Barrow engineering business Orwelco Holdings has bought certain assets of sheet metal pressing company G W Waite in a pre-pack deal. Phil Swarbrick, the managing director of Orwelco, confirmed to Insider that the deal saved 35 jobs. Staff from G W Waite in Ulverston will now relocate to Orwelco’s premises in Barrow. Administrator Ian Williamson, a partner at Campbell, Crossley and Davis in Blackpool, said the integration of the two companies has now begun. The value of the deal has not been disclosed.

Liverpool homeware supplier Rayware has bought the intellectual property and assets of the collapsed kitchen accessories designer Typhoon Housewares. The value of the deal has not been disclosed. Surrey-based Typhoon, whose last reported turnover was £8m, entered administration on 25 May. Joint administrators from MCR managed to complete the deal two days later. It’s the second time in three years that Typhoon has gone into administration. All its staff – thought to be approximately 40 – have been made redundant.

The directors of interactive gaming company NetPlay TV today hailed the company’s strategy over the past year despite posting widening losses for the year to 31 December. The business reported a pre-tax loss of £11m, up from a loss of £993,000 a year earlier. However, chief executive Martin Higginson said the company was now in a position where it could now “dominate” the UK terrestrial TV market for interactive gaming. Earlier this year it signed a deal with ITV and expects opportunities to be created by the launch of Google TV. Full-year sales increased from £19.8m to £21.6m.

Bakery ingredients and sugar supplier The Real Good Food Company, headquartered in Liverpool, has hailed its strong start to its financial year, driven by the better-than-expected performance of its baking ingredients business Renshaws. Chairman Pieter Totté said the company’s results for the first four months of the year were above market forecasts, while working capital and profitability was in line with internal goals. In March The Real Good Food Company reported sales of £215.6m and a pre-tax profit of £1.6m for the year to 31 December.

Business leaders have given a cautious welcome to the government’s plans to reduce red tape. Business secretary Vince Cable yesterday announced the creation of a ‘star chamber’ to review of all regulation inherited from the last government due to take effect from this month onwards. The proposals also include a ‘one in, one out’ system to ensure the impact of any new laws is balanced by the removal of old ones. Richard Lambert, CBI director-general, welcomed the move, while the Forum of Private Business’s Phil Orford warned that the government must ensure that it does not create more bureaucracy to deal with red tape.

A difficult first-half has pushed Stockport packaging manufacture API Group into the red, the company announced today. The business posted a pre-tax loss of £8.2m for the year to 31 March, compared with a profit of £2.2m a year earlier. Non-executive chairman Richard Wright said confidence in its markets remained “fragile”, but the trading environment has been steadily improving. Full year sales of £84.6m were 12.5 per cent lower at constant exchange rates. Net debt increased by £3.8m to £18.5m.

The full line-up has been confirmed for Insider’s international trade breakfast on 11 June. Phil Southward from Liverpool’s World Expo team will update the audience on recent activity in Shanghai. Paul Pickup from Promethean will then be joined by Adam Howarth from Character World, Qinglin Li from Rowe Hankins and home furnishings entrepreneur Tony Caldeira for a panel debate on manufacturing in China. To register your interest for the event, which will take place at Halliwells in Manchester, click here. You can also submit a question to the panel here.

The University of Salford has signed a cooperation agreement with Abu Dhabi’s ALHOSN University to further develop links between the institutions. The universities will cooperate on joint research projects, study programmes and staff student exchanges. Salford’s vice-chancellor Professor Martin Hall said he expected the university’s School of the Built Environment to lead its initial contribution, adding that there were “exciting possibilities” in areas of engineering, computing and business.

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