BMW motorbike business Chester Motorrad has secured a £150,000 finance package from Barclays to improve its existing premises with the addition of a new showroom. The company now employs four staff and has expanded the product range since taking over the franchise in 2008. Relationship manager Amanda Thompson said the bank had a strong appetite to provide funding to quality businesses.

News today that the UK government tax take is down by £32bn has increased fears that tax rises are on their way and a likely target will be a capital gains tax hike. In his weekly Deals In Focus column Michael Taylor asks whether this will lead to an acceleration of business sales to avoid the tax hike. Click here for more.

A national scheme called Village SOS has been set up by enterprise campaign group Make Your Mark with the help of BBC One and the Big Lottery Fund, challenging people to revamp their local communities. The search is on for budding North West entrepreneurs to become champion for their chosen village, which they would attempt to revitalise and improve using a budget of £400,000. A total of six champions will be chosen from a shortlist of 18 villages in each region. With an annual salary of £30,000, these champions would live and work in their village for a year.

Entrepreneurs Richard Appleby and Daniel Kirkham have announced plans to launch a new social networking site in Liverpool from September aimed at tourists and new residents to the city. The site, called new2thecity.com, will be developed by Stockport communication agency STAN and detail places to visit, vouchers and events. "Students, tourists and travellers, those new to the city were under-represented by other sites," said Kirkham. "We felt they needed a forum, an anchor in unfamiliar places."

Leading thinker Daniel Goleman says the application of his ideas on emotional intelligence are as relevant as ever, despite the economic downturn. Speaking to Insider, Goleman said the traditional measure of intelligence (IQ) is far too narrow to harness the range of capabilities people possess. It is emotional intelligence (EQ) that is increasingly relevant to organisational development and developing people. "EQ is not about being nice, it's about communicating effectively, even in tough times," he said. Insider is partner in the Science of Success management conference to be hosted by Manchester Business School on Tuesday 15 September 2009 at which Goleman and Malcolm Gladwell will offer extraordinary insights into the unconventional reasons behind exceptional leadership and unparalleled success. For further information on the event and discounted rates for Insider readers, click here.

A report by GVA Grimley commissioned by the Cheshire & Warrington Economic Alliance has identified 13 priority employment sites in the area. They are: Birchwood Park; Capenhurst; Cheshire Oaks; Crewe rail gateway; Crewe town centre; East of Quakers Coppice and Crewe Business Park; Northwich’s Lostock Triangle; Midpoint 18 in Middlewich; Pioneer Park in Ellesmere Port; South Bostock Road in Winsford; the Countess of Chester hospital; Woolston Grange in Warrington; and the 61MU site in Handforth.

Workspace manager Bizspace is looking to work with owners and developers of empty commercial buildings in the North West as it looks to add to its network of 25 business centres in the region. Operations director Emma Long said: “The recession has not dented demand for flexible managed workspace. While we have traditionally purchased all of our office, workshop, light industrial and storage properties, we are now looking to work with those owners of vacant commercial buildings to find new tenants.”

With 12 per cent of high street shops now vacant, Bury and Chester have been included in the British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) 20 case studies of places driving forward retail through proactive initiatives. The 21st Century High Streets: A new vision for our town centres report, released today, sets out a 20-point plan for long-term growth. Director-general Stephen Robertson said: “High streets are crucial but many are in trouble, facing difficulties that began well before the current recession. It cannot be left to chance – these processes need to be actively managed.”