Pub giant Wetherspoon partnered with Newcastle University Students' Union in a deal that will create 70 jobs.
The Student Union bar, Luther’s Bar, will continue to be run and managed by Newcastle University Students’ Union but the deal will mean the Union can access the business model that Wetherspoon uses to run its pubs across the country. Starting from next week, Luther's Bar, which employs 30 people, will open from 8am as part of the new operation.
It is only the second deal of its kind for the national chain on a university campus, the first being at Hull University’s Sanctuary Bar, which opened in January 2022. Under the arrangement, Luther's will deliver a wider food and drink offer.
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Announcing the move, Wetherspoon said it would support the Union's objectives to offer services and skills development to students. Luther's currently employs 30 people and now, with the introduction of the new refurbishment and catering offer, it is expected that 70 roles will be created, all of which will be suitable for students. Staff will continue to be employed and managed by the Students’ Union but will undergo the same training and induction as Wetherspoon staff.
Wetherspoon chief executive John Hutson said: "We are delighted to have entered into this partnership with the Students’ Union and look forward to working with them to make Luther’s Bar a great success."
Precision engineering firm Impress Group has undergone a management buyout ahead of the retirement of its founders.
Three of the North East firm's directors, George Peel, Steven Young and David Haley, are retiring from the business as commercial director Jason Young has taken over. The deal has been backed by Ben Suquet, founder of Lucena Capital, who has invested in Impress and will work alongside Mr Young to drive subsequent growth.
Impress operates from bases in Blaydon and Washington and since its inception in the mid 1990s has provided services such as pressings, CNC milling and laser cutting. The £9.6m turnover firm employs 110 people across its two sites.
Mr Young joined Impress 23 years ago and has worked his way through various roles from his first sales and admin position to take over the reins of the growing firm. He will lead day-to-day running of the business, working with Mr Peel and Mr Young until their retirements in the next two years.
Mr Young said: "This is definitely an exciting time for the business, and we are looking at making some significant investment across the board. We have identified a number of growth areas we want to pursue. The precision engineering market is rapidly evolving with new technologies emerging, which would allow Impress to continue to service our customers at the highest level. We really want to continue to be at the forefront of this.
Independent car retailer Lloyd Motor Group will open its fourth Newcastle location having purchased the former Cazoo site on the city's Scotswood Road.
The Cumbrian group says it is poised to create jobs as it readies the West End premises which is to be reopened as a used car dealership and vehicle preparation centre later this year. It will be the group's 34th retail and service centre across northern England and southern Scotland.
The 10,808 sqft site was previously operated by online retailer Cazoo as a vehicle drop-off point. But in March it became clear the location was closed as part of a major restructuring of the digital disruptor, including other sites in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ and the withdrawal of the business from EU countries.
The closure came in the wake of huge £334m losses for Cazoo, which had invested £1m into the premises, turning it into a location where customers could collect or dropping off cars bought from or sold to Cazoo, on top of its home delivery and pick up services.
Lloyd Motor Group’s managing director, Sam Lloyd, said: "We are delighted to add this location to our portfolio and enhance our offering for car buyers across the North East. This exciting opportunity for Lloyd Motor Group will allow us to strengthen our presence across the region."
A Nissan-led bid to develop an autonomous vehicle capable of safely driving through residential, urban and rural spaces has secured Government funding. The evolvAD progamme, which includes the Sunderland manufacturer and four other partners, will use £2.3m allocated for the creation of high definition maps and systems that will allow the vehicle to operate in different situations, including alongside vulnerable road users. It is part of the Centre of Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) Commercialising Connected and Automated Mobility: Supply Chain competition that has shared £18.5m between 43 British companies across 13 projects.
Each of the British projects is focused on early opportunities to develop self-driving technologies, and related products and services. The funding has been topped up to £28.5m by industry support that and the work will address technology gaps, enhance safety and security, improve performance and reliability, and create scalable opportunities both domestically and globally.
Each of the projects, including evolvAD, will involve CCAV’s delivery partners, Zenzic and Innovate º£½ÇÊÓƵ. Firms and organisations involved in evolvAD include TRL Limited, Humanising Autonomy, the Connected Places Catapult and SBD Automotive.
It follow's Nissan's involvement in Project V-CAL, which has tested four zero-emission autonomous HGVs around the manufacturer's Sunderland site. That scheme was awarded funds from CCAV .
Phillip Ironside, head of innovation and programmes at Zenzic, said: "Zenzic is proud to support and facilitate these supply chain projects that are critical to delivering the º£½ÇÊÓƵ Government's vision for Connected and Automated Mobility. Our vision foresees the early commercial deployment of self-driving vehicles by 2025 to improve the movement of people and goods. This is only possible with a vibrant and sustainable º£½ÇÊÓƵ-based CAM supply chain, which can secure the º£½ÇÊÓƵ's position as a world-leading exporter of CAM (connected and automated mobility) services."
