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Top story
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Sportech positioned well for 2009
Pools operator Sportech this morning talked of “robust” trading and “increased resilience” in a trading statement to the Stock Exchange. The company, which operates out of Liverpool, has seen “major improvement” in business performance in 2008 thanks to a range of initiatives, including investment in upgrading products and technology, and the rebrand and relaunch of The New Football Pools, formerly the Littlewoods and Vernons Football Pools businesses, in August. There was extra product distribution launched across Ladbrokes betting shops in December and Sportech expects to announce more distribution arrangements this year. “The board consider Sportech’s high-volume, small-value ticket characteristics put it in a strong position to weather the economic downturn, as it has done on many occasions since the business was formed in 1923,” said the statement.
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Deals
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Deal values hit five-year low
The value of private equity deals in the North West dropped to its lowest level since 2003, according to data released today by the Centre for Management Buyout Research (CMBOR), reflecting the overall decline in the private equity market. The value of deals reached just £1.8bn in 2008, compared with £2.6bn in 2007 and £2.3bn in 2006. CMBOR, which is sponsored by Barclays Private Equity, found that the last time the total deal value in the North West was lower than the 2008 figure was in 2003, when it amounted to just £851m. John Walker, director of Barclays Private Equity in Manchester, said: “It is difficult to say where the market in the North West goes from here. Should business sentiment start to return in response to government intervention, then deal flow should increase as we move through the first half of the year.” 
Tall Trees acquired
It’s a busy week for the leisure sector in the deals market, and The Tall Trees Lodge in Warrington has been acquired by husband and wife team Jeff and Marjorie Riley for an undisclosed six-figure sum. The three-star hotel, thought to have been one of the UK’s first budget hotels when it opened in 1992, has 20 bedrooms and is located close to junction 12 of the M56. The deal was part funded by NatWest, while Liverpool-based Mitchell Charlesworth advised.
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Business
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Scaring the birds with JLT
JLT, the mobile computer specialist based in Runcorn, has been selected by airport bird dispersal specialist Scarecrow Bio-Acoustic Systems to supply rugged tablet PCs for its vehicle-based airside wildlife management system used by airport operators worldwide. The Scarecrow’s Ultima bird dispersal system displays a database of bird recognition information including full-screen illustrations to aid species identification on the JLT tablet PC.
New vision for Chester Zoo
Chester Zoo has unveiled an ambitious £225m plan that will see it transformed into the largest conservation, animal and leisure attraction of its kind in Europe. The project, which has been given the working title Natural Vision, includes plans to construct an African rainforest-themed dome, a 90-bed hotel, an education centre and a marina development beside the Shropshire Union Canal. It’s hoped work will be completed by 2018. The project is the culmination of years of planning and design and is being carried out in conjunction with a number of agencies, including the Northwest Regional Development Agency, which has provided funding to enable the project to progress to the planning stage.
Heal takes chair at Paver Smith
David Heal, the man who led the management buyout team that bought Harrison Cowley from Saatchi & Saatchi, has joined Liverpool-based PR firm Paver Smith as chairman. Heal, who spent the past few years working on a number of communications projects following the sale in 2001 of his agency to Huntsworth for £6.4m, says he has “unfinished business” in the PR industry. Heal says his key priority is to help Paver Smith build a network of offices following its acquisition of Manchester agency Stripe Communications. The appointment brings him back together with Stripe managing director Denise Mullen, who was UK director of business development at Harrison Cowley.
Ask the Expert – employment law
Insider’s popular online feature Ask the Expert is expanding to allow you to pose questions on a host of business topics to a panel of experts from the North West’s business community. This week Stuart Jones, head of employment at law firm Weightmans in Liverpool, is standing by to answer your questions on any employment law topic. Email your questions to asktheexpert@newsco.com – please note, all questions will be treated in the strictest confidence. Check back on Monday for Stuart’s answers.
Insider needs your recommendations
There’s nothing worse than working away from home and not knowing where to get a good meal or decent bed for the night. We realise that our readers are a hard-working bunch who often have to travel up and down the country on business trips, so we’re putting together a Business Travel Guide that will take a look at the main UK business destinations and outline in a nutshell the best places to eat, sleep, entertain clients and do business. Our readers’ recommendations will form the backbone of this guide, so if you know a good hotel, restaurant, business facility provider, bar or café, we would like you to tell us about it. Click here to give your recommendations, which may be included in the final guide.
CBG joins DLIB
Insurance brokerage CBG Group has become the latest company to sign up as corporate sponsor of private sector lobby group Downtown Liverpool in Business. The company, which has recently expanded into new offices at Rumford Place, is looking to raise its profile in the city.
New sales manager at Radisson
Amy Rowland has joined Liverpool’s SAS Radisson hotel as sales manager. Born in the Wirral, Rowland has worked in some of the most prestigious destinations around the world. She spent a year at the Hilton Ocean Front Resort, off the Southern Carolina coast, and as sales and events coordinator in Stratford-upon-Avon at Alveston Manor.
Qire launches flood warning system
Voice messaging and data services company Qire, based in Liverpool, has launched an emergency voice communications service that will give households advanced warning of severe weather or flooding. The solution calls and communicates with households in affected areas, providing early warning, emergency advice and information on actions that can be taken to minimise damage. The voice CRM service can also be used by utilities companies to advise customers of planned or emergency maintenance work, and of any potential disruption to services.
Which way now for transport?
Major changes to the way local authorities deliver sustainable transport systems in the future were the subject of a breakfast briefing in Liverpool today. Merseyside Transport Partnership held a business event at the Empire entitled Economic Growth and Environmental Quality…Can Merseyside Succeed?, at which Charlotte Dixon, the Department for Transport’s head of regional and local strategy, outlined the opportunities for Merseyside to address links between transport and economic competitiveness and productivity, and how transport development will help tackle climate change.
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Property
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Neptune to go for planning
Liverpool-based Neptune Developments, buoyed by the completion of its deal with Merseytravel at Mann Island, will this week go for full planning permission at its New Brighton scheme. The developer, which had its original plans thrown out by then Secretary of State Ruth Kelly in 2006, has scaled down the scheme and already has outline consent for a scheme, including Morrisons as the supermarket anchor tenant. Neptune also has agreements with hotel and cinema operators.
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