| - |
|
Top story
|
Icy blast hits Summer Row scheme
Wolverhampton’s £300m Summer Row development, a keystone project in the regeneration of the city centre, looks to be in trouble after a finance deal fell through. Belfast developer Multi Development said year-long negotiations to get investment worth £150m, in exchange for 49 per cent of the project, from a consortium of Irish businessmen had failed. Work on the 600,000 sq ft mixed-use centre, which was expected to start in March 2009, has been put on hold. Only last month the 85-store project signed an agreement with Marks & Spencer to be an anchor store alongside Debenhams. The centre, which will feature restaurants, cafes and 140 apartments, is dependent on outside investment.
|
Co-op cashes Giro
The Co-operative Bank in the Midlands has funded the management buyout of a fuel engineering company. The Co-op’s John Murphy and Neil Wade advised on the purchase of Giro Engineering by joint managing directors Craig Parker and Ann Thomas following the retirement of vendors Paul Williams and Chris Galley from the Hampshire business. Giro, which employs 27 staff, designs and makes diesel fuel injection pipes for marine and other industries. 
Midlands assists on Multiassistance buyout
Midlands professionals have advised on the management buyouts of two companies from Multiasistencia. MAGroup is the newly formed holding company for Multiassistance, a process outsourcer for insurers, and construction company MABuild. Both Aylesbury companies will continue operating under their old company names. Chartered accountancy UHY Hacker Young advised the MBO teams. The legal adviser to the Multiassistance was HBJ Gateley Wareing. Funding came from Barclays Commercial Bank. Berryman provided legal advice to Multiasistencia.
Baldwins buys into Tamworth
Accountancy group Baldwins has opened an office in Tamworth following its acquisition of TPH Accountants. The deal increases Baldwins’ Midlands offices to seven, following 11 acquisitions, and takes the staff count to 150. The acquisition of TPH was funded by Allied Irish Bank.
|
Auto-component bosses demand help at crisis summit
Immediate funding to prevent further redundancies, easing of legislation and postponing business rates have been raised as action points in a crisis summit of the West Midlands’ key auto-component industry. The Automotive Supplier Forum, held yesterday at the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, was attended by 70 manufacturers who demanded the government act to offset major cuts by global vehicle makers. There was a unanimous response at the event, organised by Accelerate, MAS-WM and Business Link, that assistance for the likes of Jaguar and Land Rover should be tied to conditions committing them to support local supply chains and retain business in the UK. Other requests included greater access to funding and help to take advantage of the weak pound. David Wright, chief executive of MAS-WM, said: “There was anecdotal information about three and four-day weeks being implemented, lack of information from carmakers, banks reducing lending facilities and burgeoning red tape restricting companies from buying ailing businesses and retaining staff. Invoice discounting was also being used as a means of securing cash.”
Sonas falls off Wagon
Auto components supplier Sonas Automotive has gone into administration, brought down by the collapse of Wagon Automotive. Wagon was the biggest customer of Sonas, which employs 200 people in Tyseley and Oxfordshire, making body in white, engine and trim components and assemblies. PricewaterhouseCoopers is the administrator. The news comes as speculation grows that 80 redundancies are set to be announced by Zolfo Cooper, the administrator of Birmingham-based Wagon.
Equilift goes down
Recovery professionals from the Birmingham office of accountancy firm Baker Tilly are working to save lift company Equilift after it was forced into administration. Partner Bob Bailey said redundancies were necessary at the Leicester business, adding: “Financial problems developed after the £5m-turnover company experienced severe funding difficulties because of the current global economic downturn. As a result the company has made 28 of its 50 employees redundant. The remaining staff, who operate the profitable service and maintenance division, have been retained pending its potential sale as a going concern.”
Darzi opens Keele research centre
Health under secretary Lord Darzi has opened a centre for primary care research at Keele University, looking at joint and muscle problems. The centre has been launched with £2.5m funding from the Arthritis Research Campaign.
Gateleys becomes government litigation lawyer
Law firm HBJ Gateley Wareing has been appointed as agent to the Treasury Solicitor’s Department, which provides legal services to more than 180 central government departments and publicly funded bodies. The Midlands law firm will serve for three years on the Specialist Employment Litigation panel for Midlands and Mid Wales, acting on major employment litigation.
|
Coventry councillors on the campus once…
The first major project in Coventry University’s £160m redevelopment plan goes before the city councillors today with recommendations they accept it. The planning committee is being asked to approve the demolition of the Frank Whittle building and the construction of a Student Enterprise Building, which will include a performance venue, shops and students' union. The 9,100 sq m landmark building, designed by Hawkins Brown, would be four storeys high and have glass walling arranged in bands. If permission is granted the building could be open by autumn 2010.
..and on the campus twice
Plans for the £400m expansion of Warwick University are being considered today by Coventry councillors with recommendations that they approve. The council’s planning committee is being asked to agree in principle to the expansion plans at the campus at Gibbet Hill. Lecture halls, offices, student digs and space for another 2,400 students would be built.
Stoke hails bus station project
Stoke city councillors have voted for a city bus station to be built as part of the redevelopment of the East West Shopping Precinct. Councillor Adrian Knapper, portfolio holder for regeneration and economic development, said: “The station is a vital part of the city’s regeneration and it is essential that we provide a facility fit for the 21st century and beyond.”
|
Fresh role for Freshwater’s Carter
Edward Carter, one of the best-known faces in Midlands business PR, is giving up a hands-on role at agency Freshwater to become its audit committee chairman and a non-executive director. The chartered accountant and former Ernst & Young partner joined Freshwater in 2005 when it acquired Birmingham’s Quantum PR, which he co-founded.
No5 QC takes top Midlands job
Birmingham barrister Gareth Evans QC has been voted leader of the Midlands Circuit, which supports and advises 1,600 senior lawyers in the region. Evans, who has been at No5 Chambers since beginning his pupillage in 1973, succeeds Peter Joyce QC.
CBI boss becomes Warwick chancellor
Richard Lambert, director-general of the CBI, has been appointed as chancellor of the University of Warwick. Lambert, a former editor of the Financial Times, is the university’s fifth chancellor and takes over from former Jaguar boss Sir Nicholas Scheele.
|
|
Contact Us
Insider Weekly
Canterbury House
85 Newhall Street
Birmingham
B3 1LH
Telephone: +44 (0)121 232 0980
Email:
editor.mids@newsco.com
|
|
Subscribe
To subscribe to the eBulletin,
click here.
|
|
-
|
