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Top story
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Government guarantees £20bn loans to small businesses
Business secretary Lord Mandelson has today unveiled plans to guarantee £20bn of loans to small businesses, designed to address the cash flow, credit and investment needs of companies across the UK. The plan is designed to allow banks to lend to businesses that would normally be turned away because of the deterioration in trading conditions and the decline in value of their assets. Measures include a £10bn working capital scheme, securing up to £20bn of short-term bank lending to companies with a turnover of up to £500m and an enterprise finance guarantee scheme, securing up to £1.3bn of additional bank loans to small firms with a turnover of up to £25m. Paul Henly, policy manager for the Federation of Small Businesses in the North West, welcomed the news saying it was “vital for the region’s economy.” He told Insider: “The key now is seeing that the government and the banks make this money available immediately, as more and more firms are going to the wall every week.”
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Deals
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Ph Creative acquires search company
Web design company Ph Creative has acquired fellow Liverpool business Be Visible, a search marketing business. The deal cements Ph’s ambitions of becoming a full service online marketing agency. “We’ve been tracking Be Visible for over 18 months and this acquisition has been planned for over 12 months,” said managing director Bryan Adams. “Working with Be Visible was a great experience that helped us pass on a high level of value to our customers.” Be Visible’s clients include Somerfield, Bupa and The Thompson Directory. Ph opened a New York office last summer and is opening a London office planned in February. 
Extension funds raised for MSIF
Alliance Fund Managers (AFM) has negotiated an extension to some of its MSIF funds totalling £4.6m, which will allow the Small Firms and Mezzanine Funds to continue to provide loans to businesses until March 2010. The funds, created through the ERDF Objective One Programme, were due to end on 31 December 2008. Profits from Mezzanine Fund 1 and Small Firms Fund 1 and 2 are now being distributed, enabling MSIF to establish a successor fund that stands at £3m and will continue to grow as further investments are realised. AFM invested over £24.9m in the nine-month period to December 2008, a £7.3m increase on the previous 12-month period.
New life for Petlife
Petlife Ventures, a Liverpool manufacturer of pet accessories that trades as Hi-Craft, has undergone a management buyout worth over £500,000. It has been bought out by manager Glen Brookfield after the company was placed into administration and the funding comprised £250,000 from Alliance Fund Managers through the MSIF Mezzanine Fund, £100,000 from management and support from the company’s bank. Hi-Craft has been trading since 1956 and was a third-generation family business until the buyout. Turnover is predicted to reach £5m in two years and the number of staff is expected to increase from 11 to 20 over the same period.
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Business
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Agent goes green
Liverpool-based Agent Marketing is the latest organisation to be named as an official sponsor of the city’s Year of the Environment 2009. The year-long programme of events, a joint initiative between Liverpool City Council and Liverpool First, will look to raise awareness of environmental issues and encourage people to live in a more eco-friendly way. Other organisations already signed up include Merseytravel, Liverpool Primary Care Trust, Step Clever and the city’s universities.
Strong trading for printing start-up
Liverpool-based Redwood Printing has said its first year of trading has been strong, despite setting up the business in such a difficult financial environment. The ethical and environmental printer, which counts NHS and the Langtree Group among its clients, achieved a turnover of £700,000 despite not trading for the first three months of the year. Since its inception the business has invested heavily in equipment thanks to funding from The Merseyside Special Investment Fund and The Co-operative Bank.
Tourism industry in £20m boost
The Mersey Partnership (TMP) is set to benefit from a share in a £20.6m funding package that has been allocated to the North West’s tourist boards. With the number of domestic holidays predicted to soar in the coming months, the Northwest Regional Development Agency has earmarked the funding to ensure the sector remains competitive. Five subregional tourist boards – Cumbria Tourism, the Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board, Marketing Manchester, Visit Chester and Cheshire and TMP – will share the pot, which will be used to invest in training programmes, visitor information, product development and marketing activity.
Ronnie in crisis as JJB woes continue
Chris Ronnie’s position as chief executive of Wigan retailer JJB Sports is uncertain as an investigation launches into the company’s ownership. Ronnie yesterday told the board that Guro Leisure, an investment vehicle comprising himself and Icelandic investor Exista, had lost control of its 27.5 per cent stake in JJB to the administrators of Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander (KSF). The shares, which had been held as security against loans to Guro, are now controlled by PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young, administrators of KSF in the Isle of Man and the UK respectively. In a trading update released this morning, JJB said it expects to record a loss of between £5m and £10m for the year to 25 January, after Christmas trading fell 6.8 per cent year on year. It is considering its options regarding its lifestyle stores, Original Shoe Company and Qube, which lost £15m, while an update on the sale of its fitness clubs business is expected soon from financial adviser Lazard.
Big Chip open for entries
Manchester Digital, the association for the region’s digital sector, is asking for entries to this year’s Big Chip Awards from companies across the North West. The awards are open to digital companies, creative agencies and any organisation or business that has undertaken digital initiatives in the past year. This year’s awards feature four new categories, including the Tasty Website award, as well as a green award for technology, the best application of technology award, the Game of the North award and the international award for innovation. The closing date for entries is 16 March 2009. The awards will be announced at an awards dinner on 18 June 2009 at the Palace Hotel, Manchester.
Businesses fail to save water
Less than half of businesses in the North West have an environmental policy in place and just a quarter of these engage in any kind of water efficiency initiative. These are the findings of a report out today by the Environment Agency, which looks at how the economic climate is affecting business investment in energy and water efficiency. A poll of 1,000 companies nationwide showed that 53 per cent of them are missing out on energy and water-efficiency savings. Only 10 per cent of those questioned see that saving water is as important as saving energy.
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Property
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Redrow suffers housing sales slump
Redrow sold nearly 50 per cent fewer homes in the six months to the end of December as buyers deserted the market, the housebuilder said today. The company, whose head office is at Ewloe near Chester, achieved sales of 853 compared with 1,657 in the corresponding period last year. Forward sales, or properties that have been paid for but not yet built, were 40 per cent lower than the previous year at 1,000 homes. The group added that the average selling price has fallen from £162,700 to £140,000. Since the slump in the market, Redrow said it has focused attention on cutting costs, which has included closing two offices and slashing 500 jobs.
Fire centre completes
The new North West Fire and Rescue Control Centre has been completed at Lingley Mere Business Park in Warrington. Joint venture partners Muse Developments and United Utilities Property Solutions have handed over the new 31,000 sq ft building to the Department for Communities and Local Government on a 25-year lease. Lingley Mere Business Park, which is located near junction 8 of the M62, provides 380,000 sq ft of office accommodation.
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Insider
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17-21 Chorlton Street
Manchester
M1 3HY
Telephone: +44 (0)161 907 9711
Email:
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