Electric Business

92 jobs have been saved at Nicholl Food Packaging, following its purchase from administration by Coppice Alupack. A subsidiary of Euro Packaging Group, Coppice is a manufacturer and supplier of aluminium foil containers. Established in 1989, Nicholl is headquartered in Cannock and supplies the food distribution and processing industry with similar foil products. It reported £1.4m profit on revenues of £24.2m for the year to March 2018.

Stax Trade Centres has acquired hardware and ironmongery manufacturer MP Smith and Co for an undisclosed sum. The Brighouse-owned firm has been a supplier to Stax for years. Stax Trade Centres is based in Worsley, Manchester, and reported turnover of £118.6m for the financial year to September 2018.

Marking the fourth investment from its £100m Impact fund, Palatine Private Equity has sealed a deal with Stoke-on-Trent based clinic Veincentre. Following the withdrawal of NHS funding for varicose vein sufferers, Veincentre will continue nationwide expansion with new clinics in Glasgow and Leeds later this year. It plans to open two new centres a year.

Manchester-based online fashion hire firm Hire That Look has been acquired by rival HireStreet for an undisclosed sum. Launched a year ago by 26 year old investment banker Isabella West, HireStreet lets customers hire outfits for four to 16 days before they are returned.

Sports Direct has announced it is to shut eight Jack Wills stores, following its acquisition for £12.8m earlier this month. Jack Wills has some 98 UK stores and 1,700 staff, as well as six franchises including in the Middle East. The takeover continues billionaire owner Mike Ashley’s acquisition spree for struggling retail brands, which has seen mixed returns so far. The largest acquisition, £90m for House of Fraser last year, was recently described as ‘terminal’ in its financial results. Sports Direct is reportedly seeking to reduce rents at Jack Wills stores to zero, in exchange for 5% of

£2bn-valued fashion e-tailer Boohoo has snapped up Karen Millen and Coast from administration for £18.2m. Boohoo said the businesses were ‘high complementary additions to its scalable multi-brand platform’, opening opportunities with an older customer base. Administrators said 62 jobs will be axed immediately, while the two brands’ 32 UK stores and 177 concessions will continue to trade for a short period while assets are sold off. 1,100 jobs are at risk. Based in Manchester, Boohoo saw sales jump 39% in its latest quarter to more than £250m, after a tie-up with stars from hit show Love Island

Leeds-based investment management firm Myddleton Croft has been bought by wealth management company Charles Stanley. Myddleton Croft has manages £96.5m of funds, and had turnover of £1.1m for the year ended 30 June 2019.

BGF-backed mobility technology provider Fleetondemand has taken over FleetEurope for an undisclosed sum. The deal promises customers combined access to the UK’s largest vehicle rental fleet and branch network, boasting 600,000 vehicles available from 2,200 branch locations nationwide, via Fleetondemand’s Mobilleo platform. The system manages 320,000 rental transactions from 19,000 individual users a year.

Majestic Wine has agreed to sell its retail and commercial business to Bacchus Holdings, a vehicle controlled by funds managed by Fortress Investment Group, in a deal worth £100m. The sale includes everything but Majestic’s website, with £95m paid by Fortress for the businesses and one undisclosed property sold for redevelopment for £5m. The funds from the deal will be used to invest in Majestic’s Naked Wines brand, bought for £70m in 2015, as well as eliminating group debt and rewarding shareholders with £3.8m in dividends. Fortress intends to invest in Majestic Wine as a retail proposition

Builders' merchants Travis Perkins has accelerated plans to demerge Wickes by 2020. Details of the proposed £500m spin-off were included in the group’s mid-year statement, where it revealed Wickes had seen sales growth of 9.7%. Travis Perkins’ retail division revenue, which includes Toolstation, Tile Giant and Wickes, stood at £695m. The move aims to simplify Travis Perkins' business and refocus on trade customers. Former Tesco executive David Wood was brought in to replace Wickes CEO Simon King in July after its operating profit dropped almost a third over two years to £69m.