Crain's Manchester Business - 31 May - 4 June, 2010 - (Page 1)

CRAIN’S LIST Golf & Country Clubs and Office Design & Fit-out Companies Pages 12 & 14 STARTS ON PAGE 11 Green Business On the roof CRAIN’S MANCHESTER BUSINESS VOL. 3, ISSUE 22, MAY 31 - JUNE 4, 2010 CrainsManchesterBusiness.co.uk £2 What’s News ■ Four executive directors who last year saved JJB Sports from administration have qualified for a 100 per cent bonus. The Wiganbased company’s annual report reveals a £206,000 payout to former executive chairman Sir David Jones, £150,000 to Richard Manning and £142,000 each to Lawrence Coppock and Colin Tranter. The report says that “in the interests of the company” each agreed to take only 100 per cent of the salary they drew while they were with the company, rather than 100 per cent of their top line. They also agreed to defer 50 per cent until such time as the company makes a profit before interest and tax. The annual report also reveals that David Madeley, who resigned as finance director in April last year after about 18 months with the company, received £298,000 as compensation for loss of office. Chris Ronnie, who was suspened in January 2009 and sacked two months later, got no pay-off. JJB would have gone into administration but for a company voluntary arrangement with its landlords and a £100m emergency fundraising during 2009. SEE OUR VIEW PAGE 8 ■ National Computing Centre Ltd, a Manchester-based membership and research organisation which promotes the use of IT, is being restructured after going into administration. Vantis Business Recovery Services was appointed as administrators to the company and its subsidiary NCC Ltd on May 10. Management blamed the recession and legacy costs such as offices leases for the collapse and said it had bought the business and assets out of administration with a new financial structure in place. NCC, which recently moved to new offices in Jersey Street, was founded in 1966 by the government in order to encourage the growth of computer usage but direct funding stopped in 1988 and latest accounts dating back to 2008 show that it lost £3.9m on income of £11.2m. It has no connection with NCC Group Plc, a stock market quoted provider of independent IT assurance, security and consultancy services, which is based Manchester Technology Centre on Oxford Road. ■ FC United of Manchester general manager Andy Walsh has admitted that the proposed new 5,000 capacity, £3.5m stadium is unlikely to be ready until August 2012. Walsh told an audience at a Crain’s Forever Networking event last week that he had initially been pushing for an August 2011 completion date. Planning for the stadium is due to be submitted in August and there is a 30-week build programme, but Walsh said that securing the Peel to lose control of airports unit Deal to sell majority stake to Candian operator is expected to value business at more than £100m BY JAMES CHAPELARD Peel Group is close to selling a majority stake in its loss-making airports division to Canadian operator Vancouver Airport Services (YVRAS). Peel appointed the Manchester office of NM Rothschild last May to find an investment partner and people familiar with the situation say a deal is now only weeks away from being signed. The source said the two parties had been locked in the due diligence process for some time and that it would take “something extraordinary” for the deal not to go ahead. He said Peel Airports, which owns Liverpool John Lennon, Durham Tees Valley and Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield airports, had ruled out selling any of its airports in their entirety. Vancouver Airport Services (YVRAS), which runs 18 small and medium-sized airports carrying 30 million passengers annually, is well respected within the industry for turning around small failing operations. The source said: “Peel will have an ongoing involvement in management and ownership. The Canadians are looking at a majority stake.” The source said any deal would value the group at more than £100m but declined to give more precise figures. In February, Crain’s revealed that YVRAS had been chosen as a preferred bidder and was on the verge of making an offer. YVRAS, owned 50/50 by Citi Infrastructure Investors and the Vancouver Airport Authority, owns some properties outright and also has a track record of taking stakes as a consortium partner, which would suit Peel. Peel Airports’ latest accounts for the year to the end of March 2009 show losses widened to £13m from £10m on the back of a 9.5 per cent drop in turnover to £48.3m. In recent months, however, Liverpool has seen Neil Barron of perfume wholesaler Jigsaw SEE AIRPORT, PAGE 18 Hewden creates jobs with head office move BY CRAIN’S STAFF REPORTER THE WHIFF OF OPPORTUNITY BY JAMES CHAPELARD SEE WHAT’S NEWS, PAGE 2 Plant hire group Hewden is moving its head office to Trafford following the acquisition of the company by private equity firm Sun European Partners. Under previous owner, Canadianbased Caterpillar dealer Finning International, the company has been headquartered in Cannock, Staffordshire. Its new base will be Trafford House, on Chester Road in Stretford, where Hewden’s commercial centre already employs about 70 people handling finance and administration. The move will entail transferring an unspecified number of jobs from Staffordshire and the company is also recruiting for a number of finance roles, including jobs for a financial accounting manager, an internal auditor and a reporting manager, which carry salaries of between £35,000 and £50,000. A Hewden spokeswoman was unable to say how many jobs would be likely to transfer from Cannock. “There will be some people moving and new roles created,” she added. The company employs 1,300 people in the UK, most of whom work at its network of about 60 depots. The existing management team, led by director Kevin Parkes, is staying in place. It will be the second move in two years — in March 2008 Finning announced the closure of Hewden’s previous head office in Lanarkshire with the loss of 27 jobs. Finning, which bought Hewden in M asstige brands have become less prestige and more mass market since the recession kicked in, with price tags on celebrity perfumes falling to between £10 and £15. That has had a knock on effect at Jigsaw Esl, the Greater Manchester company which holds worldwide licences to produce and distribute perfume for glamour model Katie Price and other celebrities. The Salford Quays-based company has looked at its supply chain to reduce costs and maintain margins but still hopes to grow its £6m turnover this year thanks to overseas sales. Managing director Neil Barron said the company would attend major industry events in Dubai, Singapore and Cannes this year to promote its ranges, which include a new perfume for Price called Precious Love, as well as a range of new products including false eyelashes and self tan. Jigsaw also produces perfumes for pop group Westlife, London-based watchmaker Storm and Italian scooter manufacturer Lambretta under licence. Barron said the impact of the recession and the need to look at costs, SEE HEWDEN, PAGE 18 SEE JIGSAW, PAGE 18 Leading Page 3 VENTURE CAPITALIST PULLS PLUG ON TRAINING FIRM AFTER £400,000 LOSS http://CrainsManchesterBusiness.co.uk

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crain's Manchester Business - 31 May - 4 June, 2010

Crain's Manchester Business - 31 May - 4 June, 2010