Exeter's Northcott Theatre has fallen into administration following a trustees' meeting on Wednesday evening, leaving a question mark over its future.
The Northcott, which is on the site of the University of Exeter, opened its doors on 2 November 1967, with Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. It has been serving up performances to east Devon's theatre-going public ever since, with the exception of 2007 when it c... Continue Reading
The UK's tax regime has prevented a large of proportion of small businesses in the UK from taking on more staff and growing their organisations, according to new research.
Over half of firms questioned by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said taxes have had a negative impact on their chances of economic recovery. Businesses in the south-east of the country feel particularly strongly, closely followed by the north-west an... Continue Reading
Punch Taverns has put a Northampton pub up for sale amid concerns over its future from local residents.
The fate of The Rose and Claret in West Hunsbury - the only pub in the area - was thrown into uncertainty after it was boarded up and rumours surfaced that it could be demolished to make way for housing.
A spokeswoman for Punch Taverns explained to reporters at the weekend that the pub site had been boarded up for se... Continue Reading
Pub chain Enterprise Inns has sold seven of its sites in London, raising £12 million from the auction.
The auction took place on Wednesday and each sale was offered to investors as a freehold with a 35 year lease and a break clause at 25 years, subject to six months notice.
This latest auction, through Allsops, brings the pub firm’s public auction income to £47 million. It says it may continue to raise as much as £2... Continue Reading
An iconic B&B for sale in Shropshire is expected to attract "significant interest" from a wide range of potential buyers. The De Grey's Townhouse business sale is being handled by London-based Christie + Co, with a guide price of £1.25 million.
Home to De Grey's Tearooms for over 100 years, the Elizabethan property in Ludlow contains a licensed restaurant - with its own bakery shop - and nine bespoke guest bedrooms, in add... Continue Reading
The agent responsible for 13 pub sales - that came about after Elizabeth Estates fell into administration in December - says there is "strong interest" in the freeholds of the free-of-tie tenanted establishments. The pubs for sale are available individually or as a group and it's believed they'll produce around £2.5 million.
At the moment the pubs, located in Suffolk and Essex, produce a combined rent of £213,000 and are ... Continue Reading
Barclays has made another £88 million of business loans available to small firms through the government's Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG), introduced during the downturn to help companies struggling to raise funds.
Lord Davies - the trade, investment and small business minister - says the EFG has already helped "thousands of viable businesses" access the cash they need to withstand the recession and prepare for recovery.
Confederation of British Industry (CBI) figures have highlighted that manufacturing production rose for the first time in two years in the three months to January, and now a billion-pound fund has been launched to keep the sector buoyed up.
Representatives for RBS/NatWest say the loans are being made available following feedback from customers in the industry who are anticipating growing demand for their products during 2010 and beyo... Continue Reading
The business sale story of the decade (so far) has ended in defeat for that sweetest of British institutions: Cadbury. After maintaining last month that it would not be swayed by a revised offer from US food giant Kraft, the confectioner's board advised shareholders to give in and accept the cheese manufacturer's proposal of 840 pence per share, valuing the company at £11.5 billion.
Attention in the Midlands – home to Ca... Continue Reading
Millions of sole traders in the UK are leaving their businesses vulnerable by not insuring against profit losses or the cost of replacing their "key person", it's been claimed. That's despite 77 per cent of sole traders who have a key person in their business admitting their enterprise wouldn't survive the loss of that individual.
Research from the Scottish Widows Business Protection Report reveals that around 2.6 mill... Continue Reading
Many of us dream about quitting the rat-race and setting ourselves up with a nice café, B&B or guesthouse business in a beautiful area. Well they don’t get much quainter than this – a luxury B&B, tearoom and restaurant in Ludlow.
When buying a business, it’s important to consider if the business you are buying is a success (is it making a profit? does it have a unique selling point?). The Elizabethan De Grey’s Townhouse is a... Continue Reading
The number of new businesses being set up around the world has fallen as a result of the recession, according to new figures from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM).
The report shows that the number of start-ups was down by 10 per cent last year in 20 of the world’s wealthiest nations.
The UK came off relatively well with only a 6 per cent fall in new businesses being registered while the US saw a huge 24 per cent d... Continue Reading
Following our observations towards the end of last year that Blackpool had guest houses, self-catering apartments and hotels for sale to the tune of £72 million, despite a healthy tourism season, budget chain Travelodge has defied the recession and announced plans to invest £115 million in 26 new outlets this year.
You might remember that a surge in the over... Continue Reading
The saga continues in what must be one of the most gripping cases of a business for sale for some time. Now, after US food giant Kraft tempted Cadbury shareholders with more cash than that promised by its initial £10.2 billion bid, the British confectioner has written off the revised offer as "derisory".
In an attempt to sweeten its offer for Cadbury, Kraft - maker of Toblerone and Terry's Chocolate Orange - unveiled plans to s... Continue Reading
Statistics might show that 80 per cent of businesses affected by a major incident close down within 18 months, but nearly half of small firms still don't have plans in place to deal with the effects of flood or storm damage.
That's according to the British Insurance Brokers' Association (Biba), which is using its research to stir the government into action to help small companies survive incidents like a fire, a flood,... Continue Reading
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