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Prescot-based outsourcing company Vertex has acquired the Utility Services business of Alliance Data Systems Corporation, a provider of billing systems, professional services and process outsourcing in the US and Canada. The deal is expected to be completed in the third quarter and will swell Vertex's existing utilities business to more than 2,000 employees across 18 sites. Vertex was established in 1996 as a subsidiary of United Utilities and was acquired by a consortium of three US-based private equity firms in 2007 for £217.5m. 
Paul Newman, head of communications at the Liverpool Culture Company, is to be the first head of communications at Peel Holdings' Salford Quays-based MediaCity development from October. Culture Company press officer Helen Johnson is also joining the team, alongside Lisa Hill, who has worked at North West Vision and Media and Lime Pictures. Newman spent more than 20 years as a broadcaster for organisations including the BBC and Sky and was director of communications at the Football Association. MediaCity will be home to over 2000 BBC staff from 2011 and the total 200-acre global media zone aims to provide opportunities for over 1,000 creative and related businesses.
Creatives failing to take advantage of innovation A new report published by Manchester Business School and National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts has indicated that innovation in the UK's creative industries sector remains as strong as ever, but that many businesses are struggling to turn this into a commercial success. Lawrence Green, innovation research fellow at Manchester Business School, said: "As in other sectors, where market failures are identified, policy needs to provide more targeted support for innovation. Existing initiatives such as the research and development tax credit do not, at present, acknowledge or support many of the types of innovation that are undertaken by creative businesses."
Bonjour Bodycote Macclesfield-based engineering group Bodycote, which heat treats jet engine fan blades, yesterday announced the acquisition of French materials testing laboratory Centech in a statement issued at the Farnborough Air Show. The acquisition of the Toulouse-based company is Bodycote's first in France. Centech is approved by Airbus, French jet engine maker Snecma and General Electric Aircraft Engines. Meanwhile. shares in Bodycote are on the rise over hopes of a private equity and trade buyer bidding war for its testing division.
A shop by any other name Quoted retailer John David Group has officially changed its name to JD Sports Fashion today. The Bury-based company says the move reflects its market position as a retailer of sport- and athletic-inspired clothing and footwear. Executive chairman Peter Cowgill, who returned to the business in 2004, refocused the company on the high-end sportswear market.
How big is your footprint? In response to growing business demand to take action on CO2, the Carbon Trust is rolling out a national series of carbon footprinting workshops for businesses of all sizes after the success of its spring series. The North West event takes place in Liverpool on 17 September. Businesses will receive information on how they can benefit from taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint and how they can achieve the Carbon Trust Standard, the world's first accreditation scheme linked to real carbon reduction.
The worst is yet to come Corporate finance chiefs have said credit is getting more expensive, harder to find and the worst of the credit crunch is yet to come, according to a survey published by Deloitte. Nearly one year after the credit crisis first rocked global markets, more than three-quarters of the 83 chief financial officers surveyed said credit is hard to obtain, up from 48 per cent in September last year. More than half also expect consumer prices to rise. "The squeeze on liquidity is transmitting itself to the corporate sector through a reduced supply and rising cost of credit," said Richard Bell, head of transaction services at Deloitte in the North West.
Entrepreneurs' club launches in the North West A new members' club solely for entrepreneurs, billed as the UK's most exclusive and fastest growing, is set to launch in the North West in partnership with Ford Campbell Corporate Finance. The Supper Club aims to provide peer group learning through intimate round table dinners, workshops and chaired forums, and hopes to attract owners of high-growth businesses from across the region. Its first event will be on 22 July at Malmaison in Liverpool, followed by an event at Malmaison in Manchester on 9 September.
Interior designer NoChintz has become the latest business to sign up at Carvers Warehouse in Town Centre Securities' Piccadilly Basin scheme. NoChintz started trading a year ago and has built up a client list including Urban Splash and Harvey Nichols as well as private residents. The newly restored Carvers is the oldest warehouse in Manchester city centre and has already welcomed Marketing Manchester, Martin Stockley Associates, Arca Architects and design agency Four23 as tenants.
Moving to an even better place Better Placed Recruitment (BPR), a sales, marketing and executive recruitment consultancy, has moved into a new 3,000 sq ft office in Hills Quays in the Deansgate Locks area of Manchester. The company, which is headquartered in Leeds, set up its Manchester operation in 2005 and employs five staff in the city. Founders Andrew Gibson and Simon Stephens are currently listed in Yorkshire Business Insider’s 42 under 42 batch of up-and-coming entrepreneurs. BPR expects to have a turnover of more than £2m for 2008.
Office move for Morgan Ashurst Construction company Morgan Ashurst has moved into new offices in Salford Quays, which will bring together all the company's employees from separate offices in Manchester and Warrington. In 2007 the business was rebranded from Bluestone after its parent company's acquisition of Amec Design and Project Services. Current projects underway include the construction of the Buile Hill High School in Salford and the Wright Robinson Special Sports College in Gorton.
The perfect fit for Weightmans Law firm Weightmans has appointed Warrington-based Claremont Group Interiors to complete the design and fit-out of its new 19,000 sq ft offices at Three Piccadilly Place in Manchester. Weightmans has worked with Claremont a number of times, including on its original office move to Spring Gardens in Manchester ten years ago. The project is expected to start later this month and will take 11 weeks to complete.
Help The Aged signs up to Hardwick Industrious Asset Management has secured the letting of a 41,000 sq ft unit at Hardwick Grange in Warrington, advised by DTZ. The unit has been taken by charity Help The Aged on a ten-year lease at a rent of £4 per sq ft. Stuart Haydon, asset manager at Industrious, said: "The fact that the lease was completed within three weeks of terms being agreed reflects the pragmatic and efficient approach adopted by all parties involved in this transaction."
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