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Top story
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Online growth brings jobs cuts at Shop Direct
Liverpool home shopping giant Shop Direct Group has announced proposals to close its Crosby call centre and make changes at other group sites, which is expected to result in 1,150 jobs being cut. Chief executive Mark Newton Jones said he hoped to relocate 250 people. “Our business is changing because the way our customers choose to shop with us is changing,” he said. “We anticipate that 70 per cent of our sales will be online by 2010/11 and, therefore, the future of our business is online-led. To maintain this growth, we need to continue to adapt to the needs of our customers.” In its January trading update the group announced sales up 9 per cent for the six-week period, with online sales growth of 44 per cent. Its online business now accounts for 56 per cent of total sales, up from 18 per cent three years ago.
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Deals
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Nippon refinances debt slice
The Japanese owner of glass manufacturer Pilkington has restructured some of the debt used to buy the St Helens-based company. Nippon Sheet Glass has agreed a £300m facility with Sumitomo Mitsui as lead arranger, which will be used to refinance part of the £1.8bn revolving facility used to support the acquisition in February 2006. Other banks involved include the Development Bank of Japan, Mizuho Corporate Bank, The Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co, The Norinchukin Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corporation and The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ. Nippon Sheet Glass operates in the UK through NSG Enterprises, which owns Pilkington. You can read Insider’s latest interview with NSG chief executive Stuart Chambers here.
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Business
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Growth at medical group
Liverpool medical product manufacturer Richardsons Healthcare is reporting a 30 per cent increase in turnover for 2008 to £1.5m. The company manufactures specialist support systems for most of Europe’s leading medical bed and operating table manufactures. Managing director Michael Gould said: “Despite a rapid increase in raw material costs this has been more than compensated for by the company’s sales into eurozone countries and the rise in the value of the euro against sterling” The company employs 18 staff in its factory in Bootle. 
Wine and dine
Food and drink umbrella organisation Food Northwest is next month publishing the NW Food Lover’s Guide, a 260-page guide to some of the finest speciality foods in the country. The region is home to some of the country’s most famous foods from cheeses, cakes and chutneys to real ales, sausages and ice creams. The book provides a detailed guide to producers and outlets, giving full contact and availability details.
Shanghai team visits Liverpool
Organisers of the Shanghai World Expo 2010 are visiting Liverpool tomorrow to witness the scale of the city’s regeneration. The team has broken into its visit of London where it has been discussing the Shanghai World Expo and celebrating the Chinese New Year. In the party is Professor Wu Zhiqiang, chief planner of the Expo site, and Professor Tang Zilai, chief planner of the Urban Best Practices Area at the exhibition, who will be outlining the opportunities next year’s world exhibition presents to Liverpool, as well as detailing the progress of preparations.
Exports hike for EA
Chester-based electrical engineering business EA Technology has boosted its export trade by £36,000 in nine months following a move to sell into Europe for the first time. European business development manager Stephen Holmes said: “It was an obvious gap. We had secured these good markets in far-flung places but had somehow missed the one on our doorstep; we were selling next to nothing there.” EA Technology approached UKTI to help find potential distributors in Denmark in September 2007 and a deal was struck with Desitek in April last year.
Mandelson to headline Cumbria summit
Secretary of state for business, enterprise and regulatory reform Lord Mandelson is to be the keynote speaker at the Cumbria Economic Summit 2009. He will address 250 delegates from the public and private sectors at Sellafield Visitors Centre on 20 February. The event is being staged by Cumbria Vision and the Northwest Regional Development Agency to showcase progress over the past 12 months and highlight future plans to transform Cumbria into one of the fastest-growing economies in the UK.
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Property
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KEIOC proposes corporate seats
Campaign group Keep Everton in our City has declared that the club could part-fund a new stadium within Liverpool through the forward sale of seats to the corporate sector. Spokesman Colin Fitzpatrick yesterday told the planning inquiry into the Destination Kirkby project that Equity Seat Right, a financial product marketed by Morgan Stanley subsidiary Stadium Financing Capital (SFC), could raise up to £110m, although SFC has not commented specifically on Everton’s situation. Patrick Clarkson, QC for Everton and Tesco, offered no cross-examination. The inquiry continues.
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