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Top story
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Blow for Widnes as Stobart stays put
Freight group Stobart looks set to remain a Cumbrian business following the granting of planning permission by Carlisle City Council for the redevelopment of Carlisle airport. The calling-in of a previous application for a public inquiry led the group to threaten to relocate its headquarters to Widnes, where it owns the 3MG multi-modal transport hub, but the council said the scaled-down £19m scheme would not be referred upwards as it fits within the local development plan.
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Deals
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In Focus – some good news at last
In the last of his online columns of 2008, Michael Taylor examines last week’s management buyout of Ascribe, the take-private deal the market had been waiting for since the summer. “What’s remarkable about the deal is not that it values the company at £33.3m and its shares at 28p, or that it’s funded by the existing management team headed by chief executive and co-founder Stephen Critchlow, but that it’s a private equity deal led by ECI and backed with debt by Yorkshire Bank,” he says. Click here to read more.
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Business
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Christmas the crunch time, says R3
Struggling retailers could be forced under by the quarterly rent bill, traditionally due on Christmas Day, according to insolvency body R3. Figures released by the Office for National Statistics revealed that department store sales for the three months to November showed a like-for-like fall of 3.8 per cent. Matt Dunham, North West regional chairman of R3, said: “The banking crisis could not have come at a worse time. The effects have hit the high street when a lot of retailers make their money. Heavy discounting by some high-street stores is putting downward pressure on margins.” 
HEG suspends shares
Healthcare Enterprise Group, the Warrington-based healthcare product group, has suspended trading of its shares on AIM after announcing it would not be able to publish its annual report and preliminary results for the 16 months ended 30 June, before 31 December, as required under the AIM rules. The group announced in September 2008 that it would need to raise further capital to meet its medium- and long-term requirements. Discussions continue with a small group of investors to raise additional capital, but a conclusion on the amount of money being raised has not been reached.
Lee takes business leadership reins
Paul Lee, senior partner at law firm Addleshaw Goddard, has been elected as chairman of the North West Business Leadership Team. Lee succeeds Stuart Chambers of glassmaker NSG Pilkington, who completes his three-year term on 31 December. Lee said: “In today’s challenging global environment we need to make the best of our region’s strengths and opportunities. This calls for effective teamwork and leadership.” Lee will be supported by two deputy chairmen, Geoff Muirhead of Manchester Airport Group and Trevor Gregory of power group ABB.
New appointment at HSBC
HSBC Private Bank has strengthened its North West team by appointing Simon Perry as associate director in its Manchester office. He will be developing client relationships with personal customers who have complex or significant borrowing needs across the North West from Cumbria, Manchester and Liverpool. He began his career at Clydesdale Bank and has worked with Bank of Scotland and Yorkshire Bank.
Call for green business heroes
Time is running out to enter the Northwest Business Environment Awards 2009. The awards, supported the Mersey Basin Campaign and the Northwest Regional Development Agency, celebrate the region’s carbon crusaders, recyclers, energy savers, green buildings, green technology and eco innovations. The closing date for entries is 2 February. Visit www.merseybasin.org.uk for details.
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Property
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BSS signs at the Grange
Knight Frank has secured a 22,700 sq ft letting at Melford Court, part of the Grange employment area in Warrington, on behalf of Lancashire County Council Pension Fund. Plumbing trade supplier BSS has signed a ten-year lease for the unit, which comprises a detached single-storey industrial unit with two-storey offices and a self-contained yard. Occupiers at the Grange, near junction 21 of the M6, include Castrol Oils and Christian Salvesen.
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