Press Association

IT software reseller Softcat said it plans to float on the London Stock Exchange, a deal that is expected to value the firm founded in 1993 at around £500 million. The Marlow-based business, which posted an operating profit up 11% to £39.6 million in its last financial year, said it expects its admission will occur in November. Softcat sells licences to software packages, from Microsoft and over 200 others, to small and medium-sized businesses.

Infrastructure firm Carillion said it has signed an £80 million deal to regenerate the Tower Works site in Holbeck Urban Village in Leeds. The business said the contract, signed with the Homes and Communities Agency, will see it build new offices, bars and homes on the former 1.17 hectare industrial complex, with the work expected to begin next spring.