Brims Construction sealed a deal to build a £15m training facility in Sunderland.
The Housing Innovation and Construction Skills Academy (HICSA) will provide ‘next generation skills for next generation homes’ and support the city’s advanced manufacturing, carbon reduction and renewable energy ambitions. Plans for the world class facility were first unveiled more than two years ago, as part of plans to give North East people the skills to build and upgrade the city’s homes.
It was initially set to be delivered by Tolent Construction, but the pause button was hit when the contractor fell into administration earlier this year. A week later, Brims – which is run by the sons of Tolent founder John Wood - snapped up the Teesside operation of the group in a deal which saved more than 150 jobs.
READ MORE: {}
Brims has now been enlisted by the council to take on the training facility project, which will be based at the centre of Riverside Sunderland, the city’s ambitious regeneration scheme. HICSA will be managed by Sunderland College and will offer training to upskill local people to create innovative factory-built new homes, the first of which will be built at Riverside Sunderland.
The Pennine Home Improvements brand i s set to return after a Gateshead business bought the collapsed company’s assets from liquidators.
Crownfold Ltd, which traded as Pennine Home Improvements, was liquidated last month having ceased trading owing debts of more than £2m. The well known conservatory company had traded for more than 40 years in the region, manufacturing, selling and installing conservatories, orangeries, replacement conservatory roofs, windows and doors, before its demise.
Now Windows Plus Roofs, based in Team Valley, Gateshead, has acquired the Pennine brand name and website and plan to bring back the Pennine name. The firm’s directors have also pledged to help customers affected by the closure of Pennine where they can.
A new website with the Pennine brand is under construction by the new owner, which has been operating for six years and now has 195 staff, with hopes of a launch in the autumn. The firm has also hired some former Crownfold staff.
Most Read
Director Adrian Hughes said: “We understand the challenges customers are facing during this unwinding process and wish to assure customers of our best intentions. Windows Plus Roofs Ltd recently purchased the assets of Crownfold Ltd from the liquidators, including the Pennine trademark, and website.
“Moving forward, we plan to trade under the Pennine trademark, Pennine Home improvements Ltd, which will operate alongside our Windows Plus Roofs Ltd and Budget Windows Ltd brands and are fully committed to rebuilding what was once a remarkable brand in the North East."
Workspace provider Cubo acquired 20,000sqft across the top two floors of prime Newcastle office Bank House. The 14-storey Bank House is the first of three new sustainable office buildings to be developed at the southern end of Pilgrim Street, with further developments set to include the new HMRC hub for the North East region, a five-star hotel, a new public square and the new Stack drinking and dining destination.
The letting – the fifth at the building – marks the first site for Cubo in the North East, with the top two floors set to give members a 360-degree panoramic view of the city’s skyline and beyond.
Earlier this year, Cubo announced plans to almost double its footprint nationally by the end of 2023 in a growth strategy backed by investment firm Literacy Capital. The flex office provider currently operates in cities including Leeds, Birmingham, Derby, Nottingham, Sheffield and Edinburgh, with a new site in Manchester set to come, alongside second sites in Birmingham and Nottingham.
Marc Brough, Cubo CEO, said: "The space has been meticulously chosen because of the city’s rich history, its vibrant culture and the building’s city centre location. With its unrivalled location within the exciting Pilgrim Street development, it will be the ideal home for many growing businesses."
County Durham tech firm Digital Edge is looking to overseas markets after sealing a five-figure investment deal. Digital Edge, based in Newton Aycliffe, specialises in the Wix web platform and provides digital marketing services, including web design, marketing solutions and software solutions, and has a particular specialism in utilising the Wix Velo web development platform.
Don’t miss
Now the company, which also has a satellite office in Gloucestershire, has secured a £50,000 investment from the North East Small Loan Fund. The management team will use the five-figure investment to boost its business development and marketing activity around its new Wix Blocks software solution, as well as others that are currently in development.
Digital Edge is also one of the first firms to work on the newly-released Wix Blocks software solution and is helping to lead its adoption by clients around the world.
Ian Proctor, sales director at Digital Edge, said: “We’re seeing growing numbers of new business opportunities coming in not just from North East England, but from right around the world, including from Spain, France, the US, Canada, UAE, Singapore and Australasia. After the introduction from RTC North, we had amazing support from the NEL team to complete the investment process and we’ve now got the resources in place to grow the business quickly.”
Wi-fi services provider Trench Networks has been rescued having run into difficulties created by the collapse of high profile customers. Trench Networks specialised in providing remote internet to sites that otherwise lacked the infrastructure but found itself facing cash flow problems when a series of regional contractors, including Tolent and Metnor Construction, went bust earlier this year. The Hebburn-based firm, which had previously operated from Cramlington, has now been sold to Northern Telecommunications, saving seven jobs in the process.
The move comes as founder and director Kevin Lattimer was praised by insolvency experts at FRP for swift action in the face of challenges. Earlier this year, when major insolvencies caused turmoil in the regional construction sector, Trench Networks quickly lost a number of sites it it was working on, which led the firm to incur bad debts and associated loss of turnover.
The sudden loss of business restricted Trench's cash flow and led to arrears with creditors. FRP was called and a subsequent sale process resulted in a buyer being found.
Andrew Haslam, joint administrator and partner of FRP Advisory Trading Limited, said: "The director sought advice from us at an early stage, which gave us lots of options to consider rather than seeking professional advice at the eleventh hour. Because of this early engagement, it allowed a marketing exercise to be undertaken which prompted significant interest in the business.
"Ultimately, a trade purchaser was identified and a contract negotiated to sell the business and rescue the staff. This is a positive result and we hope that the purchaser can take the business forward and expand on the success of the founders."
Cramlington-based Reproflex3, which is specialises in prepress, flexographic plate manufacturing for food firms, has acquired Shildon-based ANF Ltd, another firm which provides flexographic printing plates for the packaging industry. Reproflex3 said the undisclosed deal would support its expansion inside the European corrugated packaging sector by increasing its production capabilities as well as growing its footprint in the pharmaceutical sector.
The firm - which recently made the shortlist for the North East Business Awards' Global Britain Award - has prepress operations in Europe, the Middle East, India and New Zealand. Meanwhile ANF Ltd works with printers and brands, including pharmaceutical companies, in the 海角视频 and Europe.
Andrew Hewitson, group CEO at Reproflex3, said: “ANF is a respected player in the 海角视频 pharma and corrugated packaging industries, whose expertise is unquestioned with excellent people, processes and products. We are pleased to formally announce this strategic investment for the Reproflex3 Group as we seek to increase our manufacturing capacity and knowhow within corrugate both here in the 海角视频 and internationally.
"By adding ANF’s capabilities and prepress plate technologies to our portfolio of businesses, we can provide customers with an even higher level of service and expertise as we combine the assets and strengths of both businesses."