Manufacturer Aquaspira, which specialises in producing large low carbon pipes for the housing, utilities and infrastructure industries, has made further strides in its ambitious target to achieve zero carbon production by the end of the decade. A £45,000 investment has been made to switch to electric forklifts at its site in Nelson, Lancashire. AquaSpira will also start installing solar panels in November to generate electricity for the site, allowing the forklifts to be charged using renewable energy. AquaSpira Managing Director Neil Wallace explained: “We are investing in a series of initiatives to make our production process more environmentally friendly in […]
The post SIX-FIGURE INVESTMENT MEANS NORTH WEST COMPANY ON TARGET FOR ZERO CARBON first appeared on Connect East Midlands.

East Midlands independent commercial vehicle distributors RH Commercial Vehicles (RHCV) were chosen as the only site in the region to host a demonstration of latest electric HGVs. Renault Trucks’ Electric Roadshow visited nine handpicked dealers on its tour across mainland UK, timed to coincide with COP26. Renault Trucks stopped at RHCV’s headquarters in Nottingham for a half-day event that gave customers an opportunity to test drive the state-of-the-art electric vehicles and learn about the latest developments. The EV Roadshow travelled from Glasgow to Enfield, with each vehicle covering over 1,100 miles, relying solely on charging at dealer sites and through […]
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A Nottingham packaging firm is lighting up the shelves at M&S Foodhalls for the second Christmas running with its sell-out range of illuminating snow globe liqueurs. The Wilkins Group has once again been asked to add an innovative sprinkle of magic to Marks and Spencer’s 2021 range of Christmas gin and rum liqueurs. Last year, the firm refined an idea it had presented several years previously, of adding a special label to the base of the glass bottles, each containing four integrated LED lights that, when pressed, illuminated the flakes of edible gold leaf floating in the gin liqueur. The result – […]
The post Nottingham based Wilkins Group re-lights the way with M&S latest gin range first appeared on Connect East Midlands.

The site of former shoe shop in Nottingham has been leased by an ‘urban axe throwing’ business in a move designed to reinvigorate part of the city centre. Hatchet Harry’s is setting up its fifth UK venue in Nottingham’s Lister Gate, in a commercial unit previously occupied by Shoezone. The site is one of a number of buildings in Lister Gate that have been acquired by Nottingham-based ALB Group, which is also behind the regeneration of nearby Bridlesmith Gate. Hatchet Harry’s, which started in Newcastle in May 2019 and has other venues in Glasgow, Liverpool and Aberdeen, had been looking […]
The post Nottingham street gets ‘axed’ – but in a good way! first appeared on Connect East Midlands.

Air source heat pumps contribute to local housebuilder being crowned ‘Best Medium New Housing Development in the East Midlands’ at the LABC Building Excellence Awards. Local housebuilder, Grace Homes, has once again beaten other housebuilders in the region and been crowned ‘Winner’ at the coveted LABC Building Excellence Awards. Grace Homes’ development The Orchard in Swinford triumphed over finalists across the East Midlands to be awarded the title of ‘Best Medium New Housing Development’. This follows similar success in 2020 when its Langdale development in Thorpe Langton was awarded ‘Best Small New Housing Development’ in the East Midlands. The nine […]
The post GRACE HOMES AWARDED ‘BEST NEW HOUSING DEVELOPMENT IN THE EAST MIDLANDS’ FOR THE 2ND YEAR RUNNING first appeared on Connect East Midlands.

Fire & security system installation and maintenance company Tecserv UK has expanded its presence in East Anglia following the appointment of Simon Brighty as area manager for the region. Simon, who has worked in the industry since 1995, joins the company from Honeywell Building Solutions where he has spent the last 18 years in a variety of servicing, project management and field based roles supervising teams of service technicians. In his new role, Simon will be responsible for growing the service base in the East Anglia Area and managing a growing team of service engineers. This will include estimating new […]
The post Notts Fire & Security company expand East Anglian presence first appeared on Connect East Midlands.

First tenants have taken up offices in a state-of-the-art business centre at a landmark building in Ilkeston that was transformed at a cost of almost £1m. More businesses are queuing up to join them at Toll Bar House close to the White Lion Square roundabout junction that is a gateway to the town centre. So far more than half of the 27 fully-serviced office spaces have been signed up since the centre  opened in September. It is managed by enterprise agency Erewash Partnership on behalf of owners Erewash Borough Council. The authority invested £425,000 in refurbishing and breathing new life […]
The post Tenants swoop to take up state-of-the-art offices in refurbished landmark building first appeared on Connect East Midlands.

Connect Derby, the city’s primary managed workspace provider, has extended its furnished office offering following the success of a pilot scheme at its Friar Gate Studios headquarters. Just two months after it was launched, the furnished offices at Friar Gate Studios on Ford Street achieved 89% occupancy with tenants including recruitment specialists EMBS and lettings agency Monkey v Owl. Now furnished offices are being introduced at Connect Derby’s other managed workspaces at the iHub innovation centre, Sadler Bridge Studios, Riverside Chambers, Marble Hall, and Kings Chambers. The Covid-secure offices will be available to rent on a short-term basis of up […]
The post Connect Derby Expands Furnished Office Offer Across Its Workspaces first appeared on Connect East Midlands.

Leading independent energy supplier, Yü Energy has taken on the customer base of Ampoweruk Limited (Ampower) to ensure they receive an uninterrupted energy supply, following a successful appointment from Ofgem as Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR). The move follows Ampower’s closure announcement on 6th November 2021; the latest in a string of energy suppliers to cease trading recently. Ampower’s 8,158 predominantly electricity  business sites have transferred to Yü Energy, increasing their meter portfolio by 38%. The majority of Ampower’s customers are businesses, with a small number of domestic accounts. Yü Energy has already successfully migrated  the new customers onto the […]
The post Yü Energy appointed as Supplier of Last Resort for Ampower’s customers by Ofgem first appeared on Connect East Midlands.

Caddick Construction has begun work and is on schedule at the Ferrar’s Road £11.5 million affordable housing development in Tinsley. The 6-acre development will comprise of 93 homes made up of 19x two-bedroom houses, 70x three-bedroom houses and 4x four-bedroom dwellings. Funded by Homes England it will ultimately be owned and managed by Together Housing Group on completion. Richard Goldthorpe, Residential Director for Caddick Construction said: “We are delighted to be working with Together Housing again on a scheme that is bringing much-needed affordable housing the Sheffield region. “The housing market is extremely competitive in South Yorkshire at the moment […]
The post Caddick on site for Sheffield Affordable Housing scheme first appeared on Connect East Midlands.

Bethan Evans, Banking & Finance Partner at national law firm Clarke Willmott LLP, shares her thoughts on whether green finance is here to stay. Twelve months ago, I wrote an article titled “Green Bonds are on the Way” following the announcement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to issue its first sovereign green bonds. Over the last year there has been significant commentary about the future green economy and the role the finance sector has to play in helping to achieve enhanced sustainability and ultimately achieve net zero. Finance that supports sustainability has been around for some time, but it […]
The post Green and sustainable finance – Here to stay? first appeared on Connect East Midlands.

Family-owned steel construction firm, Robinson Structures Limited (‘RSL’), has entered into Administration after a challenging period, resulting in the majority of the assets of the business being sold by way of a pre-pack. RSL is a third-generation company, with its humble beginnings dating back to the 1950s. Having created a strong reputation in the design and construction of steel frame buildings, they have successfully entered a variety of industrial and agricultural industries over the years. Despite this, the Derby-based company experienced loss-making periods prior to March 2019 and from the second quarter of 2020, exacerbated by Covid-19. This significantly reduced […]
The post Robinson Structures Sold in Pre-Pack Administration Deal first appeared on Connect East Midlands.

One of the UK’s longest running annual awards, the Women of the Year Luncheon & Awards is celebrating the appointment of three new directors as it prepares to return for its 40th anniversary next year.   Dr Sharon Redrobe OBE, Jennie Johnson MBE and Fleur Sexton DL are the new faces at the helm of Women of the Year Luncheon & Awards, which celebrates the achievements of exceptional women, and highlights individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to their business, their sector or their wider community. Sharon, Jennie and Fleur join the annual awards board of directors, which now […]
The post Women of the Year announces new directors and launches 40th anniversary awards first appeared on Connect East Midlands.

The owner of a Derby construction firm has revealed his pride at being contracted to lay the bricks of what is set to become one of the city’s most iconic buildings. Following a lengthy tender and vetting process, Pride Park based Hodgkinson Builders was offered the task of constructing the brickwork for the landmark apartment building on the site of the former Debenhams store in Derby’s Victoria Street. The 11-storey, red brick building, forms part of an extensive £200m regeneration development of the city’s Becketwell area around Duckworth Square. Hodgkinson moved onto the site last week to begin the 12-month […]
The post Derby builder celebrates ‘legacy’ contract in home city first appeared on Connect East Midlands.

The doors of two beautiful Leicestershire showhomes are now open to the public – with their quality interior designs already proving a massive hit. Early purchasers at Bellway’s new Stoughton Park development in Oadby were given an exclusive first look inside the properties at a VIP event earlier last month (October). Now the wider public has been given the chance to visit and explore the two fully furnished showhomes. Located off Gartree Road at the northern edge of the town, Stoughton Park will eventually comprise 221 homes featuring a mix of two, three, four and five-bedroom houses. Kenny Lattimore, Sales […]
The post Bellway showcases first completed homes at Stoughton Park first appeared on Connect East Midlands.

A specialist welding and engineering company based in Ilkeston, Derbyshire is enjoying a record year with a number of high-value orders. Rayden Engineering Limited has continued to work through the Covid-19 pandemic nationally on projects worth many millions of pounds, because the projects in question are considered to be essential works. Established in 1979, the family company specialises in manufacturing and installing high pressure pipework systems. It operates in specific market sectors such as the gas, oil, petrochemical and water industries. Rayden is experienced at working throughout the UK and abroad to extremely high standards for businesses that are big […]
The post Family engineering company celebrating a bumper year of business first appeared on Connect East Midlands.

On behalf of retained clients, Salloway Property Consultants are pleased to have agreed terms of the letting of the Maine Drive Pharmacy, Chaddesden to regional chain, Vision Pharmacy, who have taken a new unbroken fifteen-year lease. The property occupies a prime position adjacent to the Park Medical Practice and serves a large residential area covering Chaddesden and Oakwood. The property had previously been occupied by national chain Lloyds Pharmacy albeit this had not traded for the past two years. ‘We were appointed by the landlords to agree a surrender of the existing lease which had just over two years unexpired. During […]
The post The Right Prescription! first appeared on Connect East Midlands.

New research by SME insurance provider, Superscript, has identified the East Midlands as a major hotspot for business start-ups after Leicester was named the UK’s most entrepreneurial city, while Northampton and Kettering took the top two spots for the towns.  Using new data released by the Office for National Statistics, Superscript calculated that between 2020 and 2021, the number of small businesses with up to 49 employees in Leicester grew by a staggering 2,715: an increase of 21%. Cross-referenced with the government’s latest population figures to generate a ‘businesses per capita’ score for every location – this ranked Leicester as […]
The post East Midlands revealed as one of the UK’s entrepreneurial hotspots amid ‘The Great Resignation!’ first appeared on Connect East Midlands.

The Practical Planning Company shortlisted at the National Building and Construction Awards 2021 An architectural design firm based in Nottingham has been chosen as a finalist in the Architectural Practice of the Year category at this year’s National Building and Construction Awards. The Practical Planning Company was launched in 2019 by Benjamin and Jodie Heginbotham in a bid to provide homeowners with the whole design and planning package for all home improvement projects, from extensions to new builds. The firm’s shortlisting in the national awards programme comes after two years of helping more than 200 homeowners with their home improvement […]
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On National Stress Awareness Day (3 November) Midlands based Russell Roof Tiles has revealed it is rolling out its first dedicated programme to support its team’s mental health and wellbeing. Russell Roof Tiles (RRT) is the largest independent manufacturer of concrete derivatives in the UK pitched roofing market and employs approx. 150 staff including at three sites in Burton on Trent and Lochmaben (Scotland). National Stress Awareness Day was set up by the International Stress Management Association, with the mission of raising awareness of the effects of distress in the workplace and strategies to address it. Always held on a […]
The post Mental Health Matters first appeared on Connect East Midlands.