We love it when businesses send us their good news and here’s our latest good news round-up, kindly sponsored by PALADIN. Awards, expansion, new contracts or new appointments, if you’ve got some good news you want to share please email the editor, Martin Shaw, on martin@huddersfieldhub.co.uk.
A group of scientists, engineers and office staff from Huddersfield and Barnsley Lubrizol sites swapped their jobs for the outdoors for a morning to help clear a popular walking spot of one of the UK’s most invasive weeds.
A group of 10 volunteered with the River Holme Connections charity, which is working to conserve and improve the river for the benefit of the area.
The volunteer morning, part of the company’s ‘Building Global Bonds’ initiative to give back to communities around the world, saw Lubrizol employees don waders and clear a large site at Upper House Dike in Huddersfield from highly invasive Himalayan Balsam.
The plant has rapidly become one of the UK’s most invasive plants and takes hold of many riverside areas, preventing native species from growing.
Faiza Mahmood, a chemist from Lubrizol, was one of the group of volunteers who spent hours getting their backs into pulling out armfuls of Himalayan Balsam to try and keep the plant in check along the River Holme.
She said: “Some of us were in the river, and others along the side, pulling the balsam up by the roots. It was a really good day. We did about a 100 metre stretch.
“When we were leaving the area, some local homeowners came out and thanked us for our work and asked us when we would be back! They have been trying to keep it in check too, and I think they really appreciated it.
“It was very peaceful to be working beside the flowing river. And it was a very satisfying task. Any opportunity we get to volunteer and improve our local environment, we jump at it!”
River Holme Connections works with different companies in the Huddersfield area who come and help beat back the huge problem of Himalayan Balsam, so that biodiversity in the area can have a better chance.
Teams from Lubrizol have volunteered for the charity before, and they also help other local good causes such as Huddersfield-based Project Youth Cancer, which among its other work delivers festive boxes to young cancer patients who are spending Christmas in hospital.
Brighouse mailing house and print marketing specialist, The Flow Group, has expanded its service offering with a six-figure investment into the launch of a new brand, Leaflet Distribution Company, a portal service to help simplify the UK’s leaflet print and distribution sector.
The award-winning, multi-million-pound turnover group, has developed the portal to bring convenience, simplicity, and speed to leaflet distribution, as well as eco credentials.
The launch of Leaflet Distribution Co has resulted in the creation of two new roles for a full-time junior developer and a sales apprentice and follows The Flow Group’s expansion into large scale, national carbon-balanced direct mail and leaflet distribution with the Greener Mail brand last year.
The Leaflet Distribution Co portal is a fully automated offering, which puts the customer in full control of a leaflet drop campaign from start to finish – demographic targeting, design, print and distribution.
With a focus on the ‘why’ behind a marketing campaign, it also provides prompts and advice to users on how to generate the highest possible ROI from a campaign.
Design is also provided for those who want a full turnkey solution. 100% carbon-balanced print will be rolled out later this year.
Speaking about the launch, The Flow Group director, Andrew Robinson, said: “With shifts in client interactions heading increasingly online, we launched Leaflet Distribution Co. to do exactly that: offer all our services, all online.
“Our customers can now order what they want, when they want, 24/7 and see transparent progress of their order.
“The platform is the cleanest and easiest to use currently on the market and, much like online pizza delivery, they can see a timeline of where their order is at from the moment it is placed through to completion.
“We can also provide a leaflet design service, and most importantly, we incentivise and provide the ability to book multi-stage campaigns as this generates much higher returns. We’ve loved creating this new brand, and we’re sure our clients will love using it.
“This investment is key to our continued business expansion, and we are also excited to have welcomed two new people to the team to support our growth trajectory.”
For further information visit www.leafletdistributioncompany.co.uk
Kirsty Dunn – Ramsdens Solicitors
Ramsdens Solicitors, which has grown to 11 offices throughout Yorkshire, is continuing to recognise and reward colleagues with two recent associate promotions.
The 150-year-old firm’s clinical negligence and personal injury team has been further strengthened by the appointment of Ian Miles to senior associate, based at its Leeds office; while Ramsdens’ private client practice sees Kirsty Dunn promoted to associate at its Edgerton office.
Ian Miles joined Ramsdens in 2022 as a litigation executive, having previously worked for a number of sector-leading international law firms.
With 20 years’ experience, he has expertise in handling complex injury claims, including brain injury. Mr Miles’ specialisms cover employers’ liability, occupiers’ liability and road accident claims as well as claims involving clinical negligence against medical and healthcare providers.
An associate of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives and a ‘recommended lawyer’ in The Legal 500, 2021 edition, Mr Miles is known as a skilled litigator and is an active member of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers.
Kirsty Dunn, a chartered legal executive and Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) probate practitioner, joined Ramsdens in 2021 having predominately worked in litigation before transferring her skills and expertise to specialise in wills, lasting powers of attorney and the administration of estates.
Her expertise includes advising on the severance of jointly owned properties to enable families to put in place protection from care fees, when making a will.
Paul Joyce, managing partner of Ramsdens Solicitors, said: “It’s extremely satisfying to see talented members of the team like Ian and Kirsty developing their legal skills with us.
“Both are technically adept lawyers who consistently put their clients first and deliver outstanding service in their respective niche areas of the law.
“We are pleased to celebrate these promotions with Ian and Kirsty as we pride ourselves on providing a supportive, nurturing environment where up-and-coming lawyers can flourish with the support of more senior colleagues.”
With a heritage of providing a wide range of legal services to businesses and individuals for more than 150 years, Ramsdens Solicitors has 11 offices throughout Yorkshire. The multi-award-winning law firm has a 280-strong team, including more than 40 partners.
Kirklees Libraries have done it again after winning yet another national award.
Librarians Ambreen Aziz, Becky Longwood and Mazhar Iqbal have won the Libraries Connected Reading Award that recognises their work in running weekly English Talk time sessions for Kirklees residents.
Residents can practice speaking, listening, reading and writing English through informal activities tailored to their needs and communities.
The sessions make a huge difference to local residents and help them to feel more connected in their communities. Over 300 attendees have benefited from the sessions since the programme started in 2018.
The Libraries Connected Awards celebrate the achievements of library workers who have had an exceptional impact on their library service, users or their local communities.
An expert panel considered the shortlist nominations including Lesley Parr, the award-winning author of children’s historical fiction.
Lesley Parr was joined by judges from organisations including Arts Council England, The Reading Agency, the Queen’s Reading Room, the Guardian Foundation and digital book platform OverDrive, creator of the Libby reading app for libraries and Sora reading app for schools.
Richard Parry, strategic director for adults and health, said: “Our amazing library service is a dab hand at winning awards.
“From health and wellbeing to multiple New Year’s Honours, Kirklees Libraries have shown time and again the impact they have in local communities in the borough.
“The English Talk time sessions are a lifeline for those in the community who do not know English as a first language, helping them to better integrate and be more connected in their communities.
“This in turn will help them to achieve better outcomes in health, education and general wellbeing. Congratulations to everyone involved.”
Fairfield Nursery in Shelf, Halifax, has been judged ‘Outstanding’ in every category by Ofsted. Outstanding is the highest judgment that can be made by an Ofsted inspector and is given only when there is exceptional childcare provision that greatly exceeds national standards.
This is the first inspection since the nursery was acquired in 2022 by the long-standing and family-run Portland Nurseries Group who opened their first nursery in Lindley, Huddersfield, in 1991. This now takes their tally to four out of six sites graded ‘Outstanding.’
Portland Nurseries managing director Anastasia Murphy said: “When we welcomed Fairfield into our group in 2022 we knew we’d acquired a wonderful staff team.
“They were so receptive to how we, at Portland Nurseries, view quality care and education. They already had high standards and quality foundations, we just supported them to go further, through our focus on staff training and development, and by using our 33 years of experience in the sector.
“I am immensely proud of all the team and so pleased Ofsted have recognised, not just the wonderful learning that takes place daily, but how proactive our SENCo is; how the children have consistently high levels of respect for others, and most importantly, how all children make excellent progress at Fairfield Nursery.”
Portland’s other nurseries are: Portland House (Lindley), Oakwood House Nursery Forest School (Edgerton), Harlequin (Edgerton) Bradley House (Bradley) and Holly Bank Nursery (Birkby).
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