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Laurence and Ben discuss successful tech entrepreneurs in the South West of England, the sale of a listed wedding venue and expansion at Vital Energi.

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00:00The richest entrepreneurs in the southwest of England's tech industry, a new owner for a grade

00:05two listed hotel wedding venue in Lancashire, and news of expansion at Vital Energy. That's

00:11all coming up in today's business briefing. My name is Lawrence Gulganan.

00:20My name is Ben Butler. Right, Ben. Well,

00:22one caught my eye was the latest installment from the Southwest Rich List. So we're looking at tech.

00:27Tell us a little bit about that. Who do you think's topping the list then?

00:31Well, I don't know. I'm wondering if it might be Stephen Fitzpatrick of OVO Energy. I know he's

00:36very much tech focused. He's actually second on the list.

00:40So James Dyson, once again, tops the list. Ah, right. Well, I was unsure whether he

00:44would fall into manufacturing or tech, but I suppose so.

00:47Yes, it kind of crosses over, doesn't it? Yeah, very innovative.

00:50Yeah. And what about the rest of the list, if you can have a go?

00:53You're putting him on the spot now, Ben. So we've got Sir David McMurtry.

00:59Ah, from Renishaw. Co-founder of Renishaw.

01:03And then making up the top five, we've got Steve Turner. He's the founder and chief executive of

01:07Spectrum Medical. And in fifth is Darren Hutt, who founded 4Com. So that's the latest installment.

01:16Because we've had a number of breakout lists. I mean, what have we had so far?

01:20So we've had a general rich list. We've also had the top 10 women in the southwest. And we've also

01:28had a top 10 of under 42 entrepreneurs.

01:32To sort of chime with our 42, under 42 brand, I suppose.

01:35There is another list to come as well. Excellent. You're spoiling the readers.

01:41Well, away from the southwest and up in Lancashire, we've got news of a new owner

01:46for a grade two listed hotel in Burnley.

01:50It was interesting to hear that that was kind of developed.

01:52Always very popular. I think people want to know, have I been to a wedding at this place?

01:57And maybe sort of share that news with people. Or perhaps, my wedding is at that place.

02:04Who's the new owner? But this is the Rose Hill House Hotel. And that deal was secured by Savills.

02:12It was going to be auctioned, but then a buyer came in before and struck a deal.

02:16So it's great news.

02:17Yeah, no, it's a bit like buses as well. Because earlier this month, we had another

02:21grade two, I think, listed country house in Lancashire getting sold.

02:25So you wonder if it's like when you're in the housing market, where someone puts the house up

02:29for sale and then someone else sees it and thinks, well, I'll have a bit of that.

02:33I'm sure that's not the case. But it's great to see two interesting stories of that sort.

02:38Now, you've got some news from North Wales for us.

02:41Yes. So this follows on from news that a one million pound paper mill camp is

02:48in North Wales. They're shot in paper mill. It had been launched by a Turkish

02:52conglomerate, Erinholding. So that was officially launched in September.

02:57And there's now plans in place for a new tissue machine facility.

03:01I take it this is just a giant sort of machine that's going to be at the centrepiece of the plant?

03:06Yes, it'll be a big part of the paper mill. So they've lodged a full application for the

03:13development, which is on the Deeside Industrial Park. That's where the paper mill is based. And

03:19the plans have been recommended for approval ahead of a Flintshire Council planning committee meeting.

03:25Excellent. It's great to see such a big investment going into North Wales.

03:28Yes. As you said, it's a really big investment for North Wales. And it's actually been described

03:33as one of the most significant foreign manufacturing investments in the UK in years.

03:38So it really is a big news there for North Wales.

03:42Excellent. And we're sticking with investment. We've got news that energy industry business

03:47Vital Energy is expanding. They've opened offices in Wales, in Swansea and up in the North East.

03:53Expanding their presence there.

03:54Yes. So in the North East, they've opened a site in Newcastle,

03:57and they're also investing in their training facility in Lancashire.

04:00And they've said that that's going to increase their workforce by about 50%,

04:06creating about 400 new jobs over the next few years.

04:09How much will their workforce be now as a result of that?

04:11Well, currently it's 760. So they're already a big employer, and they've got designs on

04:17getting bigger. So fantastic to see that too.

04:18Oh, it's great to hear.

04:20So yes. Well, to find out more about the stories Ben and I have been speaking about,

04:23go to insidermedia.com. There, you can subscribe to our newsletters,

04:28you can subscribe to our magazines. You can also find out about upcoming events.

04:32That's everything from us. See you next time.

Watch: Insider's Business Briefing - 20th November

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