Watch: Insider's Business Briefing - 19th December - video Dailymotion

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Laurence and Stephen discuss funding deals, plans for a Welsh theatre and a landmark Liverpool development.

Transcript

00:00Funding deals for a marquee provider and a fire protection specialist and news of

00:06plans being approved for the modernization of a Port Talbot theatre.

00:09That's all coming up in today's business briefing sponsored by Shawbrooke.

00:20My name's Laurence Gleganan. I'm Stephen Fannell. Well morning Stephen, perhaps we can

00:25start in Wales with this theatre news. Yeah it's a really interesting story

00:28there. So plans for the Princess Royal Theatre in Port Talbot have been

00:31approved this week. The project aims to rejuvenate the 798 seat theatre with new

00:39cafes, extension to the building, remodelled bar servery and a new auditorium

00:45entrance lobby. Along with that there'll be a new green room for the

00:48artists, all important to keep the talent happy. A new conference hall with

00:53capacity for 250 people, a remodelled orchestra pit and a large sound and

00:57lighting room which will have winch and rigging facilities which will enable

01:00the theatre to hold a wider variety of performances. Are you a theatre goer?

01:05I like trips to the theatre. I was never much of an actor myself but I like to watch the play certainly.

01:10Same here but I don't do it as often. Perhaps the cinema would claim my

01:13dollars but hopefully these plans will spark more people to go in Port Talbot.

01:19Well it's good news for Port Talbot in general because the Civic

01:23Square is also going to be transformed as part of the project. So the new

01:27multi-purpose community space with new seating and significantly improved green

01:32spaces. Okay excellent and the all-important question, how's it being

01:35funded? Well there's UK government backing for the project following the

01:40approval from the Port Talbot Council on the 17th. Work is now set to start in

01:45February next year with the aim of getting it completed by early 2026.

01:49Ah exciting stuff. Okay well we've also got some funding stories I mentioned.

01:54We'll start in the North West where Bessage is a fire protection business,

01:59sprinklers and a variety of other repair and maintenance services. They've

02:04secured backing from BGF as we know one of the most active sort of investors out

02:09there and the deal was actually supported by prominent advisors. The

02:13business was founded in 1976 based in Manchester and in 2022 it was acquired

02:19by Chief Executive David Prendergast and Non-Executive Director Graham Norfolk

02:24and they've experienced real major growth since then. I think it's grown

02:27from about five people to 60. So the BGF funding, well that's going to support

02:33their sort of ongoing organic growth and also potentially support strategic

02:39acquisitions as and where they're available and suitable. And I mentioned

02:43the advisors and some of the advisors included Alvarez and Marcell, Gately,

02:48Safri, Squire Patton Boggs, Confidus People and Holtara. So there are some big names there.

02:55And you've also got news of a funding story from Yorkshire. Yeah so up in North

03:00Yorkshire a company that supplies marquees for a range of exclusive events

03:04has secured funding from Mercia through the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund

03:08too. MPIF too as we call it. The English marquee company was founded in 2018 by

03:15brother and sister Sam and Victoria Peters after they spotted a gap in the

03:18market for a marquee hire. Since then it's going to employ about 30 people so

03:22another fast-growing business there. Supplies, events including

03:27garden parties, weddings and corporate events. Customers include Newby Hall and

03:32Grantley Hall in Yorkshire, big well-known venues there. As well as high

03:36net worth individuals and event planners. The company has used the investment to

03:40add a new structure to its portfolio. The Nord is capable of holding 350 people

03:46and is currently installed at a high-profile members club and hotel in

03:50Cotswolds. Oh fantastic. Well I don't think I'll be calling on the English

03:54marquee company only because for my wife's birthday some time ago we bought

03:58a marquee. So it's not set up already and I have to every 10 years or so reassemble it.

04:07So perhaps actually thinking about the horrors of that it would be better to

04:12get them in to help out. Now we will return to the Northwest for an

04:17interesting property story and that is news that developer Legacy has secured a

04:22£93.5 million funding deal with Maslow Capital. That's going to be

04:26used to bring forward a residential scheme in Liverpool called The Gateway.

04:31It's in the Pumpfields area of the city and it's going to feature about 650

04:38units, a major scheme. It's going to be a new addition to the Skyline etc. So

04:42fantastic to see that investment coming forward in the Liverpool residential

04:46market and the funding will actually now enable Legacy to proceed with the

04:51development. Which is already 90% sold through RW Invest and Hill Dickinson

04:58advised on that one. So to find out more about the stories we've been

05:01speaking about go to insidermedia.com. There you can also subscribe to our

05:06newsletters, you can subscribe to our magazines, find out about events coming

05:10up in 2025. That's everything from us, see you next time. Goodbye.

Watch: Insider's Business Briefing - 19th December

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