Shire Horse Show in Staffordshire

Up to 100 Shire horses will be taking part in the Midland Shire Foal Show being held in Staffordshire later this month – and the public are being invited along to find out more about the historic breed. 

The event is run every year by the Midland Shire Foal Society, which was founded in 1959. Initially the show attracted entries from across Staffordshire and Derbyshire, but today it appeals to Shire horse owners from around the country, and horses and foals are expected from as far away as Devon, Cornwall, Yorkshire and Norfolk. 

Taking place on Saturday 20^th September at Field House Equestrian Centre, Marchington, near Uttoxeter, the event also encourages the next generation of Shire horse showmen and women. It hosts the final of the national Young Handler of the Year Competition, and the 20 young people under the age of 18 taking part have been qualifying over the past year for the chance to win the title. 

As well as the opportunity to see Shire horses being shown, there is also an auction of Shire horse harnesses and memorabilia, which is being run by Derby auctioneers Derby Market Auctions and takes place at 10am. 

“It’s very much an enthusiasts show but if you like Shire horses there’s a lot to see,” said society chairman Jim Yates, who breeds award-winning Shire horses at his farm near Duffield in Derbyshire. “Last year marked the 55^th time the show has been held, and it’s a key date on the Shire horse showing calendar. It’s a way to promote and preserve this majestic breed of horse, and we would welcome anyone who is interested in finding out more about Shire horses.” 

The event, which costs £5 admission, begins at 9am and culminates with a horse sale at 1pm.

For more information visit https://www.facebook.com/midlandshirefoal?fref=ts

Press release issued by Louise Duffield at Nottingham PR agency Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Nottingham Castle Success for Focus

Focus Consultants has played a key role in securing a major grant for the redevelopment of Nottingham Castle. The Heritage Lottery Fund announced that it has awarded Nottingham Castle with a First Round Pass of almost £13m to help transform Nottingham Castle and bring to life 1,000 years of history.

Focus Consultants has been working with Nottingham Castle Trust over the last two years to help formulate their ambitions for the Castle as a world class heritage attraction and to help raise the profile of Nottingham. Focus was the lead consultant working on the bid, providing project management, bid writing, business planning and cost advice services to Nottingham City Council to develop the successful bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The total project costs are around £24m and the HLF’s investment will help ensure the Castle’s heritage is brought to life as well as opening up a unique set of caves beneath the site. The project is part of exciting and ambitious plans to regenerate the city as a whole and put it firmly back on the tourist map.

It is the latest high-profile heritage scheme for Focus Consultants, whose head office is at Phoenix Business Park, Nottingham, with offices in Holborn in London, Leicester, Boston and Aubourn in Lincolnshire.

“The team at Focus Consultants are proud to have been involved in such a prestigious and exciting project, which will make Nottingham Castle a world class heritage attraction and we are delighted that the bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund has been successful” said Focus Consultants partner Steven Fletcher.

Work will now take place to develop the project plans in detail before a final application is submitted to Heritage Lottery Fund in Autumn 2015.

Focus, which is celebrating its 20^th anniversary during 2014, offers a range of services in the heritage and development sector, including funding and economic development, regeneration expertise, energy consultancy and chartered surveying services.

Since its creation in 1994, Focus has helped to secure more than £925m of grant assistance for a range of projects and businesses across the UK and delivered more than £1.0 billion worth of projects and programmes – making it one of the most successful businesses of its kind in the country.

It has worked on a range of high-profile projects in the arts, heritage and tourism sector, including some of the major museums across the UK, and important historical and ecclesiastical sites.

For further information, visit www.focus-consultants.com

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

BSP Consulting secures first overseas contracts

Civil and structural engineering firm BSP Consulting has won its first international contracts with appointments on a major highway scheme and building project in Kurdistan. 

The company has secured work in the area as part of a major infrastructure development programme in the region. 

BSP has been appointed by the Ministry of Culture as checking engineer for a new theatre in the capital, Erbil. Work is due to get underway on site on the Holi Gel theatre project shortly. 

The firm has also been appointed to provide project management services on a road scheme in the region’s second city, Slemani. Work on the 40 km dual carriageway, between the towns of Dukan and Chwarqurna, features a number of bridges and is expected to take two years. 

BSP, which has its headquarters at Oxford Street, Nottingham, and branches in Derby, Leicester and Sheffield, now has two engineers in Kurdistan who are overseeing the work. 

“For a while we have been looking at opportunities in the Middle East in places like Abu Dhabi and more recently Kurdistan, and we are very pleased to have secured these two contracts,” said BSP managing director David Sumner. 

“The downturn in the UK construction sector gave us the chance to fully explore areas overseas that were looking for British expertise. Our investment in this over the past few years is now coming to fruition, and we hope that further opportunities will be forthcoming.” 

Representatives from BSP have travelled to the Middle East on a number of occasions for a series of meetings and trade exhibitions ahead of securing the work.The contracts mark the first overseas developments undertaken by BSP.

“Since forming almost 15 years ago, we have gradually expanded as a company and we now cover the whole of the UK. The recently won work in Kurdistan is our first international development, however,” added David. 

As an oil-rich region, Kurdistan is investing heavily in infrastructure, including roads, hospitals, schools, housing and cultural amenities. The Kurdistan Regional Government has a large spending programme underway which involves major public schemes.

BSP is now registered to operate in the region, which is part of Iraq, and hopes to be involved in additional projects in the future, said David. 

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

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

Derbyshire farm shop Croots sells reindeer food for charity

Customers and staff at Croots Farm Shop near Duffield are raising money for Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre this festive season by making sure that Santa’s reindeer are fully fed. 

The farm shop on Wirksworth Road is selling special packs of reindeer food, which children will be encouraged to sprinkle in their gardens and near their homes on Christmas Eve. 

Proceeds from the fund-raising effort will be given to Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre, which is one of Croots Farm Shop’s adopted charities this year. 

The charity was established in 1891 to give disadvantaged Derbyshire children holidays in Skegness, Lincolnshire, and currently provides 450 holiday places per season for boys and girls aged from eight to 14.

The centre needs to raise more than £150,000 every year, and generous customers and staff at Croots have already raised several hundred pounds for the charity since adopting it two years ago.

“Any food the reindeer don’t eat will be scooped up by wild birds, as the packs contain rolled oats, as well as a sprinkle of something sparkly,” said Steve Croot, who runs the farm shop based at Farnah House Farm. 

The packs cost £1 and are part of this year’s annual festive fund-raising at Croots, which also includes a raffle and the chance to win a £50 hamper packed with tasty goodies. More than 70 packets of the special reindeer food have already been sold.

Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre is one of two charities regularly supported by Croots. The other is the Shire Horse Society.

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

For more information visit www.croots.co.uk

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

Croots Farm Shop wins three Great Taste Awards

Derbyshire farm shop Croots has struck gold in this year’s Great Taste Awards with a trio of gold stars.

The farm shop near Duffield scooped a gold star award for its pork, apple and Stilton sausage, a gold star for its Shire ale, and a gold star for its Croots crunchy fruit muesli.

The awards, run by the Guild of Fine Food, are regarded as the ‘Oscars’ of the food industry and are highly prized.

“We are thrilled to hear that three of our products have won a gold star in the 2013 Great Taste Awards,” said Steve Croot, who runs the farm shop at Farnah House Farm, Wirksworth Road. “These awards are rigorously and professionally judged and to win a gold star signifies that a product is really something quite special.”

Last year Croots Farm Shop scooped a two star gold award for its home smoked back bacon. The previous year it won two one star gold Great Taste Awards for its traditional pork pie and its lemon oil. In 2010 another of Croots’ ales, cow juice beer, won a gold star rating, while the previous year the accolade was given to the farm shop’s black pudding sausage.

The latest awards mean that Croots now has eight gold star Great Taste Awards for its own products.

The pork, apple and Stilton sausage and the crunchy fruit muesli are made at the farm shop, while the Shire ale is one of a number of beers made for Croots by Shottle Farm Brewery, near Belper.

“Nearly 10,000 products were entered into the Great Taste Awards this year, but only a fraction received a one, two or three gold star award,” said Steve Croot. “We are honoured that our products have once against been hailed as some of the best of their kind in the country.”

Judges said of the award-winning sausages: “These look good and plump. They cut very easily. Judges like the look of these sausages in their natural casings. There's a strong taste of Stilton and a pleasant, but very smooth texture.”

They described the crunchy fruit muesli as ‘a wholesome product with no compromise on flavour’ and said that the Shire ale had a wonderful aroma that was warm and rich. They went on to add: “There's a good colour to this beer and it has a great clarity. There is also a pleasant sweetness and a lovely burnt - but in a good way - finish. The carbonation is good and delivers a little prickle up front. There's a lovely whisky note too, a slight peatiness, perhaps from the smoked malt. A good example of this type of beer and the judges like the smokiness.”

Croots Farm Shop opened its doors in June 2008, and has recently expanded with a much larger café and restaurant, Shires Eatery.

On Saturday August 24th it will be staging a free vintage and classic car day, as well as a burger festival, cheese sampling and wine tasting.

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

 For more information visit www.croots.co.uk

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

Luke Evans Bakery celebrates National Craft Bakers’ Week 2011 (September 19-24) with competitions, demonstrations, tastings and offers

Derbyshire’s Luke Evans Bakery, one of the oldest family-run bakeries in the Midlands, is celebrating National Craft Bakers’ Week 2011 from September 19th to 24th with a string of competitions, demonstrations, tastings and offers.

The bakery, which was founded in 1804 and now employs the eighth generation of the family, will be joining hundreds of other bakers across the UK to mark the event, which promotes the specialist traditional skills that have been practised by craft bakers for generations.

Luke Evans Bakery, based at Riddings near Alfreton, has lined up a series of community events including:

• The chance for a local good cause to win £207 – one pound for every year that Luke Evans has been in business.
• The chance for five local companies to each win a dozen cream cakes for elevenses.
• The opportunity to submit a recipe for a new product and win £50 in a competition.
• A cake decorating demonstration at the bakery on Tuesday September 20th.
• A tasting day at the bakery on Wednesday September 21st as part of the national Big Taste.

“National Craft Bakers’ Week is the chance for craft bakers like Luke Evans Bakery to really showcase the skills of our bakers and the quality of the bread, cakes and other products that they make every day,” said Luke Evans Bakery managing director David Yates.

“We’ve been supplying bread and cakes to the people of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire for more than 200 years, which is an amazing achievement and one that we are very proud of. We’re really looking forward to getting as many people as possible across the community involved in National Craft Bakers’ Week and hope that our programme of events features something for everyone.”

National Craft Bakers’ Week, which is run by the National Association of Master Bakers, is being spearheaded nationally by double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes.

In Derbyshire Luke Evans is throwing open the doors of its bakery at Green Hill Lane, Riddings, on Tuesday 20th September between 9am and 1pm for free cake decorating demonstrations, with a 20% discount on any celebration cake orders for those who attend.

On Wednesday September 21st, visitors are being invited to take part in the national Big Taste event going on all over the country by popping into Luke Evans for a tasting event between 9.30am and 4.30pm.

The bakery is also looking for the most deserving good cause within two miles of its premises to receive a £207 donation from the firm to mark National Craft Bakers’ Week, and is inviting applications from charities and other organisations.

It’s also running a recipe competition, with the winning entry being put into full production at the bakery and named after the person who put forward the idea. First prize is a £50 voucher to spend on Luke Evans bread and cakes.

Finally, five deserving firms within 5 miles of the bakery will receive a dozen free cream cakes for elevenses on Friday 23rd September. For competition details and daily offers on products in the shop during National Craft Bakers’ Week visit www.lukeevans.co.uk

David’s daughter Sarah became the eighth generation of the family to join Luke Evans Bakery when she started work at the bakery last year, and it is believed the bakery is one of the oldest still run by the same family.

Luke Evans Bakery sells direct to the public from its shop in Green Hill Lane, Riddings, and supplies around 300 trade customers, 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.

Luke Evans Bakery can also make cakes for every occasion… from weddings and birthdays to special anniversaries and retirements.

For more information contact the bakery on 01773 602764 or visit www.lukeevans.co.uk

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

Croots Farm Shop hands over donation to Derbyshire children's charity Treats

A £1,200 cheque has been handed over to Derbyshire children’s charity Treats after a sponsored walk by staff at Croots Farm Shop, near Duffield.

The staff clocked up 66 miles by walking up and down the farm shop’s driveway to mark the third birthday of Croots.

Now the proceeds have been collected and handed over to Treats, which will use the money to help underprivileged children with support for gifts, holidays and trips away.

“We are very grateful for the support of Croots Farm Shop, its staff and its customers who have donated to Treats,” said Elaine Blount chairman of Treats.

Croots, based at Farnah House Farm, Wirksworth Road, has chosen Treats as its adopted charity for the past two years. It also supports the Shire Horse Society.

“We are happy to help a local charity like Treats, which has been doing good work in Derbyshire for 25 years now,” said Steve Croot, who runs the farm shop. “We wanted to mark our third birthday by giving something to our local community, and we are very grateful for the support received from our loyal customers.”

Since being launched by a group of professional Derbyshire businesswomen more than 25 years ago, Treats has raised more than £500,000 to help local underprivileged youngsters, with some cash also going to community projects.

Pictured left to right, Vicky Ashton, Elaine Blount, Candy Sutton, from Treats children’s charity, and Steve Croot, from Croots Farm Shop.

For more information visit www.croots.co.uk

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