Laurence and Dan discuss expansion for a Liverpool pub group, hi-tech investment in Oxfordshire and B Corp certification for a tea business.
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00:00The acquisition of a historic Liverpool pub, B Corp certification for a tea
00:04business, and a new owner of a graphic services firm. That's all coming up in
00:09today's business briefing.
00:15My name is Lawrence Gulganan. My name is Daniel Zambartas. Well, morning Dan.
00:21Morning. Well, deal-making is central to everything we do here at Insider, so
00:25perhaps you can tell us a little bit about this graphic services deal. I can, yes.
00:28So, quite an interesting one. A Watford-based provider of graphic services has been
00:32acquired by MOS, and they specialize in premium graphics structures and
00:36installations for branded experiences. Now, Rocket Graphics, which has been acquired,
00:40was established 25 years ago, and they provide high-quality eco-friendly
00:45graphic services with a focus on exhibitions and large-scale events. Is
00:49this things like signs, Dan, or the branding that you see on sort of
00:54in exhibitions? Yeah, so that deal is set to strengthen MOS' UK presence and
00:59expand their capabilities in, you know, that sort of corporate brand experience
01:02and live events area. Okay. There's been a couple of leadership changes to go
01:07along with it as well. Michael Green, the managing director of MOS UK, will lead
01:10the combined business, and Tim Porter, the Rocket Graphics co-founder, will join
01:15as a group account director. Jason Popp, the president and chief executive of
01:19MOS, has said expanding the UK market with a fellow premium provider will give
01:24its customers increased capability and proven expertise. So, a great deal there.
01:29I understand you've got one as well. Yes, well, it's more, well, I suppose it's in
01:33the world of hospitality. It's in Liverpool, where, of course, you
01:38lived until recently. I did, yeah. I still go back quite regularly as well. Yeah, well, this is, it's a
01:43pub group called Marpub Group. They're already behind some relatively well-known
01:48places. The Marboils, which is down on the dock front near the church, I think it's
01:55St. Michael's, and they're also behind the Tempest on Tithe Barn and the Nova
02:02Scutia, and they've expanded with a new acquisition off Ball Street. That is
02:09the Newington Temple. It's actually a pub I'm aware of. So, as you go up Ball Street,
02:14there's a little road that cuts through to Renshaw Street in there, and it goes
02:19over a little bridge, and it's right there. So, fantastic location is the first
02:23thing I thought when I read about it. I've got some nice quirky shops there. Quirky shops, great
02:28restaurants and bars, and all the way up through to the sort of Philharmonic area
02:35as well. So, Marpub Group, they've sort of, they've got their track
02:40record to build on, and they're also investing about £150,000
02:43into this new acquisition. So, I can't wait till I'm next year in Liverpool and
02:48we'll check it out. I think it's going to have some work done and an opening
02:52mid-March, so an exciting addition. I'll have to pay a visit next time I'm back as well.
02:56Absolutely. Let's do, two new customers. Now, that's a sort of traditional
03:03industry. I should have said, actually, the pub has got history going back
03:06almost 200 years, so remarkable. Been there for a long time, but you're now
03:10going to tell us something about some futuristic stuff in Oxfordshire.
03:14Yes, so moving to the tech sector, you know, which Oxfordshire is very much known for, Magdrive
03:19has raised ten and a half million dollars in funding. So, and that investment was
03:23led by Red Alpine, a pan-European venture capital firm. So, Magdrive was
03:28founded in 2019. It's a relatively new company and develops electric propulsion
03:32systems for spacecraft and satellites, and the company is led by its chief
03:36executive, Mark Stokes, who is a mechanical and deep learning engineer
03:40and a plasma physicist, Thomas Cleason. Wow. So, some quite serious expertise there.
03:45So, that funding will be used to advance Magdrive's high-thrust electric
03:50propulsion systems for satellites and the business has also revealed plans to
03:54develop a manufacturing site in the UK, as well as a new US office. Right, so a
04:00lot of major growth. And tell me, is the manufacturing site, is that going to be
04:03in Oxfordshire too? Yeah, also in that, you know, Thames Valley region. Right. Very popular in the tech sector. Magdrive is preparing for their first
04:09in-space test of its Magdrive Rogue thruster, which is set to launch in June
04:15this year, in collaboration with dOrbit. So, it's a very interesting company and,
04:19you know, very interesting to observe their growth after this
04:23investment. Absolutely. Well, from high-tech to sustainability, because
04:27we've got another interesting story about a speciality tea business in
04:32Belfast, Suki Tea. Interesting backstory, it was founded by two friends who
04:38sort of went for a walk in 2005 and they were having a brainstorm about what the
04:43business opportunities were. And they sort of looked around and said, oh well,
04:47lots of coffee, is there a spin on that? And eventually they struck on tea. And it
04:52is right when you think the number of coffee shops, but the amount of interest
04:56you can have in different blends of tea, it's equally a great area. A lot of
05:02people are quite interested in my tea as well. Yeah, right. Matcha tea is a big area of growth as
05:06well. Right, well, they're behind a number of blends and they've now
05:10become a certified B Corp, which I always think is an interesting story because it
05:14shows that lots of people say they're doing sort of sustainable initiatives
05:18and they have ethical practices. This is a way to be sort of, to have that
05:22rubber stamped, I suppose. And the business, they say that, you know, it was
05:28the heart of everything they do. And I think they're already, well, they
05:32are already plastic-free, but they're taking extra steps to go beyond that.
05:35And they're taking steps to remove the glue from their packaging and so on. So
05:39a truly sustainable brand. And now they've got the B Corp certification to
05:43prove that. Sounds well-deserved. It does, it does. And it's a nice story as well because, you know, the
05:48whole thing of two friends, in this case it was Oscar Woolley and Annie Irwin,
05:53you know, having an idea, sticking to their guns, and then 20 years later you're
05:57getting this sort of recognition. So a great story. It's a brilliant tale. Yeah.
06:01Well, to find out more about these stories we've been discussing, go to
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