The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) has confirmed that it will be forced to cut some projects it has already committed funding to after having £52m wiped off its budget for the 2010/11 financial year. The budget cuts are part of a £270m reduction across England’s nine regional development agencies (RDAs). The figure represents 18 per cent of the NWDA’s total budget of £292m. According to reports today, Business Link will also be closed when the RDAs are wound down.

Ryanair is to cut capacity this winter by 16 per cent, including flights from Liverpool John Lennon Airport (JLA). In real terms, Ryanair will be transporting two million fewer passengers this winter against last year’s number. Chief executive Michael O’Leary said: “Today’s cutbacks underline the urgent need to break up the high-cost BAA airport monopoly (as recommended by the Competition Commission) and scrap the damaging £11 tourist tax which has caused UK traffic to collapse over the past two years.”

Warrington web company Airangel, which specialises in branded wired and wireless guest internet access for the hospitality and conferencing industries, has announced that sales have doubled to £1.4m for the year to 30 April. The increase follows a number of client wins including Hampton by Hilton, Principal Haley and Holiday Inn Express. The business has now appointed former sales director Dean Wilkinson as its new managing director after he helped to drive the growth. Airangel’s annual accounts for the past financial year have yet to be submitted to Companies House.

Kirkby-based Warmer Heating, which installs bespoke central heating and renewable systems, has been named Best Environmentally Friendly Company at the annual GAIN Association awards. The company was praised for its work with local authorities and charities to help tenants and homeowners cut fuel bills. It’s the second award the company has won this year after it scooped a National Energy Action Footprint Award in April.

Dobbies Garden World, the Scotland-headquartered garden centre operator, has appointed IPB Communications to provide public consultation and PR advice for its proposed £8m garden centre in Liverpool. Dobbies has already acquired the 8.78-acre site on Speke Boulevard from Peel. IPB managing director Stewart Pimbley said: “The excellent track record of our IPB Consult team in other planning projects means we are ideally place to take on such a high-profile project.”

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Royal Mail has taken 22,800 sq ft of industrial space at Brunswick Business Park in Liverpool to assist in its sorting and distribution facilities. It will be based in the South Harrington Building, formerly a Victorian dock warehouse that was restored by the Merseyside Development Corporation in the 1980s. The development, which comprises warehouse/light industrial units and office space, is owned by Commercial Estates Group. Hitchcock Wright & Partners and Matthews & Goodman are agents on the scheme.

Liverpool City Council has begun consultations on the strategic regeneration framework (SRF) for the South Liverpool International Gateway, which comprises Speke, Garston and Hunts Cross. The aim of the SRF is to ensure the coordinated delivery of quality new development by providing strategic planning, development and design guidance. The council, along with Liverpool Vision and the Northwest Regional Development Agency, has appointed BDP, King Sturge, Inner City Solutions and Martin Stockley Associates to produce the framework.

In the latest instalment of Insider’s weekly Tague on Tour blog, Neil Tague reviews the publication of a new book, Rebuilding Manchester, which looks back over 14 years of restoration in the city following the IRA bombings in 1996. But does Euan Kellie’s documentation paint a true picture of Manchester’s regeneration? Click here to find out.