North West Business Insider
Regular monthly sections. Agenda - news, events, Briefing, People, Corporate Raider, Deals - dedicated corporate finance section with editorial comment and monthly deals tables.
If the private sector’s going to lead us on the road to recovery, what can the biggest employers do to do their bit? We’ll be looking to speak to some of the major businesses in Warrington and Wigan to see how business is shaping up, both for the biggest names like BetFred and United Utilities and other key employers.
The arrival of the BBC at MediaCity has created a central hub for the North West media industry to gather around. It is a big statement of intent for the region and one that is set to create some interesting opportunities for smaller businesses across the North West.
Look at tower cranes punctuating the skyline and a good proportion will be helping build student accommodation. As universities look at rationalise campus facilities and find new ways to drive revenue onto the balance sheet, many will build places for their students to live as a good means of income for the institution and the brand.
Innovation is a watchword of UK plc as it looks to regain ground lost to the recession. Companies need to do it; policymakers want to see it, but how do you create the right conditions to help inventors and entrepreneurs to flourish in the UK. One such scheme is the Patent Box legislation, first mooted by the Labour government in 2009, and taken forward by the coalition in 2011
Brazil is often cited by businesses as the next place on the list. A plethora of natural resources, a dynamic population and growing demand for infrastructure are just three factors attracting inward investment in its droves.
If 2011 was measured by the number of trade buyers in the market, will 2012 be the year when private equity returns to the table? Anecdotal evidence suggests that overseas corporates, once the strongest bidders for UK assets, are cooling their interest in European investments. Couple this with a wall of private equity money, and this could be the time for more investment deals.
This month’s feature will explore the extent to which the North West is and can be a media hub for the UK and Europe. Some believe that we are already there, with the likes of MediaCity and a host of creative and digital companies, but when there is a need to define the key sectors of the future with serious implications for workforce development is this true and how far have we got to travel to achieve this vision?
Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, where businesses are able to get funding and academic assistance for a development project, have been a staple introduction to university-industry collaboration.
A key issue to punctuate job market news in the past 12 months has been youth and graduate unemployment, as the UK’s out of work total continues to rise. But with the figures running at an all time high, some businesses are still reporting having trouble getting the right staff.
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