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Top story
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Stobart ready for Carlisle take-off
Transport group Stobart has won planning permission from Carlisle City Council for its plans to develop Carlisle airport in a £19m project that will include a new headquarters for Stobart at the site. Previous plans were called in for a public inquiry, resulting in a scaled-down scheme that the council will not refer – although there remains a chance protesters will call for a judicial review. Stobart chief executive Andrew Tinkler said: “Now they have approved it we will get on and build it. This safeguards jobs and will create others. We are committed to upgrading the runway and passenger facilities, and we have been in talks with potential operators. The intention is to have flights to Southend airport which, when a new railway station opens next year, will be 50 minutes from London.”
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Deals
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Recomac sold to director
Recomac Surfacing, the Manchester-based manufacturer of specialist surfacing for motorways, roads, car parks and footpaths, has been sold by administrators at KPMG to Road Spraying, a company set up by a former Recomac director. The sale, which secures 15 jobs, also provides a three-month option for Road Spraying to acquire Recomac’s trading premises in Kearsley, Manchester. Paul Flint, associate partner at KPMG Restructuring in Manchester, said: “Even in this difficult economic climate, we have the tenacity and the creativity to identify and deliver finance solutions to ensure deals can still be done.”
WH Ireland a white knight for Blue Oar?
Manchester stockbroker WH Ireland has confirmed it is considering an offer for Blue Oar, a business it believes would be “highly complementary”. Blue Oar would bring with it a high number of retained institutional clients, which would allow WH Ireland to consolidate its position in the AIM market. Blue Oar was last week the subject of a takeover bid by Evolve Capital, an offer it advised its shareholders to ignore. Although WH Ireland believes it can complete the deal in January, Blue Oar said it was “actively exploring a number of strategic options”.
Nifes acquired by Spice
National Industry Fuel Efficiency Service (Nifes), the Altrincham-headquartered energy consultancy business, has been acquired for £5.1m by Spice, the Yorkshire-based utility support services group. Up to a further £1.9m could be paid in cash based on Nifes’ results and forward order book at 31 October 2009. The £8.8m-turnover business was formed in 1953 by the government Ministry for Fuel and Power with the aim of stimulating energy efficiency improvements in industry h. Managing director Howard Metcalfe, who will remain with the business following the acquisition, led a management buyout in 1989.
Acquisition for Intercytex
Intercytex, the Manchester and Cambridge-based developer of regenerative medicine products to restore skin and hair, has acquired Axordia, a UK company focused on the development of stem cell therapies, from Fusion IP, the IP commercialisation company for the universities of Sheffield and Cardiff. AIM-listed Intercytex will issue 7,000,000 new ordinary shares of 1p for the purchase, which values Axordia at £1.68m.
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.
Timpson expands into photo shops
North West shoe repair and key-cutting giant Timpson has entered into a new market by acquiring 187 stores from the administrators of Bowie Castlebank Group and Alexander Kennedy & Sons. The Max Spielmann and Klick photo-developing shops are located across the country and 545 jobs are being transferred to the Timpson Group in a standalone division headed by David Edwards. Chairman John Timpson said: “The strength of our core shoe repair business has given us the chance to expand our reputation for unique customer care into another part of the high street. We see this as a great opportunity to apply the successful Timpson culture to another service business.”
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Business
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What now for Manchester transport?
The good folk of the Greater Manchester business community have a few suggestions as to what Plan B should be for the city region’s public transport after the Transport Innovation Fund proposals were overwhelmingly rejected in a public vote earlier this month. While transport minister Geoff Hoon told Manchester Chamber chief executive Angie Robinson last week that “the money is only there for cities that are prepared to think about charging”, the readers of Insider Daily had other ideas. Paul Widger of Baker Tilly, who lives in Altrincham, suggested: “If you want to dissuade people from using their cars simply increase tax on petrol. Increased revenues could pay for the public transport improvements we urgently need. Politicians may fear the headlines but it would win my vote.” And Phil Nuttall, a partner at Clearwater Corporate Finance, made the oft-cited suggestion: “Sell the council’s interest in Manchester airport and invest the proceeds in transport infrastructure.”
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.
Whelan’s Wigan winner
Wigan Athletic owner David Whelan’s long-fought battle over a matchday policing bill has ended in victory at the Court of Appeal. The court upheld the club’s complaint, dating back to 2004, that Greater Manchester Police overcharged it, agreeing the club had been charged for special police services that it had not requested. But the club will receive a return of £37,000 rather than the £300,000 it had originally claimed.
Eccles Cakes go modern
Lancashire Eccles Cakes is to go online. Hale-based design consultancy Lake has been appointed to develop the company’s first website. It will also create point-of-sale projects for the delicacy. Ann Edmonds, managing director of the Ardwick business, said: “Our family has been baking Eccles Cakes for more than 70 years to a secretly-guarded family recipe and we’re delighted to provide our loyal customers with our first website.”
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.
Students – the future?
Can harnessing student volunteers help make a difference for North West business? Lancaster University’s Volunteering Unit has announced plans to double its operation to 800 student volunteers by 2012. In the 2007/08 academic year the unit’s CommIT and Create Solutions projects, backed by the European Regional Development Fund, created £593,000 in increased sales for 75 small businesses and safeguarded £1.5m in sales through development work.
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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Modus looks to exit Ciref JV
Manchester developer Modus is looking to sell its stake in retail-led development schemes it has progressed with Jersey-based investment fund Ciref. The joint venture has five schemes planned, although only one, Trinity Walk in Wakefield, has started on site. Managing director Brendan Flood said the company would go “back to its roots” as a development manager rather than an equity investor.
Morewood wins promotion
John Morewood is to be made a director of Henry Boot Construction (UK), with effect from 1 January 2009. Morewood, who will continue to be based at the company’s regional office in Manchester, has been central to Henry Boot’s success in the North West and growing the company’s Prison Alliance Framework contracts.
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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