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Top story
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Liverpool set for inward investment boost
Liverpool could be set to benefit from a wave of inward investment during 2009 after the body in charge of attracting business arrivals to the city region revealed that the number of new enquiries is at an all-time high. Mark Basnett, director of investment at The Mersey Partnership (TMP), told Insider that negotiations with several businesses in the financial services, maritime and digital and creative sectors were at a “fairly advanced stage”. He said: “Despite the economic climate, there is a degree of cautious optimism. We have a very strong hand and cost is a real strength of our proposition.” Basnett said the surge in enquiries is largely due to TMP’s new sales team, which was put in place nine months ago following a £1m funding package from the region’s six local authorities. Chief executive Lorraine Rogers added: “The new sales team has enabled us to be more proactive and get to know key decision-makers at a very early stage in the inward investment process. It’s an exciting time and we believe there is genuine cause for optimism.”
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Deals
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Quay acquisition for Parasol
Parasol, the Warrington-based payment outsourcing company, has embarked on the first of several planned acquisitions after snapping up specialist accountancy practice Quay Accounting for an undisclosed sum. Quay, which employs 50 staff and has a turnover of £1.5m, has offices in Manchester, Poole and Aberdeen. Parasol managing director Rob Crossland, who led a management buyout of the company in November 2006, said it was a “key strategic move” for the business. “Adding strategic complementary services, with the aim of building a portfolio of companies, will enable us to look after every aspect of a contractor’s career, from start to finish,” he said. 
Leisure M&A deals set to surge
The North West leisure industry can expect to see a surge in the number of distressed mergers and acquisitions in the second half of 2009 as desperation to raise cash will outweigh concerns over asset valuations. According to Stephen Hunter, head of travel, leisure and tourism at KPMG in the north, deals will remain largely frozen in the early part of the year, but should accelerate in the last six months. “While large deals will remain unlikely due to funding constraints, those with the necessary cash reserves for smaller investments will be keeping a watchful eye out for bargains, which will become more plentiful as distress increases and selling assets becomes imperative for survival,” he said.
Stats tell the story
Deal values in the North West slumped by a massive 61.7 per cent in 2008, according to research released by Corpfin. The figures show that the value of transactions last year stood at £8.8bn compared with £22.9bn a year earlier. A total of 745 M&A and IPO transactions were announced in 2008, an 11.2 per cent drop on the results from 2007, when 839 deals were announced.
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Business
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Breathing space for Reds
Liverpool FC has been granted a further six months to repay the £350m due to be repaid to or refinanced with its lenders, The Royal Bank of Scotland and Wachovia, by 25 January. A written request to defer payment until July was made by Kop Football, the holding company of the club controlled by US investors Tom Hicks and George Gillett. The loan requires £30m in annual interest payments.
Cybertill completes Monkhouse contract
Retail software supplier Cybertill, which is based in Knowsley, has completed a £250,000 contract to install a new stock management system at Stockport-based schoolwear and sports goods retailer FR Monkhouse. The system replaces old in-house servers and will link all Monkhouse’s 20 branches in real time using the internet accessed via a virtual private network. Cybertill won the contract following a four-way competitive pitch. Its software is now installed in more than 3,000 retail outlets across the UK.
North West filming provides £45m boost
Despite a slight nationwide downturn in filming during 2008, the North West remained the largest and most prosperous production centre outside London with 526 productions being shot in the region over the past 12 months. Northwest Vision and Media, the organisation that works on behalf of the creative and digital industries in the region, said the net result of the visiting productions helped to generate an estimated £45m to the North West economy. High-profile productions attracted to the region over the last year include Guy Richie's latest feature film, Sherlock Holmes, which spent 11 days filming on location in Manchester and Liverpool, and the BBC’s new six-part drama All the Small Things, which was filmed in Cheshire.
Business optimism for the New Year
Despite the recession many regional businesses are optimistic about their performance during the coming year, according to a survey of 3,000 North West businesses out today. The report by Manchester-based Bridging Finance indicated more than 50 per cent of respondents acknowledged the credit crunch was having a significant or very significant influence on their business strategy, but 46 per cent said it had not affected their ability to grow the business. In addition 50 per cent expected their turnover to increase in the coming year.
Compo culture is a myth
The myth of a compensation culture is greatly exaggerated in the UK, according to a study by YouGov. The research, carried out on behalf of personal injury law firm Hubbard Pegman & Whitney, indicates that most people actually have only modest expectations for compensation following injuries at work. The study, based on a representative sample of nearly 2,000 adults, reveals that while more than 90 per cent expect some form of monetary compensation after an injury at work, people typically underestimate how much they would receive and very few overestimate.
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Property
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Sefton schools get £8m
Sefton Council has been awarded £8m funding to refurbish and redevelop its high schools. Nineteen schools will benefit from the cash, with plans including a major rebuild at Maghull's Deyes High science college and redevelopment work at Formby High and Range High schools. ICT suites will be provided for 16 schools.
Tague on Tour
English Partnerships and the Housing Corporation are no more. But the Homes and Communities Agency is now up and running, with the highly-rated Sir Bob Kerslake at the helm. In the latest Tague on Tour column, Insider property writer Neil Tague looks at how the worst property market in years may not necessarily be the worst time for the agency to make its mark. Click here to read more.
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