The public sector property team is an important part of the firm’s 100-strong public sector unit, which is highly rated in all legal directories for its strength, depth and command of the sector. 

Paula Myers said: “We have a fantastic team which can offer genuine expert advice to people across Yorkshire which we hope will help them to deal with a wide range of personal legal issues.” 

The report, by Regeneris Consulting, predicts the high-speed technology is capable of contributing hundreds of millions pounds to the regional economy.

It will allow existing firms to operate more efficiently and to develop new products and services and make it easier for new businesses to get started through increasing use of innovations, such as ‘cloud computing’.

The report predicts that over the next 15 years BT’s super-fast broadband investment could give the economy of a typical UK town a £143 million* boost , create 225 new jobs and 140 new start-up businesses, whilst for a typical city the figures are expected to be £296 million, around 430 new jobs and 320 business start-ups.

There is also expected to be a big surge in flexible and home working. The report says that the high-speed technology could result in about 1,000 more homeworkers in a typical UK town and around 1,500 in a city.

BT’s £2.5 billion roll-out of super-fast broadband across the UK has already made the technology available to more than 545,000 homes and businesses across Yorkshire and the Humber – and this figure is expected to pass the million mark by the end of this year.

The Regeneris report also examines the wider impact of BT in Yorkshire and the Humber through direct employment, expenditure with contractors and suppliers and the spending of its employees. It shows that BT last year gave the region a near one billion pound boost and supported more than 18,000 jobs in the region through spending with suppliers and the expenditure of its employees.

The overall beneficial financial impact of BT activities, including the roll-out of super-fast broadband, is expressed as a “Gross Value Added” (GVA)* contribution with last year’s BT GVA figure of £998 million representing more than 1.1 per cent of the region’s total.

John Anderson, BT’s regional director for Yorkshire and the Humber, said: “This report demonstrates the great benefits that BT’s activities, including its major investment in super-fast broadband, are delivering for Yorkshire and the Humber and will continue to deliver in the years to come.

“BT is playing a vital role in the prosperity and well-being of the region from the massive economic boost provided by our activities to the 4,000 hours of volunteering activity carried out by BT’s people right across the region.

“BT’s plans to roll-out next generation broadband across Yorkshire and the Humber are already well underway. But we want to go further and would very much welcome the opportunity to have an even bigger impact on the regional economy by working with the public sector to make the high-speed technology available in more challenging areas.

“It is vital that we continue to grow and help our customers, stakeholders and employees to thrive as we work together to create a more prosperous Yorkshire and the Humber.”

The ‘Social Study 2012 - The Economic Impact of BT in the United Kingdom’ report analyses the positive contributions made by BT through the salaries and wages of employees and contractors, and the beneficial impact of its procurement and overall expenditure around the UK.

The report highlights that BT in Yorkshire and the Humber –
• is responsible for the employment of more than 7,000 people – 5,590 direct employees and more than 1400 contractors – with a total income of £233 million;
• provides work for a further 11,270 people through the company’s expenditure with businesses supplying its equipment and services and the spending of its workers;
• spent £291 million with suppliers in Yorkshire and the Humber last year;
• committed almost £2.3 million to community, charity and voluntary programmes in 2010/11;
• has enabled about 75 per cent of its employees to work flexibly, with 641 homeworkers – nine per cent of the workforce.

More than seven million households and businesses across the UK now have access to high speed fibre broadband. BT is expecting to reach 10 million premises in 2012 and two thirds of UK premises by the end of 2014. That involves BT laying more than 50,000km of fibre, enabling over 1,000 exchange areas and installing 30,000 street cabinets.

In UK terms, BT’s GVA contribution is assessed at more than £17 billion. It supports 274,000 jobs and last year spent £7.6 billion with UK-based suppliers.
BT also invested £684 million in R&D to support innovation in 2010/11, covering everything from scientific research to the development of new products and services working with customers, partners and universities around the world.

Stephen Nicol, Managing Director of Regeneris Consulting said: “The interesting thing about BT is that it provides a genuinely national impact. It benefits every town or city across the UK. It is also one of the single most important businesses for the UK economy. As a result of its full economic impact, BT supports £1 in every £70 of wealth created in the UK, making it one of the single most important contributions to the UK economy by any firm”.

The full report is available at www.btsocialstudy.co.uk .

For more information about Finance Yorkshire, please visit www.finance-yorkshire.com  or ring 0845 649 0000. 

Over the past six months, Connect Yorkshire has been working with The Forest Project to help plant a brand new woodland of 30,000 native trees right here in England.

This new forest is helping to create a safe natural habitat for seven species of endangered bird and two species of endangered beetle.

We are thankful for all the help and support we have had so far, and are pleased to announce that we are now just a little over 3000 trees short of our target!!

The majority of funding for this project is dependant on hitting the target of 30,000 trees – it’s all or nothing - and we are now so close!!

We are calling on members of the Connect Community to help us reach this goal by sponsoring a tree and helping to create a new natural habitat in the heart of England.

Every person who sponsors a tree will receive the GPS co-ordinates for their tree, as well as information about the species. We will also tell you how much water and air your tree filters every year, and how much carbon it absorbs. (if you want us to!!)

Please help us to reach our target of 30,000 trees and make this project work!! You can sponsor a tree by clicking on this link.

If you have any ideas or want to share any other thoughts, then please get in touch!!

Brand specialist and author Steve McKevitt who has worked with Nike, Coca Cola and Sony will be leading the Investment Readiness Programme workshop on How to Create a Leading Brand, being hosted by Connect Yorkshire on 4th April.

McKevitt co-founded Zoo Digital Group which subsequently floated on AIM and today is chairman of Golden, an ideas agency with clients in the UK, Europe and the US. His third book, Everything Now is published in June.

The workshop is free of charge; this event is being held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Leeds from 17.30 - 20.00hrs. SMEs who wish to attend can register at www.connectyorkshire.org or by emailing hollie.shenton@connectyorkshire.org

Adwick-le-Street, Darton, Kiveton, Gilberdyke, Calder Valley, Barton on Humber, Boroughbridge and Catterick Camp are the latest communities in the county to benefit from the roll-out of BT’s next generation broadband service delivered over copper lines.

The BT investment makes available download speeds of up to 20 megabits per second (Mbps) – more than double the speed previously available from BT.

BT also today announced Dinnington will be added to the faster broadband roll-out programme and upgraded later this year

The technology is now available in 145 communities across Yorkshire and the Humber.

By next Spring around 87 per cent of homes and businesses in Yorkshire and the Humber will be served by an exchange which has been upgraded to deliver these higher speeds. The new service is available on an open, wholesale basis to all companies providing broadband*.

John Anderson, BT’s regional director for Yorkshire and the Humber, said: “The rapid roll-out of faster broadband continues to reach out to more communities across Yorkshire and the Humber. This major investment is playing a vital role in the future prosperity of the region.

“The technology is changing for the better the way we live and work, helping businesses work more efficiently and flexibly and find new markets. And households are better able to make use of the huge range of on-line educational and entertainment opportunities available.

“But there is still much work to be done and we want to work with the public sector to find solutions for even the most challenging locations.”

This investment in the copper network is in addition to BT’s £2.5 billion roll-out of fibre-based broadband, which will bring even faster speeds to around two-thirds of UK premises by the end of 2014. 

The closing date for entries is Wednesday 28 March 2012 at 12pm. For more information visit www.communitychannel.org/thechangemakers 

Manningham, Hebden Bridge, Sharrow and Wadsley Bridge are among the latest places included today in the rapidly developing programme.
It will take the number of homes and businesses in the region being passed by the new super-fast network to more than one million.

More than 545,000 premises across Yorkshire and the Humber now have access to super-fast speeds with another 515,000 already planned for later this year, before today’s announcement.

The announcement was hailed today by John Anderson, BT’s partnership director, who said it would bring a major economic boost and assist people into new kinds of work, including starting up their own businesses.

He said: “This is a further major BT investment for Yorkshire and the Humber. Our roll-out of fibre broadband is going from strength to strength.
“In these tough economic times, this exciting technology will give a big boost to local businesses and households. Sophisticated communications are the lifeblood of any successful community.

“Super-fast broadband can give our businesses a significant competitive edge, helping them save money and improve their services at the same time.
“Fibre broadband also has the potential to change the face of public services and revolutionise entertainment at home. Local families will be able to experience entertainment, shopping and a myriad of services delivered the super-fast way.”
BT’s local network business Openreach is making super-fast broadband available to around two-thirds of UK homes and businesses by the end of 2014* using a mix of fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) and fibre to the premises (FTTP) technologies. More than seven million homes and businesses already have access and that will increase to 10 million later this year.
FTTC, where fibre is delivered to street cabinets, currently offers download speeds of up to 40Mbps with up to 10Mbps upstream. Openreach has confirmed it will also offer an even faster service – at roughly double these speeds – from early next month (April 2012).

FTTP, where the fibre goes directly to homes and businesses, offers speeds of up to 100Mbps, rising to up to 300Mbps from this Spring. It will also be available ‘on demand’ in areas which have been upgraded for FTTC from Spring 2013.

Both offer speeds many times faster than those currently available to most UK homes and businesses. In the most recent research unveiled by regulator Ofcom last month, the average speed of all UK broadband was 7.6Mbps.

John Anderson added: “BT’s ambition to deliver a digital future for Yorkshire and the Humber doesn’t stop with our current commercial roll-out plans. We are pursuing opportunities to work with the public sector to extend faster broadband into more challenging areas – mainly rural, less populated locations – where a partnership approach is needed.

“We have the experience, infrastructure and systems in place to make it happen. Our networks are open to hundreds of service providers, bringing competition and choice for households.”

Internet users with a fibre broadband connection can do much more online, all at the same time. A family can download a movie, watch a TV replay service, surf the net and play games online simultaneously. The latest chart hit can be downloaded in around two seconds, a CD in 30 seconds and a feature length HD film in 10 minutes.
Upload speeds are the fastest widely available to consumers in the UK, with large video and data files being sent almost instantly and hi-resolution photos posted online in seconds.

Faster upload speeds also boost flexible and remote working, slashing office overheads and improving employees’ work-life balance. Large graphic and video files can be sent immediately instead of being physically delivered to customers on hard disk. And high quality voice and video calls mean businesses can keep in touch with customers while they cut down on travel.

Unlike other companies, Openreach offers network access to service providers on an open, wholesale basis, supporting a competitive market. For further information on Openreach’s super-fast broadband programme visit www.superfast-openreach.co.uk

The downstream speeds are roughly double those on offer today whilst the upstream speeds will be the fastest that are widely available to consumers in the UK. It will be up to CPs to choose when and if they offer these enhanced speeds to end users, as the current up to 40Mbps service will continue to be available.

FTTC technology underpins the majority of BT’s £2.5bn commercial roll-out of super-fast fibre broadband in the UK. It currently delivers up to 40Mbps downstream and up to 10Mbps upstream. The rough doubling of these speeds marks a significant milestone in BT’s development of the technology, and is expected to deliver a significant boost to households and businesses within BT’s fibre footprint.

BT has now made fibre broadband available to more than seven million homes and businesses and is aiming to make it available to around two-thirds of UK premises by the end of 2014. There is potential for this footprint to be extended even further with BDUK funding, other public funds and further private sector investment.
Openreach’s fibre network is available to all CPs on an open wholesale access basis, meaning that homes and businesses in enabled areas have access to a choice of communications providers.
John Anderson, BT’s regional director for Yorkshire and the Humber, said: “This is another important step forward in the regions rapidly developing next generation broadband story.

“The faster speeds will provide further benefits for businesses and homes included in BT’s roll-out of super-fast fibre broadband.
“BT has so far announced plans to bring super-fast broadband to more than a million homes and businesses across Yorkshire and the Humber.
“Developments of this kind are vital as the area tackles the latest economic challenges and builds a more prosperous future.”

Mike Galvin, Openreach managing director of network investment, said: “We said we would double fibre speeds by this Spring and this is exactly what we have done. This is a significant milestone both for Openreach’s fibre network and for broadband speeds in the UK. The faster speeds will be available in a month’s time and so it is now up to broadband providers to decide how and when they offer these faster speeds to their customers. The platform is there and we are confident there will be demand for these enhanced services.”

More than 600 business leaders from across Yorkshire and the Humber attended a number of roadshows on the issue of finance for business.

Finance Yorkshire staged the conference events in Sheffield, York, Hull and Leeds throughout March to highlight the funding opportunities available to small and medium businesses.

The £90 million venture capital and loan fund has already made significant investments to support growth proposals from companies throughout Yorkshire and the Humber.

Alex McWhirter, chief executive of Finance Yorkshire, said: “We’ve had an excellent first 18 months, investing more than £18million in 190 businesses. This substantial level of investment shows we are in the marketplace to provide funding for growth companies.

“A number of companies have said there is no provision of finance. I’d have to differ with that view. Finance is available for companies with good growth plans and exhibiting strong potential.

“My message to companies and those in the professional services sector would be, “don’t write off the availability of finance, come and speak with us as early as possible if you are looking for investment into your business”.”

At each roadshow a number of businesses, which have received funding support from Finance Yorkshire, provided a detailed case-study of the investment they received.

Northend Creative Print Solutions and Boston Healthcare spoke at the Sheffield event, Cizzle Biotech and VR Software in York, KRL Group and Exquisite Cakes were at Hull, while Badgequo and Ultimate Office Solutions spoke in Leeds.

James Newman, chairman of Finance Yorkshire, added: “The roadshows have been a great success. We’ve had an excellent attendance at all the events, offering their views on our investment approach and asking useful questions, and we’ve had good feedback as well.”

To watch a video of the Finance Yorkshire roadshows visit www.youtube.com/user/FinanceYorkshire/featured.

Finance Yorkshire is now looking to stage a number of evening events in different locations, including Doncaster, Grimsby, Scarborough and Skipton.

Finance Yorkshire provides seedcorn, loan and equity linked investments, ranging from £15,000 to £2m to help a range of small and medium sized businesses to meet their funding requirements for growth and development

Finance Yorkshire is supported financially by the European Union. It has attracted £30million investment from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of Europe’s support for the region’s economic development through the Yorkshire and Humber ERDF Programme, £15million from Yorkshire Forward’s Single Programme, and £45million match funding from the European Investment Bank.

For more information about Finance Yorkshire, please visit www.finance-yorkshire.com or ring 0845 649 0000 

“Whilst there are still some serious challenges out there in terms of hazards to economic growth, we have enjoyed a busy start to 2012 and are looking forward to the year ahead.” 

Chairman of Leeds City Region LEP Neil McLean last week commented on the need for companies to get professional advice before approaching banks for funding to help ensure success yet less than 20% do so*.  Nick Butler chief executive of Connect Yorkshire the not-for-profit organisation which has helped over 300 high growth local companies raise £45m over the last decade: “We agree on the importance of being groomed for investment.  Over the last ten years we’ve seen companies become market leaders and fledging ideas turn into global brands - often these entrepreneurs and fast growing businesses may excel in their sector but need assistance in being ready and able to attract multi-million pound investors.  These workshops help businesspeople develop skills to enable them to take their companies to the next stage of growth.”

 ALA IB has received a £75,000 investment from Finance Yorkshire which has helped the company boost turnover and realise its expansion plans.

In recent years the company’s success selling and brokering insurance products has seen it become the largest online supplier of GAP insurance to corporate and retail sectors in the UK.

Research conducted jointly last year by ALA IB and YouGov revealed that more than three quarters of UK motorists risk being financially caught out in the event of a vehicle theft or write-off.

Managing Director Simon England explained: “GAP insurance ensures that policyholders are not left out of pocket because it covers any shortfall between the insurance pay out and the amount outstanding on the finance agreement.”

ALA IB is already working in association with Auto Trader and, alongside a specialist insurance underwriter, has also designed a unique GAP insurance product for JCB Insurance Services.

But in order to develop the company further, managing director Simon England turned to Finance Yorkshire to help.

“We were being approached by large insurance brokers who wanted to supply our new truck, tractor and plant GAP insurance products to their own commercial clients and were aware that this would be a good route to market,” said Simon. 

“However, like many companies, we found access to the finance required to support our growth extremely difficult. Fortunately, Finance Yorkshire were very easy to deal with. We appreciated their common-sense approach and found them to be very knowledgeable.

“Finance Yorkshire also understand the issues facing developing companies and their requirements – especially in rural areas like ours where historically that support hasn’t been so easy to come by.

“After a series of knock-backs trying to access funding, knowing that ALA IB fitted the profile for Finance Yorkshire and that they believed in the company’s vision gave us extra confidence that we were on the right track with our business plan.

“The funding has helped us to develop a leaner and much more cost-effective approach.”

ALA IB is now creating a Business Development role within the company and is looking to fill the new vacancy in the first quarter of this year.

The funding will also enable ALA IB to develop new online systems, as well as being used for a marketing campaign and initial cashflow to set up more commercial contracts with large insurance brokers. 

Simon said: “In the first two months of this year we are expecting turnover to be up 60 per cent compared with the same period in 2011 which will enable us to drive the growth forward, as well as diversify and add to our insurance product portfolio.

“We can now really explore the commercial market and in the next three years we expect to create up to five more jobs, which will in turn help us keep the business here in Malton.”

Finance Yorkshire Investment Manager Ian Atkinson said: “ALA IB is an experienced and established business looking to expand and they fitted our exact profile for the type of fast-growing rural businesses across North Yorkshire that we are keen to invest in.

“It is also encouraging to hear that our support will help them not only create jobs for local people but keep this growing business, which is increasingly working on a national scale, right here in the region.”

Finance Yorkshire provides seedcorn, loan and equity linked investments, ranging from £15,000 to £2m to help a range of small and medium sized businesses to meet their funding requirements for growth and development.

The project is supported financially by the European Union. It has attracted £30million investment from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of Europe’s support for the region’s economic development through the Yorkshire and Humber ERDF Programme, £15million from Yorkshire Forward’s Single Programme, and £45million match funding from the European Investment Bank.

For more information about Finance Yorkshire, please visit www.finance-yorkshire.com  or ring 0845 649 0000.

 All six advisers at Informed Financial Planning (IFP) have now obtained a Statement of Professional Standing (SPS) from the Chartered Insurance Institute – an achievement which confirms the business is RDR ready.

RDR comes into effect in January 2013, after which time financial advisers will either give independent or restricted advice.  In preparation for this date, businesses across the country have been working hard over the last few years to meet the high standards set by the FSA, which include completing a number of qualifications.

“The fact that we've met the targets set by the FSA well ahead of time is a fantastic achievement for the business and is a true reflection of the hard work of the whole team at IFP,” said managing director Kevin Ferriby.

“We recognise the important step taken by the FSA to ensure that consumers receive an appropriately qualified adviser and a defined standard of service. 

“With this in mind, we've been working hard towards our commitments for RDR since 2004 and spent considerable time ensuring that clients understand exactly what they will receive from us in terms of an ongoing service.” he added. 

This recent achievement comes hot on the heels of a continued period of growth for IFP. The business, which began trading in 2004, has seen consistent growth and more recently extended to operate out of Leeds and Milton Keynes, as well as its headquarters in Livingstone Road, Hessle.

“Being a firm of Chartered Financial Planners in Yorkshire reflects our dedication and commitment to delivering the best possible financial planning service to our clients. We are so happy to be able to continue our work at delivering this in the most effective way possible.” said Kevin Ferriby.

Informed Financial Planning aims to help individuals and businesses identify and clarify their key financial objectives and then help them to build a secure financial future that allows them to make those objectives a reality.