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Top story
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RBS launches £250m SME fund
The Royal Bank of Scotland is to make an additional £250m funding available to SMEs in the East Midlands in 2009. In addition to traditional debt finance, the funds will offer businesses access to other services available including flexible business loans, which allow customers to postpone capital repayments, invoice finance and short-term trade finance. Accessed via business relationship managers, the fund will also offer SMEs lower-priced loans from the funding the bank has recently secured from the European Investment Bank. Phil Hope MP, minister for the East Midlands, said: “During these challenging times for the economy, I’m sure the 327,000 SMEs in the East Midlands will welcome the £250m fund made available by The Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest.”
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Deals
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RBS funds £17.1m joint recycling venture
The Royal Bank of Scotland has provided a £17.1m funding package for a recycling plant joint venture in Worksop between MBA Polymers and Warrington-based European Metals Recycling. The plastics processing facility will process 80,000 tonnes of waste per year. Work on the plant has begun and is scheduled to complete in early 2010. A joint venture company – MBA Polymers – has been established to run the operation.
Dealmakers deadline just days away
Insider’s East Midlands Dealmakers Dinner returns to the East Midlands Conference Centre on 30 April. This popular event is a major fixture in the diary for the local professional services community and will prove to be even more essential this year as the region’s dealmakers plot a way out of the downturn. The closing date for nominations, to be made by leaders of the region's dealmaking community, is Friday 6 March. Tables are disappearing fast so if you don’t want to miss out on the East Midlands’ premier corporate finance awards contact Helen Power to reserve your space.
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Business
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Interest rate cut to 1 per cent
The Bank of England has reduced interest rates to 1 per cent from 1.5 per cent. The news marks the fifth cut since October 2008, when the rate stood at 5 per cent.
Sweet deal for Eddie Stobart
Eddie Stobart, the transport and logistics business, has signed a ten-year contract to provide warehousing to Nestlé UK from its Bardon hub. The contract, worth £110m, will add Nestlé’s seasonal and export confectionery business to the road transport service Eddie Stobart provides from Bardon. Forty jobs are set to be created, taking the total there to 160.
Emda announces new fund
A new fund, the East Midlands Transition Loan Fund (TLF) is making £5m available to businesses across the region, Emda has announced. The fund is aimed at businesses struggling to get credit through banks and other traditional routes. The TLF, announced in the government’s Pre-Budget Report, will provide individual loans of between £50,000 and £250,000 for up to three years.
BCS PR feasts on new contract
Curry Lounge entrepreneur Arfan Razak, who turned around his Nottingham restaurant after a visit from celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, has hired BCS Public Relations. It will advise Razak as he sets up a worldwide Curry Lounge franchise, with negotiations with potential franchises in UK cities, North America and the Middle East.
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Property
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City living comes to Old Market Square
Work has started on a £4.4m scheme to bring affordable living close to the Old Market Square in Nottingham. Formation Wealth Solutions is creating 15 apartments. The firm has started on the conversion of the building and the scheme is expected to be complete by April 2009.
Ruddle Merz first at Oakham Office Park
Business rates specialist Ruddle Merz has bought a 4,448 sq ft office at Oakham Office Park. Ruddle Merz is the first occupant to move into Oakham on the Hawksmead Estate, a 30-acre, mixed-use development by Rugby Investments. Nelsons advised Ruddle Merz on the deal.
Good move
Good Products, the pharmaceutical electronic document management company, has moved from its incubator unit at BioCity in Nottingham to purpose-built offices on Lenton Lane.
SQ2 proves logical for Loughborough companies
Loughborough’s A&A Electrical Services and Embroidery Expressions have moved across town to SQ2, a business park on Bishop Meadow Road. The development contains 14 industrial and warehouse units from 1,227 to 3,692 sq ft.
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People
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Gourlay joins board at Boots
Alex Gourlay, managing director of Boots UK, has been appointed to the board of Alliance Boots and becomes chief executive of the health and beauty division. Stefano Pessina, executive chairman, said: “Alex will quickly prove a real asset to the board with his knowledge of pharmacy-led health and beauty retailing.” Gourlay joined Boots in 1976 as a Saturday assistant and qualified as a pharmacist in 1981.
New boss at Browne Jacobson
Law firm Browne Jacobson has appointed Iain Blatherwick, head of business services, as its managing partner. He replaces Brian Smith, managing partner since 2001, who returns to his former role as head of planning practice. The four-year, fixed-term appointment will take effect from 1 May 2009. Corporate partner Gavin Cummings will replace Blatherwick as head of business services.
Faulkner moves to Motorpoint Derby
Derby’s Motorpoint, the car supermarket, has appointed James Faulkner to the new role of group disposals manager. Faulkner was the general manager of Motorpoint Peterborough.
Top accolade for Berryman HR specialist
Jane Rawden, strategic HR director at Nottingham law firm Berryman, has been invited to be a fellow member by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development.
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Insider Weekly
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Telephone: +44 (0)121 232 0980
Email:
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