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Merseyside-based plant producer Porters Horticultural has secured £750,000 to expand its greenhouse facilities. The funding, from The Royal Bank of Scotland and its asset finance arm Lombard, will enable the company to extend its site in Formby from four to six acres. The £3.3m-turnover family business was established in 1985 and makes over 150 products for national clients including B&Q and Woolworths. 
Superbug fighter gets grant A joint venture funding partnership between Alliance Fund Managers and Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) has completed its first deal. The Proof of Concept Funding Programme, rolled out in May, has pumped £82,000 into LJMU spin-out Pharmalucia. The company, led by academic Mark Wainwright, is working to fight superbugs such as MRSA. He said: "After decades of wonder drugs, we can no longer guarantee that antibiotics will cure bacterial disease. Thanks to this funding, we will be able to take the research to the next stage and be one step closer to early licence opportunities."
Renshaw in £40m sugar rush Renshaw, the Liverpool-based marzipan manufacturer, is to undergo sweeping changes following a £40m refinancing by its parent group Real Good Food. The Yorkshire-headquartered business employs 120 people at Renshaw in Liverpool and intends to develop new product ranges and services in the Renshaw range ahead of European Union legislative changes in the sugar market later this year. KBC Business Capital, the specialist asset-based lending division of Belgian banking group KBC Bank, acted as mandated lead arranger on the deal.
Redwood buys from US group Skelmersdale-based fabrics supplier Redwood Distribution has acquired the business and assets of textile distributors Edmund Bell & Co, which is a subsidiary of US Fortune 500 company Leggett & Platt. Founded in 1855, the Bradford-based company was a family-owned operation until its US takeover.
The Universities of Liverpool, Bristol and Leicester have been awarded £4.4m by the Technology Strategy Board to take forward a collaborative research and development project with global helicopter and vertical lift company Agusta Westland to develop rotor blade technology. The three-year, £8.8m REACT - Rotor Embedded Actuator Control Technology - project involves the development of active surfaces in helicopter rotor blades and active hydraulic systems in rotor controls.
Elstone minds the Toffee shop Robert Elstone has been made acting chief executive of Everton FC following the departure of Keith Wyness. Chairman Bill Kenwright said: “Robert has been with us for three years and is fully conversant with the very special demands associated with running a club of our size and stature.” Elstone, an Insider 42 under 42 in 2004, has previously worked in Deloitte’s sports business team, as director of football business affairs at BskyB and for the Rugby Football League as it rebranded as Superleague in the 1990s.
The Falklands' Waugh David Waugh, the former chief executive of Liverpool Land Development Company (LLDC), has been appointed to a new position as general manager of the Falkland Islands Development Corporation. Prior to LLDC, Waugh's experience in property and infrastructure development and regeneration included a spell as executive project director of Canary Wharf. Since resigning, he has been chairman of developer Cosmopolitan Enterprises. He will move to the Falklands in October.
Sherrard quits JSG Simon Sherrard, Merseyside big hitter and chairman of workwear and dry cleaning company Johnson Service Group (JSG), is retiring after nearly nine years on the board. John Talbot, who has been with the company since December 2007 as interim chief executive, will become executive chairman. Sherrard, who has seen the company through troubled times recently, said: "I leave JSG in very capable hands. The board intends to exploit the opportunities for growth in all three of the group's divisions." The changes will take effect on 8 September in line with an open offer to raise £10m. Shares are currently trading at 22p, up against a year low of 11.99p.
Vimto on the up, says Nichols Newton-le-Willows-based soft drinks group Nichols remains cautiously optimistic despite posting a 15.5 per cent increase in pre-tax profits for the six months to 30 June. The company, which sells the Vimto, Panda and Sunkist brands and runs a dispensed cold drinks business, said the increasing cost of raw materials, changing markets and weather had made trading challenging. But non-executive chairman John Nichols believes the core brand will remain strong. He said: "Our Vimto brand has continued to grow its market share, particularly in the carbonate and ready-to-drink sectors, and in new international markets." Group sales reached £29.2m up from £27.8m a year earlier, with pre-tax profits of £3.2m.
Pools in shape for new season Sportech, the operator of the merged football pools business, has revealed half-year profits of £4.9m. Although the figure is down year-on-year from the £5.2m posted in the first half of 2007, once the costs of the takeover of Vernons is taken into account, operating profits were up 50 per cent to £7.8m. The organisation has launched a new series of games ahead of the football season and rebranded as The New Football Pools.
Evolve defies property gloom Evolve, the Liverpool provider of 3D images and animations, has recorded sales of £170,000 this year, 13 per cent ahead of the target set by directors, the husband and wife team of Stephen and Michelle Helsby. Based at Liverpool Innovation Park in Edge Lane, Evolve has found success in working with architects to provide fly-throughs of property schemes to aid the planning and sales process.
Bibby Distribution has become the largest single occupier at Leeds Bradford Airport Industrial Estate. The Liverpool-headquartered logistics group already uses 400,000 sq ft of warehousing at the site and has now taken a 58,000 sq ft unit to service both existing and new contracts.
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