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Top story
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Pontin’s invests as UK holidays at home
The Pontin’s holiday camp in Southport is set to benefit from part of a £50m investment by owner Ocean Parcs that will see the redevelopment of its UK centres and the creation of 2,000 jobs. The Ainsdale-On-Sea centre and one in East Sussex will be completely redesigned and rebuilt, while sites in Wales and Weston Super Mare will be fully refurbished and one in Suffolk doubled in size. Ocean Parcs acquired Pontin’s in 2008 and moved the headquarters to Southport. It has reported a rise in bookings for Easter and summer 2009 and part of the investment will include the launch of a restyled entertainment programme. Clarke Osborne, property director at Ocean Parcs, said: “We have commenced dialogue with some of our local councils, business leaders and planners and received encouraging responses. This dialogue will be extended to all our holiday centres as it is our intention to submit proposals for planning permission during the year.”
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Deals
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Market pushes out the speculators
Activity on AIM flat-lined in the fourth quarter of 2008, with the total amount of new money raised hitting its lowest level for ten years, according to research released today by Deloitte. But Richard Bell, head of transaction services, believes the market will strengthen in 2009 as speculative propositions fall by the wayside. He said: “Despite the negative sentiment surrounding the market there are undoubtedly good companies on AIM that can be held up as success stories – it is a fallacy to suggest that all AIM companies are poor propositions.” Bell added that AIM had been particularly hard hit in 2008 due to its exposure to mining, gas and natural resources and property but had become more diversified as a result.
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Business
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Boost for city from waterfront regeneration
Regeneration work at the Pier Head and Mann Island will contribute over £200m of investment and hundreds of jobs by 2012, according to economic development company Liverpool Vision. Waterfront visitor numbers are also predicted to reach two million by 2012, attracted by schemes such as the new Museum of Liverpool, due to open in 2010, the new ferry terminal and public realm completing soon and the new canal link, which is also due to be open for navigation in the spring. The projects, including the mixed-use Mann Island scheme from Countryside and Neptune opening at the end of 2011, will see the development of 2.4 hectares of brownfield land and improvement of 1.6 hectares of public space surrounding the canal link. 
Allen quits Barclays
John Allen is stepping down as non-executive chairman of Barclays in the North West after just 18 months in the role. Allen has been with the bank for 38 years, and previously worked as regional director, but he is keen to look for opportunities in other sectors. Michael Hartig, commercial director at Barclays in Manchester, said: “It has been invaluable having John around over the last 18 months to take advantage of his experience and knowledge of the local market. We are sorry to see him go, but appreciate his desire to look for a fresh challenge outside banking.”
Call for winning innovations
The Merseyside Innovation Awards 2009 are still open for entries. Individuals and businesses with fewer than 50 employees with innovative ideas and inventions are invited to register online at www.merseysideinnovationawards.co.uk for the chance to be a monthly winner or next year’s overall winner, who will receive £10,000 in cash and £4,000 worth of invaluable business advice, as well as publicity for the idea. The awards are sponsored by Insider, Amatica, BBC Radio Merseyside, Brabners Chaffe Street, Business Link, Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, Liverpool Ventures, Paver Smith, RBS NatWest, RTC NorthWest, University of Liverpool Business Gateway, Vanguard Corporate Finance and WP Thompson & Co.
Opal triggers broadband price war
Warrington-based Opal Telecom has triggered a price war in business-to-business broadband with a new £10 per month offer for 24Mbps. Opal’s managing director Paul Lawton told Insider: “This move is intended to dominate the business broadband market and could force out less competitive operators.” BT has responded with a new price structure for business customers.
Intrinsic invests in its people
In recognition of its workplace and investment in people, Haydock-based Intrinsic Technology has been awarded two-star status in Best Companies Accreditation 2009. Competition was fierce for accreditation with nearly 800 companies entering this year and less than half of those companies achieving star status. The scheme follows a star system with one star for first class, two stars for outstanding and three stars for extraordinary performance.
Football’s rich strugglers fuel spending boom
The Premier League has again outspent its European rivals heavily in the January transfer window. Although some clubs are facing issues with refinancing loans, the league as a whole committed to spending £160m in this window, up from the record £150m of 2008, according to Deloitte’s Manchester-based sports business group. Director Dan Jones said: “The record level of gross spending has largely been driven by transfers between Premier League clubs, around £105m, in particular fuelled by the activity of Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur.” A North West beneficiary of this largesse has been law firm Brabners Chaffe Street, which has advised both City and Manchester United on deals as well as acting for Major League Soccer on David Beckham’s loan to AC Milan.
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Property
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Tague on Tour - the next level
What now for Manchester? Having been forced to abandon ambitious transport investment plans and still smarting from losing out on the supercasino and the BBC move, the city of Manchester is in need of a major investment win. Or is it? In this month’s edition of Tague on Tour, Neil Tague says: “Manchester has got more than its fair share. It’s done this through working with some talented and resourceful developers, using funding well, having a largely malleable council chamber and not a little political ability.” So what’s cooking that could take the city to the next level? Find out what else Neil has to say by clicking here.
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