LDP Business - 7th September 2011

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DRY cleaning to facilities managementgroup Johnson Service is in theacquisition market again, after bring-ing debt and pension levels down tomanageable proportions.

The Preston Brook-based group hasbeen reinvigorated by chairman JohnTalbot, from what one analyst dubbeda “basket case” to a business in controlof its finances and planning furtherexpansion.

Interim results published yesterdayrevealed a return to profit and betterrevenues in the six months to June 30.

Revenues rose 3.8% to £117.3m and apre-tax profit of £5.2m compared witha £2.2m loss previously.

But net debt was also cut, from£59.5m to £51m, and the pension deficitshrank from £11.2m to £3.2m, givingthe group the confidence to hike theinterim dividend by 22% to 0.33p andconsider further acquisitions follow-ing the purchase last year of severalPFI contracts from the Jarvis group.

Mr Talbot said: “We now consider

ourselves to have normal levels of debtfor a trading company and are lookingfor textile and facilities managementbolt-ons. We now have the facilities tolook at bolt-ons.”

All three divisions traded well, withtextile rental showing a 3% rise inrevenues of £58m and a 1.3% improve-ment in adjusted operating profits of£7.7m.

Facilities management arm SGP,which controls more than £1bn of cus-tomer spend, achieved a 20.4% jump inrevenues to £17.7m and a 25% surge inadjusted operating profits of £2m.

Dry cleaning, based in Prescot,suffered a 2.3% fall in revenues of£37.9m, mainly due to the VATincrease to 20%, but saw adjusted oper-ating profit improve slightly to£600,000.

The division also holds furtherpromise with a popular new “drop andgo” laundry service offering a shirtfolding or ironing option, as well asexpansion by its up-market Jeevesbrand, with a first opening outsideLondon, in Cheshire’s Alderley Edge.

JohnsonplotsgrowthafterharnessingdebtLONDON’S top-flight

shares posted healthygains despite anothertough day for the UK’sbanks.

The FTSE 100 Indexclosed up 54 points at5156.8 after anotherfluctuating day.

UK shares alsopicked up despite asharp fall in thepound against boththe dollar to 1.596and the euro to 1.14.

Meanwhile, on WallStreet, the Dow JonesIndex closed down101 points, or 0.9%, at11,139, the S&P 500was down 9, or 0.7%,to 1,165, and the Nas-daq fell 6, or 0.3%, to2,474.

MARKET REPORT:PAGE 15

FTSE-1005156.84

54.26▲

inside

Duo joinsCharlesStanleySTOCKBROKER CharlesStanley has doubled thenumber of brokers in itsLiverpool office from twoto four.

In the past few weeks,the firm has recruitedMike Taylor, formerly ofMidas Capital, and AnjaliRoberts, from Close AssetManagement.

Charles Stanley set upits base in the city at 20Chapel Street a year ago.

Branch manager DerekGawne told LDP Busi-ness: “We are going to bein Liverpool for the longterm, and we are going togrow our operation here.

“We believe in a local,personalised service.”

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

Derek Gawne, centre, with AnjaliRoberts and Mike Taylor

Picture: COLIN LANE/ tmcl060911stockbrokers-1

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Knitwear firmgoes vintageand wins £1mA MERSEYSIDE busi-ness is using vintageknitting machines tobring an old industryback to life after a£1m investment.

PAGE 2

Comeback bidST HELENS RugbyLeague club is plan-ning a comeback torival anything theteam has achieved onthe field.

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TONY McDONOUGH’S BUSINESS BEAT

‘Please spare us from themonster egos of thebusiness gurus’

Log on to www.ldpbusiness.co.uk

1 City hotels may consolidate2 JLA hails record month3 Eastern pulls out of JLA4 Hogrocket’s first launch5 Bid to protect MBNA jobsldpbusiness.co.uk

Updatesthroughoutthe day

Vintagemachines–and£1m–helptextilesindustryrevival

Pressureis on, butwe areconfident

Mr Talbot said:“Jeeves has alwaysbeen a London brand,although we have fran-chises in one or two bigcities around the worldsuch as Hong Kong,New York, and in theMiddle East.

“But there is a strongpossibility we wouldopen up other branchesin other parts of thecountry.”

Another developmenthas seen two mobiledry cleaner “pods”open within Sainsburystores in Stevenage andBasildon, in a develop-ment that could beexpanded to otherstores or locations inthe future.

Mr Talbot explainedit is important the drycleaning divisionimproves its offer.

He said: “The ‘dropand go’ service is anAmerican concept.

“If we were doing thesame business we werethree years ago, wewould be suffering withthe rest of the highstreet on a like-for-likecomparison.”

But he added: “Weare fairly confidentabout the second half..”

Cityfinancialadvisorssealtie-upwithChesterfirm

newsLDPbusiness .co.uk

A YOUNG St Helens business is usingvintage knitting machines to bring anold industry back to life.

Warmwear, which makes thermalclothes for some of the UK’s blue-chipretailers, has secured £1m in fundingfrom GE Capital.

The company was founded last yearand uses traditional circular knittedmachines, including one dating backto 1923, to make its garments.

The thermal knitwear industry hasbeen in decline in the UK for severalyears, but Warmwear’s managing dir-ector, Fiona Smith, is confident thather company will be able to thrive bytapping into the local skills base offormer textile industry employees.

Warmwear has already secured con-tracts with retailers including Next,Shop Direct and BHS.

It has ambitious growth plans,including creating a website for itsthermal products and launching anup-market range called Cosy Couture.

Ms Smith, who has worked in thetextiles industry for many years, said:“This used to be a massive industry inthis area.

“From scratch we’ve found premisesin Haydock, got 45 machines, and star-ted manufacturing.

“We’re now advertising for machin-ists and knitters to get hold of theskills and expertise locally.

“It’s quite interesting that a lot ofpeople responding to these adverts aresaying that they’ve not been doing thiswork for 10 years – they’ve been pack-ers, and warehouse operators.

“But we’re seeing that skills basestill exists. And some retailers, such asBHS, like their manufacturing to bedone in the UK.

“We have nine people on our booksat the moment, and we’re trying todouble that in the next couple ofmonths.”

Warmwear bought its machinesfrom a company in Nottingham that

had gone into administration. MsSmith said: “These machines are a bitlike vintage cars. They take a bit oflove and care, but when you get themup and running, they’re really reli-able.”

GE Capital has provided Warmwearwith a £1m asset-based lending facility.

Richard Spielbichler, regional dir-ector at GE Capital, said: “GE Capitalhas long promoted the need for SMEsto be able to access robust financingoptions in order to drive economicgrowth.

“Although textile manufacture inthe UK is often seen as a sector in

decline, we were impressed by thestrength of Warmwear’s order bookand business fundamentals.

“We look forward to developing along-term relationship with Warm-wear as they gear up production andbuild on the opportunities for growthahead.”

TOP FIVE

From left, Warmwear’s managing director Fiona Smith, commercial executive Holly Gee and technicalmanager Tracy Kavanagh, with one of the company’s circular knitting machines

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LIVERPOOL’SINVESTMENTSPECIALISTS

FINANCIAL advisory andwealth management firm Wil-cocks & Associates (W&A) hasentered into a partnershipwith NorthgateArinso RewardSolutions.

W&A, based in The Plaza,in Liverpool, and Northgate,

will offer corporate clients fin-ancial services, HR and flex-ible benefits.

The tie up will see W&Aprovide regulated financialadvice to companies with ser-vices such as pensions andinsurance, while

Chester-based Northgate willoffer flexible benefits.

W&A managing directorRobert Wilcocks said: “It isfrequently the case that a fullflexible benefits package forstaff can be implemented withno net cost for an employer.

“This can be achieved bytaking advantage of a little-known but highly beneficialHMRC scheme called SalarySacrifice – or salaryexchange.”

W&A has just renewed itslease on 1,000 sq ft at Brunt-

wood-owned Plaza, havingrelocated there from Heswallin 2005.

Mr Wilcocks added: “They(Bruntwood) have been veryhelpful supporting our growthand expansion plans over thepast two years.”

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byAlistairHoughtonLDPBUSINESSSTAFFalistair.houghton@liverpool.com

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Givingpeopleahelpinghandtostarttheirownbusinesses

TonyMcDonoughmeetsGRAHAMWORELL,chiefexecutiveofELECT

LDPbusiness .co.uk

Graham Worrell, chief executive of ELECT – insists there are still plenty of opportunities for start-up businesses, despite the uncertain economic outlookPicture: JAMES MALONEY/ jm310811ldpbiz-5

Age: 57Highest educational qualification:BA Honours DegreeBiggest achievement in business:Overseeing consistent growth in busi-ness from three to 50 employees,while maintaining values and ethosBest advice received: Take theopportunity to learn from everyoneyou meet and everything you doMain unfulfilled ambition: To walkthe length of the South West CoastPath – 630 miles

q&a

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IT SEEMS bizarre that, at a timewhen the Government is dependingon the private sector for economicgrowth, agencies that support busi-ness start-ups are being squeezed.

East Liverpool Economic Com-munity Trust (ELECT), a socialenterprise, enables the start-up ofmore than 600 businesses in Mersey-side and West Lancashire every year.

And chief executive Graham Wor-rell claims 70% of those enterprisesare still going after three years – animpressive statistic.

One of ELECT’s main sources offunding over the past few years hasbeen the Northwest DevelopmentAgency (NWDA), as well as localauthorities.

However, the NWDA is now enter-ing its final days, and, although therewill still be money available fororganisations like ELECT, the even-tual structures remain uncertain.

“One of the main issues at themoment is looking at how changes tolocal and central government policywill affect us and the businesses thatwe help to set up,” said Worrell, 57.

“More change is happening nowthan there has been for a long time.

“Everyone is trying to get a com-plete understanding of how things

are going to be. There are morepeople unemployed now than therewere five years ago, and there is theprospect of more people being out ofwork.

“That means there will be morepeople that need the services that weprovide.

“We are the largest supplier ofstart-up support in the Merseysidearea, working with the NWDA, theSkills Funding Agency and LiverpoolCity Council.

“The demise of the NWDA meansthere will be a change in where thecontracts come from.

“We need to make sure we stayahead of that so we can bid for themwhen the time comes and be able todemonstrate that we have the skillsto deliver them.”

ELECT was started in 1996 withjust one contract and two part-time

staff, and a turnover of just £60,000. Ithas now grown to 50 staff, with aturnover in the millions, and hasoffices in Dovecot and Kensington, inLiverpool.

Its two key roles are to assist theunemployed in getting back intowork and to offer help and support tothose who want to start their ownbusiness.

It works across Merseyside andWest Lancashire, and is now lookingto expand its services into Cumbriaand West Yorkshire.

According to Worrell, one of thereasons for its successful record inhelping start-ups is the relationshipadvisors will establish with serviceusers.

He said: “The key is to ensure thebusiness advisor establishes a goodrelationship with the client – theadvisors really have to be able torelate to people.

“They will identify what the clientwants and where they want to get to.They look at potential barriers – itcould be a lack of self-belief, a need ofrelevant knowledge or maybe a lackof funds to start a business.

“The big issue is whether the cli-ents have the right approach to set-ting up their own business.

“There are things people need toknow, such as whether there is amarket for the product or servicethey want to provide.

“The next stage is to identify whatresources are needed. It might behelp with funding, finding property,

leases, looking at what kind of insur-ance they will need.

“We help them put together a com-prehensive checklist.

“In terms of funding, we enablethem to access the different pots ofmoney that are around.

“There are various sources includ-ing StepClever in Liverpool andSefton, Knowsley has its own grantfund and there is the Princes Trust.

“There is less money around forstart-ups than there was, and theadvisors need to stay aware of whatthose sources are.”

Worrell, who was born andbrought up in Preston, studied elec-trical engineering at Salford Uni-versity and worked for a time in com-puter programming.

He also spent six years working asa postman.

It wasn’t until he was in his 30sthat he began his career in economicdevelopment.

“I never had a life plan and I stilldon’t really have one,” he added.

He studied for a second time, com-pleting a degree in applied socialstudies, politics and economics.

In the mid-1980s, he worked for theLancashire Co-operative Develop-ment Agency – helping people to setup businesses and co-operatives.

He then worked in business devel-opment for Lancashire Enterprises –a business now know as Enterprise.

He then went to do similar work inBolton before arriving at ELECT in1998.

He says he has seen a major shiftin culture since the 1980s: “There isprobably more of an acceptance fromthe wider community that people cantake charge of and progress theirown lives,” said Worrell.

“Back in the 1980s, people wouldwork in a factory and may end upstaying there for their entire work-ing lives. That culture has now gone.

“Some people find that very pos-itive because they don’t want to bestuck in one job for their whole life.

“Other people, though, still wantthe security.

“What we try to do is help a wholerange of people who for various reas-ons have found themselves outsidemainstream society.

“But the bigger the difficultiespeople face, the greater the satisfac-tion we get from helping them.”

Worrell has three children from aprevious relationship and one withhis current partner. In his sparetime, he likes to read and keep fit.

He insists that, although he andhis staff work hard, they also like to“have a laugh” while they’re doing it.

Worrell also chairs Social Enter-prise North West – an umbrellagroup for organisations similar toELECT.

He added: “We are geared towardshelping to set up businesses thatoffer social and ethical benefits tothe community.

“At SE North West, we want toestablish a viable and vibrant socialenterprise sector across the region.”


Toolhiregroupsparklesasbuildingmarketrecovers

Staffingboost asHertelexpandsUP TO 25 jobs will becreated when Hertelopens a new fabricationfacility at Cloister Way,in Ellesmere Port, thisNovember.

Hertel constructs,maintains and modifiesplants and installationsfor the oil and gas, pet-rochemical, processand power generationindustries.

The North East-basedfirm has acquired a44,000 sq ft purpose-built workshop to sup-port the new positionsas well as existing staffwho will be relocatedfrom Hertel’s RossmoreIndustrial Estate site,in Bold.

Its new manufactur-ing operation will sup-port ongoing repairand maintenance at thenearby Stanlow oilrefinery, as well as forother key customersacross the North West,including the petro-chemical plants atRocksavage, in Run-corn, and Carrington,near Manchester.

The Hertel team willdeliver mechanical fab-rication and sheetmetal work for insulat-ion for all the sites it isresponsible for in theregion.

Fit-out work for theEllesmere Port facilitywill start in theautumn, and it is expec-ted to be fully operat-ional at the end of theyear.

Hertel UK mechan-ical director BarryKing said: “TheEllesmere Port moverepresents a major stepforward in Hertel’s ser-vice offering to theNorth West, and willfurther support ourrelationships withexisting clients andhelp foster new ones.”

A-Plant, which has a depotat Gibraltar Row, on theoutskirts of Liverpool citycentre, above, says endconstruction markets,inset, left, are flatteningout after two years ofdecline

SealexlatestacquisitionasFDScontinuestobuildUKnetwork

Accountanttoleadtaxgroup

ELLESMERE Port gasket spec-ialist Sealex has been boughtfor an undisclosed sum byFrench company FDS Group.

Sealex currently employs 28staff at its Poole Hall IndustrialEstate operation, but Paris-based FDS says the deal willlead to further job opportunit-ies within its UK operations.

FDS, which recentlyacquired New-Seal Gasket, nowhas a UK branch network tak-ing in Aberdeen, Glasgow,Middlesbrough, Ipswich,Cardiff, Bolton and EllesmerePort.

It said its most recent pur-chase takes its UK workforce tomore than 250, “with furtherjob opportunities to be

announced across other UKsites”.

Sealex, founded in 1982, is agasket cutter and distributioncompany supplying sealing gas-kets and hose products to suitcustomers’ individual needs.

Its client list includes Inno-spec, Cargill, Tate & Lyle,Solvay, Cammell Laird, Shelland Ineos.

David Mitchell, FDS groupdevelopment director, said:“Although Sealex will form partof the FDS Group’s UK dist-ribution network, we fullyintend to continue supportingand supplying those independ-ent distributors and cutterswhich we have traditionallydealt with.”

Sealex managing directorPaul Marray, who will becomedistribution managing director,said: “The acquisition of Sealexby the FDS Group is a hugelyexciting step for all those assoc-iated with Sealex.

“We are tapping into a levelof technical expertise and ‘bestin class’ products that aresecond to none in the marketplace.”

FDS said the purchase ofSealex is expected to add morethan £3m to its UK sales.

It said its acquisitions werebased on a strategy to enhancethe independent distribution ofits products through a networkin the UK, providing cover inthe “key end user” areas.

THE owner of Warrington tool hiregroup A-Plant has reported soaringprofits in what one analyst called a“sparkling” set of results.

Ashtead Group saw pre-tax profitsfor the three months to July of £33.8m– up 184% on the same period in 2010.Revenues for the quarter rose 12% to£268.6m.

That growth was driven by a 21%rise in rental revenue at its US divis-ion Sunbelt as the construction marketsteadies post-recession.

A-Plant, which has its headquartersin Birchwood and depots in Bootle,Netherton and Liverpool, saw rentalrevenues for the quarter rise 12% to£42m.

A-Plant’s total revenues rose 16% to£46.1m, with operating profits rising15% to £2.3m.

Ashtead's chief executive, GeoffDrabble, said: “Our end constructionmarkets continue to behave in linewith our expectations, and now appearto be broadly flattening after two yearsof significant decline.

“Against this backdrop, the 21%rental revenue and 67% profit growthachieved at Sunbelt show that we areclearly benefiting from the ongoingstructural change in the US rentalmarket.

“Sunbelt has also now delivered 15consecutive months of year-on-yearrental revenue growth. These struc-tural trends are likely to continue withfurther increases in rental penetrationand Sunbelt's market share expected.

“Together with our ongoingimprovement in both yield and oper-ational efficiency, these trends resultedin a very strong quarter, with pre-taxprofits of £34m.

“August’s US rental revenues contin-ued this pattern with growth of 25%.As a result, the board now anticipatesa full year result substantially ahead

of its previous expectations.” AnalystPaul Jones, of Panmure Gordon,described Ashtead’s results as “spark-ling”.

He said these were: “Very good Q1results from Ashtead, underlining the

extent of the structural shift patternsin the US and the dramatic effect onthe bottom line for Ashtead, in theform of both higher volumes andrising yields.

“With capital expenditure increased

markedly during the past year,Ashtead is one of the few operatorswith significant fleet growth at a timeof rising demand, and we believe therewill be further progress regardless ofmacro factors.”


SOUTHPORT businesswoman Ronnie Fell hasbeen elected to head the Merseyside branch ofthe Chartered Institute of Taxation.

A partner in JA Fell & Co chartered account-ants, she was elected to the chairman’s role atthe branch’s annual meeting.

The Institute is a regulated body for taxprofessionals who hold the Chartered TaxAdvisor qualification.

In recent years, Ms Fell has run the branch’slecture programme and has been involved withthe institute at branch level.

She said: “One of my goals will be to raisethe profile of the branch in the business andprofessional community.”

Ms Fell has worked as a qualified tax pro-fessional for 18 years.

She lives in Southport with her husband,John.

JA Fell & Co also operates an office in Lan-caster.

byAlistairHoughtonLDPBUSINESSSTAFFalistair.houghton@liverpool.com

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Saintsplotvictorytrailtofinancialcomeback

Man with a plan – Saint Helens RLFC chief executive Tony Colquitt


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Cup win and stadium success help Wolves romp to profit

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privatebusinessWaste oilrecyclerback inprofitFUEL oil recycler OSSEnvironmental Hold-ings went back into theblack last year afterturnover rose byalmost a quarter.

Knowsley-based OSSspecialises in collectingwaste oils and recyc-ling them into a fuelthat can be used in thesame way as “virginfuel oils”.

Accounts recentlyfiled at CompaniesHouse show turnoverfor 2010 stood at£24.9m – up 23% on2009. That helped itreport a pre-tax profitof £1.2m – up from a£756,000 loss last year.

OSS, which was foun-ded in 1987, employs150 people at sitesincluding Knowsleyand a refinery in Stour-port-on-Severn,Worcestershire.

OSS – whose tradingsubsidiary is calledOSS Group – has spentseven years and £6mdeveloping its latestoil, Gen3, which itlaunched last week.

Chairman LeslieMurray said: “It is mybelief that sticking toour strategy can nowbe seen to be bearingfruit.

“How many of ourcompetitors can pro-duce a legally comp-liant fuel, where willwaste oil go followingthe demise of the Corussteel works, who willhave the compliant loc-ations and availablefinance essential to metthe Environment Agen-cy’s upgraded licensingrequirements?

“These questionscombine to suggest thelong-awaited rational-isation within the wasteoil sector is a likelyoutcome – a situationthat has no downsidefor us whatsoever.”

ALISTAIR HOUGHTON

WARRINGTON Wolves’s Chal-lenge Cup triumph last yearhelped boost its parent com-pany’s profits.

The Super League sidebeats Leeds Rhinos in theWembley final in August,with players returning hometo a welcome from morethan 50,000 supporters.

Meanwhile, the club’s Hal-liwell Jones Stadium contin-

ued to provide the club withsteady revenue streams.

Accounts recently filed atCompanies House show War-rington Sports Holdings hada turnover of £6m for theyear to November 30 – upfrom £5.7m the previousyear. It posted a pre-taxprofit of £211,000 – up from£28,000 in 2009.

Chief executive Andy

Gatcliffe said: “It should beacknowledged that the cur-rent worldwide/UK economicclimate situation has beenand continues to present atough environment in whichthe club operates.

“However, retaining theChallenge Cup for a secondyear eased the club’s cashflow.

“All club operation costs

remain under constantreview; however, long-terminvestment in the businesscontinues.”

The Halliwell Jones Stad-ium is, said Mr Gatcliffe,“fully recognised as the tem-plate for present andfuture-build rugby leaguestadia”.

It houses health and educ-ation facilities for the com-

munity, including Warring-ton Primary Care Trust’s“Health Services at Wolves”,as well as commercial ven-tures PhysioFirst and Heath-cotes@ Warrington.

Mr Gatcliffe said: “All ofthe above partnerships, sup-ported by rental leasesand/or hosting agreements,provide a valuable financialbase for the group.”

ST HELENS Rugby League club isplanning a comeback to rival anythingthe team has achieved on the field.

Last month, it revealed increasedlosses, from £861,810 to £1.38m for theyear to October 31, and stagnant rev-enues of £4.83m.

The Super League club currentlyplays at Widnes Vikings’ ground, hav-ing sold its Knowsley Road stadium forhousing, ahead of moving into a newhome in St Helens town centre in timeto play next year’s fixtures.

This has resulted in a bigger fall inattendances than the 20% it budgeted,although Super League attendancesthis season are down by 29.7%.

Falling property prices also led to a£1.62m writedown on the value ofKnowsley Road, which will require afurther recapitalisation by directors tobolster the club’s finances.

But chief executive Tony Colquittbelieves, once the club takes posses-sion of the new 18,000-capacity stadiumon October 25, it will provide the com-mercial springboard for Saints for thenext 25 years, starting by at leastbreaking even, followed by strong fin-ancial growth.

He said: “There’s a mid- to long-termturnaround plan all linked with thestadium.”

He insisted the writedown was a res-ult of the general economic decline

over the past three years, adding:“There was a revaluation, but this wasa net asset swap for the club.”

And he said the board is committedto the recapitalisation, but added: “Ifsomeone wants to knock on the doorand offer us a couple of million, wewould welcome that.”

Chairman Eamonn McManus wascritical of the club’s management teamin his directors’ report for failing tomake the most of their last year atKnowsley Road. But Mr Colquittbelieves the club is now more businesssavvy and commercially switched on:“The commercial deals were poor, butall that has changed,” he said.

A deal for stadium naming rights isexpected within weeks, and most com-mercial deals have been tied up onbetter terms than before.

He said an “up-skilling” of staff interms of marketing is all aimed atimproving spectators’ match-dayexperience to generate more business.

“It’s all about attracting people tothe stadium. I am not a big believer of‘build it and they will come’.

“We will get a rise in attendance,just from curiosity value, but it isabout providing value for money andcustomer service. We have to view it asa stadium that has 14 rugby games aseason. It is an events centre, not arugby stadium that has the odd event.”

Season ticket sales for the newground are 30% better than this timelast year, but the club plans to broadenits geographic appeal, despite Mr

McManus’s previously stated dislikefor “contrived affiliations” with areaswhere football is the undisputed king.

Mr Colquitt said: “We have to appealto a wider Liverpool city region.

“We can’t convert fans of Everton orLiverpool. A high propensity of ourseason ticket holders are Liverpool orEverton fans, but it’s about makingpeople aware there’s an alternativeand it is good for business and net-working.

“We would never say ‘this is betterthan Liverpool or Everton’, but it isimportant we get out there and showpeople there’s another show in town ifthey want to come and have a look.”

He said Saints’ five-year businessplan is highly ambitious: “In year one,

we see break even or a small profit;year two, we start delivering signific-ant profit,” he said.

And he vows this will not be alliedto cost cuts, despite a £400,000 rise insalary costs, which are now at 79% ofturnover: “In terms of non-rugby staff,we have been lean and mean.

“But we don’t want to get into asituation where we are selling playersto balance the books.

“We are in it to win it and the dir-ectors won’t do that.

“They see the turnaround plans andthe new stadium and the significantincrease moving forward.

“People forget we have also built a£1m training facility. The club is setfair for the next 25 years.”

CASTLE STREET, FIESTALATINA

24th September 12 noon to 6pmvisitwww.thecommercialdistrict.com

24th September 2011

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FSBcallsonPMtohonourbankingreformpledges

Knowsleyfirminjobsboost

Pubdininggrowthprovidesbrewerwithfoodforthought

A SMALL firms’ lobby group todayurged Prime Minister David Cameronnot to buckle in the face of oppositionto banking reform.

Federation of Small Businesses(FSB) chairman John Walker haswritten an open letter to the PMahead of Government proposals.

He warns against prejudging thefindings of the Independent Commis-sion on Banking (ICB) report next

week, and against making decisionsbased on the views of a “small, albeithighly influential group”.

The ICB report was commissionedto honour a pledge in the Conservat-ive Party General Election Manifestoto “reform the regulation and struc-ture of the banking system”.

Recently, the banking lobby hasclaimed proposals could have a det-rimental effect on the economy.

However, Mr Walker points out thata recent survey found that 71% ofinfluential City figures believe itwould be a bad idea if the Govern-

GREENE King’s push intopub dining continued to reaprewards after it defied theconsumer downturn to reportanother round of strong foodsales figures.

The Suffolk-based brewerand pubs chain, which oper-ates across Merseyside withits Hungry Horse, Old Eng-lish Inns and Loch Fyne Res-taurants brands, said like-for-like sales in its retail divi-

sion rose 4.3% in the 10weeks to last Sunday, drivenby a 4.7% rise in food.

While the company saidthe outlook remained uncer-tain, it said the expansion ofits retail division followingthe recent acquisitions of theCloverleaf and Realpubschains, should help it deliverfurther growth.

Investec Securities said theupdate was in line with

expectations, although thebroker is forecasting a slightdrop in full-year profits to£136.1m.

Analyst Paul Leyland alsohas a sell rating on the stockamid fears over the com-pany’s exposure to trends inconsumer spending. But headded: “We see Greene Kingas a well-run operator cap-able of continued investmentand market share growth.”

KNOWSLEY company Tulway Engineering willcreate at least 10 jobs after clinching a major newcontract to supply the Defence Science and Tech-nology Laboratory (DSTL)with engineering sup-port.

DSTL, a Ministry of Defence trading fund, hasan option to extend the contract for four years.

Tulway, which employs 14 staff, has also recentlydelivered its largest order to date with a batch ofspecial pipework designed for the Royal Navy’snew aircraft carriers now under construction.

Birkenhead’s Cammell Laird is building theflight deck and hangars for HMS Queen Elizabeth.

ment took no action. He also ques-tions how the recent debate, which hesays was led by the banks, omitted totalk about competition.

The FSB has, for years, called formore competition in the sector andbelieves the Financial ConductAuthority should be given powers topromote competition to ensure thatsmall businesses are given a fair deal.

Mr Walker said: “Having commis-sioned a report into the banking sec-tor, it is very disappointing that theGovernment is now looking to waterdown the findings before the ICB has

even reported. We were promised rad-ical reform, but it now appears thatthis has been downgraded to ‘lighttouch’ regulation after 2015, if we arelucky.

“This is simply not good enough.“Small businesses have had a tough

time at the hands of the banking sec-tor – with more than a third of busi-nesses missing their growth opportun-ity as a result of being refused credit.”

He added: “The Government cour-ted businesses with promises ofreform, and it is time that they stoodby those promises.”

MORE than 100 deleg-ates are in Liverpooltoday for the annualCommunity Develop-ment Finance Assoc-iation (CDFA) confer-ence, hosted by theCrowne Plaza Hotel.

Under the banner“Striding Forward” theconference will discussthe future of Com-munity DevelopmentFinance Institutions(CDFIs) in a “big soci-ety”, their provision offunding for firms andentrepreneurs unableto access finance frombanks, and their rolefollowing the recentsocial unrest.

During the two-dayevent, some of the 130delegates will visit Liv-erpool CDFI, Mersey-side Special InvestmentFund’s offices, wherethey will learn aboutits current investmentsand future plans for theregion.

MSIF chief operatingofficer Lisa Greenhalghsaid: “MSIF’s role asthe CDFI for Mersey-side is a vital one.

“Without the SmallLoans for BusinessFund, small businessesand entrepreneurswould find it very dif-ficult to secure the fin-ance they need to startand grow.”

She added: “Byinvesting in these busi-nesses, we are creatinga positive long-termsustainable impact onthe region’s economy.”

Today’s opening ses-sion will include aspeech by Nick O’Dono-hue, chief executive ofBig Society Capital,while John Young,North West Bank ofEngland agent, willspeak tomorrow.

MSIF toexplainfundingsuccesses

MSIFgives£200kshottoCostaCoffeefranchiseesMERSEYSIDE SpecialInvestment Fund (MSIF) hasprovided £200,000 to a Liv-erpool firm to expand itsgrowing portfolio.

Optimum Holdings Groupcomprises several drinksand retail businesses,including 13 Costa Coffeefranchises, an Energie Fit-ness Club franchise, an elec-trical firm and an alarmsand CCTV business.

It was set up in 2004 byhusband and wife teamDavid and Emma Connor tooperate their first Costa ven-ture.

It is now the most decor-ated Costa franchise in theUK, including store of theyear, manager of the year,franchisee of the year andweekly sales record at itsAlbert Dock site.

Operations director AlanRawling said: “People arestill spending money ontheir coffee, even if they arecutting back elsewhere.”

Optimum Holdings, whichturns over £4.5m andemploys more than 100 staff,received loans from MSIF’sMerseyside Loan & EquityFund and Small Loans forBusiness Fund. It aims totake on up to 50 staff andgrow sales to £6m by 2013. From left: Paul Humphray (MSIF), Alan Rawling (Optimum Holdings Group) and Chris Walters (MSIF)

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MOBILE


AcquisitionshouldbooststrugglingCoral’sprofits

Homescontractwin forLT PrintMERSEY printer LTPrint has signed a dealto provide a range ofproducts for WirralPartnership Homes, thelargest affordable hous-ing provider in Wirral.

The Wallasey-basedfirm, which also has awalk-in digital printoffice in Birkenhead,will produce internalpamphlets, newslettersand tenant correspond-ence for the housingprovider, as well as itsannual report.

LT Print sales man-ager Keith Barlow saidthe firm was delightedto have landed the con-tract with thenot-for-profit organis-ation.

He added: “LT Printhas secured the exclus-ive printing contractwith Wirral Partner-ship Homes for the firsttime ever.

“It is a very bigorganisation to beworking with, and thisis a comprehensive dealto win.

“We will be printingall their newsletters, ofwhich there are aroundfive different types, andwe will also be pro-ducing all the internalliterature to tenants.

“The organisationprovides an invaluableservice for a large num-ber of residents acrossthe Wirral, and we arethrilled to be helping toboost the service itoffers.”

LT Print – which iscelebrating its 40thyear of trading – workswith clients across theMerseyside, the UK andEurope, offeringdesign, full colour anddigital print,web-to-print, and largeformat and exhibitionsystems.

The firm operatesacross a wide range ofsectors.

Couldthisageofslapdashcommunicationhurtyourbusiness?

HAYDOCK-BASED plastics firm CoralProducts has commenced trading onthe Alternative Investment Market(AIM), after switching from thepremium segment of the official list.

The company has also raised £1.8min a share placing and acquired aLuton-based manufacturer of plasticcontainers for the food making andpackaging industry in a £4.1m deal.

Interpack was founded in 2003 and isa profitable sales and distributionbusiness which is expected to enhance

Coral in its move away from the mediasector, after sales of its CD and DVDcases were hit by the growth of down-loads of music and films.

Coral is now diversifying and pro-duces a range of plastic goods such asfood recycling bins, composting bins,houseware products including binsand brushes, and a rainwater collec-tion product.

Chairman Joe Grimmond, successorto Geoffrey Piper, who stepped downthis Monday, said: “We are delighted toannounce the completion of the com-pany’s admission to AIM and theacquisition of Interpack, which webelieve will be transformational for

the company. Interpack’s proven salestrack record, added to Coral’stechnical and manufacturingexpertise, creates a powerful combin-ation.”

Coral says it expects the enlargedgroup to boost profits by allowingInterpack to utilise unused manufac-turing capacity at the Haydock site.

It said Interpack’s progress hadbeen restricted by limited capacityamong its suppliers.

It added: “Following the acquisition,the enlarged group will be able toretain in-house the sales marginswhich would normally be paid byInterpack to manufacturers in respect

of products which will be manufac-tured by the company.” Interpack hasgenerated compound annual growth of32% over its seven years of trading.

It suffered its first fall in revenuesin 2009 due to the recession, but profitswere boosted by targeting higher mar-gin products.

Coral has posted recurring losses inrecent years as opportunities in itstraditional media markets declined.

The company will initially pay £3mfor the purchase of Interpack in £2.1mof cash and new shares.

Between £500,000 and £1.1m will bepaid in cash, depending on Interpack’sprofits this year.



THE internet is often described as aforce for democracy, and, while thejury is still out on that, it is clearthat it does treat everyone demo-cratically. Everyone’s stupidity isrecorded for posterity.

The gun-toting thugs who foundtheir Facebook photos being repro-duced in the Liverpool Echo werejust as guilty of e-gregious behaviouras the unidentified person respons-ible for the job description thatappeared on the website of the RoyalLiverpool and Broadgreen hospitalswhich referred to “the usual rubbishabout equal opportunities”.

The world of sport, so rarely abeacon of good working practice,rushed in with its contribution, anemail from the account ofManchester City’s chief executive,Garry Cook (who denies sending it),that mocked the cancer suffered byDr Anthonia Onuoha, the mother

and agent of one of their players,Nedum Onuoha. But the hand of fate– or, more accurately, a mistaken ormalevolent hand – instead sent it onto Dr Onuoha.

Just as with last month’soutbreak of rioting, theseoutbreaks of dim-witted-ness are not the creation ofthe internet age. Instead,they prove the logical fal-lacy of the phrase, post hocergo propter hoc – after this,therefore because of this.

Technology gets theblame, usually unfairly, for a lot ofhuman faults. The faults have alwaysbeen there, but now we use methods

which record our missteps and mis-judgments for posterity and pub-licity.

Speaking at TED Global in July,sound expert Julian Treas-ure blamed technology forpeople’s inability to listen,as people learnt to rely firston the written word, andnow on audio and videorecordings. He said: “Thepremium on accurate andcareful listening has simplydisappeared”.

Quantity has replacedquality as we have ushered in the ageof slapdash.

This needs to be a major concern

for businesses. Not just becausepeople refuse to pause and reflect, orjust re-read, before pressing the sendbutton – although this brings with itits own worries – but also becausethis approach infects other areas ofwork. We should brace ourselves formore, not fewer, outbreaks of onlinestupidity as this attitude pervadesthe workplace.

Just as long as it continues to hap-pen in other people’s companies,there’s nothing to worry about. Isthere?

‘Weshouldbraceourselvesformorestupidity’

NewcitySportsCaféall firedupforOctoberkick-offUP TO 20 jobs will be cre-ated next month when a newsports cafe opens its doors inBold Street, Liverpool citycentre.

Café Brio is the businessbehind the new LudusSports Café venue.

The cafe bar will offer cof-fee and food during the dayand then transform in theevening to a sports cafe,screening a range of eventsand matches on a hugeground floor media wall.

General manager JamesCooney describes the newventure as a “fusion ofmedia and sport in the heartof the very vibrant BoldStreet”.

The operation will also beable to boast a “uniqueselling point” by offering itsown brand of Ludus draughtbeer.

Mr Cooney added Ludus’smedia wall, which is sit-uated behind the bar, willdouble as a living flamebackdrop in between screen-ing sporting events, con-trolled by touch screens.

He said he is now recruit-ing for a range of positions,including part-time andfull-time catering and barstaff.

Ludus Sports Café general manager James Cooney – preparing to launch the Bold Street venue next monthPicture: COLIN LANE/ tmcl220811dreamsports-2

[email protected]

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

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AlexTurner


Timetoconstructmorehomesforyoungfamilies

City ‘must join high-speed rAlistairHoughtononcalls forMerseysidetobenefit fromthe£32bnplansforHS2

An artist’s impression of aviaduct on the planned HS2 linethrough the Midlands

LDPbusiness .co.ukLDPbusiness .co.uk

HIGH-SPEED rail is a divisive subject,but one thing unites everyone – Liverpoolmust not be left standing on the platformwhile plans for massive investment in therailway network pass by.

The Government has been consultingon plans for a £32bn high-speed rail sys-tem, dubbed High Speed 2 (HS2), that itsays “offers a once-in-a-generation oppor-tunity to transform the way we travel inBritain”.

The Y-shaped network would be builtin two phases. The first part of the linewill run from London to Birmingham,while lines will then be built to link theMidlands with Manchester and Leeds.

Liverpool is not set to get its ownhigh-speed line, but trains will run fromthe city onto the new line.

Journey times to London would beslashed. The journey time from Liverpoolto London would go from 2hr 10min to1hr 37 min.

But HS2 is not simply about faster jour-ney times. Supporters say the project willhelp create thousands of jobs in citiesserved by the line, repaying the massiveinvestment many times over.

A July report by Volterra and Arup,commissioned by the Core Cities Group,suggests that a high-speed rail network,combined with electrification of otherlines, could create as many as 400,000 jobsnationwide -– including almost 39,000 jobsin Liverpool.

The Government’s HS2 website says: “Anew high-speed rail network would trans-form the country’s economic geography.

“It would bring our key cities closertogether, enable businesses to operatemore productively, support employmentgrowth and regeneration, provide a genu-ine alternative to domestic aviation, andcreate a platform for delivering long-termand sustainable economic growth andprosperity.”

The project has met with criticism –and not just from the communitiesthrough which the line will pass.

The project has been attacked for itshigh cost and for the time it will take tocomplete – 20 years to complete the linefrom London to Manchester and Leeds.

It has also been suggested that citiessuch as Liverpool that are not directlylinked to the new network could miss outon investment.

Locally, HS2 has been wel-comed by business leaders andpoliticians. But, in their detailedsubmissions to the Government,Merseytravel and LiverpoolChamber of Commerce – whichboth support the concept ofhigh-speed rail – are at pains topoint out that Liverpool needsits own high-speed link.

Merseytravel said the WestCoast Main Line (WCML) is almost atcapacity, meaning rail alternatives areneeded.

It welcomed high-speed rail, but saidconnections between any new networkand Liverpool need to be developed assoon as possible.

In its response to the Government’sconsultation, it said: “High-speed rail isessential to support economic growth inthe regions, and is most important for thecities with relatively weak economies –

Liverpool, Sheffield, Newcastle and Glas-gow.

“There is a risk that the Y-network aspresently configured could inadvertentlyworsen the competitive position of theweaker cities in favour of Birmingham,Manchester and Leeds.

“It is accepted that there is a need toprovide additional network capacity tocope with existing/forecast demand, butthere is also a need, particularly duringthese times of austerity, to ensure that

investment in the other parts ofthe network will not be pre-judiced by investment in HS2(and the strategic HS2 networkin future).

“The necessary complement-ary network provision must beput in place to lock-in thewidest possible geographic andeconomic benefits anticipated toarise from the HS2 and future

high-speed network development.“Compared to Manchester and Birm-

ingham, Liverpool has poorer services onthe current WCML, which causes realconcern on Merseyside. Liverpool cannotrisk further deterioration of its economiccompetitiveness.”

Merseytravel suggested Merseysideshould have:■ A half-hourly Liverpool-Londonhigh-speed service;■ Liverpool-Birmingham-Heathrow

high-speed service “appropriate todemand”;■ “In the longer term”, a Liverpool-Glas-gow/Edinburgh high-speed service;■ Journey times between Liverpool andLondon that are “competitive” to Lon-don-Manchester times.

The report said: “Liverpool-London in1hr 38 mins is 30 mins faster than thepresent average, but Manchester-Londonwill be 1hr 10 mins. The Liverpool citycentre-London journey time must be com-petitive to Manchester city centre-Londonto retain existing and attract furtherinward investment.”

The idea that Liverpool could lose outto Manchester was stressed again later inthe report. It said the difference in jour-ney times between the two cities “will actas a significant incentive to businesses toconsider locating in Manchester ratherthan Liverpool”.

Merseytravel also urged the Govern-ment and HS2 Ltd – the company set upby the Government to plan HS2 – to con-sult stakeholders in Merseyside aboutplans for the future of the high-speed net-work. It said: “There is a perception onMerseyside that the Birming-ham-Manchester alignment is already a‘done deal’, with no account taken ofextensions beyond Manchester, to Liver-pool or Scotland.

“HS2 should approach Manchesterfrom the west or southwest, to take

IT’S hard to be certainabout the fundamentalcauses of the recentstock market volatility athome and abroad.

The FTSE-100, DowJones and other nationalindices have fallensharply one day, only torecover the next. Theglobal markets at the endof August were roughlywhere they were at thestart of that month.

Part of the difficulty inmaking any sense of themarket volatility is thatAugust is traditionally aslow month. City andWall Street dealers areaway on their holidays,making trading volumesthin. Thin conditions canexaggerate price move-ments, thereby generat-ing volatility.

The data that supportsthe swings and round-abouts has painted aninconsistent picture. Justthis week, for example,the Purchasing Man-agers’ Index (PMI) for theservice sector gave agloomy reading, suggest-ing growth in the UKeconomy would be slowerthan expected. On theother hand, August’s carsales were yesterdayreported as rising 7%.

What is clear is thatthe UK economy is notbooming. There are nosigns yet of a return tostrong growth. The CBIhas this week reviseddown its forecasts forGDP growth for this yearfrom 2.2% to less than2%. CBI director generalJohn Cridland is nowcalling on the Govern-ment to revise itsstrategy for stimulatingthe British economy. Inparticular, he wants tosee a reduction in toprate tax and cuts toemployment-relatedtaxes. He has also calledfor the Government toexpedite investment intransport infrastructureand to stimulate houseconstruction.

Indeed, the CBI arguesthat increased house con-struction could be made akey lever for economicgrowth.

He is right about this.The potential economicimpact of the housebuild-ing sector has been over-

looked for decades bygovernments of both col-ours.

Restrictions imposedon planning approvals fornew homes have cur-tailed UK economicgrowth for decades. It’s abizarre own goal from thepoint of view of economicmanagement.

Homes are the prin-cipal object of consumerspending in this country.Buying, extending,repairing, refurbishingand furnishing themaccounts for a huge pro-portion of householdexpenditure. The housingmarket is, therefore, avery obvious potentialsource of stimulus.

More importantly, newhouse building serves asocial purpose. We needenough new homes togive us all a roof over ourheads. That roof needs tobe adequate for the pur-poses of the occupantsunder it. A family house,for example, needs to bebig enough to allow chil-dren space to play, sleepand study.

The green belt policyand other planningrestrictions implementedover previous decadeshave prevented anadequate supply of newhomes coming to market.

The restrictions havehelped push house pricesto unaffordable levels forthose who don’t alreadyhave a foot on the hous-ing ladder. This hasdeeply compromised theordinary course of life formillions of young people,who, unable to afford ahome, have not started afamily or postponed it tilllate in life, sometimes toolate in life, or had justone child.

That’s why the Govern-ment’s proposals to sim-plify planning rules andto encourage more housebuilding are to be wel-comed. We need all typesof housing, not just socialhomes.

While we must avoidthe pitfalls of sprawl andalso protect areas of out-standing beauty or spec-ial scientific interest, wealso need to find a habitatfor that increasinglyendangered species, theyoung British family.

BillGleeson

‘Networktobringkeycitiesclosertogether’


City ‘must join high-speed revolution’

Critics warn city couldmiss out on growth

How a high-speed train could look

the big feature

advantage of the best alignment for afuture extension to Scotland and to facil-itate an HSL to Liverpool.”

Liverpool Chamber, in its response tothe consultation, agreed there needed tobe “an early commitment to assess thefeasibility of a high-speed spur to serveGreater Merseyside”.

It added: “ While we recognise thatjourney time improvements between Lon-don and Liverpool may be delivered as anindirect consequence of high-speed infra-structure development to theWest Midlands and Manchester,past and forecast growth trendsin passenger flows across thecity-region are unlikely to beserved adequately without a dir-ect high-speed link to Liverpoolstations.”

The Chamber suggested routesfor Liverpool’s link to HS2 – suchas using the “fully-functioning,under-utilised railway line from Warring-ton Bank Quay to Ditton Junction(Widnes) which would be relatively inex-pensive to upgrade for high-speed use”.

The organisation also said that, by free-ing up space on the existing WCML forfreight traffic, HS2 could help the regionmeet its green targets.

It said: “The Chamber views thisgrowth as critical for improving local airquality, reducing congestion on the majorroad networks serving the city, meeting

the growing demand for freight move-ments from the Port of Liverpool and toassist the city-region’s transition to aLow-Carbon economy.”

The Chamber said the Governmentshould ensure that other major railimprovement programmes – such as thefull electrification of the Liver-pool-Manchester line – are completed intime for the opening of HS2.

And, in its conclusion, the Chambersays that a high-speed network that

includes Liverpool should bewarmly welcomed. It said: “Weview high-speed rail as a long-term strategic development pri-ority that will deliver inter-gen-erational benefits for both pas-sengers and freight by expand-ing capacity across the widerrail network in the UK. It willdrive and facilitate the growthand regeneration of Liverpool

city region while supporting its trans-ition to a low-carbon economy.”

The Core Cities Group report said HS2as it stands will still be of great benefit toLiverpool’s economy.

It says: “For Leeds, Manchester andSheffield, the full Y scheme will bringLondon within 73-80 minutes. This willmake it far easier and more efficient forpeople to do a day’s business in London(and vice versa).

“Meanwhile, Liverpool will be brought

WHEN Professor JohnTomaney spoke to theDaily Post in July, he wasadamant that Liverpoolcould miss out if it wasnot connected to the pro-posed HS2 network.

Speaking after a Parl-iamentary hearing intoHS2 , he said; “If Liverpoolis not on the system andManchester is better-con-nected, what will happento businesses in Liverpool?I think it’s getting theclaggy end of the stick.”

The project’s supportersinsist that HS2 will sparkinvestment along itsroute, creating thousandsof jobs.

But Prof Tomaney, pro-fessor of regional devel-opment studies at the Uni-versity of Newcastle, toldthe Daily Post this week:“I’m generally scepticalabout all the claims thatare being made in relationto the impact of HS2 onthe North.

“HS2 has become acentral part of the Govern-ment’s efforts to deal withthe North-South divide.We have looked veryclosely at the evidence forthis and we simply don’tfind the evidence supportsthis argument.

“There’s some evidencethat there could be somedevelopment benefits in

places like Birmingham,Manchester and Leeds.

“But there is also evid-ence from France, Koreaand other places that cit-ies that are not directlyconnected to the line canlose out as a result of theline being built.”

For Prof Tomaney, andother critics of HS2, themoney being earmarkedfor HS2 could be spent onother things that wouldboost the UK economy.

He said: “If your object-ive is to reduce the North-South divide, and youhave £35bn to spend onthis object, would youspent it on high-speed rail,or would you spend it onother things?

“What we would argueis that, while it’s difficultto find evidence that largehigh-speed rail systemshave much of an impacton regional development,there’s a lot more evid-ence that connecting thenorthern cities would be areally interesting plan.

“There’s evidence thatwould have more benefitand value than connectingthe North to the South.

“But there is evidencethat the most effectiveinvestment is in thingslike skills and technology,rather than on infrastruc-ture of this type.”

‘Planmayworsenpositionofweakercities’

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with 97 minutes of London through theuse of classic compatible trains. Thisimproved access to London will improvethe competitive position of these cities asinvestment locations.”

And it added: “The full Y scheme willhelp create more integrated and powerfuleconomic zones outside London: betweenBirmingham and Manchester and Liver-pool, and between Birmingham, the EastMidlands, Sheffield City Region andLeeds.

“Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool,Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield willall benefit from capacity improvementson existing lines. This will benefit pas-sengers travelling to or from places noton the high-speed network.”

When that report was published inJuly, it was warmly welcomed by busi-ness leaders in the city region.

Michael Oglesby, executive chairman ofBruntwood, one of Liverpool’s biggestcommercial landlords, said: “This couldbe the biggest boost to regional econom-ies since the steam engine. We believethat GDP growth in the core cities couldout-strip the national economy, reaching3% per annum thanks to investments likehigh-speed rail.”

The Government is now digesting theregion’s views, and is likely to reportlater this year. Merseyside’s economicdevelopment officials will be hoping thatthe city’s needs will not be forgotten.


Packagingfirm salesup by 13%RECYCLED packagingfirm DS Smith repor-ted a 13% increase inlike-for-like saleswithin its packagingbusiness in the periodsince April 30.

The Maiden-head-based groupsaid sales benefitedfrom the inclusion ofits acquisition of Otor,now DS Smith Pack-aging France.

Passenger risefor EasyjetBUDGET airlineEasyjet reported a6.5% year-on-yearincrease in passengernumbers in August to5.5m. The load factor –the number of passen-gers as a proportionof the number ofseats available – wasflat at 92.2%.

BP oil projectOIL giant BP is toinvest up to £700m ina project to developthe Kinnoull reservoir,in the central NorthSea. Kinnoull is thelargest of three reser-voirs and contains45m barrels of oil.

briefing Plummetingequitiesposefreshthreattopensions

Pensioners in the future may find their incomes squeezed

Global stock markets have suffered some spectacular falls in recent weeks, putting more pressure on pension funds Picrture: PAUL WHITE



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PENSION funds in developed eco-nomies are facing a new crisis asfalling equities and tumblingbond yields widen their deficits,threatening the incomes andretirement dates of futureretirees.

At the heart of their problemsis a steady move by pension plansin the UK, US, eurozone andJapan to cut exposure to risk afterthe financial crisis.

But this “de-risking” may endup depressing their long-termreturns from stock market invest-ment and challenge the conven-tional wisdom that shares gener-ate higher returns than bonds.

With weaker holdings andincreased liabilities, companieswill find it more difficult to fundexisting pension schemes.

They may cut new businessinvestments as they use morecash to pay pensions.

For future pensioners, it meansthey will potentially face a lowerretirement income and a longerworking life – or both.

This year has been a nightmarefor many in the industry – whichcontrols $(US)35 trillion, or athird of global financial assets –and funding deficits are postingdouble-digit rises.

“We had a credit crisis and gov-ernment bond crisis, and the thirdone we have is the pension crisis.This is the one where everythingis going wrong and there’s noobvious way out,” said KevinWesbroom, UK head of global risk

services at consultancy AonHewitt.

The sharp retreat in stocksthrough the summer has hurtthem again by weakening theirasset positions and threatening toerode stock market recoveriesseen since the equity collapse sur-rounding the 2007-2009 creditcrisis.

Even lower bond yields areproving to be a new headache.

“The real killer is liabilities aregoing up because, in the flight toquality, everyone gets out of equit-ies and runs for cover in safeassets like government bonds, andyields are falling,” added MrWesbroom.

Many defined benefit (DB) pen-sion plans – where benefits arepre-determined – pay a fixedstream of income to retirees.

The low-yielding environmentmakes it harder for the funds tomeet these bond-like liabilities,forcing them to accumulate evenmore fixed income instruments totry to meet their obligations, cre-ating a vicious circle.

Recent data on pension deficitshighlight the plight of many pen-sion funds. In the US, fundingdeficits of the 100 largest DB plansrose $68bn to $254bn in July,according to the Milliman Pen-sion Fund Index. July marked the10th largest deficit rise in theindex’s 11 year history.

Even if these companies were toachieve an optimistic annualreturn of as much as 8 % and keepthe current benchmark yield of5.12 %, their funding status is notestimated to improve beyond 93%by end-2013 from the current 83%.

Aon Hewitt estimates deficits ofDB pension plans for FTSE 350companies, as of end-August, rose£20bn from July to a 2011 high of£58bn.

Their funding ratio stands at89.8%, down from 94.1%threeyears ago. The drop in the fundingratio is driven by a rally in thefixed income market.

In Europe, the double-A ratedcorporate bond yield – one of thebenchmark rates used by regulat-ors – fell 300 basis points in thelast three years to 3.55%, accord-ing to Barclays Capital.

The widely used rule of thumbis that a 50 basis points fall in thediscount rate roughly results in a10% increase in liabilities.

“Things look substantiallyworse now than they were duringthe credit crisis,” said Pat Race,senior partner at investment con-sultancy Mercer.

In reaction to the past few yearsof an equity decline and volatility,many pension funds are indeedplanning to buy more bonds, amove highlighted by Mercer’s sur-vey of over 1,000 European DBpension funds in May.

“Trustees do want to de-risk,but financial directors have irrat-ional desire to have equities. Theyare too wedded to equity mar-kets,” Race said.

“You still have massive uncer-tainties with a potential foranother dip into recession. I don'tsee any reversion to days whenequities are dominant part of DBplans.”

Growing pension funds deficitson corporate balance sheets maymake it more difficult for com-panies to access credit and dis-courage firms which are alreadyhoarding cash from spending cashto expand business.

ESTABLISHED BREAD/PIE/CAKERETAIL OUTLET – WIRRAL

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Outlookstays‘challenging’asnewcarsalesincrease

The Ford Fiesta was the best-selling new car in August, reports the SMMT

MinisterrejectscriticismofplansforUKrecovery

Hi-techpuntersboostforBetfair CostasurgeTHE squeeze on consumer spendingis failing to deter coffee lovers, afterthe owner of Costa reported a surgein half-year sales.

The Whitbread-owned coffee chain,which has 1,295 stores in the UK, sawlike-for-like sales growth of 6.6% inthe 24 weeks to August 18.

LDPbusiness .co.ukLDPbusiness .co.uk

Britishjobsmarket‘robust’

[email protected]

THE jobs market hasheld up relatively well,but remains in the“summer doldrums”,with worrying signs offalling back topre-recession levels, asurvey of recruitmentfirms found today.

The study revealed a“moderate” increase inpermanent and tem-porary jobs, an easingin the number ofvacancies and a rise inthe number of candid-ates.

The survey of 400recruitment andemployment firms alsoshowed staff salariesincreasing at the slow-est pace for almost twoyears.

Kevin Green, chiefexecutive of theRecruitment & Employ-ment Confederation,said its report high-lighted the robustnessof the UK jobs market,adding: “In the face ofa slowing economy,falling consumer con-fidence and high inflat-ion, private sectoremployers continue tohire staff.

“The numbers arelower than threemonths ago, but place-ments continued to risein August, which wasthe 25th consecutivemonth of growth.

“The figures alsoshow that, with amonth to go before theintroduction of newregulations coveringagency workers, busi-nesses continue todepend on and use thisflexible resource.

“The UK jobs marketis being incredibly res-ilient. Even withincreasing job losses. . . it is performingmuch better than manypredicted.”

INASSOCIATION

WITH



LDP

Text LDPto 67800

MOBILE

THE Government denied yes-terday that its economicstrategy would drive the coun-try “headlong” back intorecession.

In the Lords, Treasury min-ister Lord Sassoon insistedthat coalition policies were“on track” to boost the recov-ery and ministers were stick-ing to them.

Labour Treasury spokes-

man Lord Davies of Oldhamsaid during Question Timethat the Government’s growthpredictions had been pro-duced months ago and “every-one else’s” were now lower.

“In circumstances wherethe American economy isclearly in difficulty, in whichwe’ve got crisis in Europe, isthe Government going to con-tinue to pursue a strategy,

which will take us headlonginto recession, with the pricebeing paid by middle Englandand low income families?” hedemanded.

Lord Sassoon replied: “Ithas never been on such astrategy and therefore there isno question of it continuingon such a strategy.”

Labour’s Lord Howarth ofNewport said: “Isn’t it time

that the Chancellor and thePrime Minister acknowledgedthat their strategy of drastic-ally reducing public expendit-ure cannot enable the UKeconomy to revive?”

Lord Sassoon said Labourformer Chancellor AlistairDarling had made a “completemea culpa” and said we (thelast Labour Government) gotit totally wrong, raising

National Insurance and put-ting a tax on jobs, and saidthere was no credible econ-omic policy at the last elec-tion, which is why Labourlost.

“We have introduced apolicy that is on track to getthe economy growing.”

Crossbencher Lord Bili-moria pointed to a “clamourfor a Plan B”.

news

NEW car sales rose by over 7% lastmonth, the first increase since thesummer of last year, new figuresshowed yesterday.

There were 59,346 new car regist-rations in August, 7.3% more than thesame month in 2010, with increaseddemand from private and fleet buyers.

But, despite the increase, the Soci-ety of Motor Manufacturers andTraders (SMMT) said the outlook forthe industry remained “challenging”.

Sales from January to August weredown by 6.1% on the previous year, butthe August increase followed 13months of decline.

The Supermini segment jumped by17.6% to account for 37.3% of theAugust new car market, said theSMMT.

Chief executive Paul Everitt said:“August represents a relatively smallshare of the new car market and theSeptember new 61-plate registrationswill be far more important for vehiclemanufacturers and franchised dealers.

“The September new car market isalways important for the UK motorindustry, accounting for around 17% ofthe full year’s registrations.

“Consumers are nervous about thefuture, but with industry offeringunprecedented improvements in fueleconomy, competitive finance offersand a wide variety of new models, buy-ers will find there is something to suitevery taste and pocket.”

The Ford Fiesta was the top-sellingnew car in August with 3,213 regis-trations, followed by the VauxhallCorsa (2,901), the Ford Focus (2,858),the VW Golf (1,995), BMW 3 Series(1,739), Vauxhall Astra (1,613), VW Pas-sat (1,526), VW Polo (1,467), NissanQashqai (1,312) and Audi A3 (1,125).

The Ford Fiesta is also thetop-selling new car in the year to date(61,551), followed by the Focus (52,918),Corsa (46,620), Golf (39,385), Vauxhall

Insignia (31,063), Polo (28,048), 3 Series(27,298), Qashqai (24,695) and Peugeot207 (21,402).

Sales of new cars in August last year(55,305) were the lowest on record,with growth last month reflecting arecovery in the private sector.

The SMMT forecast that sales forthe full year will be around 1.93m, 5%down on last year, saying that the out-look for the new car market remainedchallenging, given the downgrade in

economic growth forecasts. Around2,000 more diesel cars were sold lastmonth than petrol versions.

David Raistrick, of Deloitte, said theincrease had come as a “welcome sur-prise”, adding: “While fleet sales haveheld firm in 2011, retail sales havebeen down and with a combination ofthe holiday season and private buyerswaiting for the new registration platesto be introduced in September, it wasnever expected to be a great month.

“August generally represents a rel-atively small share of the new car mar-ket, with September being a far morecrucial month for the automotiveretail industry.

“After nearly a year of falling sales, Iexpect September to mirror theAugust increase, and we are likely tosee numbers slightly up from last year.

“This is due to a number of factors,including new models coming onstream and low interest rates.”

ONLINE gambling firmBetfair said its invest-ment in betting-on-the-move was paying off,as it revealed the num-ber of wagers placed ondevices such as iPhonesand iPads had doubled.

Some 7.4m bets wereplaced with Betfair onmobile devices in thethree months to July 31,twice the number in thesame period last year,while a third of allwagers with the com-

pany are now placed ona mobile product.

The group, whichallows punters to settheir own odds and betagainst one another,said it upgraded itsmobile services in the

quarter, includingimproved live scoreupdates and fasterresponse times.

Betfair managementsaid that total revenuesdropped 7% to £80.8m inthe period.


by Chris Johnson, managingpartner at Smith and Sons

LDPbusiness .co.uklocation

viewpoint

byTonyMcDonoughLDPDEPUTYBUSINESSEDITORtony.mcdonough@liverpool.com

INASSOCIATION

WITH


Auctionsofferattractiveoptionfor first-timebuyersand investors

SALE by auction is still the best meansof obtaining the highest price withina given timescale and providestransparency to the market – par-

ticularly for houses in need of refur-bishment and properties having de-velopment or investment potential.

As rents remain strong and pricesare at lower levels than four or fiveyears ago, there are many opportun-ities for purchasers, be they seasoneddevelopers, builders or investors, oryoung couples or individuals lookingto make their first purchase.

Strong yields can be achieved, oftenin excess of 10%. For the first-timebuyer, there are opportunities tocarry out DIY projects or engage thehelp of a local builder to upgrade andrefurbish to their own requirementsand immediately enjoy some equity.

Despite a relatively quiet 2011,interest is now returning to the auc-tion room from prospective pur-chasers for propertiesoffered at realistic guideprices.

While there is a lack oftraditional finance oppor-tunities, bridging financeremains available and canbe obtained quickly toenable a deal to be secured.

While traditionally thisis thought to have been anexpensive option, if it is regarded asjust another outgoing and allows aprofit to be made, then this can be

the way forward for many prospect-ive purchasers, particularly if theyare looking to buy a house, carry out

a programme of refurbish-ment and then resell torelease a profit.

Not all properties aresuitable for auction andmost auctioneers will lookat far more houses, piecesof land or commercialbuildings than are acceptedand included in thecatalogue.

There is no point inadvertising something at too high aprice, or which is better suited for

sale by private treaty. More and morerepossessions are now coming to thelocal and regional auctions, ratherthan being sold at London salerooms.

Statistics show that approximately75% of all properties offered for saleby auction reach the reserve price.

And, as a result of a number oftelevision programmes like HomesUnder the Hammer, the public ismore aware of the benefits of buyingand selling at auction.

There is still money to be made bybuying at auction, providing home-work is done and you have the cour-age of your convictions.

BuildingfirmtooccupysuiteatVictoriaHouse

Victoria House, in James Street – located close to BAM’s Mann Island works

Venmoreoffering75lotsat latestcityauction

‘75%ofpropertiesreachthereserveprice’

VENMORE will offer 75lots at its latest Liverpoolproperty auction – itshighest number this year.

The event, to be held onWednesday, September 14,at 1pm at the Hilton Hotel

in Liverpool One, willoffer a variety of lotsincluding residential, com-mercial, and many devel-opment opportunities forlandlords and investors.

Nick Ball, head of auc-

tions at Venmore, said: “Itis fantastic to see that wehave the highest numberof lots available forSeptember’s auction.

“It is one of our busiestmonths in the auction cal-

endar and, with 75 lots onoffer, and the rental mar-ket becoming increasinglystrong, we are excited atthe prospect of a packedauction room.”

One property to be feat-

ured in the auction is lot55, a two-storey industrialunit situated just off DerbyRoad, offering just under10,000 sq ft split betweentwo open-plan floors, witha guide price of £159,000.

LIVERPOOL property groupDowning has let an entire floor ofone of its city centre properties.

BAM Construction has taken3,073 sq ft on the fourth floor ofVictoria House, which is locatedin James Street, on a short-term,flexible lease.

The company will be based inthe property while it is progress-ing works on the nearby MannIsland development.

Downing will also provide BAMwith 15 secure, 24/7, on-site carparking spaces and the rentincludes service charge and build-ing insurance.

Downing is reporting stronginterest on the ground floorretail/leisure unit of the building,where talks with a national oper-ator are progressing, along withits refurbished office suites.

Robin Ellis, senior agency sur-veyor at Downing, said: “This partof the city centre has seen hugechanges in recent months withnew businesses, restaurants andhotels locating in the area, as wellas the ongoing development of theMann Island scheme.

“These developments areanother piece in the jigsaw of cityconnectivity, and Victoria House isright at the heart of this.

“Interest in the building’s refur-bished suites is encouraging.

“The suites can be partitionedto suit a business’s needs very eas-ily, and they’re bright and airyoffices available on value-for-money terms.

“That BAM could move inquickly on a flexible deal that

gives them certainty on occupat-ional costs other than rent, wascertainly a selling point for them.”

Mason Owen and CB Richard

Ellis are the agents on VictoriaHouse.

Downing is Liverpool’s largestprivate commercial landlord with

1m sq ft of commercial propertiesunder its ownership and manage-ment, including the Grade II-listedPort of Liverpool Building.

CHESTERNEWTON HOUSE

LONG LANE, UPTON

Prominent office/warehouse513.9 sq m (5533 sq ft)

Site area 0.594 acres approxAlternative use potential: retail/offices/residential

FOR SALE – REGION £500,000

Tel: 01244 351212Email: [email protected]: www.bacommercial.com

PREMISES THROUGHOUTTHE NORTH WEST

TO LETNEW WORKSHOP/INDUSTRIAL UNITS

2,527 -2,558 Sq ft

■ CCTV■ Fully Fitted Offices■ Established Location

SEFTONBUSINESS PARK

AINTREE

TO LET NETHERLEY In-dustrial/Workshop Units 506−1,023 sq ft Rents from £62pwWHEATHILLS IND ESTATE.W H I T T L E J O N E S 0 1 2 5 7238666

Commercial Property

TO LET LITHERLAND In-dustrial/Workshop Unit 775 &1,001 Sq ft, Rent £113pw easyi n e a s y o u t a g r e e m e n t s .BR IDGE RD IND ESTATE ,W H I T T L E J O N E S 0 1 2 5 7238666

Commercial Property

Commercial Premises

BUSINESS to BUSINESS

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

SHOP & OFF ICES FORLEASE Main rd Maghul l .Private parking. Well decorated.Low rent. Own forecourt01695 423489

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

UNITS /OFFICES

From

£20p/w

0151 225 0100

COMMERCIAL UNIT/WORK-SHOP Rainhill to let £65pw,£750sq ft 0161 980 1912




byTonyMcDonoughLDPDEPUTYBUSINESSEDITORtony.mcdonough@liverpool.com

INASSOCIATION

WITH


Troup totake onhotel jobCOLLIERS Internat-ional has announcedthat Julian Troup is totake on a new role ashead of the UK hotelsagency team.

Mr Troup joined Col-liers during 2007 tohead up the UK corpor-ate hotels team, and hasnow been appointed ashead of the entire UKhotel agency operation.

Since the beginningof 2003, he has sold oracquired more than 100UK provincial hotels onbehalf of clients, withasking prices rangingfrom £1.2m to in excessof £20m.

Earlier this year, hehandled the sale of theentire share capital ofForestdale Hotels – aprivately-owned collec-tion of 18 three-starhotels spread acrossEngland – in a deal fun-ded by a mixture ofequity, deferred consid-eration and a new £32mcredit facility toAkkeron Hotels.

Businessparksstill struggling

ExpandingcoffeeshopoperatorbreaksnewgroundCAFE operator Bean hastaken space in the receptionarea of Liverpool InnovationPark (LIP).

The company, whichalready runs an outlet at thecity’s Princes Dock, is taking500 sq ft within the mainreception.

This will combine with anadditional 1,223 sq ft seatingarea, opening out onto anexternal terrace.

The facility completes therecent £4m project to createa new main reception, net-working hubs and meetingspaces at the Edge Lanecampus.

The café area will bewi-fi-enabled.

Bean, established in 2008,has coffee shops in Liverpooland Manchester.

Directors Jon Whyte andVip Bhatt have big plans forthe firm.

Mr Whyte said: “Ourmobile coffee van, the BeanMachine, has been visitingLiverpool Innovation Parkdaily for over a year now,and we are really lookingforward to becoming per-manent residents.

“Bean@LIP is our fifthcoffee shop, and we haveambitious growth plans forthe next 18 months.” Bean directors Vip Bhatt, left, and Jon Whyte – ambitious growth plans for next 18 months Picture: PAUL HEAPS

OCCUPIER activity in industrial parks hasimproved but remains “subdued”, accordingto a new report.

The GVA study on occupier activity in UKbusiness parks showed an increase in activityin the first half of 2011.

A total of 1.6m sq ft of take-up was recordedin the first six months of 2011, an increase of8% on the previous six months but 23.8%below the current five-year average.

Nationally, annual headline rental valuegrowth turned positive for the first time since2008, but with large regional variations.

For the second survey in a row, annualheadline rental declines were steepest in thecombined Yorkshire and Humber/North Eastregion (-6.8%).

In eastern England, strong demand for spacein Cambridge helped to push up the regionalheadline result 8.3% on an annual basis.

A fractional year-on-year increase in head-line rents of 0.1% was recorded for the UKbusiness parks market as a whole.

This marks the slow but improving trendseen in headline figures since the second halfof 2009.

The amount of office space under construc-tion in UK business parks is at its lowest inthe survey’s 16-year history.

Just 694,000 sq ft was on site at year-end, a44.9% decline on last year’s result and 76.7%below the current five-year survey average,with the majority of development now depend-ent on pre-letting.

A total of 16.2m sq ft of floorspace is immed-iately available for occupation at the midpoint

of 2011, a slight 0.2% reduction on the Decem-ber, 2010, figure. Availability in the NorthWest, South East and East regions is falling,while the Midlands, Scotland and North Eastare seeing record highs.

GVA director Ian Steele said: “Despite thecontinued economic uncertainty, there havebeen pockets of transactional activity on someof the North West’s business parks.”

Ian Steele, of GVA in the North West –pockets of transactional activity

[email protected]

ENJOYA RENTHOLIDAYONYOURNEW OFFICE


LondonStockMarketatClose

Last night, the pound was worth: $1.5953 (down 0.0152) ..... 1.1397 euros (down 0.0020) ..... 117.60 yen (down 0.48) ..... Its trade weighted index was 79.00 (down 0.10)Metals in $ per troy ounce: Gold 1895 (unchanged) .......................Silver 41.85 (down 0.86) ....................... Platinum1866 (down 6)....................... 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 5414 Adv Medical 77 +2

1814 214 AEA Technology 212 -18 -18

28712 242 Albany Inv Tst 242 -2 -3

1251 834 AMEC 864 +3 -14

92 2614 Anglesey Mining 49 +234 -1

35714 22858 Balfour Beatty 23434 -212 -278

3912 2914 Beale 32

612 51112 Compass Gp 535 -812

1265 99712 Dee Valley 1255

479 301 easyJet 32134 -278 -1618

1030 726 JD Sports Fashion 842 +17 +17

120 1112 JJB Sports 2014 -34 +114

36 2014 Johnson Serv 3114 +12

579 410 Nichols 51312 xd -112 -612

14912 9812 NWF 11712 xd -412 -512

50 26 Park Gp 4234 xd +34

1257 828 Rathbone 1033 -2 -11

139 9838 Redrow 11538 -14 +38

14312 10914 RSA Insurance 10914 xd -4

34 2214 Speedy Hire 26 +12 +112

4634 3412 Sportech 3938 +18

4634 2514 Telme Gp 4012 -1

5514 3234 UK Coal 43 +14 -4

2 1 Ultima 114

2081 1750 Unilever 2021 xd +28 -4

63112 54312 Utd Utils 58512 +2 -6

UNIT TRUSTS

DAILY POST REGIONAL INDEX 1134.57 up 4.57 ▲ 0.40%

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

£88532 £761132 Cons 4%.................£7734

£5918 £50 Cons 212% ..............£5918

Conversions

£7934 £69 Cnv 312%.................£7212

Treasury

£63 £50 Tr 212%...................... £63

£11512 £1062132 Tr 9% 12.............. £107516 -1316

£1061532 £102732 Tr 5% 12.............. £102732 -132

£12078 £115132 Tr 8% 13.............. £115132 -18

£114132 £109532 Tr 5% 14............. £1121332 -18

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

£3402932 £310532 Tr 212% IL 16 .........£33818 -14

£142116 £1322132 Tr 834% 17.......... £1402932 -132

£15038 £1332732 Tr 8% 21................£15038 +532

War

£86732 £6712 War Ln 312%.......... £86732 +1132

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 6, 2011 Sep 6, 2011WHITBREAD

1300

1425

1550

1675

1800FTSE-Rebased

£ ABROAD

Australia dollars 1.45 1.515 1.520

Canada dollars 1.52 1.580 1.582

Denmark krone 8.10 8.484 8.494

European Union euro 1.09 1.139 1.140

Japan yen 117.60 123.560 123.660

New Zealand dollars 1.80 1.935 1.940

Norway krone 8.36 8.606 8.607

Poland zlotys 4.25 4.814 4.822

Sweden krona 9.93 10.292 10.302

Switzerland francs 1.21 1.370 1.371

Turkey new lira 2.68 2.810 2.820

United States dollars 1.54 1.595 1.595

Cancel Bid Offer Yield

Fund Terms Price Price Gross

FIDELITY INVESTMENT SERVS

Amer Spec Sits - 525.60 -

American - 1584.00 0.32

Income Plus - 188.80 4.61

Japan - 205.10 0.57

Jpan Spec Sits - 128.70 0.10

Spec Sits - 1633.00 0.01

Sth East Asia - 657.50 0.01

GARTMORE FUND MANAGERS

Euro Sel Opps - 742.89 1.29

Pratical Inv -153.14 164.36 4.50

GUARDIAN

Index-Linked Acc -531.57 559.55 -

International Acc -874.37 920.39 -

Pacific Acc -233.28 245.55 -

Property Bonds -2022.52 2106.79 -

HSBC INVESTMENT FUNDS (UK)

Balanced - 94.03 1.26

British -231.30 231.30 2.97

Gilt & FI - 67.18 3.00

Gilt & Fixed -237.20 237.20 5.99

Monthly Inc - 120.20 4.35

HENDERSON HORIZON FUND

European Smllr Cos A - 834.00 0.14

Sterling Bd Unit Tst - 53.87 56.28 4.46

UK Equity Inc A - 392.00 3.26

HILL SAMUEL UNIT TST MGRS

Capital -268.10 278.90 1.20

European - 660.90 0.70

Far East - 532.10 1.80

Inc & Gwth - 172.00 3.40

International - 366.40 0.40

North Amer Acc - 417.90 0.10

INVESCO FUND MANAGERS

Sing ASEAN - 192.03 0.71

High Low Funds Price Var

Closing Indices

FT-SE 100 INDEX 5156.84up 54.26 ▲ 1.06%

20 DAY MOVINGAVERAGE 5219.31down 0.33 ▼ 0.01%

FT ALL-SHARE 2678.25up 23.01 ▲ 0.87%

Aerospace & Defence

Index 2974.39 ▲ 25.03

324 11912 Avon Rbbr 293 xd +11

36978 24818 BAE Systems 26438 +634

73612 485 Chemring 521 -1112

24558 17338 Cobham 182 -38

39758 27938 Meggitt 318 xd -11

665 55712 Rolls-Royce 616 +812

19058 12238 Senior 140 -634

Automobiles & Parts

Index 4159.42 ▼ 77.16

245 14834 GKN 17778xd -314

Banks

Index 3325.61 ▲ 5.32

33312 14512 Barclays 15034xd -338

859 49138 Bco Santander 49912 -12

73078 50334 HSBC 50914xd +434

6258 678 Ireland 658 -18

7758 2712 Lloyds Banking 3034 +18

5018 1958 Ryl Scotland 2118 -58

1959 1295 Stan Chart 1295xd -412

Beverages

Index 9432.12 ▲ 84.61

1395 1031 Barr (AG) 1117 +12

50312 28978 Britvic 30458 -214

1307 1070 Diageo 1220 +10

2340 192612SABMiller 217912 +2212

Chemicals

Index 6136.13 ▼ 9.12

2081 1342 Croda 1673xd -6

18738 8838 Elementis 14418 -114

2119 1566 Johnsn Mat 1569 +3

Construction & Materials

Index 2955.05 ▼ 33.31

35714 22858 Balfour Beatty 23434 -212

265 188 Costain 235 +714

1491 97712 CRH 98614xd +4

1418 1030 Kier Group 1136 -12

7634 3512 Low Bonar 64 xd +14

12412 96 Marshalls 97

Electricity

Index 8015.87 ▲ 112.29

53612 35358 Drax Gp 516 -1

44858 27938 Intl Power 32214 +18

1423 1108 Scot&Sthrn 1269xd +21

Electronic & Electrical

Index 2780.92 ▼ 24.72

705 47012 Domino Ptg 545 +412

207 12778 Laird 14418 -118

35718 20378 Morgn Cru 25514 -438

1010 35812 Oxford Inst 819 -6

377 23712 Volex 267 -18

Equity Inv Instruments

Index 5486.69 ▲ 66.11

39234 32358 Alliance 33112xd +212

14012 113 Br Assets 11858 +314

777 485 Candover Inv 525 +7

228 19734 Dunedin IncGth 204

15734 11434 Dunedin Sml 136 -3

49214 41478 Edin Invst 43834 +414

66034 546 Edin US Trkr Tst 564 -2

32778 26858 Forgn & C 27658xd +4

32334 24714 Hend Smllr Cos 263 -112

385 30678 Law Debenture32834xd +314

252 21212 Scot Am 21612xd -338

533 428 Witan 438 xd +534

Fixed Line Telecoms

Index 1971.40 ▼ 3.10

20418 13878 BT Gp 16258xd -34

6118 3114 Cble&W Comm 3678 +18

7838 3218 Cble&W Wwide 3234 +58

84 4614 KCOM 7334 -34

Food & Drug Retailers

Index 4376.58 ▲ 123.58

30814 26234 Morrison W 29138 +614

395 28038 Sainsbury 28878 +134

44058 360 Tesco 37434 +1312

112 46 Thorntons 46 -58

Food Producers

Index 5261.30 ▲ 70.19

1182 940 AB Foods 1054 +16

875 56212 Carrs Mill 745 -14

896 606 Cranswick 646 xd +12

42478 33418 Dairy Crest 35412 +378

3518 1218 Premier Foods 1218 -58

656 46158 Tate Lyle 577 +7

2081 1750 Unilever 2021xd +28

Forestry & Paper

Index 5514.94 ▼ 70.01

664 46834 Mondi 512 xd -612

General Financial

Index 5115.85 ▼ 32.30

340 197 3i 197 -34

88812 65612 Close Bros 691 -4

57012 39114 ICAP 463 +18

1076 675 London Stk Ex 860 -1512

1124 72812 Provident 1080 -3

1257 828 Rathbone 1033 -2

1922 1373 Schroders 1436xd -9

General Industrials

Index 2585.92 ▼ 23.01

72412 44258 Cooksn Gp 44258 -2112

6 218 Cosalt 278

400 30112 Rexam 33978 +34

26614 14578 Smith DS 196 xd -1

1429 90712 Smiths Gp 92812 -612

General Retailers

Index 1442.74 ▼ 8.84

2514 1212 Ashley L 1734 -38

31114 22938 Brown (N) Gp 26534 +218

7738 5214 Debenhams 5278 +58

2812 1058 Dixons Retail 1058 -38

502 28012 Halfords 28012 -1158

235 115 Home Retail 11534 +34

42538 28314 Inchcape 28518xd-1112

1030 726 JD Sports 842 +17

28718 21118 Kingfisher 22558 -138

42712 30134 M & S 30134 -58

62712 34214 Mothercare 34412 +34

2426 1868 Next 2304

2986 1791 Signet Jwlrs 2300 +40

523 422 WH Smith 488 +734

Health Care Equip & Serv

Index 3404.87 ▲ 35.68

742 521 Smith Nph 599 +512

Household Goods

Index 6126.59 ▲ 22.53

138 74 Aga Rngmstr 9212 -2

119 6712 Barratt Dev 76 -238

75312 511 Bellway 573 -9

192 120 McBride 12712 -512

3648 3015 Reckitt Benck 3206xd +23

139 9838 Redrow 11538 -14

4314 2214 Taylor Wimpey 3078 -12

Industrial Engineering

Index 6350.70 ▼ 69.55

39734 23734 Bodycote 267 -558

85312 53812 Charter 774 xd -812

42212 217 Fenner 335 xd +114

1119 718 IMI 79112 -1312

116 4312 Molins 90 -412

31212 12112 MS Intl 25212

45 2512 Renold 31 -38

2063 1646 Spirax Srco 1751

2218 1333 Weir Gp 1756 -11

Industrial Transportation

Index 2125.19 ▲ 5.47

24034 156 BBA Aviation 161 xd +14

Life Insurance

Index 3524.82 ▼ 10.92

47778 30134 Aviva 30134 -514

12334 9114 Lgl & Gen 94 -58

777 56412 Prudential 56512xd +1

31618 21114 Resolution 25178 -214

24434 172 Standard Life 19218xd +134

Media

Index 3552.54 ▼ 21.34

850 61812 BSkyB 64512 +412

59412 36314 D Mail Tst 372 -514

9312 5334 ITV 5334 -1

1207 926 Pearson 1064xd

59012 46114 Reed Elsevier 48258 -612

168 8934 STV Group 110 +1

124 3712 Trinity Mirror 4114 +34

725 42838 Utd Business 43178xd -678

151 101 UTV 124 +12

84612 57812 WPP 592 -212

Mining

Index 21023.98 ▲ 313.36

3437 2234 Anglo Amer 2383xd+1412

1634 1109 Antofagasta 1244 +11

263112 1846 BHPBilliton 197712 +2312

2100 1120 Fresnillo 2064xd +78

53118 348 Glencore Intl 38514 +834

1671 918 Kazakhmys 99312 +4

1983 1103 Lonmin 1209 +2

6940 4425 Randgold Res 6940 +205

4712 338712Rio Tinto 3549xd +6012

5514 3234 UK Coal 43 +14

Mobile Telecoms

Index 3635.85 ▲ 59.18

72412 38934 Inmarsat 45734 +258

18234 155 Vodafone Gp 16018 +258

Nonlife Insurance

Index 1358.78 ▲ 3.21

1754 1279 Admiral Grp 1336 +12

197634 147158 Marsh McL 1760 -57

14312 10914 RSA Insurance 10914xd

Oil & Gas Producers

Index 7218.96 ▲ 93.74

1564121076 BG 122212xd-1112

509 36314 BP 37158xd +812

46934 28138 Cairn Energy 30538 +214

535 310 Premier Oil 310 -434

2336 1764 Ryl D Shell B 1993xd+3312

1493 94512 Tullow Oil 1086 +11

Oil Equipment & Services

Index 20639.73 ▲ 27.48

1251 834 AMEC 864 +3

Personal Goods

Index 20696.89 ▲ 210.05

1600 87112 Burberry Gp 1272 +13

409 32012 PZ Cussons 35912xd +212

Pharma & Biotechnology

Index 8986.97 ▲ 137.63

3385 254312AstraZeneca 276912xd +30

1385 112712GlaxoSmthKln 128712xd +23

50 3112 Vernalis 3458

Real Estate

Index 1958.11

35314 23414 Big Yellow Gp 27312 +814

62912 464 Brit Land 49918 +38

2954 2282 Daejan Hldgs 2487 -6

445 32538 Gt Portland 35258 +34

885 62012 Land Secs 721

33114 23238 SEGRO 25078 +12

Software & Comp Servs

Index 708.02 ▼ 0.21

2525 1271 Autonomy 2518 -1

6312 4014 Emblaze 5312 -212

36414 22134 Invensys 24258 -338

108 83 Kewill 8514 -3

14714 8014 Logica 81 -138

302 23134 Sage 24734 +18

Support Services

Index 3934.83 ▲ 0.82

1814 214 AEA Tech 212 -18

2034 1389 Aggreko 1833 +26

20778 9212 Ashtead Gp 13314xd+2114

568 38738 Berendsen 467 -258

81212 67612 Bunzl 785 +13

79412 63512 Capita 69512xd -3

85312 54912 De La Rue 804 +6

29478 190 Electrocmps 20118 -234

83312 654 Experian 68512 +112

291 23734 G4S 25478 -318

452 31134 Hyder Cons 315 -3

34114 18312 Interserve 314 +414

550 425 Menzies J 493 -234

34634 20014 Northgate 259 -814

30834 16838 Prem Farnell 17134 -334

10718 7412 Rentokil 7618 -118

12012 79 Smiths News 84 -12

34 2214 Speedy Hire 26 +12

1127 72312 Travis & P 748 -1512

2261 1356 Wolseley 1509 -6

Tech Hardware & Equip

Index 661.59 ▲ 1.67

651 33878 ARM Hldgs 536 +212

2712 19 BATM 1914 -38

10234 5514 Psion 5514xd -114

16014 116 Spirent Comms 12158xd

Tobacco

Index 31362.15 ▲ 641.80

2871 228212Br Am Tob 274412xd +45

2231 1784 Imperial Tob 2105 +65

Travel & Leisure

Index 3931.97 ▲ 22.27

3153 1742 Carnival 1867xd +37

612 51112 Compass Gp 535

479 301 easyJet 32134 -278

12234 3378 Enterprise Inns 3378 -1

41258 31114 FirstGroup 35078 +158

1598 1085 Go-Ahead Gp 1416 -4

518 410 Greene King 43478xd +338

43012 240 Holidaybreak 43014 -14

1435 955 Intercontl Htls 1005xd +12

285 15558 Intl Cons Airlns 15558 -234

15514 12014 Ladbrokes 12112xd -38

11718 87 Marston’s 92

361 21638 Mitchells&Btlrs 21638 -112

9038 918 Punch Taverns 938

15334 10912 Rank Gp 12658xd +158

335 25478 Restaurant Gp 27138 -434

26812 18038 Stagecoach 24514xd -134

20434 3812 Thomas Cook 3878 +38

27178 13714 TUI Travel 13714xd -314

1887 1409 Whitbread 1563 +106

Utilities

Index 4529.30 ▲ 24.17

34618 28614 Centrica 28634 +12

1265 99712 Dee Valley 1255

63212 530 National Grid 615 +6

73712 57912 Pennon Gp 63912xd +112

1517 1306 Severn 1428 +8

63112 54312 Utd Utils 58512 +2

AIM

Index 757.58 ▼ 4.21

4958 1034 API Gp 45 +12

1034 178 Armour Gp 218

158 1 Crimson Tide 138

214 112 Dawson Intl 178

838 478 Eckoh 678 +18

120 1112 JJB Sports 2014 -34

36 2014 Johnson Serv 3114

86 3034 Man Brnze 4112 +12

12 412 Metalrax 838 +18

550 385 Portmeirion P 47212

17312 55 Redhall Gp 77 -12

6214 1834 Scapa Gp 4814 -1

142 99 Swallowfield 114

96 67 Uniq 9534

712 525 Young A 65212 +212

Aug 15 - Aug 19 Aug 22 - Aug 26 Aug 29 - Sep 2 M T W T F4980

5135

5290

5445

5600

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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Friday, September 9The latest presentationin the “60 Really UsefulMinutes” series by Liv-erpool Chamber ofCommerce will helpbusinesses understandControl of SubstancesHazardous to HealthRegulations (CoSHH),Provision and Use of

Workplace EquipmentRegulations (PUWER)and Reporting of Injur-ies, Diseases and Dan-gerous OccurrencesRegulations (RIDDOR).

The venue is thechamber’s Old HallStreet offices.

It runs from 9amuntil 10am. Entry for

Chamber members isfree, or £5 fornon-members. Bookonline at Liverpoolchamber.org.uk

Tuesday, September 13Liverpool Chamber ofCommerce QuarterlyHR Forum, featuringspeakers Andy Wrightand Mark McKeating,from Hill Dickinsonsolicitors.

At the Chamber’sOld Hall Street offices

from 8.30am to 10.30am.Members free,non-members £15. Bookat Liverpoolchamber.org.uk

Tuesday, September 20This is the latest eventstaged by the LiverpoolChinese Business Net-work aimed at strength-ening links betweenthe city’s Chinese andnon-Chinese businesscommunities.

The venue is the

China Palace Restaur-ant, on Berry Street.

Arrive from 6.30pmfor a 7pm start, dinnerserved at 7.45pm.

Friday, September 23The Civil EngineeringContractors Assoc-iation (CECA) is hold-ing its Live Debate andannual dinner in Liv-erpool, featuring fourguest speakers.

The venue is theCrowne Plaza Hotel.

The debate startsfrom 12 noon and isfree. The dinner startsfrom 6.30pm and tick-ets cost £65. To book,contact Ian Robinsonon 01768 352872, or07703 585027, or viaceca.north [email protected] orwww.ceca.co.uk

Thursday, September 29Accountancy and fin-ancial managementfirm McEwan Wallace

is holding a free sem-inar for small firms onmaking the most of taxplanning, includingpresentations by threetax and finance experts,followed by a Q&A ses-sion and light buffet.

The venue isThornton Hall Hotel,Wirral, from 4.45pm.

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

Thetwinenginesofgrowtharestill inrobustgoodhealthTHOSE who used to watch the tele-vision series, Star Trek, will remem-ber Captain Kirk’s habitual mid-com-bat information request (most often toChief Engineer Mr Scott) for a damagereport. The response, in the brief lullas the Klingon aggressors circled foranother attack on the Starship Enter-prise, was usually that sundry enginescouldn’t function, the shields were athalf-power and the weapon systemswere down to the last few photon tor-pedoes.

Today, a month on from the sharpcorrection in share prices that cameon the heels of the downgrade toAmerica’s credit rating byStandard & Poor’s, there is astrong analogy to the currentstate of investment markets.

Our recent experience hasbeen uncomfortable, and theprecise degree of damage sus-tained to economic growth isstill being assessed.

Some slowing has certainlyoccurred, with most concernbeing generated by sentimentmeasures across consumer,service and manufacturingsectors throughout thedeveloped world, which haveregistered sharp falls.

We are now collectively holding ourbreath to see how much this translatesinto diminished real activity levels,which could tip the already sluggishdeveloped world into recession.

The alarm bells are certainlyringing loud and clear in the form ofcontinued strength in safe haveninvestments such as gold and so-calledsuper sovereign government bonds.

Nevertheless, there are also goodreasons to believe that, just like theEnterprise, the world economy willprove to be resilient.

If the dip in confidence indicatorscan be largely attributed tothe unusually concentratedseries of highly theatricalpolitical missteps in Europeand America in July andAugust, putting these behindus should provide rapid relief.

In the meantime, to con-tinue the earlier analogy, thetwin engines of global econ-omic activity are corporationsin the West and consumers inthe developing world.

Both remain in robust goodhealth and are to some extentalready braced againstshocks.

The “shields” (the banks –who traditionally absorb credit lossesand recycle excess savings) are notfully functional, but they are far fromthe state of complete failure that char-acterised the credit crisis of 2008.

Finally, although heavy weaponryhas been used, the monetary armouryis certainly not empty.

America is clearly willing to deployhi-tech novel approaches, while

Europe and emerging markets havemore prosaic, traditional interest rateoptions still available.

There is, however, at least oneimportant respect in which my light-hearted analogy jars. One of theimportant factors in extricating thestricken Starship from its plight wasalways strong leadership. Particularlyin the eurozone, this is lacking.

Time and again, measures designedto provide a firebreak against con-tagion have floundered as minorityinterests have diluted or delayed them.

Recent developments have engin-eered some breathing space, but thereis a sense that this may be only atemporary lull in hostilities.

This is because Italian and Spanishbond markets are likely to come underfire again, unless the resources of theEuropean Financial Stability Fund areincreased.

Our ability to withstand furthershocks is not infinite.

John Haynes,Head of Research,

Investec

Captain Kirk always got his Starship out of a crisis: can our leadersdo the same for the eurozone?

LondonmarketLONDON’S leading indexshrugged off a poor open-ing on Wall Street yester-day to post healthy gains,despite another tough dayfor the UK’s banks.

The FTSE 100 Indexclosed up 54 points, at5156.8, after another fluc-tuating day that had seenit rise almost 90 pointshigher at one stage andsink back into the redbefore a late recovery.

UK shares also pickedup, despite a sharp fall inthe pound against boththe dollar to 1.596 and theeuro to 1.14.

Currency markets wereunsettled by the dramaticmove by the Swissauthorities to weaken theSwiss franc with anannouncement of a peg tothe euro.

In the US, better-than-expected US services sec-tor activity in August wasovershadowed by a sell-off of US banks asinvestors reacted to thelawsuits issued by theFederal Housing FinanceAgency (FHFA) against 17banks over the sub-primemortgage scandal.

UK banks also suffered,with a bounce back fromMonday’s pasting turnedon its head thanks to con-cern over the US litigat-ion and more eurozonesovereign debt fears.

The biggest improve-ment outside the topflight came from planthire firm Ashtead afterit said pre-tax profitsmore than doubled in thefirst quarter of its finan-cial year. Shares surged19% or 21.2p to 133.5p.

The biggest risers onthe FTSE 100 index wereWhitbread, up 106p at1563p, Fresnillo, ahead78p at 2064p, Tesco, 13.5phigher at 374.8p andImperial Tobacco, up by65p, at 2105p.

The biggest FTSE 100fallers were Royal Bankof Scotland, down 0.6p at21.2p, Barclays, off 3.4pat 150.8p, ITV, down 1p at53.8p and GKN, off 3.3p,at 177.9p.

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


WaterfrontLightsettoshine–evenatmidnight

Phil Dove – says The Light cinema, in New Brighton, could offer midnight screenings

■ IF YOU’RE a passen-ger at Liverpool

John Lennon Airport,you’re probably flying offto sunny climes overseas.

And, if you’re a man-ager at the airport, itseems, you hope the sunstays abroad.

This week, LDP Busi-ness reported that theairport saw the recordmonth in its history lastmonth, with more than580,000 passengerspassing through its ter-minal.

Cheery Canadian CraigRichmond, below, chiefexecutive of JLA ownerPeel Airports, praised theairlines who serve JLAfor the way they keepadding new routes totheir line-ups.

But, he said: “We havegot to give Mother Naturesome credit” for givingthe UK such a poor sum-mer that people were des-perate to fly abroad.

He said: “What’s goodweather for me is notnecessarily good for thepeople of the UK.”

It can only be a matterof time before the air-port’s slogan becomes“above us only greyskies”.

■ YOU expect to wearout shoes and socks

when you prepare for amarathon.

But when you’re askeen a jogger as one cityfinance type, then run-ning can be an even morecostly business.

Jon Walker, of Liver-pool’s zebra-festoonedwealth management firmInvestec, will be one ofthe 40,000 runners pound-ing the pavements at theBerlin Marathon laterthis month.

Jon, who is runningfor Clatterbridge CancerResearch – see www.just-giving.com/jon-walker1 –has clocked up more than500 miles in preparationand has already raised£2,700 of his £3,500 target.And he told Trading Gos-sip: “Something can’t beright when you wearyour iPod out long beforeyour running shoes.

“Here’s hoping thesecond one providesenough tunes to get mepast the finish line.”

LDPbusiness .co.ukthe back page

tradinggossip

workingday

7.30am: Alarm goes off for anothereventful day. I have a quick shower anddress for work. I put Radio 4 on andhave a coffee and some breakfast whilechecking my emails.

9.00am: Nearly at our New Brightonsite to check how things are comingalong. It is part of the Neptune devel-opments taking place, and The LightCinema will be offering an inclusivedigital cinema experience. It is target-ing Merseyside and Wirral families,students, professionals and older mem-bers of the community.

9.30am: The layout of the seating isfinally coming together. We have star-ted implementing the sound proofingof the cinema rooms – it’s all finally go!

10.30am: I take a conference call withThe Light’s director to discuss therange of on-screen content we will beshowing.

The Light opened its first cinema inBucharest in 2008 and its secondcinema in Halle, Germany, in 2009. TheLight New Brighton will be its first UKsite and everything is up for discus-sion. Ideas from the call include show-ing Hollywood blockbusters and inter-national films, broadcasts of 3-Dmovies, live arts and sports pro-grammes, film festival weeks, opera,theatre and concerts.

11.30am: We are keen to partner withlocal charities and, being near enoughneighbours with the RNLI, we go for ameeting about some possible joint ven-tures. We want The Light to be a com-munity venue and a place for events totake place for events to take place andmoney to be raised for local causes.

12.30pm: I take a trip to one of thewonderful seaside cafes for somelunch. Fish and chips are a must!

1.30pm: The Light has been chosen asthe first UK venue to showcase a pion-eering educational films programme,which has had huge success across theglobe.

The Cinema Park programme isaimed at students from 4-16 years old.The students can interact with filmson subjects such as animals, natureand space exploration through ourstate-of –the-art technology. The pack-age includes 3-D films, music, sound

and interactive experiences. I have ameeting with a local school arrangedand hope to get some feedback on whatthey think about the programme.

3pm: Time to log onto Facebook andTwitter and see what has been gettingdiscussed. We have very active pagesand members, and we want feedbackfrom the community on what theywould like. We have a suggestion forhealthy, snacks as well as the usualpopcorn, and for midnight screenings.Having put in an application for a 24-hour licence, this might just be pos-sible.

3.30pm: We are currently looking atrecruitment for the cinema, and I takesome time to assess what roles areneeded. We attended the recent jobsfair in New Brighton and wasimpressed with the high level andquality of candidates.

4.30pm: The Light will have its owncafe/bar, and I begin looking for somesuppliers. We hope to stay local asmuch as possible and I am currentlylooking into ice creams, popcorn andsweets.

5.30pm: Day is near enough over and

two of The Light directors havearrived for meetings tomorrow. I headto meet them and we decide to try outsome of the local amenities. This res-ulted in the three of us battling eachother at Laser Quest!

7pm: I go for some dinner at the Pen-insula Dining Rooms and have a Wal-dorf salad. Ross the chef comes out towelcome us.

8.30pm: Time to get the train home.Once in, I watch some TV, have acatch-up with my girlfriend, and thenfall asleep reading.

PhilDove is thegeneralmanageroftheLightCinema,which isunderconstruction inNewBrighton.This ishisworkingday . . .

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Documents

LDP Business - 7th September 2011