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North West Enterprise Briefs: Bilfinger; Fluent Lifetime; TfGM; MHA Architects; Lancaster College Administration College

North West Business Briefs: Bilfinger; Fluent Lifetime; TfGM; MHA Architects; Lancaster University Management School

Warrington-based Bilfinger has been selected by ESSAR UK as a maintenance and project partner for a major four and two year contract to provide a range of services to various facilities at the Stanlow site near Ellesmere Harbor.

Services include mechanical, electrical and instrumental measures, access, insulation, painting, and asbestos management and removal. The six-year contract will be delivered as part of Bilfinger’s engineering and maintenance service line.

Bilfinger has been successfully offering multidisciplinary project and turnaround services to Essar for many years. This strategic decision to also award the maintenance contract to Bilfinger is the next step in the close relationship between Bilfinger and Essar.

Phill Maurer, Managing Director of Bilfinger UK, said: “This six year contract is a testament to the exceptional work and safety performance of the site team and is a significant addition to our portfolio of support partnerships in key locations across the UK.

“This award comes after many months of working with Essar UK to understand the vision of the Stanlow Refinery and align our company’s global capabilities with local maintenance and engineering needs.”

Jon Barden, Chief Operating Officer of Stanlow Oil Refinery, said: “I welcome Bilfinger UK as our primary partner for the delivery of mechanical, scaffolding, insulation, painting, electrical and instrumentation services to the Stanlow and Tranmere locations. We look forward to building a successful long-term relationship in which both parties work together to improve our collective safety and business performance for the benefit of our respective employees and owners. “

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Aaron Conlan

Fluent Lifetime, the Horwich-based stock release and later lending subsidiary of the Fluent Money Group, has grown to become one of the top five brokers in the stock release market.

After a record year of lending, the business is now at the top of the aftermarket life insurance market, recognized for its industry-leading growth and ranking fifth on closed cases.

Research shows the company, founded in 2018, is one of the UK’s top players after post-launch market growth and strong performance in a pandemic-hit 2020.

The growth was recorded in share release market statistics published by Touchstone – part of Equifax – which show the 12 months through the end of the third quarter of 2020.

General Manager Aaron Conlon said, “In many ways, Fluent Lifetime has had a head start in delivering services remotely, unlike others in the market that relied on face-to-face contact and were badly hit by the pandemic. The technology we had installed ensured that we would be available as many adapted to new work environments and market pressures. “

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Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has welcomed a significant moment in the metropolitan area’s long-term vision for rail as Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has taken over the operation of Horwich Parkway Station.

The TfGM-owned station was previously operated by Northern Trains but came under local control on February 1.

Horwich Parkway will serve as the blueprint for Greater Manchester’s future approach to station management, which will involve working with local partners and the rail industry to ensure stations are accessible, integrated and reflect the needs of their communities.

TfGM will be responsible for everything at the station except for the running of the trains and the tracks they run on. This includes ticket sales, customer service, passenger assistance, cleaning and daily maintenance, as well as long-term renewals and improvements.

Andy Burnham said: “We have a longstanding ambition to remodel stations in Greater Manchester and manage them for and on behalf of the local people. The acquisition of Horwich Parkway is an important first step on this path. Greater local control over our public transport services is key so that Greater Manchester can design and deploy a network that is properly connected across all modes of transport and helps meet the priorities of the metropolitan area and all ten boroughs. “

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Paul Chadwick

MHA Architects has been awarded a place by the Wigan Council for construction-related consulting services.

The £ 150m framework runs for four years and is available to all Wigan Council departments and schools in the Wigan County. The framework will also have the potential to use partner organizations or other areas of the Council.

The projects include individual and multidisciplinary consulting services with a net project construction cost of up to £ 30 million per project.

MHA Director Paul Chadwick said, “We are absolutely thrilled to have a place in this framework. Excellent service and long-term customer relationships are the focus of our actions. With this appointment we can further expand our existing relationship with the Wigan Council and support local businesses through their Community Wealth Building Strategy.

“We look forward to the new opportunities this framework brings to work with the team and add value to their exciting programs.”

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Prof. Steve Kempster

Fully funded places are available in an online program at Lancaster University Management School (LUMS), which helps small, family-run businesses in the Northwest become more productive by successfully implementing digital technologies.

The Evolve Digital program was designed by Prof. Steve Kempster, LUMS Professor of Leadership, Learning and Development. This allows executives to explore how they can make their businesses more sustainable for future generations by successfully adopting new digital tools.

LUMS was selected by Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Innovate UK to deliver Evolve Digital. The program is part of a national research study and the results will inform UK government policy on the needs of small family businesses.

Evolve Digital is one of the most recent programs in LUMS’s decades of history, translating the latest academic research into tailored and hands-on support for SMEs across the UK.

Evolve Digital jobs are available to eligible Northwestern companies employing between two and 50 people. The sessions are conducted online for around 15 hours per month over a period of three months. The places are fully funded by BEIS and Innovate UK.