Jennifer and Laurence discuss a £10m investment by Mount Charles Group, the development of a new supercomputing centre and Scottish expansion for a Lancashire-headquartered holiday park firm.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00A £10 million investment by an outsourcing and facilities management giant, Scottish
00:05expansion for a Lancashire Holiday Park business, and a £30 million supercomputing centre.
00:11That's all coming up in today's Business Briefing, sponsored by Shawbrooke.
00:20My name is Laurence Gleganon.
00:22My name is Jennifer Oakey.
00:23Morning, Jen.
00:24Morning.
00:25So in this time of AI, it seems like there's a new story every day.
00:28So perhaps you can tell us a little bit about the supercomputing centre.
00:31Yes, for sure.
00:32So the construction of a £30 million supercomputing centre at the Daresbury Laboratory in Warrington
00:38has now entered its final phases.
00:40The building is set to be 33,000 square foot and will host the latest in supercomputing,
00:45AI and quantum technologies.
00:48The main contractor working on the construction is Russell WBHO and the commissioning of the
00:52centre's components, systems and equipment is now underway.
00:55Excellent.
00:57That's really good news because, I mean, I think all the regions within the UK want to
01:00make sure they've got the best sort of technology at their disposal.
01:04And we've obviously heard Rachel Reeves talking about the importance of AI.
01:08In fact, I think it was even Geir Starmer as well.
01:10So good to see that asset being developed in the North West.
01:13And actually staying with the North West, we've got news that a Preston-based holiday
01:17and leisure park business has secured an eight-figure funding package from HSBC to support its
01:24expansion into Scotland.
01:26That is Harrison Holidays and they've acquired the Crofthead Holiday Park, which is in Ayrshire
01:32on the coast.
01:33Have you ever been to Scotland, Jen?
01:35I have.
01:36I've been to Edinburgh a couple of times.
01:37Oh, lovely.
01:38I too have been to Edinburgh.
01:39I've been on a tour of the Highlands, went on to a few of the distilleries there.
01:42That was fantastic.
01:43But not really ever been to the coast, but I've heard it's fantastic, rugged.
01:47In fact, a bit like Ireland, you know, sort of.
01:50Is it Donegal where there's a sort of legendary coastline?
01:53Absolutely.
01:54The wild Atlantic wave.
01:55Yeah.
01:56And I think Scotland has a similar charm to it.
01:58So that'd be interesting.
02:00Anyhow, the deal there has increased the family-run business's number of pitches by 575 and takes
02:07their overall estate to more than 3,000.
02:09So a really big expansion for them.
02:11Now, it's that time of year when we're getting lots of results from supermarkets.
02:15I understand Morrison's has provided some results for us to digest.
02:20They have indeed.
02:21So Morrison's reported its full year results for 2024, where they said sales and profits
02:25have risen.
02:26The supermarket reported a 4.1% rise in like-for-like sales for the entire year.
02:32Its quarter for like-for-like sales are also up 4.9%, making it its strongest quarter since
02:38the start of 2021, actually.
02:39Right.
02:40OK.
02:41So a really good time for Morrison's.
02:42I suppose that's in no way, it's no small part helped by our team taking their lunch
02:46breaks over there.
02:47Absolutely.
02:48We're big fans of Morrison's, the digital team.
02:49Yeah, the salad bar and the pasta bakes.
02:52Absolutely.
02:53Good to see.
02:54OK.
02:55And finally, we've got news of one of Northern Ireland's largest independent outsourcing
02:59and facilities management companies, Mount Charles Group.
03:02They're investing £10 million in a move they say is going to create 2,000 jobs over the
03:08next five years.
03:10That's part of their strategy 2025-2030.
03:14The company currently has a turnover of 50 million or maybe 55 million, and this expansion
03:20is going to take their workforce to about 5,000.
03:22So some exciting growth on the horizon at Mount Charles.
03:26Anyhow, to read more about the stories we've been talking about, go to insidermedia.com.
03:30There, you can subscribe to our newsletters, you can subscribe to our magazines, and you
03:36can find out more about upcoming events.
03:38That's everything from us.
03:39See you next time.