Rothbiz editor, Tom Austen, looks through the Autumn Statement 2016.
I have to start with Wentworth Woodhouse - whether it was a dig at the "politcal vandalism" of a Labour Government of years gone by or not, the "rabbit out of the hat" and surprise announcement that "the big house" was to receive a Government grant of £7.6m to save its future had me cheering. It's not often a positive Rotherham story gets such national billing.
Back down to Earth and the statement from Philip Hammond, Chancellor of the Exchequer, contained the usual mix of economic statistics, fiscal predictions, missed debt targets, lame jokes and a smattering of new investments.
The Chancellor started by saying UK is the fastest growing major advanced economy in the world this year but that growth forecasts would be impacted by the uncertainty of the UK leaving the EU.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which sets out an independent analysis of the economy, expects the economy to grow by 1.4% in 2017, down from the 2.2% it predicted before the referendum, while the forecast for growth in 2018 has been cut to 1.7% from 2.1%.
The focus of the Autumn Statement was set out early - productivity. Hammond called the UK's productivity gap "shocking" and set out that the Government will maintain its commitment to fiscal discipline while recognising the need for investment to drive productivity. If the UK raised its productivity by one percentage point every year, within a decade it would add £240 billion to the size of the economy.
The Government is to target innovation, R&D and infrastructure to close the productivity gap. Branded as the National Productivity Investment Fund, £23 billion will be used to target four areas that are considered critical for improving productivity: housing, transport, digital communications, and research and development (R&D).
Advertisement Announced before the Autumn Statement, A £2 billion fund to back industrial research and development will include the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund to support collaborations between business and the UK's science base. A review of current R&D tax incentives is also planned.
Prof Keith Ridgway, CBE, Executive Dean of the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing, said: "The new Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund will give further impetus to the benefits UK companies can reap from developing and introducing new techniques and technologies.
"We are working across the supply chain and with small, innovative companies in the aerospace, automotive and medical sectors, amongst others and we are seeing the successes they can achieve.
"Industry cannot hold back in challenging times. I know uncertainty discourages investment, but those that don't invest in developing technology and skills are certain to fail."
George Osborne's Northern Powerhouse idea lives on with the Government publishing a new strategy to raise productivity across the North - if not announcing much new money for the regions. A strategy for Northern Powerhouse transport is also on its way.
The chancellor also referenced the already approved £400m Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund which is set to begin support businesses early next year.
Route development work on Northern Powerhouse Rail (HS3) linking the North's cities continues with transport body, Transport for the North to consider the options over the coming months, and announce the next steps in 2017. Sheffield and the city region will be hopeful it is not left off the map.
One local transport project getting the green light is the £75m+ "Sheffield Mass Transit Scheme" that has been successful in bidding for business case development funding within the Local Majors Fund. In addition to renewing the current Supertram system, there is potential for new routes.
Further schemes could also come via the Sheffield City Region local enterprise partnership (LEP) that is set to learn its allocation from the Local Growth Fund soon (it bid for £156m) and, if it becomes a mayoral combined authority as proposed, it will gain powers to borrow for their new functions, which will allow them to invest in economically productive infrastructure.
Across the country, businesses will welcome the fact that Corporation Tax will fall to 17% - the lowest rate of overall corporate tax in the G20. The previously mentioned changes to business rates should also reduce the burden, especially in this area. Rural rate relief is set to double to 100% from next year.
The Chancellor also discussed the tax free personal allowance that will rise to £12,500 and then rise in line with inflation from 2020. In addition, the National Living Wage will rise from £7.20 to £7.50 in April 2017.
Other headline grabbing announcements include the £50m of new capital funding to support the expansion of existing grammar schools in each year from 2017-18, the fact that the forecasts show that Government finances will be £122bn worse off than previously expected by 2020, spending to accelerate new housing supply - some £3.7bn, £1 billion to invest in full-fibre broadband and trialling 5G networks, and the announcement that the Budget and Autumn Statement will swap with the main budget to be announced at this time of year and an update instead given in Spring.
Rotherham-based Brinsworth Training has ceased trading after experiencing falling revenues.
A leading engineering and manufacturing training provider, its training premises at Templeborough boast an extensively equipped machine shop along with specialist equipment for Mechanical Engineering, Electrical, Electronics, PLC, Instrumentation & Control, CAD CAM and Rapid Prototyping.
A meeting of members and creditors is due to be held in respect of Brinsworth Training Ltd of Sheffield Road, Rotherham, on 6 December 2016 to discuss the proposed liquidation of the business under the supervision of Gareth Rusling and Ashleigh Fletcher of business advisers Begbies Traynor in Sheffield.
A statement via the business advisers said that the business experienced falling revenues leading to cash flow problems making it unviable to continue trading.
Advertisement The shareholders will vote on a resolution to place the business into a Creditors Voluntary Liquidation (CVL) and the chosen liquidators will then seek to recover revenue for the creditors by marketing the business' assets, which is mainly engineering equipment used for training purposes.
The business has already ceased trading with all 15 staff having been made redundant. The apprentices being supported, mainly through the Skills Funding Agency (SFA), will be found alternative trainers by the SFA.
In 1995 the EITB (Engineering Industry Training Board) closed down, leaving a great need for apprenticeships training. Three former employees of the EITB recognising the demand for this knowledge and in 1998 seeing there was a niche in the marketplace formed a centre for training in engineering. Brinsworth Training was wholly owned by managing director Mick Crossley, a former Rolls-Royce manufacturing engineer, and worked with many of the region's top firms such as Firth Rixson, AESSEAL, Premier Foods, KP and Safestyle.
In 2014, the Academy of Manufacturing and Engineering Excellence (AMEE) was established with the target of training up to 800 young people and placing 300 jobless into apprenticeships.
Lloyds British Testing, a specialist in the inspection, certification and repair of lifting equipment, has gone into administration.
With headquarters in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands and operating 12 sites across the country, including Rotherham, The company employs around 200 staff and operates in a niche sector within Inspection and Certification with an aligned manufacturing business. The trading divisions cover the manufacture of lifting equipment, provision of training services and sale of spare parts.
Last week, Michael Denny, David Baxendale and Matthew Hammond of PwC were appointed as Joint Administrators of Lloyds British Testing Limited to manage its affairs, business and property.
Advertisement The joint administrators said in a statement that "the company has experienced falling revenues and cost pressures in the last financial year. This is attributable to both external factors such as the decline in overseas markets and oil and gas price volatility, and internal factors such as the cost of consolidating and restructuring UK operations. These factors combined created cash flow pressures which have led to the appointment of the Joint Administrators.
"We are continuing to trade the business as normal whilst discussions take place with interested parties around a sale."
2015 saw the company expand into overseas markets such as Africa, the Middle East and India and reported £20m in revenue, £490k in profit and a strong order book.
The company can date its history back 200 years to when Lieutenant Samuel Brown left the Royal Navy at the request of Lloyds of London and was instructed to set up the world's first proving house for wire rope cables. A management buy-in took place in 1999 led by current chief executive, Ian White.
The Rotherham site is on Barbot Hall Industrial Estate.
Rotherham-based online printing company instantprint has cemented its place in the Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100, after continuing its impressive growth in 2016.
The firm merged with fast-growing print experts, Bluetree Design & Print Ltd in 2012. It then moved into bigger premises at Manvers where staff numbers have passed the 250 mark.
The 20th annual Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100 league table ranks Britain's private companies with the fastest-growing sales over three years. instantprint was ranked 88th (3rd in Yorkshire) after seeing its revenue grow by an average of 54% per year over the past three years. It became the first Rotherham-based company to make the list in 2015.
Founded in 2009 by Adam Carnell and James Kinsella whilst at University, the business now employs a team of more than 260, including the addition of 92 in the past 12 months. Merging with Templeborough-based point-of-sale printing specialist Bluetree, it now offers a range of online print products through the instantprint, Bluetree and Route One Print brands. Customers range from sole traders to multinationals and the company claims it prints 450,000 business cards a day.
Advertisement Adam Carnell, co-founder of instantprint (pictured, right), said: "It is terrific that we have been able to retain our place in the Fast Track 100 and are amongst such a prestigious cohort of companies. Our business has continued to grow at a tremendous rate this year; we have added a great group of new faces to the company, built on our revenue, and been able to invest in more production equipment.
"We have worked hard to gain this success since instantprint was founded and being named in the Fast Track 100 for a second straight year is a testament to everyone that works for the business."
Over the past two years the business has invested £16m in the latest generation equipment coupled with a new production facility in Manvers. The move has been supported by a £1.5m grant from the Sheffield City Region LEP's Unlocking Business Investment Regional Growth Fund programme.
James Kinsella, co-founder of instantprint (pictured, left), said: "This is such a fantastic accolade for instantprint to receive, especially for a second consecutive year. Over the past few years the team have worked incredibly hard to keep developing our proposition and moving the business forward in a very competitive market. It's great to see UK manufacturing performing and it's a credit to the team we have here."
instanprint joins companies such as restaurant group Bill's, brewer BrewDog, appliance manufacturer Gtech, fashion retailer Missguided, and number one ranked company Gymshark, an online activewear retailer.
To qualify, firms had to have annualised sales exceeding £250,000 in the base year and not show a drop from the penultimate to the latest year, where total sales had to exceed £5m. Firms had to have ten or more employees, and make operating profit of at least £500,000.
instantprint posted a 54% growth in annualised sales over the last three years, up to £19.9m at the end of April 2016.
The assets of a Rotherham-based engineering firm have been acquired from the administrators who were called in following a global downturn in the oil and gas market.
Based at a custom built facility on the Gateway Industrial Estate at Parkgate, Whiteley Read has been associated with pressure vessels and the process industries since 1937. It manufactures vessels and columns in both ferrous and non ferrous materials up to 200 tonne in weight for many blue chip companies, such as BP, Centrica, Shell, Nexen & GDF.
Joanne Hammond and Gareth Rusling of Begbies Traynor were appointed as joint administrators of Whiteley Read Engineering Ltd on October 7 2016.
Now, Stainless Metalcraft, which is also a specialist in the fabrication of pressure vessels, has acquired the assets and said it will serve the market under the Whiteley Read name and use immediate contracts in place to fill the Rotherham factory.
The Chatteris-based business forms part of Avingtrans PLC's Energy & Medical Division and manufactures pressure vessels, vacuum vessels and cryogenic vessels for safety critical applications across all sectors of industry including medical, research, big science, power generation, nuclear, oil & gas, petrochemical and water.
Advertisement Austen Adams, managing director of Avingtrans' energy and medical division, said: "While the oil and gas industry as a whole has been struggling in the wake of falling oil prices, Whiteley Read has an excellent reputation for the quality of its components and the business' experience and capabilities strongly complement our own.
"The assets bring much needed additional capacity to meet our future growth plans.
"We have immediate contracts in place to fill the factory with overspill from existing operations, and real potential to develop additional business in both current and new markets.
"We will continue serve the market under the Whiteley Read name and I'm excited by the prospect of working to drive the company into better times."
Whiteley Read Engineering Ltd was created in 2001 to acquire the business and assets through an MBO after the previous operations went into administrative receivership.
A statement from Begbies Traynor showed that the company traded successfully until 2013/14 when the downturn in the oil and gas market led to turnover reducing by 40%. Despite diversifying into other markets, the company posted losses in 13/14 and 14/15.
The business was discreetly marketed for sale but a deal was not concluded and a strategic review concluded that, without a significant cashflow injection, the business was no longer viable. 12 staff were made redundant in August this year.
With administrators brought in, Eddisons marketed the businesses assets as a going concern and a pre-pack deal was preferred but could not be concluded.
Whiteley Read continued to trade as an asset deal remained possible but a further 11 staff members have been made redundant since October. An auction was scheduled for later this month before Stainless Metalcraft acquired the assets.
Rotherham Council are predicting a number of redundancies as it estimates that between 1,000 and 1,200 posts will be deleted from now to 2020 as it makes £40m in savings.
People are being asked for their views on how the authority proposes to save £13m from its budget over the next financial year. This is in addition to the Council making savings of £138m and reducing its workforce by over 1,500 staff, since 2010.
A report to the Council's Staffing Committee explains that "Given the proportion of net costs which relate to employees it is inevitable that a significant proportion of these savings will come from employee costs.
"Currently agreed plans and proposals under consideration, for 2017/18, mean that up to 166 posts are expected to be deleted in the next year. Estimates for the period to 2020 are between 1,000 and 1,200 posts.
"The Workforce Strategy identifies a reduction of at least 1,000 full time equivalent (fte) posts by 2020/21. Whilst some of these reductions will be mitigated, it is inevitable that a significant number of redundancies will result from these changes."
When a post is deleted it is not redundant. It may lead to an employee being at risk of redundancy. For 17/18, there are a significant number of vacant posts which may be used to offset the impact of the proposals. The budget proposals for 2016/17 originally included a potential for the loss of 180 fte posts for 2017/18 but this has been revised down to 90.8 fte.
Advertisement If an employer envisages changes that may result in redundancies they are required to notify the relevant Government department. An employer is required by employment law to enter into consultation with trade unions on proposed or potential redundancies "in good time." Where more than 100 redundancies are envisaged consultation must be for not less than 45 days and the consultation must be undertaken with a view to reaching agreement – although there is no requirement to agree.
The council is to decide whether to consult on the proposals for 2017/18 or for the next three years combined.
The GMB union in Rotherham has been critical of the authority going straight to employees and not the unions when discussing potential savings. Rotherham Council has formally notified the GMB of the proposed cuts to terms and conditions totalling £2m which includes a Christmas shut down for all employees with three days unpaid, equating to a pay cut of 1.15%. Another proposal includes the removal of lieu day for employees who work on bank holidays.
In September, the GMB rejected the proposals and refused to enter into negations. Failing agreement with trade unions, the Council could impose the cuts by way of Termination and Re-engagement.
Workforce costs currently constitute approximately 60% of net revenue in the Council.
The Council's budget for 2016/17 is £217m and is made up of £89 million Council Tax, £63m Business Rates and £65m Government funding.
Potential savings being considered relating to regeneration and the environment include a further increase in business centre charges, reducing Rotherham Economic Regeneration Funding, reducing the town centre cleansing team by 1 fte, potential property savings, reviewing the Leisure PFI contract, prioritising bookings for profitable events at the civic theatre, and raising revenue through environmental enforcement - including the increased use of fixed penalty notices.
Cllr. Chris Read, leader of Rotherham Council, said: "We're setting out detailed proposals for the Council's budget in 2017/18 and want to give residents the chance to comment on, challenge them and contribute other ideas.
"We face further difficult choices for 2017/18 due to yet another reduction in funding from Government, and increasing costs for the Council in providing services.
"Within the next three years, we'll be almost entirely dependent on council tax and business rates income, so we need to support the local economy and ensure that there are private sector jobs for local people. Without that, we won't be able to continue to fund the public services that people depend on.
"The majority of the Council's budget is spent on the most vulnerable: the elderly, those with learning difficulties and disabilities, and of course the most vulnerable children. And as people in Rotherham would expect we’re continuing to prioritise investment in our Children's Services.
"At the same time, we're keeping our commitment to do what we can to protect basic street cleaning and environmental services that we know communities value.
"But over the coming years the Council will continue to shrink, delivering services differently to how it's been in the past. We will use fewer buildings, be more efficient - and we will simply have to do less."
Saving proposals and medium term funding strategies are already being scrutinised by councillors and commissioners. The formal public consultation period for the Budget closes on January 3 2017.
Tata Steel UK has reached an agreement with trade unions and will start consultation with its employees on a proposal to close the British Steel Pension Scheme to future accrual.
The Indian-owned steel maker has also announced outline plans to invest £1 billion in its remaining UK assets - which is unlikely to include the Speciality Steel sites in South Yorkshire.
Earlier this year, the Government launched a consultation on changes to the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) - the huge pension liability with a £700m deficit that was seen as a deal-breaker for prospective buyers of Tata Steel's UK assets.
The consultation followed intense discussions between Tata Steel, the UK government, the pension scheme trustees and regulators to find the best option for members of the scheme.
Eight months after Tata announced their original intention to sell its UK steel assets, the firm has now made a commitment to secure the future of jobs and production at Port Talbot and other steelworks across the UK.
The new announcement follows the announcement at the end of last month over exclusive negotiations between Tata Steel and Liberty House Group regarding the sale of Tata's Speciality Steels division, which includes facilities in Rotherham.
Advertisement Previous proposals to amend scheme benefits in order to avoid entering the PPF would be difficult to deliver. The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) is the safety net that provides compensation to members of eligible defined benefit pension schemes when things go wrong.
Tata Steel will begin a consultation on the closure of the BSPS to future accrual, replacing it with a defined contribution scheme with maximum contributions of 10% from the company and 6% from employees.
The scheme has 130,000 members. Of these, 14,000 are active (i.e. they are currently employed by Tata Steel or another sponsoring employer of the scheme), 32,000 are deferred (i.e. no longer employed by Tata Steel but below the scheme's normal pension age and with a pension not in payment) and 84,000 are pensioners.
A statement from Tata Steel said that: "The company and trade unions have also agreed on the principle that subject to the structural de-risking and de-linking of the British Steel Pension Scheme fund from the business, Tata Steel UK will continue the existing blast furnace configuration in Port Talbot until 2021."
It could see a comprehensive ten year £1bn investment plan to support steel making at Port Talbot and across the UK which has been welcomed by unions that, at the same time, stated that the move to close the BSPS will clearly be of serious concern to all members. A ballot is proposed in the new year.
Roy Rickhuss from steelworker's union, Community, said: "Reaching this stage of the process is a credit to the hard work of our members who never gave up the fight to "Save Our Steel" – it was their jobs on the line and it has been their campaign that has brought Tata to this position.
"This is not the end of the process and it will be for all our members to now vote on this proposal. We will continue to work closely with Tata and all levels of government as we seek to build a sustainable future for Britain's steel industry.
"We recognise that today's announcement does not cover the Speciality Steels business in South Yorkshire or the SAW mills in Hartlepool. We will continue to work hard with the companies involved to secure the investment necessary to ensure those businesses grow and that our members are protected."
Roota Engineering, the Rotherham-based sub contract precision engineering company, has been given a focus to diversify outside of oil and gas markets by its parent company, AIM-listed Pressure Technologies.
The Sheffield firm posted revenues for the year ended October 1 of £35.8m, down from the £53.8m revenues recorded in the previous year as manufacturing businesses continued to face declining sales volume from the oil and gas market. The adjusted operating profit was a loss of £400,000 compared to the profit of £3.8m in the previous 12 months.
Pressure Technologies plc owns Chesterfield Special Cylinders, a leader in the design, development and manufacture of high pressure seamless steel gas cylinders, and has gone on to bring in the likes of Chesterfield BioGas and Al-Met Limited and Hydratron group of companies. It acquired Roota in March 2014 in a deal worth £13.5m, taking on its Meadowbank Industrial Estate facility that has both CNC and conventional turning and milling capabilities and specialises in the machining of difficult materials and exotic alloys such as inconels and monel along with a wide range of high strength carbon steels.
A restructure of the manufacturing divisions followed with Roota and three other manufacturing subsidiaries making up the Precision Machined Components division. Restructuring completed with the manufacturing divisions shedding 77 jobs over the last 12 months.
Advertisement An update to the stock exchange read: "The Group is far more resilient, with manufacturing divisions now aligned to be profitable in the current market and an alternative energy division on the brink of a breakthrough to sustainable revenues and profits."
Alan Wilson, chairman of Pressure technologies, said: "For the first time in the Group's history, less than half, 43%, of our revenues came from the oil and gas sector, with alternative energy and defence making significant contributions of 32% and 18% respectively.
"The underlying qualities of our manufacturing divisions and the swift management action taken at the beginning of the downturn in the oil and gas market are evidenced by the results from these divisions, which overall remained both profitable and cash generative."
The Precision Machined Components Division turned over £10.7m, a drop from the £18.8m posted in 2015 with revenues almost wholly derived from the oil and gas market. Adjusted operating profits for the division were £1.4m (£4.5m in 2015).
The update added that with the reductions in customer spending, Roota's niche capability for machining complex geometrical shapes in unforgiving materials helped to increase market share and developed new customers in the falling market. £300,000 was invested over the year, principally on equipment to improve productivity, with the major spend centred on Roota, which saw an increase in orders for April and May.
Pressure Technologies expects that the oil and gas market "will remain very important to the division, which has market leading capabilities to manufacture highly complex components to exacting tolerances in demanding materials. These capabilities are important to the market irrespective of activity levels.
"However, the division continues to seek out opportunities for diversification away from the oil and gas market. In the longer-term work done to obtain "Fit for Nuclear" accreditation [from the Nuclear AMRC in Rotherham] should translate into incremental revenues and the division continues to seek entry points into the defence, aerospace and automotive markets."
The board of Rotherham-based fresh meat and food to go retailer, Crawshaw Group PLC is encouraged by the response to the changes it was forced to make in the light of falling sales.
The AIM-listed Hellaby firm confirmed a reduction in like for like sales towards the end of 2016 but added that expansion will continue. Growth plans involve the investment of £200m, opening 200 stores and creating 2,500 jobs.
An update on Christmas trading for the five week period to January 1 2017 stated that the company has continued to build on the progress noted November with improvements in sales and customer numbers being maintained through December.
Group sales were up 13% in the five week period versus the prior year, with total customer numbers also up 13% for the same period. Like-for-like sales were still down on the previous year at -3.8% but up from -8.1% for the four weeks ended November 27 2016. Like-for-like customer numbers were -4.2% having improved from -9.7% for the same periods.
Advertisement The group now operates 50 stores with the latest opening in Gorton, Manchester.
As new stores opened, standardised offers and price points were also introduced into existing stores but the management admitted that they "didn't resonate as well with customers as we thought."
Changes were made to give store managers flexibility to re-introduce local products, sizes, price points and offers that were previously on sale in their specific store.
On Christmas trading, Noel Collett, CEO of Crawshaw, said: "We continue to be encouraged by the customer response to the recent changes we've made which have translated into further progress over the festive trading period. Our new hamper range was particularly well received with almost 3,000 hampers sold in the Christmas week.
"Our focus will continue to be centred on anchoring our value credentials and we will step up our marketing activity to maintain our current momentum in building customer frequency and loyalty."
Inspiration Healthcare Limited is set to close its Rotherham facility, a year and a half after the reverse takeover by Manvers-based Inditherm was announced.
The AIM-listed firm has announced that it moving its corporate headquarters from Rotherham to a new 4,500 sq ft head office and R&D centre in Crawley.
Inditherm has developed products using low voltage carbon polymer technology to provide heat. Its systems are used for patients undergoing operations which carry risk of inadvertent hypothermia and in neonatal wards.
Inspiration was founded in Leicestershire in 2003 as a medical device distribution company focused on innovative products for critical care.
The 2015, £7.2m reverse takeover came after Inditherm directors identified the need to make the business part of a larger entity, thereby allowing the medical business to grow with fewer constraints.
For the six months to July 31 2016, the new firm had a growth in sales on a proforma basis by 10% to £7.1m compared to the same period in the previous year. International sales were up 19% with growth in the Americas and Europe.
The profit after tax was £361k, up from the £504k loss reported as the takeover was concluded in 2015.
Inspiration Healthcare said that the decision to relocate came as "a result of a strategic review and in a move to streamline business and continue supporting corporate growth."
In a statement the company said: "This decision will result in the simplification of the company's operations including the closure of its factory in Rotherham, enabling Inspiration Healthcare to focus on its core business, and move with greater flexibility and impetus on growth.
"By re-structuring our operations, Inspiration Healthcare is streamlining the organisation allowing us to improve our service and accelerate growth."
Formed in 1998, Inditherm floated on the London Stock Exchange (AIM) in December 2001, raising £3.4m to fund the expansion of the business. In July 2002 it relocated to new premises on the Houndhill Business Park in Manvers which enabled rapid expansion of manufacturing facilities.
The company applied its technology in a number of areas with limited commercial success, including under pitch heating and industrial processes. A decision was taken in 2010 to focus on the medical sector.
Rotherham-based manufacturer and installer, Yorkshire Windows, has ceased trading according to reports.
The Hellaby firm, which had a turnover of £9.5m, said that it had been hit by late payments in the commercial sector and that all 84 employees had been served notice of redundancy.
Established in 1980 by Mike Yarlett the company became established as the region's leading home improvements company. It manufactures and installs market-leading double glazed windows, doors, conservatories, orangeries, roofline products, garage doors and composite doors.
A spokesperson told The Star: "The company's high standards have been recognised through the joint awards of the Which? Trusted Trade and Secured By Design certifications, which independently validate the integrity of the company as a reputable business.
"In recent years, however, as well as being an extremely well known and respected name in the retail sector, Yorkshire Windows has also expanded its work in the commercial sector and it has been the pressure of late and even non-payment of debt from clients in that area of the business that has forced the company to cease trading."
Advertisement The company has showrooms in Wickersley and Sheffield.
As well as providing the domestic sector, Yorkshire Windows, supplied house builders and local authorities. It enjoyed strong sales in Sheffield and Rotherham thanks to the Government's Decent Homes revamp scheme. Its products were fitted in 20,000 homes in Sheffield and 50% of Rotherham council houses.
A decision to invest over £2m in a new production line at its Hellaby factory coincided with the economic downturn and the company was hit by significantly reduced margins.
Turnover at YWC Group and subsidiaries had halved from £22m a few years earlier to £11m in 2014. The loss of sales volume, managing change and charges associated with new finance arrangements led to losses of £700,000 for 2014.
For the year ending 2015, YWC Group's turnover had reduced to £9.5m with profits posted of £65,000 as the company covered its overheads by being more selective about contracts for the supply of manufactured products and installation.
Yorkshire Windows founder Mike Yarlett is synonymous with the rise of the borough's rugby team, Rotherham Titans, playing his part on the pitch and as a benefactor.
The board of Rotherham-based developer Harworth Group plc believes that financial performance for the year ended December 31 2016 will be ahead of its expectations.
In a trading update, the specialist in brownfield regeneration said that it had delivered further strong operational performance in the second half of the year.
The indicative outcome of an independent annual valuation of its property portfolio is also set to put value gains (revaluation gains and profit on disposal) significantly ahead of expectations.
One of the largest property and regeneration companies across the North of England and the Midlands, Harworth is based close to its own flagship development at Waverley. Its extensive portfolio consists of a total of around 22,000 acres across 140 sites. Harworth Group plc was created through the complex restructure of what was UK Coal.
Profit from operations is anticipated to be in line with expectations for the year and Group Net Asset Value (NAV) as is anticipated to be moderately ahead of expectations.
Advertisement The update highlighted a number of disposals during the second half of the year including site disposals above book value such as the sale of 43.7 acres at Logistics North to Lidl for £22.5m in December and the sale of land for 284 residential plots in aggregate to Taylor Wimpey, Harron Homes and Arch, the Northumberland economic development company.
Disposals of over £9m of agricultural land have also been made to improve the group's focus on sites with greater value enhancement potential.
The group has also made a number of acquisitions as part of its strategy to strengthen its income portfolio.
Owen Michaelson, chief executive at Haworth, said: "The Group had a positive first half of the year as highlighted at the time of our interim results in September 2016. This momentum has continued into the remainder of the year and results are now expected to exceed expectations, with sales above book value and good progress on planning and lettings driving the improvement to the valuation of our portfolio.
"This position reflects the underlying strength of our business and reinforces the Group's confidence in the long-term fundamentals of the regional markets in which we operate."
It its interim results for the half year ended 30 June 2016, the group reported that revenue from operations rose to £17.4m compared to £4.2m in the first half of 2015. This was largely as a result of forward funding at its Logistics North development. Profit before tax was £7.4m.
The group is hoping to raise interest by holding a capital markets day in London at the end of the month. It should provide analysts and investors an update on the group's strategy and developments in the market.
At Waverley, plans are coming forward from Avant Homes, their first on the regenerated former site of the Orgreave coking works.
Firms hold an overall positive outlook on the regional economy looking forward, despite major uncertainties at a national and global level, according to the latest results of the Sheffield City Region Quarterly Economic Survey.
The Q4 2016 results – based on over 300 responses from businesses across the region – give a snapshot of how the regional economy performed during the last three months. The figures will be used to better inform local, regional and national government and policy-makers on issues of concern and to help shape support structures available to the local business community.
Both the manufacturing and service sectors showed a positive balance in sales in the UK market over the last three months. The service sector in particular, showed a sharp increase and the position was healthier than during the same time the previous year.
Inflationary pressures continued to build in the regional economy, as well as nationally, with both sectors showing a strong positive balance in expected price rises in the next quarter. Both sectors identified inflation as a more important factor to business than a quarter ago and more businesses are concerned about interest rates.
Advertisement Both sectors showed higher expectations for workforce growth in comparison to the previous year.
Recruiting skilled workers remained the biggest problem for the manufacturing sector, while for the service sector, recruiting for professional and managerial roles was most problematic. This reflects long-term trends in the UK economy.
Over the last three months, the proportion of exporters investing in plant and machinery has increased to over 28% from 17% in the previous quarter.
A specific focus in this survey was the proposed Trans-Pennine Tunnel. When asked about the preferred choice for the proposed investment project (given the options of: Road, rail, both, neither and not sure), the most popular choice for both service and manufacturing firms was to have both a road and rail tunnel (53% and 47% respectively), followed by the road-only tunnel option.
Following the analysis of the results, Prof. Andrew Simpson, associate dean external business advancement at the Sheffield University Management School, said: "Overall, the city region economy shows a positive position and an ability to cope with economic factors. However, long standing issues around skills shortages and potential new inflationary factors are being factored into business decision making.
"The survey shows a region coping well with the uncertainty caused by major geo-political events. There is however a strong desire in the city region for reduced uncertainty around the Brexit process and for reduced volatility in exchange rates."
Sheffield City Region businesses will be surveyed again during Q1 2017 from February 20 to March 13.
The survey – run by the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), four Chambers of Commerce and Sheffield University Management School, and sponsored by RBS South Yorkshire & North Derbyshire – is part of a national survey coordinated by the British Chambers of Commerce to act as an economic indicator for the Bank of England and to advise Whitehall.
The delays caused by a legal battle within the Sheffield city region has left the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) "frustrated and disappointed" but its chair said it will continue to focus on economic growth.
Local authority leaders stated last week that it is not possible to hold a Mayoral election in May 2017 as planned and that they would now work towards elections in 2018.
As a proposed devolution deal progresses, a Mayoral Combined Authority (CA) is set to be created, building on the 2013 agreement which saw the nine local authorities that comprise the city region create a new legal body with responsibility for transport, economic development and regeneration.
The CA works alongside the private sector-led LEP which provides the strategic leadership required to set out local economic priorities, and better reflect the natural economic geography of the areas they serve.
Chesterfield and Bassetlaw councils, currently non-constituent members, signalled their intention to join the Combined Authority but a legal challenge from Derbyshire over the consultation means that it will need to be carried out again.
Advertisement Sir Nigel Knowles, chairman of the Sheffield City Region LEP, said: "There is no doubt that the LEP is frustrated and disappointed at the position that Derbyshire County Council have taken towards the implementation of the city region's devolution deal. This is a deal that secures new powers and resources to promote economic growth locally and to connect our residents to the opportunities being created across our super-connected and thriving city region.
"The proposals consulted on last year included supporting the decisions taken by both Chesterfield and Bassetlaw to become members of the Combined Authority. The recent legal challenge inevitably slows this down to the point that it is impossible for Mayoral elections to take place in May this year. Which is why we welcome the announcement yesterday that the Combined Authority has committed to working towards Mayoral elections in 2018.
"As a private sector led partnership we are not letting delays on our devolution deal get in the way of our current programme of delivery. We already have devolved funds in place supporting business investment in workforce development through the Sheffield City Region's Skills Bank and we are investing hundreds of millions in capital projects across the city region. This programme of investment has helped unlock £400m of investment from a Canadian Pension Fund at the I-Port development in Doncaster and is contributing to the Peak Resort development in Chesterfield which includes another £400m of foreign investment by Grand Heritage Hotels.
"The Local Enterprise Partnership will keep a laser like focus on supporting economic growth for the Sheffield City Region. Evidence from our most recent Quarterly Economic Survey tells a positive story about the city region's business base and that our businesses have the confidence to move forward and keep investing even in turbulent national economic times.
"With an ambitious city region programme in place for attending the world's largest property and investment conference in March and great progress being made for the hosting of the Horasis China event, to be held here in November this year, we're getting the job done."
The £900m devolution deal includes a new gain share deal within an envelope of £30m a year for 30 years – giving the SCR the power to use new funding to boost local growth and invest in local manufacturing and innovation. In return, the Government will require a directly elected mayor to hold accountability for the new powers.
Rotherham-based electronics retailer, Maplin is celebrating one of its strongest Christmas trading periods, with like-for-like sales up 4.4% in the six weeks to December 24.
Manvers-based Maplin sells a range of products to tech-savvy hobbyists as well as general consumers and now operates from 217 stores. In store, like-for-like sales were up by 1.4% for Christmas 2016 compare to the festive period last year.
Online sales rose by 29.3% when compared to the previous period, which the retailer attributes to significant investment in its digital channels.
The firm, which was sold for £85m to new owners, Rutland Partners in 2014, said growth was achieved over a number of categories, with popular products including Google's Chromecast, Amazon Fire Stick, drones and everyday products like batteries.
Oliver Meakin, chief executive at Maplin, said: "Christmas 2016 has been one of our most successful trading periods and highlights the significant investment we have made across our whole business in the last two years.
"As we accelerate investment in digital, our people and stores into 2017 we expect to see sales continue to grow, as well as develop other initiatives including the roll out of a new store format and refreshed branding across the estate, which was first trialled at Cambridge Beehive in November 2016 (pictured)."
Advertisement For the financial year to March 19 2016, turnover at Maplin was £235m, a slight reduction from the £236m recorded in the previous year. EBITDA (earnings before tax) was £12.7m, down from £16.2m.
The period saw Meakin take the CEO job and new management teams put in place, including the appointment of Lindsay Dunsmuir as chief financial officer and Siobhan Fitzpatrick as e-commerce & marketing director. The period, which also saw the departure of chief technology officer, Neil McGowan, was described as a "year of change."
The financial figures were described as credible in the face of falling footfall on the High Street. It was an increase in internet sales by 15.4% that offered encouragement.
Meakin added: "The arrival of the new executive management team afforded us the opportunity to review our future strategy – starting with listening again to our customers, our colleagues and consumers through multiple focus groups. The feedback was compelling.
"Our core strength, and key differentiator, remains the knowledge that our 2,500 colleagues have, and the advice that this enables them to give to our customers, every day.
"In the year ahead we intend to continue to build upon these strengths as we enter an exciting period in the ongoing development of the business."
Hundreds of new jobs would be created if a successful Rotherham commercial development is extended into the Green Belt.
Network Space (formerly known as Langtree) has delivered over 160,000 sq ft of industrial space across two phases at its Vector 31 development at Waleswood. The first phase was fully occupied within 12 months of completion in 2008 and the total site was fully let a few years after. Occupiers include Hermes, Preformed Windings and CCPI-Europe.
Discussions are now ongoing with Rotherham Council through the authority's local plan examination on the potential for more phases at the site which is close to Junction 31 of the M1.
"Vector 31 West" could be created on a 8.8 Ha parcel of land to the north of Wales Bar on the west side of Mansfield Road (A618) that the developers want to see come forward for employment use. The site has been backfilled following open cast coal mining operations and development platforms have already been created.
An illustrative masterplan which demonstrates how the site could be developed shows that the site provides the opportunity to deliver approximately 215,000 sq ft gross of employment space.
Advertisement The Council has also proposed the release of nearby Green Belt land to the North of School Road / Off Waleswood Way behind the cricket pitch, and its allocation for use for business and industry.
Network Space is supporting this proposal and have outlined that further land could be released for employment use to create a 20.7 hectares site that is currently comprises agricultural land located between the M1, Waleswood industrial area, the railway line and woodland.
This proposal is complicated by the realigned route of HS2 which cuts through the site as it runs alongside the M1.
Property agents at Knight Frank, who are acting for Network Space, consider Vector 31 to be "one of the region's sought after industrial locations." Representations submitted as part of the local plan examination state: "Vector 31 is an ideal location for employment at Junction 31 of the M1 Motorway, accessed via the A57 dual carriageway, allowing the site to capture both local and regional requirements as well as national occupier requirements looking to enter into the area. They consider that the success of the location has been proved with the success of the initial phases at Vector 31."
Rotherham Council appears receptive to an extension to Vector 31. Plans are being progressed for £1.2m of transport improvements to support the proposed £37m leisure development adjacent to Rother Valley Country Park and new employment land. Council officers believe that job creation linked to Gulliver's Valley and Vector 31 is estimated at up to 850 new jobs.
Network Space is a commercial property investment, development and management group and following a restructure and rebranding in June 2015 the group has focused its operations on the industrial property market. Pre-tax profits for last year hit £19.2m, more than doubling the previous year's result.
An auction is taking place today at Brinsworth Training's premises in Rotherham after the well-established training firm went into liquidation.
A leading engineering and manufacturing training provider, its training premises at Templeborough boast an extensively equipped machine shop along with specialist equipment for Mechanical Engineering, Electrical, Electronics, PLC, Instrumentation & Control, CAD CAM and Rapid Prototyping.
A meeting of members and creditors was held in December to discuss the proposed liquidation of the business under the supervision of Gareth Rusling and Ashleigh Fletcher of business advisers Begbies Traynor in Sheffield.
Advertisement The advisers at Begbies Traynor were subsequently appointed as liquidators and Ellis Willis & Becket auctioneers were brought in to recover revenue for the creditors by selling off everything from swivel chairs to CNC machines.
The business advisers said that the business experienced falling revenues leading to cash flow problems making it unviable to continue trading.
Documents filed at Companies House show that the company had a deficit of some £400,000. Preferential creditors - the staff and redundancy office, and NatWest Bank are owed £26,000 each. Unsecured non-preferential claims include a £147,000 tax bill from HMRC and £100,000 from employees and the Redundancy Payments Office.
With £125,000 owed to trade creditors, the biggest bill is for Tata Steel, whose site the training academy was based.
In 1995 the EITB (Engineering Industry Training Board) closed down, leaving a great need for apprenticeships training. Three former employees of the EITB recognising the demand for this knowledge and in 1998 seeing there was a niche in the marketplace formed a centre for training in engineering. Brinsworth Training was wholly owned by managing director Mick Crossley, a former Rolls-Royce manufacturing engineer, and worked with many of the region's top firms such as Firth Rixson, AESSEAL, Premier Foods, KP and Safestyle.
In 2014, the Academy of Manufacturing and Engineering Excellence (AMEE) was established at the centre with the target of training up to 800 young people and placing 300 jobless into apprenticeships.
Sorry you're leaving. Card retailer Clintons has closed its Rotherham town centre store - the last of its outlets in the borough.
Clintons has over 400 store locations across the UK. and the College Street store was one of the national stores that remained open after the retailer plunged into administration in 2012.
The stores in the Old Town Hall and at Parkgate Shopping were not part of the deal to save the company which was bought by Lakeshore Lending Limited, a subsidiary of American Greetings Corporation. Part of the same company, the Birthdays store opened at Parkgate in 2008 as a concession.
28-30 College Street, occupied by Clintons, as sold at a 2013 auction for £300,000. 24-26 College Street. the adjacent property which is currently home to Card Factory, sold prior to the same auction. Both lots went up for auction a year previous and failed to sell.
Advertisement Sale documents from the auction show that a five year lease for the Clintons unit was signed in December 2011 with the retailer paying £40,000 per annum. Card Factory's ten year lease was listed as £60,000 per annum starting in August 2006.
Walker Singleton is currently advertising the 4,800 sq ft Clintons unit at £40,000 per annum. The 2,937 sq ft Card Factory unit is currently being advertised by Lambert Smith Hampton.
Clinton Cards was the UK's largest specialist retailer of greetings cards and related products with in excess of 750 stores and 2011 revenues of over £360m across its two retail brands, Clinton Cards and Birthdays. The company is now managed by Schurman Retail Group.
The Clintons branch on Fargate in Sheffield city centre has also recently closed. Remaining South Yorkshire stores can be found in Sheffield, Barnsley and Doncaster.
Highlighting the national picture, December's like-for-like sales growth on the UK's high streets was -0.1%, according to BDO's High Street Sales Tracker (HSST). The negative figure means the UK has now seen four consecutive Decembers with no high street sales growth.
Office of National Statistics (ONS) retail figures revealed that retailers saw a strong end to 2016 with sales in the final quarter up 5.6% on the same period last year, although the amount bought fell between November and December once the effects of Christmas are removed. Online sales increased year-on-year by 21.3%.
Rotherham print group Garnett Dickinson has been acquired out of administration in a deal which has safeguarded 125 jobs.
Based in a £20m state-of-the-art facility in Manvers, the group specialises in large run multi pagination printing and customers include high profile monthly magazines and luxury catalogue brands.
Nicholas Alexander bought Garnett Dickinson Group, with the exception of its digital operation, for an undisclosed sum in 2015 and instigated a restructure of the operations. Alexander had stepped down from the board at Garnett Dickinson after leading a management buyout (MBO) of subsidiary, Acorn Web Offset, in 2013.
Jonny Marston and Howard Smith of KPMG, were appointed as joint administrators to the business on January 24 2017 after the business ran into cash flow difficulties due to operational issues.
Garnett Dickinson Print Ltd had a turnover of £17.2m and made an operating loss of just over a £1m in the year to September 30 2015.
Advertisement The joint administrators have now confirmed that Garnett Dickinson has been sold in a pre-pack deal to GD Web Offset Limited, a vehicle incorporated for the purposes of the acquisition. The deal saw all of the trading business and assets sold to GD Web Offset Limited whose directors are Paul Mursell of EWO Media in Essex and Jeremy Spring of Aspenlink, a company that converts some twenty five thousand tonnes of paper a year.
With 130 employees, five roles were not part of the transaction and have therefore been made redundant.
Jonny Marston, partner at KPMG and joint administrator, said: "This transaction secures a large number of jobs and the continuation of operations at an important printing site in Rotherham.
"We wish the business well in the future under new ownership."
Managing director Mark Bennett departed Garnett Dickinson in December.
The original Garnett Dickinson business started in 1858 in the back of a busy stationary shop where it first published the South Yorkshire Advertiser. The Rotherham Advertiser is now published by Regional Media Ltd, a company which also has Alexander as a director and acquired the publishing business and assets from Garnett Dickinson in 2015.
Rotherham-based Specialised Laser Products (SLP) is targeting £4.5m turnover this year after investing in state of the art machinery and buying its premises on the edge of the town centre.
The company provides laser cutting services for a wide range of industries and has more than 500 clients nationwide. Working across a wide range of sectors, the firm uses ultra-precise methods to laser cut steel and aluminium sheet metal with the finest degree of accuracy.
A £75,000 business loan from Finance Yorkshire is part of a funding package which has enabled the company to purchase the premises it had been leasing.
Established more than 20 years ago to initially support the machine knife industry the firm now employs 29 people at its Canklow Road premises where investment has been made in the latest laser cutting machines.
Duncan Proctor, managing director at Specialised Laser Products (pictured, left), said: "We have been at Ford Park for the last 16 years and as we have expanded we have taken on further units and now occupy the entire site. Buying our existing premises helps secure the future of the business and keeps us at the same location which is ideal for providing our services to customers nationwide.
"The company's customer sectors include engineering, rail, construction and machine knives where it offers a range of materials including mild steel, stainless, aluminium, spring steel, tool steels, copper and brass.
Advertisement Duncan added: "We are always looking to improve our systems for the benefit of our customers. Our successful growth has been achieved through our commitment to delivering precision and quality products at all times."
Grahame Lunt, investment manager at Finance Yorkshire (pictured, right), added: "Specialised Laser Products is a successful and profitable business which constantly strives to deliver the very best service and products for its customers. Our investment has helped the company secure its premises and ensured the business and jobs are retained in Rotherham."
Finance Yorkshire's successful investment fund has been extended as the Sheffield city region waits on the £400m Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF). Funding totalling £5m has been allocated to Finance Yorkshire by the Leeds City Region LEP and Sheffield City Region LEP, supported by their respective combined authorities. This follows the full investment of Finance Yorkshire's £113m fund in June last year.
Backed by investment from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Finance Yorkshire provides seedcorn, loan and equity linked investments to help a range of small and medium sized businesses to meet their funding requirements for growth and development.
