|
|
| Home | Products & Services | Shop | Subscriptions |
Private equity firm Endless is backing Howard Luft's management team at Lancashire-based Crown Paints in a £70m buyout from Dutch owner Akzo Nobel. Endless will invest in Crown's production facilities and more than 100 Crown Decorating Centre outlets. The group employs 1,500 UK and Ireland staff, with factories in Darwen, Warrington, Hull, Belfast and Dublin. Akzo needs to sell Crown as part of its deal with the European Commission following the £8bn takeover of Dulux maker ICI, completed in February, a deal that gave Akzo control of more than half the UK paint market. 
Ten Alps grows in telly Macclesfield-headquartered media group Ten Alps has continued its series of acquisitions, picking up factual independent producer Films of Record for an undisclosed sum. The newcomer will be based with the group's existing TV brands in Kerntish Town, London. Chief executive Alex Connock said: "We stayed out of the TV acquisitions market whilst it was inflated from 2004 to 2007, and now we are in again. We aim to grow TV alongside print and online."
The brief for an international design competition to smarten up six town centres in Lancashire will be launched next week. Pennine Lancashire Squared aims to attract interest from landscape architects and designers to work on Burnley, Accrington, Blackburn, Bacup, Clitheroe and Nelson. More than 300 design practices have already registered their interest and requested the brief. The competition is the brainchild of Yvette Livesey and her late partner Anthony Wilson, who proposed the competition as a means of attracting talent to the area, working alongside Elevate, the regeneration agency for Pennine Lancashire.
Restaurant company serves up "resilient" trading Manchester-based Individual Restaurant Company, owner of Piccolino and Restaurant Bar & Grill, has announced that trading is in line with expectations for the six months to 29 June. Sales, excluding the Bank restaurant disposed of in Aldwych and closed Zinc restaurant in Birmingham, have increased by 21 per cent against the same period last year, mainly driven by the impact of the six new sites opened during 2007. The company also said it is confident that it will achieve seven new restaurant openings for the current year and is optimistic that it can continue its planned expansion during 2009. The business' interim results will be announced on 29 September.
Losses widen at Bglobal Losses have widened at Darwen-based Bglobal although the business remains confident about its future prospects thanks to a recent increase in orders, including a contract win from Npower. The business, a provider of smart metering to the energy market, said its pre-tax loss increased to £3.47m from £2.28m for the year to 31 March, although turnover grew 60 per cent to £4.5m. It blamed a slower than predicted take-up for smart metering by energy companies, but said it has seen an increase in demand since the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform published its recommendations for the market in April 2008. The AIM-listed company now plans to raise £2.5m by placing 13.3 million shares at 20p each.
Renold acquisition gets approval Wythenshawe-based chain-engineering group Renold has confirmed that its 75 per cent purchase of Indian chain business LG Balakrishnan & Bros (LGB) has received the necessary shareholder approval, meaning it can now go ahead with a planned £5.3m share placing. The admission of the new ordinary shares is expected to take place on 7 August, while the acquisition of LGB is set to complete later this month. On 30 July Renold said trading is progressing in line with the board's expectations, with overall orders and sales for the first quarter 32 per cent ahead of the same period last year.
It'll get worse before it gets better As the Insolvency Service last Friday released figures revealing an 11.6 per cent quarterly rise in compulsory liquidations and creditor's voluntary liquidations in England and Wales, corporate advisers in Manchester were warning companies with cash-flow issues to act now. "This is just the tip of the iceberg," said Susan Kelly, restructuring and corporate recovery specialist at Hammonds in Manchester. "Many other companies are struggling but haven't yet formally failed. Speak to your legal and accounting advisers at the earliest opportunity." Tom Jack, restructuring partner at Ernst & Young in Manchester, was not surprised by the figures and said: "Consumers and companies can only roll with the punches for so long - eventually they have to succumb to a knock-out blow. An even sharper rise in insolvencies in the coming quarters looks inevitable."
Business confidence continues to slump With the economy slowing and cost pressures intensifying, the North West is one of the regions where business confidence is falling fastest, according to the latest CBI/Experian survey. The new report said the fall in confidence was the steepest since 2001, with the whole of the UK showing a dip in manufacturing morale. There is a glimmer of hope for the region, however, as the North West reported a "modest increase" in new orders.
New director sought for regional rail role The North West Rail Campaign is searching for a new campaign director to develop and lead its case for investment in the region's railway infrastructure. Established in 2003 by Manchester Airport and the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive, the Campaign aims to secure extra rail capacity in the North West to unlock bottlenecks in both the Manchester and Liverpool hubs by influencing government, the European Union and the railway industry to direct investment into the region's rail network.
Revenues at national regeneration agency English Partnerships (EP) are expected to fall by 9 per cent year-on-year as its land sales suffer in the ongoing market downturn. According to reports, the agency is talking to central government about how best to resolve the problem. In the last financial year, it made £333m in receipts. EP remains a key player in much of the North West’s regeneration schemes and is a partner in urban regeneration companies like Central Salford and New East Manchester. A spokesman told Insider that the agency remains committed to the major projects already started.
Buyers sought for retirement village CB Richard Ellis and Lambert Smith Hampton have been appointed by United Utilities to find a buyer for Fairfield Clough in Audenshaw, east Manchester, where the utilities business has won outline planning consent for a 72-acre retirement village. The site is being promoted as a Continuing Care Retirement Community, a government-promoted community-based alternative to sheltered housing and residential care where older populations will be clustered around healthcare, social and leisure amenities.
Victorian values Victoria Buildings, on Manchester's Princess Street, is now fully let following a deal secured by letting agency Edwards & Co with Robert Meaton Solicitors, which has taken a 3,150 sq ft suite on a ten-year lease at £16.50 per sq ft. Other tenants at the listed Victoria Buildings, owned by the Wrather Group, include Qatar Airways and Northern Rock.
Ribby powers up with £3m investment Lancastrian leisure and conference venue Ribby Hall Village has applied for permission to invest £3m in a new hydro spa as it seeks to make a mark in the luxury break market. Paul Harrison, managing director of Ribby Hall, which is currently spending £1m on refurbishing holiday cottages, said: "Our business and leisure facilities are now well established within this area. Our vision is to continue to develop and improve our facilities and offer a great up to date environment for our clients."
Going once, going twice Manchester-based commercial and industrial auction house SHM Smith Hodgkinson has appointed Charles Garfit as its new managing director. Garfit joins from Go Industry, where he managed the corporate disposal and corporate solutions departments for the UK and Europe. He said: "With the expansion of the Eastern European business and growing opportunities in the UK and Europe, this is an exciting time to be joining SHM."
Budding stars from Manchester’s corporate finance community are warming up for the second Y Factor challenge, following the success of the inaugural event last year in which eight acts and an audience of over 300 professionals raised over £22,000 for learning disability charity Mencap. Hopefuls will be performing on 11 September at the Chicago Rock Café in Peter Street, in front of a panel of judges that includes: Rowetta, the former Happy Mondays backing singer and star of TV show X Factor; BBC Radio Manchester’s Terry Christian; Angie Robinson, Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce chief executive; and Sean Fitzgerald, Cobbetts partner and winner of last year’s event. To buy tickets, priced at £30, email nwfundraising@mencap.org.uk or phone 0161 968 9269. The event is sponsored by Barclays Commercial Finance, Cobbetts, Clearwater Corporate Finance, Dabbs PR and Marketing, Insider, Yorkshire Bank and Zutmedia.com.
|
Subscribe or Unsubscribe To subscribe or unsubscribe to the eBulletin, click here.
|
| © Copyright 2008 Newsco Insider Limited | Privacy Policy |
|
Newsco Insider Limited - Registered in England and Wales with Number 02709518. Registered Office: Boulton House, 17-21 Chorlton Street, Manchester. M1 3HY |