Jennifer and Laurence talk about a major investment in Northern Ireland, a new hotel at a site with links to a pioneer in land speed records and an energy services deal in Northern Ireland.
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00:00A major investment in North Yorkshire, an energy services deal in Northern Ireland and
00:05some positive news from the wider economy. That's all coming up in today's business briefing.
00:16My name is Lawrence Colganan. And I'm Jennifer O'Keefe.
00:19So morning, Jen. How are you today? Very good, thank you. How are you?
00:23I'm fine, thank you. And I understand you've got some really exciting news from North Yorkshire
00:27to tell us about. I do indeed, yes.
00:29So Schneider Electric, that is a French multinational company in North Yorkshire that specializes
00:38in digital automation and energy management. So they have announced today that they're
00:43investing £42 million into a new manufacturing site in Scarborough. So the investment would
00:51create 200 jobs, which the company said is needed to meet the increased demand for electric
00:58equipment to drive the UK's move towards cleaner energy. The site is almost triple
01:06the size of Schneider's existing facility. Right, so they are already based there, are
01:10they? Yeah.
01:11This is a big expansion. Exactly. The plant is expected to be net zero
01:15in scope one and two emissions when it's open early 2025.
01:19Right, OK. And I saw the government were on there hailing the news. So positive all round.
01:24Exactly, yes. Absolutely. Good to see. Well, yes, here at Insider, we cover major
01:30sort of investments like the one Jen's just described, but also some smaller investments
01:33catch our eye. And one of those was in Southport, where JD Weatherspoon, everyone knows is the
01:39major pub chain. Well, they're investing in a new hotel in the town. They have a current
01:45pub, the Sir Henry Seagrave, and they're going to develop above that, develop about 30 rooms.
01:52And the reason the story caught my eye was actually because of Sir Henry himself. He
01:58was one of these sort of, you know, from the 1920s, sort of adventurer, pioneer. And he
02:04set a new land speed record on Birkdale Sands, which is near Southport. So the pub sort of
02:10recognises his achievements. That was in the interestingly named Sunbeam Lady Bird. Yeah,
02:17so it's great to see his legacy living on. And I'm sure that will help with Southport's
02:21tourism offering and so on. Now, away from Southport, over to the Irish Sea, Jen, you've
02:28got some news from Northern Ireland for us. I do indeed, yes. So up in Belfast in County
02:33Antrim, Refresh and I, that is an energy services business, and they call themselves a one-stop
02:39shop for homeowners in reducing their carbon emissions. So they offer products and services
02:44to homeowners across Northern Ireland to help with making their homes more energy efficient
02:51and to reduce their carbon footprint. Is that things like solar panels, heat pumps? Exactly.
02:56Yeah. So the company announced that it has secured a £200,000 loan from the investment
03:03fund for Northern Ireland. And the deal was facilitated by White Rock. Our friends of
03:08Insider. Excellent. Exactly. So the company said the loan would help to accelerate growth
03:14and to be able to maintain the momentum it's kept since opening in 2021. So in the last
03:20two years, it has gone from a startup to now employing over 35 people and with an annual
03:27turnover of £4 million. Fantastic. So hopefully that will provide a platform to go even further
03:32up. Well, great news. Great news. Well, Northern Ireland theme to the next item, actually, because
03:39in some good news for the wider economy, the Halifax has announced that August was the
03:45highest amount for house prices in two years. And that growth was actually at its fastest in
03:51Northern Ireland. So it's good to see that house prices going up. So I think that's an indicator
03:56of the wider economy, how it's performing. Wales also enjoyed growth and the most expensive houses,
04:02Jenny, are you going to guess where the most expensive houses were? I would say London. Yes,
04:06by some significant amount. But they were also on the rise as well. So some good news there.
04:12Anyhow, to find out more about the stories we've been speaking about today,
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04:25That's everything from us today. See you next time. Bye.