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Top story
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LEPs expand across the West Mids
Two of the West Midlands’ LEPs have stepped up the pace as the organisations prepare to establish themselves in place of the doomed regional development agencies. The Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP is set to become one of the largest in the country as Redditch and Wyre Forest have announced their intentions to join the partnership. The revelation comes as Insider spoke to the leader of the shadow board of the Worcestershire LEP, which has unveiled the line-up of its 18-strong business board.
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Deals
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Boparan edges closer to Northern takeover
Birmingham-based poultry tycoon Ranjit Boparan has received the support of more than 34 per cent of Northern Foods' shareholders for his offer for the company. Rival bidder Greencore has now said it is "still considering its options" as Boparan further extended the deadline for his 73 pence per share offer for the company.
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McKesson swoops for System C in £87m deal
McKesson UK Holdings, based in Warwick, has announced its intention to acquire System C Healthcare for £87m. McKesson, a healthcare technology solutions provider, is a wholly owned subsidiary of McKesson Corporation, and was formed for the purpose of making the acquisition.
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E.ON sells Central Networks for £3.5bn
E.ON, which has its UK base in Coventry, is to sell its Central Networks division to US-based utility PPL. The acquisition, which is PPL’s second major UK network, is worth £3.5bn.
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Discovery Foils wraps up Novelis deal
Discovery Foils, based in Shropshire, has purchased the Bridgnorth operation of aluminium-rolling and recycling business Novelis. Under the agreement, 105 employees will transfer to foil producer Discovery Foils.
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Property
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Goodyear Works site gets go-ahead
Planning approval has been given for the construction of 314 homes on the 88-acre Goodyear Works site. Wolverhampton City Council gave the green light to the first stage of the project, which is located off Stafford Road.
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Business
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Sales and profits up at IMI
Pre-tax profits have soared 64 per cent over the past year at Birmingham-based engineering giant IMI. The company’s board said it now expects to invest an additional £45m in new sales and engineering resources over the next three years.
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Signalling Solutions secures £21m deal
Signalling Solutions (SSL), which has sites in Birmingham, Beeston and Derby, has been awarded a contract worth about £21m by Network Rail. The company is a joint venture between Alstom Transport and infrastructure services giant Balfour Beatty.
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Jaguar Land Rover agrees £2bn deals
Warwickshire manufacturing giant Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has announced £2bn-worth of supply contracts to more than 40 companies in the UK for its new Evoque model. The business is set to create thousands of new jobs at the company’s Merseyside site and even more along its supply chain.
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Thompson joins Drivers Jonas Deloitte
Property consultant Drivers Jonas Deloitte has added to its Birmingham team with the appointment of Cameron Thomson as a senior surveyor.
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