XCELERON, the York pharmaceutical company, is moving its operations to the United States after going into administration

The business, which was founded in 1997 as a spin-off of the University of York, was sold in a pre-pack administration to its existing management team and venture capital investors and will continue to operate from its laboratory in Germantown, Maryland

The business, which employed about 20 people over three sites at York Science Park and FERA in Sand Hutton, will continue to employ four people in client meeting roles such as project managers and its chief scientific officer

Mike Butler, chief executive of the company, which uses nanotechnology to accelerate drug development, said: “Some of them are in the process of looking for other jobs and some are hoping to transfer to the States as well

“We are going to continue to run the business in the United States, simply because we have a much newer facility there Our site in York is perfect for a start-up but at this stage in the company’s development, being based in three buildings is not ideal”

He said the company was affected by the state of the economy and sales didn’t support keeping all of its premises

Its existing venture-capital investors Albion Ventures and Solon Ventures have invested a further $24 million to help the company relocate and invest in staff and equipment in the US, which is expected to be completed by the end of March

He said: “The value proposition everybody sees in the company hasn’t changed It’s a question of where is the best place for us to efficiently run the business One of the challenges we had when it came to making that decision was that we weren’t in one facility in York, but in three buildings in two locations”

A spokesman for the University of York said: “While we are disappointed that Xceleron is scaling back its UK operation, we are pleased that the business is continuing and will still be in a position to deliver the benefits to the pharmaceutical industry we originally anticipated The fact that some jobs are being retained in the UK is also welcome

In due course, we hope that, once the momentum has returned to the pharmaceuticals market, Xceleron can resume its UK operation at its previous level”

SAN FRANCISCO — Microsoft is scrambling to preserve what’s left of its kingdom.

Since the company released its Windows operating system in 1985, most of the sequels have been variations on the same theme. Not that it mattered much. Regardless of the software’s quality, Microsoft managed to remain at the center of the personal computing universe.

The stakes are much different as Microsoft Corp. puts the finishing touches on Windows 8 — perhaps the most important piece of software the Redmond, Wash., company has designed since co-founder Bill Gates won the contract to build the first operating system for IBM Corp.’s personal computer in the early 1980s.

A test, or “beta”, version of the revamped operating system will be unveiled Wednesday in Barcelona, nudging Windows 8 a step closer to its anticipated mass market release in September or October.

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Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012. U.S. stocks are opening higher and the Dow Jones industrial average is nearing 13,000 after Greece secured a bailout deal to keep it from default.

14:32 PST NEW YORK, –

It came and went in a flash each time, a number on a board for mere seconds, but its symbolic power couldn’t be dismissed.

The Dow Jones industrial average, powered higher all year by optimism that the economic recovery is finally for real, crossed 13,000 on Tuesday for the first time since May 2008.

The last time the Dow was there, unemployment was 5.4 percent, and Lehman Brothers was a solvent investment bank.

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Home buyers are always looking for the best home they can buy with the resources and time available with them. Now, more than ever, real estate prices are subdued and buyers are again active in the market.

Buying a home is the most exciting and at the same time, tedious task for people. While the excitement of owning your own home pushes you harder to expedite the process, the tedious task of going through enormous amount of details frustrates you. Going through the process is a necessity. Though the process is tedious and demanding, any negligence on the due diligence can cost us big in the future.

In this article, we will take a look at some options that home buyers have and how they can choose the best one based on their requirement.

Buying an under-construction home

This is the most popular way of buying a home.

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A YORK lawyer is investigating the lost fortune of millionnaire Brooks Mileson, who once contemplated taking control of York City FC

Stephen Baylis, of Langleys, said the intriguing case was positive for the legal community in York, showing the capability of the city’s lawyers in high-profile cases

Mr Mileson, was once the 37th richest man in Britain, making his money through construction and insurance, before investing in Scottish village football club Gretna FC and in 1999 the now defunct Scarborough FC

In 2003, when York City were in danger of going bust under the ownership of former motor racing boss John Batchelor, Mr Mileson also contemplated taking over at Bootham Crescent

Although Mr Mileson never spoke publicly of his interest in acquiring the Minstermen, The Press exclusively reported his associates were in talks to buy the club and he attended at least one match at Bootham Crescent until ownership of the club was eventually transferred to the York City Supporters’ Trust

When he died of a heart attack in 2008, Mr Mileson is believed to have left a £32 million fortune, which his creditors have been unable to find

Mr Baylis said: “Brooks Mileson had a colourful history when he was alive and certainly following his death, we have been trying to unravel where he put his assets and what he’s done with his money It might simply be that he has thrown all his money into football, as some business people have done, but I still feel there must be some more of the money out there”

Mr Baylis, who joined Langleys to work in York where he lived after working in Leeds-based Hammonds, was referred the case by a contact who is an insolvency practitioner

He said the case was good for the legal industry in York “When I came here seven to eight years ago, you wouldn’t have seen York mentioned in Chambers of the Legal 500 and now a smattering of York firms, including Langleys, have got a profile there

“We are able to compete with the firms in the middle tier and can certainly compete with national firms We have all the legal competence and offer good value to clients,” he said

NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook will start requiring people to switch to a new profile format known as Timeline, making photos, links and personal musings from the past much easier to find.

Timeline is essentially a scrapbook of your whole life on Facebook. By contrast, Facebook’s traditional profile page is more of a snapshot of you today.

Although some people have already voluntarily switched to Timeline, Facebook hadn’t made that mandatory. Beginning Tuesday, Facebook is telling some users that they have seven days to clean up their profiles before Timeline gets automatically activated. Facebook is rolling out the requirement to others over the next few weeks.

At some point, even those who haven’t logged on to Facebook in a while will be automatically switched.