Homes England announced a landmark deal to build 1,100 homes close to Newcastle city centre after buying a key plot of land from administrators in a multimillion-pound deal.
Developer Newby first announced plans in 2018 to turn Quayside West – the largest land parcel in Forth Yards – into a new gateway into the city, with hundreds of homes, shops, restaurants and business and leisure facilities. The plans were thrown into doubt last year when the company behind the scheme went into administration.
Shortly afterwards, administrators at FRP confirmed they had accepted an offer of £7m for the land, deemed one of the most significant brownfield regeneration sites in Newcastle. Now it can be revealed that Homes England has snapped up the site, which has a capacity for around 1,100 homes and a key role to play in the area’s transformation.
Peter Denton, chief executive of Homes England, said: “It’s hard to overstate the importance of this acquisition. Not only will the site deliver around 1,100 quality, sustainable new homes, but bringing Quayside West into public sector ownership will act as a catalyst for the wider regeneration of Forth Yards, a key regeneration area for the city that has been stalled for more than 20 years."
North East printing and packaging firm Encore Group is set to create new jobs after snapping up a former Walkers Crisps site. The Washington-based business is the Ƶ’s largest independent manufacturer of printed envelopes, responsible for a quarter of all envelopes sent in the Ƶ, and it has seen rapid growth over the last three years, triggering expansion plans and the need for more storage space. The business has snapped up a 103,000sq ft unit in Peterlee, on the site of the former Walkers Crisps distribution centre.
Formed 40 years ago, the business includes packaging and envelope divisions and it is expecting to record turnover of around £54m for the current financial year. The acquisition, aided by Kate Rickett of Muckle LLP, is part of a multimillion-pound investment.
Group sales director Craig Allen said: “We are thrilled with the new site and it will hopefully act as a catalyst for further growth. The last few years have been incredible across the business, and it meant that we ran short of space, so this site will initially serve as a much needed storage solution for both raw materials and finished products."
Newcastle life sciences company Newcells Biotech secured a £2.35m investment to help ramp up its work on laboratory models that help avoid animal testing.
Founded in 2015, the Newcastle University spin-out Newcells Biotech is leading the way in the development of human stem cells for the drug development sector, using models which aim to reduce the reliance on animal testing. Based at the Biosphere at Newcastle Helix, the firm has secured the seven-figure funding from existing investors, including the North East Venture Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Mercia Ventures, Mercia’s own funds and Northstar Ventures - funds which will see it cement its position as a global leader in its field, as well as create new jobs.
The deal comes three years after Mercia led a £5.25m fundraise to help the business accelerate plans in the international life sciences market, and it takes the total raised by the company so far to more than £12m. Newcells’ 3D models mimic processes within the body and they are used by pharmaceutical companies across the world to test the impact of their drugs, including their efficacy and safety.
County Durham incontinence product supplier Lylalife is set for growth after securing a second North East Fund investment through NEL Fund Managers. Durham-based Lylalife supplies urinary incontinence products which are delivered to customers through a monthly repeat order service and one-off purchases.
The business was founded in 2019 by a team of directors with experience of supplying similar product ranges to the care home sector and the NHS with financial and marketing experience. It received a six-figure investment from the North East Small Loan Fund in 2021 to help ramp up its marketing and customer acquisition, resulting in its customer base growing to more than 8,500 buyers across the Ƶ.
The management team has now gone back to NEL to secure a further six-figure investment, this time from the North East Growth Capital Fund, to support the development of a CRM and management reporting app.
Durham technology company Plexus Innovation has been snapped up by Hertfordshire based business HSL Compliance for an undisclosed sum.
Plexus Innovation uses Internet of Things (IoT) technology to develop remote monitoring solutions, such as Guardian, an automated alert system for care homes and social housing providers which focuses on environmental data, including temperature. The company – which has secured two rounds of funding totalling £880,000 since 2020 to ramp up product development – has now been acquired by Ross-On-Wye based HSL Compliance, as part of moves to boost its water safety services.
As well as water safety, including Legionella compliance and water treatment, HSL supports its clients with other building safety requirements including fire safety, hazardous materials safety and other environmental health and safety services. The business helps its clients to comply with health and safety legislation and create safe environments in the home and workplace, and it says remote monitoring solutions – Plexus Innovation’s speciality – form an emerging and important area in water safety industry.
North East transport giant The Go-Ahead Group has acquired a scenic bus tour company to expand its presence in Sussex.
The Newcastle-based bus and train operator has bought Eastbourne Sightseeing, which operates scenic bus tours around Eastbourne, Beachy Head, Birling Gap and surrounding areas. Following the transaction, the business will become part of Go-Ahead’s Brighton & Hove Buses division.
Based near Lewis, Eastbourne Sightseeing owns nine open-top vehicles and its bus tours call at Eastbourne station, which is served by Southern Rail – part of Go-Ahead’s GTR rail network. The Eastbourne Sightseeing brand will be retained and the new owners will also use its website and marketing expertise to build demand, while also exploring future partnership opportunities between Eastbourne Sightseeing and Southern Rail.
Matt Carney, CEO of The Go-Ahead Group’s bus division, added: “Go-Ahead is an ambitious company with an eye for expansion in the regional bus industry. We aim to invest in communities across the Ƶ and to grow the popularity of bus travel. I’m delighted to welcome Eastbourne Sightseeing into the Go-Ahead Group.”
Food packaging firm iPac is set to create a second North East site, and a number of jobs, after securing a £1m investment.
Gateshead-based iPac specialises in sustainable food and pharmaceutical thermoformed packaging, and has won a number of supply chain contracts with tier-one food suppliers. The business already works with an impressive list of customers, as its products are used to package fresh foods and produce for all of the major Ƶ grocery retailers.
Demand is now growing for the firm's services, triggering the need for a second site at Tanfield. The firm has secured £1m in investment in a funding round led by Maven Capital Partners, which includes £600,000 from the Finance Durham Fund (FDF), established by Durham County Council and overseen by Business Durham, and a £400,000 investment from the North East Development Capital Fund (NEDCF), supported by the European Regional Development Fund.
It marks the third round of investment ploughed into the packaging business, coming five years after it first secured funding from the NEDCF, which it used to buy new equipment, and two years on from a £2.2m sum from the the Maven VCTs and NEDCF, which it spent on expansion of its manufacturing lines and creating new jobs.
Leisure, care and property company Gainford Group has bought prime Newcastle building Milburn House office block in a multimillion-pound acquisition. The business already owns and operates a number of landmark buildings on Tyneside including The Vermont, The County Hotel, Avieka and Livello, with proposals currently with city planners to regenerate the former Premier Inn hotel on New Bridge Street. Now the company has swooped for Dean Street’s historic Milburn House for an undisclosed sum, which it said makes a strong addition to its growing portfolio and in-keeping with its mission to acquire and restore regional heritage properties.
The group’s director Imran Khaliq said the company was looking forward to investing in the huge building, which is home to a range of businesses including Newcastle BID company NE1 Ltd, Burnetts Solicitors, Wilson Accountants, Jump digital agency, as well as bars and restaurants including Colonel Porter’s, Kaltur and El Torrero. Gainford Group said it is giving careful consideration to future plans for the building.
Mr Khaliq said: “We’re delighted to have bought Milburn House. Our plan is to continue to retain what is there and to work with the tenants who are there, such as NE1, and we are working out plans for the building. The plan is to do some redevelopment work to enhance what’s there, certainly.
“Beyond that, it’s too early to say what else we could do - we will obviously want to talk to the council too. The building offers so many opportunities and it already lends itself to being used in so many ways, with all the mix of businesses, restaurants and bars based there."
