Apr
2010
Articles from 20th Apr 2010
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Sponsors Garlands join the crew
Apr 20 2010 | Business News
HARTLEPOOL-BASED Garlands Call Centres has signed up to support one of the biggest maritime parties in the world - which sails into Teesside this summer. Read
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Corus industrial action threat
Apr 20 2010 | Business News
STEEL giant Corus is facing the threat of industrial action by workers at Teesside Cast Products, it has been revealed. Read
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Subsea specialists move to Tees
Apr 20 2010 | Business News
A GLOBAL subsea construction specialist has signed a 10-year deal to maintain its fleet of oil and gas systems on the Tees. Read
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Business centre is flying high
Apr 20 2010 | Business News
STOCKTON Business Centre is proving a home for small firms to flourish - as the Evening Gazette's business team discovered. Read
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Key players picked as Northumbria University aims high
Apr 20 2010 | Business News
NORTHUMBRIA University has appointed two people to senior roles. Leading academic Professor Peter Golding and solicitor Lucy Winskell have been appointed as pro-vice-chancellors. Read
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Business leaders' concern for the region after ash cloud disruption
Apr 20 2010 | Business News
BUSINESS leaders have spoken of their concerns over the travel disruption caused by the ash cloud. Read
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Decline in number of companies going under
Apr 20 2010 | Business News
THERE has been a near-50% drop in the number of companies falling into administration in the first quarter of this year, new figures show. Read
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Buyout values up in first quarter
Apr 20 2010 | Business News
TAKEOVERS such as the £950m swoop for retailer Pets at Home pushed the value of UK private equity buyouts to a two-year high in the first quarter of 2010, new figures show. Read
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Bank shares hit highs
Apr 20 2010 | Business News
THE taxpayer has moved out of the red on stakes in Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group after shares in the part-nationalised banks hit six-month highs. Read
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Pace on the ball for World Cup
Apr 20 2010 | Business News
SET-TOP box maker Pace predicted a World Cup sales boost as pay-television firms rush out high-definition technology ahead of this summer's football tournament. Read
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Teesside steel workers in talks over Corus
Apr 20 2010 | Business News
STEEL giant Corus is facing the threat of industrial action by workers at a plant which has been partially mothballed after the loss of a contract, it was revealed last night. Read
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Euro expansion plan for Durham firm CVO Fire
Apr 20 2010 | Business News
A FIREPLACE manufacturer is expanding its European operations after a 25% increase in sales and expects further growth after developing more new products. Read
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Formica was floored by the global downturn, says chief
Apr 20 2010 | Business News
FORMICA blamed the challenges of the downturn for a spell that saw turnover drop by more than £50m and the loss of over 40 jobs. Read
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Ian's drive to cut down on the clutter of a round of golf
Apr 20 2010 | Business News
INVENTOR Ian Nelson says his new device for taking the clutter out of a round of golf will set players off on the course for success. Read
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Contemporary salon staff go ape for team building
Apr 20 2010 | Business News
AS firms look to reward and reincentivise staff after one of the toughest years, we start a new online series looking at what they're doing to rebuild teams - and we want your news. Read
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Failures cut in half
Apr 20 2010 | Evening Gazette Business News
THERE has been a near 50% drop in the number of companies falling into administration in the first quarter of this year, new figures show. Read
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Arriva takeover close
Apr 20 2010 | Evening Gazette Business News
THE North-east based bus and trains firm Arriva confirmed today it was on the brink of a takeover by German transport operator Deutsche Bahn. Responding to speculation about the £1.5bn deal, the firm said it was in “advanced discussion” with state-owned Deutsche Bahn. Arriva said its suitor has indicated that it is willing to make a cash offer of 775p per share, with Arriva investors also entitled to receive a final dividend for last year worth 18.8p a share. Deutsche Bahn’s proposal is subject to a due diligence review, unanimous recommendation by the Arriva board and approval by its boards and the German Ministries of transportation, finance and economic affairs. The German company - which already operates UK services such as the Chiltern Railways route between London and Birmingham Snow Hill - first confirmed interest in Arriva last month. Read
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Tesco’s record rise
Apr 20 2010 | Evening Gazette Business News
SUPERMARKET giant Tesco today unveiled a 10.1% rise in annual profits to a record £3.4bn. The result came despite slowing UK sales growth in the year to February 27 amid tougher competition and easing food inflation. Chief executive Sir Terry Leahy said the retailer, which plans to create 9,000 UK jobs this year, “had weathered the economic storm well”. UK like-for-like sales growth for the overall year slowed to 3.2%, but Tesco - which claims nearly a third of the market - fought back against “big four” rivals Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons with promotions on its Clubcard loyalty scheme. The group’s non-food business generated £9bn in UK revenues after steadily improving sales over the year. The business now sells one in every six microwaves in the UK. Read
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THE Evening Gazette has launched a major survey which will take an in-depth look at unemployment in the Tees Valley.
Apr 20 2010 | Evening Gazette Business News
Just the Job is looking to discover how people have been affected by the recession and gain a more detailed picture of Teesside’s jobs market. Read
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IT’S TIME FORNEW ERA
Apr 20 2010 | Evening Gazette Business News
THERE’S no denying that Tees Valley’s economy has been hit hard by the global recession. Read
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Just The Job - political leaders support Gazette campaign
Apr 20 2010 | Evening Gazette Business News
TODAY we launch a major campaign to get Teesside working - with the full backing of political leaders Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg. Read
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WHAT’S ON OFFER WITH JUST THE JOB?
Apr 20 2010 | Evening Gazette Business News
ANY job seeker can place a FREE wanted advertisement in our weekly jobsnortheast.co.uk supplement - in the Evening Gazette every Wednesday from next week. Read
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FOUNDED BY: Candice McQuilling
Apr 20 2010 | Evening Gazette Business News
HOW LONG IN BUSINESS: 18 monthsLIKE the superfruit after which it’s named, this little communications company is small but packed with surprises.Its website boasts national ambitions, although in the main its client base is the North-east of England, and it offers the kind of B2B gizmos and services you’d expect from an organisation a hundred times its size. Candice McQuilling, 36, who quit her job with global giant O2 after 15 years answering to a boss, struck out on her own 18 months ago. But she was careful not to burn any bridges as she built a voice, mobile and data communications company targeted principally at SMEs. “I just went in at the deep end,” she says. “But obviously I maintained contacts within the industry.”Self-financed, apart from a modest grant from Business Link to establish a website, Blueberry - so-called because “my customers used to ask me to tell them ‘about those Blueberry's” - started life at home. But Candice quickly discovered that in the cut-throat world of telecommunications, surrounded as she was by Orange and Blackberries, she needed a business address to give her credibility. She moved to Stockton Business Centre and one member of staff followed. Although she’d secretly craved the flexibility and rapid decision making that working outside of a large organisation could bring, she readily admits she couldn’t have chosen a worse time to leave her corporate comfort zone. “Between leaving my company and starting up it was quite scary. But I knew it was short-term. In this industry you can always do business because the networks cannot do it on their own.“The thing I’ve learned is never to rest on your laurels - if you miss something somewhere along the line, however solid you think a relationship with a customer is, someone else will be in there before you blink.”WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THE NEXT GOVERNMENT DO FOR YOU AS A SMALL BUSINESS?Leave it alone. “I think in business you’ve just got to get on with it.”18 months Read
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FOUNDED BY: Stuart Cox
Apr 20 2010 | Evening Gazette Business News
HOW LONG IN BUSINESS: 23 yearsSTUART Cox, managing director of Driveshield, was all set to be an accountant - until the day he couldn’t find someone to fit his car alarm.“I ended up fitting it myself, and soon realised I could get paid well for fitting alarms for other people.” Accountancy fell by the wayside, and Driveshield was born. Working out of Stockton Business Centre, the company has built up an international customer base, selling motor security and fleet management gadgets. Stuart, who keeps overheads low by not employing staff and subcontracting, said the most important thing he has learned is not to say no.“If somebody wants the impossible, and they’re prepared to pay for it, we try to accommodate them. “We did a three-day marathon between two clients in Norfolk and Devon, travelling through the night. “I told a client it wasn’t possible, and they said ‘we’ll get someone else’, so we did it. We fitted 180 trackers in the three days. “If I was in a normal job, I wouldn’t do that.“My job is different every day, you never know where you’re going to be and which faces you’re going to see.” WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE FROM THE NEXT GOVERNMENT? “The next Government should bring down tax, or change the way it’s paid. “We end up paying a lot at the end of the day, in a lump sum for the year before. If you have a quiet year, especially with the way the recession has been, it can be difficult to find it. “It would be better if you could pay it at source, when you get paid, or even every couple of months.”23 years Read
