|
-
|
|
Top story
|
Regeneration still needs support, says Parkinson
The government cannot afford to “turn the tap off” and stop supporting key regeneration projects across UK cities. That was the message from regeneration guru Professor Michael Parkinson of Liverpool’s European Institute for Urban Affairs during a keynote address at Insider’s UK Investment Forum in London. “Public sector projects are going to be less affected during the downturn and I think that is going to be the big message over the next two to three years,” he said. In a bleak assessment of the massive challenges facing the property industry, Parkinson warned that nowhere was immune from the slowdown, although money could still be made in London because of higher prices. “The north and Midlands are having a tougher time. Core cities such as Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham are probably better protected because they have more robust economies, but I fear more for the impact on smaller cities and one-horse towns in the regions,” he said.
|
|
|
Deals
|
The drinks are on Wharton Wade
Manchester-based Wharton Wade Wines has acquired John Stephenson and Sons, a drinks wholesaler based in Nelson, Lancashire, with funding provided by Barclays Commercial. It is the first of a planned programme of acquisitions for Wharton Wade, which was established in 2007 by Dale Wharton and Derek Wade. Their principle activity is the wholesale supply of drinks to restaurants, clubs and bars, as well as a recent partnership with a major brewery. John Stephenson & Sons was established in 1914 and was owned and operated by fourth-generation family members. A wine, spirit and beer distributor turning over £10.5m, it serves the Lancashire restaurant, club and free trade sector.
Arena acquired by international group
Disley-based Arena International, a football sponsorship agency, has been sold to QobliQ, a company created in 2007 to build an international marketing services group. QobliQ is backed by AIM-listed fund Ingenious Media Active Capital and, since December 2007, it has acquired UK-based brandRapport and two French agencies, Sponsorclick France and Nouveau Jour. The acquisition of Arena, which will be immediately rebranded brandRapport Arena, will extends the group’s reach into football partnerships.
In Focus – the countdown to Dealmakers
The votes have been counted and it’s nearly all over bar the celebratory drinks. As the build-up begins for Thursday’s Insider Dealmakers Awards 2008, Insider editor Michael Taylor this week turns his attention to the voting process and who will win the much-coveted Deal of the Year Award. As he says in this week’s online deal column, In Focus, he says: “You have to take a punt in this game. Someone has put their balls on the line to back a deal, or at least to get it over the line.” Click here to find out more.
|
|
Business
|
Carr’s sees profits soar 133 per cent
A buoyant agricultural market has seen Carlisle-based Carr’s Milling Industries more than double its pre-tax profits to £12.9m in the 12 months to 30 August 2008, up from £5.5m a year earlier. The company, which makes flour, fertiliser and animal feed, also saw a revenue growth of 47 per cent to £372.3m. The main thrust of the profit improvement came from its agriculture division, which increased its operating profit 128 per cent to £11.7m on revenue of £275.8m, a result helped by the early buying of raw materials. Chairman Richard Inglewood said it was unlikely that the agriculture division would continue to enjoy such “exceptional” trading conditions, but the group would be boosted by its dairy farming customers benefiting from a recent 1p increase in input costs.
James Fisher and Sons remains on target
Barrow-based marine service provider James Fisher and Sons has announced its trading from 1 July is in line with expectations, boosted by new contract wins by its offshore oil business and strong organic growth in its specialist technical division. The company, which also provides engineering services to the nuclear industry, said demand has remained steady and it has been largely unaffected by the crisis in the global financial market. For the six months to 30 June 2008, the business posted a pre-tax profit of £11m on revenue of £114.1m. To aid further expansion, James Fisher has also finalised a new unsecured £25m revolving credit facility with Barclays Bank.
Printing.com remains cautious
Franchised printing retail company Printing.com has announced a 5.2 per cent rise in pre-tax for the six months to 30 September, but warned that its bottom line has been hit by bad debt provisions. The Manchester-based business saw pre-tax profits increase to £1.02m against a turnover of £13.17m, up 8.7 per cent from a year earlier. But chief executive Tony Rafferty admitted that certain sectors had performed badly forcing a “cautious” stance in the short term. “Given the gravity of the general economic situation we cannot say with any certainty how this may impact on trading during the remainder of the fiscal year and beyond,” he said. The results have prompted analysts at Hardman & Co and Brewin Dolphin to reduce their full-year pre-tax profit estimates by 8 per cent.
Second Greenberg company in administration
Greenberg Glass Emergency has been placed into administration less than two weeks after its Liverpool-based sister company Greenberg Glass Contracts also failed. Administrators at MCR Corporate Restructuring have been appointed to review the financial position of the company, which employs 300 people in Huddersfield, with a view to completing a sale of the business and assets as a going concern. Redundancies have been made across the group and only a number of administrative staff retained. All UK depots apart from Huddersfield have been closed down, but there have been a number of parties expressing interest in these operations, which include bases in Salford, Gateshead, Leeds and Croydon. Over the last 18 months the Greenberg Group has undergone an extensive restructuring programme, which included dividing the two businesses.
Manchester accountants open satellite office
Manchester accountancy firm Jack Ross has expanded by opening a second office in the Rossendale Valley. Umar Memon, a partner at the firm, said they had decided to invest in Rossendale so he could develop his existing strong business links in East Lancashire. Memon lives in the Rossendale Valley and will run the new office at Futures Park, Bacup.
Timber investment
Trafford Park-based International Timber has invested £400,000 in new moulding equipment as part of an investment programme aimed at increasing efficiency. Mike Scully, production manager at International Timber, said: “The new equipment enables us to supply local customers with bespoke short runs.”
Manchester falls in sustainability index
Manchester may have its own Mini-Stern report, but the city that aspires to be greener than the rest has fallen three places in a league table of Britain’s most sustainable cities, from 12th to 15th. Released today by sustainable development group Forum for the Future, the Sustainable Cities Index tracks progress on sustainability in Britain’s 20 largest cities, ranking them on environmental performance, quality of life and how well they are addressing issues such as climate change and recycling. Highlighting a north-south green divide, Newcastle was the only northern city to make it into the top five of table topped by Bristol, with Liverpool only moving up from 20th to 19th. However, Manchester has this year achieved a higher ranking on air quality, climate change and green business.
Insurance chief has his pension fund raided
Former Independent Insurance chairman and managing director Michael Bright has paid liquidators more than £1.2m from his pension fund as part of a settlement agreement. Following civil proceedings against Bright, Independent's provisional liquidators received £1,258,467 from his pension fund. The Cheadle-based insurer collapsed in 2007 owing £357m. Bright and his co-directors were jailed in 2007 for their part in a fraud that led to the collapse.
JPM select accountants
Manchester-based chartered accountancy firm Beever and Struthers has been appointed by Dragons’ Den success story Paul Merker and Jerry Mantalvanos, founders of Oldham-based JPM Eco Logistics. JPM, the UK’s first commercial haulage fleet to use 100 per cent locally and sustainably sourced bio-diesel fuel for its fleet of 12 specially adapted Volvo vehicles, was founded in 2007 and secured major investment from Deborah Meaden and Theo Paphitis on the popular BBC TV show.
Mango heads north
Following a number of new account wins over the last 12 months, creative agency Mango Communications has relocated is offices and studio to larger premises at the Royal Mills complex in Manchester’s trendy Northern Quarter. The business counts Kruger Tissue, Sella Office Furniture and Parkland International among its clients.
Green light for Energos
Salford-based energy technology business Energos, part of the ENER-G group, has said it expects its new £8m gasification facility on the Isle of White to be fully operational within the next two weeks. The plant, which will run alongside a waste processing and recycling operation, is thought to be a UK first for using advanced thermal conversion technology in the gasification process. Once operational it will generate 2.3MW of green electricity from residual waste, enough to power more than 3,000 homes. The company also recently submitted a planning application to build a further facility in Knowsley.
North West resilience isn’t enough, says RBS
The latest PMI North West Report, produced by Markit Economics for The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), has provided further evidence that the region has been weakened by the fallout from the global financial crisis and economic downturn. The seasonally adjusted Output Index shows a second consecutive fall in activity levels across the North West private sector during October, with the amount of new business received by the region’s companies falling at the fastest rate for around seven years. “The region remains one of the most resilient in the UK, but, as this month’s data show, it will not be immune to a UK recession,” said Philip McKinnon, economist at RBS.
|
|
Property
|
Insolvency rise points to property gloom
The number of companies going bust rose sharply between July and September, with the figure expected to soar in the coming months. According to the Insolvency Service, more than 4,000 companies went bankrupt in England and Wales during the third quarter of 2008, while another 1,007 businesses went into administration. Matt Dunham, the North West regional chairman of trade body R3, said the figures indicate that repossession of commercial property is on the increase. “Companies buying or selling property are being squeezed by a reduction in prices and a shortage of buyers,” he said. “We have all known for some time that the property and construction sector has been badly hit by the downturn and these figures are evidence of that.”
Co-op backs post office renovation
Entrepreneur Graeme Read has completed the renovation of a Victorian post office in the centre of Stalybridge thanks to a funding package from The Co-operative Bank. The deal not only secured the future of the post office, but has also allowed Read to convert a disused sorting office to the rear of the building into an Indian restaurant with 120 covers. “Following consultation with local authority members and a successful planning application, we have now been able to bring this property back to its former glory which has generated local business and employment,” said Read.
|
|
Events
|
Dates for your diary this week
Don’t call it a comeback – specialist finance experts David Thomas and Ray Wise are among the team behind Skipton Business Finance, opening a new office in Manchester this Wednesday. Invited guests will be arriving at the Living Room on Deansgate from 5pm. Lunch time on Wednesday sees CUBE hosting a free Centre for Construction Innovation event entitled ‘Thinking Forward: Timber the sustainable choice’ and Southport Floral Hall hosting Lancashire Business Fair, featuring free seminars, free marketing clinics from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and a free laser clay turkey shoot. As part of National Marketing Week, businesses in the North West are set to receive valuable information on effective marketing on Thursday at a presentation from CIM at the University of Central Lancashire, which will see Paul Needham, managing director of Lancashire Tea discuss how effective marketing has played a key role in his business success. And on the same day businesses will descend on the Castle Green Hotel in Kendal for the Business 2 Business exhibition.
|
|
|
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.
|
|
- |
