Laurence and Dan discuss funding for an online retail specialist, the redevelopment of a former University of Brighton building and good news for coffee drinkers in South Wales.
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00:00Funding for an online retail specialist, the redevelopment of a former University
00:04of Brighton building and good news for coffee drinkers in South Wales. That's
00:08all coming up in today's business briefing.
00:16My name is Laurence Corganan. My name is Daniel Zambartas. Well morning Dan,
00:21perhaps we could start on the south coast in Brighton where you've got news of an
00:25interesting redevelopment scheme. It's quite an interesting scheme so there's
00:28plans to convert a former University building into a hostel. So the applicant
00:33behind the scheme is Safestay which is quite a well-known operator of hostels
00:36across Europe and the plan is to convert the building at Pavilion Parade which is
00:42previously used for teaching university classes into a hostel
00:46consisting of 170 beds. So the physical changes to the vacant five-story
00:51building are quite minimal but they are planning to introduce a kitchen and a
00:54bar as well as an ensuite bathrooms and a reception area. So Brighton City
00:59Council will make a final decision on the application on the 2nd of April so
01:02we'll keep an eye out for the outcome there but you know with that
01:05recommendation for approval it's taken quite a significant step towards you
01:09know getting over the line and you know Brighton's quite a popular place in
01:12terms of tourism and popular students as well and I feel like that scheme sort of
01:16blends those two together. Fantastic, I mean have you been to Brighton yourself?
01:19I haven't, I'd love to but I mean it's kind of on the opposite side of the
01:21country for us isn't it? It is a way away but well worth a visit. It's got
01:25fantastic tourism sort of offer, lovely beach and so on. It's interesting that
01:31the Baton's being passed on from the students which is something that is
01:35synonymous with the town to tourists which is equally there so
01:39very interesting scheme. We'll see what happens there. Okay well staying with property
01:43actually we've got news of another redevelopment. This one is in York and
01:47it's a former well-loved swimming venue, the Barbican swimming pool. Now
01:53that's a thing of the past, it was demolished but there has been
01:57plans for what's going to happen on the site for some time and now house builder
02:01Persimmon has submitted revised plans for housing on the site. The plans
02:08are sort of envisaged about 240 homes so that would be interesting to see how that
02:12goes and it's always interesting when you see cities getting redeveloped in
02:16that way and it will be odd for people who've been swimming in the past to
02:22then see houses on the site. That's one to keep an eye out for. Another interesting one. And staying with York
02:29you've got a story of a retailer there. Quite a good story actually, quite a
02:34positive one. An online retailer, Monster Group, they've secured a
02:38seven-figure, Monster Group, not to be confused with Monster Munchies, all the energy
02:42drink. They secured a seven-figure funding package from HSBC to expand their
02:47product range and distribution facilities. So they were founded in 2007 and they design
02:52and retail their own brand products and they supply businesses and consumer
02:56items in home and garden, outdoor living, as well as in sort of the industrial
03:00sector and they're currently focusing on innovation and AI driven growth actually
03:05and from that they're expecting a 10% increase in sales for the year as well
03:10as a workforce expansion which will see its headcount increase to 95. So quite
03:14positive news there and that will obviously be helped by the funding a lot.
03:17Excellent. Good news from the land of Monster then. And we'll finish with, it's Monday morning, people may be a bit weary, great news for coffee
03:30drinkers in South Wales where the first 24-hour drive-thru Costa coffee has
03:37been has opened. Are you someone who takes advantage of drive-thrus for coffee?
03:42I definitely would if I drove but I'm a big coffee fan but no, I won't say I do.
03:47Yeah, I mean I do go to them and they're cropping up all over the place.
03:51So clearly it's something that people, they want to have coffee on the move,
03:55perhaps if they're traveling, commuting or if they're sort of on a family trip,
03:59you kind of feel like you're getting your coffee but you're not getting out
04:03of the car and you're able to keep going. So yes, this Costa coffee is in
04:07Clontrasant Green Meadows store and it's going to be the first 24-hour. So yeah,
04:14great news for coffee drinkers in South Wales. That's everything from us. If
04:18you'd like to read more about the stories we've spoken about, go to
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04:31next time.