An opportunity has arisen to provide catering services at East Midlands Chamber’s new offices in Chesterfield.

Commerce House, on Millennium Way, next door to the Dunston Innovation Centre, includes a food preparation area and café which is open to everyone working at the Chamber and in surrounding offices.

East Midlands Chamber moved to Commerce House in February, since when catering has been provided by a member with a sandwich shop and external catering business. Following a review of his business, however, he has decided to concentrate on external catering.

Chris Bates, the Chamber’s Facilities Manager, said:-

“It would be a shame to lose a service that only the Chamber offers in the area so we are keen to talk to an alternative provider who could move in to the café at short notice.

“We’re happy to discuss very favourable terms in order to see this service continued.”

Anyone interested should contact Chris in the first instance, either by email at chris.bates@emc-dnl.co.uk or by calling 01246 207207 ext 2022.

Shorts are delighted to announce the appointment of Darryl Hoy as the latest recruit to the tax team.

Darryl joins as a Senior Manager in the Innovation Taxes Group (ITG) and brings with him many years’ experience working within HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), specialising in the processing and investigation of Research and Development (R&D) tax relief claims.

Scott Burkinshaw, Tax Partner and head of Shorts’ ITG commented:-

“Since its inception two years ago, the group has enjoyed significant growth and saved local companies many millions of £s through successful claims.  We have always strived to ensure that our claims maximise benefits for our clients whilst being fully compliant with HMRC guidance and legislation. This often involved liaison with HMRC’s specialist R&D tax credit units.

“With the number of enquiries into R&D tax relief claims now on the increase we firmly believe that the best way to ensure a successful claim is to do a thorough job and submit a robust claim to HMRC to mitigate the chances of HMRC opening an enquiry. Bringing Darryl into the team gives us a unique ability to prepare claims that are fully compliant.

“Darryl’s appointment firmly places Shorts’ ITG in an enviable position of not only offering businesses superior advice on making a R&D claim, but also being able to offer unique assistance to companies under enquiry.

Scott concluded:-

“We find that many companies are reluctant to claim due to the perceived complexity of the process and also uncertainty regarding whether they meet the eligibility criteria. Darryl’s arrival enhances our ability to quickly give companies certainty regarding their ability to claim.”

Darryl added:-

“After a long career at HMRC I am really excited to be joining such a professional and forward thinking Accountancy practice as Shorts. Being part of the Innovation Taxes Group will give me the opportunity to add my experience to an already highly skilled team and help them with promoting the Research & Development tax relief scheme to aid all of those innovative SME’s in and around the area.”

No celebration is quite complete without cake and the team at Heron Publications cut into a large, tasty one on the occasion of their company’s 15th anniversary.

The independent, family-run business began life in the loft of the home of directors Mike and Helen Firth and now employs 12 people, based at its Enterprise House offices in Dronfield.

It publishes popular free local magazines ‘Twist’, ‘Dronfield Eye’, ‘Wings’ and ‘Active8’, plus the paid-for nostalgia periodical ‘My Kind of Town’.

Mike Firth, Director of Heron Publications, explained:-

“In the publishing world, people regard 15 years as long-term. However, we are always planning ahead and are forever forging new links with local individuals, organisations and businesses.

“It has been a real thrill to see our business grow and our magazines have become important threads in the communities they serve, being the brightest, most attractive publications around.”

It’s been a busy time for Heron Publications. Earlier this year they added an extension to their Dronfield offices, a development which has now enabled them to employ two more full-time members of staff.

They were also thrilled to be named the East Midlands Community Business of the Year in the 2017 FSB & Worldpay UK Business Awards.

Other recognition over the years has seen the local company receive two commendations in the National Magazine Publishers’ Awards.

Fast-growing and ambitious businesses are being offered a helping hand to step up to the next level.

The D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) – the private sector-led partnership promoting economic and jobs growth across Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire – is offering financial assistance and coaching to firms keen to ‘scale up’.

According to Sherry Coutu, CBE, in the Scale-Up Report, it is estimated that growth of just one per cent in the number of UK companies scaling up could create 238,000 new jobs and add £38bn to the UK’s GVA (Gross Value Added, a measure of the value of goods and services an area produces versus its consumption of resources) within three years.

Firms qualifying for D2N2 Growth Hub ScaleUp, marketed by the LEP’s D2N2 Growth Hub, will be small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which have achieved some or all of the following criteria or be able to demonstrate their ambition and potential to do so in the foreseeable future:

• employ ten or more people at the start of the qualifying period
• have a turnover of between £1m and £15m a year;
• have consistent annual growth of at least 20% for the past three years.

The D2N2 Growth Hub – which works closely with SMEs in the LEP area to help them grow – has identified almost 200 companies across Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire which could qualify for support under the ScaleUp Service. It is being delivered in partnership with Nottingham Trent University’s Nottingham Business School, the Professional Coaching Alliance, the Centre for Management & Business Development and East Midlands Chamber.

Businesses meeting the eligibility criteria will initially receive a free comprehensive review of their scale up challenges to explore the specific issues related to rapid business growth and develop a bespoke action plan.

Those selected to take part will receive high-quality coaching to help address identified priority areas and leadership and management development, access to workshops focusing on identifying potential markets, advice on sales and marketing and access to finance and bespoke support through an executive peer-to-peer network.

SMEs will be able to reclaim, through a grant scheme, a proportion of the cost of the business support package to help them reach the next level of growth.

Lindsay Allen, D2N2 Senior Programme Manager (Sector Development) and lead officer for the D2N2 Growth Hub, said:-

“D2N2’s Growth Hub works with start-ups and SMEs at all levels, but we identified a need for extra assistance for those companies already doing well but with high ambitions.

“Through the ScaleUp Service we and our delivery partners will be providing expert guidance and assistance to get these companies to the next level of growth.”

Scott Knowles, Chief Executive at East Midlands Chamber, added:-

“It’s all too easy for firms to grow quickly and then plateau because they don’t know how to take the next step or don’t have the time or resources to do it. The D2N2 Growth Hub ScaleUp Service is all about helping SMEs take that next step.

“And the beauty of the programme is that it completes a virtuous circle where Government, through D2N2, encourages and assists firms to take that next step which, it is proven, then creates more jobs and more wealth which boosts the economy.”

Julie Holland, Head of Executive Education and Corporate Relations, College of Business Law & Social Sciences and Nottingham Trent University’s Business School is equally enthusiastic about the project. She said:-

“Fast growth can be just as challenging to businesses as lack of opportunity.

“Having the chance to work with some of the region’s fastest growing firms, to support their long-term sustainability, will help us to support managers now and in the future with their scale-up challenges and will provide career opportunities for our talented graduates.”

Mike Epton, Managing Director at CMBD, said:-

“We have been helping businesses in the D2N2 area realise their growth ambitions for nearly 15 years and, with our partners, intend to deliver a truly integrated programme of support to meet the specific needs of individual businesses as well as creating a community of growth for D2N2 focused around our Growth Hub.”

John Collins, Coaching Director at PCA, added:-

“Our coaches have achieved some fantastic results with high-growth businesses over the past 12 years and we are excited to be involved in delivering the new Growth Hub ScaleUp Service with our partners.

“This represents a really new approach, building an integrated and seamless ecosystem of support to assist the growth aspirations of successful, established businesses in D2N2; helping them through the challenges of scaling up their performance, profitability and employment.”

Firms wanting to find out more information about the scheme should click here.