Northern Financial Review

Manchester-headquartered international law firm DWF is considering an IPO on the London Stock Exchange that could value the firm at up to £1 billion. In response to…

Transport for London (TfL) confirmed on Friday its intention to award Siemens Mobility Limited a contract of around £1.5 billion to design and build 94…

Aviation, energy and rail firm Stobart Group said on Thursday that “following the receipt of comprehensive legal advice” it has served notice on executive director Andrew…

Shares of Manchester-based Revolution Bars Group fell about 10% on Thursday after it warned in a trading update it has “experienced challenging and volatile trading conditions.” Revolution Bars said total…

Shares of Manchester-based soaps and consumer products company PZ Cussons fell about 6% on Thursday after it said its profit before tax for the full year “will be…

Manchester-based fashion retailer N Brown Group — whose brands include JD Williams, Simply Be and Jacamo — said on Thursday it has begun a review of whether…

Shares of Newcastle-based building services firm Northern Bear plc rose 15% on Wednesday after it produced a trading update for the year to March 31,…

Bus and rail firm Stagecoach said it has urged politicians throughout the UK “to take tough action on congestion” and put buses at the heart of…

The UK’s rail regulator has called on Network Rail to allocate £1 billion “of additional renewals work to replace worn out assets” to “improve reliability and boost safety.”…

Newcastle-based house building giant Bellway said on Tuesday it is on target to complete the sale of more than 10,000 homes in a year for the…

Manchester-based online fashion giant Boohoo.com plc said in a trading update for the three months to May 31 that its revenue rose 53% to £183.6 million,…

Manchester-based Co-operative Bank plc said late on Thursday that its CEO Liam Coleman has decided to step down from his position after less than 18 months during…

Hyde-based online retail and education firm Findel plc said its revenue rose 4.8% to £479 million and adjusted operating profit increased 15.4% to £36 million in the…

Harrogate-based specialist equipment rental group Vp plc said its statutory profit before tax edged higher to £30.8 million in the year to March 31, 2018, on revenue…

Shares of Leeds-based WYG, the AIM-listed project management consultancy, rose 10% after it said its order book was up 14.7% to £166.4 million as at March 31,…

Shares of Bolton-based online electrical retailer AO World rose about 5% after it said its revenue for the year ended March 31, 2018, rose 13.6% to £796.8 million. AO…

Shares of Johnston Press plunged 17% to a new record low after it said in an AGM trading update that no agreement has been reached with its bondholders…

Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank owner CYBG and Virgin Money confirmed on Monday morning that CYBG has made a revised proposal to acquire Virgin Money and…

Manchester-based online beauty firm The Hut Group (THG) said its group sales rose 47% to £736 million in the year ended December 31, 2017 — and that…

Barclays has launched a new £500 million growth fund for small and medium-sized businesses in the North of England as part of the bank’s commitment…

Walmart’s Leeds-based subsidiary Asda — currently preparing to be taken over by Sainsbury’s — said its 2017 operating profit fell 13% to £735.4 million “driven by planned strategic…

Shares of Sheffield-based specialist engineering group Pressure Technologies plc plunged more than 20% after it said in a trading update that its results for the full year are…

Shares of Macclesfield-based engineering and thermal processing giant Bodycote rose about 8% after it said it expects full year revenue to be higher than previously expected and headline…

Liverpool-based B&M European Value Retail said its group revenues rose 22.4% to £2.97 billion in the 53 weeks to March 31, 2018, and profit before tax increased 25.4%…

Shares of Manchester-based Renold plc, the international supplier of industrial chains and power transmission products, rose 15% after it said it delivered organic revenue growth for the…

John Sisk & Son has been selected by Bruntwood as the construction partner to deliver the first phase of the commercial development at Circle Square,…

Newcastle-based bus and rail group Go-Ahead Group said in a trading update on Thursday it is confident it will deliver full year results that are slightly ahead…

Shares of Warrington-based United Utilities, the UK’s largest listed water company, fell more than 3% on Thursday after it said its revenue rose £32 million to £1.736…

Wakefield-based video game developer Team17 announced on Wednesday the admission of its ordinary shares to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange. “The fundraising, which…

Doncaster-based DFS Furniture said Ian Filby will retire as its CEO after eight years with the group and be succeeded by Tim Stacey, currently chief operating officer….

Shares of Chesire-based Pets At Home, the retailer of pet food, accessories and veterinary services, fell about 7% after it said its revenue grew 7.8%…

Selby, North Yorkshire-based power company Drax Group announced it is to pilot the first bioenergy carbon capture storage (BECCS) project of its kind in Europe. Drax…

Walmart said its Leeds-based subsidiary Asda increased its sales in the first quarter to March 31 as it prepares to be taken over by Sainsbury’s. Sainsbury’s said…

Newcastle-based Grainger plc, the UK’s largest listed residential landlord, said its profit before tax increased 23% to £50.6 million in the six months to March 31 and…

York-based Gear4music, the online retailer of musical instruments and equipment, on Tuesday reported “a transformational year of investment” in which its revenue rose 43% to £80.1 million. For…

Shares of Manchester-based Lookers plc, the UK’s biggest car dealership, rose about 12% after it reported a strong first-quarter trading update for the three months ending March…

Newcastle-based Grainger plc, the UK’s largest listed residential landlord, said it conditionally agreed to acquire a 261-home private rented sector (PRS) build to rent development in…

Shares of Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank owner CYBG fell more than 5% on Tuesday as the bank reported a statutory first-half loss of £76 million…

UK Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson on Monday announced the Ministry of Defence is investing £2.5 billion to boost Britain’s submarine building projects. Speaking at BAE…

At least 5,000 jobs will be created by a £900 million project to create a new green source of gas to power local industry and…

Shares of Stockport-based beach holiday online retailer On the Beach Group plc fell about 16% on Thursday after it said the collapse of budget airline Monarch caused…

Sheffield-based European building products distributor SIG plc suffered a huge shareholder revolt on Thursday when more than 75% of investors rejected the reappointment of Deloitte as SIG’s auditor…

Aviation, energy and rail firm Stobart Group said its revenue for the year ended February 28, 2018, rose to £242 million from £129.4 million the previous year and it…

Shares of Bradford-based supermarket group Morrisons rose about 3% on Thursday after it produced a positive quarterly trading update and became the subject of speculation on…

Shares of embattled Bradford-based subprime lender Provident Financial rose about 8% on Wednesday after it said in a trading statement its recovery plan is on track and that…

Elland, West Yorkshire-based landscaping products company Marshalls plc said in a trading update its revenue for the four months ended April 30, 2018 was up 10%…

Leeds-based engineering services group Renew Holdings said it will acquire QTS Group, a specialist independent rail contractor based in Strathaven, Scotland, for £80 million in cash….

Shares of Greggs, the Newcastle-based bakery and “food-on-the-go” retailer, fell about 15% after it said in a trading update that it is “cautious in respect…

Wakefield-based video game developer Team17 has announced its intention to float its shares on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange this month in an IPO that…

UPDATE 2 — Newcastle and Edinburgh-based challenger bank Virgin Money Holdings (UK) Plc said on Monday it received a preliminary and conditional takeover offer from CYBG Plc,…

New visuals for the £5 billion Liverpool Waters project — which will transform Liverpool’s Waterfront — have been released to show how the 60-hectare development…

Preston Brook, Chesire-based workwear and linen rental company Johnson Service Group (JSG) said at its AGM on Thursday it expects the firm’s full year results for 2018…

Shares of Barrow-in-Furness marine engineering services company James Fisher rose about 4% on Thursday after it produced a positive trading update with good news on orders…

Rotherham-based real estate and brownfield regeneration firm Harworth Group plc announced the acquisition of four strategic sites across the North of England and the Midlands for…

Newcastle-based Grainger plc, the UK’s largest listed residential landlord, said it sold its 50% interest in the Walworth Investment Property (WIP) joint venture in South London…

Newcastle-based software giant Sage Group, the UK’s largest tech company, said around 30 senior executives have left the firm since April 13 “in order to simplify…

Shares of Edinburgh and Newcastle-based Virgin Money rose about 6% after it said in a first-quarter trading update that it reaffirmed its 2018 guidance on performance and…

Royal Bank of Scotland said it will cut almost 800 jobs and close 162 branches following a review of its branch network in England and Wales….

Johnston Press — the embattled owner of The Scotsman, the i newspaper, the Yorkshire Post and about 200 local newspapers and websites — said Ashley Highfield has…

Sainsbury’s has agreed to buy Walmart’s Leeds-based subsidiary Asda for about £7.3 billion in cash and shares to create the UK’s largest supermarket group by…

J Sainsbury plc confirmed on Saturday that it is in “advanced discussions” about merging with Walmart’s Leeds-based subsidiary Asda. It is not yet clear how…

A £5.3 billion sale of Bradford & Bingley (B&B) mortgages acquired by the UK taxpayer during the financial crisis has been authorised by Chancellor Philip…

Shares of Manchester-based fashion retailer N Brown Group — whose brands include JD Williams, Simply Be and Jacamo — rose about 6% after it said group…

Aberdeen Standard Investments voted against the “enormous” remuneration packages for executives at York-based housebuilder Persimmon including a £75 million package for Persimmon CEO Jeff Fairburn at the…

Shares of Manchester-based online fashion giant Boohoo.com plc rose almost 20% after it said its revenue soared 97% to £579.8 million and profit before tax jumped…

Airport City Manchester has announced deals to deliver a Holiday Inn and Ibis Budget hotels, marking the creation of a new £180 million hotel district The…

Peel Ports said it has partnered with the UK’s largest rail freight company, DB Cargo UK, to provide a new rail service for containers via…

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has cleared the £137.5 million purchase of Scunthorpe-based Nisa Retail Limited by the Manchester-based Co-op following an investigation. “After closely examining all…

Chicago-based credit reporting agency TransUnion said on Friday it will buy Leeds-based consumer data firm Callcredit Information Group for £1 billion in cash from private equity…

Selby, North Yorkshire-based power company Drax Group said on Friday it is commencing a £50 million share buy-back programme. J.P. Morgan Securities plc (JPMS plc) will…