Watch: Insider's Business Briefing - 9th January 2025 - video Dailymotion

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Adam and Stephen discuss record results for a law firm, a technology company moving to Cardiff and an MBO at a commercial contractor.

Transcript

00:00Record results for a law firm, a technology company moving to Cardiff, and an NBL commercial

00:05contractor featured in today's business briefing, sponsored by Shawbrook Bank.

00:08So Adam, what's in the news this morning?

00:16We're kicking off with a significant deal in the Midlands, a commercial contractor which

00:21dates back to the 1940s and has worked with the likes of McDonald's, Harvey Norman and

00:26River Island, is lining up growth after a seven-figure NBL, which has actually been

00:31backed by Mercia Debt and Frontier Development Capital.

00:34It's regarding GI Sykes, it's a third-generation family business based in Stourbridge.

00:40It was actually established in the 1940s by Richard Sykes as a painter and decorator who

00:46took advantage of the post-war housing boom to expand its services.

00:50The buyout gives control of the business to the existing management team led by Richard

00:54Downes, but it provides an exit for Richard and Jason Sykes, the grandsons of the founder,

00:59but will continue to work with the business as consultants.

01:02It's good to see there's still going to be that continuity with the family.

01:05Yeah, and the member of the family is actually part of that management team.

01:08Well, in the north of England, law firm Ward Hathaway, which has offices in Newcastle,

01:14Manchester and Leeds, has reported record revenue in its latest financial results.

01:19For the 2023-24 year, the firm pushed revenue up by 7% to £48 million, and they said that

01:25was driven by growth across all its offices.

01:28During the year, eight new partners joined the firm across a range of sectors, and that's

01:34alongside 100 new staff overall, so a really strong year of growth for its workforce.

01:40It also extended its leadership team, with Nick Golkar becoming executive partner of

01:44the Newcastle office, and he'll work alongside Emma Digby and Liz Bottrell, who hold the

01:50equivalent roles in Leeds and Manchester.

01:53The firm invested in technology, established an innovation team during the year, and intends

01:59to explore the use of AI in the business.

02:03Managing partner Stephen Petri said the results provided a really strong foundation to build on.

02:08The firm aims to increase turnover by 50% in the next five years, and has an overall

02:12target of 100 million revenue by 2034.

02:16A positive year for them then.

02:17Yeah, really strong.

02:18And that theme of technology continues with our next story.

02:21The founder of a technology company actually plans to move his head office from South West

02:25England to Cardiff this year.

02:27Chris Bull is chief executive of DeepLearn Human Science, which provides technology and

02:31advice on learning, workforce optimisation and talent development.

02:36DeepLearn, which is based in Bath, has set up engineering and data science teams in

02:39Newport.

02:40Now, Cardiff will be the headquarters for its commercial operations, its marketing

02:44and partnerships, while consulting will be run from Bristol.

02:49DeepLearn also plans to scale its operations internationally by leveraging partnerships

02:53in Australia, the Netherlands, Canada and South America, but estimates that DeepLearn

02:58can create up to 150 jobs over the next few years if it can secure funding to accelerate

03:05its growth.

03:07Well, lastly for us today, there are plans to redevelop a former school in Buckinghamshire

03:11into a hotel and spa, have been approved.

03:13The former Penn School in High Wycombe closed in 2015, some of the buildings have now fallen

03:19into state of disrepair.

03:21Under the plans, the listed buildings will be restored to create a 33-bedroom hotel.

03:26The project also includes a fine dining restaurant, bistro, cookery school, spa, as well as rejuvenating

03:33the pleasure gardens of the estate.

03:36Now approval has been granted, construction is expected to begin this year, 2025, with

03:41the project taking approximately two and a half years to complete.

03:44It's expected to create about 150 jobs, including apprenticeships, and it's hoped it's going

03:49to have a strong boost for the Buckinghamshire tourist industry.

03:52Brilliant news, sounds great.

03:53Well, for more on those stories, visit insidermedia.com.

03:57You can also sign up to our newsletters and find out about some of our upcoming events.

04:06www.insidermedia.co.uk

Watch: Insider's Business Briefing - 9th January 2025

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