The Manchester studio of design practice BDP has been appointed to work on a multi-million pound refurbishment of the Merrion Shopping Centre in Leeds.

The centre's owner, Town Centre Securities, has appointed BDP to redevelop 80,000 sq ft of retail space into a leisure destination featuring bars, cafés, restaurants and a gymnasium. The project will also include an upgrade of a multi-storey car park which has 1,000 spaces. BDP's team will be led by architect director Ian Purser.

*A logistics firm has won a £500,000 national distribution contract with a company which supplies pound stores nationwide. Archbold Logistics, based on the Birch Industrial Estate, Heywood, has secured the deal with OTL. Leeds-based OTL supplies pound store chains and supermarkets. Archbold, which is a family-run firm and was established in 1918, has bases in Heywood, Leeds, Nuneaton and Coventry.

*Software company Intuitive Business Intelligence has signed a reseller agreement in South Africa. Manchester-based Intuitive said the deal with Allscan, a provider of document imaging technology, was a response to growing demand for its software in South Africa. Intuitive said its software enables users to analyse, interpret and manage operational data more effectively, enabling them to make faster and more accurate business decisions.

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