUSINESS support group Connect Gazelles is welcoming the year with a growing membership, an increasing portfolio of Entrepreneurs in Residence and a series of master-classes.
The not-for-profit group has welcomed Alan Aubrey (CEO of IP Group), Jacqui Hall (CEO of CNG Group), Richard Jackson MBE (serial entrepreneur and philanthropist), Simon Mackaness (founder and CEO of Rudding Park), Peter Roberts (serial entrepreneur and founder of Pure Gym) and Anthony Ullman (Autofill Worldwide) to the portfolio of Entrepreneurs in Residence, bringing the number of experts offering invaluable one-to-one mentoring to business owners to 43.
Nick Butler created the Connect Gazelles in 2011 to enable Yorkshire’s ambitious companies to learn from over 40 of Yorkshire’s most successful entrepreneurs and grow.
He said: “I launched the Gazelles as I wanted to help Yorkshire companies grow, create jobs and wealth. There is nobody more important than somebody who builds a successful business; without the tax they pay and the wealth they create, there would be no public sector, no NHS and no charities so what could be more important. And as all Yorkshire people want us to continue as the biggest and best county, where better to do it than in Yorkshire.”
