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Laurence and Ben discuss the redevelopment of a Cornish hotel site, new backing for an education resourcing business and results for a South Wales car dealership.

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00:00The redevelopment of a Cornish hotel site, new backing for an education staffing supplier

00:08and the results for a major car dealership in South Wales.

00:11That's all coming up in today's Business Briefing.

00:19My name's Lawrence Gleganan.

00:21My name's Ben Butler.

00:22Good morning, Ben.

00:23Morning.

00:24So we'll start in the, well, the North West is where this business is headquartered and

00:27it is Operum Education Group.

00:32And they sort of supply teaching, temporary teaching staff to schools across the UK.

00:41And they were established in 2017.

00:43They've grown since then through a buy and build model.

00:47That was backed by BGF who provided capital on a couple of occasions for them.

00:52Growth investor.

00:53Exactly right.

00:54And now they have secured investment from Three Hills to drive the next phase of their

01:00investment and growth.

01:02Yeah.

01:03Well, Three Hills is a private markets investment firm and a B Corp itself.

01:08And they're going to sort of not only support the acquisition plans of Operum, but also

01:13organic opportunities that are available too.

01:17So a really interesting, really interesting story.

01:21And, you know, it's an interesting approach, the buy and build approach, where, you know,

01:25you see like-minded businesses or firms offer services you think will be of use and build

01:32a sort of bigger whole.

01:33So you know, they have a presence all over the UK and that's only going to increase.

01:39So we'll watch that one with interest.

01:41Yes, definitely.

01:42And actually, I should say, it does provide a partial exit for BGF as well.

01:47Although they are still a significant minority shareholder, so they can watch the fruits

01:53of their investment develop.

01:55Oh, absolutely.

01:56Yeah.

01:57Now, we mentioned, as we turn to the sort of wintery months, we mentioned the redevelopment

02:02of a hotel site in Cornwall.

02:04I was down in the southwest recently.

02:05Yes, I believe you were, weren't you, with the stonehenge and the Salisbury Cathedral?

02:09That's right, yes.

02:10But it was just stopped a bit short of Cornwall, more Wiltshire.

02:15Yes, a bit further down.

02:16So what's the Cornwall story?

02:18Yes, so it's the former Hotel California site.

02:21Great name.

02:22Yes, great name there.

02:24And based in Pentair, near Newquay.

02:27Okay, a surfing hotspot.

02:29Yes, surfing territory.

02:31And the Acorn Property Group have now acquired the site and there's plans in the pipeline

02:37for a luxury development to be an executive collection of 20 apartments and four homes.

02:46So it's overlooking the picturesque banks of the Gunnell Estuary, the River Gunnell.

02:51So some lovely views there.

02:53And the construction's scheduled to commence in early 2025.

02:58So not long to wait now until these plans hopefully come to fruition.

03:03Excellent.

03:04And well, actually, this talk of new homes, it put me in mind of, so home improvements

03:09and what have you.

03:10And the sad news about home base facing struggles.

03:13Yes, that is sad to hear.

03:15It is a sort of place where people go, pick up stuff for the garden or maybe some curtain

03:18rails.

03:19A very handy store.

03:20Yes.

03:21So hopefully there'll be a brighter future ahead for them.

03:24Fingers crossed something can be sorted.

03:26Yeah.

03:27And actually sticking with administrations, albeit on a smaller scale, we carried news

03:32today of the administration of CSW Process.

03:35Now they're a specialist civil engineering business based in Normanton, West Yorkshire.

03:40And they help service the heating district there.

03:43Sadly, they ran into difficulties and that led to the appointment of Interpath, the restructuring

03:51firm.

03:52Sad to hear.

03:53Yes.

03:54And in the absence of a sort of solvent solution, the business is being wound down now.

03:58So that's a bit of a sombre note as is home base.

04:01So perhaps you can provide a cheerier note with your Wales car dealership.

04:05Some positive results for Mist Solar.

04:08So it operates a Ford Motor Company franchise dealership.

04:13That's in Bridgend, Watertown Industrial Estate.

04:17So the latest accounts show that revenue increased in its latest year.

04:23Pre-tax profits fell slightly, but only ever so slightly.

04:26The results were boosted by an improvement in new car sales volumes, although there was

04:32a decline in margins, but generally a positive set of results.

04:37In the strategic report, Directors Looking Ahead have said, I'll read a quote out,

04:43the company continues its strategy of consolidating its position by growing all departments and

04:49in particular is investing in capital and training to take advantage of the evolving

04:53market in electric vehicles.

04:55Interesting.

04:56It's quite an interesting area.

04:57It's obviously a real booming area.

04:59It's going to become more and more popular.

05:01Yeah.

05:02No, I suppose you have to sort of look forward to the future.

05:05I currently drive a petrol car, but perhaps my next purchase would be looking at electric

05:11and so the dealerships need to be geared up.

05:13Oh, absolutely.

05:14I think eventually we will get to the point where we're maybe all driving electric cars.

05:17Yeah, but actually, interestingly, Bentley, they put back their plans for just to have

05:23electric only.

05:24Right.

05:25It was quite optimistic.

05:26It was 2030, but that's been pushed back to 2035.

05:29So I suppose it's just the market is working out where they're going to go next.

05:32It's a bit of a transition, isn't it?

05:34Exactly.

05:35Exactly.

05:36Well, to find out more about the stories that we've been discussing, go to insidermedia.com.

05:40You can also there subscribe to our newsletters.

05:42You can subscribe to our magazines or find out about upcoming events.

05:47That's everything from us this morning.

05:49See you next time.

Watch: Insider's Business Briefing - 14th November

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