Watch: Insider's Business Briefing 5th February 2025

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Laurence and Remy discuss new owners for a historic brewery, employees taking control of a Cardiff agency and funding for a West Yorkshire sweet business.

Transcript

00:00New owners for a historic brewery, employees taking control of a Cardiff

00:04agency, and funding at a West Yorkshire sweet maker. That's all coming up in

00:08today's business briefing.

00:15My name is Lawrence Gleganan. I'm Remy Greasley. Well morning Remy. Morning

00:20Lawrence. Well we'll start off with stories about breweries and so on,

00:25historic breweries in particular, always very popular. And today we've got news

00:29that new owners at Jennings Brewery, is that, as a man of Cumbria, is that

00:34one that rings a bell for you? It does distantly. I've got, you know, Fell

00:38Brewery who we've done a lot of work with, and Coniston Brewery. They're more

00:43my, you know, immediate acquaintances. Because you enjoy an ale, do you? Yeah, I do.

00:49I prefer sort of the like blonde type of ales, rather than the, not sure what you

00:54call them, like the hearty classic ales. Right, I see. Well I'm unsure. I mean some

01:00of the brands of Jennings have rung a bell. Jennings Bitter, Cumberland Ale, and

01:04then also Snecklifter, which I seem to remember friends have raved about in the

01:08past. So it does sound like the sort of ale I like. And they've been acquired by

01:12two business owners and entrepreneurs, successful already in their own rights.

01:16That is Kurt Canfield, who's the chief executive of specialist engineering

01:21business Delkia. And Rebecca Canfield, who's the proprietor of wine and spirits

01:26company Wine and the Wood. Great name. It is, yeah, great name. I did think that. Very Cumbrian in feeling as well.

01:33Yeah, and well under their sort of plans they're going to start brewing again in

01:38Cockermouth. Oh wow. Because the brewery shut in in 2022, it's been made elsewhere.

01:44But, you know, apparently it's essential that the water in the area contributes to

01:50the beer. And that does make sense. And I'm sure if you were speaking to Scots

01:54about whiskey, you know, they would say the same thing. French people about

01:59wines and crops. I think in particular it's more the soil in France.

02:05Is there a word for it? Terroir or something like that. But really exciting news.

02:11You know, it seems to give the brewery a sort of new lease of life. And we'll watch

02:17this space. Yeah, great news for Cumbria. Exactly, exactly. Now you've got some news

02:22about a sweet maker getting some investment. It's quite a short but sweet story, if you don't mind.

02:27The pond. But in West Yorkshire, a confectionery business, the

02:32Marshmallowist. And that's a tongue twister. A word I've always had

02:36trouble with. I usually say marshmallow like Engerland. I'm not sure if you've ever heard that.

02:42But anyway, the Marshmallowist has secured funding from the NPIF too. And so

02:49what the company is, it was founded in, I think, 2011 by a woman called Oona Sims.

02:54Who was a chocolatier, which I think it's one of the better jobs out

02:59there. Oh absolutely, definitely. Definitely more tasty at least. And what

03:03it does, it uses sort of premium ingredients to create egg, dairy and

03:08gluten-free marshmallows pretty much. I see. And they've now received

03:13£70,000 in funding to create a new sort of bakery facility to create these

03:18products. And I believe five jobs that I think they're already

03:24ongoing jobs, but they'll be sort of secured with the funding as well to

03:28really allow the business to grow. And Oona said quite nicely, I think she said

03:34she was thrilled with the funding, but also added on a quote, it's not just

03:38about growth, it's about keeping our passion for quality and creativity at

03:42the heart of everything we do. Which I think is really nice to hear. Excellent.

03:46Well, NPIF too. I heard you going for NPIF too, but I'm with the NPIF too gang.

03:51They do seem to pick out interesting investments. And you

03:54know, I think businesses like that, that can have a real following, are going to be

03:59good bets for the future. I certainly hope so anyhow. Well, away from Northern

04:05England and down to Wales, where we've got news of a web and brand agency call

04:11in Cardiff, which has been acquired by its employees. I always like these

04:15stories, Remy. You know, employee ownership, it's something you see on the rise.

04:18And I sort of think it's a win-win situation because the founder or

04:23the owners get a chance to pass on their ethos. They've built the

04:27business successfully. And then, of course, the employees get a chance to

04:30sort of share in the success, if that is what happens. And CORE is one of the

04:35first digital agencies in Wales to become employee-owned. And the move

04:39coincides with its 21st birthday. So, well-established brand and it's great to

04:44see that. They were helped by the employee ownership team at the

04:48Social Business Wales. So, fantastic to see that. And best of luck to the CORE

04:54and all the new business owners at the company. Congratulations. I mean, it's

04:58such a win-win, I think. Yeah. EOTs. Yeah. So, it's a story I always like. And I

05:03always think with the images you get that everyone does look like they're

05:06having a great time. Genuinely. Yeah. And I mean, I haven't seen many stories of

05:11EOTs coming a proper either. So, it seems like it is well and

05:17everyone's going in the same direction and so on. So, I say best of luck to CORE.

05:21Now, to conclude, away from the world of employee ownership, food, drink, you've

05:27got a bit more of a sort of industrial story for us. Yeah, yeah. So, Bombardier, who, not the

05:32brewery, but the aircraft manufacturer, have announced a new 51,000 square foot

05:39paint facility at their site in London, Biggin Hill. Biggin Hill, that's a

05:46really famous RAF post in the Second World War. So, quite fitting that you've got an aircraft

05:53maker there. And what are they going to be doing there, you say? So, it's a new

05:55paint facility. So, it'll support all their sort of global challenger and

05:59Learjet aircraft, including the global 7,500 and global 8,000 jets, which they're

06:08all quite new sounding to me, but I'm sure those in the sort of world of

06:12aircraft will really appreciate those names. I have to say, my experience of private jets is

06:17limited, but this is where they're going to be painted and sort of deliveries

06:22and what have you. Is that bespoke, or I suppose it comes with whatever they're making it for?

06:28Yeah, but then it's sort of part of the continued investment in the area. Last

06:33year, I think they installed about 3,000 solar panels on the roof of what is, I

06:38think it's about 250,000 square foot facility in total. So, this is an

06:45addition to that. And then, yeah, and they, you know, last year as well as the solar

06:50panels, they also installed a new line maintenance station at the

06:55nearby Farnborough Airport. Right, okay. Yeah, all things moving well down there.

07:00Excellent. Well, to find out more about the stories we've been speaking about, go

07:04to Insider Media. There you can also subscribe to our newsletters, you can

07:10subscribe to our magazines, and find out about upcoming events. That's everything

07:14from us. See you next time.

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