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Top story
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We've got the wind power
Two new wind farms off the North West coast have been given planning approval by government. A 500mw farm 14km off the coast of Cumbria and Lancashire will be one of the three largest offshore wind projects approved in the UK so far and the 139-turbine project is run by Morecambe Wind, a consortium comprising ScottishPower, Danish wind developer Eurus Energy and Danish state-owned DONG Energy. Meanwhile, Lincolnshire-based Eclipse Energy, a company backed by a range of investors including the YFM-managed North West Business Investment Scheme, has been given the go ahead for a revised application for its 30-turbine Ormonde wind farm, able to provide up to 150mw and generate and export electricity from the adjacent Ormonde Gas Fields. Eclipse chief executive Ian Hatton said: "Ormonde will be the most efficient wind development on the planet and will represent a major milestone in the development of world offshore wind resources."
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Today's news
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Open more doors, says Whittaker
As his son and development director James set out this morning to swim 21 miles along the Manchester Ship Canal in the first leg of a bid to raise more than £150,000 for The New Children's Hospital Appeal, Peel Holdings chairman John Whittaker called for authorities in Liverpool to "open more doors" and for the establishment of a new authority to aid his Ocean Gateway regeneration plans. "It needs a cohesive authority to overcome in-fighting between local authorities, as has been established in the Thames Gateway," he said. "It would give the North West the chance to become the UK's most dynamic region. The North West has two great cities. Liverpool led the way in the early years, but Manchester's approach to planning policy has seen it surge ahead in the last 20. Liverpool is getting there but it needs to open more doors." This morning's event saw regional dignitaries and property agents join a private charter from Salford Quays to Liverpool. 
McBride plans new factory in St Helens
McBride, provider of private-label and personal care products, has announced plans to downsize its manufacturing site in Warrington and close its facility in Coventry to transfer production to a new factory in St Helens. The group expects to gain overhead savings of about £1m a year with one-off costs of about £2m related to redundancies and property lease obligations.
Bluemantle in £85m refinancing
Cheshire property group Bluemantle has secured an £85m refinancing package of its existing portfolio with Rothschild, The Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC. Managing director Mark Caldwell said: "This deal demonstrates a great vote of confidence in us and proves that the property finance markets are still open for the right sort of business." Bluemantle's existing portfolio, worth more than £150m, is spread over 50 properties across all sectors, looking after over 270 tenants with a rental income of £9m per year.
ACC chief to speak at Insider breakfast
Bob Prattey, chief executive of the all-conquering ACC Liverpool events and conferencing centre, is to be the speaker at Insider’s next Liverpool event. The breakfast, sponsored by 20 Chapel Street, Barclays Commercial and Roland Dransfield PR, takes place at 20 Chapel Street on Tuesday 16 September at 7.30am. To register your interest in attending please contact Helen Power in the Insider events team on 0161 907 9745 or helen.power@newsco.com.
Business park lettings down, but new build up
Lettings at North West business parks are down on six months ago, according to GVA Grimley's Business Park Review Summer 2008. Just 128,000 sq ft of space has been let so far this year, from 182,000 sq ft. The current figure is also slightly lower than the five-year average of 142,000 sq ft. Elsewhere the market look brighter, with out-of-town prime spaces in the North West having been stable for two years. New space under construction in the region has risen 21 per cent to 230,000 sq ft from 182,000 sq ft six months ago. Speculative development is at a record high as a result of finance secured before the credit crunch.
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Something for the weekend
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Deal of the week
Everyone likes a good food story. Southport bakery Mellors staved off our hunger pains earlier this week after securing a £500,000 facility from RBS Invoice Finance. The company supplies crafted bakery products to national supermarket chains and is run by husband and wife team Chris and Dawn McLintic. Turnover is running at £3.4m and the business is now well placed to keep the region's stomachs happy.
Sheep at half the price
If there’s a bit of art and kulcha afoot, you can bet Urban Splash will be getting involved. The über-hip developer couldn’t have any old Superlambanana so commissioned Urbananasplash, which at 4m tall and resting on a 2m-high plinth, is the tallest Superlambanana ever – not a boast Insider’s going to bother disputing. It’s taken sculptor Julian Taylor almost 600 hours and 200m of materials to create. Brilliant.
Incy wincy spider
It seems that one of the most long-awaited spectacles of Capital of Culture is upsetting a few people, those who expected La Machine to be something cuddly like a giant Superlambana (oh, no, Urban Splash has done that one) or a huge Liver bird swooping over the city. According to local reports, charity Anxiety UK has been receiving calls from freaked-out sufferers of arachnophobia terrified of the 37-tonne mechanical spider. Scared before? It's moving now Sweet dreams.
Eeyore would be proud
There’s a competition out there for everyone, even our long-eared furry friends. And The Donkey Sanctuary has named Del Boy from Aberdyfi in Gwynedd as the best individual donkey in its annual Britain’s Best Beach Donkey competition. The judge said: “He’s very handsome and has a lovely big head with very long ears.” Meanwhile, a troop in Filey, North Yorkshire, was been awarded the title of Britain’s Best Group. Expect Lenny, Alfie, Chico, Rueben, Neville and Max to be making an appearance on X Factor any day now…
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Telephone: +44 (0)161 907 9711
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