Daily Post

Pensions Deficit Spirals

THE UK's top listed companies saw their pensions black hole spiral to pounds 75bn from pounds 65bn this year. Falling interest rates increased the combined deficit of FTSE 100 Index pension funds, offsetting gains from stronger investment markets and higher employer contributions.

New Hotel Branding to Target Liverpool and Chester

MERSEYSIDE property investor Barry Owen has teamed up with financier Vincent Tchenguiz to launch a new hotel franchise. Mercury Group, a company founded by Mr Owen, has struck a deal with Marriott, which owns the Courtyard brand, to operate up to 80 such hotels around the UK.

Hundreds Face the Dole As Unilever Outsources Jobs ; Company to Make Savings of Pounds 480m

HUNDREDS of staff at Unilever's IT centre, near Chester, will hear in the New Year whether their jobs are to go under a major outsourcing drive by their employer. The consumer products group is looking to outsource its finance, human resources and IT divisions.

Why Buy to Let has a Future ; Gap in Supply and Demand Will Increase Housing Prices

The ratio of property prices to income has risen, meaning fewer prospective buyers can afford a home THE population of England is forecast to rise by 5.7m over the next 20 years. True, much of this increase is due to longer life expectancy. But it also means that four generations already have to fit into a housing stock that originally accommodated only three generations.

Speedy Awarded Safety Honour

SPEEDY Hire's work to cut deaths and injuries in the workplace has earned the company a top honour. The Haydock-based tool hire firm's initiative, Safety From The Ground Up, has been named campaign of the year at the Construction Marketing Awards.

Threat to Security

NORTH-WEST businesses are leaving themselves wide open to security breaches, says a new study. Last year UK businesses spent more than pounds 200m shoring up their defences against attacks on their IT systems. But a study by printer maker Lexmark has discovered that companies in the North West are neglecting to protect sensitive information in paper form.

The Profile: New Mersey Owners Have Been As Good As Their Word ; Bill Gleeson Talks to the Man Who Holds the Purse Strings at Mersey Television

SEAN MARLEY was recruited to Mersey Television from Radio City to help plug the gap that was anticipated following founder Phil Redmond's plan to exit from the business this summer. Marley now sits alongside chief executive Carolyn Reynolds running the business.

The Big Feature: Gleeson- Demise Is Stark Warning to All

IT CAME as a surprise to find Rob Gutmann's business, The Lyceum Restaurant Company, was not worth enough to be able to pay off his creditors. In their time, the three venues he owned at the Albert Dock were very successful in attracting a sophisticated crowd. I can name prominent members of the business community who were regulars. At weekends they were packed. The idea the business was worth nothing to its owners should send a bit of a shiver through those that own similar businesses.

The Big Feature: Docks Sell-Off Big Event of 2005 ; Business Editor Bill Gleeson Gives His Review of the Year

THE most significant event to affect the Merseyside economy in the past year has been the acquisition of Mersey Docks and Harbour Company by Peel Holdings. The pounds 717m deal, completed in the autumn, was one of several large corporate transactions to alter the local economic landscape.

The Big Feature: What Could Be the Most Expensive Sandcastle in History

WHILE most of us have been polishing off the leftover turkey, negotiations have been under way to conclude what could be the biggest property deal in Liverpool's history. Commercial property agents GVA Grimley are sifting through a number of bids for the Royal & Sun Alliance building in Old Hall Street, known locally as the Sandcastle, right .

The Big Feature: Johnson-.Consider Challenges Ahead

THIS is always a slightly unsettling time as one year draws to a close and another lies ahead. In the midst of the great seasonal shutdown and festivities, thoughts cannot easily be focused on the year ahead when it is often more agreeable to look back over the year passing and the successes or achievements which have been realised.

Investors Reap the Rewards of an Exceptional Year ; Watch

INVESTORS enjoyed "an exceptional year" on the London market as the UK's leading shares outstripped previously tepid expectations in the City. Soaring metal and oil prices pushed mining and energy stocks up as the FTSE 100 Index rose 15% from 4,800 to stand at a four-year high of just below 5,600 at the close of the markets on Friday.

Diary

Wednesday, January 11: Breakfast workshop: Leading the Way to Profitability and Success. The first in a series of seminars for Merseyside business leaders. The main speaker will be Liverpool entrepreneur David Walker, managing director of Vista Optics. 7.45am-9.40am, Liverpool Hope University. Cost: pounds 15, with 50% funding available for managers of Merseyside SMEs. Call Jane Davies on 0151 291 3843 or email daviesj3@hope.ac.uk

North Wales Boss Named Among Top Uk Entrepreneurs

THE boss of a North Wales online financial services firm was today named as among the top UK entrepreneurs. Simon Nixon, founder of personal finance website Moneysupermarket.com, came in at number three in the Management Today list.

A Giant Thank You to Airbus Employees

THE world's biggest passenger jet is coming to North Wales to give people who worked on it the chance to see it in flight. The Airbus A380 superjumbo is to fly over the factory where its wings were made as a tribute to the skills of the aerospace engineers.

Facing the Rising Cost of 'Sickies'

EMPLOYERS in North Wales are being warned they may face the rising cost of workplace absenteeism in the New Year as more staff admit to "pulling sickies" for other job interviews. Research by training and development organisation Changing Perspective shows one in four people admit to calling in sick as an excuse to go to a job interview.

Network's New Head

OPENREACH, the new business set up by BT to manage the UK's local communications network, has appointed a director to head its operations in Wales. John Thornhill, 39, of Ormskirk, Lancashire, will lead the country's 1,300 engineering workforce who visit more than 4,000 Welsh homes and businesses every day and maintain the 6m kilometres of network. He will also join the BT Wales board.