May 2007
25/05/2007 - Final Countdown for Tourism Awards
The final countdown is on for tourism businesses in the East Midlands to enter the region's tourism awards. Hotels, B&Bs, attractions, pubs and other tourism providers have until the end of the month (31st May) to get their application in for the 2007 Enjoy England Excellence Awards organised by East Midlands Tourism - the team within East Midlands Development Agency (emda) responsible for delivering the region's tourism strategy. Designed to recognise and reward 'the region' best' the awards are open to businesses in Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland. A total of 17 award categories span all areas of the industry's growing visitor economy and include Best Self Catering Holiday, Tourism Website, Large and Small Hotels, Visitor Attractions and Outstanding Customer Service. For the first time the contribution made by local pubs and bars to enhancing the quality of tourists' visits is being recognised with a new award for Best Pub Experience. Increased concern among visitors about their 'carbon footprint' is also reflected in a new Green Tourism Awards, which is aimed at those businesses that are working to maximise their positive impact on the environment and the local area. Richard Dickinson, chief executive of East Midlands Tourism, is encouraging businesses to gain recognition for their work. "If you are delivering excellence you shoulnd't be shy about it. These awards are all about recognising the growing quality of tourism in the East Midlands and rewarding those who, by going the extra mile, are providing a high quality benchmark to which all can aspire. The independent recognition of quality which the Excellence awards give rpovides an excellent marketing platform from which to secure even greater success." Businesses will find out whi has been crowned 'the region's best' at a ceremony on October 10th at the East Midlands Conference Centre in Nottingham. The regional winners will then have the chance to go forward to the national final next spring, where they will go head to head with winners from all over England. The region has a good track record on the national stage. This year the National Trust's Mr Straw's House won a national silver in the Small Visitor Attraction of the Year category and the Nottingham Belfry picked up silver in the Business Tourism Award. Businesses interested in entering the award should contact their local Destination Management Partnership: Sue Kay, Northamptonshire Enterprise Ltd - 01604 609539
25/05/2007 - University Excellence in Guardian League Tables
The latest 2008 Guardian University League Tables have seen the University of Northampton race ahead of its regional higher education competitors in a number of teaching areas, with particular honours going to Business, Engineering and Computing. Coming in at 92 on the latest Guardian list The University of Northampton was placed ahead of numerous other competing universities within it score student recruitment areas, including Derby, Bedfordshire, De Montfort and Wolverhampton. The Northampton Business School (NBS) is now ranked 72 from 109 business schools. NBS also ranked fourth equsl in the UK for 'value added', emphasising excellent improvements in learning and advancement for students. The University's Engineering division within its School of Applied Sciences was ranked sixth out of 30 with a Guardian score of 75.6 out of 100. It also received 10 out of 10 for job prospects, a better figure than any other university listed in the General Engineering category. Also within Applied Sciences the University's Computing division came in joint first for value added and joint third for teaching in the Guardian table. The Guardian listing for the University of Northampton also noted the institutions;s substantial investments in campus facilities and an ongoing £80 million plan for future improvements through to 2015. Frank Burdett, Pro Vice Chancellor at the University of Northampton, commented: "We are delighted with the detail found in many aspects of the survey, which highlights areas of significant improvement. In particular the results in Business, Engineering and Computing are testament to our good employer links through our partnership scheme and the University's approach to widening participation. Both are key aspects of teh University's mission. We will continue to work hard to improve all areas of the University's performance."
22/05/2007 - Northampton Depot is Greenest in Europe
The most environmentally friendly distribution centre in Europe is being built in Northampton. ProLogis Park in Swan Valley is to become the home of a massive delivery depot for supermarket giant Sainsbury's. The 1.7 million sq ft centre will produce its own electricity using a gas powered generator and a solar powered wall, reuse rainwater and use air-tight fridges and freezers to make sure none of the energy gets lost. At an official launch of the building last week, Roger Burnley, supply chain director for the supermarket giant said: "We have been really keen to get to this ground-breaking milestone. The water recycling will save 40 million litres per year, and we expect to save 50 per cent on our electricity bills just by using air-tight freezers." And he added the location was ideal to save food miles: "This is the middle of the UK and we will be saving more than two million km of food miles every year." But he added there were no plans at the moment to copy rival supermarket Asda, which is putting in plans to build a 127 metre wind turbine at its Brackmills depot, also in Northampton. Mr Burnley said: "We have a turbine in Scotland where it is very effective, but you need a mean average speed of five metres per second for them to work. I'm sure Asda will make a success fo their project but you can save a huge amount of energy just by using air tight freezers, and using plenty of natural light to save on electricity like we have here." The new depot, which will open in the autumn, will provide jobs for about 700 people. The majority of jobs coming up at the depot will be in administration, driving and warehouse work, and the first of these will be advertised next month.
17/05/2007 - NCC Funding for College Place Development
The eagerly awaited College Place development in the centre of Brackley reached an important milestone last week when financial contributions in the form of a Section 106 agreement were finalised with Northamptonshire County Council. The agreement relates to monies paid by developers to local planning authorities in order to offset the costs of the external effects of development. The completion of this important stafe of the planning process amrks the final element of the College Place planning consent, which has now been fully granted. Within the S106 agreement, the local community will benefit from a contribution in the region of £51,000 into education facilities and £30,000 to improvment works at the High Street, Banbury Road and Bridge Street junction in the town centre. On achieving this, Clie Wilding, Managing Director of Raven Property Developments, commented: "This marks the start of a very exciting time for the College Place development. We have now appointed BMH Construction Company to manage the construction programme. We look forward to working with them to ensure that the College Place development is managed and developed to the very highest standard, creating an exciting new town centre space that will play a pivotal role in the regeneration of the local area." Based in Bedford, BMH has over 30 years experience of working with the local community and since its formation has completed over 5500 dwellings for many developers, housing associations and local authorities. In addition, the Company has broad experience in general construction such as nursing homes, industrial buildings, offices, and schools and undertakes many refurbishment, modernisation and planned maintenance projects for property owners. Work is expected to start on the site this summer and when completed, will see the site turned into a lively civic core, comprising 9,245 sq ft of retail and restaurant space, office accommodation and 51 high quality homes centred around a new public square.
11/05/2007 - F1 Chief Opened iFestival Innovation Event
Over 150 business and academic guests attended the University of Northampton's first Partners4Innovation research and knowledge transfer event on 1st May - a key highlight of East Midlands Development Agency (emda) and Innovation East Midlands' (InnEM) 2007 innovation Festival (iFestival). Headline speaker at the event was Nick Fry, Cheif Executive Officer of the Honda F1 team, who officially opened Partners4Innovation with University Vice Chancellor Ann Tate. He was also interviewed at the occasion by Willy Gilder from BBC Radio Northampton as part of a public presentation on 'Engineering Matters'. Business exhibitors and visitors were able to mingle with academics and research specialists, finding out more about how business and higher education can mix to take innovation forward. Partners4Innovation also offered the opportunity of pre-arranged specialist one-to-one 'co-operation meetings' allowing participants a 15 minute time slot per meeting to explore mutually beneficial business opportunities. In addition there were a series fo seminars and workshops themed around 'The Impact of Innovation'. Ian Mansell, Research and Knowledge Transfer Manager at the University of Northampton, commented: "Partners4Innovation provided Northampton and East Midlands entrepreneurs with an invaluable, effective and low cost opportunity to explore how innovation can better impact on their companies. It aimed to give local business a wide insight into future opportunities that can be developed in partnership with universities such as ourselves. The University of Northampton already supports and encourages innovation ina wide variety of technology based areas and we have may clients that already harness our expertise to acheive business growth." Mike Carr, Executive Director for Business Services at emda, said: "This event is an excellent example of knowledge exchange and business to business collaboration in action. I am pleased that it is one of eight that has taken place in and around Northamptonshire during this year's iFestival. This is a great reflection of the county's keeness to embrace innovation. It is also encouraging to see business representation here today and recognition of the imnportance of our Higher Education Institutions and the role they have to play in innovation."
11/05/2007 - Theatres in line for Design Honour
The newly renovated Royal and Derngate theatres in Northampton have been nominated for a top architectural award. Only a few days after the announcement that Donna Munday, the chief executive who led thetransformation, would be leaving, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) revealed their shortlist for an annual prize in designs excellence. The £15 million redevelopment of the theatres has been recognised by RIBA as "exciting, contemporary and focusing on working with the local community". Donna Munday said: "This is wonderful recognition of the work we have done. The RIBA assessors are interested in seeing the architecture at work and we believe the renovations fit our brief perfectly as a theatre. "They have made the space a fantastic place to work." Chairman of RIBA East Midlands, Hannah Milton, said: "This is a vibrant new town centre entertainment venue, created through the unification of two radically different theatres. They have been unified via an exciting timber and copper extension, focusing on creative collaboration with the local community. "It houses creative on-site education and rehearsal spaces, placing community at the heart of the venue. "Dating back from 1884, the Royal Theatre has been restored to its original stunning design, and the Derngate has been transformed, using colour and light, so that its atmosphere can be changed to match different formats. "A wide range of regional projects have been shortlisted, highlighting the good design that architects can bring to every type of building." The winners of the RIBA awards will be announced in May and, if successful, Royal and Derngate could go on to win the national Stirling Prize, which has previously been given to the Coty of London's landmark Swiss Re Tower - also known as the 'Gherkin' - and the home of the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood. Source: Chronicle & Echo