Jelf Group is to acquire Argyll Insurance, the insurance broker with offices in Worthing, Gillingham and Herne Bay, for an initial £10m.... [more]

WSP Group has acquired Charterhouse Building Services, the environmental design engineering firm with offices in Tunbridge Wells and London, for £2.4m.... [more]

Hitchens is to acquire Wallgate Services, the Reading-based retail outsourcing firm, for £8.7m.... [more]

Vp has acquired U Mole, the Cambridgeshire-based supplier of trenchless installation equipment, for £4.5m.... [more]

Rathbones has acquired Citywall Financial Management, the Exeter-based wealth management firm with gross assets of £0.7m.... [more]

Patrick Parsons, the Tyneside-based consulting engineer with 20 staff, has undergone a management buy-out backed by the Co-operative Bank and Evolve Finance.... [more]

Arthur Brett & Son, the Norwich-based furniture manufacturer, has been bought out of administration by McLaren Interiors for undisclosed terms.... [more]

Graham Technology, the Renfrewshire-based software firm with 300 staff, has been acquired by Sword Group of France for an estimated £30m.... [more]

Coffetek, the Portishead-based vending machine manufacturer with 51 staff, has been acquired by Azkoyen of Spain for undisclosed terms.... [more]

Sims Group has acquired Life Cycle Services, the Middlesex-based IT recycling and refurbishment firm, in order to expand its Sims Recycling Solutions division.... [more]

Trinity Mirror has acquired Rippleffect Studio, the Liverpool-based web design agency, for an initial £3.2m.... [more]

Centrica is to acquire Strategic Energy, the electricity supplier, for £151m, in order to expand its Direct Energy business in the US.... [more]

Amec has acquired Rider Hunt International, the Surrey-based project services firm, for £25m.... [more]

Northern Bear is to acquire A1 Industrial Trucks, the Tyneside-based forklift truck operator, and DJ McGough, the Tyneside-based plumbing and heating firm, for a total £6.7m.... [more]

TT Electronics has acquired New Chapel Electronics, the Gloucestershire-based supplier of aerospace interconnection systems, for up to £5.2m.... [more]

The bed retailer, Sleep Depot, has fallen into administration and will close after failing to secure a financial rescue.The administrators who have taken control of the bed firm, Kroll, have said that... [more]

Moore & Smalley has merged with Lonsdale & Partners to create a combined Lancashire-based accountancy group with 200 staff.... [more]

Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance has acquired Sertus Underwriting, the Irish motor and household insurance firm with gross written premiums of £11m.... [more]

Carpetright has acquired Melford Commercial Properties, the parent company of Carpetworld Manchester, from Jensen Group for £7.2m, as well as Dutch carpet retailer Ben de Graaff Tapijt for £6.3m.... [more]

Cybit Holdings has acquired Truck24, the German supplier of telematics to the logistics sector with 19 staff.... [more]