Ben and Dan discuss plans for a new £100m railway station in Liverpool, financial results for a seafood business, and investment for a new hotel and members club in West Sussex.
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00:00Plans for a new railway station in Liverpool, results for a seafood business and investment
00:05for a new hotel in West Sussex all feature in today's Business Briefing.
00:09Morning Ben.
00:14Morning.
00:15So what's caught you all right today?
00:17Yep, so we've got a timber products group based in South Wales that's planning to acquire
00:24further companies to fuel growth, expand its coverage and diversify its product range.
00:30So in 2024, Premier Forest Products acquired Bites UK and Stairway Joinery and it also invested
00:37in forest timber engineering.
00:41So yeah, Managing Director Terry Eggshell, he's told us future acquisitions that provide continued
00:46product and sector diversity, volume growth and geographic expansion will continue to
00:51be a feature of Premier Forest's story and he's gone on to predict that the turnover
00:57would rise over the next three years as a result of these acquisitions combined with product
01:04inflation in timber and he adds, this will either arise on the back of demand generated
01:09by the anticipated house build policy or from a further curtailment of production across the
01:13world as we have already seen in the last 12 months.
01:16So the Newport Company is listed on a ranking of the top 100 owner managed companies in
01:20Wales and that is published in the April, May edition of Wales Business Inside the Magazine
01:26if you'd like to check that out and yeah, quite interesting with all the acquisitions as well
01:33and it's a business that's really growing acquisitively.
01:37It's a very exciting time for Wales and some exciting news from Liverpool as well because
01:42plans for a new £100 million railway station, Liverpool's Baltic Triangle, are set to be
01:46approved by the Council's Planning Committee.
01:49So you might be familiar with the Baltic Triangle.
01:51Yes, it's a big development area, quite trendy, quite a nice area.
01:55It is very trendy.
01:56It's a lot of upcoming.
01:57When I was a student in Liverpool, I used to live near the Baltic Triangle, I used to go
02:00there all the time.
02:01It's a really nice place, it's got a lot of bars and everyone watched a gig there as well,
02:04so quite an exciting development and it's not got a station either, so I think that'd
02:09be really convenient to have one there, sort of attract visitors to the Baltic Triangle.
02:13So the proposed station will sit on the northern line between Liverpool Central and Brunswick
02:17stations and is one of four new stations promised by the Mayor Steve Rotherham, alongside others
02:22in Daresbury, Woodchurch and Car Mill, but the aim is sort of to boost public transport
02:26across the Liverpool City region and that station is seen as key to regenerating the Baltic
02:31Triangle.
02:32The plan has been recommended for approval and a £96 million funding package is already
02:36in place for development.
02:38So if it's approved by the Department for Transport, construction could start later this year and
02:43the station could be opened by 2027.
02:44It may be open in the next couple of years then.
02:47So we'll keep an eye out on those plans.
02:49Yes, definitely.
02:50So moving away from that, you've got some interesting results for us.
02:53Yes, so it's a seafood business, Lions.
02:55It's reported a rise in pre-tax profits in its latest results and this is, as it says,
03:01markets continue to recover in the UK.
03:04It's based in Warminster, which is in the southwest of England and it's also posted a rise in its
03:09turnover during the financial period.
03:11So it specialises in the sale of various seafoods, so prawns, speciality seafoods and this is
03:18to the retail, catering and manufacturing markets in the UK.
03:22And it's quite a large business, it employs around 300 staff and in its director's report, the
03:28company said the well-developed production facility continues to provide a firm base from which the
03:33business can further develop and the directors of the business add that there has been no
03:38change to the company's major customers and the Real Seafoods brand launched successful
03:43to a number of main retail customers in a year.
03:46So really positive set of results for them.
03:48And are you a big seafood fan, Dan?
03:50I do like my seafood, yeah.
03:51I'm actually jetting off to Cyprus soon, expecting some nice fresh seafood from there.
03:55You'll see plenty there.
03:56Sounds like there's some good offering in the southwest as well.
03:58Yes, plenty in the southwest as well.
04:00So we'll have to keep a close eye on that business.
04:02Are you a seafood fan yourself?
04:03Yes, I enjoy prawns and various other seafood.
04:08Yeah.
04:09Anyway, so moving away from that, just to finish off here, some exciting news from the southeast.
04:14A 55-acre site in West Sussex is set to be transformed into a wellness-focused hotel and
04:19members club.
04:20That's a great idea.
04:21With more than £333,000 already secured in crowdfunding.
04:26So the project is called Long Lane and it was launched by Harrison Hyde and Louis Blake
04:30in 2022 after they found they weren't able to fully enjoy socialising without a negative
04:34impact on their wellbeing.
04:36Yeah.
04:37Specifically, they like to focus on promoting mental, physical and social wellbeing without
04:41alcohol.
04:42In fact, the entire site and hotel is planned to be an alcohol-free zone.
04:45Right.
04:46That's a really interesting concept.
04:47It's a good idea and it just shows you don't have to socialise.
04:52Alcohol doesn't always have to be a good one.
04:53Exactly.
04:54I definitely describe it as a USP in this country since a lot of socialising is centred on drinking.
04:59Yes, exactly.
05:00I really like the idea.
05:01Not safe.
05:02The site is in Midhurst and it's planned to open in spring 2026 and it will feature a
05:07range of facilities including a swimming pool, gym, restaurant and of course paddle courts.
05:12So, so far 53 investors have backed the plans at the time of recording and there's 29 days
05:17left to reach the full £400,000 target.
05:19So, we're keeping an eye out on that campaign to see how they get on.
05:22It's great to see.
05:23It's quite a new project.
05:24Only 2022.
05:25So, they've obviously come on quite a lot in the last couple of years.
05:28That's helped by it.
05:29They've got a lot of people that are sort of in support of them.
05:31Yeah.
05:32So, we'll have to keep an eye on how they get along.
05:34Yeah.
05:35Well, that's all we've got time for today.
05:36To read more about the stories we've discussed today, please visit insidermedia.com
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