Designer eyewear maker Inspecs expects drop in performance
Bath-based designer eyewear manufacturer Inspecs is expecting a drop in its financial performance for the first half of the year. The company, which makes sunglasses, optical frames, lenses and low-vision products, made the announcement in a trading update for the year ending December 31, 2024. Inspecs said revenue and EBITDA - a measure of a company's overall financial performance - for the first half of 2024 would be lower than the previous year and more in line with historic trading. The AIM-listed business said the "record result" for the the first half of 2023 was partly due to elevated levels of ordering as retailers sought to boost inventory post-Covid. Inspecs, which issued the statement following its annual general meeting, also announced the launch of its first in-house designed direct-to-consumer gaming eyewear range in London. The group said it would benefit from extra capacity in the new facility in Vietnam in the second half of 2024. Like this story? Why not sign up to get the latest business news straight to your inbox. "We expect momentum to improve across the group's markets and to benefit from increased distribution and ongoing operational efficiencies," Inspecs said in a statement.
Rolls-Royce chief's £40m payday may be justified - here's why
Rolls-Royce's CEO, Tufan Erginbilgic, is set for a substantial payday after just over 18 months in the role. The FTSE 100 executive could receive as much as £40m through a combination of remuneration and the company's skyrocketing share price. In 2023, Erginbilgic's £13m remuneration package already ranked him as the third highest paid FTSE 100 CEO, behind only Astrazeneca's Pascal Soriot and Relx boss Erix Engstrom, according to a report from the High Pay Centre. Despite ongoing disputes in the City over CEO pay, it would be challenging to criticise the Turkish businessman's performance. Since his appointment last January, shares have more than quadrupled, topping London's premier index. This rally is particularly impressive given Rolls-Royce's previous struggles, including a near miss with bankruptcy during the pandemic. Erginbilgic is now set to net over £32m in paper profit from the 9.3m shares he was awarded upon joining. Critics of his pay may point to the favourable market conditions that have led to the engineering giant posting a series of excellent results. Indeed, surging profits in its aircraft engine manufacturing division can be attributed to booming demand for travel in the post-Covid era. Its defence business has also benefited from increased military spending by governments worldwide following conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, as reported by City AM. Erginbilgic has earned acclaim for his straightforward, cost-cutting approach, encapsulated by his bold assertion to investors that Rolls-Royce was a "burning platform," made shortly after assuming his role. He rapidly initiated cuts to middle management and overhauled the company's senior leadership team. Notably, the surging share price aligned with his takeover. Debates persist surrounding the justification of substantial salary increases against the current economic climate. However, Erginbilgic's standout performance has reinforced confidence in British manufacturing and London's Stock Exchange, quelling concerns about businesses moving abroad.
Ford facing industrial action by office staff in pay dispute
Automotive giant Ford is facing claims of an “unprecedented breakdown” in industrial relations as a ballot is set to take place over industrial action in an ongoing pay dispute. Unite says more than 1,200 office staff at Ford will be balloted for industrial action. Some 500 Ford managers in the union have already voted for industrial action and are taking action short of strikes. The workers are based at Ford plants including the Halewood transmissions plant in Liverpool, as well as at Daventry in Northamptonshire, Dunton in Essex, and Stratford and Dagenham, both in Greater London. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Morale amongst Ford’s white collar workers is at an all-time low and the company is facing an unprecedented breakdown in industrial relations. “Ford has caused this by offering real terms pay cuts disguised as increases, as well as by its attacks on terms and conditions and collective bargaining. “Ford’s behaviour throughout both sets of pay negotiations has been atrocious. It is an extremely wealthy company and its only motivation is greed. Unite will be supporting our members 100% in fighting back.” Unite said the company has offered many of its office workers a non-consolidated one-off payment for 2024 rather than a pay rise. A Ford spokesperson said: “We will continue to engage with Unite and our employees on a fair and balanced offer that reflects an already highly competitive pay and benefits package.”
From second-hand stalls to KSI and Marvel - how a Black Country business is forging a global fanbase for funky mouthguards
It started with pop-up stalls selling second-hand sporting goods at student events and has morphed into a £3.5 million-turnover mouthguard business boasting high-profile relationships with movie franchise Marvel and YouTuber KSI. Safejawz had the humblest of humble beginnings when university friends Ewan Jones and George Dyer were offloading unwanted kit and clothes before deciding to specialise in designing and selling snazzy versions of this otherwise mundane piece of safety equipment. The pair, both 35, are now firmly embedded in the Black Country, with an 11-strong team based at offices and studios in Aldridge and are hoping to show the world that the humble mouthguard can be fun as well as safe. Ewan, who grew up in various towns across the UK and is now based in Cheltenham, opted to study criminology at University of Manchester after being inspired by Eddie Murphy's Beverly Hills Cop movies and was planning a career in either the police or legal sector. He met Erdington native George who was studying business and management and the housemates started to think about teaming up to launch a business after graduating in 2010. Email newsletters BusinessLive is your home for business news from across the West Midlands including Birmingham, the Black Country, Solihull, Coventry and Staffordshire. Click through here to sign up for our email newsletter and also view the broad range of other bulletins we offer including weekly sector-specific updates. We will also send out 'Breaking News' emails for any stories which must be seen right away. LinkedIn For all the latest stories, views and polls, follow our BusinessLive West Midlands LinkedIn page here. Speaking exclusively to BusinessLive, Ewan picks up the story. "It kind of happened slowly. We were selling second-hand sports equipment we would pick up from wholesalers at pop-up events at university and the initial ambition was to have a bricks and mortar sports shop," he said. "We didn't have the capital for that so we had an online sports shop but we realised we couldn't compete with the likes of Sports Direct so had to be more niche. There were a couple of products we honed in on that were selling quite well - one was whistles and the other was mouthguards. "Not only was it something a big portion of the population needed to wear for sport but the sector had also been stagnant for so long. They hadn't changed in years - they were uninspiring, boring and had become that product you had to have because you were told to by your coach or mum. "We really thought we could make it something people actually wanted to wear so that's when we brought out the designs." To fund development and conduct market research, the duo set up a website called The Mouthguard Shop, selling competitor products in order to learn what customers did and did not like. They eventually launched their own mouthguards on that site and it became the best seller which told them they were onto a business winner. Ewan says it took a while to gain traction in the market which he mainly attributes to a lack of capital as the pair have remained staunchly self-funded since day one. That self-funding came via a string of "side hustles and night jobs" which included George working in bars and on construction sites while Ewan was doing shifts as a pub doorman, on-call firefighter and even a best man for hire. Safejawz as a standalone business was established in 2014 but a landmark moment came three years later when they were able to ditch the part-time jobs and concentrate on the business full time. The co-founders called on their own experiences of rugby and boxing to develop the mouthguards, working through 120 different iterations of their chemical compound before landing on the final mix. Safejawz's designs include bright hues, fangs and gold teeth and yes, they even do a simple, single-colour product and, unlike some brands, the guards can be remoulded which is particularly useful as children grow and their teeth mature. Earlier this year, they struck the deal of a lifetime when they became an official licensee of movie giant Marvel which enables them to use superhero graphics on their mouthguards such as Spider-Man, Captain America and Hulk. The tie up is also set to benefit from the forthcoming Deadpool & Wolverine movie which hits UK cinemas in late July. Ewan explains the relationship started by them chancing their arm and sending a speculative email three years ago but this was met with a response saying they were too small for Marvel to work with them. "About a year later, we heard from a licensing account manager saying the company was planning to do more in sports and they felt the link made a lot of sense if we still wanted to explore it," Ewan said. "They sent us a presentation about how it could look - it was an amazing experience to actually be pitched by Disney (Marvel's owner). "That was about two years ago so it's been a long process with lots of due diligence related to finance, intellectual property and legal but it has now finally gone to market. It's a really exciting thing to see it come to life and they've said we could move into other products with the licence." Since launching, they have sold more than one million units and can count England rugby player Joe Marler and Birmingham's own mixed martial artist Leon Edwards among their celebrity fans. But it was a diamond-encrusted piece for YouTuber KSI which really thrust the company into the glare of the national media spotlight. Prepared for his bout with Love Island star Tommy Fury last October, the mouthguard had more than 100 diamonds, 24-carat gold leaf and the logo of KSI's soft drink brand emblazoned across the front. All of this time and craftsmanship meant it carried a hefty market value of £40,000, prompting a fair few enquiries from some wealthy individuals about doing their own pieces. "It's crossed our minds that there could be an elite concierge mouthguard service to add to the business model at some point," Ewan said. The firm's revenue mix is roughly 40 per cent in the UK, the same for the US and the remaining 20 per cent across the rest of the world - a strong global performance which saw the firm receive a King's Awards for Enterprise in the international trade category earlier this year. Latest turnover sits at £3.5 million, with predictions of hitting £5.5 million in their next financial results and expectations of topping £10 million over the next couple of years, boosted by a listing with that high street staple Sports Direct. So what of the future? Ewan says he feels there is still so much growth potential in the domestic and global mouthguard market that this must remain the company's sole focus rather than chasing customers with a raft of new products. He concluded: "The licensing route is definitely something we're looking more at now whereas it was never really a thing for us. "We're open minded to expanding this side of the business but Marvel is going to be a really good test of how that can go.
Northumberland's Piramal Healthcare sees revenues rise as order pipeline grows
Contract drugs manufacturer Piramal Healthcare UK has chalked up rising revenues and narrowing losses following a year which saw significant job creation. The Morpeth-based firm, which also runs a facility in Grangemouth, now employs 632 people across its two sites, having taken on 52 new employees during 2023, latest accounts show. The Northumberland site specialises in Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), while the Grangemouth site focuses on oral solids with a niche capability in Antibody Drug Conjugation (ADC). Accounts filed at Companies House show turnover increased by 7.5% to £87.8m on the back of a growing pipeline orders, while Ebitda grew by 18.5% to £7.3m. The firm took on 52 people in the year, seeing headcount grow to 638 across the two sites. The overall loss for the year was £3.5m, down from £4.6m. A report within the accounts details how the firm’s growth comes through securing and transferring new commercial products from the global customer base, as well as by moving clinical programmes through the various stages of clinical trials towards commercial launch. Piramal also develops and supplies a range of pharmaceutical products to global markets. The report says: “Turnover was up 7.5% from £81.7m to £87.8m compared to 2022, driven by the growth of the ADC business at Grangemouth, following a strong order pipeline aligned to the global growth of the ADC sector. This increase also includes revenue generated from activities associated with preparing the new ADC manufacturing plant for operational readiness in 2024. “The losses incurred in the year also reduced by £0.44m and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) increased by £1.1m due to the growth in ADC turnover but offset by rising UK utility costs as witnessed across the UK economy and increased employee costs. Headcount grew by 52 during the year, as Grangemouth staffed up for the new ADC plant.” A geographical breakdown in turnover shows a steep drop in UK sales, from £5.5m to £2.22m, compared to European sales which increased from £34.5m to £41.8m, and rest of the world markets which saw a jump in turnover from £41.7m to £43.8m.
Sustainable packaging venture Transcend Packaging secures multi-million-pound equity boost to support expansion
Pioneering paper straw to plastic free cup manufacturer, Transcend Packaging, has secured a multi-million-pound equity investment to support ambitious expansion plans. The investment round into the sustainable packaging company, which was established in 2017 and employs around 180 at its manufacturing and R&D operation in Ystrad Mynach, has been supported by the Cardiff Capital Region’s £50m Innovation Investment Capital (IIC) fund, which is managed by Capricorn Fund Managers, with PwC providing advisory support including investment research and sourcing. Transcend Packaging’s strategic partner and one of Japan’s biggest companies, ITOCHU Corporation, also participated in the round. The exact value of the equity investment into the business, whose environmentally friendly products are helping clients such as KFC, Starbucks and McDonald’s achieve environmental, social and governance goals, has not been disclosed. However, the investment gives both investors minority equity stakes, with management and initial investors maintaining an ownership stake of around 60%. The deal is the third since the IIC fund was launched in November 2022. Its other investments were into Bridgend-based accountancy tech venture Mazuma and its maiden deal backing Cardiff-based generative artificial intelligence business Amplyfi. The fund, which has a mandate to invest up to £5m per transaction, has a number of other investment deals close to being signed off. Read More : Amplyfi deal Read More : Mazuma deal Transcend, which also has operations in Serbia and Italy, said the investment will allow it to accelerate growth as it also looks to expand its customer base outside of Europe into Japan, Canada and a growing number of US states, including California, where tighter regulations on the use of plastics are taking root in line with the regulatory environment in the UK and EU. In just three weeks of production its paper straws, if joined together, would reach around the world. The firm’s latest Welsh developed product, which saw it becoming the first to market with a polyethylene (plastic) free cup, is also gaining significant customer interest. Founder and chief executive of Transcend, Lorenzo Angelucci, said: “We are thrilled to receive this substantial investment from IIC, which underscores the confidence in our vision and strategy but also empowers us to accelerate our innovation and expand our R&D capabilities. With the support of IIC and our new investors, we will continue our disruptive journey in the sustainable packaging industry, furthering our commitment to environmental stewardship and economic growth in the Cardiff Capital Region.” The business is now looking at a new recruitment round at Ystrad Mynach. Across its three sites it employs around 360. To exploit market opportunities in North America, for its new paper cup product in particular, it has not ruled out investment in a new production facility, although a joint venture or licence agreement would be the most likely route. The business is forecasting significant revenue growth. Mr Angelucci said: “Last year we generated revenues of £21m and the projection this year is for a further 10% to 15% increase. Next year it will then probably double or increase 2.5 times.” Since setting up in Ystrad Mynach the company has paid wages totalling £22m to a workforce of which around 70% live within the Caerphilly County Borough Council area. It also has a significant economic impact from its spending activities and contracts placed with local firms within its supply chain. On a potential exit for the firm’s investors, where the Development Bank of Wales also has a minority stake, the Italian chief executive said a trade sale or flotation would be considered, but insisted that the focus over the next few years would be on expansion and valuation growth. Chair of the Cardiff Capital Region - which covers the ten local authorities of south east Wales and which is now a legal entity - Mary Ann Brocklesby, said; “Transcend is an exceptional local growth story that we are looking to help scale to even greater heights. Our investment, alongside other investors, will help encourage further growth and development in Ystrad Mynach and the broader Caerphilly region.” Leader of Caerphilly Council, Sean Morgan, said: “We’re delighted to have such a success story on our doorstep, bringing real economic benefits and social value to Caerphilly and beyond. Transcend Packaging’s success is based on innovation and sustainability and the solutions they are developing here in Caerphilly will benefit the environment and communities in many countries.” PwC partner Rob Asplin said “In only seven years, Transcend has built one of the most innovative and sustainable packaging businesses globally. Its growth to date and future commercial partnerships positions it impressively for further growth. “Sustainable packaging is a fast growth market and highlights the desire of the fund to support net zero propositions.”