Latest news with #DeniseBradley
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Council seeking enforced sale of derelict restaurant abandoned a decade ago
A derelict Indian restaurant which has been abandoned for 10 years could be sold under pressure from the local council. Breckland Council is pursuing an enforced sale of the former Akaash restaurant in Dereham town centre. During a hearing last year, Breckland Council secured a court order requiring the owners of the property to make urgent safety repairs and reimburse £6,000 in legal fees paid by the authority. However, the owners failed to comply within the specified timeframe, meaning the council had to carry out the repairs instead. The authority hopes to force the sale of the property to recover debts incurred through its work on the building. The derelict restaurant must now be repaired (Image: Denise Bradley) Ray O'Callaghan, a Dereham councillor, told a meeting last week: "I appreciate some emergency work has been carried out. "However, residents are rightfully upset that news concerning the building seems to have dried up." Sarah Suggitt, deputy leader, said: "It is a lengthy process but we are working towards an enforced sale of the Akaash. "It has taken longer than we would like but the team are doing the best they can in a tricky, sensitive situation. "The property is not in the best of health and I appreciate that it has caused a huge amount of frustration. But these things do take a long time." A spokesman for the council said the process had been complicated amid confusion over the current ownership of the building. READ MORE: US chain to open first Norfolk megastore... with 600 parking spaces The Akaash pictured in 2003 (Image: Newsquest) The former Akaash restaurant at 23 Market Place has sat empty since its closure in 2015 and been subject to several break-ins as it continues to deteriorate. Breckland Council issued an enforcement notice in 2022 requiring improvements to the property but this expired without repairs being delivered - resulting in the authority taking the owners to court last year. The required works included securing the lean-to roof, replacing damaged roof tiles, fixing rainwater guttering, and boarding up one of the windows.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Norfolk airshow to welcome rare US plane for 'once in a lifetime' spectacle
Norfolk airshow to welcome rare US plane for 'once in a lifetime' spectacle Tickets are selling quickly for the biggest Old Buckenham Airshow to date (Image: Sonya Duncan) The final line-up for a hit Norfolk airshow has been revealed and ticketholders are in for a huge event featuring Red Arrows, Spitfires and a "very rare" US plane. The Old Buckenham Airshow is set to be bigger than ever before, with a record-breaking timetable and more planes making their airshow debut. With around 20 acts due to make an appearance on July 26 and 27, tickets are selling at a record pace. The VE80 Spitfire Formation will fly on both days of the Old Buckenham Airshow (Image: Denise Bradley) In a historic one-off, the Commemorative Air Force has embarked on a 12,000-mile tour with its Douglas R4D-6S, the "very rare" Navy version of the legendary Douglas DC3. ADVERTISEMENT 'Ready 4 Duty' is the last of her kind still flying and the Old Buckenham Airshow will be her last UK stop before heading back across the Atlantic. Matt Wilkins, Old Buckenham Airshow organiser, said: "This historic tour organised by the CAF with help from the IWM is a once-in-a-lifetime initiative. READ MORE: New ticket release date announced for hit experience after technical hitch The BBMF Lancaster will take flight for the event (Image: Denise Bradley) "It's no mean feat to cross the Atlantic in any aircraft which isn't an airliner - much less one in its ninth decade." The plane will fly on both days of the event, with the flight on July 27 the last chance to see it in the skies above the UK. Also flying on both days of the event are the Red Arrows, the B-17 Flying Fortress Sally B, the VE80 Spitfire Formation and the Stampe Display Team, among many more. ADVERTISEMENT READ MORE: Red Arrows pictured over Norfolk coast on way to VE Day anniversary flypast Crowds flock to the Old Buckenham Airshow (Image: Denise Bradley)The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) Lancaster will fly on July 26, in what is believed to be only the second time two four-engined bombers have been here since the Second World War. The full list can be found on the Old Buckenham Airshow website. Nominations remain open for this year's community hero, which awards someone who goes out of their way to help others with a special day at the event. Nominations should be submitted by June 30, 2025 by filling in this form
Technical.ly
04-04-2025
- Business
- Technical.ly
Spark Therapeutics files notice to lay off 300 employees this year
Cell and gene therapy standout Spark Therapeutics is undergoing its second shakeup in a month, with plans to lay off about half of its workforce. Several hundred people will be affected. A WARN notice, which companies file to provide advance notice of layoffs, reported 298 eliminated positions in the Philadelphia region. A Spark Therapeutics spokesperson told the Philadelphia Business Journal on Thursday it would be laying off 337 of its almost 650 employees. These changes are expected to occur in three waves: in May, July and at the end of 2025. The remaining 310 employees will be incorporated into parent company Roche, a multinational pharmaceutical company. Spark first announced on January 30 the decision to integrate more of its work into Roche, spokesperson Denise Bradley told The impacted employees will be eligible for severance, outplacement services and will be able to apply for other roles within Roche. Spark's plans for its University City-based Gene Therapy Innovation Center in Philadelphia have not changed, Bradley said. Last month, Roche classified the former startup as a financial loss following the end of its trial for a hemophilia A gene therapy treatment, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The company is still working on a new Hemophilia A gene product, Spark previously told The layoff announcement comes less than a year after Spark's previous workforce reduction, when it let less than 50 of its employees go in July 2024. At the end of last year, the company welcomed Roche veteran Sylke Poehling as its new CEO, replacing Ron Phillip, who had been in the role since 2022. Spark's year of downsizing Recent struggles at Spark, which was founded by Jeffrey Marrazzo in 2013 and was considered a big Philadelphia success story, indicate the need for the gene therapy sector to make manufacturing more cost effective, Rebecca Grant, senior director of life sciences and innovation for the city's Department of Commerce, previously told But the company itself heavily contributed to the development of the industry as a whole. 'They really created a lot of recognition for gene therapy and innovation,' Grant said. 'Now more people understand what gene therapy means and how it can literally cure disease.' In 2021, the company announced plans for a 500,000-square-foot Gene Therapy Innovation Center in University City. At the time, Spark said the new site would house over 500 jobs. The Innovation Center is still expected to be completed next year, Spark spokesperson Bradley previously told The Penn spinout is known for developing the first FDA-approved gene therapy, Luxturna. Pharma giant Roche acquired Spark in 2019 for $4.8 billion, the largest VC-backed exit in Philadelphia at the time. 'Gene therapy is not a huge sector, and Spark was a trailblazer,' Dean Miller, president of the Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies, previously said. '[It's] never easy when your trailblazer starts to disappear a little further.' Sarah Huffman is a 2022-2024 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The Groundtruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. This position is supported by the Lenfest Institute for Journalism.
