Blackburn IT business Control Key, which specialises in network management and security, has been bought by Leeds-based Concorde Excel Holdings, owner of IT services and solutions company Concorde Informatics. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Control Key directors David Parkinson and Kieron Sykes will remain with the business they established in 1999. The acquisition will allow Control Key, which has five employees, to benefit from the group’s central infrastructure, while it brings additional services to Concorde Informatics. For Insider comment, click here.

Britain’s largest coal producer UK Coal has secured a £10m loan facility from major shareholder Peel Holdings. It has also arranged an increase of up to £20m in its banking facilities. In March, UK Coal was subject to a bid approach from Hargreaves Services although today it said that talks remained at an early stage and there was “no certainty that a transaction will result”. Peel owns a 28 per cent share in the business.

Championship football club Preston North End have taken another loan from Guild Ventures, the investment vehicle controlled by Trevor Hemmings, the multimillionaire leisure tycoon. The club have been loaned £550,000 which will be used to pay players’ wages this month. It is the 11th loan Preston have taken from the Guild Ventures and Friends of Preston North End consortia since December 2008 and takes total borrowings to £13.28m. Preston chairman Derek Shaw said the club continues to incur operating losses and anticipates that further funding will be required prior to the start on the new football season in August.

Defence giant BAE Systems has won a £150m contract to maintain Lancashire-built fighter jets. The with deal Eurofighter GmbH, the four-nation European consortium which builds the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, will see it provide support to air forces in Germany, Spain and the UK. The contract comes a year after it secured a £450m deal from the Ministry of Defence to maintain the RAF's Typhoon aircraft. BAE employs more than 11,000 people in the region.

The disruption caused to flights in the wake of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano eruption in Iceland has failed to dent sales at Bolton luxury travel business Travel Counsellors, according to the company. The business said revenue was up 29 per cent in April, compared with 2009 levels, with it enjoying a near-record day on 30 April, taking more than £1.5m. Since the start of its financial year last November Travel Counsellors said sales have hit £154m, up 36 per cent on the previous year. Total group sales are forecast to increase from £255m in the last financial year to £320m this year.

Optare, the Blackburn-based bus manufacturer, has secured a deal worth £13m to create 66 hybrid buses for the Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority (GMITA). The order is the largest to be placed so far under the government’s green bus fund, which encourages low-emission bus use. The GMITA fleet will be made up of four different models all featuring a diesel-electric hybrid system as well as an integrated passenger counting device, CCTV and vehicle diagnostics system.

Social marketing agency The Hub is to relocate from its Preston base to new offices in Manchester. The company said the move is the “foundation for the agency’s manifesto of plans” as it looks to maintain its market leading position. Managing director Helen Johnson added that the move was an “exciting and crucial element” to its growth plans. Along with the relocation, The Hub is also launching an in-house social research division in the summer called Insight.

Peppermint PR has picked up a new account brief from Altrincham complementary medicine centre CompleMED. The Hale-based agency will look to raise the profile of the centre across the North West. JAMcre8tive, meanwhile, the design division of Manchester’s Jam PR, has been tasked with revamping the website and regular customer e-communications of Manchester indoor snow centre Chill Factore. Jam PR will also provide copywriting services.

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Braemar, the Hale-based AIM-listed property fund and management group, has announced that its Ground Rents Fund has purchased the freehold of Manchester’s Beetham Tower on an initial yield of 6.25 per cent. The tower, designed by Ian Simpson and home to the Hilton hotel, is the tallest residential block in Europe. Braemar chief executive Marc Duschenes said: “The tower is a perfect example of the type of large scale, well located developments which our fund aims to acquire. I expect this to be the first of several significant freehold purchases in the next year.”

Wigan’s planners have said they are “minded to approve” the plans by Salmon Harvester, the London developer backed by the National Farmers Union fund, to redevelop a former industrial site at Spinning Jenny Way in Leigh. The scheme is for a 109,000 sq ft Tesco store, a seven-screen cinema, four restaurant units and a petrol station. It said: “The proposed development will enhance Leigh’s market share of both comparison and convenience shopping in the face of increased competition… and will make a significant contribution to the overall economic and social life of Leigh town centre.”

Andrew Thomas, the chief executive of the Centre for Construction Innovation (CCI), is stepping into the Ask the Expert hotseat. CCI runs the North West Construction Knowledge Hub, which offers advice and training workshops for small businesses to help respond to the opportunities and threats posed by climate change. Andrew can answer questions on how companies in the industry can improve processes, increase sustainability and, in turn, become more competitive in the difficult marketplace. If you have a question you’d like to ask Andrew, click here to use our anonymous online form.

Countryside Properties has started work on five of its sites across Greater Manchester this month, projects that account for almost 500 homes. With the RICS April housing survey predicting a post-election bounce, the national housebuilder has launched three new sites – two in Heywood and one in Gorton, east Manchester. It has also resumed work at Oakwood Reach in Stalybridge and started the next phase of the New Broughton flagship regeneration scheme in Salford.

Insider has been over on the Isle of Man ahead of June’s regional review. One interviewee mentioned that the huge house built by F1 star Nigel Mansell is currently being renovated by a certain shopping centres, property, ports and airports magnate. Apparently, back in the day moustachioed motorist Mansell failed to take local advice not to build anything exposed to the prevailing south westerlies, necessitating the controversial construction of a large hill as a windbreak. A planning row eh? Home from home!

Chester PR company de Winter PR and Marketing knows how to party and sure enough it was in the thick of things at a bash at Warrington’s Mojo Bar, held to celebrate the Golden Square shopping centre’s fashion website. De Winter was instrumental in both the website’s development and the launch night. Guests were treated to champagne, canapés and a DJ set by Scott Mills. Presumably carrot-topped local hero Chris Evans was unavailable? Better than Kerry Katona though…