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Wirral-based manufacturer Heaps & Partners, which specialises in fluid control equipment for industrial applications, has undergone a management buyout. Managing director David Millar has acquired the company from other family members. He said: "It's an exciting time of change for us, and I'm pleased that the process is successfully complete. It will provide continuity for employees, customers and suppliers so we will continue to be a strong contender in the marketplace." Bootle-based SB&P advised. 
Financiers prepare for distressed future Local corporate financiers are preparing for an onslaught of distressed transactions in the second half of 2008. Accountancy firm Hurst, which has offices in Liverpool, Manchester and Stockport, is set to role out a hybrid corporate finance and business restructuring offer with the launch of Hurst Advantage, to help companies manage their way out of misfortune. Nigel Barratt, partner at Hurst, told Insider: "We are working with the banks to identify companies at risk to launch a multi-disciplinary offering with corporate finance mixed with business restructuring." Hurst has increased its total annual income to £5.25m and aims to reach the £10m figure in the next four years. Meanwhile, KPMG is also rolling out its special situations group, which is also designed to bring together a corporate finance and restructuring offering.
Total Trade saves heating business North West and Wales-based engineering business Total Trade Group has bought North East business H&B Heating out of administration with the help of advisers at Tenon. Total Trade Group, which was set up in 2004 by Cheadle-based entrepreneur John Gregory, specialises in heating, electrical and insulation systems for housing projects. Gregory said: "Despite being in administration, we were confident of the skills of the people working for H&B Heating, and the potential of expanding our operation into the North East made this deal a good long-term investment."
Britvic has been named as the official drinks supplier to ACC Liverpool. The company, whose brands include Pepsi, 7UP, Robinson's and J20, has signed a five-year deal with the home of the Echo Arena and BT Convention Centre. Gerald Andrews, director of finance at ACC Liverpool, said: âWe are delighted to be announcing this deal with Britvic. It is a company which has some of the best-known brands in the UK and we're looking forward to developing a very successful relationship over the next five years."
CGI toughens up its glass act Merseyside glass manufacturer CGI International is investing over £200,000 in research and development to meet modern building design challenges and satisfy architect demands. The company, which was formed as a management buyout in 1998, has opened a laboratory at its Haydock headquarters and employed a specialist polymer chemist as it aims to improve the performance and functionality of its safety glass products.
Gloomy prospects, but recession avoidable In case anyone needed reminding that businesses are facing tough times ahead, two reports out today paint a gloomy picture for North West plc. The impact of the credit crunch, high fuel and commodity prices and uncertainty in the housing market have taken their toll on small and medium-sized business, according GE Commercial Finance's Outlook for Growth study. Companies in the North West expected to grow overall but were less optimistic than last year and the need to address potential falling demand is focusing firms on finding new sales. And the latest Forecasting Eye report from the Centre for Economics and Business Research suggests the economy is set for at least two years of slow growth. However, the analysts added that the economy should actually avoid recession.
Stobart to try again in Cumbria - for now Could Cumbrian transport business Stobart Group be on the move? The planning application by subsidiary Stobart Air to expand Carlisle Airport has now been withdrawn, following the calling in of the plans by the Government Office for the North West (GONW) last month. As this could delay the process by a year, the group will submit altered plans. Although chief executive Andrew Tinkler is keen to work with the GONW, the group already has substantial holdings in Widnes and Runcorn, while its central administration functions are based in Warrington.
Loan market players worried by withdrawal Two quoted North West businesses expect to feel the pinch following Barclays' decision to withdraw its secured loan brand First Plus from the market. In trading statements released this morning troubled debt solutions provider Loanmakers said that First Plus' "withdrawal from the market will adversely affect the company business", and Moneysupermarket.com indicated that the move would have a direct impact on 2008 revenues and "depending on mitigating actions, a reduction of £5m in EBITDA". Both firms are looking to source additional capacity elsewhere in the market.
Irish property group Chieftain has gained planning consent for two new hotels at its site on the Skelhorne Street side of Liverpool Lime Street station. At the height of the market the developer planned a 30-storey residential scheme, which it then converted into a two-building scheme featuring a hotel and apartments. The residential downturn has brought about another rethink and two hotels will now be built in a single 15-storey building, one of them operated by Clarion, an international group new to the city.
Splash praised for Liverpool scheme Property developer Urban Splash has scooped four prizes in the Housing Design Awards 2008, two of them for its five-acre Liverpool Tribeca scheme on Great George Street, a comprehensive housing regeneration project won by Urban Splash with Shed KM as masterplanners in 2003. The project received two project awards for the gateway to the scheme and for the residential element. The developer's Chimney Pot Park scheme in Salford was also a winner in the completed schemes category and Manchester's Smithfield Buildings received the historic award.
The changing landscape The transformation of new warehousing and logistics hub Mersey Multimodal Gateway (3MG) is beginning in earnest, with landscape contractors starting on site at Halton Borough Council Field in Widnes. Contractor Blakedown Landscape Operations has begun its eight-month programme to improve 3MG and its surroundings. The community of adjoining Halebank will also benefit, with work scheduled for the redevelopment of the village's public park. The work represents a step forward in the plan to deliver an increase in the warehousing offer at 3MG of 3.5 million sq ft over the next two years.
Liverpool engineer receives award for Fort Dunlop Liverpool structural and civil engineering firm Curtins Consulting has received ACE's Engineering Excellence Property Award for the part it played in the redevelopment of the iconic Fort Dunlop building in Birmingham. Curtins was brought on to the project from the outset by developer Urban Splash to undertake early feasibility studies to prove its cost effectiveness. The vast former tyre warehouse that sits near the M6 was originally constructed in 1925 and had sat derelict for 25 years before the £40m project transformed it in to a mixed-use development, providing serviced office and retail facilities.
Redrow counts cost of credit crunch Ewloe-headquartered housebuilder Redrow this morning released a trading update that underlined "an unprecedented decline in the fortunes of the UK housing market in a very short period of time". The group is in consultation to reduce its headcount by around 40 per cent, which will involve the closure of two offices - Warrington and Basingstoke. Cancellation rates from potential buyers in the last six months were just under 30 per cent, up from 18 per cent, and Redrow said cancellations have increased further, "in particular in recent weeks as customers have not been able to secure mortgage offers". The group completed 3,925 new homes in the year to 30 June, down on 4,823 in the previous year.
Iliad presses on in Rotherham Liverpool developer Iliad has submitted a planning application for a mixed-use building at the heart of its All Saints Quarter regeneration scheme in Rotherham, south Yorkshire. The All Saints building is sited in a conservation area and will comprise 12,000 sq ft of retail and leisure space and 33,000 sq ft of office space in a scheme designed by Liverpool architecture firm Falconer Chester Hall.
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