ldp business 06.04.11

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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:ALEX TURNER0151 472 2321

BUSINESS REPORTER:NEIL HODGSON0151 472 2451

THE creditworthiness of loans made toSkelmersdale retailer Matalan havebeen downgraded as “difficult tradingconditions” puts pressure on profits.

Ratings agency Moody’s has down-graded Matalan’s corporate family rat-ing, which encompasses all of thegroup’s financial obligations, addingthat the outlook remains “negative”.

Another agency, Standard & Poor’s(S&P), has placed the value retailer’sparent company, Missouri TopCo, onCreditWatch “with negative implicat-ions”.

This move followed its analysis of

Matalan’s preliminary managementaccounts. S&P expects the retailer’saccounts for the year to February, 2011,to show a fall in like-for-like sales of2%, with revenues remaining around£1.1bn.

However, it is forecasting thatEBITDA – earnings before interest,tax, depreciation and amortisation,which is a measure of profitability –will show a fall of 8% to £154m. Itblamed the heavy snowfall beforeChristmas which was a particular prob-lem for Matalan’s stores, which aremainly situated outside town centres.

It is also concerned about the effectof inflation on costs and on customers’spending power throughout its 2012financial year.

S&P’s credit analyst MarketaHorkova said: “The CreditWatch place-ments reflect our view of Matalan’soperating performance in the 2011 fin-ancial year, which was weaker than weanticipated, and, in our opinion, willlead to reduced headroom under thecompany’s covenants for its £300msenior secured bank facilities.”

Matalan has announced plans torefinance by replacing its existingsecured bank facilities with a £250mbond and a £50m revolving credit facil-ity.

This would provide greater flexib-ility for Matalan because the £250msecured notes would only become duein 2016. Existing unsecured notesworth £225m are due in 2017.

The refinancing gives some reassur-ance to the markets because they willbe backed by guarantees from Mis-souri TopCo.

Moody’s has given the proposed£250m notes a provisional rating ofBa1, two notches higher thanMatalan’s corporate family rating ofBa3, because of the security offered.

Matalan founder John Hargreavesstarted more than 40 years ago with amarket stall in Liverpool, with thefirst Matalan store opening in Prestonin 1985. It was floated in 1997 before MrHargreaves took the company privatein 2006.

The retailer now has 206 stores,including six in Merseyside.

MatalansalesfallputsratingagenciesonalertLONDON’S top-flight

shares struggled tomake headway yester-day as a Chinese ratehike and fresh Euro-pean economic woeshit investor sentiment.

World markets sawsubdued trading afterChina moved to in-crease interest ratesfor the fourth timesince October to calminflation, whileMoody’s downgradedPortugal’s debt rating.

Meanwhile, on WallStreet, the Dow Jonesindustrial average fell6.13 points, or lessthan 0.1 %, to12,393.90, the S&P 500index fell 0.24, to1,332.63., and the Nas-daq gained 2, or 0.1%,to 2,791.19.

MARKET REPORT:PAGE 13

FTSE-1006007.06

9.92▼

insideHelpingNational‘dress toimpress’UNDER starter’s orders– Netherton signageand advertising special-ist TVF Promotionswas yesterday puttingthe finishing touches toits preparations forthis weekend’s GrandNational steeplechasemeeting.

Aintree-born dir-ector Paul Gardner hasworked on dressing thecourse for sponsorseach year since 1982.

TVF also works onthe RBS Six Nationsrugby union tourna-ment and numbersformer Coca Cola Cupfinals and the prestig-ious Euro 96 footballtournament, hosted byEngland, among its pre-vious successes.

The firm also worksat grassroots level loc-ally, listing rugbyunion clubs Waterlooand Orrell, and BootleFootball Club, amongits portfolio of clients.

TVF Promotions director Paul Gardner oversees final preparations ahead of this week’s Grand National meetingPicture: PAUL HEAPS/ ph040411gardner-4

[email protected]

■ BILL GLEESON: Page 8

Widnes kicksoff pioneeringrevenue driveRUGBY league clubWidnes Vikings haslaunched an innovat-ive approach toattendance-basedrevenues.

PAGE 2

Exports soarNORTH West exportsrise by 6% to a recordlevel of just under£25bn.

PAGE 5

Park sales upPARK Group breaksthrough the £100monline trading barrier.

PAGE 6

Rates blightLIVERPOOL cafeowner claims businessrate valuations areblighting his area.

PAGE 7

2 Wednesday, April 6, 2011

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The latest fromthe creative anddigital industries

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blogs.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/ businessbeat/

TONY McDONOUGH’S BUSINESS BEAT

‘HMV predicament shows UKretailers are now facing theirown double-dip recession’

Log on to www.ldpbusiness.co.uk

1 Digital exchange for Liverpool2 South Korean party impressed3 Firm launches Gallagher app4 Royal Liver talks continue5 New Mind’s Riviera siteldpbusiness.co.uk

Updatesthroughoutthe day

Widnes’snewmodeltocreateVikingsStronghold

Digitalagency’sgrowthplansDIGITAL marketingagency Rippleffectplans to double itsturnover and create 30jobs under a £2minvestment plan.

The Liverpool com-pany is to open aManchester office andwill invest in areasincluding social mediaand search marketing.

Rippleffect was foun-ded 11 years ago by BenHatton, and was boughtby Daily Post parentTrinity Mirror in 2008.

Its clients includeArsenal FC, RevolutionBars, Ski Club GreatBritain, Arena Leisureand Peel Airports.

Rippleffect managingdirector Ben Hattonsaid: “Rippleffect hasundergone a majortransformation overthe past few years, andwe’re looking to buildon its success by invest-ing further in our ser-vices and team.

“Over the next twoyears, our ambitionsare to continue with agrowth strategy,expand geographically,increase staff numbersto more than 85 andfurther establishRippleffect as one ofthe best agencies in theUK for deliveringdigital campaigns.”

Trinity Mirror’sbusiness developmentdirector, Mark Dickin-son, said: “Digital mar-keting services havebeaten the recessionand continue to be anattractive area for us toinvest in. The businessto consumer market-place is changing andwe are responding tothat.

“Rippleffect is a for-ward-looking businessfull of talented people,and Trinity Mirrorlikes investing in busi-nesses like that.”

Rippleffect hasalready made severalsenior appointments in2011, including therecruitment of salesand marketing directorKirstie Buchanan.

Landlordsupportgroupwarnsoverfallingincomes

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RUGBY league club Widnes Vikingshas launched an innovative approachto attendance-based revenues that itbelieves could become the norm forsports clubs in the years ahead.

The Cheshire club were last weekawarded a licence for the sport’s topdivision Super League for 2012-14, andhave set about the daunting task oftrebling the size of its business insidea year.

The first move by chairman SteveO’Connor was to launch VikingStronghold, a rolling monthly mem-bership scheme to replace season tick-ets. Members will be entitled to freeentry to home games, along with otherbenefits, and supporters will be able tojoin – and leave – at any time.

Mr O’Connor, who is the currentLiverpool Daily Post business personof the year for his work as managingdirector of Stobart Ports, as well as hissporting investment, believes themodel will enable the club to growsustainably.

The scheme will make it easier andmore affordable for supporters, whousually have to pay up front for a sea-son ticket, while also providinggreater predictability for the business.

The season ticket model requiressports clubs to market to its entire fanbase once a year, which incurs costsand creates uncertainty around renew-als.

Mr O’Connor and the Widnes clubalso face the challenge of balancing theneed to commit to player contracts andrecruitment costs before season ticketswould normally be bought.

He now requires fans to demon-strate their commitment, and has setthe ambitious target of having 7,000members for the first season, whichwould enable the club to spend the fullsalary cap of £1.65m.

Mr O’Connor said: “I made a com-mitment back in 2007 to develop a sus-tainable, robust and successful Super

League club here at Widnes. The Vik-ing Stronghold demonstrates an innov-ative and creative approach aimed atengaging the whole community.

“In order to commit to 2012expenditure, it is vital for the club tounderstand our potential revenue.”

Mr O’Connor bought Widnes Vik-ings in late 2007 from the administrat-ors and has spent £2.3m to ensure theclub returned to Super League.

However, he does not intend to con-

tinue to be a benefactor, preferring tobe the custodian of a club which isfinancially stable.

That requires the club to more thandouble its current attendances, whichit believes can be achieved with strongmarketing and the support of theclub’s fans, both current and lapsed.

However, if the target membershipis not achieved, Mr O’Connor will limitthe club’s wage bill – which wouldalmost certainly see the absence of any

marquee signings – rather than per-sonally fund the difference in the hopeof the club attracting more fans later.

Widnes were one of the foundermembers of the Northern Union, whenrugby split in 1895.

The club’s heyday was in the 1970sand 1980s and its success culminatedin winning the 1989 World Club Chal-lenge, but financial problems plaguedit for most of the following two dec-ades.

TOP FIVE

Steve O’Connor – believes Widnes Vikings’ innovative approach will provide a sustainable futurePicture: RICHARD WILLIAMS

[email protected]

THE leader of a support groupfor Merseyside landlords iswarning of a drop in incomein the sector after new rulescame into force.

On April 1, the Governmentintroduced reductions inhousing allowance rents pay-

ments for many DSS tenantsand a nationwide capping ofDSS rental levels.

Richard Globe, of the Wir-ral-based Property LandlordSupport Group, is warningthat many landlords may beunaware of the sudden fall in

income they are about toexperience.

He said: “Expenditure itemslikely to be at risk are mort-gage payments, propertyrepairs, Energy PerformanceCertificates and electrical andgas safety checks.

“Landlords who are not pre-pared to lower their rentsmust approach DSS tenants assoon as possible and ask for atop-up.

“If tenants are unable topay any extra top-up rent,then regrettably landlords

will have no option but to letthem go.”

Mr Globe will offer adviceand information to landlordsabout the changes. Call 0151639 6253, 9am to 8pm, Mondayto Friday, or email him [email protected]

3Wednesday, April 6, 2011

profile

Maintainingthatsambabeatfor90hourseverysingleweek

TonyMcDonoughmeetsJafSiddiqi,directorofVivaBrazil

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Jaf Siddiqi at the Viva Brazil restaurant, in Liverpool – now he aims to roll out the brand across the country Picture: ANDREW TEEBAY/ at040411bbrazil-1

Age: 29Highest educational qualification:Business degree from Manchester Met-ropolitan UniversityBiggest achievement in business: Byfar the success of Viva Brazil in Liv-erpool – our flagship restaurantBiggest regret: Not doing this straightfrom universityMain unfulfilled ambition: I love totravel and one of the few places I’venot been to is China. I want to waituntil I have the time to do it properly

q&a

GENIUS, said scientific pioneerThomas Edison, is 99% perspirationand 1% inspiration. It’s a theory thatJaf Siddiqi seems determined to putto the test.

The 29-year-old co-owner of Liver-pool’s Viva Brazil restaurant puts inaround 90 hours a week – more thandouble that of a normal full-time job.

He can thank (or blame, whicheverway you look at it) his father for sucha ferocious work ethic.

“My family owns a manufacturingbusiness in Manchester and I sup-pose I could have easily gone intothat, had I wanted to,” said Siddiqi.

“I had the opportunity to do thatbut instead decided I wanted to domy own thing.

“When I was growing up, I sawhow hard my dad worked on his ownbusiness – he would go out early inthe morning and we would not seehim again until late at night.

“He taught me that you can onlytake out of a business what you putinto it.”

When he was 17, while still atschool, Siddiqi was managing abar/restaurant in Manchester andcarried on working in the tradewhile studying for his businessdegree at Manchester MetropolitanUniversity.

From there, he continued to work

in the hospitality business, man-aging restaurants and hotels andworking on major projects for the DeVere group.

His entrepreneurial career beganabout three years ago when he andbusiness partner Andy Aldrichopened their first eaterie in theDeansgate area of centralManchester.

The pair now own the three-strongChampagne Bar chain, with outletsin Manchester, Glasgow and London.

But it is Viva Brazil which hasbecome a labour of love for Siddiqi.

Located in the former Bank ofScotland building, in Castle Street,the restaurant launched last Octoberwith a spectacular display ofBrazilian dancing and music.

Siddiqi and Aldrich have set out tocreate what they describe as anauthentic Brazilian steakhouse.

“We are a very fresh company and

we work outside of the box,” saidSiddiqi, who holds the title of oper-ations director for the business.

“We wanted something very dif-ferent from the traditional restaur-ant you find in Britain.

“There’s a fixed price for lunchand dinner and the carvers, or pas-sadors, move from table to tableserving a selection of 15 meats thathave been cooked on a barbecue.

“We also have the traditional saladisland where people can choose froma wide variety of gourmet salads,breads, cooked meats and sauces.

“We do not serve chips – we won’tcompromise on that. Instead, dinersare offered other types of potatoes.”

Siddiqi claims that, despite thetough economic conditions, theweekly trade has exceeded all fore-casts.

For the full offering – or Full Rod-izio – diners pay £12.50 for lunch or£22.95 for dinner.

Siddiqi added: “That may seemexpensive, but if you look at whatyou would get for the same price atother restaurants – maybe a singlecut of meat – then you will see whatwe offer is superb value.”

The rise in VAT to 20% and soar-ing wholesale food prices havesqueezed margins and restaurantsacross the country, and Siddiqiadmits Viva Brazil has not beenimmune from that.

And they have so far avoided thetwo-for-one style special offers thatare now prevalent in the trade.

He said: “We may have to look atpricing at some point but there are

other, cleverer ways of reducing costsrather than just putting up yourprices.

“Changing a meat supplier, forexample, while being careful not tocompromise the quality, could saveus up to £2,000 a week.

“We haven’t had to do any specialoffers. We have the volume of tradeso there is no need.

“If we didn’t have the volume, thenmaybe we would look at it.”

Siddiqi said the location for VivaBrazil was chosen very carefully inorder to attract what he calls a“premium” clientele.

“Andy and I hand-picked the largeselection of wines we offer – we hadfun doing that,” he added.

“Around 60% of our lunch dinersduring the week are business peopleand many are happy to share a £70bottle of wine.

“Being in Castle Street has made amassive difference to the trade weare getting.

“We did look at locations in Liv-erpool One, where there is obviouslya high footfall, but it wasn’t quiteright.

“Castle Street itself has a highfootfall and many of them are thepremium audience we are aiming for.

“There is now a good cluster ofgood restaurants in this area.”

Siddiqi and Aldrich intend to rollout the Viva Brazil concept to otherUK locations over the next few years.

Glasgow is next, with Sheffieldand Birmingham also on the radar.

“We are looking to open two orthree Viva Brazils a year,” said Sid-

diqi. “We will open two this year andthree in both 2012 and 2013.”

Central to Viva Brazil’s authenticBrazilian experience, he added, isthe staff.

The Liverpool outlet, which canaccommodate 160 diners, employs 42people, most of whom are Brazilian.

“Around 80% of our staff areBrazilian,” said Siddiqi.

“Brazilian restaurants are veryfamily-oriented and we have peoplefrom the same families working here.

“Our meat carvers are among themost highly-rated in Europe.

“Two of our chefs originally camefor jobs here as cleaners, and itturned out one had worked as ahousekeeper in Portugal for sevenyears catering for dinner parties.

“Our aim when we open the newrestaurants is to recruit from within– to take advantage of that trad-itional Brazilian friends and familynetwork.

“I do like to give responsibility topeople and at the same time I am abit of a control freak – I do wantthings done in the certain way.

“Staff development is a veryimportant part of our ethos.

“I only want people working herewho are ready to progress within sixmonths.

“I have worked for companies inthe past where there was no time orresources devoted to staff training ordevelopment, and I had to do itmyself. We want that to be differenthere. Look after your staff and theywill look after you.”TRADING Gossip: Page 16


Finalweektoenterourbusinessawards

Fireplacesales firmfinds coldcomfortA HAYDOCK businesswhich specialises insupplying and fittingfireplaces has reportedrecord sales for the endof 2010 which it putsdown to the extremewintry conditions.

Haydock Fire PlaceCentre was set up in2007 by partners AlexAshurst and KellyMaher.

The company stocksa range of fireplacesand offers an in-housefitting service.

Real Flame recentlyexpanded with invest-ment from MerseysideSpecial InvestmentFund through theNorth West Develop-ment Agency’s SmallLoans for Businessproduct.

The companyreceived a £20,000 loanwhich it has used toexpand its premisesand invest in market-ing.

Mr Ashurst said:“While many busi-nesses suffered becauseof the cold weather, wewere busier than everwith people makingheating their homesproperly a priority.

“Our sales increasedby 75% compared withthe same period theyear before.

“The majority of ourbusiness comes via per-sonal recommendation.The feedback we getfrom our customers isthat we offer a greatclient-experience.

“We don’t use sub-contractors, we doeverything in-housewhich we believeprovides that personaltouch that you don’t getelsewhere.”

Small Loans for Busi-ness is being managedby MSIF in Merseyside.

The Regional Business Awards attracted 500 people in 2010 – be a part of this year’s awardsPicture: GARETH JONES/ grj270510business-5

Boostforcityemployeesasmorecompaniesofferflexibleworking

PSPraisesfearoverratesbid

NEW research shows 84% offirms in Liverpool are nowoffering their staff flexibleworking.

However, the research fromworkplace provider Regus high-lights that trust remains amajor hurdle for many compan-ies in the city.

Around 42% only offer thisprivilege to senior staff, com-pared to the UK average of 38%.

Those companies embracingflexible working practices areshown to reap major benefits,

says the report. More than halfacknowledge that flexible work-ing costs less than conven-tional, fixed office working and68% report that their staffachieve a better work-life bal-ance.

When it comes to productiv-ity, though, Liverpool firmsexhibit above-average scept-icism.

Significantly fewer managersreport productivity gains fromflexi-working – 32% comparedto UK average of 40%.

Just over a quarter of Liv-erpool firms state that flexi-working is pivotal in achievingbusiness scalability as weemerge from recession; this issignificantly above the UKnational average of 22%.

Celia Donne, regional dir-ector at Regus, said: “That flex-ible work has become the normin Liverpool is good news allround – from employer toemployee, from families towider society and the environ-ment.”

THERE are just seven days for busi-nesses to complete and submit theirentries for the 2011 Regional BusinessAwards.

The 20th awards, organised by theLiverpool Daily Post, will highlightand reward those companies whichhave prospered in the last year:SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

This award is for businesses employ-ing up to 50 people that can demon-strate all-round business excellence.MEDIUM BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

Judges will be looking for specificbusiness achievements and a strongfinancial performance from businessesemploying between 51 and 250 people.JAGUAR LAND ROVER CORPOR-ATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITYAWARD

This award will be presented to theprivate sector business or individualjudged to have the best history of tak-ing into account the effect of its oper-ations on the community and economy.EXPORT BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

Judges are looking for the firm thatcan demonstrate a substantial and sus-tained increase in exports relative tothe size of the company.LIVERPOOL VISION INVESTMENTOF THE YEAR

Can your company demonstrate howinvestment – whether a new businessor a fresh investment – since January,2010, has had a beneficial impact onyour business and local economy?LIVERPOOL JOHN MOORES UNI-VERSITY KNOWLEDGE BUSINESSOF THE YEAR

This category is open to any busi-ness engaged in the commercialisationof research and development of intel-lectual property, including pure sci-ences, technology, software or profes-sional know-how, irrespective of sizeor stage of development.GREEN AWARD

The winner of the Green Award willbe the business that can show howchanges it has made to its operationshave made a positive contribution tothe environmentO2 JUDGES’ CHOICE AWARD

The winner may not be shortlistedin any of the categories, but in the eyes

of the judges demonstrated commit-ment, determination and dedication totheir business and entry into theawards.KPMG BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

This award is for the region’s out-standing large business, employingmore than 250 people.DLA PIPER BUSINESS PERSON OFTHE YEAR

Do you or someone you work withtruly stand out from the crowd? Dothey help to grow the reputation oftheir organisation – and the region –showing the entrepreneurial spiritthat typifies the region’s resilience?

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A NORTH West business group said it has“serious reservations” about proposals to allowlocal authorities to keep the business ratesthey collect, rather than hand them over tocentral government for reallocation.

Private Sector Partners (PSP) speaks for140,000 businesses that employ 1.3m people inthe North West.

Its leader, Len Collinson, said he feared theplans, drawn up by Local Government Secret-ary Eric Pickles, could see some councils in theregion short-changed.

He said: “My fear is that the block grantscouncils get could reduce dramatically forsome of them under these proposals.”

[email protected]

How to enter the AwardsTHE awards are opento any business oper-ating in the Daily Postcirculation area ofMerseyside, West Lan-cashire and NorthWest Cheshire.

This year, theawards ceremony isbeing held on

Thursday, June 23, atLiverpool’s AnglicanCathedral, and entriesare now open forbusinesses. The clos-ing date for entries isWednesday, April 13.

To enter one ormore of our awardcategories, please get

in touch with theDaily Post’s eventsdepartment for anapplication form bytelephoning 0151 4722570 or download anapplication formonline at www.regionalbusiness-awards.co.uk

FOR thelatest newsfrom thecreativesector

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MaritimeseekingmembersMERSEY Maritime, theports-related businessgroup, is targeting thesmall firms sector witha new membershipdeal.

Communicationsmanager AnnetteParker said the pack-age will offer busi-nesses an increasedrange of events,improved businessdevelopment opportun-ities and a lobbyingfacility.

She said: “We havealways enjoyed strongsupport from Liver-pool’s best known mar-itime companies, forexample, Bibby, Peel,Cammell Laird, Maerskand Atlantic ContainerLine, as well as manysmaller, but equallywell-respected compan-ies. We would urge anyfirm keen to grow inthe maritime sector onMerseyside to come andjoin us.”■ VISIT www.merseymaritime.co.uk

RecordfiguresforNWexports

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Chelsea Draper, from the Debenhams visual team, achieved the Retail Skills Award, through Academy One

City‘retailcollege’celebrates33successfulcoursesMORE than 30 staff at theLiverpool One branch ofDebenhams have achievedtheir Retail Skills Level 2certificate.

Their training was partof a pioneering deal withAcademy One, a partner-ship between retail centreLiverpool One, theNational Skills Academyfor Retail, and Birken-head training providerScientiam.

Thirty-three Deben-hams staff took part in 14weeks of training toimprove their retail andcustomer service skills,and 25 have now signedup to study for Level 2and 3 Apprenticeships.

Debenhams storetrainer Maureen Scollinssaid: “We wanted to openthe training up to all, andwere very pleased that somany staff wanted tolearn and gain qualific-ations.”

Scientiam managingdirector Jayne Worthing-ton said: “The partner-ship with Debenhams hasbeen a big success, and weare very pleased to seetheir commitment toinvesting time and sup-port in their workforce.”

HOPES for an export-led recovery in the NorthWest are on the increase as figures show that,in the last year, from 2009 to 2010, exports roseby 6% to a record level of just under £25bn.

During this period, exports to all four of thehigh growth BRIC markets – Brazil, Russia,India and China – grew significantly.

Exports to Brazil increased by 62%, exportsto India went up by 43%, exports to Russiaincreased by 29% and exports to China by28%. Other significant increases include Tur-key, 69%, Taiwan, 31%, and Japan, 23%.

Key sectors for growth included advancedengineering, manufacturing and chemicalsand food and drink.

The materials sector also enjoyed a “fant-astic” performance with exports jumping byalmost 70%.

However, the Government’s UK Trade &Investment (UKTI) arm says there are stillmany companies who are not exporting, andothers who are exporting but not making themost of prospects overseas.

Issues such as fluctuating exchange rates,perceived red tape and worries about culturaland language differences are all barriers toexporting.

UKTI regional director, Clive Drinkwater,said: “The recent export statistics for theregion prove that the North West is well-posit-ioned to be at the vanguard of an export-ledrecovery.

“A recent survey by the ONS revealed that

the North West is the number one region inthe UK for manufacturing, is a leader inrenewable energy and that businesses basedhere are among the highest spenders onresearch and development in the country.

“This is all excellent news, but if local com-panies are to maintain resilience in difficulttimes, they need to take full advantage of thecommercial opportunities afforded by overseasmarkets, and planning your business aroundemerging international opportunities isbecoming ever more important.”

Clive Drinkwater, of UKTI – the regionis well-positioned to lead anexport-led recovery

byTonyMcDonoughLDPDEPUTYBUSINESSEDITORtony.mcdonough@liverpool.com

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BreakthroughforParkasonlinesalesreach£100m

Printer investsindigitalpress

Park managing director Chris Houghton outlined the benefits of online trading last yearPicture: JAMES MALONEY

BIRKENHEAD hampers to financial servicesfirm Park has broken through the £100monline trading barrier.

It said customers of its Christmas savingsdivision, including hampers, vouchers andgift products, displayed an increasing appet-ite for online transactions in the year toMarch 31. Full results are due on June 14.

Online turnover from the Christ-mas-focused business was more than £100m,which compares with a total turnover lastyear of £263.2m.

Group managing director Chris Houghtonsaid at the time of last June’s resultsannouncement that online trading was anarea the group viewed as ripe for develop-ment.

He said at the time: “A feature of recentyears has been the development of the inter-net and the way in which management hasgrasped its potential to drive the growth andexpansion of Park.

“The impact and influence of the internethas been enormous, and has led to productinnovation as well as much more efficientcommunication with all our stakeholders.”

He added: “In the last three years, the per-centage of orders booked via the web hasgrown from 25% to 40%. Allowing customersto self-serve not only saves time and money,but has also enabled Park to make significantcost savings on telephone and postal com-munication.”

Yesterday’s trading update, ahead of theresults announcement, said Park will report“positive” trading in line with expectations.

And Christmas savings orders for the 2011festive season are already 5% better than thesame period last year after the acquisition ofan Irish hampers business last October,which enabled Park to launch its voucherbusiness in the Republic of Ireland this year.

Meanwhile, Park’s corporate voucher andprepaid card sales, used by many firms forstaff incentive schemes, have remainedstrong and added to their client portfolio.

In May last year, the group launched itspre-paid Flexecash card. It said it remains asmall part of the business, but said demandhas been growing rapidly and its perform-ance has exceeded the board’s expectations.Three hundred corporate clients have signedup, and 24 retailers accept the card.

WIRRAL printer LT Print Group has invested£120,000 in a new digital press that will addextra production capacity.

The business, which employs 41 staff atoffices in Wallasey and Birkenhead, hasbought a Xerox 7002 digital press, one of themost advanced in the UK.

Managing director Bob McWilliams said thenew press would lead to a “sea change” inproductivity and quality available to custom-ers.

“Digital is the future and a great avenue forgrowth,” he said.

He added the new press will streamline thebusiness and expand its customer offer.

“By upgrading, we can meet the high qual-ity and fast turnaround demanded by con-sumers, while improving our services to bus-iness clients,” he said.

FAMILY and colleaguesof Total Glass man-aging director Paul Ier-ston are mourning hispassing after a 2½-yearbattle with cancer.

Mr Ierston, 40, joinedthe Knowsley firm asan office junior fromschool and was appoin-ted managing directorin 2008.

He leaves a wife,Vicky, and two chil-dren, Alfie, 7, andfour-year-old Ava.

Founder Frank Dearysaid: “Paul was a greatman and a pure gentle-man, as well as a truefriend.

“He was one of ouroriginal employees,showing tremendousloyalty andcommitment as he pro-gressed through theranks from officejunior to MD.

“It was a pleasure tohave known him.”

Tributespaid toglass MD

[email protected]


MattJohnson

Retailerclaimsratelevelsareblightinghighstreet

Beerbringingcheerto SMEsTHE “acceptable face”of business investmentwill come to Liverpoolwhen a national busi-ness angel network vis-its the city.

Beer & Partners has1,700 registered angels,with funds to invest inpromising ventures.

More than 500 live inthe North, and Beerregional director SteveMcEwen is organisingthree events in Liver-pool, Manchester andLeeds to introduce pro-spective investors toviable businesses.

He said: “It’sDragons’ Den, butwithout the humil-iation.”

Instead of intimidat-ing figures grillingnervous entrepreneurs,as depicted in the BBCTV series, he said Beerinvestment eveningstake place in a warmand friendly environ-ment, so that investors“can relax, present con-fidently, and do them-selves justice”.

Each event attractsaround 30 high networth investors whosee presentations fromthree fund-seekingcompanies.

Mr McEwen said theevents aim to giveentrepreneurs the bestchance of securingfunding. In contrast, hebelieves Dragons’ Denoften deliberatelypresents entrepreneurswho haven’t a hope ofsecuring the invest-ment so they can bepicked apart by thedragons for the view-ers’ entertainment.

“In the real world,there is no audienceapart from theinvestors, so it is innobody’s best interestto present companieswhich are not up toscratch.”

Much-respectedStobartpioneeredsmarterwayofdoingbusiness

A LIVERPOOL cafe owner claims thatunrealistic business rate valuationsare blighting key retail areas.

Michael Mavris, 57, who has runMike’s Kitchen, in County Road,Walton, for eight years, said he mayhave to make redundancies as footfallcontinues to dwindle due to businessclosures. He claims that shops haveshut rather than accept high businessrate valuations, and the once prime re-tail area is now in decline as a result.

Mr Mavris, who has worked in cater-ing all his life, paid £10,900 in rent lastyear, but said his premises were val-ued at £12,250.

He said this valuation also affectedqualification for small business raterelief, adding to his financial burden.

He said an appeal against last May’svaluation is still outstanding.

“This part of County Road used tobe a prime site six years ago, withEthel Austin, Kwiksave and Burtons,but they have all gone. There’s 26empty premises.

“If you stand on my front door, 500yards in each direction you have 18

takeaways, six newsagents, four acci-dent and claims shops and three pawn-brokers. This is what they are turningthe road into. They are driving themajor shops away,” said Mr Mavris.

He argues that the rateable value ofa premise is only what a retailer isprepared to pay.

And he warned: “I employ six girlsfrom the community. But it is hard tokeep six girls in employment withouthaving to cut one or two jobs if we aregoing to have to find these expenses.”

He said he approached LiverpoolCity Council regarding his appeal.

“I told them, we are going to come to

a stage and close the doors, but thecouncil said, ‘when you do that, informus so we will stop taking the moneyfrom your bank’,” he said.

A council spokesman said: “Whilethe city council collects business rateson behalf of the Government, theactual level is set by the ValuationOffice (VOA) and we have no controlover it.”

A VOA spokesman added: “We havereceived several formal proposals toalter the rating list for shops in Liv-erpool’s L4 postal district, includingCounty Road, and are dealing withthem.”

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BRAND awareness is a key part ofthe successful development of anybusiness.

The bigger the brand, the bigger

the effort that goes into protectingand enhancing it.

In some respects, creating a brandis a slightly easier task than main-taining and developing it, but whenit’s done well the benefits to a busi-ness can be hugely significant.

When one major player gets it right,the impact can be felt by all comp-etitors. That was clearly evident lastweek in all of the coverage that fol-lowed the death of Edward Stobart.

Not so long ago, when road trans-port contractors were in the haulagerather than logistics business, thesector was less well-regarded than itis now.

The development of the Stobart

business did much to change percep-tions and reputations.

In everything from insisting hisdrivers wear collars and ties, to reg-ular washing and polishingof their vehicles, Stobartknew all about brand devel-opment.

The dividends derivedfrom such attention todetail remain high, and area text-book example toother businesses.

One of the most strikingaspects of what this firmhas achieved is the way in which itsbrand values have been so carefullyestablished and, in turn, the way in

which they are nurtured andenhanced.

The smartness of the trucks anddrivers have taken the industry a

long way from the slightlygrubbier and grimier territ-ory it once occupied.

The pioneer’s influencewent far further, of course.

The biggest, shiniest fleetof individually named lor-ries in the world onlymakes money when it is fullof goods, not when emptylorries are trundling back

to warehouse and distributioncentres. Stobart’s centres were strat-egically located close to the motor-

way network, rather than in the lessaccessible hauliers’ yards of yes-teryear.

Perhaps the most striking exampleof the success of how the brand wasestablished lies in the fact that a sub-sidiary business manufacturingsouvenirs and other green, red andgold goods grew to be worth £3.5m inits own right.

That’s a lot of toy trucks.It’s also a smart way of doing busi-

ness from a company that pridesitself on its core brand values andplays to their enormous strength.

‘Companythatpridesitselfoncorebrandvalues’

CoffeeshopsignsupforextraspaceatPrincesDockBEAN COFFEE hassigned a deal to increaseits trading space atPrinces Dock.

The independent coffeeand catering businessoperates out of Brun-swick Business Park andits mobile Bean Machinecoffee shop and has beentemporarily occupying anexisting unit at Princes,where 2,500 people work.

But it will move tobigger premises inBuilding 12, whichincludes the multi-storeycar park next to the Mal-maison Hotel, when theyare completed nextmonth.

Princes Dock propertymanager Liza Marco said:“The Bean Coffee shopwill provide an excellentcomplimentary amenityfor both the existing occu-piers and visitors toPrinces Dock.”

Jon Whyte, director ofBean, added: “We havethe ideal setting for ourcustomers to enjoy agreat cup of coffee by thewaterside.

“This will be our newflagship shop with a spa-cious lounge, meetingarea and bar layout.”

Expansion: Bean Coffee owners Vip Bhatt, left, and Jon Whyte, on site at their planned new Princes Dock outletPicture: COLIN LANE/ tmcl040411bean-2

[email protected]

■ MATT JOHNSON is chairman ofMando Group


Downgrades tocredit-worthinessarenosurprise

Is City embassy a capital idea?AlistairHoughton travelstoLiverpool’sembassy inLondontomeet itschiefdiplomat,ChrisHeyes

Liverpool’s London embassy, whoseentrance is on the right, sits in New BroadStreet, near Liverpool Street Station

LDPbusiness .co.ukLDPbusiness .co.uk

THE USA has its fortified embassy onGrosvenor Square, France has its luxur-ious palace in Kensington, and even theformer Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan hasits own West End base.

And now Liverpool, a city that seesitself as a place apart from other UK cit-ies, has its own diplomatic mission inLondon.

And its mission is clear – winninginvestment for Merseyside.

That’s why Liverpool’s embassy sitsnot in the West End with the overseasmissions, but in the City, the financialhub of Europe. Appropriately, it is just ashort walk away from Liverpool Streetstation.

To some, a Liverpool embassy soundslike a vanity project – and the project wascertainly mocked in the London mediawhen it was first announced. But, to itsbackers in the public and private sectors,it could be the key that unlocks invest-ment from the capital and beyond.

By bringing Liverpool to London, theysay, they make it more likely that poten-tial investors will look beyond the stereo-types associated with Liverpool to seewhat the city really has to offer.

Chris Heyes, who heads the embassyon behalf of regeneration agency Liver-pool Vision, said a “massive mix” ofpeople had already visited the embassy.

And, while he is keeping the content ofsome of his meetings under wraps, he isconfident that some of those embassymeetings will lead to investment headingto Liverpool.

“We’ve had people visit us who wereborn in Liverpool and who want to allowus into their contacts book,” he said. “Idon’t think there’s any other city in theworld whose people would do that.

“We’ve had people who’ve been invitedin through UK Trade and Investment.

“We have developers and propertyagents showcasing the Liverpool offer.

“We’ve had businesses looking to relo-cate or to set up here.

“Then we’ve got what would be classedas the highlight, the actual investors.We’ve had three major ones that havecome to talk about opportunities.

“It’s about changing perceptions of Liv-erpool and talking to these people. Thenext stage is to get them to Liverpool tosee what’s available. The final stage isbrokering the deal.”

LDP Business revealed lastyear that the city was to open anembassy in London. It followedthe success of Liverpool’s pavil-ion at the World Expo in Shang-hai, which attracted hundreds ofthousands of visitors.

Heyes, an accountant bytraining who was head of fin-ance at Business Liverpool,spent eight months working in Shanghai.

But the embassy is a different beastfrom Liverpool’s Shanghai pavilion.While the pavilion served as a touristattraction, attracting hundreds of thous-ands of visitors, the embassy aims toattract small numbers of investors whocould make a big difference to the city.

The block that houses the embassy sitsin New Broad Street, near Tower 42 – theformer NatWest Tower – and the new46-storey Heron Tower. The embassy itself

is an office suite on the second floor,though the building’s spacious atriumhas been used to house several events.

Visitors to the second floor are signedin at the embassy’s reception, where theyreceive their own Liverpool in Londonphoto ID card, before making their way tothe event room or the boardroom.

The event room is where visiting del-egations are given the Liverpool hard sellfrom Heyes and the city’s businessleaders.

But, if they want to discoverLiverpool in their own time,they can look at the touch-screen televisions.

After an introduction fromcouncil leader Joe Anderson,visitors can browse throughvideos covering aspects of Mer-seyside from its culture to itschemicals industry and from itsbusinesses to its biotechnology

parks.For more private meetings, visitors can

sit in the smaller boardroom next door,overlooked by a giant image of the AlbertDock. By the time LDP Business visitedlast week, the room had already held 52meetings.

Both rooms feature graphics created byLiverpool design agency Uniform, high-lighting key facts about Merseyside.

Mr Heyes said: “You cannot go to Lon-don and sell the same thing that other

cities are selling. We need to sell whatLiverpool is world class at.

“We’ve distilled that into some clearmessages – for example, wealth manage-ment, legal services – maritime law wascreated in Liverpool – biosciences, theport.

“Then we talk about the other thingsthat bolt on to that – for example, thatwe’re now fifth in the country in terms ofour retail offer. That’s added value, andfor a city to attract investment it needsthat added value.

“But you can’t draw people from Lon-don to Liverpool just to see that. This isLondon – it’s got everything.”

Heyes also says it is vital that potentialinvestors hear not just from the publicsector, but also from private investorswho have put their money into Liverpool.

“It’s all very well to get me standing upthere saying ‘you should come to Liv-erpool, there are lots of opportunities foryou’,” he said. “But I’m a salesperson – Isell Liverpool for a living.

“So we’ve got the Duke of Westminstertalking about how passionate he is aboutthe Liverpool One project.

“We want to showcase businesses thathave already moved to Liverpool. Pan-mure Gordon, the wealth managers,opened an office there, which fits withthe fact that Liverpool is the UK’ssecond-largest wealth managementcentre.

IT CAN’T come as toomuch of a surprise tofind that two credit rat-ing agencies have down-graded Matalan’s credit-worthiness.

The discount segmentof the retail market isbound to be struggling inthe current slow eco-nomic conditions. Cus-tomers, particularlythose working in the pub-lic sector, are bound to beminding the penniesmore than in the past.

Nor is it just Matalanthat has been affected bythe lean market. Even thelikes of the once unstop-pable Primark havefound that consumers arebeing more tight-fisted.

The concern is thatprice pressures meanthat underlying profitab-ility has been hit, therebyimpairing the retailer’sability to make interestpayments.

It’s no coincidence thatMatalan is seeking torefinance its borrowings,trying in effect to spreadits payments. In a way,Moody’s and S&P’s down-grading amounts to avote in favour of therefinancing, which theydeem to be on much moremanageable terms thanthe current borrowingarrangements.

Irrespective of its cur-rent financing issues, youwould have to worryabout Matalan’s long-term prospects. Ten yearsago, it was going fromstrength to strength, butthen it seemed to lose itsway in the market. Eversince, it has struggled tomake a worthwhilereturn on sale. Compet-ition in the discountretail sector is veryfierce, as many playersseek to extract a marginfrom the least profitablesegment of the market.

WITH China raisinginterest rates and oilprices reaching $122 abarrel yesterday, thenews from the worldeconomy is unsettling.

The sense of forebod-ing was further com-pounded by the publicat-ion of an OECD reportthat pares back its pre-vious forecasts for UKeconomic growth.

In a survey of the G7

economies, the OECDestimated that UK grossdomestic product wouldexpand at an annualisedrate of 1% in the secondquarter. This comparedwith an OECD forecast inNovember of 1.3%.

In contrast, the US eco-nomy is expected toexpand by 3.4%, Franceby 2.8% and Germany by2.3%.

More bad news camethis week in the form of asurvey from the BritishChambers of Commercesuggesting economicgrowth would be slow.

Yet I can’t help feelingthat all the doom andgloom is misplaced.

Economies alwaysmove in cycles and areturn to strong growthboth here and abroad willfollow the recent toughrecession like night fol-lows day. The only ques-tion is when. Will it be intime to make a differenceto the hundreds of thous-ands of people in Britainlosing their jobs as publicsector cuts start to bite?

PROFESSOR DennisKehoe, chief executive ofAIMES Grid Services, haspreviously aired the viewthat Liverpool was a“digital desert”.

However, that appearsto be changing now, withthe news that AIMES isto be at the centre of anew digital exchange tobe based at LiverpoolInnovation Park.

New switching equip-ment will be linked tofibre cable already in theground and a transat-lantic cable.

It will give Liverpoolbusinesses access to veryhigh speed broadbandservices at a fraction ofthe cost of the currentlymuch slower service.

It will help Liverpoolcatch up withManchester and Londonand to stride ahead of therest of the country whenit comes to attractingbusinesses and invest-ment.

However, it’s anadvantage that will onlybe temporary as it isinevitable other placeswill make similar invest-ments.

So let’s make sure wemake the most of it.

BillGleeson

‘WemustsellwhatLiverpoolisworldclassat’


Is City embassy a capital idea?

Creative showcase showsoff embassy’s strengths

Chris Heyes, head ofLiverpool’s London embassy

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“That is the kind of fact that makespeople think ‘I didn’t know that aboutLiverpool’.

“Maersk is a massive shipping line,which fits perfectly with what we’re try-ing to do around the superport and logist-ics.

“It’s not us saying ‘you should come’.It’s businesses that have moved heretelling you about their experience.”

That private sector involvement is keyto the embassy’s success. All thoseinvolved agree that, if theembassy is seen as a public sec-tor vanity project, it will fail.

So Liverpool Vision hasrecruited many sponsors,including Grosvenor, Sony anddevelopers Flanagan Group andDowning.

The embassy was only due toremain open for three monthsfrom January. But last monthLiverpool Vision announced that, afterrecruiting more sponsors, includingErnst & Young and maintenance com-pany Enterprise, it would now stay openuntil at least July.

“The public sector has underwrittenthe project,” said Heyes. “Joe has com-mitted to that. But it’s our aim to drive asmuch sponsorship as possible to makesure that it’s at little or no cost to thecity.”

Asked whether the embassy will stay

open for longer, he said: “That’s driven byour private sector sponsors.

“If they turn round at the end of Julyand say ‘we think you’re doing a fantasticjob and we’d like you to continue’, thenwe will.

“The private sector will tell us whetherit will continue in some form. It’s verymuch their project. We just facilitate it ontheir behalf.”

For now, Heyes is happy challengingpeople’s perceptions of Liverpool.

“It surprises people that Liv-erpool is just a couple of hoursaway,” he said. “They say ‘butit’s six hours away, isn’t it?’”

He also points proudly to thegraphic on the boardroom wallshowing that Liverpool is one ofthe UK’s least expensive citiesin terms of office space.

“When you show people inLondon what you can get for

£20 per sq ft, they’re amazed,” he said.When asked for his job title, Heyes, one

of three Vision staff working in London,calls himself head of the embassy. Butthere’s one word, dripping with connota-tions of a Ferrero Rocher ad, that he willnot use.

“I never call myself an ambassador,” hesmiled. “I’m a doer – I don’t do job titles.”

LIVERPOOL’S London embassyaims to promote Merseyside’ssuccess stories – and last weekit was the turn of represent-atives from the region’s creat-ive and digital sectors to des-cend on the capital.

Dozens of people from com-panies including HurricaneFilms, web agency Rippleffectand design company Uniformgathered in the atrium of NewBroad Street House forspeeches and a performancefrom rising Mersey music starDelta Maid.

They were joined by repres-entatives from London compan-ies such as Channel 4, DominoRecords and music publisherWarnerChappell.

Delegates mingled and net-worked among works of artselected by Liverpool and Lon-don design agency Mercy.Sculptures by Liverpool artistNicki McCubbing, including oneof a Brownie with an owl’shead, proved particularly pop-ular.

Speakers included Sean Mar-ley, managing director ofHollyoaks producer Lime Pic-tures, who regularly visits the

capital to talk to televisionexecutives and who welcomedthe opening of the embassy.

ACME director KevinMcManus said: “This gave usthe chance to showcase someof Liverpool’s best creativebusinesses and give them achance to meet London busi-nesses.

“Liverpool has always beenknown for its creativity andinnovation.

“I’ve just come back fromSouth by Southwest and theLiverpool brand is still incred-ibly strong. It’s fitting that weshould be doing something likethis embassy.”

For Chris Heyes, head of theembassy, the creative eventwas a great example of theembassy’s role promoting Liv-erpool and its businesses.

Last month, Grosvenor heldan event at the embassy toshowcase Liverpool One.

Other events have focused oninvestment banking and poten-tial opportunities in Korea.

And last month the embassyhosted an event for Lon-don-based alumni of LiverpoolJohn Moores University.

‘Privatesectorwilltellus ifwewillcontinue’

privatebusiness

A POSITIVE start to itsfinancial year hasgiven a boost to cargohandlers NW Trading,which has faced atough recession.

The sector has beenbadly hit, with globalshipping levels muchreduced, and its effectis clear to see in NWTrading’s accounts forthe year to June, 2010,recently filed at Com-panies House.

On an annualisedbasis (its 2009 account-ing period was just sixmonths long), turnoverfell 32% to £21.6m – itslowest level for fouryears and more than£15m below the peakachieved in 2008.

However, exceptionalincome of £1.18m,which related to theGovernment’s decisionto abandon the back-dating of port rates, aswell as tight cost con-trols, resulted in apre-tax profit of£1.77m. That comparedwith a break-even per-formance in the sixmonths to June, 2009.

NW Trading is basedat Birkenhead’s Cav-endish Wharf and alsooperates in the Humberestuary, at Hull andGoole. Writing in theaccounts, the directorsforecast “stronggrowth” for the cur-rent financial yearafter a much-improvedstart to the year.

That saw the com-pany handle about350,000 tonnes of cargoduring the firstquarter, twice the levelof a year earlier.

The directors added:“The company duringthe last six months hassignificantly increasedactivity with its exist-ing customers, but moreimportantly has wonsubstantial businessfrom new customers.

“The new businesshas helped smooth theannual throughputactivity, making itmore evenly spreadthroughout the year.

“It has also reducedvulnerability to indi-vidual customer busi-ness.”

Dividends of£187,000 were paid, inline with 2009. Share-holders’ funds for thegroup stood at £1.42mat the year-end.

ALEX TURNER

Cause foroptimismat cargohandlers

■ ALISTAIR travelled to London withVirgin Trains (www.virgintrains.co.uk)


Tanfield getscloser tobreaking evenAERIAL platformmaker Tanfield said itwould move closer tobreak-even this yearthanks to increasingdemand, as it repor-ted pre-tax losses of£16.7m in 2010,slightly improved onthe £16.9m lossesseen in 2009.

The Tyne andWear-based groupsaid turnover edged1% higher to £43.5m.

Assura aheadof forecastsHEALTHCARE propertyand pharmacy groupAssura said underly-ing results for theyear to March 31 werelikely to be ahead ofits expectations.

The group pushedthrough a 5.6% rentincrease from lastApril, and said reven-ues in its pharmacybusiness were expec-ted to be more than£33m, although mar-gins are being hit byNHS price cuts.

Profits risingENVIRONMENTALtechnology firm Por-vair said it had seen a“good start” to thenew financial year,with profits ahead ofexpectations and upyear-on-year in thefour months to March31. The group saw rev-enues rise around 8%in the period.

BTG revenuesSPECIALIST healthcarefirm BTG confirmed itexpects to report rev-enues for the year toMarch 31 in the range£108m to £114m. Thegroup, which devel-ops products target-ing critical care, can-cer and other dis-orders, said the integ-ration of its recentlyacquired biocompat-ibles business was“proceeding well”.

briefing Buildingcompaniespoisedtoemergefromrecession

Run Services worked on the Lime Street Gateway project

Peter Linford, left, at the Neptune Theatre with Liverpool City Council leader, Joe Anderson

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FEW business sectors will have beenhit harder than the construction sectorduring the recession.

However, the latest data from theMarkit/CIPS Purchasing Managers’Index (PMI) survey for the UK con-struction sector indicates the sectorput in a good performance in March.

The latest Markit/CIPS PurchasingManagers’ Index (PMI) survey for theconstruction sector – where a readingabove 50 indicates growth – fell to 56.4in March, slightly down on theeight-month high of 56.5 in the pre-vious month.

Economists had forecast that therate would fall to 54.8, but each of thethree sub-sectors of the industry –civil, residential and commercial –recorded continued growth in March.

Peter Linford, director of north Liv-erpool-based Nobles Construction,insists his business is weathering thestorm but admits others have not beenso fortunate.

At present the company, whichemploys 58 people, has 19 live buildingjobs, ranging in value from £200,000 to£6m.

Current projects include the £750,000refurbishment of Liverpool’s NeptuneTheatre, work on the Slavery Museumat the Albert Dock and some work forLiverpool Football Club.

Nobles is also on site at Aintree Hos-pital, Christie’s Hospital inManchester and Arrowe Park Hospital,in Wirral, as well as numerous schoolprojects including St Margaret Churchof England, in Warrington, where theyare carrying out £2.1m-worth of work.

“At the moment, the market isextremely tight and extremely compet-itive,” said Mr Linford.

“We have seen a number of localcontractors go under in the pastcouple of years and that is not good.”

Along with the rest of the UK, Mer-seyside has seen private sector prop-erty development virtually grind to ahalt post credit-crunch.

Bank lending remains tight andeven if they do start to slowly loosenthe purse strings, many are unlikely totouch property projects with a barge-pole.

Consequently, Nobles has had to relymuch more heavily on public sectorcontracts than the firm would like.

Despite the cutback on large capitalprojects, Mr Linford, who owns thebusiness with two other directors, saysthe lower level refurbishment andbuilding work has continued.

He added: “In an ideal world, thesplit between public and private sectorjobs would be fifty-fifty.

“But, at the moment, the majority ofour work is public sector because theprivate sector isn’t building and thebanks aren’t lending.

“The public sector procurement pro-cess is becoming increasingly difficult.Both price and quality are importantand it is getting more difficult to geteven onto the pre-qualification lists.

“You now have to be really innov-ative and show what you can do.Added to that, because of the cutbackson the bigger projects, we are nowfinding ourselves competing againstthe bigger contractors who are

stepping down into our market. A lotof the public sector work we do is atthe sub-£2m level and generally thatwork still has to be done, despite thecutbacks in public sector spending.”

Despite the increased competition,Nobles’ reputation means it is continu-ing to win work and remains on anupward growth curve.

Latest turnover has come in at £15mand the firm is aiming to grow that toaround £25m over the next two to threeyears.

Mr Linford said: “That would takeus to a manageable level and once wereach there then we may want to go abit higher.

“We have been going now for 16years and we have had people who

have worked for us since those days –there is a lot of loyalty there and wewant to make sure we keep people in ajob.

“We always endeavour to keepthings as local as possible.

“As well as employing local people,we try as much as possible to alwaysuse Liverpool sub-contractors. We area Liverpool firm and we want to keepthe money in Liverpool.”

Finding a niche is clearly a goodstrategy for surviving and thriving,and that is the approach adopted byRun Services.

With two Liverpool offices, as wellas one in Manchester, the firmspecialises in community and regen-eration projects and has worked on

projects both in Liverpool andManchester. It usually works as asub-contractor for bigger constructionfirms on large- scale regenerationschemes.

Run has worked on some of Liver-pool’s best-known schemes from theregeneration of Liverpool Gateway atLime Street Station, to work at AintreeUniversity Hospital’s Bluebell House.Design director Nigel Ward said: “Ourmain focus has always been on regen-eration.

“We work within existing com-munities and bring them back to life.

“It is still very challenging out thereat the moment, and we have to go outand fight for our fair share.

“Luckily, our main contractors havecarried us along with them.”

Run Services’ managing director,Anthony Woods, says the firm now hasambitions to grow further beyond theNorth West.

He said: “The company aims to bethe leading regeneration company inthe UK.”

“Much of our operations will now bedirected from our Speke office, withthe Rodney Street office giving us afurther city centre presence.

“We are pursuing a number of pro-jects in Liverpool and see the city asone of the most promising locations forour kind of community regenerationwork.”

“Our name reflects our roots – RUNstands for Regenerating the UrbanNorth.”


Building Trade

FRAMELINECOMPOSITE DOORSTRADE, UPVC WINDOWS

DOORS, CONSERVATORIES.

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Tel: 0151 546 5577Fax: 0151 546 5588Accredited with BS7412 & BS7950

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BanksgiveHMVmoretimeinfightforsurvival

HMV is under increasing pressure from online rivalsPicture: TIM IRELAND

Foodpricesfall–butretailerswarnoffreshrisestocome

Libyancrisissendsoilpricesoaring RailprotestPASSENGERS have strongly objectedto a rail firm’s plans to cut ticketoffice opening hours, signing thou-sands of letters of protest.

Passenger Focus said it hadreceived 18,000 letters, cards andpetitions opposing the move by Lon-don Midland to reduce hours at 87stations.

The consumer group said the scaleof the response reinforced itsresearch which showed that stationstaff were important to passengers.

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Lenders’pledgeto smallfirms

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SMALL businesses willbe given greaterpowers to challengetheir bank if loanrequests are rejected,Britain’s biggestlenders said.

Royal Bank of Scot-land, Lloyds BankingGroup, Barclays, HSBCand Santander haveunveiled a scheme toensure any decision toturn down loan applic-ations from small firmswill be reviewed byanother person withinthe lender.

Banks will also haveto provide businesseswith the result of aloan appeal within 30days and informationon alternative sourcesof finance if the appealis rejected as part ofthe pledge.

The Better BusinessFinance campaign,backed by the BritishBankers’ Association(BBA), was unveiled inEdinburgh as part ofan initiative to helpmake lending to smallbusinesses more trans-parent.

Russel Griggs, theformer chairman of theCBI’s small businesscouncil, has beenappointed to act asexternal reviewer ofthe lending appealsprocess, alongside con-sultancy firm Promon-tory.

He will report backeach year on the cam-paign’s effectiveness.

Angela Knight, chiefexecutive of the BBA,said: “The Better Busi-ness Finance campaignrepresents the bankingindustry’s continuedcommitment to provid-ing small and medium-sized businesses withthe information andsupport that theyneed.”

CASH-STRAPPED consumersbenefited from the biggest fallin food prices for nearly twoyears last month, but retailerswarned the relief will beshort-lived, with more pricehikes on the way.

Food prices fell 0.5%between February and March,in their biggest monthly fallsince August, 2009, as retailerssold an unprecedented 40% of

items on special offer, said theBritish Retail Consortium.

A 0.2% fall in the price ofnon-food items, with healthand beauty products showingthe biggest reductions, meantthat overall shop prices were0.3% lower month-on-month,after their first drop sinceJune, 2010.

Retailers, who have sufferedfrom weak demand in 2011,

discounted their prices des-pite the continuing rise in oiland other commodity costs,but will inevitably push themback up again in comingmonths, the BRC warned.

The continued rise in oilprices, which have soaredabove $120 a barrel for thefirst time since the financialcrisis, will put upward pres-sure on inflation over the

coming months as theincrease in costs works itsway through the supply chain,it added.

The price of crops may risein coming months as suppliesfall to critically low levelsbefore the harvest in thenorthern hemisphere, it said.

The monthly drop in pricesin March will have been aslight relief to consumers

whose spending power isbeing squeezed as wages failto keep up with inflation.

Fresh food prices fell 0.5%month-on-month as anincrease in the cost of meatand oils was more than offsetby falls in fish and fruit.

A fall in the cost of breadand cereal helped ambientfood prices drop 0.6%month-on-month.

news

EMBATTLED retailer HMV Groupsaid that it had secured more time inits battle for survival, despite issuing athird profits warning this year.

The company, which owns 731 HMV,Waterstone’s and Fopp stores, said itsbanks had agreed to put back financialtests from the end of April to thebeginning of July.

The agreement was negotiated afterHMV presented its plans to secure thefuture of the business, which areunderstood to include the potentialsale of book chain Waterstone’s.However, the company said negot-iations were still ongoing.

The extension came as HMV warnedfor the third time this year it wouldmiss profit expectations as tradingcontinued to suffer last month.

The company said pre-tax profitswould now be around £30m – downfrom a previous estimate of £38m atthe beginning of last month.

HMV Group, which is closing 60stores over the next 12 months andshedding jobs, aims to cut costs byanother £10m a year.

It saw sales plunge 13.6% in the UKand Ireland over Christmas, and hassince been hit by supplier troubles asfirms struggle to gain credit insurance

due to fears over HMV’s trading. Thegroup said trading conditions hadremained difficult since its lasttrading update at the beginning ofMarch.

But its banking facilities “remainfully available” and lenders continueto be supportive, the group said.

The company is likely to see thetime extension as a vote of confidencein the proposals it has presented to thebanks.

HMV recently confirmed it was“exploring strategic options” for bothWaterstone’s and HMV Canada, butsaid no discussions were taking placeabout an offer for the whole group.

It is understood HMV needs to raise£75m in return for a relaxation of itslending covenants.

Potential buyers for Waterstone’sare rumoured to include founder TimWaterstone and Russian billionaireinvestor Alexander Mamut.

Other potential bidders reportedlyhovering around HMV Group includeretail restructuring specialist Hilco,which has owned Allied Carpets, Hab-itat and MK One.

HMV has faced increasing compet-ition from online retailers and super-markets in its core CD and DVD mar-kets in recent years.

The group has been broadening itsproduct mix as part of a fightback,branching into new areas such as tech-

nology and entertainment-relatedproduct sales.

Nomura, which is advising HMVGroup, has offered Mr Mamut and MrWaterstone 15 days to come up with anoffer to buy the book chain, it waslater reported.

Matt Walton, retail analyst at Ver-dict Research, said HMV’s hard and

fast fall in profitability was extremelydisappointing.

Mr Walton said the retailer was hitby customers increasingly turningonline to buy music, to sites includingAmazon, iTunes and Play.com.

He said: “Customers are enjoyingthe convenience of being able to buy ata time which suits them.”

OIL prices have hit anall-time high in sterlingterms, following acocktail of supply pres-sures across Africa andthe Middle East.

The impact of theweaker pound, whichdeclined 17% in value inthe past two years,means the sterling valueof Brent crude oil hasrisen to a record high of

£74.60 per barrel. But, at$121 a barrel, Brentcrude is still below the$147 a barrel record setin the summer of 2008.

The surge in oilprices, triggered byunrest in Libya, a lackof supply co-operationin Iran and strikes inwest Africa, is likely tobe passed on at UK pet-rol pumps and add fur-

ther pressure toalready-squeezed dispos-able incomes.

The surge willprovide another head-ache for policymakers atthe Bank of England,who are battling withrising inflation, whichhit 4.4% in February,and sluggish growth.

The increasing priceof oil will pile pressure

on the Bank’s MonetaryPolicy Committee to liftinterest rates to curbthe soaring cost of liv-ing.

However, followingthe shock decline inGDP in the final quarterof 2010, rate-setters arelikely to hold fire for thetime being as they waitto see how the economyhas fared.


LDP

www.ldpcreative.

co.uk

CREATIVE


by Alan Robson, managingdirector, Innov8 Safety Solutions

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location

viewpoint


LiverpoolPropertyClubaimstogeneratebusinessforregion’sfirms

THE Liverpool Property Club held itssecond event last month at the NobleHouse restaurant and is proving tobe very popular.

It was launched by Innov8 SafetySolutions, in partnership with con-struction consultancy firm Sutcliffe,Todd & Ledson quantity surveyors,and Nobles Construction.

There are a lot of networking andbusiness facilitating events in Liv-erpool and Merseyside, but I and oth-ers felt that we wanted to put thefocus directly on the property sector.

The aim was to create an informaland relaxed event that was specificfor businesses and individuals in theproperty and construction industry.

The Liverpool Property Clublaunched in November with morethan 100 professionals and decisionmakers attending, all from recog-

nised businesses and consultancyfirms.

It is the aim of the club to developand facilitate more busi-ness leads and deals in theregion that will help boostthe Merseyside economy.

Local firms are over-looked too often when con-tracts are being handed outfor big development pro-jects in the region.

We hope to create aware-ness that whatever jobneeds doing, there is thetalent and ability available withinMerseyside – companies do not haveto bring in outside contractors and

consultants. With an expanding poolof driven property and constructionprofessionals in Merseyside, this

club has the potential to bemassive in generating morebusiness, and we have beenvery pleased with theresponse so far.

Although the LiverpoolProperty Club is not a strictinvitation-only affair, we dotry and ensure that thosewho come along have aspecific interest in con-struction and property.

There are already a variety oforganisations in Merseyside thatoffer good general business network-

ing opportunities, and we do notwish to become another of these.

To keep the interest of the pro-fessionals in our sector, it is import-ant that we distinguish ourselvesand do not dilute what we are doing.

We are also aiming to hold theevent each quarter to keep it freshand innovative.

We are all members of variousbusiness organisations, and I hopethat the Liverpool Property Club canestablish itself and at the same timework in harmony alongside theseorganisations.■ EMAIL me for more informat-ion: [email protected]

Focus onpropertySTEVE GRANT hasbeen appointed as theproperty relationshipdirector for BarclaysBusiness in the NorthWest.

Barclays Business isthe business bankingarm of Barclays.

Based in Manchester,Mr Grant will beresponsible for develop-ing the Barclays Busi-ness property proposit-ion across the NorthWest, typically focus-sing on property dealslooking to borrowbetween £500,000 to£3m. He has spent morethan 30 years at HSBC.

BulldozersmoveinatTheHeathfordemolitionjob

DEMOLITION work has started on a50-year-old science block at Runcorn’sHeath Business and Technical Park.

The three-storey Block 7 at the parkis being demolished to make way for thedevelopment of up to 180,000 sq ft ofadditional office and laboratory space.

As many as 25 workers have been onsite each day since last July, strippingout more than 50,000 sq ft of accom-modation in the old building.

The redevelopment will see the work-force at The Heath increase from 2,000to 3,000 over the next few years.

Work on the demolition is expected tolast for a further six weeks.

Helen Schoelzel, SOG’s safety, healthand environment manager, said: “Hav-ing started to clear the building lastJuly, it’s great to now move on to themain demolition phase.

“We’ve had to contend with some ter-rible weather during the process butwith everything on schedule we wouldexpect the site to be cleared, levelledand ready for turfing next month.”

Ms Schoelzel is SOG’s project man-ager and has overseen and co-ordinatedthe demolition process.

As part of the demolition, the teamhas also had to deal with routineremoval of chemical and asbestos haz-ards – posing no risk to the public.

The Heath served as a headquartersfor chemicals giant ICI until its rebirthas a business and technical park.

Ms Schoelzel has personally providedspecialist chemical hazard training toaround 40 men from asbestos removalcontractor EDS, whose personnel haveplayed a key part in the process.

Adrian Kelly, managing director ofWindmill Group (UK), which hasprovided personnel for the project, said:“The operation has been high risk andproved to be a challenge, but good com-munication, programming and teammanagement have been the key to thesuccess we have achieved.”

In recent years, Block 7 has served aspart of The Heath’s research and tech-nology department, acting as home toas many as 10 of the 175 diverse com-panies and organisations now based onsite.

The Block’s residents were relocatedelsewhere on The Heath ahead of thedemolition process.Helen Schoelzel overseeing the demolition work of Block 7 at The Heath, in Runcorn

‘Aimis tocreateaformalandrelaxedevent’

BUSINESSto BUSINESS

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available on an hourly rate orfixed price basis.

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

COMMERCIAL UNIT/WORK-SHOP Rainhill to let £75pw,£750sq ft 0161 980 1912


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Anothersite forSecuredPOSTAL operatorSecured Mail hasopened a depot in War-rington.

The 25,000 sq ft sitewill allow the company,which is one of thelargest postal operatorsin the UK, to grow thebusiness and delivermore than the current400m items per year.

The Warrington hub,based at Winwick Quay,is the third SecuredMail base, alongside itsAintree site in Liver-pool and southern hubin Dartford, and pavesthe way for furtherdepots to be opened inthe South West andScotland during thecourse of 2011.

Mark Bigley, man-aging director ofSecured Mail, whichwas founded in Liver-pool, said: “This newsite is a central part ofour growth strategy,and will allow us tobuild on our success.”

Veteranpropertyfirminmerger

AtlanticParkofficebuildingoffering35,000sqftATLANTIC Park’s CaspianHouse is available to let,bringing 35,000 sq ft ofrefurbished office space tothe Merseyside market.

Caspian House offers oneof the largest floor plates inthe North West office mar-ket, and is available as a wholeor can be sub-divided intotwo self-contained buildings.

The building has under-gone a £2.2m refurbishmentand remodelling works, andis the second speculativephase of office developmentat Bootle’s Atlantic Park,which has received £3.1mfunding from the EuropeanRegional Development Fundand a further £1.6m fromthe Northwest DevelopmentAgency.

Ian Steele, from GVA, theletting agent for the scheme,said: “Caspian House is theonly office scheme to havebeen speculatively developedin the decentralised Mersey-side office market duringthe last 18 months.

“Although this is a remod-elled building, CaspianHouse competes directlywith new build space andoffers occupiers the uniqueopportunity of acquiring35,000 sq ft on a single floorplate.” The interior of the refurbished Caspian House office building, located in Atlantic Park, in Bootle

ONE of Liverpool’s oldest commercial prop-erty practices has merged with a nationaloperator.

Edmund Kirby has joined forces with Mat-thews & Goodman to form a new practiceknown as Matthews & Goodman, incorporat-ing Edmund Kirby.

The combined firm will operate from officesin Liverpool, Manchester and London.

Edmund Kirby was founded in Liverpool in1864 and is based in Edmund Street, in the citycentre, close to Old Hall Street.

Matthews & Goodman operates from anoffice in India Building, in Water Street.

The combined team will continue to workfrom both sites.

Although Matthews & Goodman is by farthe bigger of the two firms, its Liverpool oper-ation is significantly smaller than EdmundKirby’s.

Both firms claim the move strengthens Mat-thews & Goodman’s existing presence in theNorth West and gives Edmund Kirby’s clientsaccess to the wider geographical coverageprovided by a national organisation.

Philip Silby, of Matthews & Goodman, said:“This merger achieves the strategic objectiveof both firms, to develop capabilities nation-ally and regionally in the North West.

“Edmund Kirby are a well-respected organ-isation with whom we have a good operationaland cultural fit.

“This is a great opportunity for all ourclients and our staff as we take the new firmforward.”

Geoffrey Smith, of Edmund Kirby, addedthat the combined business would continue

the emphasis on the “provision of first-ratecommercial and independent consultancyadvice on property matters, with a focus onhands-on, solution-driven service”.

Edmund Kirby has recently been advising anumber of landowners affected by the pro-posed redevelopment and expansion of Liv-erpool’s Edge Lane Retail Park.

The scheme was granted planning permis-sion by Liverpool City Council planners inDecember last year.

Nations House, in Edmund StreetSelf-contained offices2,500 – 10,100 sq ft

St Helens’ Premier Business Park

Tempting officesTo Let/For Sale atMere Grange

RENTS FROM

£8PSFPLUS RENT FREEOR A CASH BACKEQUIVALENT

(T&CS APPLY)

www.langtreegroupplc.co.uk/meregrange

01925 273000www.langtreegroupplc.co.uk

RED HOT OFFICE DEALSTHE RENT AT MERE GRANGE IS SO LOW IT’S A SIN!

A570 St Helens LinkwayOff J7 M62, St Helens


LondonStockMarketatClose

Last night, the pound was worth: $1.6280 (up 0.0154)........... 1.1438 euros (up 0.0099)........... 129.30 yen (down 0.12) ...........Its trade weighted index was 80.20 (up 0.80)Metals in $ per troy ounce: Gold 1433.50 (down 2)..........................Silver 38.08 (down 0.38) ......................... Platinum1787 (up 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 39 Adv Medical 8612 -3 -414

2312 378 AEA Technology 378 +18

28712 241 Albany Inv Tst 279 +5

1251 764 AMEC 1187 -5 +25

92 2012 Anglesey Mining 75 -734 -1012

35714 22934 Balfour Beatty 334 -614 -1118

41 29 Beale 3014 -14 -14

594 49258 Compass Gp 555 -812 -512

1258 478 Coral Prod 1078 -34

110712 875 Dee Valley 110212

49612 32412 easyJet 32534 -34 -1414

9112 5912 IS Pharma 85 -12 +12

96412 650 JD Sports Fashion 870 +4 -4212

250 1112 JJB Sports 2812 -14 -14

3512 1534 Johnson Serv 3278 -38 -1

495 355 Nichols 48758 +738 +758

12112 7812 NWF 11312 xd +112

3812 1834 Park Gp 37 xd +14

1257 76212 Rathbone 1169 -27 -27

15178 9712 Redrow 12418 -234 -538

14312 11434 RSA Insurance 13318 xd +34

3614 1914 Speedy Hire 2914 +1 +1

5212 3534 Sportech 3934 +18 +134

39 2412 Telme Gp 3534 +14 +112

5912 3234 UK Coal 3834 -3

2 78 Ultima 134 +14

1995 1688 Unilever 1885 -6 -9

62812 507 Utd Utils 58912 -11

UNIT TRUSTS

DAILY POST REGIONAL INDEX 1187.40 down 8.04 ▼ 0.67%

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

FUNDS

Consols

£90932 £741516 Cons 4%.................£7734

£582732 £4934 Cons 212% ................ £50

Conversions

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

£11014 £10214 Cnv 9% 11 ............£10214 -132

Treasury

£61 £50 Tr 212%.................. £50916

£1171516 £11014 Tr 9% 12.............. £110516

£10738 £1032132 Tr 5% 12............. £1032132 -132

£121516 £1151316 Tr 8% 13............. £1151316 -316

£114332 £109532 Tr 5% 14.............. £109516 -732

£112 £105732 Tr 734% 12-15........£10614

£320116 £301332 Tr 212% IL 16 ...... £3173132 -1116

£142316 £1322132 Tr 834% 17........... £133532 -38

£147132 £13358 Tr 8% 21............. £1351932 -716

War

£8334 £6712 War Ln 312%.......... £70932 -2332

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 14 - Mar 18 Mar 21 - Mar 25 Mar 28 - Apr 1 M T W T F5570

5700

5830

5960

6090

FTSE-100

20-Day Moving Average

Share price (pence)Oct 5, 2010 Apr 5, 2011

0

15

30

45

60

HMVGROUP

FTSE-Rebased

£ ABROAD

Australia dollars 1.48 1.571 1.576

Canada dollars 1.49 1.568 1.570

Denmark krone 8.06 8.525 8.535

European Union euro 1.08 1.143 1.144

Japan yen 129.30 137.710 137.810

New Zealand dollars 1.95 2.112 2.117

Norway krone 8.44 8.897 8.898

Poland zlotys 4.02 4.570 4.579

Sweden krona 9.76 10.285 10.295

Switzerland francs 1.42 1.504 1.505

Turkey new lira 2.34 2.486 2.497

United States dollars 1.54 1.628 1.628

Cancel Bid Offer Yield

Fund Terms Price Price Gross

FIDELITY INVESTMENT SERVS

Amer Spec Sits - 618.30 -

American - 1871.00 0.32

Gwth & Inc - 330.30 1.16

Income Plus - 197.20 4.28

Japan - 221.20 0.36

Jpan Spec Sits - 125.00 0.72

Spec Sits - 1971.00 0.61

Sth East Asia - 764.40 0.15

GARTMORE FUND MANAGERS

Euro Sel Opps - 888.27 1.15

Income - 210.47 3.65

Pratical Inv -155.66 166.97 4.43

GUARDIAN

Index-Linked Acc -496.62 522.76 -

International Acc -1025.39 1079.36 -

Pacific Acc -249.64 262.78 -

Property Bonds -1988.90 2071.77 -

HSBC INVESTMENT FUNDS (UK)

Balanced - 105.50 1.01

British -268.60 268.60 3.06

Gilt & FI - 62.67 3.50

Gilt & Fixed -209.60 209.60 3.30

Monthly Inc - 132.20 3.32

HENDERSON HORIZON FUND

European Smllr Cos A - 1025.90 -

Sterling Bd Unit Tst - 53.99 56.41 4.10

UK Equity Inc A - 440.50 3.12

HILL SAMUEL UNIT TST MGRS

UK Advantage Inc - 270.00 1.10

Capital -318.81 331.57 1.10

European - 820.10 0.70

Far East - 571.60 1.80

Inc & Gwth - 207.70 3.30

International - 427.50 0.40

North Amer Acc - 470.90 0.10

INVESCO FUND MANAGERS

Sing ASEAN - 226.99 0.37

High Low Funds Price Var

Closing Indices

FT-SE 100 INDEX 6007.06down 9.92 ▼ 0.16%

20 DAY MOVINGAVERAGE 5847.41up 1.61 ▲ 0.03%

FT ALL-SHARE 3116.63down 5.52 ▼ 0.18%

Aerospace & Defence

Index 3380.46 ▼ 6.38

250 85 Avon Rbbr 249 xd +3

37914 29434 BAE Systems 33378 +134

73612 51958 Chemring 692 xd -20

27578 19214 Cobham 23514 -114

38078 26134 Meggitt 34838xd -12

665 535 Rolls-Royce 627 -212

15912 10438 Senior 15438 -158

Automobiles & Parts

Index 4895.91 ▲ 7.01

23718 10914 GKN 20938 +14

Banks

Index 4719.58 ▼ 4.23

38318 25538 Barclays 28634 -112

946 814 Bco Santander 72534 -1212

73078 59614 HSBC 64738xd -14

16614 1914 Ireland 28 -158

7758 5012 Lloyds Banking5958 -34

58 3758 Ryl Scotland 4158 -18

1959 1525 Stan Chart 167012xd+1412

Beverages

Index 9574.49 ▲ 109.91

1304 900 Barr (AG) 1245 +20

518 36412 Britvic 40612 +612

1258 1025 Diageo 1200xd +10

2306 1827 SABMiller 227012 +3312

Chemicals

Index 7038.78 ▼ 6.24

1718 901 Croda 1700 -18

15958 5634 Elementis 15534 -14

2100 1460 Johnsn Mat 1926 +8

Construction & Materials

Index 4172.74 ▼ 94.08

35714 22934 Balfour Beatty 334 -614

265 18512 Costain 24734 -1414

190912102334CRH 144112xd -38

1383 88612 Kier Group 1353xd -29

6312 2834 Low Bonar 5318xd

120 7834 Marshalls 116 +34

Electricity

Index 7952.89 ▼ 44.24

42018 32614 Drax Gp 42018 +434

44858 28412 Intl Power 31178 +338

1305 1010 Scot&Sthrn 1295 -10

Electronic & Electrical

Index 3015.11 ▲ 1.35

705 38312 Domino Ptg 636 xd -312

179 9834 Laird 133 -358

316 16712 Morgn Cru 310 -34

736 256 Oxford Inst 720 xd +812

377 110 Volex Gp 29914 -34

Equity Inv Instruments

Index 6060.97 ▼ 21.40

37778 29312 Alliance 36914xd -18

14012 105 Br Assets 13558xd +18

870 577 Candover Inv 620 +12

22712 17118 DunedinIncGth 22312 -2

142 10034 Dunedin Sml 13514

46714 366 Edin Invst 450 +12

66012 53012 Edin USTrkTst 64912 -5

31634 25138 Forgn & C 31358 -138

32334 206 Hend Sml Cos 30914 +14

36278 27314 Law Dbenture 34318xd -138

25034 18614 Scot Am 24438xd -114

522 40978 Witan 51812xd -12

Fixed Line Telecoms

Index 2347.24 ▲ 4.06

19118 10978 BT Gp 19038 +34

6334 4438 Cble&W Com 4558 +58

93 5114 Cble&W Wwd 5112 -112

6512 41 KCOM 6014 +14

Food & Drug Retailers

Index 4584.74 ▼ 23.90

30614 25758 Morrison W 280 +34

395 31278 Sainsbury 33234 +118

45438 37712 Tesco 390 -334

125 74 Thorntons 7734xd -134

Food Producers

Index 5043.02 ▼ 2.62

1182 918 AB Foods 988 -6

68212 47712 Carrs Mill 645

90712 768 Cranswick 768 -22

42478 33934 Dairy Crest 356 -2

7534 4134 Nth Foods 7212 -14

3278 16 Premier Foods 3014

59912 40918 Tate Lyle 58912 +1812

1995 1688 Unilever 1885 -6

Forestry & Paper

Index 6457.43 ▼ 59.24

60812 36758 Mondi 59912 -512

General Financial

Index 6035.82 ▲ 42.54

340 25178 3i 28212 -12

88812 664 Close Bros 81012xd -19

57012 34158 ICAP 54112 +15

933 544 London Stk Ex 861 +312

1033 72812 Provident 962 +6

1257 76212 Rathbone 1169 -27

1922 1154 Schroders 1822xd +25

General Industrials

Index 3290.64 ▼ 9.94

720 36738 Cooksn Gp 70412 -1512

1258 478 Coral Prod 1078

812 338 Cosalt 438

37538 29038 Rexam 36918 +434

226 108 Smith DS 20158 -138

1429 1008 Smiths Gp 1322xd -5

General Retailers

Index 1597.70 ▼ 3.59

2514 1214 Ashley L 1934 -14

31114 221 Brown (N) Gp 26034 +1

79 53 Debenhams 6078 -58

3612 1134 Dixons Retail 1134 -14

550 34814 Halfords 35614 -658

29518 18812 Home Retail 20818 +312

414 23718 Inchcape 36518 +238

96412 650 JD Sports 870 +4

250 1112 JJB Sports 2812 -14

27114 19812 Kingfisher 258 -12

42712 32638 M & S 34014 -218

62712 390 Mothercare 390 -918

2344 1868 Next 2031 -15

2885 1724 Signet Jwlrs 2862 +31

523 39814 WH Smith 43734 -2

Health Care Equip & Serv

Index 3960.76 ▼ 6.97

742 53712 Smith Nph 710 -1

Household Goods

Index 6382.26 ▼ 50.39

138 74 Aga Rngmstr 125 -1

13734 70 Barratt Dev 11214 -314

809 511 Bellway 725 -112

23334 114 McBride 143 +12

3655 3015 Reckitt Benck 3268xd -22

15178 9712 Redrow 12418 -234

44 2214 Taylor Wimpey 4014 -138

Industrial Engineering

Index 7127.01 ▼ 79.88

34618 18212 Bodycote 33978 -614

85312 567 Charter 80512 -1212

38634 18314 Fenner 36658 -58

1059 578 IMI 1038 -21

108 4312 Molins 107

17712 115 MS Intl 172

45 23 Renold 3634 -12

2025 1344 Spirax Srco 1950 -15

1861 846 Weir Gp 1795 -13

Industrial Transportation

Index 2579.60 ▲ 12.75

24034 175 BBA Aviation 20418 +218

Life Insurance

Index 4534.92 ▲ 25.77

47778 29414 Aviva 44438xd +138

12234 7214 Lgl & Gen 11812 +1

749 48914 Prudential 72912xd +112

32438 21114 Resolution 30334 +938

24434 173 Standard Life 21414xd +14

Media

Index 4315.22 ▼ 25.74

83812 53612 BSkyB 828 xd -2

59412 433 D Mail Tst 49658 -314

9312 4814 ITV 78 -134

1149 864 Pearson 1146 -3

59012 46058 Reed Elsevier 543 -5

154 6012 STV Group 13714 -914

17018 4534 Trinity Mirror 47 +114

725 48018 Utd Business 611 -612

151 106 UTV 136 +3

84612 608 WPP 78712 -2

Mining

Index 27250.97 ▼ 136.89

3437 2254 Anglo Amer 3273xd -1112

1634 761 Antofagasta 1437 +13

2616 168412BHP Billiton 2527 -5

1682 76312 Fresnillo 1621 +10

1671 965 Kazakhmys 1433 +7

2113 1355 Lonmin 1742 -4

6655 4425 Randgold Res 5225 +120

4712 2812 Rio Tinto 4413 -65

5912 3234 UK Coal 3834

Mobile Telecoms

Index 4023.19 ▼ 60.39

821 575 Inmarsat 62412 -3

18234 12912 Vodafone Gp 17618 -234

Nonlife Insurance

Index 1592.16 ▲ 8.18

1753 1238 Admiral Grp 1608 -3

1092 728 Brit Insurance 1067 -18

189038126314Marsh McL 183734 -15

14312 11434 RSA Insurance 13318xd +34

Oil & Gas Producers

Index 8854.03 ▼ 4.57

156412984 BG 156212 +6

65538 30278 BP 47478 +558

49314 366 Cairn Energy 46934 +712

2140 1085 Premier 2072 +18

2290121554 Ryl D Shell B 2260 -3012

1493 99112 Tullow Oil 1470 +2

Oil Equipment & Services

Index 26000.01 ▼ 0.48

1251 764 AMEC 1187 -5

Personal Goods

Index 20211.53 ▲ 144.54

1210 61212 Burberry Gp 1210 +12

409 26512 PZ Cussons 34118xd +18

Pharma & Biotechnology

Index 8811.01 ▲ 8.17

3385 2772 AstraZeneca 290612 +1112

1318121095 GlaxoSmthKln 121712xd

5312 31 Vernalis 39 -1

Real Estate

Index 1958.11

35314 28438 Big Yellow Gp 327 -114

58512 41814 Brit Land 56012xd

2919 2157 Daejan Hldgs 2650 -63

40118 28012 Gt Portland 38634 -14

773 545 Land Secs 74612xd -12

33114 25014 SEGRO 32134 +114

Software & Comp Servs

Index 722.66 ▲ 0.11

1975 1271 Autonomy 1598 +21

5912 3012 Emblaze 5912 +2

36414 23014 Invensys 344 -734

12612 85 Kewill 101 +6

14778 10134 Logica 13078 -1

302 22234 Sage 27978 +218

Support Services

Index 4518.34 ▼ 3.23

2312 378 AEA Tech 378 +18

1685 1154 Aggreko 1645 -33

20778 77 Ashtead Gp 20778 +314

492 36014 Berendsen 48818 +458

783 658 Bunzl 74012 -412

826 63512 Capita 73212 -3

984 54912 De La Rue 78912 -12

27912 20214 Electrocmps 26534 -2

819 572 Experian 78112 +5

28234 23734 G4S 260 -18

452 24134 Hyder Cons 365 +3

29634 18312 Interserve 27112 -4

540 33734 Menzies J 538 -2

32318 15214 Northgate 314 -7

30834 20838 Prem Farnell 274 -414

13812 8414 Rentokil 91 -14

126 79 Smiths News 84 +12

3614 1914 Speedy Hire 2914 +1

1127 709 Travis & P 1045

2261 1223 Wolseley 2163 +27

Tech Hardware & Equip

Index 763.95 ▲ 15.33

651 22838 ARM Hldgs 58812 +15

43 1934 BATM 21 +18

10012 7134 Psion 9618 -58

16014 10234 Spirent Coms 13738xd +1

Tobacco

Index 29194.78 ▲ 193.88

2549121959 Br Am Tob 254912xd+1812

2069 1753 Imperial Tob 1970 +10

Travel & Leisure

Index 4592.27 ▼ 36.24

3153 2037 Carnival 2471 -4

594 49258 Compass Gp 555 -812

49612 32412 easyJet 32534 -34

13914 8438 Enterprise Inns 8618 -1

41258 31938 FirstGroup 31938 -534

1485 1042 Go-Ahead Gp 1312xd -6

49138 37614 Greene King 44514 -512

360 240 Holidaybreak 320 -5

1435 982 Intercontl Htls 1259xd -11

285 21278 Intl Cons Airlns 221 -314

16234 12234 Ladbrokes 12878xd -118

11718 8978 Marston’s 9618 -34

361 274 Mitchells&Btlrs 30158 -538

101 58 Punch Taverns 79 +78

15234 9434 Rank Gp 14818xd -134

31158 20814 Restaurant Gp 303 -112

224 16034 Stagecoach 21438 -314

26934 16518 Thomas Cook 16818xd +38

30378 190 TUI Travel 22812 +538

1887 1266 Whitbread 1676 +5

Utilities

Index 4587.28 ▼ 52.90

34618 26412 Centrica 32934 -178

110712875 Dee Valley 110212

663 48414 National Grid 589 -11

650 48278 Pennon Gp 62912xd -7

1513 1086 Severn 1451 -23

62812 507 Utd Utils 58912 -11

AIM

Index 907.45 ▼ 0.10

1912 714 API Gp 1714 +78

1514 558 Armour Gp 558 -38

500 19012 Cape 49314 -234

812 2 CDU 2

134 78 Crimson Tide 112

238 112 Dawson Intl 134

734 414 Eckoh 734

3512 1534 Johnson Serv 3278 -38

86 3034 Man Brnze 46 +1

12 4 Metalrax 1012 -12

550 355 Portmeirion P 50212

17312 55 Redhall Gp 7112 -112

4014 1112 Scapa Gp 3614 +212

148 115 Swallowfield 133

68 67 Uniq 6714 -34

670 510 Young A 57412 +514


businessdiary

For twice-daily FTSE updates from Rensburg Sheppards, log on to www.ldpbusiness.co.uk

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Thursday, April 7JellyLiverpool is forpeople to get togetherto work in a differentenvironment to theirusual one, whether itbe freelancers, home-workers or just peoplewho want a change ofscenery. You can visitfor the day or just drop

in for an hour. It is atParr St Studio 2 from9am to 5pm. Fordetails, see open-labs.org.uk/jelly/

Friday, April 8The latest in LiverpoolChamber of Com-merce’s Sixty ReallyUseful Minutes sem-inars will examine “the

naked truth of market-ing 2011”. Quay Mar-keting’s ElizabethWheeler will highlightproven strategies toraise market awarenessand increase saleswhich don't need tobreak the bank. It isfree for LiverpoolChamber members and£5 for non-members. Itstarts at 9am. See liv-erpoolchamber.org.ukto book.

Monday, April 11As part of theEuropean Union Sus-tainable Energy WeekSt Helens Chamber, inconjunction withEnvirolink andEnworks are hosting afree Green Merseysideevent for businesseswho want to learnmore about how energyefficiency and the low-carbon economy canbenefit their business.

See sthelenscham-ber.com/events formore details.

Wednesday, April 13Barclays is holding aBoosting BusinessOnline seminar at Liv-erpool Football Club tohelp the growing num-ber of firms looking tomarket their way out ofthe downturn.International digitalexpert Josh Spear andMatt Brittin, MD of

Google's UK and Ire-land Operations, will bejoined by local digital-savvy entrepreneurs toprovide advice and sup-port. To register or formore information, visitwww.barclays.co.uk/boostingbusinessThursday, April 14A one-day conferenceat Haydock Park race-course is being held toexplain how companiesof all sizes and sectors

can transform theirbusiness using Leanprinciples. Lean is usedto reduce waste, deliveroperational excellenceand improve efficiency.The event, which runsfrom 9.30-4.00pm, isorganised by north ofEngland Excellence.For further details, seewww.northofengland-excellence.co.uk oremail [email protected]

HistorycanteachanimportantlessonaboutrisingpricesAT ITS root, the minimum goal ofmost investors (as opposed to spec-ulators or traders) is not to avoidlosses, but to preserve purchasingpower over the long term.

For much of the past 30 years, thishas not been too challenging, since adeclining inflation rate and reasonableinterest rates on short-term depositshave meant that the task has equatedto that of preserving capital in abso-lute terms.

This is no longer the case. Manycommentators are now suggesting thatthe path of inflation may be upwardsfor some time to come, while, at thesame time, interest rates on bankdeposits are at record lows.

Investors, therefore, are increas-ingly on the hunt for alternative“insurance policies” against theerosion of purchasing power thatwould result.

For some clues as to what to do, letus time travel back to the 1970s, thelast episode when inflation wasrampant.

Looking at the key asset classes,during the 10-year period from 1970 to1980, according to data taken from theBarclays Equity Gilt Study and round-ing to the nearest whole number, in aperiod when inflation compounded atjust over 13%, shares delivered a nom-inal compound annual total return of10%, cash 9% and bonds 8%.

Putting it simply, it looks as if thereis no hiding place, with equities thebest of a bad lot.

However, a more detailed inspectionof the period reveals deeper lessons tobe drawn from the historical context.

Specifically, looking at the second

half of the decade, inflation wasactually higher at 15%; however, equit-ies returned an impressive 36%, cashonly 10% and bonds 18%.

Although this was an unusualperiod (1974 was the UK’s 1929 forshares) the important point to grasp isthat the damage to equities was doneearly in the decade, when the problemwas one of “stagflation” – an inflation-ary shock that also destroyed demandand profits.

When growth resumed, equitiesdelivered much improved returns andwere, in fact, a good “insurancepolicy” against the ravages ofinflation. Cash, on the other hand, sawa sustained erosion in valuethroughout the period, and bonds wereuncertain friends.

Clearly, we must be careful of draw-ing too many conclusions from asingle example, particularly such anextraordinary one.

Nevertheless, unless there isanother stagflationary episode, thereare good reasons to believe that equit-ies will again provide good protectionagainst any increase in inflation in theupcoming decade.

Why is this?It is because the source of the

inflation will likely be demand growthin export-driven emerging economies(principally China), transmitted intothe developed world through rawmaterial prices.

Since Chinese consumers are nowalso feeling the pressure of risingprices, the consequence is likely to bea more accommodating exchange ratepolicy, which will moderate localinflationary pressures but not those ofChina’s trading partners in thedeveloped world.

Large blue-chip international com-panies have both exposure to thegrowth offered in these emerging mar-kets and the ability to protect theirmargins in the developed worldthrough efficient purchasing andpass-through mechanisms.

We are, therefore, buyers of sharesin these companies, happy that theywill contribute to our mission to pre-serve purchasing power over the inter-mediate term.

John Haynes,Head of Research,

Rensburg Sheppards

British shoppers will continue to face high inflation, much of itimported from China and elsewhere Picture: GARETH FULLER

LondonmarketLONDON’S blue-chipshare index struggled tomake headway yesterdayas a Chinese rate hikeand fresh European eco-nomic woes hit investorsentiment.

World markets saw sub-dued trading after Chinamoved to increaseinterest rates for thefourth time since Octoberto calm inflation, whileMoody’s downgradedPortugal’s debt rating forthe second time in lessthan a month.

The FTSE 100 Indexclosed 9.9 points lower at6007.1, with the Por-tuguese concerns puttingbanks under pressure.

Figures for the UK ser-vices sector were also inthe spotlight after activ-ity grew at its fastest pacein more than a year inMarch, reigniting con-cerns of an imminentinterest rate hike.

The data saw the poundstrengthen across theboard, with the Markit/CIPS survey from the ser-vices sector showingactivity surge to a13-month high in March.Sterling rose to $1.63 and1.14 euros. There was ser-vice sector news in theUS as well, where figuresshowed lower-than-expec-ted growth last month.

Oil prices hit fresh all-time highs in sterlingterms, but benchmarkcrude eased back afterthe Chinese rate decisionled to demand fears.

Notable risers includedArgos and Homebaseowner Home RetailGroup in the FTSE 250,as it lifted on takeoverspeculation.

The biggest Footsierisers were VedantaResources, up 106p to2518p, Resolution, ahead9.4p to 303.8p, Icap, up15p to 541.5p and Arm, up15p, to 588.5p.

The biggest Footsiefallers were Invensys, off7.8p to 344p, ITV, down1.8p to 78.1p, IMI, off 21pto 1038p and Aggreko,down 33p, to 1645p.


■ CONGRATULAT-IONS to Merseyside

law firm Kirwans, whoare Trading Gossip’s kill-joys of the week.

They have pointed outthat millions of officeworkers taking part inGrand Nationalsweepstakes this weekcould be at risk of break-ing the law, falling foul ofthe Gambling Act 2005.

James Corlett, a com-mercial solicitor with thefirm, said: “Most staffwill be allocated horsespurely by chance. This islikely, however, to fallinto the definition of a

lottery under theGambling Act.

“It is a criminaloffence to promote a lot-tery unless the lottery isexempted. Promotioncould be anything fromadvertising to sellingtickets.”

Rest assured, James,should anyone in theoffice here come aroundwith a National sweep,Trading Gossip will becalling the police . . . ifwe don’t win.

■ AS YOU may haveread earlier in LDP

Business, Jaf Siddiqi,co-owner of Liverpool eat-erie, Viva Brazil, clocksup a staggering 90 hoursof work per week.

Jaf, above, also told usthat during the firstseven weeks of opening,he spoke to every singlecustomer. Time to take abreak, old son.

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workingday

Organiseroncoursetoserveupaceevents

VickyCollins,35, is thedirectorofWirral-basedeventscompany,WhiteEvents.She lives inWestDerby,Liverpool.This isherworkingday

8am: I head to the office but start themorning with a run around WestKirby Marina, as it helps to wake meup and keep me focused for the dayahead. I like to get out and exercise ona daily basis if time and weather per-mits.

9am: Having had a quick orange juiceand a bowl of cereal at my desk, it’stime to check my emails. There is a lotgoing on at the moment because, aswell as delivering events for my cli-ents, I am also running my own tennisevent, The Classique.

As I have so many things on my to-do list, it can take a while to readthrough my in-box and reply to all myemails.

11am: I have just come off the phonewith Aintree Racecourse. For the lastfew years, I have organised theMatalan Style Contest at The JohnSmith’s Grand National – it is feverpitch making sure that everything isfinalised.

1pm: Usually, I like to go out and get asandwich for lunch, but as I’m reallybusy selling tables for The Classique, Imake myself a quick soup and hit thephones. We have recently signed MarkPhilippoussis, so I’m really keen to letas many people know as possible.

2pm: Before setting off for my after-noon meetings, there is just time forme to make a quick phone call to mydesigner, Mark McKellier, of &Mark.

He is putting together the newsletterfor The Classique, and needs inform-ation from me to make sure that it isaimed at professionals in the NorthWest, who make up my target market.With a few tweaks here and there, it isalmost ready to go out.

3pm: For several months now, I havebeen working with Mark Bennett, thechef at Mottram Hall, where TheClassique is being held, to make surethat the menu is exactly right for eachof the three days of the tournament.

Today is sadly the final tasting – it’sbeen so much fun pulling the menutogether and particularly difficult tonarrow down six delicious desserts tojust three.

3.30pm: It’s time for my second meet-ing at Mottram Hall. The tennis courts

take months of careful preparation toensure that they look and feel as goodas the ones at Wimbledon, so I need totouch base with Stuart Stenhouse,estate and golf course manager for thehotel.

5.30pm: I am back at the office to pickup my phone messages and check myemails.

I also call Richard Krajicek, anotherplayer at the tournament, to help himmake his travel arrangements.

6pm: Time to leave the office, so Iquickly get changed before heading toLiverpool Cricket Club.

I play tennis myself, which is one ofthe reasons I started my own tennisevent.

It is a great way to unwind after along day at the office, and a lot of funwhen you are playing with friends.

8pm: I’m back at home. I have a quickshower before getting some food withfriends at the Quarter.

10pm: It’s time for bed.I have another packed day tomor-

row.One of the things I love most about

my job is that every day always turnsout different, with lots of newchallenges and interesting people tomeet.

Although I will doubtless be rushingaround for the next few months in therun-up to this event, it is all part andparcel of the job and I wouldn’t have itany other way.

Vicky Collins, pictured with former tennis player Jeremy Bates, at the Classique launch


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