Latest news with #PeterHarris
CBC
6 days ago
- Business
- CBC
A seniors housing non-profit saved Elliot Lake, but now a local charity says its holding the city back
When the uranium mines closed for good in Elliot Lake, the small northern Ontario city was able to reinvent itself as a retirement community. To do that, the city created a non-profit organization called Retirement Living that was tasked with managing houses and apartment buildings that were originally built for people who worked at the mines. "In 1990, when the mines were unloading those houses, they were either gonna have to give them to the city or, you know, pay the taxes on them or demolish them, all of which would have cost them too much money," said Peter Harris, the CEO of the Silver Birch Centre, a charity that promotes the arts and economic development in Elliot Lake. Low rental costs, especially compared to southern Ontario, coupled with the quiet lifestyle Elliot Lake promised, proved to be a winning combination. "They rented them out and it was very successful," Harris said. "It helped keep the town afloat." But Harris now argues the time has come for Retirement Living to help Elliot Lake by selling off some of its housing stock. "Every year Retirement Living says like 20 or 30 of these detached or semi-detached houses become available as retirees, you know, become ill or… leave town because of family reasons," he said. Harris estimates that selling those 20 to 30 homes each year would generate around $9 million, which the city could use to address crumbling infrastructure. "The last big construction boom was in the 1970s, but prior to that, the old neighbourhoods were built in the 1950s," Harris said. "So these streets, sewers and water main supplies are like 70 years old. They are decaying." A history of crumbling infrastructure Elliot Lake is currently working to repair its only arena, which was closed out of fears its wooden structure could collapse back in September 2023. The municipal swimming pool was closed for two years for renovations, before re-opening at the end of 2024. And Elliot Lake's Algo Centre Mall collapsed in 2012, which killed two people and injured more than 20 others. Retirement Living owned the mall through its for-profit subsidiary NorDev, and was heavily criticized in the 2014 Report of the Elliot Lake Commission of Inquiry. Commissioner Paul Bélanger concluded, "Secrecy and confidentiality often trumped candour, transparency, and openness. It pervaded contractual and professional relationships, and even the municipal administration sought to cloak some of its activities from public view." Harris said that in his opinion, Retirement Living is more interested in preserving its relevancy by continuing to manage its properties, than to sell those properties and transfer the proceeds to the city. "What's wrong with this picture? The city's broke and Retirement Living's rich. Those houses were given to Elliot Lake to help Elliot Lake. Not to create a bureaucracy that takes care of itself," he said.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Directorate change
LONDON, May 30, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Next 15 Group plc ("Next 15" or the "Company") Confirmation of director changes Next 15 Group plc, the tech and data driven growth consultancy, today announces that with effect from 30 May 2025 Peter Harris will cease to be a Director. This follows the announcement on 30 January 2025 that Peter Harris had informed the Company of his intention to step down from the Board and from his role as CFO. As announced on 26 March 2025, Mickey Kalifa will become CFO of the Group and be appointed to the Board with effect from 1 June 2025. For further information, please contact: Next 15 Group plc Tim Dyson, Chief Executive Officer Via MHP Deutsche Numis (Nomad & Joint Broker) Mark Lander, Hugo Rubinstein +44 (0)20 7260 1000 Berenberg (Joint Broker) Ben Wright, Mark Whitmore +44 (0)20 3207 7800 MHP (Investor Relations) Simon Evans, Eleni Menikou, Veronica Farah Next15@ +44 (0)7812 590 682 View source version on Contacts Next 15 Group plc Sign in to access your portfolio
BBC News
27-04-2025
- BBC News
Strange But True Crime: The GP Thomas Kwan who poisoned his mother's partner
When police set up a cordon around the house of a 53-year-old GP they suspected of injecting his mother's partner with poison, BBC Look North's Peter Harris was soon there. Dr Thomas Kwan had put on a disguise, pretended to be a community nurse and given Patrick O'Hara a jab the unsuspecting 71-year-old believed to be a coronavirus booster. "You wouldn't expect this to happen around here," said a dog walker watching the firefighters and police officers filling a street in Ingleby Barwick in the north-east of what had happened nobody seemed to know but, as I arrived at the cordon separating the emergency services from the public, flashing blue lights illuminating the night sky, it was obvious something highly unusual was were not just firefighters I could see. They were dressed head to toe in luminous protective hazmat suits, the stuff they wear if they're expecting toxic and dangerous chemicals. I describe the wild scene in detail in Dr Nope, an episode in the new podcast Strange But True Crime on BBC Sounds. The team in the hazmat suits came and went from a large detached house and the dog walker was right - you really wouldn't expect this to happen among the densely packed, modern executive homes of a private housing estate in the suburbs of Stockton-on-Tees.I live nearby and friends with a house overlooking the scene had been texting me to ask if I knew what was going on. I'm a reporter, after all. Not for the first time, I hadn't a first guess was that this would be terrorism-related but the police had ruled that out even before I recorded my report for BBC Look North's late news bulletin. Next morning, I returned, and all was quiet. But there was man who lived in the house was a Sunderland GP, a family doctor, and he'd been charged with attempted murder. His name was Dr Thomas was intriguing enough, but nothing could prepare me for the e-mail that was about to land on my had just made his first appearance at Newcastle Magistrates Court and a colleague there passed on what had been GP, he wrote, had attempted to murder his mother's partner, a man in his 70s, by dressing in disguise, posing as a nurse and then injecting him with poison, pretending it was a Covid jab. Apparently, it was something do with money, over his mother's will, and he wanted her partner out of the is usual, we were not allowed report most of this at that early stage in the criminal proceedings, and most of the neighbours in Ingleby Barwick remained unaware of the extraordinary plot unfolding around his detached garage, Kwan had been keeping an array of lethal them were ingredients that could be used for making ricin - a scheduled chemical weapon - along with liquid mercury, sulphuric acid and a green plastic bag, he'd kept a glass container with a flesh-eating pesticide in it, along with a hypodermic needle and a syringe. This, it turned out, was most likely the substance he'd injected into his unsuspecting victim. To add to the intrigue, though, Kwan had pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and so it was that in October I was at Newcastle Crown Court as his trial a slight, balding, bespectacled man in his 50s, sat impassively in the dock as the details of his crime were read out, including the jaw-dropping moment when his fake ID card was displayed on the screens around the court had taken a picture of himself dressed in a wig, a false beard and glasses - part of the disguise he had used to hoodwink his mother and her partner, Patrick O'Hara, into believing he was in fact a community nurse called Raj Patel when he had turned up at their Newcastle home to deliver the Covid jab that was actually poison. After listening to the prosecution outlining their case for a couple of hours, I couldn't work out how Kwan could possibly expect to get away with it. And, by this time, it turned out, Kwan had reached the same conclusion. He changed his plea to by greed and a thirst for revenge on his mother regarding the details of her will, he was jailed for 31 years and is likely to die in prison. His victim, mercifully, is on the mend, but traumatised by the unprovoked attack from someone he thought was an NHS the start of the trial, the prosecutor had told the jury that sometimes truth is stranger than fiction and that this was one such case. He wasn't residents of Ingleby Barwick weren't wrong either, when the police swooped on their estate that February really wouldn't expect that to happen around here. Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
The Independent
27-01-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Hotel Chocolat savours record Christmas sales amid expansion plan
Hotel Chocolat saw its best ever Christmas for UK sales, as the retailer said it will open 25 new UK stores and hire 200 more people. The chocolate seller, which was bought by Mars last year, made 10% more in sales over the festive period in 2024 than the previous year. The company said it is planning 25 new stores, including what it describes as its 'most expansive ever' outlet in Manchester in spring. Despite consumers continuing to feel the pinch, they went for quality this Christmas Angus Thirlwell, Hotel Chocolat And it also plans to open two new stores as part of a US expansion plan. The co-founders of Hotel Chocolat, Angus Thirlwell and Peter Harris, both netted £144 million from the sale of the retailer to Mars last year. The overall deal saw the US confectionery giant pay £534 million for the UK brand, which had previously shut down its five American stores before changing ownership. Hotel Chocolat opened its first shop in north London in 2004 and has since expanded rapidly, selling its upmarket confectionery online and in-person. It sells items from basic chocolate boxes to high-end so-called velvetisers, devices which whisk chocolate into warm milk. Mr Thirlwell, who is still the company's chief executive, said: 'This Christmas was our most successful to date and testament to the dedication of our manufacturing-distributing and retailing teams in particular. 'Despite consumers continuing to feel the pinch, they went for quality this Christmas and we posted strong sales across our accessible price points from the £5.95 chocolate-filled table cracker right up to our £200 velvetiser experience hamper.'
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hotel Chocolat savours record Christmas sales amid expansion plan
Hotel Chocolat saw its best ever Christmas for UK sales, as the retailer said it will open 25 new UK stores and hire 200 more people. The chocolate seller, which was bought by Mars last year, made 10% more in sales over the festive period in 2024 than the previous year. The company said it is planning 25 new stores, including what it describes as its 'most expansive ever' outlet in Manchester in spring. And it also plans to open two new stores as part of a US expansion plan. The co-founders of Hotel Chocolat, Angus Thirlwell and Peter Harris, both netted £144 million from the sale of the retailer to Mars last year. The overall deal saw the US confectionery giant pay £534 million for the UK brand, which had previously shut down its five American stores before changing ownership. Hotel Chocolat opened its first shop in north London in 2004 and has since expanded rapidly, selling its upmarket confectionery online and in-person. It sells items from basic chocolate boxes to high-end so-called velvetisers, devices which whisk chocolate into warm milk. Mr Thirlwell, who is still the company's chief executive, said: 'This Christmas was our most successful to date and testament to the dedication of our manufacturing-distributing and retailing teams in particular. 'Despite consumers continuing to feel the pinch, they went for quality this Christmas and we posted strong sales across our accessible price points from the £5.95 chocolate-filled table cracker right up to our £200 velvetiser experience hamper.' He added that the Chicago stores are 'being fitted out' currently in time for the Easter trading period.
