Business news in brief 07/03/2012

Peverel deal saves thousands of jobs

More than 4,200 jobs were saved yesterday as property management company Peverel Group, formerly owned by tycoon Vincent Tchenguiz, was bought out of administration for £62 million.

The group, with offices in Glasgow, as well as Birmingham, Kent, London and Luton, has been acquired by private equity firms Chamonix and Electra Partners in a deal that will see its debt cut from £125m to £25m. Peverel looks after 190,000 properties and retirement homes. It collapsed into administration a year ago.

Tiger Stores moves into Livingston

DANISH homeware brand Tiger Stores is to open its first Scottish outlet at The Centre, Livingston this week after agreeing a ten-year lease with Land Securities on a 1,965sq ft unit. Rent has been set at £66,000 a year.

Tiger Stores launched 15 years ago in Copenhagen and has grown to more than 120 outlets across Europe. Markus Behar, country director of Tiger Stores in Scotland, said: “It is a very exciting time as we await our first store opening.”

Montagu Evans represented Land Securities.

Michael Page suffers amid eurozone woes

SHARES in upmarket recruitment firm Michael Page slumped more than 7 per cent to 443p after it admitted that a stagnant financial services sector continued to be hobbled by the eurozone crisis.

Elsewhere, the company said the jobs market had stabilised in the first two months of this year after a volatile 2011, with growth in regions like Asia and Latin America. It came as Michael Page posted a 14 per cent fall in pre-tax profits to £86.1 million for last year, compared with a profit of £100.7m in 2010. The total divi rises 11 per cent to 10p from 9p.

Gillespie Macandrew eyes expansion

LAW firm Gillespie Macandrew yesterday unveiled plans to open an office in Perth as the Edinburgh-based practice looks to grow its agricultural and sporting estate work outside the Central Belt.

Managing partner Ian Turnbull said that a number of the firm’s lawyers, including partner Alistair Anderson, already lived in Perthshire and were well-placed to grow the number of clients that the practice has in the area.

Turnbull said the firm was negotiating to take office space in the “Fair City” and that the move was “imminent”.