Dan and Ben discuss a major office building renovation in Havant, employee ownership at an events business, a £400m train facility in Wales, and an historic insurance company which has rebranded and relocated to Leeds.
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00:00A building renovation in Havant, employee ownership at an events business, a £400m
00:05train facility, and an insurance company relocating and rebranding all feature in today's business
00:11briefing.
00:12Morning Ben.
00:13Morning.
00:14So I'll start things off for us today.
00:19Yes.
00:20An international events business, Pylon One, has transitioned to employee ownership.
00:24The business was founded in 2006 in Aylesbury and is behind a lot of the ICT infrastructure
00:29used in major events across the world.
00:31What kind of events?
00:34So they've worked on the King's Coronation and London's New Year's Eve, so some quite
00:38big events.
00:39Yes, definitely.
00:40And they've also partnered with Google and the Premier League for some of their events
00:42as well.
00:43So some big clients there.
00:44Yes, it's a big name in the industry and it's interesting to see yet another company transitioning
00:48to the model of employee ownership.
00:49So it's becoming increasingly common, isn't it?
00:52It is, and you're not the only one to make a note of that.
00:55FRP Corporate Finance advised on the deal and James Cooper, who's a partner of the company,
01:00he also highlighted how this is becoming an increasingly popular trend.
01:03He said it provides owners with an alternative route to exit, which both secures jobs and
01:07allows the company culture to be maintained in the long run.
01:11And Pylon themselves have said the move will provide long-term stability for their 15 employees
01:16and enable them to share the company's success in the future.
01:19Great to hear.
01:20A real positive step for them.
01:21Yes, so great news there.
01:22I understand you've also got a story from the South East.
01:25Yes, so we've got a serviced office building in the heart of Havant.
01:29It's now in the final stages of its renovation.
01:31So it's Arena Office's office space, Langstone Gate.
01:36It's now three quarters of the way towards completion.
01:39So it's a £1.1 million renovation and work will include external spraying and various
01:44other internal works that are underway.
01:46And the renovation is expected to be complete by spring.
01:50The space is also home to a variety of office spaces, working desk parts, breakout areas
01:56and meeting rooms.
01:58And currently it houses more than 50 businesses and is ready to welcome more.
02:02And previously the building was owned by Seward Properties before being acquired by Arena
02:06Offices in 2018.
02:09And also leading on the space's design is Arena's in-house design team and then co-office
02:14design.
02:15So a real big office renovation there in Havant and a positive step forward for them.
02:20Very interesting property development there.
02:22And moving away from the south and up north now, Integra Insurance Solutions, the historic
02:27insurance company founded in 1844.
02:29180 years old.
02:31Yeah, they've opened a new office in Leeds.
02:34So they've relocated their 70-strong team from Bradford into the Leeds office space,
02:38which is nearly 11,000 square foot and located in West Village off Wellington Street.
02:43Big space there then.
02:44Yeah, huge.
02:45As well as the move, the company is also rebranding.
02:48They've gone for a refreshed visual identity, as well as a new brand positioning lined up
02:53here to protect the core strategic values of integrity, innovation, and sustainability,
02:58which they say reflect their progressive model.
03:01So it's obvious from their long history that this firm knows how to evolve and maintain
03:05their allure in the long run.
03:08And this is obviously the latest step in doing so.
03:10Yes, and hopefully that can continue moving forward.
03:12Absolutely.
03:13And to finish off, you've got a story from Wales.
03:14Yes, we have.
03:15The chief executive of a business hoping to create a £400 million train and rail test
03:20facility has said that he's hopeful of securing funding for the project early next year.
03:26So the project is the Global Centre of Rail Excellence.
03:29It's on the site of the former Nant Helen coal mine.
03:32So that's on the Powys Neve Port Talbot border.
03:36And there's some big jobs news.
03:37It could generate a total of up to 2,100 jobs.
03:40A new scheme then.
03:41Yes.
03:42So far, the rail test project has received £50 million from the Welsh government and
03:46another £20 million from the UK government.
03:49So quite a lot of investment going into it there.
03:51And the chief executive of GCRE, Simon Jones, has said that the additional £330 million
03:58needed, that's within sight as well.
04:02And he was speaking at Insider's Swansea Property Bay lunch event.
04:06And he said the first phase of the test track could create work for about 1,100 people.
04:12And there's also additional opportunities that would follow from a technology park that
04:16would be built alongside the site.
04:18And Jones adding employment premises for over 1,000 people will be created.
04:22So a real huge investment there potentially for Wales and also lots of jobs being created
04:27as well.
04:28So yeah, real positive news there for the southwest Wales economy.
04:33Big investment and hopefully big results.
04:35Anyway, to find out more about the stories we've discussed today, please visit our website
04:39at insidermedia.com where you can also find out about upcoming events and subscribe to
04:43our magazines.