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Top story
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North West demands more from the Olympics
Efforts to capitalise on the 2012 Olympics in the North West are being hampered by restrictions on using Games trademarks, according to Andy Worthington, chairman of the North West Steering Group for the 2012 Games. Worthington used a Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) 2012 conference in Liverpool yesterday to vent his frustration. The NWDA has been running a be inspired, England's North West campaign since last year, but is not allowed to put the word London, imagery of the Olympic rings, or the year 2012 on any literature. He said: "We understand why London wants to protect its brand because official sponsors have paid large sums. But it's a bit like asking us to go into church and not talk about Christ. It seems illogical but we are putting pressure on." A spokesman for the London 2012 organising committee said: "We have to give sponsors exclusivity or else they wouldn't pay what they do."
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Deals
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Price gap remains wide
The price expectation gap is still forcing deals to fall over, according to Paul Shephard, regional director of specialist and acquisition finance at Yorkshire Bank. While vendor and buyer expectations were thought to be coming closer together as the market adjusts to a new reality, the prices of businesses for sale remains a sticking point across the region. “We still have money to lend but the market has ground to a halt,” Shephard told Insider. “We have had four deals stall recently because the vendors were holding out for a bigger sum.” In the year to the end of September, Yorkshire Bank backed 19 deals across the North West.
Halliwells to shuffle the pack
Law firm Halliwells is looking to counter the downturn in corporate work by moving its staff between departments rather than axing jobs. "We are currently looking at the possibility of moving a few corporate fee earners into different departments, or putting them on client secondment," said a spokesman. "It's a case of reacting to market conditions. As a multi disciplinary firm, some departments will always be busier than others depending on the economic climate." The firm recently announced that 40 jobs would go across its national property division.
Big deals boost the stats
Deal value in the third quarter of 2008 rose by 139 per cent, according to research by Pro Manchester. With a combined value of £2.95bn, Manchester advisers worked on 23 transactions in the three months to the end of September as the upper mid market saw something of a revival. The buyout of chemicals group Warwick International helped to tip the scales in favour of £100m plus deals, while the number of smaller deals declined. ProManchester chief executive Daniel Mouawad said: It will be interesting to see whether the large-cap deals continue to flow in the next quarter, otherwise we would hope to see smaller deals pick up again to keep Manchester's market afloat.
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Business
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A secure view
Manchester-based IT services company NCC Group said today it was on track to deliver profits in line with expectations despite tougher economic conditions. In an interim trading statement covering the period between 1 June and 15 October 2008 the company confirmed that revenues were up 29 per cent year on year. NCC also said it has not seen any significant cancellations of work orders or contracts as a result of a slowdown in the financial services, retail and house building sectors but said it will increase its core product prices by 8 per cent at the beginning of November.
Jones steps up at JJB
Troubled retailer JJB Sports has taken boardroom action as it seeks to assure investors of its future. David Jones, widely credited as the brains behind Next's emergence as a high street superpower and a talismanic name in retail, has stepped up from non-executive director to become deputy chairman. Barry Dunn, the group's long-standing property director, is to leave. Shares rallied yesterday as the group said that constructive discussions with HBOS and Barclays are ongoing over its debts.
Bramall on the hunt again at Lookers
Tony Bramall, a non-executive director at Manchester car dealer Lookers, has again built his stake in the business in taking another £230,000 tranche of shares. The 662,000 shares cost 35 pence each, considerably less than in Bramall's June purchases at 68 pence, as the car sales industry suffers. The Bramall family now controls 21.6 per cent of Lookers.
Stobart tries again in Cumbria
Stobart Group has submitted a new planning application in its bid to redevelop Carlisle Airport. The original £35m plans were called in by the Government Office of the North West, leading the freight group to scale the plans down. Subsidiary Stobart Air intends to rebrand the airport as Carlisle Lake District Airport, rebuilding the runway and increasing freight facilities as it seeks to put the site at the heart of the Stobart logistics network.
Keeping an eye on growth
Trafford Park-based identity management company Salford Software has boosted profits by 40 per cent and turnover by 28 per cent as it celebrates new business wins and an increased workforce. As a result of new contracts, including Cornwall NHS Trust, The University of Nottingham and South London & Maudsley NHS Trust, the company has boosted its headcount from 53 to 66 employees in the last 12 months. Managing director James Doggart said: "Identity management has never been more topical in our digital world - and companies and institutions are beginning to realise the importance of it."
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Property
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Manchester urged to lead the green way
Architect BDP’s new Piccadilly Basin offices should be used by Manchester as a rallying point for its “Green City” campaign, environmental campaigner Tony Juniper said last night. Speaking to Insider at the building’s launch, the former executive director of Friends of the Earth said: “Cities need examples of how things can be done differently; there is a gap in the market for the city that can show that it is going the extra mile to develop sustainably.”
Colliers has a Paddy
The Manchester office of Colliers CRE has been appointed by Irish bookmaker Paddy Power to acquire new betting shop sites across the North West. With over 200 shops in Northern Ireland and Ireland and 60 in the south of England, Ireland's largest bookmaker has targeted Manchester and the North West as one of its key growth areas as it looks to grow its UK estate to over 200 shops in the next three years.
Eco move in Oldham
Renewable energy outfit Microgeneration has become the latest firm to take space at UBC Oldham, which recently opened at Howarth Court in Oldham Broadway Business Park. Microgeneration provides a range of renewable heat and power generation technologies and the company's aim is to take a lead role in the battle against climate change in the UK. Company secretary Sara Ghosley said: "UBC's eco credentials were also an added plus point for us the building has renewable energy installed in the form of solar panels on the roof."
Abandon housing plan, says DTZ's Thomson
Andrew Thomson, planning director at consultancy DTZ, has urged new housing minister Margaret Beckett to use her vast experience to solve the housing crisis in an open letter. He said: "We need joined up government. I would hope that you will abandon unrealistic housing targets and work with the industry to help revitalise housebuilding. With falling land prices and property values, it is unrealistic to burden the house building industry with the community infrastructure levy and the introduction of this legislation should be delayed for at least five years."
Linpac signs in Heywood
SEGRO's Heywood Distribution Park continues to defy the property industry gloom. The park's agents have agreed a deal with Linpac Services to take a speculatively built 17,322 sq ft unit to wash plastic packaging as part of a contract to handle the returnable transit packaging supply chain for a supermarket chain. Dan Burn, senior associate at letting agent King Sturge, said: "This is a difficult market to operate in, but SEGRO's proactive approach is now really paying dividends.
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