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businessupdate News…


Commercially speaking


By David Jones,


Surveyor, Hutchings andThomas, Chartered Surveyors


New environmental legislation affecting all commercial property owners comes into force next month with fines for those not adhering to these laws. Environmental performance certificates need to be


in place for all properties marketed for sale or rent and there are stiff penalties for those who don’thave them in force –soget your skates on if you are one of those and get in touch. One problem with having empty property ,perhaps


as aresult of flat lining economy, is the need to ensure that it is properly maintained. And this doesn’tjust mean keeping the building up


to date in terms of repairs but equally important is ensuring that it is regularly, perhaps weekly, checked. The situation was brought home quite recently when


Icalled to carry outaweekly inspection check on a building on Newport’sCharles Street. Ifound the aforementioned building alive with people


hell bent on scavenging and stripping the property of all its metal. Luckily the long arm of the law was soon in attendance and some of those involved apprehended. But the lesson this gives to those with empty


property on their hands is one, make sure that it’s properly secured and, two, ensure that the property is regularly inspected by authorised agency. This serves a couple of purposes. It can help to spot potential problems with aleak or broken window and also ensures that insurance on the building remains valid. You’d be surprised at the number of people who fail


to read the details of their insurance policies, one of which will most probably stipulate that the cover could lapse or become void if regular checks by professionals is not carried out. Newport, as anyone who happens to stroll thorough


the city centre knows, has its fair share of empty shops at the moment. Probably the most vacant space the city has had in ageneration perhaps more. Now there are anumber of well-known and oft


quoted reasons for this. One of which is the state of the economy but there will be an upturn of that we can be confident and bearing that in mind it’saswell to have our stock looking as attractive as possible. To set out our stall as well and attractively as we can. Because despite the current and persistent gloom


commercial agents for and from major blue chip occupiers maintain their surveys of likely places to invest and occupy, come the upturn and you can bet your life that they are out and about in Newport. Which makes it all the more galling for the city to


recently gain all the wrong headlines when named as having the dirtiest streets in Wales. Wemay be down but we’re most certainly not out.


However, litter strewn streets make it look as though we are on our uppers.Wesimply can’tallow this image of this proud and great city of ours to prevail at any time but most especially not in this the tenth year of Newport being named acity. The city could very well soon be on everyone’slips


for the right reasons if Newport County can prevail in the two legger against the mighty Wealdstone in the FA Trophy and go on to bag an historic Wembley final place.


With agold-plated opportunitys like this to promote


our city and have the eyes of the rest of the UK, maybe even from around the globe, on us we need to be at our best and rubbish ravaged streets just don’tdousany justice at all.


Agrandmother who was so impressed by adiet which helped her lose five stone she set up her own diet consultancy and an unemployed mum who turned her cake-making hobby into aprofitable business are among Wales’ newest female entrepreneurs. Eileen Budd, 46, of Tredegar, whose


weight loss also dramatically improved her health, and Angharad Thomas, 41, of Pembrokeshire, are among an increasing number of women who, despite recent figures showing a27.1 per cent rise in Welsh female unemployment, are proving that self-employment is fast becoming aviable option for the female workforce. Their achievement are thanks to the Governments New Enterprise Allowance scheme which is being delivered by public service provider A4enterprise in Wales.


Launched in Wales in July, the NEA


gives practical advice and financial support to budding entrepreneurs to help them into sustainable self-employment. The NEA is one of anumber of Get


Britain Working measures which aim to fight poverty, support the most vulnerable and help people break the cycle of benefit dependency. In November, the NEA celebrated


helping 100 unemployed people set up their own businesses. The latest round of NEA entrepreneurs include: •Angharad Thomas, 41 –After being forced to give up awell-paid job to cope with illness in the family, single parent Angharad has used her artistic flair to set up abusiness making celebration cakes, •Eileen Budd, 46 –Soimpressed by the diet plan that helped her lose nearly five stone, and restore her health, Eileen has set up adiet consultancy to help others improve their lives,


Tuesday March 6, 2012 Womenaredoingit forthemselves


•Clare Johnson, 39, of Abergavenny – After re-locating to Wales, former NHS manager Clare has managed to get her foot in the door by setting up two podiatry clinics, and •Lyn Evans, 50, of Crick –Refusing to be bowed by redundancy from adesign firm after five years, Lyn set up her own business, making bespoke curtains and blinds from the top floor of her house. Other new entrepreneurs include:


•Lee Woolls, 41, of Cardiff –Unable to find work in the financial services industry, Lee has found inspiration from an electronic cigarette which helped him kick his 60 aday habit, •David Jordan, 51, of Chepstow – Concerned he was being overlooked by the building industry because of his age, David is proving that age and experience still matter by running his own successful painting and decorating firm after three years out of work.


Topauctionhouse teamsupwith lender A


Newport-based aution house is the latest to team up with lender Auction Finance Limited to


offer faster funding to purchasers. Paul Fosh Auctions is the


biggest auction house in Wales and has eight auctions lined up in 2012 which take place every six weeks in Cardiff. The business recorded sales


of £16.75m in 2011 from 304 lots sold out of the total of 406 offered. It auctions arange of properties including industrial, residential, industrial, commercial offices, garages and plots of land, on behalf of a range of owners from local authorities to private sellers. Last year, in Wales, £93.5m


was raised at auction coming from 1,217 sales out of 1,633 lots on offer. This agreement with


national lender Auction Finance Limited means that investors can get fundstransferred within 24 hours following completion of aPaul Fosh Auctions sale so they can meet the tighter deadlines under auction rules. Paul Fosh, founder and managing


Paul Fosh


more services to investors.” Scott Hendry, national development


director of Paul Fosh Auctions, said: “We’d heard good reports from property investors who have used Auction Finance and we’ve wanted to work with the team for awhile. “This arrangement gives us a


competitive advantage to enable purchasers to secure funds quickly to get the property they want on the day. “We’re one of the fastest growing


auction houses in the UK and we’re ambitious for further growth in Wales. Arrangements like this enable us to offer


manager of Auction Finance Limited, said: “We’re pleased to be working with Paul and his team. The most important thing for property professionals buying at auction is the ability to complete quickly. Having funds in place enables better opportunities to be completed so that property professionals can profit from the transaction after redevelopment or securing tenants sooner.” The next Paul Fosh auction which will


be held at the Park Inn Hotel, Circle Way East, Llanedyrn, Cardiff, on Thursday, March 29, starting at 5pm.


Growth fundtobe doubled


The value of the Welsh Government’s Economic Growth Fund is set to be doubled following an unprecedented level of applications, Business Minister Edwina Hart has announced. An additional £15m is to be provided


to enable the fund to support around another 70 companies who have already made applications, creating and safeguarding afurther 1,200 jobs over the next 14 months. Mrs Hart launched the original £15m


Economic Growth Fund in December as ashort term fast track fund for businesses providing immediate access to capital funding for investments. It was open for applications in December to the end of January 2012. In total, the fund received 498 applications, withagrant request value of £155m–more than ten times the available funding. Offers have already been made to more than 40 businesses, with avalue of just over £12m. The funding is expected to create and safeguard around 1,300 jobs in Wales. Mrs Hart said that even with this


additional funding there will be businesses which will not receive funding under the current scheme, but stressed that officials would be available to help them explore other avenues of funding.


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