海角视频

That’s all for today’s blog, but we’ll have more stories online soon and will be back with another blog tomorrow morning . . .

Here’s some of our stories you may have missed.

Thanks for the reading and have a great day. . . !

Meet YOUTH - the outspoken design studio behind some of Manchester’s high profile resi schemes

PureGym’s European extension after £350m buy-out of Fitness World

KK Fine Foods in £5.5m expansion on Deeside

Former engineering boss reveals challenge to row 2,000 miles along Arctic passage

Bristol has been named the best 海角视频 city outside of London for entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 and 30.

The research by independent think tank Institute for Youth Policy (IYP) examined a variety of factors from the point of view of a young person starting their own business, including access to talent, sources of funding, levels of innovation and liveability.

With its vibrant business scene, Bristol topped the list as the best regional city for young entrepreneurs followed by Manchester and Birmingham.

Read more on the revealing survey here.

Building restoration and conservation company Stone Edge Midlands Ltd has fallen into administration - resulting in 35 job losses.

The firm - which specialised in renovation work on historic and listed buildings - was based across its two trading premises in Tamworth and Skipton in Yorkshire.

It has ceased trading with immediate effect after being ‘unable to recover from a reduction in trade in 2019.’

Ian McCulloch and Chris Lawton, of Begbies Traynor, have now been appointed as joint administrators of Stone Edge Midlands.

They are currently assessing work in progress and contracts of the business - in conjunction with an instructed quantity surveyor - in order to establish the recovery prospects for creditors.

Read more here.

Housebuilding group Hayfield is planning to grow its development pipeline by 1,500 units after securing a new £85 million funding package.

The Solihull-based firm has agreed to new equity and debt funding which will enable it to build 500 homes per year over the next three years.

The company estimated this would add an extra £180 million to its turnover.

Hayfield has signed a £50 million senior debt site acquisition facility and development funding with OakNorth Bank plc, arranged by London-based Reality Wealth.

Additional equity funding worth £35 million has come from a Dubai-based private investor, negotiated by MSM Investment Advisors and Reality Wealth.Housebuilding group Hayfield is planning to grow its development pipeline by 1,500 units after securing a new £85 million funding package.

The Solihull-based firm has agreed to new equity and debt funding which will enable it to build 500 homes per year over the next three years.

The company estimated this would add an extra £180 million to its turnover.

Hayfield has signed a £50 million senior debt site acquisition facility and development funding with OakNorth Bank plc, arranged by London-based Reality Wealth.

Additional equity funding worth £35 million has come from a Dubai-based private investor, negotiated by MSM Investment Advisors and Reality Wealth.

The Dow Jones closed up 32.6 at 28939.7.

Housebuilder Persimmon saw the number of homes it completed fall by 4% in the last year, as the company attempts to improve the quality of its building work following a scathing report into its work practices.

Bosses were told that they were focusing too much on building as many houses as possible - but failing to ensure the homes were habitable for the long term.

The fall means full-year revenues hit £3.65 billion in the 12 months to December 31, down 2.4% compared with a year earlier.

The average selling price was just £137 more than a year ago, at £215,700, the company added.

Dave Jenkinson, chief executive, said:

Delivering the maximum benefit to our customers from our quality and service improvement initiatives will continue to be my top priority for 2020.

I am pleased with the progress we have made in 2019 and there is more to do.

Action taken to maintain our increased levels of work in progress investment, the increase in quality assurance and customer service resources, and our plans for the implementation of the recommendations of the recent Independent Review, will all add to our momentum.

Persimmon also announced non-executive director Claire Thomas, who joined the board in August last year, has decided to quit.

She said:

I have valued being part of the Persimmon board and the experience it presented but it has also made clear to me my preference for working in a large-scale complex global business environment.

In my time on the board I have seen clear and determined efforts to transform the business and I wish Persimmon the best in their ongoing efforts.

Shares plunged 12% in early trading on Wednesday, down 2.3p at 16.45p, after the firm announced falling sales.

Arlene Ewing, investment manager at Brewin Dolphin, said the statement “will likely do little to ease the concerns of those in the City who have fretted about the business for some time”.

She added:

While it is undoubtedly positive that management is taking ‘proactive actions’ to improve margins and boost cost efficiencies, there is a lot that needs to be done to make Quiz capable of managing the challenges and changes faced by modern retail.

The 海角视频 created eight unicorns in 2019 - companies worth more than one billion US dollars - as investment into the tech sector hit new record highs, research has found.

Investment in 海角视频 tech hit $13.2 billion (£10.1 billion) last year, with the speed of growth faster than both the US and China, and outstripping fundraisers in France and Germany.

This was up £3.1 billion on the same data for 2018, with 海角视频 companies winning a third of the £30.4 billion raised during the year in Europe, according to research from the Government’s Digital Economy Council.

The research by Tech Nation and Dealroom.co also found that venture capital (VC) investors - which invest at some of the earliest stages in a company’s life - increased 44% as investors hope to uncover the next Deliveroo or Monzo.

Eight new unicorns were created in 2019, including - Rapyd, CMR Surgical, Babylon Health, Sumup, Trainline, Acuris, Checkout.com and OVO Energy - meaning the 海角视频 has now created 77 billion dollar businesses, double the total number in Germany at 34 and almost four times as many as Israel at 20.

Digital Secretary Nicky Morgan said:

Our tech companies are not only commanding the confidence of global investors but they are also creating new jobs and wealth across the country.

It’s absolutely vital we maintain this impressive success and in Government we are working tirelessly to make sure the conditions are right.

Revolution Bars has toasted seven years in a row of record Christmas trading.

Directors revealed each of its 74 bars banked £65,000 a week on average. The company said like-for-like sales over the four weeks leading up to New Year’s Day were up 4% compared with the same period last year.

In the six months to December 28 sales were up 3.4% - or 1.2% on a like-for-like basis - to £81.2 million. Bosses at the chain, which trades as Revolution Bars and Revolucion de Cuba, are keen to focus on upgrading their current estate - rather than open new sites - and have been closing down under-performing bars.

During the final six months of 2019 three were shut in Swansea, Wood Street in Liverpool and a branch in Macclesfield.

A further five venues were opened but the focus is on improvements, the company said.

Chief executive Rob Pitcher said the trading was “further evidence that our key initiatives are driving both operational and financial improvement”.

He added:

Considerable strides have been made in rebuilding customer loyalty and driving sales and profit from the existing estate, creating a stronger business with significant cash generation.

Whilst external cost pressures persist, we will continue to manage cautiously, using excess cash to reduce indebtedness... before we will consider further expansion opportunities.

The FTSE-100 index opened at 7622.35.

The pound at 8am was 1.3019 dollars compared to 1.3016 dollars at the previous close. The euro at 8am was 0.8544 pounds compared to 0.8551 pounds at the previous close.