Invest in Nottingham blog

For the first time – a dedicated flight from East Midlands Airport to Nice for the MIPIM property conference – March 2012

Invest in Nottingham — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:06:34 +0000

Low cost airline bmibaby has launched a special service from East Midlands Airport to Nice specifically for the world famous MIPIM conference. The flights will depart from East Midlands Airport on 6th March 2012 and will arrive back on 9th March 2012. bmibaby is the only airline to offer flights to the MIPIM conference from East Midlands Airport.

Delegates travelling on this flight can also enjoy a complimentary continental breakfast in the airport VIP lounge, before they travel. Start your networking in the lounge and on the flight.

MIPIM runs from 6 – 9 March 2012 in Cannes and is the world’s premier real estate event, renowned for being a hotbed for international property trade. In 2011 the show attracted over 18,000 participants from across the globe over the four day event.

Julian Carr, managing director, bmibaby, said:

“We are pleased to launch our dedicated service to Nice for the MIPIM conference. The service will allow businesses in the region to travel from their local airport to one of the most important events in the property calendar.

“We are the only airline to offer this service from East Midlands Airport, meaning that getting to MIPIM is now even easier for businesses in the region.”

Brad Miller, managing director, East Midlands Airport said:

“We’re absolutely delighted to be working in partnership with bmibaby to provide this dedicated service to the business community for the first time and we’re confident that it will be welcomed by the many businesses in the region looking to attend next year’s MIPIM conference.”

Flights are available to book now on www.bmibaby.com.

Flights times:

Outbound
Date
Depart
Arrive

East Midland Airport to Nice
Tues 6 March 2012
9:00
12.30

Inbound
Date

Nice to East Midland Airport
Friday 9 March 2012
13:00
14:20

8 new companies join the Invest in Nottingham Club

Invest in Nottingham — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 10:45:12 +0000

We are delighted to welcome the following members to the Invest in Nottingham Club:

RBS Corporate
Towergate Risk Solutions
Crytek UK Ltd
Russell Scanlon
Staffbay
The Wilson Organisation
Vinci Construction UK Ltd
Wellglade

For more see here http://bit.ly/tCWgR9

Congratulations to Paul Smith

Invest in Nottingham — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 14:27:20 +0000

The Invest in Nottingham Club sends its congratulations to Sir Paul Smith who has received the 2011 Outstanding Achievement award from the British Fashion Council.
From his first shop in Nottingham which opened just two days a week, the Paul Smith empire now spans 52 countries.
Sir Paul, who was knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2001, has won four previous British Fashion Awards.
Paul Southby, Invest in Nottingham Club chairman, said: “He is Nottingham’s favourite son – and never forgets his roots. Not only does he have two flagship stores here in the city, but he employs a large number of people at his factory here.”

Introducing Team Nottingham…

Invest in Nottingham — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 14:26:27 +0000

We can now announce the representatives who will be heading out to MIPIM next year as part of Team Nottingham.
Team Nottingham was first formed last year as a public-private partnership of business leaders who were keen to maintain the city’s presence at MIPIM in Cannes – the largest property showcase in the world. A group of local businesses, led by Tim Garratt of Innes England, will once again be flying the flag for Nottingham in 2012 in order to show potential investors what the city has to offer.
This year, the team will include Innes England, CPMG Architects, Couch Perry & Wilkes, Morgan Tucker, Rizk McCay, Gleeds, Miller Birch, Geldards and Invest in Nottingham.
We will keep you updated on the team’s news over the coming months.

Crytek on the look out for 30 new staff

Invest in Nottingham — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 14:26:07 +0000

CRYTEK, one of the world’s biggest video gaming companies, has announced it is to create a further 30 jobs at its UK studio in Nottingham.
The German-owned firm, developers of interactive computer games, is to take on a mixture of experienced games designers, coders, artists and graduate trainees over the next four to six months, says Crytek UK managing director Karl Hilton.
He said: “We already employ 110 people at our Nottingham site – and are excited by our success and expansion. The gaming industry in the UK is gathering pace and we are recognised for our high quality development and skills in this sector.
“Here in Nottingham, Crytek has a young workforce who live around the city. As an industry we know we have to develop new skills and Crytek does this by talking to several local universities about recruiting from their courses.”
Nottingham is one of the largest offices in the Crytek group. Other offices are in Budapest, Sofia, Kiev and Seoul. Crytek was founded in Germany in 1999 by the Yerli brothers and has its head office in Frankfurt. Crytek is best known for games FarCry, the Crysis franchise and its proprietary development solution CryENGINE.
Karl, who spoke at the last Invest in Nottingham Club lunch on Friday, says Crytek is currently working on a number of exciting projects from the Nottingham studio. He told club members how a game can take up to two and a half year to develop – and that the region is well known for its expertise.
He added: “The East Midlands has become a hub for the video gaming industry. The three main UK sites are London, the East Midlands and Scotland. When we moved from our last site, Nottingham was a really attractive proposition for us. There is a real buzz in the city of Nottingham and we will continue to benefit from this.”

Expansion plans for Maber after raft of new projects

Invest in Nottingham — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 14:25:37 +0000

MABER, the Nottingham-based firm of architects and designers, has underpinned its ambitious strategy for growth with the appointment of 13 new architects, technologists and graduate trainees.
The company, an Invest in Nottingham Club member, has boosted its workforce over the past six months following a number of prestigious new contract wins across the UK with both new and established clients.
Managing director of Maber Mark Hobson says that the firm’s expansion comes after picking up project work with a total construction value of more than £200 million across the East Midlands and nationally.
Mark said: “This growth is quite a leap but is representative of a number of strong relationships with existing clients such as Rolls-Royce Aerospace, Miller Birch and Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club to name just a few with whom we have worked with for many years.
“We have continued to grow during the downturn, and have acquired some major new projects which we believe is due to longstanding relationships with clients, and as a result of some high profile awards we have won in recent years.”
As well as adding to its East Midlands workforce, Mark has revealed that the practice is setting up a London base this month (Dec). Maber currently has offices in Nottingham’s Lace Market, Derby and Leicester and now employs a total of 50 people.
He added: “Despite the tough economic climate, we have seen a greater demand for our services. While much of our work is in Nottinghamshire and the wider East Midlands, we are carrying out more projects further afield and need a London office in order to support clients in the south of England.”
Current Maber projects include:
• the £20 million E.on development in Guildhall Street, Nottingham which is currently on site
• the new £6.5 million Energy Technologies Building at Innovation Park in Nottingham which is also on site
• five major interior design projects at the new Center Parcs in Woburn, Bucks
• a manufacturing and HQ facility in the West Midlands on behalf of Aero Engine Controls
• a 22-storey student accommodation scheme in Leicester for Megaclose
• a brand new 750-pupil community school in Tibshelf, Derbyshire
• the new Corby Urgent Care Centre for Northamptonshire NHS
• a new innovation centre at Leicester Science Park
• the £14 million Leeds East Academy working with contractor Interserve, the international support services and construction group
• a number of key projects for South Staffordshire College

In 2010, Maber won the RICS Project of the Year national award for its design of The Roundhouse Campus project in Derby – beating 450 other publicly funded projects throughout the UK. To put this in context the prize was previously won by significant London projects including the renovation of St Paul’s Cathedral and the refurbishment of St Pancras Station.
Other Maber projects recently completed include the Bioenergy & Brewing Science Building at Sutton Bonington for The University of Nottingham which houses state-of-the-art laboratories and research facilities for food technology and brewing; the Nottingham Geospatial Building, also for the University – a cross-disciplinary research building; the new Bridgford Road Stand at Trent Bridge Cricket Ground; the pioneering Speedo International building at NG2 and the Nottingham High School Sixth Form Centre.

Shelved A453 project given green light

Invest in Nottingham — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 14:25:02 +0000

The Nottingham business community is celebrating following news that plans to widen the A453 are to go ahead after all.
The £164 million scheme was one of several projects shelved last year – but this week was given the green light in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement.
Invest in Nottingham Club chairman Paul Southby said: “This is great news for Nottingham and Nottingham’s businesses. All of those who have lobbied hard to bring the scheme forward should be congratulated but in particular Nottinghamshire County Council which in straightened economic times pledged £20 million towards the costs of the project, and I am sure that has helped significantly.
“This scheme links into so many other important planned developments which are crucial to the future economic prosperity of our city, such as the Boots site Enterprise Zone and hopefully this announcement will help to move those plans forward too. Effective transport links are a crucial component in our plans to bring more investment and jobs into the city and county and this decision is very welcome.”
A Boots UK spokesperson said: “We are pleased with the decision to widen the A453. We believe this will have a significant positive impact long term as it helps ensure that the local infrastructure is fit for purpose. This in turn will support future economic growth, investment and job creation for the city and the wider region.”
The A453 scheme has attracted support from local businesses and local councils including Rushcliffe Borough Council which pledge £500,000.
One of the most congested roads in the country, the 11-mile route sees up to 30,000 vehicles a day.

Homes in the future – event looks at the challenges

Invest in Nottingham — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 15:39:40 +0000

The School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment at Nottingham Trent University hosted a successful event recently at Nottingham Conference Centre exploring and debating the challenge of better quality housing schemes.

Peter Bishop, lead investigator of the Design Council, and CABE national and local design review director of Allies and Morrison Urban Practitioners will be speaking at the event. He was joined by Nigel Turpin, heritage and urban designer manager at Nottingham City Council, and chief executive of Blueprint Nick Ebbs.

At a time when it is recognised there is insufficient focus on the provision of new homes and a challenge to develop better quality properties, the Government is proposing radical changes, including the Localism Bill and the draft National Planning Policy Framework. This event looked at those challenges.

Other experts attending the event included David Birkbeck, chief executive of Design for Homes; John Slaughter, director of external affairs, Home Builders Federation; Julie Tanner, chief executive of OPUN – the Architecture and Design Centre for the East Midlands; Tony Mulhall, associate director, RICS Planning and Development Professional Group; Ben Derbyshire, MD of HTA Architects, James Wilson, chief executive at Davidson Homes and Stefan Kruczkowski, principle urban designer of North West Leicestershire District Council.

An exciting line up of speakers at today’s Invest in Nottingham Club Lunch

Invest in Nottingham — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 10:52:22 +0000

Today’s Invest in Nottingham Club event promises to be an interesting one. Speakers include Karl Hilton Managing Director of Crytek UK, Professor Simon Mercado Associate (Vice) Dean – Nottingham Business School,
Nottingham Trent University and Gary Church Regional Team Leader, Sales & Marketing Team Willmott Dixon will update members on Nottingham’s current and future projects.
We are delighted to announce
The Invest in Nottingham Club now has 129 members since the last event 8 new members have enrolled.

For more information on the Invest in Nottingham Club http://www.investinnottingham.co.uk/template01.asp?pageid=192

Ex-AstraZeneca staff set up own firms in Nottingham

Invest in Nottingham — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 14:57:24 +0000

Some scientists who would have lost their jobs at a large pharmaceutical firm in Leicestershire have set up their own biotech companies in Biocity Nottingham.

See here for more
http://bit.ly/uM6MxU and watch the video of this story.