Latest news from BusinessLive Read in browser by Tom Keighley Fri Oct 7, 2022 BusinessLive Writer Vertu Motors combats cost-of-living crisis with affordability measures With consumer confidence at rock bottom driven by a cost-of-living crisis, you could forgive car retailers for feeling a bit worri
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Vertu Motors combats cost-of-living crisis with affordability measures |  | | With consumer confidence at rock bottom driven by a cost-of-living crisis, you could forgive car retailers for feeling a bit worried. Not entirely so for Gateshead's Vertu Motors - now thought to be the country's fourth largest automotive seller - which has surpassed market expectations in its latest half year results.
While it acknowledged some caution about the market outlook, the group, which runs 160 sales and aftersales outlets across the UK, says it has a strategy to help customer facing cost challenges. One measure is by taking on the supermarket petrol giants, undercutting them at its little known Widnes forecourt. Vertu's keen pricing has seen it double revenues in this part of its business by £3.3m.
And as the average price of its used cars has shot up from £14,500 in 2017 to £20,000, the firm's margins have been boosted. Time - and interest rates - will tell what the appetite for car buying is in the months ahead.
Read more from our chat with Vertu boss Robert Forrester here.
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Hadrian proves there is no slowdown in healthcare property market |  | | In a sign of post-pandemic buoyancy in the care sector, established North East operator Hadrian Healthcare has managed to offload two properties before they are even built.
The Gateshead business was speculatively approached by one of the country's largest carehome operators, Anchor Hanover, with a £50m offer for two forthcoming properties in Skipton and Leeds.
It represents a healthy profit for Hadrian which had invested about £27m in the two North Yorkshire sites and had been planning to operate the homes as part of a strategy to expand its portfolio following a mammoth £100m-plus sale to Aviva pre-Covid.
Read chief business writer Coreena Ford's story on the move here.
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Rescue buyer sort for historic County Durham charity |  | | In a sad indication of the challenges in the third sector, historic County Durham charity Finchale Group has been placed into administration.
Finchale's roots stretch back to WW2 when, at its former Pity Me site, it helped rehabilitate returning solidiers. In 2015 it felt the impact of government funding changes which required support to delivered in the community rather than via residential programmes.
Having sold the Pity Me site for housing development and moved into purpose built premises at Belmont Business Park in 2019, Finchale had failed to make up lost funding requirements via new activities. Despite having helped more than 500 people last year - including 200 former armed forces personnel - trustees found it was time to instruct administrators at FRP who enourage interested parties to come forward.
Read more on the story here.
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10 questions for Jamie Cooke of iamproperty | |
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|  | Jamie Cooke co-founded iamproperty in 2009 with a vision to modernise the property market with innovative, tech. He is now managing director of its auction service iamsold. This week he answered our 10 questions. Read his answers here. | |
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| | | | | Virgin Money to open up public co-working spaces in high street locations | The bank is opening up some of its city centre locations to co-working. Read more | | | | | | County Durham insurance tech firm Honcho ceases trading citing 'highly competitive space' | Honcho had raised more than £3m. Read more | | | | | | |
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