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Top story
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Lime Street funding pot approved
The long-awaited Lime Street Gateway project is set to receive just over £2.4m from the Northwest European Regional Development Fund 2007-13, one of the first Merseyside investments from the fund to be approved. The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) is also providing a separate investment of £3m, of which just over £2m will be allocated for public realm improvements around the station with £906,000 going towards the Highways Scheme, involving the demolition of Concourse House and the row of shops that cover the main entrance to the station. The project, which has been in the pipeline for some years, involves six public sector partners, English Partnerships, Liverpool Vision, Liverpool City Council, Network Rail, Merseytravel and the Railway Heritage Trust. NWDA chief executive Steven Broomhead said: “Through creating a more attractive environment for passengers, as well as improving accessibility and enhancing surrounding areas, this project will help to further boost the city’s appeal as a visitor and investment destination.”
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Today's news
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Small business help must reach the right people
Businesses and professionals in Liverpool were this morning cautiously welcoming yesterday’s announcement by Chancellor Alistair Darling that funding of up to £4bn from the European Investment Bank (EIB) will be made available to small and medium-sized firms through high street banks. Lisa Newton, director at new Birkenhead training company Intellect Training Enterprise, welcomed the news and said: “Small businesses are vital and it should be recognised that this support is in the best interests of the economy. Given the government’s recent financial input to sustain the failings of some banking establishments, it should be a prerequisite that they comply with the EIB incentive.” But Carl Cross, investment director at Rensburg Sheppards in Liverpool, warned: “It is critical that this new funding stream reaches the businesses who require it in these difficult times. The credit crunch, freezing of wholesale money markets and difficulties in which the banks find themselves are placing great pressures on businesses already feeling the strain from the downturn." 
Bibby launches entrepreneur challenge
Liverpool-headquartered cashflow specialist Bibby Financial Services has launched the Livebusiness growth challenge, designed to bring to life the experiences of three entrepreneurs through the highs and lows of running their own business as they compete to be mentored by a team of business experts. The challenge is part of Bibby’s new Livebusiness programme, a series of initiatives designed to support and inspire the UK small business community. The challenge will be broadcast online through blogs and video diaries and visitors to the site will also have free access to a wealth of business information and research. The entrepreneurs will also be vying to win a one-to-one consultation with former Dragons’ Den member Rachel Elnaugh, to be broadcast on the Livebusiness site in February 2009.
Customer dispute nears resolution
Landround, the Chester-based reward programmes and promotions group, released interim results this morning that showed revenues for the six months to the end of July were down to £2.4m from £3.2m for the same period last year. Earlier this month, the company said it was considering selling off “some or all” of its businesses as it expects revenues and results for the second half of the year to be “significantly affected” by an ongoing dispute with one of its Buy & Fly customers. Landround said today that it is now nearer to a resolution with this customer and that some income will accrue to the group from a settlement of this dispute. But losses are still expected in the second half.
Boxing clever
Liverpool is set to stage the European Senior Boxing Championships 2008 between 6 and 15 November, the first major tournament following the Beijing Olympics. More than 240 boxers, including half a dozen Olympic medallists and champions, as well as numerous London 2012 hopefuls, will be going for glory at the Echo Arena in the Capital of Culture next month. Sheldon Phillips, head of regional major events at the Northwest Regional Development Agency, said: “For Liverpool to host the first championships to be held in the UK is a fantastic coup and it will be a thrilling event for the city. Such a major sporting event also raises the profile of Liverpool and the North West at an international level and will make a significant contribution to the regional economy.”
Figures up at AstraZeneca
Drugs giant AstraZeneca, whose UK headquarters is in Cheshire, has reported third-quarter sales up by 3 per cent in constant exchange rate terms – or 9 per cent in real terms - as it beat expectations to record a pre-tax profit that rose 22 per cent to $2.4bn. David Brennan, chief executive, said: “AstraZeneca has delivered a robust set of results that deliver on our performance commitments despite a challenging environment. We continue to make good progress on reshaping our cost base.”
Statistics confirm failure fears
Business failures in the North West increased by 33.7 per cent in the first nine months of the year with a total of 2,270 failures, according to the latest figures from information services company Experian. There were 800 failures recorded in the region in the third quarter, the highest number of insolvencies recorded outside London and the South East. All 14 regions monitored by Experian saw an increase in insolvencies in the first nine months of 2008 compared with 2007.
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Something for the weekend
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Deal of the week
Because we’re feeling festive already and because Alliance Fund Managers (AFM) is showing that aspiring businesses can still secure funding from the right sources, this week’s top deal has to be Wavertree-based Christmas Decorators, which raised a funding package of £50,000, including a £25,000 loan from AFM through the MSIF Small Firms Fund, support from HSBC and directors’ own investment to support its expansion plans. The company was set up four years ago by Liverpool-born director Sarah Bolton and has been approached to franchise the business in the US and Italy.
In the blue corner
Warren Bradley, who as leader of Liverpool City Council has turned bouncebackability into an art form, never ceases to surprise. Tucked down there in the press release about the upcoming boxing championships at Liverpool’s Echo Arena, was the nugget that Bradley’s great-grandfather Ike was the first Liverpudlian to fight for a world title in the city. To be fair, if your name’s Ike, boxing’s got to be the way forward.
Something for the weekend, sir?
There are plenty of screenings of the new James Bond flick, The Quantum of Solace, this weekend. Begbies Traynor and Baker Tilly are both hosting events. Insider was lucky enough to be among the “galaxy of stars” at the North West premier in Chester last night. Footballers and soap stars were present (obviously), but we only spotted Chester businessman Tim Craig (what was he doing there?), Damian Waters from the CBI and that Scouse comedian who used to be Ron Dixon in Brookside.
Time to cut the icing off the cake?
Be honest – if you’re making cutbacks, what’s likely to have a red pen run through it – that’s right, the corporate social responsibility budget. To persuade you not to do that, Business in the Community has done a survey claiming that FTSE companies that actively managed and measured corporate responsibility issues outperformed the FTSE 350 on total shareholder return by between 3.3 per cent and 7.7 per cent throughout the period 2002 to 2007.
Register for Insider's Green Crunch breakfast
While the threat of recession offers some businesses an excuse to let green policies and plans slip, adopting better environmental practices can often make a major difference to your bottom line. Insider is organising a breakfast event on sustainability and the recession on 28 November at 7.30am, at The Ramada Jarvis Piccadilly. An expert panel will discuss their experiences of environmental policy and the impact this can have on saving the planet and on saving money: Chris Shearlock, environmental manager at The Co-operative Group; Tony Dean, regional director at The Environment Agency; and David Hall, senior sector development manager for energy (North West) at Envirolink. Places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. For further information on the event, please contact our events team on 0161 907 9707 or email helen.rangeley@newsco.com.
You do the math
Let’s hear it for tax and accountancy information provider CCH, which commissioned research published earlier this week in an attempt to shatter a few myths. The research indicated that 47 per cent of Liverpool’s accountants think of their profession as dynamic, exuberating lots of ideas, energy and enthusiasm. Doesn’t that mean more than half believe themselves to be lacking in ideas, energy and enthusiasm?
D’yer wanna be a spaceman?
Insider’s never had cause to visit Spaceport, but judging from the stream of press releases pumped out by operator Merseytravel, it all looks corking fun. This weekend sees Daleks and scarecrows descend on the Seacombe visitor attraction. Ken Moss, Spaceport manager, said: “We are expecting more monsters than we’ve ever had.” More than the property agents on the Peel Holdings boat trip in September? Surely not!
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