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Disused railway land to be redeveloped to build 40,000 new homes

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Simon Browning & Tom Espiner

BBC Business reporters

Getty Images An old Victorian red brick building viewed from the corner, with empty roads feeding off to left and right. The building appears derelict with some windows and doors boarded up.Getty Images

Plans include building 1,500 new homes at Manchester’s derelict Mayfield railway station

The UK government says first-time buyers are set to benefit as it pledges to build up to 40,000 new homes on disused railway land, including former goods yards, industrial sites and station buildings, over the next ten years.

The £1bn development plans will start with previously identified projects in Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Cambridge.

The government said it was part of its “brownfield first” approach and would create “vibrant” new communities.

However, the interim target of 15,000 in the first five years, is a small fraction of the total 1.5 million new homes the government has promised by the end of this parliament, plans that are already facing big hurdles.

The government aims to attract £350m in private sector investment to help develop vacant industrial sites across the country, to create shops, green spaces and hotels as well as flats and houses.

It is part of its bigger promise to tackle housing shortages across the country.

However, those plans face a huge range of obstacles, including strains on local infrastructure such as water, sewage, schools and healthcare, and a lack of capacity in the construction industry to build the new homes

Industry groups say there are already backlogs, with hundreds of homebuilding projects held up by regulatory obstacles.

A new development company, called Platform4, is being created, by rolling together two existing bodies: London and Continental Railways and Network Rail’s Property Development Team.

Both currently have responsibility for managing disused railway land, but the Department for Transport said that this “fragmented approach” had led to “inefficiencies, duplicated efforts and missed opportunities”.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the new developments would support jobs and drive growth as well as providing much needed homes.

“It’s exciting to picture the thousands of families who will live in these future homes, the vibrant neighbourhoods springing up, and the new businesses that will launch thanks to these developments,” she said.

Bek Seeley, the chair of London and Continental Railways, has been appointed as chair of Platform4.

Hi-Track Aerial Photography An aerial view of Forth Yard in Newcastle. The land stands between the River Tyne and the green Utilita Arena. The land is covered in sparse grass and dirt tracks.Hi-Track Aerial Photography

Up to 5,000 homes are planned for the former goods yard by the River Tyne

However, the industry group the National Federation of Builders (NFB) said planning delays were blocking progress on existing building projects on a scale equal to the government’s new plans.

According to the NFB at least 40,000 new homes are being held up by regulators, including 700 projects waiting for the go-ahead from the Building Safety Regulator, which was set up in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire to oversee higher-risk buildings.

The NFB also said planning delays were also causing small businesses to leave the construction industry, with a knock-on effect on training and apprenticeships.

Rico Wojtulewicz, the NFB’s head of policy and market insight said building houses near to railway lines was a “winning blueprint” because stations “already connect up local and regional communities”.

But he said elsewhere government policy was adding to building costs “on at least ten fronts”.

The Building Safety Regulator said many applications had “taken longer than anticipated to process” and that said it was rejecting around 70% of applications because they did not meet legal requirements.



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Business Coach Ronald Osborne Deploys AI Agents to

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Fort Lauderdale, FL, Sept. 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Ronald Osborne Business Coach announced a comprehensive AI driven playbook that helps small-business owners and startup founders compress time-to-revenue, strengthen internal infrastructure, and lower operating expenses. From the firm’s headquarters at 401 East Las Olas Boulevard, Suite 1400, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301, the business coach leverages autonomous and semi‑autonomous AI agents for lead generation, onboarding, knowledge management, and client success bringing enterprise-grade capability to Main Street.

Small businesses power the U.S. economy, and the stakes are significant: they employ nearly half the workforce and account for 43.5% of America’s GDP, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Any edge that speeds growth or trims costs matters to communities across Broward County and the broader Miami Fort Lauderdale West Palm Beach metro. (U.S. Chamber of Commerce)

The approach pairs hands‑on startup coaching with a modular stack of AI agents: a Lead Qualification Agent that scores and routes inbound interest; a RevOps Agent that drafts proposals and nudges follow‑ups; an Ops “Brain” that surfaces SOPs and answers policy questions in real time; and a Customer Care Agent that handles Tier‑0/1 requests before escalating to humans. Each agent integrates with common CRMs, help desks, and marketing automation platforms so teams keep existing workflows while the business coachRonald Osborne, orchestrates measurable outcomes.

External research reinforces the thesis behind this rollout. In a randomized field deployment studied by researchers and later published in The Quarterly Journal of Economics, access to a generative‑AI assistant increased agent productivity by ~14% on average, with the largest gains for less‑experienced workers precisely the profile found in many early‑stage firms. (Oxford Academic)

Revenue impact tracks with sales adoption trends. Salesforce’s multi‑industry studies report that 83% of sales teams using AI grew revenue year over year (vs. 66% without AI), and 92% of service teams say AI reduces their costs clear signals that the right AI agents can both grow the top line and lighten the cost base. (Salesforce)

Adoption is no longer fringe. McKinsey’s latest State of AI finds regular generative‑AI use surged to roughly seven in ten organizations, with marketing, sales, service operations, and IT leading the way exactly where Osborne’s playbooks deploy AI agents first. (McKinsey & Company)

The business coach frames the program in pragmatic terms. Rather than chasing novelty, Ronald Osborne sequences startup coaching sprints around three levers: (1) shorten cycle time from lead to invoice; (2) lift output per employee via agent‑assisted execution; and (3) strip recurring overhead by automating low‑variance tasks. The firm then operationalizes governance human-in-the-loop checkpoints, data retention rules, and brand‑safe templates so owners get speed without losing control.

Early client engagements in South Florida mirror the broader evidence base. Teams report leaner pipelines that move faster, cleaner documentation that anyone can retrieve, and customer requests resolved at lower marginal cost. These results align with OECD findings that generative AI significantly improves workforce efficiency when paired with process adaptation an emphasis that anchors Osborne’s method.

Crucially, the press‑to‑perform design serves both scrappy startups and established small businesses. A founder can launch with one or two agents and scale to a full suite as volume grows. A multi‑location service firm can pilot the Customer Care Agent on after‑hours tickets, then expand to warranty claims and proactive retention sequences. Throughout, the business coach measures lift using familiar metrics time‑to‑first‑response, proposals sent per rep, average handle time, cost per ticket, and booked revenue so leaders see cause, effect, and ROI with board‑ready clarity.

About Ronald Osborne Business Coach

Ronald Osborne Business Coach is a Fort Lauderdale based advisory led by Ronald Osborne, focused on startup coaching, growth operations, and AI‑enabled transformation for small businesses. The firm’s AI agent playbooks translate cutting‑edge research into day‑to‑day execution so founders and operators achieve durable growth with fewer resources.

https://thenewsfront.com/business-coach-ronald-osborne-deploys-ai-agents-to-accelerate-startup-coaching-and-cut-costs-for-small-businesses/

            



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SMEs Predict Accelerated Business Growth with AI Advertising Tools

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Two-thirds of Ireland’s top companies now using AI – Deloitte

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Nearly two-thirds (62%) of Ireland’s top companies have adopted artificial intelligence technologies to support their operations, research by Deloitte and the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School shows.

Naturally, adoption is advanced fastest fastest in technology-driven sectors with 94% of technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) businesses surveyed saying that they use AI.

The top use cases for AI include employee support and internal productivity (28%), operational efficiency and automation (22%), and sales/marketing and customer engagement (15%).

Separately, operational process improvements (55%) are the leading innovation priority across companies surveyed. A total of 115 indigenous, private limited businesses participating in Deloitte’s Ireland’s Best Managed Companies programme took part in the study.

“Rising costs continue to challenge businesses across the board, but Ireland’s Best Managed Companies are powering through with remarkable resilience, unstoppable ambition, and an unwavering commitment to excellence,” said Brian Murphy, lead partner for the Ireland’s Best Managed Companies Awards Programme.

“Innovation is a key theme; and across every industry, launching new products and services is the top growth strategy for the next five years. These companies are not just talking the talk, they’re walking the walk, with 62% already harnessing the power of AI to enhance productivity.

A third (33%) of firms listed the cost of doing business as a top challenge and a key strategic focus, rising to 41% among family businesses and 51% in the consumer industry.

Talent acquisition and retention remain high on the agenda with 23% of companies naming it as a key challenge, and the leading barrier to growth at 28%.

When asked about their talent retention strategies, 95% of companies surveyed said they were prioritising the improvement of engagement between employees and management.

Additionally, 78% said they were increasing investment in professional development, while 72% are introducing wellbeing programmes, and 66% are increasing staff compensation.

“Talent acquisition and retention remain tough battles, but the Best Managed Companies are winning by putting their people first; focusing on employee engagement and investing heavily in professional development to boost overall performance,” said Murphy.

One in four companies (25%) said they are monitoring policy changes and trading dynamics closely as geopolitical and regulatory challenges remain present.

A strong majority (57%) of companies reported that women make up at least 20% of their C-suite, and 16% have achieved gender balance at the top level, but STEM-focused sectors have had less success in gender balancing their boardrooms.

Developing new products and services emerged as the foremost growth strategy, with nearly two-thirds (65%) of companies indicating it will play a key role in their growth plans over the next five years.

A total of 55% of respondents expect to grow their business through M&A activity, while international expansion and increasing headcount were each cited by 52% of companies. Only 9% of businesses said they would use third-party debt for growth.

Over three quarters (76%) of technology, media and telecommunications companies cited M&A as a key growth strategy, and 71% are allocating resources to international expansion to accelerate growth and capture new market opportunities.

Private equity-backed businesses are also prioritising international growth, with 57% of planning to expand overseas.

Brian Murphy, Lead Partner, for Ireland’s Best Managed Companies Award Programme, Deloitte with Michele McCormack, CEO Mowlam Healthcare Services. (Pic: Jason Clarke)

“This survey of Ireland’s Best Managed Companies sends a clear message: we must champion our homegrown businesses, fuel their growth, and support their scaling journey to become the next wave of great Irish success stories,” Murphy concluded.

This year’s winners of the Ireland’s Best Managed Companies programme will be announced on Thursday, 25 September. For more information about the programme, visit deloitte.ie/bestmanaged

(Pic: Getty Images)



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