Powered by Google

January figures chill the economy recovery hopes

HOPES of a stronger economic recovery in the first quarter have been winged by official figures showing a sharp fall in manufacturing output during snowbound January.Read

Standard Life unveils a better profit performance

STANDARD Life has unveiled better than expected profits and says it plans to target a further £100m of efficiency savings by 2012.Read

Northern Rock

Northern Rock staff to receive bonuses of up to £3,000

THOUSANDS of Northern Rock staff will receive bonuses of up to £3,000. The windfall comes as a reward for helping the bank slash its losses last year, it was announced today.Read

Npower to cut gas prices

ENERGY firm npower has became the fourth major UK provider to cut gas prices as it announced a reduction of up to 7% in standard bills.Read

North East sees record rise in business

THE North East saw a record rise in the rate at which companies won new business last month, according to a new report.Read

Caution urged over rise in February retail sales

RETAIL sales bounced back by 2.2% last month as shoppers returned to the high street following January's wintry weather.Read

Geoff Turnbull

Major jobs boost at Peterlee firm GT Group

MORE than 200 jobs will be created and another 200 safeguarded after a company in the North East secured £200m in orders for new green technology.Read

Northern Rock to reveal better trading position

NORTHERN Rock will reveal this week how far its trading has improved as it prepares to sell off its strongest business back into the private sector.Read

Call for more grit hits Cleveland Potash growth

A MINING company has warned that its strong growth could be curtailed after the Government called on it to ramp up the production of gritting salt as part of efforts to keep Britain's roads open during the cold snap.Read

Bad times but NRG boss is glad to have delisted

THE North East's biggest recruitment agency is hoping to grow its profits once again after a tough couple of years for a sector which has seen many rivals crumble or disappear.Read

An Arriva Train

Profits dip at public transport giant Arriva

BUS and train giant Arriva's profits have dropped during what it called a "challenging" year when passengers struggled with the recession and it was hit with a £60m rise in fuel prices.Read

Stadium Group

Stadium Group eyes start of recovery

ELECTRONICS and plastics maker Stadium Group says it is poised to benefit from the economic recovery despite revealing a 10% dip in profits.Read

Visage

Visage bosses cash in on £173m deal

A NORTH East family clothing business has been sold to a Hong Kong-based company in a £173m deal, landing its three main directors with a lucrative cash windfall.Read

Welder, Welding, Engineering, Industry

Manufacturing growth rate at a 15-year high

THE recovery of the manufacturing sector remained on track after figures showed expansion at another 15-year high last month.Read

A Go-Ahead bus

Income and profits dip at Newcastle firm Go-Ahead

BUS users are keeping Go-Ahead's profits on the road but the Newcastle public transport giant's income has fallen in what it said was still a "difficult" economic environment.Read

Barratt Homes

Housebuilder Barratt says access to mortgages is vital to recovery

BARRATT has narrowed its losses and grown its order book but said greater mortgage availability remained vital to support the housing market's recovery.Read

Peterlee firm MetroMail expects to increase turnover

A PRINTING company has invested £600,000 in new machinery which has helped it to break into the financial services sector - and the firm expects to add £5m to its turnover as a result.Read

Euro drinks giants raise a glass to profits

THE European drinks giants which own Scottish & Newcastle say they are taking a bigger share of a shrinking beer market.Read

Support package for Teesside Corus workers

A PACKAGE of support is being rolled out to workers facing redundancy from Corus' Teesside Cast Products site.Read

Mike Ashley's firm poised to 'torpedo' rival's recovery

NEWCASTLE United owner Mike Ashley's Sports Direct group looks set to scupper a recovery plan at rival Blacks Leisure after it bought 28.5% of the outdoor retailer’s shares.Read