Dan and Jennifer discuss an update for a West Midlands pottery business, a hotel scheme in Wales and plans for new train services to London.
Category
đź—ž
NewsTranscript
00:00An update from a major pottery business in the Midlands, new direct train services to
00:05London and a hotel scheme in Wales, all featured in today's business briefing.
00:10Morning, Jen.
00:13Good morning, Dan.
00:17So what's caught your eye today?
00:19Well, in the West Midlands to start off today, production has recommenced at the site of
00:24a collapsed pottery business following their acquisition of its assets.
00:28So TG Green & Co, which is the manufacturer of the ceramics brand Cornish Ware, are you
00:35familiar with this?
00:36Yeah.
00:37It's a classic.
00:39The company has acquired all the machinery previously owned by Royal Stafford.
00:43The company has engaged 17 former Royal Stafford staff members, headed by John Nixon as a production
00:49manager.
00:50So Royal Stafford has a history dating back to 1845, and it has been producing bisque
00:56ware for Cornish Ware since 2017.
01:00The business then went into liquidation on the 3rd of February, and TG Green contacted
01:05More Recovery on the same day and formally made an agreement to acquire the assets on
01:09the 20th of March.
01:11The new business has already been approached by several former Royal Stafford customers
01:15and secured its first order for ÂŁ58,000 earlier this week.
01:19Okay, nice.
01:20Well, it's nice to see those assets going to good use.
01:23Definitely.
01:24Moving on to Lincolnshire now.
01:26The train operator, Cranmer Central, has revealed plans for new direct train services between
01:31Lincolnshire and London, which could commence as early as December 2026.
01:36So they've informed Network Rail of their plans, but they'll obviously need approval
01:39from the rail regulator for those to go ahead.
01:42The proposal is basically to use existing trains at Doncaster and extend those routes
01:46to new stations.
01:48The direct services to the capital will be provided for Cleethorpes, Grimsby, Habra and
01:53Scunthorpe.
01:54Now, that could really help areas in East Lincolnshire, especially Cleethorpes, which
01:59hasn't had a direct train service in London for over 30 years, I read today.
02:04And if approved, that service will offer four new train services per day, 775,000 additional
02:10seats available each year as well.
02:12It's expected to improve travel convenience in the area and bring about economic benefits
02:17as well.
02:18It's estimated that it could actually generate up to ÂŁ30 million annually for the region.
02:22Wow.
02:24So that would be really good.
02:25And we'll see if those plans go ahead.
02:27But you've also got some plans in Wales.
02:29Yes, indeed.
02:30So plans are set to be given the go-ahead to demolish a hotel restaurant at Clanaffley
02:36Retail Park to make way for a revamped site.
02:39So Premier Inn Hotels want to demolish its existing Beef Eater hotel restaurant and replace
02:45it with a new three-storey hotel block.
02:48The new building will provide 35 additional hotel bedrooms, while alterations to the existing
02:52hotel will create a restaurant intended exclusively for hotel guests.
02:57Overall, the proposals result in a net gain of 28 hotel bedrooms and the existing 110
03:04parking spaces will be also retained, including five accessible spaces.
03:08And the Planning Committee will discuss the application next week, where it will be recommended
03:12to approve it.
03:13Great.
03:14Well, I'm sure our colleague Ben will be the first to report the outcome of that meeting.
03:18Just to finish up here, I have some more news from Lincolnshire, actually.
03:21There's been a major development at an energy facility in Lincolnshire.
03:25The North Lincolnshire Green Energy Park has received a development consent order from
03:29the Secretary of State of Energy and Net Zero, granting official approval for the project
03:35to proceed.
03:36Located at the Flixborough Industrial Estate, the project will generate low-carbon energy
03:40from waste, helping the UK achieve its Net Zero goals and create regional jobs.
03:45And it also includes an energy recovery facility that will power over 221,000 homes.
03:52The project will also feature a plastic recycling facility, carbon capture capabilities and
03:57hydrogen production.
03:58So it's a very sustainable scheme.
04:00And work is expected to start in 2026 and operations as soon as 2030.
04:05The project is set to create 257 permanent jobs, also 600 during construction.
04:11So quite a lot there, as well as bringing in further economic benefits to the region as well.
04:16I think that's probably all we've got time for today.
04:18If you want to read more about these stories, please visit insidermedia.com, where you can
04:23also find out about upcoming events and subscribe to our magazine.