The 10 most read BusinessDesk.com stories of 2022
Construction of a £42m hotel at Airport City Manchester grabbed the attention of TheBusinessDesk.com readers this year.
It was the most read of all our stories throughout a testing time for business and the North West region as they sought to continue the recovery from the pandemic crisis.
The 412-bed TRIBE hotel was billed as being the first of its kind in the UK when TheBusinessDesk.com published the story in February this year.
Closely following this story on reader numbers was our coverage in October of the turmoil at law firm Linder Myers Solicitors, which was issued with a winding-up petition by HMRC.
The 100-year-old firm has offices in Manchester, Chester, Lytham, York and Shrewsbury, and is one of 14 legal brands operated by Metamorph Group.
Transform Hospital Group operates from The Pines in south Manchester
Another account of tribulation featured prominently in the most-read listings, this one being the report in October of Transform Hospital Group teetering on the brink of administration just weeks after new owners took over the healthcare group.
Y1 Capital, led by Sayani Sainudeen and former Transform chief executive Tony Veverka, completed a deal for the company in August which saw previous private equity owner Aurelius exit.
Tony Stockdale
The troubles at Metamorph Group continued to attract attention in November, when the latest report into the situation at the law firm was published.
It focused on the likelihood of redundancies at the firm after it filed a notice of intention to appoint an administrator.
On a more positive note, the takeover of Accrington-based online retailer Studio Retail Group by Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group in February, was a welcome conclusion to negotiations.
The £26.8m cash deal to buy the business out of administration protected the jobs of more than 1,500 staff.
Dominic Orsini, Rainmaker of the Year 2022
In June, TheBusinessDesk.com’s announcement of the 2022 Rainmaker Awards winners attracted fantastic traction among the region’s financial community.
The report revealed that Houlihan Lokey’s Dominic Orsini had been named Rainmaker of the Year at the Midland Hotel, in Manchester.
CGI of proposed plastic recycling plant
Another piece that generated thousands of views was our report last month of plans to build up to 10 ecoPlants around the country as part of a £400m investment, including one in Lancashire.
At their peak, the ecoPlant facilities should create more than 750 direct jobs, and potentially thousands of indirect jobs when they move from development into the construction and operation phases.
Matthew Moulding
In July we reported on THG founder and chief executive, Matt Moulding, after his decision to gift almost £821,000-worth of shares in the Manchester online retailer to his friends.
He bought 1,169,000 ordinary voting shares in the group, priced at 70.2287p per share, with a total value of £820,973.
In The Style
More recently, our report into Salford-based fashion firm, In the Style, this month, proved a big draw with TheBusinessDesk.com readers.
We revealed founder, Adam Frisby, was to step back into the chief executive role as the fashion retailer considered launching a sale process.
The company floated in March 2021 with a market value of £105m, but its share price has since fallen by 95%
Studio Retail
And, back in January, a similar tale of plummeting shares was revealed after shares in Accrington online shopping group Studio Retail plunged 35% to their lowest level in a decade after it revealed a double whammy of another profits warning and a hole in its working capital.
Studio said it was “exploring a range of options to meet a short-term working capital funding requirement”.
