ACAL Energy has completed a £3.5m investment round to fund development of its energy-efficient products. The funds will be used by the Runcorn-based company to accelerate the next stage of development of its platinum-free cathode technology for low-cost fuel cell systems, a highly-efficient and clean electricity-generation technology. The funding round was led by Carbon Trust Investments, along with Belgium’s Solway SA which provided £1.5m, Porton Capital and a Japanese motor company. Additional funds are expected in a second round closing later this year.

Chancellor George Osborne has this morning been outlining where the government’s £6.2bn of spending cuts will be made. The Department for Business Innovation and Skills will have its budget cut by £836m as the coalition government works to reduce public sector spending. Regional development agencies in the south of England are expected to be the worst hit. Last week business secretary Vince Cable told Insider that he there seemed to be a strong business case for keeping the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) broadly in its present form.

Workers at Vauxhall's Ellesmere Port plant Luton have agreed to a two-year pay freeze as part of a Europe-wide restructuring deal. The company is aiming to save more than £200m in Europe, with around 10 per cent of savings to be made in the UK. The Unite union, which represents Vauxhall workers, signed an agreement with Vauxhall's owner General Motors (GM). Cost savings in GM's UK pension schemes have also been implemented, and a total of 519 jobs have gone from the Luton plant. No jobs are being lost at its Ellesmere Port plant, which will become the only plant manufacturing the Astra model later this year.

Liverpool insurance broker Butterworth Spengler has opened a new office and added three new employees to its ranks. The firm has taken on account executives Andrew Thomson, Alan Tune and James Jaycock from Oval, who will work out of the company’s new corporate office at 1 Old Hall Street. Butterworth Spengler’s Mark Robinson said: “This is an exciting period of rapid growth for the company and our new corporate office in Liverpool city centre provides us with an opportunity to attract new customers and target new markets.”

As George Osborne swings his axe, a new report published today by business adviser and accountancy firm BDO urges both government and business to focus on exports if the UK is to forge a prominent role in the new global landscape. The report, Transitions – The New Economic World Order, outlines the opportunities open to the UK in the new economic world order and was developed alongside an expert panel convened by BDO. Insider is partnering with BDO on an event to launch the report on 8 June in Manchester. For Insider comment, click here.

The Mersey Partnership (TMP) has launched a national advertising campaign to help drive visitor numbers. The campaign will run in national newspapers, at key London underground stations, specialist travel publications, and online. TMP chief executive Lorraine Rogers said: “We are very fortunate that we have a very strong product to sell at both national and international level – which in turn needs a striking visual to capture people’s imaginations and encourage them to visit this thriving destination.”

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