Watch: Insider's Business Briefing - 30th January 2025 - video Dailymotion

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Jennifer and Laurence discuss a £10m investment by Mount Charles Group, the development of a new supercomputing centre and Scottish expansion for a Lancashire-headquartered holiday park firm.

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00:00A £10 million investment by an outsourcing and facilities management giant, Scottish

00:05expansion for a Lancashire Holiday Park business, and a £30 million supercomputing centre.

00:11That's all coming up in today's Business Briefing, sponsored by Shawbrooke.

00:20My name is Laurence Gleganon.

00:22My name is Jennifer Oakey.

00:23Morning, Jen.

00:24Morning.

00:25So in this time of AI, it seems like there's a new story every day.

00:28So perhaps you can tell us a little bit about the supercomputing centre.

00:31Yes, for sure.

00:32So the construction of a £30 million supercomputing centre at the Daresbury Laboratory in Warrington

00:38has now entered its final phases.

00:40The building is set to be 33,000 square foot and will host the latest in supercomputing,

00:45AI and quantum technologies.

00:48The main contractor working on the construction is Russell WBHO and the commissioning of the

00:52centre's components, systems and equipment is now underway.

00:55Excellent.

00:57That's really good news because, I mean, I think all the regions within the UK want to

01:00make sure they've got the best sort of technology at their disposal.

01:04And we've obviously heard Rachel Reeves talking about the importance of AI.

01:08In fact, I think it was even Geir Starmer as well.

01:10So good to see that asset being developed in the North West.

01:13And actually staying with the North West, we've got news that a Preston-based holiday

01:17and leisure park business has secured an eight-figure funding package from HSBC to support its

01:24expansion into Scotland.

01:26That is Harrison Holidays and they've acquired the Crofthead Holiday Park, which is in Ayrshire

01:32on the coast.

01:33Have you ever been to Scotland, Jen?

01:35I have.

01:36I've been to Edinburgh a couple of times.

01:37Oh, lovely.

01:38I too have been to Edinburgh.

01:39I've been on a tour of the Highlands, went on to a few of the distilleries there.

01:42That was fantastic.

01:43But not really ever been to the coast, but I've heard it's fantastic, rugged.

01:47In fact, a bit like Ireland, you know, sort of.

01:50Is it Donegal where there's a sort of legendary coastline?

01:53Absolutely.

01:54The wild Atlantic wave.

01:55Yeah.

01:56And I think Scotland has a similar charm to it.

01:58So that'd be interesting.

02:00Anyhow, the deal there has increased the family-run business's number of pitches by 575 and takes

02:07their overall estate to more than 3,000.

02:09So a really big expansion for them.

02:11Now, it's that time of year when we're getting lots of results from supermarkets.

02:15I understand Morrison's has provided some results for us to digest.

02:20They have indeed.

02:21So Morrison's reported its full year results for 2024, where they said sales and profits

02:25have risen.

02:26The supermarket reported a 4.1% rise in like-for-like sales for the entire year.

02:32Its quarter for like-for-like sales are also up 4.9%, making it its strongest quarter since

02:38the start of 2021, actually.

02:39Right.

02:40OK.

02:41So a really good time for Morrison's.

02:42I suppose that's in no way, it's no small part helped by our team taking their lunch

02:46breaks over there.

02:47Absolutely.

02:48We're big fans of Morrison's, the digital team.

02:49Yeah, the salad bar and the pasta bakes.

02:52Absolutely.

02:53Good to see.

02:54OK.

02:55And finally, we've got news of one of Northern Ireland's largest independent outsourcing

02:59and facilities management companies, Mount Charles Group.

03:02They're investing £10 million in a move they say is going to create 2,000 jobs over the

03:08next five years.

03:10That's part of their strategy 2025-2030.

03:14The company currently has a turnover of 50 million or maybe 55 million, and this expansion

03:20is going to take their workforce to about 5,000.

03:22So some exciting growth on the horizon at Mount Charles.

03:26Anyhow, to read more about the stories we've been talking about, go to insidermedia.com.

03:30There, you can subscribe to our newsletters, you can subscribe to our magazines, and you

03:36can find out more about upcoming events.

03:38That's everything from us.

03:39See you next time.

Watch: Insider's Business Briefing - 30th January 2025

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