Watch: Insider's Business Briefing - 21st May 2025 - video Dailymotion

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Adam and Alice discuss expansion for a Midlands-based law firm, a flagship London venue for a growing bar group, which is backed by BGF, and major property stories in Leeds and Sunderland.

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00:00Expansion for an employment law firm, a flagship London venue for a growing bar group, and

00:06a preferred developer for a major Sunderland scheme. That's all coming up on today's Business Briefing.

00:17Morning Adam. Good morning Alice. So what Midlands news do you have for us today?

00:21We're actually talking about the expansion of an employment law firm which has opened

00:24a new office in Birmingham. Now this represents its West Midlands debut in fact.

00:30That firm is Michael Cummins Employment Solicitors, and its office at 55 Colmoro

00:34complements its presence in the East Midlands, where it was actually established in 2022.

00:40Now unsurprisingly, the firm was founded by Michael Cummins after he sold his previous company,

00:44Cummins Solicitors, to Knights after nine years in business. The new office in Birmingham for

00:50the employment law firm aims to power up its growth plans in the West Midlands and beyond,

00:56and it actually follows the recruitment of three additional staff members in the last six months.

01:01Great news. I feel like we've written a lot recently about law firms opening new sites in

01:06like different parts of the region, so it seems like they're very in demand at the minute.

01:10Yeah, certainly. And they're always popular stores as well.

01:13Yeah, they are. Well, moving over to hospitality and leisure.

01:17BGF-backed bar group, Ark Inspirations, has invested £4 million into its flagship London venue.

01:24So, I don't know if you've heard of the name, you've probably been to one of their sites before.

01:29I'm sure I have, yeah.

01:30Because they're behind the Banyan brand, as well as Box and Manhattan.

01:34Yeah.

01:35There's definitely, I think, a Banyan and a Box as well in Manchester.

01:39Yeah.

01:39So the company is going to open a Box venue, and that's going to be off Shaftesbury Avenue,

01:44which is in London's West End. It's a really nice place.

01:48And it will have capacity for 450 guests, as well as seating for 200 people.

01:54Now, this will add to Ark's locations in Manchester, which we already mentioned,

01:58alongside Birmingham, Leeds, Nottingham and Sheffield.

02:01So I suppose this is kind of its first venue in the South, really.

02:05And its co-founder and chief executive called the move into London a milestone moment.

02:11And in other good news, it's going to create 90 jobs as well.

02:13So great for that kind of local economy.

02:15Definitely a move to celebrate for them, a real big moment for them.

02:19We're sticking with property.

02:21Obviously, UK Reef is taking place at the moment, and the Insider is covering all the

02:25major announcements from the event.

02:27And one such announcement was some development financing for an apartment scheme in the

02:32Leeds South Bank regeneration area.

02:34Heim Global Investor and West Yorkshire Pension Fund have secured £50 million in development

02:39financing.

02:39And this will support the creation of 375 apartments in two interconnected buildings, rising to 26

02:47storeys.

02:48That is located on Water Lane.

02:51It will also offer external areas and amenity space, including a gym, co-working areas, podium

02:56gardens and rooftop terraces.

02:59So an impressive development.

03:00The loan is being provided by Homes England over a three and a half year period.

03:06And the funding package also includes £4.4 million from the West Yorkshire Combined

03:11Authority's Brownfield Housing Fund.

03:14Now, construction began in May of last year with completion anticipated in early 2027.

03:20McLaren Living is the developer and HG Construction, the contractor.

03:25Nice.

03:25I don't think I would mind living in one of those apartments with the rooftop terraces.

03:29Yeah, that would be quite nice on a sunny day, wouldn't it?

03:31Yeah.

03:32Well, we're sticking with property.

03:34I suspect this week, as you said, with UK Reef, there'll be quite a lot of good property

03:37stories.

03:38Yeah.

03:38And a preferred developer has been chosen for the major Sheepfolds neighbourhood in

03:43Sunderland, which will comprise up to 600 homes alongside commercial and community

03:49spaces.

03:50So Bystery Group has been appointed to bring forward that scheme, which is actually one of the

03:55four developments as part of the wider Riverside-Sunderland development.

04:00Now, of those four neighbourhoods, Sheepfolds will be the most populous.

04:05And Bystery is already very familiar with Sunderland.

04:08At the minute, it's completing 250 properties at the West Park quarter in the city.

04:13So it is helping already with the regeneration of the city, which is happening right now.

04:18So the first phase of this development is expected to start early next year.

04:22And that's following the completion of infrastructure and enabling works.

04:27And it's great to see regeneration in our northern cities and towns.

04:31That's nice to see.

04:32That's all from us today.

04:34You can hear about those stories and others at insidermedia.com, as well as all the announcements

04:38from UK Reef this week.

04:41And you can also subscribe to our newsletters and learn about upcoming events.

Watch: Insider's Business Briefing - 21st May 2025

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