Just over two and a half years since we started the Basingstoke Business News website, we are please to launch version 3. As well as a new website, we are also re-naming the site to the more generic Basingstoke Business  at www.basingstokebusiness.co.uk.

We have had lots of feedback over the past few months and we have delivered a new website structure that will give us the platform to make the website into something more than just a news website, so this is just the beginning.

The new site is much more interactive and already includes:

• An updated news module which allows you to rate and comment on news stories.
• An improved business directory for all companies in Basingstoke & Deane:
  • More flexible control for us to personalise your listing page - including a direct link to your website.
  • Includes the ability for companies to upload their own listing
• Upcoming events section - publicise your business event for free
• Additional quality content about business in Basingstoke

Over the next few weeks we will be adding lots of new content and this is where you have an opportunity to become more involved.

We are looking for local businesses to supply quality advice articles for other local business. We will publish these pages as articles and also credit your business as the source. So, if you have information that may benefit other businesses, please contact us.

If you are subscribed to this news feed, you do not have to change anything, the news will continue to come through to you. But you can visit the new website for Basingstoke Business here.

The Basingstoke branch of Equity Insurance Group will be handling a larger portfolio of customers after the company completed two further book acquisitions, transferring both personal lines and commercial accounts into its growing branch network.

Business previously handled by Hampshire broker, Direct Insurance Services, will transfer to Equity’s Basingstoke branch in Potters Walk.

Mike Hutton, Equity’s acquisitions director said:

“We see real benefit from infilling business acquired from brokers close to our branch locations and are actively seeking similar opportunities throughout our regional footprint.”

IT storage management solutions company, Solid State Solutions Ltd, have purchased Unit 1 at Prisma Park in Wade Road, Basingstoke, and in doing so have become the seventh company with representation on the development. With S3 occupying 2,500 sq ft, a total of 53% of the floor space has now been let or sold.

In partnership with such major IT vendors as NetApp, Symantec and Data Domain, Solid State Solutions, trading as S3, offer information management solutions to a large number of medium sized and large companies. These include well known enterprises such as Lloyds TSB, Winterthur Life and British Library.

Managing Director, Simon Ragg commented:

Prisma Park offered us the opportunity to own brand new offices, which we purchased at an attractive price.  It was also important for our business to relocate into a commercial centre which offers great communication routes, we are particularly reliant upon the mainline railway service.

Individual self contained units at Prisma are now offered at quoting freehold prices of £175.00 per sq ft, a figure which the agents, Baker Davidson Thomas and London Clancy, suggest as being lower than the combined cost of initially purchasing the development land and building out the units.  Richard Thomas from BDT added:

Equity Estates are keener than ever to sell or let these units, to the extent that there are now some superb deals to be secured.  Our current marketing push is concentrated on promoting Prisma Park as the best value for money freehold office space in Basingstoke and the surrounding area.

HOUSEBUILDER Redrow today announced it was axing 350 jobs and shutting down two locations, including their Sourthen office in Basingstoke.

The developer also reported that they are closing their Warrington office as they reported a 19% drop in sales compared with last year, and a 45% fall in upcoming deals.

Today’s trading update to the city said: “The UK housing market continues to be severely affected by the credit squeeze. Homebuyer confidence is now also being influenced by concerns about the future for house prices and interest rates. As a result the market for both new and second hand homes has declined rapidly to transaction levels not experienced for very many years with the price of homes now declining.”

Src. Wales Online

The North Hampshire Chamber of Commerce will be holding a networking lunch at Audleys Wood Hotel in Basingstoke on 15th July.

Built in the 1880s Audleys Wood is a Victorian Hunting Lodge, set in seven acres of lush woodland in the heart of Hampshire countryside. Our guest speaker this month is Sue Sharpe, a Skills Broker from Train to Gain who will talking about their FREE brokerage service.

The lunch will take place between 12pm and 2pm. For further information visit the NHCCI website.

We are running a small ten question survey about business in Basingstoke. We’d love it if you would take 3 minutes to fill it in for us.

Computer games retailer Game PLC, with head offices in Basingstoke, said a strong market and a raft of hit games releases had helped it beat expectations in the first half of the year.

The firm said it was “slightly ahead” of hopes thanks to new titles including Grand Theft Auto IV and Nintendo’s Wii Fit. Other big sellers for the company included Mario Kart and Metal Gear Solid 4.

Demand for consoles also shows no sign of wavering, the group added, as UK like-for-like sales rose 28.1% in the 22 weeks to June 28.

Although Basingstoke-based Game said the quality of the games released during the first half of 2008 was “unprecedented”, it remained confident over Christmas trading.Chairman Peter Lewis said the group “recognised the challenges of the wider economic environment”, but has improved its margins and expects profits for the six months to July 31 to be no less than £33 million.

The company, which bought rival Gamestation last year, said it was continuing with its roll-out of new stores despite the difficult climate and investing £42 million on capital expenditure.

The group currently has 668 stores in the UK and Ireland, but most of the 60 stores to be opened by the end of the year will be overseas as part of its international growth strategy.

Source Press Association

Website: Game Group PLC

Shire, the UK’s third-largest drugmaker, with head offices in Basingstoke, has agreed to pay 328 million euros ($520.7 million) for Germany’s Jerini AG to add a treatment for an illness that causes sometimes fatal swelling of tissue.Investors in Jerini will get 6.25 euros for each of their shares, 68 percent more than the Berlin-based company’s stock price today in Frankfurt. Jerini shares were suspended. The purchase will add to earnings in the second half of 2010, Shire said today in a PR Newswire statement.

Shire will get the experimental Firazyr drug, being developed to fight a life-threatening condition called hereditary angioedema.

Src. Bloomberg

Quarter two of 2008 has seen a leap in website traffic for Basingstoke Business news with unique visitors up 53.47% on Q1.

The continued rise in traffic is the result of a number of initiatives:

• Increased syndication of news from third party news websites.
• Increased level of interest coming to us from local businesses.
• The growth of the business directory.
• Content is optimised for search engines when posted for increased exposure - search engine traffic is up 12%

We are currently working on a new version of the site which should be up and running in the next couple of months. This will move more towards a general business portal for Basingstoke and we have new interactive features coming.

The hope is that as more people sign up to Basingstoke Business News, the more interactive the site will become, with the potential for you to post your own business news.

Thanks for your continued support.

Craig