Laurence and Ben discuss the redevelopment of a Cornish hotel site, new backing for an education resourcing business and results for a South Wales car dealership.
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00:00The redevelopment of a Cornish hotel site, new backing for an education staffing supplier
00:08and the results for a major car dealership in South Wales.
00:11That's all coming up in today's Business Briefing.
00:19My name's Lawrence Gleganan.
00:21My name's Ben Butler.
00:22Good morning, Ben.
00:23Morning.
00:24So we'll start in the, well, the North West is where this business is headquartered and
00:27it is Operum Education Group.
00:32And they sort of supply teaching, temporary teaching staff to schools across the UK.
00:41And they were established in 2017.
00:43They've grown since then through a buy and build model.
00:47That was backed by BGF who provided capital on a couple of occasions for them.
00:52Growth investor.
00:53Exactly right.
00:54And now they have secured investment from Three Hills to drive the next phase of their
01:00investment and growth.
01:02Yeah.
01:03Well, Three Hills is a private markets investment firm and a B Corp itself.
01:08And they're going to sort of not only support the acquisition plans of Operum, but also
01:13organic opportunities that are available too.
01:17So a really interesting, really interesting story.
01:21And, you know, it's an interesting approach, the buy and build approach, where, you know,
01:25you see like-minded businesses or firms offer services you think will be of use and build
01:32a sort of bigger whole.
01:33So you know, they have a presence all over the UK and that's only going to increase.
01:39So we'll watch that one with interest.
01:41Yes, definitely.
01:42And actually, I should say, it does provide a partial exit for BGF as well.
01:47Although they are still a significant minority shareholder, so they can watch the fruits
01:53of their investment develop.
01:55Oh, absolutely.
01:56Yeah.
01:57Now, we mentioned, as we turn to the sort of wintery months, we mentioned the redevelopment
02:02of a hotel site in Cornwall.
02:04I was down in the southwest recently.
02:05Yes, I believe you were, weren't you, with the stonehenge and the Salisbury Cathedral?
02:09That's right, yes.
02:10But it was just stopped a bit short of Cornwall, more Wiltshire.
02:15Yes, a bit further down.
02:16So what's the Cornwall story?
02:18Yes, so it's the former Hotel California site.
02:21Great name.
02:22Yes, great name there.
02:24And based in Pentair, near Newquay.
02:27Okay, a surfing hotspot.
02:29Yes, surfing territory.
02:31And the Acorn Property Group have now acquired the site and there's plans in the pipeline
02:37for a luxury development to be an executive collection of 20 apartments and four homes.
02:46So it's overlooking the picturesque banks of the Gunnell Estuary, the River Gunnell.
02:51So some lovely views there.
02:53And the construction's scheduled to commence in early 2025.
02:58So not long to wait now until these plans hopefully come to fruition.
03:03Excellent.
03:04And well, actually, this talk of new homes, it put me in mind of, so home improvements
03:09and what have you.
03:10And the sad news about home base facing struggles.
03:13Yes, that is sad to hear.
03:15It is a sort of place where people go, pick up stuff for the garden or maybe some curtain
03:18rails.
03:19A very handy store.
03:20Yes.
03:21So hopefully there'll be a brighter future ahead for them.
03:24Fingers crossed something can be sorted.
03:26Yeah.
03:27And actually sticking with administrations, albeit on a smaller scale, we carried news
03:32today of the administration of CSW Process.
03:35Now they're a specialist civil engineering business based in Normanton, West Yorkshire.
03:40And they help service the heating district there.
03:43Sadly, they ran into difficulties and that led to the appointment of Interpath, the restructuring
03:51firm.
03:52Sad to hear.
03:53Yes.
03:54And in the absence of a sort of solvent solution, the business is being wound down now.
03:58So that's a bit of a sombre note as is home base.
04:01So perhaps you can provide a cheerier note with your Wales car dealership.
04:05Some positive results for Mist Solar.
04:08So it operates a Ford Motor Company franchise dealership.
04:13That's in Bridgend, Watertown Industrial Estate.
04:17So the latest accounts show that revenue increased in its latest year.
04:23Pre-tax profits fell slightly, but only ever so slightly.
04:26The results were boosted by an improvement in new car sales volumes, although there was
04:32a decline in margins, but generally a positive set of results.
04:37In the strategic report, Directors Looking Ahead have said, I'll read a quote out,
04:43the company continues its strategy of consolidating its position by growing all departments and
04:49in particular is investing in capital and training to take advantage of the evolving
04:53market in electric vehicles.
04:55Interesting.
04:56It's quite an interesting area.
04:57It's obviously a real booming area.
04:59It's going to become more and more popular.
05:01Yeah.
05:02No, I suppose you have to sort of look forward to the future.
05:05I currently drive a petrol car, but perhaps my next purchase would be looking at electric
05:11and so the dealerships need to be geared up.
05:13Oh, absolutely.
05:14I think eventually we will get to the point where we're maybe all driving electric cars.
05:17Yeah, but actually, interestingly, Bentley, they put back their plans for just to have
05:23electric only.
05:24Right.
05:25It was quite optimistic.
05:26It was 2030, but that's been pushed back to 2035.
05:29So I suppose it's just the market is working out where they're going to go next.
05:32It's a bit of a transition, isn't it?
05:34Exactly.
05:35Exactly.
05:36Well, to find out more about the stories that we've been discussing, go to insidermedia.com.
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05:47That's everything from us this morning.
05:49See you next time.