North East deals of the week: key acquisitions, contracts and investments

A Tyneside recipe box start-up could soon be launching its chef-led meals in supermarkets, on the back of a £200,000 crowdfund campaign.

Joshy Jin, a Newcastle University graduate, established Team Valley-based WowzaBox during the pandemic to fill a gap in the market for customers wanting to enjoy restaurant-standard food at home. Mr Jin spent two years refining his business plan before launching in 2022, with his team of staff preparing the ingredients before they are packed and distributed across the UK.

Now the authentic Chinese recipe box business is planning to expand its product offering, which will create new opportunities and jobs, having grown turnover to more than £675,000 in just over a year. Mr Jin is working with crowdfunding platform Seedrs to attract investors to enable it to expand the firm’s services, increase production volumes and eventually secure new premises to boost capacity for future growth.

Mr Jin said: “We are confident that the crowdfunding will help us scale our operations to increase productions through investment in people, facilities and technology. The recipe box market is worth around £1.4bn in the UK, and we have carved a real niche in the recipe box market, which customers are really responding to."

A North Tyneside care group announced it is growing its property portfolio after completing the acquisition of a County Durham care home.

Lenore Care, based in Whitley Bay, has acquired the 34-bedroom Melbury House residential care home in Dawdon, near Seaham, from owners Robert and Susan Roney for an undisclosed sum. The business, owned by Jack and Grace Jenkinson, now has four residential and dementia care homes across the region, and expects to make further acquisitions over the next five years.

The 47-strong team at Melbury House are all being retained, taking the group’s workforce to 115 people. Michael Cantwell and Julie Cuthbertson of RMT Accountants & Business Advisors worked with Mr and Mrs Roney on the transaction and were introduced to Lenore Care by Michael Wicks, relationship manager at Unity Trust Bank.

Mr Roney said: ”Selling Melbury House was part of our retirement plans from when we first bought it, but having run it for so long and knowing our residents and staff so well, it had to go to the right people. We felt Jack and Grace were the perfect fit for Melbury House from the very first time they came to view it. They recognised the quality of the property, the commitment of our excellent team and most importantly the happiness of our residents.

“We’re really comfortable with putting the future of Melbury House in their hands and hope they enjoy running the business as much as we have."

North East defence specialist Pearson Engineering secured a contract with the Ministry of Defence to provide equipment to counter the threat of mines being used in the war in Ukraine. The Newcastle based business, which is based at the historic Armstrong Works on Scotswood Road, has been enlisted by the MoD to supply the kit to the Ukrainian Armed Forces as part of a £100m-plus mine clearance package, which was initially announced last autumn.

The maintenance and manoeuvre support package – unveiled by Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) on behalf of the Government and the UK-backed International Fund for Ukraine (IFU) – has been awarded to Pearson Engineering to supply mine clearance equipment that will allow armoured vehicles already in Ukraine to add mine ploughs which have been gifted by the British Army and refurbished by Pearson. The mine ploughs can clear safe routes and can also be used to ward off other obstacles, including improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

Ian Bell, group chief executive officer at Pearson Engineering said: “Design and delivery of this type of lifesaving equipment is at the heart of Pearson Engineering’s operations. We have supplied more than 3,000 mine ploughs of various types around the world, and we continually invest to ensure that we can defeat modern threats as they evolve.

More than £300,000 has been invested into a project with ambitions to establish Sunderland as a globally-recognised music hub. Sunderland Music Arts and Culture (MAC) Trust has secured the funding as a pivotal part of its move to launch new project Sunderland Music City, alongside a number of partners in the city and the region.

The project will drive forward the trust’s mission to make the city recognised around the world for its culture offering, with a focus on ensuring that people from diverse backgrounds have full access to educational and cultural events. Northstar Ventures has invested £300,000 into the trust, through the North East Social Investment Fund (NESIF), alongside a grant of £37,500 from the County Durham Community Foundation.

Paul Callaghan, chair of MAC Trust, said: “We are extremely grateful for this support from Northstar Ventures and the County Durham Community Foundation which will allow us to deliver our exciting Music City project. By developing and supporting music we can help the city and the region in several important ways through job creation, economic and artistic growth, tourism development, reputation and brand building. It will involve not just the music community but also the education and public sectors, voluntary bodies, and the community at large covering all musical genres, all ages and everyone who wants to play, sing, or listen.”