Business News

A North Yorkshire visitor attraction based at a former Prisoner of War camp is up for sale after the founding family announced plans to retire. Specialist leisure property adviser, Christie & Co, has been instructed to sell one of the UK’s most iconic, award-winning visitor attractions: Eden Camp Modern History Museum in North Yorkshire. Originally a prisoner of war camp, Eden Camp was built on the outskirts of Malton, North Yorkshire, in early 1942 to accommodate POWs, the majority of whom were not Nazis but ordinary men conscripted into the German forces. The site was bought 40 years ago by Stan Johnson, who invested £750,000 investment into a two-year project to turn it into Eden Camp Modern History Museum, opening it to the public in 1987. Today, the museum tells the story of The People’s War, the social history of life in Britain from 1939 to 1945, as well as its historic background as a POW camp. The museum tells its story through moving figures, authentic sounds and even smells to transport visitors back in time. Over the last few years the owners has invested over £1.25m in renovation and restoration works to the fabric of the buildings, while also adding a new ‘Blitz Experience’, a remodelled entrance, new exhibition spaces and the Heritage Exhibition Hall, which displays Eden Camp’s collection of unique and rare military vehicles and equipment. The business works closely with veterans groups and over the years its archive has become a resource of national historical and educational importance. The museum attracts around 125,000 visitors each year, and is popular with school groups, with around 25,000 children visiting in 2023. For many years the museum has also received both TripAdvisor’s Travellers’ Choice and Certificates of Excellence awards. After nearly 40 years in the same family ownership, Christie & Co is marketing the business for sale as its owners look to retire, and the property company is seeking “substantial” offers for the business to include the valuable freehold property. Howard Johnson, son of the late Stan Johnson, said: “Since our father passed away in 2015, my sister and I have continued as custodians of this incredible business. We have consistently invested in improving the facilities and customer experience and have a fantastic team we work with here, but we too are at that time in our lives where it makes sense to pass the reigns to new owners. I’ve been contacted a number of times over the years asking if we would sell and so this tremendous opportunity now becomes a reality.” Jon Patrick, head of leisure and development at Christie & Co who is overseeing the sale process, said: “There are many people, particularly those from Yorkshire, who will have visited Eden Camp as a child and returned with their own children, parents and even grand-parents as there is something here for everyone. With over 105,000 items of memorabilia we can see Eden Camp appealing to a national and even international buyer audience, such is the interest in the subject matter. “From a tourist perspective, it also benefits from the vast majority of its displays being undercover and so would provide a great hedge against inclement weather for visitor attraction operators with primarily outdoor facilities. We can also envisage Eden Camp being of interest to other museums, collections and collectors and whilst not forming part of the operating business itself, our clients own a number of rare and valuable military vehicles outside the company structure on offer, which could be made available to purchase or lease by way of separate negotiation.” Original artice – https://business-live.co.uk/all-about/yorkshire-humber

A small rise in insolvency levels across Yorkshire and Humber in December coupled with fewer new business start-ups has been described as a double whammy for the region. Research by insolvency and restructuring body R3 shows the insolvency-related activities across the region, including liquidator and administrator appointments and creditors’ meetings, were up by 5% from 220 in November to 231 in December. At the same time, business start-ups fell by 16%, following the same decline in November and meaning the region had 3,235 new start-ups. Insolvency levels followed a similar pattern in most UK regions apart from Scotland which saw a 32% drop and the South East which saw a 4% fall. The North East saw the largest increase at 60% while Greater London followed at 25%. R3’s research using data from credit checking provider Creditsafe showed the falling start-up level in Yorkshire and Humber fitted with a national trend in which every UK region saw double-digit percentage declines in December. That included a 10% fall in the West Midlands and a 17% decline in the East Midlands. Dave Broadbent, chair of R3 in Yorkshire and partner at Begbies Traynor in York and Teesside, said: “December’s double whammy of increased insolvency-related activity and the falling numbers of new business start-ups is extremely concerning and comes as we are also seeing levels of UK business confidence plummet to their lowest since the 2022 mini-budget. Rising costs and taxes are putting firms under immense pressure and unfortunately that increased burden looks to be already having a negative effect on hard-pressed businesses as well as deterring new start-ups. “While there may be a period of readjustment to new measures such as the hike in employers’ National Insurance contributions announced in the Government’s Autumn budget, we always advise any businesses that have financial issues that are becoming a problem to seek professional help earlier rather than later to ensure the best outcome possible.” Original artice – https://business-live.co.uk/all-about/yorkshire-humber

Sheffield building materials supplier Sig Plc says it expects to post revenues of £2.61bn after a year of cost-reductions in a challenging market. Earlier this year the Sheffield business, which has operations in Europe, announced around 250 jobs losses and the closure of 10 branches amid what it described as “prolonged challenging trading conditions”. Now a trading update for FY24 has shown that restructuring initiatives delivered around £19m of savings in the year, leading the board to expect to report FY24 revenues of £2.61bn – down on last year’s £2.76bn – and underlying operating profit of approximately £25m, in line with market expectations. The group said it continued to perform well relative to its markets during the second half of 2024, while also delivering further significant benefits from its cost reduction and efficiency programmes – moved which are supporting near-term performance and strengthening its commercial and operational capability. Cash generation was affected by the decline in profit, and year-end gross cash balances were £87m compared to last year’s £132m. The group’s revolving credit facility of £90m remained undrawn, and it expects to report net debt of £496m, up from £458m. While group revenues were 5% down the firm said there was also a 1% impact on reported revenue from the branch closures made during the year, which had the biggest impact in UK Interiors, reducing that business’s full year reported sales by 3%. The firm said that its French businesses continued to execute effectively on strategic plans, and to manage well through a very subdued market. The firm added: “The German business, meanwhile, continued its robust recovery of the last three years, performing extremely well in what is also a very challenging current market. Poland’s growth softened in the second half due to an unexpectedly weaker Q3, but has stabilised since. Benelux has recently executed a significant restructuring in its Netherlands business, closing a number of branches, which is a key part of its margin improvement plan. Ireland’s results were encouraging throughout the year, partly due to market recovery after a very soft 2023, as well as to strong commercial execution.” Gavin Slark, CEO, said: “Whilst demand across the European building and construction sector remained weak throughout 2024, the Group delivered a robust trading performance relative to the market, through a strong focus on our customers and the great efforts of all our people. I remain confident that the actions we have taken, and the opportunities that exist within SIG’s portfolio for further strengthening our operating performance and accelerating growth in our specialist businesses, will enable us to deliver increasingly profitable growth over the medium term. “Whilst we expect continued softness in market conditions, at least through the first half of 2025, we are confident in our ability to manage through this current phase of the cycle, whilst also strengthening our operations. We remain ready to take advantage of the significant long-term opportunities for the Group as markets recover.” The company is due to publish full year results on March 5. Original artice – https://business-live.co.uk/all-about/yorkshire-humber

The boss of data tech firm Cirata says the business has improved on “almost every metric” but has admitted the turnaround has taken a toll on staff. Stephen Kelly, who was brought in to rescue the business in 2023, said he believed much of the hard work had been done and that FY2025 heralded a growth phase. A trading update for the final quarter of last year shows Cirata bookings of $3m (£2.4m) at their strongest since Q2, 2022 thanks to a new contract with a “top three” US bank customer. The Sheffield company’s partnerships were now said to be on a stronger commercial footing, and its engineering team now better aligned with the demands of customers. Data integration work, which constitutes 66% of the 2024 bookings total, is thought to be the future of the business with Q4, 2024 bookings of $2.3m (£1.87m). Mr Kelly highlighted some disappointment around establishing greater sales predictability, and slippage on contract closure. Weaker than planned performance in Cirata’s international and DevOps businesses resulted in a “disappointing headline outcome for Q4 and the full year”. Cash overheads were reduced by about $4m (£3.2m) at the end of the first quarter, 2025. Looking ahead, the firm wants to strike a balance between preservation of long-term working capital and growth initiatives. Mr Kelly said: “This management team came together to drive value creation for shareholders. Phase 1 in FY23 was a company rescue phase. Phase 2 in FY24 was the recovery phase and with the recent cost reductions, this phase is completed. “With FY25, the company is moving into it’s growth phase. Q4FY24 brings to a close a year in which we have done much to rearchitect, restabilise and reposition Cirata for more predictable, sustainable growth. The business is improved on almost every metric. We are driving growth in our key Data Integration product on a significantly reduced cost base. “Our task remains to demonstrate to customers the power of our product – and, in so doing, demonstrate to our investors Cirata’s ability to hit targets and deliver sustainable growth. I am heartened by our increasing understanding of our customers’ preferred purchasing patterns, the strengthening of our critical partner relationships, and by our conversion in Q4FY24 of our largest IBM Big Replicate implementation to-date. Now, we must deliver more sustainably, more broadly and more consistently.” Original artice – https://business-live.co.uk/all-about/yorkshire-humber

Yorkshire property business Harworth Group has announced record residential plot sales in its fourth quarter, helping to double plot sales for the year to £104.1m. The Rotherham-based company, which specialises in regeneration of land and property for sustainable development and investment, completed 1,896 residential plot sales worth £71.7m in the final quarter of 2024. The record figure brings total residential plot sales for the year to 2,385, up from 1,170 plots, with a total headline sales value of £104.1m – almost doubling the previous year’s figure of £52.1m. The group said the volume of sales reflects continued strong demand for Harworth’s residential land product, as well as success on its strategy to accelerate delivery of residential sites and broaden its range of products. It said the sales were broadly in line with, or ahead of, the June 2024 book values, and that its residential land pipeline now totals 31,264 plots, with 15% already consented, putting it on track to support delivery of the UK’s housing targets across its regions. Key transactions within the housing sector last year included its largest deal at its Coalville development in Leicestershire, where it sold 357 plots to Taylor Wimpey, and at Simpson Park, Nottinghamshire, where the group sold 530 plots to Stonebridge and Bellway Homes. Meanwhile at Pheasant Hill Park based on the former Rossington colliery site in South Yorkshire – a key part of a wider Gateway to the Sheffield City region project – the group completed sales of 282 plots to Homes by Honey and Great Places, bringing the total plots sold to 927. Lynda Shillaw, chief executive of Harworth Group, said: “Throughout the year we continued to see healthy demand for our high quality de-risked serviced land, and notably we also completed two major land sales at our Skelton Grange and Ansty developments in December, for £106.3m. The proceeds from these sales will be reinvested into our Industrial & Logistics development programme to continue creating value for our stakeholders. “We are committed to delivering sustainable regeneration schemes, creating new communities in our regions, and supporting delivery of much needed high quality housing in the UK by accelerating delivery at our sites and broadening the range of our mixed tenure products, the latter seeing 582 of the year’s plots sales to affordable housing providers. Our approach to placemaking and strong collaboration with strategic partners is key to success on these developments, and our extensive consented pipeline of 4,568 plots positions us well to continue supporting growth in the UK.” Original artice – https://business-live.co.uk/all-about/yorkshire-humber

Plans have been submitted by Associated British Ports (ABP) for the expansion of its Stallinborough Interchange site to accommodate new automotive open storage. The ports operator wants to develop about 96 acres of the 227.5-acre site, otherwise known as Pioneer Business Park, which it purchased the freehold of in December 2023. An outline application has been submitted to North East Lincolnshire Council including 70 acres of automotive storage along with proposals for green landscaping areas and ground mounted solar panels that could provide energy to the development. ABP intends the facility to be used by new and existing customers of the Ports of Immingham and Grimsby. The plans include 129,000 sqft of floor space and associated buildings and infrastructure. It is hoped work can start next year on the scheme. Andrew Dawes, regional director of the Humber ports said: “This strategic investment in the growth of our Humber ports continues to ensure we maintain a leading position in the port sector. Supporting our customers expansion is also critical as it assists the investment in the region for jobs. Demand is expected to increase for energy generation, automotive storage, bulk warehousing, and storage and distribution uses and this new site will ensure the delivery of state-of-the-art infrastructure, facilities, and technological innovation for new and existing customers.” Greg Lacey, head of property (Humber) for ABP, said: “A year after the purchase of what is such a significant investment site, we bring to fruition our shared ambition to create a major UK port logistics development. This is part of the wider Stallingborough development that will deliver up to a further 1.5million sqft of industrial and manufacturing space across the remainder of the site that benefits from an existing planning consent. “The site is one of the largest development land parcels in such proximity to the ports, and of significant scale versus wider opportunities in the Yorkshire region. The sizeable investment we made in this shows ABP is a key player in supporting the growth of commercial activities within the region.” Original artice – https://business-live.co.uk/all-about/yorkshire-humber

Engineering firm NG Bailey is moving its Leeds headquarters to White Rose Park in a bid to provide an “exceptional” office for its workforce. The £312m turnover business, which has worked on a number of high profile projects in the UK including the Hinkley Point nuclear power station, will swap its Brown Lane West headquarters in Holbeck for space in the ABC Building at the south Leeds site. Bosses say the new 25,230 sqft Grade A office space at White Rose Park was chosen for its high quality transport links and will provide a great place to work for the firm’s Leeds-based team. NG Bailey was founded in 1921 in Leeds and has gone on to become a major player in the UK construction and engineering market. In its latest accounts for the year to the beginning of March 2024, it said the long term outlook for its markets was good, despite headwinds including high interest rates and political change causing caution among customers. Jonathan Stockton, CEO of NG Bailey, said: “Our move to White Rose Park marks an exciting new chapter for NG Bailey. While Brown Lane West has been our home over the past five decades, our relocation to a modern office space under a long-term lease is crucial for our growth in Leeds and the wider Yorkshire region. Our new office, combined with the numerous amenities in the Park, will foster a more vibrant and collaborative atmosphere for our team and visitors. The move supports our emphasis on sustainability and wellbeing in our workplace, with the Park being an exceptional place to work.” NG Bailey can make use of health and wellbeing initiatives at White Rose Park including a running club, yoga classes, outdoor training parks and green spaces. The site is also home to a Starbucks, a nursery for pre-school aged children and a 200-seat communal restaurant area. David Aspin, chief executive of Munroe K, which owns and operates White Rose Park, said: “We are delighted to welcome NG Bailey to our White Rose Park Community. Their move is a real endorsement of our park and our collective ambition to provide the working environment of the future where people look forward to attending the office. “Our ESG credentials, alongside measures to reduce our carbon footprint and work toward net-zero will help to make the Park one of the most forward-thinking and sustainable business and education locations in the north of England.” Original artice – https://business-live.co.uk/all-about/yorkshire-humber

High street nursery brand Mamas & Papas, following a successful year of trade due to its partnerships with M&S and Next, has reported another surge in sales over the festive season. The Huddersfield-based company today announced record sales during this year’s Golden Quarter, particularly in its UK and international markets, as reported by City AM. It revealed plans for an additional 20 locations in the new year “to help it tap into growing demand for its branded ranges”. Group sales rose by five per cent in the 12 weeks leading up to 29 December, with retail sales also seeing an eight per cent increase. This figure jumped to 13 per cent during Black Friday week. The company’s market share also reached a record high, peaking at 20 per cent in November. Nathan Williams, CEO of Mamas & Papas, said: “This was another record golden quarter for the brand, with a particularly strong contribution from our bricks and mortar estate,” He added: “We’re also seeing a growing momentum from our overseas business, where we’ve laid excellent foundations over the past 18 months with several key partners in our core markets. ” “This is an important area of expansion for our brand over the next 12 months as demand for our high-quality baby and nursery products continues to grow.” In November, Mamas & Papas reported a revenue of £154.3m for the 12 months ending 31 March 2024, an increase from the £144.1m it achieved in the previous year. It reported a 48 per cent surge in revenue, bolstered by sales across its 36 concessions with M&S and Next, which was attributed to six new sites and the annual sales influence of 15 locations launched in the prior year. The company’s aggressive international expansion strategy has resulted in the launch of 29 overseas stores over the previous 18 months. Williams commented: “Whilst the macroeconomic situation continues to weigh heavily on consumer sentiment, the enduring strength of the nursery and baby category and the growing presence of our brand in the UK and overseas gives us a lot of confidence in the year ahead.” He further noted: “Meanwhile our growing data capabilities mean we’re better able to tailor support for new and expectant parents and be even more helpful at critical points of their pregnancy journey.” Like this story? Why not sign up to get the latest business news straight to your inbox. Original artice – https://business-live.co.uk/all-about/yorkshire-humber

Bosses at Hull Kingston Rovers have put forward plans for a new ‘sports campus’ on land near the club’s Sewell Group Craven Park stadium. Heads of terms have already been signed with what are described as two large retailers who the club says have the potential to bring more than 100 jobs to the site to the east of Craven Park. The plans also include space for small businesses, green space and community facilities including the existing Waudby Centre, across 15 acres of land which the Super League club has an option to buy from Hull City Council. Paul Sewell, chairman of Rovers, said: “The vision is a sports campus. It will be the cornerstone of our plans for the future and will build on the potential of other projects which we have already delivered and which are creating a legacy for the community. We will be going for planning permission in the spring and we are encouraged by the response to the pre-application process. We aim to have spades in the ground within a few months of permission being granted.” Dr Sewell, who is also chair of Hull-based Sewell Group, was appointed club chair after his business secured a deal for the naming rights of Craven Park in 2022. He is leading a new board which includes the co-founder of MKM Building Supplies, David Kilburn; managing director of London-based Oil Brokerage Ltd, James McNicol and director of professional services at Sewell Group, Becky Oughtibridge. Investment into the club has included the launch of a 3G community pitch last month and an extension to the east stand that will be ready for the new season. The stadium is also set to host pop megastars Coldplay for two gigs in August this year – the band’s only shows outside of London. In tandem with the sports campus plans, the board has also launched the Hull Kingston Rovers Business Academy which will run a development programme starting this month. Mike Ellis, managing director of the performance marketing agency 43 Clicks North, said: “Running a business can be isolating so meeting people who are on similar pathways and facing the same challenges is a great opportunity and to do that whilst discussing Rovers is an added bonus. From a personal development perspective, I thought what better way to progress than to learn from those who have already been there and done it? The club’s approach, giving business academy members direct access to the power board, means there are a lot of skill sets available to draw from.” Original artice – https://business-live.co.uk/all-about/yorkshire-humber

A multimillion-pound investment by two major music educators is set to bring new facilities to the North of England. The SAE Institute, which provides creative media education globally, and the The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance (ICMP), a UK music school, have teamed up to launch new locations in Yorkshire and the North West. In a bid to support creative musical talent across the north, the two bodies will open bases in Leeds and Liverpool this year. A ‘collaborative campus’ is planned for The Switch building in Leeds, within the Electric Press development and in Liverpool, the ICMP will join the SAE within its building at Pall Mall. Together, the organisations will offer hands-on, industry-focused degree programmes with a series of open days planned this year. Between them, the ICMP and SAE Institute provide a range of music and creative industries-based programmes including audio and music production and mixing, songwriting, artist development, as well as film, game art animation, game design, visual effects and animation and live event management. Steffan Davies, chief executive of AD Education UK, which includes SAE Institute and ICMP, said: “We are excited to be expanding and making our mark on the North of England and can’t wait to welcome eager artists and creatives to our open days, giving them a feel for our values and offering as a Higher Education Provider. “Many of our graduates have gone on to become household names including Fraser T Smith, Clean Bandit and The Vaccines. Our alumni have also made their mark behind the scenes, working for labels and events companies, designing cutting-edge tech for the Rolling Stones and shaping audio within industries such as film, TV, and gaming. “This new chapter in Liverpool and Leeds gives us an exciting opportunity to develop a truly collaborative campus bringing together the next generation of talent in some of the UK’s most dynamic musical and creative cities.” The SAE Institute was founded in the mid-1970s and is said to provide for more than 12,500 students across 47 campuses internationally. Meanwhile the ICMP was founded in 1086 and in 2021 was granted full degree awarding powers. Original artice – https://business-live.co.uk/all-about/yorkshire-humber