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Business Diary December 9
Howard making his mark in Leeds
THE already colourful restaurant and bar scene of Leeds welcomes a new business figure – ex-drug dealer Howard Marks.
Marks – whose career as a drugs baron was chronicled in his best-selling book, Mr Nice – is involved with a new tapas bar in the city.
The owners of Azucar, in Brewery Wharf, said that the Welshman "will be taking an active role in Azucar by drawing on his vast travel and writing experiences to add a creative edge to the bar".
Marks, who lives a minute away from the new bar, will use it "as a base for when he's writing or simply enjoying a mojito".
As well as South American delicacies, the bar promises "punchy cocktails, Spanish and Latin American beers and new world wines, and the odd cigar".
In his drugs days, Marks smuggled 30 tonnes of cannabis from Pakistan to the US and had 43 aliases.
The long arm of the law caught up in 1988 when the Oxford nuclear physics graduate was sentenced to 25 years in Terre Haute Penitentiary, Indiana.
He was released in the mid-'90s.
Festive cheer
well-known entrepreneur Jonathan Hick is holding a "Christmas Cruncheon" at his pub tomorrow to blast away the recessionary blues.
The founder of Directorbank has invited 70 business friends to the Spencer Arms, at Cawthorne, near Barnsley.
They include Ajay Khaitan, who bought Lee Cooper, Graham Leslie, the founder of Galpharm, James Horler, the ex-CEO of La Tasca, Gary Verity, the CEO of Yorkshire Tourist Board, David Wallis, the chairman of Speedy Hire Plc, Tony Stewart, the founder of ADS Lighting and chairman of Rotherham FC, and the legendary Dickie Bird.
Said Hick: "The inspiration was wanting to put a cheery end to this desperate year of the crunch – hence the Cruncheon."
Sporting gesture
REPRESENTATIVES from the Brazilian Olympic Federation recently returned to their South American homeland after a short tour of Sheffield and its facilities.
The purpose of the delegation's visit was to learn more about the city and its sporting facilities with a view to establishing a base in the steel city during the London Olympics, in 2012. The Brazilians toured the sporting venues and met local dignitaries and were said to be impressed with the city and the warmth of the Yorkshire people.
How they found the freezing weather is another matter.
Nuclear reaction
WITH French energy giant EDF's takeover of nuclear power-plant operator British Energy drawing closer, companies are clamouring to get a piece of the action.
The 12.5bn takeover will kick-start the development of four new nuclear reactors in the UK.
Wakefield-based specialist engineering company Redhall is determined to win a significant slice of the nuclear new-build
work.
"We're all trying to learn French," said chief executive David Jackson.
"We are building a business up for now but as this nuclear new-build programme comes on stream, there's going to be a huge amount of work for a company like ours."
Minus point
IT may be the home of most of Britain's banks – but that doesn't mean Londoners have a clue how
to add up.
The capital trailed in a miserable last in a survey 11 UK regions to see who could do their times tables best.
One in 20 people living there admitted not being able to work out any of the primary school multiplications.
The East of England topped the poll, which was carried out by Whizz.com, the online maths tutoring service.
Here in Yorkshire and Humber, we shouldn't be too satisfied though – this region came only one place higher than London.
If you have a story for the Business Diary email bernard.ginns@ypn.co.uk
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Weather for Yorkshire
Friday 10 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -9 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: -2 C to -1 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South
