LDP Business - 24th August 2011

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LIVERPOOL One now extends to vir-tually half of Lord Street, after itsowner snapped up a row of shops in a£19.1m deal.

The Grosvenor Liverpool Fund(GLF) bought 52-78 Lord Street fromretail property rival Land Securities.

Miles Dunnett, head of asset man-agement for the fund, told LDP busi-ness that other acquisitions in the citywere possible, but stressed they werenot actively looking.

The deal for the 11 retail units,totalling 55,000 sq ft, gives GLF own-ership of the majority of property on

one side of Lord Street between Para-dise Street and South John Street.

Fully let, it is home to Specsavers,French Connection, Yorkshire Build-ing Society, Dollond & Aitchison Opti-cians, Home Bargains, Co-op Traveland Games Station.

The transaction – which representsan initial yield of 6.4% – means GLFowns the entire block with the excep-tion of the building housing theMcDonald’s restaurant on the cornerof Paradise Street.

Mr Dunnett said: “This acquisitionboth reaffirms our commitment to Liv-erpool, a city that is thriving, andstrengthens the wider Liverpool Oneoffer.This gives us a presence in a partof the city centre that is going places.

“We fundamentally believe that Liv-erpool retail will grow.”

Mason Owen acted for the Gros-venor Liverpool Fund and LunsonMitchenall acted for Land Securities.

Land Securities is also the owner ofthe St John’s and Clayton Square shop-ping centres in the city.

The £1bn Liverpool One schemeopened in two stages in 2008 – Liv-erpool’s year of Capital of Culture.

And, despite the tough economic cli-mate, its mix of retail and leisure facil-ities has proved a hit with shoppersfrom across the North West and bey-ond.

Last December, GLF agreed in prin-ciple a five-year, £385m refinancingwith four banks – well ahead of its

existing borrowing maturing in Jan-uary, 2012. It replaces the original fund-ing which was put in place six yearsago to cover both the developmentphase and the initial period of trading.

As well as Liverpool One, the mainGrosvenor business also continues tomanage and develop assets in otherareas of the city.

These include the former GeorgeHenry Lee building, in Church Street,which it acquired in a deal that sawprevious occupier John Lewis moveinto Liverpool One.

DIY retailer Rapid occupies part ofthe site, but Grosvenor is actively seek-ing tenants for the remainder – some40,000 sq ft over five floors.

LiverpoolOneownerin£19mretailswoop

BrewingupbigplansatCainsPAGE 2

THE London marketmade nervous gainsyesterday as hopesthat the US wouldannounce more stim-ulus measures werecountered by moreweak economic data.

The FTSE 100 Indexclosed 34.1 pointshigher, at 5129.4, astraders were buoyedby hopes that FederalReserve chairman BenBernanke wouldannounce morequantitative easingon Friday to boost theUS economy.

The FTSE was up inearly trading but lostmuch of its earliergains after disap-pointing economicdata from the US.

MARKET REPORT:PAGE 15

FTSE-1005129.4

34.1▲

Insurance giantbounces backfrom recessionPAYMENTSHIELD chiefexecutive Tim John-son says there is arevival at Southport’sbiggest employer.

PROFILE: PAGE 3

Youth roleBUSINESS coach offersfree assistance to dis-advantaged and disaf-fected youngsters.

PAGE 4

Finance fearsRAISING finance isstill the biggest con-cern among manufac-turers, the EEF says.

PAGE 5

Standing TallRUNCORN’S Tall Groupsupplies 3m ballotpapers for an Africanreferendum.

PAGE 7

inside Revivalbeginsat EthelAustinTHE new owner ofretailer Ethel Austinhas revealed her plansto revamp the chainand restore its for-tunes.

In an interview withLDP Business today,Sue Townsend says shewill streamline thebusiness to ensure ithas a profitable future.

Ms Townsend lastweek bought the chainfrom administrators,and ditched the Life &Style name underwhich it had been trad-ing. She said: “It wasthe Ethel Austin brandthat I was interested in.

“Their by-line wasquality clothing ataffordable prices. Thatcan still be true.

“It’s a great littlehigh street chain.

“It just needs the pro-cesses and the productto be made right.”

BUSINESS EDITOR:BILL GLEESON0151 472 2319

DEPUTY BUSINESS EDITOR:TONY McDONOUGH0151 330 4918

BUSINESS REPORTER:PETER ELSON0151 472 2502

BUSINESS REPORTER:ALISTAIR HOUGHTON0151 472 2449

BUSINESS REPORTER:NEIL HODGSON0151 472 2451

FULL INTERVIEW:PAGES 8-9

byTonyMcDonoughLDPDEPUTYBUSINESSEDITORtony.mcdonough@liverpool.com

■ BILL GLEESON: Page 8

2 Wednesday, August 24, 2011

www.ldpcreative.co.uk

The latest fromthe creative anddigital industries

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TONY McDONOUGH’S BUSINESS BEAT

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Log on to www.ldpbusiness.co.uk

1 Ethel Austin brand acquired2 L1 buys units in £19.1m deal3 Virgin link to MBNA4 Lime product placement plan5 Budget UK opens in Liverpoolldpbusiness.co.uk

Updatesthroughoutthe day

TopbrewersaysCainsis‘fantasticopportunity’

Fundingfor citymedicalstart-upMERSEYSIDE start-upcompany Med ePad hasreceived the firsttelemedical sectorinvestment from the£25m North West Fundfor Biomedical.

The Liverpool Sci-ence Park-based ven-ture has clinched£50,000 of PathfinderInvestment from thefund, run by early-stage venture capitalfirm SPARK Impact.

The North West Fundfor Biomedical is asub-fund of the £185mNorth West Fund fin-anced by the EuropeanRegional DevelopmentFund and the EuropeanInvestment Bank.

Med ePad hasdeveloped an interact-ive touch screen mobileinternet device forhealthcare service pro-viders, aimed atimproving the effic-iency of treatment andhelping patients to bet-ter manage theirself-care.

The seven-inch hand-held touch screen com-puter comes loadedwith condition-specificapps created in con-junction with NHShealthcare profession-als.

Its functions includethe ability to recordmedication regimesand daily living pat-terns, send appoint-ment reminders, con-duct online consultat-ions and access specificinformation relating toa particular condition,and, where approp-riate, in the languageof the patient’s choice.

There are around15m long-term con-dition sufferers in theUK. The new invest-ment will help fund thedevelopment of initialapps and run a numberof trials.

Med ePad founderRob Connell said: “I amlooking forward tobeing able to develop arange of efficiency andpatient-benefitingapplications.”

newsLDPbusiness .co.uk

THE new head brewer at iconic Mer-seyside brewery Cains says he wantsto introduce new brews and newnames to encourage drinkers to try itsbeers.

Jim Kerr came out of “semi-retire-ment” to take the top brewing job atCains.

Mr Kerr, who has worked in brewingfor most of his career, will now workwith the brewery’s owners, Ajmail andSudarghara Dusanj, to introduce newbeers and tweak its existing range.

Mr Kerr said: “Brewing is aboutattention to detail and having a feel forwhat you’re doing.

“It is a science, but I believe there’sa bit of art and craft in it as well.

“I’ve done this all my life. I’ve got afeel for how beer should be brewed.”

That knowledge is even more power-ful in an age where interest in real alekeeps on growing. Earlier this month,a survey from the Campaign for RealAle showed 52% of all UK drinkers hadtried real ale – up from just 37% fiveyears ago.

“In my whole brewing career, whichspans over 30 years, I’ve never knownso much interest in cask ale,” said MrKerr. “There’s a fantastic opportunitywith a real brewery to produce beersthat people will enjoy.

“I know beer very well. I’ve got someideas that we’re thinking about here.

“We’re about to discuss our seasonalbeers. But I definitely like the idea ofbrewing a blonde beer – I’ve seen a lotof blonde beers, and they’re doingextremely well.”

Success in beer isn’t just aboutwhat’s in the glass – it’s about thebranding. Many drinkers will happilyorder beer based on the name – per-haps helping the success of rival beerssuch as Bishop’s Finger and Piddle inthe Hole.

“Perhaps we could be more imagin-ative in naming some of the seasonalbeers we produce here,” said Mr Kerr.

“Some of the microbrewers havedone really well by being a bit off thewall and a bit imaginative in how theyname the beers. Even if their beer isn’tgood, the names are good. We wantgood names for exceptionally goodbeer.”

Sudarghara Dusanj added: “That’sthe thing – we want exceptionally goodbeers, consistently very good beers.

“We’re looking forward to somegood ideas from Jim.”

After a Master’s degree in food sci-ence, Mr Kerr started his career in

Liverpool as a graduate trainee withWhitbread.

“I did my year’s brewing pupillage,from the bottom right the way throughthe business,” he said.

“I spent time in the brewery in Tru-man Street, I worked the drays, Iworked at the Arrowe Park Hotel inBirkenhead as a barman, and gotopportunities on the sales side.”

Jim spent 22 years with Whitbread,working across the UK from Black-burn to Devon. Finally, in 1991 Whit-bread asked him to move to CastleEden Brewery in Durham.

“I built that up from ‘any otherbrewery’ to quite a well-known brew-ery,” he said. “It was almost divorcedfrom Whitbread. People would booWhitbread but cheer Castle Eden.”

And there was a Merseyside con-nection to his work at Castle Eden –

among the beers he brewed there wasfamous Liverpool name Higsons.

Mr Kerr was head brewer at CastleEden until 2000, staying on after a buy-out that saw it become a standalonebusiness. In 1998, he was namedbrewer of the year by the British Guildof Beer Writers.

As the new Millennium dawned,Jim left Castle Eden to head to Brainsbrewery, in Cardiff, as operations dir-ector. “We re-established Brains as theleading brewery in Wales,” he said,“and I got involved in putting the brew-ery name on the Welsh rugby shirts.”

In 2005, he moved into the winetrade, working at a Bristol wine ware-house, but soon realised his heart laywith the hop rather than the grape.

“Wine wasn’t really my cup of tea,”he smiled.

So he returned with pleasure to the

beer world, joining Heineken inManchester before moving to its Tad-caster operation in Yorkshire.

“I gravitated to the North East,” hesaid. “I bought a new house there, andsemi-retired.”

But then he got the call from Cains.Sudarghara Dusanj said: “We’veknown Jim for a few years now.

“Because we knew how good he wasat Brains, we wanted to use that sort ofexpertise and experience to brew greatcask beers and proper lager.”

Mr Kerr added: “I quickly jumped atthe opportunity. I wasn’t ready forretirement. I still love what I do.”

Mr Kerr, who still lives in Hartle-pool, has been a lifeboatman for thepast 11 years. Today, he is part of themanagement team at the RNLI’sHartlepool station.

TOP FIVE

Jim Kerr in his element, in between the huge brewery vats, came out of ‘semi-retirement’ to becomehead brewer at Cains Picture: JAMES MALONEY/ jm100811cains-1

byAlistairHoughtonLDPBUSINESSSTAFFalistair.houghton@liverpool.com

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LIVERPOOL’SINVESTMENTSPECIALISTS

■ TRADING Gossip: Page 16

3Wednesday, August 24, 2011

redundancy cover for the last Xmonths and I’d like to say thank youto you for keeping me and my wife inour house’.

“That’s the positive side of MPPIthat the papers tend to ignore. Thiskeeps real people in their houses intheir tens of thousands every week.

“Without cover, the vast majorityof UK households could last for somefive or six weeks on their savings ifthey lost their jobs. Then they’d besnookered.”

In November, 2009, Paymentshieldaxed more than 50 jobs.

“At the end of 2009, we basicallycarried a 2008 cost base in a 2009economy,” said Johnson. “

“We were lucky the majority ofpeople we had to let go were con-tractors or voluntary redundancies.

“It was not a very pleasant thing tohave to do. But it left the business inmuch better shape.”

Last year, the company launched atwo-pronged expansion plan.

Firstly, it set up a new businessoffering credit reference services tolandlords. And, secondly, it opened adedicated call centre to help it win

chance to go home,” he said. “I’dbeen in the South for 12 years.”

Johnson, who lives in Poulton-le-Fylde, says he is “golf-mad” – makingSouthport, with its wealth of golfcourses, an attractive base.

Paymentshield was founded in1992 by Pat Cottrell and Rick Riding.

“They decided it would be a goodidea to try to sell household insur-ance through mortgage brokers,”said Johnson.

“They started off on Mrs Cottrell’sdining room table, stuffing docu-ments into envelopes. Then theymoved into her son’s bedroom – heworked here in IT until recently.

“So this has gone from prettyhumble beginnings to what you seetoday – about 360 employees and a30,000 sq ft big shiny office block. it’sa heck of a story.”

Johnson had clearly made a pointof studying its back story – evendown to its financial performance.

“The first year’s profit was £4,794 –and my FD has put in brackets ‘that’spounds, not millions’.”

In 2004, Stuart Pender led a man-agement buy-in at Paymentshield,backed by Bank of Scotland Corpor-ate. Two years later, it was bought byTowergate in a £180m deal that sawBoS make a “successful exit”.

The recession had a big effect onPaymentshield because sales of itshousehold insurance are so closelylinked to the health of the mortgagemarket.

“We had a peak time in 2007/2008when the market was overheated, ashas since become pretty evident toanybody who reads the papers,” saidJohnson.

“The majority of our sales comefrom mortgage brokers. They sellhousehold insurance when theymake a mortgage sale.

“With a stagnant housing market,that trigger to sell the insurancedoesn’t happen.”

There may have been fewer peopletaking out mortgages, but those whohad already taken them were keen tofind insurance cover – so Payment-shield’s MPPI business kept tickingover.

“Lots of people were desperate tobuy any unemployment-related coverthey could,” said Johnson. “Withoutwanting to sound too ‘businessschool’, it’s a counter-cyclical busi-ness.

“We got a letter this morning thatsaid ‘we’ve been claiming under your

profile

‘Wefeltthat, ifwecouldn’tbeatthisbusiness,weshouldbuyit’

HE’S helped insure Test cricketmatches and a Michael Jackson con-cert – now Tim Johnson is helpinghundreds of thousands of people pro-tect their homes.

Johnson leads the 360-strong teamat Paymentshield, the insurer thathas become Southport’s biggestprivate sector employer.

Paymentshield was hit hard by therecession, shedding more than 50jobs. But today it is back in growth,with employment already back abovepre-recession levels and gross writ-ten premiums last year of £210m.

The company, taken over by theTowergate group in 2006, has twocore products – household insurance,generally sold through mortgagebrokers, and mortgage payment pro-tection insurance (MPPI).

Johnson, a Lancastrian who hasspent his career in insurance, firstheard about Paymentshield when hewas working at Towergate. And, inclassic Victor Kiam style, he likedthe business so much he bought it.

“We had got a little base in Shef-field in more or less the same mar-ket,” he said.

“Every time we did our annualbudgets, we’d ask the MD there ‘whycan’t you do better and why isn’tyour market share going up?’

“He would say there was this busi-ness called Paymentshield that wastotally market dominant and beatthem to everything.

“We felt, ‘if we can’t beat it, weshould buy it’.

“It’s been a fantastic business forus – we’ve done well with it.”

Johnson, originally from Leigh,started his career in insurance as agraduate trainee at Royal Insurance.

“I did a spell in the head office inLiverpool, in the sandcastle,” he said– using the common nickname forthe building now called The Capital,in Old Hall Street.

Next, he spent 10 years with globalinsurance giant Aon, including astint at Pinewood Studios handlinginsurance for major events.

“I looked after Test Match cricket,Grand Prix races, a Michael Jacksonconcert in Mumbai, and a lot offilms.

“I met some really interestingpeople and moved in glamorouscircles in those days. It was a goodcouple of years.”

Eight years ago, he joined Tower-gate as chief executive.

In 2006, he and Towergate founderPeter Cullum launched “a quasi ven-ture capital business” within thegroup called Cullum Capital Ven-tures.

“It was a merger and acquisitionsmachine for buying insurancebrokers,” he said.

“We bought 36 businesses in threeyears, which is a heck of a run rate.

“In three years, we grew that busi-ness from nothing to the third-largestindependent broker in the UK.Towergate was number one.”

Two years ago, Johnson was askedto head back to the North West torun Paymentshield.

“I said yes because it gave me the

AlistairHoughtonmeetsTIMJOHNSON,chiefexecutiveofPaymentshield, inSouthport

LDPbusiness .co.uk

Age: 43Highest educational qualification:MBA, Henley Business SchoolBiggest achievement in business:Building Cullum Capital Ventures inthree years from scratch to being worthnorth of £200m, if it had a market capof its ownBest advice received: The harder youwork, the luckier you getStill to achieve: Going down the cor-porate route, I’d like to become chiefexecutive of an FTSE-quoted company

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back some of its former customers.That call centre alone now employsmore than 50 people.

“We’ve got a really excellent ser-vice proposition,” said Johnson. “I’mnot saying we’re perfect, but peopledo like us.

“If a customer has left us, theyhave often left on price. They save acouple of pounds, get poor service,then when we contact them theyremember the service they had.

“We find it reasonably easy to winthem back.

“If somebody has left because ofpoor service, it’s very hard to winthem back.”

Johnson is proud that the com-pany has battled to win new businessand get staffing levels up again.

“We could have just hibernatedand waited until the market pickedup again,” he said. “It’s not my pre-ferred strategy, but it’s a legitimateone because in two or three years themarket will come back.

“But you can also say ‘how can wegrow out of it and think of thingsdifferently?’ We chose to do that.”

Johnson shies away from making

bold predictions about the future ofthe housing market.

“I haven’t got a better crystal ballthan anyone else,” he said. “Buthopefully next year we’ll start to seesigns of the market coming back alittle bit.”

Johnson remains passionate aboutthe power of MPPI, as offered byspecialist insurers such as his.

Several banks have been fined mil-lions of pounds for mis-selling PPIproducts in recent years – and thewhole industry has been tarnishedas a result. Johnson, however,believes such insurance is a neces-sary precaution at a time when theeconomic forecast remains gloomy.

He said: “When the banks sort outtheir failings, there will be a reallystrong place for this insurance. It’s acase of getting consumer confidenceback up again.

“One thing is for sure – the Gov-ernment won’t want to fund all thosepeople who could end up losing theirhomes and looking for state support.

“Providing this sort of insurancecover is one way to look afterpeople.”

Tim Johnson – has seenemployment levels atinsurer Paymentshieldreturn to pre-recessionlevels


Businesscoachinoffertogiveyoungstersabreak

LJMU infinals ofprestigeawardsLIVERPOOL JohnMoores University(LJMU) has been short-listed for an internat-ional quality manage-ment award for thefourth consecutiveyear.

The university adop-ted the EuropeanFoundation for QualityManagement (EFQM)excellence model as itsmanagement systemframework, and becamethe first in Europe toachieve a full award in2008 at its first attempt.

It has since beenshortlisted in the finalsin 2009 and 2010 andagain this year.

Finalists are chosenafter a team ofinternational man-agers spend a week ateach organisationinterviewing andanalysing applicants.

Their latest assess-ment praised LJMU forexcellent leadershipand the way it hasdeveloped partnershipswith external organisat-ions in support of itsemployability agenda.

University director ofbusiness excellence,Paul Evans, said: “Theassessment process wasrigorous and thorough.

“This is not justabout winning a prizeor getting recognition.It’s about having exper-ienced assessors givingus an objective viewabout what we’re doingwell and identifyingareas we need toimprove on – it’s a veryvaluable exercise forthe university to under-take, whether we ult-imately win a prize ornot.”

Winners will beannounced on October25, in Munich, Ger-many.

John Haynes, of the Liverpool International Coaching Academy, which is offering guidance todisadvantaged Liverpool youngsters

Breakingdownculturalbarriers‘canimprovebusinessdealings’

Newdealsforsafetyexperts

A LIVERPOOL couple have setup a new training organisationaimed at dealing with the grow-ing range of different ethniccommunities.

Karen Bellion and GregLogan are behind the St JamesStreet-based Parcours.

Karen has worked in theBAME (Black, Asian andMinority Ethnic) communitiesfor more than 20 years, andbelieves that improving com-munication by breaking downbarriers created through a lackof cultural awareness, or differ-ences in attitude and behav-iour, body language oretiquette, is a key ingredient toencouraging successful busi-ness.

She said the company aimsto specialise in interculturalworking practices, which, sheadded, is the term now used todescribe the ability to workacross cultures using a generalunderstanding of communicat-ion and working styles.

These techniques candevelop sustainable strategiesfor organisations in order toencourage learning and devel-opment.

This involves establishingworking partnerships betweenorganisations and the region’sdiverse communities, enablingthem to reach their full poten-tial through their increasedknowledge of interculturalworking practices.

She said: “Parcours is abouttaking people on a journey andto discover how we can becomemore accessible to others.

“Businesses and organisat-ions have realised that theirpersonnel need far more thanfacts and figures or ‘do’s anddon’ts’ when working withpeople from different cultures.”

She added: “We offer a step-by-step approach to assist anorganisation in understandingits interests and those of theincreasingly diverse markets.”

The couple’s fledgling com-pany has established a numberof training packages and offersexperienced facilitators to workwith both small and largegroups.

A LIVERPOOL life and business coachhas extended free assistance to disad-vantaged and disaffected youngsters inthe wake of the recent civil unrest.

John Haynes, founder of the Mary-land Street-based Liverpool Internat-ional Coaching Academy, coaches andmentors businesses in the UK andlocal and national government staff inKenya and Nigeria.

He established a coaching group lastyear to help Bootle teenagers introuble with the law as part of a three-month Sefton Council project.

When the scheme finished, he exten-ded the course, for free, through hisMaryland Street Academy, to continuethe personal development of the young-sters.

And, following the recent trouble onthe city’s streets, he has extended theoffer to more Merseyside teenagerswho want to break free from the down-ward spiral of gang culture and pettycrime.

Mr Haynes explained: “When weworked with the youngsters in Bootle,we got them working as a team andinstilled responsibility.

“We concentrated on things likeinterviewing skills and asked them,what did they want to do, instead ofwhat their mum or dad wanted themto do.

“We gave them the belief in them-selves and got them to take respons-ibility, and they came together as ateam.”

But, he added: “When the schemefinished, they asked me ‘what happensto us now?’ So I brought them into ourAcademy.

“I felt I had to carry on, becausethey wanted to be part of a team, andnot a gang.”

He said the monthly sessions, whichare integrated “open house-style” withother Academy students and include

lunch, attract up to 18 youngsters:“They are from Bootle, Croxteth andNorris Green. But they have all cometogether and we are thinking ofextending it to once a fortnight.

“We’re going to run it right throughthe year.”

Mr Haynes added: “We give them

tasks to solve and ask them what theproblem is and what are the solutions.

“But the one thing that brings themalive is interview skills.

“They are terrified of interviewsand passing exams. But I am alwaysamazed at just how fast they havelearned. They are really sharp.

“In fact, two 16-year-olds have askedto come on our leadership course.”

Mr Haynes, a former director withLiverpool insurance group Royal Sun& Alliance, added: “Kids are alwaysgoing on about people puttingsomething back into the city, so this iswhat we are doing.”


BROMBOROUGH construction safety firmInnov8 Safety Solutions has landed three newcontracts with schools across Cheshire.

It has signed a deal with ISG Construction toprovide construction design managementacross three primary schools at Ashton Hayes,in Chester; Comberbatch, in Northwich; andWimboldsley, in Middlewich, to build exten-sions to the main school buildings.

This will allow mobile classroom units,which have been used at the three sites sincethe 1970s, to be removed.

Alan Robson, Innov8 managing director, saidthey would be playing an integral role in the£3.5m development, overseeing all health andsafety aspects during work which should becompleted by the end of the year.

Mr Robson added: “We have seen solid andsteady growth throughout 2011 and the latestdeal expands our expertise across further sec-tors.”

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behind Barclays and other organisat-ions.”

He said Barclays has seen a 12%increase in start-ups over the pastyear, but 80% of small firms approach-ing the bank are likely to have theirfunding requirements approved, whichis in line with pre-recession levels.

And he said Barclays met its com-mitment to Merlin – the Government’starget for bank loans to small firms –in the first half and is on track to meetsecond-half targets.

“Of £20bn in loans, £7bn of that wasto small firms,” he said.

Since taking on his role at the end ofthe first quarter, Mr Baker hasincreased staffing among his NorthWest business relationship managersby 5%, to 21. He added: I want to makesure we have the right people for theright locations.

“It’s not just about looking at yourbalance sheet. It is important our cus-tomers feel decisions are made locallyby someone who understands them.”

And he said he was keen to improveaccess to finance and banking servicesby working with other organisations.

“The North West economy in thefirst quarter grew faster than thenational average, and Merseyside is avery quickly expanding part of thecountry,” he said.

“There is still a lot of funding avail-able to businesses through variousorganisations, rather than lending.

“We are working with Local Enter-prise Partnerships (LEPs) to see howwe can work with them.”

MANUFACTURERS’ organisation theEEF has called for better access to fin-ance and improved lending rates.

North West director David Ost saysthat, apart from issues of onerous redtape, raising finance is still the biggestconcern among his members.

He said: “Manufacturers in Mersey-side have come out of the recessionleaner and looking for new markets.

“But bank borrowing is stillextremely difficult.

“Since the end of 2008, EEF’squarterly survey has shown the cost ofcredit getting worse, not better, formanufacturers. Only in the pastquarter did we see the availability offinance improve.

“But there are areas where it is vitalwe see change. First, we need to seethe availability of finance, on reason-able terms, improve.”

And he called for transparency onnew management fees, how banks areenforcing loan covenants, and alsotightening the application of terms andconditions.

However, the new head of BarclaysBusiness for the North West insistssmall firms with credible businessplans are likely to succeed in financeapplications.

Martin Baker, who oversees Scot-land, Northern Ireland, North Walesand the north west of England, said:“The days of ‘computer says no’ is well

Centreservingclients’needsA CHESHIRE businesscentre is reporting suc-cessful expansion, itsays, by managing togive companies “whatthey want and need” tohelp the town of Frod-sham overcome theeffects of the downturnand recession.

During the past year,nine small andmedium-sized firmshave moved to the town,and Frodsham BusinessCentre director SimonLongden said they wereall flourishing.

Mr Longden added:“Our experience duringthe recession is that ifyou offer businessesaffordable office spaceand the right level ofsupport, they will con-tinue to look todevelop.”

However, as well asattracting new compan-ies, he said the centrehad also managed tokeep its existing cus-tomers satisfied.

“Attracting newfirms into the centre isimportant.

“But looking afterthe firms that havebeen with us for manyyears is also crucial.”

He said a number ofthe centre’s customershad occupied just oneoffice when they firstmoved to the facility,situated in the town’sBridge Lane.

“Now, they, too, haveexpanded to take more,because they are happywith the service weprovide.”

Among the centre’scustomers that havechosen to remain andare now performingwell are the cerebralpalsy charity, Scope, ITspecialist Medhurst,and finance broker Cor-porate and Medical Fin-ance.

NewjobsasmicroloansproviderexpandsSpekeofficeEUROPE’S leading provider ofmicroloans is expanding itsSpeke-based UK headquarters.

Finland-based Ferratumprovides short-term loansonline and via mobile phonein 15 countries and opened itsfirst UK office last month.

It can provide loans ofbetween £50 and £300, repay-able from seven to 45 days, to

meet the short-term financialneeds of customers.

It has received thousands ofapplications in the monthsince the office opened, lead-ing to a recruitment drive tak-ing staffing from three to 12,with more expected in thecoming weeks.

Ferratum UK’s sales andmarketing manager, Ian

Porter, said: “We could nothave wished for a better startand, if we continue at thisrate, we will smash our first-year business targets within amatter of months.

“We believe we haveentered the market at exactlythe right time.”

The firm aims to be theleading global mobile micro-

loan company by 2014, oper-ating on all five continents inmore than 50 countries andserving more than 10m cus-tomers.

So far, the Helsinki-headquartered organisationemploys more than 150 staffand currently serves morethan 700,000 customers.

It was founded by chief

executive and Finnish entre-preneur Jorma Jokela, in 2005.

Jokela said: “We are pleasedwith how well our UK launchhas gone, but our extensiveresearch told us that demandfor our products was likely tobe high.

“As a company, we believepassionately in the importanceof responsible lending.”

WildThanggiftsbrandingdesigntomusicfestival

Funding‘stillavailable’tocrediblebusinesses

Martin Baker, head of Barclays Business, North West, insists thatthe days of ‘computer says no’ are over


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A BOOTLE merchandisingbusiness has created newMathew Street Music Festivalbranding free of charge.

WildThang has designedthe event brand and a limitededition range of merchand-ising for the 19th annual fest-

ival, taking place this BankHoliday weekend, that attractsvisitors from all over theworld.

WildThang directorAndrew Dwerryhouse said:“It’s fantastic that the brandwe have created will be used

across the city on stage back-drops, posters and on mer-chandise.

“We know how importantthe event is to the city and wewant this iconic festival to bearound for future generationsto enjoy.”

He added: “Given difficultcuts that are being made,WildThang wanted to show itssupport, so we were morethan happy to do the designwork free of charge. Obvi-ously, being official merchand-ise provider, there is an added

incentive to make sureeverything looks just right.”

He said a percentage of theproceeds from merchandisewill help to support theupkeep and continuity of whathe calls “the best music fest-ival on the planet”.




Impactofrocketingfuelpricesrevealed

Simon Snowden, of the University of Liverpool – we’re in an ‘oilshock’ Picture: JASON ROBERTS

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ORGANISERS of Oct-ober’s RunLiverpoolMarathon haveannounced the involve-ment of Liverpoollogistics and distrib-ution company BibbyDistribution.

The DukeStreet-based business,which is part of theBibby Line Group, willassist with the hand-ling of more than 9,000runners’ personaleffects, transportingthem from the Birken-head Park starting lineto the city’s Pier Headfor collection at theend.

The company willalso ensure that thewater stations alongthe course are stockedwith the tens of thous-ands of bottlesrequired.

Bibby Distribution’sdevelopment director,Paul Byrne, said: “It’sgreat to be able work inpartnership with ahigh-profile internat-ional running event.”

Bibby tohelp cityrunners

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SOARING oil prices and their effect onbusinesses is the key issue examinedin the September edition of the LDPBusiness magazine – available freewith tomorrow’s Daily Post.

LDP Business writer Peter Elsonlooks at the impact fuel prices are hav-ing on businesses, particularly in theroad transport and aviation sectors.

Featured is an interview with DrSimon Snowden, a member of the Uni-versity of Liverpool ManagementSchool’s Oil Depletion Impact Group, agroup of academics investigating theimplication of oil depletion on society.

“Since last February, I’ve been try-ing to track oil and the economy, and Iwould say that since then we are intoanother recession,” said Dr Snowden.

“The long, hard times of slowgrowth point to us potentially lookingat a ‘double-dip’. We’re in an ‘oilshock’.

“The 2008 credit crunch was merelya credit system fault line whichopened up; the actual cause was oilprices.

“As oil prices went up after 2000, lotsof people said oil was detached frominflation. But companies were absorb-ing oil prices into their marginswithout passing it on to customers.”

Also in this month’s magazine,Alistair Houghton talks to the man-aging director of Lime Pictures, SeanMarley. Lime makes the hit TV showsHollyoaks, Geordie Shore and TheOnly Way is Essex.

In the interview, Mr Marley talksabout how the Liverpool companyaims to increase its revenues in thefuture.

He said: “What’s intriguing for meis we’re on the verge of moving into anew commercial world with the wholeidea of product placement and IPTV(Internet Protocol TV).

“People will be engaging with theirtelevision in a very different way overthe next decade or so.”

In the commercial property section,we focus on the Wirral InternationalBusiness Park and talk to the corpor-ate financiers at Liverpool-based Brab-ners Stuart about an upsurge in cor-porate dealmaking.■ THE LDP Business magazine isfree with the Daily Post tomorrow.

Advertising Feature Independent financial advice

‘Keep calm and carry on’ isthe message to investorsWITH the recent turbulence in thefinancial markets, Glyn Jones, ofVale Financial Services, advisesinvestors and people concernedabout their pension pots not topanic.

He comments: “Billions wipedoff the value of pensions,screamed the headlines, even inso-called serious newspapers!Well, that will encourage you tosave for your future, won’t it?”

Glyn says, as he has writtenbefore, talk of billions means noth-ing to most of us. So what if a fewdealers are seen panicking?Should you panic as well? And ifyou did, what action would youtake?

He says the facts are that mostpeople are investing their savingsand pension money for the longerterm, and events like those of thepast few days become less sig-nificant over time.

So the message once again is“keep calm and carry on”!

He reports that what is high-lighted, however, is the need to putyour money with successful fundmanagers who know how to takeadvantage of different market con-ditions, and also how to shieldyour money in volatile markets.

Glyn says equity release, ie, .releasing money from your prop-erty, seems to be gaining attention

at present, and there are severalreasons why this can be anattractive option for many people.And he stresses that an IFA willmake sure you consider all thealternatives, understand theproduct thoroughly, and, if con-sidered appropriate, discuss itwith the family.

He says your solicitor will alsoask questions, so nobody shouldfeel uneasy about these products

once they have taken professionaladvice. He stresses that youshould make sure that youradviser uses a company that is amember of SHIP (Safe HomeIncome Plans), as their plans willhave to include valuable guaran-tees.

Glyn says these include a “nonegative equity guarantee”, whichmeans that, when the loan isrepaid, there can be no claim on

your estate beyond what the prop-erty is worth at the time.

If you are approaching retire-ment, you have more optionsavailable to you than ever, withnew products arriving on the mar-ket. No longer do you have to buyan annuity fixed for life, althoughwe should remember that this isquite often the preferred option!

For example, he says, new planscan allow you to access the pen-sion commencement lump sum,without starting to draw an income.This is being looked at by morepeople who may have a use for alump sum but do not necessarilyneed the income immediately.

And he adds: “Another recentinnovation allows for fixed- termannuities, rather than the ‘fixedfor life’ approach. These allow youto take an income for a set num-ber of years, with the option to fixagain then. One possible benefitfrom this approach is that yourhealth at that time might qualifyfor an enhanced rate. As ever, askall these questions and be com-fortable that you understand whatyou are buying.”

■ VALE Financial Services is atrading style of pi FinancialServices, which is authorisedby the Financial ServicesAuthority.

Equityreleaseseems to begainingattention –Glyn Jones,of ValeFinancialServices,Denbigh

È

M O N T H L Y R E G I O N A L B U S I N E S S M A G A Z I N E

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IndependentFinancial Advisersin your area

Anglesey

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Phone: 01407 811268Mobile: 07710 468970

Denbighshire

Vale Financial [email protected]

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

Contact: Glyn B. [email protected]

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Investec Wealth& Investment

The Plaza, 100 Old Hall Street, Liverpool L3 9AB.Tel: 0151 227 2030. Fax: 0151 227 2444Email: [email protected]

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


Tall Group managing director Martin Ruda – says he’s confident about future growth prospects

TallGroupgatheringpaceaftersluggishfirsthalf

Businessduo tohelp cityacademyTWO Liverpool busi-nesses have joinedforces, with supportfrom the CommunityFoundation for Mersey-side, to make along-term joint invest-ment in a project withNorth LiverpoolAcademy.

Law firm, HillDickinson and digitalagency, Mando Group,have pledged to donatea percentage of theirnet profit to charitablecauses and are workingtogether to develop aninternational socialenterprise element ofNLA’s Student Leader-ship Academy.

The Academy is oneof the UK’s top 10 mostimproved schools and issituated in an area ofsocial and economicdeprivation.

The project will nur-ture the leadershipskills of young peopleby developing theirenterprise capabilities,self-awareness andinterpersonal skills toaid their careers in thefuture.

As well as the finan-cial investment, bothMando Group and HillDickinson will beinvesting their timeand expertise to helpbuild the confidenceand employability ofthe students.

Matt Johnson, chiefexecutive at Mando,said: “We may be small,but we are passionateabout seeing the oppor-tunities of othersincreased by the smallcontributions we make.We have some incred-ible talent within ourcompany and each andevery one one of uswould like to reach outto help those less for-tunate than ourselves.

“We believe this part-nership will be a hugesuccess.”

Dangersofallowinghopetotriumphoverexperienceandreality

RUNCORN-BASED Tall Group hassupplied 3m ballot papers for a ref-erendum in the African state ofLiberia.

The secure print, card and paymentsspecialist has also struck a major dealwith credit and debit card giant Visa.

Last week, LDP Business reportedon the firm’s latest published results,which showed a rise in turnover but afall in pre-tax profits.

Tall Group specialises in printingsecure paper documents from chequesand credit notes to certificates and bal-lot papers.

It operates from three sites – in Run-corn, Hampshire and Leicestershire,employing more than 200 people.

In an interview with LDP Businessthis week, managing director MartinRuda admitted the first half of the yearhad been slow, but was upbeat on prosp-ects for the remainder of the year.

Earlier this year, the Runcorn siteprinted 7.5m ballot papers for theSouth Sudan independence referen-dum.

And this month it has supplied 3mballot papers for a constitutional ref-erendum in Liberia.

Mr Ruda said: “When these types ofjobs come up, we have to enter a com-petitive bidding process.

“Once a bid is accepted, the processthen moves very quickly.

“With the Liberia contract, we hadjust one week to get all the details forthe printing and then everything iscollated and shipped out by air.

“For the Sudan and Liberia jobs, wehad UN inspection teams at the Run-corn site inspecting the numberingsequence on the ballot papers.

“They would then pick them up atthe other end – it is a complex ship-ping arrangement.

“We have done jobs for Iraq wherewe have security guards who will lit-erally accompany the shipment fromdoor to door.”

In December, 2009, Tall Groupacquired Hampshire-based ID DataCards for £270,000.

The division produces secure plasticcards, and Mr Ruda said this week ithad won accreditation from Visa.

He added: “We will produce debitand credit cards for Visa and we

expect the first tranche this year.Other big contract wins for Hampshireinclude the NHS European healthinsurance card. This will see us print-ing 10m cards a year, and it is our firstUK Government contract.”

The firm’s base in Leicestershireprovides electronic payment solutions,and is benefiting from an increase inthe number of firms who wanted toswitch payment methods.

“Economic volatility has slowed

down decision-making over contracts,”said Mr Ruda.

“People were deferring contractsearlier in the year, but we are expect-ing a stronger second half and I amconfident we will continue to grow.”



HOPE can be a useful character-istic, in business as it is in life.

The hope that things will improve,that tomorrow will be a better daythan today, can be what ensures thatproposals are still written, sales calls

are still made, and progress is stillmade.

The problem with hope is when itbecomes mendacious and seeps intothe rational element of our thoughtprocess.

Take the Sunday night coverage ofthe events in Libya. Rolling 24-hournews is problematic at the best oftimes, with the amount of inform-ation available rarely substantialenough to fill the time allotted to it.

Rolling news tries to solve theproblem of the fog of war by puttingits main beam on, but all you get isbrighter fog. Having tired of Sky andBBC coverage, I flicked over to Rus-sia Today, where the same events

were given a very different spin. But,regardless of the broadcaster, in theplace of facts comes supposition andoptimism – it is invariably what thecommentator hopes willhappen.

But, by allowing hope totriumph over experience,or, more particularly, know-ledge, we give up the onlyjustification for our futureactions.

That came to mind 24hours later when I waswith a group of businesspeople in Birmingham, and talkmoved to the official tourism figuresfor the Liverpool city region.

Scepticism increased as each pieceof information was relayed.

The sector supports 41,000 jobs andboasts 11m visitor staying nights per

year – averaging 30,000people every night of everyweek. There are, apparently,more than 48m day visitors– not far off 1m a week.

Giving it more than amoment’s thought, it isobvious there’s either aproblem with the data orwith the criteria. It doesn’tmatter which, but the con-

sequences that flow are important.These are the numbers that shape

our perceptions and shape our city

region’s policy. And, of course, if youbelieved these numbers were real, inthe sense that the city region act-ually received a tangible benefit from48m day visitors and 11m overnightvisitors, collectively we wouldn’thave anything to worry about.

But, if those seem like inflatednumbers, try this one: £75,000.

That’s the salary attached to theadvertised position of The MerseyPartnership’s director of visitoreconomy. Is that position worthy ofthat salary? Here’s hoping.

‘Problemwitheitherthedataorwiththecriteria’


■ ALEX TURNER is the general man-ager of financial training firmAmbitious Minds.

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AlexTurner


DoesGrosvenorhavebigplansforLordStreet?

‘A great little high strEthelAustin’snewownertellsBillGleesonaboutherplanstorevivethestrugglingstoresgroup

LDPbusiness .co.ukLDPbusiness .co.uk

SUE TOWNSEND plans to return retailchain Ethel Austin to its North Westroots and breathe new life into the once-famous high street name.

Following her acquisition of the NorthWest stores of the financially collapsedretail chain from its administrators lastweek, Ms Townsend now plans to beef upbusiness processes and attract more shop-pers to the stores.

The first thing she has done is ditchthe Life & Style name that it had beentrading under for the past 18 months.

Ms Townsend told the Daily Post yes-terday: “Of the current 62 shops that webought, 59 are still trading as Ethel Aus-tin.

“It was the Ethel Austin brand that Iwas interested in.

“Their by-line was quality clothing ataffordable prices. That can still be true ofthis brand.

“It’s a great little high street chain.“It just needs the processes and the

product to be made right for existing cus-tomers.”

The 62 stores acquired by Ms Town-send had previously belonged to ElaineMcPherson’s Life & Style chain. Theseshops had traded as Ethel Austin storesbefore Ms McPherson changed the name.

Between them, Life & Style and EthelAustin businesses have been in admin-istration three times in the past threeyears. Ms Townsend did not acquireanother 40 stores in other parts of thecountry that have now been closed.

“The previous administration lost theirway with the Life & Style brand and for-got the core customer,” said Ms Town-send.

Ms Townsend, formerly a director ofBlackwell’s bookshop chain, dismissedconcerns that Ethel Austin had sufferedlost market share because it could notcompete with rivals such as Primark andMatalan.

She said: “From the point of view of anoutsider looking in, it wasn’t about thecompetition as to why it failed.

“There was definitely a customer basethere.

“Matalan and Primark run very dif-ferent types of operation to Ethel Austin’straditional high street shops, which havea relatively small floor space.

“I can see that statement (about thecompetition) running true for Life &Style’s 25,000 sq ft shops, in places likeWatford, but, in the North Westheartland of the Ethel Austinbrand, those retailers are notdirect competition.”

As well as restoring the EthelAustin name, the new ownerplans to radically overhaul theway the chain does business.She believes efficient businessprocesses are key to ensuring aprofitable future for the chainthat has otherwise struggled to remainviable in recent years.

Ms Townsend said: “There’s a fantasticbrand in Ethel Austin.

“There’s lots of opportunity to dothings the brand has never reallyembraced.

“They never had a digital platform. Asmany value retailers trade well on adigital platform as premium retailers.

E-bay is the UK’s biggest digital platformand I would not say that’s a premium site.

“The existing chain has lacked a lot ofthe retail disciplines. It needs a strongpromotional and marketing calendar.

“You need to give your cus-tomers regular reasons toreturn to your shops. You needgood value, frequent pro-motions.

“We need a customer relat-ionship marketing plan. I wouldlike to go out and engage withour customer base.

“We will be advertising thepromotions. At this stage, we

could do with a very solid direct pro-gramme of marketing. We will be usingemail and text messaging and localmedia.

“My priority is to stabilise the existing62 stores. I’m an old school retailer. Theadage ‘retail is detail’ is absolutely true.This is a chain that lacks processes.”

One of the first things Ms Townsendwill do with the shop portfolio is intro-

duce a model shop concept. Sheexplained: “We will take an existing shopin the portfolio and use it to test oper-ational processes and practices – what isthe best way to lay out a shop and howoften should window displays bechanged? – all the things that make aretailer the retailer it is.

“We can then roll the successful modelout to all of the portfolio.”

Ethel Austin was previouslyheadquartered at Knowsley before MsMcPherson moved it to Altrincham, closeto her own home. Could it now return tothe area?

Ms Townsend said: “At present, we aredefinitely staying where we are, thoughon a much reduced footprint.

“But obviously I recognise the brand’saffinity with Liverpool.

“I never say never.”She will be trimming back on the

Altrincham head office overheads tomake them more appropriate to thereduced size of the Ethel Austin business.

Ms Townsend said: “It previously

THE £19.1m purchaseof the row of shops onLord Street that theDuke of Westminster’sGrosvenor has boughtfrom Land Securities isslightly puzzling.

It might be nothingmore than a tidying upexercise for both parties.For Land Securities,which also owns StJohn’s and ClaytonSquare shopping centres,it might be the equivalentof selling a bit of junk atthe back of the garage.It’s hardly a crucial partof their portfolio, andthey may have said tothemselves “if they wantit, they can have it. It’snot much use to us”.

For Grosvenor, itmakes sense, because thebuildings are immed-iately next to its citycentre shopping estate.The Lord Street shopsback onto Liverpool One.So it just might be help-ful from the perspectiveof some arcane propertylaw issue, or maybe it’seasier to manage refusecollection of road sweep-ing with the shops incor-porated into the Liver-pool One estate.

I would, however,prefer to think that therewas some granderstrategy in the making.

Wouldn’t it be nice, forexample, if the realreason for the purchasewas that another bigdepartment store namehas seen the trade beingdone at Liverpool Oneand has decided it wantsa piece of the action.Grosvenor could easilyknock the row of shopsdown and build a newstore facing onto LordStreet, just like Deben-hams does a hundredyards down the road.

Or maybe it’s just theyields are good. At 6.4%,it’s certainly a steadyreturn.

CAN Ethel Austin’snew owner make a goof the chain when oth-ers have failed in thepast?

You have to rememberthat it isn’t just previousowner Elaine McPhersonwho has struggled to turnthe famous Liverpoolretail name into a viable

proposition. Before her,there was a managementteam led by Phil Hoskin-son. He and a team of fel-low managers had bigambitions to double thenumber of stores, includ-ing opening Ethel Austinshops in parts of thecountry where the grouphad no previous profile.

As the adjacent featuredemonstrates, new ownerSue Townsend certainlyhas a plan.

Maybe the failure ofEthel Austin and itserstwhile alternativeincarnation of Life &Style resulted from thefailure to pay attention tosome of the importantdetails of retailing, as MsTownsend suggests.

Alternatively, though,the problem could bedown to the highly com-petitive nature of the dis-count segment of theretail market.

When you look at theprogress of Primark andthe fact that much ofwhat you can buy inEthel’s can these days befound in Tesco, it is easyto see why the job ofkeeping your niche is allthe more difficult.

Or, as the recent Brit-ish Retail Consortium’ssurvey suggests, it’s justtough out there at themoment and you have tobe brave indeed to ven-ture forth in current con-ditions.

IF YOU had no partic-ular affinity to QueensPark Rangers, wouldyou buy the Londonfootball club, ratherthan Everton? Indeed, ifyou were a Middle East-ern sheikh, would youbuy Manchester Citywithout at least takinga look at Everton, if itwere on the market?

Probably not.So why can’t Bill Ken-

wright find a buyer?Price could well be a

sticking point. Evertonmust be Mr Kenwright’sprincipal asset, so hecan’t let go of it withoutobtaining good proceedsfor it. On the other hand,laden with debts, the clubis not worth very muchto others. If so, we couldbe stuck in this impassefor many years to come.

BillGleeson

‘There isafantasticbrand inEthelAustin’


eat little high street chain’

Retail investors continuingto face difficult conditions

The new owner of Ethel Austinhas pledged to revive the brand

Sue Townsend, who bought Ethel Austin this month

the big feature

designed all of its support functions tosupport a much larger chain than it had.

“It was over ‘footaged’ at Altrincham,in terms of warehouse and office space.

“We have no immediate or evenmedium-term need for thatmuch space. We want to keep thecost base tight so we can investin front-of-house areas.

“The majority of the chainstill looks very good, but havingbeen through three administ-rations there is some remedialwork that needs to take placeand housekeeping work acrossthe whole chain.”

Ms Townsend said that she expects toretain the services of the 470 staff takenon by her new business.

“I have acquired people,” she said.“The people have been ‘TUPEd’ over. I’mexpecting to keep them all.

“There’s only one thing I can’t foresee.It’s my intention to keep all the shops,but we need to speak to every landlord.”

Asked whether she planned to expand

the business beyond the current 62 stores,Ms Townsend said: “Absolutely.

“I’m really positive about the future.“I want to stabilise the existing chain

first.“I’m as ambitious as the next

girl, but we will do it in a con-trolled way.”

Ms Townsend was the com-mercial director ofOxford-based academic book-stores Blackwells for 3½ years.She left that post in spring,2009, after helping oversee theturnaround of what was astruggling business.

She has since continued providing con-sultancy services to Blackwells, but thisarrangement is coming to an end shortly.

In 2008, she founded Gifted In, a con-sultancy business that advises retailerson how to develop own-brand products.

She is also a director of the Edward DeBono Trust and is a Fellow of the RoyalSociety of Arts.

IT’S A brave move to acquireany retail chain during the cur-rent slow economic conditions,but that doesn’t seem to bestopping people.

Sue Townsend is only thelatest entrepreneurial retailerto buy a struggling chain with aview to turning its fortunesaround. Anil Juneja, who ownsSpeke-based retailer Benross,made a similar move when herecently acquired six TJ Hughesstores.

But these acquisitions comeas industry figures show thatall types of shop location sawfewer customers pass throughover the past three months asthe squeeze on consumerincomes tightened.

The problems have seen anumber of household namesappoint administrators includ-ing Oddbins, Moben, Habitatand Jane Norman, with a num-ber of others announcing highstreet store closures.

Footfall, or the number ofpeople visiting shops, fell by1% in the three months to July,with 11.2% of high street andshopping outlets vacant at theend of May, according to the

British Retail Consortium (BRC).The figures, which were for aperiod before this month’sriots, are despite a one-monthimprovement in July in all threetypes of destination – highstreet, shopping centre and outof town – due to the start ofthe school holidays and earlysummer sales.

The BRC said the figures over-all continued to reflect thetough times for consumers,with high inflation, low wagegrowth and job uncertainty keyreasons for the reduced numberof shopping trips.

Areas with a high level ofpublic sector employment havesuffered the most, with North-ern Ireland and Wales seeingthe worst falls, and also regis-tering the highest level of shopvacancies.

Diane Wehrle, research dir-ector at Springboard, thereport’s co-author, added thatretail parks and malls were nowbeing affected as much as towncentres.

Last week, Asda also said itscustomers were cutting back ontrips to its stores, due to highfuel prices.

‘Youmustgiveshoppersreasontoreturn’

privatebusiness

SPORTSWEAR special-ist ASICS UK sawprofits soar by morethan 30% as demandfor its trainers andrunning shoes contin-ued to grow.

The Warring-ton-based company sawsales in 2010 of £59.7m– up from £38.9m theprevious year.

And accountsrecently filed at Com-panies House showedASICS UK reported apre-tax profit of £6.1m– up from £4.7m in2009.

The directors’ reportsays: “Turnoverincreased by 53.4%during the yearprimarily due to thecontinued upwardtrend in demand forrunning shoes.

“Profit before taxincreased by 30.9% dueto the increase inturnover outweighingthe increase in operat-ing costs.

“The directors expectsales to be maintainedat the current level orbetter for the foresee-able future with con-tinued healthy profitfigures.”

ASICS UK is part ofthe ASICS group,which was founded in1949 by KihachiroOnitsuka, and is basedin Kobe, Japan.

The name, ASICS,comes from the Latinphrase “Anima Sana InCorpore Sano”, mean-ing a “sound mind in asound body”.

ALISTAIR HOUGHTON

ASICSruns up53% risein sales

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Profits plungeat steel firmSeverfieldSTEEL group Sever-field-Rowen saidunderlying profits inthe six months toJune 30 fell 59% to£3.4m “against thebackdrop of a pro-longed and unpreced-ented period of weakdemand”.

However, the com-pany, which recentlywon work on BritishLand’s Cheesegraterskyscraper, in London,said its UK order bookrose after it won mar-ket share.

Segro suffersa downturnPROPERTY groupSegro reported thatpre-tax profits fell57% to £64.6m in thesix months to June 30.Segro, which isbehind some of theUK’s largest industrialestates, said netrental income wasdown 6% at £135.5m.

Its vacancy rate atthe end of the periodwas 11%, down from14% a year earlier.

New facilityTELECOMS giant BT isto open an internat-ional routing facilityin the Western Capeof South Africa. Cus-tomers will connect tothe BT network via aco-location site inCape Town. BT oper-ates one of the largestglobal Internet Pro-tocol (IP-based)networks in theworld.

Revenues upMARINE services pro-vider James Fishersaid underlyingprofits rose 9% to£17.4m in the sixmonths to June 30,while revenuesimproved 12% to£148m. The companyworks with a numberof clients, including BP.

briefing Post-conflictLibyacouldofferhugeopportunities

Libyan oil refineries will be a major source of wealth

As Libyans celebrate the fall of Gaddafi, analysts say the country has great economic potentialPicture: ALEXANDRE MENEGHINI



INVESTORS peering through thereceding fog of war will find plenty ofpromise and a few pitfalls in apost-Gaddafi Libya.

If peace takes hold in Africa’slargest oil producer after a six-monthcivil war, the long-dormant economycould rapidly flourish, provided therehas been no substantial damage to theoil and gas infrastructure underpin-ning its national wealth.

Much remains undecided asanti-government forces gain control ofTripoli in their final push to end thefour-decade rule of Muammar Gaddafi,but a new Libyan government couldherald a bonanza for Western compan-ies and investors.

“Libya is a fantastically wealthycountry that doesn’t need foreignmoney but foreign expertise,” saidEmad Mostaque, chief Middle East andNorth Africa strategist at ReligareCapital Markets.

“This could be the start of an exper-iment in hydrocarbon-fuelled capital-ism with a lot of money up for grabs.”Though less advanced than the rest ofNorth Africa, even prior to the civilwar, the Libyan economy has ampleresources it could marshal for nationalreconstruction.

An estimated $150bn in sovereignassets once controlled by Gaddafi andhis inner circle has been frozen abroadby foreign governments, and 144tonnes of gold is held by the Libyancentral bank.

Combine that with a modest pop-ulation of 6.4m and standards of educ-ation on a par with established emer-ging economies such as Malaysia andMexico, and Libya looks well placedfor recovery, said Sven Richter, head offrontier markets at Renaissance AssetManagers.

“From that point of view, they are ina quite enviable position,” he said.

A sovereign wealth fund set up in2006 to manage Libya’s oil revenuescould also prove pivotal if the new gov-ernment does not purge all personnelassociated with Gaddafi.

Though somewhat depleted, theLibyan Investment Authority stillholds billions of dollars in cash and anumber of lucrative equity stakes inWestern blue-chip companies such asPearson and UniCredit.

It could spearhead infrastructuredevelopment and make up for some ofthis year’s slump in foreign directinvestments which, according toUnited Nations data, swelled Libya’scoffers by $3.8bn last year.

Investment from the fund could alsohelp broaden the Libyan economyaway from oil and help attract othersovereign wealth funds and longer-term foreign investors.

Politics, however, remains key.“In the last couple of weeks, there

have been increasing questions aboutthe unity of the rebels, especially afterthe killing of General Abdel FattahYounes just 12 days ago,” said RazaAgha, MENA economist at RBS.

The death of the rebel military com-mander, after he was taken into cus-tody by his own side for questioningremains unexplained, underscoringthe disparate nature of the rebel

National Transitional Council as amix of Gaddafi opponents.

“Beyond Gaddafi, there is a lack ofany unifying institution or individual.In Egypt and Tunisia, for example, themilitary was held in high esteem bythe population,” addedMr Agha.

If it can hold together, the new gov-

ernment is likely to be friendlytowards the West, having come intopower supported by Nato air strikes.

An official at Libyan rebel oil firmAGOCO has already said the companymay have difficulties working withChina, Russia and Brazil, whichopposed tough sanctions on Gaddafi.

So Western companies look wellpositioned as billions of dollars in oilexploration and construction contractscome up for grabs as part of the recon-struction effort.

Religare’s Mostaque also expectsQatari banks and firms to benefitwhen Libya reopens its doors to invest-ment.

Qatar was quick to establish linkswith Libyan rebels and was the firstArab country to contribute planes topolice United Nations-backed no-flyzones over the country.

Until fighting broke out in February,Libya was the world’s 12th largest oilexporter, though its output was mod-est, coming in at about 1.6m barrels aday or 2 % of global oil output.

The disruption of Libyan supply wasthus easily compensated for byincreased Saudi production.

The incoming government willlikely focus on raising the country’sproduction capacity, with a view tocapitalising on its oil reserves, theninth largest in the world.

Investors also see potential inLibya’s banking and insurance sector,which briefly enjoyed foreign investorinterest when decades of Western sanc-tions were lifted in 2004.

France’s BNP Paribas took a minor-ity stake in a local bank when bankingrules were eased, and Renaissance’sRichter expects foreign interest torevive when stability returns.

“Financial services demand will bedriven by the oil industry,” he said.

[email protected]

INASSOCIATION

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BUSINESSto BUSINESS

Building Trade

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DOORS, CONSERVATORIES.

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Newexportfiguresbeliegloominmanufacturing

Jaguar Land Rover’s factory, in Halewood, is enjoying a healthy growth in exports Picture: DAVID JONES

Homeloansmarketremainsflatamidsluggishgrowth

UBStoslashheadcountby3,500 OilpotentialCAIRN Energy said it was “excited”by the potential offered in Green-land, despite failing to find oil fouryears after it launched its explorat-ion campaign.

The Edinburgh-based oil explorerplans to expand the total number ofwells from four to 10.

LDPbusiness .co.ukLDPbusiness .co.uk

[email protected]

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Safetyworriesboostfor G4SCOMPANIES needingmore protection intough and uncertaintimes have given aboost to security giantG4S, the firm that willhelp guard next year’sOlympic Games.

Revenues jumped by5% to £3.76bn in thefirst six months of 2011and demand is increas-ing in most areas, itsaid, with a strongpipeline of UK Govern-ment work.

After the recentriots, the UK’s prisonpopulation is at recordlevels and the group,which already runsfour prisons andhandles electronic tag-ging for 12,000 people,welcomed the Govern-ment’s recent plans formore private sectorinvolvement in thetreatment of offenders.

More outsourcingboth from governmentsand financial institut-ions is “very firmly” onthe agenda, it added.

The group’s £100mOlympics contract willsee it recruit and train10,000 security guardsto work alongside thepolice and local author-ities to oversee securityat both the Olympicsand Paralympic events.

G4S’s UK and Irelandarm, which alreadyemploys 40,000 stafffrom over 80 offices,increased revenues by6% to £612m in thelatest half-year, despitethe loss of its UK Bor-der Agency contractand lower sales in Ire-land. Profits rose by11% to £50m as mar-gins improved.

The UK cash transferbusiness saw lower rev-enues while G4Si, thejewellery and diamondshipment arm, increas-ed revenues by 16%.

THE manufacturing recovery receiveda surprise boost today after a surveyshowed that demand from overseashelped lift orders this month.

Economists described the latestfindings from employers’ organisationthe CBI as reassuring, after the busi-ness group reported that a balance of1% of manufacturers said order bookswere above normal, up from minus10% a month ago.

This was driven by an improvementin exports, which were seen as beingbroadly at normal levels, while expect-ations for growth over the nextquarter rose for the first time sinceMarch.

One business enjoying growth is carmaker Jaguar Land Rover, whichearlier this month revealed a 4.9%jump in second -quarter sales, com-pared with the previous year, helpedby strong demand from China andRussia for its products, including theFreelander 2 Land Rover, built at itsHalewood plant, in Knowsley.

The survey was welcome news aftera raft of gloomy data that showed thatthe sector has slowed in recentmonths, giving rise to fears that theGovernment’s plans for an export-ledrecovery were failing to gainmomentum.

However, the CBI warned that thesector still faced a growing threat asstock market volatility hit businessconfidence, amid fears of a globalrecession.

Richard Woolhouse, CBI’s head offiscal policy, said: “Manufacturingorder books are holding up, andexpectations for output growth areabove their historical average,although they are less strong thanearlier this year.

“But the risks to manufacturingactivity and business confidence have,if anything, increased, due to market

volatility and the recalibration ofgrowth expectations worldwide.

“Concerns around growth in the USand the Euro area present furtherchallenges to the manufacturing recov-ery.”

The survey also showed inflationary

pressures have continued to ease afterstrong price rises in the first half of2011 and remain “fairly modest”.

A balance of 9% of manufacturersexpect to raise prices over the nextthree months, which is up on the 4%last month, but below the figures of

more than 30% seen in the first half ofthe year.

Samuel Tombs, an economist at Cap-ital Economics, said: “August’s surveyprovides a bit of reassurance that therecovery in the manufacturing sectorhas not completely petered out.”

MORTGAGE lending by Brit-ain’s biggest banks was flatlast month, figures showedyesterday, as demand for bor-rowing remained subduedamid a sluggish economy.

Gross mortgage lendingremained at £7.6bn lastmonth, equal to the previousmonth’s lending, according tothe British Bankers’ Assoc-iation (BBA), after an 11% fall

between May and June. Else-where, the number of mort-gage approvals was up 4%month on month at 74,950,while remortgages increased7% to 26,043.

David Dooks, BBA statisticsdirector, said: “Demand forborrowing from both house-holds and companies contin-ues to be weak, reflecting slowgrowth in the economy.”

Net mortgage lending –gross lending minus repay-ments – was up in the periodby 1.7% at £900m, while un-secured credit, such as loansand credit cards, contractedby 1.1% to £100m.

Retail sales continue togrow slowly – edging ahead0.2% in July – so consequentdemand from consumers forunsecured borrowing remains

weak, the BBA said. Compan-ies repaid loans more thanthey borrowed in July, leavingnet lending of minus £8.6bn.This compares to a surplus of£6.8bn in June.

The biggest decline in netlending came from financialcompanies, possibly due tohalf-year accounting reasons,while non-financial net lend-ing was flat. Brian Murphy,

head of lending at independ-ent mortgage broker Mort-gage Advice Bureau, said theJuly figures reflected mort-gage applications made beforethe summer holiday periodwhen, historically, mortgagelending drops off.

He said: “A stronger indic-ator as to the health of themortgage market will be mort-gage applications.”


LDP

Text LDPto 67800

MOBILE

BRITISH employer UBShas became the latestbanking giant toannounce job losses, asit struggles with a slug-gish global economy andincreased regulatorypressures.

The Swiss firm,which employs around6,000 staff in the UK and65,000 worldwide, said itwould reduce its head-count by 3,500 as part ofa bid to save £1.5bn bythe end of 2013.

The job cuts, whichwere signalled lastmonth and were lessthan the 5,000 initiallyfeared, will come pre-dominantly from itsinvestment bank andwealth management

division. UBS could notspecify the number oflosses in the UK.

The move comes afterBritain’s biggest banksannounced a bloodbathof job cuts across theindustry.

news


by Sean Beech, senior partner atDeloitte’s Liverpool office

LDPbusiness .co.uklocation

viewpoint


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It’sdowntoustomakesurethatEnterpriseZonesactuallywork

LAST week, the Governmentannounced 11 new Enterprise Zonesacross the UK.

It is a move that aims to drive

growth and innovation amongearly-stage businesses by offeringsimplified planning rules, super-fastbroadband and tax breaks for com-panies.

The Chancellor, who launched thefirst zones as part of the 2011 Budgetin March, said 30,000 new jobs wouldbe created by 2015 by supporting eco-nomic development in local enter-prise partnership areas such as Liv-erpool, Warrington, Cheshire andGreater Manchester.

However, previous EnterpriseZones introduced by MargaretThatcher and John Major in the1980s and 1990s respectively, could

fuel an argument that jobs createdcould simply be displaced from otherareas, and that the cost of setting upthe zones could outweighthe economic benefits.

In addition, a WorkFoundation report sugges-ted that zones typicallyprovided only a three-yearboost to an area, and there-fore lack sustainablegrowth.

Investment in EnterpriseZones is definitely wel-come, but it’s difficult toimagine this will meet the economicand job creation goals the Govern-

ment is seeking within the next fouryears, especially as detail aroundsome of the Enterprise Zones is

patchy.Obviously, there are two

Enterprise Zones identifiedin Merseyside that willcover major regenerationprojects.

They are LiverpoolWaters and Wirral Waters.

So, as a business operat-ing in this area, our hope isthat they will be a successthis time round.

The aim is that designation as azone will help to accelerate delivery

of these developments, contribute tothe Liverpool superport plans andattract much-needed investment andjobs to the region.

Whether, in the long term, theEnterprise Zones are a success ornot, the impact of being involved inthis legislation cannot be underval-ued or ignored.

It has brought two key schemesonto a national stage and providedour LEP with a springboard forprivate sector growth and widerregeneration.

The Government has given theregion an opportunity. It’s now downto us to make it work.

Smithauctiondate FinalslotstakenatInnovationParksite

Existing tenants within Liverpool Innovation Park are growing and taking extra space Picture: TONY WEST

‘Amovethataimstodrivegrowth inregions’

EXPANSION plans by existing tenants ata 33,000 sq ft building in Liverpool Innov-ation Park (LIP) mean that the complexis now fully let.

Independent game developer SpiralHouse, creative and online specialistagency e-blueprint and technology firmCrosby Systems are among the compan-ies to have taken additional space withinthe business centre in recent weeks.

Baird House is set in landscapedgrounds within the former Marconiheadquarters site in the heart of theEdge Lane campus in Liverpool.

It offers 33,000 sq ft of refurbishedoffice space over three floors and is cur-rently home to 25 businesses.

Dr Mark Tock, innovation manager at

LIP, said the Park’s “flexible offering”makes it possible for growing SMEs toexpand into new premises in as little as24 hours.

He added: “It is great to see SMEswithin the LIP community flourishingand a noticeable increase in overall col-laboration among businesses on site.

“As commercial landlords, we alwaystry to be as flexible as possible to meetthe needs of ambitious, growing busi-nesses and many are surprised to learnjust how easy it is to relocate to orwithin LIP.”

Spiral House, creators of games on allleading consoles, PC and wireless plat-forms, has increased its office space from782 sq ft to 1,021 sq ft.

Spiral managing director KevinOxland said: “The business is going fromstrength to strength, making it the idealtime to move into larger offices.

“The Park was so supportive of ourplans and our new office was arrangedwithin a day of our enquiry.”

Creative agency and online marketingspecialist e-blueprint, formed in 2004,has also expanded its presence in BairdHouse. The company, which started withjust desks, now has a 239 sq ft office.

Managing director Nick Taylor said:“We’ve come a long way since startingthe company and we’ve grown, in part,from the business we have generatedfrom collaborating with other companiesbased at LIP.

“This expansion marks another excit-ing chapter in the business, and with astrong pipeline of work under way wehave high hopes for rapid growth overthe next 18 months.”

Crosby Systems has now taken almost700 sq ft of offices in Baird House forthree years.

WIRRAL-BASED Smithand Sons has announceddetails of its forthcomingproperty auction, offeringa mix of residential refur-bishment opportunitiesand investments acrossWirral and Liverpool.

To be held on Septem-ber 7, at the Village Hotelin Bromborough, a totalof 27 lots will be available

on the day. These includeresidential refurbishmentopportunities ideal eitherfor first-time buyers orfor investors/builderswith scope for resale.

Auctioneer Chris John-son said: “This cataloguehas already attracted agood level of interest andwe feel that there are sev-eral good opportunities.”

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Logisticsfirm insite dealPEEL has let a 1.8 acresite in Ellesmere Portto distribution firmReynolds Logistics.

The site, which is loc-ated just off Junction 8of the M53, is close toMerseyton Road andEllesmere Port Docks.

Reynolds is one ofthe leading bulk logist-ics companies involvedin the distribution ofbulk fuels, lubricants,bitumen, specialistliquids and hazardousgoods throughout Ire-land, the UK andEurope.

The company hastaken the EllesmerePort site on a 10-yearlease to help maintainits continued expan-sion.

David Smith, prop-erty manager at Peel,said: “We are pleasedthat Reynolds Logisticshas seen the benefit ofbeing located inEllesmere Port.”

Legat Owen acted onbehalf of Peel.

Tradersfilluptownmarket

CityScienceParkwelcomesnewtriooftenantsA FORENSIC investigationpractice, a national healthand social care charity and abiomedical innovation firmare the latest companies tomove into Liverpool SciencePark.

The arrival of AfentisForensics, the Huntington’sDisease Association andMed Epad brings the totalnumber of organisationsbased across the park’s twocentrally-located innovationcentres to 65.

Afentis Forensics is a lead-ing forensic investigationpractice whose services havebeen used in numerous high-profile and nationally sig-nificant cases.

The firm offers a broadrange of services, includingcomputer and telecom-munication analysis,audio-visual exhibit assess-ments, DNA profiling andfirearm studies, and is theonly forensic provider thatmakes its own software.

Chloe Young, businessdevelopment director at Liv-erpool Science Park, said:“We are delighted to wel-come three such dynamicorganisations. They are theperfect complement to Liver-pool Science Park’s growingcommunity.” Afentis Forensics is one of three companies that have signed up for space at Liverpool Science Park

KIRKBY Market is reporting its highest occu-pancy rates for more than seven years.

Over its three trading days, the currentaverage occupancy rate is 93%. This is com-pared with an average of only 85% at thebeginning of April this year.

The pitches are proving so popular withtraders that there is currently no more spaceavailable on a Tuesday, with Fridays and Sat-urdays also filling up fast.

Cllr Dave Lonergan, cabinet member forregeneration, economy & skills on KnowsleyCouncil, said: “We have seen a real increase inthe number of traders taking space week onweek and this has continued to rise.

“The current figures are the best we haveseen in years and, despite difficult financialtimes for us all, the market is doing reallywell.

“It is a really encouraging sign not only forthe market itself but for the wider town centreand these figures come before £1.5m ofimprovements to the market are made.

“These planned improvements are in addit-ion to the private investment of more than£200m that is due to be ploughed into regen-erating the town centre.

“It definitely looks as if the future is brightfor both shoppers and traders.”

Kirkby Market has been open since 1960 andonly last year celebrated 50 years of trading.

The market boasts 130 stalls for both per-manent and temporary traders, selling a widevariety of goods.

Cllr Lonergan added: “I think Kirkby mar-ket offers visitors a unique shopping exper-ience and I think it really captures the currenttrend for shopping locally.

“There is always something for everyoneand with such a vibrant and exciting atmos-phere. As for traders, they can always be sureof a bustling atmosphere and in the currenteconomic climate I think the flexibility that isoffered from casual as well as permanentpitches is appealing.”

Cllr Dave Lonergan – Kirkby Marketoffers visitors a unique shoppingexperience

[email protected]

YOUR NEWOFFICE…RENTFREE!*SUBJECT TO TERMS AND CONDITIONS


LondonStockMarketatClose

Last night, the pound was worth: $1.6494 (up 0.0043)............. 1.1460 euros (up 0.0020)............. 120.43 yen (up 0.01) .............Its trade weighted index was 80.20 (up 0.20)Metals in $ per troy ounce: Gold 1864 (down 13.00).......................Silver 42.46 (down 1.03).......................Platinum 1890 (up 3.00) ...................... 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 52 Adv Medical 7338 +318 +338

1812 212 AEA Technology 258 -38

28712 244 Albany Inv Tst 24512 -1 -512

1251 834 AMEC 92012 -612 -43

92 2334 Anglesey Mining 51 +3

35714 23018 Balfour Beatty 23034 -38 -3214

3912 2914 Beale 32 -1 -112

612 51112 Compass Gp 53312 -4 -3

1265 99712 Dee Valley 1255

479 301 easyJet 31734 -278 -3412

1030 726 JD Sports Fashion 86412 -812 +13

125 1112 JJB Sports 1934 +14 -234

36 1534 Johnson Serv 32 +14

579 410 Nichols 520 xd -10 -15

14912 9812 NWF 127 xd -312

50 26 Park Gp 42 -14

1257 82612 Rathbone 1001 +112 -22

139 9712 Redrow 11018 -814

14312 10912 RSA Insurance 11334 xd +34 -412

34 1914 Speedy Hire 24 -14 -314

4634 3412 Sportech 3734 -12

4634 2514 Telme Gp 4112 -314

5514 3234 UK Coal 39 +12 -12

2 1 Ultima 114

2072 1688 Unilever 2042 xd +4 +7

63112 54312 Utd Utils 57912 -1 -13

UNIT TRUSTS

DAILY POST REGIONAL INDEX 1142.27 down 2.74 ▼ 0.24%

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

£59116 £50 Cons 212% ............ £59116

Conversions

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

Treasury

£6238 £50 Tr 212%....................£6238

£11512 £1062132 Tr 9% 12............. £1062132

£10658 £10238 Tr 5% 12................£10238 -132

£121516 £115932 Tr 8% 13.............. £115516 -132

£114332 £109532 Tr 5% 14.............. £112716 -132

£110532 £105732 Tr 734% 12-15........£10614

£3402932 £310532 Tr 212% IL 16 ...... £3391516 -1932

£142316 £1322132 Tr 834% 17.......... £1401116 -116

£150316 £1332732 Tr 8% 21.............. £149116 +116

War

£84316 £6712 War Ln 312%.............. £83 +2

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.

Feb 23, 2011 Aug 23, 2011

G4S

Share price (pence)220

240

260

280

300

FTSE-Rebased

£ ABROAD

Australia dollars 1.49 1.571 1.576

Canada dollars 1.55 1.632 1.634

Denmark krone 8.11 8.533 8.543

European Union euro 1.09 1.145 1.147

Japan yen 120.43 126.170 126.270

New Zealand dollars 1.85 1.977 1.982

Norway krone 8.55 8.985 8.986

Poland zlotys 4.19 4.758 4.766

Sweden krona 9.97 10.468 10.478

Switzerland francs 1.24 1.301 1.302

Turkey new lira 2.78 2.940 2.950

United States dollars 1.57 1.649 1.650

Cancel Bid Offer Yield

Fund Terms Price Price Gross

FIDELITY INVESTMENT SERVS

Amer Spec Sits - 504.30 -

American - 1517.00 0.32

Gwth & Inc - 311.60 1.75

Income Plus - 191.70 4.54

Japan - 203.00 0.57

Jpan Spec Sits - 125.60 0.10

Spec Sits - 1624.00 0.01

Sth East Asia - 640.80 0.01

GARTMORE FUND MANAGERS

Euro Sel Opps - 752.33 1.27

Pratical Inv -152.67 163.76 4.52

GUARDIAN

Index-Linked Acc -536.76 565.01 -

International Acc -843.28 887.66 -

Pacific Acc -224.77 236.60 -

Property Bonds -2021.29 2105.51 -

HSBC INVESTMENT FUNDS (UK)

Balanced - 92.91 1.26

British -228.80 228.80 3.01

Gilt & FI - 66.89 3.10

Gilt & Fixed -236.30 236.30 6.01

Monthly Inc - 119.80 4.36

HENDERSON HORIZON FUND

European Smllr Cos A - 834.20 0.14

Sterling Bd Unit Tst - 54.13 56.55 4.46

UK Equity Inc A - 390.20 3.26

HILL SAMUEL UNIT TST MGRS

Capital -264.60 275.20 1.10

European - 661.20 0.70

Far East - 532.10 1.80

Inc & Gwth - 171.70 3.40

International - 351.30 0.40

North Amer Acc - 382.90 0.10

INVESCO FUND MANAGERS

Sing ASEAN - 183.53 0.75

High Low Funds Price Var

Closing Indices

FT-SE 100 INDEX 5129.42up 34.12 ▲ 0.67%

20 DAY MOVINGAVERAGE 5254.03down 40.31 ▼ 0.76%

FT ALL-SHARE 2661.10up 17.49 ▲ 0.66%

Aerospace & Defence

Index 2878.22 ▲ 2.66

324 116 Avon Rbbr 269 xd +14

36978 24818 BAE Systems 25834 +34

73612 485 Chemring 49858 +178

24558 17338 Cobham 17734 +134

39758 26134 Meggitt 31412xd -318

665 553 Rolls-Royce 58612 -12

19058 11114 Senior 14278 -178

Automobiles & Parts

Index 4138.38 ▼ 51.43

245 13812 GKN 177 xd -214

Banks

Index 3310.92 ▲ 5.87

33312 14512 Barclays 14512xd -34

859 51034 Bco Santander 541 +712

73078 50958 HSBC 51218xd +118

6634 712 Ireland 734 -38

7758 2712 Lloyds Banking2814 +34

5018 1958 Ryl Scotland 20 +38

1959 132112Stan Chart 132112xd-712

Beverages

Index 8855.62 ▲ 88.15

1395 1031 Barr (AG) 1178

50312 302 Britvic 30914 +4

1307 1050 Diageo 1122 +1

2340 1841 SABMiller 2087 +4212

Chemicals

Index 6229.78 ▲ 85.11

2081 1230 Croda 1658 +38

18738 8612 Elementis 13578 -118

2119 1550 Johnsn Mat 1667 +24

Construction & Materials

Index 2927.73 ▼ 16.22

35714 23018 Balfour Beatty 23034 -38

265 188 Costain 204 +12

14823497218 CRH 100114 +1778

1418 970 Kier Group 1164 -16

7634 3512 Low Bonar 65

12412 8812 Marshalls 97 +1

Electricity

Index 7805.38 ▲ 77.01

535 35358 Drax Gp 48114 +8

44858 27938 Intl Power 30134 -14

1423 1108 Scot&Sthrn 1244xd +11

Electronic & Electrical

Index 2690.68 ▲ 76.75

705 440 Domino Ptg 54012xd +12

207 12118 Laird 15478 +778

35718 18918 Morgn Cru 23614 +214

1010 350 Oxford Inst 826 -312

377 23212 Volex 263 xd -34

Equity Inv Instruments

Index 5430.66 ▲ 14.69

39234 30758 Alliance 327 -14

14012 113 Br Assets 117 -34

777 495 Candover Inv 499 -11

228 18634 Dundin IncGth 20538 +178

15734 11314 Dunedin Sml 14258 -38

49214 39238 Edin Invst 445 +234

66034 538 Edin US TrkTst 54714 +114

32778 26334 Forgn & C 27118xd +34

32334 236 Hend Sml Cos 269 +3

385 29518 Law Dbnture 33578xd -18

252 20112 Scot Am 22114 +312

533 42618 Witan 438 +338

Fixed Line Telecoms

Index 1959.65 ▲ 1.14

20418 13058 BT Gp 16234xd

6118 3114 Cble&W Com 3158 +14

7838 34 Cble&W Wwd 3518

84 45 KCOM 7234 -14

Food & Drug Retailers

Index 4405.97 ▲ 0.52

30814 26234 Morrison W 28534 +78

395 28038 Sainsbury 30278 +114

44058 360 Tesco 37714 -12

112 47 Thorntons 4714 -14

Food Producers

Index 5294.36 ▲ 13.96

1182 940 AB Foods 1049 +8

875 56212 Carrs Mill 78212 -1212

896 606 Cranswick 619 xd -812

42478 33418 Dairy Crest 349 +238

3518 13 Premier Foods 1378 +12

656 40918 Tate Lyle 570 +12

2072 1688 Unilever 2042xd +4

Forestry & Paper

Index 5326.44 ▲ 50.63

664 447 Mondi 49412xd +434

General Financial

Index 4898.71 ▲ 41.38

340 20034 3i 20034 -234

88812 65612 Close Bros 668 +312

57012 39114 ICAP 42714xd +214

1076 640 London Stk Ex 805 xd +15

1116 72812 Provident 1049 +1

1257 82612 Rathbone 1001 +112

1922 1330 Schroders 1429xd +14

General Industrials

Index 2582.15 ▲ 19.75

72412 41214 Cooksn Gp 463 +1038

6 218 Cosalt 238 -12

400 293 Rexam 34518 +4

26614 12534 Smith DS 18434xd +34

1429 90712 Smiths Gp 91712 +112

General Retailers

Index 1478.68 ▲ 2.22

2514 1212 Ashley L 1738

31114 221 Brown (N) Gp 26114 +114

7738 56 Debenhams 5658 -78

2812 1138 Dixons Retail 1138 -38

50412 28434 Halfords 28838 -238

235 11818 Home Retail 12514 +138

42538 25314 Inchcape 29612xd -134

1030 726 JD Sports 86412 -812

28718 19812 Kingfisher 22658 +112

42712 32514 M & S 32778 -158

62712 36358 Mothercare 36714 -34

2426 1868 Next 2238 +24

2986 1724 Signet Jwlrs 1999 +42

523 40578 WH Smith 475 +1158

Health Care Equip & Serv

Index 3212.17 ▲ 8.45

742 521 Smith Nph 563 +112

Household Goods

Index 6129.57 ▲ 70.66

138 74 Aga Rngmstr 9634 -14

119 6712 Barratt Dev 7114 +258

75312 511 Bellway 568 +812

192 120 McBride 131 +134

3648 3015 Reckitt Benck 3286xd +33

139 9712 Redrow 11018

4314 2214 Taylor Wimpey 2918 +14

Industrial Engineering

Index 6199.85 ▲ 172.76

39734 21412 Bodycote 26434 +14

85312 53812 Charter 747 xd +125

42212 198 Fenner 31258xd +2

1119 65712 IMI 76112 +1112

116 4312 Molins 8612

31212 12112 MS Intl 24712

45 2512 Renold 29 -14

2063 1562 Spirax Srco 1691 +26

2218 1130 Weir Gp 1720 +7

Industrial Transportation

Index 2065.48 ▼ 28.25

24034 156 BBA Aviation 156 -3

Life Insurance

Index 3616.20 ▲ 10.06

47778 31514 Aviva 31834 +34

12334 8938 Lgl & Gen 9512 -158

777 547 Prudential 590 xd +612

31618 21114 Resolution 25558 +14

24434 172 Standard Life 19414xd -34

Media

Index 3519.27 ▲ 9.07

850 61812 BSkyB 61812 -4

59412 36314 D Mail Tst 38634 +9

9312 5418 ITV 5534 +118

1207 926 Pearson 1066xd -7

59012 46114 Reed Elsevier 48214xd +258

168 8914 STV Group 109 -1

124 3712 Trinity Mirror 4534 +34

725 42838 Utd Business 43514 +512

151 101 UTV 110 +412

84612 57812 WPP 580 +112

Mining

Index 20073.48 ▼ 25.58

3437 2234 Anglo Amer 2234xd -1512

1634 97712 Antofagasta 1206 -6

2631121767 BHP Billiton 1890 +1112

2039 99712 Fresnillo 1892xd -147

53118 348 Glencore Intl 36712 +1212

1671 918 Kazakhmys 93112 +6

1983 1103 Lonmin 1145 +11

6870 4425 Randgold Res 6640 -230

4712 3105 Rio Tinto 3426xd +5

5514 3234 UK Coal 39 +12

Mobile Telecoms

Index 3732.47 ▲ 37.81

72412 38934 Inmarsat 44278 +612

18234 14938 Vodafone Gp 16458 +158

Nonlife Insurance

Index 1427.14 ▲ 8.67

1754 1397 Admiral Grp 1535 +14

1912 141512Marsh McL 166758 -512

14312 10912 RSA Insurance 11334xd +34

Oil & Gas Producers

Index 7298.22 ▲ 100.85

156412104912BG 125012xd+1312

509 37518 BP 396 xd +578

47214 28138 Cairn Energy 29378 +414

535 32714 Premier Oil 33914 +14

2336 1642 Ryl D Shell B 1964xd +28

1493 94512 Tullow Oil 94612 +1

Oil Equipment & Services

Index 20496.71 ▲ 27.89

1251 834 AMEC 92012 -612

Personal Goods

Index 19549.08 ▲ 74.09

1600 82012 Burberry Gp 1199 +8

409 32012 PZ Cussons 350 xd +178

Pharma & Biotechnology

Index 9108.91 ▲ 102.04

3385 254312AstraZeneca 283212xd+1012

1385 112712GlaxoSmthKln 129712xd+20

50 3112 Vernalis 3814 +118

Real Estate

Index 1958.11

35314 23738 Big Yellow Gp 23778 -714

62912 44712 Brit Land 53112 -12

2954 2282 Daejan Hldgs 2529 +50

445 31034 Gt Portland 35514 -934

885 59812 Land Secs 741 +3

33114 23238 SEGRO 24478 +638

Software & Comp Servs

Index 692.55 ▲ 4.88

2490 1271 Autonomy 2490 +4

6312 3812 Emblaze 47

36414 22134 Invensys 23578 +434

108 85 Kewill 8578xd -158

14714 8012 Logica 8138 +78

302 23134 Sage 24514 +4

Support Services

Index 3869.48 ▲ 64.88

1812 212 AEA Tech 258

2034 1346 Aggreko 1755 +39

20778 77 Ashtead Gp 9938xd -114

568 364 Berendsen 49214 +1312

801 67612 Bunzl 72712 +2412

79412 63512 Capita 690 +312

85312 54912 De La Rue 78912 -12

29478 190 Electrocmps 19234 +112

83312 606 Experian 67012 +212

291 23734 G4S 26438 +2034

452 32112 Hyder Cons 34434 +134

34114 18312 Interserve 32114 -214

550 425 Menzies J 501 +3

34634 18034 Northgate 26714 -134

30834 16838 Prem Farnell 17534 +34

10718 7412 Rentokil 7634 +14

12012 79 Smiths News 8314 -234

34 1914 Speedy Hire 24 -14

1127 72312 Travis & P 750 +412

2261 1223 Wolseley 1435 +7

Tech Hardware & Equip

Index 639.76 ▲ 22.73

651 33134 ARM Hldgs 514 +22

2712 19 BATM 2014

10234 57 Psion 58 xd -34

16014 116 Spirent Coms 11834xd +138

Tobacco

Index 31071.73 ▲ 313.79

2871 2181 Br Am Tob 2728xd +28

2231 1784 Imperial Tob 2068xd +20

Travel & Leisure

Index 3885.07 ▼ 9.99

3153 1742 Carnival 1750

612 51112 Compass Gp 53312 -4

479 301 easyJet 31734 -278

12234 38 Enterprise Inns 3914 -178

41258 31114 FirstGroup 34714xd +378

1598 1085 Go-Ahead Gp 1426 +10

518 40334 Greene King 42814xd +712

430 240 Holidaybreak 42714 -34

1435 955 Intercontl Htls 955 -512

285 164 Intl Cons Airlns 164 -312

15514 12014 Ladbrokes 12414xd +218

11718 87 Marston’s 89 +78

361 22918 Mitchells&Btlrs 23512 -58

9038 1014 Punch Taverns 1014

15334 10314 Rank Gp 12158xd +278

335 23814 Restaurant Gp 26934 +514

26812 170 Stagecoach 24434 +234

20434 4378 Thomas Cook 4378 -178

27178 14734 TUI Travel 14834 +34

1887 1368 Whitbread 1445 -9

Utilities

Index 4517.02 ▼ 2.06

34618 28714 Centrica 30338 +258

1265 99712 Dee Valley 1255

63212 530 National Grid 59612 -4

73712 565 Pennon Gp 63912xd -112

1517 1291 Severn 1434 -1

63112 54312 Utd Utils 57912 -1

AIM

Index 745.66 ▲ 3.49

4958 1014 API Gp 4212

1234 178 Armour Gp 214

158 1 Crimson Tide 138

214 112 Dawson Intl 178

838 478 Eckoh 634 -14

125 1112 JJB Sports 1934 +14

36 1534 Johnson Serv 32 +14

86 3034 Man Brnze 45 +12

12 4 Metalrax 738 -18

550 385 Portmeirion P 460 +1212

17312 55 Redhall Gp 7614 +14

6214 18 Scapa Gp 4712 -12

142 99 Swallowfield 114

9534 67 Uniq 9558 +18

712 525 Young A 650 -19

Aug 1 - Aug 5 Aug 8 - Aug 12 Aug 15 - Aug 19 M T W T F4940

5200

5460

5720

5980

FTSE-100

20-Day Moving Average


businessdiary

LDPbusiness .co.ukmarket comment

LDPbusiness .co.uk

For all the latest local and national business news online, log on to www.ldpbusiness.co.uk

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Tuesday, August 30“Driving Your BusinessForward” is a free sem-inar organised byBarclays Bank, featur-ing The DirectorsCentre managing dir-ector Robert Cravenspeaking on the toolsand techniques vital tobusiness success.

It will be held atBarclays MobilePresentation Suite, B1Business Centre,Speke, from 11.30am.Email daniel.styler@barclays. com to book aplace.

Wednesday, August 31Downtown Liverpool inBusiness is holding a

debate called The Beau-tiful Game – the Busi-ness of Football, onwhether or not footballis now too money-dom-inated. On the panelwill be Liverpool FCmanaging director IanAyre, and Everton FCchief executive RobertElstone. The venue forthe debate is the HiltonHotel, in Liverpool citycentre, from 8.30am to10.30am.

Thursday, September 1Freelancers and home-workers who want towork in a differentenvironment are wel-come to attend thelatest Jelly Liverpoolevent.

The co-workingevent aims to provide afriendly, wi-fi enabledspace where people canescape their usualworking environment.

This month’s event

will be held at LeafCafe, in Bold Street,from 9am-5pm.For details, visit open-labs.org.uk/jelly/

Wednesday, September 7The BioIndustry Assoc-iation (BiA) is holdinga BIO breakfast meet-ing at the MerseyBIOIncubator, in Liverpool.

The event is free toattend and open tomembers of the BiA,along with non-mem-

bers from start-up com-panies.

Wednesday, September 7Liverpool Chamber ofCommerce is holding aworkshop on Market-ing Research forExporters.

For details on theevent, which takesplace at the Chamber’sOld Hall Street base,visit www.liverpoolchamber.org. uk

Tuesday, September 20

This is the latest eventstaged by the LiverpoolChinese Business Net-work aimed at growinglinks between the city’sChinese and non-Chinese business com-munities.

The venue is theChina Palace Restaur-ant on Liverpool’sBerry Street. Arrivefrom 6.30pm for a 7pmstart, and dinner willbe served at 7.45pm.

ReasonstobecheerfulaboutworldinvestmentmarketsINVESTMENT markets have recentlyexperienced very high levels of volat-ility. World share prices have fallen bya precipitous 18% from their Mayhighs in Sterling terms (as measuredby the Morgan Stanley World Index, toAugust 19), whilst those assets per-ceived as safe havens have seen stronggains.

In the past couple of weeks,investors’ concerns about futuregrowth have developed a sharper edge,spurred particularly by worries thatthe failure to deal decisively withEurope’s sovereign debt issues hasraised the possibility of a nightmarishsystemic financial setback, ofthe sort experienced in 2008.

We do not dismiss this pos-sibility, but we still believethat a much better outcome isfar more probable.

The foundation of ouroptimism rests on a numberof pillars. Firstly, importantprogress is being made inEurope. The recentlyannounced mechanisms forcontaining the contagion lookto be credible – now it is amatter of the timeliness andscale of their implementation.

Secondly, the financial sys-tem is significantly more robust thanit was three years ago. Central banksworldwide are fully engaged as lendersof last resort, having in place manymechanisms to channel liquidity intothe banking system.

In addition, the banks themselvesare more aware of the risks, moretransparent to regulators and bettercapitalised than in the run up to the

Lehman failure. In spite of widespreadsystemic fears, corporate debt marketsare very much open for business – thepolar opposite situation to the so-called “credit crunch”.

Thirdly, the health of thecorporate sector is an out-standing asset. The combina-tion of robust corporatehealth and a functioningbanking environment giveboth an incentive to investwhen times are good, androom for patience if the out-look is more uncertain.

They also provide a soundvaluation basis, which ismanifest starkly in the appeal-ing, well-covered dividendyields offered in global blue-chip stocks, both in absoluteterms and relative to fixedincome alternatives.

There is a final intangible differencebetween now and 2008 which lies inthe nature of investors and theirinvestments in stock markets. Today,there is a much reduced use of lever-age and far greater appreciation ofrisk – with very few naive parti-cipants. This is no indicator of futureriches, but like the health of corporatebalance sheets mentioned above, it

provides some protection againstinclement conditions, limiting thesurge of forced sellers that is generallya feature of the most painful marketdeclines.

We are optimists, but not myopicallyso. The banking system is more robustthan in 2008, but it is not invulnerable.No modern bank can survive theinsolvency of its host country and link-ages between countries make suchevents difficult to isolate.

In addition, it is certain that evenonce these uncomfortable waters havebeen navigated, the Western econom-

ies are due for a prolonged period ofsub-par demand growth as the delever-aging of both consumer and govern-ment balance sheets progresses, pro-ducing a volatile political climate as aspin-off.

In the meantime, our growing reli-ance upon increasingly assertive,unpredictable developing economies,such as China, India and Brazil, is alsoa source of potential surprises, bothpositive and negative.

John Haynes,Head of Research,

Investec

The credit crunch conditions that caused the collapse of Lehman donot exist any more, our analyst says Picture: JOHNNY GREEN

LondonmarketTHE London marketmade nervous gains yes-terday as hopes that theUS would announce morestimulus measures werecountered by more weakeconomic data.

The FTSE 100 Indexclosed 34.1 points higher,at 5129.4, as traders werebuoyed by hopes that Fed-eral Reserve chairman,Ben Bernanke, wouldannounce more quantitat-ive easing on Friday toboost the US economy.

The London markethad been up nearly 100points in early trading,but it lost much of itsearlier progress aftermore disappointing hous-ing and manufacturingdata from the US.

Banking stocks, whichhave taken a battering inrecent days, made slightgains. Royal Bank ofScotland was up 0.3p at20p, Lloyds BankingGroup was up 0.7p at28.3p, and HSBC wasahead 1.1p, at 512.1p.

Mining companies hadbeen among the best per-formers in earlier tradingas they benefited from arise in base metal prices.

But they lost theirgains as metal pricessoftened in later trading.

However, commoditiesgiant Glencore Internat-ional was still among thebest performers ahead ofits interim results onThursday.

Gold fell from its recentrecord high of $1,912 anounce, to $1,863, causingminer RandgoldResources to slide.

The biggest Footsierisers were G4S, up 20.8pat 264.4p, Wood Group,ahead 24p at 542.5p, ArmHoldings, up 22p at 514p,and Glencore, ahead12.5p, at 367.5p.

The biggest Footsiefallers were Fresnillo,down 147p at 1892p,Randgold Resources, off230p at 6640p, Interna-tional Consolidated Air-lines Group, off 3.5p at164p, and Legal & Gen-eral ,down 1.6p, at 95.5p.

Whatdoyouthink?Email us withyour views [email protected],or write to usPO Box 48, OldHall Street,LiverpoolL69 3EB


‘I simplylivetowakeupandsmellcoffee’

Sam Tawil, 31, co-founder and director of Bold Street Coffee, in Liverpool city centre – we aim to makecoffee quicker, while still maintaining perfection in the cup

■ NEW head brewerJim Kerr, below,

may only have been atCains for a few weeks,but his pride in the brew-ery is already obvious.

Just before getting hispicture taken by LDPBusiness, he looked atthe metal tops of thebrewhouse kettles – thecopper whirlpools –which quickly get dustywhen the nearby grainmills are working.

“They need to be hoseddown before the photos,”he declared.

And so, while TradingGossip waited, he rushedto turn on a hose so man-aging director Sudar-ghara Dusanj could soakthe metal domes, leavingthem shining for theirmoment in the spotlight.

■ JOBS can dictatewhere people take

their holidays, accordingto a survey by VirginAtlantic.

It says bankers arelikely to head to NewYork and estate agents toSpain.

The study also revealedthat doctors and airlinecabin crew are mostlikely to holiday in theCaribbean and lawyersmainly go to France.

Shopaholics feed theirspending bug in the US,while farmers oftenswitch domestic animalsfor wild ones on aKenyan safari. We atTrading Gossip prefer acaravan in Talacre – asbefits our status.

LDPbusiness .co.ukthe back page

tradinggossip

workingday

6.15am: Wake up and ride to work. It’sonly a short 10-minute sprint, but itgets the blood flowing so I’m wideawake and geared up for the morningstampede. My favourite part of the dayis getting the machine ready. We aregetting busier and now need two baris-tas, so we can make coffee quicker andstill maintain perfection in the cup.

6.30am: Make adjustments to thegrinders and ensure our coffee tastesits very best. I make coffee for the staff– we are obsessive with the scientificside of coffee, weighing it before andafter to get a good brew ratio. Webelieve this is what sets us apart fromthe competition, and backs up ourclaim to brew Liverpool’s best coffee.

7.45am: It is essential to drink a cupof coffee before the customers start toarrive, to make sure I am one stepahead. I also eat some breakfast – usu-ally I try to eat a bowl of fruit yoghurtand honey, or a big bacon butty if Ihave had a late night. The breakfastrush then begins. I have a long list ofadmin tasks to do, but I take breaks tochat to customers and friends whocome in.

11am: Put out our home-made foodand clean the machine after the rush.Cleaning everything in a method-ological way is vital. The store’sgolden rule is to thoroughly clean ourmachine three times a day. We’vedeveloped a brew bar with stools, soyou can see how we make the coffee.

12pm: Lunch is by far the busiest timeof the day for us, because this is whenBold Street really comes alive. Theatmosphere in the shop is always elec-tric. The best part of the job is tastingnew coffees. I’m often asked how manycoffees I drink a day – the answer islots of little tastes, rarely a full cup.

2.30pm: Clean the machine and maketime to push through any orders. Ispeak to our roasters, Has Bean, to seewhat new coffees they have, and wechat about our espresso blend.

We work closely with them to selectsingle origin coffees and brew these inmany different ways, constantly

working on recipes to get the bestflavour.

3pm: Harpist Stan Ambrose plays inthe shop. He has become a popularfigure in the shop. Music is a vital partof Bold Street Coffee.

We have a vinyl record player andspend some of our tips each week onrecords from Probe, Hairy Records anddelving in charity shops. They create agreat atmosphere and tickle customerswho haven’t seen one for a while.

3.30pm: I leave to do the school runand pick up my son, Hector. We ride

home on our bikes and then I headback to the shop. Things tend to pickup again.

4pm: Word of mouth has been spread-ing and it’s always satisfying whennew customers ask us why our coffeeis so good. It comes down to our pas-sion for coffee knowledge, sourcingour beans from amazing farms aroundthe world, and paying our roasters agood whack for it.

6pm: Close the doors, clean themachine again and get everythingready for the next day. Coffee training

is another part of our business – one ofour baristas made it to a national finalthis year– and we mainly do this train-ing after we close down the shop.

7.30pm: After work, I try to get out onmy bike, which is a great way tounwind. I try to avoid TV as a way torelax from work and instead enjoymeeting friends.

10pm: Normally I just enjoy a readand usually go to bed later than Ishould. There’s not enough hours inthe day, and I need to rest as it allstarts again first thing in the morning.

SamTawil,31, isco-founderanddirectorofBoldStreetCoffee,aspecialist coffeeshopsituatedatthetopofBoldStreet, inLiverpoolcitycentre.Thiswashisworkingday

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LDP Business - 24th August 2011