Pace of growth in the region slows but new orders stay buoyant
Business activity in the East of England grew at a slower pace in January although it was above the UK average and new orders and employment continued to rise in the region. The Lloyds Bank regional PMI survey for the East fell to 56.4 in January, down from 59.8 in December. But average prices for raw materials, salaries and fuel rose at the fastest pace in almost six years, prompting many firms to raise prices. Steve Elsom, regional director for the East of England at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, said: “Firms across the East of England kicked off the new year on a strong footing, with significant growth of order books, business activity and new jobs. There were, however, signs of inflationary pressure due to the weaker pound and a slight stall in economic growth in comparison with December, which could affect price-conscious consumers in the coming months.”
Norfolk-based freight forwarder acquired by Dutch group
Freight forwarder UFS, based in Thetford, has been acquired by a Dutch logistics company IRF Holdings BV, which was advised by law firm Prettys. The Dutch group has worked alongside UFS for over 20 years and the deal will enable it to expand further into the UK and grow across Europe. Prettys’ corporate and commercial team managed the acquisition with support from its commercial property team. Fred Lagarde, director, IRF, said: “Prettys provided us with the right advice and support to ensure that everything could progress smoothly. The acquisition of UFS will allow us to substantially grow our business and continue to meet the needs of our customers.”
Miz Choudhury, solicitor, Prettys said: “IRF is a long standing client and we were pleased to bring together specialists from across the business to support their business growth.”
Financial tech group opens in Ipswich
SETL, a specialist in financial blockchain - a web-based transaction-processing and settlement system - has opened a global engineering centre in Ipswich. The new centre will create 10 new jobs, including blockchain and technology architects - taking the firm's total staff to 24 - and will support its global growth ambitions. The firm's operations in Ipswich will be overseen by CTO Nicholas Pennington. Opening the new office, Ipswich MP Ben Gummer (photo, left) said: "They are the latest of a number of businesses choosing to locate in our tech hub. Suffolk has a thriving ICT sector, with the University of Suffolk ensuring that there is a pipeline of new local talent. Taken together with Norfolk, we have the third highest concentration of science and research parks in the country.” SETL joins more than 70 growing tech businesses based in the Ipswich area which form part of the New Anglia LEP.
Enterprise agencies merge
Nwes is to merge with fellow enterprise agency, NBV, which is based in the East Midlands. Nwes has a wide property portfolio across the region including managed workspace at Riverside Business Centre, OrbisEnergy in Lowestoft, and Suffolk Enterprise Centre in Ipswich’s Felaw Maltings. The move follows Nwes’ recent merger with London Small Business Centre and creates the largest enterprise agency in the UK. Nwes CEO Kevin Horne said: “The merger forms part of our careful expansion programme to offer more services, to assist more people, and to continue to encourage enterprise and innovation in both the eastern region and the Midlands. Our existing and new clients and tenants will benefit from access to a wider range of business advisors, properties, products and services and will also be part of a bigger network."
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Event to look at making Cambs more productive
Ways to make Cambridgeshire more progressive and productive and plans for achieving it, will be discussed at an event at the Imperial Museum at Duxford next month organised by Grant Thornton UK with Cambridge Ahead. The Cambridge Live Lab, on Thursday 16 March, will bring together over 250 senior people from the private, public and third sectors to stimulate ideas and actions to help build a 'greater Cambrideshire'. Those attending will include Cambridge City Council, Peterborough City Council, University of Cambridge, Cambridge United FC , leading businesses such as Quixant, Mick George and Cambridge Buildiing Society, and Grant Thornton chief executive Sacha Romanovitch. The event is part of Grant Thornton’s nationwide ‘vibrant economy’ campaign and one in a series of city inquiries being held across the country. In an index of the 324 local authorities, Cambridge emerged as the most ‘vibrant’ place in England, offering the best balance between economic growth, innovation, social equality, health and happiness. Darren Bear, practice leader at Grant Thornton’s Cambridge office, said “Our businesses, educational establishments, public sector organisations and communities have all helped to build a world-renowned economy to be proud of. But we think there’s more that we can achieve. By working collaboratively, we can shape an even more innovative and prosperous economy which is greater than the sum of its parts.”
Property firm appoints graduate surveyor
Rapleys, a national property and planning consultancy based in Huntingdon, has appointed a new graduate surveyor, Oliver Feely, to its building construction & project management team. He will specialise in dilapidations, contract administration, costings and general building surveying. He grew up in Cambridge and completed his degree at Nottingham Trent University whilst also working part time for Suffolk Housing Association. He will be based at Rapleys’ East Anglian head office and will work with clients on a variety of projects and across different sectors.
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Barker Storey Matthews’ Peterborough office has sold the former Anglian Water depot and adjacent land fronting Padholme Road, Eastern Industry to the city's largest car dealer SW Car Supermarket. The dealership has moved from Saville Road on to the new property - which comprises a 21,000 sq ft building on a site of 3.68 acres- and refurbished it.
Bidwells’ planning team has been shortlisted as a finalist for the category for 'excellence in planning to create economically successful places' for the Royal Town Planning Institute’s awards for planning excellence 2017 for the CB1 Masterplan. CB1 is Brookgate’s new city quarter being developed around Cambridge station.
Law firm Prettys is expanding its family law department with the appointment of senior associate Matt Clemence. He previously worked at Prettys between 2003 and 2009 before joining Newmarket firm Edmondson Hall and specialises in high net worth complex financial cases which often include businesses, trusts, overseas property and has wide experience in farming cases. Georgie Hall, partner and head of family law at Prettys, said; "His experience will be a huge benefit to our clients, especially those who wish to take a collaborative approach using Talking Works, our innovative dispute resolution service.”
Newly-qualified Norfolk accountant Lauren Day, who works for Larking Gowen, has been awarded the ACCA gold medal for the highest global score over the final tier of five professional exams. An aggregate score of 416 marks out of 500 left her top of a class of 5,000. It earns her the title of Top Affiliate from the December 2016 exam session and an award of £500.