De La Rue has agreed to sell their automated teller machine operation to the Carlyle Group, a US buyout firm for 360 million pounds in cash.

Following completion of the disposal, the Basingstoke based company intends to return 460 million pounds to shareholders, equivalent to 305 pence per share. The figure includes the 160 million pounds return of capital which De La Rue had announced alongside its full-year results on May 22.The sale is expected to complete by the end of September and is conditional on shareholder and regulatory approval.

Cash Systems, which makes cash-handling equipment, such as automated teller machines and coin counters for banks and retailers, was put up for sale in May following a strategic review by the company and made an operating profit of 35.5 million pounds on revenue of 286.6 million pounds in the year to March 29.

Following completion, De La Rue intends to focus on its banknote printing and security businesses.

DLAR.L

Sources: Bloomberg Reuters

The Board of Directors of Shire Limited (LSE SHP, NASDAQ SHPGY), the global specialty biopharmaceutical company headquartered at Chineham Business Park in Basingstoke, announced yesterday that Graham Hetherington will join the Company as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Board Director on 1st July 2008.

Graham Hetherington has a broad range of experience in senior financial roles having most recently held positions as the Chief Financial Officer of Bacardi (2007) and Allied Domecq PLC (1999-2005). In his role at Allied Domecq he was a key member of the team that transformed the performance, shape and reputation of Allied Domecq, doubling shareholder value and overseeing a period of consistent earnings per share growth.

A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (FCMA), Graham has valuable experience of leading finance functions for consumer brand driven organisations within the food and drink industry.

As previously announced, on June 18th 2008 Shire’s current Chief Financial Officer, Angus Russell becomes Chief Executive Officer; he will also be acting Chief Financial Officer until 1st July, when Graham Hetherington takes up the position. On June 18th, Shire’s current Chief Executive Officer Matthew Emmens becomes Chairman and Non-Executive Director, and Shire’s current Chairman, Dr James Cavanaugh retires from the Shire Board.

Angus Russell, Shire current Chief Financial Officer commented:

Graham brings to Shire a track record of delivering good financial results combined with extensive strategy, M&A and corporate development expertise in the rapidly changing food and drink industry.

Matthew Emmens, Shire current Chief Executive Officer added:

We welcome Graham to the Shire Board. In addition to his contributions as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, he brings a wealth of financial experience as well as a new perspective from another highly competitive industry.

Graham Hetherington added:

Shire stands out as a leader in its field because it has a differentiated model, a clear strategy and it is prepared to take calculated risks in the interest of consistently delivering growth and shareholder value. I’m pleased to be joining a company with such a track record of innovation and I’m looking forward to bringing my experience of strong consumer driven industries to the Shire organisation.

REACT Technologies, headquartered in Basingstoke, Hampshire UK has joined BelAir Networks Value-Added Reseller (VAR) Channel Program.

BelAir Networks offers VARs award-winning wireless mesh network solutions that deliver industry-leading broadband performance and scalability as well as carrier-class capacity and reliability for a wide range of environments including hotel and venue networks, public safety networks, municipal networks, port and mass transit installations, defense applications, and plant deployments around the world.

BelAir Network’s technology and market leadership are an excellent fit for our customers and our business.

said Jess Thompson-Hughes, Managing Director, REACT Technologies, Ltd.

BelAir Networks has the most comprehensive product portfolio and a proven track record delivering high-performance, highly reliable wireless networks for leading venues and cities around the world – that’s just what we want for our customers.

REACT Technologies has already deployed BelAir Networks equipment at popular theme parks in the UK to support both employee communications and Point-of-Sale (POS) applications and will also be featuring  the technology at Wireless08, May 21-22, 2008, at the Olympia, London.

REACT Technologies strong commitment to delivering best-in-class networks to its customers positions them to leverage BelAir Networks industry-leading portfolio,

stated Dave Park, Vice President, Product Marketing, BelAir Networks.

REACT’s extensive background in wireless networking and their strategic focus on the hospitality market expands BelAir Networks deployment opportunities in the UK.

REACT Technologies is at the forefront of secure mobile networking and converged communications. As a distribution solution provider, REACT delivers professional services and operational support. The company assists with all aspects of network deployment from initial consultancy and design, to test, commissioning and subsequent maintenance.

Tonight saw the Institute of Directors networking event at Basingstoke Museum, Milestones, with over 100 local business people attending to network and to listen to a selection of speakers discussing Basingstoke past, present and future.

Introduced by Mike Loftus, Chairman of Destination Basingstoke, the audience first heard from Roger Broad, from the Institute of Directors. Originally a local lad, now living in Guildford, his fond memories of the borough from his youth were compounded by the current successes of local businesses and the risks involved in success, which we continue to take.

He was followed by Mrs Mary Fagan, The Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire, who spoke highly of Basingstoke & Deane, and of the county of Hampshire as a whole. As well as past glories, Mrs Fagan also listed the current positive news from around the county and why Hampshire continues to be a successful place to live and do business.

The next talk was by Tony Curtis, Chief Executive of Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council, who discussed why Basingstoke is in such a strong position as a borough. From a business perspective, it was positive to hear someone in his position talking about the financial strength of the Borough and why it is “run like a business”, and he certainly had some interesting facts and figures to back up his claims.

Finally, Councillor Andrew Finney, the newly elected Leader of Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council, discussed his vision for the town, with ambitious plans to build on the existing strong foundations. This included working more and more in partnership with public bodies and local business and plans to develop a strong identity for Basingstoke on which to build, both locally and on a world stage.

Also at the event, on the streets within the Museum, were local businesses selling local produce and products and many delegates were on hand to network, and to sample a taste of Hampshire commerce at a local scale.

Visit the website for more information about Destination Basingstoke or the Institute of Directors.

Destination Basingstoke is hosting a prestigious event for the Southern Region of the Institute of Directors today (11 June) Milestones Museum in Basingstoke from 6pm to 8.30pm.

Visitors will be able to enjoy wine and canapes in this unusual venue and learn why Basingstoke is a great place to do business. Guest speakers include The Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire, Mrs Mary Fagan, and Tony Curtis, Chief Executive of Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council.

Milestones is a unique national award winning museum which contains over forty life sized replica buildings including shops, houses, factories and even a pub , all in street settings dating from 1850 to 1950.

Walk through a hundred years, on wood block paved alleys, granite sets streets, past gypsy camp site to the old Winchester railway Station. marvel at steam engines and the largest collection of Thornycroft vehicles in the UK.

There will be 17 market stalls all in street settings displaying and selling local produce.

Its not too late if you still want to attend. Contact Felicity Edwards now - places are £10 each.

If you are a business in Basingstoke, why not enter your website for the Hampshire Web Awards 2008. The HantsWeb Awards give you the opportunity to pit your website against other local businesses, giving your business profile across Basingstoke and the whole of Hampshire.

For more information, why not visit the HantsWeb Awards website?

The Hantsweb Awards are run by Hampshire County Council and celebrate excellence in website design, accessibility and service. The awards are open to any website based in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

Basingstoke based Cohort Technology has been appointed as an Authorised Training Centre for security and WAN optimisation vendor Blue Coat.

The partnership sees Cohort - founded by Grahame Smee in 2008 and now based in Grove House, Basingstke - provide training for Blue Coat resellers at its Basingstoke and London outposts. (more…)

Destination Basingstoke, home to the PERK staff incentive scheme has had a revamp with a new website by Basingstoke Web Agency - The Escape.

The website has been a flagship for the successful PERK scheme, as highlighted in the Basingstoke Gazette recently, and this latest version of looks set to grow the scheme quickly, with the company able to update the PERK scheme offers and directory quickly through a website content administration system. (more…)

Hogg Robinson Group (HRG), with head offices in Basingstoke, has announced preliminary financial results for year ending March 2008, reporting a growth in sales, inline with company expectations. The award winning corporate services company that provides a range of business travel related products and services, highlighted the following points: (more…)

Farncombe Consulting Group, the privately-held Basingstoke-based communications technology consultancy, has launched a new dedicated strategy practice, Farncombe Strategy. Farncombe Strategy joins Farncombe Technology in the newly-formed Farncombe Consulting Group.

Farncombe Strategy is a joint venture with TMT Strategy Advisors, a firm focused on providing strategic advice to leading players in the telecoms and digital media sectors. It will be led by two highprofile consultants from the Technology, Media and Telecoms sector: Tom McKeever, Managing Director of TMT Strategy Advisors, and Adriana Menezes Whiteley, previously a Director at Ovum’s consulting division.

Farncombe Strategy will concentrate on strategy consulting and transaction services support in the Technology, Media and Telecommunications sectors. It will be based in London, UK, and draw upon its dedicated team of experienced strategy consultants as well as a network of industry experts to deliver strategic advice to its clients globally.

This new joint venture not only combines media with telecoms expertise, but adds extra resources in strategic and financial analysis to our existing core technology competencies,

said Dr Stephen Upton, Managing Partner at Farncombe Technology.

It will further strengthen our ability to provide the type of end-to-end consultancy service, from Business Strategy, through Technology Planning and into Implementation, that many customers are now seeking.

Tom McKeever, Managing Director of TMT Strategy said,

As convergence between television, Internet and telecoms develops, technology is adapting very quickly and playing an increasingly significant role in strategy

With the technical expertise and knowledge of Farncombe Technology, our new sister company, to draw upon, we can provide clients with complete strategic advice, from commercial to technical. For both Farncombe and us, it’s the perfect marriage. We look forward to being part of Farncombe’s continuing expansion.

For more details, visit www.farncombestrategy.com.