There are some tough questions the team at Hill Dickinson will be asking as they wait to do a deal to buy assets of rival firms Halliwells. Michael Taylor's Deals in Focus blog looks at the options for the firm. He says: "While much of the attention on the current shake up in the local legal world has focused on the rise and fall and further fall of Halliwells, less has been said about the aspirations of Hill Dickinson, still the most likely beneficiary." Click here to read more.

Electricity North West, based in Warrington, has bought United Utilities Electricity Services (UUES). UUES was contracted to operate and maintain the network on behalf of Electricity North West, with the deal bringing this function back under the remit of Electricity North West. Steve Johnson, chief executive of Electricity North West, said the move will improve efficiency and reduce costs. This is yet another United Utilities non-core operations sell-off, after the company disposed of various global subsidiaries earlier this year. For Insider comment click here.

Momentum in the UK buyout market has slowed in the second quarter of the year after a strong start to the year driven by a surge in large secondary buyouts, according to the Centre for Management Buyout Research (CMBOR). Retail buyouts dominated deal value, including KKR’s acquisition of Pets at Home in March. Steve O’Hare, director at Barclays Private Equity in the North, said: “With volatility in global equities, a looming general election and uncertainty around future capital gains tax, it is not surprising that the momentum in UK buyouts has flagged.”

Tata Motors, the parent company of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), has announced plans to raise £673m to reduce debt and expand the group. The company will issue a mix of shares, bonds and other instruments to raise the money. Earlier this year JLR secured a £340m loan from the European Investment Bank to fund research into low-carbon technology. In 2009, Tata secured more than £500m of funding from State Bank of India and five other banks in an effort to secure JLR’s balance sheet.

Liverpool industrial lubricant manufacture RS Clare & Co has posted solid profits despite a slight dip in turnover for the year to 31 December 2009. The company reported a turnover of £17.5m, down from £18.2m in 2008, but pre-tax profit was £1.73m, down only slightly from £1.76m a year earlier. The company also significantly cut the amount due to creditors within the year, down from £2.5m to £1.2m in the period.

Chester-based TEP Exchange, a web-based exchange for traded endowment policies, has temporarily been suspended from trading on AIM after failing to file its accounts on time. In a statement to the Stock Exchange, the business said it was in the process of finalising its audited accounts and they would be posted “as soon as possible”. The company reported a loss of £198,310 for 2008 and £76,000 for the six months to June 2009.

Assura Group, which specialises in property investment in the healthcare sector, has posted a strong increase in full-year revenues and profits after a year of “refocusing and streamlining” the business. The company, based in Warrington, reported a pre-tax profit of £4.4m for the year to 31 March, up from the massive £99.7m loss a year earlier. Turnover increased 17 per cent to £55.7m during the period. Chief executive Nigel Rawlings said the company was now “a more focused, leaner and profitable business”.

The Manufacturing Advisory Service NW has hailed the strong performance of the region’s manufacturers for the three months to the end of May despite a declining volume of exports. Exports were down 5.6 per cent to £5.5bn compared with the previous year, while imports fell 3.3 per cent to £5.7bn. The latest 12-month figures on employment also showed that the North West had the smallest percentage of manufacturing job losses in the UK between December 2008 and December 2009.

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Begbies Traynor has appointed CBRE to sell the freehold of the 19,650 sq ft Lyceum building in Liverpool. The property was bought by Harbour View Estates for £7.8m in 2006, but the company has since entered administration. The property has been split into three retail units, a lower ground floor unit fronting onto Waterloo Place and two ground-floor units fronting onto Bold Street. Its only occupant is the Co-operative Bank.