BusinessLive looks back at the highs and many lows of 2020 in the East Midlands
Part three – May-June:
By May the country was in the midst of lockdown. Parents were struggling to teach their kids at home, while holding down jobs. Companies were forced to furlough staff, racking up billions in debts for the Government. And shops and bars were shut.
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Leicester Tigers
One of the biggest clubs in Europe warned it could suffer a £10 million hit if was unable get fans back into matches before the end of 2020.
The predicted lost revenue was double the amount the club estimated it had lost just one month earlier. Tigers confirmed the Covid-19 crisis had led to five players – Kyle Eastmond, Noel Reid, Manu Tuilagi, Greg Batemen and Telusa Veainu – leaving the club.
A further 31 members of staff had been made redundant because of the huge financial hit from the pandemic. The club said because of the size of its stadium and fan base it had been affected more than most Premiership Rugby clubs, already losing around £5 million since the last match was held at the Welford Road ground in March.
Chief executive Andrea Pinchen warned if things dragged on – especially with Leicester in a fresh local lockdown – things would get very bleak.
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FareShare
Britain’s biggest food charity, which was struggling to meet growing demand, teamed up with a global logistics giant to manage two new national distribution centres providing almost 10 million meals to vulnerable people through the pandemic.
To meet unprecedented demand, FareShare worked with XPO Logistics to operate the new warehouses in Lutterworth, Leicestershire, and Banbury in Oxfordshire,
The Leicestershire warehouse was donated by Asda as part of its campaign to help FareShare and the Trussell Trust get food to those who need it most throughout the pandemic.
As well as donating the warehouse space, Asda also made a £5 million donation, split between both charities, which would continue the work of Fight Hunger Create Change – a partnership between the three organisations that aims to tackle the root causes of poverty.
Ibstock and Forterra
Britain’s two biggest brick makers said they were planning to cut 600 jobs as they braced for an economic downturn.
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Ibstock and Forterra both issued statements on the same morning announcing redundancy plans.
Although construction was forecast to get back to normal in 2020, there were warnings that brick demand could remaining down by around 20 per cent.
Ibstock said up to 375 jobs, around 15 per cent of its workforce, could be affected as it looked at closing sites down.
Based in north west Leicestershire, it is the 海角视频’s biggest brick maker, with revenues of £409 million in 2019.
Forterra said its restructuring plans would lead to the loss of around 225 jobs, primarily from its concrete products facilities, particularly Swadlincote.
It is the country’s second biggest brick maker with around a third of the 海角视频 brick and aerated concrete block market.
CBRE
It was reported that the 海角视频 saw more big warehouse deals signed during the main three months of lockdown than ever before.
Despite the pandemic the logistics market recorded the highest quarterly take-up figures on record between April and June, according to data from global real estate advisor CBRE.
The figures were boosted by a number of national businesses, including Next and Topps Tiles, selling and leasing back warehouses to bring in hard cash to help them through the pandemic.
Following a robust start to the year, the total warehouse take-up for the first half of 2020 was more than 19 million sq ft – 44 per cent higher than the first half of 2019, and almost 5 per cent higher than the previous record in the first six months of 2018.
There were a total of 36 deals completed during the previous three months, a third higher than the same period in 2019.
Leicestershire County Cricket Club
Less than a week into the job the new chief executive of Leicestershire County Cricket Club told BusinessLive he was gearing up for tough times ahead as he tried to mitigate the effects of £1 million in lost revenue due to the lockdown.
Sean Jarvis said he hoped to at least salvage some of the 2020 season.
Mr Jarvis, who had just taken over at the Grace Road ground after 14 years at Huddersfield Town, said with the support of the members, players, staff, fans and sponsors, the club would get through what would be a devastating year.
And he said the “lean team” at Leicestershire, and help from the furlough system, meant they were hopeful of avoiding redundancies.
He said: “We have got some real big challenges ahead.”
European Space Agency
The European Space Agency (ESA) picked Leicester to launch a branch of its Business Incubation Centre for space tech start-ups.
The agency is extending what has been called the biggest programme of its kind in the world to Space Park Leicester, the £100 million research and business facility being built in the shadow of the National Space Centre.
Space Park Leicester joins a 海角视频-wide ESA BIC programme, alongside the Harwell Campus in Oxfordshire, Sci-Tech Daresbury in the North West and the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh – each one with strong links to the world leading specialisms that companies joining the programme can benefit from.
The first part of the space park to open will mainly be used for research into “Earth observation” – for instance, how satellite data can be used for anything from studying air pollution to looking at illegal logging in the Amazon or helping the transport and logistics sector.
Shoe Zone
Discount footwear chain Shoe Zone stores decided to close 20 stores and said it had carried out a redundancy programme at its Leicester head office.
The business said a double whammy of lockdown and supply chain disruption had pushed it into the red for the previous six months.
The chain, which has 3,500 staff, was suffering the effects of the coronavirus even before the lockdown was imposed as shoppers stayed at home.
When the first lockdown ended it was able to reopen 416 of its 490 shops, with more due to open at the end of June, as Wales and Scotland eased their restrictions.
A trading update showed the business suffered pre-tax losses of £2.5 million in the half year to April 4 – when lockdown had only just begun – compared to a £1 million profit a year earlier.
Turnover for the period was £68.9 million, compared to £73 million the same time last year.
Chief executive Anthony Smith said “Covid-19 will continue to have an unprecedented impact on the 海角视频 economy and the retail industry.”
Meon Valley Travel Group
The boss of a travel business which specialises in emergency repatriation services said they had helped hundreds of people get home during the global lockdown.
Meon Valley Travel Group organised the repatriation of hundreds of people back to the 海角视频, Australia, the United States, Germany, France and other countries after the pandemic hit.
The business, which also deals with business trips, holidays and emergency medical assistance, has a head office in Petersfield, Hampshire, and a business travel office in Thurmaston, Leicester.
Managing director James Beagrie said business travel and overseas holidays disappeared overnight when the pandemic hit.
East Midlands Airport
Mid-June saw the first passenger flights since ‘lockdown’ return to East Midlands Airport.
Passengers using the Ryanair service from Alicante were the first to step inside the airport’s terminal since the lockdown measures were introduced in March.
A total of 16 Ryanair flights to and from EMA were scheduled until the end of June with anyone returning to the 海角视频 from overseas will have to quarantine for 14 days.
Foreign Office advice continued to warn against non-essential travel.
At the time airport managing director Karen Smart said: “I am delighted that we will welcome back our first passengers, even if they are few in number.”
Island Quarter development
Plans were unveiled for one the largest regeneration schemes in the 海角视频.
Nottingham’s £650 million Island Quarter development will see a 40-acre site near the Motorpoint arena transformed into new homes, grade A office space, creative spaces, a lifestyle hotel with PRS and co-working space, shops and student accommodation.
The development is being seen as a vital part of the regeneration of Nottingham’s Southside area and is being overseen by developer Conygar working closely with Nottingham City Council.
Artists’ impressions for the long-derelict site included a three-storey pavilion on the waterfront with two restaurants, events space and a large rooftop terrace.
Conygar also said there will be a bandstand and public space, opening up the canal basin area.