Its all about the data… and what you do with it.

By Angela Prichard,

The key to success for any consultant is listening to clients and understanding the challenges they face.  Aramar Solutions Limited based at Epsilon House advises customers across a broad range of industries about using the power of business data to inform their decisions and strategy.

Working with clients from Woodbridge to Ireland, including FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 companies, Aramar operates across healthcare, energy, retail, logistics and many other markets. They offer specialist advice, support and services for medium to large and group companies, ranging from group consolidation, financial planning and reporting, and business intelligence.

 

Using the IBM Analytics suite of products, Aramar develops solutions to benefit all aspects of an organisation, from commercial and human resources to finance and operational.

 

The company has staff in Newcastle, Birmingham, Hertford and Essex, using video conferencing to keep in touch.  In Ipswich, the team has moved offices at Masterlord a number of times as the company developed.

As an IBM business partner, we specialize in the IBM Analytics suite of software for financial consolidation, planning and analysis, reporting, and Business Intelligence. Our experienced consultants can tailor solutions to customer specific needs, as well as train and mentor customers so they can own and maintain their own solutions

Bronyck Stokes Horrigan, Customer Success Manager, Aramar

Hospitality industry bounces back

By Angela Prichard,

As the hospitality industry starts to recover from the biggest setback it has ever known, with sales plummeting 64% between April 2020 and March 2021 and 12,000 licensed premises shut down, we talk to Masterlord Office Village tenant Red Oak Taverns about safeguarding the future of their 200 pubs.

Staff shortages, accrued debt and rising costs have all affected pubs reopening. Takeaway food and serving at tables outside were small steps as restrictions were relaxed.  Pubs serving food had an edge, as customers want to return, meeting family and friends for a meal out.  It’s the new normal.

The government’s support with hospitality grants, VAT rate relief and re-opening grants, together with stock credits by leading suppliers, all helped to get pubs and restaurants open again. 

The in-house finance department for Red Oak Taverns has been Ipswich based since 2018, with a team of seven led by head of finance Leigh Meadows. The company was co-founded by Aaron Brown and Mark Grunnell in 2011. 

 

‘Our pubs are built around the community, so people use them not only for eating and drinking but sometimes as a workspace, especially if they’re working from home.  All our pubs reopened successfully, with outside meals this May and now full service indoors. The commitment and hard work of our tenants, twinned with government and tailored support from ourselves has paid off. We’ve managed the business flexibly, keeping our tenants operating to serve their customers.  It’s a partnership. That’s the secret of our success.

Masterlord offers us ideal office space that we can tailor to our needs, with good comms, parking and easy access.  Working remotely was a success during lockdown, and we managed to solve problems just as swiftly. As team members return to the office, the buzz is coming back.’

Leigh Meadows, head of finance, Red Oak Taverns

Find out more at:  redoaktaverns.co.uk

Entrepreneur creates new business with abandoned cargo

By Angela Prichard,

What do you do with 50 tonnes of cabbages, six tonnes of memory foam pillows, a tonne of bottled water, 27 tonnes of animal feed or four huge drums of tomato paste?

 

Disposing of unwanted or illicit cargo by the container or pallet load poses no challenge to entrepreneur Jake Slinn at J S Global Cargo and Freight Disposal, who recently moved into a new office at Masterlord’s Epsilon House.  He started the company just three years ago at home and now runs a £500,000 business with his brother Jez.

 

It’s an impressive achievement for the 22-year-old, who saw a gap in the market for the safe and environmentally sensitive disposal or reselling of products coming into the UK through ports at Felixstowe, Liverpool, London Gateway and Grangemouth in Scotland.  His role in disposing of containers from the Ever Given container ship that blocked the Suez Canal was featured on BBC News and in the EADT and Ipswich Star.

Jake, who admits he didn’t excel at school, went on to do an apprenticeship in waste management with a local council before joining industry leaders Sackers to learn the waste game.  His father Nigel is his mentor, playing a big role in his life and encouraging his business ambitions when Jake saw an opportunity to dispose of abandoned cargoes. His mum also contributes to the business by handling the accounts.

 

“The safe destruction of goods is our core business, with freight that cannot be resold. Everything is tracked and recorded and we always aim to recycle or repurpose, to avoid landfill or incineration – although that’s the only option for some items.  Organic waste such as bananas, pineapples or cabbages which are not fit for human consumption go into an anaerobic digestion plant to produce fuel such as biogas.  Electric scooters that do not comply with UK safety laws are broken down into component parts and recycled.

 

“We work closely with shipping companies, insurers, importers and the regulatory teams at ports including Trading Standards, Border Force, Port Health and Plant Health. We’re a one-stop shop for them as we remove 5-10 containers a week, plus pallets, dispose of the cargo and return the containers for use. We’re lucky to work with Viking Logistics at Masterlord, who take care of our container and pallet movements.”

Jake Slinn, JS Global Cargo & Freight Disposal

 

The company is growing rapidly and is able to sell some goods through wholesalers of abandoned stock, such as 5,000 steel waste bins, short-dated drinks and food still suitable for consumption, T-shirts and kitchen utensils.  Some freight, such as a cargo of breast implants that did not conform to UK standards, still have to be destroyed.


“Running a small business can be lonely, not interacting with other people except online or on the phone.  Moving to an office at Epsilon House means I’m now part of a great business community, with all the backup I need from reception services, meeting rooms, comms and of course other companies like Viking Logistics that we work with. It gives us a professional outlook, with 24-hour access and we’re close to the A14.”

Jake Slinn, JS Global

Extreme logistics – solutions to the impossible

By Angela Prichard,

When it comes to moving unusual cargoes, the specialist team at Kestrel Liner Agencies are experts at making the impossible possible.  They recently moved into Epsilon House on Masterlord Office Village and operate worldwide with freight that doesn’t fit in a container but needs dedicated handling by road and sea.

From a 33-ton aircraft cabin simulator over 6m wide, to giant air-separation units more than 80m long, storage tanks, refrigeration plant and industrial machinery, nothing fazes Des Nott and his colleagues Melanie Moore and Sarah Wilson. 

The Kestrel Group has offices in Felixstowe, Manchester, Hull, Dover, Aberdeen, Stansted, Miami and throughout the Caribbean

The Ipswich team deals with difficult project logistics such as moving a huge Boeing 777 cabin training simulator from Manchester to Amsterdam Schiphol airport by road and by barge.

“We’re used to challenges. It’s all about planning, surveying suitable road routes and escorts for large vehicles and finding the most efficient way to transport a large cargo safely door-to-door.  With the cabin simulator, we even used a barge on Dutch waterways to avoid road closures for part of the route.  Once the shrink-wrapped simulator arrived at Air France and KLM’s flight safety centre, it was fitted on a hydraulic platform, allowing a full range of “inflight” movement for cabin crew training.”

Des Nott, Kestrel Liner Agencies

Kestrel Liner Agencies represents sales and operations for shipping lines such as JSA Global, Baltic and European Shipping, China United Lines and Tropical Shipping – operating a container service between Miami and most of the Caribbean islands. Kestrel has received two prestigious Queen’s Awards for International Trade. 

With such an international business, the biggest challenge for the team is working with time differences and finding space on ships, currently in short supply and leading to rising freight costs.

“Masterlord has great transport links, is close to Felixstowe and has a good support network in place with all the services offered at Epsilon House, including high-speed broadband and free parking.”

Des Nott, Kestrel Liner Agencies

Find out more at kestrel.com