Lancashire housebuilder McDermott Developments has said it is well placed to take advantage of land and property opportunities after reducing its headcount and cost base in the last financial year. The company, which is headquartered in Altham, reported a pre-tax loss of £3m for the year to 30 June, compared with a loss of £1.6m for the 18 months to 30 June 2008. Sales fell dramatically from £38.2m to £3.3m for the same reporting periods. The business said it was forced to take “decisive actions” to see out the recession, including reducing its number of employees from 56 to 21.

MTI Partners, the Manchester-based high-tech investment specialist, has invested £650,000 from its UMIP Premier Fund as part of a £1.15m package for Swindon telecoms business PowerOasis. MTI primarily invests in University of Manchester spin-outs, but this is its second investment in non-Manchester businesses. PowerOasis provides products to lower power consumption at telecoms base stations. MTI recently exited investment ApaTech with a $330m trade sale to healthcare business Baxter.

Communication agency McCann Erickson Manchester has launched a £65m European advertising campaign for InterContinental Hotel Group. The Stay You campaign forms part of a £650m relaunch of the Holiday Inn brand. It aims to communicate how hotel guests can relax while staying at one of the hotel’s 3,300 worldwide. The multi-media campaign will also feature TV, press and online ads in the US and Germany and will launch in the UK on 3 May. Andy Cosslett, chief executive of InterContinental Hotels Group, said: “Stay You is the biggest advertising campaign in the 58-year history of Holiday Inn.”

Manchester online marketing agency PushON has been appointed by law firm Hill Dickinson to help improve its online presence. The agency will focus on key practice areas of employment and pensions divisions, as well as conducting training sessions with its senior team. The two businesses have already worked together on a number of other projects. Rae Brooke, head of business development and marketing at Hill Dickinson, said the firm was looking to maximise online presence while managing its reputation more effectively.

Manchester has been named one of the world’s top ten cities for hosting international sports events. The results of the SportBusiness Ultimate Sports City award were announced earlier this week at the SportAccord Convention in Dubai, ranking Manchester at number seven in the world. The results came after research was conducted across 150 cities and 2,000 events. Manchester also won two accolades at the ceremony, including an award for cities with a population of less than one million people, and an award for the legacy the Commonwealth Games in 2002 created.

Transport secretary Lord Adonis told Greater Mancheter Chamber dinner guests last night that the proposed High Speed Rail link between London and Manchester could "treble capacity, cut journey times and redraw the map of Britain". And "think of London as a suburb of Manchester", he joked. The Labour peer, who has dismissed suggestions he could remain in post in a Conservative-Liberal Democrat administration, said the rail project could be accomplished with "the same vision and will that has transformed Manchester".