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Birmingham Post
Birmingham Post
Business
Coreena Ford

North East deals of the week: key investments, contracts and acquisitions

Online entertainment publisher WhatCulture has been acquired by Bath-based Future Plc in an undisclosed deal.

The move means Gateshead-based WhatCulture - which runs 11 YouTube channels with more than eight million subscribers - will benefit from Future's technology.

About 70% of WhatCulture's revenue comes from the US, where Future has three offices.

Read more: Fenwick announces major investment into its Newcastle flagship store

The move is part of a double acquisition including data insight platform Waive, which specialises in providing insights on emerging content trends for publishers.

A statement from Future said: "This acquisition will extend Future’s Aperture data platform and enhanced data science capabilities.

"Aperture is Future’s proprietary platform that allows advertisers to access Future’s rich first-party audience data captured across its vast portfolio of brands, helping them reach high-intent target audiences."

Newcastle's Hive Estates has acquired Tyneside Lettings in an undisclosed six-figure deal.

The move means Tyneside Lettings' four staff will join Hive Estates and its sister companies, while director Robbie Kalbraier joins the board as its chairman.

From left Robbie Kalbraier with Michael Mortimer of Hive Estates (Dan Aziz)

More than 267 tenanted units have been added to Sandyford-based Hive's portfolio as part of the deal.

Hive Estates MD and founder Michael Mortimer said: “Now in our sixth year, this acquisition is a new milestone in our growth plans. We are passionate about delivering a better estate agency experience for tenants, landlords, house buyers and sellers.

"I joined this industry many years ago and quickly saw a desperate need for change so that we can move away from old fashioned, outdated traditions that don’t serve anyone.

Pearson Engineering has secured a £25m contract to supply turrets for the British Army's Challenger 3 tanks.

The work will secure 285 jobs at the former Vickers factory in Newcastle, prompting a £4m investment in machinery and the recruitment of new technical roles as well as 20 apprentices.

Pearson will supply Washington-based Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL), which has an £800m contract to upgrade 148 Challenger 3 tanks - described as Europe's most lethal.

Go-Ahead Group has been re-awarded the contract to run the UK's largest rail network, despite being fined £23.5m for what the Government called an "appalling breach of trust" only last week.

The Newcastle-based group's Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) joint venture - of which it is the majority owner - has again been handed the contract to run the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern rail services by the Department for Transport (DfT).

GTR has run the services since 2014, managing 235 stations and employing 7,400 people. The new contract will earn the firm a fixed management fee of £8.8m a year, with additional performance fees of up to £22.9m.

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