Business review of 2008

Households received a New Year blow to their finances after Centrica increased gas and electricity tariffs by an average 15 per cent.

Last orders loomed for Foster's brewer Scottish & Newcastle after it agreed a £7.8bn takeover offer from rivals Heineken and Carlsberg; the price of oil set a new record above 100 US dollars a barrel.

In the north west, Altrincham recruitment firm NES reported a 28 per cent rise in annual profits; ACP Capital shelved plans to buy Manchester-based lender Davenham Group; the £12m Glassworks scheme in Manchester's Northern Quarter collapsed when its development companies went into administration; Jelf Group bought Manchester-based insurance group Manson for up to £18.7m.

February

Northern Rock was nationalised after Chancellor Alistair Darling called time on private sector attempts to rescue the ailing lender.

Other banks were also suffering, although Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland shrugged off further credit crunch write-downs to post profits of £7.08bn and £10bn respectively for 2007. Barclays warned of "at least" another six months of turmoil, but RBS chief Sir Fred Goodwin said the company had begun the year with "real momentum" after its acquisition of ABN Amro. The UK's five biggest banks chalked up a mammoth £39bn in profits for 2007. Oil major BP said it would axe nearly one in 10 of its UK staff under cost-cutting plans.

March

City watchdogs were forced to step in and warn over suspicious trading tactics after speculation swirled around Britain's biggest lender, Halifax Bank of Scotland. HBOS shares dropped as much as 20 per cent at one stage, as talk of further credit crunch pain swept the City, despite strong denials from the firm. Thousands of jobs and pensions were safeguarded when ownership of Jaguar and Land Rover passed from Ford to Tata Motors of India.

Around 69,000 staff at John Lewis and Waitrose were offered bonuses worth a fifth of their salary after annual profits rose to £379.8m.

In the north west, Stobart Group bought Cheshire haulier James Irlam & Sons for £59.9m; losses of £42.1m at Wilmslow air conditioning business Worthington Nicholls were after `a complete failure of corporate governance at all levels'; the M.E.N. revealed Manchester Airport Group's interest in buying Gatwick Airport.

Fitted furniture firm Neville Johnson, of Trafford Park, was sold for £12.5m by Endless to Key Capital Partners.

April

Halifax Bank of Scotland called on shareholders for £4bn to strengthen its balance sheet. HBOS said the rights issue, which followed Royal Bank of Scotland's record European cash call of £12bn, was needed to "consolidate its competitive position". Elsewhere in the sector, the world's largest bank, Citigroup, announced plans to cut 9,000 jobs but boosted shares with lower than expected losses.

Chocolate giant Mars confirmed a deal to buy Juicy Fruit and Extra chewing gum group Wrigley for around £11.6bn. Bank of England governor Mervyn King attacked the City for its excessive pay packages and heavy risk taking.

Wigan-based JJB Sports announced its intention to shut 72 underperforming stores with the loss of 800 jobs by the end of the month.

The Co-operative revealed that it was interested in buying supermarket chain Somerfield.

A flurry of deals ahead of capital gains tax changes saw a £12.5m management buyout of Denton's KDC Contractors, and the sale of Richardson Projects, a Rochdale-based building business, for up to £40.5m to Rok; Children's nursery chain Kids unlimited underwent a secondary buyout, valuing the business at £45m; duvets to curtains company Character World saw RJD Partners take a sizeable stake, and Dawn Gibbins sold Cheshire-based Flowcrete to American firm RPM International for more than £30m; Bolton-based retail chain Cash Generator was sold by founder and chairman Brian Lewis to his management team and New World Corporate Finance, of London.

May

Business class-only airline Silverjet called in administrators after a vital cash injection from a Middle Eastern investor failed to materialise. Marks & Spencer's annual profits topped £1bn for the first time in a decade, but staff failed to cash in after the retail giant slashed bonus payouts. Sainsbury's crowned a three-year turnaround plan with annual profits of £488m, up 28 per cent. Buy-to-let specialist Bradford & Bingley announced a £300m rights issue just weeks after it told the City it had no need for a bail-out. The head of Northern Rock said it was "in the commercial interests" of the publicly-owned lender to continue sponsoring Premier League team Newcastle United.

In the north west, Bodycote International announced plans to sell its testing division; Dragons' Den star Theo Paphitis backed the Many Hands Campaign to raise £250,000 for the New Children's Hospital Appeal in Manchester; Blue Oar, a London broker, called off its bidding for Manchester stockbroking business WH Ireland.

June

Mervyn King warned that "innocent bystanders" could be at risk if banks failed to curb excessive risk-taking.

Bradford & Bingley angered shareholders by agreeing to sell a 23 per cent stake to private equity firm Texas Pacific Group and carrying out a deep-discounted rights issue.

Norwich Union owner Aviva warned of up to 1,800 redundancies; Woolworths caused a surprise by ending chief executive Trevor Bish-Jones' six-year run in one of the high street's toughest jobs; Primark said it had stopped buying clothes from three Indian suppliers after it emerged child labour was being used to finish the goods.

In the north west, Urban Splash founder Tom Bloxham told the M.E.N. that he remained bullish despite housebuilders facing the worst slump for a generation, although the firm would later slash its workforce; the Serious Fraud Office began a probe into events at Worthington Nicholls; showers and tiles business Norcros said it was cutting more than 200 jobs across the UK and South Africa as the credit crunch began to bite.

July

British Gas parent Centrica fuelled anger over record price hikes by announcing a £144.6m dividend payout for its shareholders.

The 16 per cent jump in the dividend came as the group posted better than expected half-year profits of £992m.

Spanish banking giant Santander made a thrust into the UK market by agreeing a £1.26bn deal to buy Alliance & Leicester.

Sir Stuart Rose received a broadside from shareholders over his controversial dual role at the helm of Marks & Spencer. His re-election as executive chairman failed to win the support of investors representing 22 per cent of the group's shares voting at the firm's annual meeting. His role - combining chairman and chief executive - raised the ire of many investors as it breached corporate best practice. The vote was another blow to Sir Stuart after falling sales prompted a shock profits warning from M&S.

In the north west, CCTV to air conditioning group ID Support Services was sold to private equity outfit Penta Capital Partners in a deal which valued it at £25m.

Developer West Properties revealed plans to splash out £250m on five hotels in Manchester; the Co-op hailed its return to the big league of food retailing after agreeing a £1.6bn takeover of rival Somerfield; ATP International Group, a travel management company which sponsors the Belle Vue Aces, was sold in a £73m deal to Barclays Private Equity; rebel shareholders tried, but ultimately failed, to oust Lee Birkett, co-founder and chief executive of Cheshire-based financial services firm Prestbury Holdings, and his mother, its finance director.

August

The UK's nuclear power strategy was mired in uncertainty after a takeover of generator British Energy collapsed at the eleventh hour. The £12bn swoop by state-owned EDF of France had been seen as a key step towards the proposed construction of new nuclear power plants in the UK. But EDF's hopes of unveiling a takeover deal were dashed when two of British Energy's biggest City shareholders reportedly called for a higher price tag to reflect rising energy prices.

Royal Bank of Scotland boss Sir Fred Goodwin insisted that he remained the best man for the job despite unveiling the group's first loss in 40 years as a public company. The NatWest and Direct Line owner reported pre-tax losses of £691m for the first half of this year thanks mainly to a £5.9bn credit crunch hit. It was the second biggest banking loss in UK corporate history, and compared with £5bn of profits the bank made last year. In the north west, the new boss of Holland's Pies, Neil Court-Johnston, pledged to revive the iconic company by going back to basics; Vimto maker Nichols' profits in the first half of its centenary year jumped 15.5 per cent to £3.2m; Crown Paints, based in Darwen, was sold by Akzo Nobel to Endless for £70m;

Bodycote sold its testing division for £417m to US private equity firm Clayton Dubilier and Rice; the M.E.N. revealed plans to take Bolton healthcare IT group Ascribe private.

September

The dramatic collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers sent stock markets into freefall. There were fears for thousands of UK jobs after Lloyds TSB agreed the UK's biggest bank rescue deal with the ailing Halifax Bank of Scotland. The government-approved £12bn takeover would create a "mega-bank".

Bradford & Bingley was another casualty after the government seized control of the mortgage lender. B&B's fall into public ownership put £50bn - including £41bn in mortgage loans - on the public balance sheet. The company's savings business and branches, with 2.7m customers and £20bn in deposits, were sold to Santander for £612m.

Tens of thousands of holidaymakers were left stranded after the UK's third largest tour operator went into administration and grounded all flights. XL Leisure Group declared bankruptcy.

Manchester City was sold for £200m to Abu Dhabi investors in a deal which stunned the soccer world; the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman announced plans to open a new office in Piccadilly and create 150 jobs; the Cheshire and Derbyshire building societies announced mergers with the Nationwide after turning to the mortgage giant for shelter from financial difficulties; JJB Sports revealed it had lost £9.7m in the first half of the year, and worse was to follow as its shares tumbled and an insurer refused to cover suppliers; water additives business BWA, of Stretford, was sold to United International Bank of Bahrain for £100m.

October

The government said it would throw a taxpayer lifeline to three of the UK's biggest banks. The stakes in Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB and Halifax Bank of Scotland came with strings attached, including curbs on management bonuses.

Savers found themselves exposed to the problems in the Icelandic banking sector when their accounts in internet bank Icesave were frozen as its parent, Landsbanki, was nationalised by the Icelandic government. Around 230,000 UK savers held money with the bank, alongside 108 councils and other public bodies which had a total of more than £1bn invested with it.

Northern Rock denied claims that it took an "aggressive" attitude towards repossessions, after research showed the nationalised lender was more than twice as likely to repossess homes as other lenders.

In the north west, NWF Group sold its garden centres for £14.5m; Co-op Financial Services' plans to merge with Britannia Building Society were confirmed.

And the Co-op's takeover of Somerfield was given the green light by competition watchdogs.

November

Top UK firms joined the growing list of companies cutting jobs. Aerospace giant Rolls-Royce, defence firm BAE Systems and Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca were among firms to unveil cuts.

Taxpayers were landed with a 57.9 per cent stake in Royal Bank of Scotland after investors snubbed its £15bn share offer. High street lenders were told by Alistair Darling to lower mortgage rates "as quickly as possible" after the Bank of England slashed its base rate by 1.5 per cent to three per cent. Darling slashed VAT in a £20bn cash boost.

PZ Cussons, Nichols, NCC Group, Advanced Medical Solutions, ukfast.net and gettingpersonal.co.uk won M.E.N. Business of the Year awards; the government provoked anger by postponing a change of chairman at the Northwest Regional Development Agency to ensure continuity during the economic crisis. Critics said the process had been rendered a `farce'.

December

The death knell for Woolworths was sounded when administrators confirmed all its stores would close by January 5, at the likely cost of 27,000 jobs.

Other high street names to hit the buffers included MFI, Xavvi, Whittard of Chelsea, The Officers Club, Adams and USC.



UK banks lined up to reveal billions in potential losses as a result of alleged fraud by Wall Street investment manager Bernard Madoff.

Manchester-based London Scottish Bank fell into administration, and Bolton-based kitchen maker Bernsteing Group Holdings was another casualty. The Brookside Garden Centre at Poynton was sold out of administration, safeguarding scores of jobs.