Lancashire sofa and sofa bed maker Flame Upholstery has been bought by its bosses. Preston-based flame, which turns over just less than £7m, and has 500 staff has been bought from parent company Tetrad by managing director Mike Featherstone and former Tetrad executive Janus Cooper. Flame, which sells its products through independent stores and also … Continued

Ninety jobs have been saved with the sale of the housebuilding division of Flintshire-based David McLean group to a new company. Elan Homes has been formed by the former senior management team of David McLean Homes, led by former group finance director John Kendrick, and is backed by Barclays Bank. It has acquired the business … Continued

David McLean Homes has been bought by Elan Homes, a new company formed by former senior management at David McLean. David McLean group finance director John Kendrick last night completed the buyout of the housebuilding division for a reported sum of around £40 million. Flintshire-based David McLean Group last month plunged into administration with debts … Continued

Corporate finance outfit Dow Schofield Watts today announced it has lured three senior managers from PricewaterhouseCoopers in Manchester to run a new division, and has launched a venture capital fund which is looking to raise up to £5m. Ed Brentnall, Chris Williams and Catriona Lang will join Warrington-based Dow Schofield Watts later this year to … Continued

Dow Schofield Watts has set up a new corporate debt advisory business to provide turnaround and refinancing services to distressed firms that are worried about their future funding prospects. It will be headed by former Ernst & Young corporate restructuring senior executive Joanne Dodd, 34, and Paula Jones, 39, who has joined after spending the … Continued

In times of tightened credit markets, with banks and other funders treading cautiously with lending, Stephen Greenwood may have the answer for ambitious management teams eager to buy the businesses for which they work. As chairman of Deferred Finance Ltd, the only specialist underwriting consultancy for deferred consideration insurance, he has spent the last eight … Continued

Dow Schofield Watts has advised the shareholders of Raphael Healthcare on RJD Partners £6.1 million development capital investment in a deal that values the company at £30 million. Raphael Healthcare was established in Runcorn, Cheshire, in 2004 by Chief Executive Arthur Robinson (a former psychiatric and general nurse and onetime government Director of Mental Health) … Continued

Due diligence is spiralling in complexity and corporate deals take longer to complete, but new research has found that management teams see little value in it. A report by Directorbank has revealed that just 20 per cent of senior members of management buyout and buy-in teams believed they received any useful insights, despite the increasing … Continued

The North West Regional Development Agency is set to announce the launch of an £80m venture capital loan fund within the next few days. It has issued a tender document (see Contracts and tenders, page 18) requesting bids from potential managers to run the fund, whose objective will be to provide seed and growth capital … Continued

Dry cleaning firm Johnson Service Group (JSG) is to delist from the Official List of the London Stock Exchange and instead trade on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM). The decision was approved by shareholders at an EGM in London yesterday. The company expects to finish trading on the Official List on June 9, and begin … Continued

A management team from Nantwich-based chemical distribution firm Multisol have announced that they have completed a buy-out of the £78.5m-turnover business for an undisclosed sum. The company, which last year made a profit of £6m, was sold by the Banner and Thomas families to a management team led by its chief executive, Paul Oliphant. Oliphant … Continued

This weekend’s LDP Business radio show on CityTalk105.9 features an interview with Stobart Group chief executive Andrew Tinkler. The head of the iconic North West haulage group tells listeners how the firm, which now operates 1,250 lorries, is adapting to growing environmental concerns. Mr Tinkler describes how his firm plans to transfer some freight services … Continued