Laurence and Ben discuss successful tech entrepreneurs in the South West of England, the sale of a listed wedding venue and expansion at Vital Energi.
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00:00The richest entrepreneurs in the southwest of England's tech industry, a new owner for a grade
00:05two listed hotel wedding venue in Lancashire, and news of expansion at Vital Energy. That's
00:11all coming up in today's business briefing. My name is Lawrence Gulganan.
00:20My name is Ben Butler. Right, Ben. Well,
00:22one caught my eye was the latest installment from the Southwest Rich List. So we're looking at tech.
00:27Tell us a little bit about that. Who do you think's topping the list then?
00:31Well, I don't know. I'm wondering if it might be Stephen Fitzpatrick of OVO Energy. I know he's
00:36very much tech focused. He's actually second on the list.
00:40So James Dyson, once again, tops the list. Ah, right. Well, I was unsure whether he
00:44would fall into manufacturing or tech, but I suppose so.
00:47Yes, it kind of crosses over, doesn't it? Yeah, very innovative.
00:50Yeah. And what about the rest of the list, if you can have a go?
00:53You're putting him on the spot now, Ben. So we've got Sir David McMurtry.
00:59Ah, from Renishaw. Co-founder of Renishaw.
01:03And then making up the top five, we've got Steve Turner. He's the founder and chief executive of
01:07Spectrum Medical. And in fifth is Darren Hutt, who founded 4Com. So that's the latest installment.
01:16Because we've had a number of breakout lists. I mean, what have we had so far?
01:20So we've had a general rich list. We've also had the top 10 women in the southwest. And we've also
01:28had a top 10 of under 42 entrepreneurs.
01:32To sort of chime with our 42, under 42 brand, I suppose.
01:35There is another list to come as well. Excellent. You're spoiling the readers.
01:41Well, away from the southwest and up in Lancashire, we've got news of a new owner
01:46for a grade two listed hotel in Burnley.
01:50It was interesting to hear that that was kind of developed.
01:52Always very popular. I think people want to know, have I been to a wedding at this place?
01:57And maybe sort of share that news with people. Or perhaps, my wedding is at that place.
02:04Who's the new owner? But this is the Rose Hill House Hotel. And that deal was secured by Savills.
02:12It was going to be auctioned, but then a buyer came in before and struck a deal.
02:16So it's great news.
02:17Yeah, no, it's a bit like buses as well. Because earlier this month, we had another
02:21grade two, I think, listed country house in Lancashire getting sold.
02:25So you wonder if it's like when you're in the housing market, where someone puts the house up
02:29for sale and then someone else sees it and thinks, well, I'll have a bit of that.
02:33I'm sure that's not the case. But it's great to see two interesting stories of that sort.
02:38Now, you've got some news from North Wales for us.
02:41Yes. So this follows on from news that a one million pound paper mill camp is
02:48in North Wales. They're shot in paper mill. It had been launched by a Turkish
02:52conglomerate, Erinholding. So that was officially launched in September.
02:57And there's now plans in place for a new tissue machine facility.
03:01I take it this is just a giant sort of machine that's going to be at the centrepiece of the plant?
03:06Yes, it'll be a big part of the paper mill. So they've lodged a full application for the
03:13development, which is on the Deeside Industrial Park. That's where the paper mill is based. And
03:19the plans have been recommended for approval ahead of a Flintshire Council planning committee meeting.
03:25Excellent. It's great to see such a big investment going into North Wales.
03:28Yes. As you said, it's a really big investment for North Wales. And it's actually been described
03:33as one of the most significant foreign manufacturing investments in the UK in years.
03:38So it really is a big news there for North Wales.
03:42Excellent. And we're sticking with investment. We've got news that energy industry business
03:47Vital Energy is expanding. They've opened offices in Wales, in Swansea and up in the North East.
03:53Expanding their presence there.
03:54Yes. So in the North East, they've opened a site in Newcastle,
03:57and they're also investing in their training facility in Lancashire.
04:00And they've said that that's going to increase their workforce by about 50%,
04:06creating about 400 new jobs over the next few years.
04:09How much will their workforce be now as a result of that?
04:11Well, currently it's 760. So they're already a big employer, and they've got designs on
04:17getting bigger. So fantastic to see that too.
04:18Oh, it's great to hear.
04:20So yes. Well, to find out more about the stories Ben and I have been speaking about,
04:23go to insidermedia.com. There, you can subscribe to our newsletters,
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04:32That's everything from us. See you next time.