RLWC2021 InspirationALL ambassador Jodie Cunningham returned to her former school, Cardinal Newman Catholic High School in Warrington, to present one of the first seven CreatedBy RLWC2021 Capital Grants projects, which range from kit and equipment for weekly touch rugby league sessions at Castleford Tigers Women to a clubhouse refresh for Wigan St Judes ARLFC.

The seven chosen small grant schemes, part of the tournament’s wider InspirationALL legacy initiative, are the first to receive funding for the provision of capital items, kit and equipment or to refurbish and improve existing facilities.

Applications for grants have been open since October 2018, with a total of £10 million available for local clubs and community projects to create a positive impact. £9 million will be allocated to large-scale requests costing more than £15,000, with the remaining £1 million being granted to smaller-scale projects. The government investment, delivered in partnership with the RFL and Sport England, is part of RLWC2021’s ambitious plan to leave a lasting legacy.

The grants have been awarded to the following:

• Aspatria Hornets RLFC – The club has been granted cash to purchase a professional lawn mower for their new home pitch and some rugby equipment for their juniors

• Cardinal Newman Catholic High School in Warrington – Funds will go towards the school’s aim to increase female engagement in the region with new equipment and goal posts allowing the school to develop its training, competition and guidance offering to potential new players

• Castleford Tigers Women – The club will use the funds to establish a weekly touch rugby club for girls with a variety of rugby equipment

• Drighlington Amateur Rugby League Club – CreatedBy will replace their old rusty posts, with new ones and will supply new post protectors to go with them

• Golborne High School in Wigan– The school has been awarded new rugby equipment, kit and post protectors

• South Leeds Spartans ARLFC – The club has been awarded with new kit and equipment to grow the number of girls teams it can provide. The new under-8s and under-10s sides will join the already established under-12s, under-14s and under-16s groups

• Wigan St Judes ARLFC – The club aims to complete a refurbishment of their existing clubhouse by replacing doors and windows, modernising the bar facilities, replacing flooring and improving sanitary areas

Jon Dutton, Chief Executive of the Rugby League World Cup 2021, said: “It’s incredibly exciting to announce the first round of funding, which has been made available to help these seven worthy projects. Our CreatedBy Capital grants will make an immediate impact more than two years before our tournament begins and we look forward to seeing more projects get underway very soon.”

Ralph Rimmer, Chief Executive of the Rugby Football League, added: “There are so many reasons for the game to be excited about RLWC2021, and the CreatedBy Capital Grants Programme is right up there. These seven awards are the first of many over the next couple of years and give a hint of the range of clubs and other organisations that are going to benefit. Congratulations to the seven successful bidders, and I know they’ll put the investment to good use for the development of Rugby League.”

Calvin Capital (Calvin) has agreed to acquire Wigan-based Lowri Beck, one of the leading providers of meter installation and data collection services to the UK energy market for an undisclosed sum.

The acquisition, which is subject to certain conditions, will see Lowri Beck join Calvin to create an end-to-end market offering comprising the installation, servicing, managing and funding of domestic metering assets.  This agreement also provides a platform for the future funding, deployment and management of a wider range of digital energy assets, including battery storage and EV charging infrastructure.

Lowri Beck was formed by its founder Bob Vernon over 20 years ago and today has a workforce of approximately 2,000 people across Britain, with offices in Wigan and Dunstable, plus a dedicated training centre in Ashton-in-Makerfield.

The company currently installs and exchanges over 300,000 domestic meters annually, collects data from another 5 million meters and is heavily involved in the nationwide smart meter roll-out. It will continue to operate as an independent brand serving both large and small energy suppliers.

Calvin is a leading Meter Asset Provider (MAP) for energy suppliers in the roll-out of smart meters and in the development of a digital energy infrastructure. Calvin owns over 7.3 million installed meter assets.

Commenting on the acquisition, Bert Pijls, Calvin’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “This is a very positive development for two complementary businesses and for the wider energy market. Bringing together Calvin with Lowri Beck will enable us to create a ‘one-stop-shop’ offering that will be available to all energy suppliers and new market entrants through a broader array of services, ranging from full Metering-as-a-Service to bespoke installation, servicing or funding solutions.

“In addition, Lowri Beck’s expertise will help Calvin to accelerate the development of a sustainable digital energy infrastructure beyond smart meters.”

Jon Parr, Managing Director of Lowri Beck, said: “We are excited to be joining Calvin. Having built our business on delivering service excellence and innovation, with Calvin’s support we look forward to leveraging the resources of the new combined business to build greater smart meter ownership and installation capacity. This agreement also provides a broad platform for developing new services in energy infrastructure growth areas, such as battery storage and EV charging.”

Lowri Beck founder, Bob Vernon, commented: “I am very pleased to see the company I started over 20 years ago become part of such a dynamic business. The energy market is fast moving and this acquisition will accelerate business growth while creating opportunities for personal development and career progression for our people.”

AlphaBiolabs, which performs the DNA tests for ITV’s The Jeremy Kyle Show, has achieved a UK first by introducing non-invasive prenatal paternity testing at its laboratory in Warrington.

Previously, samples had to be sent to the United States for analysis, leading to a wait of at least two weeks before the results were known.

The company has invested in advanced technology at its lab to test samples from the mother and the alleged father entirely in-house, from as little as six weeks after conception.

Managing director David Thomas said there has been a 72 per cent increase in the number of tests that have been ordered since the venture was launched last month.

The test can safely identify whether a man is a baby’s biological father before the child is born. A blood sample is taken from the mother and a mouth swab sample from the man.

The DNA of the adults and the unborn baby is extracted at the lab and AlphaBiolabs’ team of geneticists then examine up to 35 markers in these profiles.

The testing process works on the same principle as standard DNA paternity tests. By examining the baby’s DNA together with that of the mother and alleged father, it is possible to determine whether the baby shares the man’s DNA. When the tested man is not the biological father, there will be differences.

AlphaBiolabs’ test gives at least 99.9 per cent probability of paternity where the father is confirmed as the biological father.

Previously, procedures such as amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling would have been relied upon to gain a sample of an unborn baby’s DNA. Both of these invasive methods incur a slight risk of miscarriage.

Under the new method, there is no risk to the unborn child, as a blood sample is only needed from the mother.

AlphaBiolabs is offering results within a week as standard, with an express service providing the outcomes in four days.

Samples can be collected by the company’s staff at a convenient address or customers can use one of AlphaBiolabs’ 10 walk-in centres across the UK.

Managing director David Thomas said: “Bringing the paternity testing service in-house is a significant move for AlphaBiolabs.

“Not only are we speeding up this process, we can also now offer the test as early as six weeks after conception. This is a first for the UK and for Europe.

“This investment further demonstrates our position as the industry leader for ground-breaking services. We have been extremely pleased with the take-up in the first few weeks of the roll-out and are excited about future offerings in the pipeline.”

One of Manchester’s most characterful office buildings is now fully let having secured 7 new occupiers in under twelve months.

Clayton House was purchased in 2016 by T&M Investments for £2.7m and has since undergone a full refurbishment before being re-launched to the market last year.

The final letting sees Allure Bridals taking 1,799 square feet on the first floor of the building. The letting was secured by agents Avison Young who, alongside joint agents Daniel Harris & Co, have let space to HTA Design, Bliss Marketing, Digital Code, JK Attire, Property Hub and The Candidate totaling 15,241 sq ft over five floors. The building also has the award-winning Bundobust restaurant in the basement, offering Indian street food and craft beer.

The office lettings have been secured on 5-year leases at a headline rent of £19.50 per sq ft, which the largest letting being the Digital Code lease at 3,240 sq ft in February this year.

Clayton House overlooks Piccadilly Gardens and is located on one of Manchester’s busiest thoroughfares close to the Northern Quarter and Piccadilly Station. The Grade 2 listed building has undergone a sympathetic restoration programme to reveal its original wooden floors and preserved Edwardian ceramic tiles while creating modern, functional working space to include a new air conditioning system, shower facilities and new kitchens and wc’s on every floor.

Commenting on the lettings Harry Skinner, Associate Director of Avison Young said: “These lettings show continued demand for quality office space in the Northern Quarter, particularly in the growing tech sector. We are delighted that our strategy of restoring the building’s character features and upgrading the facilities to meet the requirements of modern businesses has proved successful.”