North East-based GB Bank announced it is looking to double its headcount after securing £85m in new investment.
The Middlesbrough-based bank, which specialises in funding property projects for SME property developers and investors, has secured the additional capital from new investor Hera Holdings and existing shareholder the Teesside Pension Fund. Jersey-based Hera Holdings is investing an initial £40m in GB Bank over the next 12 months, with the intention of making available a further £40m in the two years after that.
The Teesside Pension Fund, which provides pensions for local authority employees on Teesside, is investing another £5m, having been one of GB Bank’s original investors. GB Bank said the new investment would allow it to increase its ability to lend to companies wanting finance for property investments and regeneration across the UK, as well as doubling its current headcount of 42 people.
GB Bank CEO and co-founder Stephen Lancaster said: “This investment allows us to support even more property developers and investors with the vital funding they need whilst delivering exceptional customer service, which has been our hallmark since day one.”
SSE Energy Solutions signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Newcastle City Council in a partnership which is set to accelerate delivery of its Net Zero Action Plan, while also fostering a green skills workforce of the future.
The energy giant is set to launch a regional headquarters in Newcastle as part of the move, which will create jobs and accelerate decarbonisation across the city. The MoU pledges to provide more long-term, skilled jobs for local people in the low carbon economy, by pushing the city’s position at the forefront of the green industrial revolution.
The FTSE 100 firm, which is based in Perth, Scotland, operates across the UK and Ireland, helping local authorities and businesses on their journey to net zero. Its agreement with the authority comes as Newcastle and the River Tyne Economic Corridor have been designated as a priority area for the £160m North East Investment Zone, which will drive investment and innovation in clean energy.
City council leader Nick Kemp said: “SSE’s commitment to Newcastle marks a significant step towards the realisation of our net zero ambitions and will help foster inclusive economic growth in communities across the city.
“Newcastle holds the distinction of being the first city in the world where the city council, university and hospital trust each declared a climate emergency and committed to being carbon neutral by 2030 and by joining forces with SSE, we intend to show we are serious about building a more sustainable future for our city and region.”
Newcastle marketing tech company PolyBox is set for expansion after receiving a six figure investment boost.
PolyBox has been launched by Newcastle University graduates, Rojin Yarhmadi and Nikolaus Benopoulos to operate in the fast-paced world of automated data analysis, reporting and AI. Now Northstar Ventures has invested £300,000 in PolyBox as part of a total funding round of £500,000 was led by the North East Innovation Fund supported by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Northstar Ventures, alongside Creative UK’s North of Tyne Culture and Creative Investment Programme and angel investors.
The funds will support the development of PolyBox’s innovative AI marketing technology, as well as help it to expand its team. The company’s data analysis and reporting tool enables marketing agencies to view data from multiple sources, like Google and Meta, in a real time dashboard and generate reports for end customers.
Plans to create a £1bn battery storage facility at Teesworks have been unveiled. Teesworks Ltd struck a deal with leading battery storage specialist NatPower UK for an option to build one of Europe’s biggest Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) at the Long Acres section of the 2,500 acre Teesworks site.
The company is part of the NatPower group, an energy transition developer with bases around the world including the UK, US, Italy and Kazakhstan. The facility – which will take up 50 acres of land – will enable up to 1000 Megawatts (MW) of additional green energy to be plugged into the grid, and the group’s plans include the potential to set up an electric vehicle charging facility as part of the complex.
A Newcastle city centre building will be transformed into a boutique hotel, bar and restaurant after the lease was snapped up by new owners. Metropolitan House, at 19-21 Collingwood Street, was once used as offices but it has lain empty for a number of years. Now Newcastle-based Sayturk Group is poised to lead a radical refurbishment of the building to transform it into a hotel, complete with a rooftop terrace, after acquiring the lease.
Sayturk Group has pledged to carry out significant refurbishment to bring it back to its former glory, saying the 21-bedroom hotel will reflect the building’s history.
Hotel plans for the site were originally secured by the now defunct High Street Hospitality – part of the collapsed High Street Group – after it acquired the building in 2019. Those plans were revived last November when Kans and Kandy secured planning permission to reinvigorate the empty building. The Metropolitan House lease – and several of the other recent deals – was negotiated by colleagues from Sweeney Miller Law’s commercial property department.
Zafer Saygilier, CEO of Sayturk Group, said: “This is our seventh deal completed in the last 24 months with the assistance of Surbhi and her team and another major project in the final stages of completion taking this to eight projects in total.”
NWH Group(Image: Chocolate Chip Photography)
Waste management business the NWH Group invested £1.1m into its Gateshead base to boost its recycling capabilities.
The business has ploughed the capital into a new construction and demolition waste processing plant for its site in Blaydon. The new Kiverco equipment, which is set to be fully operational this month, replaces its existing materials recycling plant that is set to be used elsewhere in the group.
The move comes three years after The NWH Group, which has its headquarters in Edinburgh, acquired family firm J&J Stanley Recycling in Cowen Road, Blaydon for an undisclosed sum, extending its reach in the region. The group, which has a number of bases across Scotland, also has a site in North Shields as well the trade waste service centre in Blaydon that was previously home to collapsed construction group Owen Pugh, which takes waste recycling from the office, industrial, construction, healthcare, hospitality, and leisure sectors.
Northumbrian Water secured more than £10m to help fund innovation projects that aim to improve its operations.
The company has won backing from the fourth round of water regulator Ofwat’s £40m Water Breakthrough Challenge. A total of four projects have been backed. The largest amount of funding – £5.1m – has gone to River Deep Mountain AI, a partnership with technology company Cognizant which uses AI tools to gather data and create digital models which will help improve the health of local rivers and seas.
Funding has also been won for Pipebot Patrol, which will see the development of a sewer robot that will crawl through miles of pipe to inspect pipework and will raise alerts to the precise location of blockages, and to METREAU project, which aims to help reduce energy needs and carbon footprint in the treatment of wastewater. Northumbrian Water has also won a second round of funding for its Support for All project, which aims to create a “one-stop approach” for customers with priority needs, particularly those in vulnerable circumstances.
Angela MacOscar, head of innovation at Northumbrian Water Group, said: “There is a lot of change happening in our industry at the moment and this is a huge step in the right direction – I can’t wait to see how these new projects progress.”