New night spot to open in Loughborough

Loughborough’s newest night spot is due to open next month with the launch of The Kelso.

The bar and club in Ward’s End (next to The Orange Tree) opens its doors to the public on Monday December 17th.

The 240-capacity venue features a ground-floor bar and dance floor, and a more intimate first-floor bar with cosy seating, along with a roof-top terrace garden at the rear.

Previously The Newshouse, the premises have been transformed by the Orange Tree Group to create a venue featuring quirky furniture and décor, and based on a style that’s reminiscent of the speakeasy bars of the American ‘20s.

Cocktails, as you would expect, will be a speciality at The Kelso, which will be open from 9pm until 2am between December 17th and 19th, 9pm to 3am on Thursday December 20th, 5pm to 4am on Friday December 21st, 9pm to 4am on Saturday December 22nd, 9pm to 2am on Sunday December 23rd and 5pm to 3am on Christmas Eve.

It will also be open after Christmas from Thursday 27th – with a New Year’s Eve party planned from 8pm to 4am.

Managing director of the Orange Tree Group Gareth Smith said: “We’ve worked hard to create a late night venue which we hope will bring something completely different to the social scene of Loughborough. Something that we believe is strongly missing.

“We have scoured the country for over a year to create an eclectic mix of modern and old materials to give an intimate, yet striking style to The Kelso, and we’re delighted to be offering something unique to the town.”

The Kelso is the second late-night venue opened by the Orange Tree Group, and follows the refurbishment and launch of The Basement in Leicester last year.

Gareth, who is involved with the Loughborough Retail Initiative in the Ward’s End area, hopes that The Kelso will be a welcome asset not just to the town but to the particular area of Loughborough too.

“We are aiming to appeal to a wide range of people who enjoy good music and want to indulge themselves in a brand new hedonistic experience for Loughborough,” he added.

“The name was chosen because it sounded right and it sounds abstract enough to allow people to overlay their own interpretation.”

As part of the refurbishment of the building, original features such as fireplaces, panelling and oak beams have been reinstated.

The Kelso plans to open five nights a week from 9pm in the New Year. Its music style will be vintage, to include soul, funk, indie, R and B, reggae, ska and other genres.

The venue is also available for private hire.

Since 1998, the Orange Tree Group has operated the The Orange Tree pub next door to The Kelso in Loughborough. It opened the venue a year after launching The Orange Tree in Leicester. This was followed by the O Bar in Leicester in 2001. The group’s Orange Tree in Nottingham opened in October 2003, followed by The Lansdowne in Leicester in December 2004.

The independent pub group was founded by Ben Hings and Gareth Smith in October 1997.

For more information about the Food and Drink iNet visit www.facebook.com/thekelsoloughborough

Press release issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Project of the Decade award for scheme that Focus Consultants had a role in

Focus Consultants is celebrating the news that a project the company was involved in has been named Project of the Decade at the ProCon Awards in Leicestershire.

Focus was project manager and contract administrator for the Leicester city centre theatre Curve which picked up the People’s Choice Award.

Designed by award-winning architect Rafael Vinoly, Curve was completed in 2008.

“It is great news to hear that Curve has been voted Project of the Decade, and everyone at Focus is pleased for the whole team involved in the scheme,” said partner at Focus Keith Butler.

The ProCon Awards were attended by around 600 guests from the property, construction and other business sectors. The People’s Choice Award was sponsored by local newspaper The Leicester Mercury and voted for by readers.

Focus Consultants, based at Phoenix Business Park, Nottingham, with offices in Leicester, London, Boston and Aubourn near Lincoln, specialises in creative approaches to securing funding packages and delivering high quality projects across the UK.

Since its creation in 1994, Focus has secured over £800 million of grant assistance, and delivered more than £1 billion of projects and programmes.

It works across a range of sectors including heritage, arts and culture, education and tourism.

Leicester City Council was the client for the Curve project, with Leicester Theatre Trust the end user. Other members of the team were building services engineer Arup, structural engineer AKT and quantity surveyors Turner and Townsend.

For more information about Focus Consultants visit www.focus-consultants.co.uk

Press release issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

The Food and Drink iNet helps local brewers find a route to Asian markets

The University of Nottingham is working with 20 micro-brewers across the East Midlands on a ‘Routes to Market’ project to help them develop bottled conditioned beers that can be sold to China and South East Asia.

Experts from the brewing science department of The University of Nottingham have combined with the Food and Drink iNet (Innovation Network) to help microbrewers in the region to develop stable, bottled conditioned beers that are suitable for export.

In 2004, China overtook the USA to become the world’s largest beer market. The competition is growing increasingly fierce amongst the main brewers, but there are niche markets for microbrewers.

The regulations regarding beer duty mean that if brewers are making under a certain volume of beer, the rate of duty decreases. This has resulted in an increase in a seven per cent per annum increase in the number of craft brewers in the UK, a significant proportion of whom are based in the Midlands.

However, with bottle conditioned beers, the final conditioning of the beer takes place in the bottle, which means that the quality can often vary considerably.

The team from the university is working with the micro-brewers to increase their control of the process to achieve more consistency in the fully conditioned beers which will lead to higher quality.

The project involves surveying all of the existing bottle conditioned beers produced by the micro-brewers and testing them for consistency, measuring qualities such as alcohol by volume, CO2, microbial stability and shelf life.

Different strains of wet and dry active yeasts are also being tested on the beers, to determine which offers the most consistent results. In addition, the team will examine all of the processes the brewers are using to make their beers to identify and share best practice.

The Lincoln Green Brewing Company, based in Hucknall, Notts, is one of the businesses taking part in the Routes to Market project.

Anthony Hughes, managing director of the company, said: “The Routes to Market initiative came at just the right time for us, as we had just started looking at bottling with a view to exporting in the future.

“As a result of the University’s support, we have been reseeding the beer with an additional yeast strain, to stabilise the beer. An expert from the University even came out to help us reseed the first batch of beer so that we could see how it should be done.”

Alongside the work being undertaken on the development of the bottled conditioned beers, the University’s Asia Business Centre will be providing a detailed analysis of the markets for premium beers in China, Hong Kong and the wider South East Asia region.

The university will also provide microbrewers with guidelines on the export process and routes to market for bottled conditioned beers.

Speaking about the Routes to Market programme, Dr Jerry Avis, who is managing the project, said: “The microbrewers we are working with are extremely enthusiastic about the Routes to Market programme. They recognise that we are able to help them improve the consistency of their products, reduce their costs and find new, innovative ways of offering their products to customers.”

Mike Carr, director of business engagement at The University of Nottingham, said: “With the technical expertise we have in the brewing sector and our unrivalled links and knowledge of China and South East Asia, we really can help to give microbrewers in the Midlands a massive competitive advantage when it comes to developing and marketing their products for consumers in the Far East.

“This is one example of the way in which we can help small and medium sized businesses in the East Midlands, and we would be very interested to hear from businesses in other sectors who feel that they can benefit from working with experts at the University top develop their products and find new markets.”

Part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Food and Drink iNet provided a grant of £19,750 for the Routes to Market project.

Based at Southglade Food Park, Nottingham, the iNet co-ordinates innovation support for businesses, universities and individuals working in the food and drink sector in the East Midlands with advisors working across the East Midlands region. It is managed by a consortium, led by The Food and Drink Forum and including Nottingham Trent University, the University of Lincoln, and The University of Nottingham.

Food and Drink iNet director Richard Worrall said: “The East Midlands has a successful and developing craft brewing sector, and the Food and Drink iNet is keen to support brewers on planning their commercial journey to opening up new markets, which includes strategic planning as well as the technical/scientific issues.

"There is a growing appetite for prestige ales in areas like China and South East Asia, and we hope this project that we are funding will help East Midlands brewers to compete more effectively in this highly competitive market by not only tackling the product and packaging issues, but also considering market understanding and distribution with the support of UKTI.”

For more information about the Food and Drink iNet visit www.foodanddrink-inet.org.uk

Press release issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk in collaboration with the University of Nottingham

Photo caption clockwise from top, Jerry Avis, the University of Nottingham, Pat Brearly, Tollgate Brewery (Derbyshire), Alastair Chapman, Langton Brewery (Leicestershire), Paul (Nobby) Mulliner, Nobby’s Brewery (Northamptonshire), Steve Doane, Sail Brewery (Lincolnshire), Anthony Hughes, Lincoln Green Brewery (Nottinghamshire) and Jo Murphy, Food & Drink iNet.

Food and Drink Forum welcomes latest news on Southglade Food Park expansion

Trade organisation The Food and Drink Forum has welcomed news that the expansion of a pioneering food and drink business park is a step closer today.

The Forum played a key role in planning and developing the first phase of Southglade Food Park in Nottingham which opened in 2005 and was the first business park of its kind in the UK.

It has since managed the on-site Business Centre and services for the park, which is home to six food manufacturers.

Now Nottingham City Council has announced support for Southglade phase 2 by agreeing to pay £1.67 million of the £6 million expansion plan.

The funding approval is a key step in enabling additional finances of £4.254 million to be released from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

The plan is to build additional quality food grade industrial units next to the phase one development, which has a waiting list of food and drink manufacturers keen to move in. This would double the size of the food park.

It is expected to create at least 90 jobs in the food and drink sector, as well as jobs during construction.

Food and Drink Forum managing director Fiona Anderson said: “Since opening in 2005, Southglade Food Park has been a great success, and it is excellent news that Southglade phase 2 has support from the city council.

“Expansion of the food park will provide additional high grade manufacturing units for food and drink producers and help to create new job opportunities for the area. We have had a waiting list of firms keen to move onto Southglade for some time, and I am sure they will welcome the news too.

“As the first food and drink business park of its kind in the UK, Southglade has acted as a blueprint for similar schemes across the country and in other parts of the world, such as Malaysia – helping to put Nottingham on the map for its pioneering food and drink sector – and if phase 2 gets the go-ahead it can only strengthen the city’s position as an attractive place for food and drink manufacturers to launch and develop.”

Southglade phase 1 is home to a range of different-sized food grade manufacturing units designed for firms at different stages of development.

The on-site Business Centre includes a new product development kitchen, meeting rooms and other facilities available to tenants and others in the sector.

It is hoped that the enlarged development will create a regionally significant business cluster in the food and drink sector, enabling Nottingham to attract new business and foster growth in the sector to benefit the regional economy.

Councillor Graham Chapman, deputy leader of Nottingham City Council said: “This scheme creates at least 90 local jobs and even more in the construction of the units, helps the manufacturing industry and will bring a financial return for the council of just over £125,000 a year when our ERDF application is approved. It is an excellent deal all around.”

Food manufacturing is the UK’s largest manufacturing sector. For more information visit www.foodanddrinkforum.co.uk


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LOROS to benefit from Christmas fairs

Two festive fund-raising events are being held at a pair of pubs in Leicester in aid of hospice charity LOROS.

A Tinsel and Trinkets Christmas Fair takes place at The Lansdowne, London Road, on Saturday 1st December from 1pm to 6pm.

Featuring festive carols from the University of Leicester Chamber Choir, the event will play host to a range of different stalls selling vintage clothing and accessories, handmade items for the home, cakes and savoury treats.

Meanwhile, a Christmas Craft Fair will be held at the Obar in Braunstone Gate on Saturday 8th December from 3pm to 8pm.

It will also be selling vintage clothing and accessories, as well as cupcakes, Christmas cards, homemade jewellery, chutneys and cookies.

Entry is free to both events, but donations will be collected in aid of LOROS, the Leicestershire and Rutland hospice.

Both bars are long-standing supporters of LOROS, and these are the latest in a string of fund-raising events held at The Lansdowne and the Obar in aid of the charity.

For more information please contact the relevant pub on either 0116 285 4131 (the Lansdowne) or 0116 255 8223 (The Obar).

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

Festive fund-raising from Cherizena Coffee

Coffee specialist Cherizena has embarked on a festive fund-raising effort in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support.

The mail order supplier of flavoured, premium and speciality coffees is running a Christmas promotion on its website www.cherizena.co.uk

When a customer discovers a Santa hidden in a coffee cup, they qualify for 50p off their order, which will be donated to the charity. After ordering, the customer will also be entered into a competition to win one of five Christmas gift baskets from Cherizena.

The firm, which offers up to 30 single origin coffees and blends, and around 20 different flavoured varieties, has coffees to suit all tastes.

It is a leading UK specialist producer of coffee, and sources premium, rare and speciality coffees, as well as creating its own range of superb flavoured coffees.
Cherizena’s Christmas coffee is one of its most popular limited edition flavours, and last year around half a tonne of it was sold.
“We have backed Macmillan Cancer Support via its World’s Biggest Coffee Morning fund-raising effort in the past, and wanted to do something this Christmas too,” said Kate Jones, from Cherizena. “It’s a bit of fun for customers browsing our website, and hopefully it will make a nice Christmas present for charity too.”

Cherizena is based at Wartnaby, near Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, and supplies coffee mail order to consumers, and also to trade customers.

The competition runs until December 17th 2012.   For more information visit www.cherizena.co.uk


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

Civic building award for Focus Consultants project

Nottingham-based Focus Consultants is celebrating after a project it was involved in received a key civic building award.

Interior of the Great Barn at Basing House.
Photo courtesy of Hampshire County Council

 Basing House and Grange Farm in Hampshire won the Conservation Award at the SCALA Civic Building of the Year Awards – a celebration of the cream of public sector architecture.

 The capital works were led by award-winning in-house conservation architect, Giles Pritchard, of Hampshire County Council's Property Services - a pioneering public service organisation with a long established national reputation for excellence and innovation.

 Focus Consultants was the project manager on the building and exhibition fit-out works for the scheme to preserve and repair the Grade I listed Great Barn and surrounding farm buildings on the site of the once extensive Tudor palace, destroyed during the Civil War.

 The judges said of the Hampshire County Council Property Services’ project: "Subtle adaptations and alterations have been carefully introduced to give a new purpose to this magnificent collection of historic buildings.

 The skills of all concerned with this beautiful piece of work deserve high recognition and reward." Focus partner Steven Fletcher, who worked on the scheme along with project manager/senior consultant James Peake, said: “This is excellent praise for the whole team involved in the Basing House and Grange Farm development, as the SCALA awards are deemed the most prestigious building design awards in the public sector.

 “It is the latest in a number of awards that have been given recently to projects that Focus Consultants has been involved in, and we are delighted that the skill and expertise of our teams are receiving such recognition.”

 Basing House conservation project, funded with help from the Heritage Lottery Fund, was praised for the clear research, care and attention given to preserving and restoring the historic detail of the site.

 The awards presented by SCALA – the Society of Chief Architects of Local Authorities – were announced at the Civic Building of the Year & Presidential Dinner 2012 in Manchester.

 Focus Consultants, with its head office at Phoenix Business Park, Nottingham, and branches in London, Princess Road East, Leicester, Endeavour Park, Boston, and Manor Farm, Aubourn near Lincoln, specialises in creative approaches to securing funding packages and delivering high quality projects across the UK.

 Since its creation in 1994, Focus has secured over £800 million of grant assistance, and delivered more than £1 billion of projects and programmes.

 It works across a range of sectors including heritage, arts and culture, education and tourism. For more information visit www.focus-consultants.co.uk

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

Winners of the 2012 Food and Drink iNet Innovation Awards announced

Nottinghamshire company Lindhurst Innovation Engineers has been crowned the winner of the 2012 Food and Drink iNet Innovation Awards.

The firm was named the Campden BRI Innovation Champion 2012 for the development of ground-breaking technology to turn waste into renewable energy.

Lindhurst Innovation Engineers, based at Midland Road, Sutton-in-Ashfield, worked with the University of Nottingham and Arla Foods to use microbial fuel cell technology to break down food waste using anaerobic digestion and create biogas.

In conjunction with academics, researchers and industry partners, the company is also working on other innovative techniques to help the food and drink sector reduce its environmental impact and become more efficient.  

The judges said: “The judges couldn't help but be impressed with this project. The company is presenting a more rounded approach to positive impact, and is making anaerobic digestion more accessible to smaller companies. Lindhurst Innovation Engineers is a shining example within the sector.”

Earlier at the event, Lindhurst also took the top spot in The Food and Drink Forum Most Innovative Positive Impact category at the awards, which were being held for the fifth year.
 

Other award winners at the event held at Athena in Leicester were:

• Dovedale Foods based in St John Street, Ashbourne, and with a manufacturing unit at Southglade Food Park, Nottingham, who were awarded The Clegg Food Projects Ltd Most Innovative Business Growth Award for the creation of Agile Manufacturing  (a term applied to an organisation that has created the processes, tools, and training to enable it to respond quickly to customer needs and market changes while still controlling costs and quality) to support the scaling up of manufacture of Dovedale's Sauces for Choice brand, with capacity to offer short-run production to other local small enterprises struggling with the capacity requirements of larger contract manufacturers. 

The judges said: “Dovedale Foods has shown innovation for its own business, and of value to other smaller businesses. The company is meeting a real need whilst having a flexible approach.”

• Moonshine Drinks Ltd, based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, who received The Nottingham Trent University Most Innovative New Product Development Award for developing a revolutionary home brew system to create quality real ales by simply adding tap water into the unique laminated bag to achieve ABV of 4%+.

The judges said: “The home brewing market is growing and this project offers good potential. Moonshine Drinks Ltd is approaching the project in a very flexible way. They have real exporting potential.”

• Just Egg, based at Hilltop Road, Hamilton Industrial Park, Leicester, and the University of Leicester, who received The Food and Drink Forum Most Innovative Collaboration Award for working in collaboration, with support from the Food and Drink iNet, to explore a cost-effective and environmentally sustainable way of disposing of the firm’s egg shell waste. The company is now well on its way to using the egg shells in the reformulation of plastic to make recycled packaging to protect their egg-based products. 

The judges said: “This is an excellent example of collaboration between academia, the industry and the iNet. This project has caused interest worldwide and has game changing potential. It’s a great example of lateral thinking.”

Business support organisation The Food and Drink Forum organised the awards ceremony on behalf of The Food and Drink iNet, which co-ordinates innovation support for businesses, universities and individuals working in the food and drink sector in the East Midlands.

 

Food and Drink iNet director Richard Worrall said: “Once again we have seen some tremendous examples of innovation in the food and drink sector in the East Midlands, and I’d like to congratulate the winners of this year’s awards.”

Each category winner receives one free place to a Campden BRI conference or seminar of their choice during the 12 months following the award ceremony, plus a day of PR support. The champion receives two additional free places to a Campden BRI conference or seminar of their choice during the 12 months following the award ceremony, plus an additional day of PR support.

The winners of the Food and Drink Forum Most Innovative Positive Impact category and the Food and Drink Forum Most Innovative Collaboration category each receive a free day’s consultancy from The Food and Drink Forum.

Clegg Food Projects will provide a complimentary visit to the site of the winner of the Most Innovative Business Growth Award to provide advice or information to support the business in process or facility improvement.

The winner of the Nottingham Trent University Most Innovative New Product Development Award receives a voucher to be used towards one of NTU’s food courses.

Around 130 representatives from the food and drink sector across the East Midlands and beyond attended the award ceremony event, which was hosted by comedian Ian Moore.

Part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), 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 region by 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 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.

For more information about the iNet visit www.foodanddrink-inet.org.uk

Press release issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk
 

Full Movement Method demos at Wellbeing & Beauty Fair

Therapists who practise the Full Movement Method to treat muscle and joint pain as well as immobility will be giving demonstrations at a Nottinghamshire Wellbeing & Beauty Fair.

The event, which takes place on Sunday 18th November, is the chance to find out more about the therapy, which has been used to help road accident victims, injured sportsmen and women, and others who are suffering pain.

It’s also the opportunity for therapists and those who currently work in the field to discover more about how to train in the Full Movement Method, which has a new course launching early in 2013.

Representatives from both the Full Movement Method training school and its sister organisation the Shanti Yoga School, which teaches yoga teachers, will be at the Wellbeing & Beauty Fair, which is free to attend and runs from 10am to 4pm at Carlton le Willows Academy, Gedling.

The event is due to feature a range of stalls focusing on skincare, nutrition and diet, relaxation, pamper sessions, therapies and treats.

Liz Thomas, who runs the FMM training school and Shanti Yoga School, will be on hand to give more information about how to train with both organisations and where to find a therapist or yoga teacher.

FMM was developed by the late Andy Thomas, from West Bridgford, Nottingham, and uses yoga postures as a diagnostic and treatment tool, alongside soft tissue techniques, deep tissue massage and joint mobilisations.

Andy, who died last year, trained many practitioners in the therapy. The next course in FMM starts in January and runs in Colwick.

Based at the Eco Centre at Home Farm, Screveton near Bingham, its sister organisation Shanti Yoga School offers yoga teacher training and continuous professional development courses, and its next course begins in February.

For more information about FMM visit the website at www.fullmovementmethod.co.uk

For further details about Shanti Yoga School, which has trained dozens of yoga teachers in Hatha Yoga since it was launched in 2003 and is accredited by Yoga Alliance as an approved Teacher Training School, visit www.shantiyogaschool.co.uk

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Awards success for BSP Consulting schemes

Civil and structural engineering company BSP Consulting is celebrating after three schemes the firm was involved in were recognised at the fbe East Midlands Dinner & Awards 2012.

The accolades are designed to reward the whole team behind schemes in the region which fit the ethos of the fbe (Forum for the Built Environment) - a leading networking organisation for the property, development and construction industries.

BSP acted as engineers on three developments that were highlighted at the awards event, which took place in Leicester.

Derwent Living’s housing project at Vicarage Road in Derby won the Derbyshire category. The development - Derwent Living’s first level 5 Code for Sustainable Homes scheme – features a range of eco-technologies as standard.

Other members of the team were contractor Lindum Sturgeon, architects Franklin Ellis Architects, employer’s agent WT Partnership and Derby City Council.

The William Davis housing scheme for Tuntum Housing Association at Hibiscus Court in Nottingham was named the winner of the Nottinghamshire category. Hibiscus Court - an apartment building for the over 55s in St Ann’s - went on to be named the best project in the East Midlands at the awards.

Other members of the Hibiscus Court team were architects Geoff Carter Architects and Nottingham City Council.

Meanwhile the Cawrey Development Ltd environmentally conscious housing project in Fielding Lane, Ratby, Leicestershire, was highly commended. The homes use an estimated 50% less energy than a standard new build due to environmentally friendly features to save energy and minimise carbon footprint.

“BSP Consulting is proud to have been a part of the teams behind three schemes that were recognised at the fbe East Midlands Dinner & Awards for projects in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire,” said BSP business development director Jef Todd.

“Since being founded in 1999, we have built up strong working relationships with others in the development and construction industries in the East Midlands.”

BSP Consulting is based at Oxford Street, Nottingham, and has offices at Pride Park, Derby, De Montfort Street in Leicester, and Solly Street, Sheffield.

The company provides a comprehensive range of consultancy services in civil, structural, geotechnical, transportation and environmental engineering to all sectors of the construction community, from architects, project managers and contractors to developers and estate agents.

For more information visit www.bsp-consulting.co.uk

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

Cherizena launches Christmas coffee

Speciality and premium mail order coffee supplier Cherizena has launched its Christmas coffee.

The flavoured blend is a real Christmas cracker…. with a delicious aroma reminiscent of plum pudding.

Available as beans or ground, regular or decaffeinated, the Christmas coffee has been created by flavouring the Colombian Excelsior medium bean with a tasty combination of rum, hazelnut, cinnamon, vanilla, orange and pecan nut flavours.

It’s the perfect blend to put you in the festive spirit.

Offering up to 30 single origin coffees and blends, and 20 different flavoured varieties, Cherizena has coffees to suit all tastes. It is a leading UK specialist producer of coffee, and sources premium, rare and speciality coffees, as well as creating its own range of superb flavoured coffees.

The Christmas coffee is one of its limited edition flavours, and last year around half a tonne of Christmas coffee was sold.

Priced at £3 for 115g packs, the coffee is available from www.cherizena.co.uk from October 1st 2012. Last orders for consumers are December 19th 2012.

Cherizena is based at Wartnaby, near Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire.


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Extensive fire risk assessment contract for Focus Consultants

Focus Consultants has been awarded a five-year contract to carry out fire risk assessments on 1,000 homes in the asra Housing Group.

 The company specialises in providing bulk surveys across multiple locations and works with private sector landlords, registered social landlords, schools, colleges, universities and other organisations to ensure that fire risks in their premises are minimised.

The contract, which started in October 2012, will involve the inspection of all common parts of the asra Housing Group’s buildings and a number of sample homes, ranging from high-rise apartment blocks to two-storey house conversions.

It will also involve fire risk assessments of the asra Housing Group’s offices and other relevant buildings.

 “Focus Consultants has worked with the asra Housing Group for several years and we are very pleased to be extending our existing close relationship with the group through this contract,” said Keith Butler, a partner at Focus Consultants who is leading the project.

The work is a statutory requirement under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and the Housing Act 2004, and is one of six long-term asset management contracts worth more than £55million that have recently been announced by the asra Housing Group.

The inspections will be carried out by the team at Focus Consultants on properties in the East Midlands, West Midlands and London.

They will include initial risk assessments, followed by periodic reviews at regular intervals. Focus, which has its head office at Phoenix Business Park, Nottingham, and offices in Leicester, London, Lincoln and Boston, specialises in carrying out large-scale fire risk assessments and developing, implementing and managing improvement programmes to bring risk levels down and keep them that way.

 The company provides a range of construction and property services, including building surveying, professional services such as party wall surveying and expert witnesses, energy carbon sustainability advice, project management, and economic development and funding support.

 asra is one of the UK's leading housing and regeneration providers. The group's property portfolio contains more than 13,000 homes in the Midlands and London.

For more information visit www.focus-consultants.co.uk

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

Sausages Celebrated at Croots Farm Shop in Derbyshire

Sausage supremos at Croots Farm Shop in Derbyshire have tasted success again for their award-winning bangers.

Croots has scooped a gold award for its Breakfast Banger in a competition to mark British Sausage Week, which runs from November 5th.

The farm shop near Duffield has won scores of awards for its homemade bangers since opening more than four years ago, including a Great Taste Award - regarded as the Oscars of the fine food industry.

Now it is gearing up for a sausage celebration to mark the annual week dedicated to the British banger – with plans to launch two new sausages.

Themed to tie in with bonfire night, the newly created sausages are the Croots Firecracker – tasty pork laced with chilli – and the Croots Sparkler, made with fig relish.

“We’re really pleased to have won another award for one of our sausages,” said Steve Croot, who runs the farm shop at Farnah House Farm, Wirksworth Road.

“The Breakfast Banger includes sausage, bacon and egg flavours, and was designed to be a celebration of the great British breakfast.”

The Breakfast Banger was awarded gold in the annual contest held to mark British Sausage Week, which is run by the British Sausage Appreciation Society and is now in its 15th year.

Under the slogan of Stand up for British Bangers, comedian and Al Murray’s pub landlord is encouraging the British public to enjoy quality sausages as part of the week, which runs from November 5th to 11th.

Croots Farm Shop will be staging its own celebration from November 6th to 11th with tastings and 10% off its sausages.

Butchers at the farm shop make thousands of sausages every year using Packington Free Range pork and have designed scores of different flavours, which are on sale on a rotating basis in the shop.

“Sausages are a huge favourite with the British public all year round but especially at bonfire night,” said Steve Croot.

“We’re looking forward to once again celebrating the British banger by joining in with British Sausage Week.”

Croots Farm Shop and Kitchen is open Sundays from 10am to 4pm (café until 3.45pm), and from Tuesday to Saturday from 9am to 5pm (café until 4.30pm). It is closed on Mondays.

For more information visit www.croots.co.uk

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