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LIVERPOOL’S Festival Gardens will notre-open until September after the con-tractor who developed the site collapsed.

Mayfield Construction had beenappointed by developer Langtree toredevelop the south Liverpool gardens,which were due to re-open next weekafter a £3.7m refurbishment.

But Knowsley-based Mayfield calledin administrators after trading was hitby the downturn. All bar three of thecompany’s 75 staff have lost their jobsand the remaining staff are working tosell the company’s assets.

The Garden Festival complex has

lain unused since the festival in 1984,but Langtree has bought the site andplans to build up to 1,374 new homesthere.

The restoration of the Gardens is thefirst part of its redevelopment plan.

Langtree managing director JohnDownes said: “We are sad that May-field has found itself in this predic-ament having almost completed theworks necessary at the site.

“Good people have lost their jobs,the opening date for the gardens willunfortunately be delayed and we, like anumber of other companies, are likelyto lose money as a result of Mayfield’scollapse. We are now working veryhard behind the scenes to identify anew contractor to complete the works

and we hope to have some positivenews very soon.

“I know from personal experiencehow keen people are to see the newgardens and it is frustrating that theywill have to wait a little longer.

“However, I can assure you that itwill be worth the wait.”

Work on the gardens was virtuallycomplete. The work included buildingfour bridges, while 5,000 decorativepagoda roof tiles were imported fromChina. While it hunts for a new con-tractor, Langtree has drafted in “emer-gency ground maintenance staff ”.

Langtree is still in talks with poten-tial development partners for the hous-ing development on the Garden Fest-ival site. The plans were put on hold in

2008 when previous partner, DavidMcLean, collapsed.

Fiona Taylor and Colin Dempster, ofErnst & Young, were appointed jointadministrators to Mayfield earlier thismonth. They were called in by thecompany’s directors.

Ms Taylor said: “We are currentlyundertaking a full review of the com-pany’s financial position, but it is clearthat cashflow difficulties resultingfrom lower-than-expected revenue anddelays in contracts and receipt ofincome are at the heart of the issue.

“This is due in part to the inclementweather at the turn of the year and thetough trading conditions that continueto impact the construction industry.”

Buildingfirm’scollapsedelaysgardenopeningLONDON’S top-flight

shares regained someof their recent lossesyesterday as bankingshares staged a recov-ery following yester-day’s hammering.

Banks were pushedhigher by opportun-istic buying after theyfell by as much as 7%on Monday in the faceof fresh European jit-ters.

This helped theFTSE 100 Index to rise37.2 points to 5790.

The pound wasslightly up at 1.14against the euro asthe single currencycontinued to bedogged by fears overthe eurozone debtcrisis.

MARKET REPORT:PAGE 13

FTSE-1005789.99

37.18▲

Soaring costof energy hitsIneos ChlorHIGHER energy priceshave helped pushRuncorn chemicalsgiant Ineos Chlor£3.3m into the red.

PAGE 2

St John’s riseLIVERPOOL’S St John’sshopping centreattracted 100,000more shoppers in thesix months to June,despite static footfalllevels across the restof the Land Securitiesretail portfolio.

PAGE 4

Falling salesDISCOUNT retailerMatalan remains con-fident about its pro-spects despite seeingsales fall. ales for the13 weeks to May 28fell 2.7%.

PAGE 6

inside Comichappy tohelp TheHeathKING of comedy KenDodd was guest of hon-our at the inauguralcommunity open day atThe Heath Businessand Technical Park, inRuncorn.

The aim is to providea platform for localorganisations to pro-mote themselves andnetwork, and around 30charity and voluntarygroups were represen-ted.

The revered Liver-pool comic was invitedby his nephew JohnLewis, managing dir-ector of business parkowner and operatorSOG.

Mr Lewis said: “A lotof organisations thatwe depend on so muchare struggling like a lotof businesses in thecurrent economic cli-mate. We wanted to seewhat we could do topossibly help promotethem.”

byAlistairHoughtonLDPBUSINESSSTAFFalistair.houghton@liverpool.com

Comedy legend Ken Dodd with some of the guests at The Heath’s community open day Picture: GEOFF ROBERTS

■ OPINION – Main paper: P15

2 Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Energypricehikespushchemicalsgiant intored

Key citydate forBankgovernorSIR MERVYN KING,Governor of the Bankof England, will use theInstitute of Directors’(IoD) North West din-ner in Liverpool todeliver a key policyspeech.

The event, at StGeorge’s Hall, on Oct-ober 18, is expected toattract the cream of theregion’s business lead-ers and it is the firsttime that the IoD hasheld its annual NorthWest dinner in Liver-pool.

Members of the Bankof England’s MonetaryPolicy Committee(MPC), which setsinterest rates, will bepresent, along with SirMervyn.

Chair of the Liver-pool branch of the IoD,Lorraine Dodd, said:“This is a must-attenddinner, with severalmembers of the Bank ofEngland’s MonetaryPolicy Committeepresent.”

She added: “Therecent regeneration ofthe city is once againmaking Liverpool animportant hub for thefuture of the UK eco-nomy, and attractingspeakers of the calibreof Sir Mervyn King tothe city emphasisesthis.”

Firmstold:Useresearchanddevelopmentfunding

newsLDPbusiness .co.uk

HIGHER energy prices have helpedpush Runcorn chemicals giant IneosChlor into the red.

The company – one of the UK’sbiggest users of energy – reported apre-tax loss of £3.3m for 2010, downfrom a £64.1m profit in 2009.

It said rising energy and raw mater-ial prices had eaten into its margins.

Meanwhile, Ineos Chlor is still intalks with the Government over taxplans it feared could hit its business.

The company had warned thatincreased carbon taxes could cost it£30m a year, but the Daily Post under-stands it is now optimistic it can strikea deal with the Government to reducethe impact of the rises.

According to accounts newly filed atCompanies House, Ineos Chlor sawturnover fall from £397.6m in 2009 to£393.3m last year.

Its directors’ report said: “Whilevolumes of caustic soda have increasedin 2010, this was offset by lower pricesexperienced at the beginning of 2010.This has been partially offset byincreased sales of chloromethanes,which have increased in both priceand volume terms.

“Energy prices have risen in 2010which has put some pressure on grossmargins.”

Looking to the future, the reportsaid: “A key challenge for 2011 will beto restrict the impact of energy priceand raw material prices increases onthe company’s competitive position.”

Ineos Chlor is among a group ofenergy-intensive manufacturers that isnegotiating with the Government overplans to raise carbon tax.

The company had warned that iftaxes were too high then the viabilityof the Runcorn plant could be put inquestion.

But the company is now optimisticthat an agreement can be reached toreduce the impact on the UK’s largestenergy users.

Last month, Ineos Chlor’s chief exec-utive, Chris Tane, said: “In our dis-cussions with Government, we havehighlighted our contribution to theeconomy and outlined that if this legis-lation passes through unchanged, theworst case scenario for Runcorn sitecould see its energy bill rising by asmuch as £30m a year by 2020, whichwould have a considerable impact onour ability to compete.

“Runcorn is very important to Ineosand we have invested more than £400m

in the site to date to secure its future.Our business has weathered the eco-nomic downturn and has real potentialfor long term growth and prosperity,however this can only be realised if weremain competitive.”

Ineos Chlor’s immediate parent com-pany, Kerling, saw turnover rise andlosses narrow.

Its turnover was £1.9bn, up from£1.6bn in 2009. Pre-tax profits stood at£3.7m, compared to a £46m loss in 2009.

Ineos Chlor and sister company

Ineos Enterprises, which runs eightchemicals businesses, employ 1,500people between them in Runcorn.

Ineos Enterprises saw its turnover,from sales and shares in joint ven-tures, fall from £258.5m in 2009 to£237.8m in 2010.

Pre-tax profits stood at £22m, upfrom £11.1m in 2009, but the companysaid “overall profitability was similarto the previous year”, as last year’sfigures were affected by an £11.1mimpairment charge.

Ineos Chlor and Ineos Enterprises employ 1,500 people in Runcorn

byAlistairHoughtonLDPBUSINESSSTAFFalistair.houghton@liverpool.com

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FORMER CBI director generaland UK Trade and InvestmentMinister Lord Digby Jones isurging small firms to exploit a£1.22bn European reserve tofund their research and devel-opment (R&D) costs.

He believes UK firms are

missing out on the aid andwill use a conference nextweek in the Midlands to callfor more to be done to help thesmall business sector.

Next Tuesday he willaddress the event organisedby business support company

Pera, but ahead of his speechhe highlighted falling UKR&D levels compared withEuropean rivals.

“The UK spends 1.79% ofGDP on R&D. This is behindthe OECD average – behindBelgium!”

Lord Jones says Europerecognises the value of smallfirms which was why it has a£1.22bn fund to help smallfirms innovate and developnew products and processes.

The fund is part of theEuropean Commission’s Sev-

enth Framework Programme(FP7), which Lord Jonesbelieves is under-utilised byUK firms.

“Companies are missing outon millions of pounds of FP7funding and therefore invest-ing less in R&D.”

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We host a debate on Merseytourism – including theimportance of cruise ship visits

3Wednesday, July 20, 2011

role at Safeway’s base in Hayes,Middlesex, but was soon ready tomove on again.

“It was a role I didn’t get on toowell in,” he said. “I didn’t get on withthe people I was working for. It wasquite a frustrating time in my career.

“I took my initiative and saw thatbuying offered good progression andgood experience. I found myself ajunior buying role – it was almost astep back, but it offered progression.

“When I finished buying at Safe-way, I was buying £160m of electron-ics and telecoms goods.”

In 2004, Safeway was bought byrival Morrisons. Bullas kept his jobat first, overseeing the transition, butswiftly made plans for his future.

He said: “Even before I got myredundancy, I knew I wanted to starta company.”

And so he launched Planet Phone-cards, a site that offers savings oninternational phone calls.

He said: “There were lots of peoplegoing into corner shops and buyingphonecards. I had the idea of cre-ating a website and getting rid of thephysical cards.”

Bullas moved to Wirral, where hisgirlfriend lived, and got a small officein Heswall. Next, he had to learn theskills he needed to run a business.

“I’m not a technical person,” hesaid. “I couldn’t build the website.

“I had to go through the process offinding a company to build it.”

Planet Phonecards proved a suc-cess and was, at its peak, turningover £2,500 a day. It survives today,running alongside ClickConsult.

“There’s always going to be a mar-ket for phonecards,” said Bullas.“There are people who don’t haveaccess to broadband or Skype.

“Planet is a brand in its own right.I’m never going to sell it. It’s a declin-ing market, but there’s still a niche.”

To make Planet Phonecards work,

was inspired by store management,so I worked my way into the man-agement training scheme.”

After a six-month stint in North-ern Ireland, Bullas did his manage-ment training at stores in the SouthWest, becoming deputy manager atthe Totnes store, Devon.

“I became deputy store manager at19,” he said. “I was one of the young-est at that level in the group.

“I then got approached for a roleworking outside the stores, as aregional space and range manager.

“It was a prestigious role. I waslooking after a store portfolio fromCornwall to Basingstoke, managingthe allocation of floorspace.

“Retail people were telling me Icould be the youngest supermarketmanager in the South West. But thisrole was more appealing to me atthat age – I got a company car.”

Bullas did that job for more thantwo years, before deciding it wastime for a change.

“I’m the kind of person that doesget bored quite quickly, fortunatelyor unfortunately,” he smiled.

“It became the same old stuff everyday. So I started looking for roles inhead office.”

Bullas took a project management

profile

Iwentfromshelf-stackertowebbusinessleaderat100mph

MATT BULLAS can’t help going at100mph – and that’s how he made thejourney from shelf-stacker toaward-winning business leader.

Today Bullas, 33, leads Click Con-sult, the Cheshire web developmentagency that he has grown from aone-man band to an award-winningfirm employing 75 people.

He describes himself as a manwith “a huge amount of drive”, andproudly tells the story of how he rosethrough the ranks at Safeway.

Bullas joined the chain at 17 andsoon rose from shop-floor junior to akey role in its head office. But whenSafeway was taken over by Morris-ons and he faced redundancy, Bullasdecided he should apply the passionhe applied to his Safeway career tohis own business.

“I was always restricted workingfor a large company like that,” hesaid.

“I remember one person saying theproblem people had with me was thatI was getting on the train and goingat 100mph and leaving everyone elsebehind.

“They saw it as a negative. I saw itas a positive.”

Bullas went to school in the smallDevon town of Cullompton.

“I’m not academic,” he said. “Ididn’t get above a C in my GCSEs.

“I went to college for one year – apainful year. I left there and startedworking at Safeway.

“I started stacking shelves andworked around different parts of thestore. I had a huge amount of drive. I

AlistairHoughtonmeetsMATTBULLAS,chiefexecutiveofClickConsult, inHooton

LDPbusiness .co.uk

Digital entrepreneur MattBullas – rose up the ranks atSafeway before foundingClick ConsultPicture: CAMILLE WESSER PHOTOGRAPHY

Age: 33Highest educational qualification:GCSEsBiggest achievement in business:Developing ClickConsult from aone-person business to one employing75 people, in the space of seven yearsBest advice received: If you can man-age people and manage situations, thenyou can manage anythingStill to achieve: I’d like to launch moresuccessful businesses, mainly in theonline marketplace

q&a

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Bullas had to delve into the myster-ies of online marketing. And thatgave him his big business idea.

“I had to learn the marketing sideof things, and how to make this busi-ness work online,” he said.

“Other people were creating web-sites and saying ‘why am I notselling?’ So I had to get into the nitty-gritty of various ways of marketing.”

He focused on the pay-per-clickmodel, where revenues are generateddepending on how many times anadvert or a link are clicked on. And,as he learned more, he realised hisresearch had opened up anotherbusiness opportunity.

“There’s got to be a chance for meto recycle what I’ve done for me forother businesses,” he said.

“So I started Click Consult, andbuilt the website, and started advert-ising pay-per-click management.”

The business grew steadily. But asmore agencies started to offer pay-per-click services, Click Consult hadto diversify into other areas.

Bullas said: “If we didn’t do that, itwas going to stand still, or go back-wards. So we started to look atsearch engine optimisation (SEO).”

Bullas created the SEO Consultbrand and recruited experts in SEO –the art of getting websites ranked ashigh as possible on search engines.

The move paid off – today SEOmakes up some 80% of Click Con-sult’s business. The company alsooffers web design services.

For Bullas, the key to success inthe ongoing economic downturn is toprove to clients that their investmentin Click Consult’s services is payingresults. The company has developedits own software, such as ClickTel-liegence, to monitor web traffic.

“If you don’t deliver a return oninvestment, clients won’t deliver thespending,” said Bullas.

Web development is such a fast-

moving industry that it is hard topredict what technologies will be allthe rage in years to come. But, saysBullas, many firms have yet to get togrips with current trends.

He said: “There are a lot of trad-itional companies that haven’t yetinvested in a good website. Theydon’t have sites that integrate withsocial media. There are big oppor-tunities there.”

Bullas has largely handed over theday-to-day running of Click Consult,now based in Hooton, to his man-agement team. He focuses instead onthe firm’s strategic direction andgrowth plans.

That also allows him to work onother business ideas. He has built aportfolio of domain names and isnow planning to see if he can buildbusinesses around them.

“I’m an idea generator, and nichespotter,” he said. “The concepts arethere and now I need to thrash outthe business models.

“Click Consult is the big beast. It’sthe core focus. I don’t want to losesight of what’s happening here.”

Even outside the office, Bullasdoesn’t believe in sitting still.

He and his wife, who have afour-year-old daughter, manage aproperty portfolio. Bullas is also aManchester United season ticketholder, and regularly visits the gym –“I believe that you need a healthybody and a healthy mind,” he says.

To that end, he eschews the long-hours culture, leaving work at a reas-onable hour so he can spend timewith his family. But he can nevertruly leave work behind.

“I’m not a 12-hour-a-day work-aholic,” he said. “But I’m alwayschecking emails.

“My BlackBerry is the bane of mylife, even when I’m on holiday. It’svery difficult for me to switch offcompletely.”

4 Wednesday, July 20, 2011

StJohn’sshoppingcentrebucksUKretailtrendwoes

BoroughlaunchesawardsFIRMS in are beinginvited to enter theKnowsley Business andRegeneration Awards.

Individuals, localcompanies and entre-preneurs are now beinginvited to nominatethemselves or othersfor one of the 12 cat-egories in the awards,which include SME ofthe Year, Low CarbonEconomy Award andEmployer of the Year.

This year, the awardshave been broadened toinclude a number ofnew categories celeb-rating success in thebuilt environment aswell as economicprosperity, includingBest Housing Scheme ofthe Year.

The awards are opento all businesses,whether small or large,as long as they arebased within Knowsley.

The winners will beannounced at a dinnerand awards ceremonyto be held on Friday,October 7.The St John’s centre has seen a 100,000 increase in shoppers

newsLDPbusiness .co.uk

byNeilHodgsonLDPBUSINESSSTAFFneil.hodgson@liverpool.com

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LIVERPOOL’SINVESTMENTSPECIALISTS

LIVERPOOL’S St John’s shoppingcentre attracted 100,000 more shoppersin the six months to June, despitestatic footfall levels across the rest ofthe Land Securities retail portfolio.

The property giant, which owns StJohn’s and adjacent Clayton Squareshopping centre, reported “sound pro-gress” in an update yesterday.

It registered good interest in its Lon-don portfolio and its retail sitesaround the country, despite concernsover the weak economy.

Chief executive Francis Salway said:“The outlook for development in Lon-don remains attractive and, despitethe mixed messages in the retail sec-tor, our leasing activity demonstratesthat the stronger retailers are lookingto take new space.

“This retail demand has meant wehave, over the past few months, alsobegun to step up our activity in retaildevelopment, predominantly in edge-of-town locations, and we now have a£275m, 1m sq ft pipeline of opportun-

ities to meet the growing demand fromfood and fashion retailers for space.”

However, the update revealed thatfootfall across its retail centres wasflat. But, at St John’s, footfall for thesix months to June this year was 5.3m,compared with 5.2m in the sameperiod in 2010.

James Larmuth, Land Securities’portfolio manager, said it proves “thatour retail offer is still a major draw onthe Liverpool high street”.

He added: “However, we’re operat-ing in a difficult economic environ-ment, so we have to remain resilientand now, more than ever, is the time toget the basics right, which is exactlywhat we’ve done.”

“The high street may be busy, butevery pound in the consumer pursehas to work much harder. So we’relistening to our customers and work-ing hand-in-hand with retailers morenow than ever to ensure we deliver theright deals to bring value brands, suchas Aldi and Home Bargains, into thescheme.”

Liverpool stockbroker PanmureGordon retained its “hold” call onLand Securities’ stock.

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5Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Hotel inbid to cutwasteTHORNTON Hall Hotelhas furthered its greencredentials afterinvesting in an eco-friendly food wastemachine.

The Wirral hotel hasinvested £14,000 in theWaste-2-Water fooddigester machine,which breaks downfood waste into waterwhich can go straightinto the sewerage sys-tem.

The sustainablesolution saves moneyand ensures that foodwaste generated at thehotel does not have togo to landfill.

Thornton Hall is thefirst hotel in Mersey-side and Cheshire touse the machine, andgeneral manager GeoffDale said it was alreadyproving a sound invest-ment.

“With waste costsspiralling, we wantedto find another way ofdealing with our foodwaste,” added Mr Dale.

BusinesscallsforVATU-turn

Supporting reform – LiverpoolChamber head Jack Stopforth

newsLDPbusiness .co.uk

byNeilHodgsonLDPBUSINESSSTAFFneil.hodgson@liverpool.com

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LIVERPOOL’SINVESTMENTSPECIALISTS

Barclaysbackstankerfirminsecondsix-figuredealBARCLAYS Corporate hasprovided a St Helens tankercompany with a six-figureinvestment.

The Universal Group,which includes UniversalTanker Services, UniversalService Loos andEventloos.com, will use thefunding for expansion.

It specialises in servicingdomestic and commercialseptic tanks and providingportable toilets for outdoorevents and constructionsites.

Barclays provided a six-figure investment last yearfor four new executive port-able loos, and the latestinjection of asset financewill purchase a new tankerto meet increasing clientdemand.

Universal Group directorMatthew Gunn said: “We area family business and wewant a bank for the long-term that provides us withstrong support and whounderstands our market.”

Barclays Corporate relat-ionship director StevenWhite praised the firm andsaid: “A key strength hasbeen their ability to diver-sify the businesses into newmarkets which is deliveringturnover and profit growth.”

From left: Sarah Pickering (Barclays Asset Finance), Steven White (Barclays Corporate), and Matthew Gunn (Universal)

THE clamour to cut VAT rates is growingamong small firms.

A survey by Liverpool-based Bibby Finan-cial Services reveals a 25% rise in North Westcompanies calling for a return to a 17.5% VATlevel, before the Government announced itsdecision to raise it to 20% this January.

And small firms lobby group, the Federationof Small Businesses (FSB), has echoed theplea with a call for “targeted and time specificVAT cuts . . . to restore growth in key sectors”.

The Bibby research shows that 45% of smallfirms in the North West want a return to17.5% as a matter of urgency.

Spokesman Dave Golding said: “It is clearfrom our research that small and medium-sized businesses are feeling somewhat mar-ginalised by the Government and would liketo see David Cameron and his ministers domore to address their specific needs.”

The FSB goes further and wants the Gov-ernment to follow the lead of other Europeancountries and cut VAT in the construction andtourism sectors to 5% for a year to help boostthe economy.

It says evidence from EU countries showsany lost revenue to the Exchequer due to VATcuts will be met by earnings from additionaldemand, jobs and the wider economic activity.

Latest FSB figures show confidence amongsmall firms is now lower than at the start ofthe year.

FSB development manager Neil Duttonsaid: “Confidence is key to getting Mersey-side’s small businesses back on track and this

survey is worrying. The economy is still in afragile state and these figures clearly showthat the Government’s growth strategy is justnot working.”

Liverpool Chamber of Commerce chiefexecutive Jack Stopforth added his supportfor VAT reform, saying: “I always felt the hikein VAT was ill-judged. It is all about trying torecreate, or generate, consumer confidence ata time when people aren’t spending.

“A return to previous VAT levels would be awelcome development.”

■ TRADING Gossip: P16

■ TONY McDONOUGH: Page 8

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for my kids

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Without your support high-speed rail might not go ahead

Make your opinion count by filling out and posting theenclosed freepost postcard or sign up online at

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Support High-Speed Rail

6 Wednesday, July 20, 2011

newsLDPbusiness .co.uk

newsLDPbusiness .co.uk

Trading‘challenging’asMatalansalesfiguresfall

Financial performance ‘challenging’ – John Hargreaves, founderand owner of discount retailer Matalan

LIVERPOOL-BASEDSocial Enterprise NorthWest (SENW), whichrepresents social enter-prises across theregion, has received a£50,000 loan from TheSocial Enterprise LoanFund (TSELF).

TSELF is, itself, acharity which wasestablished to help withthe development ofsocial regenerationprojects.

Val Jones, chief exec-utive of SENW, which issituated on the city’sDale Street, said: “It isfantastic to see thesocial enterprise sectorin this region goingfrom strength tostrength.

“The loan will enableus to support this devel-opment even further.”

TSELF North Westdirector Roy White,added: “There is avibrant social enter-prise sector in theNorth West which weare committed to help-ing to grow.”

Fundingto boostsector

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Advertising Feature Independent financial advice

Make your savings workharder: transfer your ISAACCORDING to Richard Jones, ofSecurity Financial Services, thereare millions of holders of cashISAs, and he suspects many aremissing out on a huge amount ofinterest a year.

“This is because banks andbuilding societies make it very dif-ficult to move our money when aprovider drops their interest ratesand this rate becomes uncompet-itive,” he says.

Richard explains that an ISA(Individual Savings Account) is atax wrapper around a savings orinvestment product, which meansthat the interest you get is nottaxed; and they have proved pop-ular. He says banks and buildingsocieties now battle for custom,especially at the turn of the taxyear, with high-profile marketingcampaigns aimed at attractingpeople to their ISA products.

Richard says a third of the UKadult population have a cash ISAand they collectively have £158bnsaved in these accounts. And, evenat the height of the financialcrisis, there were 11.3m new cashISAs opened in 2008-09, with £28bnpaid into them.

He reports that every financialyear we can have a new ISA forthat year, and this year the limit is£10,680. Half of this can be saved in

cash with half, or all, in stocksand shares. This is per person peryear, so over the years this canbuild up to a sizeable chunk ofmoney.

He says: “The marketing frenzyincludes banks and building soc-ieties promoting ‘bonus’ introduct-ory offers and after a certainperiod of time, usually a year,these rates drop to much less com-petitive levels of interest. Theaverage interest rate for all cashISAs stands at around 0.5%.”

Richard says the best way tomake your ISA savings work is foryou to transfer your savings toanother provider or account offer-ing a higher rate of interest. “Butit seems only 8% of people do this.It appears customers find the ratesare unclear and it takes a longtime to switch.”

He explains you can only trans-fer existing savings from a cashinto another cash ISA or an invest-ments ISA. You cannot transfermoney from an investments ISAinto a cash ISA.

And he warns: “Remember,investments – unlike savings – cango down as well as up, so bewareof the greater risks if you choose astocks and shares product.”

He adds: “If you are signed up toa fixed-rate deal, such as a five-

year ISA, then you may face a pen-alty charge if you transfer fundsfrom this account before thatperiod ends, and if you switch pro-viders you need to get the new ISAprovider to arrange the transfer.

“The new provider may take up

to six working days to check allthe details before making arequest to the institution thatholds your existing savings.”■ SECURITY Financial Ser-vices is authorised by the Fin-ancial Services Authority.

Many aremissingout oninterest –RichardJones, ofSecurityFinancialServices,Rhosneigr,Anglesey

byAlistairHoughtonLDPBUSINESSSTAFFalistair.houghton@liverpool.com

DISCOUNT retailer Matalan remainsconfident about its prospects, despiteseeing sales fall.

The Skelmersdale-based group saidsales for the 13 weeks to May 28 stood at£268.1m – down 2.7% on the sameperiod in 2009.

Matalan said the business grew untilthe middle of May, but sales to the endof the month failed to match strong fig-ures from last year.

It said menswear and childrenswearranges performed well, while home-wares sales were improving. Onlinesales doubled compared to the samethree months in 2009.

The company said trading conditionswere still challenging. But the company,which opened one store in the period,said it would “continue to invest mod-estly in new stores” and was consid-ering expanding its store refurbishmentprogramme.

Earnings before interest, taxation,depreciation and amortisation

(EBITDA) stood at £27.6m. Chief exec-utive Darren Blackhurst said: “Whileour financial performance has beenchallenging in the first quarter and weexpect these conditions to remain forthe near future, there are many reasonsto be confident and excited about thelong-term future.

“The brand has real equity with cus-tomers from a value perspective, thereis considerable latent potential withinour core business and the opportunityfor future expansion remains.

“The fact is, customers face toughtimes at present. Juggling the weeklybudget is becoming increasingly dif-ficult for many households.

“While we remain cautious aboutfuture trading, we will focus on givingour customers a relevant offering dur-ing these uncertain times.

“As such, we have three clear pri-orities for this year – keeping prices aslow as possible for our customers,investing in quality and design to bringcustomers the most fashionableproducts for less, and continuing toimprove the shopping experience.”

Matalan was founded by Liverpooldocker’s son John Hargreaves in 1985.

IndependentFinancial Advisersin your area

Anglesey

Security Financial ServicesTy Llwyd, Llanfaelog,Ty Croes, Anglesey LL63 5TY

Contact: Richard JonesEmail richard@security-financial.co.uk

Phone: 01407 811268Mobile: 07710 468970

Denbighshire

Vale Financial Servicesinfo@valefinancialservices.com

Studio One,Town Hall, Crown Lane, Denbigh LL16 3TBTel: 01745 814962 Fax: 01745 814446

Contact: Glyn B. Jonesinfo@valefinancialservices.com

Liverpool

Investec Wealth& Investment

The Plaza, 100 Old Hall Street, Liverpool L3 9AB.Tel: 0151 227 2030. Fax: 0151 227 2444Email: paul.brokenshar@investecwin.co.uk

Website: www.investecwin.co.ukContact: Paul Brokenshar

Why choose an independent financial adviserBecause it pays to take an unbiased view

Those listed above are either an appointed representative of a networkor national which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services

Authority or are directly authorised and regulated

7Wednesday, July 20, 2011

MattJohnson

EssarEnergyinpledgetoincreaseStanlowfunding

Councilleader’sHS2 callTHE leader of Liver-pool City Council isurging people and busi-nesses to back plans fora high-speed rail linkfrom London to theNorth West.

A number of Mersey-side firms are alreadybacking the High Speed2 (HS2) plan whichcould cut the journeytimes from the capitalto Liverpool from 2hrs10mins to 1hr 37mins.

Cllr Joe Andersonsays the line wouldprovide a huge boost tothe Liverpool cityregion economy.

He said: “The WestCoast Main Line will befull up in little over adecade. All is not lost –yet.

“The Government isproposing to build ahigh-speed rail linethat will link the majornorthern cities withBirmingham and Lon-don, and on to the Con-tinent.

“This line will helpbring greater invest-ment in employmentand economic growthoutside London and theSouth East.”

Eightyears thathavebroughtanewconfidenceandprosperity

ESSAR Energy, which takes control ofthe former Shell Stanlow oil refineryon August 1, is to commit further fund-ing to the site on top of the £250mfour-year investment programmealready in place.

The group, which has extensiveenergy interests in India, bought Stan-low this April for £219m, which wasexpected to rise to £700m after includ-ing the plant’s fuel stocks.

Spokesman Andrew Turpin said

additional funding will go into anupgrade of the Tranmere river jetty tohandle more fuel imports from refiner-ies in India, South America and theUrals mountain range in Russia.

New natural gas boilers will replaceexisting fuel oil boilers, and improve-ments to a diesel hydrotreater willclear production bottlenecks, allowingheavier, cheaper, crude oil to be pro-cessed as part of a plan to increasediesel and jet fuel production as soonas possible.

Mr Turpin said demand for petrol inthe UK has been declining since 1990,and Stanlow has even been exporting

surplus petrol production to the USA.However, the UK currently imports3.5m tonnes of diesel and 5m tonnes ofjet fuel a year, which is expected todouble by 2020.

So Stanlow will boost production ofthese two fuels as it ramps up from itscurrent 70% capacity to almost fullproduction over the coming months.

It could also, as one of only eight UKrefineries and the second biggestbehind Fawley, on the south coast,extend its reach to the North-East afterthe closure last year of a Teessideplant.

Stanlow already has direct pipelines

to Liverpool John Lennon andManchester airports, and a supplypipeline as far as the Thames.

Mr Turpin said: “Stanlow has goodstorage capacity and a good distrib-ution network.

“There will be more crude comingin and more fuels going out.”

The plant currently employs about960 staff, and Mr Turpin said Essar’splans to increase capacity and storemore fuel imports will create somenew jobs.

He said: “There will be some recruit-ment. There certainly won’t be adecrease.”

newsLDPbusiness .co.uk

newsLDPbusiness .co.uk

WRITING this column for the Liver-pool Daily Post has been a privilege.

Such has been the case since 2003,when the Daily Post's business editor

asked me to provide words to appearin LDP Business every week. Withonly a handful of absences eversince, around 500 words worth ofviews, ideas, observations and com-ment have duly appeared under mysmiling picture byline each Wednes-day.

It's been a terrific opportunity toshare ideas and (hopefully) stimulatethought among LDP Business read-ers in print and online.

A lot has changed in our political,cultural and business landscapesince 2003.

Facebook and Twitter did notexist.

For the first half of that year, the

idea of Liverpool being EuropeanCapital of Culture in 2008 was adream – later realised and deliveredas a resounding success.

Regeneration of thewaterfront and swathes ofthe city centre was set outin ambitious drawings andcomputer- generatedimages.

Now we can walk alongnew streets formed withnew buildings reflecting anew confidence and a newprosperity on our streets.

The new look and feel of the citycentre may have its critics (andresolving the World Heritage Site dif-

ficulties must be a priority) but fewcan deny Liverpool City Centre 2011is a much improved location, brim-ming with appeal for ever-increasing

numbers of visitors from allover the world.

Liverpool’s timing wasspot on.

The drive to complete somany regeneration projects– especially those funded bythe private sector – in timefor 2008 was well judged.Any later, and these pro-jects would have been hit by

the recession and public sector cuts.Much has been achieved and

there’s still plenty more to come,

including Peel’s ambitious plans forWirral and Liverpool Waters, furtherinvestment in Liverpool John Len-non Airport, the recent launch ofJaguar Land Rover’s Liverpool-builtEvoque, a new Everyman Theatre,and further developments at the bril-liantly successful Arena and Conven-tion Centre Liverpool.

Today, though, it's time to sign off.So thank you all for sharing my

weekly thoughts and observations.It has, as I said in line one today,

been a privilege to be part of theDaily Post team.

‘Thankyouall forsharingmyweeklythoughts’

SciencecampusfirmindealwithglobalsoftwareproviderA CHESHIRE business foun-ded just 18 months ago hassecured a collaboration witha global organisation.

DAS Developments, basedat Daresbury Science andInnovation Campus (Dares-bury SIC), has agreed toenter a collaborative part-nership with UK-based-global software firm North-gateArinso.

The agreement will seethe development and launchof a an asset managementand optimisation product,Acumen, designed by DASand described by North-gateArinso as “world-class”.

The two companies cametogether following a con-sultation initiative under-taken by Daresbury SIC tohelp find suitable partnersfor NorthgateArinso, whichboasts a worldwide turnoverin excess of £750m and hasoffices in 46 countries.

Roy Davies, DAS chiefexecutive, said: “The oppor-tunity to partner with anorganisation of North-gateArinso’s calibre andscale provides a real catalystto realise our growth object-ives.

“This partnership offersboth us and our clientsgreater expertise.” Ian Meyer, business development manager at Northgate Arinso, left, and Roy Davies, from DAS Developments

byNeilHodgsonLDPBUSINESSSTAFFneil.hodgson@liverpool.com

■ MATT JOHNSON is chief executiveof Mando Group

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co.uk

CREATIVE

8 Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Canweaffordtobechoosyovervisitors tothecity?

Awards are a ‘badge of honour’AtrioofcityregionfirmsarethelatestrecipientsofQueen’sAwardsforEnterprise.TonyMcDonoughreports

RS Clare chairman Ian Meadows– says the Queen’s Award is the‘ultimate accolade’

LDPbusiness .co.ukLDPbusiness .co.uk

GLOBAL business changes rapidly, but itseems the old-fashioned Royal seal ofapproval can still provide a boost for Brit-ish firms trading both at home and over-seas.

Last week saw the latest batch of UKfirms receive their Queen’s Awards forEnterprise 2011.

This year, there were three recipientsin the Liverpool city region – RS Clare, inLiverpool; EA Technology, based atCapenhurst, near Chester; andSkelmersdale-based social enterprise,Brighter Future Workshop.

Winners are entitled to put the Queen’sAward logo on their stationery and mar-keting material for five years.

Both current and past winners say theaccolade can give them a significantadvantage when attempting to win newbusiness.

RS Clare, Merseyside’s oldest-survivingmanufacturer, has won the Queen’sAward for International Trade.

The firm was founded in 1748 and hasbeen at its current Stanhope Street sitesince 1795, where it produces specialistlubricants for the oil and gas industry aswell as the rail, car, steel and construc-tion sectors.

It exports to more than 30 countriesworldwide, with exports accounting foralmost 50% of turnover. New marketsinclude Africa, Syria, Romania, Gabon,and Trinidad and Tobago.

The firm has expanded this year, withthe number of employees rising by 20% to68, and it has an annual turnover of £12m.

Its gate valve lubricants are used byseveral major oil companies globally, andthe China market is opening up for all itsproduct sectors.

RS Clare was visited last month byLord Green, Minister for Trade & Invest-ment, and congratulated on its contrib-ution to strengthening the local economythrough manufacturing and internationaltrade.

Chairman Ian Meadows said: “To us atRS Clare, the Queen’s Award is the ult-imate accolade. It’s the one logo thateveryone wants to wear on the corporateshirt.

“We have become accustomed to win-ning awards since the RAC presented tous the massive Ballymenagh Trophy overa century ago for Britain’s ‘foremost dustlaying compound for road surfaces’.

“But the Queen’s Award for Internat-ional Trade is a step change.

“It reflects on the whole team at Clare,and we are very proud.

“Internationally acclaimed, ithas enhanced our credibilityglobally, and that will doubtlesscontribute to even strongerexport growth both in specialistlubricants and surface coatingswhere we are building signific-ant niche market positions.”

The winner of the Queen’sAward for Innovation is EATechnology, of Capenhurst. It isthe second time the firm has won it.

EA won the award for the developmentof instruments for use in the electricityindustry, which can identify faults beforethey lead to failures and power cuts,improving efficiency, reliability andsafety.

In the last three years, sales of itsUltraTEV products have soared 345%.

EA’s development director, Neil Davies,said: “The Queen’s Award for Innovationis a great honour for the company and forall the team.

“The award carries real weight aroundthe world and confirms our position as

innovators of highly specificequipment in the field of energytechnology.

“The Queen’s Award is a topindustrial honour, and I feel itreinforces Cheshire’s standingas a centre of excellence in theindustry.”

EA has also doubled its work-force to nearly 200 and wonorders in 86 countries during atime of global recession.

More than 85% of its UltraTEVproducts are exported, with growth mar-kets including China.

The original UltraTEV instrument wonthe Queen’s Award for Innovation in 2007and has given rise to three subsequent

generations of product development, witha fourth on the way.

When the award was first announcedin April, chief executive Robert Davissaid: “Our second award recognises theimperative for companies like ours tokeep innovating if we want to succeed inworld markets.

“We reinvest more than 15% of ourrevenue in innovation annually, and inthe last year we have doubled the size ofour product development team. Now weare set to double it again.

“The Government says it wants to seemore new products designed in Britainand made in Britain to get the economymoving again and create jobs. That’sexactly what we do.”

Originally formed as the research anddevelopment arm of the UK electricityindustry, EA Technology became inde-pendent in 1997.

The company is owned by its employ-ees and has operations in Australia,China, the Middle East and the US.

Brighter Future Workshop, in

SUCH is the growing con-fidence in Liverpool’s vis-itor economy that now itseems we are gettingchoosy.

Ten years ago, unlessyou were a Beatles orfootball fanatic, it seemedLiverpool had little totempt people from else-where in the UK andoverseas to come here.

True, the city’smuseums, galleries andtheatres were always wellworth a visit, but there islittle evidence peopletravelled from far andwide to do so.

What a difference now.Liverpool One, the

ECHO Arena and BTConvention Centre, thecruise liner facility, muchbetter hotels and restaur-ants have all transformedLiverpool’s visitor exper-ience.

And now the debatehas moved on from howdo we attract more vis-itors to what kind of vis-itors we want.

In the Daily Post onMonday, Robert Nadler,chief executive of theup-market base2stayhotel, in the city centre,said Liverpool now hadtoo many budget hotels.

This, he said, had ledto a big rise in the num-ber of people choosingthe city for stag and henparties.

He fears too muchemphasis on the lowerend of the market maydiscourage higher-spend-ing visitors seeking awider cultural experiencefrom coming.

During the LDP Busi-ness debate on the visitoreconomy a few weeksago, the manager of theCrowne Plaza hotel,Stephen Roberts, made asimilar point.

He said: “There needsto be a balance and weneed to make sure we area little more targeted.”

However, the chiefexecutive of the arenaand convention centre –Bob Prattey – disagreed.

He said that duringsome large conferencesand events it was a chal-lenge to find enoughhotel rooms to accom-modate all the delegates.

This, he said, put thecity at a competitive dis-

advantage compared toManchester where therewas more bed stock avail-able.

“I think the morehotels the better,” hesaid. On balance, I thinkBob has it right.

Liverpool’s turnaroundover the past few yearshas been astonishing, butwe remain in the grip ofa savage economic down-turn.

Most forecasts seem tosuggest that the squeezeon consumer spending isgoing to be with us forsome time yet.

A stroll around the citycentre on mostweeknights bears thisout. Unless there is a bigconcert on, then the barsand restaurants remainpretty quiet.

So maybe now is notthe time to be too fussy.

WHEN the coalition Gov-ernment took office lastyear, it had some tougheconomic choices tomake.

Since then, we haveseen some quite severecuts in public spendingand the jury is still out asto whether they havegone too far on thatscore.

Perhaps even morecontroversially, Chancel-lor George Osborneannounced the raising ofVAT from 17.5% to 20%.

The new rate came intoforce at the beginning ofthe year, and now theclamour is growing for itto be reversed.

In today’s LDP Busi-ness, you can read how asurvey by Bibby Finan-cial Services reveals a25% rise in North Westfirms calling for a returnto 17.5%.

This call is beingbacked by the Federationof Small Businesses andLiverpool Chamber ofCommerce chief execut-ive Jack Stopforth.

VAT is a regressive tax.The lower your income,the higher the proportionyou spend on VAT.

Businesses in Mersey-side and across the UKare hurting becausepeople are cutting back.

Mr Osborne needs toswallow his pride andreverse the rise.

‘It reflectsonthewholeteamatRSClare’

TonyMcDonough

9Wednesday, July 20, 2011

e a ‘badge of honour’

How firms can enter theQueen’s Awards for 2012

Business secretary Vince Cable is now calling on companiesacross the UK to enter the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise

the big feature

Skelmersdale, has won the Queen’s Awardfor its outstanding commitment to enhan-cing the lives of the local community.

The enterprise has recycled more than5,000 items of used mobility equipment,as well as providing over 3,000 trainingplaces in a disability-friendly workshopto train those with physical, medical,learning or emotional problems.

Chairman Peter Cousins said:“We have received plenty of callssince winning the Queen’sAward, and I feel it definitelyhas the potential to help ourbusiness.

“We are only a small socialenterprise, so we are delightedto have received this accoladeand I feel it can only do the busi-ness good.”

The Brighter Future Workshop was setup in April, 2005.

It exists to enhance the lives of peoplewho are disabled – many have becomedisadvantaged, and isolated, largely dueto the shortage of suitable, reliable and

affordable mobility equipment. Its aim isto ensure that disabled people who havelittle or no mobility can still function inthe local community and society in gen-eral.

Liverpool scrap metal recycling firm SNorton has been the recipient of twoQueen’s Awards for International Trade –

in 2004 and 2009.Its 2009 win came off the back

of a three-year period of growthduring which its export busi-ness grew by £39m.

David Hulse, the company’spublic affairs advisor, said win-ning the award was a greatboost for business and for themorale of its staff.

“It is like a badge of honour,”he said.

“When we talk to potential overseascustomers, they see that as evidence ofour good standing.

“It is a great morale boost. When wefirst won it in 2004, we held a big partyfor all the staff at a Liverpool hotel.”

THERE are three categories thatbusinesses can enter for theQueen’s Awards for Enterprise.

They are: International Trade,Innovation and SustainableDevelopment.

There is also an individualaward category – the Queen’sAward for Enterprise Pro-motion.

Each Queen’s Awards cat-egory has different applicationcriteria that must be metbefore application.

The awards are made annual-ly and are only given for the“highest levels of excellence”demonstrated in each category.

Liverpool scrap metal recyc-ling firm S Norton was a winnerin the International Trade cat-egory in 2004 and 2009.

Public affairs advisor DavidHulse, who helped put theentries together, confirmedthat competition was fierce.

He said: “Before you enterthe Queen’s Awards, you needto take a close look at your fig-ures to make sure you candemonstrate genuine growth.

“You have to be able to showevidence of profitability – notjust an increase in turnover.”

Business secretary VinceCable has now put out the callfor firms to get their entries infor the 2012 awards.

“It’s important we create theright conditions for Britain’snew and up-and-coming entre-preneurs to succeed, and Istrongly encourage businessesto start thinking about nomin-ations for next year,” he said.

The application/nominationperiod for The Queen’s Awardsfor Enterprise 2012 is now openand closes on October 31.

Winners will be announcedon April 21, 2012.

Entrants must meet the fol-lowing criteria:■ They must be based in the UK– including the Channel Islandsand the Isle of Man;■ They must operate as a busi-ness unit of the UK economy;■ They must have at least twofull-time employees orpart-time equivalents;■ They have to be able todemonstrate commercial suc-cess.

Entry is free and forms canbe completed and submittedonline at www.business-link.gov.uk/queensawards

‘Awardcarriesweightaroundtheworld’

privatebusiness

THE Albert Dock’sowner is hoping theopening of the newMuseum of Liverpoolthis month will give itanother boost, follow-ing a year that saw itreturn to profit.

The Albert DockCompany reportedturnover for 2010 of£3.4m, up from £3.3min 2009. Pre-tax profitstood at £340,000 – upfrom a £139,000 loss in2009.

The value of the dockcomplex rose over theyear. The group’s fixedassets were valued at£27m, up from £26.9mat the end of 2009.

The directors’ reportsaid: “The Albert Dockcontinued to trade atan acceptable levelwith increasedturnover fromimproved occupationand control over costsdelivering enhancedyear-on-year results.”

The Albert Dock’sparent company,Arrowcroft Holdings,saw losses narrow from£2.9m in 2009 to £2.6min 2010.

Turnover rose from£7m to £15m, thanks tothe sale of several prop-erties. It raised £8.4mfrom the “sale of prop-erty developmentstock”.

In his annual report,Arrowcroft Holdingschairman LeonardEppel said: “Despitethe difficult conditionsexperienced during2010, the Albert Dock,Liverpool, continued totrade at an acceptablelevel. I am pleased tostate that the footfallincreased by some 10%over the previous year,which is particularlysatisfying.

“The new Museum ofLiverpool will be open-ing its doors for the fisttime during July, andwill further add to themany visitor attrac-tions on the waterfrontimmediately adjoiningour investment.

“Additionally, thecity council and BritishWaterways have inves-ted £750,000 in newpontoons to both ourown dock and that ofSalthouse Dock, thusadding a new dimen-sion and vitality to thecomplex.”

ALISTAIR HOUGHTON

AlbertDock’smuseumboost

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10 Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Dairy Crestreportstrading boostDAIRY Crest said over-all trading was in linewith forecasts aftersales of five keybrands – CathedralCity, Country Life,Clover, St HubertOmega 3 and Frijj –rose 5% on last yearin its first quarter.

The group has aspreads plant inKirkby and a milk bot-tling site in Aintree.

DemandimprovesENGINEERING consult-ant and manufacturerRicardo said its profitsfor the year to June30 were well ahead ofmarket expectationsas demand improvesin the automotive sec-tor. Its order bookremains above £100m.

IG progressFINANCIAL tradinggroup IG has reportedan “encouragingstart” to the new fin-ancial year, with Junerevenues higher thana year ago. Adjustedprofits were 3.4%higher at £163m inthe year to May 31.

Further talksEVOLUTION Group’sprivate client invest-ment managementarm Williams de Broeis in advanced talkswith BNP ParibasWealth Managementover possible acquisit-ion of its privateinvestment manage-ment division.

briefing ChinaPearlbidstobuildabusinessoutofculture

Fenfen Huang shows off her traditional Han fan Code: ph140711fenfen-1

Fenfen Huang came to Merseyside 10 years ago to study at the University of LiverpoolPictures: PAUL HEAPS/ ph140711fenfen-2

newsLDPbusiness .co.uk

newsLDPbusiness .co.uk

LIVERPOOL’S historic Chinese linksmake it the perfect location for a newbusiness aiming to strengthen the cul-tural bonds between both communit-ies, its founder says.

The city boasts Europe’s oldestChinese community and has beentwinned with Shanghai for more thana decade.

China Pearl, established by FenfenHuang, 30, aims to extend those linksfurther.

Ms Huang, born in Linhai, Zheijiangprovince, near Shanghai, has built acareer in dance after arriving in thecity 10 years ago as a University ofLiverpool student.

She gained a BA (Hons) degree inenvironment and planning, but heroverriding passion has always beendance, and she quickly joined the uni-versity’s ballroom dancing team andwas taking part in dance competitionsin Liverpool and beyond.

Having successfully gained herdegree, she decided that the world ofenvironment and planning wasn’t forher, so she began a full-time dancetraining course at Liverpool Com-munity College.

“I thought, planning is not really mycup of tea and dancing is in my heart.”

Ms Huang gained her diploma andthen undertook an MA in marketing atLiverpool John Moores University.

But she continued her dance train-ing throughout her academic studies,including two visits to the BeijingDance Academy to learn traditionalChinese dance.

“I was also learning Western danceforms and visited New York and Lon-don.”

But she had fallen in love with Liv-erpool, so, after successfully complet-ing her MA, she set out on establishingChina Pearl in the city.

She said: “Liverpool is where I star-ted my dance career and pursued mydream.

“I love this city. It is great and it hassuch a distinctive culture of its own,with its own accent and arts. Liverpoolis my second home.”

She set up China Pearl in 2007 and,after recruiting two fellow directors inLiverpool – Labour councillor GaryMillar and Indian dancer BisakhaSarker – they registered the limitedcompany by guarantee this June.

Their aim is to promote Chinese cul-ture, not only through dance butthrough other traditional art formssuch as music, calligraphy and paint-ing.

They also hope to build bridgesbetween the Chinese and Liverpoolcommunities.

One strand will be to focus on themany different Chinese festivalsthroughout the year, and open up theirdifferent themes and traditions to aWestern audience: “There are so manytraditional Chinese festivals that West-ern people are unaware of.

“They know all about Chinese NewYear, but there are the Dragon Boatfestival, the Lantern festival and theMid-autumn festival, and ChineseValentine’s Day.”

The next festival will be theMid-autumn festival straddling August

and September and focused, accordingto the Chinese lunar calendar, on thefull moon of mid-August.

She explained: “This is for familyreunions or gatherings and is a trad-itional festival, with foods like moon-cakes.”

China Pearl’s shows will featureChinese music and dance, and MsHuang explained: “Even though theMid-autumn festival is very Chinese, itis a way to get Chinese and Westernmusicians working together.

“We are working with local com-munity choirs on songs and we wantto show how the Chinese celebratetheir festivals. We want to show Brit-ish audiences about the origin of thefestivals.”

She is also working on the pro-gramme in partnership with Liver-pool’s Primary Care Trust as part ofits ‘2020 Decades of Health and Well-being’ programme.

“My company wants to put on per-formances and workshops for the pub-lic and visit places like nursing homes,hospitals, schools and communitycentres, even somewhere like SeftonPark. I am hoping the final showpiecewill be a theatre production.”

Ms Huang said the project willprovide work for Chinese and Westernmusicians, including 10 professionalartists and 20 community artists andstudents.

They will also produce a film feat-uring local Chinese and Merseyside

families, as well as other cultures suchas black, Indian and Polish communit-ies based on how they celebrate familyevents, funded by the PCT and linkedto a project on integrating communit-ies.

Ms Huang believes she can build onthe growing trade links between Liv-erpool and the UK and China

“I think people want to expand theirscope beyond trading. They want to gobeyond products and discover cultureand arts, and both countries have fant-astic talents. I want to see more cul-tural exchanges between the two coun-tries.”

She predicts a modest £15,000turnover for the first year, but believesthat could grow to more than £60,000or £80,000 within five years, as shebroadens China Pearl’s horizons.

“After the first year, we want to lookto Manchester and then raise our pro-file in the North West area and thenfrom there go nationwide.

“Maybe in three years we could doexchange projects in China, Europe oreven America.

“I want to explore integration ofChinese styles with modern and West-ern styles.

“China is developing very fast andpeople like to explore different styles.Here we have fantastic contemporarydance, ballet and media. It would bereally nice to see the two culturescome together.”■ FOR further details, visitwww.china-pearl.co.uk

byNeilHodgsonLDPBUSINESSSTAFFneil.hodgson@liverpool.com

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Business for Rent

SHOP UNITSTO LET

In Very Busy GardenCentre

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Tel: 07773 999088

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BUSINESSto BUSINESS

11Wednesday, July 20, 2011

BusinessasusualasCitybonusesremainhigh

City bonuses totalled £14bn in the year to March, says the ONS

PersistencepaysoffforGreeneKinginpubspursuit

Supermarketpricesrisingfaster PoorprofitsTHE banking sector suffered anotherblow yesterday after two of the US’sfinancial giants reported worse thanexpected profits.

Investment bank Goldman Sachsearned £653m in its second quarter,which was more than twice theamount in the same period a year agobut less than analysts had expected.

And Bank of America posted lossesof £5.5bn – the biggest quarterly lossin the lender’s history – as a result ofits £5.3bn settlement with mort-gage-bond investors.

LDPbusiness .co.ukLDPbusiness .co.uk

Offshoresafety isbetter,says HSE

byPeterCrippsLDPCORRESPONDENTbusiness@liverpool.com

FEWER major offshoreoil and gas leaks havebeen reported in thepast year, new figuresshow.

Health and SafetyExecutive data shows73 “hydrocarbonreleases” deemedeither major or sig-nificant were recordedin 2010-11, comparedwith 85 the previousyear and 61 in 2008-09.

The number ofmajor injuries wasdown eight to 42, from50 the previous year.

For the fourth yearrunning, no workerswere killed during off-shore activities regu-lated by HSE betweenApril 1, 2010, andMarch 31, 2011, theperiod covered by thefigures from the Off-shore Safety StatisticsBulletin.

However, a joint HSEand police investiga-tion is taking placeinto the death of a manwho fell into the NorthSea from an oil plat-form on June 16.

HSE head of offshoresafety Steve Walkersaid the new figuresrepresent “a step inthe right direction”.

He added: “It isencouraging that thisis the fourth consecut-ive year with noreportable fatalitiesand a reduction inmajor injuries. Butthere is still muchwork to be done.

“Hydrocarbonreleases are a keyindicator of how wellthe offshore industryis managing its majoraccident risks.

“The Gulf of Mexicodisaster should con-tinue to be a starkreminder of what cango wrong offshore.”

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MOBILE

GREENE King secured back-ing for a £70m acquisition yes-terday, as its scramble to buypubs in London, ahead of theOlympics, gathered pace.

Bid target Capital Pubsrejected two approaches fromLondon-based Fuller, Smith &Turner last month, but asGreene King’s proposal isworth nearly 18% more itsmanagement has swung

behind the offer. The interestfrom Suffolk-based GreeneKing values the company at£70m and marks its thirdhefty pub group acquisitionthis year following thetakeovers of RealPubs andCloverleaf for a combined£108m.

Capital’s pub portfolio con-sists of 34 outlets in andaround the London area,

which Greene King says itintends to combine with theRealPubs estate of 14 premiumLondon pubs.

Chief executive RooneyAnand said the deal repres-ented another step in itsstrategy of building its pres-ence in the capital and takesits total estate in the GreaterLondon area to 250 pubs.

He expects the sites to do

especially well as the 2012Olympics approaches, butadded that longer term itsexpects London to outperformthe national market.

Greene King also sees sig-nificant scope to push up theproportion of food revenuesgenerated by Capital’s pubs.

Capital said that recenttrading has been strong with22 pubs open for a year gen-

erating like-for-like revenuesgrowth of 6.5% in the past 15weeks, while the 12 beingrefurbished should generate£20,000 per week each whenfinished and bedded down.

After Fuller’s interestbecome public it subsequentlyreceived approaches from anumber of other parties, oneof which was Greene King, itadded.

WORKERS in the financial sectorenjoyed average bonuses of £12,500 lastyear, as pay-outs showed little sign offalling despite efforts to curb Cityexcesses, according to official figures.

The financial and insurance sectorpaid out bonuses worth £14bn in theyear to the end of March – the same asthe previous year, according to theOffice for National Statistics.

The sector accounts for 40% of thebonuses paid throughout the country,despite employing just 4% of the work-force.

A slight rise in the number of peopleemployed in the sector meant that theaverage bonus pocketed by employeesdropped by just £100.

This compares with people workingin health and social care sectors,whose bonuses were “negligible”.

The Treasury earlier this yearthrashed out Project Merlin agree-ments with the biggest banks in a bidto curb the bonus culture whichhelped create the financial crisis byencouraging bankers to take risks.

However, the agreements came intoforce in the current financial year andare not believed to have had an impacton the ONS’s latest findings.

Last year’s figure for bonuses in thefinancial and insurance industries was£2bn higher than in 2008/09 – imme-diately after the financial crisis struck– and was 58% higher than in 2000/01.

Bonus payments in the sectorpeaked immediately before the finan-cial crisis hit, when bonus paymentstotalled £19bn and were worth 45% ofall pay-outs across the country.

TUC general secretary BrendanBarber said: “The Chancellor’s auster-ity message has failed to reach theCity, where a small clique of super-richbankers have grabbed 40% of allbonuses paid out in the UK.

“City bonuses are still far too highand the incentives for risky and dam-aging decisions far too great, espe-cially when bankers know that taxpay-ers always have to pick up the tab.”

Meanwhile, across the economy as awhole, bonuses of £35bn were paid,which was the same as the previousyear.

The average worker in the privatesector received a bonus of £1,670,which was nearly 10 times higher thanthe average public sector bonus of£180.

Dave Prentis, general secretary ofthe Unison union, said the figuresshow that “we are not all in thistogether”, as Prime Minister DavidCameron has claimed.

He said: “Our members in the publicsector are struggling to pay their billsand keep up with inflation.

“Some low-paid workers are earningthe same in a year as these workers

are getting in their bonus package.The Government is doing nothing toclean up the City bonus culture at atime when it is demanding huge sanc-tions from the public sector.”

PRICES at UK super-markets are rising fasterthan expected and willcontinue to put pressureon households in thecoming months,industry figures showed.

Kantar Worldpanelsaid grocery prices roseby 4.8% in the 12 weeksto July 11 compared to ayear ago, up from 4.6%in the middle of May.

The market research

firm, which previouslysaid that inflation wouldnot rise above 5% thisyear, now expects it tohit that target and per-haps go beyond in com-ing months.

Martin Whittingham,a director at Kantar,said: “The increasinginflation rate is puttingextra pressure on shop-pers’ ability to managetheir household budgets.

“With this in mind,we expect the grocerymarket to slow in thecoming months.”

This squeeze showedthrough in the marketshare of the major gro-cery chains over thepast three months.

There were moregains for the no-frillsshops at the cheaper endof the market and also atthe top end for Waitrose,

as people go out lessoften and choose to eatat home.

Spending overall roseby 4.6% to £23.8bn overthe three months com-pared to 2010, suggestinga 0.2% drop in volumesover the period.

However, discountersAldi and Lidl showedthe greatest growth at20.2% and 15.6% respect-ively.

news

12 Wednesday, July 20, 2011

by David Legat, of Mason Owen,in Liverpool

LDPbusiness .co.uklocation

viewpoint

byTonyMcDonoughLDPDEPUTYBUSINESSEDITORtony.mcdonough@liverpool.com

INASSOCIATION

WITH

LIVERPOOL’SINVESTMENTSPECIALISTS

Locationbecomes increasingly important intheUKretailmarket

LOCATION, location, location – it isthe oldest phrase in property, but,given the economic turmoil of the

past few years, is this saying moreprevalent than ever for retailers?

There have been few major retaildevelopments in the UK over the lasttwo years and as such high streetshave had to be developed aroundtheir existing infrastructure.

Retailers have no choice but towork with the existing stock on thehigh street.

And with an almost continual sup-ply of new vacant units, as the suc-cession of retailers going into admin-istration continues, some highstreets are faring better than others.

There is a growing concern thatregional disparities are increasing,as different areas and towns

throughout the country deal with thechallenging economic times. Theseregional disparities are noted inCallcredits retail league tables,which rank retail centres interms of revenue, numbersof premium retailers, andnumbers of value retailers.

It is widely accepted thatLondon is cemented at thetop of the table as a retaildestination. The North-West as a region showsvarying results.

The major cities have, asa minimum, held their positionwithin a national context; however,it’s the smaller retail centres of the

North West which perhaps showcause for concern. In the last year,Manchester has leapfrogged Glasgow

to become the largest retailcentre outside of London,and with a total of 96 alsoheads up the table for num-bers of premium retailers.

Liverpool ranks as the sev-enth largest retail centre inthe UK, and boasts 53 pre-mium retailers within the city.

On the counter side,Blackpool ranks second interms of value retailers,

Preston 10th and Birkenhead 17th,but perhaps more revealing is thatthese towns show 22.2%, 15.8% and

24.7% levels of saturation of valueretailers respectively.

Although figures such as theseneed to be taken with a pinch of salt,they do illustrate that retail centresappear to be developing exponen-tially in terms of the type of retailersthat they attract.

Retailers need to identify wheretheir target customers shop, and soare drawn to retail centres wheresimilar users are already trading.

In the current market, retailersare risk-averse and less willing tobreak the trend on the high street,and consequently choosing the rightlocation is more important than everto ensure their success.

Peel andBarrattto buildhousesPEEL Group and Bar-ratt Homes haveformed a partnershipto bring forward newhousing developmenton a number of Peel’sresidential sites in thenorth-west and north-east of England.

A framework agree-ment has been enteredinto by both partieswhich initially willcover 80 acres of landon six sites with thepotential for more than1,000 new homes to bebuilt over the next fiveyears, with an end valueapproaching £200m.

Barratt Homes’Manchester divisionwill shortly be submit-ting detailed planningapplications on twosites in Wigan andsouth Liverpool foralmost 500 houses.

Additional develop-ment sites in GreaterManchester, Cheshireand South Yorkshireshould follow. LouiseMorrissey, director ofland and planning, PeelLand and Property,said: “Our agreementwith Barratt Homesrepresents a new wayforward during thesetimes of recovery”

ManufactureragreesdealtoacquiregiantWirralsite

The site at 1 Hickmans Road, in Birkenhead, which has been acquired by Kent-based Darcy Spillcare

‘Majorcitieshaveheldtheirposition’

WIRRAL property firm Smith andSons has sold 1 Hickmans Road, inBirkenhead, to Kent-based DarcySpillcare, an international manufac-turer and supplier of spill preventionand control products.

The 27,000 sq ft warehouse andoffice facility sits on a one-acre site,close to Peel Holdings’ proposed Wir-ral Waters development.

Discussions between Smith andSons and Darcy Spillcare began earlythis year, with the Kent company keento re-locate its manufacturing arm tothe Wirral as part of the firm’s widerexpansion plans.

Sean Seery, of Smith and Sons, said:“It’s great to see Wirral recognised bya southern-based business as the ideallocation for a move in terms of man-ufacturing.

“Darcy Spillcare was very clear onthe type of commercial property andsite that it needed, and we are pleasedto have worked alongside them tosecure the sale of this fantastic facility.

“Wirral offers a wealth of opportun-ity in terms of commercial propertyand 1 Hickmans Road is a large siteproviding extensive internal floorspace and external storage and car-riage area.”

Darcy Spillcare’s new site’soperation is expected to open inSeptember.

Richard Proctor, of Darcy Spillcare,said: “The opening of this new man-ufacturing facility stems from Darcy’sgrowth over the last few years, andwill enable us to meet with the ever-increasing demands for our growingrange of environmental protectionproducts and services.

“By making this move, we hope tospeed up our supply times, increaseour product range and enhanceresearch and development facilities.

“Overall, we believe our launch ofthe Birkenhead site will improve effic-iency and overall allow us to delivereven better customer care.”

Established in 1935, Darcy special-ises in spill prevention and control,and in the provision of solutions tohelp sites to achieve environmentalcompliance.

INDUSTRIAL UNITS To Let.South L’pool 500 to 4000 sqft,monthly tenancy, competitiverents. From £50pw Tel: 0151427 5051

Commercial Premises

UNITS TO LET 5,000−15,000sqft. Initial Rent free period.0151 486 0004

BUSINESSto BUSINESS

MAIN RD MAGHULL LargeShop & offices, forecourt park-ing roller shutter security, welldecorated , low rent . Su i taccountants/ solicitor etc. Alsoshop of f i ces & warehousesuitable for furniture sales etc.1,900 sqft 01695 423489

13Wednesday, July 20, 2011

LDPbusiness .co.uklocation

LDPbusiness .co.uklocation

byTonyMcDonoughLDPDEPUTYBUSINESSEDITORtony.mcdonough@liverpool.com

INASSOCIATION

WITH

LIVERPOOL’SINVESTMENTSPECIALISTS

Doublelettingin cityBRUNTWOOD hassecured two lettings inLiverpool, totalling2,000 sq ft.

Property recruitmentcompany CarolineKingsley Holdings hastaken space at ThePlaza, in St Paul’sSquare, and video pro-duction company Paint-box Art Media hastaken space at theGrade II-listed QueenInsurance Buildings.

Kingsley directorCaroline Kingsley said:“Kingsley Associates isdelighted to join Brunt-wood at The Plaza.

“The customer ser-vice team is both wel-coming and accommod-ating, ensuring thetransition of ourexpanding recruitmentconsultancy was assmooth as possible.”

David Seddon, salessurveyor at Bruntwoodsaid: “These lettingsdemonstrate Brunt-wood’s capacity to meeta variety of businessneeds.”

Lackoffundinghits investors

BrabnersadvisesonsaleofCheshireretailpropertyLIVERPOOL law firmBrabners Chaffe Streethas advised PrincessStreet Holdings on thesale of the Waitrosebuilding in PrincessStreet in Knutsford, for£2.7m.

Associated BritishFoods Pensions Trusteeshas bought the buildingcomprising 12,809 sq ft.The space is let toWaitrose on a 25-yearlease.

The initial passingrent totals £140,000 peryear, with fixed upliftsevery five years.

Matthew Dobson,property partner atBrabners Chaffe Street,said: “This is a success-ful and desirable retaillocation, with a strongoccupier profile, makingit an attractive targetfor investors.”

The deal reflects a netinitial yield of justunder 5%.

Rob Millington, ofCheetham & Mortimer,also advised PrincessStreet Holdings.

Alun Jones, ofEdwards & Co andMayer Brown, acted forthe purchaser. The Waitrose building, in Princess Street, Knutsford – changed hands for £2.7m

A SCARCITY of bank funding continues tohamper property auction investors in Liver-pool, according to leading auction house Sut-ton Kersh.

The firm held its latest Liverpool auction atthe Marriott Hotel, in the city centre, lastweek, selling 42 out of 73 lots and generatingreceipts of just over £2m.

Auction manager Cathy Holt admitted it“wasn't our best auction of the year” and saidinvestors had told her that bank finance con-tinued to be difficult to obtain.

She told LDP Business: “After speaking to anumber of investors in the room, it is clearthat funding is still a major problem.

“While they recognise that there are a lot ofgood deals available in the current market-place, they do not have finance readily avail-able to be able to buy.

“Investors are looking for cheap propertieswith a minimum of a 10% return, and in somecases more.”

Residential investment properties proved tobe particularly popular, accounting for morethan 62% of the sales.

Among the best-selling lots of the day was avacant three-bedroom house in Fazakerleywhich sold for £12,000 above guide price.

Ms Holt added: “We can’t feel too dis-heartened by the sale.

“We have sold over 200 properties acrossfour auctions so far this year, raising in excessof £12.5m, which is no mean achievement inwhat continues to be a tricky marketplace.”

The event was filmed by BBC TV’s HomesUnder the Hammer, and Sutton Kersh alsodonated £50 to Marie Curie Cancer Care foreach lot sold in the room.

More than £1,000 was raised for the charity’sBlooming Great Tea Party campaign.■ THE Sutton Kersh and Thomson & MoultonProperty Group have two new appointmentswithin their property and block managementdepartment.

Chartered surveyor Mr Lawton joins thefirm from 2020 Liverpool.

It is clear funding is still a majorproblem – Cathy Holt, of Sutton Kersh OFFICES@DOWNING.COM

OFFICESTO LETFLEXIBLESPACEFLEXIBLETERMS

14 Wednesday, July 20, 2011

LondonStockMarketatClose

Last night, the pound was worth: $1.6135 (up 0.0112)........... 1.1396 euros (down 0.0013) ...........127.61 yen (up 0.24) ...........Its trade weighted index was 79.20 (up 0.10)Metals in $ per troy ounce: Gold 1601.00 (up 2.00)......................Silver 40.32 (down 0.01)......................Platinum 1773.00 (up 8.00) ..................... UK base lending rate 0.5%

Keep track of all the major share moves of the day with our live FTSE ticker at www.ldpbusiness.co.ukLDPbusiness .co.ukLDPbusiness .co.uk

96 4934 Adv Medical 7512 +1 +34

1812 338 AEA Technology 312 +18 +18

28712 245 Albany Inv Tst 275 xd -1

1251 84812 AMEC 1098 +14 +7

92 2334 Anglesey Mining 5714 -2 -212

35714 23458 Balfour Beatty 29878 +1 -958

3912 2914 Beale 35 -1 -134

612 501 Compass Gp 583 xd +6 -16

1258 514 Coral Prod 11

126212 98212 Dee Valley 1245 xd +25

479 301 easyJet 30638 +538 -1714

1030 72312 JD Sports Fashion 990 xd +40 -30

135 1112 JJB Sports 20 +1

36 1534 Johnson Serv 35 -18 -14

579 40534 Nichols 57714 -134 +814

14912 95 NWF 142 -12 -312

50 2112 Park Gp 44 -2

1257 815 Rathbone 1138 -6 -19

139 9712 Redrow 129 +1 +1

14312 12018 RSA Insurance 13134 -38 -278

34 1914 Speedy Hire 3012 xd +34 -114

4634 3412 Sportech 3914 +78 +1

4512 2514 Telme Gp 4434 xd -58

5514 3234 UK Coal 39 +114 +2

2 78 Ultima 114 -18

2065 1688 Unilever 1954 -4 -56

63112 54312 Utd Utils 57912 xd -112 -712

UNIT TRUSTS

DAILY POST REGIONAL INDEX 1218.18 up 6.67 ▲ 0.55%

In order to give a greater range of Unit Trustinformation, covering a larger number of trusts, thelist of funds changes each day as follows:UNIT TRUST MANAGERS DAYS PUBLISHEDA to Com ................................................... TuesdayF to Inv....................................................WednesdayJP to Pru...................................................ThursdayRoy to T.........................................................Friday

FUNDS

Consols

£90932 £761132 Cons 4%.................£7734

£582732 £50 Cons 212% ................ £56 +11316

Conversions

£8134 £69 Cnv 312%.................£7212

Treasury

£61 £50 Tr 212%................. £531516

£1151932 £10734 Tr 9% 12................£10734

£1062532£1022132 Tr 5% 12............. £1021316

£121516 £11512 Tr 8% 13............. £1151932 -132

£114332 £109532 Tr 5% 14.............. £111916 -332

£111332 £105732 Tr 734% 12-15........£10614

£3341132 £30414 Tr 212% IL 16 ...... £3341132 +732

£142316 £1322132 Tr 834% 17........... £137532 -532

£147132 £1332732 Tr 8% 21............. £1422532 -516

War

£8334 £6712 War Ln 312%............£7412 -532

High Low Price Var 5Day High Low Price Var 5Day High Low Price Var 5Day Country Currency Tourist Buy Sell

FTSE 100 INDEX

SPOTLIGHT

KEYs............ dealing suspendedxd.............price ex-dividendxs......... price ex-scrip issuexr ........ price ex-rights issuexc ..... ex-capital distributionxa................................ ex-all£......price value in £ sterling

Those securities which haveincreased in value since the previ-ous close are shown in bold type.

To assist in the analysis of themarket two figures are given foreach sector. Firstly an index (setat 100 on January 1 1992) togive a comparison in the perfor-mance of various market sectors.Secondly an indication of the per-centage change in the price of allthe securities within a sector sincethe previous close.

Jan 19, 2011 Jul 19, 2011

GREENE KING

Share price (pence)400

435

470

505

540

FTSE-Rebased

£ ABROAD

Australia dollars 1.43 1.506 1.511

Canada dollars 1.46 1.533 1.535

Denmark krone 8.08 8.492 8.502

European Union euro 1.09 1.139 1.140

Japan yen 120.94 127.280 127.380

New Zealand dollars 1.77 1.884 1.889

Norway krone 8.55 8.923 8.924

Poland zlotys 4.03 4.574 4.582

Sweden krona 10.03 10.508 10.518

Switzerland francs 1.26 1.317 1.318

Turkey new lira 2.52 2.676 2.686

United States dollars 1.53 1.613 1.614

Cancel Bid Offer Yield

Fund Terms Price Price Gross

FIDELITY INVESTMENT SERVS

Amer Spec Sits - 601.20 -

American - 1804.00 0.32

Gwth & Inc - 311.60 1.75

Income Plus - 199.50 4.37

Japan - 231.70 0.50

Jpan Spec Sits - 140.50 0.09

Spec Sits - 1882.00 0.01

Sth East Asia - 760.80 0.01

GARTMORE FUND MANAGERS

Euro Sel Opps - 877.10 1.09

Income - 205.17 3.98

Pratical Inv -159.22 170.58 4.34

GUARDIAN

Index-Linked Acc -524.98 552.61 -

International Acc -993.26 1045.53 -

Pacific Acc -261.69 275.47 -

Property Bonds -2014.13 2098.05 -

HSBC INVESTMENT FUNDS (UK)

Balanced - 103.00 1.14

British -260.80 260.80 3.15

Gilt & FI - 64.28 3.20

Gilt & Fixed -227.20 227.20 3.04

Monthly Inc - 130.10 4.10

HENDERSON HORIZON FUND

European Smllr Cos A - 1000.70 0.13

Sterling Bd Unit Tst - 53.65 56.05 4.50

UK Equity Inc A - 449.40 3.16

HILL SAMUEL UNIT TST MGRS

Capital -309.16 321.54 1.10

European - 784.00 0.70

Far East - 542.60 1.80

Inc & Gwth - 196.60 3.30

International - 420.80 0.40

North Amer Acc - 470.00 0.10

INVESCO FUND MANAGERS

Sing ASEAN - 215.55 0.39

High Low Funds Price Var

Closing Indices

FT-SE 100 INDEX 5789.99up 37.18 ▲ 0.65%

20 DAY MOVINGAVERAGE 5872.67up 0.73 ▲ 0.01%

FT ALL-SHARE 3016.33up 19.12 ▲ 0.64%

Aerospace & Defence

Index 3247.87 ▲ 22.26

324 109 Avon Rbbr 285

36978 29434 BAE Systems 29858 +134

73612 51958 Chemring 57012xd+1512

24758 19214 Cobham 20518 -14

38918 26134 Meggitt 37114 +218

665 552 Rolls-Royce 63512 +512

18758 11114 Senior 185 +114

Automobiles & Parts

Index 5312.09 ▼ 16.36

245 13518 GKN 22714 -34

Banks

Index 4097.48 ▲ 24.68

344 20758 Barclays 21158 +4

87512 61012 Bco Santander 63634 +512

73078 59114 HSBC 59334 +212

7614 858 Ireland 858 -18

7758 4138 Lloyds Banking4318 +134

5218 33 Ryl Scotland 3318 +18

1959 1519 Stan Chart 1575 -2112

Beverages

Index 9706.60 ▼ 64.53

1395 1035 Barr (AG) 1309 +1

518 36412 Britvic 37014 +218

1307 1050 Diageo 1228 -6

2337121841 SABMiller 228412 -21

Chemicals

Index 7690.71 ▲ 179.25

2081 1153 Croda 2015 +31

18738 6934 Elementis 182 +5

2119 1550 Johnsn Mat 2016xd +78

Construction & Materials

Index 3722.31 ▲ 25.17

35714 23458 Balfour Beatty 29878 +1

265 190 Costain 211 -8

149118 102712 CRH 122614 +3678

1418 970 Kier Group 1340 +18

7634 35 Low Bonar 7234 -34

12412 85 Marshalls 11114 +134

Electricity

Index 8759.54 ▲ 16.98

50312 35358 Drax Gp 49634 +14

44858 299 Intl Power 299 -158

1423 1108 Scot&Sthrn 1413 +3

Electronic & Electrical

Index 3383.07 ▼ 4.70

705 440 Domino Ptg 662 xd +112

207 10278 Laird 186 +1

35718 18918 Morgn Cru 329 -678

1000 320 Oxford Inst 958 +712

377 180 Volex Gp 29114 +22

Equity Inv Instruments

Index 6060.13 ▲ 29.35

39234 30758 Alliance 377 +34

14012 11514 Br Assets 13134 -12

777 555 Candover Inv 582 -8

228 18512 Dunedin IncGth 21812 +34

15734 10634 Dunedin Sml 15014xd -34

49214 39238 Edin Invst 45978xd

66034 538 Edin US Trkr Tst 640 +6

32778 26334 Forgn & C 31434 +78

32334 23034 Hend Smllr Cos 313 +258

385 29518 Law Debenture37238 -58

252 20014 Scot Am 237 +3

533 42618 Witan 513 +2

Fixed Line Telecoms

Index 2326.99 ▲ 46.26

20418 13058 BT Gp 193 +538

6138 3712 Cble&W Comm 39 xd -1

7838 44 Cble&W Wwide 44 xd -1

7934 45 KCOM 7512xd -1

Food & Drug Retailers

Index 4613.14 ▼ 17.76

30814 26234 Morrison W 29412 +1

395 31414 Sainsbury 316 +134

44058 378 Tesco 392 -3

112 5114 Thorntons 53 +138

Food Producers

Index 5200.35 ▼ 15.11

1182 940 AB Foods 1070 -9

875 510 Carrs Mill 860

90712 724 Cranswick 728 xd

42478 33934 Dairy Crest 37414xd -778

3518 16 Premier Foods 2012 -18

656 40918 Tate Lyle 603 xd -212

2065 1688 Unilever 1954 -4

Forestry & Paper

Index 6619.00 ▲ 70.01

664 42238 Mondi 61412 +612

General Financial

Index 5822.76 ▲ 83.13

340 25418 3i 27214 -12

88812 664 Close Bros 744 +1

57012 38014 ICAP 47134 +678

1076 617 London Stk Ex 99612 +33

1033 72812 Provident 1019 +1912

1257 815 Rathbone 1138 -6

1922 1231 Schroders 1596 +9

General Industrials

Index 3106.64 ▲ 41.76

72412 41214 Cooksn Gp 619 +14

1258 514 Coral Prod 11

6 212 Cosalt 212

400 293 Rexam 37238 +212

26614 12534 Smith DS 24018 -58

1429 1089 Smiths Gp 1141 +21

General Retailers

Index 1658.81 ▲ 11.78

2514 1214 Ashley L 1834 +14

31114 221 Brown (N) Gp 273 xd +3

7738 56 Debenhams 6534 +178

2812 1134 Dixons Retail 1618 +14

51812 34814 Halfords 356 xd -14

24412 13678 Home Retail 13838xd +112

42538 25314 Inchcape 37512 +134

1030 72312 JD Sports 990 xd +40

28718 19812 Kingfisher 25358 +258

42712 32914 M & S 35418 +178

62712 38112 Mothercare 40418xd -138

2410 1868 Next 2397 +18

2986 1724 Signet Jwlrs 2830 +29

523 39814 WH Smith 49534 +34

Health Care Equip & Serv

Index 3706.62 ▲ 6.33

742 53712 Smith Nph 65412 +1

Household Goods

Index 6584.27 ▼ 50.22

138 74 Aga Rngmstr 106 +38

119 70 Barratt Dev 10158 +34

75312 511 Bellway 660 +5

192 125 McBride 126 +12

3648 3015 Reckitt Benck 3422 -34

139 9712 Redrow 129 +1

4314 2214 Taylor Wimpey 3512 +14

Industrial Engineering

Index 7468.84 ▲ 104.03

39734 21412 Bodycote 35218 +418

85312 53812 Charter 79712 +912

41918 198 Fenner 409 +1078

1119 65712 IMI 1046 +9

116 4312 Molins 10512 -1

31212 119 MS Intl 28212xd

45 2514 Renold 3812 +12

2063 1499 Spirax Srco 1895 +8

2196 1130 Weir Gp 2126 +60

Industrial Transportation

Index 2567.81 ▲ 5.99

24034 175 BBA Aviation 20938 -214

Life Insurance

Index 4121.49 ▲ 31.37

47778 340 Aviva 39334 +134

12334 8718 Lgl & Gen 11212 +58

777 52012 Prudential 66412 +2

31618 21114 Resolution 27514 +1014

24434 19114 Standard Life 19612 +134

Media

Index 4055.46 ▲ 57.50

850 692 BSkyB 734 +2012

59412 41114 D Mail Tst 41314 +218

9312 4934 ITV 6434 +118

1207 926 Pearson 1139 +2

59012 50512 Reed Elsevier 542 +512

168 8034 STV Group 12834 +34

12414 3934 Trinity Mirror 4134 +2

725 507 Utd Business 51612 +12

151 106 UTV 129 +514

84612 633 WPP 709 +19

Mining

Index 25381.33 ▲ 375.87

3437 2254 Anglo Amer 295312 +51

1634 97712 Antofagasta 1424 +43

2631121767 BHP Billiton 2326 +3812

1682 990 Fresnillo 1660 +1

53118 46658 Glencore Intl 48814 +14

1671 1073 Kazakhmys 1343 +41

1983 1312 Lonmin 1320 +8

6655 4425 Randgold Res 5525 -35

4712 3105 Rio Tinto 4366 +58

5514 3234 UK Coal 39 +114

Mobile Telecoms

Index 3614.76 ▲ 31.30

75612 513 Inmarsat 513 -4

18234 14612 Vodafone Gp 15834xd +112

Nonlife Insurance

Index 1575.32 ▲ 8.31

1754 1448 Admiral Grp 1550 +15

195412138938Marsh McL 181138xd-1478

14312 12018 RSA Insurance 13134 -38

Oil & Gas Producers

Index 8449.68 ▲ 87.80

156412100312BG 140412 +2312

509 37518 BP 46058 +458

49314 366 Cairn Energy 38234 +1114

535 36412 Premier Oil 40638 +278

2336 1642 Ryl D Shell B 2239 +2012

1493 1130 Tullow Oil 1279 +19

Oil Equipment & Services

Index 25255.04 ▲ 384.85

1251 84812 AMEC 1098 +14

Personal Goods

Index 24557.68 ▲ 102.14

1577 82012 Burberry Gp 1545xd +7

409 32012 PZ Cussons 370

Pharma & Biotechnology

Index 9473.82 ▼ 43.81

3385 280112AstraZeneca 301812 +312

1375121111 GlaxoSmthKln 1323 -12

50 3112 Vernalis 4258 +418

Real Estate

Index 1958.11

35314 28718 Big Yellow Gp 30134xd -38

62912 44634 Brit Land 598 xd -612

2954 2280 Daejan Hldgs 2884 -70

445 30114 Gt Portland 43912 +378

885 58912 Land Secs 86412xd -112

33114 26212 SEGRO 303 +12

Software & Comp Servs

Index 722.36 ▲ 1.84

1857 1271 Autonomy 1703 -27

6312 3212 Emblaze 5934 +58

36414 23014 Invensys 30312xd +514

123 85 Kewill 10134 +78

14714 102 Logica 11818 +3

302 23634 Sage 27812 +314

Support Services

Index 4428.24 ▲ 31.29

1812 338 AEA Tech 312 +18

2034 1346 Aggreko 2001xd +32

20778 77 Ashtead Gp 15458 -118

568 36318 Berendsen 537 -2

801 679 Bunzl 776 +412

79412 63512 Capita 69712 +812

85312 54912 De La Rue 758 xd

29478 20534 Electrocmps 231 xd -18

83312 606 Experian 811 xd +9

291 23734 G4S 27358 +134

452 32112 Hyder Cons 410 xd -178

34114 18312 Interserve 32334 +514

550 393 Menzies J 519

34634 180 Northgate 325 +112

30834 18214 Prem Farnell 18238 +14

10912 8414 Rentokil 9014 -18

12012 79 Smiths News 8512 +114

34 1914 Speedy Hire 3012xd +34

1127 747 Travis & P 931 +12

2261 1223 Wolseley 1831 +9

Tech Hardware & Equip

Index 736.07 ▲ 12.06

651 30534 ARM Hldgs 58212 +1312

28 1934 BATM 2212xd

10234 7112 Psion 79 +112

16014 12034 Spirent Comms 13458 +218

Tobacco

Index 31512.73 ▼ 280.00

2847 2166 Br Am Tob 2745 -30

2231 1784 Imperial Tob 2140 -8

Travel & Leisure

Index 4460.78 ▲ 56.56

3153 2037 Carnival 2220 +35

612 501 Compass Gp 583 xd +6

479 301 easyJet 30638 +538

12234 5734 Enterprise Inns 59 +78

41258 31114 FirstGroup 34718xd +414

1598 1073 Go-Ahead Gp 1540 +9

518 398 Greene King 48158 +138

360 240 Holidaybreak 295 xd -2

1435 982 Intercontl Htls 1226 +24

285 21278 Intl Cons Airlns 22678 +414

15514 12234 Ladbrokes 14018 +78

11718 92 Marston’s 102 +158

361 28414 Mitchells&Btlrs 28438 +18

9038 5818 Punch Taverns 6818 +114

15334 10314 Rank Gp 14934 -4

335 21434 Restaurant Gp 29314 +234

26812 16034 Stagecoach 24934 +114

20434 67 Thomas Cook 6838 +138

27178 17814 TUI Travel 18012 +214

1887 1368 Whitbread 1520 -2

Utilities

Index 4621.88 ▲ 18.00

34618 30312 Centrica 32534 +714

12621298212 Dee Valley 1245xd

63212 49034 National Grid 59412xd -4

715 560 Pennon Gp 69812 +2

1517 1270 Severn 1428xd +1

63112 54312 Utd Utils 57912xd -112

AIM

Index 870.03 ▲ 2.78

3714 914 API Gp 35 +14

1234 4 Armour Gp 418

158 1 Crimson Tide 138

214 112 Dawson Intl 218

838 478 Eckoh 734

135 1112 JJB Sports 20 +1

36 1534 Johnson Serv 35 -18

86 3034 Man Brnze 4712 +1

12 4 Metalrax 938 -12

550 37712 Portmeirion P 490

17312 55 Redhall Gp 7312 +1

6114 1612 Scapa Gp 56 -112

142 99 Swallowfield 11512

9414 67 Uniq 9414 +14

712 520 Young A 696 +334

Jun 27 - Jul 1 Jul 4 - Jul 8 Jul 11 - Jul 15 M T W T F5700

5795

5890

5985

6080FTSE-100

20-Day Moving Average

15Wednesday, July 20, 2011

businessdiary

Log on to www.ldpbusiness.co.uk for regular business new updates

LDPbusiness .co.ukmarket comment

LDPbusiness .co.ukIN

ASSOCIATIONWITH

LIVERPOOL’SINVESTMENTSPECIALISTS

Wednesday, July 20Companies wanting tofind more about thetrade mission to Chinacan attend an intro-ductory event on Wed-nesday at the Hiltonhotel, in Liverpool One.The event runs from10am to 12 noon.The mission aims to

help digital and creat-ive firms take the leapinto the potentially luc-rative Chinese market.

Wednesday, July 20Liverpool-based Ven-more will hold its nextproperty auction in thecity today, with 56 lotsgoing under the ham-mer.

The firm, which hasbeen confirmed asheadline sponsor atthis year’s MerseysideLandlord Expo, inSeptember, will hold itsevent at the HiltonHotel. Venmore saysthere has been a “highlevel” of interest in theproperties prior to theauction.

Wednesday, July 20The next Fish! net-working event is being

held from 5.30-8pm. Formore details, contactJoel Jelen at joel@ubi-quitypr.co.uk

Thursday, July 21Independent handbagsand accessories retailerGlitz N Glamour isholding a fashion showat Maghull Town Hall.The Maghull store isowned by Susan Slater,who has organised theshow in aid of Macmil-lan Cancer Support.

She said she wanted to“heighten the profile oflocal small businesseswho are finding it hardin the present eco-nomic climate”.The fashion showstarts at 7.30pm andtickets are £2.50 each.

Friday, July 22Liverpool Chamber ofCommerce Health andSafety Essentials in 60really useful minutesThe session is designed

to help businesses thatemploy between fiveand 100 staff under-stand what is requiredof them in terms ofhealth and safety.The session willaddress how legislationimpacts employees andemployers.Starts at 9am and isfree to chamber mem-bers with a £5 fee fornon-members.For details, visit

www.liverpool cham-ber.org.uk

Thursday, 28 July 28Liverpool Chamber ofCommerce is hostingits latest Speed Net-working at FranklinsDeli, in St Paul’sSquare, Liverpool.It costs £10 for mem-bers to attend, and £15for non-members. Itstarts at 5.30pm. Fordetails, visit www.liver-pool chamber.org.uk

Greecedebtdeal‘canbedone’,saysministeroffinanceA EUROPEAN debt deal is “attain-able” at an emergency EU summit thisweek, Greece’s finance minister said,signalling progress in talks betweengovernments and private bond holdersin drawing up a new rescue deal.

Evangelos Venizelos also saidGreece remained on course to reach aprimary budget surplus next year, des-pite missing key fiscal targets so far in2011.

Greece is enacting major economicreforms alongside an austerity pro-gramme as it grapples with a nationaldebt topping £298.5bn that havebrought it to the brink of default.

Leaders of countries that usethe euro are to attend theemergency talks in Brussels onThursday, amid fears the fall-out from Greece’s woes couldspread to larger Europeancountries. Borrowing costs ineurozone members Italy andSpain have risen alarmingly inrecent days.

“Reaching a solution isattainable because this sol-ution does not only includeGreece,” Mr Venizelos said athis central Athens office.

“At issue is the euro and theresilience of the eurozone.

“That is why protection of Greece isa self-defence mechanism for the euro-zone. That will help us avoid a dominoeffect.”

He described the recent pressure onItalian and Spanish borrowing ratesresulting from bets against those coun-tries and the euro by financial spec-ulators.

“(We are witnessing) organised

attacks on countries with very goodmacroecenomic data, such as Italy, forexample,” he said. “There is no panic,this is a very cool-headed andwell-organised attack.”

Greece is being kept afloatby £96.6bn in emergencyloans from other eurozonemembers and the Internat-ional Monetary Fund, butremains locked out of bondmarkets by high interestrates and will require asecond bail-out expected toinvolve a similar amount.

“We want a solution thatmakes our national debt sus-tainable . . . guaranteesGreece’s borrowing needsuntil in mid-2014 when weforesee our return to the mar-kets, and guarantees theliquidity of Greek banks,” Mr

Venizelos said.A new bail-out deal is likely to

involve banks and other Greek bond-holders making voluntary contrib-utions to deferring Athens’s debt pay-ments. But rating agencies havewarned private involvement couldprompt them to further downgradeGreek credit status to selective default.

Details of that potential arrange-

Whatdoyouthink?Email us withyour views atletters@dailypost.co.uk,or write to usPO Box 48, OldHall Street,LiverpoolL69 3EB

ment are being negotiated at talksbetween European Union officials andprivate investors in Rome.

Mr Venizelos said Greece was hop-ing to avoid being placed under theselective default rating – an assess-ment that could plunge Europe’sworsening debt crisis into greater tur-bulence – and indicated progress hadbeen achieved in Rome.

“Our aim is to avoid even a selectivedefault,” he said.

“There are proposals that providean answer to what is sought and at thesame time do not permit ratings agen-

cies to issue that rating.” He added: “Ibelieve we will be able . . . to achievesomething which will be secure, pos-itive for the viability of the publicdebt, and will safeguard Greece as acountry and the Greek banking sys-tem.”

Mr Venizelos said Greece hadalready taken the toughest measuresneeded to steer the economy back tofiscal health.

The Socialist government has facedmonths of anti-austerity protests, andhas seen a recent slump in its pop-ularity.

Countries in the eurozone are to attend an emergency meeting todiscuss the debt crisis in Greece and in other countries

LondonmarketTHE London marketregained some of itsrecent losses yesterday, asbanking shares staged arecovery following yester-day’s hammering.

Banks were pushedhigher by opportunisticbuying, after they fell byas much as 7% onMonday in the face offresh European jitters.

This helped the FTSE100 Index to rise 37.2points to 5790.

The pound was slightlyup at 1.14 against theeuro as the single cur-rency continued to bedogged by fears over theeurozone debt crisis.

Sterling was also up at1.61 against the dollar.

Despite the stock mar-ket rebound, gold contin-ued to offer a safe havenafter hitting a new recordof more than £1,000 anounce. The equivalentprice in US dollarsnudged to a new high of$1,610 an ounce.

Some of the UK’sbiggest banks madegains. Barclays wasespecially affected due tothe importance of its Bar-Cap investment arm. Iteased back after a strongstart, though shares werestill up 4p at 211.6p.

Lloyds BankingGroup was the biggestriser, lifting 4%, or 1.8p to43.1p, after being helpedby a broker upgrade.

Royal Bank of Scot-land added 0.1p, to 33.1p,despite its announcementthat Nathan Bostock is tovacate his position ashead of restructuring.

The biggest Footsierisers were Lloyds Bank-ing Group, up 1.8p at43.1p, Johnson Matthey,ahead 78p at 2016p, Res-olution, up 10.2p at275.2p, and Kazakhmys,ahead 41p, at 1343p. Thebiggest Footsie fallerswere Autonomy Corpor-ation, down 27p at 1703p,Standard Chartered, off21.5p at 1575p, BritishAmerican Tobacco, off30p at 2745p, and BritishLand, down 6.5p, at 598p.

16 Wednesday, July 20, 2011

‘Iamalwaysthelasttoleavethekitchen’

Specialities – Dave Critchley, head chef at The Noble House, in Liverpool, prepares soft herbed goatscheese with vine tomatoes, roast piquillo cream and wild rocket Picture: GARETH JONES

■ WHILE bankers inthe City of London

enjoy a lavish lifestylefunded by huge bonuses,their colleagues in theprovinces are finding thewhole business a littleless glamorous.

You may have readearlier in today’s LDPBusiness about howBarclays Corporate hasbacked a St Helens com-pany called The Univer-sal Group, whichincludes a division calledEventloos.com

This supplies toilets tooutdoor events and USLsupply toilets to construc-tion sites. Barclays hasprovided a six-figure sumto fund four new execut-ive portable loos.

We are curious as to

the difference between astandard portable loo andan executive one.

Said Barclays’ SarahPickering, above: “After15 years in the financeindustry, this is the firsttime I have ever beenasked to finance toilets.”

■ IN THE spirit of get-ting your excuses in

first, Liverpool Vision isputting the followingwarning at the foot of itsemails: “From July 18,our building will have anew barrier system inplace which may causesome delays. Please allowadditional time for yourmeeting.”

Will it resemble anEast German checkpoint,we wonder?

LDPbusiness .co.ukthe back page

tradinggossip

workingday

7.30am: It’s the start of a very longday. I get up, make myself a strongcoffee, and check if my chef whites aredry. I always wash them the nightbefore, so sometimes I have to putthem in the dryer before I get in theshower. In they go.

8.30am: I arrive at work. The firstthing I do is get changed in to mywhites and check in with the breakfastchef, who starts at 6.30am.

Everything is running smoothlywith breakfast, so I start all myroutine kitchen checks before sittingdown to organise the lunch specials.

9.30am: The meat and fish ordersstart to come in, so I make sureeverything has arrived before I startprepping the food for lunch.

11am: I help the chefs clean down thekitchen before lunch and update TheNoble House blackboard with the day’slunch specials.

12pm: The restaurant is starting to fillup with the local business crowd, so allit’s all hands to the pump. I takecharge of plating up the dishes andmaking sure everything is going outcorrectly and on time. We take greatpride in our food at The Noble House,and immaculate presentation andattention to detail is paramount.

2.30pm: I call the fish supplier, placeorders for the next day and see whatspecialities are available. I try to uselocally sourced fish where possible,but it’s nice to have a variety for ourcustomers and the likes of red mulletand Indian Ocean tuna are very pop-ular here.

3pm: I grab something to eat and startwriting the evening’s specials. Theinspiration for the specials normallycomes to me throughout the day, whileI’m on the go, so I’m constantly mak-ing notes. Next it’s time to start prep-ping evening specials.

5pm: I add the evening specials to TheNoble House blackboard. There isquite a transition between the lunchspecials and more complex eveningdishes, as the later service attractscustomers who want more of a finedining experience.

The evenings are a good chance toshowcase our flair and be creativewith the food, which is what we dobest.

6pm: Customers are starting to arrive,so it’s straight back to work – servingplating, and checking in with the chefsto make sure operations are runningsmoothly.

9pm: I go around the team and makesure all the orders are in place for thenext day. We always like to keep a dayahead of ourselves.

10pm: The diners are starting to leave,so it’s time for the last clean-down ofthe day. I am always the last person to

leave the kitchen as I need to makesure all the checks are done andeverything is organised for the nextday.

10.30pm: Time for a cold Peroni. I sitat the bar and reflect on the day’sevents.

11.30pm: I get home, grab a quick biteto eat with my girlfriend, who haspatiently waited up for me, and takethe dog for a quick run before headingto bed.

DaveCritchley is theheadchefatTheNobleHouse,inBrunswickStreet,Liverpool.Dave,28, livesinChildwall

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