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Everything changes and everything stays the same. At Christmas 2021, companies will again be paralyzed by the ambiguity of Covid-19 – just like last year.
Even so, the past year has brought up some really fascinating stories from across the East Midlands. We’ve seen companies innovate like never before – and we’ve seen others fall by the wayside. Some big names that will go away this year are construction companies nmcn and Wildgoose, while others like Surescreen and Octavian have pushed UK forward, creating hundreds of new jobs in the process.
TheBusinessDesk.com will be older, smarter, and ready to face what has to offer us in 2022 by 2021. Before we get there though, let’s look back and see which stories were popular with you. Over 1.4 million if you read our website this year. So here are the top 10 best read stories in the East Midlands of 2021.
1. Government advises against all but essential travel to Leicester
The delta variant closed the beleaguered Leicester even more strictly in May. The city had been living under regulations for a year when the government issued new Covid-19 guidelines to those living and working in Leicester, which should meet outside instead of inside and avoid travel and out of affected areas, unless it was “essential”.
2. Jobs lost because Derby manufacturer switched on administrators
It is believed that around 70 people lost their jobs at Derby production company Garrandale after administrators were appointed to the company. The Birmingham company Butcher Woods was called up to take care of the day-to-day running of the company after GMB Manufacturing, which was traded when Garrandale ran out of money. The company was founded in the 1970s and has traditionally been a supplier to training companies.
3. Home builder dives into the historic Derbyshire mill complex
In March, Clowes Developments sold the historic Milford Mills to Chevin Homes of Derbyshire. Chevin Homes reached out to Clowes with a plan to remodel the historic building, requesting permission to demolish some factory buildings while retaining all of the historic features, including the mill building, famous 40-meter chimney, and the village school.
4th Lincolnshire holiday park operator in talks for £ 250m sale
As we approached a brighter summer, one of the UK’s largest holiday park operators was on the verge of being sold to the former Formula 1 owner. Away Resorts was to be bought out by CVC Capital Partners for a value of £ 250 million. Away Resorts has nine venues – including three in Lincolnshire at Tattershall Lakes, Beachcomber and Boston West.
5. Rolls-Royce boss under fire for comments on workforce age
Also in June, Rolls-Royce CEO Warren East came under fire for saying his company’s workforce was “a little old”. East reportedly spoke at a technology conference in London when he made the remarks about one of the biggest challenges he faced when joining the company, the age of employees. East reportedly said, “The lot of any leader of a company like ours is to get people to your side. And for me, when I came to Rolls-Royce, one of the challenges I saw was that our workforce was honestly a bit too old. “
6th Leicester clothing boss sentenced to six months in prison
In February, a Leicester apparel manufacturer was jailed for six months for failing to provide adequate accounting records. Ezazali Ahmed Namaji of Osbourne Road in Leicester was the sole director of Miss Pebbles Clothing, a cut and trim manufacturer founded in February 2015. The company operated from a location on Layton Road, Leicester, and employed up to 50 people until March 2016 when Ezazali Namaji wound up the company, which owed money to the tax authorities and an additional £ 44,000 to other creditors.
7. Plans revealed for a 40-story skyscraper in Nottingham city center
In March, our exclusive story revealed plans for a giant skyscraper in Nottingham. Code Students plans to build a 40-story skyscraper called Victoria Works behind the Victoria Shopping Center in Nottingham, which will house 1,546 students. The project took a big step forward in January after a contractor was hired to demolish a building next to the Victoria Shopping Center in Nottingham city center.
8. Wedding and conference venues call in administrators as lockdown bites
Also in March, we announced that two hotels, wedding and conference rooms had been closed after the administrators were called in. Grant Thornton was hired to run the day-to-day operations of the Sundial Group and Woodside Conference Center on February 22nd and left Highgate The House Hotel in Creaton, Northamptonshire, and Woodside Conference Center in Kenilworth are closed – and reopening is unlikely.
9. Former F1 driver buys Donington Hall property, reveals big plans
In April MotorSport Vision (MSV) bought the Donington Hall Estate consisting of Donington Hall itself, the former Hastings House office building and the Lansdowne Workshop Building. The company, owned by former Formula 1 driver Jonathan Palmer, wanted to transform Donington Hall into a 40-room luxury hotel.
10. Derby entrepreneur buys up his kite
In August, Dragons’ Den entrepreneur Ed Hollands, who received support from former Dragon Jenny Campbell, bought her three years after investing in his mobile advertising business. The 27-year-old University of Derby graduate has weathered all lockdowns with his company DrivenMedia and said he is now ready to go it alone.