Pub giant Greene King has acquired restaurant chain Cloverleaf Restaurants for £56 million.
The pub company said that the acquisition will allow the business to expand, adding another 12 sites to its portfolio.
The purchase will also help Greene King to reposition itself towards retail outlets concentrating on food rather than drink. Greene King said it hoped that the purchase would help it to 'capitalise on the gr... Continue Reading
The £35 million North West Fund for Business Loans is aiming to give a lifeline to small firms who are finding it tough to secure lending from banks.
The new fund is one of six that have been set up by the North West Fund (NWF), over the last few months in a bid to offer a total of £184.8 million to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) over the coming five years.
The funding, which will be awarded to SMEs in the... Continue Reading
We thought it high-time for a makeover of the Bizsale website, as it’s pretty much had the same design since around 2005.
So long the blues, and welcome in an enviro-friendly sea-green, live-lime and orange combination.
As well as cosmetic changes, behind the scenes we have moved the site to a more sophisticated management system that will allow us to add new content with much more ease. We have a lot of new info... Continue Reading
Pub giant Enterprise Inns has announced plans to sell off a further 400 to 500 pubs throughout 2011.
Solihull-based Enterprise is hoping to net around £125 million from the sale of the pubs. it plans to use these to alleviate the losses affecting its operating profits, which were brought on by extreme weather conditions at the end of last year.
The pub company made public its plans through an interim statement release... Continue Reading
Representatives of small businesses in the north east of England have warned the government that they could be facing a major crisis in just six months if essential costs keep rising.
The Federation of Small Businesses' North East regional organiser, David Longstaff, said rising inflation and unprecedented fuel costs were threatening the whole economy of the region. He said a fuel price stabilizer should urgently be put in plac... Continue Reading
Pub and music venue owner, Cougar Leisure, has fallen into administration despite a last ditch attempt to sell off some of its assets.
Last June, the Chorley-based company sold off 11 of its pubs and bars through Christie & Co, including the Townhouse pub located in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, to North-east based pub operator Wear Inns, as well as pubs in Romford, Liverpool and Edinburgh.
Following financial difficulti... Continue Reading
A quartet of the biggest banks in the country are moving closer to an agreement with the government to lend up to £180 million to small businesses in 2011.
The agreement, known as 'Project Merlin,' is aiming to secure a commitment from banks to ensure improved lending to small and medium-sized businesses.
HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds and Barclays are the banks involved in the talks, which could culmi... Continue Reading
Employees of pioneering Scottish micro-screen company, Forth Dimension Displays, have landed windfalls averaging £20,000 after the company was sold for £7 million to US-based LCD developer, Kopin.
The company had established an exemplary international reputation for its high-resolution screens and simulation technology. They signed a landmark deal last year with the US Army to provide simulator training helmets for helicopter pilo... Continue Reading
Technology and electronics firm Acal has strengthened its electronics division with the acquisition of a provider of electronic communications and fibre optic components.
Acal, which specialises in supplying wireless LAN equipment, web servers, magnetics and satellite communication systems, has acquired CompoTron from BW Holding.
CompoTron, which supplied its goods to the European industrial electronic markets, was pu... Continue Reading
Following its administration late last year, hotdog manufacturer Westler Foods has been acquired by a new company.
The Malton, Yorkshire-based business - which produced food products in canned and pouched form for brands including Chesswood, BigMex, Westlers and Multi Menu - originally fell into administration due to a funding gap linked to its pension scheme.
Howard Smith and Mark Firmin of KPMG's restructuring p... Continue Reading
A legal loophole that allows breweries to prevent the re-opening of pubs they have sold off is to be reviewed by the government.
Communities and Local Government Minister, Bob Neill, announced the review into the 'restrictive covenants' after groups of supporters of local pubs claimed that large breweries were using them to limit competition.
He said that changes to the restrictive covenants would allow local ... Continue Reading
One of Carlisle's best-known hotels has come onto the market after a gym and leisure facility based there was closed down last year.
The Cumbria Park Hotel, located on Scotland Road in Stanwix, is one of the Best Western chain of hotels. Described as 'a well presented city centre hotel', The three-star Cumbria Park Hotel comprises 53 bedrooms, restaurant and lounge bar, event and function rooms and landscaped gardens a... Continue Reading
The number of mergers and acquisitions looks set to rise over the coming months as businesses aim to restart their growth plans in 2011, according to a corporate finance expert.
Head of corporate finance at KPMG's Leeds office, Christian Mayo, said that deals of 'a strategic nature, to facilitate growth,' would dominate in 2011, with volumes increasing even further towards 2012.
"I expect 2011 to be the ye... Continue Reading
Confidence among small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) owners appears to be growing, following research which revealed that a quarter plan to hire more staff in 2011.
Orange surveyed more than 2,000 SME owners and discovered that 26 per cent of them had plans in place to hire more employees than they had done this year.
Alongside plans to grow their businesses with staff acquisitions, many owners reported that they f... Continue Reading
The Government has announced that it is opening up public sector procurement contracts to small and medium-sized enterprises and a survey has found that over 50 per cent of SMEs intend to bid for such contracts.
The survey was carried out by online business marketplace PeoplePerHour.com and found that
SMEs voiced some concern that bigger players will win the most lucrative contracts.
SMEs are sometimes seen to hav... Continue Reading
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