Baker Butt Foods named a finalist in Nottingham Post Business Awards 2016

David Williams of Butt Foods

Specialist baker Butt Foods has been selected as a finalist in the Nottingham Post Business Awards 2016.

The Nottingham-based business, which was founded in 1990 and supplies a range of naan breads, flatbreads and sub rolls to the food service sector across the UK, has been shortlisted in the Small Business of the Year category.

The family owned bakery, which prides itself on keeping abreast of trends and developing new products to satisfy consumer demand in a fast-paced industry, supplies hand-finished frozen sweet and savoury products.

Butt Foods managing director David Williams said: “The whole team at Butt Foods is absolutely thrilled that the company has been named as a finalist in the 2016 Nottingham Post Business Awards. Our recent surge in success at the bakery has been down to teamwork, and each and every member of staff can take credit for playing a role in getting us this far in the awards process.

“The list of names of the other shortlisted organisations is very impressive, which illustrates just how many great companies there are working in and around Nottingham. We wish them all the best and are looking forward to meeting them at the final in May.”

The winners will be announced at a ceremony in Nottingham at the East Midlands Conference Centre on 11^th May 2016.

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

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

Ashfield Homes resident receives ‘thank you’ vouchers from J Tomlinson

Ashfield Homes resident Michelle Polglase was one very satisfied customer after receiving an unexpected bonus when she filled in her customer satisfaction survey following work carried out at her home by J Tomlinson.

The contractor is undertaking investment work valued at more than £30 million to Ashfield District Council’s housing stock in a five-year programme for Ashfield Homes Ltd.

As part of its follow up work, the Nottingham-based company asks residents to fill in a customer satisfaction form when improvements have been carried out at their homes – with the chance to win a shopping voucher prize once a quarter.

And the first lucky resident to win £50 Love to Shop vouchers since the Ashfield Homes project got underway was Michelle, who recently had a new heating system installed at her home in Percival Crescent, Sutton in Ashfield.

Pictured, left to right, are J Tomlinson resident liaison officer Elizabeth Buckingham, Michelle Polglase, J Tomlinson project manager Julian Wright, and tenant liaison officer at Ashfield Homes Misty McGrath.

J Tomlinson, which provides a range of integrated building solutions across the East Midlands, West Midlands and Yorkshire, is undertaking improvement work to thousands of homes in the Ashfield area, which includes replacement kitchens, bathrooms, central heating systems, electrical installations, roof coverings, windows and external doors.

Ashfield Homes manages Ashfield District Council’s rented housing stock of about 6,900 properties, and the work is being carried out right across Ashfield.

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

Sweet deal for investors as Haughton Honey launches crowdfunding bid

Premium honey brand Haughton Honey has launched an £80,000 crowdfunding investment campaign to support the next stage in the company’s growth.

The firm hopes to attract additional investors so that it can recruit more bee farmers to help satisfy the increasing demand for its pure, raw honey.

Since launching in 2014, Cheshire-based Haughton Honey has steadily expanded and recently began supplying the fine food retailer Booths.

Now it hopes to move onto the next stage of growth by attracting investors via crowdfunding platform, Crowdcube, in return for shares in the business.

Haughton Honey founder Crispin Reeves said: “The honey market alone within the UK is worth £119.5m per annum, with healthy annual growth.

“Forget spreading the love. Loving the spread is more accurate at the moment. UK sales of jams, spreads and honey grew 5.9% in the year up to October 2015, with growth in honey sales alone between 2014 and 2015 increasing by £9.8m year-on-year.

“Since we began trading, we've established more than 70 regional sales outlets across the North West and Midlands, as well as recently winning our first premium supermarket customer, Booths, who started stocking Haughton Honey at the beginning of April 2016. 

“During 2015 we packed and sold over 8,000kg of English honey and anticipate requiring more than double that amount during 2016. Now is the time to seek additional investment to support the growth of Haughton Honey so that we can take on more bee farmers, increase our honey production to satisfy our growing month-on-month demand, and hopefully achieve a listing with a second premium multiple retailer.”

The firm is also exploring export markets in a project spearheaded by Mel Reeves, Haughton Honey's second director and wife of Crispin. She is a professional linguist, fluent in both French and Spanish.

The company, based at Radmore Farm, Haughton, bottles raw honey which comes straight from the hive, is cold extracted and never pasteurised which means that it retains all of the natural enzymes and proteins that make English honey so special. It is also 100% natural and pure and features traces of dandelion, chestnut, blackberry, clover and other wildflowers.

As well as supplying consumers direct from its website and a wide range of retailers, the firm also recently began supplying to The Protein Works, a large sports nutrition brand owned by Alliance Boots, which has just launched a co-branded Cashew Nut Butter Luxe product containing Haughton Honey.

Any investment in Haughton Honey through the Crowdcube project will attract Seed Enterprise Investment Schemes (SEIS) tax relief.

“Businesses like Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage and the Eden Project have all raised investment on Crowdcube, the world’s first and leading investment crowdfunding platform,” said Crispin Reeves. “Investing on Crowdcube is simple. All you need to do is sign up to Crowdcube’s investor community of more than 200,000 people. Registering is free, quick and has no obligations to invest.”

A series of rewards is on offer for those who invest in Haughton Honey, including discounts, honey, bee farming experiences, and hotel, restaurant and cookery school vouchers.

To find out more about the Crowdcube investment opportunity visit www.crowdcube.com

For more information about Haughton Honey visit www.haughtonhoney.com

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

Investments of this nature carry risks to your capital. The availability of any tax relief, including SEIS and EIS, depends on individual circumstances. You should seek independent tax advice.

Approved as a financial promotion by Crowdcube Capital Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (No. 620205). 

Students supported by contractor J Tomlinson in partnership with Ashfield Homes and Ashfield District Council

Youngsters are being given support into the world of work as part of a number of community initiatives being undertaken by contractor J Tomlinson in Sutton-in-Ashfield.

The company is currently carrying out investment work valued at more than £30 million to Ashfield District Council’s housing stock in a five-year programme for Ashfield Homes Ltd.

As a business that is keen to support and encourage the next generation, the J Tomlinson team is taking part in several projects locally to support students as they prepare to leave school and start their careers.

The most recent involved providing interviewers for a mock interview day for year 10 pupils at Sutton Academy.

J Tomlinson head of bids Steve Timmins and HR administrator Lucinder Dulay, as well as Carol Atherton, from sub-contractor Avonside Roofing, joined a number of other employers and business representatives at the event, which was part of the Work Related Learning Course run by the academy for 14 and 15-year-olds.

“To make our mock interviews as realistic as possible, we ask members of the local community to act as ‘interviewers’,” explained the academy’s work related learning coordinator Penny Runnalls.

J Tomlinson has built up a relationship with the academy in recent times, and is also hosting two students on a two-week work experience placement in July – having organised a realistic application process that involved submitting a CV and undergoing an interview process with J Tomlinson operations manager Ian West. The exercise is aimed at giving the pupils experience and skills that should prove valuable in the future.

The Nottingham-based contractor is also committed to providing job opportunities to young people in the Sutton-in-Ashfield area, and is due to take on 12 apprentices as part of the improvement work project, which includes replacement kitchens, bathrooms, central heating systems, electrical installations, roof coverings, windows and external doors.

Ian West said: “As a company, J Tomlinson is committed to supporting the younger generation into work in whichever route they choose, and we understand the importance of providing realistic experiences and giving young people the chance to develop skills which will help them as they leave school and move into the world of work.

“We’re very much a part of the community in Ashfield - undertaking the work that we are completing in thousands of homes and employing many local people - and we are pleased to be getting involved in initiatives with Sutton Academy and other learning establishments across Ashfield.”

The firm, which provides a range of integrated building solutions across the East Midlands, West Midlands and Yorkshire, has also built up a relationship with the local job centre, with Ian West recently giving a careers talk about construction.  J Tomlinson has also taken part in Ashfield social eating project Let’s All Eat, which brings people together for social events, utilising supermarket surplus to combat social isolation and food poverty.

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

Pizza base producer Deli Conti joins cream of the crop at food event

Nottingham-based artisan dough ball and pizza base producer Deli Conti will be showcasing its range at the UK’s largest food and drink trade fair later this month.

The company, run by Sardinian Luciano Vendone and his wife Susan, will be joining the cream of the crop at Food and Drink Expo 2016, which is being staged at the NEC, Birmingham, from 18^th to 20^th April.

It’s the chance for Deli Conti, which supplies its dough and pizza bases to restaurants, bars, hotels, schools, universities and caterers across the East Midlands and beyond, to join other producers to highlight the latest innovations in the sector.

And with Luciano lined up to give a number of demonstrations on the Deli Conti stand at the show, it’s also the opportunity for chefs and caterers to discover how to get the best out of the doughs and pizza bases produced by the company.

“We supply many of the key restaurants and bars and other establishments in Nottingham with the dough for their pizza bases, plus many others across the region, but Food and Drink Expo attracts buyers and decision makers from across the UK, so this is a good opportunity for us to showcase our range more widely,” said Susan.

Luciano has been making authentic pizzas for almost 40 years, always using the same method. He regularly hosts training sessions for chefs to advise on how to get the best results from the dough, understanding dough fermentation, and how to make perfect pizza from scratch. This free training to customers is run approximately once a month at the firm’s headquarters.

He will be giving tips during a number of tasting and demo sessions on the Deli Conti stand (B78) at Food and Drink Expo.

Based at a unit on Victoria Business Park, Colwick, the Deli Conti team has more than 25 years of experience in food service.

For more details, visit www.deliconti.co.uk

Food and Drink Expo is staged every two years and is a trade only event open to professionals involved in the food and drink market. Around 600 exhibitors will showcase their latest innovations to thousands of buyers and decision makers.

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

Time to move forward for British Horological Institute plan

A team of experts has been assembled to spearhead the creation of a national Centre for Horology at Upton Hall, near Newark.

Last October it was announced that the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) had earmarked a £2.8 million grant for the BHI to develop a new centre of excellence to help train the next generation of clock and watchmakers in the UK.

The project – known as Saving Time - is the first phase of an £8.5 million masterplan that Nottingham-based funding, economic development and project management specialist Focus Consultants has developed for the site.

Now a team has been appointed to progress plans, produce a fully costed proposal, apply for planning permission, and submit a second round application to the HLF before the earmarked grant can be released.

“I am delighted that we have now appointed a team of experts to support the British Horological Institute as we move into the next phase of making our plans a reality,” said Dudley Giles, chief executive officer of the BHI. “Work on Saving Time is now in full swing.”

The team appointed by the BHI includes Focus Consultants as project manager, bid planner and quantity surveyor, Newark-based Guy Taylor Associates as architects, Newark-based William Saunders as civil and structural engineer, and Hertfordshire-based mechanical and electrical engineers SVM. Other members of the team are activity planners Oakmere Solutions Ltd based in Ipswich and Cambridge, access consultants Jane Toplis Associates, from Bath, fundraising consultants Judith Egerton and Nancy Chambers, from Gloucestershire, and Swinton-based exhibition designer PLB.

“This is the next stage in the process of securing the grant from the HLF,” said Focus partner Kevin Osbon. “Focus and architects Guy Taylor Associates have been involved in the long-term planning of the scheme right from the start and for around three years now, so we’re really pleased to be part of the team going forward, along with a number of other professionals who have expertise in developing exciting and innovative projects like the one being undertaken at Upton Hall.”

The realisation of the masterplan will eventually see the refurbishment of Upton Hall – a Grade II* listed building, which is included in the Heritage at Risk register kept by Historic England.

The BHI priority in the masterplan is training and education. This is to address the UK-wide shortage of horologists by creating new training and workshop facilities, allowing the BHI to double the number of students it trains over the coming years.

The facilities created during Saving Time include new clock and watch workshop spaces in a former stable block and glasshouse adjacent to Upton Hall. Saving Time will also include the refurbishment of the ground floor of the west wing of Upton Hall.

Focus, which also has offices in London, Leicester, Boston and Aubourn in Lincolnshire, specialises in creative approaches to securing funding packages and delivering high quality projects across the UK. Since its creation in 1994, Focus has helped to secure more than £953 million of grant assistance for a range of projects and businesses across the UK and delivered more than £1.3 billion of projects and programmes – making it one of the most successful companies of its kind.

For more information visit www.focus-consultants.com 

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

Haughton Honey makes a bee-line for Booths

Cheshire-based business Haughton Honey is celebrating securing its first premium major multiple retailer contract after signing a deal with Booths.

It means the high-quality honey brand will be available on the shelves of Booths outlets across the North West, including Hale Barns and Knutsford stores in Cheshire and at Media City in Salford.

The move marks a key step forward for the brand, which was launched in 2014, said founder Crispin Reeves.

“Booths, with almost 30 stores across Lancashire, Cumbria, Yorkshire, Cheshire and Greater Manchester, is the perfect outlet for Haughton Honey and complements the scores of independent delis, farm shops and retailers that currently stock our pure honey,” said Crispin, who is based at Haughton, near Tarporley.

“This deal is great news for the business, as we expand, and also good news for customers who now have more places where they can buy Haughton Honey.”

Haughton Honey is raw honey which comes straight from the hive, is cold extracted and never pasteurised which means that it retains all of the natural enzymes and proteins that make English honey so special. It is 100% natural and pure, and features traces of dandelion, chestnut, blackberry, clover and other wildflowers.

Haughton Honey is supplied by apiaries locally as well as from around England, all run by experienced bee-keepers, and now has more than 1,600 hives in the cooperative, stretching across the North West and the Midlands, including Cheshire, Staffordshire and Shropshire.

The Booths contract launched at the end of March 2016.

“It has always been our aim to supply Haughton Honey to top-end multiple retailers, such as Booths which has an enviable reputation for its fine food and drink, and we’re delighted that our honey is now on their shelves. It’s a ringing endorsement for us and for our honey,” added Crispin.

For more details, visit www.haughtonhoney.com

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