Crain's Manchester Business - 17-21 May, 2010 - (Page 1)

CRAIN’S LIST Commercial Property Developers Page 14 FOCUS Page 11 Commercial Property Popcorn protest at former Odeon CRAIN’S MANCHESTER BUSINESS VOL. 3, ISSUE 20, MAY 17 - 21, 2010 CrainsManchesterBusiness.co.uk £2 What’s News ■ A series of raids by the Serious Organised Crime Agency across Greater Manchester and Cheshire last month are linked to alleged mortgage fraud, Crain’s understands. More than 150 police officers raided properties in Bolton, Leigh, Whitefield, Salford, Alderley Edge, Wilmslow and Altrincham in April and 11 men were arrested, some of them on suspicion of involvement in money laundering. Nobody has been charged and SOCA declined to comment. ■ The Manchester city office market recorded 50,936 sq ft of take-up in April, according to new figures from research company CoStar. The amount of space being marketed in the city office market has increased marginally since the end of the first quarter of 2010, to 4.3m sq ft. The majority of space on the market is second hand, which is currently 45 per cent of the total, with new or refurbished space accounting for 42 per cent. The average rent achieved was £17 per sq ft and 100,931 sq ft of space is currently under offer. Recent deals completed include 9,309 sq ft at 7-9 Blackfriars Road; 8,963 sq ft at 1 New York Street and 8,942 sq ft at City Tower. ■ Manchester-based fashion retailer Boohoo.com has launched a £450,000 marketing campaign to raise its profile. The ads, which carry the strap line: “OMG, Where did you buy that dress?” will run in fashion magazines, through social media and an outdoor poster campaign. The website was launched in 2006 and sales climbed by 150 per cent last year, despite steep competition from rival etailers such as Asos and Very. Boohoo.com is owned by Northern Quarter entrepreneur Mahmud Kamani. ■ Story Painting Group, based in Manchester and Carlisle, has secured new contract to paint four supermarkets across the UK. The contract wins include a Waitrose store in Berkshire, a Sainsbury’s in Lancashire, a Tesco in Falkirk and a Morrisons in Cheshire. Many of the contracts involve specialist skills required to paint in live trading stores and round-the-clock shifts to minimise disruption. Rob Story, Story Painting Group’s managing director, said: “We’ve painted many supermarket stores in the past but the geographical spread of our business is really demonstrated by these new contracts.” ■ Bolton-based Landmark Investments Group has bought the ground rents on a portfolio of 40 residential units in St Austell, Devon, from Wombwell Homes. Landmark will now manage Jadeana Court, comprising 36 apartments, and four houses. The portfolio adds £5m to Landmark’s Exhibitors say Manchester Central charges are too high BY SIMON BINNS Manchester Central is facing a backlash from exhibitors, who say the venue is too expensive and is exploiting a lack of regional competition. Some have vowed to stop using the 115,500 sq ft facility — jointly owned by Manchester City Council and Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council — and look at alternative venues in Liverpool, Leeds and Dublin. One former user of the venue, who asked not to be named, said Man- Decision to raise prices during a recession sparks backlash from customers of council-owned venue chester Central had increased its daily hire charges by nearly 25 per cent, from £3 per square metre to nearly £4, in the space of 12 months. This would make a day’s hire of the 2,800 sq m Central Hall 1 nearly £11,000, while the 7,500 sq m Central Hall 2 would cost nearly £30,000. “It’s inconceivable that any venue management team would consider increasing prices in the middle of a recession and especially for a venue with Manchester Central’s reputation and spare capacity,” the exhibitor added. “Most national exhibition organisers would already be considering cutting back regional events, includ- ing Manchester. The prospect of price hikes would put Manchester Central’s head squarely on the chopping block. I just don’t understand what’s going through their minds. “The venue seems to have a love affair with political and institutional gatherings, which are great money spinners when they happen and bring news crews and hotel bookings, but there are not enough of them to warrant leaving the exhibi- SEE CENTRAL, PAGE 18 Employment tribunals delayed by huge backlog BY CRAIN’S STAFF REPORTER Martin Kinsey, owner of Wrapped in Leather, on King Street West A KING’S RANSOM BY JAMES CHAPELARD C SEE WHAT’S NEWS, PAGE 2 ity centre shopkeepers say they will be put out of business by rent rises of up to 110 per cent being imposed by Manchester City Council. Tenants on King Street West, behind the House of Fraser department store, have been warned in recent weeks by Jacobs, the city council’s property agents, that they will have to pay anywhere between 90 and 110 per cent more. Proprietors of furniture shop Simon Green, who also own Bridge Street-based Rankin Style Interiors, closed the business down after being told that the rent was going up by more than double. As well as paying more in the future, the businesses will have to cough up lump sums to cover increases backdated to March 2006, when the last rent review was supposed to take place. The retailers believe that Jacobs is basing the increase on conditions in 2006 at the height of the boom, but Manchester City Council told Crain’s it would take “the current difficult economic climate” into account. The council subcontracted responsibility for its non-operational property holdings to Jacobs in August 2008 but in July last year concerns were raised about An explosion in the number of unfair dismissal cases has left Manchester’s Employment Tribunals unable to keep pace. Claimants are being told that their cases will take at least a year to be heard because a huge backlog has built up. The number of cases was rising before the recession because of changes in the law, but the increase accelerated following a spike in redundancies since companies began downsizing in 2008. Employment lawyers fear that it could take as long as three years before the backlog is tackled and the time taken to hear cases returns to normal. A spokesman for the Tribunals Service, based at Alexandra House in Parsonage, said Manchester had not hit its target of resolving 75 per cent of cases within 26 weeks but “is not far behind”. Marcus Difelice, a partner at Brabners Chaffe Street, said the backlog had built up because the capacity of the tribunal system had failed to keep up with the rise in demand. “Job losses caused by the economic downturn inevitably brought about a vast increase in the number of claims for dismissals and redundancy payments. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen a corresponding upsurge in the number of judges and support staff to deal with the rise in cases,” he said. SEE RENTS, PAGE 18 SEE TRIBUNAL, PAGE 18 Leading Page 3 FASHION BOSS HURLEY BATTLES BACK AFTER ALMOST LOSING HOME http://CrainsManchesterBusiness.co.uk http://www.Boohoo.com http://www.Boohoo.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crain's Manchester Business - 17-21 May, 2010

Crain's Manchester Business - 17-21 May, 2010