liverpool daily posy business supplement 19.01.11

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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

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BUSINESS REPORTER:NEIL HODGSON0151 472 2451

DO-IT-YOURSELF retailer Rapid Hard-ware expects to return to profitabilitythis year, after enduring a difficult periodwhile it relocated to the former GeorgeHenry Lee store, LDP Business can reveal.

Its final full year at its RenshawStreet home had seen a huge fall insales and a pre-tax loss of £1.46m.

But its accounts for the year toJanuary, 2010, show that it cut itslosses by nearly £1m, to £484,000, des-pite sales slipping a further £590,000 to

£7.45m. Six years earlier, it recordedsales of nearly £20m.

The improved performance has res-ulted in Rapid Hardware’s auditors,Bootle accountants SB&P, not repeat-ing its concerns about the retailer’sability to continue trading without thesupport of its parent company. The fin-ancial year saw seven months’ tradingat Renshaw Street and five months atBasnett Street, with the move seeingan improvement in gross margin.

Since relocating in August, 2009,Rapid Hardware has grown sales andcontinued improvements in its mar-gins, which it believes will result in a

profitable performance in the company’s40th year. It was founded by HughDoherty in 1971 and is now led by hisson, Martin, who is managing director.

In the company’s accounts, the dir-ectors said: “During the transitionperiod, there were sales of certainstock lines at clearance prices to allowthe company to de-stock out-of-dateand aged lines, with the ultimate aimbeing to open up in the new locationwith up-to-date, good quality mer-chandise and enhanced ranges aimedat attracting an additional market.

“The final five months of the tradingyear took place in the new store. It was

the trade during this period that con-tributed in the main to the increasedgross margin.”

That improvement saw its grossmargin rebound from 26%, back to its2008 level of 37%.

The relocation, which was the pro-duct of four years’ planning, involvedcosts which have weighed on the bal-ance sheet – although John Lewis leftbehind fixtures and fittings worth£250,000, which Rapid Hardware plansto formally value and add to its fixedassets in the current financial year.

Rapidimprovementinretailer’sprospectsTHE FTSE 100 Index

pushed to a new2½-year high yester-day, buoyed byreports that Europe’sbail-out fund may beenlarged.

The Footsie ralliedmore than 1%, or 70.7points, to 6056.4, asbanking and miningstocks recovered fromMonday’s losses.

The market wasboosted by talk thatfinance ministers hadagreed to pump extramoney into theEuropean StabilityFund, at a meeting inBrussels.

MARKET REPORT:PAGE 15

FTSE-1006056.4

70.7▲

inside Science Parkopens fivenew labsLIVERPOOL Science Park(LSP) is gearing up to opennew commercial laborator-ies in the heart of the city, ina bid to attract more hi-techfirms.

The £660,000 project hascreated a suite of five labor-atories which include 300sqft of office “spin-off” spaceto collate data. They occupythe ground floor of LSP’s£6m IC2 building, which wasopened 18 months ago at thetop of Brownlow Hill.

LSP chief executive ChrisMusson said: “It’s no goodattracting life science com-panies if there is nowherefor them to go once theyarrive here. But they arevital to the city’s future.”

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Life science firms vital tocity’s future – LiverpoolScience Park chiefexecutive Chris Musson

Picture: ANDREW TEEBAY/at180111escience-2

Gill joins boardat relaunchedlobby groupFORMER Liverpool Vis-ion chief executiveJim Gill has joinedProfessional Liver-pool.

PAGE 2

Star supplierAGILYSYS is supplyingchef Michel Roux Jnr’sLondon restaurant.

PAGE 4

Embassy callSMALL firms havebeen urged to exploitLiverpool’s London

office.PAGE 7

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1 Liverpool stars in What Car?2 Electric car demand boosts plant3 International honour for Sentric4 City hotels see improvements5 Stagecoach invests £52m in fleetldpbusiness.co.uk

Updatesthroughoutthe day

Gill ‘coup’forrelaunchedProfessionalLiverpool

Retailerexpandsat citystore

The more positiveoutlook has enabledRapid to progress withexpansion of its floorspace, adding another60,000 sq ft to its exist-ing 100,000 sq ft.

It said that it contin-ues to “monitor andreview” its costs – inthe last two years it hasreduced both its wagebill and its stock levelsby £1m – as it respondsto the “extremely chal-lenging market place”.

Rapid Hardware’sparent company, RapidGroup Holdings, com-pleted a refinancinglast year whichremoved the retailer’s£3.2m overdraft.

The refinancing fol-lowed a reorganisationof the group’s propertyportfolio. It sold prop-erties in RenshawStreet, Bold Street, StLuke’s Place and othercity centre locations,while it paid £4.5m fora 250-year lease for itscurrent store.

However, negot-iations are continuingover a contingent liab-ility, estimated to be inthe region of £100,000,for the Bold Streetproperty.

FirmswouldpayforfairertaxSOME small firm owners arewilling to pay more tax if itmeant the Government simp-lified the UK tax system.

Research by Cheshire-basedsmall firms lobby group, theForum of Private Business(FPB), found that 57% of busi-

ness owners would pay moreto effect change, providing thesystem led to greater rewards.

And 50% said they would beprepared to pay more under asimplified system if that sys-tem cut down on tax avoid-ance among their competitors.

Tax avoidance is typicallycarried out by bigger busi-nesses with the resources toexploit geographic loopholes.

Phil Orford, FPB chief exec-utive, said: “We desperatelyneed reforms that incentivisesmall business growth.”

Salesgrowth

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LUXURY goods group Burberry revealed an-other bigger-than-expected surge in sales yes-terday.

The company, which is famous for its red,black and camel tartan design, reported con-tinued strength in the UK and rising demandfrom Chinese consumers as group-wide retailsales for the last quarter jumped 36%.

CITY-BASED lobby group ProfessionalLiverpool (PL) has launched its latestincarnation as it looks to establishitself as an independent, privately-fun-ded voice of the sector.

It ends months of uncertainty aboutits future after the Northwest Devel-opment Agency cut its £200,000-a-yeargrant, which resulted in the departureof chief executive Mark Chadwick.

PL has appointed former LiverpoolVision chief executive Jim Gill to itsboard, although it has no plans to havea full-time figurehead, and has begun apartnership with the University of Liv-erpool.

That will see PL help to develop tal-ent in the region through collaborat-ion with the University on the man-agement development programme,LEAD.

But it is the short-term boon of hav-ing an 80-strong paid membership,which it aims to increase to more than100 in the next year, which has securedthe organisation’s future – althoughPL declined to say how much had beencommitted.

Stephen Burrows, chairman of PL,said: “Self-sufficiency from member-ship fees has always been the longterm objective for PL and we are con-fident that we have a strong and stableplatform from which to continue togrow and expand.

“We count some of the city’s largestprofessional firms and notable ind-ividuals among our members.

“The fact that these organisationsare putting their money towards thecontinued growth and success of thecity region’s professional servicesoffering is a tangible marker of thebelief in the sustainability andlong-term goals of PL.

“The appointment of Jim Gill is areal coup and we are set to gain a greatdeal of insight and strategic directionthrough his involvement.”

PL was founded in 2001 but MrChadwick became the organisation’sfirst chief executive when he startedwork in April, 2008.It extended itsremit to include attracting inwardinvestment and promoting the city’soffering nationally and internationally.

Although PL will still look to raisethe profile of the financial and pro-fessional services sector in the Liv-erpool city region, its ambitions havebeen scaled back.

Its immediate plans include “drivinginvolvement” in the Liverpool cityregion’s Local Enterprise Partnership,the publication in February of theCommercial Office Market Review andthe “No Cannes Do” lunch coincidingwith MIPIM – a networking opportun-ity for those not attending the propertyexhibition in the French resort.

PL’s nine-strong board will bepresenting detailed plans to its mem-bers next month.

The University tie-up will see PLidentify 25 candidates within its mem-bership and offer a 20-week pro-gramme in conjunction with the Uni-versity’s Management School to helpdevelop their skills.

Mr Burrows said: “The partnershipwith the University and continuallyexpanding membership base all con-tinue to boost the overall offering to theprofessional community in the city.”

TOP FIVE

Some of Professional Liverpool’s board members: back row, John Hall (adviser), Stuart Keppie andSteve Stuart; front row, James Keaton (adviser), Bill Doherty, Jim Gill and Stephen Burrows

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3Wednesday, January 19, 2011

profile

‘Mydirectors lookaftertodayandI lookaftertomorrow’AlistairHoughtonmeetsPAULKENNEDY,chiefexecutiveofCELGroup

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Paul Kennedy – lookingfor private equityinvestment

Age: 41Highest educational qualification:A-levels, though I’m now completingmy chartered directorship qualificat-ion with the Institute of DirectorsBest advice received: If I’m talking,I’m telling you something I know. IfI’m listening, I might learn somethingnew. Listen before you jump inProudest achievement: Getting amanagement buy-out away, smackbang in the middle of a banking crisis.Biggest regret: Not running my ownbusiness earlier in my career

q&a

IN PAUL KENNEDY’S office, clas-sical music acts as a soundtrack to atale of business success with a bigheart.

Kennedy leads Cheshire-basedCEL Group, a business which offersservices from training to public sec-tor procurement and internationalmoney transfers.

He led a management buyout(MBO) in 2008 and has since seenCEL double in size.

Now he wants it to grow still fur-ther by working with public sectorbodies looking to cope with the cuts –and he is on the hunt for moreinvestment to help him.

Kennedy says he wants to help thepublic sector work more efficiently,whether by helping diverse organisa-tions work together or by helpingthem buy goods more cheaply.

As we spoke in his Birchwoodoffice, where classical music includ-ing Pachelbel’s Canon played in thebackground, Kennedy sang thepraises of private sector support forpublic services.

“I describe CEL as a private organ-isation with a social purpose,” hesaid. “It’s in our DNA.

“This business is about deliveringmore for less. We’re perfectly placedto help deliver what I’m passionateabout – doing everything we canbehind the scenes to protect frontlineservices. There’s so much potentialto make public service organisationsmore efficient. It’s not always aboutheadcount reduction.”

CEL Group is split into three divis-ions – CEL Public Services, CEL Pro-curement, and CEL Transact.

CEL Public Services delivers ser-vices, such as work-based training,for public sector bodies.

It acts as the national bodyco-ordinating the work of 230 HomeImprovement Agencies.

Kennedy said: “These organisat-ions help elderly and vulnerablepeople stay in their own homes aslong as possible, rather than goinginto social care. We help them sharebest practice.

“These are not-for-profit organisat-ions. But, in the changing world ofthe voluntary and community sector,they will have to become more com-mercial and operate like businesses.”

CEL has also teamed up with char-ities Age UK and Community ServiceVolunteers on a project to help eld-erly and vulnerable people switchfrom analogue to digital television.

For Kennedy, Digital Outreach is acase study for David Cameron’smuch-vaunted Big Society, as itshows how a private sector and avoluntary sector organisation canpool their skills to make a difference.

CEL Procurement provides pro-curement services for public sectorbodies and quangos across the UK. Ithandles products and services worthmore than £100m every year.

Its Partnership for Housing brandis a buying consortium for 90% ofthe UK’s housing associations, whileIndependent Healthcare Procure-

ment carries out similar work forcare homes and hospices.

CEL Transact provides paymentservices to help people transfermoney across international borders.

Its Uni-Pay system, run with bank-ing partner HSBC, provides a securesystem for international students topay fees through their local bankingsystem in their local currency.

Kennedy, originally from ScotlandRoad, in Liverpool, moved to Run-corn as a child. He chose not to go touniversity and, after a year as asports journalist, moved into theCivil Service.

He focused on “market testing” –testing the efficiency of public ser-vices by seeing how they comparedto private sector offerings.

Ten years later, he washeadhunted by the public sector pro-curement division of Hays. Afterseven years at Hays, he joined Shef-field-based training and wel-fare-to-work specialist A4E.

“For the first time in my career, Ifound myself working for an organ-isation that made a profit but alsomade a difference,” he said. “Thatsparked something in me.”

In 2006, he left to become man-aging director of IT firm RedstoneConverged Solutions, leading a turn-around that took it back into theblack. But, in 2008, he wasapproached by a headhunter – hisformer employer Hays – to join CEL.

“What interested me was that theowners were looking to exit the busi-ness,” he said. “I had worked reallyhard making lots of money for other

people – and it was time to see if Icould do the same for myself.”

He and partner MohammedRamzan completed their MBO inOctober that year – a great achieve-ment at the height of the creditcrunch.

“The papers went out to HSBC theday Lehman Brothers went pop,”said Kennedy.

“I was in New York that day. Mybusiness partner phoned me and said‘you’ll never guess what’s happened’.I said ‘I know, because I’m right out-side their building’.”

Since then, CEL’s turnover hasmore than doubled to £7.5m. Thecompany moved from Glossop toBirchwood, while headcount hasdoubled to 90.

Kennedy has enjoyed the challengeof running his own firm – though headmitted it was tough at first.

“When I worked for a biggerorganisation, I felt I had anumbrella,” he said. “Somebody put acertain amount of money into mybank account every month. Todaythat’s not the case.

“I did this MBO on a Friday. Driv-ing to the office on Monday, I hadthis thought thundercloud over me –every single one of my employees isrelying on me to take the rightdecisions to enable them to pay theirmortgages. That’s a really soberingthought.”

Today, Kennedy works on the busi-ness’s growth strategy while hisdivisional MDs control the day-to-dayrunning of the business.

“My managing directors look aftertoday and I look after tomorrow,” hesaid.

Kennedy says the ongoing publicsector cuts could lead to more oppor-tunities for CEL as the Governmentlooks to outsource services.

He said: “We are looking at areassuch as preventing reoffending.

“There is a natural diversificationfor us into other policy areas.”

Kennedy is now in talks withpotential investors about his ambit-ious growth plans for CEL, whichinclude acquiring rival firms.

He said: “We are at the tippingpoint now where I’m going to con-sider seriously the involvement ofventure capital or private equity.

“I want to get this organisation toturn over £60m or £70m in the nexttwo or three years, both organicallyand through acquisition.”

Despite its recent successes, CEL

remains a minnow compared to out-sourcing giants such as Capita.

Kennedy believes smaller compan-ies such as his can play a big role inthe Big Society – if the Governmentwill let them.

He mused: “The interesting thingfor us is going to be whether com-ments made by the Governmentabout the SME sector delivering pub-lic services proves to be rhetoric.

“There’s so much talent in theSME sector that’s missed by Govern-ment simply because we haven’t gotthe recognised name of a Serco or aCapita.”

Kennedy is now keen to share hisexperiences with other businessowners by becoming a non-executivedirector on other boards.

Outside CEL, Kennedy works withcharity Positive Futures, which sup-ports young people in disadvantagedareas of north Liverpool.

Back home in Frodsham, hefocuses on fitness and his family.

He said: “I’ve started going back tothe gym – I’ve lost 2½ stones in thelast six months.

“Most of my weekends are spenttaking my son to different parts ofCheshire for football or rugby.

“My daughter and my wife havehorses. We tend to split up in the dayand come back in the evening.”

Kennedy is a big Liverpool FC fan– as demonstrated by the signedSteven Gerrard boot framed on hisoffice wall – but he is not a seasonticket holder.

“There’d be a very low return oninvestment on that one,” he smiled.


AgilysysexpertiseonthemenuattopLondonsite

Boardchangesat fundmanagerTHE venture andgrowth capital fundmanager, EV, yesterdayannounced thatStephen Ross has beenappointed non-execut-ive chairman.

Former 3i directorMr Ross has been anon-executive directorof EV since 2004.

Richard Bamford,who steps down fromthe chair, will continueas a non-executive dir-ector.

The board changescome at an importanttime for EV. For thefirst time, EV now hasmore than £100m offunds under manage-ment – an increase of40% in the last 12months and 350% overthe last five years.

As a result of newfundraisings and man-agement contracts,including the NorthWest Fund for VentureCapital and the FinanceYorkshire’s SeedcornFund, EV has grown itsfunds under manage-ment to £107m.

EV now managesinvestments in morethan 200 companiesacross the UK and has21 employees, operat-ing out of a network offive offices in the Northof England and Mid-lands and plans to openin Liverpool andKendal shortly.

EV’s chief executive,Jonathan Diggines,said: “EV has grownsubstantially in recentyears, investing in newand existing SMEs withpotential for growth.With all the talk aboutthe difficulties thatSMEs are having gain-ing access to funds, EVis one of the few fundscommitted to investingin this vital space.”

Michelin-starred chef Michel Roux Jnr – power behind the new Londonrestaurant

Carphone’sBestBuyventureoffsetsslowersales inEurope

Dealerplanscelebrations

CARPHONE Warehouse offsetslower growth in its Europeanmobile phone arm thanks to itspartnership with Americanelectronics giant Best Buy.

The UK retailer lifted itsfull-year earnings guidance dueto expectations that a profit-sharing agreement with BestBuy’s mobile phone retailingoperation in the US will nowgenerate up to £100m for thecompany.

It said its core Europeanoperation performed well in theChristmas quarter, althoughlike-for-like sales growthslowed to 0.7% from 2.4% inNovember.

Carphone added that connec-tions were down 7.1% due to

the continued modest take-up ofprepay smartphones and astough conditions in a numberof continental markets offsetstrong trading in the UK, wherelike-for-like sales rose 2.3%.

The mobile phone retail busi-ness is now part of Best BuyEurope, which is a 50-50 jointventure with Best Buy and alsofeatures the recently-launchedBig Box consumer electronicsstores.

A store opened in Aintreelast year.

Carphone said the perform-ance of its first six big boxstores reaffirmed its belief inthe “substantial opportunity”that exists within the sector.

The megastores have thrown

down the gauntlet to rivalssuch as Currys owner DSGInternational and Comet firmKesa Electricals by offeringUS-style service and initiatives,such as a trade-in service.

The online offering, brandedBest Buy, launched beforeChristmas and has seen astrong performance to date,according to the company.

Carphone’s shares rose 2%yesterday as the group said itexpected earnings per share forthe financial year to the end ofMarch to be at the top end ofthe previously announcedrange.

It is the second time in threemonths that Carphone hasraised its results guidance.

A WARRINGTON firm hasprovided state-of-the-art paymentand reservations technology for oneof London’s latest top restaurants.

Agilysys (Europe), part ofUS-quoted Agilysys Inc, provideselectronic point of sale (EPoS) andhospitality software.

It has installed its InfoGenesistills system and ResPAK restaurantmanagement and reservation suiteto Roux at Parliament Square, thelatest restaurant by Michelin-starred chef Michel Roux Jnr, whois working with Restaurant Assoc-iates, part of the Compass group.

Agilysys is a supplier to Com-pass, and its chip and PIN tech-nology allows diners to settle billsat the table and it is also linked toResPAK which can be used to take areservation, enable staff to open adrinks tab in the bar and allocate itto the table, as well as communicaterestaurant orders electronically tothe kitchen, while at the same timeprinting the information remotely.

The Agilysys team also had towork to a tight six-week timescaleto install the system, while at thesame time configuring it to matchthe listed Georgian building therestaurant is located within.

They worked closely with the cli-ent to respect the building’s archi-tectural integrity, installing a wire-less network that could functionthrough thick stone walls, withlow-profile wires and access pointsfor chip and PIN.

Agilysys Hospitality SolutionsGroup vice-president and generalmanager Tina Stehle said: “Ourtechnology enables Compass todeliver outstanding service to itsclients and run efficient and prof-itable operations.

“We’re particularly proud to be

part of this prestigious new ven-ture.

And she added: “Once again,we’ve been able to demonstrate thatwe can provide technology that isdiscreet enough to blend into thebackground of a fine diningestablishment while still providingpowerful process automation.”

Roux, at Parliament Square, islocated within one of the mostbeautiful buildings in Westminster,in Grade II listed premises, withstunning views of the Houses ofParliament and Westminster Abbey.

The building was designed byLiverpool-born Alfred Waterhouse,the architect of London’s iconicNational History Museum, and hasbeen furnished in a contemporarystyle.

Restaurant Associates offerspremium services covering finedining, conferencing, functions andevents and front-of-house operat-ions.

Its parent, Compass Group, gen-erated annual revenues of morethan £13.4bn in the year to Septem-ber 30, 2009, from its core sectors ofbusiness and industry, defence, off-shore and remote site locations,healthcare, education, sports andleisure and vending.

Agilysys provides innovative ITsolutions for the retail and hospit-ality sectors and its clients includehotels, casinos, destination resorts,cruise lines, food service operators,stadiums, arenas and conferencecentres.

Its operating systems can betailored to control reservations,check-in, point-of-sale and businessintelligence, or provide inventoryand procurement management todocument management.

Although based in Ohio, its mainoffice is situated in Warrington,linked to sales and support officesthrough partners across Europe,South Africa and Dubai, in theMiddle East.

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MERCEDES-BENZ, of Liverpool, is gettingready to celebrate the 125th anniversary of theco-founder of Mercedes-Benz producing thefirst ever motor car.

The Pall Mall retailer is in the process ofadding the finishing touches to its specialanniversary event, which will be held fromMarch 3 to March 6 and will pay tribute to thebreakthrough of Karl Benz in creating theworld’s first motor car and “Benz” in 1886 – thethree-wheeled Motorwagen.

Mercedes-Benz, of Liverpool, is to mark theoccasion with the dealership’s official launchof the new generation CLS-Class.

Entertainment is being finalised and Mer-cedes-Benz of Liverpool is hoping to stage adisplay of classic Mercedes-Benz, with the helpof local enthusiasts.

General manager David Savage said: “We’reproud to have a history that includes what isrecognised as the very first motor car.”

A CHAIN of privaterehab clinics bestknown for helpingwean celebrities offtheir addictions hasbeen sold to privateequity in a deal worthup to £925m.

Part-nationalisedRoyal Bank of Scot-land, which acquiredthe Priory Group in2007, when it boughtDutch bank ABN Amro,will sell the specialistmental and healthcarefirm to buyout special-ist Advent Interna-tional.

The group has 66sites across the UK.

Bank sellsclinic chain

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council offices before being vacatedseven years ago.

The building is being given a newfascia and a complete internal refit,and will open in the summer of 2012 asa new Hampton by Hilton Hotel.

The client is Birmingham-baseddevelopers, Office Villages, with thecontractors, Stockport-based Multi-build, already on site.

Adam Hall, who is working on theproject with colleague Sarah Harrison,said: “By the time we have finished, thebuilding will have become an impress-ive landmark in the city centre.

“It is a perfect location for a hotelbecause it is so close to everything inthe city centre.”

The development is taking advant-age of a government scheme, knownas BPRA, or Business PremisesRenovation Allowance.

This provides the incentive of taxbreaks for the conversion of tired,vacant buildings.

The incentive scheme makes theproject viable, according to Adam Hall.

BPRA is also being used in theplanned conversion of another Birm-ingham city centre building, Snow HillPlaza.

It will create a 224-bedroom HolidayInn Express, with a new-build confer-ence and banqueting suite added to therefurbished Snow Hill Plaza.

The Snow Hill scheme is a devel-opment by Sanguine Hospitality andBruntwood, while Indigo Hotel andHampton by Hilton will be operated bySanguine.

LIVERPOOL architect FCH is increas-ing its profile in the Midlands, afterwinning three major contracts whichwill help transform the face of Birm-ingham.

The total investment in the projects,including a Hilton Hotel scheme, isworth around £60m.

Two of FCH’s tasks involve faceliftsfor a pair of vacant 1960s buildingswhich have long bighted the centre ofBritain’s biggest provincial city.

The crowning glory will be creatinga Marco Pierre White Steakhouse Barand Grill on the 25th floor of thebrand-new building, The Cube.

The restaurant forms part of a £10mIndigo Hotel and luxury health spa, onthe top three floors.

Adam Hall, FCH managing directorAdam Hall is delighted with the firm’shat-trick in Birmingham.

“To have three major schemes onthe go at the same time in the Mid-lands is a great boost for a Liverpoolpractice.

“It’s good to start 2011with a busyworkload, not just in the Midlands butaround the country.

The biggest project of the threeinvolves a £30m investment to trans-form Birmingham city centre’sCumberland House, Broad Street, intoa 285-bed hotel.

Built as a speculative office tower inthe 1960s, it was used for some time as

Printspecialiststaysconfidentoverfull-yearresultsSPECIALIST printer Com-munisis said full-year tradingresults should be in line withexpectations, after clinchingseveral new contracts.

In an annual update for theyear ended December 31, thegroup said both its intel-ligence-driven communica-tions and specialist produc-tion and sourcing services

had achieved good momentumduring the second half.

The Leeds-based group,which offers a variety of printservices for businesses, frommailing shots to billing, wasre-appointed by the PostOffice to provide a range ofsolutions, including IT andstationery requirements cov-ering its 11,500 branches.

Another key deal was anexclusive partnership withbusiness process services pro-vider Liberata worth morethan £2m a year. They willwork closely with local andcentral government on rev-enue and benefits statements,payroll services and counciltax billing.

Both these contracts will

run for five years and com-plement an extension to a con-tract as the marketing serviceprovider for banking giantBarclays to the end of 2015.

Communisis opened a planton Speke’s Estuary CommercePark, in July, 2007, at a cost of£17m and employing morethan 200 staff.

Liverpool stockbroker Pan-

mure Gordon welcomed theupdate, but changed its recom-mendation from “buy” to“hold”. It said: “A number oflonger-term agreements havebeen signed and suggest ongo-ing faith from a number ofimportant customers.

“However, it is early days tosuggest progress may be aboveand beyond expectations.”

QVCstaff in£50,000donation Housingdeals

Cityarchitectclinches£60mofworkinBirmingham

FCH has worked on The Cube, in Birmingham

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THE North-West Division of building servicesengineers Shouksmiths has won eight new con-tracts worth a total of £1.42m, including two foraffordable housing and regeneration specialistLovell in Liverpool.

The Lovell contracts, worth a total of£704,000, involve heating and plumbing at hous-ing projects in Netherley and Kensington.

STAFF at TV shopping chan-nel QVC’s Knowsley site havedonated more than £50,000 toThe Linda McCartney Centreat the Royal Liverpool andBroadgreen University Hospit-als.

The donation was made up

of proceeds from manyemployee fundraising activit-ies at the customer operationscentre, as well as proceedsfrom the sale of cosmeticproducts across its two retailstores in Warrington andShrewsbury, and a further cor-

porate donation from QVC UK.Staff chose the centre as

their charity of the yearbecause of the crucial work itdoes to develop new andeffective cancer treatments,and provide care and supportto those fighting the disease.

Fewerfirmsfailedin 2010BUSINESS failures fell12.1% in 2010, claimsthe latest research byinformation providerEquifax.

This was despite a“blip” in the finalquarter of the yearwhen a number ofregions saw an increasein failures which canprobably be attributedto a number of compan-ies being wound up atthe end of their busi-ness year.

Scotland saw thehighest increase in fail-ures, compared with thethird quarter, at 32.9%.

However, the NorthWest was among a num-ber of regions thatmanaged to buck thistrend, as the East Mid-lands managed toachieve a 23.4% drop infailures quarter-on-quarter, followed by theNorth West at 7.6%,and the South Westwith a 2.1% fall.

Equifax spokesmanNeil Munroe said:“What we have seenthroughout 2010 is asteady drop in the num-ber of organisationsfailing.

“Pay freezes andtight control on invoicepayments were repor-ted consistentlythroughout the year. Soit appears that therehas been a clear focuson cost control andcash flow managementwhich has aided sur-vival.”

He said the fall infailures “should givebusiness and industry acertain amount of con-fidence that, as long asthey continue to do thethings they have beendoing in 2010, theyshould be able to sur-vive.”

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Chambercallsonfirmstosupportgraduateproject

THE call has gone outfor firms to support theNational Apprentice-ship Awards which willculminate in Londonthis June.

Applications are nowopen to find England’stop apprentices andapprentice employersin the scheme run bythe National Appren-ticeship Service.

The awards are opento all organisationsthat employ appren-tices – and to appren-tices themselves.

Minister of State forFurther Education,Skills and LifelongLearning, John Hayes,said: “These awardsoffer a great platformfor young people andemployers to gainrecognition.”■ TO FIND out more,visit apprenticeships.org.uk/awards, or call08000 150 600. Entriesclose on March 25, 2011.

Trainingawardsopen forentries

LIVERPOOL Chamber of Commerceis urging members to dip into its“pool” of graduate skills.

The organisation wants to set upwork experience opportunities fortalented students within the citythrough The Graduate Retention Pro-gramme, a scheme involving thechamber and a consortium of localuniversities.

They offer a range of professionalskills to local businesses from grad-uates who have undergone a pro-gramme of career planning and pro-fessional skills development.

Chamber deputy chief executive,Carole Crosby, said: “This is a greatopportunity for businesses in the cityto benefit from a work-ready gradu-ate or professional.

“The project has two aims – to addvalue to the candidates who gainvaluable work experience for theirCV, while the employer has the ben-efit of work-ready and well-educatedindividuals.”

Candidates have a broad range ofqualifications in subjects rangingfrom law, IT, marketing throughto graphic design and criminology.

They have recently completed aprogramme of commercial skills,focusing on subjects including timemanagement, leadership skills, pro-ject management, networking andunderstanding what managers need,and a range of inter- personal skillsthat are potentially vital to employ-ers.

Ms Crosby said: “We will be seekingplacements for graduates up until themiddle of 2011, and we are confidentthat the city’s business communitywill support the programme.”

The graduate retention pro-gramme is part-funded by theEuropean Union through theEuropean Social Fund, and co-fin-anced by the Skills Funding Agency.

The scheme is part of a range ofinitiatives by the Chamber to fosternew workplace opportunities acrossthe city.

Last year, it launched its Appren-ticeship Pledge, calling on Liverpoolfirms to consider taking on moreyoung talent.

[email protected]

Carole Crosby and Cllr Gary Millar at the Apprenticeship Pledge event

For more information on these sites pleasecontact us on 01925 273000 or visit ourwebsite www.langtreegroupplc.co.uk

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The Liverpool Embassy is set to open in London this Friday, to sell the city on the international stage

Smallbusinessurgedtoprofitfromcityembassy

RegionamongUK fraudhotspotsFRAUD has grown overthe past five years andis predicted to carry onrising.

Accountant BDO’sFraudtrack reviewshows fraud over thepast five years hasbroken the £7bn bar-rier – and the NorthWest is among the hot-spots.

Reported fraud in2010 dropped to £1.4bnfrom £2bn the previousyear, but BDO expectsthe reduction is tem-porary.

It says the latest fig-ures are skewedbecause large fraud tri-als can take more thana year to settle, so thedownward trend shouldreverse next year.

And it claims, intimes of recession,whistleblowers tend tobe less active as stafffacing job lossesbecome less likely toraise the alarm.

Alex Marsden, NorthWest partner at BDO,also believes fraud isout of favour with riskdepartments at themoment.

He said: “The currentflavour of the month isbribery.

“Although risk andcompliance depart-ments should addressboth old and new risks,they face limitedresources and givingequal attention to mat-ters is problematic,often with new riskstaking a lead.”

The report claimsthat during 2010 therewas £191.5m-worth offraud reported acrossthe North West,involving 39 cases, rep-resenting 13.74% of theUK’s total reportedfraud.

The North West, Lon-don and Wales were theUK’s top three fraudhotspots.

Is therenothingthebigsupermarketchainswon’t try tosellus?

LIVERPOOL council is urging smallfirms to exploit the city’s embassy,which opens in London this Friday, togrow their business.

The council is working with thecity’s private sector to establish a plat-form in the capital to declare that Liv-erpool is well and truly open for busi-ness. The embassy is in New BroadStreet House, close to Liverpool Streetand the City’s financial district.

The venture is expected to cost£350,000 over three months, including£200,0000 for high-profile events includ-ing two investment open days in May,during the week of Liverpool BoatShow, when 300,000 people are expec-ted to visit the city.

Council leaders hope to cover thecost through private sector partnersusing the embassy to woo potentialinvestors and partners.

And council leader Cllr Joe Ander-son is offering the small firms sector anew, lower cost package to enable themto take advantage of the facility.

He said: “Our smaller businessesare vital to the Merseyside economyand we want to make sure they reapthe rewards of our new vision for thecity region – including the LiverpoolEmbassy.

“This is a fantastic demonstration ofthe public sector responding to theneeds of private enterprise and I wantcompanies of all sizes to benefit fromthe opportunities which will becreated as a result.

“Our Embassy is hard evidence thatthe public and the private sector inLiverpool are serious about workingtogether to attract investment and cre-ate more private sector jobs.”

The Liverpool Embassy is being setup following the success of Liverpool’spresence at the World Expo, in Shang-hai, last year, and will showcase thevision to continue to develop Liverpoolas a business-friendly and innovativecity to invest in.

Businesses who have pledged sup-port so far include the Arena and Con-vention Centre Liverpool, Grosvenor,The Flanagan Group, Enterprise,Downing and Sony.

Max Steinberg, chief executive ofLiverpool Vision, which is partneringthe council and lobby group Down-

town Liverpool in Business to deliverthe project, said: “We knew that busi-nesses in the city wanted this kind ofshowcase – and they are now begin-ning to get behind us.

“I urge more to do the same, because

together and only together can wemake a tangible and lasting differenceto Liverpool. This is an encouragingdemonstration of the way the privatesector is working with the public sec-tor in Liverpool to create a city which

can beat the recession and move for-ward with real optimism.”

The embassy is the latest initiativeof the city’s One Plan, which aims tosell the city nationally and internat-ionally.

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AS A NATION, we appear to have alove/hate relationship with ourmajor supermarkets.

Broadly speaking, those who don’t

mind how they go about their verysuccessful businesses applaud thechoice and convenience they offer.

True, they make hefty profits, andsome have an issue with that, butramping up their turnover to achievethose profits means they are alsoable to employ very significant num-bers of people.

Then there are those with a viewon the relationship between planningauthorities and those retailers whoare always on the look-out for siteson which to develop new outlets.

Then there is the topic of howsome of the major players have animpact on existing retailers andtraders, for whom competition in a

free market sometimes amounts to athreat.

The way in which the major play-ers have been able to diversify, offer-ing previously unimagin-able ranges and choice ofgoods and services, willsurely form a major part offuture volumes of UK busi-ness, and even social his-tory.

All of the big players inthe market have moved along way from the conven-tional provision of grocer-ies and other household goods.

Financial services, clothing, whitegoods, mobile communications, and

books – you name it and it’s almostcertainly available at a store or via astore’s website, near you. Andreports at the weekend suggest the

supermarket giants havemore targets in their sights.

First to catch my eye wasSainsbury’s. Its new ven-ture, branded Fresh Kit-chen, offers hot meals,salads, coffee and sand-wiches.

This has become a sig-nificant sector itself. Con-sumers in the UK buy an

estimated 2bn butties a year, worthan eye-watering £3.5bn.

Between them, retailers such as

Boots, Marks and Spencer and Sains-bury’s already control around 17% ofthe lunchtime snack market.

Not surprisingly, the developmentis being tracked with caution byindependent sandwich shops.

A spokesman for the British Sand-wich Association says it is a threat toindividual businesses.

Meanwhile, Tesco may soon startselling vehicle tyres.

It will be interesting to see howthese new ventures perform, and tosee if they are moving too far awayfrom their core business.

‘Younameitanditwillbeavailablenearyou’

[email protected]

■ MATT JOHNSON is chairman ofMando Group


Priceriseswon’tstopcultureofbingedrinking

Countdown to city Boat ShowHighhopesareridingonthefirstLiverpoolBoatShow–sois it stillontrack?PeterElson reports

An artist’s impression of theLiverpool Boat Show site in fullswing, with a regatta in theRiver Mersey

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THERE’S just over three months to gobefore the first-ever Liverpool Boat Show(LBS) opens, and the senior managementteam is looking suitably stressed.

“We’re broadly where we should be,”soothes Rob Mackenzie, LBS chief exec-utive officer and operations manager.

“All licensing agreements with bodiessuch as Liverpool City Council, GowerStreet Estates, British Waterways andPearl are in place and working well.

“A major legacy will be the £750,000permanent pontoons now being installedahead of schedule by British Waterwaysand Blue Point Marine Services.”

Besides the prestige, it is claimed theshow will pump £30m into the local eco-nomy.

The website is now open for ticketingand the big marketing push will startnext week for the show, which runs fromApril 29 – May 8.

Somewhat awkwardly, the Royal Wed-ding of Prince William and KateMiddleton falls on the show’s openingday, but will be shown on a giant screen.

The event will hit the deck running asEurope’s largest boat show on its firstouting – overtaking London, Southamp-ton, Paris and Dusseldorf.

The show innovatively combines alarge, outdoor free show open to the pub-lic, with the main marina and gated areasrequiring a ticket or wristband costing£12-£15 a day for adults.

“It’s a radically different businessmodel to mesh together paying visitorswith those who just want a free look,”said Mr Mackenzie.

Between 300,000-400,000 visitors areexpected, compared to, say, Dusseldorf ’s220,000 visitors.

Crucially for Liverpool, it is hopedthese visitors will include around 100,000serious enthusiasts who are the real keyto the show’s success.

These are the people with money intheir pockets who will make it worth-while for the top-end boat builders toattend now and in future years.

They will be among the elite wristbandvisitors with access to the premier areas.

LBS achieved what is necessary toattract these high spenders, by signingfour global luxury motor yacht brandleaders: Fairline, Princess Motor Yachts,Sealine and Sunseeker.

Once these are onboard, therest of the industry feels obligedto follow them to an event.

“Around 50% of these boatowners live north of Birming-ham, so the top boat buildersrealise they want to be in Liv-erpool,” said Mr Mackenzie.

“And only 5% of these north-ern boat owners ever attend theLondon or Southampton shows.”

David Lewis, Sunseeker Lon-don chief executive, said: “There’s a lot ofwealth and experience in northern Eng-land, so Liverpool appeals to us.

“Late April is a good time for a boatshow. By then, wealthy clients are backfrom the Caribbean or ski-ing and we canbring them here, whereas they’d miss theLondon show.”

Chris Cleverly, Princess Motor YachtSales managing director, said: “We usedto have an office in Cheshire and we

should come back. We will go to Liver-pool to sell boats, as it is an excellentearly year opportunity.”

Mr Mackenzie said: “I’ve never exper-ienced before the tremendous supportwe’ve had from local businesses andorganisations.

“Coutts, Barclays Wealth, Grosvenor,Credit Suisse, Boodles are allsponsors and make our jobeasier by bringing their clientswith them.

“We’ve never had an ounce ofthis co-operation in London.

“Everyone’s saying this isgood for Liverpool and askinghow they can help.”

Heathcotes signed a £300,000contract for the show’s catering.

“It’s a first-time event, sothere are mistakes to be corrected andproblems to be solved,” admitted MrMackenzie.

“But I want to underline the team isenjoying it. We’re passionate about deliv-ering a top event.

“It’s more than just a boat show, it’sabout getting a vast number of peoplehere to enjoy themselves.”

James Gower, LBS event director,whose idea the show originally was, said:

“The plan is for the Liverpool Boat Showto carry on for many years.

“The new pontoons in Albert Dock areover-engineered for extra buoyancy andlongevity to provide 280 berths.

“They are 4m wide, instead of the 2mwide ones they replaced, to deal with thebiggest crowds.

“Southampton Boat Show started 40years ago with 12 boats in a makeshiftex-Army marquee. It now attracts 100,000visitors and is worth £50m to the localeconomy.

“We hope Liverpool Boat Show willinitially be worth about £30m to the localeconomy and be one of Europe’s best.

“The setting, among the UK’s largestgroup of Grade I-listed buildings, ensuresit will become one of the best-loved andmost popular boat shows anywhere.

“It’s a fantastic canvas, which con-trasts with the soulless exhibition hallshows of Paris and Dusseldorf.

“When we first started working on thisevent, in 2006, there was no LiverpoolArena & Convention Centre, no Capital ofCulture and the hotels were just notthere. That’s all changed.”

There will be around 250 land-side-based exhibitors, including elec-tronic firms, component suppliers and

A BAR owner in Liver-pool once described histrade as “high-volumevertical consumption”.

This involves peopledrinking lots of boozewhile standing. There areno chairs or tables in thebar. Clearly, the aim is topack in the punters andget them drunk. The con-sequence of high-volumevertical consumption is,of course, high-volumehorizontal emission.

I don’t visit Liverpoolcity centre’s nightspotsall that often, partic-ularly not on the bignights at the weekend. Incommon with manyother town centres, Iexpect Liverpool to bedominated by drunkenyouths. Not my scene.

Nor do I expect govern-ment measuresannounced yesterday, toimpose a minimum priceon a unit of alcohol, willhave any perceptibleeffect on demand forhigh-volume vertical con-sumption services.Indeed, Royal LiverpoolUniversity Hospital liverspecialist Professor IanGilmore has made hisview known that the lowminimum price level setby the Government willcost lives, often relativelyyoung lives. It should, heinsists, have been setmuch higher.

One reason the lowminimum price won’thave any effect is thatdemand for alcohol iswhat economists call“price inelasticity”. Arise in price won’t stopmany people drinking.The Government exploitsthe price inelasticity ofalcohol for its own endsevery time it increasesduties on wines, beersand spirits.

It will take more thanmild economic measuresto change drinkinghabits. We could revert tomore restrictive openingtimes to limit the damagedone by drinking in pubs,but then people are freeto drink at home. So whatcan you do?

On the one hand, itseems a pity that the pro-motional methods of thecity centre night timeeconomy contribute toserious health problems,

but there again it’s a freeworld and everybody isfree to follow the exampleof those that find otherthings to do with a Sat-urday night.

TECHNOLOGY is chang-ing our world rapidly,and not always for thegood or in ways that areeasy to understand, con-trol or predict.

Take the US/IsraeliStuxnet cyber attack onIran’s nuclear facilities.In some senses, this is aningenious alternative tothe use of conventionalmilitary force. Yet, on theother hand, it is a sign ofthe dangers all societiesface from cyber attacks,whether perpetrated bystates, terrorists, crimin-als or obsessive geekswith nothing better to do.

The cleverness ofStuxnet is hard to gaugefrom here. It might nothave been particularlyclever at all, but was nev-ertheless able to getaround poor Iranian com-puter security measures.

The question now ishow will the Iraniansrespond?

Clearly, they don’t havethe option of attackingthe US or Israel usingconventional arms, sothey might be tempted toretaliate in kind by vis-iting a software attack onthe US, Israel or, perhaps,western banks.

States can always talkto each other and settletheir differences. Imag-ine, though, if a criminalgang persuaded a bank ithad implanted a similarbug into its IT systemsand threatened tounleash it unless moneychanges hand.

IT’S a good thing thatProfessional Liverpoolwill continue, though ina scaled-down form.

Certainly, tenacity hasbeen shown to keep thething going after its pub-lic funding dried up.

A bit odd, though, thatthe people running itwon’t tell us how muchthe new pro bono volun-tary organisation hasraised to fund its activ-ities. The secrecy couldwell reflect touchinessabout just how small thedonations have been.

BillGleeson

‘Boatbuilderswanttobe inLiverpool’


Countdown to city Boat Show

New events company wasset up to run boat show

Rob Mackenzie, Liverpool Boat Show managing director, takesthe helm at the Albert Dock site

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holiday companies. The Guinness Bar, aonce popular fixture of London BoatShows, has signed an exclusive contractwith LBS.

“We’re trying to create somethinganimated with character that’s notsterile, but has high water interactivity,”said Mr Mackenzie.

“There will be an AquaTheatre, water taxis and majorregattas on the river both week-ends organised by Royal Liver-pool Yacht Club and kindredclubs.

“We’ll have boating master-classes, have-a-go kayaking, tallships, heritage feature boats,canal narrow boats, historicboat parades and a marine lit-erary festival.

“Now the Leeds and Liverpool Canallink terminus is at Canning Dock, I thinkattending the Boat Show for the water-ways community will be a very popularand romantic notion.

“We’ve even integrated the ComedyFestival into the event. Our mobile musicbarge for 30 – 40 bands will be a huge hit.

“The highly experienced BernardDavis, who has organised LiverpoolShanty Festivals, has done a great job

putting this together.” Liverpool CruiseTerminal will also be utilised for tallships and two warships that will be opento the public.

Jo Cardew, marketing manager, said:“We’re reaching out to 1.2m boatingenthusiasts through every media means.

“This includes newsletters, advert-ising, affiliated clubs, the trad-itional specialist, local andnational press and latest digitalmethods through Twitter anddedicated e-shots.

“The main campaign shouldreach 35m people, includingLondon press and Tubeadverts.”

Other key local partnersinclude Ryanair, Easyjet, Liver-pool John Lennon Airport, Mer-

seytravel, The Mersey Partnership andVisit Liverpool who will provide a jointpromotional message.

Liverpool One will display a brandedboat and the M62 Rocket flyover will beadorned with a light display.

“We’ve got the necessary critical massof exhibitors,” said Mr Mackenzie.

“As Jack Nicklaus used to say, ‘We’recoming down the 18th with a chance towin’.”

MARITIME Industry Events wasstarted two years ago specific-ally to run the Liverpool BoatShow (LBS).

It now has 15 staff based inCamden, London, but the man-agement team visits Liverpoolevery week.

Rob Mackenzie, LBS chiefexecutive and operations dir-ector, formerly ran the BritishInternational Motor Show.

James Gower, LBS marketingdirector, held similar posts withthe London and SouthamptonBoat Shows.

LBS organising partners haverun the Liverpool Tall ShipsRaces and Liverpool Internat-ional Festival of the Sea.

The electrical site has beencompleted and the structuralsurveys for the temporarystructures, marquees and seat-ing are finished.

The first draft of the eventmanagement plan was pub-lished last week. Confirmedexhibitors are already orderingtheir services.

Sir Robin Knox-Johnson, LBSchairman and acclaimedround-the-world yachtsman,said: “This will be a big event.

“The Irish Sea area has beenignored for far too long as alocation for this kind of show.

“We’re at a stage whereexhibitors can’t afford not to behere.”

Cllr Joe Anderson, LiverpoolCity Council leader and a keensupporter of everything mar-itime, said: “This will be a fan-tastic event.

“We have 28,000 peopleemployed in the maritime sec-tor in the Liverpool city region,so it’s a great place for theshow to be.”

Rod Holmes, The Mersey Part-nership (TMP) chairman,agreed, saying: “Our maritimeindustries are a transformationsector and we employ morepeople in it than they do inLondon.”

Also, this event crosses overinto another of the four TMPtransformational sectors, tour-ism and culture and is valued at£30m for the local economy.

Judith Feather, Liverpool CityCouncil head of events, said:“We have a great reputationnow for hosting big events,especially maritime ones, andthis fits in very well.”

‘Showcouldbeworth£30mtoeconomy’

privatebusiness

THE rising cost of itsraw materials causedcorrugated cardboardbox manufacturer TRMPackaging to endurepaper-thin marginswhile enjoying strongorganic sales growth.

The firm, whichemploys 230 people atits Burscough factory,uses 40,000 tonnes ofpaper a year producingmore than 600,000boxes every day for thegiants of the food sec-tor.

Paper prices rose60% during its finan-cial year, to August,2010, and the companywas unable to “recoverthe full impact of theincreases from custom-ers”.

However, it is work-ing with its customersto restore marginsthrough supply chaininitiatives and higherbox prices in the firsthalf of 2011.

It also believes thatthe improvement in thevalue of sterling shouldmake the UK moreattractive to overseassuppliers, which willhelp to stabilise prices.

Sales rose 12% to£27.6m – and it is look-ing to grow its turn-over by up to 50% inthe next three years –although its pre-taxprofits fell 70% to£141,000.

Managing directorTrevor Maund, whobought the company in2001, remains commit-ted to a strategy ofinvesting while the eco-nomy remains difficultso that it has the cap-acity to grow when theupturn comes.

In August, itinstalled a £2.2m addit-ion to its corrugator,which itself cost £6m,in the second phase of a£12m investment plan.This incurred an excep-tional cost of £233,000.

Backing for theexpansion has comefrom the commercialbanking team at HSBC,in Liverpool, which isproviding a £4.5mequipment financefacility and a £6minvoice finance facility.

It also received£1.2m from the North-west DevelopmentAgency through itsGrants for BusinessInvestment scheme.

ALEX TURNER

Organicgrowthat paperfactory


Ashtead bowsout of joint bidfor LavendonCONSTRUCTION equip-ment rental companyAshtead and Belgianfirm TVH have aban-doned their joint bidto buy equipment hiregroup Lavendon.

They will not makea further bid aftertheir offer was rejec-ted as undervaluingthe company.

Ashtead’s UK arm,A-Plant, employs 90people in Warrington.

Brewer toastsUK growthBREWER SABMillerreported continuingstrong growth in theUK in the thirdquarter of 2010.

The group, whichbrews Peroni NastroAzzurro and Miller,reported that lagerand soft drinksvolumes were up 3%and 5% respectivelyacross its global oper-ations.

Experian boostCREDIT informationprovider Experianreported a 4% salesincrease in the UK andIreland in the finalquarter of 2010. Saleswere up 12% acrossits global operationsin the period.

Betting lossSPREAD betting firmIG Group said it madea £69.1m pre-tax lossin the six months tothe end of November.

briefing InflationriseputspressureonBanktolift interestrate

Rate challenge: Bank of England Governor Mervyn King

The price of cauliflowers went up 75.6% as farmers were hit by the big freeze

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A BIGGER-THAN-EXPECTED rise ininflation heaped more pressure on theBank of England to increase interestrates as economists warned the cost ofliving is likely to continue to soar.

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI)rate of inflation rose to 3.7% lastmonth, its highest level since Apriland up from 3.3% in November, theOffice for National Statistics (ONS)said. Economists were expecting therate to rise to 3.4%.

Surging food costs, nudged up by theweather disruption, energy bills andpetrol prices led to a month-on-monthprices increase of 1% between Novem-ber and December, the biggest monthlyrise since records began in 1996, theONS added yesterday.

The figures will provide little cheerfor homeowners as some analysts pre-dict the Bank of England will be forcedto lift interest rates as early as thesummer to curb inflation.

The figures also prompted a warn-ing from union leaders that higherinflation could spark claims for payrises in the coming months, applyingfurther pressure on the Bank and itsGovernor Mervyn King to stop in-flation spiralling out of control.

The Bank, which is tasked withbringing inflation down to a 2% target,has resisted lifting interest rates fromhistoric lows of 0.5% as the wider eco-nomy battles with slow growth. Therate of CPI has been above its 2% tar-get every month since November, 2009.

Policymakers at the Bank’s Monet-ary Policy Committee (MPC) believethe period of stubbornly high inflationis being caused by temporary factors.

As the Chancellor’s belt-tighteningausterity measures start to kick in, theBank will be under further pressurenot to throw the fragile recovery offcourse.

Sterling was around 1% higheragainst the dollar as traders factoredin the chances of an earlier-than-expec-ted rise in interest rates.

The rate of inflation is likely to soarpast 4%, economists said, as Decem-ber’s figures did not include theimpact of the VAT hike from 17.5% to20%, which came into force on Jan-uary 4.

Philip Shaw, chief economist atbrokers Investec, said the rate of in-flation could hit 4% next month andremain above target in 2012.

He said: “A sustained rise in com-modity prices would probably result ininflation remaining above the 2% tar-get throughout next year as well, des-pite the effects of this year’s VAT hikedropping out of the calculation.

“Given this background, it willbecome more and more difficult for theMPC to stave off a tightening in mon-etary policy.”

Alan Clarke, economist at BNP Pari-bas, predicted a rate rise as early asMay. He said: “It confirms my suspic-ion that the first rate hike will comethis year, the only question is howsoon. Our call is August, but clearlythere is a risk it comes as soon asMay.”

Howard Archer, chief UK andEuropean economist at IHS Global

Insight, said the Bank may have to liftinterest rates in the short-term toprove it is paying attention to thetroubling figures.

He said: “Despite the undeniably sig-nificant rise to growth coming fromthe fiscal tightening that is nowincreasingly kicking in, there ismounting pressure on the Bank ofEngland to enact at least a tokennear-term interest rate hike to sendout the message that it has not takenits eye off the inflation ball.”

But Brian Hilliard, economist atSociete Generale, said despite the pres-sures, he did not expect an interestrate hike next month.

He said: “The Bank of England hasalready predicted in the December

minutes that the inflation rate wouldtouch 4% in the spring, so is unlikelyto be bounced into a February rateincrease by this data or by January’s,which should be provided to the MPCin time for that meeting.”

The rise in inflation saw TUC gen-eral secretary Brendan Barber call forChancellor George Osborne to recon-sider the VAT hike.

He said: “Fuelling inflation with aVAT hike will hit workers in theirwage packets and shopping receipts.This tax rise is bad for working fam-ilies and damaging for the economy,too.”

The rise was driven by a 1.6%increase in the price of food, thehighest rise for a November to Decem-

ber period, and a 3.6% surge in trans-port costs, the highest monthlyincrease on record.

The big freeze pushed up the priceof vegetables in December as supplieswere choked by disruption to dist-ribution channels and crop damage.

The ONS said cauliflowers were par-ticularly badly hit by the Arcticweather, which caused a shortage thatled to a 75.6% rise in prices.

There were price hikes across mostbread and cereals, aggravated by thewildfires that wrecked Russia’s har-vest and caused the country to imposean export ban.

The price rises brought in by utilitycompanies also started to feed throughto consumers in December, with gasparticularly badly affected, pushing upthe cost of housing and household ser-vices by 1.4%.

Five of the “big six” energy firms –Scottish & Southern, Scottish Power,British Gas, npower and E.ON – haveall unveiled bill hikes in the last twomonths.

Petrol prices also continued to riseto £1.22 per litre, the ONS said.

Air fares were up by 41.8% betweenNovember and December, comparedwith a 41.7% rise in the same period ayear ago.

But there was downward pressureon pricing from clothing and footwear,where prices fell by a higher-than-aver-age 1.9%, as the havoc caused by thesnow forced retailers to compete forsales.

byJamieGriersonandPeterCrippsLDPBUSINESSCORRESPONDENTSbusiness@liverpool.com

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BarclayshitasFSAhandsoutrecordretail fine

Getting back on track: a Docklands Light Railway train passesBarclays HQ, in London Picture: ALASTAIR GRANT

Santanderhasworktodo,admitsnewchiefexecutive

Citigroupreturnstotheblack Jessopsupbeat

SANTANDER’S new UK chiefexecutive, Ana Patricia Botin,admitted yesterday the bankhad “a lot of work to do” toimprove service standardsafter recent shocking figureson customer complaints.

In her inaugural publicappearance in the UK, MsBotin told MPs on the Treas-ury Select Committee thatimproving customer service

was one of her priorities sincetaking on the top job.

Ms Botin – the UK’s firstfemale bank boss – wasgrilled by MPs after recentdata from the Financial Ser-vices Authority showed Sant-ander had the highest numberof customer complaints of anyBritish bank. Santander,which employs more than2,000 people at its commercial

banking arm in Bootle, wasalso named as the worst bankfor customer satisfaction in arecent Which? poll.

Santander’s service levelsare said to have suffered asthe bank seeks to integratethe Alliance & Leicester andAbbey brands, snapped up aspart of aggressive expansionmoves in recent years.

The bank notched up

216,158 complaints in the firstsix months of 2010 – the mostof any banking brand –according to the FSA.

Ms Botin told MPs thebank’s service was “begin-ning to improve” by address-ing underlying issues such assystems and processes, whilealso hiring 1,000 new staff tohandle complaints.

Ms Botin was the latest

British bank chief to face MPson the cross-party committeeas part of its hearing on com-petition in the retail bankingsector. She confirmed Sant-ander was still in discussionswith the Government overlending commitments, after itwas revealed last week tohave pulled out of collectiveindustry talks on bonuses,dubbed Project Merlin.

BANKING giant Citigroupreturned to the black yester-day, after posting net income of$10.6bn (£6.6bn) in 2010.

Citi, which employs 11,000staff in the UK according to itswebsite and owns credit cardbrand Egg, posted a net loss of

$1.6bn (£1bn) in 2009. The bankadded that employee pay andbenefit expenses were down2% compared to the previousyear, to $24.43bn (£15.3bn).

Although the earnings camein under analyst expectations,the figures show Citi has

mostly recovered from thelosses that drove it to seek a£28.1bn bail-out from the USgovernment during the finan-cial crisis.

The results follow better-than-expected figures from JPMorgan last week.

CAMERA retailer Jessops signalled fur-ther progress in its recovery plan as itreported a 3% rise in like-for-like salesover Christmas.

The chain, which secured its survivalwith a rescue deal in September, 2009,said it successfully maintained deliveriesin the extreme weather.

BARCLAYS was yesterday fined £7.7mand will have to pay out up to £60m incompensation for investment advicefailings.

The fine, which is the largest yetlevied by the Financial ServicesAuthority for retail failings, comesafter the group failed to ensure twoinvestment funds it sold to more than12,000 people were suitable for them.

The regulator said that, despite thefact Barclays had identified poten-tially unsuitable sales were takingplace as early as June, 2008, it failed totake appropriate and timely action torectify the situation.

Between June, 2006, and November,2008, Barclays sold Aviva’s Global Bal-anced Income Fund and Global Cau-tious Income Fund to 12,331 people,who collectively invested a total of£692m.

But the group failed to ensure thefunds were suitable for customers,taking into account their investmentobjectives, financial situation andinvestment knowledge, despite the factthat most of them were either retiredor approaching retirement.

It also failed to ensure that salesstaff understood the risks associatedwith the funds, or that brochures andother documents given to customersclearly explained them and were notmisleading.

The FSA also found that Barclays

did not have adequate procedures inplace for monitoring sales andresponding promptly when problemswere identified.

It added that 1,730 of the just over12,000 investors had complained aboutthe advice they were given, the equiv-alent of around one in seven people.

During the investigation, Barclayscontinued to carry out its own pastbusiness review on the suitability ofthe sales of both funds.

It found that 51% of all of the Caut-ious fund sales and 74% of the Bal-anced fund sales required further con-sideration.

The group has already paid out£17m in compensation, and the FSAestimates that up to a further £42mcould be paid to customers whoreceived unsuitable advice.

Margaret Cole, the FSA’s managingdirector of enforcement and financialcrime, said: “The FSA requires firmsto have robust procedures in place toensure any advice given to customersis suitable.

“On this occasion, however,Barclays failed to do this and thous-ands of investors, many of whom wereseeking to invest their retirement sav-ings, have suffered. To compound mat-ters, Barclays failed to take effectiveaction when it detected the failings atan early stage.

“Because of this, and givenBarclays’ position as one of the UK’smajor retail banks, we view thesebreaches as particularly serious andfully deserving of what is a very sub-

stantial fine.” Barclays apologised toits customers for letting them downand said it was determined to “putthings right”.

Paul McNamara, managing directorof insurance and investments atBarclays, said: “Barclays has workedin an open and co-operative way withthe FSA from the start of the invest-igation through to settlement of thismatter.

“The FSA said that it does not con-sider that Barclays deliberately or

recklessly contravened regulatoryrequirements.

“We are focused on ensuring thatwe identify those sales which wereunsuitable, and provide appropriatecompensation so that affected custom-ers do not suffer loss.

“We know that on this occasion welet our customers down and did not doall we could have done to meet thehigh standards that our customersexpect from us, and for this we aresorry.”

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Takeoverbids forbuilder’sUS armHOUSEBUILDERTaylor Wimpey hasconfirmed takeoverapproaches for its USbusiness as it seeks tooffload the division andconcentrate on the UK.

Taylor said it was inthe early stages of con-sidering interest for theNorth American sub-sidiary, called TaylorMorrison.

The group – the UK’ssecond largest house-builder – wants to con-centrate on itsdomestic UK market,where it trades as Bry-ant Homes, LaingHomes and GeorgeWimpey.

Yesterday’s news onthe US business comesas Taylor said UKselling prices remainedstable throughout thesecond half of 2010,leaving the averageachieved across theyear at £171,000 – up7% on 2009.

But the number ofcompletions fell 2% andthe group said con-strained mortgagelending would continueto hold the propertymarket back in 2011.

Taylor said recentperformance in the USdivision was expectedto help pre-tax profitsbeat market forecasts –its second upgrade inas many months.

The group, whichbuilds houses in theUK, US and Spain andGibraltar, has alsodriven more cost sav-ings than it expected.

In the UK, it slashedbuild costs by 10% inthe first half of theyear, and is now expect-ing to beat targets for2011 after driving fur-ther savings in thesecond half.

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byTonyMcDonoughLDPDEPUTYBUSINESSEDITORtony.mcdonough@liverpool.com

UKproperty sectornowsubject tofull rigourofcompetition law

LAST summer, I recounted Labour’sunsuccessful attempts to extend com-petition law to land and property.

Well, the Coalition Government

has finished the job and, from April6, all property agreements (includingthose already in place) will be sub-ject to the full rigour of competitionlaw.

All agreements and restrictions inproperty documents are affected,including restrictive covenants lim-iting development or use, tenant’scovenants in leases and exclusivitycovenants given by landlords.

Anti-competitive agreementsbecome void and unenforceable, withthe parties facing significant fines –up to 10% of turnover – togetherwith damages claims and the inev-itable adverse publicity.

The Office of Fair Trading haspublished draft guidance containing

useful worked examples and aself-assessment flowchart.

A final version is promised beforeApril, although the basicprinciples are unlikely tochange.

Crucially, the draft guid-ance is not a charter toattack every restrictive cov-enant and exclusivityagreement, the overwhelm-ing majority of which willremain valid.

A restriction is only pro-hibited if it actually affectscompetition within the relevant mar-ket.

Residential properties will notgenerally be caught, nor will agree-

ments between undertakings withminimal market share, while blight-ing one site may be permissible if

alternative sites exist orthere is already healthycompetition.

There is even exemptionfor anti-competitive restric-tions which benefit con-sumers, for example, anexclusivity agreementrequired to secure ananchor tenant withoutwhom a new developmentwould not be viable.

Identifying the relevant marketwill frequently be problematic, aswill deciding whether an anti-com-petitive restriction offers sufficient

consumer benefit for the exemptionto apply. Clients seeking competitionlaw compliant clauses will be disap-pointed, since an identically-wordedrestriction may be valid in one scen-ario but void in another.

Furthermore, a perfectly validrestriction may become void at alater date if circumstances sub-sequently change.

Despite the impression given bythe guidance that only the worstexcesses will actually be pursued, wemust all become more circumspectin assessing the competition lawimplications of property transac-tions. Property is not exempt fromcompetition law, and anti-competit-ive restrictions may be challenged.

Greenregenerationplansforsite inEllesmerePort

‘This isnotacharter toattackallrestrictivecovenants’

EXPERTS at Colliers Internationalhave been appointed by Cheshire Westand Chester Council to plan a regen-eration strategy for turning land inEllesmere Port into a green techno-logy park.

The council has tasked the commer-cial property agency with creating anarea development framework (ADF)for land and buildings in the NewBridge Road area.

The ADF will set out a vision for thedevelopment and regeneration of the60 hectare site, identifying how it isintegrated with the land use planningsystem and promoting the successful

delivery and implementation of thescheme. It is hoped that an anchortenant will be in place at the new parkby 2013.

Andrew Delaney, lead director forthe study based at the North Westoffice of Colliers International, said:“We are delighted to have been appoin-ted to undertake this study.

“There are many strengths that canbe built upon as we look to developthis ADF.

“Ellesmere Port has outstandingaccess to the motorway network and astrong tradition in the energy sectorwith the local presence of world classcompanies such as Shell and EA Tech-nology.

“In addition, there are embeddedmanufacturing skills and a plentifulland supply, much of which is under

council control.” Mr Delaney addedthat the council intended to enhancethe economic prospects of EllesmerePort by improving its appearance andpublic transport links and increasingthe range of skills available to itsworkforce.

Colliers will lead a multi-disciplin-ary team to deliver a study to helpEllesmere Port to overcome theseproblems. It will provide commercialdevelopment, valuation, agency anddelivery advice.

The Liverpool office of Urban Prac-titioners will give advice on masterplanning, ARCA will provide architec-tural input and the Manchester studioof consulting engineers Stockley willbe responsible for advising on urbandesign, highways and movement,engineering and site conditions.

Tony Clark, manager for EllesmerePort in the special projects team atCheshire West and Cheshire Council,said: “It’s exciting times for EllesmerePort.

“The council has recently facilitatedthe establishment of the EllesmerePort Development Board, led by theprivate sector to set the agenda forinvestment and development in thefuture.

“The board will be committed toensuring that opportunities createdthrough its investment are sharedwith the local people to enable them toparticipate in new economic activity.

“This piece of work will set out anexciting vision for an important areaof the town, as Ellesmere Portembraces a new generation of energyindustries.”

Downingunveils£40mdevelopmentinYorkshireLIVERPOOL propertydeveloper Downing has sub-mitted plans for a £40m stu-dent accommodation devel-opment in Leeds city centre.

The scheme, designed byarchitects John McAslan &Partners, will create 568 stu-dent bedrooms and 4,500 sqft of retail space across threebuildings, next to the city'sinner ring road.

The plans include the con-struction of a 27,500 sq ftbuilding and the completerefurbishment of two exist-ing university buildings,providing an additional210,000 sq ft of student res-idential space.

Pedestrian access will beprioritised throughout thedevelopment.

Paul Houghton, develop-ment director at Downing,said: “Leeds is one of theUK’s key university citieswith a robust student mar-ket and, as we’ve seen withthe success of BroadcastingPlace, quality student devel-opments are in highdemand.”An artist’s impression of Downing’s £40m student accommodation scheme in Leeds city centre

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Auctionhousebridgingthe gapMERSEYSIDE propertyauction house SuttonKersh has teamed upwith Bridging FinanceSolutions (BFS) tomake funds availablequickly for potentialbuyers at auctions.

Sutton Kersh claimslack of finance fromtraditional lenders anda shortage of stock cre-ated an “incredibly dif-ficult” selling environ-ment for auctionhouses in 2010.

James Kersh, dir-ector at Sutton Kersh,said: “With so manyinvestors wanting tobuy in the current mar-ket conditions, it is thelack of funding that isbeing made available tothem that is preventingthe market from afaster rate of recovery.

“Those investors thatare able to make smartpurchases in thepresent market are setto be well rewarded inthe medium to longterm.”

RICSsayspropertyownersmustbeawareoffloodriskTHE Royal Institution of CharteredSurveyors (RICS) is warning propertyowners across the North West to bemore aware of the risk of flooding.

Due to changes in weather patterns,the RICS claims the region could facean increasing number of floods in thefuture, with properties not previouslyat risk of flooding potentially becom-ing vulnerable.

It says that of the 28m homes in theUK, more than 5m are currently atrisk, as well as more than 300,000 busi-ness premises and many more publicand utility services buildings.

While the chances for most of theseproperties of being flooded in any oneyear remains small, the damage anddisruption caused if a flood occurs isvery serious.

For those which have been floodedin recent years, the potential risk ofrepeated future flooding is much moresignificant and could affect insurancepremiums, the RICS says.

Flooding does not just occur whenrivers burst their banks.

Many properties are at risk from

other causes such as flood by surfacewater after heavy rain, by risinggroundwater, by exceptionally hightides or the bursting of water pipes ortanks inside a house.

RICS North West regional boardchairman, Dominic Thompson, said:“Flooding is a natural disaster whichcan seriously affect the value andamenity of your home or businesspremises, your insurance and the mar-ketability of it.

“All property owners and prospect-ive purchasers should be aware of thepotential risk for flooding of theirproperty.”

A new RICS consumer propertyguide to flooding – available free onthe organisation’s web site atwww.rics.org/flooding – advises prop-erty owners to undertake a moreaccurate assessment of the flood riskto their property.

The report also advises on the risksfrom the different types of flooding,including local ground and surfacewater flooding risks, not currentlyincluded on the EnvironmentAgency’s flood risk maps, and howflood waters may enter the propertycausing damage to the fabric and thecontents. Changing weather patterns could lead to more flooding

byTonyMcDonoughLDPDEPUTYBUSINESSEDITORtony.mcdonough@liverpool.com

Advertising Feature Independent financial advice

Start the New Year as youmean to go on: carefully“A HAPPY New Year! Butwhere do we start?,” asksGlyn Jones, of Vale Finan-cial Services.

He suggests a few gen-eral thoughts on things tobe aware of while trying toguess what changes areafoot, and he suggests wedeal with what we knowfirst.

He reports that ISAs arestill available and wellworth using to build upfunds in a favourable taxenvironment.

He commented: “Up to£10,200 per person everyyear can be squirrelledaway, with up to £5,200 incash.

“Act now, and in Aprilyou can do the same again.Therefore, if you have notused your allowances for2010, 2011, you could,within a few weeks, put£20,400 into ISAs. Forcouples, that equates to£40,800.”

Glyn says there aresophisticated planningtools available to help youchoose the investment thatbest matches the amount

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Regular income plansare available which aim toprovide a competitive

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He says the pensionworld is ever changing andthe new regime for occu-

pational schemes is stilldue to arrive in 2012,although it is likely to bephased in with largerfirms being the first tohave to introduce ‘work-place pensions’.

Glyn believes the logic issound enough. Not enoughis being saved, so employ-ers and employees will becompelled to contribute tothe employees’ pensionplans.

And he says there aremany firms with excellentschemes in place, andthere is discussion abouthow to preserve these bey-ond 2012.

There could be a tempta-tion to lower contributionlevels to the minimumrequirement.

Glyn says at the otherend of a pension’s lifethere looks likely to be anoption to avoid buyingannuity at 75 (now alreadyincreased to 77). But thereare, however, strict min-imum income require-ments in place.

He explains: “These aredesigned to avoid pension

funds being reduced tozero, with the attachedrisk of state dependency ata later date. These changeswill appeal to those withreasonable guaranteedincomes and sizeable pen-sion pots.”

Glyn says tax is animportant consideration inthis area.

He says annuities arelikely to remain importantfor many people as theyguarantee a lifetimeincome. “Much is made ofthe low rates currently onoffer, but consider that it ispossible to lock in a returnof over 6% for life, at age60, compared with aroundhalf that on, say, a one-yearbond.”

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LondonStockMarketatClose

Last night, the pound was worth: $1.5998 (up 0.0089)......... 1.1941 euros (down 0.0026)......... 125.40 yen (up 0.23)......... Its trade weighted index was 81.70 (unchanged)Metals in $ per troy ounce: Gold 1369.50 (up 9)............................Silver 28.79 (up 0.60) ............................Platinum 1824 (up 21) ........................... 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.ukAerospace & Defence

Index 3553.94 ▲ 56.95

241 79 Avon Rbbr 241

38834 29434 BAE Systems 36118 +1134

3663 2598 Chemring 3233 -23

27578 19214 Cobham 22612 +214

38078 25138 Meggitt 36758 -278

665 47338 Rolls-Royce Gp 661 +7

159 7812 Senior 157 -14

Automobiles & Parts

Index 5349.49 ▼ 25.72

23718 102 GKN 22834 -118

Banks

Index 5112.56 ▲ 37.61

14938 2258 Alld Irish 2414 +58

38318 25538 Barclays 30734 +118

986 610 Bco Santander 734 +3312

71958 59614 HSBC 70914 +534

15914 2134 Ireland 3038 +238

7758 4658 Lloyds Banking6734 -14

58 3114 Ryl Scotland 4278 +58

1959 1403 Stan Chart 172512 +2512

Beverages

Index 9666.58 ▲ 134.56

1304 79112 Barr (AG) 1065 +10

518 40438 Britvic 45134xd +158

1250 1000 Diageo 1250 +15

2306 1650 SABMiller 2209 +37

Chemicals

Index 7032.85 ▲ 27.42

1625 751 Croda 1602

143 5012 Elementis 13838 +514

2100 1446 Johnsn Mat 1985xd +5

Construction & Materials

Index 4138.07 ▼ 12.34

327 22934 Balfour Beatty 32414 -2

265 18512 Costain 22434 -112

182918 98058 CRH 1259 -1218

1383 88612 Kier Group 1356 +6

5512 2834 Low Bonar 5412 -1

119 7834 Marshalls 119 +234

Electricity

Index 7492.35 ▲ 70.75

42434 32614 Drax Gp 40012 -712

44858 28412 Intl Power 42618 +638

1258 1010 Scot&Sthrn 1213 +12

Electronic & Electrical

Index 2919.41 ▲ 25.70

659 32278 Domino Ptg 647 +5

17418 9834 Laird 17314 -14

27414 15934 Morgn Cru 27078 -118

736 231 Oxford Inst 68612 -7

377 98 Volex Gp 368 +2

Equity Inv Instruments

Index 6090.47 ▲ 43.97

37778 29312 Alliance 37618xd +518

14012 10418 Br Assets 13914 +158

870 503 Candover Inv 660 +9

22712 17118 Dunedin IncGth 21914 +1

14012 9934 Dunedin Sml 14012

46714 36418 Edin Invst 44134 +118

650 528 Edin US Trkr Tst 64112

31614 25138 Forgn & C 31614 +314

29912 19214 Hend Smllr Cos 29912 +2

36278 267 Law Debenture36134 +334

25034 17834 Scot Am 242 +114

522 40978 Witan 517 +412

Fixed Line Telecoms

Index 2369.03 ▲ 8.71

19034 10978 BT Gp 184 xd +34

14814 4438 Cable&WComm 5014 +18

93 6012 Cable&WWwide6978 xd -14

60 41 KCOM 5934xd -14

Food & Drug Retailers

Index 4787.44 ▲ 4.75

30614 25758 Morrison W 271 +338

395 31278 Sainsbury 385 +412

45438 37712 Tesco 409 -112

125 74 Thorntons 9534 +14

Food Producers

Index 5064.80 ▲ 21.73

1182 87312 AB Foods 1116xd +4

674 42712 Carrs Mill 674 xd

90712 726 Cranswick 84612xd+1112

42478 329 Dairy Crest 41038xd +478

6612 4134 Nth Foods 6214xd +1

3558 16 Premier Foods 2034 +34

546 38834 Tate Lyle 538 -4

1997 1688 Unilever 1890 +9

28 638 Uniq 658

Forestry & Paper

Index 5622.65 ▼ 70.01

55712 33814 Mondi 522 -612

General Financial

Index 6449.55 ▲ 20.41

340 250 3i 332 +434

88812 664 Close Bros 887 +1112

57012 294 ICAP 56812xd -1

906 544 Lon Stk Exch 86812 -12

99912 72812 Provident 97112 +1012

1150 76212 Rathbone 1140 +4

1922 1116 Schroders 1851 +10

General Industrials

Index 3253.62 ▼ 6.36

68712 36738 Cooksn Gp 641 -212

634 478 Coral Prod 634

1012 338 Cosalt 378 -14

35618 27612 Rexam 34514 -414

226 10378 Smith DS 220 -1

1388 99512 Smiths Gp 1388 +7

General Retailers

Index 1775.32 ▲ 23.76

20 1112 Ashley L 20 +12

31114 20612 Brown (N)Group 31114 +338

79 53 Debenhams 6934 +34

3612 2138 Dixons Retail 2134 +38

550 37234 Halfords 40912xd +34

29518 18812 Home Retail 22512xd +118

39434 23718 Inchcape 39434 +138

93312 56012 JD Sports Fshn 91912 +912

25 378 JJB Sports 412 -18

27114 19812 Kingfisher 27114 +714

42712 32338 M & S 38218xd +118

660 49114 Mothercare 55112xd +18

2344 1817 Next 2153 +53

2820 1652 Signet Jewelers 2670 -54

523 39814 WH Smith 499 xd +658

Health Care Equip & Serv

Index 4006.91 ▲ 26.35

714 53712 Smith Nph 714 +5

Household Goods

Index 6652.97 ▲ 137.77

141 74 Aga Rangemstr 120 -712

13734 70 Barratt Dev 101 +412

809 511 Bellway 680 +13

24738 114 McBride 16058 -12

3655 3037 Reckitt Benck 3491 +54

15178 9712 Redrow 13178 +178

44 2214 Taylor Wimpey 3818 +3

Industrial Engineering

Index 6808.98 ▲ 40.04

301 168 Bodycote 28938 -558

85312 567 Charter 82912 -812

38634 17334 Fenner 379 +1618

953 53012 IMI 953 +912

7712 4312 Molins 7412 -12

17712 115 MS Intl 17112xd -112

45 2012 Renold 4212

2025 1240 Spirax Srco 1902

1861 73512 Weir Gp 1688 -2

Industrial Transportation

Index 2568.10 ▲ 38.25

228 158 BBA Aviation 227 +118

Life Insurance

Index 4288.39 ▲ 38.46

435 29414 Aviva 435 +614

11118 6934 Lgl & Gen 11118 +3

69712 48712 Prudential 68812 -112

32858 21114 Resolution 25312 +158

23618 173 Standard Life 22478 +134

Media

Index 4196.26 ▲ 55.15

74612 52412 BSkyyB 746 +3

164 96 Chrysalis 15934 +12

590 43238 D Mail Tst 58212xd +312

7812 4814 ITV 7812 +34

1051 855 Pearson 1006 +5

563 46058 Reed Elsevier 560 +612

125 47 STV Group 12214 +14

17018 6412 Trinity Mirror 93 +1

712 40934 Utd Business 712 +1112

151 95 UTV 133 -3

802 57212 WPP 802 +24

Mining

Index 27474.63 ▲ 380.61

3410 2254 Anglo Amer 3320 +3012

1634 761 Antofagasta 1531 +42

2616 168412 BHP Billiton 2502 +35

1682 66912 Fresnillo 1466 +27

1671 965 Kazakhmys 1665 +49

2113 1355 Lonmin 1896xd +9

6655 4209 Randgold Res 5150 +105

4584 2812 Rio Tinto 4450 +6512

7512 3234 UK Coal 54 +2

Mobile Telecoms

Index 4083.26 ▲ 82.85

821 60612 Inmarsat 642 +412

17834 12912 Vodafone Gp 17834xd +334

Nonlife Insurance

Index 1567.31 ▲ 14.70

1693 1114 Admiral Grp 1620 +49

1055 728 Brit Ins Hldgs 1055 +1

173258 128514 MarshMcL 174138 +10

13658 11434 RSA Insurance 13534 +34

Oil & Gas Producers

Index 8597.66 ▲ 157.26

1366 984 BG 1366 +5212

65538 30278 BP 509 +814

49314 31814 Cairn Energy 45412 +714

2025 1017 Premier 2013 +8

215912 1554 RylDShellB 212912 +3112

1388 99112 Tullow Oil 1374 +9

Oil Equipment & Services

Index 25736.50 ▲ 423.10

1226 73312 AMEC 1224 +19

Personal Goods

Index 19427.67 ▲ 810.31

1156 59012 Burberry Gp 1115xd +56

409 23434 PZ Cussons 398 -318

Pharma & Biotechnology

Index 8729.58 ▼ 42.22

3385 2732 AstraZeneca 300512 +27

131812 1095 GlaxoSmthKln 118112 -2312

8612 31 Vernalis 4314 -12

Real Estate

Index 1958.11

35314 28438 Big Yellow Gp 336 -214

537 41814 Brit Land 532 xd +1112

2870 2157 Daejan Hldgs 2700

36914 27918 Gt Portland 36212 +78

707 545 Land Secs 69812 +512

34114 25014 SEGRO 30034 +2

Software & Comp Servs

Index 719.25 ▲ 5.18

1975 1271 Autonomy Corp 1463 -2

5314 3012 Emblaze 4914 -12

36414 23014 Invensys 35978 +112

12612 8512 Kewill 8734xd -34

14778 10134 Logica 13718 +214

289 22218 Sage 28678 +334

Support Services

Index 4523.99 ▲ 51.87

26 514 AEA Tech 6

1685 882 Aggreko 1542 +31

17678 77 Ashtead Gp 17014 +1118

44978 36014 Berendsen 44978 +812

777 61612 Bunzl 775 +812

826 63512 Capita 730 +1212

994 54912 De La Rue 829 +41

27912 17434 Electrocmps 262 xd +1

819 572 Experian 779 xd +312

28312 23734 G4S 27334 +238

43412 20014 Hyder Cons 42312 +812

29634 18312 Interserve 29634 +1434

510 29612 Menzies J 43612 +112

30512 15214 Northgate 29712 -8

30438 174 Prem Farnell 28918 +314

13812 8734 Rentokil 10478 +318

126 96 Smiths News 10314xd

3614 1914 Speedy Hire 2914xd +114

1127 66412 Travis & P 1101 +13

2195 1223 Wolseley 2187 +7

Tech Hardware & Equip

Index 724.51 ▲ 21.31

53612 18812 ARM Hldgs 53612 +22

55 2114 BATM 23 +34

10012 7134 Psion 9514 -112

16014 10234 Spirent Comms 13814 -118

Tobacco

Index 27547.90 ▲ 177.13

2521 1959 Br Am Tob 237112 +1812

2154 1753 Imperial Tob 1926 +6

Travel & Leisure

Index 5162.66 ▲ 40.45

305 18414 Brit Airwys 30018 +318

3153 2037 Carnival 3109 -10

594 42518 Compass Gp 576 +9

49612 34858 easyJet 454 +678

13914 8438 Enterprise Inns 10818 -218

41258 336 FirstGroup 398 xd -38

1490 1042 Go-Ahead Gp 1306 -12

49138 37614 Greene King 45918xd +2

360 240 Holidaybreak 332 +314

1332 887 Intercontl Htls 1332 +9

16234 12234 Ladbrokes 13218 +334

11718 8234 Marston’s 10418xd +38

361 26512 Mitchells&Btlrs 35534 +414

101 58 Punch Taverns 71 +78

13812 89 Rank Gp 13138 -58

31078 18814 Restaurant Gp 31078 +13

224 16034 Stagecoach 211 +14

272 17134 Thomas Cook 202 -234

30838 190 TUI Travel 27038 +38

1887 1266 Whitbread 1826 +8

Utilities

Index 4468.57 ▲ 78.35

34618 26378 Centrica 33512 +634

1093 83712 Dee Valley 1070

663 48414 National Grid 54012xd +812

650 48278 Pennon Gp 650 +13

1499 1086 Severn 1446xd +30

62812 507 Utd Utils 57012xd +712

AIM

Index 959.68 ▲ 1.01

18 614 API Gp 1512

1534 7 Armour Gp 712 -14

46712 19012 Cape 46714 -14

2534 1414 Chapelthorpe 2334

134 78 Crimson Tide 114

234 112 Dawson Intl 134

734 414 Eckoh 7

3214 1534 Johnson Serv 3012

110 3034 Man Brnze 42 -1

1114 4 Metalrax 9 -18

550 305 Portmeirion P 49212

17312 12312 Redhall Gp 162 xd

4014 1112 Scapa Gp 3734 -1

912 334 Slimma 334

150 115 Swallowfield 135

670 485 Young A 616 -1612

7434 32 Adv Medical 6734 -1

26 514 AEA Technology 6 +18

282 236 Albany Inv Tst 282 +212

1226 73312 AMEC 1224 +19 -2

6534 2012 Anglesey Mining 62 -1 +334

327 22934 Balfour Beatty 32414 -2 +518

4112 2412 Beale 3212 +12

594 42518 Compass Gp 576 +9

634 478 Coral Prod 634

1093 83712 Dee Valley 1070

49612 34858 easyJet 454 +678 -11

90 57 IS Pharma 87 -12

93312 56012 JD Sports Fashion 91912 +912 +6312

25 378 JJB Sports 412 -18 -18

3214 1534 Johnson Serv 3012 +34

495 30234 Nichols 485 +2 -10

121 76 NWF 11712 +2 +1

34 1812 Park Gp 34 +2

1150 76212 Rathbone 1140 +4 -10

15178 9712 Redrow 13178 +178 +12

13658 11434 RSA Insurance 13534 +34 +358

3614 1914 Speedy Hire 2914 xd +114 +2

61 3534 Sportech 4234 -12 -34

3712 21 Telme Gp 37 +2

7512 3234 UK Coal 54 +2 +1012

2 78 Ultima 178 -18 -18

1997 1688 Unilever 1890 +9 -13

62812 507 Utd Utils 57012 xd +712 -18

UNIT TRUSTS

DAILY POST REGIONAL INDEX 1202.83 up 8.71 ▲ 0.73%wdffx

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 £7438 Cons 4%.................£7634 -22732

£582732 £48516 Cons 212% ............ £52532 +1532

Conversions

£8134 £672332 Cnv 312%.................£7118

£11134 £104 Cnv 9% 11 .............. £104 -132

Treasury

£61 £49732 Tr 212%................. £511732

£1181316£1102732 Tr 9% 12 ............. £113532

£1072132 £104916 Tr 5% 12 ............. £104916 -132

£9912 £9912 Tr 512% 08-12 .........£9912

£121516 £1171132 Tr 8% 13 ............ £1171132 -332

£114332 £109332 Tr 5% 14 ............. £110732 -332

£1121932 £106932 Tr 734% 12-15 .... £1061132 +332

£3181332£2911316 Tr 212% IL 16...... £3131316 -916

£142316 £13238 Tr 834% 17.......... £1341316 -932

£147132 £13234 Tr 8% 21 ............ £1361332 -716

War

£8334 £67716 War Ln 312% ........ £721516 -34

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.

Dec 27 - Dec 31 Jan 3 - Jan 7 Jan 10 - Jan 14 M T W T F5800

5870

5940

6010

6080FTSE-100

20-Day Moving Average

Share price (pence)

Jul 18, 2010 Jan 18, 2011720

840

960

1080

1200BURBERRY GROUP

FTSE-Rebased

£ ABROAD

Australia dollars 1.51 1.601 1.606

Canada dollars 1.49 1.585 1.587

Denmark krone 8.47 8.892 8.902

European Union euro 1.14 1.194 1.195

Japan yen 125.40 132.170 132.270

New Zealand dollars 1.92 2.075 2.080

Norway krone 8.88 9.338 9.339

Poland zlotys 4.06 4.618 4.626

Sweden krona 10.17 10.639 10.649

Switzerland francs 1.46 1.541 1.542

Turkey new lira 2.33 2.454 2.464

United States dollars 1.52 1.599 1.601

Cancel Bid Offer Yield

Fund Terms Price Price Gross

FIDELITY INVESTMENT SERVS

Amer Spec Sits - 611.30 -

American - 1841.00 0.32

Gwth & Inc - 335.30 1.15

Income Plus - 195.50 4.31

Japan - 257.00 0.36

Jpan Spec Sits - 139.20 0.72

Spec Sits - 2020.00 0.61

Sth East Asia - 766.50 0.15

GARTMORE FUND MANAGERS

Euro Sel Opps - 861.10 1.18

Income - 209.69 3.66

Pratical Inv -158.03 170.07 4.35

GUARDIAN

Index-Linked Acc -483.03 508.45 -

International Acc -1012.17 1065.44 -

Intnl. Initial -420.20 442.30 -

North American Initial -237.40 249.90 -

Pacific Acc -274.87 289.34 -

Pacific Initial -134.00 141.00 -

Property Bonds -1950.27 2031.53 -

HSBC INVESTMENT FUNDS (UK)

Balanced - 105.20 1.12

British -266.10 266.10 3.09

Gilt & FI - 62.18 3.50

Gilt & Fixed -208.70 208.70 3.31

Monthly Inc - 132.90 3.45

HENDERSON HORIZON FUND

European Opps A - 1726.40 1.42

European Smllr Cos A - 970.10 -

Sterling Bd Unit Tst - 52.03 54.36 4.40

UK Equity A - 401.60 1.91

UK Equity Inc A - 441.20 3.13

HILL SAMUEL UNIT TST MGRS

UK Advantage Inc - 258.60 1.20

Capital -315.17 327.78 1.30

European - 751.90 1.60

Far East - 556.20 1.70

Inc & Gwth - 205.00 4.10

International - 415.40 0.50

North Amer Acc - 457.10 0.50

INVESCO FUND MANAGERS

Sing ASEAN - 232.91 0.36

Smaller Cos - 85.85 0.05

US & Gen - 89.99 -

High Low Funds Price Var

Closing Indices

FT-SE 100 INDEX 6056.43up 70.73 ▲ 1.18%

20 DAY MOVINGAVERAGE 5996.21up 5.23 ▲ 0.09%

FT ALL-SHARE 3142.62up 34.33 ▲ 1.10%


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For all the latest local and national business news online, log on to www.ldpbusiness.co.uk

Wednesday, January 19Fish! Networking, themonthly Ubiquity PRinitiative for corporatebusiness and SMEs, isbeing held at the Med-iterranean eaterieSofrito, in Whitechapel,Liverpool. The freeevent is from5.30pm-7.30pm. For

details, [email protected] telephone 0151 7030917.

Thursday, January 20Open Coffee, a relaxedand informal businessnetwork, is takingplace at Bean Coffee,Brunswick BusinessPark. It is free to

attend, and providesthe opportunity tomeet and develop newcontacts with othersmall businesses fromacross Liverpool. Tobook, e-mail enterprisefacilitator Debbie Elli-ott-Brown [email protected]

Tuesday, January 25St Helens Chamber isholding a free patentclinic from 9am-12pm.Free advice will be

available from expertsfrom WP Thompson,who will provide a30-minute consultation.See www.sthelenscham-ber.com/events/

Tuesday, January 25Liverpool Chamber ofCommerce’s Januaryplatform lunch will seesix-minute presentat-ions from three busi-nesses. It is at Liver-pool Marina & Har-bourside Club, Coburg

Wharf, Sefton Street,from 12.15pm-2.30pm. Itcosts £25 for membersand £30 for non-mem-bers. To book, call 0151224 1860.

Thursday, January 27A social media morn-ing is being held at Liv-erpool Science Parkfrom 8.30am-10am.Speakers at the eventare Kathryn Corrick, ofEmarketeers; JoanneAllday, of Lan-

caster-based ShowingOff Academy; and Rus-sell Gannon, of Liver-pool-based online mar-keting and web designcompany, TogetherOnline. It is at Innov-ation Centre 2 (ic2) inBrownlow Hill. Toregister, visit www.liverpool science-park.co.uk

Friday, January 28Judith O’Brien, man-aging director of IT

Answers, will examineonline advertising andlook at how you coulduse it to great effectwithin your company.It is the latest in Liv-erpool Chamber ofCommerce’s series of60 Really UsefulMinutes seminars. It isfree to members and £5for non-members and isfrom 9am-10am. Tobook, visitliverpoolchamber.org.uk

FinancialstrengthofcorporatesectoroffersbesthopeA NOTABLE phenomenon, followingthe credit crisis, has been the financialstrength of the corporate sector – withthe exception of the banks – which hasbeen in sharp contrast to the indebted-ness of governments in the developedworld.

Companies controlled their costsgoing into the downturn, so that thesubsequent revenue recovery has ledto well above average corporate profitmargins. Companies also pared backtheir capital expenditure in order toconserve cash, with the result thattheir balance sheets are now verystrong, and returns on capital abnor-mally high.

American companies have$1.9 trillion of cash whileEuropean companies have$354bn; while this must beviewed in relation to thelonger term debt that corpor-ates also carry, the proportionof net debt to equity in the USis now at a 50-year low.

A source of frustration in2010 was that these healthyprofit margins and cash pilesdid not lead to a materialincrease in corporate spend-ing on capital equipment andjob creation.

The European sovereign debt crisisalarmed corporate managers andengendered fears of a double dip, andthis delayed the investment upturn,despite the fact that the ratio of capitalexpenditure to GDP was at multi-dec-ade lows in the US and Europe.

We are now finally starting to seeevidence that US corporates are begin-ning to hire again (judging by

improved weekly jobless figures), aswell as increase their capital expendit-ure.

This is encouraging andimportant because, givenconsumer fragility and gov-ernments unable to affordfurther economic stimulus,Western economies are nowunusually dependent uponthe corporate sector forfuture growth.

Another way that strongcorporate cash positions canbe deployed is throughacquisitions. Thomson Reu-ters estimates that globalmergers and acquisitionactivity in 2010 totalled $2.4trillion, up 23% on the year

before. However, this is only just overhalf the level of spend that was seen in2007 prior to the banking crisis, des-pite the fact that company valuationsare undemanding.

Acquisition activity therefore oughtto grow significantly in 2011. This ispositive for stock markets in the nearterm – as companies pay a premium inorder to secure their bid targets –

which should, in turn, enhance con-fidence about the economic outlook.

However, a longer-term risk is thatacquisitions could lead to job cuts ascompanies seek to generate cost effic-iencies. As in so many other economicspheres, emerging markets are of rap-idly growing importance in relation tomergers and acquisitions, both as bid-ders and targets, and they representedone third of global acquisition activitylast year.

Provided that there are no nastysurprises to derail corporate man-agers’ burgeoning confidence – for

example a “hard landing” in China, orfailure to satisfactorily resolveEuropean sovereign debt concerns –then the corporate sector should be apowerful engine of growth in the Westfor the foreseeable future.

In this context, we feel that large,high-quality, globally diversified blue-chip equities with strong balancesheets represent the most attractiveasset class.

John Haynes,Head of Research,

Rensburg Sheppards

Internationally diversified corporates such as Shell are expected tohelp fuel growth in coming months Picture: DANNY LAWSON

LondonmarketTHE FTSE 100 Indexpushed to a new 2½-yearhigh yesterday, buoyed byreports that Europe’sbail-out fund may beenlarged.

The Footsie ralliedmore than 1%, or 70.7points, to 6056.4, as bank-ing and mining stocksrecovered from Monday’slosses.

The market wasboosted by talk that fin-ance ministers from someof the richest nations inEurope had agreed topump extra money intothe European StabilityFund at a meeting inBrussels.

The reports helpedreassure investors thatthe eurozone would beable to deal with anotherdebt crisis.

Fears surrounding theongoing debt woes on theContinent have troubledEuropean markets formonths, as uncertaintymounts over the future ofother key economies,including Portugal andSpain.

There were also suc-cessful bond auctions inSpain and Greece thatadded to confidence aboutthe eurozone.

Barclays, which isheavily exposed to theIberian peninsula, movedslightly ahead by 1.2p to307.8p, while HSBC added5.8p at 709.3p. But Lloydslost earlier gains, slipping0.3p, to 67.8p.

The euro strengthenedon the back of theimproved sentiment, andwas up against the poundat 1.19. But the pound wasup against the dollar at1.60 after official figuresrevealed UK inflationsurged to 3.7% in Decem-ber.

Fashion house Bur-berry topped the risers’board after it deliveredanother forecast-beatingtrading update.

The retailer surgedmore than 5%, up 56p to1115p, after underlyingrevenues rose 27% in thethird quarter.

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


Chapterandverseonwinningnewbusiness

Chris Fitzgerald – getting in training for a run for Red Nose Day, in March

■ RENSBURG Shep-pards investment

manager David Owen,below, took delivery thisweek of a 500 Abarth (asouped-up Fiat to you andme).

We’re hoping it’s thesame shade of white ashis old Fiat 500, in whichhe was wont to playmotorway snooker onlong journeys such wasits resemblance to a cue-ball.

You know, overtake ared car, then a black car,then another red car, andso on. David confides thatpinks and browns can bea bit tricky (UPS parcelvans being good forbrowns, hen party limosfor pinks) and that heonce recorded a break ofalmost 100 on a four-hourdrive to Bournemouth.

Given his job man-aging other people’smoney, we shouldn’treally be surprised at his

powers of arithmeticalconcentration. But Trad-ing Gossip can’t helpthinking the radio mightbe a better option.

■ YOU wouldn’t wantto have the CIA or

intelligence agenciesfrom some of the world'sfiercest regimes on yourback. But that, of course,is the fate of Wikileaks,whose hosting of leakeddiplomatic cables andofficial logs from the IraqWar has caused a diplo-matic storm.

Wiki, by the way, isgeekspeak for a websitethat anyone can edit,such as Wikipedia.

There are many suchsites about – so let's hopethe world’s superspiesdon’t follow the lead ofone visitor to LiverpoolScience Park and getwobbly with their wikis.

Spotting a sign for hi-tech company Scraper-wiki, the visitor washeard to say: “Ooh, look –is this where thatWikileaks is based?”

Scraperwiki, whichcreates software to gatherdata from dusty cornersof the internet to make iteasier to use, is uncon-nected with the infamouswhistleblowing website.But, if they see US tankson their lawn, they'd bewell advised to scarpersharpish.

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workingday

5.30am: It’s an early start for me todayas I’m off to my Friday morning BNInetworking meeting, which starts at6.30am. I have been in BNI for yearsand a member of the BNI PremierChapter which meets near LiverpoolMetropolitan Cathedral for 18 months.

It is a great group of people and it isan excellent opportunity to get busi-ness referrals as I get one or two eachweek – the most recent one was for acompany with 80 haulage vehicles.

10am: I get to the office and spendabout an hour checking through myemails before catching up with some ofthe 20 members of staff that work hereas we currently have a number ofexciting initiatives on the go.

11.30am: I meet with one of our cli-ents, Crest:Plus. They are based inChester and deal with 3,500 contract-ors and employees who they supply torecruitment agencies to work on short-term assignments – mainly in the con-struction and rail industries.

These assignments need a compre-hensive package of insurances and wework with Crest:Plus to provide themwith the cover they need. At any onetime, they have 20 ongoing claims –mostly relating to accidents on site –and so our team are busy working onthese.

1pm: I call Korec, a client based inCrosby, which supplies sophisticatedGPS surveying and mapping systems.Its equipment is used on high-profileconstruction projects, such as theOlympics and the M25.

The company has a new productwhich controls the operation of JCBsto both improve efficiency and reducecosts for contractors.

We discuss the kind of insurancecover they will need for this range ofhi-tech equipment.

1.30pm: I grab lunch at my desk but Ibelieve it’s always important to takesome kind of break, so I take 10minutes to have a walk around theblock and grab some fresh air.

2pm:I call MSB Solicitors as they wantto renew their motor fleet policy whichwe arrange for them.

We have a lot of clients based in theNorth West but also have clientsthroughout the UK stretching from

Scotland to the south coast of England,as well as parts of Europe, so every dayis varied in dealing with different cli-ents – both in the businesses theyoperate and the areas they are based.

2.15pm: Head to a meeting with Lang-tons, a firm of chartered accountantsbased in Old Hall Street, about renew-ing their professional indemnity insur-ance.

We work for a range of accountants,solicitors and charities, such as AgeConcern . We have recently added Liv-erpool-based charity Nugent Care toour portfolio of clients.

4pm: Arrive back at the office to holda conference call with a global insur-ance company we are working with, tooffer bespoke insurance packages forcompanies who supply the Ministry ofDefence (MoD).

It is common for contractors whowork with the MoD not to have com-prehensive insurance, which reflectsthe sophisticated products they areinvolved with.

This is potentially a huge growtharea for our business, which we arelooking to develop over 2011.

5pm: I put a quick call into a client

who I’m taking to the Liverpool matchthis weekend along with his two youngsons. I’m a huge Liverpool fan and I goand see them at every opportunity. It’sthe boys’ first time of going to a matchso I’m hoping for an exciting game anda good atmosphere for them.

6pm: I wait for the rush-hour traffic todie down and leave the office when theroads are a bit quieter for my com-mute back to Liverpool. When I gethome, I go for a run. In March I amdoing a run for Red Nose Day, so I’mgetting some early practice in afterover-indulging over the festive period.

ChrisFitzgerald isadirectoratChester-basedinsurancefirmAstburyWren.Helives inCalderstonesPark,Liverpool,withhiswife

liverpool daily posy business supplement 19.01.11

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