The Culpeper is a London pub that offers a mix of traditional British and French provincial cuisine situated close to Petticoat Lane market and Spitalfields market.

Taking its name from the 16th century botanist Thomas Culpeper, it features a unique rooftop vegetable farm that supplies both the restaurant and herbal tinctures for cocktails at the bar.

To compete with stiff competition and offer more to the customer The Culpeper knew they needed to pull out all the stops and get a complete refurbishment, including a brand new kitchen.

Park Resorts are a nation-wide and widely-recognised brand in the UK, specialising in providing and hiring out caravan parks, with 41 locations spanning across 2,400 acres in the UK. Known for their parks near the sea-side, the resorts are primarily located on the south and east coasts of England, with a few locations also in Scotland, Wales, and the Isle of Wight. The resorts see over 760,000 rental guests at their parks every year!

Based in Hemel Hempstead and employing just under 1,800 people, Park Resorts are a multi-million pound turnover business and have gone from strength to strength in the 13 years since they were established by private equity firm CBPE.

David Tamplin is no stranger to running a successful tanning business. In 2000, he set up TPSS Ltd (Tamplins Professional Sunbed Studios) and had two salons in the Hove Brighton area. However after twelve years, he was faced with the decision to either invest heavily and update the sunbeds, as they were starting to look tired, or sell the shops and have a look at doing something different.

He decided to choose the latter, and over the last couple of years has spent his time mainly investing in converting a property in Brighton into a multiple student occupancy building. The property was then let to local students in September.

Chilli Banana are a well-established and well-respected chain of Thai restaurants in the North West of England, with restaurants in Liverpool, Wilmslow, and Macclesfield and are known for their excellent Thai food and customer service.

Their 75-cover Wilmslow restaurant has a lounge, bar, and also provides takeaway services. Run by husband and wife duo Steven and May Wakefield, the Chilli Banana brand has become a franchise, with the two other premises (Liverpool and Macclesfield) run by individual restaurant operators.

Business partners Latif Dal and Rick Gwilliam put together a comprehensive plan that runs through the details of why their new start Play Centre will be a success – these chaps have done their homework!

When they requested some assistance it was an easy decision for Johnson Reed. Located in a village with small competition and massive opportunity, they negotiated good terms with the landlord of up to 6 months free rent for a 8,000 sqft. unit, with a 15 year lease in a key location in town next to Tesco and the main train station.

When you start down the road of looking for business finance, it can be a daunting task. The finance industry is full of options and avenues of gaining capital, and often the choices are very complicated.

That is one of the reasons why we set up as a dedicated equipment leasing provider 15 years ago. We know and understand the power of leasing as a finance option, and since we started we have helped over 8,000 companies benefit from leasing their equipment, rather than outright purchase or other forms of finance.

The Run and Jump indoor play centre is a new and exciting children’s soft play arena based in Wigan. Set up by Regan and Steve, the centre caters to children from the ages of 0 – 12, and promises a fun-filled, clean, and safe environment.

Open 7 days a week, the centre boasts a 4 metre, 3 lane wavy slide, ball shower, Astro glide, plus a lot more! For the more sports-minded, there is also a football and basketball court available, and even a separate toddler play area for under 4s. They group have also started offering birthday parties and events for groups of kids, and even organise the booking of themed mascots from a local business! For the patient parents, there is also a cafe for drinks and free wi-fi.

In the little village of Sherburn, North Yorkshire, couple John and Rita Worthy are quietly building a little business empire, spanning a local post office, sandwich shop/deli, factory canteen, and now, next in the line of new ventures, a local chip shop!

Known locally for their sandwich shop’s large selection of delicious pies and sandwiches located within the post office, and their service with a smile, the Worthys are no strangers to the food trade.

Mr Worthy also happens to operate a canteen in a local factory site that employs 400 staff, so he himself employs 3 full time staff on site at the cafe.

Since 1995, Stockport-based company Adam Polymer have been a major player in the industry of polymer manufacture and has become one of the leading chemical suppliers in the UK for industrial polymers.

What are polymers, you may ask? Polymers are either natural (or in this case) synethic molecules or macromolecules made up of individual subunits (called “monomers”) used to create a variety of ubiquitous items and materials, such as plastics and polystyrene (styrofoam).

The team behind Adam Polymer are father and son duo Bill and Mark Adam. Bill founded the company in 95 with 45 years experience in the industry under his belt, and a Chartered Scientist and Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM) certificate on the wall.

Salford Red Devils are a 100+ year old rugby league football club based in Manchester. Their home ground – Salford City Stadium – holds a 12,000 capacity and they play at the highest club level, The Super League.

This season has seen a new owner Marwan Koukash take over and invest heavily in the club, the site development and the playing team (8 new top level signings). As well as their continued investment in the team, the club has also invested in new fitness equipment for the players’ gym, as well as new IT hardware for their operations staff.