February 5 th 2010
  Sintons advises on major student accommodation development in Sunderland

Picture shows left to right: Paul Liddle & Jamie Corcoran (both Sintons LLP), Martyn Boak, u-student.com and Matt Collen, Sintons LLP.

Planning permission has just been granted for new social space and convenience retailing areas at The Forge in Sunderland. This is a further significant step in the major deal that a team from Sintons LLP’s Commercial Group together with Grant Thornton accountants completed late last year for Carlisle-based U Student (Sunderland) Limited.

U Student (Sunderland) Limited trading as u-student.com bought two major halls of residence from the University of Sunderland and it plans to significantly upgrade the accommodation facilities and build new social and convenience retailing areas to create The Forge – U Student Village. Construction work has commenced on site on the £5 million refurbishment scheme and is being completed by Carlisle based Northern Developments (Cumbria) Ltd.

The deal involved complex negotiations with the University and financiers to enable
u-student.com to create a high standard of student experience within a modern and secure student village. Plans have been put in place to manage the accommodation over a 10 year period to ensure it remains one of the top choices for students to live in the city.

The work was led by partners Paul Liddle and Matt Collen from Sintons’ Commercial Group. The financial aspects were led by Matt Collen, with Paul Liddle advising on the property aspects. Associate Jamie Corcoran advised on the construction contracts. Paul Liddle commented: “This is an exciting deal that will help raise standards of student accommodation in Sunderland and create a more sustainable building environmentally and financially. We were pleased to provide the specialist, integrated advice required to
u-student.com from across our 35-strong Commercial Group.”

Martyn Boak, Managing Director of u-student.com said: “Through refurbishing all 552 bedrooms, adding new social and retail facilities on site during 2010 and 2011 and actively managing this complex with the University, we are confident we are creating very high standards of secure student accommodation for the University and City of Sunderland. Sintons and Grant Thornton both played key roles in this deal which had to be completed under tight time pressures. Their combined speed of response, the integrated advice across finance, property and construction and their practical approach to driving the matter on really helped contribute to the successful completion of the deal.”
ENDS (363 words)

Picture shows left to right: Paul Liddle & Jamie Corcoran (both Sintons LLP), Martyn Boak, u-student.com and Matt Collen, Sintons LLP.

About Sintons LLP
Sintons is a leading provider of legal services through our three main practice groups - Commercial, Private Client and Personal Injury. Through our shared values of knowledge, integrity and pragmatism, our people deliver results of real quality and enduring commercial benefit. Sintons employs 150 staff including 85 lawyers, of whom 23 are partners.

The firm serves national and regional clients including: Church Commissioners for England; SITA; Northumbrian Water; Hunting plc; Home Group; NUFC; Secretary of State for Health; Thompsons of Prudhoe; TSG; Ladhar Group, Trinity Medical Properties, Allied Irish Bank, Dunbar Bank; Virgin Mary Trust; Holystone; Amec plc; Arriva plc and H J Banks.

About u-student.com
Founded by Martyn Boak in 2005 when the first u-student.com accommodation opened in Carlisle. With an ethos based around quality, choice and customer service, u-student.com strives to provide a high quality, clean, warm, secure and very appealing choice of student accommodation.

About Northern Developments (Cumbria) Limited
A leading design and build company based in Cumbria for 25 years with a proven track record of delivering quality on time and within budget. The company has an experienced and stable workforce and is committed to operating at the highest professional, technical and ethical standards. The company actively looks for sites across the country for all types of build – residential, commercial and industrial.

  1st February 2010
  TSG MAKES ACQUISITION TO LAUNCH NEW “ENTERPRISE SOLUTIONS” DIVISION

Matt Collen

Technology Services Group Ltd (TSG) has acquired IT consultancy and support company Croft Technology plc. This acquisition is a key step in the growth strategy of TSG and will allow the development of an exciting new division, to be branded TSG Enterprise Solutions.

The acquisition is the twenty third for TSG since its inception in October 2003, and represents continued progress in building a UK-wide service network, providing complete IT services to small and medium sized businesses. TSG is building towards this vision by acquiring some of the highest quality IT businesses across the UK.

The acquisition process was overseen on behalf of TSG by Newcastle-based legal firm Sintons through partner Matt Collen, working with corporate finance organisation UNW and partner Neville Bearpark. Croft Technology was advised by Martin Hulls of Ward Hadaway and Graham Purvis of Robson Laidler.

Croft Technology employs 90 staff across offices in Newcastle and Hertfordshire and is a national IT company specialising in network design, network installations, business continuity, disaster recovery, unified communications and support services to businesses throughout the UK. This business was chosen as an excellent fit for the launch of the new division due to the national presence of the business and the extensive knowledge and skills in products and solutions which are not presently offered by TSG.

David Stonehouse, TSG’s Chief Executive said: ‘This acquisition signals a significant development in TSG’s growth strategy. It will provide us with the skills and capabilities to extend the product and services range currently offered by TSG to incorporate areas such as telephony, unified communications, large scale wireless deployment, structured cabling and virtualisation solutions. The launch of TSG Enterprise Solutions through the national coverage and wide skill set of Croft Technology staff will truly enable us to be a “one stop” IT service for our clients, covering all of their IT, cabling and telecommunication requirements.’

Phil Renton, Croft Technology’s Managing Director said ‘Croft Technology is excited to be involved in the launch of TSG Enterprise Solutions. We are pleased that the skills and expertise of the company have been recognised and are looking forward to growing the division into a very successful part of the TSG business. All of our existing staff will be remaining with the new business and we will be continuing to provide our customers with the high levels of service they receive today.’

This latest acquisition means that TSG now employs over 460 staff and provides services to thousands of small and medium sized businesses nationwide, from Southampton in the south, to Aberdeen in the north. Following the acquisition of Croft Technology, TSG intends to continue its expansion plans with further acquisitions across the UK.

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITOR

About TSG: Technology Services Group

• TSG is based in Newcastle upon Tyne with 14 offices across the UK
• TSG was Pegasus business partner of the year in 2006
• TSG was Sage Business Partner of the year for three consecutive years for Sage 200, the flagship mid-market product
• TSG is Microsoft Gold and Small Business Accredited
• This acquisition brings the number of TSG staff to over 460
• TSG will now have an annualised turnover of around £37m

For further information please contact
Fiona Stuart
Tel: 0191 256 1186 Email: Fiona.stuart@tsg.com
Mobile: 07747 442 552

TSG Head Office, 1 Gosforth Parkway, Gosforth Business Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE12 8ET

For further information on TSG and previous acquisitions please visit www.tsg.com

  30th January 2010
  Cumberland & Westmorland Herald press coverage of Shirley McKaskie case

Frank Matthewson