Multi-million pound pavilion built by J Tomlinson on track

Councillor Richard Mould and the development team

Work on a multi-million pound sports pavilion being built by construction services firm J Tomlinson is well underway at Kingsmere in Bicester. 

Cherwell District Council appointed contractors J Tomlinson Ltd to undertake the £3.2m design and build project at Whitelands Farm Sports Ground, which is scheduled for completion in summer 2017. 

The facility will service the pitches at the Sports Ground, where a wheelchair-friendly track for cycling and running, and outdoor fitness equipment, are already available to the public. The pavilion will include changing facilities, a kiosk, licensed bar, kitchen and function room.

Martin Gallagher, managing director (construction) for J Tomlinson, said: “As a company with an established heritage in building a wide range of different developments for both public and private sector clients, J Tomlinson is very pleased to be working on our first contract for Cherwell District Council.

“The sports pavilion at Kingsmere will be a key building for the local community, providing a purpose-built sports pavilion with changing facilities, function suite and bar facilities, and as such is due to provide an important hub for residents.”

Cllr George Reynolds, Cherwell’s deputy leader, said: “The vision behind this pavilion is to create an inspiring and modern environment to complement the exciting new tracks and pitches at the sports ground.  

“It will be a flexible facility; as well as the traditional sports applications, people will be able to socialise over a drink, and attend events in the function room.

“We are delighted with the progress so far and look forward to the project’s completion in summer.”

The Sports Ground will occupy a site of over 17 hectares, provided by Kingsmere developers Countryside. The facility was named Whitelands Farm Sports Ground following a two-week public vote which spanned social media, websites and emails, and recalls the site’s former farmland use.

Based at Beeston, near Nottingham, J Tomlinson provides a range of integrated building solutions including construction, refurbishment, repairs and maintenance, mechanical and electrical services (M&E), and facilities management. It operates mainly across the East Midlands, West Midlands and Yorkshire.

For more information about J Tomlinson, visit www.jtomlinson.co.uk

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

Focus Consultants gains key environmental accreditation

Focus partner Jason Redfearn

The teams at Focus Consultants have cemented their commitment to high environmental standards by achieving an internationally recognised environmental management accreditation.

The Leicester office of Focus has become the latest of the Focus offices to be awarded ISO 14001 Environmental Management System and follows the Nottingham and Boston offices, which also recently gained the standard.

The firm’s ECS Team, which provides energy and sustainability services, operates out of the Focus office in Leicester, based at Meridian Business Park.  

Focus Partner Jason Redfearn, who leads the ECS team, said: “We are pleased to add Leicester to the offices which operate ISO 14001; this continues our drive to minimise the impact of Focus’s business operation on the environment.”

ISO 14001 is an internationally recognised environmental management standard to manage the immediate and long-term environmental impacts of an organisation’s operation and services. 

The cornerstone behind the standard is the minimisation of a company’s environmental footprint.

Focus has always promoted sustainable development through its commissions, using its team of qualified professionals to provide cost-effective solutions for regulation compliance, energy reduction or to meet carbon objectives.  

The ECS team provides regulation compliance services such as SAP and SBEM, and assessor services for HQM, CODE, BREEAM. Its air testing services continue to expand.

Focus Consultants, which has its headquarters at Phoenix Business Park in Nottingham, offers a range of support on all aspects of sustainable development, as well as services in funding and economic development, project management and building surveying.

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

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

Celebrity chef Cyrus Todiwala creates serving suggestions for Butt Foods’ new artisan sourdough recipe naan

Cyrus Todiwala

Specialist baker Butt Foods has launched a new naan bread that’s lighter and more bubbly than ever before in response to trends for premium and new wave Indian food dining experiences.

The Baked Earth artisan sourdough recipe naan benefits from a live cultured sourdough with a long fermentation process to improve flavour and texture – creating a naan bread that’s bubbly, soft and suitable for a range of meal applications throughout the day.

The company commissioned celebrity chef and former BBC Food Personality of the Year Cyrus Todiwala OBE to develop a range of uses for the artisan sourdough recipe naans to illustrate the flexibility of the flat breads. He has created a selection of serving suggestions for the naans that show the real versatility of the product which go far beyond the traditional side-of-plate application and which highlight just how many options chefs have to be creative with this new concept in naan breads.

“Naan is brilliant – it’s such a versatile bread. Just use your imagination and the world lies at your feet,” said Cyrus, who has a broad portfolio of restaurants, running Café Spice Namaste, Mr Todiwala’s Kitchen at Heathrow T5, Assado London and The Park Café.

Available in 6 inch and 4 inch sizes, the new naans are perfect for restaurants, hotels, bars and other food service operators, such as street food vendors, that are committed to serving up top quality naan breads, as well as the growing number of new wave contemporary Indian eateries that are offering dining options from breakfast through to evening. 

As a result of its special composition, the Baked Earth artisan sourdough recipe naans can be topped, filled, folded and wrapped, and the serving suggestions created by Cyrus include hand-held ‘sliders’, pizza-style topped naans, foldovers and wraps, and cover meal occasions including breakfast and brunch, snacks and main meals. 

Ideas include Bombay-style minced beef burritos, Indian-style roasted vegetable pizzas and Jungli chicken wraps.

Videos of the dishes created by Cyrus and filmed in the development kitchen of his Café Spice Namaste restaurant in London are available to watch for free on the Butt Foods website in Chef’s Corner. 

Butt Foods has been baking naan breads for more than 25 years, having introduced authentic frozen naan to the foodservice market in 1991. Its latest naan is a light and bubbly Indian bread baked with yoghurt, with toasted kalonji and cumin seeds adding a nutty flavour, made from the company’s unique recipe.

It has been developed in response to its research into the changing UK Indian restaurant scene, which shows the increase in exciting new wave eateries that offer various degrees of all-day dining, depending on location, with menus to suit. 

“New Indian food is moving away from traditional curries into a world of new flavours, snacks and small plates, different presentation and extended meal occasions. We’re very pleased to be launching our Baked Earth artisan sourdough recipe naans, which are really something very special and which have been created to provide restaurants and other eateries with a tasty naan bread that’s both versatile and flexible,” said managing director of Nottingham-based Butt Foods David Williams.

“Our market research has shown a new wave of Indian restaurants bringing exciting new flavours and formats, and we believe our range of Artisan sourdough recipe naans are perfect for these outlets which are providing an alternative experience for diners.

“We were delighted when, in independent research, our product outscored the leading foodservice competitor on taste and texture.” 

The artisan sourdough recipe naan is made from a natural process that takes up to ten days from starter through to mother dough, mature dough and then final dough. No raising agents mean a more natural product and better flavour, with pure butter ghee adding colour and taste.

The Baked Earth artisan sourdough recipe naans are available frozen through Central Foods.

Cyrus, the 2014 BBC Food Personality of the Year, was born and brought up in Bombay. In his bastion Cafe Spice Namaste, Cyrus is known for his refined, elegantly spiced and sophisticated cooking. He has cooked for royalty, presidents and international celebrities and is often invited to be a guest chef at food festivals and hotels from Dubai to Durban, and all across the United Kingdom.

For more information about Butt Foods, to see its latest trend reports or the videos featuring menu ideas created by Cyrus, visit www.buttfoods.co.uk

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

Frozen food distributor Central Foods shortlisted in Family Business United Awards

Central Foods Sales and Marketing Team

Frozen food distributor Central Foods has been named a finalist for the Midlands Family Business of the Year Award 2017.

The Northamptonshire-based business, run by husband and wife team Gordon and Alison Lauder for the past 21 years, is one of 12 family firms shortlisted for the accolade.

“We are thrilled to hear we’ve been nominated in the final of this award. It’s fantastic news for Central Foods and all of our loyal, hardworking team,” said managing director Gordon Lauder.

“This year we celebrate our 21^st birthday and to learn that we are a finalist of the Midlands Family Business of the Year Award 2017 is cause for a double celebration.

“I’d like to thank all our staff, as well as our customers and clients, who have supported us in the journey we have taken to become one of the UK’s best-known frozen food suppliers to the wholesale and foodservice sector. Congratulations and best of luck to all the finalists in the awards.”

The Family Business of the Year Awards are organised by Family Business United, the award-winning magazine and resource centre that champions and celebrates the family business sector. Now in their fifth year, the awards recognise the diversity, strength and depth of family firms across the UK and seek to highlight the contribution that family firms make to the UK economy.  

Open to family firms of all generations, sizes and sectors, the awards recognise some outstanding family firms and really help to put family businesses on the map.

Paul Andrews, founder and managing director of Family Business United, said: "We are delighted to be able to pull together such a vibrant bunch of family businesses, some that have succeeded for numerous generations and continue to thrive, and others that are relatively young but have great values at the heart of what they do.

“Well done to Central Foods on being named a finalist.”

Sian Steele, head of family business at PwC, sponsors of the award added: "Any one of those shortlisted would make worthy winners and ambassadors for the sector. We are looking forward to finding out more about each of them and I am sure that the decisions to determine the winner will not be easy.  Previous winners of this award include Penny Hydraulics, Cropwell Bishop and Fracino so the 2017 winners will be following in the footsteps of some incredible family firms."

The awards process concludes at a gala reception and awards ceremony that takes place in London at the prestigious May Fair Hotel in London on June 8 where the winners will be crowned.

Central Foods, which is based at Collingtree near Northampton, supplies more than 220 independent wholesalers, as well as larger national and regional wholesalers. It also supplies to foodservice caterers across the entire foodservice industry, including pubs, hotels, restaurants, staff canteens, schools, hospitals, coffee shops, football grounds and universities.

Offering a one-stop shop to the foodservice sector, it sources products from around the world and the UK, supplying more than 400 different lines, ranging from meat, bakery items and canapés through to buffet products, desserts and puddings.

For more information visit www.centralfoods.co.uk

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

Visitors raring to attend the world’s largest gathering of Shire horses

Photo courtesy of Tracy Muir Photography www.tracymuirphotography.co.uk 

Ticket sales for the world’s largest gathering of Shire horses are booming as the event returns to Staffordshire for a second year.

A record number of advance tickets for the show at Staffordshire County Showground on 17^th to 19^th March have so far been sold, reports the Shire Horse Society, which organises the event.

Around 300 pedigree Shire horses from across Europe are expected to take part, being put through their paces in hand, in harness and during ridden classes.

Open to the public, the event is a colourful day out for all the family and the chance to support the campaign to save this magnificent breed of horse, which only a few decades ago was in danger of dying out and is still regarded as ‘at risk’.

Secretary of the Shire Horse Society Victoria Clayton said: “Shire horses have played a huge role in the history of this country, and our show, which is the world’s largest gathering of Shires, is the perfect opportunity to see them in action.

“Last month we sold more than twice as many advance tickets to our annual show as we did during the same month the previous year. We’re delighted to see such interest in the event, which is our flagship event of the year and the ideal chance for us to put the gentle giants of the horse world into the spotlight.”

The show, which has been held at a limited number of venues in England over its long history, is believed to be one of the oldest, almost continuous, horse shows in the world, having been held for the first time at the Royal Agricultural Hall in Islington, London, in 1880, when the charity was named the English Cart Horse Society.

It moved to Staffordshire County Showground in 2016, and returns there for three days of competition in March.

The event features stalls and children’s entertainment, as well as the all-important showing classes – the first qualifier of 2017 for the heavy horse classes of the prestigious Horse of the Year Show, which attracts the very best of the breed and is held in October at Birmingham’s NEC.

The Shire Horse Society campaigns to save the iconic Shire breed – a breed that was in danger of dying out just a few decades ago. Even now, fewer than 500 new foals are registered every year.

Tickets for the show are on sale via www.shire-horse.org.uk – discounted if bought in advance. Adult tickets on the gate are £12, or £10 online in advance, while tickets for children aged five to 13 years on the gate are £10, and £8 online in advance.

Children aged 14 years and over are charged at the adult price, while under fives enter free.

Gates open on Friday 17^th March at 8.30am and at 7am on Saturday 18^th and Sunday 19^th March.

For more details and ticket information about the show, visit www.shire-horse.org.uk or follow @saveourshires on Twitter or at www.facebook.com/shirehorsesociety

Croots Farm Shop & Café a finalist in Family Business United Awards 2017

Kay and Steve Croot

Derbyshire farm shop Croots has been named a finalist for the Midlands Family Business of the Year Award 2017.

The farm shop and café near Duffield, run by husband and wife team Steve and Kay Croot, is one of 12 family firms shortlisted for the accolade.

“We are delighted to learn that we’ve been chosen as a finalist in this award. It’s great news for Croots Farm Shop and all the wonderful, hard-working staff we have on our team,” said Kay Croot. “The farm shop was launched at my parents’ farm in 2008, and has gone from strength to strength.

“It’s very much a family business, with our staff being part of our extended family. We have some people that have been with us at Croots Farm Shop since the start and are incredibly loyal and amazing with customers. We have shared our progress with them, they understand what we are striving to deliver, live the same values and we look after them and treat them like part of a big family.

“I’d like to thank them, as well as all our suppliers and customers, for helping this family business to grow and to get to a stage where we have been named a finalist of the Midlands Family Business of the Year Award 2017.”

The Family Business of the Year Awards are organised by Family Business United, the award-winning magazine and resource centre that champions and celebrates the family business sector. Now in their fifth year, the awards recognise the diversity, strength and depth of family firms across the UK and seek to highlight the contribution that family firms make to the UK economy.  

Open to family firms of all generations, sizes and sectors, the awards recognise some outstanding family firms and really help to put family businesses on the map.

Paul Andrews, founder and managing director of Family Business United, said: "We are delighted to be able to pull together such a vibrant bunch of family businesses, some that have succeeded for numerous generations and continue to thrive, and others that are relatively young but have great values at the heart of what they do.

“Well done to Croots Farm Shop & Café on being named a finalist.”

Sian Steele, head of family business at PwC, sponsors of the award added: "Any one of those shortlisted would make worthy winners and ambassadors for the sector. We are looking forward to finding out more about each of them and I am sure that the decisions to determine the winner will not be easy.  Previous winners of this award include Penny Hydraulics, Cropwell Bishop and Fracino so the 2017 winners will be following in the footsteps of some incredible family firms."

The awards process concludes at a gala reception and awards ceremony that takes place in London at the prestigious May Fair Hotel in London on June 8 where the winners will be crowned.

Croots Farm Shop, based at Farnah House Farm, Wirksworth Road, is open Monday to Saturday from 9am to 5pm (Shires Eatery until 4.30pm) and from 10am to 4pm on Sundays. Croots runs Fresh Fish Thursdays between 9am and 1pm on Thursdays.

For more information, visit www.croots.co.uk Find Croots on Twitter @crootsfarm_shop or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Croots-Farm-Shop

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

J Tomlinson appoints new head of safety, health, environment and quality (SHEQ)

Richard Ball SHEQ manager at J Tomlinson

Construction services company J Tomlinson has appointed Richard Ball as the head of the company’s growing safety, health, environment and quality team.

The move brings all the firm’s health, safety and compliance operations in-house for the first time and is designed to support the company’s expansion.

An ex-serviceman who spent 22 years in the Corps of Royal Engineers, rising to the highest attainable position of Regimental Sergeant Major as a non-commissioned officer, Richard is based at J Tomlinson’s Nottingham head office but will spend time in the West Midlands office in Canwell, as well as at sites across the East Midlands, West Midlands and Yorkshire.

He said: “J Tomlinson has an excellent reputation and I am pleased to have been appointed to head up and develop the SHEQ operations.

“Health and safety was an integral part of my military life, during which I was required to deliver on time in what were the most arduous of environments and still meet legislative requirements. After witnessing and experiencing loss which was accepted it only seemed natural that becoming a safety professional would be a rewarding career. In the work place we don’t sign up to take risks, as you do in the military, this was the main motivation for moving into this sector after completing my military service in 2013.”

Richard’s department is responsible for standardising quality control of the procedures, policies and compliance across the business, with particular focus on health and safety, environmental, and technical compliance such as gas or electrical installations and maintenance.

Steve Kirkland, J Tomlinson’s managing director responsible for health and safety, said: “J Tomlinson offers integrated building solutions and to support that, we have invested in integrating and developing our management systems so that they are now fully in-house.

“Richard joins us with an impressive background of having worked both within the construction and associated professions while in the military, as well as having expertise within the field of health, safety and compliance during his time in the services and since.

“We’re very pleased to have welcomed him to this new role, at a time when J Tomlinson is continuing to expand sustainably.”

Richard, who trained as a draftsman while in the military, has seen active service in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo and Northern Ireland. He joined J Tomlinson after working for a number of companies in the construction sector since completing his service in 2013.

Based at Beeston, near Nottingham, the company provides a range of integrated building solutions including construction, refurbishment, repairs and maintenance, mechanical and electrical services (M&E), and facilities management.  It operates across the East Midlands, West Midlands and Yorkshire.

For more information about J Tomlinson, visit www.jtomlinson.co.uk

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

Frozen food distributor Central Foods gains key industry accreditation

Alison and Gordon Lauder of Central Foods

Frozen food distributor Central Foods has been awarded the BRC Standard for Agents and Brokers. 

The Northamptonshire-based company, which supplies a wide range of frozen food to wholesalers and caterers across the UK and for export, worked closely with its suppliers to achieve the accreditation.

BRC Global Standards is a leading safety and quality certification programme, used by more than 23,000 certificated suppliers in 123 countries. The Standard for Agents and Brokers gives essential certification for companies that provide purchase, importation or product distribution services in the food and packaging supply chain.

Central Foods managing director Gordon Lauder said: “This Global Standard is designed to reflect best practice on product safety, quality and operations, and it is great news that it has been awarded to Central Foods. It’s a ringing endorsement of the standards provided by the company and clients. 

“In essence, it reinforces confidence in the quality and safety of the food supplied by the company to our many customers throughout the UK and for export. As a frozen food distributor, we place great emphasis on quality and provenance.”

Central Foods, which is based at Collingtree near Northampton, supplies more than 220 independent wholesalers, as well as larger national and regional wholesalers. It also supplies to foodservice caterers across the entire foodservice industry, including pubs, hotels, restaurants, staff canteens, schools, hospitals, coffee shops, football grounds and universities.

Offering a one-stop shop to the foodservice sector, it sources products from around the world and the UK, supplying more than 400 different lines, ranging from meat, bakery items and canapés through to buffet products, desserts and puddings.

Central Foods has been regularly named in the annual Grant Thornton Northamptonshire Ltd report which highlights the growth of the top 100 privately owned businesses in Northamptonshire, and was ranked as one of the 200 fastest growing companies in the East Midlands in the 2015 Grant Thornton and CBI report, the most recent available, which highlighted growing organisations. 

The company is marking its 21^st anniversary in 2017.

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

Cherry on the cake for specialist baker Butt Foods on winning award

David Williams of Butt Foods and David Ratcliffe of Brakes

A quarter of a century of supplying a leading food wholesaler with bread has been topped for specialist baker Butt Foods after the company was awarded the title of Desserts and Bakery Supplier of the Year at the Brakes Supplier Conference.

The Nottingham-based company, which supplies flatbread, naans, sub rolls and other speciality breads to the food service sector, received the award from Brakes Group for a range of reasons, including 100% level of supply, stock and logistics innovation, market leading insight and new product development, as well as being praised for having a helpful team.

“Pardon the pun, but it really was the cherry on the cake to receive the award from Brakes, a wholesale company that we have had links with for almost the entire history of Butt Foods and who source from more than 2,000 suppliers,” said Butt Foods managing director David Williams.

“Our company was founded in 1990, and the following year began supplying naan breads to Brakes – dealing with the original founding Brake family. The business relationship has continued since then, as both companies have developed, and we are thrilled to have been named the Desserts and Bakery Supplier of the Year at the Brakes Supplier Conference.”

Family owned Butt Foods, which prides itself on keeping abreast of trends and developing new products to satisfy consumer demand in a fast-paced industry, produces hand-finished frozen sweet and savoury bakery items, used by a range of outlets from restaurants and hotels to pubs and cafés.  

Brakes is the UK’s biggest food distributor, and also supplies to Ireland, France and Sweden. The group sources and supplies a range of more than 50,000 fresh, ambient, chilled and frozen foods, including more than 4,000 own-brand products and a wide range of non-foods.

Butt Foods is one of more than 2,000 suppliers from around the world that the group deals with.

For more information about Butt Foods, visit www.buttfoods.co.uk

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