Busy summer for deal activity expected
A busy summer for corporate transactions is in prospect as investors and companies with strong balance sheets seek quality assets although deals are taking longer to complete, according to one of the region’s leading advisory teams. Grant Thornton UK central and east corporate finance team has seen a strong first half for deal activity which it expects to continue in the months ahead. Stuart Davies, director in the team, said: “We are expecting a very busy summer, which is encouraging as transactions continue to progress. While deals are taking longer to complete, unsurprising due to the macro-economic headwinds, both private equity investors and corporates with strong balance sheets are ready to transact for quality assets. We have a strong pipeline and are upbeat on prospects for the remainder of this year.” Deals in the region led by Grant Thornton during the first half of this year included AK Retail’s acquisition of M&Co fashion brand, the sale of Peterborough recycling company BW Riddle to Harwood Private Capital and an investment in Cambridge-based MAP Patient Access by Kester Capital.
Partner Mike Tillson said: “Our strong first half performance is testament to the team’s experience and ability to complete deals despite challenging market conditions.”
Colchester office building to be converted to flats after £1.5 million sale
A vacant 1990s office building in central Colchester is to be converted into luxury flats after it was sold for more than £1.5 million. Ellisons Solicitors, which has offices in the town, aided on an unconditional contract for the sale of the near-15,400 sq ft building at in St John’s Street. Michael Moody of Fenn Wright, who brokered the terms of the sale, said: “This prime spot in the centre of Colchester being revitalised into flats demonstrates the demand for residential conversion opportunities in Colchester. It is great to see that the city centre will have a refreshed building to offer to residential occupiers.”
Ellisons’ Bethan Williams, senior associate solicitor, said: “Ellisons Solicitors has managed this site since our client acquired it and our client’s proactive approach, teamed with our prior knowledge, ensured that the buyer was able to carry out their due diligence without any delays.”
Businesses consider moving operations to investment zones
Businesses across the region are gearing up for the introduction of investment zones, after the government unveiled the first area covered by the initiative in south Yorkshire. BDO’s bi-monthly economic engine survey of mid-market businesses, shows 85 per cent of regional companies have or will consider moving part of their business to one of the 12 proposed investment zones, which will offer lower taxes and reduced planning requirements along with government support for local growth. Peter Harrup, partner and head of BDO in East Anglia, said: “…Despite East Anglia not being named in the first tranche of locations, it’s clear that the package of funding to support infrastructure and skills, with the added draw of a range of tax reliefs, is giving regional businesses real food for thought about where they base all, or part of their operations, moving foreward.”
Hard times reflected in corporate insolvencies
A tough trading climate and an economic hangover from the pandemic continues to fuel increases in corporate insolvencies according to the Eastern branch of sector trade body R3. Insolvency Service figures show corporate insolvencies England & Wales in June rose by 27 per cent to 2,163, up from 1,698 recorded in the month a year ago and 1,206 in June 2021. R3 Eastern chair Alistair Bacon, founding principal at AMB Law in the region, said: “Firms are trading in a time of cautious consumer spending and rising costs, which are hitting margins and profits hard. Here in East Anglia, directors are expecting wages and costs to rise further as the year goes on. If these aren’t matched by more demand for goods and services, it could be the final blow for those companies which are just managing to keep their head above water.”
Travelodge opens new hotel in Ipswich and plans nine further sites in Suffolk
Travelodge has opened its fourth hotel in Ipswich and is seeking to open a further nine sites across Suffolk. The new 100-room Ipswich Central Travelodge next to the town’s football club is the area’s first ‘budget-luxe hotel’, the group’s new premium design. It marks a multi-million investment for landlord, The Burney Group and has created 26 new jobs and is the seventh Travelodge in Suffolk. Travelodge says it is actively looking for a further nine hotel sites in Suffolk which includes a fifth hotel site in Ipswich. This programme could represent a multi-million investment for third party investors and create 225 new jobs. Locations where it is seeking to open include Aldeburgh or Felixstowe, Bury St Edmunds, Ipswich, Lowestoft, Martlesham, Newmarket, Southwold, Saxmundham and Sudbury. Steve Bennett, chief property and development officer, said: “The hotel is ideally located for business and leisure travellers. It will also be very popular with Ipswich Town FC fans as we have rooms that overlook the stadium and our opening couldn’t have come at a better time with the club being promoted to the Championship.”
Demand for business space in Suffolk set to increase after Sizewell C investment
Demand for industrial and office space in Suffolk is expected to increase in coming months helped by more government investment in Sizewell C according to Penn Commercial, which has been named the county’s leading agent for the second quarter in EG’s latest rankings. Vanessa Penn, managing director of Penn Commercial, said: “This week, the Government has announced that a further £170 million will be invested to prepare the Sizewell C nuclear site for future construction, to procure key components from the project’s supply chain and to expand its workforce, which we are expecting to lead to increased demand in the industrial and office sectors across Suffolk over the coming months.” She added: “We have been experiencing a slight resurgence in the retail market – where we have been named second in the East of England – and Q2 saw a number of retail transactions come to fruition, across a wide range of Class E uses, from traditional shops to cafés and restaurants, hairdressers and beauty salons.” Penn Commercial also ranked third in the industrial sector and second in the retail sector across the East of England in the second quarter. The agency completed 15 sales and lettings, across all commercial sectors, which was the strongest performance of any agent in the region for the second quarter. Penn Commercial has also been named the most active agent in Suffolk for the year-to-date with 27 deals across 103,041 sq ft
Essex villages go live with full fibre broadband infrastructure
Over 1 400 homes and business premises in three Essex villages can access gigabit-speed full fibre broadband after County Broadband completed a multi-million-pound digital infrastructure. The build was undertakenin Wormingford nr Colchester, Wethersfield nr Braintree, and Weeley Heath in Tendring. County Broadband is designing, building and deploying full fibre broadband in over 250 villages in the East of England, backed by a combined £146 million of private investment from Aviva Investors. James Salmon, director of sales and new territories at County Broadband, said: “We are on a mission to deliver full fibre broadband to people working and living in rural and hard-to-reach areas across Essex so that they’re not left behind in our increasingly digital modern lives.” Build work has begun in five new villages involving around 3,500 premises: South Hanningfield and West Hanningfield nr Chelmsford and Tollesbury, Tolleshunt D’Arcy, and Tolleshunt Major nr Maldon.
Government-funded growth programme for SMEs to launch in September
The next programme for East Anglia for Help to Grow, a government-funded programme for SMEs to boost efficiency and growth with a focus on productivity, sustainability and resilience, starts on 21 September. The programme was developed by subject specialists and industry experts from UK business schools, and has been attended by hundreds of business leaders in the region and many more across the UK. In the East, the programme is delivered by the school of business at the University of Leicester with online webinars, peer-group coaching and face-to-face workshops held in Cambridge. Participants also get ten hours of free one-to-one mentoring from a business expert. There is a free online taster event on 8th August and full details can be seen here.
Eco-conscious guests opt to have trees planted at resort rather than having rooms cleaned
A total of 26,500 eco-conscious guests staying more than one night at Wyboston Lakes Resort, west of Cambridge, have chosen to have a tree planted on the resort instead of having their room cleaned since the resort’s energy saving Room2Grow sustainability initiative was launched a year ago. Steve Jones, managing director of Wyboston Lakes Resort, said: “The response has been phenomenal, many times greater than we expected. It’s marvellous that guests have been so willing to make this choice and take the chance to help us with our commitment to our philosophy of ‘More Sustainable, No Apology.”
Room2Grow has helped the resort to win three key awards since it was launched; the mialist Sustainability Award, IACC Americas Innovation Award 2023 for Sustainability Initiatives and recently the Conference & Events Awards 2023 Sustainability Award. As the Wyboston Lakes Resort team are planting the trees on the 380-acre site, they are now using compost that is being produced on the site as a product of the resort’s latest sustainability investment.
