North East Times Magazine - February 2015

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–A SIMPLE LEGALSOLUTION

C O N T E N T S

February 2015

BUSINESS NEWS – 10

SAVE THE DATE – 12Business events – mark them on your calendar.

ON THE MOVE – 14New executive appointments.

10 QUESTIONS FOR... – 16Tom Hedley, joint managing director of Hedley McEwan.

INTERVIEW – 20James Gray of Taopix.

COVER STORY – 52Meet Barristers & Co, the region’’s first ‘high street’ direct access barristers.

STATE OF THE ART – 72

BUSINESS LUNCH – 96Marco Pierre White Steakhouse Bar & Grill.

MOTORS – 102

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C R E D I T S

Editorial:Contributions should include a fully stamped addressed envelope. No responsibility is accepted for drawings, photographs or literary contributions during transmission, or while in the

Editor’s or Printer’s hands. Editorial must be received by the 12th of the month or no responsibilty is accepted for errors. Advertisements: Although every care is taken to ensure accuracy,the Publishers regret that they cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage caused by an error in the printing or damage to, or loss of artwork, transparencies or photos. Complaints:

regarding advertisements will only be considered for up to a week after publication. Advertising must be received by the 15th of the month. No responsibilty is accepted for errors.© 2014 Published by North East Times Ltd.

Directors: Mike Grahamslaw, Mick O’Hare

Commercial director: Martin Stout

Editor: Alexis Forsyth

Editorial: Jessica Laing

Senior designer: John Haxon

Feature photography: Chris Owens

Front cover: Amanda de Winter of Barristers & Co.

Office: Quayside - i4, Albion Row, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 1LL. | t: (0191) 265 7050

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B U S I N E S S N E W S

Flying high

Newcastle InternationalAirport is progressing itsdeparture loungedevelopment, with a host of

new retail outlets and restaurants nowopen for passengers.

The latest phase of the works sees thenew Orient Express inspired restaurant, TheCabin opens its doors alongside retailoutlet Traveller, premium jewellery storeCuba Lily, Travelex and WH Smith.

The works, which will see the entiredeparture lounge transform, will becompleted this summer. As well as offeringnew shops, restaurants, cafes and bar

areas, the departure lounge layout willprovide a more straightforward journey forcustomers. Travellers will benefit from animproved sense of flow as they passthrough the curved walkways, seatingareas and streamlined fronts of the newlounge.

Highlights still to come include a newwalk-through World Duty Free store andexciting food and beverage outlets –including Bar 11, which will showcase 11reasons why the North East is the bestregion in the UK. Lucy Knowles, groupmarketing director of SSP, commented: “Iread an article, ‘11 reasons why Newcastle

is the best city in the world’ and decidedto build the new bar’s concept aroundthis idea. As a northerner, I would want towalk into the departure lounge and think,this is why I love the North East.”

Gill Caleary, commercial director atNewcastle International Airport, added:“We’re delighted with how the departurelounge development is coming along.Last year we opened a number of newfacilities, including the Aspire Lounge,Flying Hippo and Beer House. They’ve allbeen given a warm welcome by NorthEast passengers and have been very busyover the summer and festive periods.”

Innovation conference confirms 2015 return

Newcastle International Airport unveils the latest phase of its £14 million departure lounge development.

Over 150 of the North East’sentrepreneurs, innovators and

business leaders gathered at NewcastleScience City last month for the launch ofVenturefest North East 2015, the region’sinnovation conference.

Spokespeople from Newcastle ScienceCity, the Knowledge Transfer Network andthe North East LEP, the organisations thatdelivered 2014’s sell-out conference withsupport from Innovate UK, addressed thelaunch attendees and unveiled this year’sconference date as Tuesday October 13.

The announcement comes hot off theheels of 2014’s event, which broughttogether over 500 entrepreneurs, business

people, investors and innovators to hearthe latest thinking on innovation and how

it can be applied in a business context.The commercial impact of 2014’s event

is still being calculated but businessadvice and services were accessed fromover 40 exhibitors, over 250 ‘elevator pitch’meetings were held between funders andbusinesses and 14 start-ups were offeredfunding at the event itself.

2015’s conference will be drawing onthese successes and ensuring many ofthe components of last year’s programmeare replicated, including high-profile guestspeakers, in-depth innovation workshopsand opportunities to pitch for investment.Further details will be announced in thespring.

10

Virgin Money backs NECC anniversary

Virgin Money will be a key supporter ofa year-long celebration of everything

that is great about regional business.Headquartered in Gosforth, the bank hassigned up as Patron for the 200thanniversary of the North East Chamber ofCommerce (NECC). Virgin Money will be akey supporter of NECC’s landmark yearcelebrations throughout 2015, furthercementing the company’s commitment tobusiness in the North East region.

Tyneside restaurant re-launches

The Last Days of The Raj at Low Fellclosed its doors in 2012, but has now

re-launched in a new location and withthe second generation of a family dynastyat the helm. Set up originally by AthairKhan, he has now passed on his expertiseto son Imran who will be heading up thenew incarnation of the restaurant, thistime in the former Bay Horse pub at MainStreet, Dinnington.

Business advice firm opens in Morpeth

Advice4Business, which offers adviceand coaching services to the SME

market across the North East andNorthumberland, has opened in brandnew premises at Morpeth’s SandersonArcade. The Morpeth branch is headed byLinda Lowther, who has 30 years’ seniormanagement experience. Working withSMEs, the company’s advisers deal with allbusiness sectors including accountancy, IT,legal and professional and trade sectors.

Primula donates £100,000

Primula Cheese, part of Kavli UK LTD,has donated £100,000 to Fighting All

Cancers Together (FACT), the UK’s firstcancer support and education centre,bringing the charity one step closer tocompleting its new £2 millionGateshead-based facility which willprovide a range of services and supportto people with cancer and their familyand friends.

Joanne Smith, CEO and founder ofFACT, said: “I’m overwhelmed by thedonation, it’s a massive leap forward forFACT. We need to raise £2m over the nextthree years and the money from Primulawill speed the building process alongdramatically.”

AIS expands with renewable energy campus

Offshore industry expert, AIS Training isexpanding its world-class training

village on North Tyneside to create a newstate-of-the-art renewable energy centrewhich is expected to attract thousands ofpotential workers to the fast-growing windsector.

The new £1 million Renewable EnergyCentre of Excellence will deliver the fullsuite of technical skills and competencytraining required by the wind andrenewables sectors.

Paul Stonebanks, managing director atAIS said: “Our new renewable energyfacility will rival the very best in the worldand will put the North East at the forefrontof skills and competency training for theglobal wind energy sector.”

NBS adopts its new charity

Staff from Newcastle Building Society(NBS) have voted to adopt Percy

Hedley Foundation as their dedicatedfundraising cause.

The relationship with Percy Hedley willlast for at least the next two years, withfundraising by individual NBS staff, teamsand departments being undertakenthrough a variety of methods.

Natalie Falkous, head of corporatesocial responsibility at Newcastle BuildingSociety, said: “Our staff have alwaysdedicated a fantastic amount of energyand enthusiasm to their chosenfundraising causes and there is already alot planned in the pipeline to help raise asmuch money as possible for The PercyHedley Foundation.”

Malhotra Group buys sea-front hotel

Malhotra Group has saved more than30 jobs after adding a landmark

North Tyneside hotel to its portfolio. The RexHotel, Whitley Bay went into administrationin early January and has now been takenover by the Malhotra Group plc, which isplanning a major investment to improveand upgrade the property.

Expansion for property experts

Venture Properties has expanded intoits sixth branch in Bishop Auckland as

it continues to grow throughout the NorthEast. The new branch on Newgate Street isheaded by Leanne Henderson, and hasemployed three people for the launch,growing the Venture Properties team to atotal of 33 employees.

South Tyneside dealership expands

Vic Young, on Newcastle Road in SouthShields, has taken on five new members

of staff to meet an increased demand afteropening as a main dealership for Mitsubishiin September last year. Vic said: “Theexpansion of our team is down to how wellthings are going with Mitsubishi and it’sgreat to have them on board.”

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D I A R Y

Save thedate

Charity balls, business dinnersand seminars.

ELIZABETHAN BANQUET

Lumley Castle, County DurhamTel: (0191) 389 1111

Web: www.lumleycastle.com Email: [email protected]

Price: £28.50 per person

Lumley Castle is offering guests a taste of 1595in the form of two Elizabethan-style banquets.Attendees will receive a tour of the castle’sdungeons on arrival, before being served a five-course dinner, complete with daggers instead ofcutlery and goblets to drink from. Includes adisco and entertainment from storytellers andNorth East folk bands.

THE BUSINESS BEHINDHOLLYWOOD WITH MOTION

PICTURE CAPITAL

The Biscuit Factory, NewcastleTel: (0191) 516 3109

Web: www.themusselclub.com/eventsEmail: [email protected]

Price: £20 per person

Feb6 & 27

Feb19

Fans of the big screen are invited toattend this exclusive event, hosted byLeon Clarance, CEO of MotionPicture Capital and the manresponsible for raising funds over £2billion for some of the world’s biggestfeature films. Speaking for the firsttime in the North East, the eventprovides guests with a uniqueopportunity to hear from one ofHollywood’s leading financiers aboutthe business side of cinema and howsome of the world’s largest feature filmsare funded. Includes a welcome drinkand a two-course meal.

ONE TO ONE: IP AND CORPORATESOLICITOR IN RESIDENCE

BIPC, Level 3, Newcastle City LibraryTel: (0191) 277 4100

Web: www.bipcnewcastle.co.ukEmail: [email protected]

Price: Free

Business owners and managers are encouraged toattend one-to-one consultations with MattCormack, commercial solicitor at Newcastle lawfirm, Ward Hadaway. Matt will be providingadvice on a range of topics, including businesscontracts and collaborations, company ownershipand management, property rights and key legalissues for start-up businesses. Sessions will be heldon the second and last Monday of every month.

Feb9

LINKING BUSINESS WITH EDUCATION

Gateshead College Academy for Sport,Gateshead International Stadium

Tel: 0300 303 6322Web: www.necc.co.uk/events-and-news

Price: Free

This open event, open to all NECC membersoperating in the education sector and thoseoperating in business – with an interest ininfluencing the education sector – aims tofacilitate leaders from both sectors in the NorthEast to network and make sustainable partnershipsto, ultimately, deliver higher quality careerguidance for students. Includes refreshments, aQ&A panel, workshops and guest speakers.

Feb10

FREDDY SHEPHERD, SHEPHERD OFFSHORE

Jesmond Dene House, NewcastleTel: (0191) 500 7780

Web: www.entrepreneursforum.netEmail: [email protected]

Price: £75+VAT per person (members only)

This focus dinner will concentrate on the latestdevelopments and projects from Newcastle-based offshore and marine facility, ShepherdOffshore. Specifically, the dinner will shedlight on the Neptune National Centre forSubsea and Offshore Engineering and Freddy’splans to bring brewing back to Newcastle aspart of his £500,000 restoration of the city’sPalace of Arts in Exhibition Park.

Feb11

TYNESIDE & NORTHUMBERLANDBUSINESS AWARDS 2015

Newcastle Marriott Hotel Gosforth ParkTel: (0191) 201 6072

Web: www.nebusinessawards.co.uk Price: £100+VAT per person, £975+VAT(one table for 10 people), £1,550+VAT(two tables), £2,275+VAT (three tables)

The North East’s biggest and most prestigiousbusiness competition highlights, celebrates andrewards the success of the region’s mostprominent firms over the last 12 months. Alongwith guest speakers, the awards ceremonyincludes five bottles of wine per table, plus athree-course meal with refreshments.

Feb26

[email protected]

with your events

THE SKILL MILL ANNIVERSARY EVENT

Discovery Museum, NewcastleWeb: www.eventbrite.co.uk

Price: Free

This celebratory event marks the firstanniversary of The Skill Mill – a Newcastle-based non-profit social enterprise providingemployment opportunities for people aged 16to 18. Attendees will be able to meet with theventure’s partners and beneficiaries, as well asnetwork with leaders who have contributed toits development. Includes a drinks reception,canapés, awards, live music and more.

Feb12

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A P P O I N T M E N T S

On the MoveYour monthly guide to

appointments and promotions.

CLAIRE SHARP

Northumbrian Water has appointed ClaireSharp as customer director. Claire, whoformally worked as distribution manager andhas extensive experience of the water industryand customer service, will lead the company’sservice to its £4.5 million customers in theNorth East and head up a directorate of over600 employees.

SARAH GLENDINNING

UK business lobbying organisation, CBI, hasappointed Sarah Glendinning (right) as assistantregional director in the North East. Sarah, whojoins from Newcastle-based global recruitmentfirm, Nigel Wright Consultancy, will work withdirector, Dianne Sharp (left), and the rest of theCBI team to ensure the business’ voice is heardboth regionally and nationally.

MARK MORLEY

Darlington-based architects’ practice, NivenArchitects, has appointed Mark Morley as asenior architect. Mark, who brings a wealth ofexperience in design and project developmentto his new role, will help the practice’s seniormanagement team oversee a varied portfolio ofsignificant projects, including an in-patient unitat Darlington’s St Teresa’s Hospice.

LISA JOHNSON

Consulting engineering firm, Patrick Parsons,has appointed Lisa Johnson as marketing andbusiness development administrator at itsNewcastle headquarters. As well as working ona number of new projects, in her new role Lisawill be focusing on the development of thefirm’s digital presence, keeping its intranet up-to-date and assisting with tenders and PQQs.

RACHAEL HESLEHURST &RACHEL THOMPSON

Seaham-based digital marketing company,Digitia, has appointed two new accountexecutives. Rachael Heslehurst (front right) willbe responsible for working with clients togenerate sales and revenue growth through amix of digital strategies, while RachelThompson (front left) will help develop andstrengthen clients’ online presence in a bid togenerate more sales.

CRAIG MILLER

North Tyneside marketing provider, SMEBusiness Chat (SMEBC), has appointed CraigMiller as contact centre manager. In his newrole, Craig, who has 10 years’ experience incustomer service, will lead a growing team ofsocial media marketing agents to increase leadgeneration among small and medium-sizedenterprises. Partnered with IT consultancy,Wolf Group, SMEBC launched last month.

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16

What was your first breakin business?

My first job was as a windowdresser with theBurtons/Jacksons fashiongroup and when they weretold to hire someone for‘marketing’, which was quite anew thing back in thoseflared-trousered days, the onlyappropriate person they couldthink of was the windowdresser, and so it all began...

What attracted you toyour current role?

It was much more a matter ofnecessity being the mother ofinvention! My businesspartner, Duncan, and I wereboth long-serving directors ofRobson Brown when theAmerican media company thatbought it went bust, after justsix months at the end of 2010.Hedley McEwan was an ideawe’d nurtured (over many pintsof Guinness) for at least tenyears or so and that catastropheprovided the stimulus to putour plan into action.

What has been yourcareer highlight?

Starting Hedley McEwan;seeing us quickly grow into asuccessful and hopefully, well-respected company, staffedwith some of the best creativeand design talent around. Wehad Hedley McEwan up andrunning with a handful ofamazing people in less than aweek and produced our firstad in two. We have anamazing client list andtogether, we’ve created someequally amazing things. Andbelieve me, there are plenty ofhighlights and even moreexciting things still to come.

And your careerlowlight?

Being a director of a hugelysuccessful company one dayand then being maderedundant the next. Anyonewho has experienced this willtell you that the enormousfeeling of sadness andresponsibility for the peoplethat work for you, when suchthings happen completelybeyond your control, isindescribably painful.

What do you enjoy mostabout your role?

Running the business in a waythat makes it a place where I’dactually like to work. Duncanand I value our people beyondeverything else and we do ourutmost to ensure they feelappreciated. And, of course,the sheer adrenalin rush ofcoming up with a truly greatidea and then presenting it toa client is as near as some ofus will ever get to scoring thewinner in a cup final.

I N T E R V I E W

10 questions for...

Tom HedleyTom Hedley is joint managing

director of Hedley McEwan, a creativecommunications agency establishedfour years ago. Tom’s key role is to help

guide his clients to greater successusing the collective experience gained

from over 30 successful years in themarketing sector.

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What's your biggestchallenge?

Personally, giving as muchtime as I’d like to being‘creative’, which is why Icame into this business in thefirst place, and not beingconsumed by the ‘detail’ ofrunning a busy company. Interms of the business itself, Iwould say the endless pursuitof perfection.

Who are your heroes, inand out of business?

Professionally, DuncanMcEwan (best creative I’veever met).Fictionally, Sharpe (the wholePeninsular War to Waterlooperiod fascinates me).Historically, The Duke ofWellington (see above).Sportingly, George Best (noexplanation required).Musically, Jimmy Page (theperson I’d most like to havebeen – and still try to be!).

What is the best piece ofbusiness advice anyone

has ever given you?

Never teach a pig to sing; itwastes your time and annoysthe pig.

What does the future holdfor Hedley McEwan?

We had a very pure vision ofwhat we wanted HedleyMcEwan to be and that was,to not get too greedy andchase everything, and not toget too big and too far awayfrom the ‘coal face’ of clientservicing and why our clientschose to work with HedleyMcEwan in the first place.We’ve pretty much achievedthat. The future is more of thesame.

What do you doto relax?

I play lead guitar in a greatlittle rock band called TheDesperados, and when I do,I’m 19 again and still thinkthat one day, I’ll be JimmyPage.

Growth and expansion have alwaysbeen high on the agenda atdurhamlane, but the last year hasrepresented something of a step-

change for the company’s fortunes as we havestarted engaging and winning work with largerbusiness and brands. These include the USfinancial and tax preparation software specialistIntuit, while invoicing, reconciliation, accountspayable and book-keeping software specialistXero was also a major customer for us in 2014.

However, while we are being approachedmore by companies throughout the UK, wehaven’t lost sight of customers closer to home,remaining committed to our North East roots.We continue to provide services, expertise andsupport to help growing enterprises andambitious SMEs in the region blossom intothriving and vibrant businesses.

Our success has not only been driven by agenuine ability to get under the skin of anorganisation to understand its core values, thecompelling challenges it faces and theopportunities that exist; but through continuedinvestment in new talent we are able toenhance the scope of expertise we can offer.

We are extending our reach as we go forgrowth in the south of England under theguidance of associate partner Mark Taylor.Meanwhile, the north west and Yorkshire arealso firmly in our sights, with ambitious plansto develop our services there under a new

associate. Both are accomplished salesprofessionals who possess the requisite vision tolead durhamlane’s future success.

The team at our Windsor Terrace headoffice remains the engine room of the business,providing the power to propel us forward. Weare gearing up to invest further in the servicesthat our clients require and the expertise thatwill enable us to continue to deliver nationwidesolutions from a well-managed, fully resourced,cost-effective and pro-active professional salesenvironment.

We will remain focused on helpingcompanies improve their performance, helpingto raise standards within the sales profession,but also looking to extend the scope of ouroutsourced services as we see demand formarket intelligence and data services gainingincreasing traction among new and existingclients. After all, ensuring your data is in goodshape is a key part of delivering effectivecampaigns to the right people, at the right time.

A business can never stand still, so as salesengagement specialists we are always keen toexplore new opportunities and ways to developthe business and help our clients. The decisionto become a partner at BALTIC is a greatbusiness fit for us from an organisationalviewpoint, while staff have welcomed theopportunity to take advantage of the chance toshare the BALTIC experience with clients andenjoy its many attractions.

Throughout the year, we will be nurturingour partnership with the Entrepreneurs’Forum, working closely with the organisationto support both established entrepreneurs andthose planning a start-up. We are alsodelighted to be speaking at one of its events onsales and negotiation in March.

The durhamlane story will also be travellingto the USA in March, where in San Franciscowe will be looking to establish relations with arange of hand-picked rapidly growing softwareand technology companies, all looking to thetype of sales engagement expertise we are ableto provide, as they target expansion into theUK and Europe.

Finally, our proven ‘selling at a higher level’methodology remains at the core of the workwe will be undertaking throughout the year.This will help to increase the footprint andsuccess of our clients as they look for fresh andenergising new ways of improving the qualityof business conversations, with value verymuch at the heart of the debate.

All in all, 2015 promises to be an excitingchapter in the durhamlane success story as weharness all these exciting new initiatives,investments and resources to secure growthand break through the £1 million in revenuemark.

For more information, call (0191) 481 3800or visit www.durhamlane.co.uk

D E V E L O P M E N T

Going for growthThe last 12 months has been one of success for Newcastle-based sales consultancy, training and

outsourcing firm durhamlane, and this year promises to be even better as renewed ambition propels itever closer towards the £1 million turnover mark, says managing partner Richard Lane.

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Among the pile of Christmas presentsnow gathering dust, it's the personalisedgifts – photobooks, calendars, mugs andmouse mats, typically with beaming

children – that will stand out as keepsakes.It's a market that's taken off in recent years, and

one of the companies leading the revolution isNorth East-based Taopix, founded byentrepreneurs James Gray and Kevin Gale.

Taopix is principally a software developmentcompany that sells its software platform, alsocalled Taopix, to companies, such as FunkyPigeon in the UK, who use the platform to deviseand sell their own photo-based products tocustomers via a downloadable tool or via a webapplication. Taopix is now represented in over 50countries, with its products sold in 20 differentlanguages through 30 distributors and generatingturnover of £2.5 million.

With few formal qualifications between them,James and Kevin started their careers asapprentices with a computer re-seller inPonteland that focused on the print industry, withKevin as a software developer and James as atechnical engineer. It soon became clear thatsales were James’s real forte and when,increasingly, the products he was selling weren’tmeeting customers’ needs – an idea was sown.

James says: "I looked around for products thatwe could sell and wrote a brief specification ofwhat we needed so that it could do whatcustomers were asking me for. It turned out therewas nothing available that ticked all the boxes. Ialso knew the photo space was a booming, fastpaced, high margin industry."

James knew there was a market, and Kevin hadthe software development skills. It was 2007 andTaopix was born.

How did you fund the business at thestart?

We've been entirely self-funded. When we begandeveloping our own software, we were also sellingother people's products from Germany, Israel andthe US into the UK. The profit that generatedfunded the development of our own software. Weran both businesses, but have since separatedthem.

Was there a trigger to growth?

In 2008, when the product was called MediaAlbum, we promoted it heavily. We went to amajor exhibition in Germany and were amazed at

the interest from Asia, not just from one particularcountry, but from across the board.

No one in our company had ever even been toAsia, never-mind done business there, but weknew people who had, so we talked to them,asked lots of questions and spoke to translators.The one thing everybody said was 'say yes toeveryone and deal with how you'll deliver later'.

It was a game changer for us. By the end of thatyear the recession had started to bite so wecouldn't expand in Europe or the US, so wedecided to chase Asia, focusing on building adistribution network, hiring people in Singaporeand Hong Kong and setting up a regional office.

Given you began with noconnections in the Asian market, howdid you go about finding the rightpeople to work with?

The truth is, we took some risks. We didn't spendtoo much time worrying about the detail. If wefelt good about a relationship, we pushed on, ifwe didn't – we dropped them. You have to take ajudgement, but in countries like China and Japanit's very difficult to validate people when theculture is so different.

I N T E R V I E W

Entrepreneur James Gray, of photobook and personalised photogift software platform Taopix, shares his start-up journey...

Picture perfect

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We were quite aggressive in terms of growthand sales. We had competition in Asia and had tobe much sharper than they were. We developed anetwork of distributors in Japan, Singapore,Malaysia, Korea and China, and in the early days,India.

We were very hands-on, but there was no waywe could have done it ourselves because of thedifference in culture, language and the localmarket. It gave us the confidence to expand intothe Netherlands, France, the Nordic countries,Belgium, Italy and Germany in 2009, and intothe USA in 2010. We started with the same re-seller model there, but it didn't work so weswitched to direct selling. However we do nowhave a reseller network in Brazil, Chile,Argentina, Colombia and Mexico.

How did you make sure you stoodout?

By having very clear competitive advantages.Without going into the complexities of theproduct, the major difference is that it puts thecustomer in full control. We supply a platformthat lets them build and manage their ownbusiness; and how, what and where they want tosell their products.

Have you continued to develop theproduct?

Initially, we provided a desktop tool that ourcustomers' end users downloaded, but it becameclear that it wasn't meeting the needs of all ourpotential customers. Consumers wanted to goonline and upload their pictures to the product

they were buying. In 2012, we started a programme that

launched Taopix online software. It's opened updoors to customers serving the consumer market;companies that weren't in the photo space butwanted to be, and others who were already in themarket and relying on – but not happy with – ourcompetitor’s products. It means we're now dealingwith big players.

In growing quickly, how have you keptpace to bring the right people intothe business to support that growth?

Finding the right people is incredibly difficult,especially in the development space. There is ahuge shortage of real talent, especially locally.Being able to find and hire the right people is thebiggest barrier to growth.

Are you training people from within?

Yes, we have a number of training initiatives atTaopix. As Kevin and I both started as apprenticeswe did feel we'd be hypocritical if we didn't godown that road, so we now have two apprentices.But you still need those people with ten years'experience, who are as passionate and committedas you are, and finding them is really tough.

As an entrepreneur, do you have anyexternal networks or people who yourely on for business advice?

We've used opportunities like Growth Acceleratorto improve our skill sets and that also brought usan adviser who helped us with management

accounts, financial planning, managementresponsibilities, review processes etc so we're inmuch better shape now.

I joined the Entrepreneurs' Forum last yearand we have a mentor – you can't beat a well-qualified, external pair of eyes for spotting obviousthings that you just don't see yourself when you'reimmersed in the business.

How are you preparing for futuregrowth, and what's the long-termplan?

Recently, we've spent time putting the rightmanagement team in place and doing all thenecessary things to make the business scalable.We meticulously run the business by quartersnow and are heavily focused on our goals.

For the long-term, when people ask if we'd sellthe business, I say it might happen if someonecame along and made us an offer we reallycouldn't refuse, but we certainly didn't start out tosell the business. We didn't have an exit strategyand we still don't.

We still enjoy it very much and we believe thebusiness has huge potential. We’re currentlylooking at new, larger premises in the North Eastand we definitely want to grow the team here.

James Gray is a member of the Entrepreneurs’Forum, a unique group of like-minded peoplewho come together through peer-to-peermentoring and a series of inspirational events toshare best practice, create valuable connectionsand grow their business.

For more information, visitwww.entrepreneursforum.net

James Gray and Kevin Gale,founders of Taopix

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In previous articles I have written about theneed to manage risks in business. Thisinvolves analysing the risks your business isexposed to; reducing the likelihood of those

risks materialising or the impact on your firm ifthey do; and then preparing contingency plansin the event that the risks arise.

It struck me though that the same principlesmight not apply to careers and I have certainlynot gone through my professional life withouttaking a chance or two. Maybe a differentapproach might be required for careers todevelop their full potential? This might meantaking risks – albeit calculated – in order to getthe most out of your working days.

It is easy to see why people do not take risks,though. The career ladder is precarious at thebest of times. But for the past several yearsuncertainty has been even higher as theeconomy has been through recession,unemployment rates have been high andcompetition for jobs has been – and is still –fierce. Job security is a thing of the past andmany people would not want to add furtherinsecurity by taking risks.

The Start Up Of You

With that background in mind I was comfortedin the decisions I have made when I waspointed towards The Start Up of You, a bookwritten by LinkedIn co-founder and chairman,Reid Hoffman, and author Ben Casnocha.Some of the points they make might strike achord when considering your own career.

In the book they discuss how people canaccelerate their careers in the competitiveworld. The message they convey is that youshould manage your career as if it were a start-up business.

Their reasoning is that start-ups – and theentrepreneurs who run them – are nimble.They invest in themselves; building their

professional networks and taking intelligentrisks. These entrepreneurs make theuncertainty and volatility previously discussedwork to their own advantage. Having identifiedthe key attributes of entrepreneurs, the authorsargue that these are the same skills whichprofessionals need to get ahead today.

The Start Up Of You book sets out the bestpractices of Silicon Valley start-ups anddiscusses how to apply these entrepreneurialstrategies to your career. There are six keyelements – the first is to adapt your careerplans as you change, the people around youchange and industries change. Second, youshould develop a competitive advantage to winthe best jobs and opportunities; what is your

unique selling point?The authors encourage people to strengthen

their professional networks by buildingpowerful alliances and maintaining a diversemix of relationships, while looking for theunique breakout opportunities that acceleratecareer growth. That might mean takingproactive risks.

The final element is to tap your network forinformation and intelligence that can help youmake smarter decisions when assessing theserisks.

My calculated risks

It was the calculated risk element that appealedto me, since I have taken several myself. Thoserisks have led me to the senior managementteam of a major sports governing body,attending board meetings, which is unlikely tohave happened without an element of takingchances.

My first was to leave my law firm partnershipto take up a career in sports law. I did thishaving discussed the opportunities with mysports law tutor. Having been head of legal atanother sports governing body, I again took therisk of moving into sports management at twoprofessional clubs and then the sports council.

I have adapted my career plans and sought todevelop a base of skills and experience that fewin my career will be able to offer. I do notpretend to have always got it right, though.

Are you ready to take a risk?

You will know best where you want your careerto take you. But it is an interesting concept toview it as a start-up with you as the CEO. Arethe elements identified in the book worthadopting? In particular, are you takingproactive risks to develop a competitive edgeand take advantage of breakout opportunities?


The start-upof you

Can taking riskshelp your career? Asks RodFindlay, consultant at Your

Sport Consulting

EXPERT VIEWRod FindlayConsultant

Your Sport ConsultingEmail:

[email protected]: @RodFindlay

22

Reading like a roll call of business icons, afull calendar of inspiring events,including onsite visits, dinners and amajor conference, has been put together

by the Entrepreneurs’ Forum.The season has already kicked off with Sir John

Hall, winner of the Forum’s 2014 LifetimeAchievement Award, who opened the year asguest speaker at the Chairman’s Dinner. WayneHemingway MBE, Sir Peter Vardy, MikeMatthews MBE and Paul Walker are all amongthe names to come.

Forum members will be at the official openingof the Staiths café bar, the final piece in the jigsawof HemingwayDesign’s visionary housingdevelopment in Dunston that has paved the wayfor alternative thought in estate design.

A visit to Facebook’s UK headquarters inLondon, also this month, is set to be a hugelypopular opportunity to see inside one of themedia phenomena of recent times and to learnhow the company has developed its culture tostay ahead of competitors.

Perhaps less well known but equally fascinatingwill be events with former BBC foreigncorrespondent Alex Brodie, who now runsHawkshead Brewery in the Lake District, Dr SamWhitehouse, of QuantuMDx, whose productshave the potential to revolutionise healthcare indeveloping countries, and Kate Hardcastle – ahighly successful businesswoman, retail guru,professional speaker, media pundit and founder ofnumerous charitable foundations.

Of particular local interest, former fighter pilotDan Robinson will talk about how he has takenon – and is building – the family constructionbusiness, Gus Robinson Developments, followingthe tragic death of his father.

Other events will be more issue-based and willexplore business challenges such as sales,recruitment and retention.

On Budget day, March 18, members areinvited to join their peers at PwC in Newcastle towatch the Chancellor’s speech live with expertsand follow it up with discussion and comment.

Due to increasing demand, May 14 sees theForum move to The Sage Gateshead for the firsttime for its annual entrepreneurs’ conference.

In a combination of brain, body, brawn andblocked drains, the conference will focus onleadership in business, with speakersincluding:

• Former Microsoft executive Richard Tait, theco-developer of the worldwide success storyCranium, which he sold to Hasbro in 2008 for$77 million. He has since gone on to create anew business based on Golazo sports drink.

• Jamie Combs, founder of Natural BalanceFoods, whose Nakd range of cereal bars andsnacks is sold in supermarkets across the UKand across the world. A leader of conviction,Jamie previously worked in marketing forBaskin Robbins ice cream and as a businessturnaround consultant.

• Floyd Woodrow, a decorated former ParachuteRegiment and SAS soldier and ex-head of theCounter Terrorist Unit who went on to be adirector in the oil and gas and technologysectors before establishing security organisationBritam Defence Ltd and Chrysalis Worldwide.

• Charlie Mullins started Pimlico Plumbers inthe basement of an estate agent in 1979 withjust a second hand van and a bag of tools.Determined to remove the stigma associatedwith the industry, 34 years later Pimlico isLondon's largest independent plumbing andservice company with a workforce of around200, 160 vehicles and turnover in excess of£18m.

Forum chief executive Gillian Marshall said: “Weare all incredibly excited about our calendar forthe next six months. We’ve got events of realstrength and depth – inspiring speakers to hearfrom, amazing companies to visit and somefascinating issues to explore as we seek to supportentrepreneurs in growing both their businessesand themselves as leaders.

“We hope the work that’s gone into bringingthese opportunities to our members will helpthem at a critical time in the economicdevelopment of the region as, post-recession, welook ahead to renewed prospects for growth.”

For more information, visitwww.entrepreneursforum.net

B U S I N E S S

Some of the biggest names in North East business are lining up to share theirstories with the region’s entrepreneurs this winter and spring.

Entrepreneurs’ Forum unveilsnew events programme

Sir John Hall kick-started the 2015 events programme last month

24

Entrepreneurs’Forum chairman’s

dinner The Entrepreneurs’ Forum hosted

its chairman’s dinner in Newcastlelast month, welcoming special

guest Sir John Hall.

Beginning the year in inspirational style,over 90 North East entrepreneurs

joined Forum chairman Nigel Mills for acelebratory dinner at Jesmond DeneHouse to hear from special guest Sir JohnHall – a true icon of entrepreneurship.

Sir John was recognised for hisconsiderable contribution with the Forum’sLifetime Achievement Award, presented atits annual awards last September. Theaccolade came in the same year as hecelebrated 50 years since establishing hisbusiness, Cameron Hall Developments,which masterminded the construction ofthe Metrocentre.

www.entrepreneursforum.net

25

Following a positive year, recruitment ishigh on the agenda for aspirationalbusinesses. Recruitment firms havealmost 30 per cent more vacancies

than they did 12 months ago, according to theAssociation of Professional StaffingCompanies.

In a recent survey by Accenture and theCBI, half of British businesses are alsolooking to expand their workforce in 2015,with over 40 per cent planning pay rises atleast in line with the Retail Price Index.

This is, of course, fantastic news but it alsoleaves me with a major concern, given theskills shortages that are apparent in so manysectors.

To give you an indication of how seriousthis issue is becoming, the Recruitment andEmployment Confederation believes that wehad nine areas of skills shortage last year; wenow have 43.

Throw in an upsurge in the level of activerecruitment, and the battle for top talent hasnever been fiercer.

In the long-term, greater communicationbetween industry and academia isfundamental to the solution. TheGovernment, universities and colleges mustco-operate with businesses to identify key areaswhere skilled workers are in short supply.

Unless you’re looking for graduates andapprentices, however, this is not going toaddress your needs today; raising thequestion: what are you going to do about it?

Think about your brand. How your companyis portrayed and how an opportunity is sold topotential employees is crucial. You need to becompetitive when recruiting and demonstratewhat it is that makes you stand out from yourrivals at every turn.

Talk more. It sounds simple, but how oftendo you praise your top employees? Just takingtime to talk to your staff, showing an interestand ensuring they’re happy and feel valued

can make a huge difference to the level ofcommitment they have.

Invest in staff development. If you can’tattract people with the right skills, can youtrain them internally? By up-skilling youremployees, you’re not only giving them thetools to grow your business, but you’redeveloping them as individuals, offering newopportunities and, ultimately, discouragingthem from seeking new challenges elsewhere.

Always be on the lookout. Whenever youcome across brilliant people, make a note andtry to begin building a relationship. Once youhave an opportunity available, they will bemuch easier to approach and will be morelikely to choose you over a competitor.

Widen your network. You might know a lotof people but so do your colleagues. Considersetting up an incentivised referral scheme.That way, if you let everybody know whatyou’re looking for, you are much more likelyto get genuine recommendations from yourstaff.

Act fast. Talented people get job offersquickly. If you find the right person beprepared to act fast. If they are truly top oftheir game, it won’t be long before one ofyour competitors tries to snap them up if youdon’t.

Be flexible. If what you’re looking for isn’tout there, you may not have the time to waitfor it to come along. Prepare to be flexibleand consider someone you have to train orup-skill. If they possess a lot of the softer skillsrequired for the role and have the rightattitude, why not take a risk?

Find experts to help. At a time whengeneralist recruiters are being replaced bymore niche consultancies, it will pay to buildstrong relationships with them as they not onlyhave access to wider talent pools, but can alsosource the hard to fill vacancies non-specialistsand in-house teams simply can’t do.

So are you doing enough to attract and retaintop talent, or are you following the samerecruitment process you always have?

We all want high-flying employees whocreate a positive impact and drive ourbusiness forward, but when talent is such ascarce commodity it pays to assess how youare going to attract and retain the bestpeople; your future growth could dependupon it.

Contact Bryony for help finding the righttax and accountancy role or recruits on(0191) 375 9983. Alternatively, connect onLinkedIn or follow @bryonygibson.


Are skills shortagesholding you back?

Bryony Gibson, managingdirector of Bryony Gibson Consulting,

discusses how skills shortages threatento damage business growth and

what you can do to attractand retain top talent.

EXPERT VIEWBryony Gibson

Managing directorBryony Gibson Consulting

Tel: (0191) 375 9983Web: www.bryonygibson.com

Twitter: @bryonygibson

26

Andrew Mears has joined independentNorth East agency SolutionsRecruitment at director level to workalongside current directors, Michael

Grayson and Ian O’Brien in the growth anddevelopment of the group.

Having spent the last nine years of his careerwith international agency, Nigel Wright, holdinga number of key positions in the group’sleadership structure, both in the UK andinternationally, Andrew is well placed to focusand guide the ambitious future plans of SolutionsRecruitment.

Ian O’Brien, finance director at Solutions said:“We are keen to keep up the momentum andsuccess we have experienced in the last five yearsand Andrew’s appointment will put the companyin a very strong position to continue its push to bethe primary recruitment force in the North East.”

Solutions, established in 1984, is aprofessional multi-discipline recruitment agency

offering a full range of services to accommodate awide range of staffing needs. Headquartered onPilgrim Street in Newcastle city centre, it alsoboasts two offices in Northumberland and one inMiddlesbrough (which opened last July) andcurrently employs 50 members of staff acrossrecruitment and support functions.

Since 2009, the Solutions group hasexperienced rapid growth and has continued todevelop into new markets – something Andrewhas a wealth of experience in, having beenresponsible for launching Nigel Wright’s newestmarket in the energy sector.

With Andrew on board, SolutionsRecruitment is looking to produce record resultsin 2015 and is planning on creating multipleinternal job vacancies across the region as itcontinues to expand its presence.

For more information, visitwww.solrecruit.co.uk

B U S I N E S S

Andrew Mears, formerly of Nigel Wright, joins recruitmentagency Solutions Recruitment.

New appointmentat Solutions Recruitment

Andrew Mearsof Solutions Recruitment

27

One of the greatest obstacles for anybusiness is accessing the funding itneeds to consolidate and expand –and that obstacle is even greater for

charities and not-for-profit organisations.Peter Gilson, investment manager for the

North East Social Investment Fund, has spent asubstantial part of his 30-year career in thefinancial sector working with voluntary,charitable and not-for-profit organisations.Here, he talks us though the new fund and thebenefits it brings.

What is the North East SocialInvestment Fund?

It is basically a £9m repayable fund available tosocial enterprises in the North East. It has beenset up to support the development andexpansion of voluntary and communityorganisations and social enterprises to increasetheir social impact.

What is social impact?

I would describe social impact as the differencean activity within your organisation can makeon the well-being of individuals and familieswithin the community it serves and how youachieve that difference.

When will the funding becomeavailable?

The fund is open now.

Who can apply?

The fund is targeted at not-for-profitcompanies, charities (limited by guarantee orcharitable incorporated organisation only),community interest companies (limited byguarantee or shares) and registered societies(previously known as industrial and providentsocieties, for community benefit).

Organisations should be located, or havesubstantial operations, in the North East, andshould have the following:• A strong passion to improve their social

impact in areas such as homelessness, povertyand debt, health and social care, mentalhealth, offender rehabilitation,unemployment or the regeneration ofdeprived communities.

• A strong management team with the ability todevelop the organisation.

• A track record or desire to contract withpublic sector bodies.

• The ability to measure and monitor theimpact of their performance.

How much can I borrow?

Investments are flexible to suit the individualorganisation’s needs but normally you canborrow amounts between £100,000 and £1m.Such investments will generally be in the formof loans and be repaid over periods of up to 10years with the term fixed at the start of the loan.

However, it is important that yourorganisation does not borrow more than it cancomfortably repay. I am always available to

discuss any concerns you may have with regardsto borrowing.

What can I borrow the money for?

The loan can be used wherever it’s mostneeded to develop your organisation further.You may want to purchase new premises, meetoperational costs, strengthen your workingcapital or put the loan to a combination ofpurposes. It really is very flexible in terms of theway you use it.

How do I apply?

I would encourage any organisation interestedin applying to give me a ring or drop me a lineearly on in your planning. Often, earlydiscussions can make the application progressfar smoother and save time in the long run.

When you are ready, you will need to submitan Expression of Interest form, which can befound on our website, along with your businessplan, annual accounts and financialprojections.

I will then arrange to visit you to learn moreabout your organisation and what your plans are,as well as working closely with you to progressyour application and tailor the investment tomeet your needs.

To find out more about the North East SocialInvestment Fund (NESIF), call Peter on(0191) 229 2786, [email protected] or visitwww.northstarventures.co.uk

B U S I N E S S

Opening the door to social investmentSocial enterprises across the region can now access £9 million through the North East Social Investment Fund

(NESIF). Peter Gilson, of Newcastle-based Northstar Ventures, tells us more about the funding opportunity.

Peter Gilson,investment

manager forthe NESIFT

28

When I first started out in business Iwould get asked on a regular basis:“What exactly is HR?” My youngnephew goes one step further and

asks: “What do you actually do, auntie Jo?”My Business Network International (BNI)

colleagues are used to hearing my response:“HR is about two things; first of all you have toget your staff to come to work every day, andwhen you get them to come to work every day,you need your staff to do what you want themto do.” Sounds simple, but it is a very dauntingtask for business owners.

I guest-speak every month to a group of newbusinesses and one of my top ten tips I sharewith them is to stick to what you’re good at. So,if you haven’t done HR before, then buy it in assoon as you can afford to. Obviously from mypoint of view, you can’t afford not to, as theconsequence of error can be much more costly.Let’s not forget the internal damage causedwhen staff are seen to be ‘getting away with it’.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel andDevelopment (CIPD), of which I am a fellowmember, states that you need one full-time HRperson per 100 staff. So if you compare yourstaff numbers to this ratio and you, as themanaging director, do all the HR, then it willnow make sense to you that you are spendingtoo much time sorting out the HR headaches.

Pareto’s Principle states that you can applythe 80/20 ratio to just about anything. In myexperience, if you apply this to your staffnumbers, it will help identify how many staffyou may have trouble with over the year. So forevery five staff you employ, there will be issueswith one, and so on.

Professional HR can deal with the 20 percent of difficult employees and allow you to geton with making more money. The downside forHR is that they very rarely get the chance towork with the 80 per cent of staff who actuallydo come to work every day and do what’sexpected of them.


What’s HR all about, Alfie?Joanne Howe, managing director of

Howe Consultancy, explains what the HRprofession is really all about.

EXPERT VIEWJoanne Howe

Howe ConsultancyWeb: www.howeconsultancy.co.uk

29

L E G A L & F I N A N C I A L N E W S

Double promotion at Hay & Kilner

Queen’s Counsel appointmentfor Trinity Chambers’ Barrister

Trinity Chambers Child Care, Family andCourt of Protection barrister, Nicholas

Stonor is to be appointed Queen's Counsellater this month. The appointment ofQueen's Counsel reflects excellence inadvocacy and follows an extensiveapplication and interview process.Appointments are made by Her MajestyThe Queen on the advice of the LordChancellor, Christopher Grayling MP,following consideration by theindependent Queen’s Counsel SelectionPanel. Nicholas will be one of only fourFamily Silks on the North Eastern Circuit.

Newcastle youngsters scorewith Winn Solicitors

Byker-based firm Winn Solicitors hassponsored two of Newcastle East End

FC’s mini soccer teams, with new stripsprovided to the Under 10 girls and Under9 boys players. Both teams – made upentirely of youngsters from areas within theEast End of the city – play for the PinpointJunior Football League. Charlie Scott, vicepresident of Newcastle East End FC said:“We rely on support from local businessesand people within the community and itis fantastic to have Winn Solicitors onboard to provide much neededsponsorship.”

Baker Tilly advises on £1mrefinancing package for

engineering firm

Baker Tilly has advised Sunderland-based engineering design consultants

Desco on a £1 million refinancing packagewith HSBC which will support the firm’sgrowth plans in the UK and the Middle East.Tony Edwards, a corporate finance partnerat Baker Tilly North East, said: “We haveworked with Desco for more than 10 yearsand I’m delighted that we were able tosecure this deal which provides the firmwith the flexibility that it needs across itsworldwide operations.”

The law firm has promoted two of its wealth management and clinical negligence specialists.

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Hay & Kilner has announced thepromotion to partner of twosenior lawyers as the Newcastle-based firm continues to grow. The

leading full service law firm has appointedwealth management and tax planningexpert, Alice Clewes, and clinical negligencespecialist, Helen Morland as its newestpartners. Wealth management and clinicalnegligence are both significant practiceareas at Hay & Kilner, and the teams have animpressive range of clients locally andnationally.

Alice, who joined Hay & Kilner six yearsago, is one of a few solicitors in the regionto hold the Chartered Tax Adviserqualification. Helen, meanwhile, has overeight years’ experience in clinicalnegligence claims and has also recentlyhad her experience recognised with herappointment to the Solicitors RegulationAuthority Clinical Negligence AccreditationPanel. Martin Soloman, senior partner atHay & Kilner, commented: “We aredelighted to announce these promotions.Alice and Helen are excellent members ofour team. Their knowledge, expertise and

business contribution make them both avaluable addition to our 25 strongpartnership.”

Alice Clewes, Martin Soloman andHelen Morland of Hay & Kilner

30

At this time of year, it’s interesting tolook forward to see what the comingyear might bring for the legalprofession, and specifically for family

lawyers. Here are our predictions for the legalNew Year.

The legal press has recently highlighted thatmany large firms have come to rely on amultitude of paralegals, probably at the expenseof offering lucrative training contract places tothe same candidates. The lack of trainingplaces has always been an issue, with more lawstudents than traineeships available. Thoseparalegals who meet the Solicitors RegulationAuthority’s criteria can use their paralegalexperience to qualify as solicitors. We lookforward to congratulating the first paralegal toqualify as a solicitor under this route!

We believe this year will see an increase inthe use of non-court dispute resolution models.Arbitration for financial cases, set up in 2012, isbecoming more commonplace, and weanticipate that the Institute of Family LawArbitrators will take positive steps towardsextending the scheme to private law childrendisputes.

The changes made to mediation by theintroduction of the Children and Families Act

2014 will be felt this year with increasingnumbers of people attending the compulsoryMIAM (Mediation Information AssessmentMeeting) appointment. This will lead toincreased numbers of mediations taking placeand decreased numbers of court applications.The lawyer supported mediation model willcontinue to encourage the use of mediation tohelp parties resolve their disputes under a fixedfee regime.

The issue of costs and clients’ accessibility tolegal advice will continue to put pressure onfirms to look seriously at offering fixed fee andunbundled services. A number of high costfamily cases from last year have caused seniorjudges to highlight the issue of excessive andsometimes disproportionate costs. This willcontinue to be in sharp focus this year, andcosts estimates could even be introduced in thesame way that they have in civil litigation cases.

Unfortunately, there seems to be no wayback from the restriction of legal aid availablein the majority of family cases, following theimplementation of the LASPO (Legal Aid,Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders) Act2012. However, it looks like there could besome light at the end of the tunnel for victimsof domestic abuse. They might find that the

evidence that they need to produce to qualifyfor legal aid may be changed as a result ofchallenges to LASPO.

With financial assistance for family casesvirtually non-existent, people requiring thecourt’s assistance are having to find othermethods of seeking assistance. In addition tothe significant increase in litigants in person,the use of McKenzie Friends in familyproceedings has also increased. Following onfrom the formation of the Society ofProfessional McKenzie Friends last year, weanticipate a growth in the number of businessesoffering these services. We also predict that thenumber of paralegals assisting litigants inperson with family cases will increase.

Following on from the report by theFinancial Remedies Working Group last year,there may well be changes made to thestructure and forms used in financial disputeson relationship breakdown in an attempt tomake the procedure easier to navigate forlitigants in person.

This will be another year of change,following on from some major changes last yearwhen the family court was created. We’ll beinterested to see at the end of the year howmany of our predictions come true...

L A W & F I N A N C E

Major predictionsfor the year ahead

What lies ahead for the legalprofession in 2015? Asks Joanne

Major of Major Family Law.

EXPERT VIEWJoanne Major

Principal at Major Family LawTel: (01661) 824 582

Web: www.majorfamilylaw.co.ukTwitter: @majorfamilylaw

32

As an economic concept, everyone isaffected by inflation. It is ‘taxationwithout legislation’ as economist,Milton Friedman once said;

influencing everything from mortgages to thesmallest of purchases.

For me, seeing Cadbury Freddos on sale for60p because of inflation instead of my childhoodprice of 10p still fills me with sadness, but that isinflation at its most basic level. Over time, pricesgo up.

Or do they? Well, at the moment, not bymuch. The Office of National Statistics (ONS)recently released its December inflation figures,showing a drop in the Consumer Price Index(CPI) to only 0.5 per cent compared to one percent the previous month.

Inflation, as measured by CPI, is made up ofan ever changing ‘basket’ of goods and servicesdesigned to reflect typical households’ purchases.From this, the ONS tracks fluctuations in theunderlying prices, with the contents updatedregularly to reflect changing shopping trends.

As one such example, if you now use Netflix towatch films, you have helped contribute to DVDrentals being replaced by online on demandsubscription services.

Within CPI, food and energy prices areimportant components – so from thesupermarket price wars to a falling oil price, is it

any wonder inflation is falling?Understandably, the sizeable oil and gas sector

has not performed well within the UK’s bluechip FTSE 100 Index and fell ten per cent in2014. Food and drug retailers were even worse.But look elsewhere and the repercussions can bepositive.

Inflation has been steadily falling since 2011.Among other factors, this is attributable to therise of Aldi and Lidl, spurring the biggersupermarkets into offering more and morediscounts and putting more disposable incomeback in to the pockets of consumers.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic,the US has embraced the concept of fracking toproduce shale gas and oil, leading toexceptionally low fuel costs. Petrol heads rejoice!

However, this has produced an excess inglobal oil supply, coinciding with a fall indemand, particularly from the likes of China,which is experiencing a deceleration in itseconomic growth.

This has not been helped by oil producingnations in the Middle East keeping the tapsturned on. Historically, Saudi Arabia has usuallymoved first to trim production back when priceswere falling, but this time no one is budging.

The big question now is who can hold theirbreath for the longest? Oil is currently about $50a barrel, the lowest since 2009 and down from

the heady heights of $114 only last summer. Naturally, the big oil producers quite

prudently produce what-ifs for both lower andhigher oil prices when planning new projects,but what-ifs for 50 per cent falls in six months?Maybe not.

Levels of $70-80 per barrel for the next coupleof years would hinder but not excessively damagemost of the oil majors, but if the falls go deeper orfor longer, then they – and the markets – will bereally worried.

Until then, the serious side of the fall in theshort-term is the risk to North East jobs, withnumerous North Sea oil explorers consideringmothballing rigs as activity becomesunprofitable. There is talk that the Governmentmay radically reduce the tax bill from the current60 per cent for these explorers, such is the benefitto George Osborne’s treasury coffers when theyare fully operational.

But for now, for the man on the street, this lowlevel of inflation is not a bad thing. Petrol isapproaching £1 a litre, a level no one reallythought we would see again. And this is thecrucial point. For those who have not seen theirwages keep pace with inflation and suffered adrop in their standard of living, a fall in inflationis basically a tax cut for consumers and one thateveryone can benefit from. Even those who stillbuy Freddos.


How inflation means moreNetflix and less Freddos

A fall in inflation is good news forconsumers, says Jeffrey Ball, assistant

director at Brewin Dolphin.

EXPERT VIEWJeffrey Ball

Assistant directorBrewin Dolphin

Email: [email protected]: www.brewin.co.uk/newcastle

34

One of the regional economy’s realsuccess stories in the last few yearshas been our video gamedevelopers.

Names like Eutechnyx, Pitbull Studio, UbisoftReflections and Double 11 have achieved criticaland commercial success both nationally andinternationally, and their products will no doubtrecently have featured under many North EastChristmas trees.

In recognising the importance of this growingsector to the wider economy, the Governmentintroduced the approved version of its VideoGames Tax Relief (VGTR) scheme in the 2014Budget.

The scheme is designed to encourage growthand support in this sector within the UK, andoffers developers many financial benefits forqualifying work as long as they stick to a specifiedcriteria.

In simplified terms, the net cash benefit isbetween 20 and 25 per cent of the qualifyingexpenditure, in the form of a Corporation Taxreduction, or a cash credit from HMRC if yourcompany is loss-making from a taxable profitsperspective. The exact benefit varies depending onthe calculations around your precise tax position.

Qualifying for the scheme involves at least 25

per cent of the expenditure being UK expenditureand achieving certification from the British FilmInstitute (BFI). In order to do the latter, a givengame must pass what is referred to as a ‘cultural

test’, stating that the video game is a ‘British VideoGame’.

Details of this can be found on the BFIwebsite, but in summary, a company has toachieve at least 16 points in a series of tests thattotal 31 points.

Some of these tests are straightforward, such asmembers of development teams being locatedhere, but a larger proportion of points are awardedon points such as whether the original dialoguewas recorded mainly in English (or one of six UKindigenous languages).

These areas create some degree of ambiguity,and getting advice on exactly how you stand iscrucial before you look to take advantage of thescheme.

All types of games qualify for the scheme,assuming they achieve BFI certification, whichmeans you don’t have to be seeking a‘technological advance’ or resolving‘technological uncertainty’, which you wouldneed in order to qualify under research anddevelopment (R&D) allowances schemes, alongwith a wider range of other tests.

However, games do not qualify where they arelinked with advertising or promotions, or anythingproduced for the purposes of gambling, and youcan’t claim both VGTR and R&D tax allowances.


Game on for developersAnthony Andreasen, director at RMT Accountants & Business Advisors,

looks at a tax relief scheme aimed at the video game sector.

EXPERT VIEWAndrew Andreasen

Director RMT Accountants & Business Advisors

Web: www.r-m-t.co.uk

Advice from RMT Accountants &Business Advisors has supported thesale of Corelogic, a UK market-leading provider of next generation

adult and children’s social care casemanagement software, to a major UKtechnology group for a total value of £23.5million.

The Servelec Group plc has acquiredCorelogic as part of its strategy to drive marketshare growth in existing areas and to expandinto adjacent, complementary markets.

Anthony Andreasen, director of tax at theindependent Gosforth-based firm, advisedCorelogic throughout the process on taxationmatters, while RMT's head of commercial

services Paul Gainford advised on the financialdue diligence aspects of the deal.

Headquartered in Sheffield and with officesin Warrington, Aberdeen, Glasgow andDorking, together with overseas offices inMelbourne and Brussels, the Servelec Groupplc provides software, hardware and servicespredominantly to the UK healthcare, oil andgas, water, power, utilities and broadcast sectors.

Corelogic, which has 75,000 end users and58 major customers worldwide, is primarilybased in London with offices in Edinburgh,Cochin and Sydney.

Kevin Moorhouse at Corelogic, said: "RMT’scorporate disposal expertise really impressed meand I would strongly recommend them to any

other company involved in such a transaction.” Anthony Andreasen added: "Our

involvement in a deal of this magnituderecognises the corporate capabilities that RMTcan offer businesses undertaking major disposaland acquisition work. We're delighted thatCorelogic’s shareholders chose to work with uson this transaction and wish them every successin the future."

RMT provides the full range of financial andbusiness advisory services through itsaccountancy, specialist tax, medical andhealthcare, corporate finance and recovery andinsolvency teams.

For more information, visit www.r-m-t.co.uk

RMT helps Corelogic complete £23.5 million sale The Gosforth-based accountancy firm supports the sale of a market-leading software business.

RMT Accountantsprovides a range of

financial and businessadvisory services

35

One of the North East's leading legalteams for the stock market, MuckleLLP, delivered the biggest float onthe Alternative Investment Market

(AIM) at the end of 2014 in the pharmaceuticaland biotechnology sector.

The flotation of Quantum Pharma plc onDecember 11 raised £106m, giving Quantum amarket value of £125m.

Muckle LLP has advised Quantum since2009, when the firm supported management onits buyout of the business. This was followed by anumber of strategic acquisitions, which haveprovided opportunities for product developmentand market expansion.

More than 40 lawyers from across MuckleLLP, led by corporate partner Andrew Davison,helped achieve the float on time by workingaround the clock to prepare and complete thethree-month project. This is the region’s largestever Initial Public Offering (IPO) on AIM.

In addition to the IPO, Muckle also handled arestructuring of the group by adding two newparent companies and restructuring theshareholding; a refinancing with Yorkshire Bankand the acquisition of the remaining 49 per centof the shares in product development company,Colonis, for £15m – all of which also completedsimultaneously with the listing.

Andrew Davison, who sits on the RegionalAdvisory Group to the London Stock Exchange,was the overall project leader. Andrew said: “Theidea to float developed during the summer.

Circumstances came together that made an IPOan attractive and realistic prospect. Quantum'smanagement team met informally with key Cityinvestors and they received very positivefeedback.”

The proceeds of the fundraising were used byQuantum to provide a return for venture capitalfirm Lloyds Development Capital, repay all of thedebt from the MBO, to acquire the shares inColonis, to provide a partial exit for managementand provide capital to accelerate the group'sgrowth strategy.

The management buyout of QuantumPharmaceutical in 2009, led at Muckle bycorporate team head, Robert Phillips, wasrecognised as Deal of the Year at the InsiderDealmakers Awards. Back then, Quantumemployed 130 staff at its Burnopfield site, but nowhas 320 employees across six sites in the UK.

Its focus in 2009 was on being a market leaderin supplying unlicensed medicines to retail andwholesale pharmacy, and a series of acquisitionshas broadened its business.

Andrew Scaife, chief executive officer ofQuantum, explained how the team at MuckleLLP helped at every stage. He said: "Quitesimply, we couldn't have accomplished what wehave without relying on the technical excellenceof the lawyers at Muckle and their consistentcommitment to doing whatever it takes to keepprojects moving forward to the agreed timescales.Their one-team approach has worked so well onthis latest project and given us all the confidence

boosts needed to complete such an enormousundertaking.

"They are true business advisers, solvingproblems and going beyond what could haverealistically been expected of them to achieve theright result for Quantum and its shareholders.Floating our organisation on AIM involved theMuckle team carefully negotiating an extremelycomplicated set of business structures andrelationships during this otherwise technicallychallenging project. The team's deepunderstanding of the AIM rules and publicmarkets' practices and procedures was apparentthroughout this project.”

Andrew continued: “Muckle LLP has providedus with a truly excellent level of servicethroughout our long relationship with them. Wealways find the team commercially andtechnically excellent, and wouldn’t hesitate torecommend them. They are genuinely anextended member of the Quantum team.”

Muckle LLP has now been lead legal adviseron three of the most recent five floats in the NorthEast, involving Vertu Motors plc, Utilitywise plcand now Quantum Pharma plc. The firm wasalso involved in a fourth, involving KromekGroup plc, when advising Kromek's shareholders.Both Vertu Motors plc and Utilitywise plc wonnational awards for their ‘best use of AIM’.

If you are considering a company flotation,contact Andrew Davison on (0191) 211 7950 oremail: [email protected]


A soaring success Muckle LLP plays a key role in the £125 million flotation of County Durham-based Quantum Pharma.

The Muckle lawyers with Martin Suchand Andrew Scaife (seated from left)

from Quantum Pharma plc

36

Law firm Sintons raised over £27,000during a year of fundraising forMacmillan Cancer Support, its charityof the year for 2014.

The incredible total was raised through stafforganising, and taking part in, a host of eventsand challenges, including activities as variedas the Virgin Money Cyclone and the GreatNorth Run, through to hosting a five-a-sidefootball tournament and Christmas carolsinging in Eldon Square.

The donation to Macmillan has played animportant role in helping to launch thepioneering Care Closer to Home project – apartnership between Macmillan and theNewcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHSFoundation Trust – which allows cancerpatients to receive treatment closer to theirhomes. The first site of its kind was opened atBenfield Park Medical Group, in Walkergate,Newcastle, in September.

Macmillan was chosen as Sintons' charityof 2014 in memory of Andrew Walker, amuch-loved and highly respected partner at

Sintons who passed away in 2013 aged only54, after a short battle with cancer.Macmillan has also given vital support tomany other people at Sintons, as well as theirfamilies.

Alan Dawson, chairman of Sintons, said:"Macmillan is an incredible charity which weare so pleased to have been able to support.Every single person here at Sintons has beeninvolved in fundraising in some way, which istestament to how Macmillan touches the livesof so many people, either directly or indirectly.The fact our donation has been able to helplaunch such a life-changing initiative as CareCloser to Home is a true delight."

Andy Welch, medical director of theNewcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHSFoundation Trust, said of the launch of theCare Closer to Home project: “We are pleasedto work in partnership with Macmillan topioneer this project, and are grateful toSintons for its wonderful commitment andvery generous donation to help Care Closer toHome become a reality.”

Erin Fairley, fundraising manager forMacmillan, commented: “Working inpartnership with Sintons in 2014 has beensuch a pleasure. Everyone within thecompany has really been behind thepartnership and we are absolutely thrilled tohave raised so much money to help localpeople affected by cancer.”

She continued: "The money raised bySintons has enabled Macmillan to launchCare Closer to Home, which will see cancerpatients being able to have their treatment in acommunity setting rather than going tohospital, where this is appropriate.

“We launched our first site at Benfield ParkMedical Group back in September, and theteam at Sintons have been an integral part ofraising funds towards this, but also raising vitalawareness of the services Macmillan offer.

"I want to take this opportunity to sincerelythank them once again for helping us to makesure no one in this area faces cancer alone, wesimply cannot achieve this without this kind ofsupport."


Sintons supportsits charity of the year

It’s been another successful 12 months for the CorporateSocial Responsibility Programme at Sintons, raising much-

needed funds for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Staff at Sintons chose MacmillanCancer Support as their charityof the year

38

In a series of famous experiments,researchers trained pigeons to peck atcoloured lights by rewarding them withpellets of food. The experiment was set up

so that pecking the green light delivers food 60per cent of the time, but the red light deliversfood on only 40 per cent of pecks.

Over time, pigeons experience thedifferences in the probability of winning foodfrom each light, and adapt their choices inresponse. This is similar to the experience ofan investor trying to decide on a month-by-month basis whether to be in the market or outof it. Most developed world equity indices – forexample, the MSCI World USD – post gainsaround 60 per cent of months, with losses theother 40 per cent.

When pigeons encounter this problem theydisplay behaviour that psychologists call‘probability matching’ – they gradually learnthe probabilities of getting food from the greenand red light and, over time, they peck the

green light 60 per cent of the time, and the redlight 40 per cent of the time.

Given a similar task, humans also have atendency towards probability matching inmany areas of their lives, and the investingworld is rife with those attempting to time themarket by flipping between ‘risk on’ and ‘riskoff’ on a monthly basis. The trouble is, whenthe process that generates the result isessentially random, probability matching, as astrategy, falls short.

When you have little way of knowingwhether the next result will be up or down, thebest solution is to always pick the light with thehighest probability. Pigeons (or traders) whopeck green at every opportunity will be right 60per cent of the time. Any deviation from thisstrategy is likely to reduce your pay-off. Sowhat can this tell us about market timing?

Faced with a random process, the strategy ofprobability matching results in success 52 percent, rather than 60 per cent, of the time. So

the tendency of both humans and pigeonsleads them to be wrong on 8 per cent moreoccasions than they should be if they followeda simple strategy of sticking to the option withthe best long-term odds (i.e. buy and hold).

Of course, the markets are not entirelyrandom, and tactical shifts in a portfolio canpay off – but only if an investor has sufficientskill (and even then it is not guaranteed). Sodon’t try this at home!

A strategy that aims to beat the market bymaking large changes on a month-by-monthbasis will very likely fall short of one that looksfor long-term trends and sticks with them – inshort, just keep pecking the green button.Leaping between ‘risk on’ and ‘risk off’ isbetting against the house…with the odds verymuch against you.

Long-term investors, in contrast, can takecomfort in the fact that, if they’re in themarket, the odds are stacked firmly in theirfavour.


Restrain yourinner pigeon

Greg Davies, head of behaviouraland quantitative finance at Barclays,

on the pitfalls of market timing.

Barclays offers wealth and investment management products and services to its clients through Barclays Bank PLC and its subsidiary companies.Barclays Bank PLC is registered in England and authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct

Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Registered No. 1026167. Registered Office: 1 Churchill Place, London E14 5HP.

EXPERT VIEWGreg Davies

Head of behavioural andquantitative finance

Barclayswww.barclays.com

40


Can’t pay, won’t pay Andrew Cawkwell on the impact of supply chain insolvency on your business.

Every business, no matter how big orsmall, is susceptible to the risks in itssupply chain. With the fall in the oilprice causing increased levels of

business distress in the region, start 2015 bydoing all you can to limit the impact ofsupply chain insolvency on your business.

The good news is there are a number ofthings you can do to limit the impact if oneof your suppliers becomes insolvent.

Make sure your business has awareness atall times of your suppliers' credit ratings andensure your terms and conditions are robustenough to deal with a problem in the supplychain.

If you haven’t reviewed them in a while,now may be a good time to do so. You’d besurprised how many companies don’t haverobust enough terms and conditions, so takethe opportunity to review yours and ensurethat they are fit for purpose. Have you got'retention of title' clauses in them?

If you do make any changes, make sureyou communicate this with customers andsuppliers.

Increase your awareness of policies aroundcredit and invest in better infrastructurewithin your business to monitor suppliers.That way, you can ensure that if yoursupplier’s finance director leaves, forexample, you are made aware of this, andcan monitor how things progress at thebusiness.

If something does go wrong, seek helpearly on to make sure you stand the bestchance of getting your goods back. Ifmanaged well, it can make the best of a badsituation.

At Muckle LLP, we can help you takesteps to safeguard your position before thingstake a turn for the worst. We can help you todemonstrate a valid ‘retention of title' clausewhich essentially means that we can take avariety of steps in order to get you the bestpossible outcome – be it enforcing titleprovisions for you to retrieve your deliveriesto an insolvent customer, or securingpayment for them, or renegotiatingcontractual commitments to ensure projectsare delivered on time.

EXPERT VIEWAndrew Cawkwell

Partner and Certified TurnaroundProfessional

Banking and restructuring teamMuckle LLP

Email: [email protected]: @CompanyRescue

41

The start of a new year is a time whenappetite for growth among UK businessesis tested through a series of seeminglyendless polls, surveys and questionnaires.

However, with the slow return to economicgrowth that 2014 saw, this year’s results see themajority of UK SME’s predicting growth in2015.

Key to achieving this growth will be a needfor easy access to various funding streams.Worryingly one survey states that nearly 50 percent of business owners saw the lack of banklending as a major barrier to growth, with a largeproportion of these not even being prepared toseek funding as they don’t believe they will get it.

With the nation’s SME’s being the lifebloodof the UK economy it is crucial that theseperceived barriers to obtaining funding areremoved. So what are some of the optionsavailable?

Business loans

Probably the most traditional way of accessingfunding is to request a loan from an approvedlender. These days, there are a range of differentoptions available with varying terms, fees andinterest rates.

However, as already stated, many UKbusinesses feel that securing the required level offunding from banks will remain problematic.

Business loans are also subject to potentialinterest rate rises and can prove to be anexpensive way of funding growth. The need tobudget for the regular repayments is also keywhich, if cashflow has proved a barrier to growthbefore, may prove difficult.

Equity finance

This ultimately relates to investment that youreceive in exchange for a share of your business.This may come from a wealthy individual or aprivate equity firm. As you are giving up a shareof your business, there is normally no need tomake repayments on any funding provided.

However, not all businesses will attract equityinvestors, as they tend to be attracted to the veryhigh growth businesses. Also, giving up a portionof your business could mean giving up fullcontrol of decision making. Not only this, butsecuring private equity can be a time consumingprocess, meaning the funds you need to grow arenot made available at the opportune time.

Invoice finance

This method of funding uses your invoices as away to bring cash into your business. The twomost common methods are invoice factoringand invoice discounting. Invoice factoring sees a

third party buy your invoices and provide youwith a percentage of the value up front,normally 85 per cent. The third party thenmanages your credit control and invoice processand pays you the remainder, minus a small fee,once the invoice is paid in full. Invoicediscounting works in the same way, but it is aconfidential arrangement between you and thethird party, with you maintaining ownership ofthe credit control process.

These methods of invoice finance provideyou with a steady, reliable cash flow into yourbusiness, together with a level of security fromthe fact that you have credit in advance. Thesupport that factoring provides throughmanaging your credit control processes alsoallows you to focus on growing and developingyour business, and with the amount of fundingbeing linked to your invoices, the amount youcould obtain grows as you grow.

At Hitachi Capital we provide access to a rangeof invoice finance solutions that are designed toprovide answers to your business’ challenges.This could be our award-winning versions ofinvoice factoring and invoice discounting –Inspired Cashflow and Cashflow Inspiration –which provide invoice finance solutions with asimple, clear fee structure and no hidden costs.We also offer all our clients a six-month trialperiod rather than lengthy, restrictive contracts.


Overcomingthe barriers to growth

By Glen Callander, strategic business developmentmanager at Hitachi Capital.

EXPERT VIEWGlen Callander

Strategic business developmentmanager

Hitachi Capitalwww.hitachicapital.co.uk/factoring/

Tel: 07867 373 700Email: [email protected]

42

E V E N T

Child Brain Researchdrinks reception

UK charity Child Brain Research hosteda special event last month, with support

from a Newcastle law firm.

Child Brain Research hosted a drinksreception, sponsored by law firm Irwin

Mitchell LLP, on January 22 at HiltonNewcastle Gateshead.

Dr Rob Forsyth, a paediatric consultant atthe RVI Newcastle, introduced the work andaims of the charity to members of the localcommunity, who were also treated to a briefintroduction into the cutting edge researchbeing conducted here in the North East atNewcastle University.

Child Brain Research was formed in 2008to foster and develop research intopaediatric neurological disease.

www.childbrainresearch.org.uk

43

Anyone who has read my old articleswill know that I have often espouseddoubts about the ability of pundits,‘experts’ and most fund managers to

predict the future. Apologies to Russell Grantand his ilk, but I simply do not believe thatyou can predict the future with any accuracy.

Why am I bringing this up now? I recallthat over the last year or two many financialexperts have categorically stated that investorsshould be moving out of gilts and other fixedinterest investments, often referred to asbonds.

The perfectly reasonable rationale for theadvice given was that bonds were expensiveand interest rates were bound to rise. This isrelevant because there is a link between bondsand interest rates. Remember they are fixedinterest securities. Consequently as marketinterest rates rise then the attraction ofinvesting in a fixed interest rate falls. Thereverse is also true, but with the Bank ofEngland holding the base rate at the lowest ithas ever been since its founding in 1693, andthe ending of quantitative easing, then theonly way bond prices had to go was down.

Wrong. Indeed, very wrong.Trustnet, one of the financial statistic sites,

recently reviewed the best performing

investment sectors for 2014. They used theInvestment Association’s categories, of whichthere are many.

We normally expect some equity market totop the table and those that bought into theNorth American stock market would befeeling smug with an average fund return of17.8 per cent over the calendar year. However,they came second. Third was the UK giltsector.

Top of the pops was UK Index Linked Giltswith 18.6 per cent return. Other fixed interestsectors did well with healthy positive returnsfor 2014.

So what is this information telling us?Fundamentally, the market (being the sumtotal of the actions of investors) does notbelieve that the economy is yet in rude health.It believes that it may well be some timebefore the Bank of England Money PolicyCommittee will feel that an interest rate rise isnecessary. Essentially, the UK economy hasdone comparatively well but is not out of thewoods yet.

So which will be the top performing sectorthis year? There is a mountain of research thatindicates, firstly, that top performance istransitory, and secondly, the pattern of returnsis random. Being top last year is no guarantee

of being top this year or even making it in tothe top half.

You may be thinking that this is all veryinteresting but what use is it to me? The lessonto be learned is that it is essential to understandhow markets work and to have a diversifiedportfolio with exposure to stock markets, bothhere and abroad, and with large, medium andsmall companies within that exposure. Then,there is a requirement to balance the risk ofequities (they fluctuate in value more) byholding fixed interest securities like gilts andcorporate bonds. It may be sensible to alsoconsider some other asset classes that reactdifferently to equities and fixed interestsecurities in certain conditions.

Other rules to follow are that your portfolioshould be regularly rebalanced so it does notbecome over exposed to one sector and becomeout of kilter with your attitude to risk; and youneed to have time. Time is important. Timereduces investment risk and provides wellthought out strategies the opportunity toperform.

Our investment management system, whiledoing everything mentioned above, alsocontinually monitors the managers and flags upfailure and provides the successor whenneeded.


Investment forecasting– a mug’s game

Peter Rutherford of Universal Tax Strategies spotlights theunpredictability of financial investments.

EXPERT VIEWPeter Rutherford

PartnerUniversal Tax Strategies LLP

Tel: (0191) 374 0333Email: [email protected]

44

Why was Rowlands interested in TheAlnwick Accountants?

Welcoming Alnwick into the Rowlands familymeans that we can truly service the needs ofour clients from the Tweed to the Tees, andprovide even stronger support to businesses inNorthumberland.

The deal was the result of a conversationwith The Alnwick Accountants’ directors JohnSpowart and Fiona Robson, who had beenlooking at how they could reduce their day-to-day involvement, but still ensure their clientswould continue to receive the same level ofpersonal service. It was really important forthem to find a firm with a similar ethos totheir own to run the business, and they will bestaying with the office for the foreseeablefuture.

It’s a win-win result for everyone – John andFiona, Rowlands and, of course, The AlnwickAccountants’ clients and staff.

What changes will clients see as aresult of the transition?

It will very much be business as usual forclients. The practice and its staff are first classand rather than change what is already there,we will look to add value.

The office will remain branded as TheAlnwick Accountants as part of that continuityof service. Clients will now have the supportof the specialist knowledge and experiencethat comes with being part of a larger practice,while retaining the heart of a small firm.

Rowlands will provide the ‘expertise at yourside’ to support the staff, who enjoy a greatknowledge of their clients and theirbusinesses.

We have benefitted greatly from the team’sguidance as we get to grips with leading thenew office and introducing more specialistservices.

What are your ambitions for theAlnwick office?

As one of the region’s largest independentaccountants, Rowlands is a collection of greatpractitioners with local knowledge and a trueunderstanding of our clients’ needs. This isnot a case of a big company coming in, takingover and making radical changes; instead, wewill focus on continuing the small firm ethosand reinforcing and expanding the supportthat The Alnwick Accountants alreadyprovides.

We will be offering clients a greater rangeof accountancy services thanks to the expertisewe have across Rowlands. Clients will nowhave access to specialist tax knowledge, helpwith business development and, should theybe required, the recovery and turnaroundskills that we can provide. This is in additionto continuing to deal with an office thatretains the strong local values of a small firm.

It’s important that clients receive the samegreat service and attention to detail they areused to, but we will also provide them withadditional help and advice to grow anddevelop their businesses.

What was the personal attractionfor you?

We originally worked in small firms andappreciate the local feel and ethos of TheAlnwick Accountants. We both relish theopportunity to return to advising owner-managedbusinesses with the added benefit of the extraspecialisms we now have under our belts, as wellas those of the extended Rowlands family.


Alnwick expansionfor Rowlands

Accountancy practice Rowlands has expanded in 2015 with the addition of a new office, TheAlnwick Accountants, in north Northumberland. Rowlands partners Andrew Little and Dawn Walton

– who will head up the office – discuss what the deal means for clients, and for themselves.

About the partners

Dawn is a chartered accountant whospecialised as a chartered tax advisor withRowlands. She is delighted to be returning toher small firm roots in general accountancyand bringing with her this specialistknowledge, which will ensure greater levelsof service for clients.

Andrew is a chartered accountant andlicensed insolvency practitioner with morethan two decades’ experience in practice andindustry, with a particular interest in businessturnaround and recovery. He is returning toAlnwick, an area where he previously livedand worked, after ten years away developinghis skills. He is now looking forward tobringing this specialist knowledge and hiswider accountancy experience to enhancethe offering to clients, old and new, in NorthNorthumberland.

For more information, visitwww.rowlandsaccountants.co.uk

The Alnwick Accountants will continue in its own name

46

It is well documented that the high street aswe know it is continuing to struggle as largerout of town retail parks and outlets dominatethe retail sector. Recent statistics show that

almost one in seven shops on the high streetremain closed and that, post-Christmas, thefront end of 2015 will once again result inclosure for many more businesses.

We have all seen the campaigns askingconsumers to shop locally to try to ‘save them’.While a number of us may shop at a local level,the bulk of our expenditure is still spent withbigger retailers. The ease of an out of townretail park with free parking and ‘the best deals’offered online still deter us from shopping atour once beloved high street.

High street retail space no longer commandsa premium and new businesses cannot affordthe rent that sought-after locations attract.When additional costs and business rates arealso added to the list of outgoings it’s sometimesimpossible for smaller retailers to survive.

The news that the business rates system is to

be overhauled is therefore welcome news forsmaller retailers. Following the Chancellor’sAutumn Statement it does now appear that theLocal Government Association’s (LGA)suggestions that business rates should be setlocally and that councils should have the abilityto introduce local reductions at their discretionhave, in fact, been taken on board by centralGovernment.

Another change to the system is that theredistribution of sums collected from businessrates will be kept at a local level as will anydecisions of growth in business rates levels.LGA suggest that 50 per cent of the incomeraised by business rates collection be retainedlocally but there is an argument that thispercentage should be further increased whenthe system is next reviewed in 2020.

The impact of operational business ratesreduction schemes can be seen at SuttonCouncil where new start-ups and expandingsmall businesses were offered 50 per cent offbusiness rates. Sutton Council also provided

support to businesses by assisting with thepreparation of their business plans. Theseschemes helped reduce the number of vacantbusiness premises in the borough from 517 in2010 to 426 in 2014.

A change in the control of business rates willprovide greater flexibility to councils todetermine reductions in business rates forcertain types of businesses that they want toattract to their high streets. In conjunction withlocal residents, they could tailor what kind ofshops and businesses they would like to seeback on their high streets.

The introduction of greater local powerswould be a step in the right direction for smallbusinesses given the on-going debate as towhether or not devolving powers from centralGovernment is viable for England. It will beinteresting to see what changes to businessrelief control are in fact relinquished by centralGovernment going forward and the impact, ifany, that this will have upon the on-going‘rescue’ of the high street.


Business rate reductions– a glimmer of hope for

local retailers?Gwen Jones, commercial solicitor

at Gordon Brown Law Firm, looks atthe upcoming changes to the

business rates system.

EXPERT VIEWGwen Jones

Commercial solicitorGordon Brown Law Firm

Email: [email protected]: @gordonbrownlaw

48

Newcastle-based Danieli Holdings –which operates in the security,healthcare, training and propertydevelopment sectors – is looking to

significantly develop its Phoenix Securitydivision by opening new offices in Leeds,Birmingham, Edinburgh and London withinthe next 12 months, raising both turnover andemployee numbers by as much as 50 per cent.

The business currently employs about 1200people, and could add hundreds more to thatnumber in line with its national growth strategy.

Alongside the expansion for Phoenix, DanieliHoldings is growing significantly across its otherdivisions. Its Northridge Healthcare armoperates care homes and has recently returnedto the domiciliary care sector with its newHomecare Plus business.

Danieli Property Investments has justcompleted the 137-bed student blockdevelopment in Shieldfield, Newcastle, knownas Barker House, operated by StudentAccommodation (UK), which has just sold thesite for £6 million.

The business has been backed by arefinancing package from Allied Irish Bank(GB) in Newcastle, which has worked closelywith Danieli Holdings to put a bespokearrangement in place. Law firm Sintons actedfor Allied Irish Bank (GB) in the refinancing.

Neil Winch, group chief executive, said: “Wehave further expansion plans for the next five to

ten years in all of the sectors we operate in, andthere are more sectors to come with plannedacquisitions in the pipeline. It’s a very excitingtime indeed and will result in the groupbecoming one of the fastest-growing, multi-faceted privately owned North East basedcompanies with a national reputation.”

The first stage of expansion will be forPhoenix. As well as its door supervision arm –for which they are among the UK’s top fiveproviders, with a strong presence in the NorthEast, south of England and Scotland – Phoenixalso provides security for major events, guardingand concierge services through Phoenix Eye.

As a result of its relationship withMcDonald’s – where they look after 70 of its 24-hour restaurants nationally – Phoenix hasrecently clinched a major deal with the fast foodgiant to provide overnight supervision for itsRonald McDonald Houses in Manchester,Southampton, Birmingham and London, whichprovide accommodation for families withchildren in hospital.

Additionally, Phoenix offers a nationally-acclaimed training scheme for a variety ofsecurity and safety issues. It was involved in thecreation of the UK’s first Vulnerable Peoplepilot programme in Newcastle, alongsideNorthumbria Police, which was commended bythe Home Office and is now being rolled outnationally. Phoenix is now helping in thecreation of the UK’s first dedicated ‘Safe

Haven’ in Middlesbrough. Steve Howe, managing director of Phoenix

Security, said: “Phoenix has been instrumentalin redefining the traditional perception of thesecurity industry within our sector, which issomething we are very proud of.

“We predict we will grow by about 50 percent through our expansion plans, which havebeen made possible through our partnershipwith Allied Irish Bank (GB). They have beenincredibly supportive of our business and ourplans and the willingness of the whole team toinvest the time in getting to know us has beengreatly appreciated.”

Andrew Love, head of Allied Irish Bank (GB)in the North East, commented: “Our approachis simple – to build deep and long-termrelationships with businesses, and to provide avery personal service to fully address their needs.We were very pleased to be able to get to knowand understand the needs of Danieli Holdingsand their diverse divisions within the group, andput together a bespoke refinancing package tosupport them in their growth.

“Phoenix has a superb reputation in its nativeNorth East and beyond, and has some veryambitious plans for further national expansionin the near future. We look forward to workingwith them in the months and years ahead tohelp them achieve their goals.”

For more information, visit www.sintons.co.uk


Jobs boost for Phoenix after multi-millionpound group refinancing

The parent company of security provider Phoenix Security is planning further nationalexpansion for the division, alongside the creation of hundreds of new jobs, after the group

secured a multi-million pound refinancing package from Allied Irish Bank (GB).

Left to right: ChristopherDixon of Allied Irish Bank

(GB); Mark Dobbin ofSintons; Steve Howe & Neill

Winch of Phoenix; MarkRobinson & Andrew Love

of Allied Irish Bank (GB)

50

C O V E R S T O R Y

52

The North East now has an alternative to sourcing legaladvice and services through traditional solicitor practices,thanks to the opening of the region’s first ‘high street’ direct

access barristers last month.Based in the superbly restored Alderman Fenwick’s House on

Pilgrim Street in the centre of Newcastle, Barristers & Co, led byAmanda de Winter, offers the direct access model of legal serviceswhich has worked so well for her in other parts of the North East.In essence, it offers clients the expert advice and services ofbarristers without having to instruct a solicitor.

Amanda, who was called to the Bar in 1998 but has alsoworked as a solicitor for seven years – latterly as a partner in aNorth Yorkshire practice, so has knowledge of both worlds –explains: “Direct access has actually been around since importantchanges in the regulations were made by the Bar Council in July2004. These allowed individuals to contact a barrister directly,rather than going through the additional expense of a solicitor,potentially saving clients a significant amount of money.

“Barristers & Co, in its high street format, offers all the sameservices that a client would expect from a high street solicitor.There are very few services now that cannot be offered by directaccess barristers such as ourselves. We provide a specialist Willdrafting and Probate Department alongside specialist Family andLitigation Departments and, of course, in all we do we ensure apremium service, which is exactly what you would expect from theBar.”

Originally, barristers could not offer a full litigation service,which meant that only a limited service could be offered. However,Amanda was one of the first direct access barristers to obtainauthorisation to conduct litigation in January 2014, which meansBarristers & Co offers a full legal service, from free initial adviceright through to trial if necessary.

Amanda says: “The benefits to the client are enormous and Ibelieve that anybody who finds themselves in the legal processwould much prefer representation from start to finish by the sameperson whom they have built up a relationship with.”

She continues: “Barristers differ from solicitors in that they arespecialist legal advisers and courtroom advocates. They are trainedto advise clients, in a straightforward, no-nonsense manner, on thestrengths and weaknesses of their case and to argue a case in acivil or criminal court before a judge and possibly a jury. It is thisapproach that makes a barrister the perfect choice to deal with thewhole conduct of any matter being litigated, whether that becommercial, property or a family matter, and indeed at Barristers

& Co we have access to experts in every area of law.”Prior to 2004, the route to accessing their legal expertise was

only through a solicitor who then instructed the barrister to act onbehalf of their client. This, however, could result in a client beingdouble billed – once from the solicitor and once from the barrister.In addition, the client often did not meet his or her barrister untilthe morning of the hearing.

By going direct to a barrister, the client can therefore avoid thesolicitor’s fees and there is the added advantage that, as far aspossible, Barristers & Co offers a fixed fee.

Communication is also improved as the client can talk directlywith their specialist barrister as the case progresses, rather than gothrough a third party. All of this, coupled with the barristers’advocacy skills, training, experience and detailed knowledge inthe subject matter, are proving instrumental when it comes to anindividual deciding whether to go the traditional route via a solicitoror to go direct to a barrister.

So, given the cost and other advantages that direct accessbrings, why hasn’t the concept been more widely promoted givenit’s been available for just over ten years now?

Amanda offers one explanation: “It is never easy to break themould of the way legal services have been provided for such along time but I decided to make the break and go for it. It is sucha sound legal concept that clients have fully embraced elsewherethat I’m confident the model will prove successful in Newcastle –indeed, initial interest has been very encouraging so far.

“Direct access also offers a number of fundamentally practicalbenefits and a ‘one-stop shop’ service for business clients. Theobvious commercial advantages of having in essence, ‘in-housecounsel’ are clear and cost-effective – whether a company is simplyreviewing its own employment provisions, engaged in litigation orbattling with the Inland Revenue, our team of advocates give ourclients a clear competitive advantage.”

Amanda adds: “We have acted for business clients involved inmulti-million pound litigation and arranged extended payment termswith government agencies while also helping and advising ourclients with day-to-day trading issues. We ensure that each andevery business client, from the owner to each employee, has theadvantage of an ‘in-house’ barrister to help, advise and look afterthem and their business.”

Barristers & Co is based at 98/100 Pilgrim Street,Newcastle. For more information, call (0191) 603 1603or visit www.barristersandco.com

ADIRECT

APPROACHBARRISTER AMANDA DE WINTER TALKS TO

NORTH EAST TIMES ABOUT NEWLY LAUNCHEDBARRISTERS & CO IN NEWCASTLE AND THEBENEFITS DIRECT ACCESS BARRISTERS CAN

BRING TO THOSE IN NEED OF LEGALREPRESENTATION.

53

After spending what sometimes feelslike a whole career going on about theneed for more public limitedcompanies (PLCs) in the North East,

I am happy to have witnessed a glimmer ofhope that this situation may be beginning toimprove.

As you will appreciate, a strong PLC basemakes for a strong economy. Actually, maybeyou don’t ‘all’ appreciate this, so let me explainwhy I feel it's important that the North East hasa stronger representation on the country's stockmarkets…

The issue often comes down to importance.If a company is based or headquartered here,then directors and senior management will mostprobably live in the region; shop, socialise andeven send their children to school here. Ittherefore follows that their focus, loyalty andhence investment, will stay in the region.

But why PLC? Don’t private companies offerthe same benefits? Well, yes they can, but for acompany to be floated on the stock market it hasto meet very specific and stringent rules andregulations. In addition, as a quoted company ithas to keep delivering these high standardswhich, in theory, leads to better quality

companies being on the stock market. I fully accept that there are many high quality

private companies in our region, indeed someof these private companies are evenheadquartered in our region, which is excellent.

A large base of high quality businessesheadquartered in the region does add value andkudos to our economy, and attracts furtherinvestment and interest both from the City andoverseas. These are important building blocksfor successful economic growth and it issomething that we have been desperately shortof over the years.

It was a great pleasure to recently catch upwith Andy Scaife and his team from QuantumPharma plc, which floated at the end of 2014.This business has achieved a great deal toobtain its new quotation on AIM and with amarket capitalisation well north of £100million, it is also a relatively sizeable new jewelin the North East's PLC crown.

A future hope for the North East will beAtom Bank, based in Durham. Craig Iley andhis team will be hoping to shake up the retailbanking market place not just in the North East,but nationally, too, and we can only wish itevery success. Your region needs you!


Any chance of a ‘quote’…Vinay Bedi of UBS Wealth Management on why the region needs more public limited companies.

Authorised and regulated by Financial Market Supervisory Authority in Switzerland. In the United Kingdom, UBS AG is authorised bythe Prudential Regulation Authority and is subject to regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority and limited regulation by the Prudential

Regulation Authority. Details about the extent of our regulation by the Prudential Regulation Authority are available from us on request.

EXPERT VIEWVinay Bedi

Executive directorUBS Wealth Management


Web: www.ubs.com/uk

54

Is a Jaffa Cake a cake or a biscuit? You areprobably thinking ‘who cares?’. Well, theVAT man does, as he can collect VAT onbiscuits but not on cakes. The courts decided that even though it

looks like a biscuit and is usually displayedwith other biscuits (and I like to keep mine ina biscuit tin) it is, in fact, a cake. Its name, bythe way, didn’t sway the court; the fact it couldgo stale did!

There is currently £93 million of VATresting on another case, this time involvinggood old Spot the Ball. It is a game Iremember from my youth; I spent many ahappy hour marking my crosses. I never won.

The issue this time around is whether Spotthe Ball is a game of chance or a game of skill.The company involved claims it is a game of

chance and therefore doesn’t attract VAT. Like the Jaffa Cake, this surprised me until I

read a bit more about the case. The ball isremoved from the photograph as we know, butthe winner isn’t the person who places theircross where the ball was. Oh no. You have toplace the cross where former players IanCallaghan and David Sadler think it shouldbe.

So, just to clarify, to win the top prize youhave to place your cross in the middle of afictional ball, not the real one. It came as nosurprise to me to find that the top prize hasn’tbeen won for over a decade.

We await the outcome with interest, but I dofeel a little better about my own lack of successtrying to decide where Wyn Davies had headedthat ball...

VAT’s a bit strangeStuart McKinnon, partner at BakerTilly North East, examines curious

cases relating to VAT...

EXPERT VIEWStuart McKinnon

Partner at Baker Tilly North EastTel: (0191) 255 7000

Email: [email protected]: www.bakertilly.co.uk

North East-based Carr & Co Solicitors recently celebratedits 30th anniversary at a special event at the Frameworksgallery in Blyth. It was also a special occasion for seniordirector Valerie Wormald, who was celebrating her 30th

year at the firm.Carr & Co Solicitors was established in 1984 by David Carr at an

office in Blyth next door to his father’s GP surgery. In 1996, Davidtragically passed away at the age of just 43 while holidaying inGreece, but the practice continued on. Carr & Co has sinceexpanded, opening offices in Morpeth and Newcastle, and today itis one of the leading law firms in the North East.

Senior director Sharon Smith said: “Many congratulations toboth Valerie and the firm on this important milestone. Throughoutthe past three decades we have remained a family friendly firmactive in the local community, and pride ourselves on offering aquality and personalised service.”

For more information, visit www.carrandcosolicitors.com


Carr & Co celebrates 30th anniversaryLocal law firm, Carr & Co, toasts its recent milestone.

Carr & Co recently celebrated 30 years in business

55

Istill hear businesses complaining that accessto cash is a problem. Well, it shouldn’t be,as there are multiple sources of cash forsmall businesses in the North East.Before I list several sources, it’s worth a short

comment on what is in shorter supply thancash, and that’s management talent. This isnothing new, as I don’t believe there has beena sudden exodus of good experienced businesspeople to help existing and start-up businesses.What has happened is that the growth of smallbusinesses has outstripped the supply.

The other factor is the experience offounding entrepreneurs. The average age of afounding entrepreneur in the USA is now 31,with 25 per cent over 40. While age is noindicator of success, experienced managementteams have a head start and are attractive toinvestors. What does matter is building abalanced team of young talent and experience.The best people, in my opinion, to helpbusinesses in the North East meet otherexperienced entrepreneurs is theEntrepreneurs’ Forum.

Let’s get back to access to finance...

Crowdfunding is no longer new, it’smainstream and, as such, you should treat itlike any other lender and read the small print.Banks are lending; you might not always likethe terms but some don’t like venture capitalinvestor terms either.

The other source of lending is the MicroLoan Fund available from Rivers Capital. We

invested just under £300,000 to a range ofbusinesses in sub £25,000 loans in the run upto Christmas and have around £2.2 millionremaining for this year.

There’s also the peer-to-peer lending marketheaded up by Funding Circle. This is anelegant model whereby it matches yourbusiness needs to investors and takes a smallfee in the middle.

What’s common across all of these is thatyou need to be making enough money in thebusiness to afford to pay the interest andcapital; so these sources aren’t normally aimedat pre-revenue start-ups. The Start-Up LoanFund, however, operated in the North East byPNE Enterprise, offers loans to newbusinesses.

So, if you’re a business with a good plan anda good idea to match, please don’t tell me youcan’t raise the finance for growth.

For more information about the Micro LoanFund, visit www.riversloan.com. For detailson the Start-up Loan Fund, visitwww.startuploansnortheast.co.uk.


The money for your business is out there but skills are harder to find, saysJonathan Gold, director and co-founder of Rivers Capital.

Accessing cash and skills…

56

Victoria Armstrong joins the thrivinghealthcare team at Newcastle-basedlaw firm, Sintons, from WardHadaway, and is a property specialist

who has worked with many NHS Trusts, localauthorities and other public sector bodiesduring her career.

The company now has 32 partners, andVictoria’s appointment follows other recenthigh-level additions including top private clientlawyer Paul Nickalls, personal injury specialistPhil Davison, development specialist AlanHarkness, and nationally-renowned medico-legal lawyer Barry Speker.

Victoria has a strong reputation throughoutthe region and further afield for her work inhealthcare developments.

Victoria said: “I am delighted to join Sintons,

whose healthcare expertise is unrivalled in thisregion. I have been hugely impressed by theirwork in the sector and the levels of knowledgeand capability here are immense.

“Sintons are the legal advisor of choice forthe majority of GPs and dentists in this region,as well as for many healthcare organisations,and are hugely respected as a result. I am verypleased to have made the move here.”

Hilary Parker, head of healthcare at Sintons,said: “Victoria is an outstanding propertyspecialist who has built up a strong reputationfor her work in healthcare. She is yet anotherexcellent addition to our team, which hasbecome one of the leading players in this fieldregionally and, in many cases, nationally too.”

For more information, visit www.sintons.co.uk


New healthcarepartner for Sintons

The nationally-renowned healthcare team atSintons has been strengthened further with the

arrival of partner Victoria Armstrong.

Victoria Armstrong, new partner at Sintons

58

Lawyers up and down the country will agreethat they typically see an increase in newenquiries regarding divorce and separationfollowing the Christmas holidays. Indeed

the first working Monday of January, is commonlyreferred to as ‘Divorce Day’.

The Office for National Statistics claims that42 per cent of all marriages end in divorce. Theharsh reality is that a spouse's decision to start thatprocess is often after a holiday period, whetherthat be the Christmas or summer holidays.

While enquiries may increase after the holidayperiod, with the right advice it doesn’t have tomean a surge in court applications and divorcepetitions; importance must be placed on assistingindividuals to navigate through the aftermath inthe least litigious way possible.

It is becoming more and more common forcouples to plan ahead in case of a separation.While that may sound rather unromantic, suchplanning can remove the uncertainty ofseparation when it comes to dividing assets anddealing with jointly owned property.

Appropriately prepared pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements are becoming well recognisedby the courts as a means of protecting one'sfinances and assets on separation in a realistic and

conscientious way.Similarly, as more couples choose not to marry,

cohabitation agreements can be used in a similarway to protect each party's financial interests,should that relationship break down.

On separation, there are now a wide range ofoptions available to individuals aimed at reducingthe anxiety and animosity that court proceedingscan bring.

Indeed, at Ward Hadaway we are able to offeradvice under the Collaborative Law schemewhereby parties come together with their lawyers,to try and reach agreements outside of the courtforum. While this is not for every separatingcouple, it can effectively be used to allow partiesto face each other in dealing with the fall-outfrom separation while enabling a relationship tobe maintained on the other side.

Mediation is discussed in all cases; not only interms of trying to save relationships, but to alsohelp the parties navigate towards a settlement ofthe marital finances and any disputes regardingchildren.

So, while the New Year may unfortunately seethe arrival of Divorce Day, the right advice canhelp to take some of the stress out of a difficultsituation.

The realities of separation, by Louise Cannell-Mirza, solicitorin the family and matrimonial unit at Ward Hadaway.

Dealing with divorce

EXPERT VIEWLouise Cannell-Mirza

SolicitorWard Hadaway

Tel: (0191) 204 4407Email: louise.cannell-

[email protected]


UNW continues to attract top talent Chartered accountants, UNW, welcomes

new staff members to its team.

Business advisers, UNW, has furtherbolstered its expanding firm by makinga raft of top appointments, including its13th partner, a former Entrepreneurs'

Forum chief and a team to head up aninnovative new service line.

Newcastle-based chartered accountantsUNW has taken on a former associate directorand senior manager from global recruitmentspecialist Nigel Wright to lead its newStrategic Talent team, a unique move in theNorth East professional services sector.

Peter Neal and Dave Bowman have beenbrought in to establish the complementaryadvisory service, which will help existingUNW clients grow their businesses by ensuringthe right senior management team is in placeto deliver the very business plans that UNW'scorporate finance, audit and assurance and taxexperts help devise.

Meanwhile, Hazel Smith, who was bornand bred in Newcastle, has relocated back tothe city after being appointed accountingservices partner.

The Citygate firm, which has built its

business advising some of the region's bestknown entrepreneurs, has also attractedmarketing and business development expertNicola Short, who previously led theEntrepreneurs' Forum, to help advise andreview its own marketing, brand andcommunications strategy.

The new staff will all be supported by new

audit and assurance PA Fiona Railson, whobrings with her project management and officemanagement experience.

UNW managing partner Andrew Wilsonsaid: “It remains an exciting time for UNWand we believe that our robust record forgrowth over the last five or six years isunderpinned by our ability to attract talent andwe are delighted to welcome yet more toppeople to our firm.

“Our own business has grown off the back ofhelping North East businesses grow and wehope the new Strategic Talent team will helpensure that even more of our clients maximisetheir growth potential by ensuring they havethe right board and leadership team in place todeliver their business goals.”

The news comes after UNW furtherbroadened its service offering into cloudaccounting last year, to allow business ownersand managers to view their business' currentfinancial position and performance at anytime.

For more information, visit www.unw.co.uk

Nicola Short, FionaRailson, Peter Neal, Hazel

Smith and Dave Bowman whohave all joined UNW

59

The epic journey, which will see MichaelLeather cycling the entire distance –joined by his colleagues at various stages –

is also a novel way of marking 25 years inbusiness for Leathers LLP.

Here, the Tour de Force team membersshare their thoughts as the challenge fastapproaches...


Team Leathers are gearing up to take part in theTour de Force which covers 3344km over 21 stages,to raise £50,000 for the William Wates Memorial Trust– a grants giving charity that helps disadvantagedyoung people keep away from a life of crime and

violence and fulfill their potential.

Becky Scott

“The biggest challenge I’ve evertaken on? Yes! Possibly the craziestthing I’ve ever done? Definitely!Pleased I’m doing it? Ask me in sixmonths time!”

Cyclechallenge beckons

for Leathers LLP

Barry James

“I enjoy my ten-minute cycle towork every morning so, obviously,the next step was to do the Tour deForce and cycle up a massiveAlpine mountain.”

James Swiers

“This is definitely one of those thingsthat seemed like a good idea at thetime. After a series of training rideson the new bike, I still can’t get myfeet unclipped from the pedals, soboth elbows are quite sore, and thegood idea seems less and less so…”

Jonathan Leather

“After doing my first road ride everin icy conditions, I am starting tobelieve that I am crazy to be doingthis challenge. At least if anythinghappens to me, it’s for a worthwhilecause.”

Ryan Harrison

“It seemed like a good idea in 2014but now we’re in 2015, it seems likea bad one.”

Chris Smith

“The charity aspect is reallyimportant to us all. The WilliamWates Memorial Trust is such agreat charity and one we are verypleased to be able to support. Iknow that will push us even further,and we are happy to go the extramile for such a brilliant cause.”

Neil Matthews

“Am I insane? Maybe I am, but atleast it will make me do somethingfor a worthwhile cause, while at thesame time I’ll lose some weight andget a lot fitter.”

Jonathan Carr

“My friends think I'm mad, as I'mhardly an accomplished cyclist, butthese kind of opportunities don'tcome along every day, and I can'twait.”

For more information about the Leathers Tour, visitwww.howdoyoucelebrate25yearsinbusiness.com

To find out more about the William Wates Memorial Trust, visit www.wwmt.org

For general enquiries, visit www.leathersllp.co.uk

60

The year of 2014 ended anticlimactically forequity markets, but fixed income marketscapped strong gains throughout the yearwith yet another positive month. None of the

global flagship equity indices – the mid-cap FTSE250 aside – managed to end in positive territory inthe month of December, while the emergingmarkets bore the brunt of sell-off.

Equities saw a great deal of volatility intra-month, in a period generally characterised by lowtrading volumes as the Christmas period drewcloser. As the oil price continued to drop (-18.3 percent in December) so, too, did confidence inRussia’s ability to weather the storm.

Accordingly, the Russian rouble entered whatcan only be described as a tailspin, devaluing 37.3per cent against the US dollar by the middle of themonth. The Russian Central Bank’s drastictightening of monetary policy and sale of US dollarreserves failed to stabilise the currency.

However, towards the end of the period, Chinaoffered a helping hand in the form of an extensionof the currency swap agreement brokered twomonths beforehand. The launch of direct FX(foreign exchange) trade between the rouble andthe Chinese yuan managed to shore up therouble’s devaluation, and equity markets bouncedfirmly into the month-end.

Bond markets continued to respond well tospeculation that the European Central Bank(ECB) is moving ever-closer to a full quantitativeeasing (QE) programme, as president of the ECB,Mario Draghi, once again slashed GDP growthand inflation forecasts for 2015.

The strong downward parallel shift in the yieldcurve in core government bonds is indicative of themarket’s expectations of both a euro QEprogramme and a continuation of ongoingdisinflation.

Concerns over tightening of monetary policy inthe Eurozone seem to have moved to the back ofinvestors’ minds, for the time-being at least. Theexpansion of the targeted longer-term refinancingoperation, which extends cheap credit to Europeanbanks, by €130 billion, came in below marketexpectations. Amid these market conditions theeuro fell by 2.8 per cent to 2012 levels against thedollar; UK gilts rallied by 1.8 per cent over theperiod; and UK corporate bonds by 1.3 per cent.

This article is for information purposes andshould not be treated as a forecast, research oradvice to buy or sell any particular investment orto adopt any investment strategy. The value ofinvestments may fall as well as rise. Investors maynot get back the original amount invested.


An unpredictable affair…Charles Nicholson of Sanlam Private Investments (UK) Ltd

looks at the volatility of market conditions in recent months.

EXPERT VIEWCharles Nicholson

Head of Newcastle officeSanlam Private Investments (UK) Ltd


62

Commercial law firm Square OneLaw has grown by 70 per cent in thelast year and a key part of thatexpansion has been in its property

team. Head of property, Barney Frith said: “Our

reputation in the property sector has organicallygrown with the market and between us we havebuilt not only strong links in the region but alsosome very solid long-term relationships inLondon with developers such as Highbridgeand Landid.”

Some examples of the property team’s recentwork includes, acting for Highbridge Propertiesplc on a development agreement betweenSainsbury’s and the Homes & CommunityAgency at Ansty Park, near Coventry, and actingfor London-based property group Marick RealEstate on a development agreement with LearCorporation, as part of plans to double the sizeof its Sunderland factory at Rainton BridgeIndustrial Estate.

Square One Law also acted for London baseddeveloper, Landid, on a number of high profileschemes and most recently on the £20 million

acquisition of Gorsebrook Industrial Park,Dagenham and the subsequent letting of thewhole site to Eddie Stobart Limited.

The existing team of Barney Frith, PeterClegg, Satpal Pandal and Jenny Atkin are joinedby Michael Shuker, a senior associate whospecialises in property finance and previously

worked for Watson Burton. Other new staffmembers include Helen Warren, an associatecommercial property lawyer who trained withCity firm Pinsent Masons before returning tothe North East, and Malcom Wood, a seniorassociate property lawyer from Bond Dickinson.

The team has also been strengthened by newresidential conveyancing partner, FrancescaAngelucci, who was a partner at niche Londonprivate client firm Judge Sykes Frixou.Francesca’s experience enables the team towork for high net worth individuals andhousebuilders.

Barney commented: “We have seen somemajor changes in the industry in the last fewyears and the range of skills we now have in theproperty team means we can continue to targetnational as well as regional clients. Clients aredemanding better value and I believe we areexcellent at producing a very joined-up serviceand looking at matters commercially.”

For further information, contact Barney Frithon [email protected] or call(0843) 224 7914


Square One Lawexpands its property team

Newcastle-based Square One Law bolsters its expertise with new additions to its team.

The growing team atSquare One Law in Jesmond

63


Investment directors James Garbutt and James Kyle have a combined30 years experience in advising private clients, trusts and charities onhow to invest their money. Together with Nick Swales, the trioestablished the Rathbones office in Newcastle in February 2013, havingmoved from UBS Wealth Management in the City.

Rathbones has its origins as a timber merchant and shipbuildingbusiness back in 18th century Liverpool. Established by a WilliamRathbone, his successors – a series of other William Rathbones – helpedto grow the business during Liverpool’s boom years as a flourishing port.

Almost inevitably, another trading hub sprung up in London,eventually leading to an office in the heart of Mayfair, which is thecompany’s present day headquarters. Around 100 years ago the familybusiness turned its hand to asset and investment management and theorigins of the modern day entity took shape.

The Rathbones of today is once again a flourishing business muchlike its original incarnation in Liverpool all those years ago. The businesshas 15 offices across the UK and Jersey, managing around £27 billionof client assets. Although now listed on the London Stock Exchange,there is still a link to the original family through Julian Rathbone, aninvestment director in the Liverpool office. Staff are encouraged to feela part of the ‘Rathbones family’ through significant shareholderparticipation and the company places great emphasis on staff welfareand philanthropy.

early success

Having started with seven full-time staff when it opened two years ago,the Newcastle team has now expanded to 11, the most recent recruitbeing Dianne Coulthard as office manager. Dianne had previouslyworked at Barclays Wealth for 14 years and brings with her a vastamount of operational experience making her a key asset in the office’splans for future growth.

James Kyle says: “We have been delighted with how Rathbones hasbeen received in its first two years in the North East. Many clients havecome to us looking for an alternative to their current investment managerand we have been bowled over by how receptive they have been tothe Rathbones proposition in such a short period of time.”

making connections

The core of the team had all worked together for many years prior toestablishing the office in the city, as Nick explains: “We are all differentcharacters, but the blend is what works, and it is a genuine team effort.Our business is about relationships so we try to place the right adviserwith the right client regardless of how that client finds us.”

James Garbutt tends to focus on larger, institutional type relationships,such as charities, while Nick and James Kyle manage more privateclients and their associated accounts, including Self-Invested Personal

Pensions (SIPPs). They are ably supported by a financial planning team,headed up by Kirstie McKeown.

a joined-up approach

One area of focus on the private client side is on looking after businessowners. The team recognise that small and medium-sized businessesform the bedrock of the wealth creation in the region. Their experienceis that these individuals often feel well advised on a corporate level, butstruggle to find the time to take care of their personal finances.

Often working alongside an existing trusted adviser or, if one doesn’texist, helping to structure an advisory team around an individual orfamily unit, they believe offering ‘joined-up’ legal, tax and investmentadvice is usually the best solution for these types of clients.

standing out from the crowd

Rathbones believes that one of its key differentiators over competitors isthe strength of its investment process. The branch network plays host tonumerous weekly meetings with CEOs and CFOs of some of the world’sleading listed companies.

James Garbutt explains: “We believe it is really important to see thewhites of the key decision makers’ eyes before buying or selling onbehalf of our clients. These types of meetings give you a realunderstanding of how sustainable a company’s dividend is, forexample, and what is the likely dividend growth going forward.

“For appropriate clients, we are as comfortable holding globallylisted shares, such as Apple and Roche, as we are more household UKnames, such as BT or a company with a local connection like Grainger.”

The team buy into the fact that Rathbones empowers its investmentmanagers to deliver a solution that is tailored to each client. Clients havea direct relationship with the decision maker on their portfolio, asRathbones does not separate the relationship and investmentmanagement role.

James Kyle says: “Many wealth managers now only offer a modelportfolio service where investment decisions are outsourced to a centralteam unlikely to have met the client. This one size fits all strategy isanathema to the investment managers here and it’s one of the areasthat helps us stand out from the crowd.”

Rathbones is an ambitious business and the Newcastle team clearlyshare that ambition. James Garbutt concludes: “We want to continueour growth trajectory by delivering a first-class offering to our clients. Ifwe can achieve that, business growth will take care of itself. In manydecades’ time, we want to look back and be proud of starting asignificant new office servicing clients in the North East.”

For more information on Rathbones, visitwww.rathbones.com or call (0191) 255 1440

Rathbones is a well-established investment managementcompany, with its roots dating back to the 1700s. Having opened its

Newcastle office just two years ago, the team are already making a notableimpact on the region’s investment sector. North East Times finds

out more about the Rathbones story so far…

64

Investment directorsJames Garbutt andJames Kyle

With thanks to ourphoto-shoot location,The Botanist

65

T E C H N O L O G Y N E W S

More businesses urged to connect to Government internet funding

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Ga t e s h e a d - b a s e dtelecommunications and ITinfrastructure firm AdvantexNetwork Solutions Ltd says that

small businesses are potentially missing outon thousands of pounds of free funding. Thiscould be used to pay for super-fastbroadband connection and associatedhardware such as wireless and internetsecurity.

The Government has set aside £150million to fund its Broadband ConnectionVouchers scheme. Under this, a businesscan apply for up to £3000 to use towardsthe cost of installing new internet and Wi-Fiservices.

Advantex is a registered supplier of theconnection vouchers and is in thevanguard of delivering the Go Digitalscheme in North Tyneside, Newcastle andGateshead, which closes in 2016 afterdelivering vouchers to numerous businessesalready.

Thousands of Tyneside businesses are failing to take advantage of a Government funded schemethat can help them to be better connected to the internet.

The Beacon business centre has taken advantage ofthe Broadband Connection Vouchers scheme

‘Brain drain’ blamed for skills shortage

North East IT company, Razorblue, israising concerns about a lack of

technical skills amongst young peoplein the region as it struggles to fill anumber of new jobs it has created.

Razorblue, which has offices inNewcastle, Leeds and York, recentlysecured over £2 million worth of newwork and, as a result, created six newjobs, with more planned this year.However, despite the current rates ofunemployment, Razorblue has beenunable to recruit the necessary staff.

Chris Gill, Razorblue’s commercialdirector, said: “We’ve invested a lot of

time and money in trying to find theright people for our roles and it’s ofgreat concern that there appears to bea skills shortage – and a possible ‘braindrain’ – in the North East. I really believeit could hinder the region’sdevelopment in the technical and ITsectors.”

Technical director, Dan Kitchen,added: “We have been shocked at thelack of skilled people and apprenticesavailable for the jobs we’ve created,especially among the 18 to 25 agegroup where we’re often told that thereare high rates of unemployment.”

Dan Kitchen and Chris Gill from Razorblue

Director Stephen O’Connell said that thewidespread access to superfast broadbandoffered by the scheme will provide atremendous boost to the Tyneside economy.He commented: “Which business wouldn’t

want the opportunity to tap into a no-obligation funding package that puts themon the fast track to success using super-fastbroadband connectivity as well asassociated IT hardware for connectivity?”

66

2014 ended much the same as it startedfor ITPS, with a series of client wins andnew contracts, and a boost in workforcenumbers that saw us cement our

position as one of the largest independently-owned IT companies in the North East.

After 25 years in the IT industry I like to takestock at the end of each year, looking back atwhat we learned and how we met theopportunities and problems that arose, andwhat the coming year is likely to bring so wecan refine our long-term business strategyaccordingly. This is a useful move for any typeand size of organisation, not least because itallows it to assess how well the IT infrastructurewill meet its future needs.

A weak infrastructure will be unable tosupport business growth, but making informeddecisions in this area can be a nightmare forthose who lack a trusted IT partner, and wewere pleased that a large amount of the newbusiness we won in 2014 came via clientreferrals.

New companies regularly spring up in ourmarket. Many of them are competent but thereare far too many willing to confuse the clientwith tech-speak, or who lack the depth ofexperience and vision to create solutions thathelp to deliver business success and a betterreturn on IT investment.

Last year was our most successful to date.Our turnover topped £21 million and we

acquired a 33,000sq ft, ISO27001-certified datacentre with 270 fully equipped workspacerecovery seats plus dedicated project, build andmeeting space, making it one of the largestfacilities of its kind in the North East.

We continued to build on our steady growth,expanding our client base across the UK andmainland Europe, strategically extending ourservices portfolio and keeping a close eye ontechnology sector developments and those inour client sectors.

Forging strong client relationships so we canhelp them maintain a robust, future-proof ITinfrastructure forms a core element of ourstrategy. Freely sharing information andknowledge and sharing best practice ITprinciples between clients and sectors benefitseveryone.

We aim to enable organisations of every typeand size to understand how new andestablished technology can help to drive theirgrowth, whether that is through cloud services,unified communications or managed servicesmodels. With new technology constantly beingadopted into mainstream use, there are severaltrends tipped to make the 2015 hotlist.

• The convergence of cloud and mobilecomputing, particularly in meeting the needsof mobile users across a diverse range ofenvironments, will drive the market, asbusinesses look to save money and increase

efficiency. Those who understand how public,private and hybrid cloud works will be theones who leverage the biggest benefits.

• Big data and the Internet of Things willcontinue to gather pace, as companies see thevalue in transforming data into actions thathelp organisations become more efficient andhelp individuals make better decisions.

• Wearable technology is predicted to gomainstream, with innovations such as GoogleGlass and the Apple Watch leading the wayand forcing businesses to revise their ‘bringyour own device’ policies.

• 3D printing hit the headlines last year, andHP’s market entry announcement will shakethings up. With prices high, I would expect tosee growth in 3D printing bureau rather thanindividual 3D printers on our desks.

These and many other technologydevelopments are coming your way and yourcompetitors will already be making decisionsbased on meeting the opportunities they bring.My advice is to start working with your ITpartner now if you want to be equally ready.

For more information, visit www.itps.co.uk,email [email protected] or tel: (0191) 4428300

T E C H N O L O G Y

A year of wins for ITPSGarry Sheriff, managing director of Gateshead-based data centre business ITPS,

reflects on the company’s success and looks at what lies ahead in 2015.

Garry Sheriff,managingdirector ofITPS

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Diamond Group now offers a vastarray of services, all of which arecrucial for success in modern daybusiness.

With services including expert IT support,ranging from basic software installation tomajor IT crisis management, Diamond and itsgroup of trained specialists are always on hand,ensuring that when IT problems strike, yourbusiness has as little down-time as possible;leaving you stress free and able to concentrateon the running of your business.

Another branch of the business, which hascontinued to grow over the last few years, isDiamond Communications. DiamondCommunications’ staff are fully trained intelecommunication solutions and can offer arange of options, tailored to each individualclient’s needs. This includes basic businesslines, business mobiles, broadband, vehicletracking solutions, or fully installed hands-freecar systems for professionals.

In 2015, Diamond Group is hoping to growanother aspect of its business – Diamond

Business Systems. Already well known forproviding high quality mono and full colourprinters, managing director John Burns and histeam have extended their range of qualitypersonal and business products for the newyear, diversifying their offerings into tablets,PCs, laptops, EPOS systems, cash registers,interactive whiteboards, and a whole host ofsoftware and accessories.

With the purse strings of all businesses beingas tight as ever, Diamond Group now evenoffers its own finance options – Diamond AssetFinance. Offering a range of flexible fundingoptions, including hire purchase, leasing andrefinancing, Diamond Asset Finance enablesyou to purchase key assets that will hopefullymake 2015 as prosperous as possible.

So, when it comes to your business IT andcommunication needs, ask yourself – is it up tothe Diamond standard?

For more information, contact (0191) 5193700, visit www.diamond-group.net or follow@DiamondGroupNE

T E C H N O L O G Y

A shining exampleDiamond Group can help drive North East

businesses forward in 2015, thanks to the widerange of services and support it offers.

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November saw one of the biggestcybersecurity breaches in history,when technological andentertainment giant, Sony, was the

target of malicious hackers. The attack resultedin data being erased from Sony’s IT systems, aswell as sensitive information being stolen andreleased to the public, along with pre-releasefilms, people’s private information and othersensitive data.

Scaremongering articles began to appear inthe media – both in the US and the UK –suggesting the cybersecurity breach was theresult of a new generation of super-sophisticatedhackers, armed with the skill to bring anycorporation’s IT systems to the ground.

Of course, IT security is incredibly importantbut it also needs to be put in to context. Forexample, there’s a world of difference between asmall service business and Sony, and so businessowners need to complete a proper assessment todefine their level of risk; think about howworried you should be about any potentialsecurity breach, and how likely you are to betargeted, and then consider what you would beprepared to do about it.

Many organisations only need relatively lowlevels of precaution, whereas for others, such ascompanies operating in the financial sector, IT

security may be a major area of concern andtherefore require a greater level of spend. Inaddition, the risks may vary from one part ofyour business to another and this will impactyour security plans.

Crucially, you need to consider all aspects ofsecurity. Simply buying a firewall or an anti-virus system in isolation doesn’t stop theproblem; you need to consider all areas whereyour systems may be vulnerable. Think aboutall the people, including staff, suppliers andcustomers who may use your IT – what accessdo they have, and need, and are they aware ofsecurity best practices? Also consider all of yourapplications and your IT infrastructure,including networks and servers. Within each ofthese areas, it’s not just about paying for isolatedsecurity solutions, it’s about awareness,processes, ongoing monitoring of systems andregular re-assessment of the risk as the businessand systems change.

For over 20 years Perfect Image has deliveredbusiness applications, including securitysolutions, which improve and enhance ourclients’ businesses. We’re our clients’ trustedpartner and our approach to IT ensures there isa clear understanding of what is required by ourcustomers at a business level, so that we canselect and facilitate the most robust

technologies and solutions that best meet thebusiness need.

And while we have always providedinfrastructure services through our ManagedServices team, Perfect Image has furtherextended its offerings with its SecureInfrastructure Solutions to support customers’businesses and their critical businessapplications.

Perfect Image’s ongoing investment is toensure that we continue to offer the excellentManaged Services our clients demand, and witha view to the future, to continue to align andgrow our capability and reputation as a partnerthat delivers robust and secure infrastructuresolutions for them.

Ultimately, businesses need to assess theirlevel of risk, identify their security need andthen adopt a joined up approach to implementrobust IT security measures across all thevarious aspects of the business – from people, toapplications and networks. We can help withthe assessment, the implementation and theoperation of the IT security that is right for yourcircumstances.

For further information about IT securityservices from Perfect Image, visit www.perfect-image.co.uk or call (0191) 238 1111

T E C H N O L O G Y

Cybersecurity and youAndrew Robson, CEO of North East-based IT consultancy, Perfect Image, discusses online

security and how businesses can protect their IT infrastructure from hackers.

Andrew Robson, CEO of Perfect Image

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Concept Group, established over 30years ago, provides clients with arange of document and printmanagement solutions, and more

recently became the only UK wholly ownedsubsidiary of Xerox Corporation.

The business has six branches across the UKand since opening its site in Newcastle sevenyears ago, the company has enjoyed continuedgrowth within the North East. Alongside itsmanaged print services, Concept also offers arange of hardware and software products,including printers, copiers and scanners.

The company’s first installation, atGateshead-based Northern Print Solutions, ofthe new Xerox Versant 2100 Press – an ultrahigh definition production engine – marks itsmost recent milestone. Northern PrintSolutions already made use of two Xerox J75digital presses, supplied and supported byConcept, and these were instrumental to thecompany’s growth in 2014.

Craig Daly, director at Northern PrintSolutions, said: “It is incredibly important forus to work with suppliers based in the NorthEast, supporting our region’s growth alongside

our own. As 2014 drew to a close we knew wehad to keep evolving and perfecting our craft,enabling us to give our clients even more, andConcept understood perfectly what weneeded.”

Indeed, Concept Group is well versed in

supporting this type of business challenge, asNewcastle branch manager, Stewart Hunter,explained: “We showcased the new XeroxVersant 2100, highlighting the many benefitsthat could be achieved for both Northern Printand its customers. Increased capacity, the scopeto develop ideas and see them through toreality both reliably and quickly, andunparalleled quality are just a few of the keybenefits offered by this technology.”

With Concept's ongoing support, NorthernPrint Solutions can respond to its clients withimproved confidence, performance, quality andflexibility while delivering an unprecedentedservice.

“Concept has a strategy in business: to workalongside our clients, focussing on their uniquerequirements and solving their problems,”Stewart added. “Our clients’ needs are at theheart of our business, and as this latestinstallation shows, we can help them todiscover new ways of resolving day-to-daydocument and print challenges.”

For more information, call 0191 273 8111 orvisit www.concept-group.co.uk

T E C H N O L O G Y

Printing solutions from ConceptThe Newcastle branch of Xerox subsidiary, Concept

Group, continues to meet the print needs of itsclients with its latest installation.

Concept Group recently installed its first XeroxVersant 2100 Press at Northern Print Solutions

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T E C H N O L O G Y

Alexis Forsyth looks at what’s new in the worldof technology and gadgets.

State of the art

NOKIA N1

Rivalling Apple’s iPad Mini 3, the newNokia N1 is an Android Lollipop 5.0tablet equipped with a 64-bit Intelprocessor and Nokia’s Z Launcher

home screen. The tablet automatically adaptsto where you are and what you are doing,bringing you the right app just when you needit most. Thanks to Scribble, users simply need

to doodle a letter to find an app with, forexample, F bringing up the Facebook app. Keyspecifications include a 7.9-inch LCD display(complete with a layer of protective GorillaGlass), 32GB of storage and front and rear-facing cameras that support 1080p videorecording. Bluetooth and Wi-fi capability arealso featured, along with an audio jack,

reversible Micro-USB port and two speakers.Weighing 318g and just 6.9mm thick - theNokia N1 comes in two satin-finished shades –natural aluminium or lava grey and it boasts arespectable nine hours of battery life. RRP: Tobe confirmed.

http://n1.nokia.com

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SAMSUNGPORTABLE SSD T1

Samsung’s new slim and compact PortableSSD T1 is a stylish solid state drive (SSD)

that’s designed for both speed and security.Ideal for business travellers and contentcreators who are on the go and in need ofsecure local storage, the device – which issmaller than most business cards – can be usedto quickly transfer large amounts of data. Thewrite speed is up to 100 times faster than anexternal hard drive, taking just eight seconds totransfer a 3GB movie file. The SSD T1 iscompatible with Windows and Mac PCs and isavailable with 250GB, 500GB or 1TB storagecapacities. RRP £154.79.

www.samsung.com

SONY WALKMANNW-ZX2

Sony’s iconic Walkman family has welcomedthe NW-ZX2, which promises to put

exquisite musical refinement of high-resolutionaudio in your pocket. The NW-ZX2 boasts a 4-inch screen, over 33 hours’ playback and canstore up to 800 high-resolution audio tracks. Itspowerful DSEE HX technology restores lostdetails to MP3s and other compressed musicfiles, upscaling your existing music to nearhigh-resolution sound quality. Plus, its S-MasterHX digital amplifier cuts distortion and noise,fully optimising your audio experience. RRP£949.

www.sony.co.uk

CANON IXUS

Canon has unveiled three new additions toits stylish IXUS camera range. The IXUS

160, IXUS 165 and IXUS 170 are Canon’ssmallest cameras to date. The IXUS 170 boastsa 12x optical zoom, with the IXUS 160 and 165both featuring 8x optical zooms. All threecameras boast a 20 megapixel sensor forcapturing detailed stills and users can also adddifferent effects to their images with Canon’sCreative Filters. The Smart Auto functionautomatically adjusts the camera settings,ensuring you always capture the perfectpicture. From £99.99.

www.canon.co.uk

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M E D I A N E W S

Pharma client win for North East agency

Newcastle-based ramarketing hasfurther strengthened its healthcaredivision by securing a 12-month

contract with another client in thepharmaceutical sector.

The marketing and PR agency is workingwith Symbiosis Pharmaceutical Services, aleading contract manufacturing companybased in Scotland, on a global PR, SEO, socialmedia and online advertising campaign.

As part of the project, ramarketing haspaired up with New York-based scientificstrategy and marketing agency, That’s NiceLLC, to provide Symbiosis with full go-to-market support.

Established in 2009, multi award-winningramarketing has now worked with over adozen pharmaceutical and chemical clients,which accounts for half of the company’swider healthcare portfolio.

Symbiosis specialises in manufacturingsterile pharmaceutical products for theglobal clinical trials market. The fast-growingorganisation already works with companiesacross the US and Europe, but is aiming toexpand its reach even further with the helpof the Newcastle agency.

Raman Sehgal, founder of ramarketing,said: “Assisting pharmaceutical andchemistry clients with their marketing andPR challenges has been the bedrock ofour business to date, so I am delightedthat we have been able to add another

client to this list. “Symbiosis is an impressive outfit with a

niche positioning in an expanding market sothere is great potential for us to make animpact by helping the firm reach its growthpotential over the next few years.”

Marketing and PR agency ramarketing increases its healthcare portfolio.

A blossoming success

Spotting a gap in the market forstraightforward, affordable and

resourceful marketing advice tailored tosmall businesses; young entrepreneur ChloeHall has launched new PR and onlinemarketing consultancy Bumble & BloomMedia.

For Chloe, whose social media effortsand PR successes have been recognisedon a local and national scale, Bumble &Bloom Media offers help and guidance tosmall businesses looking to increase brand

awareness and develop their onlinepresence.

From fashion and floristry, to theatre,health and well-being and high-endfurniture showrooms; Bumble & BloomMedia works with businesses of all shapesand sizes across the North East region.

Last year, Chloe was shortlisted for TheGuardian’s Rising Star Award for YoungEntrepreneurs and in 2015 she will continueher work with PNE (Project North East) as avolunteer business mentor.

North East firm expands its horizons

Billingham-based pump distributorand manufacturer Tomlinson Hall &

Co is breaking into new markets – withthe help of full service strategicmarketing company Horizonworks.

The Newcastle-headquarteredcompany has created a new brand for

Tomlinson Hall’s Liquivac product, aninnovative liquid ring vacuum pumpwhich is used across a wide range ofindustries.

Horizonworks also producedmarketing material – including a website,English and Arabic brochures, and

presentations – to support TomlinsonHall’s export strategy and the promotionof Liquivac in the United Arab Emirates. Inaddition, the firm worked with TeessideUniversity, which produced an animationof the pump for use in marketingmaterial.

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Q I am told that ‘content marketingis king’ but what is ‘content’ and whyis it king?

We are told that ‘content’ is king and that wehave to re-shape our entire marketing strategy torevolve around content. Yet, what really iscontent marketing? And how do we go aboutexecuting a content marketing campaign?

Essentially, content marketing is a marketingtechnique where you create and distributevaluable content to your audience, with theobjective of driving action. Content is used toinform and entertain potential consumers;creating attention and ultimately leading tocertain types of behaviour. In a marketer’s case,we want to induce engagement, advocacy, leadsand then, sales.

So, why use content? Most consumers – bothcurrent and potential – do not want to hearmarketing or advertising messages. Conversely,modern day consumers have a real thirst for‘content’; a thirst for relevant information that isseemingly unquenchable. Content marketingprovides consumers with that information. Inadvertising, we try to engage with the audience,but with content marketing, it is the individualwho is trying to engage with us.

If you can produce content that is of interest,and in some cases, unexpected, then you havethe best possible opportunity to engage.Essentially, you want to connect with yourtarget audience by telling a story, tapping intotheir shared emotions, being funny orresponding to current events. Sales aren’t the be

all and end all, as 85 per cent of businessesutilise content not for the sale but to developengagement with their brand.

Know your consumer

You cannot just create content and presume thetarget consumer will engage – you need tounderstand whom you want to target and findout more about the networks they utilise,namely the profiled or social groups theindividuals are part of. Within these networks,individuals actively communicate and shareinformation with each other.

Content isn’t just about the message, it’s alsoabout how you send this message and whichchannels or mechanisms – such as digital orsocial media platforms like Twitter – are used todeliver it. The number of channels available toconsumers is increasing all the time, as is thegrowing number of devices from which we canconsume content, principally smart devices andwearable technology.

Indeed, research has shown that a growingnumber of millennials (those born between thelate 80s and early 2000s) consume contentthrough new media channels, primarily socialand digital channels. The suggestion that this isbecause of an apathetic generation lackinginterest in global issues is far from the truth;they have a real hunger for relevantinformation. Many have simply lost faith intraditional publications so have chosen to seekinformation and content elsewhere, mainlyfrom digital sources.

It therefore goes without saying that if you

target the right network utilised by your targetdemographic and use the right channel, by thevery nature of social media, your messages willbe ‘shared’.

Bad content

You have to be careful with your content. ‘Bad’content and content deemed unoriginal can beextremely damaging for your brand. 2014 sawthe rise of ‘content’ and many brands werelooking to jump on this bandwagon, resulting ina lot of rushed, one-off, poor quality contentbeing developed. To be truly successful, theconversation needs to continue.

The content you produce also needs to beentrenched within all of your marketingcommunications. A good example of this isKLM airlines, which not only developsexcellent and interesting video content, but alsocontinues to place its messages across othermarketing channels, especially social media.

With content marketing you need a plan anda strategy. What is your message? To whom doyou want to speak? Which channel will you useto speak to that group or individual? In essence,simple marketing.

Considering utilising a content marketingstrategy, want to know more about marketingor have another marketing question we canhelp with? Email your questions anonymouslyto Silver Bullet [email protected] or tweet(not so anonymously) @SilverBulletPR using#AskSB

M E D I A

Ask Silver BulletAccount manager, Richard Hopper, answers your marketing queries.

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If you want to be a leader, it’s worth picking upSeth Godin’s book Tribes. The thrust of thebook is that it only takes a shared interest anda way to communicate to turn a group of

people into a tribe. Provide a purpose and thetools to achieve the group’s (highly defined)goals and you’re on your way to being asuccessful leader.

According to Godin, all that’s needed to leadis the desire to make something happen.

Here are my top ten quotes from the book toget you started:

1. Technology is just an enabler, it’s allabout people

Before the internet, coordinating and leading atribe was difficult. Twitter and blogs and onlinevideos and countless other techniques contributeto an entirely new dimension of what it means tobe part of a tribe. But the internet is just a tool, aneasy way to enable some tactics. The real powerof tribes has nothing to do with the internet andeverything to do with people.

2. A changing status quo bringsopportunity to marketers

Marketing used to be about advertising. Today,marketing is about engaging with the tribe anddelivering products and services with stories thatspread.

3. Anyone and everyone can lead

Tribes give each of us the very same opportunity.Skill and attitude are essential. Authority is not.Leaders don’t care very much for organisationalstructure. They use passion and ideas to lead

people, as opposed to using threats andbureaucracy to manage them.

4. It’s about quality of fans, notquantity

Too many organisations care about numbers, notfans. They care about hits or turnstile clicks ormedia mentions. What they’re missing is thedepth of commitment and inter-connection thattrue fans deliver. True fans are hard to find andprecious. Just a few can change everything. Whatthey demand, though, is generosity and bravery.

5. Don’t let fear of failure stop youleading and innovating

Fear is hardwired. It needs to be drowned out bythe story of success, of drive, of doing somethingthat matters. The essence of leadership is beingaware of your fear (and seeing it in the peopleyou wish to lead).

6. Embrace discomfort

Leadership is scarce because few people arewilling to go through the discomfort required tolead. This scarcity makes leadership valuable..• It’s uncomfortable to stand up in front of

strangers.• It’s uncomfortable to propose an idea that

might fail.• It’s uncomfortable to challenge the status quo.• It’s uncomfortable to resist the urge to settle.

When you identify the discomfort, you’vefound the place where a leader is needed. Ifyou’re not uncomfortable in your work as aleader, it’s almost certain you’re not reachingyour potential as a leader.

7. You can’t please all the people allof the time

Great leaders don’t try to please everyone. Greatleaders don’t water down their message to makethe tribe a bit bigger. Instead, they realise that amotivated, connected tribe in the midst of amovement is far more powerful than a largergroup could ever be.

8. Don’t lead when it’s not from theheart

Sometimes it may make more sense to follow.Leading when you don’t know where to go, whenyou don’t have the commitment or the passion,or worst of all, when you can’t overcome yourfear – that sort of leading is worse than none atall.

9. Leadership is actually simple

The secret of leadership is simple: do what youbelieve in. Paint a picture of the future. Go there.People will follow.

10. Good communication is key

Realise that you have a choice when youcommunicate. You can design your products tobe easy to use. You can write so your audiencehears you. You can present in a place and in away that guarantees that the people you want tolisten will hear you. Most of all, you get to choosewho will understand (and who won’t).

For more information, visitwww.sarahhallconsulting.co.uk orfollow her on Twitter @Hallmeister

M E D I A

Read to lead Sarah Hall, managing director

of Sarah Hall Consulting Ltd, the PRand marketing consultancy thatbuilds profiles and profits, looks atwhy Seth Godin’s Tribes should be

top of the reading list for thosewishing to enhance their

leadership skills.

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We’ve all had those times in front ofthe TV, seeing an advert andthinking…what on earth is thatabout? Thankfully, these adverts

are becoming fewer and fewer, and there is asimple reason for this – people don't have asmuch room for waste in their lives and thoughtsanymore. With social and political issues at theforefront of people’s minds right now,businesses have had to adapt to employ agreater sense of empathy and understanding ineverything their audiences do.

What is great to see, is companies beinghonest with people and basing their servicesand products on actually making their users'lives a bit better. From a marketer’s perspective,this is great, as not only can we begin writingand advertising about great businesses, but wealso know that these products and services canmake a real difference, too.

I firmly believe that as this year progresses,we, as marketers, will be more focused thanever before on braver ideas, honesty, and

encouraging people to use technology in orderto empower them to make the best choices;giving more control back to the audience.

But why would businesses want to do this, Ihear you ask? Businesses will see this as achallenge, but also as a way of demonstratingtheir real colours to the consumer. Businesseswho are after making a quick pound or two willhopefully fall by the way side, while the trueleaders and innovators of the industries willbegin to be known for the honest qualityproducts they produce, rather than having toover dress what can sometimes be a simple yetsuperb offering.

It’s surely not that simple though? No, ofcourse not, but it’ll be interesting to seethroughout this year, and next, products with areal purpose beginning to shine through, andfluffy rubbish being left out of sight.

What do you think of the product, but moreimportantly what do you think of the company?Another key factor in any purchase is youremotional connection with the company that

you are handing over your hard earned cash to.How a company behaves in the world isbecoming increasingly important, which is agreat thing. It’s wonderful for the marketers ofthis world, as we have businesses now wantingto do great things, in the right way, with thekinds of behaviours that will inspire theirconsumers. What more could a marketer askfor?

But it’s not just good news for marketers – it’sgood news for businesses, too. Getting rid ofthe rubbish and taking this new inspiring, realapproach has positives for your company as awhole, with research finding that companieswill benefit from a happier, more inspired workforce, leading in turn to greater output.

So, our advice for businesses in 2015 andbeyond is: find your company’s soul and realkey benefit and then think about how youportray that simple yet great product or serviceacross to an ever more informed audience.

Leave the rubbish for your competitors totake out!

M E D I A

No morerubbish, please!

Businesses should ‘get real’ to connect with their customers,says Jackie Marston, managing

director of JAM Marketing.

EXPERT VIEWJackie Marston

Managing directorJAM Marketing

Tel: (0845) 900 2127Email: [email protected]: www.jam-marketing.co.uk

Twitter: @JamMarketingUK

82

The CIPR North East ‘OutstandingConsultancy of the Year’, Newcastle-based OPR, has had a healthy start to2015 thanks to several food and drink

sector projects.The creative communications agency,

renowned for its high impact launchexperience for national brands moving into thenorth, was awarded the PR for The Botanist inNewcastle, the newest addition to the city’s foodand drink scene that opened in December.

The Botanist bar and restaurant venue,brought to the region by The New WorldTrading Company, marked the company’s firstexpansion in to the North East, alongside itsfour existing operations in Leeds, Manchester,Chester and Alderley Edge.

The impressive 8000sq ft venue is set acrossthe top two floors of the Monument Malldevelopment and is Newcastle’s most talked-about venue of the moment, according to socialplatforms over the festive period.

Boasting nine bar stations, The Botanistoffers an extensive drinks menu serving over 50different bottled beers and ciders, cask ales and48 cocktails. The unique interior also features anine metre tall sycamore tree as its bar centre-piece and offers stunning vista points for viewsof Grey’s Monument.

OPR ensured The Botanist was the talk ofthe town with a high impact PR, social mediaand blogger outreach campaign. It alsomanaged the official launch event on January

15 that saw hundreds of people, including localcelebrities, enjoy the venue.

December also saw the spectacular gatesthrown open at The Lakes Distillery, to reveal aworld class visitor centre, Terry Laybourne barand bistro – The Bistro at the Distillery – stillsroom, private boardroom, casks room and ashop selling distillery products as well as locallyproduced fare.

O manages all UK and global PR for TheLakes Distillery, which is based in a beautifulsetting near Bassenthwaite Lake in Cumbriaand is expecting to attract over 55,000 visitorseach year to boost the local tourism economy.

As the distillery opened its gates, designed byCumbrian metal work artist Alan Dawson, itwas featured in the likes of The Guardian, TheIndependent, The i newspaper and the WallStreet Journal.

As 2014 drew to a close, OPR also helped itsclient Primula Cheese to communicate its not-for-profit status and donate £50,000 to worthyfamilies over Christmas.

OPR developed a ‘Spread the Joy atChristmas’ campaign and brokered apartnership with The Sun national dailynewspaper to spread the cash across 12 familieswith the prizes delivered in the 12 days runningup to Christmas.

Featuring in The Sun newspaper and SunOnline – reaching an audience of over 27.5million people in the UK – the campaigngenerated over £1 million worth of presscoverage, and was fronted by TV presenterSusanna Reid.

Managing director of OPR Kari Owers said:“As 2014 crossed over into 2015 we had a greatdeal of fun at the agency delivering some reallyspecial work for our food and drink clients at akey time for the sector, from giving money togood causes to organising launch events wecreated PR strategies that help them driveforward their business goals.”

For more information about OPR, visitwww.opr.co.uk, call (0191) 232 5690 orfollow @oprtweets

M E D I A

A taste of success at OPRRecent highlights from creative communications agency, OPR.

The Lakes Distillery, located in Cumbria

The Botanist, a new bar andrestaurant in Newcastle

83

S T Y L E

Office,£70

Get the lookFashion and accessories for women.

By Jessica Laing.

With spring just around the corner,there’s no time like the present tostart thinking about refreshing yourwardrobe and, as the weather warms

up (ever so slightly), rethinking about what towear in the workplace. Fortunately, spring 2015 isset to offer style-conscious women a host of newtrends to experiment with, some of whichtranslate perfectly into the world of work wear.Opting for more voluminous skirts, throwing onbillowing, wrap-around blouses or even bravingflared cropped trousers are just a few examples ofhow to create a slouchier, more elongatedsilhouette – forecast to be one of the season’s mostpopular looks, inspired by the essence of 1970sfashion and the breeziness of springtime. It’seffortlessly laid-back, but businesswomen canmake this work for them by replacing bright, floralcolours with office-friendly hues, such asmonochrome, and throwing on a pair of courtshoes for added smartness.

MODEL ATTIREWhite textured shirt, £59

Pied a Terre tailored crop trousers, £69Biba black ‘Fara’ bag, £79

All from House of Fraser SS15 Lookbook

Carlo Pazolini,£345

Next,£36

House of Fraser,£25

F&F at Tesco,£20

Debenhams,£60

84

WORKSPACE & CONSTRUCTION NEWS

Design firm revamps university’scatering facilities

South Tyneside-based RestaurantDesign Associates (RDA) has beenworking with Durham University todesign new catering areas within

two of its residential colleges – St Mary’sCollege, which was established in 1899,and Trevelyan College, founded in 1966.

The design work marks the latest in aline of projects that RDA has undertakensince the university first engaged the firm’sservices as design consultants in 2011,during the development of its collegecatering. This formed part of DurhamUniversity’s dynamic approach toimproving facilities in the estate, in line witha structured investment programme acrossa number of years.

Paul Hirst, design director at RDA, said:“At the heart of our brief was thedetermination to satisfy the desire toprovide services and facilities that werecutting edge and future-proofed.

“We were employed not only to create

A family-run company completes a string of catering projects at one of the UK’s leading universities.

Office space with character

Three prime offices in Trinity Chare atthe heart of Newcastle’s Quayside

are now available to let through JKProperty Consultants.

Based in a Grade I listed building at17 Trinity Chare, the offices are uniquelylocated at the centre of a quietcourtyard which tenants can use, by

arrangement.Tenants can also exclusively book

facilities for business and social functionsat the historic Trinity House, which itselfdates back to the 1400s and has beenused as a hospital, almshouses andrigging loft over the centuries.

JK Property Consultants has been

instructed by the Corporation ofNewcastle Trinity House to let themodern Grade A style offices on a five-year lease. The three offices andaccompanying kitchen facilities cover atotal 448sq ft, with the largest officeproviding 195sq ft of space and thesmallest 105sq ft.

Refurbishment for Washington property portfolio

Amajor refurbishment of a portfolio ofunits at Armstrong Industrial Estate in

Washington is now complete. Silverstone Building Consultancy project

managed the £200,000 makeover on behalfof owners, IO Asset Management, whoacquired the premises from Valad last year.

The 22 industrial/trade counter units aresituated on Whitworth Road and range insize from 2900sq ft to 12,472sq ft. Thecomprehensive refurbishment included newexternal cladding, roof repairs, newcarpeting and full redecoration, providingmuch improved accommodation for

potential occupiers.The estate is located approximately one

mile north of Washington town centre andoffers easy access onto the A1and A19. Theproperties are ideal for start-up businesses orsmall companies looking to expand orupgrade.

state of the art designs and to advise on allaspects of new technology, customer flowsand dwell times, but also to create the look

and feel of high quality cateringestablishments that would enhance theuser experience.”

The new-look catering facilitiesat Durham University

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P R O P E R T Y

The 2015 Budget... could help keep the property revival on track, says Neil Hart, director at Bradley Hall.

The upcoming March Budget givesChancellor George Osborne the perfectopportunity to give commercial propertyprofessionals some post-festive cheer.

The industry has been doing well for the lastfew years but complacency must not be allowed toset in, especially as there are a number of factorsthat point to a possible slowdown in UK economicgrowth. Deflation in the Eurozone has triggeredfears of a fall in the Euro, which would be badnews for Britain’s army of exporters and the UKGovernment. It would make exporting moreexpensive and cost Britain more to service itsalready large mountain of debt.

Also, uncertainty over the make up of the nextUK Government has forced some companies topostpone investment plans, which could stifle theeconomic recovery.

Even if Mr Osborne introduces a raft ofbusiness-friendly measures on March 18, therewill be some scepticism that they will beimplemented if he is not in power after theelection. Having said that, the upcoming Budgetwill give him a chance to demonstrate to thebusiness community why he should remain in 11Downing Street.

The commercial property sector is important

because it influences the economic performanceof so many other sectors, including construction,engineering, property, energy and theenvironment. For that reason, Mr Osborne shouldconsider the following:

• Funding for much-needed infrastructureprojects in the North of England. MrOsborne needs to honour his pledge to createa ‘powerhouse of the North’, including asubstantial investment in rail and roadimprovements.

• Retention of low interest rates and theextension of small business rate relief onexisting properties beyond April 2015.

• Introduction of extra rate relief on newly builtcommercial properties for a minimum periodof three years.

• Relaxation of planning laws – it is critical thata review of the General PermittedDevelopment Order (GDPO) goes ahead.This would fast-track the conversion ofwarehouses and light industrial buildings intoresidential properties, helping to removeobsolete stock from the commercial marketand create new homes.

• Reform of business rate valuations. Thecurrent system calculates rates based on 2008values and needs a radical overhaul. The waythey are calculated at the moment doesn’tincentivise investment - in fact, it’s quite thereverse.

For more information, visitwww.bradleyhall.co.uk or call(0191) 232 8080

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R U R A L

A big changefor small developers

Willy Browne-Swinburne from Rural Solutions discusses the ground breaking new planningguidance announced by the Government and its impact on small residential sites.

It really is a rare treat to plug somegovernment policy guidance that has beenwell thought out. Furthermore, thisguidance will genuinely make a positive

contribution to the nation. The guidance isparticularly positive for something very closeto our hearts at Rural Solutions – small ruralsettlements.

These settlements – and the North Easthas some of the finest in the land – needdevelopment that is appropriate and positive.Development that will help sustain andindeed revitalise rural communities, schools,pubs, post offices and sports clubs.

Eric Pickles, Secretary of State forCommunities and Local Government,announced after a long consultation thatthere would now be no requirement fordevelopers to allocate any affordable housingin schemes of ten houses or less. The impactof this on the rural landowner, the smalldeveloper and, hopefully, on smaller ruralsettlements will be significant.

On a straightforward business level it nowmeans that it makes sense to develop goodquality homes on smaller sites that ultimatelyoffer a village an appropriate increase inhousing. Developers can now make sensiblereturns on appropriate and desireddevelopments.

In terms of land release, the move willencourage landowners, parish councils andresidents concerned with the impact of a

substantial affordable allocation to reconsidersmaller sites in their villages.

The new guidance states that:

• No affordable housing (on or off sitecontributions) on any houses of five housesor less.

• In the vast majority of cases, the noaffordable housing provision will berequired on sites of ten houses or less.

• The smaller threshold applies to areas ofoutstanding natural beauty, National Parksor other ‘rural areas described undersection 157 (1) of the Housing Act 1985’(this applies to a limited number ofparishes).

• Even where the smaller threshold applies,developments of between six and tenhouses do not have to provide on-siteaffordable housing – an off-site commutedsum will be levied.

• The guidance also removes therequirement to provide any other developercontributions, which would have previouslybeen levied against developments of theprescribed sizes, for example, play areas,sports facilities etc.

At Rural Solutions we have been quick to seethe enormous opportunity that this changeoffers our clients. Our discussions with localauthorities across the country have shown

that they are prepared to accept theguidance. In short, we are ‘game on’ andanyone with small sites, particularly in ruralareas, should be looking at them again.

So what next? Our recommendation is tolook at, and reconsider, small-scaleresidential sites within portfolios, estates orlocal authority strategic land appraisals anddo the math. With the onerous requirementfor affordable homes lifted, things willprobably start to stack up.

It is worth looking at consents alreadygranted to see if the changes can be appliedto those retrospectively. It might also beprudent to reconsider housing numbers onexisting consents to see if the numbers lookbetter on a smaller scheme.

This doesn’t open the sluice gate fordevelopment. Inappropriate sites won’tsuddenly achieve consent but it does makegood, small sites, viable. Viability isfundamental to achieving development andthis policy goes a long way to helping that. Inthe struggle to meet the UK’s vast housingshortage, this guidance is a rare thing –genuinely intelligent planning policy.

Willy Browne-Swinburne heads up RuralSolutions in the north. For moreinformation, [email protected], contact theRural Solutions Planning Team on (01756)769 199 or visit www.ruralsolutions.co.uk

89

E V E N T

Silverstone BuildingConsultancy celebrates

five years of successThe Newcastle-based firm of chartered

building surveyors and project managerscelebrates five years in business at Tiger

Hornsby cocktail bar, Newcastle.

More than 100 guests joinedSilverstone’s directors and staff at a

special drinks reception to mark its fifthyear in business.

The event was an opportunity forSilverstone to thank clients for theircontinued support, which has helped itachieve another highly successful year.

During the past year, the firm has workedon a number of construction projectsamounting to over £7 million on behalf ofclients. It has also expanded its team,recruiting a new associate director.

Silverstone provides projectmanagement and building surveyingadvice to commercial property owners andoccupiers on a regional and national level.

www.silverstonebc.com

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A swinging scheme

Ramside Hall Hotel and Golf Club -County Durham’s only 36-hole golf

resort and home to England’s newestgolf course – has launched a newFlexi-Golf scheme to encourage morepeople to take up the sport. The newflexible membership scheme allowsgolfers to join the club for just £195 andbuy bundles of points to exchange forrounds of golf at the resort’s twocourses.

L E I S U R E & H O S P I TA L I T Y N E W S

Marina of the Year

Newcastle has been dubbed the‘Monte Carlo of the North’, after the

industry body for marinas in the UK, TheYacht Harbour Association (TYHA), crownedNE1 Newcastle City Marina as ‘UK CoastalMarina of the Year 2015’. For the first time,yachtsmen and sailing enthusiasts wereencouraged to vote for their favouritemarinas in an online voting system, makingthe 2015 awards the fiercest competition todate.

49 shades of Grey

In the latest stage of a phasedrefurbishment timed to coincide with its

10th anniversary, Grey Street Hotel,Newcastle, has created a range of facilitiesdesigned to appeal to corporate guests,including a state-of-the-art function roomand a range of bespoke corporatepackages. The 49-bedroom hotel hopes itsnew suite, which can hold up to 80delegates, will strengthen its appeal to localcompanies looking for a meeting venue.

Rockliffe reveals new Spa GardenThe five-star hotel announces major expansion plans for 2015.

Rockliffe Hall, County Durham, hasannounced plans for thecreation of a new ‘Spa Garden’within its grounds to further

enhance its award-winning spa facilities. Set to open in autumn this year, the new

200-metre Spa Garden, which will be theonly one of its kind in the North East, will beadjacent to the current spa and willcomprise two outdoor hot tubs, including ajacuzzi and an infinity edge hydrotherapy

pool, under-floor heated decking andlounging areas, and a unique gardenroom.

The garden room will offer guests a glass-fronted sauna cabin, a fire pit and waterfeatures, along with landscaped gardenswith views across the hotel’s grounds.

Work on the development is nowunderway, with Darlington-basedcontractors, Wharton Construction,managing the project, and the hotel’s spa

team is now developing a range of newtreatments, spa days and promotions tointroduce new experiences for the SpaGarden’s launch.

Commenting on the new Spa Garden,chairman of Rockliffe Hall, Warwick Brindle,said: “The investment marks the start of anexciting growth phase for our resort, withbig plans in the coming year as wecontinue to strive to increase both businessand leisure and tourism in the region.”

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Since launching in 2012, 1879 EventsManagement has established itself asone of the market leaders in the NorthEast’s leisure and hospitality sector.

As the appointed manager of the cateringand events operations at the Stadium of Lightand National Glass Centre, Sunderland, theorganisation has already garnered a wealth ofexperience in handling everything fromconcerts and graduation ceremonies tobusiness dinners and corporate awards.

It has also managed a wide range of externalevents at sites across the North East and, insummer 2014, was able to build on thisexperience with the launch of its first, wholly-owned venue, The Beach House, Roker.

This year, that expanding remit looks set todiversify even further, with 1879’s first everexternal wedding, as commercial director,Gary Hutchinson explains: “Since its launchthree years ago, 1879 Events Management hascatered for a wide range of occasions, not justat the sites where it works in-house, but as anexternal supplier at venues across the NorthEast.

“We’re very excited that 2015 will includethe company’s first wedding outside the

Stadium, National Glass Centre or The BeachHouse and look forward to this, and all theother challenges that lie ahead.”

Over the next 12 months, 1879 EventsManagement and its hard-working team ofstaff will be clocking up the hours at all threeof its Sunderland-based venues, with keyevents taking place at each throughout theyear.

For the Stadium of Light, this includes thehighly-anticipated Foo Fighters concert, beingheld in May, along with the countlessconferences, meetings and match-dayhospitality, delivered there on a regular basis.

A similar array of events will be taking placeat the National Glass Centre, where 1879Events Management is also tasked with theday-to-day running of the in-house Brasserie.

“The National Glass Centre Brasserie bringsits own set of challenges,” explains Gary,“including the need for a continual re-development of menu concepts to keep dinerscoming back for more.”

He continues: “Thankfully our executivehead chef, Steve Welch, and his team are morethan capable of delivering this effectively, aswell as overseeing our food offerings for all our

events, and at The Beach House.“Another priority for Steve and the team at

The Beach House this year is to develop newpackages to coincide with the redevelopmentof nearby Roker Pier, an initiative 1879 EventsManagement is supporting wholeheartedly.”

Along with all of these in-house events, 1879will also be handling a variety of externalcelebrations in 2015, many of which representrepeat business for the firm. This includes theUK’s second largest free LGBT festival,Newcastle Pride, where 1879 catered for morethan 65,000 people in 2014, as well as theTeesside Business Awards at TeessideUniversity.

Gary says: “The team at 1879 EventsManagement are really looking forward toworking with all our existing clients in 2015and to building new relationships withcustomers and venues right across the NorthEast.”

For more information about 1879 EventsManagement, visit www.1879events, call(0871) 911 1269, [email protected] or follow@1879Events on Twitter.

L E I S U R E & H O S P I T A L I T Y

Catering for successFrom business awards and clay pigeon shooting, to weddings and one of the UK’s largest free LGBTevents – 2015 looks set to be another busy year for one of the region’s leading leisure companies…

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Shoppers across the North East willrejoice with the news that one of theUK’s favourite shoe brands, KurtGeiger, is strengthening its presence in

the region with a concession in Debenhamsfrom March.

The opening of Kurt Geiger in The Bridgesin Sunderland is far more than just a nationalbrand making its mark on Wearside – it’s alsofurther evidence about the confidence in theretail offering in the city.

The arrival of Kurt Geiger is hot on theheels of other major brands setting up shop inthe centre, including premium jewellery store,Swarovski, clothing brand Roman Originalsand the American style eatery, Ed’s Diner.

Add to that all the major high street staplesfrom Next and Boots, to Superdry and Pandoraand you’ve got a centre that really is thriving.

To help boost the retail offering, TheBridges is part of a concerted effort to grow theevening economy in Sunderland and has nowlaunched a Thursday late night shoppingevening.

Working closely with other partners,including Sunderland’s Business ImprovementDistrict, a programme of entertainment is also

planned for Thursday evenings to make it evenmore attractive to shoppers.

Andy Bradley, centre director at TheBridges, believes this is a vital move and it’sbeen introduced in direct response to researchwhich highlighted this as a priority forshoppers. Andy said: “The late night shopping– coupled with the fact that there will also befree parking – will make The Bridges a greatplace to come after work.

“Combined with the entertainment, barsand restaurants in the city, it will hopefullymean people will come and make a night of it– and then of course come back time and timeagain.”

This push to highlight The Bridges and itsofferings comes at an exciting time forSunderland, with masses of investment in thecity, including a new cultural sector. Thearrival of a new international brand is furtherevidence that Sunderland is on an upwardspiral.

Dan Hirst, store manager at DebenhamsSunderland is delighted to welcome KurtGeiger to the store’s shoe department: “Thisnew addition strengthens our alreadyimpressive product offering and gives ourcustomers even greater choice.”

Andy Bradley added: “There are manypeople who are just starting to discover whatwe have to offer. The addition of these bigname brands to The Bridges – with the hope ofmore to come – is further evidence thatSunderland is on a really exciting journey.”

For more information, visit www.thebridges-shopping.com


Sunderland’s retail boomSunderland is a city on the up, thanks to a host

of exciting new developments.

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Crowne Plaza Newcastle –Stephenson Quarter has reached anew milestone with theappointment of its general manager,

Andrew Fox.Andrew joins what is set to become one of

Newcastle's most luxurious and contemporaryhotels when it opens in Stephenson Quarter inJuly this year.

His immediate task is recruiting his seniormanagement team while also working closelywith the property developer Clouston Group,overseeing the final phase of construction alongwith the fit-out. The hotel will be under amanagement contract with InterContinentalHotels Group (IHG).

Once complete, the impressive, seven-storey,251-bed Crowne Plaza Newcastle –Stephenson Quarter will add a major newbusiness conferencing and banqueting facilityto the city.

For Andrew, 48, the appointment representsan exciting challenge and a welcome return to

the North East. Married with four children, hewas brought up in Ponteland, Northumberlandbefore leaving the area to study in Manchesterand begin a career in hospitality.

Now living in Morpeth, Andrew has around25 years’ experience in the hospitality and

leisure industry, having most recently beenregional general manager for Q-Hotels,overseeing a collection of hotels in theMidlands. Prior to that, he worked at CrownePlaza Nottingham and worked withinmanagement in Marriott Hotels for eight years.

Andrew said: "The development of CrownePlaza in Newcastle is not only an excitingmilestone for the city, but represented a greatpersonal opportunity. The chance to comeback to the North East, the lifestyle of the cityand the wider area, was too good to miss.

"I'm thrilled to be at the helm of such asignificant project in Newcastle; a project thatwill breathe life into this part of the city,creating much needed investment, jobs andopportunity for the future.

"Crowne Plaza Newcastle will become anasset the city will be proud of and a beacon forthe Stephenson Quarter and the wider businesscommunity."

For more information, visit www.ihg.com

Crowne Plaza Newcastleappoints general manager

Andrew Fox makes a welcome return to the North East to join the newhotel development at Newcastle’s Stephenson Quarter.

Brought to us by the Godfather ofmodern cookery, Marco Pierre WhiteSteakhouse Bar & Grill is housed withinHotel Indigo Newcastle, in a prime city

centre location on Fenkle Street.Promising ‘affordable glamour’, the 100-seat

restaurant serves up a blend of modern Britishcuisine and has received rave reviews sincelaunching three years ago. Needless to say, I wasrather excited about sampling the restaurant’sfine fayre for my very first business lunch aseditor.

Inside, the setting is stylish, spacious andinviting, yet minimal, with monochrome andgreen dominating the décor, and large blackand white portraits of Marco hanging on therear wall, intently overlooking the restaurant’sdiners.

After being shown to our table nestled in thecorner of the room, our waiter attentively talkedmy colleague through the selection of nut-freedishes on the menu.

Despite the number of diners – many of who,we suspected, were taking advantage ofRestaurant Week – we received our startersfairly quickly. My trio of crab cakes, coated in

crunchy breadcrumb, were perched on a dollopof lemon and herb mayonnaise, with asmattering of salad on the side. The saladdressing had a delicate kick, which contrastedbeautifully with the creamy mayo.

As for my colleague’s baked Camembert, thiswas presented ‘rustic style’ on a wooden board.Dreamily gooey inside and mild in flavour, theCamembert was perfectly offset against theaccompanying pickle chutney, which boastedsweet and sour undertones. My other colleague,meanwhile, decided to follow my lead bychoosing a seafood-based dish. His portion ofbattered calamari was very appetising indeed.

Keeping it simple, I chose the lemon androsemary chicken for my main, served withtruffle chips and a rocket and parmesan salad.The chicken breast arrived on the bone with agolden, crispy skin, alongside a dinky copperpan brimming with thick-cut chips. Thechicken breast was so succulent, banishing anyqualms I had about the absence of a sauce. Thesalad also added a light, refreshing note to thedish.

My colleagues opted for mains of the beefvariety – Ribeye steak, and steak and ale pie.

The flavoursome Ribeye was served with grilledtomato, sizable onion rings and chips. I have toadmit, I was a little envious of this plate. Mycolleague plumped for a blue cheese sauce togo with his steak, but this teetered on the mildside; he had expected a punchier flavour. As forthe steak and ale pie – the pastry lid wasperfectly flaky, hiding rich, silky gravyunderneath and a generous portion of beef.

After a little break, we tucked into ourindulgent selection of desserts – a classic bitterchocolate mousse, a box tree Eton mess (bothpresented in a cocktail glass) and always a firmfavourite – sticky toffee pudding. These were asscrumptious and satisfying as you couldimagine, rounding off our meal on a sugaryhigh.

It would be fair to say, after my lunchtimevisit at least, that Marco Pierre White’s firstNorth East restaurant is everything you wouldexpect from the celebrity chef – top service andtop food to match.

Marco Pierre White Steakhouse & Grill, 2-8Fenkle Street, Newcastle. Tel: (0191) 3009222, www.mpwsteakhousenewcastle.co.uk


Alexis Forsyth samples contemporary dining in Newcastle.

Business lunch

Marco Pierre WhiteSteakhouse Bar & Grill

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Crab cakes, lemon and herbmayonnaise

£8.50

10oz Ribeye steak, garnished withgrilled tomato, onion rings and real

chips, and blue cheese sauce

£26.95 (£3 extra for the sauce)

Classic bitter chocolate mousse

£6.50

Crispy friedcalamari

£8.75

Lemon and rosemary free rangechicken, truffle chips, rocket and

parmesan salad

£17.50

Baked Camembert andcrusty bread

£8.75

Steak and ale pie withminty garden peas

£14.25

Box tree Eton mess

£6.50

Sticky toffee pudding

£6.50

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E D U C A T I O N

The latest achievements from theindependent school.

News fromDame Allan’s Schools

Fashion fundraisers win nationalaward

Two inspiring alumnae of Dame Allan’sSchools have been recognised for theircharity work during their time at the schools.

Amy Grounsell and Amy Shaw werepresented with the Champion FundraiserDiana Award at a star-studded ceremony inLeeds. X Factor contestants Jack Walton andRough Copy joined Britain’s Got Talent’sGabz and Olympic medalist Sarah Stevensonto highlight the work of young fundraisers atthe ceremony. There was also a surprisemessage from the band Kaiser Chiefs tocongratulate the winners.

The two Amys received the award inrecognition of their efforts leading a group ofSixth Formers in organising a fashionfundraiser, which raised over £2500 for theMarie Curie Hospice in Elswick. Thestudents chose this charity because of thecare it had provided to many of thoseassociated with the Schools.

The Diana Award is a legacy of PrincessDiana’s belief that young people have thepower to change the world for the better. Therationale behind the awards is that youngpeople should be encouraged to contribute tosociety, be empowered to reach their fullpotential and engage in social action as early

in life as possible.Tessy Ojo, executive director of the Diana

Award said: “The Diana ChampionFundraiser Award is presented toinspirational young people who have made apositive difference in their communities,such as these two inspirational former pupilsof Dame Allan's Schools.”

Amy Shaw, who attended the awardsceremony, said: “It was a privilege to be atthe ceremony with so many inspiring youngpeople. It was amazing to be a part of it; wewere just happy to raise so much for charityand want to thank everyone who supportedus and donated.”

Premiership rugby invitation

Three talented pupils at Dame Allan'sSchools have been invited to train withpremiership rugby club, Newcastle Falcons.

Year 10 students Jack Netts, Adam Gurteenand Alexander Watson have joined theNewcastle Falcons’ Academy afterconsistently impressive performances for theSchools’ team.

The talented players were selected aftersuccessful county training sessions and attendthe academy twice a week to hone theirskills, with access to some of the best coachesand equipment in the country.

Alexander Watson, flanker, commented:“We are all really excited to have beenselected. We love playing rugby and havetrained very hard with the help of ourcoaches at Dame Allan’s and at our ownclubs.”

The Newcastle Falcons’ Academy schemeis run by the Elite Department of the RugbyFootball Union and its job is to identify anddevelop the most talented young rugbyplayers in the country. The scheme has arecord of bringing players through the systemand onto the first team squad, including thecurrent Falcons captain.

Mark Laycock, academy manager, said:“The three Dame Allan’s boys were selectedbecause they showed real promise in theirtrials. They have made an excellent start inthe academy and I’m sure this is just thebeginning of an excellent rugby career for allthree of them.”

Dr Hind, principal at Dame Allan’sSchools said: “We are all very proud of theboys, and fully expect many more of ourpupils to be invited to the academy. We willsupport them in every way we can in thisexciting venture and look forward tofollowing their success.”

For more information, visitwww.dameallans.co.uk

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E D U C A T I O N

Newcastle High School for Girls provides an educational settingthat enables its pupils to flourish and reach their potential, as

headmistress, Hilary French explains.

A forward-looking education

Launched in September, NewcastleHigh School for Girls has quicklyestablished itself as a leader ofeducation in the region; not surprising

given the 250 years of experience ineducating girls brought by the two foundingschools.

Newcastle High was formed by the mergerof Central High and Church High and is oneof the 26 schools of the Girls’ Day SchoolTrust, the UK’s leading network ofindependent schools.

Its mission is to deliver an outstanding,forward-looking education, rooted intraditional values. At its heart are four values:Girls First, Networked, Bold and Principled.

Hilary French, headmistress of NewcastleHigh School, says: “We are a girls’ school andproud of it. Girls flourish in a single sexsetting where they can develop and grow inconfidence. At Newcastle High we put thegirls’ interests, happiness and well-being firstat all times and encourage each girl to be thebest she can be and reach her potential.”

One of the striking differences aboutNewcastle High School for Girls is its

determination to build upon and develop itsnetworks and connections with the city, theregion and other institutions.

It’s a strong approach that has earned praisefrom the wider community. Universities andemployers are all demanding that youngpeople be better equipped for the future.

Hilary explains: “Business leaders speak ofthe need for young women to have theconfidence to aim high as well as theimportance of making bold and bravedecisions. These echo the aims of our schooland our new curriculum, which encouragesgirls to take risks and to be prepared tochallenge themselves.

“For far too long girls have been wrappedin cotton wool and actually what we need todo is help girls to step out of their comfortzone so that they can really play to theirstrengths.”

She continues: “We have introduced adeep learning approach to the curriculumfrom Nursery through to Sixth Form so thatgirls develop and learn skills which they canthen apply in a wide range of settings; theyare no longer confined by ‘subject’ area so,

for example, skills acquired in Mathematicsdo not just stay within the Mathematicslesson.

“It is liberating to be able to encouragegirls to discover and learn the facts and figuresthrough independent learning and use thelessons to explore the how and why, to solveproblems and discover solutions. It allowsgenuine discussion and enables personallysignificant learning to becomecommonplace.”

The importance of authentic leadership,strong principles and of society andcommunity is also widely discussed by leadingbusinesses and organisations.

Hilary adds: “To be principled is one of ourcore values; to always do the right thing byour own high standards and everyone else’s.We help the girls to grow in the qualities oftolerance and compassion and learn torespect themselves and others.

“At Newcastle High, we educate girls in thebroadest sense of the word.”

For more information, visitwww.newcastlehigh.gdst.net

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M O T O R S

Behindthe wheel

byJessica Laing.

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Lexus introduces the new GS F: the latestaddition to its stable ‘F’ line of highperformance models. Revealed last monthat the North American International Auto

Show in Detroit, the four-door model deliverssports car performance and handling, but in aluxury saloon car package. Having undergoneextensive circuit training in Japan and Germany,the GS F is designed – and guaranteed to –satisfy the needs of speed enthusiasts. The modelis powered by a 5.0-litre V8 engine andequipped with lightening quick eight-speedtransmission that offers four operating modes,Normal, Eco, Sport S and Sport S+, which isspecifically designed for racetrack driving. It alsofeatures an exclusive, tuned suspension designthat not only captures the potential offered by its

high power engine but, when combined with itslarger tyres and uprated braking system, providesexceptional stability and balance – essential forhigh-speed, track-worthy driving. Externally, theGS F (which sits lower and wider than other GSmodels and can comfortably seat five adults –making it the largest car yet to bear the Lexus Fbadge) boasts a larger and more pronouncedspindle grille (to improve aerodynamics andinternal cooling), a subtle carbon fibre spoiler,front air vents and 19-inch alloy wheels – allinspired by its sporty nature. Its elegant cabin,meanwhile, offers an electronic instrumentdisplay that automatically adjusts content andappearance according to the selected drivemode, as well as custom-designed front and rearseats to provide extra lateral support.

F.Y.I.Engine: V8-powered engine

Max Power: 470bhpMax Torque: 530nm

Max Speed: 155mphAcceleration: 0-60mph in 5.9seconds

LEXUS GS F

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The Future Fund

Benfield Motor Group has pledged £50,000through its Benfield Charitable Trust to helpFuture Fund campaigners take a step closer torealising their ambition to create the £5.5 millionNewcastle University Centre for ChildhoodCancer.

This new specialist facility will provide state-of-the-art resources where clinical and researchteams from across the city can come together toadvance and accelerate their understanding ofhow to treat childhood cancers.

The Future Fund is a partnership betweenNewcastle University, Newcastle Hospitals’ GreatNorth Children’s Hospital (GNCH) and North ofEngland Children’s Cancer Research (NECCR),a charity set up by parents of children with cancerand which has raised £20m for research inNewcastle over the past 35 years.

The £50,000 gift from Benfield was pledged bythe company’s owners, the Squires family, afterlearning of the NECCR’s involvement with thecampaign and its goal to position Newcastle at thecentre of the global fight against childhoodcancer. The pledge brings the campaign total to£2m and it follows endorsement from North Eastheroes including Sting, Mark Knopfler and DavidAlmond.

Mark Squires, chief executive at Benfield, said:“As a family business which hails from the NorthEast we are absolutely delighted to support thisworthwhile campaign. The Future Fund is goingfrom strength to strength with fantastic supportfrom many local businesses in our joint bid tobeat childhood cancer.

“The money we have donated through BenfieldCharitable Trust will be going directly towards thenew centre, helping Newcastle become the centreof excellence for children’s cancer research.”

Back to the future

Benfield Motor Group and St Oswald’s Hospicehave teamed up to take guests ‘Back to theFuture’ in a fun filled fundraising 1980s partywith a difference this spring.

To be held at Benfield’s new £7m Audishowroom on Scotswood Road, Newcastle, guestsare invited to relive the era of big hair, shoulderpads and neon lycra for an evening of non-stopnostalgia, all in aid of St Oswald’s Hospice, whichwas opened in 1986.

Hosted by BBC Radio presenter Alfie Joey,‘Back to the Future – St Oswald’s does the 1980s’will take place on Saturday April 25 from 7pm.The unique event will include 80s disco, themedcocktails, street food devised by double winningMichelin star chef Kenny Atkinson, specialperformances from Encore DanceEntertainment, an auction and plenty of surpriseson the night.

St Oswald’s fundraiser, Laura Elliott said: “Thefilm, ‘Back to the Future’ was set in 2015, so wethought it the perfect title for our all out ‘80sextravaganza! We know it’s an era when a lot ofour supporters were growing up, and it’sassociated with so many iconic moments, songs,fashions and films, we thought we could host areally fun and informal fundraising event whichwould appeal to many people.”

Matthew Squires, brand manager, North EastAudi, added: “We are delighted to play host to thisfun filled party of nostalgia. The event promises tobe a great fund raising occasion and as a North Eastbased family business we are pleased to continueour long-term support for St Oswald’s by providingthis unique venue for the party to take place.”

For more information, visitwww.about.drivebenfield.com

M O T O R S

Benfield continues its support and goodwill in the regionBenfield Motor Group pledges its support to the Future Fund and St Oswald’s Hospice.

Benfield has teamed up with St Oswald’sHospice to host ‘Back to the Future’

Benfield Motor Group’s Chief ExecutiveMark Squires (left) finds out how thecompany’s Future Fund donation will

benefit children’s cancer research

Kenny Atkinson is providing thecatering for Back to the Future

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My wife and I enjoy eating out and Ilove nothing more than tryingnew places, as recommended byour friends. There are few things

more enjoyable and filling than a heartySunday lunch coupled with a glass of wine (orthree).

We had been told by our close friends to trythe recently refurbished Holiday Inn NewcastleGosforth Park, as they had started doing anoriginal lunch known as the ‘Bird on a board’.This sounded too appealing to turn down, so offwe went, and living quite close, we decided tojump in a taxi and treat ourselves to a fewglasses of red.

We started our meal with simple, but tasty,starters. My wife had the prawn cocktail, which,I have to say, couldn’t have tasted any fresher! Iwent for the soup of the day, which was creamychicken accompanied by freshly bakedwholemeal bread – delicious!

After we had quickly polished off our starters,our friendly and attentive waitress brought

across our main meal – the ‘Bird on a board’special, and special it was!

What a feast; a whole roasted chicken,cooked to succulent perfection, with mountainsof healthy fresh vegetables, giant Yorkshirepuddings and roasties.

The chef came out and carved a few thicklycut slices, before bringing over the piping hot,meaty gravy, which, to me, is the highlight ofany Sunday lunch.

We didn’t quite manage to finish the entirechicken, but we gave it a good go (in fairness, itis recommended for two adults and twochildren).

After a suitable comfort break, we tackled ourthird course. We decided to share a delightfullooking sticky toffee pudding (I say share, mywife kept it as far away from me as possible!)

The little amount of pudding I managed toprise away from under my wife’s fork, however,was delicious and I instantly regretted notordering my own.

With a relaxed, friendly atmosphere anddelicious food, The Holiday Inn NewcastleGosforth Park is the perfect place to visit for achilled-out Sunday – and a place I know I willbe returning to again soon.

For more information, call (0191) 201 9988


A special SundayMike Grahamslaw visits Holiday Inn

Newcastle Gosforth Park for a Sundaylunch with a difference.

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Offering a choice of 12 petrol andfour diesel variants, the all-newMazda2 model range, which ispriced from £11,995 to £17,995

on-the-road (OTR) and comprises a five-levelgrade structure (-SE, SE-L Nav, Sport andSport Nav), sets new standards forinfotainment, in-car connectivity andequipment levels in the highly competitiveB-segment.

The model’s optimised range of ultra-efficient SKYACTIV powertrains – 1.5-litre,75, 90 and 115ps petrol and 1.5-litre, 105psdiesel engines – offer customers the idealbalance of agile performance and highlycompetitive fuel economy.

The arrival of the all-new Mazda2 in theUK will be celebrated by the availability of aspecial, £14,995 OTR Sports LaunchEdition, which is powered by Mazda’s 1.5-litre 90ps SKYACTIV-G petrol engine andincludes 16-inch alloy wheels, privacy glass,dusk-sensing lights and more.

The 90ps SE-L Nav models, meanwhile,feature a seven-inch colour touch screen, arotary Multimedia Commander infotainmentcontrol, MZD Connect, DAB radio and a

satellite navigation system as standard, whileSport Nav models also benefit from theaddition of 16-inch alloy wheels, smartkeyless entry and climate control air-conditioning.

Externally, the Mazda2 features Mazda’ssignature ‘wing’ front grille and headlampstyling, as well as a muscular, cab-rearwarddesign that incorporates a longer wheelbasewith smaller overhangs to maximise interiorspace.

Inside the model’s cabin, drivers willdiscover a user-friendly layout, filled to thebrim with cutting-edge technology. DABradio features for the first time in the Mazda2and, in SE-L Nav and Sport Nav grades, anew navigation systems offers greateraccuracy, improved search features and threeyears of free map updates.

Mazda’s in-car connectivity system (MZDConnect), which is compatible with iPhoneand Android smartphones and supports iPod,MP3 and CD playback, provides drivers withaccess to a variety of free mobile content,such as Twitter and Facebook feeds, alongwith location-based services and thousands ofstations.

Safety-wise, the all-new Mazda2 offers arange of active systems that are fitted acrossthe model range as standard, including Anti-lock Brakes (ABS), Electric Brake Assist(EBA), Emergency Stop Signalling (ESS)and Hill Hold Assist (HHA).

SE-L 90ps, Sport, Sport Nav grades andthe Sports Launch Edition model,meanwhile, are further equipped with a LaneDeparture Warning System (LDWS) andSmart City Brake Support (SCBS), whichoperates between speeds of 2.5 and 18.5mphand automatically applies the brakes if thesystem detects frontal impact.

Finally, an optional Safety Pack on 115psSport Nav models offers even higher levels ofdriver assistance and security with HighBeam Control (HBC), Advanced Blind SpotMonitoring (BSM) and Rear Cross TrafficAlert (RCTA), as well as an Active DrivingDisplay. Introducing head-up displaytechnology to the B-segment for the firsttime, the system projects the most importantreal-time driving data directly into thedriver’s forward field of view.

www.hodgsons-newcastle.co.uk

M O T O R S

All-new Mazda2Combining Mazda’s SKYACTIV technology with its ‘KODO-Soul of

Motion’ design philosophy, the all-new Mazda2 provides new levels oftechnological sophistication, driving pleasure and active safety.

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Customers have been taking advantageof the all-new Ford Focus andMondeo models, which are ondisplay and available to test drive at

the group’s network of Ford dealerships acrossthe North East.

Since November, motorists visiting JenningsFord branches located at Eslington Park inGateshead, Cargo Fleet Lane in Middlesbroughand Yarm Road in Stockton, have been takingadvantage of the latest version of Britain’s topselling family car – the all-new Focus model,which offers a number of new powertrains, inaddition to an updated interior and exterior, plusan array of new technology.

Six trim levels are still available in the Focusrange including: Studio, Style, Zetec, Zetec S,Titanium and Titanium X.

Customers opting for the 1.6 petrol, entrylevel Studio model, priced at £13,995 whichoffers great design, quality and Ford’s renowneddriving dynamics, will benefit from a number ofnew features including: 16-inch 5x2-spoke alloywheels, steering wheel audio controls, tripcomputer, Ford EcoMode driver informationsystem, new design interior seat trim, tyrepressure monitoring system (TPMS), hill startassist and MyKey.

Other standard features on the five-door bodystyle Studio model include: Ford’s AM/FM CDaudio system with USB connectivity, electricheated body colour door mirrors with integratedturn indicators, body colour rear spoiler,electrically-operated front windows with one

touch lowering on the driver’s side, airconditioning, rack-and-reach adjustable steeringcolumn, Ford easy-fuel capless refuelling system,Ford intelligent protection system, electronicstability control with traction control andemergency brake assist, torque vectoring control,remote central locking, front, side and curtainairbags and ISOFIX child safety attachments.

Meanwhile, the range topping Titanium Xmodel – powered by Ford’s new 1.5-litreEcoBoost engine – has been fitted with new style17-inch 15 spoke alloy wheels, Active City Stop,enhanced Active Park Assist offering automaticparallel and perpendicular parking and Park OutAssist, in addition to SYNC 2 with 8-inchtouchscreen and enhanced voice control andMyKey.

Crafted to be more sophisticated – theexterior of the new Ford Focus reflects the OneFord global design language that carries throughthe Fiesta and all-new Mondeo. With a lower,wider stance, the all-new Ford Focus has a newbonnet, front fascia and grille. Slimmer frontheadlamps and rectangular, elongated fog lampsadd to the bolder front end while the rear of thecar is sleeker with thinner tail lamps and a newfascia and tailgate arrangement.

The interior of the new Ford Focus retainsthe same driver-orientated feel but providesmore intuitive layout, complimented by a three-spoke steering wheel and a new central stackwith fewer controls and switches.

Colin Massey, sales manager at Jennings Fordin Middlesbrough, said: “The new technology-

packed Ford Focus is a much more complete carthan before. In addition to the wide range oftechnology, customers can take advantage of anumber of new powertrains and an updatedinterior and exterior.”

Meanwhile, the new Mondeo model, whichcomes with a new 1.5-litre EcoBoost petrolengine, delivering improved fuel economy andlower CO2 emissions, arrived in showrooms inDecember.

For the first time, the model is also availablewith two different petrol-electric powertrains, atraditional Ford Mondeo Hybrid, and a plug-inHybrid known as the Mondeo Energi will beavailable this quarter.

Jennings Ford sells the entire range of newmodels in the popular Ford range and inaddition to the all-new Ford Focus and Mondeomodels, customers can also take advantage ofthe Ka, Fiesta, Fiesta ST, Focus ST, C-MAX, B-MAX, Kuga, S-MAX, Galaxy and the all-newEcoSport, which are on display and available totest drive at Jennings Ford.

Customers can also take advantage of anumber of after sales facilities, including serviceand MOT’s, in addition to accident repaircentres and parts departments.

For more information about the range ofproducts and services available at JenningsFord, contact Gateshead on (0191) 460 7464,Middlesbrough on (01642) 240 055, Stocktonon (01642) 632 200, or visitwww.jenningsmotorgroup.co.uk

M O T O R S

All-new Focus and Mondeo modelsavailable at Jennings Ford The last quarter of 2014 saw two new models being introduced to the

family at Jennings Ford, part of the Jennings Motor Group.

Colin Massey, sales manager at Jennings Ford inMiddlesbrough, with the new Ford Focus model

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Unless you have been living under a rockfor the last few decades, there are a fewthings you should know as fact ratherthan theory by now – exercise is good for

you, smoking is bad for you and food choicesdictate your overall health. Now, if I may drawyour attention to the word ‘choice’.

Your health and well-being, not to mentionyour body shape and fitness, are all set by thefoods you choose to eat, whether that’s somethingyou may not of known or something you fail toacknowledge makes no difference, it’s as simpleas that. If you choose to eat a diet devoid ofnutrients, then your diet in turn will leave yourbody devoid of nutrients, simple.

Your body will adapt to what you expose it tomost. If you consume large quantities of refinedsimple sugars (which your body will happily storeas fat) your body will take on a certain shape as aresult of that stored body fat.

I am not a big believer in overcomplicatingmatters just to sound clever, so here it is: cutsimple sugar out of your daily diet, and your bodycomposition will improve and you will be muchhealthier as a result. Interested? Then you willneed to know a bit more…

Sugar or carbohydrate can present itself aseither simple or complex. All simplecarbohydrates are made of just one or two sugarmolecules, hence they are the quickest source of

energy and are very quickly digested. This maysound like a useful food to have around, but asthe examples will show – these foods are withoutsustenance. Examples of simple sugars include:table sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, honey,maple syrup, jams, jellies, fruit drinks, soft drinksand candy.

Complex carbohydrates, on the other hand,may be referred to as dietary starch and are richin fibre, and are thus satisfying and healthpromoting. They are often found in whole plantfoods and are for that reason high in vitaminsand minerals. Examples of complexcarbohydrates include: fruits, green vegetables,peppers, starchy vegetables (such as sweetpotatoes and potatoes), corn and pumpkin. Youcan also find complex carbohydrates in beans,lentils and peas, as well as whole grains andfoods made from the latter, such as oats, pasta,rice and whole grain breads.

From the above examples it’s pretty clear thatsimple sugars should be largely avoided, omittedand have no place in a healthy diet. Complexcarbohydrates, conversely, are more fibrous andnourishing and are therefore a better choice.

So, with simple sugars off the menu, let’s takea closer look at our complex carbohydrates, asthey are not all created equal.

Some complex carbohydrates are better foryou than others and this can be seen through a

food’s glycemic index or load, which refers to afood’s impact on blood sugar and insulin levels.

A high glycemic index or glycemic loadindicates a higher blood sugar and insulin spike.Insulin is a storage hormone made by thepancreas that allows our bodies to use sugar fromcarbohydrates. It helps keep our blood sugar fromgetting too high or too low. Too much sugar overa sustained period of time can damage the body’sability to use insulin effectively.

Starchier foods such as white rice, pasta andwhite bread elicit a much higher glycemicresponse or blood sugar/insulin spike and shouldbe kept to a minimum for optimal bodycomposition. Dark green leafy vegetables andother fibrous carbohydrates such as brown rice,lentils and beans elicit a much lower bloodglucose response. It is for this reason that theseshould be the common choice of dietarycarbohydrate.

For sustained energy throughout the day,better body composition, improvedconcentration, and better overall health – bloodsugar is best kept consistent as opposed to thefluctuation of sharp rises and sheer drops, whichwould be the case if your daily diet is largelycomposed of simple sugars and starchycarbohydrates. Choose your foods wisely.

For more information, visit www.be-fit.co.uk

W E L L - B E I N G

Be-Fit’s Will St Leger on the perils of simple sugars in our diet.

Sugar: making the right choice

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I N T E R V I E W

When I was growing up, I wanted tobe a professional footballer. I didmanage one trial with Newcastle United,although anyone who has seen me play willknow why it was unsuccessful.

My first job was as a fitness andnutritional advisor. It was an interestingjob looking at people’s eating habits andtraining regimes, then devising ways ofimproving these through a mix of supplementsand whatever training ideas were popular atthe time.

I’d tell my 18-year-old self not to wishmy life away. Always be patient and taketime to think things through, enjoy a fewholidays with your mates before settling downand generally enjoy life.

I’m inspired by ambitious, honest

and hardworking people. On apersonal level, I am inspired to succeed whenother people don’t think it can be done. Myparents always used to say that you can achieveanything if you work hard enough (with theexception of my aforementioned footballskills).

My greatest achievement isdefinitely the birth of my son, Alfie.Passing my driving test at the seventh attempthas got to be in my top ten, too.

When I need a helping hand, I turnto people who have moreexperience than me. However, if it’sanything to do with DIY then I would turn tomy wife.

One of my favourite songs isGrooving by UB40. I’m not sure where my

taste in music came from, but I’ve always likedthem. They are playing here in Newcastle thisMay so I will definitely have my dancing shoeson for that concert.

In my spare time I like to socialisewith my friends and family. I also likeeating out. I have a couple of favourites,including Babucho on Newcastle Quaysideand also Peace and Loaf in Jesmond – bothhave a really good atmosphere and the food isexceptional.

In five years time I hope myfamily are all fit and healthy andthat my career is progressing well.Hopefully, my lovely dog Lola will havestopped chewing everything in sight bythen…

www.concept-group.co.uk

Get to know me ...Stewart Hunter

Area sales manager atConcept Group.

North East Times Magazine - February 2015

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Transcript of North East Times Magazine - February 2015