Cheshire property developer Eatonfield has raised £300,000 through a share placing that should provide it with enough working capital until mid-September. Half of the 30,000,000 new ordinary shares have been placed with Jason Lloyd, the son of Eatonfield’s founder Rob Lloyd. Finance director Duncan Syers has taken 800,000 shares. In a statement to the Stock Exchange, the AIM-listed company said it is continuing to seek further funding and is confident that additional funding will be made available to the group.

Chemicals company Ineos Group, which owns the Ineos Chlor plant in Runcorn, has posted lower revenues and widening losses for the 12 months to 31 December. Revenues fell to €18bn from €29bn previously, while losses for the year increased from €572.6m to €615.1m. Since the year end, the group has disposed of its Runcorn-based Ineos Fluor business to Mexichem Fluor and proposed to amend its €6.8bn debt to allow a €1bn loan and bond refinancing. It has also moved its headquarters to Switzerland to save £100m a year in tax.

Liverpool PR agency Paver Smith has appointed Helen Strother as the new director of its Manchester office. She replaces Denise Mullen who will move into a consultancy role having completed her earn-out and the integration of Stripe Communications, which Paver Smith acquired in 2008. Strother has been with Paver Smith since the company’s inception in 2006.

Southport Seafoods, based in Birkdale, was among the winners at the Food Northwest Awards last night. The family-run business was named Fine Food Producer of the Year for its potted shrimps in butter dish. Other winners included United Biscuits, whose Jacob’s site is based in Liverpool. The company, which employs 2,500 people, won the award for social responsibility. Scoop! Ice Cream in Warrington also took home the Best New Northwest Speciality Product award.

St Helens web broadcasting company Zut Media has signed a strategic partnership agreement with London web streaming business Stream UK. Zut will now use the business for all its live web broadcasts in the UK. Zut director Chris Holmes said: “We really want to produce live and interactive web broadcasts that really help organisations connect and engage online. The benefits of live web broadcasting are many but it’s great for events, training and entertainment.”

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High street bakery chain Greggs is to open another 20 stores across the North West as part of its drive to open 90 stores across the UK during the year. Property agent Mason Owen has been instructed to acquire the premises as part of the expansion plans. So far the company has acquired shops in Mold, Southport, Glossop, Llandudno, Manchester, St Annes and Altrincham, with terms agreed on a further five properties. It is also in negotiations on a further ten properties.

This week’s highlight came, not surprisingly, at the Food Northwest Awards, with a micro-cooked breakfast stealing the show – a circle of white toast topped with black pudding, egg and bacon flakes. Pastries were on the go at the launch of the Morgan Foundation Entrepreneur Awards, while Birkenhead’s own Pickled Walnut sparkled as ING launched office space in Manchester’s Royal Mill, providing oak smoked bacon and Cumberland sausage butties with home-made relish.