‘Distractions’ put shares back (From The Northern Echo)

‘Distractions’ put shares back

8:39am Saturday 4th July 2009 in

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JOHN LEWIS sales returned to negative territory this week after hot weather and sporting events overshadowed the start of its summer clearance.

The department store’s sales fell 3.7 per cent to £51m in the week to Saturday, following an improvement of 2.2 per cent in the previous seven days. John Lewis said it had been a good week given distractions caused by tennis, rugby and the weather at the start of its summer sale on Saturday. A handful of stores improved on the opening day of the clearance period last year, among them being Newcastle, which was up 11 per cent.

BEST GROUP: North-East leisure group Aquaclear has been named as the leading restaurant operator in the region by Restaurant Magazine. The R150 list, which ranks companies from across the country based on turnover, placed Aquaclear, based in Washington, Wearside, ahead of its regional rivals. The company, which operates bars and restaurants across the North-East, as well as venues in Nottingham, Carlisle and Sheffield, came 71st in the nationwide list with a turnover of £8.5m.

NEW MD: Billingham-based McGill Services, a subsidiary of Hertel UK, has appointed Jon Rokk as its managing director. Mr Rokk joins McGill from North-East based JCM Group, where he was managing director. He previously worked at Sembcorp, where he was assistant vice president for one of its divisions, as well as Fujitsu and IBM Xyratex.

McGill Services works with the marine and offshore industries, and is a supplier of accommodation modules to the Royal Navy, through BVT Surface Fleet.

SAFETY AWARD: PD Logistics, part of Teesport owner PD Ports, has gained national recognition for its contribution towards achieving health and safety excellence through its groupwide training scheme.

The company won the training award at the annual UK Warehouse Association Awards. PD Logistics has made significant investment to increase its safety levels during las year, which saw an 11 per cent decrease in the number of accidents during the year.