Laurence and Daniel discuss expansion for a prominent kitchens firm, the latest developments from MIPIM and a NorthEdge-backed acquisition.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Expansion for a prominent kitchen firm, an update from Mippin, and a North Edge-backed
00:06acquisition. That's all coming up in today's Business Briefing.
00:15My name is Lawrence Cleggannan. My name is Daniel Zambartas.
00:18Well, morning Dan. So if we can perhaps start with a trip to the south coast of France and
00:24what's going on in Mippin, what's the latest? An interesting update from the northwest actually.
00:28A very exciting Greater Manchester growth location between Bolton and Wigan has been
00:32launched at Mippin. The North Bolton scheme includes 9,000 homes, more than 3 million
00:37square feet of industrial space, and interestingly, a potential Ryder Cup venue.
00:41Ah, right. Yes, we've done stories about that before. That's Houlton Park in Bolton.
00:46That's right. Yeah, the 700-year-old estate is planned to be restored with new homes,
00:51hotel and sports facilities, and it could potentially host the 2035 Ryder Cup, as well
00:56as other major events. I don't know if you're much of a fan of the Ryder Cup.
00:59I love the Ryder Cup, yes. I don't watch golf religiously, but the Ryder Cup's got that
01:03sort of match play element to it, so it's really exciting. And if the partners were
01:08able to bring that in to the northwest, it would be phenomenal for the region. It really
01:13would give a boost to this corridor. And what else is in the plans?
01:19Well, one of the projects is also a 1 billion master plan, which would create 5,000 new
01:24town centre residents in Bolton, you know, with a mix of retail, leisure, hospitality
01:29and employment space. So there's quite a lot on there, if you don't read the full article,
01:33you know, there's a full list of sort of exciting updates.
01:36Excellent, and that's the latest update from Miffin. There's been some interesting things.
01:40One that caught my eye was the developers behind the King Edward project on the Liverpool
01:46waterfront. They've sort of revealed that they want to lure a five-star hotel operator
01:51into it. This is a waterfront scheme. As you know, Liverpool, magnificent waterfront, and
01:57they've got ideas of a 60-storey tower with this five-star hotel in the mix. So I think
02:02that's an exciting thing. If you go to Miffin, you want to hear those sort of stories. You
02:05want to hear about things like the Bolton Wigan corridor, and there's not much from
02:13certain patches. I think northwest has been okay, not much from the southeast as yet.
02:17I haven't heard too much as of yet, but obviously it's not over yet, so keep an eye out for
02:22any stories there.
02:23Absolutely. And sticking with the northwest, actually, we've got news of the well-known
02:28kitchens and joinery firm, Howden's Joinery. They've got a longstanding base in Runcorn
02:34in Cheshire, and they've submitted plans to expand that site. Currently, it's the base
02:42for about 500 employees, but they've been there for a long time and they just need more
02:46space for the manufacturing operations and more space for storage. So those plans have
02:52been submitted, and fingers crossed that will get the green light. It doesn't say actually
02:57it's creating jobs, but it's certainly safeguarding what's there already.
03:00Yeah, of course.
03:01A really, really interesting property story from the northwest, and you've got a property
03:05story from North Yorkshire.
03:06I do. The Dustpan and Brush Store have acquired a large site in North Yorkshire for their
03:12new warehouse and distribution centre.
03:14Sorry to interrupt. It's an interesting name for them. Is it like a Ron Seal situation,
03:19they do what they say on the tin?
03:20Exactly. It's right on the tin. They're a family-run retailer of brushes, brooms, dust
03:25plants and cleaning products.
03:26Right, okay.
03:27So they're set to relocate from their current base in Pickering to the complex in Amaby,
03:31which is near Moulton, and occupies a total site area of almost 15 acres. And the site
03:36was actually previously home to a manufacturer of a well-known hot dog brand. It was formerly
03:41the Moulton Food Site, which was behind the Wessler's hot dog brand. The facility closed
03:48in 2023. Are you much of a hot dog man, Lawrence?
03:50I will certainly have a hot dog, definitely. It's interesting, isn't it? A really storied
03:55site, so you've had a hot dog, and it turns out to be Dustpan and Brushes.
03:58Quite the transition. The plan for the Dustpan and Brush Store is that they're going to have
04:03all the operations under one roof, whereas they used to have warehouse units up across
04:07the board. They can have all their operations in one place, and they're hoping to have it
04:11up and running within six months.
04:12Fantastic. Well, great news for the business, and also great news for Moulton,
04:17which is a lovely place, as far as I can tell, from TV chef shows. Have you ever been there?
04:21It's kind of like a foodie capital.
04:23We've been there, but not exactly.
04:24So yes, it's on the wish list, anyhow. And to finish, we've also got news of a deal from
04:31North Edge Capital-backed Cezanne HR. Like it sounds, they're sort of operating in the world
04:38of HR and payroll software, and they've made their first strategic acquisition with a deal
04:43for a Dublin-based recruitment tech firm called Occupop. Cezanne has been backed by North Edge
04:51since 2023, and this is their first strategic acquisition. It adds extra products, and it's
04:58also going to expand their sort of geographical footprint, so exciting news there.
05:04Fantastic.
05:04Yeah, absolutely. Well, to read more about the stories we've discussed,
05:07go to insidermedia.com. There, you can subscribe to our newsletters,
05:11you can subscribe to our magazines, and you can also find out about upcoming events.
05:16That's everything from us. See you next time.