LDP Business - 28th September 2011

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CREDIT card giant MBNA hasbounced back into profit, raising hopesthat the business could be successfullysold, with the preservation of thous-ands of jobs.

The Chester group was put up forsale in August by its parent, Bank ofAmerica, in a move that sparked fearsfor the future of the site and its 3,500employees. But LDP Business can

reveal that Chester Business Park-based MBNA Europe group posted apre-tax profit of £348m in 2010 – upfrom a loss of £213m in 2009.

And Professor Steve Broomhead,who is leading a task force set up tosecure the future of the site, says thenews will show potential buyers thatMBNA is a strong business that isworth preserving in Chester.

Accounts newly filed at CompaniesHouse show MBNA Europe reportedoperating income – including interestfrom loans as well as fees and com-

mission income – of £1.6bn in 2010,down from £2bn in 2009.

But the group still managed to postits first profit since 2007 as it focusedon its core products in the UK andIreland and reduced its exposure tobad debts.

Total loans and advances to custom-ers stood at £12.4bn, down from£13.8bn in 2009.

Provisions for “bad and doubtfuldebts”, meanwhile, stood at £835m,down from £1.4bn in 2009. The groupsaid: “Following the improved eco-

nomic outlook and tightened creditrisk strategies, the provision has star-ted to reduce from the peak in 2009.”

It added: “MBNA Europe continuesto operate in a very challenging mar-ket environment. The continued use ofcredit risk mitigating strategies acrossall territories has contributed to areduction of 10% in loans andadvances to customers.

“However, the group maintains asignificant share of the UK credit card

MBNAbackinblackasownergetssetforsale

Headlineinhereandhere

LONDON’S top-flightshares made theirbiggest percentagegain of the year, onhopes that worldleaders are movingcloser to a plan tosave the euro.

The FTSE 100 Indexrose 4%, or 204.7points to 5,294.1 – itsbiggest rise since May,2010 – after Germanchancellor AngelaMerkel pledged to dowhatever she could tohelp Greece regaininvestors’ confidence.

Greece’s financeminister also said thedebt-stricken nationwould receive thenext round of bailoutloans in time to avoida default next month.

MARKET REPORT:PAGE 15

FTSE-1005294.05

204.68▲

Caldeira looksto switchproductionCUSHION makerCaldeira may switchsome production fromits China factory toMerseyside.

PAGE 2

£2m of loansMORE than £2m hasbeen lent to SMEs bythe North West Fundfor Business Loans.

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inside

ChloBoset tosparkleNATWEST has pro-vided a £150,000 work-ing capital package tofund the expansion ofChester-based jewellerydesigner Chloe Moss,whose ChloBo sterlingsilver designs are wornby the likes of CherylCole and ColeenRooney.

Chloe founded theHoole business eightyears ago, and her16-strong workforce isset to expand after sheadded new stockists inBrighton and Norfolkto more than 40 exist-ing retailers, mostly inthe north of England.

Hugh Downer, of Nat-West, said: “Chloe has aclear vision for thefuture of ChloBo.”

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

Chester-basedjewellerydesignerChloe Moss,with HughDowner, fromNatWest

EXCLUSIVEbyAlistairHoughtonLDPBUSINESSSTAFFalistair.houghton@liverpool.com

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

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2 Wednesday, September 28, 2011

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TONY McDONOUGH’S BUSINESS BEAT

‘There is support out therefor those people strugglingwith workplace stress’

Log on to www.ldpbusiness.co.uk

1 Boston digital mission2 Sir Stelios to launch rival3 Care home jobs plan4 Design agencies open doors5 Unilever pensions protestldpbusiness.co.uk

Updatesthroughoutthe day

CaldeiraKnowsleycouldwinworkfromChinasite

Taskforcehead isupbeaton MBNA

market at 18%.” Bankof America is sellingMBNA as part of itsstrategy to focus on itscore US business.

When the sale wasannounced, fears wereraised that any buyercould buy MBNA’s cus-tomer base and mergeit into its own, meaningfewer jobs would beneeded in Chester.

Earlier this month,Chester RenaissanceProf Broomhead wasnamed chair of a localtask force whose job isto persuade Bank ofAmerica to sell MBNAto a company that willkeep the business andits employees.

He said: “This is astrong business, asevidenced by these res-ults.

“This was a strategicdecision by Bank ofAmerica to sell thecredit card business inEurope, rather thananything to do withbusiness difficulties.

“It’s a confident busi-ness. It’s one we’re veryhappy to support.

“It’s a rather difficultmarket. The financialservices sector is frag-ile. But, at this point,I’m very optimisticabout a sale and theretention of 3,500 high-value jobs in Chester.”

Prof Broomhead saidthe task force wouldhold its first meetingwithin weeks, once thebank had finalised thesales process forMBNA.

Engineeringfirmreportingsignsofeconomiclife

newsLDPbusiness .co.uk

KNOWSLEY cushion maker Caldeiracould switch some production from itsChina factory to Merseyside, due to“rampant inflation, a rising currency,increasing labour costs and highinterest charges”.

Founder and managing directorTony Caldeira revealed in the com-pany’s annual report that he is con-sidering restructuring the Chinesedivision, near Hangzhou, in Zhejiangprovince, and “possibly even returningsome manufacturing to its UKheadquarters in Merseyside”.

The figures showed the group madea loss after tax of £166,000 in the yearto December 31, compared with aprofit of £287,000 in 2009, despite a risein sales from £20m to £21m.

Mr Caldeira, who began in businesson a Great Homer Street market stall,blamed rising costs, as well as losses atretail arm The Fabric Warehouse, dueto heavy snows which affected cus-tomer footfall and refurbishment coststhroughout the 14-strong chain.

But he said: “Considering the per-fect storm that the company has faced,Caldeira has traded well and continuesto strongly outperform its rivals.”

He insisted the firm will return toprofit in the current financial year:“Over the years, the Caldeira Grouphas reinvested its profits and as a res-ult has a very strong balance sheet.

“This has helped the companythrough this perfect storm.

“I am confident that the companywill emerge from this unprecedentedtrading period better, stronger andmore competitive than ever.”

The Knowsley Business Park fact-ory, which employs more than 40 staff,remained profitable, despite the col-lapse of several customers includingthe 2010 administration of the thenKnowsley-based Ethel Austin group.

Caldeira USA, based in New York,saw a 50% increase in sales and theaddition of more leading North Amer-

ican retailers to its customer base.And, while Caldeira China improvedsales, a surge in costs adverselyaffected profit margins.

The Fabric Warehouse suffered froma fall in big ticket sales as the economyand housing market continued to fal-ter, and Mr Caldeira admitted that the

division will remain loss-makingthroughout 2011.

Last year, Caldeira added a propertycompany to the group, acquiring abuilding previously rented by The Fab-ric Warehouse in Waterlooville, Hamp-shire. Further properties will be addedto the portfolio as opportunities arise.

Mr Caldeira said trading conditionsare still tough, but he remains positiveabout the long-term prospects.

Despite losing some customers,Caldeira UK has added Argos andSpeke-based Shop Direct to its clientbase this year which, he said, willmore than offset the loss of sales.

TOP FIVE

Tony Caldeira with around £35,000-worth of stock that had been produced for Ethel AustinPicture: ANDREW TEEBAY

[email protected]

INASSOCIATION

WITH

LIVERPOOL’SINVESTMENTSPECIALISTS

A WARRINGTON engineeringcompany believes that thefirst indications of an eco-nomic recovery are evident,based on its record monthlysales figures.

Taylor Business Park-basedCroft Engineering Services

revealed that it had achievedits best monthly revenues ofits 25-year history duringAugust, with sales running75% higher than an averagemonth.

It said contracts weresecured across a diverse range

of sectors, which includedfood, chemical, power gener-ation, oil and gas, construc-tion, aerospace, rail, engineer-ing, environmental and also inthe glamorous world of For-mula 1 motor racing.

It also revealed that, of its

record increase in sales, 75%originated from UK-basedcompanies.

Director Neil Burns said:“Our reputation as one of themost reliable and efficientmanufacturers of quality filterproducts is growing

throughout a wider and morediverse range of companies.

“That so much of ourincreased business has comefrom within the UK is veryencouraging.

“Companies are investingin UK manufacturers.”

Steve Broomhead

CONTINUED FROMPAGE 1

■ ALISTAIRHOUGHTON: Page 8

3Wednesday, September 28, 2011

“semi-retired” and passed on thebusiness to the next generation.

“My father still came into theshop,” she said. “He was serving cus-tomers. But he brought Keith in totake over.

“My brother was responsible forthe company’s emergence as thelargest independent retailer in oursector in the country.”

Christine had worked “on and off ”at the family firm since she was 17.

She studied engineering at Lan-caster University before joining Brit-ish Aerospace, where she became adesign technician working on Airbusaircraft.

In 1998, she returned to Liverpoolto join the family firm on a full-tiebasis, working alongside her brother.

They launched the Hatton’s web-site in 1999, and orders started flood-ing in from all over the world.

“Keith got computers into theshop,” said Christine. “My dad wasold-school – he didn’t know aboutthem.

“Keith got us on the internet, andset up our website. That growth andexpansion of the business has comefrom online ordering.”

As Hatton’s grew, its old store wastoo small for its needs. So, in 2001,Keith moved the business downSmithdown Road to its current homenear the Penny Lane junction.

That year, our sister paper theEcho reported, turnover broke the£1m barrier for the first time, andthe business kept growing as moreand more people visited its site.

But, in 2008, tragedy struck whenKeith, 49, died after an accidental fallfrom a balcony while on holiday inIbiza.

Friends and family paid warmtribute to Keith, who was also awell-known face in Merseyside’s ath-letics scene as a member of LiverpoolHarriers Athletics Club.

Asked how she was affected by her

demobbed from the Army, decided tobuy a small store in SmithdownRoad.

According to Christine, her fathersold “anything that was in demandafter the war”, including firewood,fireworks and toys.

But he soon discovered that oneproduct in particular would help hisshop stand out from the crowd.

“One day,” said Christine,“someone in the shop pointed out amodel train that he had on displayand was selling for a few pounds.They said it was a collector’s itemworth hundreds and hundreds ofpounds.

“My father thought ‘maybe there’ssomething in this’. So he startedspecialising in model railways.”

Norman grew the business byadvertising to customers nationwide– a foretaste, perhaps, of the successhis children would find by sellingonline.

In 1958, he moved the firm to alarger shop in Smithdown Road –where he led the business foranother 40 years.

In 1998, Christine said, Norman

profile

Modeltrainfirmsteamsaheadtowincustomersworldwide

EVERYONE who travels throughsouth Liverpool knows Hatton’smodel train shop – and everyone issurprised when they realise just howbig a business it is.

The model train shop, with itshuge yellow signs and image of arosy-cheeked young chap playingwith a train set, is a landmark totravellers in Smithdown Road, nearthe busy junction with Penny Lane.

But Hatton’s is more than a shop –it’s a global mail order business thatturns over more than £8m a year andis the largest independent modeltrain retailer in the country.

It has kept growing despite therecession and despite the death ofmanaging director Keith Hatton, whofell from a balcony in Spain, in 2008.

His sister, Christine Hatton, tookover the family firm and has con-tinued its growth, even opening anew warehouse to help it cope withdemand for its trains.

And she is proud that the familyfirm, founded by her father just afterWorld War II, is a household namewith model rail fans across the globe.

She said: “We sell all over theworld, with something like 89% ofsales in the EU. The largest countrywe sell to is Australia. A lot of expatslive there and want to be reminded ofhome by buying British trains.

“We sell to all age groups. Andthey seem to come from all back-grounds and socio-economic groups.But the customer base is almostexclusively male.”

In 1946, Norman Hatton, newly

AlistairHoughtonmeetsCHRISTINEHATTON,ofHatton’sModelRailways

LDPbusiness .co.uk

Christine Hatton in her refurbishedSmithdown Road store, Wavertree

Picture: GARETH JONES/ grj190911hattons-3

Highest educational qualification:BSc in engineering from Lancaster Uni-versity. I’m also a member of the Inst-itute of DirectorsBest advice: Your staff are your bestasset. You need to motivate them andget the best out of themProudest achievement: After mybrother died, I felt quite overwhelmedby it all. But not only have we kept thebusiness going, we’ve made changesthat the staff feel positive aboutStill to achieve: To bring everythingback under one roof, hopefully withour own car park, and maybe we willeven become a tourist attraction. Whoknows?

q&a

INASSOCIATION

WITH


brother’s death, Christine fell silent:“It was a horrible shock,” she saideventually.

“There were a lot of tributes. Wegot a lot of letters and cards of con-dolence.”

“And,” she added, “I realised Iwould have to take over the busi-ness.”

Unsurprisingly, Christine was“overwhelmed” at the task in hand.But, together with the company’sloyal staff, she prepared to lead thefirm into a new era.

Christine said: “My brother wasvery good at buying and selling – heknew what items to buy at whatprice. He had a flair for those things,and a lot of it was in his head.

“So there was a learning curve notjust for me, but for Richard Davies,who is the business developmentmanager and my right-hand man.”

The company opened a new ware-house a year ago to help it processorders more efficiently. Some 90% ofsales at Hatton’s come through thewebsite or by mail order.

It has also refitted its shop,formerly piled with boxes piled inhiggledy-piggledy fashion, to make itmore welcoming.

“I went on a leadership and man-agement programme at the uni-versity,” said Christine. “When myshadow on that programme came tothe shop, he said that the shop wasbadly in need of a refit and didn’tpromote itself well. He was right.

“He said we were putting blacklocomotives, often in black boxes, ina dark case.

“So we now have cabinets withinternal lights, and we’ve started todisplay the models outside the boxesto make them easier to see.

“People have remarked on howmuch better the shop looks. It gives amuch better impression.”

Since taking charge, Christine hasput a new emphasis on training,

sending retail and warehouseemployees on NVQ courses and intro-ducing an appraisal system for staff.

Hatton’s employs 30 full-time staff,with another 14 part-timers. Severalstaff members are model rail enthu-siasts, delighted they have found adream job.

The recent investment hit profitsin the last financial year, but, withsales still rising, Christine is con-fident it is an investment that willpay off. The downturn, meanwhile,has largely passed the company by asclients have continued to invest intheir hobby.

“A lot of our customers,” she said,“are older people whose finances aremore settled.”

That customer base includescelebrities, including Cheshire-basedmusic mogul Pete Waterman, andhas even included Royalty.

“My father once got a letter fromthe Duke of Gloucester,” smiledChristine. “He framed it and put it ina shop window, but the sun faded it.”

Christine’s long-term ambition isto make Hatton’s a “tourist attrac-tion” for model enthusiasts.

“I hope eventually we will geteveryone back on one site again,” shesaid, “with retail, customer services,and warehousing all back under oneroof and nearer Liverpool.”

Hatton’s will remain focused onselling model trains, but it hasrecently widened its product range.

Christine said: “We’ve startedselling things like Airfix kits forbuilding model aircraft and ships.

“We’ve started to sell more scenerymaterials and tools. We want peopleto think of us as a model shop.”

And that new product range hasbrought back memories forChristine.

She said: “I’ve recently taken homeone of our Airfix kits to build myself– it’s a lunar landing module. I usedto build them as a child.”


LoansfundurgesMerseyfirmstoapplyforcash

UK bankhead ischamberspeakerSANTANDER bankingchief Charlotte Hoggwill be the guest speakerat this year’s LiverpoolChamber of Commerceannual dinner at thecity’s Anglican Cathed-ral on December 1.

Ms Hogg wasrecently appointedhead of retail distrib-ution and intermediar-ies at Santander UKplc, which has its com-mercial bankingoperation at Bootle’sBridle Road.

She was previouslymanaging director, UKand Ireland, at busi-ness information ser-vices group Experianand has a strong strat-egic financial servicesbackground and exper-ience from her time atMorgan Stanley, Gold-fish and the Bank ofEngland.

Former BritishChambers of Commercedirector general DavidFrost will also attend.FW Capital fund manager Gary Guest – says 13 deals have been done

MORE than £2m has been loaned tosmall businesses by the North WestFund for Business Loans since itlaunched in December last year.

The £35m fund is being managed byFW Capital and is one of six beingoverseen by the North West Fund.

NWF has been allocated £185m ofEuropean money to help small firmsin the North West with 40% of the potringfenced for Merseyside.

FW Capital has completed 13 loandeals so far, and says there are more inthe pipeline.

They included a £200,000 loan toKnowsley processed glass maker, TuffX, which it will use to fund an expan-sion drive.

However, FW says the strongestinterest so far has come from firms inthe Greater Manchester area, and itwants to see more applications fromMerseyside firms.

Fund manager Gary Guest told LDPBusiness: “Around 14% so far havecome from Merseyside.

“The demand is there, but we arekeen to speak to more businesses.

“What we are looking for is estab-lished businesses that have weatheredthe storm of the recession and are nowlooking to grow.”

FW has established operations inLiverpool, Manchester and Preston.

Investment executive Simon Berryis based in the Liverpool office, whichis located in The Plaza.

He acknowledged that companieswere, in some cases, very wary ofapproaching banks for funding in thecurrent environment.

He added that FW often lent to busi-nesses alongside banks, and had agood relationship with them.

The £200,000 to Tuff X was matchedby a Lloyds TSB loan.

“If a company has the right man-agement team, then we will look atways of doing the deal rather than notdoing the deal,” said Mr Berry.

“If the business plan stacks up, thenthere is always a deal to be done.”

Mr Guest added: “The banks andadvisers who’ve already referred cli-ents to us for investment are findingit’s a win-win situation.”


byTonyMcDonoughLDPDEPUTYBUSINESSEDITORtony.mcdonough@liverpool.com

INASSOCIATION

WITH


Spire Hospital LiverpoolJobs Fair Evening

Liverpool Hospital

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Permanent, Temporary and Bank StaffRequired across all departments:TheatreWardsPhysiotherapyOut Patient pre-op assessmentAdministrationHouse keepingCateringThursday 6th October 2011 from 5.30 pmLight refreshments will be available. For further detailsabout this open evening please contact Zoe Case on07721894323 or 0151 733 7123

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Amateurbakers inkitchenstand-offLIVERPOOL designagency Bolland & Lowefaced law firm More-crofts in a bakingstand-off.

Keen amateur chefsfrom the two firmsgathered for the con-test at the city’s CanCook Studios.

The event was to pro-mote the MacmillanWorld’s Biggest CoffeeMorning, which takesplace on Friday, and inwhich the two compan-ies are taking part.

The agency’s “lean,mean baking machines”,John, Phil and Barbarawent head to head withHelen, Sally and Pau-line, of Morecrofts, in afight to the death (bychocolate).

Both teams had towhip up a cake, a bis-cuit and a pudding, oneof which had to be glu-ten free. It was close,but Morecroft’s event-ually ran out winners.

Magicalartofthedealmaker


[email protected]

INASSOCIATION

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HanoverStreetSocialadding‘oohlala’toLiverpoolRESTAURATEURS PatrickSmith and Jonathan Poolehave opened their secondLiverpool venture, after firstsetting up Salt House Tapas.

Hanover Street Social,which is also owned andoperated by the businesspartners’ Red & Blue Res-taurants vehicle, has been ayear in the planning.

They say their aim is fortheir 120-cover French bras-serie to combine a New Yorkand London feel.

Patrick Smith said: “Wewant Hanover Street Socialto be a sociable way of beingwith family, and equally agreat meeting place for busi-ness breakfasts.”

He added: “Hanover StreetSocial is a French brasseriethat happens to be in Liv-erpool, run by a home-grown team, although therewill be some strong bras-serie touches alongside anurban, warehouse feel.”

And he said the new ven-ture will be able to cater fordifferent target markets,according to the time of theday.

“Specifically, we’re hopingto capture the city at break-fast time and afternoon tea,as well as boost the Sundaybrunch market.” Patrick Smith, left, and Jonathan Poole, pictured at their latest fine dining venture, Hanover Street Social

THE mysterious world of corporate dealmak-ing is revealed in the latest LDP Businessmagazine, available free with the Daily Posttomorrow.

Practically unknown outside of the corpor-ate world, the Merseyside dealmakers are thefinancial alchemists who find the cash forcompany takeovers, mergers and managementbuy-outs.

A difficult job in the current financial cli-mate, but business writer Peter Elson discov-ers that, contrary to the gloom peddled inmuch of the national media, there is a quietconfidence among the dealmakers.

Certain sectors such as new technology,pharmaceuticals, engineering, oil and gas areresilient in the face of the recession.

However, there is a consensus among thedealmakers that we are only half-way throughthe current downturn and it will be anotherthree or four years before we reach anythinglike the level of economic activity before thecredit-crunch.

Sue Weir, one of Merseyside’s top femalebusiness leaders, is the subject of themagazine’s Big Interview, by deputy businesseditor Tony McDonough.

Ms Weir is chief executive at Medicash,which has been in the city for 140 years. She isdedicated to taking the company forward andtargeting the corporate market for futuregrowth.

One of Merseyside’s most successful sectorsis the knowledge economy. Neil Hodgsonreports on Alpha Biolaboratories, based in

1

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

BUSINESSLDPLDPBUSINESS

SueWeir takesMedicashintoawholenewera

●Full speedahead:Liverpool InnovationPark’s in the fast lane●Growing:Ecooutfit soars ●Big test:DNA firm’sopportunity

A clean bill ofhealthA clean bill ofhealth

Making ithappenWho are the region’stop dealmakers?

w w w . l d p b u s i n e s s . c o . u kO c t o b e r 2 0 1 1

Warrington. This hi-tech lab company testsDNA samples for law firms – such as inpaternity cases – and is offering alower-priced service to meet the big cuts inthe legal aid budget.

In his International Trade feature, AlistairHoughton raises a glass to congratulate theMerseyside drink firms exporting worldwide.The Economic Development feature thismonth focuses on Wirral.

The LDP Business magazine lifts the lid onstories which affect all our lives. Don’t forgetto pick up your copy tomorrow.

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‘SuperPort’universitybid

Morefirmssignupforstress-bustingservice

EMPLOYERS have backed a bid toestablish a new university in Liver-pool to develop “SuperPort” skills.

Mersey Docks owner Peel Holdings,engineer Arup, construction firmBalfour Beatty and transport author-ity Merseytravel support the concept

of a University Technical College forEnvironmental Technologies andSuperPort Academy.

The bid has been launched by Liv-erpool Community College, with thesupport of the city council and Liv-erpool John Moores University (JMU).

With Government approval, thefacility would be built on land at theEldonian Village, in Vauxhall.

More than 35,000 jobs are expected

[email protected]

to be created by 2020 in careers suchas logistics, low-carbon technologiesand engineering, as Liverpool benefitsfrom a new Panamax terminal whichwill be able to handle bigger vessels.

Cllr Nick Small said: ‘The new jobscreated require the development ofnew skills and collaboration betweeneducational providers and the privatesector.

“The University Technical College

(UTC) will be an innovative responsefrom Liverpool Community Collegeand Liverpool JMU to meet privatesector demand.”

Community College principalElaine Bowker said: “This bid for UTCstatus is essential for the future devel-opment of the Liverpool economy.

“A successful UTC will ensure wedeliver the right skills, at the righttime and at the right level.”

BOOTLE merchand-ising specialist WildThang has been namedas official partner andmerchandise providerfor next month’s RunLiverpool Marathon.

Managing directorAndrew Dwerryhousesaid the range includesembroidered and prin-ted hoodies, T-shirtsand drinks bottles.

Wild Thangin running

WeirdworldofWoolies

Woolies staff take part in their spooky Hallowe’en training

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LIVERPOOL charityHealth@Work has signed up 79businesses to its Workplace Well-being Charter.

This will give the charityaccess to more than 13,000employees in its drive to deliveradvice on health and wellbeing.

The initiative has also beenextended for a further two years.

A recent survey by ScottishProvident’s Financial Safety NetReport revealed that more than18m Britons described themselves

as either “stressed” or “verystressed”.

Health@Work chief executiveFrances Molloy said: “It is no sur-prise that the number of Britsfeeling stressed is very high rightnow, as the country has been hithard by the recession. But we alsowant people to know that there issupport available for them here inMerseyside.”

The charity advises employerson how to spot the early warningsigns of people under stress.

STAFF at Woolworths.co.uk have had spec-ialised spooky train-ing, including vam-pire tutorials, aheadof the big Hallowe’ensales push at theonline businessowned by Liver-pool’s Shop Direct.

Brand directorDan Rubel said:“Hallowe’en is abooming industrywhich has grown2,300% from 2001 to2010 and is nowworth over £280m toretailers each year.”

Woolies stocks

around 800 Hal-lowe’en items,including scaryprops, face paints,Hallowe’en sky lan-terns and spookiervarieties of Pic n’Mix, renamed Trickn’ Mix over theseason.

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managing stock levels and cash flow can be key to success


Sajmira and Andrew Cairns at a Sainsbury’s tasting session for their Mammy Jamia’s preserves

It’s jamtodayforcoupleinSainsburypreservesdeal

Fightingtalk forthirdsectorMERSEYSIDE’S socialenterprises have beenurged to “come outfighting” as they faceup to the ongoing chal-lenges of these tougheconomic times.

The rallying call isfrom the Liverpool-based organisers of anevent next month tohelp hundreds of socialenterprises across theNorth West boost theirbusiness.

Dale Street-basedSocial Enterprise NorthWest (SENW) is stagingthe “In Business ForGood” trade fair onOctober 18 at Bolton’sReebok Stadium.

The social enterprisesector in Merseysideand the North Westgenerates around £3bnannually for the econ-omy and employs morethan 50,000 staff.

SENW chief executiveVal Jones said: “Intough economic times,we are encouragingsocial enterprises tocome out fighting andtake advantage of allthe opportunities thatwill be available at thetrade fair.

“It’s a once-a-yearchance to network withcolleagues, meet newcontacts, share know-ledge on current think-ing from funders andget inspiration for newbusiness ideas”.

Among the guestsand speakers will beClaire Young, a finalistin TV’s Apprentice pro-gramme, who will behosting a workshop onpromoting social enter-prise.

She said: “The suc-cess of my businesses,Girls Out Loud andSchool Speakers, hascome from networking,meeting new contactsand making sure weare in the ‘right placeat the right time’.”

Predictingtheeconomic impactofevents isan imprecise science

AN OLD Albanian family recipe hasbecome a big hit with consumers andset a young Wirral couple on the roadto business success.

Andrew Cairns met wife Sajmirawhen he was coaching football inAlbania as part of voluntary work forChristian charity Pioneer People.

Sajmira now works for Liverpoolwealth fund manager Rathbone Broth-ers, and Andrew sells surgical equip-ment to hospitals in Liverpool andNorth Wales.

But a gift of home-made premiumpreserves from his mother-in-law gaveMr Cairns food for thought.

“Mammy” Jamia had made her jamsfor family and friends for years, and hesaid he was instantly struck by thedistinctive flavours.

Mr Cairns said: “I took some to myown family to see what they thought.

“I knew I would get some honestfeedback. My nan from Bootle and mygranddad from Huyton would defin-itely tell me what they really thought.”

Andrew said they loved the jams,which inspired him to carry out someresearch.

“ I went to some local supermarketsand noticed none of them sold the fig,apple, and pear flavours I had beengiven by Mammy Jamia.

“I wondered if there might be a gapin the market.”

So Andrew sent the recipe to anestablished producer, and over sevenweeks the couple sold all 600 jars at aweekend Ellesmere Port indoor mar-ket.

He said feedback from customersinspired the couple to think even big-ger and they approached several super-markets, sending samples.

“Eventually, to our delight, Sajmiraand I were invited to Sainsbury’s headoffice in London to pitch to the head ofpreserves buying.”

The pitch went perfectly, and, afterorganising production of professionalcommercial labels for their preserves,and a second presentation, they won acontract to supply 216 Sainsbury’sstores nationwide.

Mr Cairns added: “Mammy Jamia’shas been on sale for three months now,and has made a really good start,selling more than 10,000 jars.”

He said he hopes their success caninspire others to follow their dreamsand take the plunge as entrepreneurs.

“Setting up a business isn’t easy andit takes lots of thoughtful preparation,but Sajmira has managed to build a

viable, commercial product from justan idea.

“We have created a product andtaken it from an indoor market inEllesmere Port to 216 Sainsbury’s, andhopefully more soon.”

He said: “There is a lot of negativestuff at the moment, with the economy,and I think this shows that if you havean idea, and if you have the passion togive something a try, as well as a goodplan, then you might just succeed.”



PARTY conferences are all aboutdemonstrating how everything isbetter this year than last, andexplaining how as many people aspossible will benefit from theeffects.

That isn’t restricted to the polit-icians, but also the host cities. Birm-ingham claimed the Liberal Demo-crat conference would have an eco-nomic impact of £12m, while Liver-pool estimated Labour’s conferencewas worth £15m to the city.

Writing last week, ManchesterCity Council’s chief executive, SirHoward Bernstein, compared theConservative conference being heldin the city with the party confer-ences held by Labour in 2008 and2010 and the Conservatives in 2009,which “yielded an economic impactof more than £45m”.

We now know, thanks to MarketingManchester, that the expected pro-

jected estimate this time is £27.4m.But we already knew that anyone inbusiness who spent too much timebeing impressed with projectedestimates won’t be in busi-ness for much longer.

I know this is a favouritesport of the quangocracy –using “standard industrymetrics”, in this case a Vis-itBritain formula, to putpound note values on theoften difficult to quantify.

It also isn’t just partyconferences that get thistreatment. Warrington Council iscurrently promoting its bid to hostmatches in the 2013 Rugby League

World Cup, and its economic impactassessment shows a best-case scen-ario of nearly £2.5m from threematches.

However, the reportshows that, of that headlinefigure, £1m is generated byticket sales – which ismoney that won’t stay inWarrington.

It also estimates 2,600people will stay overnightfor each of the three games..

It would be only by usingstandard industry metrics,

rather than previous experience orcommon sense, that such a high fig-ure could be generated. Knock a zero

off – and therefore change the accom-modation spend from about £400,000to nearer £40,000 – and then we’llhave a figure worth looking at.

All this achieves very little, withthe numbers becoming increasinglydivorced from their purpose, whichis to show why people should be infavour of the town hosting matches.

As always, the question should be:who benefits? The production andpublication of the economic impactof hosting events is only really forthe bureaucrats and quangocrats.

‘Questionshouldalwaysbe:whowillbenefit?’

[email protected]

■ ALEX TURNER is the generalmanager of financial training firmAmbitious Minds

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AlexTurner


MBNAprofitsgivehopefor itslong-termfuture

KLM flies high with China plansAirlineKLMsays it isopeningupChinatoMerseyfirms.AlistairHoughton reports

KLM’s first flight to Liverpool JohnLennon Airport receives a traditional‘christening’ from fire crews, on itsarrival in March, 2009

LDPbusiness .co.ukLDPbusiness .co.uk

DUTCH airline KLM provided LiverpoolJohn Lennon Airport with its “connec-tion to the rest of the world”. Now KLM’sHenri Hourcade wants to tell the worldabout it.

KLM launched its services from JLA toLiverpool in March, 2009, to great fanfare.

Its three daily services mean passen-gers from Liverpool can connect to hun-dreds of KLM’s destinations worldwide,from Shanghai to Angola, via KLM’sAmsterdam hub.

The airline is particularly keen to pro-mote its growing range of flights toChina. Economic regeneration agenciesare keen to boost Liverpool’s links toChina – and KLM says it is helping toopen the country up to Merseyside entre-preneurs by offering flights to areasotherwise unserved by European airlines.

JLA is best-known for its wide range oflow-cost flights to short-haul destinationsin Europe.

KLM’s arrival means JLA can badgeitself as a long-haul airport. So the air-port and airline have been workingtogether to make sure people know JLAis about more than budget flights.

This year, it launched an advertisingcampaign to promote its routes, starringlocal businesspeople and students.

Mr Hourcade, general manager forKLM and Air France in the UK and Ire-land, was in Liverpool last week to meetsome regular users of KLM’s services.

The meeting at the Hope Street Hotelincluded representatives from the uni-versities and the Chinese community –all crucial customers for KLM.

Ahead of the meeting, Mr Hourcadetold LDP Business that he was proud ofthe success of the route – and that KLMand the airport were now working hardto make more people aware of it.

He said: “We have operated this routeto Amsterdam for more than two years,and it has been a success.

“We want to go on developing theawareness of KLM flying from Liverpool.The more that we can develop the aware-ness that we have a product flying fromyour home, all the better for us.”

Since arriving at JLA in 2009, KLM hascarried almost 300,000 passengers on itsflights from Liverpool. And some 60% ofthose passengers connect to flights toother destinations at Schiphol.

Hourcade is particularlyexcited about KLM’s growingportfolio of Chinese destin-ations, which he says will openup business opportunities innew parts of the country awayfrom the well-trodden ground ofBeijing, Shanghai and HongKong.

This year, for example, theairline launched a thrice-weeklyflight from Amsterdam to Xiamen, a portcity opposite Taiwan.

Announcing the route, the airline said:“KLM is the first and only European car-rier in Xiamen offering non-stop directflights to Europe.”

Mr Hourcade said: “KLM is really theEuropean pioneer in opening up new cit-ies in China.

“That’s a very important connectionfor Liverpool, with the Chinese com-munity here and the investment Liver-

pool has put into its links with China –particularly the pavilion at the ShanghaiExpo. The investment from KLM inChina is there as well.”

The investment opportunities in citiessuch as Shanghai and Guangzhou arewell-known in the UK. But, says MrHourcade, other cities such as Xiamenthat are not yet household names herealso offer great potential opportunities toUK firms.

He said: “There are some 160 citieswith more than 1m people in China.

“These towns are growing inwealth. And we have a newclientele there, which isChinese middle-class peoplegoing to Europe for the firsttime. They’re discoveringlong-haul flying. We are therefor them. And we’re offering theconnection to Liverpool.”

KLM has opened new routesto Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and

Luanda in Angola – both cities whichhave strong oil and gas industries.

KLM did go up to four daily flightsfrom Liverpool, but went down to threethis summer. Mr Hourcade, however, saysthat should not be taken as a reduction ofits commitment to Liverpool.

He said: “There was a big change in theway they organised the arrivals anddepartures in Amsterdam, so we couldcome back to three and maintain theexcellent connectivity with flights to andfrom Liverpool. It was an adjustment.”

So will it stay at three flights a day?“You never know,” smiled Mr Hour-

cade. “If we can grow the traffic, we willgo to four. For the time being, we havethree daily flights from Liverpool, andwe’ve added new connections to destin-ations in China, Africa, South America.”

KLM has no plans to offer other directflights to other destinations from Liver-pool, instead preferring to focus on itsAmsterdam connections.

“Our business model is based on a hubstrategy,” said Mr Hourcade. “We feedlong-haul destinations through our twoplatforms in Amsterdam and ParisCharles de Gaulle.

“Amsterdam is an airport brand whichis very familiar to the UK market. It’s avery efficient airport.

“It’s not planned to open direct routeswhich are not in this core strategy.”

KLM’s passengers, says Mr Hourcade,enjoy flying from a smaller airportnearer their home.

“The airport has a very good product,”he said. “People want a high-quality ser-vice. These human-sized airports areappreciated by our customers.”

KLM is working with other local organ-isations, such as universities, to promoteits routes. It has also started workingwith the team at the BT ConventionCentre to help with the travel plans ofdelegates from across the globe.

“People come from all over the world tothese conventions,” he said. “We facilitatethat through KLM.”

EVERY so often, I like totake a stroll down to thePier Head and bask in theglory of the ThreeGraces.

It’s easy to take thecity you live in for gran-ted, forgetting the gloryof a World Heritagewaterfront that lies just ashort stroll from thecity’s commercialquarter.

The central Grace, ofcourse, is the CunardBuilding.

We all hope that thebuilding will be one ofLiverpool’s eternal land-marks – and, for as longas it stands proud, it willbear the name Cunard.

And it’s easy to imag-ine that the grand pan-jandrums of Cunard whoerected the building earn-estly believed that theirbusiness would also be apermanent mainstay ofLiverpool’s businessscene.

But the Cunard busi-ness, of course, is longgone, shipped toSouthampton in the1960s.

And, soon, the CunardBuilding’s next-doorneighbour will soon alsoboast a name redolent ofbusiness past, ratherthan business present.

For the Royal LiverGroup has now beentaken over by rival RoyalLondon. Some of the 220remaining Royal Liverstaff will lose their jobs,while the remainder willmove to Royal London’sCheshire base.

By early next year, justmonths after the RoyalLiver Building’s 100thbirthday, there will be nomore Royal Liver leftinside. Just the name willremain as a memorial topast glories.

So Liverpool’s majesticwaterfront is a mon-ument to the imperman-ence of business. Theemployers who are todaythe economic corner-stones of your com-munity may tomorrow bejust memories.

It’s surprising howquickly things canchange. When I left theHull Daily Mail in 2007 tocome to Liverpool, EastYorkshire’s biggestprivate sector employer

was BAE Systems, withmore than 2,000 staff.

But this week BAEsaid it was cutting 900jobs from the site – reduc-ing it to just 400 staff.

WE COULD accept thiskind of change as inev-itable – particularly dur-ing a downturn whenjobs are being shedacross the globe.

Royal Liver was toosmall to survive. Cunardmoved to Southamptonbecause the transatlantictrade moved there. AndBAE has been hit hard bythe downturn.

But jobs are worthfighting for.

The idea that MBNA’sChester site could closewould once have seemedas unthinkable as theclosure of Royal Liver –but now, with the divis-ion put up for sale by par-ent Bank of America, alloptions are on the table.

I was pleased, however,to hear such optimisticwords from Steve Broom-head about the future ofthe site.

Broomhead, nostranger to negotiationsof this type, is upbeatabout the prospects for asale of Chester and forthe retention of thous-ands of jobs.

As the results wereveal today show (Page1-2), this is a strong busi-ness that has returned toprofit in the downturn.Bank of America is look-ing to exit the UK mar-ket, but that is no fault ofChester, and is instead areflection of the problemsthe bank faces in the US.

MBNA is strongly com-mitted to Chester and thewider community, spon-soring all manner of pro-jects and striving to be agood neighbour. Thebank is also, along withM&S Money, a corner-stone of Chester’s finan-cial services economy.

So, for the sake of its3,500 staff, let’s hopeMBNA can agree aspeedy sale.

The name on MBNA’sbuilding may change. Butthe heart of the businessmust beat on – which willbe great news for Chester,and for the thousands offamilies who dependupon its success.

‘KLMis thepioneer inopeningupcitiesinChina

AlistairHoughton


KLM flies high with China plans

Connections helping region toattract visitors and investment

Henri Hourcade, UK general manager for Air France-KLM, ispassionate about the airline’s Liverpool routes Picture: PAUL HEAPS

the big feature

And, equally, Mr Hourcade says KLM’sflights to Liverpool are helping to pro-mote the city as an entry point to the UKfor tourists.

The economic downturn, coupled withrising fuel costs, has made this a chal-lenging period for airlines.

Global events this year have alsoaffected Air France and KLM. Traffic toand from Japan dropped sharply after themassive earthquake and tsunami thatdevastated the country in March, and hasnot yet returned to pre-quake levels.

The uprisings in the MiddleEast and North Africa, mean-while, have hit traffic, whileflights to cities such as Tripolihave been suspended.

Mr Hourcade, however,remains upbeat about what thefuture holds for the AirFrance/KLM alliance.

“Times are challenging,” hesaid, “but we are optimisticbecause we are investing in our long-haulnetwork. We’ve added 16 long-haul routesin one year.

“You know we are optimistic when webuy 110 planes in the first joint venturebetween Air France and KLM.

“In the last three months, our loadfactors have increased.

“You have to be flexible in tough times.We have looked at North America thiswinter and re-organised routes more toCentral and South America, or China. Wehave to be flexible and go where demand

is booming – to energy markets, forexample. And we are looking at flowsbetween Liverpool and China.”

Nick Smillie, aviation sales director forparent company Peel Airports, hasworked closely with KLM since it firstdecided to come to Liverpool.

He said: “We’re getting nicely fullplanes now. We’re getting 70% full, whichis good.

“What we need now are more inter-con-tinental passengers. We need more peopleusing us for long-haul flights via Amst-

erdam. That’s what makes theinvestment worth its while forKLM.

“When Henri Hourcade talksabout raising awareness, it’sabout getting it into people’sheads in Liverpool and thewider catchment area that youcan fly long-haul from Liver-pool.

“If you went out on the streetand asked people what JLA was about,most of them would probably tell you it’sabout low-cost flights to places like Spain,Italy and Poland.

“What KLM does is provide athree-times daily service via Amsterdamthat connects to more than 600 destin-ations worldwide.

“Our European network is well-servedby airlines such as Easyjet and Ryanair.But KLM single-handedly provided uswith that connection to the rest of theworld.”

INWARD investment agency TheMersey Partnership (TMP) waspleased to see KLM launch itsflights from Liverpool in 2009 –and says the connections arestill proving helpful in attract-ing visitors and investment toMerseyside.

TMP’s director of investment,Mark Basnett, said: “TMPworked in partnership with JLAto attract a world-class carrierwith a hub feeder service togive Liverpool city regionglobal connectivity from itslocal airport.

“KLM’s service to Amsterdamfrom JLA provides that con-nectivity, and has become avery important part of the cityregion’s transport infrastruc-ture.

“Fast, easy access to andfrom international markets is avital part of our competitive-ness in attracting new businessand leisure visitors.”

Ailsa Horne, head of invest-ment and international at Liv-erpool Vision, added: “Con-nectivity is critical to Liver-pool’s economy – our globallycompetitive firms depend onthe ability to move people

quickly and efficiently, buildingtrade opportunities and newconnections across the globe.

“Access to worldwide destin-ations through KLM’s service toAmsterdam makes Liverpoolmore attractive to foreigninvestment, provides animportant platform for contin-ued visitor economy growth,provides us with an easy andfast way to connect with Liv-erpool’s twin city of Shanghaiand plays a huge role enablingus to attract world-leadingevents such as the Global Entre-preneurship Congress.”

‘Airline isairport’sconnectiontorestoftheworld

privatebusiness

MERSEYSIDE’Sbiggest commercialradio station operator,Radio City (Sound ofMerseyside) saw arecovery in its profitsin 2010.

According to itsannual report for theyear to December 31filed at CompaniesHouse, the companyenjoyed a pre-tax profitof £2.72m.

This was up fromjust under £2m in 2009.

Turnover for theyear was down from£8.8m, in 2009, to justunder £8m.

In its report, RadioCity claims it is buck-ing the trend of othercommercial stations inthe UK by keeping itsfocus on local program-ming, rather than onnationally networkedshows. The report says:“Radio City 96.7 is aniconic, heritage radiostation with a uniquepersonality and a deepresonance.”

Based high up in theRadio City Tower, inLiverpool city centre,Radio City, owned byGerman media groupBauer, operates threedistinct brands – RadioCity 96.7, Magic 1548and City Talk.

It employs around 50staff – including free-lancers – and boaststhe biggest marketshare of listeners ofany commercial stationin its catchment area,which is Merseyside,Chester and NorthWales.

TONY McDONOUGH

Profitsrise atMerseystation

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Mark Basnett

FOR News,Sport andBusinesson yourphone

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Downgradedrevenues forTopps TilesTOPPS Tiles has fore-cast full-year revenueswill be £175.7m forthe 52 weeks to Oct-ober 1, down from£182.4m in the pre-vious year.

Like-for-like reven-ues are expected todecline by 1.9%. Thetile and wood floorretailer said profitswould be between£12.9m to £13.4m, thecurrent market range.

Strong yearfor DiplomaCOMPONENTS distrib-utor Diploma expectsprofits this year to hitthe top end of marketforecasts after reven-ues continued togrow strongly in itsfourth quarter.

Revenues for theyear ending Septem-ber 30 are expected tobe about 25% up on ayear ago and 16%ahead on an underly-ing basis.

Lending upAN INCREASE in lend-ing to small busi-nesses and individualshelped Close Brotherslift underlying profitsby 13% to £131m inthe year to July 31.Banking profits roseby 34% to £106m, asits loan book rose by18% to £3.4bn.

briefing Liverpool ‘transformed’,saysimpressedCBIchief

John Cridland, director-general of the CBI, says Liverpool has used European money to good effect Picture: ANDREW TEEBAY/ at270911bcridland-2



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THE voice of British businessbacks Government cuts – but onlyif accompanied by a viable growthstrategy.

John Cridland, director-generalof the Confederation of BritishIndustry (CBI), who has been inLiverpool for the Labour PartyConference, told LDP Businessthat grant money to bankroll Liv-erpool’s regeneration had beenfar better spent than in manyplaces.

“There’s no doubt grant aid hasbeen a big part of Liverpool’sregeneration,” said Mr Cridland.

“It’s an amazing transform-ation, but money on its own is notenough, there must be purpose.

“Millions of pounds was sunkinto ill-advised millennium pro-jects elsewhere which closed afew years later.

“They were not properlyrelated to their locality, but, forexample, in Albert Dock we seeworld-class facilities like the Con-vention Centre and Arena whichpeople want to come to.

“Liverpool’s regeneration fund-ing has been correctly used forpump-priming, creating amomentum which will continue.

“The digital and creative indus-tries are also absolutely vital inthe economic revival of ourregional cities, as we can see withLiverpool’s great success.”

He believes the Government ison the right track with the cuts.

“They are being bold, but alsomeasured in what they can do.

“That’s why they must stick totheir policy, but also have agrowth strategy alongside.

“There is a major change instudent funding which will hit biguniversity cities like Liverpool,but it’s a necessary one.

“Why are the cuts so vital? Iwould ask the opposite: what’s somagical in running up debt?

“We know how the internat-ional money markets work andwe depend on their goodwill.

“During summer, the moneymarkets snapped at the heels ofItaly, Spain and even France.

“What is the alternative? Aninability for us to borrow on theinternational money markets?”

While at the Labour Party Con-ference in Liverpool, Mr Cridlandspoke to John Denham, MP, theShadow Secretary of State forBusiness, Innovation and Skills.

“What I wanted to get acrosswas the importance ofmedium-sized companies to theUK,” said Mr Cridland.

“The big boys can take care ofthemselves and small businessesfill MPs’ post bags, but we forgetabout the medium-sized ones,which struggle to find their voice.

“I visited Daisy Communicat-ions in Nelson, Lancashire, whichdidn’t exist 10 years ago, but nowhas an annual turnover of £200mand employs 1,500 staff.

“It sells integrated telephonesystems to small businesses andhas created jobs which localpeople can apply for.

“You’d need a lot of two-peoplebusinesses to take on an extraperson to make that difference.

“But the arrival and growth ofa business like Daisy puts a bigdent in North West unemploy-ment. We’re telling Labour polit-icians to be aware of the forgottenarmy of medium-sized businesses.

“If we get it right and look afterthem properly, we can grow themvery fast, but I don’t hear polit-icians talking about them.”

Liverpool took the brunt of cutsearly on, he admitted, whereascentral government cuts will fol-low later.

“The medicine is painful, I’msure a 10% NHS spending cutdoesn’t have to be in front-lineservices, but back-office ones.

“I know public spending cutshas a knock-on effect to busi-

nesses such as builders in Mer-seyside, but why not have moresmaller projects rather than bigiconic ones?”

Labour’s attitude to businessturned around with Tony Blair.

“He recognised the need tohave a normal relationship withbusiness. I appreciate the LabourParty is listening to us,” he said.

“I am interested in solutionswhich aren’t always easy, but findit better if people work together.

“The public want to knowpoliticians and business are plan-ning together to sort things out.”

There are three initiatives thatcan stimulate the economy, he said.■ Government investment, whichalso builds confidence;■ Exports – after years of astrong pound, there has been a20% depreciation, and businessesmust sell more to south-east Asia;■ Create jobs – when businessinvests, it creates jobs.

Mr Cridland added: “My chal-lenge to the North West is pleasego that extra mile with moreapprenticeships and work exper-ience for young people.

“We don’t want another scarredgeneration of youngsters with noexperience of the labour market.

“Peel’s proposed InternationalTrade Centre at Wirral Waters isa momentous opportunity.”

Business for Sale

ESTABLISHED BREAD/PIE/CAKERETAIL OUTLET – WIRRAL

PRICE - £BEST OFFER (Received by 30th Sept 2011)Double unit lock-up shop in prominent position withinBirkenhead Market. The business has been established

for over 20 years and has a very loyal customer base andan enviable reputation. The shop has recently undergonecomplete refurbishment and benefits from modern ovenand a range of high quality display cabinets and ancillary

equipment, including bread slicer.Long established supplier connections ensure high qualityand extremely profitable product lines. Excellent turnoverand excellent profit margins. No catering or bakery skillsrequired. Ideal family business. No evenings/Sundays.

Reluctant sale due to family repatriation.Turnkey solution to a very profitable business.

For further details or to arrange a viewingcontact Paul on 07770 656246

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This spacecould beworking for you.For details telephone

0151 227 2000

DAILY POST


Carehomestobetransferred

UK retailsectorsuffersTHE floundering retailsector saw its worstperformance in nearly18 months, a key surveysaid, as shoppers “foc-used on buying the bas-ics at the best price”.

The CBI DistributiveTrades Survey in Sept-ember recorded its weak-est year-on-year read-ing for retail sales vol-umes since May last year.

The decline in vol-umes was felt across allthe main sub-sectors, in-cluding furniture and car-pets, department stores,clothing and footwear.

The survey is likelyto fuel concerns for over-all economic growth inthe third quarter follow-ing downbeat manufac-turing data from the Off-ice for National Statistics.

Howard Archer, chiefUK and European eco-nomist at IHS GlobalInsight, said the survey“fuels concern thatalready reluctant shop-pers will hold back fur-ther on their spend-ing”.

LDPbusiness .co.ukLDPbusiness .co.uk

Gamepinshopesonfestiveseasonsalesupturn

Losses at Game soared to £51.5m, as margins came under pressure after it invested heavily in promotionsPicture: JOHNNY GREEN

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COMPUTER and videogames retailer Game ispinning its hopes on adecent Christmas, afterreporting a jump inhalf-year losses.

Game blamed a combin-ation of a cyclical lowpoint for the games sector,as new hardware isdeveloped, and the tougheconomic backdrop assales slumped by 10.5% to£558.8m in the six monthsto July 31.

Losses soared to £51.5m,from £21.5m, as marginsalso came under pressureafter it invested heavily inpromotions to get salesmoving.

Sales in the second halfweakened further, withlike-for-like revenues forthe 34 weeks to September24 down by 10.4%, but thegroup hopes a new batchof top-ranked gamereleases, in the run-up toChristmas, can still turnthings around as thegroup makes 40% of itsrevenues over the next10-week period.

Potential best-sellersinclude football stalwartFIFA 12, wargame Call ofDuty: Modern Warfare 3and stealth game Assas-sin’s Creed Revelations.

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MORE than 250 care homes run by SouthernCross are to be transferred to new companiesby this weekend, as part of plans to shutdown the sector’s biggest operator.

Darlington-based Southern, which runs 752sites and has 31,000 residents, said more thana third of its homes will be transferred toabout 20 new operators, believed to includerivals Four Seasons and Bondcare.

These will be the first homes to be movedfrom the ailing care home giant since itannounced it had no choice but to close, afterlandlords refused to drop their rents to helpit survive.

Southern also said it is “very confident” allof its homes will be transferred to new oper-ators by November 1, and none of its sites areexpected to close.

NHP, which owns 249 of Southern’s homes,is to form a new care home operating com-pany in conjunction with Court Cavendish, ahealthcare turnaround specialist headed byindustry veteran Dr Chai Patel.

The remainder are expected to be taken onby rival operators and landlords, althoughnegotiations are ongoing.

A spokesman said: “The key aimthroughout the restructuring process hasbeen to ensure there’s no disruption for res-idents and we are highly confident that allthe homes will transfer on schedule.”

The “vast majority” of Southern’s 43,000staff are expected to transfer to the new oper-

ators, although a small number of redund-ancies is expected, particularly in adminis-trative roles in Woking.

After all the sites are transferred, South-ern will be wound down.

Southern hit the rocks because it wasstruggling to pay its rents, as fees from localauthorities and occupancy rates declined.

The group had tried to negotiate a dealwith its 80 landlords to enable it to survive,but they walked away.

Southern chairman Christopher Fishersaid: “The demise of Southern Cross is amatter of considerable regret.

“It has involved the loss of all shareholdervalue, as well as a loss of value for our prin-cipal creditors, and will entail a number ofjob losses for our central staff.

“Nevertheless, in relation to the challengeswe have faced this year, the final outcomenow in prospect represents a considerableachievement, and I would like to thank allthose who have worked so hard to that end.”

Care services minister Paul Burstow saidthe announcement was “an important mile-stone” in transferring the homes to new oper-ators while ensuring that residents’’ care ismaintained.

He added: “Throughout, it has been theGovernment’s over-riding concern to securethe welfare and safety of the 31,000 residentsin Southern Cross’s care.”

Southern Cross has not revealed whichhomes are to be transferred by the weekend.

The company operates a number of carehomes in Merseyside and across the NorthWest.

news

[email protected]

ENJOYA RENTHOLIDAYONYOURNEW OFFICE


by Paul Rice, CEO of LiverpoolCommercial District Partnership

LDPbusiness .co.uklocation

viewpoint

byTonyMcDonoughLDPDEPUTYBUSINESSEDITORtony.mcdonough@liverpool.com

INASSOCIATION

WITH


TransformationofLiverpool’sCastleStreet is just thebeginning

SUCH has been the speed of trans-formation in Castle Streetrecently that you could be for-given for thinking that its fan-

tastic new benches are the onlythings standing still right now.

Without doubt one of Liverpool’sfinest streets, the weekend’s FiestaLatina confirmed there is a realappetite among the city’s residentsand visitors to spend their free timearound the Castle Street area, ifthere is a compelling enough reasonto do so.

We, Liverpool Vision and the citycouncil have long acknowledged itspotential as a highly viable retail andleisure destination, alongside itsmore established reputation as acommercial hub in the city.

The recent £3m refurbishment pro-ject marks a significant step in the

delivery of that potential and demon-strates exactly what can be achievedthrough an integrated approach.

To avoid losing thisnewly-found momentum,we must not rest on ourlaurels and should insteadpress on with efforts inother locations, partic-ularly a number of sidestreets which currentlyreflect something of a tidemark around the edges ofthe increasingly sparklingcommercial district’s mainthoroughfares.

Environmental improvementsshould allow us to generate greater

footfall, which in turn will make thearea more attractive to retailers andleisure operators.

Invariably, a more con-vivial space will also appealto inward investors and cre-ate new opportunities forcommercial growth.

However, we cannotsimply state ambitions in avacuum and they must betempered against a climateof public sector budget cuts;the council cannot afforddeliver every project on

its own.This is where we hope the value of

Business Improvement District (BID)

status comes in to its own. Welaunched our BID application as ameans of ensuring the commercialdistrict remained on an upwardgrowth curve, in spite of austeritymeasures.

This remains our core focus andwe intend to use the increased rev-enue gained through the BID levy tosupport the council in delivering keyprojects aside from its statutory ser-vices, for which our levy payersalready pay their business rates.

That fundamental spirit of part-nership is by no means a closed shop.

I would encourage every organis-ation to get on board, as it’s the onlyway to keep this city moving.

PioneerconceptinKnowsleylaunch

Zenia Chopra and Michael Earley, of Pioneer Offices

CBREindustrial teamsecures27,000sqft

‘WherethevalueoftheBIDcomes intoitsown’

WHAT has been claimed as a newconcept in serviced office space hasarrived in Knowsley.

Pioneer Offices allows businesses tocreate their own office space whichmeets their exact needs.

The venture is based in MoorgateRoad, Kirkby, adjacent to the currentDelphi Building.

Owners and managers Rockfile areinviting potential tenants to view thepremises and discuss how existingopen office space could be adapted towork for them.

Once agreed, the company’sin-house team of fit-out specialistswill develop that bespoke design andlayout.

As the needs of each business grow,the office specification can alteraccordingly, allowing the commercialspace to change in line with businessneeds.

IT services are delivered usingcloud computing, ensuring high-speedinternet access is constantly available,while telephone connection comes toeach office via a Mitel IP handset ser-vice.

Former London-based Michael Ear-ley and Zenia Chopra, commercialproperty and serviced office expertsrespectively, are bringing this conceptto Merseyside, having launched a num-ber of similar schemes in the capital.

Ms Chopra said: “This modelworked really well for us in centralLondon, where we are able to cater fora huge range of businesses from soletraders up to those employing a work-force of 50 plus.

“At Pioneer Offices, we can offerserviced office space from as little as140 sq ft up to 12,000 sq ft.”

Car parking, conference and meet-ing rooms are also available, alongsidea fully-serviced reception area.

Ms Chopra added: “Flexibility isthe key for us here.

“We want to appeal to a fairly widemarket and therefore recognise thatwe need to meet a broad range ofneeds if we are to hold mass appeal.

“We are already looking at new andinnovative ways to improve our ser-vice offering, which will support fur-ther planned growth.”

THE North West Industrial teamat CB Richard Ellis has let 27,000sq ft of industrial space at Unit 7,Glebe Road, in Skelmersdale, onbehalf of Quorum Estates.

Warehousing and constructiontraining specialist, SB Training,has acquired the industrial uniton a six-year lease.

The facility will enable thebusiness to amalgamate threeexisting depots under one roofand provides further space forexpansion.

Neil Beaumont, operations dir-ector at SB Training, said: “The

building fits in with our expan-sion strategy and is ideally loc-ated to allow the business togrow, while continuing to serveour local clients via larger facil-ities.”

Darren Hill, senior surveyor atCBRE, added: “Aside from beingpositive news for the market inSkelmersdale, this deal provesthat the right building in theright location will still generatedemand, despite adverse marketconditions.

“The property was perfect forSB Training.”

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

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

FOR SALEFreestandingChester City CentreOffice Building

14,000 sq ft with car parkingPotential for Re-Development

Further information please contact Neil Dryburgh or Euan Ross at

Commercial Premises

WORKSHOP/COMMERCIALUNIT Rainhill to let £65pw,£750sq ft 0161 980 1912

Commercial Premises

Industrial Property

INVESTMENTPROPERTY

Investment property with rentalincome of £900 p.c.m. net. L25area. Offers I.R.O. £85,000.

07889264537

BUSINESS to BUSINESS

This spacecould beworking for you.For details telephone

0151 227 2000

DAILY POST



LondonStockMarketatClose

Last night, the pound was worth: $1.5682 (up 0.0122).......... 1.1524 euros (up 0.0005)...........120.1300 yen (up 7.9600)...........Its trade weighted index was 79.50 (up 0.10)Metals in $ per troy ounce: Gold 1650.60 (up 52.60)..................... Silver 31.72 (up 3.56)..................... Platinum 1566.00 (down 4.00)..................... 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 6312 Adv Medical 88 +4 +278

17 214 AEA Technology 238 -14

28712 23612 Albany Inv Tst 239 +212 -2

1251 834 AMEC 885 +47 -24

92 2614 Anglesey Mining 4512 +658 -214

35714 22858 Balfour Beatty 25958 +7 +578

3812 2712 Beale 28 -12

612 51112 Compass Gp 54212 +16 -1712

1265 99712 Dee Valley 1175 -3212 -70

479 301 easyJet 357 +4 +3934

1030 75312 JD Sports Fashion 860 +1912

11712 1112 JJB Sports 19 +58

36 23 Johnson Serv 3014 -34

579 410 Nichols 533 -12 +7

14912 10212 NWF 11712 xd -12

50 28 Park Gp 45 xd -12

1257 84012 Rathbone 1058 xd -10

139 9838 Redrow 112 +5 +458

14312 107 RSA Insurance 11438 xd +412 +78

34 2214 Speedy Hire 2234 +12 -134

4634 3412 Sportech 4214 +214 -58

4634 2712 Telme Gp 4214

5514 3234 UK Coal 3634 -12 -2

2 1 Ultima 118

2081 1777 Unilever 2006 +25 +17

63112 54312 Utd Utils 61212 +11 +212

UNIT TRUSTS

DAILY POST REGIONAL INDEX 1144.46 up 12.51 ▲ 1.11%

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

£94332 £761132 Cons 4%............... £94332 +161132

£62516 £50 Cons 212% ............ £61532

Conversions

£862732 £69 Cnv 312%.............. £862732 +141132

Treasury

£6514 £50916 Tr 212%.................. £61332

£1141316£1061532 Tr 9% 12............. £1061532

£10614 £1013132 Tr 5% 12............. £1013132 -116

£1201116£1142132 Tr 8% 13............. £1142132 -532

£114132 £109532 Tr 5% 14............. £1113132 -38

£109532 £102 Tr 734% 12-15.......... £102 -414

£3402932 £310532 Tr 212% IL 16 ....... £337116 -2932

£142116 £1322132 Tr 834% 17........... £139932 -11132

£1511316£1332732 Tr 8% 21.............. £149516 -212

War

£9212 £6712 War Ln 312%......... £852732 +18

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.

Mar 27, 2011 Sep 27, 2011

MITCHELLS & BUTLERS

Share price (pence)200

245

290

335

380

FTSE-Rebased

£ ABROAD

Australia dollars 1.49 1.572 1.577

Canada dollars 1.52 1.597 1.599

Denmark krone 8.15 8.571 8.581

European Union euro 1.10 1.152 1.153

Japan yen 113.20 120.120 120.130

New Zealand dollars 1.84 1.975 1.980

Norway krone 8.54 8.984 8.985

Poland zlotys 4.43 5.047 5.055

Sweden krona 10.07 10.555 10.565

Switzerland francs 1.34 1.404 1.405

Turkey new lira 2.70 2.892 2.902

United States dollars 1.49 1.568 1.568

Cancel Bid Offer Yield

Fund Terms Price Price Gross

FIDELITY INVESTMENT SERVS

Amer Spec Sits - 555.70 -

American - 1617.00 0.32

Income Plus - 192.50 4.53

Japan - 216.30 0.54

Jpan Spec Sits - 134.30 0.10

Spec Sits - 1669.00 0.01

Sth East Asia - 600.00 0.01

GARTMORE FUND MANAGERS

Euro Sel Opps - 741.64 1.29

Pratical Inv -147.04 157.72 4.69

GUARDIAN

Index-Linked Acc -537.61 565.91 -

International Acc -861.29 906.62 -

Pacific Acc -232.29 244.52 -

Property Bonds -2025.50 2109.90 -

HSBC INVESTMENT FUNDS (UK)

Balanced - 93.33 1.27

British -233.10 233.10 2.95

Gilt & FI - 67.44 2.90

Gilt & Fixed -237.90 237.90 5.97

Monthly Inc - 119.80 4.58

HENDERSON HORIZON FUND

European Smllr Cos A - 790.70 0.11

Sterling Bd Unit Tst - 52.98 55.35 4.46

UK Equity Inc A - 388.20 3.26

HILL SAMUEL UNIT TST MGRS

Capital -268.40 279.20 1.20

European - 646.30 0.70

Inc & Gwth - 174.50 3.40

International - 363.20 0.40

North Amer Acc - 435.60 0.10

INVESCO FUND MANAGERS

Sing ASEAN - 175.07 0.78

High Low Funds Price Var

Closing Indices

FT-SE 100 INDEX 5294.05up 204.68 ▲ 4.02%

20 DAY MOVINGAVERAGE 5243.93up 1.27 ▲ 0.02%

FT ALL-SHARE 2738.53up 101.07 ▲ 3.83%

Aerospace & Defence

Index 3054.16 ▲ 84.02

324 15112 Avon Rbbr 29258 +118

36978 24818 BAE Systems 27638 +434

73612 485 Chemring 52812 +5

24558 17338 Cobham 18434 +334

39758 29614 Meggitt 33234xd +14

665 55712 Rolls-Royce 621 +2112

19058 12878 Senior 145 +818

Automobiles & Parts

Index 4224.88 ▲ 292.25

245 16778 GKN 18034xd+1212

Banks

Index 3511.42 ▲ 170.01

33312 13878 Barclays 16812 +1212

859 45312 Bco Santander 53912 +2938

73078 48614 HSBC 52038xd+2012

59 618 Ireland 638 -18

7638 2712 Lloyds Banking37 +134

4912 1958 Ryl Scotland 25 +112

1959 1272 Stan Chart 135212xd+77

Beverages

Index 9658.76 ▲ 329.87

1395 1031 Barr (AG) 1210 +22

50312 28978 Britvic 32438 +1858

1307 1092 Diageo 127312xd+3812

2340 1979 SABMiller 2176 +84

Chemicals

Index 6292.52 ▲ 367.24

2081 1367 Croda 1751xd +80

18738 9912 Elementis 13012xd+1012

2119 1531 Johnsn Mat 1650 +119

Construction & Materials

Index 3265.55 ▲ 82.93

35714 22858 Balfour Beatty 25958 +7

265 188 Costain 22034xd

14741291518 CRH 101012xd+5638

1418 1097 Kier Group 1273xd +25

7634 3634 Low Bonar 5234xd -12

12412 96 Marshalls 9714 -14

Electricity

Index 8158.11 ▲ 115.48

53612 35358 Drax Gp 50312 +558

44858 27938 Intl Power 31858xd +3

1423 1108 Scot&Sthrn 1300xd +19

Electronic & Electrical

Index 2518.29 ▲ 75.99

705 460 Domino Ptg 465 +5

207 12778 Laird 13678 +738

35718 218 Morgn Cru 25218 +2218

1010 495 Oxford Inst 810 +10

377 241 Volex 26012 +112

Equity Inv Instruments

Index 5407.74 ▲ 118.34

39234 32158 Alliance 33118xd +678

14012 11238 Br Assets 11712xd +4

777 47212 Candover Inv 490

228 195 Dunedin IncGth 210 +1014

15734 12112 Dunedin Sml 130 +334

49214 41478 Edin Invst 45514 +1818

66034 546 Edin US Trkr Tst 594 xd +15

32778 26858 Forgn & C 28078 +8

32334 250 Hend Smllr Cos 26114xd +512

385 30934 Law Debenture34112 +1214

252 20812 Scot Am 21334xd +5

533 420 Witan 43214 +934

Fixed Line Telecoms

Index 2090.84 ▲ 45.16

20418 140 BT Gp 17518 +418

5834 3114 Cble&W Comm 3818 -12

7678 2912 Cble&W Wwide 3138 +178

84 4712 KCOM 6958 -118

Food & Drug Retailers

Index 4433.80 ▲ 131.20

30814 26234 Morrison W 29114 +414

395 26312 Sainsbury 27814 +738

44058 35614 Tesco 38412 +1318

112 46 Thorntons 4612

Food Producers

Index 5295.29 ▲ 70.03

1182 940 AB Foods 1143 +6

875 61212 Carrs Mill 73712xd -1

896 58812 Cranswick 629 +14

42478 325 Dairy Crest 33834 +634

3518 1014 Premier Foods 1012 +14

656 46634 Tate Lyle 611 +1812

2081 1777 Unilever 2006 +25

Forestry & Paper

Index 5364.14 ▲ 164.81

664 46834 Mondi 498 +1514

General Financial

Index 5034.70 ▲ 221.12

340 18714 3i 202 +934

88812 65612 Close Bros 69712 +25

57012 39114 ICAP 44614 +1414

1076 675 London Stk Ex 84212 +1512

1124 72812 Provident 1039 +26

1257 84012 Rathbone 1058xd

1922 1183 Schroders 1320xd +92

General Industrials

Index 2530.05 ▲ 82.26

72412 41012 Cooksn Gp 441 xd +3012

6 218 Cosalt 212 +14

400 30078 Rexam 31518xd +814

26614 14938 Smith DS 18178 +614

1429 90712 Smiths Gp 94812 +2612

General Retailers

Index 1570.67 ▲ 37.21

2514 16 Ashley L 22 +12

31114 23214 Brown (N) Gp 27812 +318

7738 5114 Debenhams 5812 +118

2812 1058 Dixons Retail 1158 +18

45934 26912 Halfords 31858 +258

235 10518 Home Retail 120 +4

42538 26934 Inchcape 29714 +18

1030 75312 JD Sports 860

28718 217 Kingfisher 251 +938

42712 30134 M & S 33212 +512

62712 31714 Mothercare 33114 -214

2649 1868 Next 2592 +45

2986 1936 Signet Jwlrs 2275 +75

523 43334 WH Smith 50412 +938

Health Care Equip & Serv

Index 3351.29 ▲ 41.24

742 521 Smith Nph 590 +9

Household Goods

Index 6354.81 ▲ 105.42

138 74 Aga Rngmstr 8612 -12

119 6712 Barratt Dev 8334 +314

75312 511 Bellway 61712 +8

19014 11712 McBride 12112 +212

3648 3015 Reckitt Benck 3312xd +53

139 9838 Redrow 112 +5

4314 2214 Taylor Wimpey 35 +12

Industrial Engineering

Index 6378.84 ▲ 272.09

39734 24778 Bodycote 26278 +918

876 53812 Charter 868 +14

42212 23214 Fenner 32434 +16

1119 72512 IMI 768 xd +3812

116 49 Molins 87 xd -12

31212 12112 MS Intl 23712 +5

45 2512 Renold 29 +112

2063 1649 Spirax Srco 1864 +52

2218 1423 Weir Gp 1693 +92

Industrial Transportation

Index 2130.16 ▲ 35.08

24034 156 BBA Aviation 16478xd +318

Life Insurance

Index 3636.17 ▲ 146.91

47778 27618 Aviva 30814xd+1314

12334 9078 Lgl & Gen 10138xd +4

777 54612 Prudential 58812 +2712

31618 21114 Resolution 253 xd +334

24434 172 Standard Life 20738xd +712

Media

Index 3820.98 ▲ 119.61

850 61812 BSkyB 699 +1512

59412 34338 D Mail Tst 368 +21

9312 5158 ITV 6214 +234

1207 926 Pearson 1161 +24

59012 46114 Reed Elsevier 505 +734

168 8934 STV Group 106 +34

113 3712 Trinity Mirror 43 +134

725 416 Utd Business 46712xd+2314

151 101 UTV 125 xd +112

84612 57812 WPP 64112 +3212

Mining

Index 19688.20 ▲ 1415.33

3437 2230 Anglo Amer 242612 +16212

1634 950 Antofagasta 1052xd +102

263112 173112 BHPBilliton 187512xd+12812

2150 1223 Fresnillo 1681 +157

53118 348 Glencore Intl 44434xd+3014

1671 782 Kazakhmys 857 xd +75

1983 1067 Lonmin 1135 +68

7215 4425 Randgold Res 6485 +315

4712 296412Rio Tinto 319612 +232

5514 3234 UK Coal 3634 -12

Mobile Telecoms

Index 3779.87 ▲ 85.87

71912 38934 Inmarsat 508 +2018

18234 155 Vodafone Gp 16614 +334

Nonlife Insurance

Index 1429.82 ▲ 42.57

1754 1230 Admiral Grp 1382 +49

2011 150014Marsh McL 175218 +14

14312 107 RSA Insurance 11438xd +412

Oil & Gas Producers

Index 7574.79 ▲ 334.09

156412111812BG 1221 +77

509 36314 BP 40434 +20

46934 27518 Cairn Energy 29558 +1412

535 310 Premier Oil 35014 +3178

2336 184612Ryl D Shell B 2069 +6912

1493 94512 Tullow Oil 1324 +34

Oil Equipment & Services

Index 20682.04 ▲ 1005.37

1251 834 AMEC 885 +47

Personal Goods

Index 21834.63 ▲ 739.84

1600 95912 Burberry Gp 1364 +55

409 32012 PZ Cussons 33338xd -534

Pharma & Biotechnology

Index 9387.16 ▲ 208.00

3359 254312AstraZeneca 287912 +96

1385 112712GlaxoSmthKln 1349xd +1912

50 3112 Vernalis 33 -18

Real Estate

Index 1958.11

35314 23414 Big Yellow Gp 24812 -112

62912 465 Brit Land 50012 +2312

2954 2282 Daejan Hldgs 2398 -51

445 329 Gt Portland 35678 +978

885 629 Land Secs 65812xd +25

33114 21612 SEGRO 22114xd +414

Software & Comp Servs

Index 717.16 ▲ 19.53

2540 1271 Autonomy 2540 +6

6312 4014 Emblaze 5778 +458

36414 22118 Invensys 23834 +1538

108 83 Kewill 8634 -18

14714 7378 Logica 8014xd +618

302 23134 Sage 26434 +678

Support Services

Index 4050.17 ▲ 138.35

17 214 AEA Tech 238

2034 1389 Aggreko 1759xd +60

20778 9938 Ashtead Gp 140 +578

568 39114 Berendsen 43358xd +614

81212 67612 Bunzl 795 +25

79412 63512 Capita 71212xd+1012

85312 54912 De La Rue 799 +6

29478 190 Electrocmps 19634 +538

83312 665 Experian 735 +3012

291 23734 G4S 26758xd +738

452 305 Hyder Cons 335 -5

34114 18312 Interserve 30218xd +218

550 425 Menzies J 488

34634 202 Northgate 25438 +778

30834 14818 Prem Farnell 15818xd +912

10478 7278 Rentokil 75 +2

12012 79 Smiths News 85 +214

34 2214 Speedy Hire 2234 +12

1127 715 Travis & P 753 +3712

2261 1404 Wolseley 1536 +99

Tech Hardware & Equip

Index 735.58 ▲ 35.30

651 33878 ARM Hldgs 593 xd +29

2712 18 BATM 1812 +14

10234 5112 Psion 5534 +214

16014 116 Spirent Comms 12434 +458

Tobacco

Index 32002.89 ▲ 836.22

2871 228212Br Am Tob 279612xd+8712

2231 1784 Imperial Tob 2156 +28

Travel & Leisure

Index 4104.59 ▲ 106.98

3153 1742 Carnival 2102 +46

612 51112 Compass Gp 54212 +16

479 301 easyJet 357 +4

12234 3212 Enterprise Inns 34 +1

41258 31114 FirstGroup 33612 +1614

1598 1085 Go-Ahead Gp 1404 +48

518 410 Greene King 445 +314

43114 240 Holidaybreak 43114

1435 955 Intercontl Htls 1095xd +40

285 14158 Intl Cons Airlns 15618 +9

15514 120 Ladbrokes 124 xd +212

11718 87 Marston’s 9338 -118

361 21638 Mitchells&Btlrs 24612 -6

9038 918 Punch Taverns 978 +38

15334 10912 Rank Gp 11834 -312

335 25478 Restaurant Gp 282 xd +9

26812 18038 Stagecoach 247 xd +512

20434 3334 Thomas Cook 3714xd +158

27178 13714 TUI Travel 15834xd +738

1887 1409 Whitbread 1634 +34

Utilities

Index 4681.25 ▲ 72.08

34534 28258 Centrica 30118 +812

1265 99712 Dee Valley 1175 -3212

647 530 National Grid 629 +512

73712 57912 Pennon Gp 68712xd +4

1526 1306 Severn 1526 +32

63112 54312 Utd Utils 61212 +11

AIM

Index 723.14 ▲ 15.97

4958 15 API Gp 4212 +1

1034 178 Armour Gp 218

158 1 Crimson Tide 138

214 112 Dawson Intl 134

838 514 Eckoh 758

11712 1112 JJB Sports 19

36 23 Johnson Serv 3014

86 3034 Man Brnze 37 +1

12 612 Metalrax 834 +14

550 385 Portmeirion P 45212xd +5

17312 55 Redhall Gp 6612 +12

6214 2212 Scapa Gp 4412

142 99 Swallowfield 11312

96 67 Uniq 9534 +12

712 530 Young A 62212 +1

Sep 5 - Sep 9 Sep 12 - Sep 16 Sep 19 - Sep 23 M T W T F5000

5100

5200

5300

5400FTSE-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

INASSOCIATION

WITH


Thursday, September 29The Government sup-port agency UK Trade& Investment is staginga seminar for firmsinterested in supplyinginternational aid anddonor organisations.About £77.5bn has beenspent this year by suchorganisations on pro-

curing goods from theprivate sector to assistin a variety of human-itarian and peacekeep-ing missions aroundthe world.

The event is takingplace at Haydock ParkRacecourse, between8.45am and 3.30pm.

Contact Linda Mul-

vey on 0161-875 2325 orvia [email protected]

Thursday, September 29Accountancy and fin-ancial managementfirm McEwan Wallaceis holding a freeseminar for smallfirms on making themost of tax planning,including presenta-tions by three tax andfinance experts, fol-lowed by a Q&A ses-

sion and light buffet.The venue is ThorntonHall Hotel, Wirral,from 4.45pm.

Call Rebekka Cairnson 0151-647 6681 tobook, or email [email protected]

Thursday, September 29St Helens RLFC isinviting businesses to aforum explaining howthey can get involvedwith the club ahead ofthe move to its new

18,000-capacity towncentre stadium, and itsbusiness-friendly facil-ities.

The Newz Bar, inWater Street, is thevenue, between 5pmand 7pm.

For further details,contact John McDon-agh at Saints on 07825169 223.

Thursday, October 6The follow-up eventafter the launch of Liv-

erpool Vision’s “It’sLiverpool in China Net-work” welcomes allorganisations doingbusiness in China, orwith an interest inexploring opportunit-ies there.

It is at the BT Con-vention Centre, from5pm.

Phone 0151-293 0505to reserve a place.

Tuesday, October 11Business in the Com-

munity and severallocal organisations willexplain the benefits ofcommunity engage-ment for your company.

The venue is the BTConvention Centre,from 12 noon to 2pm.

To register, contactSarah Abbott at Busi-ness in the Communitybefore Wednesday,October 5, via [email protected] orcall 0161-233 7779.

BenchmarksforglobaleconomysettofalterinrecessionOIL is set to keep out-performing cop-per due to tighter supply and thepotential of Organisation of PetroleumExporting Countries (OPEC) produc-tion cuts.

But oil is likely slump along withcopper, the benchmark industrialmetal, if world recession occurs.

Both commodities, key inputs forthe global economy, are stronglyexposed to faltering growth, but theirperformances have diverged sharply.

Since early August, copper sank by24% while Brent crude oil declined by10%. The year-to-date performance isas dramatic: Brent is positive by 11%,while copper is down 21%.

“Crude prices have a lotmore intrinsic support frommechanisms already in themarket,” said Nic Brown, ofNatixis commodities research.

“Whereas you can seeOPEC would start to cut backoutput in order to restrain afall in oil prices, there is nocentral body in the coppermarket going to do that.”

OPEC members require ahigher oil price of around$100-$110 a barrel, up from$75-$80, to balance theirbudgets due to heavy spend-ing, including by Middle Eastern coun-tries splashing out on domestic pop-ulations stifle unrest, said Mr Brown.

The structure of both markets beliesthe oil market’s tighter supply sit-uation, which lost Libyan supplies thisyear and is waiting for the interimrulers to resume the flow of crude.

Nearby Brent oil prices flipped to apremium over longer dated futures

earlier this year, showing the restric-ted supply situation while concernshave escalated over whether there are“hidden” copper inventories weighingon the market.

Copper has been hit hard bya sharper than expected slow-down in China, after severalrounds of monetary tighten-ing by authorities seeking todampen inflation.

Data shows China’s manu-facturing sector contracted fora third consecutive month inSeptember, while some inflat-ion picked up in the world'ssecond biggest economy.

China’s huge urbanisationand infrastructure pro-gramme makes it the world'sbiggest consumer of copper,for power and construction.

China accounts for about40% of world copper demand, while itonly makes up around 10% of globalliquid fuels consumption.

“Nobody really expected to come outof the summer with evidence thatthere was deceleration in terms ofChinese manufacturing,” said PauMorilla-Giner, senior portfolio man-ager at London and Capital.

“The Chinese story comes as more

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

of a surprise than the lack of growthstory in the West, which has beengoing around for a longer time.”

The copper market is also much lessliquid than the oil market, so move-ments tend to be stronger on both theupside and downside, he added.

“You are probably talking about oilbeing three times larger in terms ofliquidity. That probably also meansthat any short-term correction will bemuch stronger in copper.”

While oil is likely to be more resil-ient in the near-term, oil would prob-ably be pulled down with copper if the

world slumped into a serious reces-sion, slashing demand worldwide forboth commodities, regarded as baro-meters of the financial system.

“Oil supply issues might have beenhelping, but I wouldn’t be betting thisrelation would continue,” said analystEugen Weinberg, at Commerzbank.

“Oil still has room to the downside,as demand is not there and prices of$105 are not pricing in the recession.”

During the 2008 financial crisis, oilheld up better than copper in the earlystages, but tumbled along with copperas conditions became more serious.

Welling up: oil supplies remain tight – but the price could slump

LondonmarketHOPES that world leadersare moving closer to aplan to save the eurohelped London’s leadingshare index make itsbiggest percentage gain ofthe year.

The FTSE 100 Indexrose 4%, or 204.7 points to5294.1 – its biggest risesince May, 2010 – afterGerman chancellorAngela Merkel pledged todo whatever she could tohelp Greece regaininvestors’ confidence.

Greece’s finance minis-ter also said the debt-stricken nation wouldreceive the next round ofbail-out loans in time toavoid a default nextmonth.

This helped ease someof the nervousness inmarkets across the world,which have seenheightened volatility inrecent days amid fears aGreek default wouldcause chaos by bringingdown the euro.

It has been reportedthat a rescue plan isbeing hatched to increasethe size of the Europeanbail-out fund to helpshore up banks and allowGreece to default onabout half of its debts.

The Dax, in Frankfurt,and the CAC 40, in Paris,both made gains of morethan 5%.

The pound was upagainst most currencies,despite CBI retail figuresshowing the sector hadits worst month inSeptember since May,2010. Sterling was at 1.15against the euro and at1.57 against the dollar.

With fears of a defaultdiminishing, highermetal prices boosted min-ing shares as investors’appetite for riskreturned.

The biggest Footsierisers were VedantaResources, up 126p at1196p, Antofagasta,ahead 102p at 1052p, Fres-nillo, up 157p at 1681p,and Essar Energy, ahead24.9p, at 269.9p.

There were no fallers.


Designercraveshardworkandexcitement

Caroline Oates is passionate about her work – and passing that passion on to young peoplePicture: NICK WILKINSON

■ HERE at TradingGossip, we’ve seen a

few tenuous links in ourtime, but this one is upthere with the best.

Transport SalariedStaffs’ Associationdeputy leader ManuelCortes and shadow trans-port secretary, and Gar-ston and Halewood MP,Maria Eagle, rendez-voused at Mossley Hilltrain station to highlightGovernment plans to axeticket offices at 657 stat-ions.

They claimed stationsin Liverpool with links toBeatles songs – MossleyHill just happens to be inthe same city as PennyLane and StrawberryFields – could lose theirticket offices.

Perhaps a song on theFab Four’s 1963 album

Live at the BBC, sung byLennon, would have beenmore fitting – I Just Don’tUnderstand.

■ PANIC set in atTrading Gossip late

last Friday following aslip of the tongue by Liv-erpool Lord Mayor FrankPrendergast, above.

His eminent worship-fulness was giving aspeech at a town hallreception for the Liver-pool Commercial DistrictPartnership. Listing localfirms, he referred to thepublisher of the DailyPost as Trinity Motors,rather than TrinityMirror.

We initially fearedsome secret plan to turnus into a second-hand cardealership, until Frankreassured us it was asimple error.

We hope so.

LDPbusiness .co.ukthe back page

tradinggossip

workingday

6am: I am an early bird. I wake upearly every day, straight up and out foran early morning jog with my dog.

I check emails and web stuff andrequests and enquiries.

7am: Shower and get dressed, thenhave boiled water with lemon andorganic porridge – great start to theday, especially when it’s busy.

7.45am: Cycle to my studio – ha ha,seems mad wearing cycling gear thenhaving to change into something morestylish at my studio, so I’m ready toserve my customers.

8am: Arrive at my studio and look atorders for the next week ahead, so I getahead. Start cutting out the dressesand styles – need to get a head start forthe week.

9am: Ring up my suppliers and placeorders for my fabrics and check thatdelivery time can meet my deadlines.Always have fun with the banter withmy suppliers.

10am: Studio opens at 10am. Thephone starts ringing. Deal with cus-tomer queries at the same time asworking on my new collection story-boards and finalised sketches as mydeadline is my autumn photo-shoot ina week’s time.

11am: Check the seams and presshems on dresses that are all finishedready for collection. Check that all thegarments look the way I want them to.

12pm: Customer appointments. Fit-ting a customer having a dress madefor her 25th wedding anniversary.Check the sleeve and length are allperfect and the shape sits right on thebust and the fabric hangs on the skirtwell and that it looks classy and eleg-ant.

1pm: Lunch with a fellow businessassociate from Liverpool Chamber.Have an interesting chat about what’shappening in Liverpool at the moment.

2pm: Customer picking up her dressso she has her final try on with shoes –

it looks perfect. Another happy cus-tomer leaves Caroline Oates, all readyfor her big night.

3pm: Found a really exciting design Ireally love that I want to make in mysketch book. So I make a pattern and arough toile in sample material. I try iton the tailor’s dummy to check shapeand style before I cut one in my stun-ning new material that’s just beendelivered. I always have suppliers upthe wall looking for new and excitingfabrics that are different and unique. Iask a couple of customers who come tomy studio what they think of the style.

4pm: Check emails again and book

onto a business seminar – importantthat I keep in touch with the businessscene as and when I can.

Also received an email from thePrince’s Trust asking if I can give mytime to volunteer on the course theyrun for unemployed young people,aged between 18-30. I volunteer to doday two of the course, as it is aboutmarketing and branding. This is one ofmy passions in business, and I also feelpassionate about inspiring youngpeople.

5.30pm: Finish off at my studio for theday, cycling home. It’s just started rain-ing, but never mind, it’s all for fitnessand the environment.

6pm: Another walk with my dog. Sheis a Labrador, so she needs two properwalks a day. It’s good for her and forme as it gives me time to reflect onthings and I also see the seasons chan-ging. I find nature inspiring.

7pm: Fashion show organiser ringsme about my charity fashion show Iam having in Lancashire. She hasinvited 100 women, so I am gettingexcited. We arrange to meet next weekand discuss which charity it is we aregoing to raise money for.

8pm: Finally sit down to watch a DVDwith my husband, such a busy day,phew, exciting at times and hard work.

Liverpool fashiondesignerCarolineOateshasusedHollywoodiconsBetteDavisandJeanHarlowasthe inspirationforhernewcollection.This isherworkingday

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LDP Business - 28th September 2011