Northern Financial Review

Walmart’s Leeds-based subsidiary Asda has reported a like for like sales decline of 0.3% for the first half of 2019 compared to the same period…

Leaders from across the North of England on Thursday called on the UK Government to commit to a “Northern Budget” to deliver a boost to…

Elland, West Yorkshire-based landscaping products company Marshalls plc said on Thursday its revenue for the six months ended June 30, 2019, grew 15% to £280.1 million…

Shares of Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct International fell 10% on Wednesday after it said in a stock exchange statement that Grant Thornton is to quit…

Manchester-based car dealership Lookers plc on Wednesday posted a 27.5% drop in first-half underlying pretax profit to £29.2 million amid what its CEO called “an…

Transport giant FirstGroup plc said on Wednesday its First Trenitalia partnership has been awarded the contract to operate the lucrative train services on the West Coast…

Doncaster-based plastic piping and ventilation systems firm Polypipe said on Tuesday its first-half revenue rose 6.2% tot £223.3 million with a strong contribution from recent acquisitions. First-half…

Shares of Wakefield-based greeting card and gift retailer Card Factory fell 5% on Tuesday after it said its second quarter was “a little weaker” despite total…

Sheffield-based Henry Boot Construction Limited has acquired a majority shareholding in Derbyshire-based Starfish Commercial Limited for a nominal sum. Starfish is a housing contractor and…

Shares of Sheffield-based Benchmark Holdings, the aquaculture health, genetics and nutrition firm, fell almost 30% on Monday after it produced a third-quarter trading update warning of…

The UK economy shrank for the first time since 2012 in the second quarter of 2019 as manufacturing and construction both slumped. Production output fell…

Shares of Manchester-based holiday retailer On the Beach Group plc (OTB) fell 17% on Friday after it issued a profit warning saying it has been hit…

Manchester-based Co-operative Bank plc said on Thursday it narrowed its statutory loss for the six months to June 30 to £38.5 million from a £39.5…

Newcastle-based house building giant Bellway on Thursday issued a trading update for the year ended July 31, 2019, saying its housing revenue is expected to rise by…

Sheffield-based property investment and construction group Henry Boot plc said on Wednesday it appointed former British Land executive Tim Roberts as its new chief executive…

Manchester-based online fashion giant Boohoo Group plc said late on Tuesday it completed an asset purchase agreement for British brands Karen Millen and Coast. The…

Forth Ports confirmed on Tuesday that — in partnership with Direct Rail Services (DRS) and Eddie Stobart — the freight rail service which provides a…

Manchester-based online fashion giant Boohoo Group plc confirmed on Tuesday it has made an offer to acquire the online business of Karen Millen and Coast. Boohoo…

Shares of Scarborough-based Sirius Minerals plc, the firm behind the controversial $2.9 billion fertilizer mine in North Yorkshire, fell 29% on Tuesday after it suspended a $500 million junk bond sale….

Peel Media and Legal & General Capital have secured a £292.5 million loan facility to fund the next phase of development at MediaCityUK in Manchester….

Atlanta-based real estate and investment giant Cortland said it acquired Leeds-based build-to-rent (BTR) specialist LIV Group for an undisclosed sum. Cortland said it now plans…

Wilmslow, Chesire-based pet and vet retailer Pets At Home said on Friday its first-quarter revenue grew 9.9% to £303.4 million — and said it expects…

Leeds Building Society said on Friday its assets have risen above £20 billion for the first time — up 6.9% to £20.7 billion from £19.4…

The Bank of England (BoE), the UK’s central bank, cut its growth forecasts on Thursday amid increased Brexit concerns and a slowing global economy. However…

Blackburn-based fuel station and convenience store giant EG Group announced yet another expansion in the United States with a binding agreement for the acquisition of Cumberland Farms. Cumberland…

Bradford-based Yorkshire Building Society’s recent interim results showed the member-owned mutual’s pre-tax profit fell to £76.5 million in the six months to June 30 from £88.6 million…

London Stock Exchange Group plc (LSEG) said on Thursday it agreed to buy financial information firm Refinitiv in an all-share $27 billion deal that would…

Skipton Building Society said its total profit before tax fell to £72.3 million in the first half of 2019 from £104.7 million at the same…

Shares of Intu Properties plc — which runs 17 shopping centres including Manchester’s Trafford Centre and Arndale Centre, Newcastle’s Eldon Square and Gateshead’s Metrocentre — fell about…

Manchester-headquartered international law firm DWF on Wednesday announced its full year results for the year ended April 30, 2019, following the company’s IPO in March…

A leading think-tank has called on new UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to demonstrate his commitment to “Power up the North” by backing a plan…

Shares of Glasgow-based banking group CYBG — owner of Clydesdale Bank, Yorkshire Bank and Virgin Money — fell 11% on Tuesday after it said its net…

Shares of Bradford-based subprime lender Provident Financial rose about 5% on Tuesday after it said it had reinstated of an interim dividend following the collapse…

Chesire-based NWF Group plc, the agricultural and distribution business that delivers feed, food and fuel across the UK, said on Tuesday its revenue rose 9.9% to…

The overall stock market value of the North West of England’s 11 listed retailers soared 51% to £21 billion in the last three years, bolstered…

Newcastle-based bakery and “food-on-the-go” retailer Greggs said on Tuesday its first half sales rose 14.7% to £546 million and underlying pre-tax profit rose to £40.6 million…

French carmaker PSA — owner of Vauxhall — has warned that the car giant could cease production at its Ellesmere Port factory on the Mersey…

Shares in Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct fell by as much as 27% on Monday morning following the chaos that surrounded the retailer’s delayed annual results…

Shares of Wetherby-based ecommerce firm Proactis Holdings rose about 17% on Monday after it said it has received a “preliminary unsolicited approach from a US-based investor…

West Yorkshire-based textile business Camira said it has acquired San Francisco based textile company Luna Textiles. “Luna has a distinctive portfolio of patterned textiles, designed…

New UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised a new Manchester-Leeds rail route to “unleash regional growth” in a speech in Manchester. A new Trans-Pennine rail…

Bradford-based window and door company Safestyle UK said on Friday it continues to make progress on phase two of its turnaround plan with revenues for…

Banking group CYBG — owner of Yorkshire Bank, Clydesdale Bank, Virgin Money and digital brand B — promised shareholders on Friday it would be clearer…

Shares of Newcastle-based cloud software giant Sage Group, the UK’s largest listed tech company, fell about 12% on Thursday after it issued a trading update…

Shares of Manchester-based investment firm AJ Bell rose 5% on Thursday after it said in a third quarter trading update its customers increased 5% to 224,644…

Manchester-based cyber security company NCC Group said on Thursday its revenue from continuing operations rose 7.6% to £250.7 million and profit before taxation increased 52.1%…

Macclesfield-based engineering and thermal processing giant Bodycote said on Thursday it delivered a “resilient” set of half year results to June 30 as its revenue slipped 0.4%…

East Yorkshire-based chemicals giant Croda International said on Wednesday its personal care business had been impacted by the trade war between Beijing and Washington as…

North Yorkshire-based power company Drax Group plc on Wednesday reported a rise in adjusted core earnings for the first half of the year, boosted by…

Liverpool-based bargain retailer B&M European Value Retail said its sales revenue rose 21.4% to £967.7 million in the quarter to June 29, 2019. B&M UK…

The North West of England’s 65 listed companies added £1.28 billion to their total stock market value in the second quarter of 2019 to reach…

Manchester-based soaps and consumer products company PZ Cussons said on Tuesday its revenue fell 6.8% to £689.4 million and adjusted profit before tax fell 12.9% to £69.8…

UK company dividends rose 14.5% to an all-time high of £37.8 billion in the second quarter, beating the previous record of two years ago by…

Shares of Sheffield-based energy storage and clean fuel company ITM Power rose more than 10% on Monday amid news that it signed an agreement for a…

Durham-based mobile technology bank Atom said on Monday it raised another £50 million in a fundraising round with participation from existing investors BBVA, Toscafund, Woodford…

Banco Santander said on Friday it will support thousands of SMEs in the North of England over the next five years as part of its…

Stockport Council has launched a public consultation on a draft regeneration masterplan for up to 3,500 new homes in Stockport Town Centre West. The public…

Merseyside-based Vimto and soft drinks firm Nichols plc said on Wednesday it revenue rose 10.2% to £71.6 million and profit before tax rose 2% to…

Salford-based broadband giant TalkTalk Telecom Group said on Wednesday it added 118,000 new customers to its fibre product in the three months to June 30 as…

Leeds City Council said on Tuesday the old Polestar Petty printworks on Whitehall Road has been identified as the location for a new world class…

Directors of Manchester-based car dealership Lookers plc have bought up shares in the company just a few days after the firm’s share price plummeted after…

Manchester’s Bruntwood SciTech, the UK’s only property business dedicated to development in the science and technology sector, said it agreed a three-year £185 million funding…

Macquarie unit MEIF 6 Fibre Ltd will buy KCOM Group Plc in a deal that values the Hull-based telecom and cloud company at £627 million….

Shares of Manchester-based car dealership Lookers plc fell another 16% on Friday after it warned in a trading update its underlying profit before tax for…

Doncaster-based DFS Furniture said in a trading statement on Thursday its underlying profit before tax is expected to be slightly above £50 million compared to £38.3…

Leeds-based leisure and logistics firm Dart Group, owner of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays, said on Thursday its profit before tax soared 36% to £177.5 million as group revenue rose 32%…

The UK’s Financial Reporting Council (FRC) on Wednesday delivered a scathing review of the UK’s seven largest accounting firms, saying “poor quality audit work remains unacceptably common.”…

Philip Day’s Spectre Holdings is set to take Wakefield fashion firm Bonmarché Holdings private after the retailer’s last major institutional shareholder sold its stake in…

The £2 billion auction of Warrington-based Electricity North West has been derailed by the UK Labour Party’s plan to nationalise energy networks if it wins…

Sheffield-based Benchmark Holdings, the aquaculture health, genetics and nutrition firm, said on Tuesday its chief financial officer (CFO) Mark Plampin will step down from his…