Go-ahead for £60m Manchester Citylabs expansion
Manchester City Council has approved plans from science and technology park operator Manchester Science Partnerships (MSP) for a £60 million investment in a two-phase expansion…
April 2017
Persimmon forward sales revenue up 11% to £2.56bn
York-based housebuilder Persimmon said in a trading update its total forward sales revenue was currently £2.56 billion, up 11% on last year. “We have 8,928 new homes sold…
Far East Consortium to deliver £1bn Northern Gateway
Far East Consortium International Limited (FEC) said it has been selected to work with the Manchester City Council to deliver the “Northern Gateway” — possibly the largest residential regeneration project ever…
N Brown profit falls to £58m on £901m revenue
Manchester-based specialist fit fashion retailer N Brown Group — whose brands include JD Williams, Simply Be and Jacamo — said its group revenue rose 4% to £900.7 million in the 53 weeks…
Boohoo.com revenue soars 51% to £294.6m
Manchester-based online fashion retailer boohoo.com said its revenue rose 51% to £294.6 million and profit before tax soared 97% to £30.9 million in the year to February 28,…
France’s SNCF joins Stagecoach, Virgin West Coast bid
Stagecoach Group and Virgin Group announced they are joining forces with French high speed rail operator SNCF to bid for the UK’s West Coast Partnership…
Virgin Money credit card balances up to £2.7bn
Newcastle and Edinburgh-based challenger bank Virgin Money insisted it had maintained a “strong focus on asset quality” as its credit card balances grew about 8% to £2.7 billion in the…
Fishing Republic revenue up 41% amid store expansion
Rotherham-based fishing tackle retailer Fishing Republic, which had an IPO in 2015, said its revenue rose 41% to £5.8 million and profit before tax and exceptional items climbed 32%…
Leeds gets £173m transport funding package
Leeds is set to benefit from a £173.5 million UK government funding package that will provide high frequency busways, improved park and ride facilities and better stops…
Phoenix sells Preston’s Key Retirement for £208m
Private equity firm Phoenix Equity Partners agreed the sale of Preston-based Key Retirement Group (KRG), a provider of financial products for retirees, to funds managed or…
Premier clubs in £110m losses despite £3.6bn revenue
English Premier League clubs’ aggregate revenues increased 9% to a record of £3.6 billion in 2015-16 — but the clubs made combined pre-tax losses of…
May calls for snap UK election on June 8
UK Prime Minister Theresa May has announced plans to call a snap general election on June 8 — having decided she needs to win support for…
Approval for £29m Newcastle Science Central plan
Plans for a new £29 million Learning and Teaching Centre at Newcastle Science Central have been approved. The flagship development will seat 750 people in its auditorium….
Manchester Airport March passengers up 10% to 1.9m
Manchester Airport continued its period of double-digit growth with 1.9 million passengers flying through the airport’s three terminals in March — 10.1% more than the same…
JD Sports profit up 81% to £238m; revenue £2.38bn
Shares of Bury-based JD Sports Fashion soared to new highs after it said its profit before tax increased 81% to £238.4 million on revenue up 31% to £2.38 billion for…
Yorkshire Bank owner pledges £6bn small firm lending
CYBG, owner of Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks, said it will make a minimum of £6 billion of lending available from 2017 to 2019 to help fuel…
Skipton sells £220m portfolio of mortgage loans
Skipton Building Society said its subsidiaries Amber Homeloans Limited and North Yorkshire Mortgages Limited agreed the sale of a £220 million portfolio of mortgage loans to…
Co-op Bank says it received several offers in sale bid
Manchester’s up-for-sale Co-operative Bank said on Friday it received a number of “non-binding proposals from strategic and financial parties” and that it selected several to go forward to…
Relegation bites as Newcastle Utd profits plummet
Newcastle United Ltd said revenue fell 3% to £125.8 million in the year to June 30, 2016 — during which it was relegated to the EFL…
£9.5bn revenue, but bank drags Co-op to £132m loss
The Co-op Group, based in Manchester, said its operating profit rose 32% to £148 million on revenues up 3% to £9.5 billion in the year to December 31. However, the mutual recorded a…
Leeds’ Dart Group lifts profit expectations
Leeds-based leisure and logistics firm Dart Group, owner of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays, said in a trading update it expects underlying profit before taxation for the year ended March 31, 2017, to…
Utilitywise shares hit amid loss, chairman move
Shares of Newcastle-based utility consultancy Utilitywise fell more than 11% after it said executive chairman and founder Geoff Thompson would become non-executive chairman with immediate effect and…
NCC installs exec chairman amid upheaval
Manchester-based cyber security company NCC Group said on Monday it appointed Chris Stone as executive chairman with effect from April 6, 2017. “It is intended that he will…
Frenkel Topping shares soar as it considers sale
Shares of Manchester-based financial advisor and asset manager Frenkel Topping rose more than 11% after it said it is reviewing strategic options “including a potential sale…
Drax succeeds in $35m Louisiana Pellets bid
Selby, North Yorkshire-based power company Drax Group said that following the conclusion of an auction, Drax had been “provisionally successful” in its bid to acquire the assets of Louisiana…