In Brief: Gordons; Leeds Met; BAE; Augean
GORDONS says it has had a great start to the year having completed a number of high profile corporate deals and with a strong pipeline of work ahead.
The Yorkshire law firm has acted on more than fifteen deals during the year to date, including advising Bradford & Leeds Chamber of Commerce on its merger with Leeds York & North Yorkshire Chamber in February. Gordons also advised Enact, the £7.5m SME fund launched by private equity house Endless, on April’s acquisition of 35 West Cornwall Pasty Company outlets.
Commenting on the period, Gordons’ head of corporate, James Fawcett, said: “We have had a very positive start to 2014. Activity levels are well ahead of last year which is indicative of the both the general resurgence of the economy and the fact that Gordons is winning new clients who recognise the value of our straightforward, practical, service-led approach.
“There is undoubtedly an increasing sense of confidence amongst businesses and investors throughout the region. The pipeline of deals we are working on continues to grow and we are excited about the rest of the year.”
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A NEW centre created to address the need to develop excellence in leadership within organisations has been launched at Leeds Metropolitan University.
With clients including NHS England, NHS Yorkshire and Humber and North East Lincolnshire Council, the Leadership Centre sits under Leeds Met’s Faculty of Business and Law.
Head of the Leadership Centre, Danny Benton, said: “The Centre aims to become a regionally and nationally renowned provider for action-oriented leadership development and research, building on the knowledge and skills of managers and leaders in order to create positive change.
“We offer a portfolio of professional and academic qualifications, services to business, leadership programmes and research that are responsive to the needs of modern day organisational life. We tailor our services to changing business demands and needs, most of which fall under the umbrella headings of Leadership and Management, Organisation Development, Coaching and Mentoring and Executive Development and Services to Business.”
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BAE Systems’ site in East Yorkshire has undergone a major transformation.
The factory site in Brough, which once housed heavy manufacturing, has created a Silicon Valley-style high-tech facility and its avionics and software experts have been brought together under a single roof.
It marks a major investment in the future of the site which has transformed itself into a high-tech hub to supply the needs of future aircraft. The site has had £30m invested in it over recent years.
Steve Sparks, engineering manager on the Hawk Mission Systems, said the purpose of the facility is to ensure the aircraft design and engineering solutions meet the needs of the air forces across the globe that fly its Hawk training aircraft.
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WASTE management business Augean will today tell shareholders that the group is trading in line with its plan for the year.
At the Annual General Meeting of Wetherby-based Augean, chairman, Jim Meredith, will say: “In the first five months of 2014 the group has continued to build on the progress made last year.
“The group is trading in line with its plan for the year despite a slow start in our North Sea operations, impacted by adverse weather conditions reducing offshore drilling activity. The board’s profit expectations for the 2014 results remain unchanged, with an uplift in radioactive waste volumes compensating for the temporary fall in North Sea revenues. For both these businesses revenues are now returning to original expectations during quarter two.”
