24/09/2014 East Midlands Today

And now the news for the East Midlands, I'm Dominic Heale.

First tonight, two men arrested on suspicion of murdering

a Nottingham taxi driver 20 years ago have been released on b`il.

26`year`old Ethsham Ghafoor was shot dead in his taxi outside a Gedling

Police described it at the time as a cold`blooded

Officers spent today questioning two men in their 40s.

The Dowager Duchess of Devonshire has died.

Deborah Mitford was the youngest of the famous Mitford sisters.

She was the main public facd of Chatsworth House in Derbyshhre for

decades and is credited with turning the house into one of Britahn's most

Her son announced her death earlier today.

There's more good economic news on the way for the region.

A survey to be published next week will show a big increase

in businesses, saying they're looking to recruit staff and expand.

It comes on the day one enghneering company opened a new ?5 million

steel`cutting plant, as Mike O'Sullivan reports.

The future is looking bright for Caunton Engineering at Loorgreen

The managing director told le the company has invested ?5 million

in what they call The Cut Shack kitted out with state`of`thd`art

We're already taking on 20 lore people, we will probably be taking

on some more if the market hmproves still further, and this week we saw

another six apprentices arrhving in our accredited training `cademy.

They have a healthy order book at a time when small manufacturers

A survey by the government's Manufacturing Advisory Servhce due

out next week will show that 64 of small firms expected to recruit

And 73% expected to grow in the next six months, up 00%.

Providing your company's willing to progress you through.

I started on the shop floor as a fabricator welder, I'm now

As it stands, with the improvements that not only our company

but the other companies are making, there is a very strong future.

Caunton built their plant whth a ?250,000 grant from the

Being a family business we take a bit of a longer`term view through

We took the view that things can't stay this

bad for ever and at some pohnt we have to make a move and reinvest.

That was triggered in some part by the Regional Growth Fund,

The company started out as a blacksmith's in the village of

Now they are turning over ?40 million a year.

Earlier this evening I spokd to Stuart Hilton from the

Manufacturing Advisory Servhce and began by asking him why companies

Our survey told us that a large proportion

of businesses have experienced growth over the last six months

and a slightly larger proportion are planning and expecting lore

That situation has to give them the confidence to recruit ndw staff

because they are winning new business and they have more orders

to satisfy, and they need more capacity to satisfy that work.

Is it also a question of confidence, that firms may have been holding

back until they were sure the future is positive?

I think they must be, because it is based on

They feel they are winning new business and they need to add

capacity to satisfy the orders they are winning.

The engineering firm we featured in our report,

they took advantage of substantially of the Regional Growth Fund.

Are other firms you advise taking similar advantage,

Other companies are taking advantage, yes, they are,

If a company has expansion plans and they are looking to obt`in

grant support to help them do that, then I think they need to t`lk to

their Local Enterprise Partnership, talk to the

Absolutely, talk to us and we can connect them to the right pdople.

Derbyshire Fire and Rescue service has a new recruit to help

Senior officers presented Ddxter the cocker spaniel puppy with his

He is the new boy in the latest in a line of fire investigation dogs

What they provide is the expertise and skills to be able

to detect accelerants in fires, where things like petrol have been

That helps us with our investigation which goes on to be used later

Before dogs are used in fires scenes,

as part of their training they are taught to find tennis balls.

What we then do is turn that reward around and teach him that

if he can find petrol he will get his tennis ball.

All the signs are good, he's inquisitive, he likes playing

with the tennis ball, he's searching round the hotse quite

well at home, so fingers crossed we will develop that as he grows up.

Dexter takes over from Freckle, who has been used in major crimd scenes,

including the fire at the Philpott house in Derby two years ago.

Dogs like Dexter can play a vital role in solving suspected arson

attacks, and these boots can be an important part of our arloury.

When we go into fire scene, obviously they protect his feet

Dexter will be given the next few months to settle

in before he starts training, and that's when the hard work bdgins.

Football now, and one game in the League Cup for you tonight.

Nottingham Forest are out of the competition after losing 3`1

So, our only team left in the Capital One Cup is Derby Cotnty

The draw for the last 16 of was made a short time ago,

and the Rams are away to fellow Championship side Fulham.

That is your news and sport, so it is goodbye from me, with yotr

weather now is key. We have had another decent day

today, lovely sunshine around this afternoon thanks to a ridge of high

pressure, but that. To erodd tonight and tomorrow. We will pick tp more

cloud and you can see the isobars squeezing, where we will pick up

more of a breeze. Cloudy and breezy is esteemed tomorrow, a spl`sh or

two of rain here and there but most of us will stay dry. Tonight,

staying dry, clear skies, more cloud across North and western parts by

the end of the night but further south where there are clear skies

temperatures could dip down to around six Celsius. Tomorrow morning

starting off bright, sunshine to the south but cloud will start to move

from the North and West, sole splashes of rain here and there but

most places dry. It is cloudy and breezy with temperatures sililar

today. That is it from us, I will

Good evening. Many of us had some welcome rain for the gardens

overnight. But away from