Latest news with #PaulDempsey
BBC News
5 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Children's services funding concerns as Pathfinder pilot ends
Children's services in Dorset could be facing a £3.5m shortfall with the ending of its pioneering of a national was one of three local authorities which received additional funding for piloting the Families First Pathfinder project which ended in funding has been promised to continue the work, it has yet to be executive director of children's services, Paul Dempsey, said it was a concern not to know how much the county might receive. He said he feared that the allocation of the national pot of funding, to be shared by all councils, might disadvantage rural areas, such as had also been taking part in national training and advising the government on its findings about the new ways of included seeking greater involvement of wider family, or family friends, when children face challenging Golding, corporate director for care and protection, told a meeting of the council's people and health overview committee that Dorset had seen a reduction of 22 in the number of children coming into care in 1924-25 as a result of the had also been a decrease in the number of children subject to a Child Protection said there had been a better use of family group conferences and family network meetings with positive feedback from the families extra funding had also allowed the recruitment of additional youth workers who, along with social workers, were playing a key role in identifying potential problems within councillor Stella Jones praised the county winning the bid to become a first wave Pathfinder – telling the committee that, as a result, Dorset children had benefitted ahead of other Department for Education has been approached for comment. You can follow BBC Dorset on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Scotsman
25-06-2025
- Business
- Scotsman
30 Scottish Kwik Fit centres sold as part of ‘complex' legal deal
'This was a complex deal, which saw colleagues across the UK work collaboratively with multi-disciplinary and multi-jurisdictional teams' – Sheelagh Cooley, Shoosmiths Sign up to our Scotsman Money newsletter, covering all you need to know to help manage your money. Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... More than 80 Kwik Fit-operated tyre fitting sites including 30 in Scotland have been acquired for an undisclosed sum. The portfolio of 83 UK properties has been bought by Kwik Fit, part of European Tyre Enterprise Limited (ETEL), as it aims to bring more sites into its direct ownership. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The tyre and car servicing firm, whose ultimate parent company is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, was advised on the multi-jurisdictional deal by law firm Shoosmiths in the UK, including legal teams within its Edinburgh, Glasgow and Sheffield offices. It marks the latest in a number of similar transactions that the legal outfit has undertaken for Kwik Fit in recent years. Kwik Fit is one of the most familiar names in the tyre fitting and car servicing sectors with more than 600 centres in the UK. The roadmap to secure the deal saw Kwik Fit acquire Hawkeye Properties 501, a Jersey entity, which was itself ultimately held by Spring Real Estate Investment Trust, listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The complex deal, for an undisclosed sum, also required consent from the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong, as the transaction constituted a special deal under the Takeovers Code. Paul Dempsey, group property director at ETEL, said: 'This transaction is a key part of Kwik Fit's strategic plan for growth across the UK and Ireland. We are delighted with the dedication and support Shoosmiths provided to manage this complex deal on our behalf.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Kwik Fit runs more than 600 centres in the UK. The business was set up by the late businessman Sir Tom Farmer in the early 1970s. Sheelagh Cooley, real estate partner and head of the Edinburgh office at Shoosmiths, added: 'Having supported ETEL with portfolio acquisitions in 2023 and 2024 (which saw 58 sites acquired), we are thrilled to have advised Kwik Fit on this latest acquisition of a further 83 sites. These deals enable one of the UK's leading tyre, MOT and car servicing retailers to bring more properties under its direct ownership.
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Byron's 40-year-old nuclear plant to undergo $355M project to increase power output
Apr. 19—BYRON — Constellation Energy, owner of the Byron Nuclear Power Station, plans to invest about $355 million in a lengthy project that will increase the site's power output and extend the life of the facility and its equipment. The Power Uprate Project, planned to begin in 2026 and finish in 2029, will replace six low-pressure turbines and two high-pressure turbines. The new turbines will generate an additional 79 to 80 megawatts of energy and part of the project will be updating the electrical system to accommodate that increase, Byron Site Vice President Harris Welt said. ExpandAutoplay Image 1 of 15 Paul Dempsey, Generation Communications Manager for Constellation, gestures at the cooling tower of Plant 2 at the Byron nuclear power facility Wednesday, April 16, 2025. The plant, one of two at the station, was shut down for refueling. (Alex T. Paschal) Although the project will increase its power output, it's really going to improve the efficiency of the plant because the new turbines are larger, which therefore will spin faster and generate more energy, Welt said. Power plants — whether nuclear, wind or other types — feed electricity into a grid that then distributes power to various users. Currently, the Byron power station produces 2,347 megawatts of energy, which is equivalent to the energy needed to power more that 1.7 million homes. With the new turbines, that output will jump up to about 2,427 megawatts. "It's very exciting. A lot of planning that's been going on the last couple years," Project Manager Justin Shippert said. The work will start with installing the low-pressure turbines. Each one will be lowered in using two cranes attached to the ceiling. Typically, it'd only take one crane but since each turbine weighs upwards of 350 pounds, it will require both, Shippert said. Typically, the Byron site has 693 employees. The upgrades will bring in an additional 600 contractional employees during four construction windows. On top of that, the station is currently undergoing an outage at one of its two plant units, bringing in about 1,500 more employees. All those extra workers in the area means that hotels will fill up and extra business for local restaurants and bars. In Byron, during outages, many restaurants open at 5 a.m. to catch workers getting off for the shift change, said Paul Dempsey, generation communications manager at Constellation. An outage is when the plant unit shuts down to replace a third of the fuel in the reactor. It's done for each reactor every 18 months — in 2025 there's one outage for unit 2, in 2026 there's two outages for unit 1 and 2, and in 2027 there's one outage for unit 1, Dempsey said. Each outage differs in length depending on what kind of work is being done. Sometimes it can last 17 days; other times it can be over 20, he said. The 2025 outage is planned step by step and encompasses about 10,000 tasks, Welt said. "It's really quite amazing. It's scripted to the hour," Welt said. The uprate project will be carefully planned by the hour as well. Unlike wind or solar energy, the nuclear power station consistently runs 96% of the time at full power, Dempsey said. "We always want to be online," Dempsey said. The 2025 outage marks 40 years since that plant went online in 1985 and 50 years since the station was built in 1975.
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Byron's 50-year-old nuclear plant to undergo $355M project to increase power output
Apr. 19—BYRON — Constellation Energy, owner of the Byron Nuclear Power Station, plans to invest about $355 million in a lengthy project that will increase the site's power output and extend the life of the facility and its equipment. The Power Uprate Project, planned to begin in 2026 and finish in 2029, will replace six low-pressure turbines and two high-pressure turbines. The new turbines will generate an additional 79 to 80 megawatts of energy and part of the project will be updating the electrical system to accommodate that increase, Byron Site Vice President Harris Welt said. ExpandAutoplay Image 1 of 15 Paul Dempsey, Generation Communications Manager for Constellation, gestures at the cooling tower of Plant 2 at the Byron nuclear power facility Wednesday, April 16, 2025. The plant, one of two at the station, was shut down for refueling. (Alex T. Paschal) Although the project will increase its power output, it's really going to improve the efficiency of the plant because the new turbines are larger, which therefore will spin faster and generate more energy, Welt said. Power plants — whether nuclear, wind or other types — feed electricity into a grid that then distributes power to various users. Currently, the Byron power station produces 2,347 megawatts of energy, which is equivalent to the energy needed to power more that 1.7 million homes. With the new turbines, that output will jump up to about 2,427 megawatts. "It's very exciting. A lot of planning that's been going on the last couple years," Project Manager Justin Shippert said. The work will start with installing the low-pressure turbines. Each one will be lowered in using two cranes attached to the ceiling. Typically, it'd only take one crane but since each turbine weighs upwards of 350 pounds, it will require both, Shippert said. Typically, the Byron site has 693 employees. The upgrades will bring in an additional 600 contractional employees during four construction windows. On top of that, the station is currently undergoing an outage at one of its two plant units, bringing in about 1,500 more employees. All those extra workers in the area means that hotels will fill up and extra business for local restaurants and bars. In Byron, during outages, all the restaurants open at 5 a.m. to catch workers getting off for the shift change, said Paul Dempsey, generation communications manager at Constellation. An outage is when the plant unit shuts down to replace a third of the fuel in the reactor. It's done for each reactor every 18 months — in 2025 there's one outage for unit 2, in 2026 there's two outages for unit 1 and 2, and in 2027 there's one outage for unit 1, Dempsey said. Each outage differs in length depending on what kind of work is being done. Sometimes it can last 17 days; other times it can be over 20, he said. The 2025 outage is planned step by step and encompasses about 10,000 tasks, Welt said. "It's really quite amazing. It's scripted to the hour," Welt said. The uprate project will be carefully planned by the hour as well. Unlike wind or solar energy, the nuclear power station consistently runs 96% of the time at full power, Dempsey said. "We always want to be online," Dempsey said. The 2025 outage marks 40 years since that plant went online in 1985 and 50 years since the station was built in 1975.
