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Top story
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Is culture boom enough to carry Liverpool through?
The number of distressed businesses in Liverpool is continuing to rise, with experts expecting to see a marked increase in the number of insolvencies during the first six months of this year. According to the Begbies Traynor’s Red Flag Alert statistics, a total of 53 Liverpool companies faced critical problems relating to County Court Judgements (CCJs) or winding-up petitions in the fourth quarter of 2008, compared with 36 in the third quarter. Companies with “significant problems” on the list – minor CCJs, court actions or overdue or insolvent accounts - increased from 232 in July 2008 to 467 in December 2008. “Companies that aren’t supported by a strong brand and a solid business model will need to work extra hard over the coming months,” said David Moore, partner at Begbies Traynor in Liverpool. “The Merseyside retail sector in particular received a boost from a range of new developments and outlets, which brought a flood of customers from outside the region. Unfortunately, I think we are now riding the last of those waves. The mini-boom that followed Capital of Culture will not in itself see us through a global recession.”
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Today's news
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P3 joins the Jensen team
Developer Urban Waterside has added P3 Property Consultants to the agency team advising it on the disposal of its Jensen Court scheme in Runcorn. The four remaining units on the estate total 25,574 sq ft, ranging from 4,950 sq ft to 9,678 sq ft. The estate forms part of the established Astmoor Industrial Estate, located immediately adjacent to the Bridgewater Expressway between junctions 11 and 12 of the M65, near the proposed new Mersey Gateway. 
Swallow bitter pill, says lawyer
Philip Byrne, associate at North West law firm Brabners Chaffe Street, has said that poor December trading has highlighted the need for dialogue to open now to ensure that retailers survive the next six months. Byrne said: “Meeting March’s rental bills will be the crunch point for many landlords and retailers. Unless frank discussions start now, landlords will be forced to deal with unpaid rent charges, unforeseen costs and paying rates on empty properties. It may be a bitter pill to swallow initially but negotiations now on payment terms, rent-free incentives or the dilution of late payment penalties could be the lifeline the High Street critically needs.”
Easter celebrates good Christmas
Industrial developer Easter Group, has reported a hat-trick of deals totalling 129,800 sq ft in the run-up to Christmas. The largest of these deals was at the Deeside Industrial Estate near Chester, where bottle recycling company Closed Loop Recycling signed up for a 90,500 sq ft building and is now starting a £9m fit-out to create a recycling hub to serve the North West. The other deals came at Trafford Park, where ducting company CCL Lindab signed a ten-year lease for a new 22,000 sq ft building and Elim Foursquare Pentecostal Church took a 17,300 sq ft unit.
Applications for car loans rises
ACF Car Finance is experiencing its best results to date despite the gloom hanging over the car industry. Its Chester customer call centre has just received the highest number of car finance applications, processing 350 applications in just one day last week, beating the former record of 340 in May 2006. Sales and marketing director Norman Beaumont expressed his amazement at the record: “Our loan application criteria are the tightest they have ever been, but we are still able to convert record numbers of applications.”
Social enterprise key to rural success
A guide to how rural communities in the North West can use social enterprise to meet the challenges of the current economic crisis has been launched by the Plunkett Foundation. According to the foundation, the challenges faced by rural communities are heightened by greater distances, a more widely dispersed population and poor access to jobs and services. Funded by the Northwest Regional Development agency (NWDA), the guide includes a film featuring North West social enterprises such as the community shop and post office at Nenthead near Alston, Cumbria. NWDA head of rural development David Hunter said the work has shown that small-scale investments can make all the difference to a community project.
Rowlands readies for sliming launch
Runcorn-based Rowlands Pharmacy has taken 12,000 sq ft of warehouse space from NYK Logistics as it gears up for the UK and European launch of a new slimming product. It is anticipated that the new site, located close to its existing headquarters, will become a central hub for the distribution of the meal replacement product, developed by Australian manufacturer Probiotec. Rowlands has 500 stores across the UK and was put up for sale earlier this month after the death of its German business tycoon owner Adolf Merckle.
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Something for the weekend
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Capital idea
A friendly word of warning to Liverpool-based Real Good Food Company, which is to merge two of its subsidiary businesses in a bid to cut costs. Sugar division Napier Brown Foods will relocate from Yorkshire to the join with bakery ingredients supplier Renshaw in Liverpool, forming a new division to be called renshawnapier. Times are hard for everybody, but a few capital letters in the correct place don’t cost anything.
Turn on, tune in
It’s not over yet! The BBC Culture Show will be broadcasting a one-hour special, reviewing Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture 2008 on BBC 2 at 7pm on Monday 19 January. The programme features highlights from the year, including Sir Simon Rattle on his return to his home city with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Paul McCartney’s concert at Anfield and actor Pete Postlethwaite and director Rupert Goold on their King Lear at the Everyman Theatre.
Ark at you!
Don’t all rush at once, but Mersey Ferries passengers can get up close to the Royal Navy’s fleet flagship HMS Ark Royal this weekend. Extra ferry services will run, complete with commentary, with the ferries sailing “as close and as safely as possible” to the vessel, which is a relief. According to Merseytravel’s press notes, “a steeper ski jump than in the other ships of this class is fitted at the forward end of the flight deck”. Surely that can’t be a real ski jump? Could there be a gap in the market for Chill Factor-e to open up at sea?
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