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Top story
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Cattles seeks a home for invoice finance team
FTSE 250 financial services group Cattles is considering selling its business finance division Cattles Invoice Finance, which has its longest established office in Manchester and another in Liverpool. A statement from the group said that it wishes to focus on its main area of business, consumer finance. The division, which is led in the North West by Darren Cottenden, saw a fall in pre-tax profits in the six months to the end of June from £1.4m in the first half of 2007 down to £1m this year, largely due to an increased loan loss charge. Net income grew 15.8 per cent and the value of invoices factored increased by 8.2 per cent to £480.6m. No sale has yet been agreed and Cattles said: "This development is an exciting opportunity for Cattles Invoice Finance and its management team for further growth under a new parent company."
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Deals
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Luxury travel business sold
Proving that there is still money to be made in the travel industry, luxury travel business Carrier has been acquired by travel giant Kuoni in a deal that sees founder and managing director Ian Pollitt continue in his role. Cheadle-based Carrier, established in 1980, has a turnover of £36m and 84 employees and the deal allows Kuoni to strengthen its position in the premium holiday market alongside its existing luxury brands, CV and Kirker.
NWF sells garden centre division
Nantwich-based NWF Group, the specialist distribution business in the food, fuels and animal feed sectors, has sold its garden centre division to garden centre group Notcutts, which is based in Suffolk, for £14.5m. The £21.8m-turnover division operates six garden centres in Cheshire, Lancashire and Nottinghamshire. Proceeds from the sale will be used to reduce debt and strengthen the group's balance sheet. The deal allows NWF to exit the retail market and focus on distribution.
Smile, you're on CCTV
Video Tec, a CCTV installation and maintenance company based in Standish, has expanded with the acquisition of Midlands-based rival Security Management Plus (SMP) for an undisclosed sum, in a deal funded by The Royal Bank of Scotland. The deal expands Video Tec's geographic reach and provides entry to a new market as SMP specialises in CCTV systems for the education sector. Three years ago Video Tec acquired Warrington-based Zoom CCTV and this latest acquisition is set to take turnover to £5m.
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Business
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Metrolink consortium moves to Old Trafford
MPact-Thales, the consortium appointed to design, build and maintain the next phase of Greater Manchester's Metrolink system, has taken a 10,697 sq ft office suite at Bruntwood's Trafford Plaza building in Old Trafford. The group, made up of Laing O'Rourke, GrantRail and Thales Group UK, has agreed a five-year lease on the property that will be used to accommodate its management, engineering and design teams. The Department for Transport gave its final approval for the £575m Metrolink expansion earlier this year, with MPact-Thales appointed to carry out the work in June.
Kudos for security firm
Leyland-based security company The Kudos Group has been awarded the Security Industry Authority's Approved Contractor Status (ACS), designed to raise standards and to promote and spread best practice across the industry. Group business development director Mark Prendergast said: "It opens more doors if you've got ACS. We can now compete with all the well-known security firms that have high street names." The Kudos Group was formed in 2004 and employs a pool of around 100 security workers.
Shoosmiths moves into Manchester
As law firms Cobbetts and Halliwells prepare to cut jobs, rival Shoosmiths has announced its intention to enter the North West market, with plans in place to open a new office in Manchester within the next three months. Lender services partner Waine Mannix is overseeing the expansion and has already recruited Darren Shaw from HL Interactive and Harold Brako from DLA Piper. Chief executive Paul Stothard said: "This exciting move into a new region extends our geographic footprint north, but importantly it ensures we retain our position as a market leader in lender services and mortgage recoveries." The Manchester office will become Shoosmiths' eighth UK location.
PSAfilms completes shoe contract
Film production company PSAfilms has completed an internet film for The Shoe Tailor, a division of home-shopping company N Brown Group, to promote a series of roadshow events. Along with design agency Red C, the Manchester-based business produced a short film aimed to highlight the importance of having the correct shoe fitting. Ben Swift, director of PSAfilms, said online films is a growing market for the company and can provide a good return on investment for clients.
Tough times for manufacturers
The region's manufacturers are facing the toughest operating conditions in nearly two decades, according to the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply's report for September. The Purchasing Managers' Index for the UK plunged to a record low of 41 last month, as levels of output, new orders and employment all contracted at the fastest rates in the 17-year history of the series. Professor Peter Spencer, chief economic adviser to the Ernst & Young ITEM Club, said: "With new orders falling, output in the coming months is unlikely to recover."
Acid moves house
Software provider Acid has relocated to larger premises in the Ancoats Urban Village, Manchester. The company, which was established in 2001, said the move was in response to a growing order book and the need to expand its workforce. Founder Michael Hawthornthwaite also praised the Ancoats area of the city, saying it was fast becoming Manchester's "home to creative, independent companies".
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Property
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HBG Construction to be renamed
HBG Construction, the developer behind the award-wining Alan Turing building for the University of Manchester, is to be renamed from Monday. The business, which has its North West base in Salford, will be known as BAM Construction after parent company Royal BAM Group. Steve Byrne, director of BAM Construction North West, said the rebrand would make the business more memorable for customers and emphasised that it was part of a "successful European enterprise." In addition to its work in Manchester, the company is behind the Mann Island scheme in Liverpool and the construction of several new office buildings for BAE Systems in Lancashire.
Cumbria welcomes regional plan
Cumbria County Council has hailed the new North West of England Plan as a victory for the county after it retained 23 out of 35 policies requested in the Cumbria and Lake District Joint Structure Plan 2006. The regional spatial strategy plan, published on Tuesday, will be the statutory policy used to influence planning decisions on everything from windfarms to supermarkets for the next decade. Tim Knowles, the council's cabinet member responsible for the economy, said: "It lays out the framework which will help us regenerate the priority areas of West Cumbria and Barrow, improve our internal and external transport links, and tackle the issue of affordable housing and living in a greener, more sustainable environment."
Award for Multibuild
Stockport-based Multibuild has won a Cheshire Districts 2008 Built-In Quality Award. Chester City Council presented the award to Multibuild in recognition of its high standards of construction and workmanship in refurbishing a former BT telephone exchange in the city centre. Working on behalf of Opus Land, Multibuild undertook extensive works on the St Johns Street building.
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