Northern Financial Review

The owners of broadband giant TalkTalk Group have asked investment bank Lazard to review its options after several groups including Vodafone approached the Salford-based company…

Shares of Leeds-based Jet2 plc rose as much as 5% on Friday as the firm published a trading update showing that relaxation of UK travel restrictions in…

Newcastle-based house building giant Bellway said on Thursday it has agreed a voluntary pledge with the UK’s Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC)…

Yorkshire Water announced that after nearly 12 years with the company, nine as CFO and close to three years as CEO, Liz Barber is to…

Manchester-based Co-op Group said on Thursday its 2021 revenue was up £300 million against pre-pandemic levels to £11.2 billion but down slightly year-on-year from £11.5 billion in…

Salford-based investment platform AJ Bell said the FTSE 100’s total dividend pay-out is expected to reach £81.2 billion in 2022, compared to £78.5 billion in…

Marshalls plc, the Elland, West Yorkshire-based stone and landscaping firm, announced it entered into a conditional agreement to acquire pitched roof system manufacturer Marley Group plc…

Altrincham-based car dealership Lookers plc reported that its 2021 revenue rose 9% to £4.05 billion and underlying profit before tax soared to £90.1 million from…

Redrow plc, the Flintshire-based house building giant, announced it will make an additional provision of £164 million to fix fire safety issues. This provision will…

Newcastle-headquartered international bus and rail giant Go-Ahead Group announced it will reinstate its pre-Covid policy of paying a dividend to shareholders equivalent to between 50%…

York-based house building giant Persimmon plc announced it has signed the DLUHC’s Developer Pledge which “sets out the industry’s commitments to removing cladding and remediating…

Salford-based broadband giant TalkTalk Group announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Virtual1, one of the UK’s primary wholesalers of high bandwidth services….

Therme Group has unveiled an updated design for the £250 million Therme Manchester Wellbeing Resort it is working on with Peel L&P. Therme is a Vienna-based…

Bradford-based supermarket giant Morrisons has warned that its sales and core profit for the year could be hit by the war in Ukraine and rising…

Skipton Building Society has announced the appointment of Ian Cornelius as interim group chief executive from April 26. Currently the mutual’s commercial and strategy director,…

The latest UK Tech Talent Tracker from Accenture has revealed that the number of professionals with technology skills is expanding at a faster pace in…

Swiss Life Asset Managers and its subsidiary Mayfair Capital have acquired their first residential investment in the United Kingdom by purchasing the Duet development in Salford Quays…

Chesire-based NWF Group plc, the business that delivers fuel, food and agricultural feeds across the UK, announced that it “now anticipates full year results will be…

Shares of Rotherham-based Xeros Technology Group plc fell about 35% on Thursday after it published a trading update saying it is no longer likely to reach…

New analysis from exchange-traded products provider GraniteShares reveals that Manchester-based fashion giant Boohoo and Bolton-based online electrical retailer AO World plc were among the most shorted UK stocks…

Manchester-based Co-operative Bank Finance announced it priced its issue of green MREL-eligible £250 million fixed rate reset callable notes due 2027. MREL stands for “Minimum Requirement for…

Shares of Wakefield-based Team17 Group, the developer of video games and educational entertainment apps, fell as much as 7% on Wednesday as it warned that the Russia-Ukraine…

Leeds-based supermarket giant Asda announced that its 2021 total sales increased 0.5% to £20.4 billion “driven by a strong performance in home and outdoor and…

Shares of Croda International, the Snaith, East Yorkshire-based FTSE 100 speciality chemicals giant, rose 5% on Tuesday as it hosted a seminar for investors and analysts…

Newcastle-based house building giant Bellway said its revenue rose 3.5% to £1.78 billion and profit before tax climbed 9.8% to £307.6 million in the half…

Altrincham-based car dealership Lookers plc announced it has completed the sale and leaseback of a freehold dealership property in Battersea, London with Urban Logistics. “The sale…

Manchester-based Co-operative Bank Finance has announced it will begin marketing £200 million of potential green bonds. “The Co-operative Bank Finance p.l.c. will today begin marketing a…

Manchester-based Co-op Group announced that CEO Steve Murrells will step down following this year’s AGM in May and that it has appointed Shirine Khoury-Haq, group CFO and…

Shares of Liverpool-based high performance car brake disk manufacturer Surface Transforms plc soared as much as 35% on Thursday after it announced it signed a new…

Hull-based meat processing giant Cranswick on Thursday held a site visit for analysts and institutional investors at the company’s fresh poultry site in Eye, Suffolk….

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has told US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) it must address CMA concerns that its £7.1…

Sheffield-based property investment and construction group Henry Boot plc said its 2021 revenue rose 3.7% to £230.6 million and profit before tax soared 105.3% to…

Rotherham-based property and land regeneration firm Harworth Group said its net asset value increased 18% to £578 million in the year to December 31, 2021,…

Shares of Sunderland-based furniture and floorings retailer ScS Group rose as much as 5% on Tuesday after it announced a 50% increase in its interim dividend…

Manchester e-commerce, beauty and nutrition giant THG plc announced that corporate board veteran Charles Allen is joining THG as independent non-executive chair with immediate effect and…

Salford-based investment platform AJ Bell said it appointed Jamie Ward as head of investment “solutions” to help continue the growth of its investment business that now…

Manchester-based FTSE 100 firm Auto Trader Group plc has agreed to acquire Autorama (UK) Limited, which it called “one of the UK’s largest transactional marketplaces for…

By Mark McSherry Manchester-headquartered international law firm DWF Group plc has agreed two new “association agreements” — with Portuguese law firm Nobre Guedes & Associados (NGA)…

Manchester-based consumer products company PZ Cussons announced it has acquired Childs Farm, the UK baby and child personal care brand, for about £37 million in cash. “Joanna Jensen,…

Leeds-based VR (virtual reality) games studio XR Games has announced the acquisition of VR pioneers Fierce Kaiju, also based in Leeds, for an undisclosed sum. Founded…

Skipton Building Society announced that its 2021 profit before tax increased 129% to £271.8 million as it grew its membership to more than 1 million…

Shares of Newcastle-headquartered bus and rail giant Go-Ahead Group rose about 17% after the UK’s Department for Transport (DfT) issued a lower-than-expected £23.5 million fine…

Marshalls plc, the Elland, West Yorkshire-based stone and landscaping firm, said its 2021 adjusted profit before tax soared to £72.1 million, up 221% on 2020…

Wetherby-based diagnostics company Avacta Group plc announced that Vimian Group AB has acquired Avacta’s veterinary division Avacta Animal Health for up to £2.3 million. “Avacta Animal Health…

Shares of Leeds-based property investor and car park operator Town Centre Securities (TCS) rose about 18% on Wednesday after the firm published results for the six…

Real estate advisor CBRE said on Tuesday it has been appointed to sell the iconic Royal Liver Building in Liverpool for only the second time…

Doncaster-based DFS Furniture plc announced it intends to return £80 million to shareholders over a 12 month period as it announced results for the 26 weeks to…

Rotherham-based property and land regeneration firm Harworth Group plc announced it agreed a new senior debt package comprising a five-year £200 million revolving credit facility (RCF) together…

Bodycote, the Macclesfield-based heat treatment and thermal processing giant, said its 2021 revenue increased 3% to £615.8 million, including a full year contribution from its acquisition…

By Mark McSherry Leeds-based transport data analytics firm Tracsis plc said on Monday it has acquired RailComm LLC, a North American based rail technology software and services…

Shares of Sheffield-based international building materials supplier SIG plc rose about 10% on Friday after it published 2021 results showing underlying revenue up 22.4% to…

Shares of Barrow-in-Furness international marine engineering company James Fisher and Sons plc fell about 25% on Thursday after it published results for a “challenging and disappointing”…

Leeds Bradford Airport announced it is withdrawing its planning application for a replacement terminal building “following excessive delays and the decision to call in plans…

Shares of Manchester-based online fashion giant Boohoo rose about 17% on Thursday after it published a trading update saying it expects to report adjusted EBITDA…

Newcastle-headquartered bus and rail giant Go-Ahead Group announced the appointment of Royal Mail executive Sarah Mussenden as group chief financial officer with effect from May 9,…

Manchester-based Bank North, the new regional business bank for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), has made a raft of executive appointments as it ramps up…

Immobel Capital Partners, the investment management business of Immobel Group, announced it has agreed to acquire 50% of the White Rose Park green office campus near…

Sheffield-based Henry Boot announced that its property investment and development business HBD and its 50:50 joint venture partner Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF) have commenced…

Shares of Runcorn-based workwear and textile firm Johnson Service Group (JSG) fell about 14% on Tuesday after it published 2021 results showing revenue up 18% to £271.4…

The UK’s Financial Reporting Council (FRC) announced it has imposed sanctions — including fines totalling £910,000 — against KPMG and its former employee Michael Frankish…

Newcastle-based food-to-go retailer Greggs said on Tuesday its 2021 sales grew to a record £1.23 billion, a 5.3% increase on 2019.  Pre-tax profit for the year was…

Oslo-based Flokk, the European manufacturer of office seating products, has acquired Huddersfield-based Connection Seating Ltd, doubling its footprint in the UK. Through a combination of…

Leeds-based supermarket giant Asda has confirmed that it is removing products that originate from Russia from its stores and online platforms. Asda and its charity, the…

Shares of Manchester-based online fashion and home goods retailer N Brown Group fell as much as 20% on Thursday after it published a trading update for…

Newcastle Building Society said its gross mortgage lending for 2o21 was £861 million and net core residential lending was £330m compared to £645 million gross…

Shares of Gateshead-based Vertu Motors plc rose about 8% on Wednesday after it said it expects trading performance for the year ended February 28, 2022, to…

Merseyside-based Vimto and soft drinks firm Nichols plc said its revenues for the year ended December 31, 2021, rose 21.6% to £144.3 million and adjusted profit before…

Bradford-based Yorkshire Building Society said its mortgage balances in 2021 increased 8% to £41.9 billion, the highest in its history. Throughout the year the mutual…

Shares of Stockport-based musicMagpie — which allows consumers to buy, rent and sell refurbished consumer technology — fell almost 50% on Wednesday after it published…

York-based house building giant Persimmon plc said on Wednesday its profit before tax increased 23% to £966.8 million in the year to December 31, 2021…