kirklees business news 07/05/13

KIRKLEES BUSINESS NEWSThe business NEWSpaper for Kir k lees7, May, 2013

INSIDE

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Feed the need for dataCo lumn - Page 5

An EXAMINER publication

Walkingthe walkTHREE members ofBirstall-basedmarketing agencyFantastic Media willwalk the length of theLondon Marathon toraise cash for breastcancer charities.Donna Gardner, BethSaville and Emily Smithwill take part in theMoonwalk London,which begins atmidnight on May 11 atBattersea PowerStation in London.They will jointhousands of peoplepower walking 26.2miles through the cityto raise money andawareness for breastcancer.

PressingaheadA HUDDERSFIELD firmis helping make lifeeasier for people fed upof wasting their timecalling automatedphone systems.Edgerton-based ITpractice BrighterConnections providedtechnical know-how forPlease Press 1, aweb-based firm whichhelps consumers“press ahead” to getthrough to the servicethey require rather thanwade through a menuof “please press”options.

ANDREW FIRTH

exam

iner

.co.

uk Themosttrustednewsbrandin thebusiness

ANDREW CHALLENER

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Companies drivingto create new jobsTWO Huddersfield companies are drivingahead to create more jobs.

Northgate Vehicle Rental is creating 10jobs immediately and expects to recruit afurther eight people with the opening of anew depot in the town.

And Quarmby Garage expects to doubleits staffing numbers after landing a keycontract with the AA.

Northgate Vehicle Hire has set up opera-tions on a site formerly occupied by itsvehicle sales arm at Red Doles Lane, offLeeds Road, Deighton.

The firm is creating 10 jobs straight awayand expects to generate another eight jobswithin the first three years of operating at thesite by providing workshop facilities.

The new depot, which includes a comfort-able waiting area, will house up to 45 vehiclesat one time.

Andrea Cowburn, area operations man-ager for Northgate Vehicle Hire, said: “Hud-dersfield has a strong business heritagewhich remains buoyant to this day and withthat comes the need for a national flexiblevehicle hire provider with the resource tofully service the varying demands of localbusinesses.

“Through the launch of our Huddersfielddepot we intend to meet those needs.

“The area has a strong manufacturingheritage and – as a result – a significantnumber of businesses in the area fall into thisindustry sector.

“Construction, wholesale and retail tradeare also prominent industries for Hudders-field – industry sectors that Northgate has awealth of experience in dealing with, makingour competitive packages all the moreappealing and relevant for local businessowners.

“We are confident that this, paired withour impressive new facilities, will aid in ourcontinued success this year.”

Meanwhile, Quarmby Garage, based atQuarmby, has been named an approvedgarage for the AA’s roadside recovery ser-vice.

The garage, which is owned by Philip andG i l l i a n Ro b i n s o n , i s a l r e a dy a nRAC-approved repair centre.

It provides the full range of vehicle repairand servicing for cars and light van alongwith vehicle recovery for cars, vans andmotorcycles.

It has been entrusted to transporthigh-powered sports cars, including Bugattisand Lamborghinis as well as winning cus-tomer service awards under the West York-shire Motor Trade Partnership – which isbacked by West Yorkshire Trading Stand-ards – for nine years on the trot.

The latest success means the family firm,which was set up in 1947 by Philip’s parents,James Edwards Robinson and Betty IreneRobinson, is now recruiting drivers andmechanics.

The AA contract, which may be extendedfrom one to five years, means QuarmbyGarage will operate on behalf of the AA torecover vehicles within a 10-mile radius of itsbase.

The firm has also won plaudits from oneof its long-standing customers.

Paul Mulcock, of Slaithwaite-based exec-utive search and selection firm BroadoakSolutions, said: “I have bought my last sixcars from Philip and the team and havealways received outstanding service.

“They were even able restore my32-year-old Land Rover!”

■ DRIVE-IN: Andrea Cowburn (above, right), area operationsmanager for Northgate Vehicle Hire, with new business managersPaul Rodney and Tamara Nikitin; Below – Gillian Robinson,co-owner of Quarmby Garage, with mechanic Gareth Bottomley

Iceland unveils new online shopping serviceFROZEN foods chain Iceland hasbegun trials of a new online shoppingservice.

The company, founded by GrangeMoor-born chairman and chief exec-utive Malcolm Walker, is piloting thescheme in a number of stores in theNorth West, the North East, Londonand the South West.

The firm said initial results were“very encouraging”. The service will beextended further to selected Icelandstores throughout the UK in the com-ing months.

The new service allows customers toplace orders up to 10pm for free deliv-ery the next day, subject to a minimumorder value of £25.

The online offering builds on Ice-land’s long-established free homedelivery service for customer purchasesin store of £25 or more – which isalready making more than 180,000deliveries a week.

Customers registering on the Ice-land online shopping website athttp://groceries.iceland.co.uk are ableto choose from the full range available

at their local Iceland store if it isalready participating in the trial – or toregister their interest when the serviceis extended to their area.

Iceland, which has stores at Aspleyand Trinity Street in Huddersfield andat Batley Shopping Centre, has alsoinvested £250,000 investment in a newcentre of excellence at Iceland’s headoffice in Deeside, where training will beprovided to home delivery drivers,in-store pickers and store managers.

And the firm has signed a five-yeardeal with Mercedes-Benz Road Range

Ltd to replace its entire home deliveryfleet of 1,300 vehicles with new Mer-cedes-Benz Sprinter vans.

Mr Walker said: “Iceland was thefirst UK food retailer to launch anationwide online shopping service aslong ago as 1999 – but maintaining itwas not a priority when I was facedwith the challenge of turning around anear-bankrupt company on my returnto the business in 2005.

“Now the time is right to re-launchthe service, building on our well-estab-lished home delivery infrastructure.”

Spirit of adventure

KIRKLEES BUSINESS NEWS national Cyberalert forfirmsMORE Yorkshirebusinesses than everface the threat of losingconfidential informationthrough cyber attacks,according to research bythe Department forBusiness, Innovation andSkills.

The 2013 InformationSecurity BreachesSurvey, carried out byaccountancy firm PwC,showed that 65% of firmsin the region experiencedan unauthorised outsideattack in the last year.

Some 81% ofcompanies surveyedexperienced staff-relatedincidents – 65% beingmisuse of email access.

William Richardson,forensic services partnerat PwC in WestYorkshire, said: “UK andYorkshire businessesface more advancedthreats than ever beforefrom unauthorisedoutsiders.

“The business worldhas changed andcompanies of all sizes, inall countries and acrossindustries, are nowroutinely sharinginformation acrossbusiness borders,whether it's withbusiness partners oremployees’ personaldevices.

“Cyber security iscritical. It is no longeronly an IT challenge;business leaders need tomake sure they areprotecting what is mostcritical to theirorganisation’s growthand reputation.”

He said:“Organisations also needto make sure that theway they are spendingtheir money in the controlof cyber threats iseffective.

“Spending on cybercontrol as a percentageof an organisation’s ITbudget is up this yearfrom an average of 8% to10%, but the number ofbreaches and theirimpact is also up as wellso it is clear that there iswork to be done inmeasuring theeffectiveness of thesecurity spend.”

The survey comes asthe Technology StrategyBoard extends itsInnovation Vouchersscheme to allow smalland medium enterprisesto bid for up to £5,000from a £500,000 pot toimprove their cybersecurity by bringing inoutside expertise.

BIS is also publishingguidance to help smallbusinesses put cybersecurity higher up theagenda and make it partof their normal businessrisk managementprocedures.

SMEs in plea for tax cutsMORE than a third of businessesacross Yorkshire believe a cut in taxesis vital to encourage growth and getthe economy back on track.

The latest Close Brothers BusinessBarometer showed that 37% of ownersof small and medium-sized businessesacross the region wanted to see areduction in VAT in the last budgetannouncement.

However, while Chancellor GeorgeOsborne increased the registrationthreshold slightly from £77,000 to£79,000, the standard VAT rateremained at 20%.

The survey also revealed that 29%of local business owners are in favourof cutting income tax to help boostdisposable income and increasecapital spending power.

Mike Randall, chief executive ofClose Brothers Asset Finance, said:“Business owners are looking formeasures that will stimulate growthand drive the economy forward.

“Trading conditions remain verytough for small firms, but they areresilient. In fact, our barometer showsthat 16% of SMEs across Yorkshireand Humberside have plans for

expansion in the next 12 months.“However, to achieve their full

potential, firms must ensure they havea carefully considered financialstrategy in place to facilitate theseplans for growth.

“It is more important than ever thatcredit flows to businesses and thatthey understand that there are anumber of smart funding options theycan utilise.

“We are trying to raise awareness ofhow asset finance can help to facilitateinvestment for growth.”■ GROWTH: Mike Randall, of

Close Brothers Asset Finance

Company secures sponsorship agreementA BRIGHOUSE company supplyinglocks has been named as a sponsorof the Neighbourhood and HomeWatch Network.Avocet Hardware, based atBrookfoot Mills, manufactures theABS Snap Secure lock, whichfeatures a patented system thatguarantees against lock snapping –a common means of forced entryinto people’s homes.Now it will join NeighbourhoodWatch in raising awareness abouthome security issues.Michael Tuck, managing director ofAvocet Hardware, said the rise inlock snapping was directly related tothe increased use of uPVC and otherdouble glazed doors – which arefitted as standard with a Eurocylinder lock that can be snappedand removed in a matter of secondsusing nothing more than simple DIYtools.Mr Tuck said the firm’s ABS SnapSecure lock had been designed

specifically to prevent this crime. Itwas one of the first locks of its typeto be accredited to the new BritishStandard TS007 and was the onlyretro-fit euro cylinder that haspassed the new SS312 Sold SecureDiamond standard as well as beingapproved by Secured by Design.”Jim Madden, chairman of theNeighbourhood and Home WatchNetwork, said: “As with any crime,prevention is always our goal, whichis why we are delighted to haveAvocet Hardware on-board as aprimary sponsor.”Leeds City Council has seen 10,000ABS Snap Secure locks installed inhomes across east Leeds since2010. The move has contributed –along with other police initiatives –to a 36% fall in burglary rates in theyear to October, 2012. That equatesto 3,200 fewer victims than theprevious year.

■ KEY PLAYERS: Avocet Hardware marketing manager Derrick Purvis(left) with (from left) managing director Michael Tuck; ABS Secure nationalsales manager Gemma Attiwell; Neighbourhood Watch chairman JimMadden and operations director Kate Daisley

Vietnam venture’ssix-figure fundingA KIRKLEES company has securedsix-figure funding to support the devel-opment of a new factory in Vietnam.

Dewsbury-based Magma Ceramicsand Catalysts has completed the fund-ing deal from HSBC for £600,000 tohelp develop a 6,000sq metres facilitybetween Hanoi and north Vietnam’sm a i n i n t e r n at i o n a l s e a p o r t ,Haiphong.

Magma has chosen the premier ofVietnamese industrial estates, the DaiAn industrial zone, as the base of itsoperations and has worked with theindustrial zone and its chairwoman,Truong Tu Phuong, to set up theplant.

The factory will be operational inJuly and the company will use it tomake refractory ceramic products thatwill be used by the glass, alloy and steelindustries.

Magma also plans to use the facilityas a platform for growth in the SouthEast Asia market as well as takingadvantage of Vietnam’s burgeoningpetro-chemical industry.

The company has secured the fin-ance from HSBC’s Calderdale,Kirklees and Wakefield commercialteam. The deal was led on behalf of thebank by senior international commer-cial manager David Sharp.

In addition to finance relating to thecompany’s expansion, HSBC alsoprovides banking services in Brazil andVietnam for the business.

Magma Ceramics and Catalysts wasformed in February, 2010, following amanagement buy-out of the formerDyson Group business, Dyson Preci-sion Ceramics.

It has grown from a turnover of£1.6m in its first year of operation to£6m last year and is on course todeliver £10m in 2013.

The company believes the Vietnamfacility will be contributing up to £5mto turnover within two years of opera-tion.

Magma employs 52 people at itsEarlsheaton headquarters and recentlyestablished a plant in Brazil to focus onthe manufacture of a range of catalyst

products for customers operating inthe petrochemical and natural gas mar-kets.

Magma Ceramics & Catalysts nowsupplies a wide range of refractory,

ceramic and catalyst materialsthroughout the world – with 80% of itsproduction entering the export mar-ket.

Managing director Mark Stuckeysaid: “This facility is a strong strategicacquisition for us because it enables usto manufacture ceramic products atvolume, strengthens sales opportunit-ies with South East Asia and is in agood location to support Vietnam’sgrowing petro-chemical industry.

“HSBC’s support has been import-ant to the success of the project and I’dlike to thank Dave and the team fortheir work.”

Jason Gledhill, HSBC’s Calderdale,Kirklees and Wakefield area commer-cial director, who is based in Hudders-field, said: “This is Magma’s secondinternational manufacturing facilityand demonstrates the innovative andproactive nature of the company.

“They are taking their business towhere their customers want them to beand it is exactly the type of businessHSBC is keen to support.”

■ SUPPORT: Jason Gledhill, HSBCarea commercial director forCalderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield

KIRKLEES BUSINESS NEWS profile

AndrewChallener

Howarths

HENRYK ZIENTEK

Role: Solicitor(non-practising)Age: 53Car: Audi TTHolidays: My last holi-day was in Singaporeand Malaysia in January.In 2011, I spent severalmonths travelling theworld.First job: Computeroperator at Next (formerlyHepworth’s Tailoring) inLeedsBest thing about job:Meeting people and theopportunity to deal withclients face to faceWorst thing aboutjob: Lawyers with bigegosBusiness tip: If youare happy in your workyou are in the right job

Work: Employment lawspecialistSite: CleckheatonEmployees: 14Phone: 01274 864999Email: [email protected]:www.howarths-uk.com

Thedreamcomestrue

ADVENTUROUS AndrewChallener was always interestedin a career in the law.

Having left school with ahandful of O-level, he went to ParkLane College in Leeds toundertake a business diplomawhich included law.

It was here that he discoveredhis love of the subject – takingextra examinations includingO-level and A-level law alongsidethe diploma.

After securing a place at LeedsUniversity to study law, Andrewtook a summer job working in thecomputer department atHepworth’s – later to berebranded Next – in Leeds.

The law career wasspectacularly derailed, however,when he was offered a full-timejob in IT with the Leeds firm.

“The chance to earn goodmoney straight away rather thanspend several years studying andtraining as a barrister was quitetempting for an 18-year-old,” saysAndrew.

A successful career in ITfollowed with Andrew becomingself-employed and providing ITservices to the likes of Asda, IBM,Santander, Royal Mail, Bank ofScotland and other largecompanies over the course of a20-year freelance career.

“Being self-employed meantthat I had to rely on my reputationfor hard work and professionalismin order to secure continuouscontracts and keep workingthrough some difficult economictimes,” he says.

“Those ethics have served mewell throughout my career and areas valid today as they always havebeen.”

Despite a happy and successfulcareer in IT, the law career henever had was always at the backof Andrew’s mind.

In 1998, Andrew took up therole of leading a small team ofanalysts in testing IT systems on amillennium project for Asda inLeeds.

He says: “It was during thiscontract which I knew would runpast January, 2000, that I thoughtabout studying law part-time atLeeds University, some 20 yearslate!

“Having been initially acceptedby Leeds University, theycancelled the part-time course.”

Fortunately, Leeds Metropolitanwere running a part-time courseand Andrew enrolled on that twoevenings a week while continuingto work full time on the millenniumproject.

Andrew says: “At times, it wasdifficult to combine studying with

working.“For four years studying had to

be incorporated into a weekendthat already seemed too short! Iwas not sure I would be able tosee the course through, but atChristmas in the first year atuniversity I had to miss someChristmas parties to write anessay about European law.

“I questioned my commitment tothe course at that stage, buthaving made the decision to studyover socialising I was determinedto see it through and graduated in2003.”

It was at university that Andrewmet Andy Howarth, founder ofHowarth’s Employment Law, whois now his employer.

They studied together for fouryears and both elected to studyemployment law in their final year.

“Employment law was myfavourite subject at university,”says Andrew.

“I was fascinated by how themix of legislation and case lawmeshed together and how it couldbe related to the real world andthe working environment of all ofus.”

After completing the postgraduate Legal Practice Course inYork, Andrew started a trainingcontract with a high street firm in

Leeds where he was exposed tomany different areas of law, beforemoving to Eversheds’ in Leedswhere he specialised incommercial property.

“The big firm experience is onethat I relished and I learned a lotfrom my time there,” he says. “Thedownturn in the market in2008-2009 meant that the firmwent through two restructuringexercises.

“Although not directly affected, itwas a shock to see a number ofyour colleagues losing their jobs –seeing the impact of employmentlaw at work and its real effect onpeople.”

Outside of work Andrew’s mainpassion is music. In the 1990s, hewas a regular visitor to New Yorkto attend music festivals, he haspromoted little known US bandson tours in the UK and also set up,with a like-minded businesspartner, a web-based music storeto make US music available to aEuropean wide audience.

In 2011, Andrew embarked on around the world trip, theculmination of a life-long ambition.

He was able to catch up withold friends who had made newlives in Singapore, Brisbane,Sydney and Auckland in NewZealand as well as making manynew friends whilst travellingaround India and Vietnam inparticular.

“In Australia I was lucky enoughto realise another of my life timeambitions and dive with sharks,”he says. “That was an amazingexperience. Even though the greynurse sharks were up to threemetres in length and looked

■ LOOKING FORWARD: Andrew Challener is relishing the next stageof his career with employment law specialist Howarths

fearsome, they do not tend to attackhumans so I could relax andappreciate these huge endangeredcreatures.”

Another life-long ambition wasrealised when he hired a car in Miamiand drove the length of the FloridaKeys, stopping at Key Largo to payhomage to his favourite movie actor,Humphrey Bogart.

His wanderings have not beenwithout a few close shaves.

Andrew was due to arrive inBrisbane at the same time as acyclone! The cyclone moved furthernorth at the last minute and hitTownsville as Andrew’s plane landed inBrisbane.

In New Zealand, he was headingtowards Christchurch when the bigearthquake hit– and missed it by fourhours. While watching the news helearned that a boat had sunk inHa-long Bay in Vietnam – where hehad been only two weeks before.

He landed in Fiji a few hours afterhis hotel had been evacuated as aprecaution against the tsunamifollowing the earthquake in Japan anda volcano erupted on the Big Island inHawaii the day before he flew toHonolulu.

Commenting on the New Zealandquake, he says: “At one of the fewgarages outside Christchurch that hadfuel left, I queued with a number ofevacuees who were all escaping thecarnage, but all were concerned aboutfriends and family still unaccounted for.

“The courage and resolve of thosepeople was a real inspiration. I thinkabout them often when I am feelinghard done by. Perspective is awonderful thing.”

Andrew said his travels “rechargedmy batteries and made me think about

what I wanted to do with my life”.He says: “I was not sure exactly

what the next phase of my law careerwould be, but thought that I needed totip the work-life balance scales more infavour of life.”

Refreshed by his expedition, Andrewjoined Bradford and Leeds law firmGordons before meeting up again withAndy Howarth, who invited him to visitthe Cleckheaton office for a lookround.

Says Andrew: ““I knew very quicklythat I wanted to work at Howarth’s. Iwas thrilled when the subject of mejoining the team was raised. Thedecision did not take long to make.

“I am relishing this next stage of mycareer.”

KIRKLEES BUSINESSlocal

Neil Wilson is an employment lawyer at Chadwick Lawrence Solicitors

EMPLOYER’SBRIEFNeil Wilson

IT firm is pressing aheadA HUDDERSFIELD firm is helpingmake life easier for people fed up ofwasting their time calling automatedphone systems.

IT practice Brighter Connectionsprovided technical know-how forPlease Press 1, a web-based companywhich helps consumers “press ahead”to get through to the service theyrequire rather than wade through amenu of “please press” options.

Edgerton-based BrighterConnections was approached byPlease Press 1 founder Nigel Clarkeabout 12 months ago.

The technical team at BrighterConnections had already demonstratedtheir relevant IT skills working on theonline voting system for BAFTAs.

Nigel set up Please Press 1 aftergetting frustrated with facing aseemingly endless list of menu optionswhen phoning utility, insurance orphone companies.

He explained: “I could sit there forminutes that seemed like hours, tryingto get through their phone menus onlyto end up at the wrong place andhaving to redial and start again!

“I once took nearly three minutes togo through seven levels of menus, onlyfor a robot voice to tell me they wereclosed.”

Ben Jefferson (pictured), technicaldirector at Brighter Connections, said:“The technical skill set required and theprinciples behind Please Press 1 werea close match to our own skills andbusiness principles of helpingcustomers to profit from IT through

reducing costs, increasing productivityand applying innovative thinking.

“It was an easy decision for us towant to work with a company that wasdriven by a desire to improve customerservice, help the consumer savemoney and achieve this through aninnovative idea that needed to beturned into a reality.”

Nigel said: “I knew from our earlyresearch that the process to create,develop and manage and then presentthe database of phone menus wouldbe technically challenging, requireclear assessment of the best optionsand need a lot of flexibility to work inpartnership to turn the evolvingresearch work into a fully functioning,well-managed robust system.

“Ben and the Brighter team ticked allthe boxes and delivered excellently onall fronts.

“They really helped progress anddevelop my original concepts withmany great and creative solutions,always thinking a few steps ahead andwere able to help turn the ideas intoreality.

“They also worked well with the frontend developers in design,development, testing and issueresolution.”

Seeking socialentrepreneursTHE search is on to find the UK’most promising and inspiring socialentrepreneurs.School for Startups and BarBusiness Banking hacompetition, which is open to allsocial entrepreneur30 who have been running socialenterprises for less than twFive lucky winners will get a yworth of intensive supporgrow their social enteras the chance to attend the globalyoung leaders’ forum One YWorld in Johannesblater this year.As part of the selection prof the country's most eentrepreneurs will be inattend a one-day courRichard’s School for Starwill focus on defining and grsocial enterprise.Those attending the trMay 20 at Barclays’ Londonheadquarters will benefit frinvaluable training and advicethe ultimate prize, apitch to an expert panel made up ofrepresentatives from BarSchool for Startups and otherbusiness leaders.The five winners, selected on thequality and sustainaidea, as well as their bacumen, will go on to rone-year programme of intensisupport and business accelerincluding one-to-one mentoring fra top Barclays executithe Central Working Hub in London,access to online knowledge andsupport community BarConnector, a range of bworkshops and training in London, afull pack of leading bsoftware and the chance to aglobal young leaderYoung World in JohannesbTo apply for a place aday go towww.schoolforstartups/barclays

Furniture retailerbacks watchdogA FURNITURE retailer with stores inKirklees has joined an industry bodycommitted to raising standards,improving service and inspiringconsumer confidence.Harveys, which has more than 150 storesnationwide – 31 of them in the north andincluding ones at Leeds Road Retail Parkin Huddersfield and West YorkshireRetail Park in Birstall, has joined theFurniture Ombudsman.As well as promoting best practice in thefurniture retail sector, the FurnitureOmbudsman also specialises inproviding alternative dispute resolutionor consumers and retailers in thefurniture and home improvementindustries.Harveys customer services directorRichard Powell said: “Harveys arecommitted to ensuring our customersare totally satisfied when they buy fromus. We are dedicated to the higheststandards of service and product, andalways strive to continually developthese. “

Energy awardsA NEW award has been launcrecognise the UK’s most efsustainable manufacturEEF, the manufacturhas joined forces with energmanagement specialist ENER-G tolaunch the environment acategory in the fifth annManufacturing Awareligible to win two prat regional and national leThe award will go to the companythat has done the most to imprown environmental perfimprove its carbon fimproving operational efManufacturers should enter thiscategory if they havto their operating prbenefit the environment.The awards will be judged in firegions and regional winnernamed at celebration eNovember. They will then compete fthe national awards neceremony in London.Visit www.eef.org.uk/a

Further details ofshareholder plansWE reported recently on the

Government’s proposals tointroduce a new“employee-shareholder” relation-ship which provides certain taxadvantages in return for the sur-render of some employmentrights.

A number of Government amend-ments have now been approved; thefirst being that a company wanting touse the scheme must give an individuala written statement of the particularsof the status of employee shareholder,specifying the employment rights he orshe will give up and detailing the rights,restrictions and other conditionsattached to the shares.

The statement will set out whetherthe shares have any voting or dividendrights; whether the shares can bebought back or redeemed; whether theshares can be freely sold; and whethercertain other rights and restrictions areattached to them.

This written statement of employeeshareholder particulars will be in addi-tion to the statement already requiredby S.1 of the Employment Rights Act1996 setting out the terms and condi-tions of the job within two months ofstarting work.

The second amendment to thescheme requires an individual, once

they have received the written state-ment of particulars, to be given inde-pendent advice (i.e.from a lawyer,CAB, law centre, union etc) as to theterms and effect of entering into thescheme.

Unless independent advice isreceived, and the individual has beengiven seven days to consider the advice,the agreement will have no effect inremoving their employment rights.Acceptance of an employee-share-holder contract within that seven-dayperiod will also have no legal effect.

Under the revised scheme, even if theindividual decides not to take up thejob offer, the company will be requiredto meet the “reasonable costs” of theadvice.

The Government has said that it willuse the Finance Bill, which is currentlygoing through Parliament, to intro-duce an exemption within the bene-fits-in-kind legislation to ensure thatthe requirement to provide independ-ent advice will not lead to a tax cost onindividuals considering becoming an

employee shareholder.There is still some concern that the

scheme is not truly voluntary ifemployee-shareholder contracts areoffered on a “take-it-or-leave-it”basis.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretaryof State for BIS stated that the Govern-ment believed that a company shouldbe free to recruit or advertise foremployee shareholders in the same wayit can choose between recruiting anemployee or a worker.

It was reiterated that, as a result ofprevious Government concessions, noone will be compelled to apply for, oraccept, an employee-shareholder job.Jobseekers will not be mandated toapply for an employee-shareholder joband existing employees will be protec-ted from detriment or dismissal if theyturn down an employee-shareholdercontract.

Further, final consultation is expec-ted in early May, pursuant to which weshould learn of a proposed implement-ation date.

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KIRKLEES BUSINESS NEWS local

DIGITALDIRECTIONAndrew Firth

Andrew Firth is managing director of Ascensor WebsiteDesign & Digital Marketing

Seeking socialentrepreneurs

h is on to find the UK’somising and inspiring social

tups and BarclaysBusiness Banking have launched the

h is open to alleneurs under the age of

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ell as their businesso on to receive aamme of intensive

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startups.co.uk

Output and orders to rise

Energy awardsd has been launched to

s most efficient andufacturers.

ufacturers’ organisation,ces with energy

gement specialist ENER-G toonment award

y in the fifth annual Futureards – with firms

o prestigious prizestional level.

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emony in London..uk/awards

Meetinga needfor data

YEARS ago – before softwarehad grown up – sharing

information between differentpackages was at worstimpossible and at besttime-consuming and often frus-trating.

Thankfully, those days are all goneand shared file formats allow us toeasily share information betweendifferent software packages.

Things have changed a lot online,too. First there came content feeds, areally useful tool that permitted sub-scription to news and otherupdates.

Users of websites and blogs cansubscribe to content feeds that in theearly days were delivered via email,but now can be distributed virtuallyanywhere online.

This meant a website owner coulddisplay third party content on theirown website, a revolution that hastransformed the way the internetlooks today and has enabled hugetechnological advances in smart-phone technology and social media,both completely reliant upon thefeeding and pushing of data.

One of the greatest benefits of datafeeding has helped online retail toflourish, where the passing ofinformation between different piecesof software is achieved using applic-ation programming interfaces(APIs).

APIs are a set of rules that governcontent sharing between two piecesof software (eg websites) and allowshopping portals such as Amazonand eBay to interact with retailersefficiently and effectively.

Shopping portals are being usedmore and more as they are often seenas a safe haven for customers.

The merchants (retailers) aremonitored using feedback mechan-isms and poor customer service canlead to merchants being stoppedfrom selling.

There has been a major shift in theway that consumers are shoppingand recent figures suggest thatAmazon now makes up almost 40%of the UK’s online retail spend.

The availability of feeds hasallowed online retailers to publishtheir product lists to the portalsautomatically, so that when a changeis made to a product on the website,it is automatically updated on thethird party.

Conversely, the use of API’senables sales information to be takenfrom the portal and integrated intothe dispatch mechanism of the web-site, meaning that all order pro-cessing is handled in a singlelocation.

So online retailers can very simplypass their product lists into Amazon,eBay, Google Shopping and otherportals from a single point of admin-istration and as the orders come in,handle them all in one place – acompletely efficient process, allthanks to data feeding.

Our hunger for information isvast.

The feeding and sharing of data isdriving the evolution of the internet.It’s helped websites to become richwith content and grow.

SMALL and medium-sizedfirms saw orders andoutput continue to fall inthe three months to April –but expect both to improvein the coming quarter.The SME Trends surveyfrom the CBI today saidthe decline in total neworders was driven byreduced domestic andexport demand. Outputalso fell for the fourthquarter running.However, manufacturersexpect output to growslightly over the next threemonths – on the back ofstrong predicted growth in

export orders – whiledomestic orders look setto stabilise.Despite weaker thanexpected activity,optimism about the overallbusiness situation hassteadied, following threequarters of decline.Meanwhile, optimismabout export prospectsrose for the first time in ayear.Employment in the sectorimproved in the threemonths to April, thesurvey said.Manufacturers expect amodest increase in

staffing levels in thecoming quarter.Elsewhere, both domesticand export price inflationwere broadly the samequarter-on-quarter, butgrowth in average unitcosts was the fastestsince October, 2011 –squeezing manufacturers’profit margins once again.Firms said pressure onmargins will persist in thecoming quarter – withdomestic prices expectedto rise only slightly andexports predicted to be flatagainst a backdrop ofrising costs.

Paula’s powerful messageTHE power of data management willbe the focus of a networking event inHuddersfield.

Paula Atherill, ofHuddersfield-based WPCA Ltd, willshare her knowledge with businesspeople at the event staged by

4Networking Huddersfield nextTuesday at the Table Tablerestaurant, Aspley. The event runsfrom 8am to 10am.

Email [email protected] or visit www.4networking.biz/Events/Details/37276

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KIRKLEES BUSINESS NEWS property Call to amendplanning policiesYORKSHIRE property chiefs are calling forimproved access to public sectorconstruction contracts – so that smallercompanies can tender for work moreeasily.The Royal Institution of CharteredSurveyors said contracts for work,including infrastructure repair andmaintenance, should be “visible to all inthe industry”.It has also produced guidance to helpgovernment staff working in procurementto understand the complexities of theconstruction supply chain, including theneed for early discussions with small andmedium-sized enterprises.The move follows extensive consultationsby the RICS with Yorkshire and Humbermembers across the sector, whichhighlighted the need to unblockconstruction pipelines, reformprocurement processes and improveaccess and visibility of finance.The RICS said its recommendations – ifadopted – would support smallercompanies over the next 12 months andsecure a successful and sustainableconstruction sector for the future.Among its recommendations, the RICScalls for simplified, publicly availablePre-Qualification Questionnaires for use bySMEs. It also wants to see finance morereadily available for firms and betterinformation on how to access it.The RICS wants the Department forBusiness Innovation and Skills to set up asingle “portal” for SME finance offeringadvice on what is on offer and how toapply.RICS head of policy Jeremy Blackburnsaid: “Visible pipelines, complexprocurement and access to finance are allmajor concerns for the industry as a wholeand particularly SMEs. These issues areintrinsically linked and it is vital we have anoverarching approach to address them.“The recommendations outlined in ourpolicy document provide a unifiedapproach for government, industry andRICS that have the potential to providedirect and meaningful support for theindustry.”

Premium statusfor housebuilderA HOLME Valleyhousebuilder hasbeen awardedPremium Rating A1from the NationalHouse BuildingCouncil.Eastwood Homesattained the covetedstatus following areview of theHolmfirth-basedpropertydeveloper’s lengthof registration and claims record.Managing director Michael Eastwood(pictured) said: “I am incredibly proud thatwe have a 16 year claim free history, whichis a fantastic achievement, and amdelighted that the quality and finish weprovide has ensured that we can berecognised by the NHBC in this way.”The NHBC is the leading warrantyinsurance provider and sets the standardsfor the UK housebuilding market of newand newly-converted homes. NHBC hasalso gained more than 75 years ofexperience in improving quality in thehouse building trade.Mr Eastwood said Eastwood Homes wouldcontinue to work alongside NHBC in thefuture and continue to provide the highestquality of build and customer service to allits clients.

Thanks for being considerateA BUILDING firm in Huddersfield has won anaward for the care it took to minimisedisruption for the local community during acomplicated construction project.

Bradley-based Termrim Construction wona bronze award from the ConsiderateConstruction scheme for its work on FulwoodCourt in Liverpool for Methodist Homes.

The award, which was presented at aceremony in Manchester, puts FulwoodCourt among the top 7.5% highest-scoringprojects out of 8,500 eligible sites nationally.

The new building at Fulwood Courtcreates 33 one and two-bedroomapartments with 24 hour care for residents. Itprovides flexible living and support facilitiesincluding bistro dining, a communal lounge, acommunal laundry, assisted bathing and24-hour on-site care provision.

The new building was completed in thespring and handed over to Methodist Homes.

Termrim managing director Graeme Birdsaid: “To receive a national award from theConsiderate Constructors Schemerecognises the high standard of contractdelivery Termrim Construction achieveswhen working in local communities.

“Our construction team at Fulwood Courtdelivered the £3m contract on a site whichimposed restrictions and careful logisticplanning to minimise disruption during theconstruction works to the neighbouringhomes, businesses and adjacent houses.

Said Mr Bird: “Our Fulwood Court site was

judges along with 8,500 eligible sitesnationally and recognised the high standardsachieved on this project and also the

standard Termrim Construction deliverswhen working in all communities.”

■ GOOD NEIGHBOURS: Termirm site manager Rob Husband (second right) is picturedwith the award and managing director Graeme Bird (left), development director Simon Taylorand Melanie Shreeves, of Methodist Homes

Clearly a reasonfor celebrating!A WINDOW company in Huddersfield ismarking 30 years in business.

And Gardinia Windows is looking to thefuture with new products aimed at helping thefirm maintain its position in the market-place.

The firm was founded by owner MichaelFoster in 1983 at premises at Ringway Indus-trial Estate – but within a year moved to itsprominent site at Leeds Road.

Mr Foster was later joined in the businessby his wife Judith.

Its first “milestone” contract came in 1984when it installed thermal-efficient windows atthe West Yorkshire Ambulance Service con-trol centre at Birkenshaw.

Other notable projects have included Bux-ton House flats in Huddersfield and themuch-acclaimed Round House, near CastleHill.

The company has established a solid repu-tation with customers and lays claim to be theonly firm in its sector in the town to have beenin continual business for 30 years.

“The industry has evolved dramaticallyfrom when we started,” said Mark Wheel-wright. “New products come along. We are allconscious of rising fuel costs and doing our bitfor the environment.”

Gardinia’s latest developments includeEvolution, a new cottage-style window com-bining the look and feel of traditional woodwith state-of-the-art modern window techno-logy, and a new roofing system which trans-forms the traditional conservatory into an“extension” which can be used all yearround.

Gardinia employs about 20 people in sales,administration and fitting.

While most of its customers are in the

Kirklees area, the company has carried outwork following recommendations in Maiden-head, Kent, and supplied windows as far awayas the Caribbean.

Said Mark: “The economic climate meansbusiness has been harder to find and keep.Everyone is looking for the best deal andmargins are being squeezed. In these circum-stances, it is more important than ever to get

things right.“We have always had a reputation for

quality and we have always tried to stay onestep ahead of the competition.

“A lot of customers come back to usbecause we have given good service – andsome of them are customers who hadproducts fitted 30 years ago when webegan!”

■ BIRTHDAY CHEER: Toasting Gardinia Windows’ 30 years are (back, from left) AllanHinchliffe, Jonathan Hill, Matthew Hill and Alan Thwaite with (front) Judith Foster, MichaelFoster, Mark Wheelwright, Darren Mitchell and Stephen Halstead

KIRKLEES BUSINESS NEWS property

Roof system wins approvalAN Elland company has comeup with a roofing system that’sreally built to last.

U-Roof Ltd manufacturesand supplies a galvanisedcold-rolled steel roofing systemthat has attracted the attentionof self-builders, constructioncompanies and architects.

Now the evolutionary lightgauge steel warm frame homebuilding system has received theseal of approval in the form oftest evidence produced by theSteel Construction Institutethat concludes a minimum200-year expected life spanwhen used in a warm frameconstruction.

The system – which is alreadyin place at hundreds of housingdevelopments and self-buildlocations across the country –features a patented u-shaped,cold-rolled, galvanised steelprofile section which enablesany l ight commerc ia l ordomestic structure to be fittedtogether in a fraction of the timeof traditional timber frames orheavy hot rolled sections.

Many major housebuilders,architects, self-build enthusi-asts, roofing contractors andspecifiers are already showing a

keen interest.Commenting on the SCI find-

ings, inventor and U-Rooffounder David Thurston said:“These findings further endorsewhat is already acknowledged asa very strong, dependable andadaptable frame building sys-tem that saves on both time andmoney during construction andproves that British innovation isstill very much alive.

“The SCI, together with theNational House Building Coun-cil concur that it is not unreas-onable to expect a life span – fora warm frame galvanised steelconstruction – in excess of 200years.

“The data from the SCIproves that the system is fit forpurpose for considerably longerthan previous expectations –offering builders, homeowners,lenders and insurers real peaceof mind when it comes toproduct durability.”

Recent projects for the com-pany, which is based at ParkRoad Mills, have included aself-build scheme in Livingston,Scotland, a commercial and res-idential development at Hipper-holme and a new house inFixby. ■ IN THE FRAME: David Thurston, of U-Roof Ltd, Elland, which is winning work with its innovative roofing system

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KIRKLEES BUSINESS NEWS Movers and shakers

Perfectpractice!THE practice manager of a dental surgery inMeltham has won two categories at theNational Dental Awards.

Joanne Holroyd, of Meltham Dental Care,took the trophy for Practice Manager of theYear (North) and then went on to win thenational award for Practice Manager of theYear.

Dr Bal Dhesi, principal dentist at MelthamDental Care, said: “In my opinion, Joanneepitomises what a good practice managershould be.

“She is extremely professional, organised,dedicated, a good motivator andcommunicator along with being very hardworking.

“These qualities make working with Joannea pleasure. Both the patients and staff ofMeltham Dental Care are extremely fortunateto have such a highly equipped andenthusiastic person amongst them.”

Alongside Joanne, Dr Dhesi was alsorecognised in the National Dental Awards bybeing shortlisted in the Dentist of the Year(North) category. The practice was also afinalist in the Design and Interior section.

Joanne said: “Bal has achieved so much atsuch a young age. He is still only 34 and to beshortlisted in such a competitive category,alongside dentists who are much older thanhim, is a phenomenal achievement.

“I had been working in dentistry for 17 yearsprior to working for Bal and he has given me

fantastic opportunities and capabilities ofwhich prior to him becoming principal I maynot have achieved.”

Meltham Dental Care moved to newpremises on Station Street last summer. Itnow has a stunning seven surgery practicewith facilities including disabled access, a liftand a private lounge allowing patients to relaxprior to their treatment.

Join the café societyHUDDERSFIELD Media Centre’s Café Ollo is thevenue for the next MYNetwork Huddersfieldnetworking event on May 15.

The event runs from 9.30am to 11.30am andprovides an informal atmosphere for business peopleto make valuable new contacts.

MyNetwork meets on the third Wednesday of themonth at the media centre in Northumberland Street.It is run by the Lockwood-based Mid YorkshireChamber of Commerce in conjunction withRamsdens Solicitors, The Media Centre and SMileS.

Giants opportunityYOU’RE all invited!

Members of networking group BNI Giants areopening up their weekly meetings to welcome localbusiness men and women to a special visitors day.

The Huddersfield-based Giants “chapter” is agroup of 30 like-minded individuals who worktogether to help grow each other’s businesses.

Following the chapter’s recent celebrations for itsfirst birthday, members are now offering other localcompanies the opportunity to experience BNI andlearn how joining the Giants chapter can improvetheir businesses.

The meeting gets under way at 7am onWednesday, May 22, at the John Smith’s Stadium.Networking begins at 6.45am.

Contact Giants chapter director Tracey Craven, ofHowarths Employment Law Specialist, on 01274864999 or email [email protected] for moreinformation.

Fantastic three setfor capital challengeTHREE members of Birstall-based mar-keting agency Fantastic Media will walk thelength of the London Marathon to raisecash for breast cancer charities.

Donna Gardner, Beth Saville and EmilySmith, who all work for the full servicemarketing agency, will take part in theMoonwalk London, which begins at mid-night on Saturday at Battersea Power Sta-tion in London.

They will join thousands of other womenand men to power walk 26.2 miles throughthe city wearing brightly decorated bras toraise money and awareness for breast can-cer.

The trio decided to take part in thefamous moonlit marathon in support oftheir long-standing cl ient , FenayBridge-based Paxman, which manufacturesand supplies scalp cooling equipment forthe prevention of hair loss during chemo-therapy.

The Moonwalk London is organised byWalk the Walk, which raises funds tosupport research into breast cancer and tosupport charities which provide emotionaland physical support for those living withcancer now.

One of Walk the Walk’s major projects isto grant Paxman Scalp Coolers to hospitalsacross the country.

Donna, who is client services director atFantastic, said: “We are passionate aboutsupporting Paxman in every way that wecan so volunteered to do this event on theirbehalf. We’re hoping to raise as much as wepossibly can.

“We’ve been training in the gym since

New Year and are confident that we willfinish the walk. We just hope that theweather’s not too cold and that it doesn’train!”

Since the first Moonwalk in 1998, thisunique challenge has encouraged morethan 250,000 people to take on a walkingchallenge and raised in excess of £72m.

Richard Paxman, managing director ofPaxman, said: “The Moonwalk is not onlyabout uniting in the common bond ofmaking a difference to vital breast cancer

causes, it’s also about encouraging womenand men to become healthier throughpower walking and taking responsibility fortheir own well-being.

“We’re incredibly proud of Donna, Bethand Emily for volunteering to take part onbehalf of Paxman and wish them all thebest. We have every faith in them complet-ing the challenge.”

To sponsor the team, go to www.justgiv-ing.com/team-fantastic

■ FEET FIRST: Fantastic Media's (from left) Beth Saville, Donna Gardner and EmilySmith, who are walking the London Marathon course for charity

Gary MacNicoll

BarclaysCorporateBARCLAYS has made a new appointment to itsYorkshire corporate team covering Kirklees.

Gary MacNicoll,pictured with Debbie Mullen,the bank’s corporate head for Yorkshire, joinsthe team as a relationship director and will beresponsible for multi-national corporatebusinesses in the region with a turnover inexcess of £20m.

Mr MacNicoll has extensive knowledge in themulti-national arena, having previously workedfor London-based UBS Investment Bank forseven years specialising in prime servicesdistribution across Europe.

He also worked for Morgan StanleyInvestment Bank for six years coveringmulti-asset class hedge funds and assetmanagers across financing and derivatives, witha focus on US clients with Europeanheadquarters in London.

Mr MacNicoll said: “I’m delighted to be part ofthe Barclays expansion plans and hope to play abig part in their ambitious multi-national growthaspirations for Yorkshire.

“With the ever-strengthening team we will bewell-placed to take advantage of theopportunities within the market.”

Ms Mullen said: “Recruiting talent from bothwithin Barclays and externally is key to ourexpansion plans in Yorkshire and Gary’sexperience will be a huge asset for thecustomers and his team.”

■ SMILE PLEASE: Joanne Holroyd (centre)receives her award from Denplan areamanager Angela Beale and host Chris Neill

Kate’s dateat trade showHUDDERSFIELDbusinesswoman KateHardcastle has joined theline-up for a major trade showthis summer.Kate, co-founder of businesstransformation specialistInsight with Passion, willspeak at the event organisedby the Lockwood-based MidYorkshire Chamber ofCommerce and the Federationof Small Business.The Chamber/FSB Tradeshowtakes place from 3pm to7.30pm on Tuesday, June 11,at the Cedar Court, AinleyTop. Kate will speak at6.15pm.As well as being amulti-award winner, Kate is adirector of Super League sideBradford Bulls and hasspoken on business issuesaround the world..She also founded the PositiveImage campaign and is thefounder of singing groupCharity Dreamgirls, whichraises awareness oflesser-known charities.She is a keen supporter ofvolunteering.To book a place at the tradeshow visit www.mycci.co.uk

kirklees business news 07/05/13

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