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Top story
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City parking plan met with hostility
Business group Downtown Liverpool In Business (DLIB) has launched a campaign to persuade Liverpool City Council to abandon plans to extend car parking charges to 8pm in the city centre. The authority is hoping to raise an extra £11,000 a year through the move, but DLIB chairman Frank McKenna said: “DLIB has been inundated with complaints. The strength of feeling among the business community has been incredible.” Dougal Paver, managing director of Liverpool PR company Paver Smith said: “If Liverpool wants to show that it’s genuinely business-friendly then it has to do something dramatic to drive home the point. Scrapping all car parking charges would do just that. Handled properly, it would secure global press coverage. It’s the absence of cars in Liverpool that’s a problem – fewer cars means fewer people spending money in the city.”
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Deals
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In Focus - Lessons from Lancashire
In this week’s edition of his online deals column In Focus, Insider editor Michael Taylor reports from the Lancashire Dealmakers Awards, where he found an enterprising dealmaking community ready to take on the worst the recession has to offer. “Lancashire businesses have never had it easy,” he says. “And yet they’ve created businesses with value that have been attractive to trade buyers, rather than triggering a merry-go-round of private equity auctions.” To find out what more he has to say, click here.
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Business
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NWDA signs JESSICA agreement
The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) is to set up a £46m holding fund, in co-operation with the European Investment Bank (EIB), to support regeneration projects and small businesses in the region’s urban areas. The Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas initiative (JESSICA) is a joint European Commission and EIB initiative, supported by the Council of Europe Development Bank. Steven Broomhead, chief executive of the NWDA, said: “This is an opportunity to put a mechanism in place that will ensure we can prolong the benefit of our ERDF programme.” 
Shop Direct to resurrect Woolworths name
Liverpool home shopping giant Shop Direct Group has bought the rights to the Woolworths brand and plans to relaunch the collapsed high street chain as an online retailer later this year. The company, which has also bought Woolworths’ childrenswear brand Ladybird, said it was confident that the store would “stay at the heart of British retailing” as an online presence. Chief executive Mark Newton-Jones said: “Woolworths is a much-loved brand that engenders huge affection among British consumers and is an important part of the country's retail heritage.” The move comes just days after Shop Direct announced proposals to close its Crosby call centre and cut around 1,150 jobs as it looks to transfer much of its business online.
JV for recycling project
Warrington-based European Metals Recycling has formed a joint venture with US firm MBA Polymers to develop a £17.1m plastics recycling plant. The project, funded by The Royal Bank of Scotland, is being developed in Worksop, Nottinghamshire and is expected to process 80,000 tones of waste per year. A new joint venture company – MBA Polymers UK – has been established to run the operation. Michael Biddle, founder and president at MBA, said: “With this expansion we are furthering our company’s goal of providing high-performance sustainable plastics on a global scale.”
Internal fraud on the up
The level of internal corporate fraud is increasing as company directors and employees come under increasing financial pressure. According to KPMG Forensic’s Fraud Barometer, there was a five-fold increase in losses in 2008 to £125m, against £24m a year earlier. Managers accounted for £128m (£54m in 2007) and employees for £100m, compared to £27m in 2007. Brian Green, head of restructuring at KPMG in the North West, said: “With falling revenues and often high levels of debt, managers of businesses may be tempted to massage figures to paper over the cracks. Unfortunately ‘tweaking’ the figures can spiral out of control.”
Howard Basford sells repair centre
Wirral-based vehicle repair chain Howard Basford has sold its accident repair centre in Stockport to insurance group RSA for an undisclosed sum. Chairman Tracy Howard said the move would consolidate its Manchester operations to a recently acquired 30,000 sq ft site at Trafford Park. “Howard Basford remains fully committed to continuing to develop in the North West region and building capacity across the wider footprint,” he said. “This opportunity to modify our network structure is mutually beneficial and we need to remain responsive to the marketplace dynamics.”
Investment for Avanti
Knowsley-based environmental management company Avanti has launched its £1.3m site redevelopment. The investment includes new training and welfare facilities for staff and has been welcomed by Knowsley Council. Leader Ron Round said: “The council feels very strongly about supporting businesses in the borough and will work with businesses to identify any assistance they may need to get through these tough times.” Avanti Environmental was highly commended in Knowsley’s Annual Enterprise Awards in October 2008 in the Most Innovative Business Category.
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Property
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Good news for Grosvenor
With homeware specialist Cath Kidston heading new retail lettings at Liverpool One, Knight Frank, joint agent with Keppie Massie for the office element of the scheme, has confirmed that the third and fourth floors of Compton House, comprising 4,325 sq ft, have been let to design consultancy Peppered Sprout at £16 per sq ft on a five-year lease. Cath Kidston last week committed to the two bottom floors of the same building, while Tesco, clothes shop Flannels and restaurants Chaophraya and Pesto have all signed.
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Events
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Dates for your diary this week
Liverpool John Moores University and SOG, owner-operator of The Heath business park in Runcorn, will today launch The Business Hub at Hatton Garden, Liverpool. The aim is to provide new and established companies with an office away from the office and a gateway to expertise and resources from LJMU and SOG. The event this evening will include speeches from SOG managing director Dr Peter Cook; LJMU Vice Chancellor Michael Brown and local businessman Gary Miller.
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