Crain's Manchester Business - 14-18 June, 2010 - (Page 1)

CRAIN’S LIST Creative Advertising Agencies and Public Relations Agencies Pages 12 and 14 FOCUS Page 11 Marketing & Advertising Comfy chairs for PRs CRAIN’S MANCHESTER BUSINESS VOL. 3, ISSUE 24, JUNE 14 - 18, 2010 CrainsManchesterBusiness.co.uk £2 What’s News ■ Shareholder Damille Investments has called for an extraordinary general meeting of Rapid Realisations Fund, which holds an equity stake in two Manchester-based companies, casual dining chain Barburrito and exploration firm Enegi Oil. Damille, which holds a 17.33 per cent stake in RRF, is seeking to amend the fund’s investment objectives and policies to maximise the return on invested capital to shareholders and not make any new investments until the end of September 2013. Damille also wants RRF to appoint Rhys Davies and Brett Miller as directors. It also proposes to cut the maximum aggregate fees payable to directors to £80,000 from £150,000, with no director earning more than £15,000 a year except the chairman, who would be limited to £20,000. ■ Manchester-based bridging loans firm Excel Securities went into administration in April owing more than £5.05m to creditors. The debts include shortfalls of £2.8m to NatWest Bank and £3.3m to Israel Discount Bank, which both have charges over properties on which Excel lent money. Administrator Paul Stanley of Begbies Traynor said there was “little prospect of a return to creditors”. Sole director Laurie Hoffman, who was terminally ill, died in May before he had time to swear a statement of affairs. Stanley said the company lent to people with adverse credit histories and CCJs but after the credit crunch was hit by an increasing number of defaults by borrowers. He said the company had “ongoing and potential actions against negligent valuers and solicitors” and the administration was unlikely to be finalised within 12 months. Stanley told Crain’s: “Where a suitable agreement can’t be reached we will proceed to court. This is a lengthy process but one which is sometimes the best course of action in terms of securing a significant return for creditors. We have already settled three cases which has brought a six figure sum back into the pot and allowed us to run further litigation. Many of the properties that the company lent against are unlikely to be sold within the next 12 months.” ■ More than three quarters of the North West’s smaller businesses support rapid moves to pay off the national debt, a new survey by the Knutsford-based Forum of Private Business has found. The survey found that 78 per cent of the region’s small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) said reducing the deficit should be one of the government’s main priorities. Only 36 per cent said that introducing fairer taxes should be a priority and Bruntwood poised for bargain deal to buy Great Northern BY JAMES CHAPELARD Bruntwood is in pole position to buy the Great Northern Warehouse, the Manchester city centre leisure complex which has been on the market for two-and-a-half years. A deal in which the Manchesterbased developer will buy the 400,000 sq ft property from owners Capital & Regional was “95 per cent done”, according to a person familiar with the situation. It is not known how much Brunt- Price could be lower than city council’s offer of £75m during abortive talks with owners last year wood is likely to pay for the Grade II listed former railway warehouse, but it will be well below the asking price of £105m when it was first quietly put on the market in early 2008. It could even be considerably less than the £75m which Manchester City Council was ready to pay in 2009 before a deal collapsed at the last hurdle. The council wanted to acquire the building to convert the AMC Cinema’s 200,000 sq ft unit into additional conferencing space for Manchester Central. The council said it could not come to an agreement with AMC over the surrender of its lease, however. Crain’s understands that AMC, which is paying £2.9m a year, wanted the council to pay £15m for the remaining period up to 2021. Bruntwood, which has a reputation for redeveloping formerly tired buildings such as City Tower in Piccadilly, is unlikely to simply collect the rent and will look to add value with new tenants or a new leisure scheme. A sales brochure for the property, released in 2008, suggested that a SEE NORTHERN, PAGE 18 GMPTE paid £860,000 for seconded directors BY SIMON BINNS The Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive paid nearly £860,000 in fees last year to firms from which three of its executive directors are seconded. Ernst & Young is still being paid for the services of managing director David Leather, despite him agreeing to take the job for another two years after it was advertised nationally last year. According to unaudited accounts covering the year to March 31, 2010, GMPTE paid a total of £857,000 in fees, with payments also going to consultant engineering firm Parsons Brinkerhoff for releasing Robert Morris to work as its interim chief operating officer and to Acuity Programme Management Ltd for allowing Paul Griffiths to fill the role of interim projects director. The three firms were also awarded £10m of contracts by GMPTE. Ernst & Young invoiced for £1.5m of advisory work, Parsons Brinkerhoff received £8.1m, mainly for its role as delivery partner on the Metrolink capital programme and Acuity got £82,000 for “various consultancy activities”. The accounts stress that Leather, Morris and Griffiths did not participate in procurement decisions, nor did they authorise the procurement of any services from the organisations from which they were seconded. Mary Ellen McTague and Laurence Tottingham SIMPLY THE HEST BY SIMON BINNS PHOTO: MARTIN O’NEILL/STUDIOFIVEFOUR.COM R SEE WHAT’S NEWS, PAGE 2 ave reviews in national newspapers are luring the region’s foodies onto unfamiliar territory — just off Bury New Road in Prestwich, where two of Heston Blumenthal’s former protégés have opened Aumbry. Recent mentions in The Guardian and The Telegraph, as well as some glowing local reviews, have helped establish the six-month old eatery, which was opened by husband and wife chefs Mary Ellen McTague and Laurence Tottingham after a stint at Blumenthal’s Fat Duck in Bray. “You can spot The Telegraph readers when they come in — middle-class, retired professionals of a certain age,” said McTague. “It’s made a real difference. And the local reviewers have been kind to us as well.” McTague said the Church Lane restaurant, which has 26 covers and was opened on “a shoestring” of less than £50,000, was on track to turn over £220,000 in its first year, but isn’t expected to make a profit yet. McTague and Tottingham funded the venture themselves, helped by investment from Kate Mountain, owner of the Roadhouse live music venue on Newton Street near Piccadilly. The cuisine is modern British, including dishes SEE AUMBRY, PAGE 18 SEE GMPTE, PAGE 18 Leading Page 3 COUNCIL SETS DEADLINE OF NEXT MONDAY TO CPO FIRE STATION http://CrainsManchesterBusiness.co.uk

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crain's Manchester Business - 14-18 June, 2010

Crain's Manchester Business - 14-18 June, 2010

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