Movers and shakers of 2013

January

• Persimmon’s chief executive, Mike Farley, announced his retirement after 30 years. He stepped down from the role in April.

• The high street took a hit as administrators were appointed for Blockbuster and HMV, and for camera retailer Jessops, with its store in Spurriergate closing.

• Tour de France officials revealed York will be hosting the start of Stage 2 of the Grand Depart, with the race expected to bring £100 million to Yorkshire’s economy.

• The Terry’s site off Bishopthorpe Road was bought by an undisclosed buyer

• York mutual Benenden Healthcare Society launched its new identity as the organisation entered a new era with a new name, Benenden Health.

February

• York web-hosting business Bytemark Hosting invested £1.2 million in its own data centre at Opus Avenue, York Business Park.

• Holgate-based insurance firm CPP announced it needed to make redundancies after RBS confirmed it would not be renewing the group’s contract to provide mobile phone insurance from March.

• Fashion retailer Republic, which had a shop in Coney Street, became the latest in a string of high street casualties as it called in administrators.

• York accountancy firm Barron & Barron merged with Barber Harrison & Platt, an independent firm of chartered accountants and business advisors based in Sheffield.

• Persimmon reported increased pre-tax profit of £221.8 million, up from £147.2 million in 2011. Revenue was up 12 per cent to £1.72 billion.

• Venturefest attracted 1,500 delegates to its tenth annual science and technology conference.

March

• The parent company of the Royal York Hotel was bought by private investment company Starwood Capital Group.

• Portakabin Group, the York-based modular building manufacturer, appointed Derek Carter as its new chief executive.

• Drax Power Station announced it was to upgrade three more of its turbines to improve the power plant’s efficiency as it converted to burning predominantly biomass rather than coal

• York-based Costcutter took over 800 convenience stores from independent retailer Palmer & Harvey in a new joint venture with the business.

April

• CPP Group sold its US branch for £26.1 million in a deal which bosses said was needed to enable the business to move forward.

• The first phase of York Racecourse’s £5 million developments got the go-ahead from City of York Council’s planning committee.

May

• CPP reported year-end losses of £20 million. Later in the month the business announced it was making 120 job cuts.

• City of York Council was criticised for leaving the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding (YNYER) Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) by its chairman, Barry Dodd. The authority said it wanted to focus more on its involvement with the Leeds City Region LEP.

• The owners of Monks Cross withdrew their application for a £25 million expansion of the retail park.

• York clothes retailers Coggles, which had a shop in Low Petergate, went into administration with half of its 60 staff made redundant. The remaining 30 staff later lost their jobs in June.

• Work started on the £100 million Flaxby Country Resort near Knaresborough. The project is being carried out by York developers Skelwith Group, with plans to open the hotel in 2015.

• Aviva announced 600 jobs from its UK Life division, which is based in York and has offices in Sheffield and Norwich, would move to India.

• Work started on the £90 million Vangarde development at Monks Cross.

June

• York solicitors Minster Law were acquired by BGL Group as an Alternative Business Structure (ABS), having worked with the Peterborough-based financial services company for the last seven years.

• Software company Trustmarque Solutions, which employs 130 people at Monks Cross, was bought for £43 million in a management buyout deal.

• Warwickshire-based Ambiance Hotels announced it had bought the former City of York Council offices in St Leonard’s Place, with plans to turn them into a four-star hotel.

• Former Easingwold School student Stephen Hester stepped down as head of RBS.

• Drax chief executive Dorothy Thompson was awarded a CBE for her work overseeing the transformation of the coal-fired power station into one of the world’s biggest renewable energy plants.

• High-street budget clothing chain Primark revealed intentions to move into Coppergate in the unit that would be vacated by Marks & Spencer when it moved to Monks Cross.

• CPP founder Hamish Ogston pulled out of talks to buy back the business.

July

• York law firms Ware & Kay and Sykes, Lee and Brydson joined forces in a merger deal.

• Leeds restaurant and bar company Arc Inspirations opened its newest £10 million bar Banyan in Little Stonegate.

• York’s Law College announced it was to close, with services being moved to Leeds.

• Printing giant York Mailing secured a £10 million investment from the Business Growth Fund to support spending on new presses.

• Rail passengers were given a boost as it was announced East Coast Mainline was in line for a share of a £1.2 billion investment for 30 new trains, allowing for 100 more passengers per journey.

• York digital company Apeartome launched the City of York Hologram Tour. The technology, called UltraReality, was utilised by City of York Council and the Yorkshire Air Museum in a world first.

• Sirius Minerals, the company behind the York Potash project, requested an extension for its planning application to build a billion-pound mine near Whitby. The North York Moors National Park’s planning authority had been due to make a decision on July 20.

August

• More than 500 jobs were saved as credit card insurer CPP sealed a £36 million lifeline through agreeing a £13 million new credit deal with its banks and an arrangement to defer paying a £23 million commission to partner agencies. Later in the month CPP revealed it would be joining 13 high-street banks in a redress scheme to pay an estimated £1.3 billion compensation to customers over missold insurance.

• York-based convenience store giant Costcutter signed a £35 million refinancing deal with Barclays to support growth for the business, which is based at Dunnington.

• Approval was granted for a £25 million development at Monks Cross after plans were resubmitted in June. The development of two new anchor stores is set to create 112 jobs.

• Almost 13 years after York’s landmark Bonding Warehouse was closed by disastrous flooding, work started on a major redevelopment project which would see the building transformed into apartments and offices, with the potential for a restaurant.

September

• Two York businesses received a Queen’s Award for Enterprise. Elvington-based Sheppee International, which specialises in machines used in the handling of freshly made glass bottles, was one of 116 exporting companies to win the international trade award. Stage One, the Tockwith business famed for producing the cauldron for last year’s London Olympic Games and opening ceremony, was one of only 27 awards given out nationwide for Innovation.

• Monks Cross welcomed its 50 millionth customer as the retail park celebrated its 15th anniversary.

October

• Portakabin was visited by Prime Minister David Cameron as the business announced it had opened its first site in Luxembourg.

• York Cocoa House was crowned the winner of a national awards scheme, beating competition from more than 2,000 ventures across the country. In a ceremony at London’s Milbank Tower it was named the winner of the Local Business Accelerators scheme.

• An award-winning Ryedale chef lifted the lid on York’s Star Inn the City. Andrew Pern, proprietor-chef of the Star Inn, at Harome, renovated a former waterworks building in York’s Museum Gardens to create Star Inn The City.

• Work on York Racecourse’s £5 million north end redevelopment got under way after Lindum York was appointed as the main contractor for the project.

November

• York Business Week kicked off with City of York Council leader Coun James Alexander revealing that a £10 million bridge would be built to open up the potential for thousands of new homes and offices in York at the York Central site.

• A £12 million 6,000 sq m factory created more than 150 new jobs when it opened in Norton’s Norton Grove Industrial Estate.

• The 23rd annual Press Business Awards awarded prizes to 16 businesses from York and North Yorkshire. Sheppee International was named the overall winner of the night, with the lifetime achievement award presented to Patrick Shepherd.

• Food giant Nestlé announced it was to create 1,600 jobs for young people over the next three years, and hundreds of paid work-experience placements. It was not revealed how many of the jobs would be based at Nestlé’s factory in Haxby Road.

December

• York law firm Denison Till started December by merging. The Piccadilly business,founded in York in 1965, became Lupton Fawcett Denison Till after joining forces with Sheffield and Leeds-based Lupton Fawcett Lee & Priestley.

• Plans by insurance firm Hiscox to build its new £19 million offices in York were unanimously approved by City of York Council’s planning committee. The development in Hungate, which would become the global company’s new flagship office, was expected to create 500 jobs in the city.

• York shoe retailer Pavers saved 150 jobs after buying 14 stores from Barratts. Bradford-based Barratts fell into administration in November for the third time in four years. Based at Northminster Business Park, Pavers acquired 14 Barratts stores located across Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, London and the Channel Islands.