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Top story
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Piccadilly development edges closer
Mayfield Manchester, a joint venture between Panamint and Wrather Group subsidiary Ringset, has completed a deal that gives it more than 90 per cent ownership of the largely derelict 30-acre site adjacent to Manchester's Piccadilly station, running to the rear of the new Manchester Macdonald hotel and down to the Mancunian Way. The company is working with bodies including Manchester City Council towards a comprehensive development framework for the mixed-use regeneration of the site it will call Piccadilly Mayfield, which it hopes to have in place by September 2008. Patrick Franks, group property director of Ringset, said: "Piccadilly Mayfield will enhance the life one of the most important areas of Manchester, building on the strategic importance of the Piccadilly station transport hub."
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Halewood future safe with Tata?
Workers at Halewood's Jaguar and Land Rover plants will be told today that Ford has agreed to sell the marques to Indian conglomerate Tata, which has beaten rivals Mahindra & Mahindra and One Equity in the bidding. Although both parties were refusing to confirm that Tata will pay £1.3bn for the marques, the deal is expected to include a commitment to safeguarding production on Merseyside and in the West Midlands. 
UU on track but takes tax hit
United Utilities (UU) has issued a trading update ahead of its preliminary results, to be announced in June, with chief executive Philip Green reporting that the group is on track to deliver results in line with expectations. UU has also elected to pay a one-off tax charge of £200m following the abolition of industrial buildings allowances. The group also remains ahead of competitors on addressing leakages. Green said: "We are focused on building on the operational and customer service improvements already achieved and remain on course to meet the tougher leakage target set by Ofwat."
K2 founder leaves
Kevan Coleman, one of the founders of Openshaw-based direct mailing business K2 Group, has left the company just two months after the firm was sold to Dscimm Group. It is understood that his daughter Claire and son Michael, who also worked at the company, have also left. Coleman established K2 with Kevin Illingworth in 1989. The company clocked a turnover of £24.7m to 30 April 2007 with a pre-tax loss of £152,000. K2 only made a profit in one of the last four years, making £173,000 before tax in 2005.
Sales slow but Topps remains bullish
Topps Tiles has reported slowing growth in the 26-week period to 29 March, with like-for-like revenue declining by 0.5 per cent compared to a 4.4 per cent increase last year. However, overall revenue growth remains positive and is forecast at £106m, up from £101.8m in 2007. In what it called a "very challenging" retail environment, Topps said total UK annual revenue growth slowed to 4 per cent compared with 11.7 per cent in 2007, while the Dutch operation, which grew by 35 per cent the previous year, slowed to a growth rate of 7 per cent. The UK business is now trading from 309 stores and is almost half way through a plan to add 20 new stores.
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Rich pickings at Cheadle Royal
Scottish Widows continues to sell of parts of its property portfolio. The group's Scottish Widows Investment Partnership has sold two buildings comprising 57,100 sq ft at Cheadle Royal business park to Orchard Street Investment Management, acting for a UK pension fund. Orchard Street has paid £12m for the buildings, which are occupied by sportswear company Umbro and Agilent Technologies.
Villafont shows caring touch
Altrincham housebuilder Villafont is to diversify into the care homes sector. With planning restrictions affecting much of its south Manchester heartland, managing director Chris McGoff feels the company needs to broaden its operations. He said: "We have been quietly amassing premium sites for care home use, with developments planned in Urmston, Timperley, Sale, Crewe, Heswall, Wilmslow, Appleton and Chester." Villafont is prepared to lease buildings to corporate operators or work in joint ventures.
A gap in the market?
The Preston Tithebarn Partnership could have another battle on its hands. The partnership between developers Grosvenor and Lend Lease is behind the £600m-plus retail redevelopment of Preston city centre and has plans to include an improved indoor market, regular farmers' markets and a new-look street market. But representatives of the twice-weekly flea market have reacted angrily to not being included in the proposed plans for Tithebarn, although Preston City Council said it was looking at options to accommodate the various markets.
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My sweet Lord
Facilities management and construction business Kinetics Group has acquired The Lord Group with acquisition finance and working capital from Yorkshire Bank. Rochdale-based Lord Group is a fabric maintenance provider to the Greater Manchester social housing sector. Kinetics, which is in the portfolio of private equity house Sovereign Capital, will now service a broader spread of local authority framework agreements in the North West. The group, which has grown from a £32m-revenue business in 2006 to a company with annual sales in excess of £100m today, employs over 1,200 staff.
Williamson joins Pro-Stretch
Entrepreneur Andrew Williamson has bought into Cheshire-based Pro-Stretch, which supplies trims and edging for sportswear clients including Adidas and Nike. Founder and managing director Christine Mattley has increased her shareholding to 50 per cent following a £1.25m deal that saw the exit of a group of private investors. In the last financial year Pro-Stretch recorded sales of £2.7m and made profits of £1m.
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