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Woolworths' collapse brings down Miller Brothers
Electrical goods retailer Miller Brothers, based in Doncaster, has gone into administration. The group, which includes Miller Brothers Retail, Miller Stores (Doncaster) and Miller Property (Doncaster), employs 110 staff and also operates e-retail electrical goods services on behalf of other retailers. Unless a buyer for the business is found, the store will continue to trade throughout January but will close by the end of the month. Corporate recovery partners Ian Schofield and Charles Escott at PKF in Leeds have been appointed joint administrators. Schofield said the company was hit by the current economic climate, affecting its own retail business and other retailers it supplied. “Following the failure of Woolworths, which was a key customer for the company, the directors undertook a review of the group’s financial position and the prospects for the sector and concluded that the group could not continue to operate.”
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Plumbing manufacturers merge
Tap and fittings manufacturers Pegler and Yorkshire Fittings have completed their merger to become Pegler Yorkshire Group. The two companies have worked together on a commercial basis in the past 12 months to deliver their products to market and develop new lines. The main management board remains unchanged and comprises Mike Saunders, Bryan Liddle, Martin Dowling, Roger Ablett and Ian Howarth. 
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Banks’ empty promises don’t see the light of day
The banks’ promises of business as usual is not filtering down to ground level, Eric Pickles, Conservative MP and shadow secretary of state for communities and local government, told a forum of local business people in Leeds yesterday. At the event, held at Asda House, Pickles said: “Higher up in the banks people are willing to adhere to what you say. But what banks are saying to politicians is not happening on the ground, which is an issue about confidence.” Pickles said the government needed to ease the cash flow pressures on small businesses by cutting the tax burden and making it simpler for them to tender for public sector contracts.
Mega social win for FHM
Social housing specialist Frank Haslam Milan has won a multimillion-pound contract to deliver improvement schemes across Norfolk, Suffolk and North Essex. The company, based in Doncaster, has been named as a key partner in the delivery of a £90m programme of improvements to nearly 31,000 homes owned by eight housing associations. The contract is worth £2.2m this year and could result in more than £11m of improvements being delivered over a four to six-year period.
IT boost for Stokes
Sheffield paint manufacturer Stokes has installed a bespoke software package allowing it to manufacture computer-controlled mixes. The Integrated Paint Manufacturing System (IPMS), which has been designed by Richlyn Systems, enables paint to be mixed to any specification and in any quantity. It also prints labels and product information for every batch produced. “IPMS has been a significant step forward, making it easier for us to produce paint to the most exacting specifications,” said director James Stokes.
New d3 division for Doncaster
Communications agency d3 Agency, based in Nottingham, has opened a public relations and marketing division in Doncaster. Helen Dillon-Pearson will head the PR and marketing division of the agency, which has previously created designs for brands including Nokia, Coca-Cola and Guinness.
Race Cottam off the blocks in Bradford
Sheffield architecture practice Race Cottam Associates has been appointed by EduCo, a joint venture between contractor Costain and multinational conglomerate Ferrovial Agroman, to deliver four schools in Bradford as part of the government’s £20bn Building Schools for the Future programme. Race Cottam’s contract includes three special educational needs schools and a primary school. Work on the schools, called Delius, Chellow Heights and Phoenix & Guard House, a combined special needs and primary school, is under way.
Ask the expert
Insider’s new online feature, Ask the Expert, aims to answer all your questions about international trade with a question and answer session run with the help of an expert. This month we turn our attention to the East and are inviting you to submit questions about setting up business, establishing joint ventures and trading with China, to asktheexpert@newsco.com. Your questions will be answered by Giles Searby of law firm Halliwells, who is on the steering group for Sheffield's China Business Network. By mid-January we will have his answers on the international trade section of our website, which you can visit here. You can still view Jim Hart’s answers to last month's questions on trading with Europe here.
Insider names Yorkshire’s young talent
It’s that time of year again when Insider rounds up another class of 42 entrepreneurs under the age of 42 for our popular annual feature. We’ve had the region’s business community under surveillance again and have been keeping our eyes open for the 42 people who will enter the hall of fame this year. For three months, starting with the February issue, Insider will reveal 14 people from the list each month, ahead of the 42 Under 42 dinner in May. If you would like to nominate someone email rupert.cornford@newsco.com with a summary of their achievements.
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Retailers to lean on landlords
With 2.5 million sq ft of new UK shopping centre space opening in 2009 landlords may need to offer more breathing space to struggling retailers, according to research by property consultancy King Sturge. Retail rents fell 0.4 per cent in 2008, the first fall since 1993, and are not expected to return to growth until 2013. Jonathan Newns, retail partner for the north, told Insider: “Retailers are definitely in a more powerful position and developers are having to be more flexible. Retailers that can are changing to monthly payments rather than quarterly. Retailers are canny and the industry is being asked to take risk away.”
Vanguard changes hands
Vanguard Trading Estate in Chesterfield has been sold to Millington Estates for £2.5m, reflecting an initial yield of 8.5 per cent for previous owner Henry Boot Developments, based in Sheffield. The three-acre trading estate, which has been developed in three phases from 1983, comprises 27 units totalling 41,934 sq ft plus an extra unit nearby used for storage by Wolseley UK. It generates an income of £217,100 a year.
Two for joy at Manvers
Anglo-Dutch developer TCN UK has marked the second anniversary of its 285-acre Waterfront mixed-use development at Manvers in Rotherham. So far the company has completed the British Canoeing Union’s Olympic training club, a golf course and a family pub while starting a Radisson hotel. It has also won planning permission for a KFC drive-through, a retail scheme anchored by Aldi and secured a deal with housebuilder Taylor Wimpey to build 334 homes.
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Changes at helm of Sheffield Wednesday
Plusnet founder Lee Strafford has been appointed chairman of Sheffield Wednesday Football Club alongside Nick Parker, the former chief financial officer of Sheffield-based chemicals company Dyson Group. The duo was appointed in December to drive investment plans from an unknown syndicate and former chief executive Kaven Walker left the club ten days later. Strafford said: “It is a great honour to become chairman of such a prestigious club. Nick and I joined the board to secure new investment and deliver positive operational changes to the club. This remains our central focus and we are happy with the progress.”
New audit engineer for CenFRA
The Centre for Food Robotics and Automation (CenFRA) in Doncaster has appointed Philip Brunger as audit engineer. Brunger, who has 25 years' experience building, developing and installing automation equipment in the UK and US, will help companies identify how the equipment could increase efficiencies and productivity.
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