Focus Consultants hires Perfect 10 PR

Nottingham company Perfect 10 PR has been appointed by Focus Consultants to handle the firm’s media relations. Run by Louise Duffield, Perfect 10 PR will be helping to raise the profile of Focus Consultants locally, regionally and nationally.

With five offices in Nottingham, Leicester, Lincoln, Boston and London, Focus Consultants has secured £730 million of grant assistance, and delivered more than £980million of projects and programmes since 1994. The company specialises in regeneration, project management and construction and property services.

“Focus Consultants works on some really exciting projects across the UK and I am looking forward to providing PR support for the business,” said Louise Duffield.

Steven Fletcher, partner at Focus Consultants, said: “Perfect 10 PR has experience of working in our sector and came highly recommended.”

Perfect 10 PR, based in West Bridgford, works with clients across a number of sectors, but predominantly in food and drink and construction.

Visit www.perfect10pr.co.uk or www.focus-consultants.co.uk

Festive fundraiser for LOROS at The Lansdowne in Leicester

A festive fundraiser at Leicester pub The Lansdowne raised £90 for hospice charity LOROS.

The London Road pub staged a Trinkets and Tinsel Christmas fair in conjunction with creative local entrepreneurs and stallholders.

Donations at the event were collected for Leicestershire and Rutland hospice LOROS, which the pub has supported for some time.

www.orangetree.co.uk

Issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Food and Drink Innovation Network (iNet) supports unique sports recovery drink developed by Leicestershire firm

Leicestershire company Omniceutica Limited has received backing from the Food and Drink Innovation Network (iNet) to help develop, test and commercialise its unique new sports recovery drink, fuelSAQ™.

The firm, based at Asfordby Business Park, Melton Mowbray, has created a formulation that offers a range of benefits, not just as a sports recovery drink but potentially as a platform for other nutraceutical opportunities.

The unique drink not only reduces the ‘sugar drop’ experienced by athletes and commonly described as ‘hitting the wall’, but the base that’s been developed can be used as the foundation for a range of different products that can provide health benefits for the heart, joints and other parts of the body.

Omniceutica (www.omtca.com) has now completed successful pilot studies of fuelSAQ™ and tested the product using professional sports people and elite athletes, under the direction of the world-renowned sports training company, SAQ International Limited, which is also based at Asfordby Business Park.

Professional cricketers at Derbyshire Cricket Club, including veteran first-class, one-day and international bowler, Steffan Jones, were among those who tested the product, and the results showed that their fatigue was reduced over several hours by between 21% and 49% in tests, when compared to a placebo (‘dummy’) drink. Jones also stated that his energy levels were maintained over a long period when consuming fuelSAQ™.

Omniceutica and SAQ will now use the results and positive feedback from these and other athletes who have trialled the product, to support promotion of fuelSAQ™ to third parties via a distribution, acquisition or out-licensing deal, or to market the drink directly through its own niche channels, including online via www.fuelSAQ.com.

“The unique selling point of the product, compared to currently available sports drinks, is its multi-component formulation that provides several benefits in a single serving,” said Glen Martyn, Omniceutica’s managing director.

“Patent protection is being sought for the proprietary formulation but the novel combination of ingredients present in the fuelSAQ™ product , namely a stimulant, together with a carbohydrate providing sustained energy and also hydrolysed protein, offers unique nutritional and physiological benefits including, for example, an expected blunted insulin response.”

The Food and Drink iNet, which is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), awarded Omniceutica a £10,000 grant to help with development.

The funding was used towards field trials of the proprietary drink that documented information on the product’s impact on performance, endurance and recovery - ultimately enabling Omniceutica to finesse the marketing strategy.

“One of the roles of the Food and Drink iNet is to support innovative new product development in the sector, and the drink developed by Omniceutica appears to have significant potential,” said Food and Drink iNet director Richard Worrall.

“fuelSAQ™ has been designed specifically for professional and elite athletes, but is also likely to appeal to, in a slightly modified form, amateur athletes and young people”, said Glen Martyn, a qualified pharmacist with experience in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector.

The drink contains a rapid-acting stimulant and a slow release carbohydrate component which has a longer lasting energy profile compared to conventional sugars and which also avoids spikes in plasma insulin. The formulation also comprises a protein hydrolysate that has been demonstrated in clinical trials to accelerate recovery from exercise and increase physical performance.

“We believe there is an opportunity for a single product which can provide sustained energy and aid recovery, all without producing a plasma insulin peak and resultant glucose drop often seen with other sports drinks,” he added.

“There is a potential market of around 27million people in the UK who regularly buy health and sports drinks to help them through busy schedules and fitness regimes. We believe the global potential for this product is huge. We would like to thank the iNet and their team, Stevie Jackson in particular, for their constant support and helpful input over the last nine months, without which we would not have entered this critical phase of testing.”

Omniceutica Limited is a specialist product development and consultancy organisation working on the development of pharmaceutical and functional food products.

The Food and Drink iNet co-ordinates innovation support for businesses, universities and individuals working in the food and drink sector in the East Midlands. It has developed an effective network to encourage the collaboration of academic expertise and knowledge, and local food and drink business innovation needs.

It aims to build on the tradition of innovation in the food and drink industry in the regionby helping to create opportunities to develop knowledge and skills, and to help research, develop and implement new products, markets, services and processes.

The Food and Drink iNet is managed by a consortium, led by The Food and Drink Forum and including Quotec Ltd (formerly Food Processing Faraday), Nottingham Trent University, the University of Lincoln, and the University of Nottingham. It is based at Southglade Food Park, Nottingham, with advisors covering the East Midlands region.

www.omtca.com

www.fuelSAQ.com

Issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Christmas cake recipe riddle for Luke Evans Bakery

One of the country’s oldest family run bakers is appealing for information from Derbyshire’s older generation to see if it can pinpoint exactly how long it has been producing Christmas cakes using the same recipe.

Luke Evans Bakery has established that the recipe for its Christmas cakes has been used for at least 50 years – but the current managing director David Yates believes it’s almost certainly been used for much longer.

Bakery foreman David Bond, who has been with the business for more than 47 years, was taught the recipe by Joe Evans – the fifth member of the family to run the bakery at Riddings near Alfreton.

“The Christmas cake recipe was passed over to David Bond by Joe Evans, who told him that Luke Evans Bakery had used the recipe for many years previously,” said David Yates. “But we’d love to know if there was anyone who could give us a more precise timescale for how long the recipe has been used.

“I suppose it’s feasible that it could have been used for more than 100 years. We were just wondering if there was anyone who could give us any more information about the history of the Christmas cake recipe. Perhaps they remember their grandparents or parents buying a Christmas cake and trying a piece.”

Founded in 1804, Luke Evans Bakery, which is an eighth generation baking business after Sarah Yates – the great granddaughter of Joe Evans – joined the company last year, bakes around 1,000 Christmas cakes each year, ranging from large luxurious cakes to smaller round traditional cakes.

Some of its wholesale customers also have a long history associated with the Christmas cakes.

Both Rita Bowmer’s General Store, on Belper Lane End, Belper, and Costcutter at Newton, near Tibshelf, now run by Peter Smith and formerly trading as Smiths of Newton and run by his father Frank Smith, known as Chug, have stocked the Christmas cakes for more than 50 years.

“I am 58 and I can remember Luke Evans when I was a little lad and I know we have been with them for over 50 years,” said Peter Smith. “The quality of the cake is excellent and the decoration is excellent as well.”

Luke Evans employee Philip Tomlinson, known as Sam, used to deliver to Chug when he was a van driver. Sam too has a long history of working for Luke Evans Bakery - he joined the company on 1st July 1967 and now has 44 years service.

Luke Evans Bakery sells direct to the public from its shop in Green Hill Lane and supplies around 300 trade and wholesale customers across Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, East Staffordshire and further afield, including shops, schools, delis and Pride Park - the home of Derby County Football Club.

Fully trained craft bakers operate 24 hours a day turning out breads, cakes and savoury products.

www.lukeevans.co.uk

Issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Low carbon affordable homes for BSP Consulting

Civil and structural engineering company BSP Consulting has completed work on Derwent Living’s first Level 5 Code for Sustainable Homes development.

The low carbon scheme at Mickleover in Derby has now been officially opened by film director Ken Loach, Derby North MP Chris Williamson and the Mayor of Derby, Councillor Les Allen.

The properties come with a number of eco-technologies as standard, and features include new environmentally friendly construction methods such as insulated render walls and triple glazed windows with carbon neutral wooden frames. Other features include photovoltaic panelling, hot water solar panelling, rainwater harvesting and highly efficient A-rated eco-gas boilers.

A Level 5 rating is one of the highest ratings available under the Code for Sustainable Homes, which is an environmental impact rating for housing in England and Wales.

BSP Consulting, with offices in Derby, Nottingham, Leicester and Sheffield, was civil and structural engineer for the development at Vicarage Road which consisted of one three-bed house, two two-bed houses and four two-bed apartments.

“BSP Consulting has experience of working on Level 4, 5 and 6 Code homes, and we were delighted to work with Derwent Living on such a low carbon scheme,” said Jef Todd, business development director at BSP.

“It has a lower environmental impact than many housing schemes and will also have lower energy bills in the future, which is good news for the tenants.”

Partners involved in the Vicarage Road project were the Homes & Communities Agency (HCA), Derby City Council, developers Lindum Sturgeon, WT Partnership and Franklin Ellis Architects.

BSP Consulting provides a comprehensive range of consultancy services to all sectors of the construction community, from architects, project managers and contractors to developers and estate agents.

Its services include civil, structural, environmental, transportation and geotechnical engineering.

The company was launched in Nottingham in 1999 and its offices are in Oxford Street, Nottingham, Pride Park, Derby, De Montfort Street, Leicester and Vincent House, Solly Street, Sheffield.

www.bsp-consulting.co.uk

Issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Shoppers treated to new Loughborough Christmas Food and Drink Festival

Loughborough is staging a festive food and drink market featuring a range of great-tasting goodies.

The Loughborough Christmas Food and Drink Festival is being held on Friday December 16th – and coincides with a craft fair in the Market Place.

Running from 10am to 4pm, the event gives shoppers the chance to pick up unusual Christmas gifts and buy delicious food and drink direct from producers.

Stallholders will be selling a range of mouth-watering items including meat, cheese, olives, speciality oils, sausages, curry pastes, roast potatoes, pies, Caribbean sauces, sweets, chocolates, crepes, cakes, cider, liqueurs and wine.

The Wildlife Trust will also be running a stall at the event, which is the latest in a number of food and drink markets organised for Loughborough by East Midlands Fine Foods on behalf of Charnwood Borough Council.

“This will be a great opportunity for shoppers to buy some really tasty products for Christmas direct from those who are making them,” said Fiona Anderson, from East Midlands Fine Foods.

“Markets and fairs are an excellent way to meet producers and those who have a strong knowledge about the items that they are selling. They can give tips on how best to cook or serve something, and what its origins are.”
C
ouncillor Paul Harley, Charnwood Borough Council’s Cabinet member for Leisure and Culture, said: “The Christmas food and drink market is part of our packed Country Comes To Town Christmas Programme which is helping the Borough feel festive while offering up some Yuletide treats!

“The food and drink market is the perfect venue to find something a little bit special for the Christmas dinner table this year while you could even pick up a last minute Christmas gift for your loved ones.

“It is yet another example of why you need to look no further than Loughborough for your Christmas shopping this year!”

For details call East Midlands Fine Foods on 0115 9758810.

www.foodanddrinkforum.co.uk

Issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

More men urged to join yoga teacher training course

Tutors are challenging more men to step forward to train as yoga teachers as the Shanti Yoga School unveils its teacher training courses for the New Year.

More and more men are taking up yoga as a way of keeping fit, supple and relaxed. International footballer Ryan Giggs and tennis player Pete Sampras are among the high-profile men who practise the discipline.

“We have trained several men to be Hatha Yoga teachers, and we’re expecting a number on next year’s course,” said Liz Thomas, who jointly runs Shanti Yoga School. “For some, it’s been about a career change following redundancy or a change of direction. For others it’s been a lifestyle choice to work for themselves or to work part-time.

“Yoga has often been seen in the Western world as a ‘women’s interest’ even though it was developed by men, but it does seem that more men are realising the benefits. We now see more men in yoga classes and more men coming forward to learn to teach yoga too.

“We welcome men and women to train as yoga teachers at Shanti Yoga School, but we’re anxious to let men know that if they wish to become yoga teachers we’d give them a very warm welcome.”

The challenge comes after a University of York report earlier this month revealed that yoga can help those with lower back pain. Researchers discovered that patients with a common form of back pain who did three months of classes in the therapeutic discipline were able to do daily tasks they previously would have found impossible.

The Shanti Yoga School training courses are run at the Eco-centre at Home Farm, Screveton, in Nottinghamshire – the new home of Shanti Yoga School, which has been training yoga teachers since 2003.

The courses are designed for yoga enthusiasts who want to run their own classes, and for existing yoga teachers who wish to improve their knowledge or continue their professional development.

“Lots of us are facing a change in our life just now, whether it be through redundancy or retirement, life-style change, raising children and being around for them or just ready for a change in direction,” said Liz.

“Becoming a yoga teacher and running your own business could be the answer. Yoga can help us to feel an inner peace and give us the presence to deal with our busy and complicated lives; doctors recommend it for lowering high blood pressure and if you know anyone who does yoga then you might agree that they do look serene and, well, perhaps a bit younger-looking for their age?

“Yoga helps you to stay flexible and strong, sit still and allow your mind to rein in those “wild horses that charge about in our minds”.”

Starting in February 2012, the two-year teacher training courses run at specific weekends to help students who have weekday commitments.

Shanti Yoga School, which has recently been accredited by Yoga Alliance as an approved Teacher Training School, has trained dozens of teachers in Hatha Yoga, who have since gone on to run their own classes.

Retired probation officer Michael Tickner took a course with Shanti Yoga School a few years ago and now runs a class each week in Tollerton, Nottinghamshire.

“A good percentage of my class are men and I enjoy passing on to them what I have learnt,” said Michael, 68.

Former policeman Kev Green took up yoga as a way of alleviating back pain after being diagnosed with spondylolisthesis – crack in the lumbar vertebrae. He went on to train as a yoga teacher with Shanti Yoga School.

“I truly believe that yoga can help in most situations and can help sportsmen and women to improve their performance through greater flexibility and mental concentration and focus,” said Kev, who lives at Newton, near Bingham in Nottinghamshire.

Shanti Yoga School was founded by Andy Thomas, of West Bridgford, who died in March 2011. His wife Liz Thomas and the teachers at the school have vowed to continue his legacy and have re-launched the school, along with Andy’s other business the Full Movement Training School which is based in Colwick, Nottingham, and which teaches therapists in the discipline of the Full Movement Method, a unique blend of yoga and physical therapy that Andy created. Some 24 practitioners and more than 50 yoga teachers have been trained since the businesses started.

For more information about courses visit www.shantiyogaschool.co.uk

Issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Food and Drink Forum helps Nottingham company launch Argan oil

Business support organisation The Food and Drink Forum is helping a Nottingham importer to become one of the first companies to bring a ‘magical’ oil to the UK food and drink market.

Argan Oil, which comes from a small and specific part of Morocco, has been dubbed the golden oil for its health, nutrition and beauty properties. Rich in essential vitamins, it’s beneficial for skin and hair, and also as part of a healthy diet.

It’s been used extensively in the beauty industry but Azzelarab El Alaoui, who runs Nottingham-based Alassala Olives Ltd, aims to be one of only a handful of importers currently selling Argan oil in the UK’s food sector.

He plans to sell the oil to delis, health stores and top restaurants, and has been working with The Food and Drink Forum to launch the product.

The Food and Drink Forum’s technical manager Richard Wigley has been supporting the launch of Organic Moroccan Argan Oil with advice on labelling, legal organic certification and shelf-life. He’s also helped with information about the best ways to get the product showcased to buyers, retailers and others who might be interested in Argan oil.

“Argan oil is a very interesting product, and Azzelarab is passionate about raising its profile and bringing it to the UK,” said Richard Wigley. “As a business support organisation with experience of helping companies to develop and launch new products, The Food and Drink Forum has been delighted to help him with his project.”

Argan oil is made from the nuts of the Argan tree, which is found only in the south west part of Morocco. The nuts are cracked by hand and the seed extracted and ground into paste oil. It is traditionally made by local Berber women who work in cooperatives and it can take ten to 12 hours to produce one litre of oil.

Through fair trade, Argan oil provides the Berber women with a dependable source of income, a means of improving their financial independence and it opens better access to health care and education.

Before modern times the women would collect the undigested Argan pits from the waste of goats that climb the trees to feed on the fruit.

Azzelarab, who is Moroccan and moved to the UK eight or nine year ago, founded his company Alassala Olives Ltd a year ago. Alassala means originality and he aims to supply unusual and original products.

“The south west of Morocco is very well visited by German tourist, especially the biggest city in that region Agadir,” he said. “They were the first Europeans to show great interest in the benefits of Argan oil.

They were fascinated by how Berber women in that region look very young and have no wrinkles and how people look so healthy in general. After their research they found out that diet is behind that. Argan oil is a fundamental element in diet of the people in that region. When they analysed Argan oil they found it was rich in vitamin E and has omega three, six and nine, and it’s the only oil that contains all four elements.”

In 1999, UNESCO added the Argan tree-growing area to the World Heritage List.

Just as Britons caught on to the benefits of eating olive oil, so Argan oil is now starting to find favour, said Azzelarab, who is based in Bulwell.

“It’s been called golden oil, magical oil and miracle oil,” he said.
His food product is suitable for dipping, drizzling, on salads and for sweets and pastries.

“Other parts of Europe recognised the benefits of Argan oil some time ago,” said Azzelarab. “I have done the research and although there are a small number of people importing it to the UK there are no big companies or nationally recognised names that are importing Argan oil.

“I’m very grateful for the expertise of The Food and Drink Forum, which has helped me since I launched my business.”

The Food and Drink Forum, based at Southglade Food Park, Nottingham, was launched in 1998 as a not-for-profit membership-led organisation to stimulate and support the sustainable growth and development of the food and drink industry in the East Midlands.

It aims to:
• Champion the food and drink sector in the East Midlands.
• Develop strategic influencing partnerships within and outside the East Midlands.
• Act as a centre for information and knowledge on all subjects relating to the food and drink sector in the region.
• Stimulate and facilitate sustainable change within companies of all sizes across the food chain.
• Generate income and secure resources to meet the needs of a high-quality service.
• Promote the food and drink sector to future employees through education and the raising of skills.

For more information about the services offered by The Food and Drink Forum visit www.foodanddrinkforum.co.uk

For more information about Alassala Olives Ltd visit www.alassalaolives.co.uk


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