| - |
|
Top story
|
Let's see action, urges Peel's Ashworth
Lindsey Ashworth, development director of Peel Holdings, used Friday's Ocean Gateway Challenge event to urge Liverpool and Wirral's councils to prioritise the major developments that can provide "the waterfront environment fitting of a progressive city region". As the Royal Daffodil boat packed with senior private and public sector officials entered Liverpool's Pier Head, Ashworth said: "Peel will be going to the Shanghai World Expo with the Liverpool delegation in 2010. It would be nice to go there with planning permission for Liverpool Waters and Wirral Waters and no public inquiry."
|
|
|
Deals
|
Water innovator secures second grant
Merseyside-based Industrial Purification Systems (IPS) has been awarded a second Knowledge Transfer Partnership grant of £200,000. The first grant, awarded three years ago, enabled IPS to work with experts at the University of Liverpool to develop its high-efficiency water filtration system. This technology is now being used in countries such as Saudi Arabia and Australia for the reprocessing of sewage either for discharge into rivers and oceans or back into utility systems. The second grant will allow the company to continue its research into maintaining existing water resources while reducing energy and carbon emissions. 
Cheshire deal heralds sector consolidation
The Cheshire Building Society and The Derbyshire are preparing to merge with Nationwide in a deal that confirms predictions for the sector. The KPMG Building Societies Database last month said the housing downturn would trigger a wave of mergers and the Macclesfield-headquartered Cheshire, which has assets of £4.9bn, is expecting an unaudited pre-tax loss of £10.5m for the half year to 30 June due to an exceptional £11.5m impairment charge on a single secured commercial loan. Earlier this year it hired NM Rothschild to carry out a strategic review and identify a merger partner, but a previous deal fell through. Nationwide is satisfied that both societies' general reserves will cover future losses and the merger will create a society with £191bn of assets and £122bn of retail deposits. Cheshire chief executive Karen McCormick will remain with the society for up to 12 months to ease the transition.
Spice on the trail again
Spice, the parent company of Liverpool-based Saturn Energy, Lancashire-based Inenco and Lytham St Annes-based commercial energy broker Energy 2000, is to continue its aggressive acquisitions programme following its £50m share placing last week. The Leeds utility support group is headed by Fylde businessman Simon Rigby, who said: "Energy saving is going to be a huge market. There will be âchance of a lifetime' opportunities to consolidate the energy market even further."
|
|
Business
|
Maritime funding request considered
Liverpool's Mersey Maritime business organisation has requested £278,700 for two new projects. One will train ten people to become commercial divers and provide them with the required technical skills and business training. The other project will enable school children to learn about the shipping industry by promoting a Maritime Enterprise board game in schools in north Liverpool and South Sefton. Liverpool City Council's executive board is being asked to approve the funding for the plan, which is part of the Stepclever initiative.
Lloyds TSB invests in Liverpool
Lloyds TSB has invested £500,000 in its new Liverpool premises. The refurbished base on Tithebarn Street will provide commercial finance support for a range of small businesses with turnovers of up to £15m. The office also houses Lloyds TSB's Corporate Markets division, which provides financial services to businesses with annual turnovers greater than £15m.
Canadian company calls for Carlisle expansion
Pressure is mounting to approve Stobart Group's plans to redevelop Carlisle Airport. Canada-based World Biofibre Technology, headed by Carlisle-born Peter Jardine, is keen to invest £250m in building a green power plan in west Cumbria, but wants reassurance that Stobart would remain at the heart of the area's distribution network. Stobart's reworked plans will be put forward next month in the hope of avoiding a public inquiry.
North West bucks economic trend
It may seem that all economic surveys are full of gloom these days, but the August PMI Business Survey from The Royal Bank of Scotland has found that the North West private sector actually registered an expansion in output in August. While the region could not escape the national trend of shrinking private sector workforces and sharp increases in input prices, business activity rose for the second month running in August and the rate of expansion picked up to its highest in five months. The North West posted a faster rate of output growth than London, the only other UK region to record expansion in the latest period.
Burnetts joins global network
Carlisle law firm Burnetts has been appointed by the MSI Global Alliance. The firm, which specialises in the education and global sectors, is the sixth member of MSI in the UK and is the association's first member in the north of England. Membership of the alliance is expected to improve the services Burnett offers its growing number of international clients. MSI was formed in 1990 in response to the growing need for cross-border cooperation between professional services firms.
|
|
Property
|
Who will lose out to pay for £300m housing plan?
Northwest Regional Development Agency chairman Bryan Gray has responded
to the government’s decision to divert £300m from the regional
development agencies’ (RDA) budgets to fund the Homebuy Direct housing
initiative. In a letter to business secretary John Hutton, seen by Insider,
Gray said that “funding will need to be moved from longer-term economic
regeneration priorities”. He said that funding for urban regeneration
companies, tourism projects, support for local authorities in setting
up multi-area agreements, capital investments and match-funding for
European-backed projects will be affected, in the last case “increasing
the risk of this funding being lost to the UK". He added: "RDAs will
now begin work to identify which future programmes need to be reduced."
M&S signs up in Preston
Marks & Spencer (M&S) has finally signed as the second anchor tenant at Preston's £750m Tithebarn scheme, to be developed jointly by Grosvenor and Lend Lease. The deal comes ahead of a planning application for the 32-acre retail-led scheme this autumn. Jim Carr, chief executive of Preston City Council, said: "For M&S to have the confidence to invest and expand in Preston is a fantastic boost. You could not wish for better anchor stores than M&S and John Lewis." M&S will relocate to a new 150,000 sq ft store, more than double its existing location, when the development opens in 2014.
|
|
Events
|
Dates for your diary this week
As the city calms down after its giant spider invasion, Liverpool plays host to this year’s Liverpool & Manchester Property Forum, a dinner, conference and walking tour taking place tomorrow and Wednesday at the Racquet Club. Speakers include Lesley Chalmers of English Cities Fund, Liverpool Vision’s Jim Gill and a host of big-name developers. Meanwhile, the city is also home this week to the BA Festival of Science, which has brought over 350 top scientists and engineers to Liverpool for around 200 events. BA president Sir David King, former chief scientific adviser to the government, is delivering a speech on sustainability through science. And, if you’re looking for a walk in the park, Grosvenor is giving an invitation-only sneak preview of the new Chavasse Park at Liverpool One on Thursday evening.
|
|
And finally...
|
Well done, James Whittaker
James Whittaker, development director at Peel Holdings, has become the first man to swim the Manchester Ship Canal. After completing the first 21 miles in horrendous conditions on Friday, he swam the last 15 on Saturday, completing the whole swim in just over 18 hours. With sponsorship fees still coming in, he has raised well over £100,000 for the New Children's Hospital appeal already.
|
|
|
Contact Us
Insider
8th Floor, Boulton House
17-21 Chorlton Street
Manchester
M1 3HY
Telephone: +44 (0)161 907 9711
Email:
nw@insiderdaily.co.uk
|
|
Subscribe
To subscribe to the eBulletin,
click here.
|
|
- |
