8 Business Argus


Lorry drivers coming fromabroad will have to pay an extra levy to


drive onUKroads FOREIGN lorry drivers are to be charged up to £10 a day to travel on British roads for the first time from today. About 100,000 foreign HGVs that make


1.5 million trips to the UK every year will pay towards maintaining roads. The introduction of the charge is intend-


ed to “level the playing field” as UK truck drivers pay tolls and levies in Europe, the government said. Foreign hauliers operating in the UK


have not been required to make a similar payment, until tomorrow when the HGV road user levy is introduced. The tax, which will be capped at £1,000


a year, has been brought in nearly a year early with the aim of ensuring UK truck- ers are able to better compete with their foreign counterparts. Speaking at a Driver and Vehicle Stand-


ards Agency site in Ashford, Kent, Trans- port Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said an estimated £20 million will be raised in the first year of its introduction. He said: “I think it will level the playing


field between foreign lorries which have been coming to this country and not con- tributing anything to road maintenance. “I’m very pleased that this government


has managed to introduce this 12 months sooner than what was originally thought possible. “If (hauliers) evade paying it, it is a crimi-


nal offence and they will get fined and stand the chance of having their lorries impounded. “I think we have seen a very good pre-


registration by a number of vehicles and I’m sure they won’t try to evade it.” UK operators will pay the levy at the


same time as HGV Vehicle Excise Duty (VED), but the Government has promised to cut VED to coincide with the new tax. The levy affects all HGVs of 12 tonnes or


more that drive on UK roads, regardless of their country of registration. Foreign operators will have to pay the


tax before using UK roads, with charges varying from £1.70 to £10 a day, or £85 to £1,000 per year. The levy is structured in a series of bands, reflecting vehicle type, weight and number of axles, the Department for Trans- port said. Small haulier Clive Mills, who runs 16


vehicles, welcomed the introduction of the levy. He said: “We have been waiting for this


for many years. It has been a long time coming but it’s a positive step in the right direction to give us some sort of level play- ing field. “There is a lot more that needs doing. We


are finding it difficult to compete. On aver- age through Dover, there are 8,000 trucks a day on a busy day. “That’s just one port and they are all


looking for loads to go back into Europe. Anything that helps us to even out the play- ing field is going to be welcomed.”


Tuesday, April 1, 2014


IT company is named among best in world


By Jo Barnes 01633 777240 jba@gwent-wales.co.uk Twitter @SWABusiness


NEWPORT-BASED IT consul- tancy, Certus TG, has been named on a global list identify- ing the world’s top 501 man- aged service providers for the second year running. The Celtic Springs- headquartered company,which finished 21 places abovewhere it did last year, ranked 23rd in Europe and 128th in the world in Nine Live Media’s MSP501 Global Edition. The global report,which launched last year, recognises managed service providers from across the world based on a range of metrics, including annual man- aged services revenue growth, rev- enue per employee, managed ser- vices offered and customer devic- es managed. Certus TG’s managed services include an all-inclusive range of IT services, such as server virtual- isation, advanced storage, backup and disaster recovery and full or partial managed IT support to cli- ents across the UK. Paul Brown,CEOof CertusTG,


said: “Being named on this list is testament to the dedication of the staff at Certus.Wehave invested heavily in training and education for our employees to ensure that we are delivering the best possible service to our clients and to it’s great to have this recognised. “We’re an ambitious company with plans to grow our existing


TOP COMPANY: From left, Nigel Griffiths, chief operating officer, Paul Brown, CEO, and Paul Roberts, chief technol- ogy officer, of Certus TG


workforce to around 80 members of staff by 2016 and with a strong vision for the future. This acco- lade serves as an acknowledge- ment of our work so far.” AmyKatz, president of Nine Lives Media, said: “MSPmento


Conference held to boost market skills


AS new, experimental marketing channels continue to emerge, The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) is hosting a half-day confer- ence on Thursday, April 3 to help SouthWales marketers develop their measurement and evaluation skills and improve their marketing performance. Experts in the fields of consumer


data from the Newport-based Office for National Statistics and Consumer data head up the speak- ers’ bill, along with marketing practitioners, including Sameer Rahman from another Newport- based firm, GoCompare.com Kate Sullivan and Helen Newton,


LEVY: Foreign lorry drivers to be taxed


from Equinox Communications, will explore best practice measure- ment in PR and the ever-evolving world of social media. Richard Houdmont, CIM’s Director forWales said: “This event will combine experts from a wide range of marketing fields, from data to social media, to bring our SouthWales members up-to-


congratulates CertusTGon this unique honour. Qualifying for our MSPmentor 501 Global Edition puts Certus in rare company.” Based at Celtic Springs Business


Park on the west side of Newport, CertusTGis one of Wales’ largest


IT consultancies supporting 120 companies. Current clients include the Millennium Stadium, Freshwater, Broomfield& Alexander, Premier Global, Julian Hodge Bank, Tenovus andWatts Gregory LLP.


Penn Pharma delighted to win international award for new manufacturing facility


GWENT-based pharmaceutical manufacturer Penn Pharma has won an international award from the 2014 ISPE Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA) programme. Penn Pharma, which is based in


Tredegar, won the Facility Integration category for its recently completed oral solid dose con- tained manufacturing project. The Facility Integration award recognises excellence in conceptu- al planning, good design practices, excellent processing outcomes and functional excellence. ISPE, the sponsor of the Facility


EXPLORING BEST PRACTICE: Kate Sullivan and Helen Newton


speed on the latest measurement tools and industry developments.” The event is taking place at the


Victor Salvi Roomin theWales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay and will cost £35 per delegate. For more information visit cim. co.uk/61276 or call 01628 427340.


of the Year Awards programme, said: “The judging panel was impressed with Penn’s quick and focused results in the creation of a new solid dose facility that could manufacture 1kg to 120kg batch sizes, using full containment with an ability to process multiple prod- ucts at the same time. “As the pharmaceutical industry is going for more targeted and


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niche medicines, flexible facilities are of critical importance.” Penn Pharma officially opened its


new contained manufacturing facil- ity at its site in Tredegar last September and has since seen the world-class facility draw in clients from around the world. Penn Pharma chief executive


Richard Yarwood said: “We are very proud of our new facility. “For it to be given this Facility of


the Year category award is true recognition of the innovation, dedi- cation and technical expertise that has led to its success.” Mark Dean Netscher, chief oper-


ating officer, said: “The most out- standing aspect of this project is the commitment of the core project team from Penn. “A small number of subject mat-


ter experts, with empowerment and great teamwork, have demonstrat- ed a ‘best in class’ delivery of a complex and demanding facility design and build.”


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