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.

K3 Business Technology Group, which supplies Microsoft-based Enterprise Resource Planning software, has followed up its acquisition of Pebblestone Netherlands with the purchase of other assets from the Pebblestone Group. The Manchester-based company has agreed to pay a maximum consideration of €1.25m for the intellectual property, international sales channel and customers from the group, together known as Pebblestone IP. For the year to 31 December, Pebblestone IP generated revenues of £740,000 and a profit before tax of £185,000. Click here for Insider comment.

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.”

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.

Apico, the Burnley motorcycle parts company, is to open a new sister company that supplies clothing after securing funding from Yorkshire Bank. According to its founder, the three-times World Trials champion Yrjo Vesterinen, the business will “capitalise on new growth opportunities” after originally shelving plans during the recession. Apico employs 16 people and is based in a 22,500 sq ft warehouse at Network 65 Business Park.

Four Seasons, the care home operator based in Wilmslow, has written to noteholders proposing an extension of the maturity date of a £600m securitisation, two series of bonds issued as part of an earlier refinancing, that expires on 3 September 2010. Last year the company agreed a debt for equity swap with its lenders, reducing debt from approximately £1.8bn to £790m. The letter to creditors follows a meeting in April and the business requires the support of 75 per cent of noteholders to extend the loan.

Sales are up 50 per cent at Chorley-based Cavendish Upholstery, its parent company announced today. In a statement to the Stock Exchange, Airsprung Group said Cavendish has had a difficult three years, with several of its traditional customers ceasing trading, but its prospects now look brighter after a change of strategy. The company now supplies a major multiple retail group and has entered into two low-cost partnerships to increase its breadth of offering. The move has helped Gainsborough-based Airsprung to increase sales by 9 per cent to £46.5m.

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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Oldham Council has appointed Balfour Beatty as preferred bidder for its £175m Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. The BSF programme involves the delivery of new buildings and upgrades to eight of the borough's schools, a pupil referral unit and the construction of a new school in Chadderton. The initial phase of construction will start in January and all work is expected to be completed by 2015. Balfour Beatty will invest £3.2m into the delivery of the first sample school, Oldham Roman Catholic School.

Glendawn Seafoods has submitted a planning application to build a new fish processing plant in Maryport that could create 50 jobs in the Cumbrian town. If approved by Allerdale Council, the factory would be built opposite the company’s current plant at Solway Food Park. In a submission to the council Glendawn said: “The project will create some 50 new jobs in the locality and will primarily be a salmon processing plant.”

Royal London has secured two retail lettings in Manchester. Whitewall Galleries has taken a new ten-year lease at 2 King Street for £75,000 per year, while Fraser Hart has agreed a new ten-year lease at its premises on St Ann Street for £145,000 per year. Jonathan Thompson, partner of Tushingham Moore, which represented Royal London, said: “These two high profile lettings reflect the improvement of the prime retail market since the beginning of the year.” CWM represented Whitewall and Smith Price acted for Fraser Hart.