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While the national headlines were shouting about Barclays being the latest major bank to call on investors in a rights issue, financiers in Liverpool were last night celebrating the opening of a new office for Barclays Commercial and the launch of the first base in the city for Barclays Wealth at 20 Chapel Street. Rikki Griffiths, area corporate director for Barclays Commercial Bank, told Insider that he is actively recruiting to bring his team to 50 by the end of the year to serve larger companies. "We have a 25 per cent market share in Merseyside and are clearly looking to take it further, because the market place around Liverpool presents a lot of opportunities for growth," he said. Mark Esner, area director of Barclays Wealth, said: "We took the decision to co-locate with our commercial colleagues - the first time Barclays has done this - particularly because of the growth in the entrepreneurial market in Liverpool." 
Enterprise to expand in Liverpool Enterprise, the Leyland-based support services company that has been a joint venture partner with Liverpool City Council since 2002, has unveiled plans for a new office and training space on the Estuary Business Park in Speke. The 200,000 sq ft site will allow the creation of 1,500 jobs at a new office and training centre linked to the council's proposed Business Academy in Garston. A planning application is due to be submitted in the next few months and Enterprise hopes to open the complex by 2011. Enterprise is also due to start handling the city's refuse contract from November 2008. To find out more about Enterprise, read an exclusive interview with chairman and chief executive Owen McLaughlin in the June issue of Insider.
Still in the money Moneysupermarket.com, the North Wales-based price comparison site, continues to dominate its sector, despite challenging conditions in the loans and mortgages markets. Over the six months to the end of June, group revenues will be up 25 per cent, with strong growth in credit cards, savings, insurance, travel and home services. Chief executive Simon Nixon attributes this success to the strength of the company's diversified strategy in the face of troubled debt markets.
Award win for law firm Cains Isle of Man-based commercial law firm Cains has been named Offshore Law Firm of the Year at the The Lawyer Awards 2008 for its work with Indian companies coming to the London market via the Isle of Man. In 2007 Cains was listed by Hemscott as the firm with the most clients in the AIM 100, including 75 per cent of Indian AIM-admitted businesses worth a combined £3.8bn. Managing director Andrew Corlett said the firm views emerging markets, such as India, as key to the future of the global economy. It is set to open an office in Singapore later in the year.
Waste not, want not A £13m pilot waste treatment and recycling plant designed to divert significant volumes of household waste from landfill has opened in Knowsley. The facility is the first of its kind in the UK and uses a process that converts household and commercial waste into refined renewable biomass fuel products and recovered mixed recyclable materials. It has been developed by Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority in partnership with engineering company Orchid Environmental, the Northwest Regional Development Agency, Envirolink Northwest and Defra. A similar £40m energy from waste plant has also been proposed for Knowsley, which renewable developer Energos said will generate enough electricity for more than 10,000 homes.
New energy innovation centre opens in Chester Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks yesterday opened EA Technology's Energy Innovation Centre at Capenhurst, near Chester. The facility is designed to enable start-up companies and individuals to turn innovative ideas into commercially successful products and services for the energy industry. It's hoped that the project will create at least 60 new jobs and 18 new business start-ups over the next five years. Wicks said: "Britain is a nation of innovators as well as entrepreneurs, but we often fail to bring the two together. The Energy Innovation Centre is an excellent opportunity to target investment on good ideas, which will generate a stream of valuable new technologies." The energy sector contributes £5bn to the North West's economy and employs 50,000 in the region.
Merseyside-based Spencer Holdings has completed the refurbishment of its Nexus scheme at Knowsley Industrial and Business Park, close to junction 4 of the M57. The development has a total of 188,547 sq ft of space with a combination of manufacturing, high-bay warehousing and office accommodation available. So far this year, the company has bucked the national trend and embarked on an ambitious acquisition trail after securing £200m in debt funding from Bank of Scotland Real Estate. Acquisitions include the Spring Meadow Trading Estate in Cardiff and Olympic Park in Ellesmere Port.
AIM-listed Ultimate Finance Group is to expand its business into the international factoring market. The Manchester-based company, which provides factoring and general financial services to small and medium-sized UK businesses, said it was taking a "fresh approach" to the company's direction and will be "implementing a range of new initiatives". It has already become a member of Factors Chain International, a global network aimed at facilitating international trade through factoring and related financial services.
Gardner cultivates company takeover Accrington-based Image Chemical Products, which manufactures and distributes more than 60 car cleaning and valeting products, has undergone a management buyout backed by a £750,000 funding package from NatWest and RBS Invoice Finance. The deal sees Mike Gardner take full control of the business he co-founded in 1985 with director Terry Butterfield, who will now retire. Image sells its products via a network of 25 distributors that then sell on to garages, fleet owners, transport and car hire companies. It operates from a 6,000 sq ft unit on Altham Business Park and employs 14 people.
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