One of the world’s leading providers of airline catering services is expanding its UK operations with a move to a new state-of-the-art 102,500 sq ft industrial/warehouse unit at Manchester Airport.

Alpha LSG, which is jointly owned by dnata and LSG Sky Chefs, has agreed a lease at Unit 4 of the £100 million Icon Manchester Airport development, securing its future in the region.

Icon Industrial, a strategic joint venture by Stoford Developments and TPG Real Estate, will deliver a single highly specified 95,000 sq ft industrial/warehouse building and 7,500 sq ft of integrated office accommodation, with 141 car parking spaces.

Alpha LSG provides in-flight catering, onboard retail and logistics services to more than 80 of the industry’s biggest operators. The new development will be home to Alpha LSG’s bonded warehouse and is almost double the size of its existing facility at Manchester Airport, representing its step towards innovative and exciting technological initiatives.

It is the latest major occupier to be unveiled by Icon Industrial at the rapidly growing logistics area of Airport City, following the announcement of a new logistics and global content creation studio for online beauty retailer, The Hut Group. The site is also home to DHL, Amazon, a BP Petrol Filling Station, Costa Coffee and M&S Simply Food.

Dan Gallagher, Joint Managing Director of Stoford Developments, said: “We are delighted to announce an occupier for Unit 4 of Icon Manchester Airport, which was secured before work has even begun on the development. Alpha LSG is the latest in a strong list of occupiers to have chosen this exciting scheme as a key strategic location for its future business growth and we look forward to delivering the facility.

“Icon Manchester Airport is a 45-acre build to suit logistics/warehouse development that will continue the fulfillment of the Airport City masterplan, expanding and enhancing the logistical facilities on site. The scheme offers excellent road, air and rail connections with immediate access to junction 6 of the M56 motorway and Greater Manchester.”

Alex Forbes, Chief Executive Officer of Alpha LSG, said: “This new building is a significant investment in our future in Manchester and beyond. We see this as an opportunity to launch lots of new improved initiatives across our entire network such as continued environmental agenda, the reduction in single use plastics, agile working, wellbeing in the workplace and interactive communications to name but a few.”

Sir Richard Leese, Leader of Manchester City Council, said: “Airport City is proving an incredibly attractive location for some of the biggest names in global business. It’s great to see investor confidence remains high as yet another international organisation chooses Manchester, helping Airport City go from strength to strength.”

The refurbishment of a listed eight-storey building in Manchester’s Northern Quarter has won a top award.

Designed by Manchester-based architects Atelier MB and SpaceInvader Design, the £8m scheme at 35 Dale Street was named best refurbishment/regeneration outside central London at the Office Agents Society Development Awards.

It was shortlisted alongside projects in Birmingham, Woking and Hammersmith for the accolade. The awards ceremony, recognising excellence in office development and transactions across the UK, was held at the Tower of London.

Atelier MB designed the refurbishment for client Helical, which owns 35 Dale Street, a grade II listed building constructed in 1903 for the cotton trade.

The building was overhauled inside and out to create 54,000 sq ft of modern office space over six floors.

In their summary the judges said they were impressed by the utilisation of space throughout the building.

They added: “This cotton factory has been expertly transformed to provide a contemporary workplace whilst both retaining and highlighting the existing features.”

Andrew Burns, managing director of Atelier MB, which specialises in heritage refurbishment projects, said: “It was a delightful project to work on. The building has been transformed into fully-let office space of high quality which is full of character and respects its history.

“The design reveals the raw industrial beauty of the building for the first time in many years.

“Extensive communication with the city council and conservation officer ensured a smooth delivery and an outcome that was welcomed by all stakeholders.

“We’re thrilled that the project has been recognised with this prestigious industry award.”

North West-focused Praetura Ventures has annoucned it is backing fertility startup Dr Fertility in a £1m seed round. The first investment of Praetura’s maiden EIS Fund will be used to develop Dr Fertility into a full-service digital health platform.

Founded by Dr Lucy Buckley, PhD and Kobi McCardle in June 2018, Dr Fertility was created to address the problem of conflicting, unreliable information about fertility. With patients having to wait up to two years between GP advice and the first outpatient appointment, and no central, official platform for fertility advice, Lucy and Kobi saw the need to support the 1 in 7 couples in the UK that are affected by infertility.

Dr Fertility is designed to help couples navigate the enormous complexity of fertility, not least the substantial emotional aspect, with the view of becoming a one-stop-shop for everything people might need throughout their fertility journey. The investment will enable Dr Fertility to achieve this goal through technological upgrades and key hires. Knowing that fertility requires a combination of approaches, Dr Fertility is developing a digital platform to provide much-needed authoritative and personalised advice through products, services and consultancy.

As the business undergoes rapid growth, with revenue expected to double year-on-year, Praetura Ventures will be a key partner in Dr Fertility’s development. As well providing 90% of the seed investment through its recently announced £15m EIS fund, Praetura Ventures will help the startup manage its financial, cash and recruitment strategy as it quickly grows its goods and services. Praetura Ventures will also contribute its experience in implementing tech roadmaps as Dr Fertility develops its digital platform, alongside board-level digital marketing support.

National law firm Gateley PLC advised Praetura on the investment, providing legal support and guidance. Legal support for Dr Fertility was provided by Simon Wallwork (Partner) and Janet Robinson (Associate), from Manchester-based law firm Slater Heelis.

Dr Lucy Buckley, PhD, co-founder of Dr Fertility, said: “At Dr Fertility we are passionate about using our backgrounds in, healthcare, ecommerce and marketing to provide a one stop destination to support people on their fertility journey. We work with leading experts to develop fertility education and offer quality products to help people to better understand their own fertility and educate them on the positive steps they can take. Our vision is to build the world leading digital health platform for fertility, offering an end-to-end solution to help support people wherever they are on their journey. With the backing of Praetura Ventures and our Angel investor, we’re looking forward to making our platform scalable so we can reach as many people around the world as possible.””

Guy Weaver, Director at Praetura Ventures, said: “Dr Fertility’s ambition has impressed us since day one. They’ve already grown so much in the short time they’ve been operating, which shows us they’re gaining a lot of momentum. With their unique proposition in a growing market we’re confident we’re going to see great things from Lucy, Kobi and their growing team.”

Tech-enabled training provider Digital Training Solutions (DTS) has set out plans to crack the US, Africa and China following long-term support from The Growth Company.

Having worked with DTS since 2016, The Growth Company (GC) has provided a wide range of training and funding services to the Bolton-based business. This includes using GC Business Growth Hub’s mentoring and Access to Finance services, as well as receiving a £25,000 start-up loan from GC Business Finance in 2016.

The Growth Company has also played a key role in supporting their overseas ambitions, with DTS receiving support from GC’s International Trade Team to secure a £20,000 export grant under the Department for International Trade’s ‘Exporting Is Great Campaign’.

In May this year, GC Angels completed a £250,000 joint equity investment with Maven, as the business looks to develop immersive technology in the training sector.

Most recently, the company has secured a place on The Growth Company’s Global Scale-Up Programme, which gives 50 of the region’s SMEs the opportunity to visit a key international growth market and a combination of tailored coaching and bootcamp support.

Founded by Mike Todd and Geseth Garcia in 2014 after working abroad in post-war Kosovo, DTS is an online learning company that uses cutting edge interactive video technology to create bespoke courses, with the objective of bringing a gaming approach to training. The firm has developed its Near-Life™ technology to offer a bespoke first-person experience that challenges users to make real-time decisions.

DTS has also demonstrated its scalability overseas. The business worked alongside the Norwegian Refugee Council, training Syrian aid workers entirely in Arabic to deliver support according to humanitarian guidelines. This saw the business claim an ‘Excellence in Learning Design’ award at the 2018 Learning and Tech Awards.

DTS is now looking to continue its journey with The Growth Company through further funding, support from the Department for International Trade to continue expanding internationally as well as showing an interest in the Made Smarter Programme and Global Scale-Up Programme.

GC Angels, part of the Growth Company, offers equity investment from £250,000 up to £2m. In addition, the company can reach, prepare and prequalify investments, as well as invest alongside associate angels and investment partners. In the last year, GC Angels invested £4.1m into eight businesses.

Mark Hughes, Group CEO at The Growth Company, said: “DTS is a company with enormous potential, both in the UK and internationally. Its innovative training technology is disrupting the market, and the work done by the company is already generating awards and attention from around the globe.

“The business is a brilliant example of how The Growth Company and its services interlink to support economic development across the North West. DTS has gone through a full journey with GC, from start-up loan to this equity investment, as well as numerous training and development programmes. It’s especially pleasing that this journey is continuing, with the business being accepted onto the Global Scale-Up Programme to support their expansion internationally.

“GC Angels was designed to address the imbalance in the market, with only one in 10 VC deals to mixed founders, so being able to support a mixed founded team is extremely pleasing. We wish them the best of luck and look forward to our continued work together.”

Geseth Garcia: “We are very excited to embark on the next phase of our business, which involves rolling out the Near-Life™ software and technology to a wider user base, with the help and support of The Growth Company and the GC Angels network. We want to develop a learning eco-system around our technology so that training professionals can license the software to develop and enhance their learning content delivery.”