Entries Tagged 'catering Trailers' ↓

hi im looking for some advice, ive brought a catering trailer it has a cast iron griddle in it, and has been used up until last week, its quite old. it has blackned around the edge but directly where the heat is it looks burnt and dry. ive seasoned it the correct way, only used water etc, but when i cooked burgers and bacon on it everything turned black!!! the fat from the meat all turned black! pls help me, many thanks

My son wants to start the business in the food industry, but first with a taco truck. Does anyone know who sells in houston, build from the ground up w/ new equipment?

The tour, which Perdue started on Thursday, has consisted of classroom visits in various public schools and community colleges around the state to talks with teachers, students and local leaders about the importance of education in the state’s economic recovery. At DCCC, she was introduced to several of the college’s most successful and unique career initiatives.

“I came out to see some of the programs taking place at DCCC,” Perdue said. “I been through four or five paths that led to high-skilled jobs. It doesn’t get any better than this.”

The governor has been hitting the road to garner educational support in advance of the looming state budget legislators are debating. the state is facing a budget shortfall of more than $2 billion and education cuts may be part of lawmakers spending plan in order to balance the budget. the governor and her administration are covering the state to remind the public the importance of education and to try and minimize the impact the budget will have on teachers, schools and community colleges.

Perdue touched on how important community colleges were for all ages — from those straight out of high school to 60 year-olds. the governor said if someone loses a job or needs more training, they can find a community college close by to help “put them in a career they like, with a skill set they need and they can get a job.

“At the end of the day, it benefits the whole state. I will not turn my back on public schools, community colleges and universities. all of this allows North Carolina to be competitive. this is an investment in our future. There’s one solution — jobs equal education, education equals jobs. It’s like two plus two equals four.”

Perdue was welcomed by Dr. Mary Rittling, president of DCCC, along with members of the board of trustees and staff members. She started the campus tour in the lower level of the Briggs Technology Building where she learned about the Automation Technology Lab. the lab within the Electronics Engineering Technology program offers advanced capabilities for students and employees of modern manufacturing companies who need to learn the newest processes.

She then viewed two of the college’s simulation lab trailers — the Patient Simulation and Driving Simulator. the Patient Simulation Lab has realistic computerized mannequins that provide real-life practice for students during clinical instruction. It is the only mobile health care lab of its kind in the state. the driving simulator allows drivers to practice and learn emergency driving skills on hazardous road conditions. Perdue took the wheel to give the instructional simulator course a test run.

She then headed over to the Transportation Technology Center to hear about the school’s Heavy Equipment and Transportation Technology program that exposes students to diesel engine repair and logistics.

“without the support of the state we can’t continue these programs,” Rittling said. “Community colleges are about lifelong learning. the most important word is community. We deliver to the community.”

Amy Kirkland, a student in the Automotive system Technology program, talked with Perdue for a short while. She said it was a honor because she had never meet an elected official in high office. Kirkland lost her job at Thomasville Furniture in 2008 and decided to go back to school to work in the automotive industry.

“It’s great for her to see exactly what the funding (the state gives) is being used for as far as what we’re learning and the techniques,” Kirkland said. “It’s important to see hands on, instead of hearing through word of mouth. She can get her own idea of what were doing as students.”

Thomasville Mayor Joe Bennett joined the tour with Perdue and said he knows she values education.

“It is indeed a great day for the governor to be in Davidson County,” he said. “the community college is an important step to many.”

Deneesha Edwards can be reached at 249-3981, ext 213, or at .

My husband took a heart attack and since then we have fell behind I just brought our mortgage up to date and now trying to get back on track we have insurance – medical through his work and he was on mine we still got bills of $5000 and trying to get our credit cards paid off and back on track I wanted to buy a concession trailer and make extra to pay off things and get ahead but with my credit now no one will give me a loan I sell my food to people I know as Im the only one that makes scottish/irish food there is no competition and we have a lot of expats but Im not making enough to buy a trailer I have been told by the air force base that if I have the trailer I will have a spot on base but cant get the money to get started any suggestion I tried a web site 40billion.com to raise invest but nothing do I give up I love making food and people love my stuff.

I am interested in selling food outside of local nite clubs in the atlants area. and wondering if anybody knew how to go about doin it? Do i need a license? Or have to get permission from the county? I have know idea how to go about doing this. any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks

19th Apr 2011, 7:00 am

The TimesBet of the Day: Spread-betters who read charts were selling BHP Billitons share price before a production update. the charts indicated a potentially bearish picture after last weeks abandoned baby a jump higher, quickly followed next day by a gap lower and steep retreat presaged a head and shoulders.Deal of the day: Avanti Communications, a satellite company and one of those shares bet against by Evil Knievil, the bear raider otherwise known as Simon Cawkwell, rose 5.7% to 464p, after being awarded almost $7.6 million (4.7 million) from Space Exploration Technologies, an American rocket company that failed to honour a launch contract.Gilts: Gilts were spurred by ongoing talk that Greece would restructure its debt and a downgrade of the U.S. credit outlook. June gilt futures settled 46 ticks higher, but underperformed the equivalent bund by 79 ticks as investors sold U.S. Treasuries and bought German debt. in the cash market, the yield on ten-year gilts fell six basis points to 3.55%.Football highlights? Just point your phone at a picture: a roaring 3D dinosaur emerges from behind Buckingham Palace as a cartoon character leaps out of a bus stop and points at a movie trailer that has started to play. welcome to a reality where mobile phones and tablet computers bring images to life.Lloyds of London appoints new Chairman: Lloyds of London has appointed John Nelson as Chairman to succeed Lord Levene, who has presided over the insurance markets council for nine years. Mr Nelson, who has chaired Hammerson, the property company, since 2005, will take over from Lord Levene in October.Libya fails to dent Halliburton profits: Turmoil in Libya and the imposition of United Nations sanctions on Tripoli forced Halliburton to take a $46 million charge in the first quarter. this, however, was more than offset by a threefold jump in profits at its key North American operations. Glencores numbers just get bigger and bigger: Two of Glencores banks have valued the Swiss commodities trader at up to $69 billion in the run-up to its planned flotation next month. the generous valuations have been greeted with scepticism by some City investors, who point out that Credit Suisse and Barclays Capital have a vested interest in promoting the value of their client.Towergate appointment taken as signal it is preparing to float: Speculation mounted that Towergate was lining up a flotation as the acquisitive insurance broker named a stock market veteran as its boardroom figurehead. Towergate, founded by the billionaire Peter Cullum, said that Alastair Lyons would be taking over as Non-Executive Chairman. Mr Lyons chairs Admiral, an insurance group that he helped to bring to the market, and Serco, the government outsourcing company.Kheraj to rejoin Barclays as Diamonds adviser: Naguib Kheraj, former Finance Director of Barclays, will rejoin the bank as an adviser to its Chief Executive, Bob Diamond. Mr Kheraj stepped down from a specially created international role at investment bank Lazard in February after just six weeks, saying he did not have enough time to fulfil his charitable commitments.Sainsburys puts best foot forward in battle with the department stores: J Sainsbury is experimenting with its first outside concessions as it uses its larger supermarkets to take on the department stores. It is testing two Clarks shoe concessions in larger stores. It is also operating an O2 mobile phone concession in a 100,000 sq ft hypermarket in Crayford, Kent.Looking for bargains on the forecourt: Dozens of independent car dealers are struggling in the wake of the recession and could be ripe for takeover, according to one of several businesses aggressively cleaning up distressed forecourts across Britain. Cambria Automobiles says that many dealers are over borrowed and are failing to shift stock and it senses an opportunity.Explorers fight it out over tax bill in Uganda: a row between two oil companies over tax liabilities has erupted into multimillion-dollar lawsuits Tullow Oil is suing its former partner Heritage Oil for the $313 million (192.5 million) that it has had to pay in tax to the Ugandan Government. Heritage has countered with legal action seeking the return of $283 million held in an escrow account.BAE veteran joins queue at Dollywood: Question: what do nuclear submarines, battle tanks and the Eurofighter have in common with Dollywood, the Great Smoky Mountains family fun vacation adventure owned by the singer who brought you Jolene? answer: John Weston.The Independent Euro stocks slide amid renewed fears of Greek default: Renewed fears of an early default by Greece on its sovereign debt sent the Euro, European stock markets and the already depressed value of bonds issued by other distressed peripheral Eurozone members sliding.RBS faces AGM protests over tar sands cash: Royal Bank of Scotland faces protests from native tribespeople over its backing for the controversial extraction of oil from tar sands in Canada. Three representatives of Canadian first Nation communities will gain admittance to the bank’s annual meeting in Edinburgh this morning as proxies for RBS shareholders.Luxury brand names take Google fight to High Court: some of the worlds most prestigious brand names are to fight a legal battle in the High Court over Google search terms. Luxury brands Cartier, Montblanc and Alfred Dunhill all part of the Richemont group are so keen to protect their online rights that they have filed a claim in the High Court, accusing retailer Aspinal of London of effectively “riding on their coat-tails”.Sales rise of 17% puts fizz back into LVMH: LVMH posted sparkling first quarter sales figures for all of its businesses. the maker of Moet et Chandon champagne and Louis Vuitton handbags saw its sales grow by 17% to 5.25 billion (4.6 billion) over the three months, and reported strong momentum in the U.S., Europe and Asia.Toyota fires up quake-hit Japanese car factories: Toyota was producing cars at all of its Japanese factories for the first time since the devastating earthquake and tsunami rocked the country last month. But the plants will run at only half-capacity for the foreseeable future because of a shortage of parts produced by other quake-hit Japanese suppliers, the world’s biggest car maker said.Banks agree to delay Southern Cross tests: Southern Crosss lenders have postponed a test of its banking covenants until 31 May as the care homes group tries negotiate rent reductions with landlords in the wake of local authority spending cuts.Financial TimesAlterian shares recover after sales forecast: Alterian, the struggling marketing technology company, admitted it overreached itself in recent months as it issued a trading update clarifying its two recent profit warnings.Resolution wavers as UBS downgrades and insurers retreat: Insurers led the London market lower as the FTSE 100 registered its biggest daily fall since November. Clive Cowderys Resolution led the sector lower, down 4.8% to 297p, after UBS took the stock off its Buy list and cut earnings forecasts by about 30%.Nimbys begin struggle over High Speed 2: the political backlash against the High Speed 2 rail project arose in the predictable cluster of verdant Conservative constituencies in Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Warwickshire, which will find themselves bisected by the scheme.NHS electronic record scheme in danger: the National Health Services 12.7 billion programme to create an electronic patient record has been plunged into yet another crisis after CSC, its biggest supplier, missed yet another series of deadlines and one of its key NHS partners walked away saying it does not want the systems on offer.PGI takes majority stake in Finisterre: U.S. Asset Manager Principal Global Investors, part of the Principal Group, has taken a majority stake in Finisterre Capital netting the London-based hedge funds five founders an estimated $52 million (32 million).FSA goes for two-tier capital approach: U.K. regulators will focus resources only on the largest insurers in their efforts to assess new capital models before a January 2013 deadline, in effect leaving smaller groups to fend for themselves. Julian Adams, the Financial Services Authoritys head of insurance, revealed the two-tier approach to companies preparing for the incoming European capital regime, known as Solvency II, at an industry conference on Monday.Wrecking ball fells former Hyundai plant: a factory once hailed as a flagship of Scotlands aspirations to become global centre for semiconductor manufacturing fell to the wrecking ball on Monday as the sites new Owner launched its redevelopment with a focus on the renewables industry.SFO ponders probe into Notts County deal: Fraud investigators said on Monday they would decide shortly whether to examine the case of how footballs oldest club was taken over by a convicted fraudster whose scam deceived both a former England Manager and the government of North Korea.Nat Express faces further scrutiny: the troubles at National Express deepened on Monday when a leading U.S. shareholder lobby group said it had concerns over the transport companys corporate governance procedures. CTW Investment Group, a union-backed coalition of investment funds, said the dispute between National Express and Elliott Advisors, the activist US investor pressing for board changes, had been caused by a failure to follow a coherent practice for identifying and nominating new non-executive directors.big guns vie to tap Azeri gas riches: an ugly mass of buildings, pipes and vents sprawled beside the Caspian Sea appears an unlikely beginning for Europes future energy supply.International diversity of U.K. boards grows: the number of Foreign Directors on the boards of Britains biggest companies has risen by more than half in five years, according to a study that is being used to shape corporate governance policy in Europe.Lex:U.S. debt: credit where its due: Bond vigilantes tend to be rude about rating agencies, and with good reason. But it is Standard & Poors, not the bond market that is trying to get U.S. politicians to treat the countrys fiscal deficit seriously. should anyone care that S&P has put U.S. sovereign debt on negative credit outlook? the answer should plainly be no. this is only an opinion, based on public data, with a one-third chance that action will follow within two years. given the scale of the deficit, it is obvious that rating agencies should at least consider downgrades, whatever they say in public. But this gesture is important precisely because it is aimed at politicians, not investors. S&P chose to surprise the market, and to move to a formal negative outlook when it could merely have mused publicly about downgrades, as Moodys did earlier this year. It could have raised the alarm about the debt ceiling, the current hot topic. Instead, it emphasised the risk that U.S. policymakers might not reach an agreement on how to address medium and long-term budgetary challenges by 2013. in other words, if politicians try to avoid this issue until after the 2012 election, they will suffer a downgrade.J&J/Synthes: what the doctor ordered: Fracture a bone anywhere in the world and the odds are good that Synthes will supply the materials to mend it. Snapping up the device maker for a cool $20 billion may be just what the doctor ordered for Johnson & Johnson which, while not quite broken, has been prone to some nasty spills lately. It lost nearly $1 billion in sales last year due to various product recalls and has been on the prowl since failing to consummate a big deal for British device manufacturer Smith & Nephew. Buying Synthes is about much more than bolstering J&Js wounded portfolio though. a leader in other parts of the orthopaedic market, J&J remains a bit player in trauma, Synthess forte. an ageing population translates to far more broken bones in coming decades, just as it means more artificial hips and knees (where J&J already has scale). Synthes controls about half of this business, valued at more than $5 billion, around a fifth of the overall orthopaedics market. and its spinal products business would help J&J edge closer to market leader Medtronic.Eurozone: panic is premature: According to the Greeks, nothing happened. But as markets feel they have been misled by Greece in the past, it is no surprise that they largely ignored its denial that it had asked for its debt to be restructured. Greeces cause was not helped by revelations of a German contingency plan to cope with a default. For Eurozone unity, the latest utterances of the d-word come at a bad time. Last Sundays Finnish election saw Anti-Euro party True Finns vacuum up 19% of the vote, almost five times the support they mustered in 2007. It may well not form part of the next coalition government, but if it does, its anti-bail out policies could see Finland withdraw from the European financial stability facilitys 80 billion bail-out of Portugal a lifeline that requires unanimous Eurozone support. Markets like horror movie-buffs love to be spooked. Spain, which must rue the timing of its Monday debt auction, saw yields on 3.5 billion worth of 12-month bills balloon almost one-third to 2.77%, and on 1.1 billion of 18 month bills by almost two-fifths to 3.36%. For good measure, the Euro nosedived almost 2 cents against the dollar.Lombard: Elliott needs fresh scalps to bolster bragging rights: For a business operating within the supposedly secretive world of hedge funds, Elliott Management of the U.S. is gaining curious prominence. Scarcely a day goes by without the company donning the high-visibility raiment of the activist investor to participate in one corporate tussle or another. It is seeking to replace Directors at U.K. transport group National Express and Swiss biotech group Actelion. Elliott is also figuring, albeit in a supporting role, in the defence of Danisco of Denmark from DuPont of the U.S. and in an assault by U.K. activist Laxey on Alliance Trust, a venerable investment fund. there is supposedly no strategic reason why the company is suddenly as omnipresent in the business pages as Kate Middleton is in the news sections of non-pink papers. Happenstance, it is claimed, required Elliott to take simultaneous public positions on National Express, Actelion and DuPont. But one might surmise that a recovery in the potential for M&a deals, reflecting improved corporate profitability, also has something to do with it. It makes sense to signal that a business might be open to offers this being Elliotts message regarding National Express when offers might reasonably be forthcoming.Cover story: the severity of antitrust penalties does not feature in inward investment brochures under such straplines as: Come to the U.K. with its skilled workforce and ferocious competition enforcers! Yet official belligerence towards rigged markets is a useful guarantee that incoming businesses are unlikely to get stiffed by contractors and suppliers. so it is regrettable that the Competition Appeals Tribunal has cut fines imposed on nine building companies judged guilty of cover pricing. Cover pricing is a venial rather than a mortal sin in antitrust theology. here, two contractors will typically collude in a tender, with one contractor deliberately quoting a higher price than the other. the overbidder thus stays on the customers radar as a potential partner while neutralising the risk of winning a contract that it sees as unattractive. the danger of cover pricing is that it can spill over into price fixing. the CAT, living up to its acronym as a bit of a pussycat, slashed fines imposed on such hard-hat wearers as Crest Nicholson from 11.6 million to 2.7 million on Friday. the nub of the CATs argument was that the penalties, imposed by the Office of Fair Trading, were too harsh.The Daily TelegraphSovereign debt fears put Euro under pressure: the Euro fell amid fears that a public backlash against squanderer member states could de-rail Brussels radical plans to avert the mounting sovereign debt crises. the embattled currency fell to as low as $1.4155 at one point as traders ignored Greece’s denials that it needs to restructure its debt; Ireland’s banks were cut to junk status; and Portugal’s planned bailout was threatened by a possible veto from Finland.Online gaming shares jump on U.S. crackdown: Share in online gaming companies without exposure to illegal U.S. gamblers rocketed this morning in response to Friday nights crackdown against the three largest poker websites in America.Four banks cleared of market rigging in Parmalat collapse: Four of the worlds largest banks have been acquitted of market rigging in relation to the collapse of Italian food group Parmalat. a Milan court cleared Citigroup, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley of helping the company mislead investors during the Parmalat scandal, which has been dubbed Europe’s Enron.Analysts claim Bart Becht fell out with Reckitt Benckiser board: Analysts have claimed that Bart Becht, the highly-regarded Chief Executive of Reckitt Benckiser, quit after a boardroom bust up over strategy. Liberum Capital issued a note claiming that the long-serving boss had a serious “disagreement” with directors after they refused to sanction a “tranformative” restructuring at the consumer products company.The Guardian Discounters take over U.K. malls: Pound shops, discount fashion chains and fast-food outlets are moving into shopping centres in increasing numbers, changing the face of Britains malls. Budget brands Poundland, Peacocks, Card Factory and Greggs are among those showing the fastest growth in tenancies since 2008, according to a report from retail consultants Trevor Wood Associates.Eurotunnel cruises past ferry operators in cross-channel market: Cross-channel tourists are losing their sea legs, Eurotunnel has claimed, after the company said rising fuel prices have pushed it ahead of ferry operators in the U.K.-to-France travel market.Agricultural land prices hit record high: Rising food prices have pushed up the price of arable land in parts of the U.K., but life is tougher for livestock farmers. Agricultural land prices in Britain have hit record levels following the surge in global food prices, according to figures from Savills.Citigroup profits slump 32%: Citigroups profits slumped 32% in the first quarter of the year, dragged down by lacklustre returns in its trading division and U.S. consumer banking arm. the banks revenues in the first quarter of 2011 were $19.7 billion (12 billion), up 7% from the last quarter but down 22% from the first quarter of 2010.Insights from ecologists show ways of preventing economic disaster: in the eight centuries from 1000-1800 AD the worlds fish stocks and species numbers were stable and healthy. in the subsequent 200 years, 40% of the species in coastal waters collapsed, showing falls in their population by 90% or more.Daily MailShares slide on shock U.S. credit outlook cut: the surprise downgrading of the United States credit outlook by a leading agency has sent stock markets sliding. Ratings agency Standard & Poors downgraded its credit outlook for the U.S., from stable to negative, but maintained its top AAA credit rating.Tesco looks East as U.K. lags behind: Tescos Asian stores are expected to ring up record profits for the retailer this week, but there is unlikely to be any relief from dismal sales in Britain. the supermarket chain will reveal the full scale of the divide between Britain and its overseas markets when it delivers its first set of full year results since the departure of Terry Leahy as chief executive.Glencore and BP aim to placate investors: Commodities trader Glencore and oil supermajor BP is facing twin battles to reassure investors this week, after disgruntled institutions flexed their muscles.Broker Views:Logica: Exane BNP Paribas upgrade the stock to Outperform and increased the target price to 167.00p888 Holdings: Numis Securities Ltd upgrade the stock to Buy and increased the target price to 50.00pAstraZeneca: Oehman Fondkommission upgrade the stock to Outperform and increased the target price to 3245.68pCeramic Fuel Cells Ltd: Nomura Code Securities maintains a Buy rating on the stock, with a target price of 21.00pAvanti Communications Group: Jefferies maintains a Buy rating on the stock, with a target price of 1340.00pEnCore Oil: Arbuthnot Securities maintains a Buy rating on the stock, with a target price of 211.00pDaily ExpressClothes chain seeks German ban for ASOS: ASOS faces a legal challenge over the launch of its website in Germany amid claims the brand will cause confusion among shoppers. German menswear chain Ansons Herrenhaus has asked a Hamburg court to ban the use of the Asos website, alleging the similarities between the names could damage the brand.S&N drifts as bid hopes slip: Shares in orthopaedics group Smith & Nephew fell 3% as takeover hopes faded after prospective U.S. bidder Johnson & Johnson closed in on a possible $20 billion (12.3 billion) buy-up of Swiss medical group Synthes.Norwich to pay 51 million: One of Britains biggest building societies is to pay 51 million in compensation to customers after being fined 1.5 million for mis-selling investment products. the Financial Services Authority said Norwich & Peterborough (N&P) failed to give suitable advice on the sale of products from collapsed firm Keydata Investment Services. It affected 3,200 clients over a three year period.Chevron: 2 billion tax hike could scupper North Sea hopes: Chevron has warned the Governments 2 billion tax raid on North Sea oil and gas profits could force it to invest elsewhere.The Scottish HeraldScottish arm of Lloyds in trading warning: Up-for-sale Lloyds TSB Scotland is warning it expects challenging economic conditions north of the Border for most of 2011, likely limiting growth in its lending and income and meaning an improvement in the bad debt picture might not be maintained. this wary outlook is revealed in the Lloyds Banking Group subsidiarys latest accounts, which have just been filed with Companies House.King Sturge ace casts verdict on property market: the big Scottish banks are controlling a substantial amount of the commercial property market north of the Border amid scarcer funding and lower valuations, consultancy King Sturges big-hitting signing Caroline Parker said.EnCore unveils subsidiary plan: EnCore Oil said that it is planning to spin off its North Sea exploration assets into a new company as it focuses on two key projects in the U.K. sector, writes Douglas Hamilton.Anti-piracy firm raises 5 million: Metaforic, a software company which has developed products to combat piracy and hacker attacks, has raised 5 million in a funding round led by venture capital firm Scottish Equity Partners. the company, which is based in Glasgow and California and was initially spun out of an ITI Techmedia project, said it will use the new funds to expand its international sales and marketing activity.Maxima Chief Executive refuses to rule out job cuts: Graham Kingsmill, the Chief Executive of troubled former Scottish technology darling Maxima Holdings, has told the Herald that axing headcount was not part of plan after announcing a comprehensive strategic review which could result in the sale of the company.The ScotsmanGlobal markets plunge on US federal debt downgrade: Shares around the world plunged after a ratings agency sent shockwaves through already nervous stock markets by downgrading its outlook for US government debt. Standard & Poor’s surprise cut to “negative” from “stable” was blamed on a risk that US politicians may not reach agreement on a plan to slash the huge federal budget deficit. the move triggered steep falls on both sides of the Atlantic, with Britain’s benchmark FTSE 100 closing down more than 125 points, or 2.1%, as tens of billions of pounds were wiped off the index of the UK’s biggest companies.Building society faces 52 million pay-out: Norwich and Peterborough (N&P) Building Society has been fined 1.4 million and faces a compensation bill of more than 50 million after failing to give customers suitable investment advice. the society, currently in merger talks with Yorkshire Building Society, was found guilty by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of failing to offer suitable advice in the sale of Keydata products. N&P is the 17th firm to be fined by the FSA this year. the regulator has raised almost 15.4 million in penalties since 2011 began, including the 7.7 million misselling fine slapped on Barclays and the 2.8 million penalty handed to Royal Bank of Scotland for poor complaint handling, both in January.RBS looks to sell off German and US loans: Royal Bank of Scotland is to continue its business streamlining, with ChiefExecutive Stephen Hester understood to be looking to offload large portfolios of commercial property loans in Germany and the United States. Property sources said the bank is also in the final stages of choosing a private equity partner for a 1.6 billion UK property loan portfolio, with frontrunners believed to be Starwood, Apollo, Blackstone and Lone Star. this sale process – codenamed Project Isobel – has been scaled back from an initial 3 billion to be sold in the UK. It follows on from 1 billion of RBS real estate debt in Spain sold in the past year, including a portfolio to Perella Weinberg.’Stumbling blocks’ cost UK billions every year: the UK risks losing out on billions of pounds of inward investment unless “stumbling blocks” such as regulation and planning issues are tackled, the CBI warned. the business organisation said research it had carried out among 400 major firms revealed that a more compelling case needed to be made to attract foreign corporations back after investment slumped during the recession.Gold mine appeal pulled as Scotgold gears up for fresh bid: Australian mining group Scotgold Resources is withdrawing its appeal against planning refusal for its gold mine in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park and will resubmit a fresh application within two months. the move, announced, follows detailed talks between the company and park planning officials. It comes just a couple of months ahead of a full-scale planning appeal process and paves the way for a modified application for the Cononish gold mine near Tyndrum at the northern end of the National Park – one that should stand a better chance of getting the go-ahead.Threat of real energy price surge as green power could fall flat: Britain’s “over-enthusiastic” reliance on offshore renewables could make electricity 60% more expensive than it needs to be in 20 years time, an expert will tell energy industry representatives. Paul Willson, deputy director of engineering at Parsons Brinckerhoff’s power generation division, was due to address members of the Scottish-based Industrial and Power Association (IPA) in Glasgow.further Falklands failure for Desire: an exploration firm has seen its hopes of finding oil off the Falkland Islands dashed once again as it revealed another well had failed to deliver. Falkland Islands-focused Desire Petroleum saw its shares tumble after it said its Ninky well in the North Falkland Basin would be shut down and abandoned. Stephen Phipps, Desire’s Chairman, said after shutting down the well, the Aim-quoted firm would be left with about $37 million (22 million) which was insufficient to drill further wells and additional financing would be sought. the Ninky well reached a total depth of 2,620 metres.Miller steps in to win 100 million deal: Edinburgh-based Miller Group has won a contract to manage and build homes with a potential development value of 100 million for a firm that was put into administration earlier this month. Miller will manage ten of a total of 32 sites, mainly in the north-east and North West of England that were owned by the Irish housebuilder, McInerney Group.Fears over low levels of malting barley: Production of barley for the Scottish whisky industry is now at a “dangerously low level” according to one long-term industry expert. Speaking in Edinburgh, Ian Keith said his worries on the tonnage that might be grown this year rose after seeing the acreage of winter wheat and oil seed rape sown last autumn. According to the December 2010 census, both these crops increased in acreage by more than 10% effectively reducing by some 13,500 hectares the acreage left for spring cereals including malting barley.Travelodge unveils plan for pub link: Hotel chain Travelodge announced plans to open 36 sites next to pubs as part of a 100 million expansion scheme. the firm, which has 453 hotels, has teamed up with pub operators – including Greene King, Marston’s, Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) and JD Wetherspoon – to look for sites where they can jointly fund developments.BBC goes Gaga for Pinnacle’s voice and data: BBC Radio 1 has selected Stirlingshire-based Pinnacle Telecom to provide voice and data connections for its “Big Weekend” concert in Carlisle, which is set to feature Black Eyed Peas, Lady Gaga and Nicole Scherzinger. the deal is the latest in a string of BBC contract wins for the company, including next week’s royal wedding, the Grand National and last year’s visit by Pope Benedict XVI.five jobs lost as PR firm axes Scots arm: Global PR and public affairs group Fleishman Hillard is closing its Edinburgh office this week with the loss of five jobs. the firm, owned by Omnicom, had previously worked with clients including the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, Scottish Development International and mining giant Rio Tinto Alcan. John Saunders, Regional President of the group, said: “Following a review of our operations in Edinburgh where we currently employ five staff, we have signalled our intention to close that office.Philips set to spin off its once mighty TV business: Frans van Houten, the new boss of Philips, switched off the firm’s once huge television business as he looks to turnaround the fortunes of the Dutch electronics giant. the loss-making TV arm will be spun-off into a joint venture with Hong-Kong based monitor maker TPV, with Philips holding only a 30% stake in the new entity.