LDM-E01-S2 LM03 MONDAY, APRIL 14, 2014 LEICESTER MERCURY 27leicestermercur y.co.uk

BUSINESS DA I LY

Future of firm secure asexpansion plan unveiled

BOOST: NEW PREMISES ACQUIRED AND JOBS TO BE CREATED

by ISOBEL FRODSHAM

Demotion after failing to be re-appointed

PICTURE: ANDY BAKER / LEAB20130830J-012_C

POSITIVE: From left, Zula Parmar, John Connell,Kiran Gohel, Surrekha Chouhan and Anand Gohel, at Mint Securities, London Road, Leicester

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A safety deposit company isexpanding into new premisesand creating jobs less than twoyears after launching.

Mint Securities, which has itsmain premises offering safety de-posit in London Road, Leicester,has acquired a 6,000 sq ft ware-house in Macdonald Road, Bel-grave, for their business.

The London Road safety depositbox depot opened in October insidethe former Allied Irish Bank fol-lowing a £1 million investment.

The new Belgrave site is being

refurbished, and will open in June.The business was launched in Oc-tober 2012 by Surekha Chouhanand John Connell after many highstreet banks decided to withdrawtheir safety deposit box services.

Joint managing director SurekhaChouhan said: “We ’re providing aservice to give people a peace ofmind because banks are withdraw-ing this service.

“This is a more secure serviceand our insurance premiums aremuch lower than other busi-n e s s e s. ”

Ms Chouhan said she and Mr

Connell had to find a location forthe business which had good ac-c e s s.

She said: “Our criteria was cus-tomers had free secure parking.

“This is so that they wouldn’t bewalking the streets with theirvaluables, making them vulner-abl e.

“London Road has nine spacesand Macdonald Road has six.”

The company employs six people,and plans to recruit a furthersix for their Macdonald Roadb r a n ch .

She said they were also lookingto expand further afield and arelooking

at sites in Birmingham. She said:“We can’t say what our turnover is,due to confidentiality, but it is in-creasing each month. We hope toexpand nationwide.”

Most banks provided safe depositboxes to current account holdersfor a yearly fee.

But because of cost-cutting meas-ures, they are now being phasedout by many.

Barclays bank blamed storage is-sues for withdrawing its boxes andsaid the scheme had become com-plex and costly.

Lloyds and NatWest have alsoclosed their service to newc u s t o m e r s.

THE only female chiefexecutive of aLeicestershire-based stock mar-ket-listed company has beendemoted.

Louise George had held the role athi-tech scanning firm Image Scan,of Barrow-upon-Soar, since 2009.

However, after failing to be re-ap-pointed to the board as chief exec-utive by shareholders, she has ac-

cepted the role of finance director.She has also regained her place onthe board.

William Mawer, who had beenworking as a consultant with thebusiness for four months, has be-come chief executive. Mr Maweralso took over the role of chairmanfrom Brian Emslie, who stooddown on Friday.

Image Scan, which trades as 3DX-Ray and employs 16 people, makesthree-dimensional scanners usedto detect terrorist devices at air-ports and railway stations. MrMawer has held senior positions atSmiths Detection, a world leader insecurity X-ray technology.

Nick Fox, founder and formerchief executive of Image Scan, has

stood down from the board andhas been replaced by Dr RichardL e ave r.

Ms George, one of the finalists inlast year’s Leicester Mercury Busi-ness Executive of the Year Awards,oversaw the company’s first-everprofit in its 16-year history in 2011-12. However, the companymade to a loss last year.

Tributes as townsolicitor retiresA SOLICITOR has retired after 30 years of workingin a Leicestershire town.

Peter Chadwick has taken early retirementfrom QualitySolicitors Mander Cruickshank, inBelvoir Road, Coalville.

Originally from Merseyside, Mr Chadwick ar-rived in Leicestershire in the 1970s to study at theformer Leicestershire Polytechnic.

Mr Chadwick, who is married to Sarah and hastwo grown up children, Alice and Nick, said: “It’sbeen a pleasure to serve the people of this townand I’ve made many friends, so while I’m lookingforward to the future there is somewhat of aheavy heart.

“Law has changed beyond recognition but whath a s n’t is the good high street solicitor.”

Fellow partner Jim Abbott said: “I speak foreveryone when I say we shall all miss Petergreatly. We shall be poorer without his wit andwar mth.”

PR awards shortlistA COMMUNICATIONS agency is in the finals of aglobal PR industry awards.

Word Association, in Hinckley, has been shortl-isted in the CIPR Excellence Awards.

It is one of six finalists up for the best externalpublication award for a commemorative book theteam produced for Walsall Housing Group.

The book is called The Home That Jack Built, tocelebrate the group’s 10th anniversary.

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