With Manchester completing a successful week at the MIPIM property conference in Cannes, where its commercial backing outstripped that of rival cities, Manchester City Council chief executive Sir Howard Bernstein spoke exclusively to Insider about the importance of remaining positive in the current. He said: "If you want your proposition to be taken seriously you've got to communicate a sense of forward-thinking and ambition. It's the easiest thing in the world to say 'we'll sit on our hands for a year' but our partners seize their responsibility to drive forward. It demonstrates our assuredness in dealing with these tough times."

Lancashire-based security business Legion Group has been sold to AIM-quoted rival SectorGuard for £1. The business, which provides security personnel and CCTV monitoring services for the public and private sector, was previously owned by charity the Royal British Legion, but was no longer a profitable operation. Jonathan Boyers, head of corporate finance in the north at KPMG - who advised the vendor on the sale - told Insider that his team had been grooming Legion Group for the past 12 months. "We have been around it for about a year as it needed quite a lot of work on restructuring and cash management," he said. "The business has been sold for a nominal consideration but SectorGuard has taken on £5m of debt." SectorGuard will pay the Royal British Legion £100,000 per annum for the next ten years.

Late summer could be an ideal time to buy businesses in distress - but companies should prepare now if they want to take advantage of opportunities, according to insolvency trade body R3. The organisation said there will be "plenty of bargains" around and could be an "ideal time" for acquisitions as values are expected to fall further. "The downturn will also bring with it opportunities," said Matt Dunham, the North West regional chairman of R3. "The recession is a good chance to build portfolios and buy assets at low prices. However, companies need to start planning now if they are to take full advantage."

Salford-based Robinson Way, the profitable debt collection subsidiary of collapsed London Scottish Bank (LSB), is thought to be on the market for over £100m. In January administrators at Ernst & Young (E&Y) applied to the High Court to limit full disclosure of LSB's details, arguing that the move "could prejudice the process and reduce ultimate realisations". But the application has since been rejected and the asset values of the business have been detailed in the original documents filed at Companies House. LSB went into administration at the end of November 2008 after the Financial Services Authority stepped in. The business had been in takeover talks but there was no certainty an offer would be made or that LSB's shortfall in regulatory capital could be remedied in the short to medium term. A spokesman from E&Y confirmed to Insider that the current enterprise value of Robinson Way was £102.6m. In the year to 31 October 2007, Robinson Way clocked a turnover of £24.86m against a pre-tax profit of £10.14m.

Work on the £150m Altair scheme in Altrincham looks set to continue after Manchester-based developer Nikal bought the shares of former partner David McLean Holdings, which went into administration last October. The scheme will comprise an ice rink, apartments, offices, a hotel, and various other leisure amenities. It could create up to 2,000 new jobs.

Ratio Money, the financial claims management company, is creating 125 new jobs at its head office in Altrincham. In the last three months alone, Ratio has seen its customer base double in size and the company expects the rate of growth to increase further as people look for help with unfair credit agreements. The company is looking for claims handlers, customer services consultants and panel managers who will be responsible for dealing with a national team of specialist lawyers.

Manchester's ambitious Airport City development plans couldn't be attempted by other regional cities, Manchester City Council chief executive Sir Howard Bernstein has told Insider. He said: "What we're creating is a major mixed-use zone that could only work around a major international airport - it could only happen in Manchester. We've been working towards for this for a long time, and now we have the Burford land and the joint venture with Goodman there is a mass of land with unparalleled job creation opportunities." Manchester Airport's MAG Developments has exchanged contracts to buy a 30-acre site north of the airport from Burford to develop a new business park.

Preston North End has borrowed a further £490,000 from Guild Ventures, the investment vehicle controlled by multimillionaire leisure tycoon Trevor Hemmings, taking the total amount borrowed to £9.94m. The latest loan is the fifth the football club has taken since early December from the Guild Ventures and Friends of Preston North End consortia and will again be used to fund ongoing working capital requirements as it pushes for promotion to the Premier League. Preston has agreed to an interest rate of 3 per cent above LIBOR on the loans, which are to be repaid by January 2010.

Manchester-based biotech company Renovo said today that trials of its scar reduction drug Juvidex have been encouraging, although the product failed to meet its main goal in a mid-stage clinical trial. The drug did not speed up the closure of a wound although it did hasten the healing process and improved the appearance of the skin graft. The business said that the results support its decision to develop Juvidex as a treatment for the large cosmetic skin peel market.

Following the granting of planning permission at Lancashire County Cricket Club (LCCC) by Trafford Council, demolition work has begun in preparation of the first phase in a multimillion-pound investment scheme. Phase one includes a £12m self-contained conference and events facility and a £3m upgrade of the cricketing facilities. Earlier this week, the Northwest Regional Development Agency showed its support for LCCC's long-term vision of upgrading facilities to win back Test Match cricket, with a grant of £2.65m for the cricket and green elements involved in phase one of the redevelopment.

St Modwen, the UK's leading regeneration specialist and Wythenshawe town centre partner, has secured two major pre-lets at its 43,000 sq ft Etrop Court development in Wythenshawe, Manchester, part of the developer's £100m ongoing redevelopment of the town centre. International value supermarket giant Netto has taken a long-term lease of 125 years, on a 12,000 sq ft store for £2.3m, while value household retailer Wilkinson has taken a 23,000 sq ft building, on a 15-year lease.

UK-based private bank Brown Shipley, which has an office in Manchester, has teamed up with business angel and entrepreneur network AngelNews. The move will see the two organisations work together to deliver advice and support in the areas of wealth protection and asset management. Brown Shipley will concentrate particularly on investment strategies to rebuild capital lost as a result of the credit crunch. Modwenna Rees-Mogg, chief executive of AngelNews, said: "Over the past 12 months we have seen many investors seriously affected by the credit crunch. During that time we have been planning this initiative with Brown Shipley."

Design guru Peter Saville made an impression on all who saw his presentation on Manchester's future on Tuesday at the MIPIM jamboree in Cannes. Almost all the Manchester speakers who followed referred to his comment "we get the cities we deserve". Marketing Manchester chairman Nick Johnson provided the best follow-up: "Manchester's been incredibly audacious at key points in history and we need to rediscover that boldness - it won't come from central government. We need to have the balls to create the city we deserve."

Purveyor of interesting surveys - actually it's a free conference call provider - Powwownow has revealed that 54 per cent of UK PAs lie and make excuses for their boss on a regular basis to avoid unnecessary calls and meetings. A further 62 per cent of those surveyed confessed to rescuing their bosses from boring or irrelevant meetings by staging "emergency" interventions. Not much of a surprise but nice to have it confirmed in a survey. And, just in case we'd forgotten, Powwownow's press release reminded us about its Dirty Habits Survey, which found that one in three men had had a sexual thought about their work colleagues while in a meeting. Yes, we'd been trying to forget about that, thanks...

Manchester city centre development Spinningfields is urging restaurants and businesses across the city to switch off their lights for an hour in support of the WWF's Manchester Earth Hour. The development has joined forces with Manchester's Pub and Club Network in a bid to promote the Earth Hour on 28 March 2009 at 8.30pm, which will see people, businesses and iconic buildings around the world turn off their lights for an hour. Carluccio's and Gourmet Burger Kitchen have pledged their support to the campaign as has the Spinningfields Management Company and HSBC.

A church in Radcliffe is being redeveloped for residential use, it also happens to be NEXT TO a social club mentioned by film director Danny Boyle in his Oscar acceptance speech last month when he won a gong for Slumdog Millionaire. Boyle and his father "are believed to be parishioners" of the church (that is being disposed of). At Insider we love a bit of good news and are therefore grateful to property agency Lambert Smith Hampton for making this important association.