Large Indian-style gateways could be put up to mark either end of Leicester's Golden Mile.

Businesses along the busy shopping street in Belgrave are looking at establishing landmarks similar to the Oriental arches in Manchester's Chinatown.

Traders' representatives have been holding discussions with city mayor Sir Peter Soulsby about the idea.

Sir Peter said: "It is an idea that has come forward from the traders as a way of demonstrating the identity of the Golden Mile.

"They have expressed an interest in getting something at either end which would show people when they are entering what is a specialist shopping area.

"They want something at the city end and something at the Melton Road end.

"I have seen Chinatown (in Manchester) and it looks good. I think something similar could work here.

"There is a precedent for doing this in the city already – the arch at the entrance to the market, though that is much more modest than what is being considered."

Sir Peter said he was enthusiastic about the idea and would support it if the traders were to pay for it themselves.

He said the planned demolition of the Belgrave fly-over, set to take place after Sainsbury's relocates from Belgrave to Melton Road at the end of this year, could allow some sort of new public art feature.

He said: "It is an idea in its very early stages."

Dharmesh Lakhani, chairman of the Belgrave Business Association, said: "We are looking for something that makes people think of India and the subcontinent, but with elements of Leicester and the UK.

"It could well be a gateway and we could then use an image of it as branding all along the Golden Mile. It would be lovely to have something like that.

"We are not certain yet how it would fit in with the road structure or the space available.

"Whatever we do, it will be something that reinforces the character of the Golden Mile and encourages people to visit."

Mr Lakhani said people in the area would be asked what design they would like to see in place. Children at Abbey Primary School have already come up with a series of designs that could be considered.

Leicester East MP Keith Vaz said: "The Golden Mile is a defined area of shopping excellence known across the country and I think it is a great idea.

"It would come into its own at the time of Diwali.

"It is an ambitious idea and I will support it."

Travel agent Dipak Varadia, 51, from Brandon Street, off Belgrave Road, said: "We should definitely do this. At the moment, that big, ugly concrete fly-over hardly says 'Welcome to the Golden Mile'.

"When it has gone, we can replace it with something beautiful."

A leather bag company is creating 40 jobs at a factory.

The Cambridge Satchel Company is opening a 30,000sq ft site in Syston after seeing demand for its bags soar.

The business is also transferring 40 staff from its Wigston site.

The new jobs will be full and part-time – including a number of apprenticeships – and will be filled over the next six months.

It is the latest bit of good news for the county textile industry after Basic Premier – which makes T-shirts, skirts and dresses at a £1 million factory in Rolleston Street, North Evington – said it hoped to increase its staff from 50 to 200 before the year is out.

Another knitwear company, BS Attwall, has said it hopes to increase staff numbers from the 30 it had at the start of the year to 160 by December. The firm has just completed a multi-million pound deal to buy a 130,000sq ft factory in Forest Road, Humberstone.

The Cambridge Satchel Company makes about 1,000 designer satchels a day.

The bags sell online and at department stories such as Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Selfridges and Bloomingdales.

International sales are also booming.

It now turns over about £12 million a year – six times the amount of business it was doing in 2011 – and has a further 30 staff at its Cambridge headquarters.

The new factory will open in Fosse Way, Syston, at the end of the week and the company is advertising for skilled machinists, leather workers and craftsmen to join the team.

Company founder Julie Deane said: "I'm extremely passionate about supporting British manufacturing and ensuring the longevity of leather craft in this country.

"One hundred per cent of my production is based in the UK and the new factory is a way for us to continue preserving the tradition of this craft while offering skilled home-grown workers steady employment.

"Our apprenticeship scheme will offer the next generation of craftsmen training and support, securing the future of this valuable trade."

She said the company's new premises would be four times the size of its existing site, which will eventually allow it to increase production threefold, expanding its collection to include small leather goods, in addition to the brand's leather satchels.

Since its launch in 2008, the brand has developed a global fan base, selling to more than 110 countries, securing major international stockists, collaborating with Google Chrome and high-profile designers and building a following among celebrities, fashion bloggers and fashion editors.

Talks were recently held with Zong Qinghou, China's richest man, about a possible deal to sell the British bags in one of the world's fastest-growing retail markets.

Ms Deane said: "This is an exciting time for us as we start our expansion into different markets and into different product lines – successful candidates will be able to join us on our journey and be part of the success we have enjoyed for the past five years."

Ms Deane is the RSM international entrepreneur of the year in the European Business Awards 2013, and the exporter of the year 2013 at the Natwest UKFT Awards. The product won accessories brand of the year at the 2013 Drapers Footwear & Accessories Awards, and has picked up a Queen's Award for international trade.

Fashion entrepreneur Tom Joule talks about increasing his use of Leicestershire textile manufacturers in today's Business Weekly supplement.

Leicester Riders are on the verge of a deal that will secure funding for a new £2.5million 2,000-seater arena in the city.

Sport England are expected to announce later this month a £1m grant for the complex at Grace Road, the home of Leicestershire cricket.

That would secure all the funding for the community sports arena and end a 15-year search by treble-winners Riders for a permanent new home in the city.

Club officials are delighted because the initial application for the money from Sport England's Iconic Fund was rejected. There were concerns that the arena could not be built within the £2.5m budget.

A series of meetings between Sport England and the project's backers, which also include the cricket club and Leicester College, have now resolved those problems.

Riders director Kevin Routledge said: "We are getting close and it is exciting. It has been a 15-year journey to get to this stage and we are delighted.

"We have made changes to the design and costed the project down to the last penny.

"We have been told that if we met all Sport England's requirements – and we have done that – we would get the money.

"That grant would mean we have 100 per cent of the funding.

"The difference to Riders will be unbelievable. It will be the key to future sustainability."

The club are also confident of regularly filling the 2,000-seat arena, which would bring a big financial boost.

"We used to do it at Granby Halls and we turn people away at John Sanford Centre," said Routledge.

Head coach Rob Paternostro admitted moving to the new arena was a factor in him signing a new long-term contract.

He said: "It was very important. To have your own venue is not only good for the basketball side, the players and the coaches, but is good for the club. It is the next step for us."

After the funding is in place, the scheme, which also includes 14 flats on the corner of Milligan Road and Hawkesbury Road, will need planning permission.

Riders hope the arena will be completed by March and are in talks about where to play their games for next season, which starts in September.

Although Riders will play and train at the arena, 95 per cent of the time the venue will be used by college students, schoolchildren and adults for indoor sports, plus a basketball development programme.

Plans to relocate a statue of Richard III to a plinth next to Cathedral Gardens are due to be revealed today.

The statue is to be moved from Castle Gardens to the space outside Leicester Cathedral – facing the proposed £4 million King Richard III visitor centre, which is due to be completed by March.

Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby had asked members of the public whether they would like the statue moved to a more prominent position.

"Cathedral Gardens will be an ideal location for the city's Richard III statue," Sir Peter said.

"Its current site in Castle Gardens is also fitting, but the discovery of King Richard's remains changed everything.

"Relocating the monument to the cathedral is entirely appropriate."

The statue will be situated on a new plinth a few paces from both Richard III's original resting place and his new tomb at the cathedral.

It will stand a few metres outside the boundary of the Cathedral Gardens site, as consent from the Cathedral Fabric Commission of England would be needed for it to be placed within the grounds.

The relocation will cost about £3,000.

"It is close to the dig site and to the new visitor centre," Sir Peter said.

"Perhaps more importantly, it will stand close to where the king's body will be laid to rest."

The decision was welcomed by the Richard III Society, which donated the statue to Leicester in 1980.

Philippa Langley, who launched the society's search for the king's remains in 2007, said: "This is a wonderful statue that deserves to be shared with as many people as possible.

"Moving the monument closer to the new visitor centre, the dig site and King Richard's final resting place at the cathedral is a great idea.

"I am sure it will mean many thousands more people see and appreciate it."

Cathedral Gardens, proposed by the diocese, includes lawns, seating for up to 800 people, flowers and a water feature.

The scheme will cost about £2 million.

The Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Revd Tim Stevens, said: "The statue of Richard lll will enhance the space around the cathedral as it becomes a major focus for visitors and the key point in our city for telling this remarkable story of our Leicester history."

The Very Rev David Monteith, Dean of Leicester, said: "We are delighted that this statue will grace our precincts as visitors come to the cathedral where King Richard III will be buried."

The city council has estimated the King Richard III visitor centre is likely to attract 100,000 visitors and bring in more than £4.5 million to the city's economy in its first year alone.

The exhibition will be called King Richard III: Dynasty, Death and Discovery and will guide visitors through the dramatic story of the king's life, brutal death at Bosworth Field in 1485 and the fascinating story of his rediscovery.

Football management has always been a precarious business – and it seems it is becoming increasingly so. Last season, there were 19 managerial changes in the Championship alone, 13 of them sackings while six resigned.

That brought the average tenure of a Championship manager down to just 1.04 years.

The remarkable statistics, compiled by the League Managers' Association, show that managers are getting less and less time to do their job than ever before.

It should be noted, however, eight of last season's managerial changes came at three clubs, Blackburn Rovers (three changes), Nottingham Forest (three) and Wolverhampton Wanderers (two).

The previous average tenure of a Championship manager for the 2011-12 season was 1.96 years, meaning the average has been almost halved in a season.

The Championship was the league with the highest number of managerial changes and eight of these dismissals were between Christmas and the end of the season, and the average tenure of those eight was just 0.67 years

Seven Championship managers were sacked within one year of appointment, and five of them within six months.

The longest serving manager in the Championship is Nigel Clough at Derby County, who has been with the club for just under four-and-a-half years.

Last season may have been an exceptional year, due mainly to the managerial shenanigans at Rovers and Wolves, but it shows once again that the demands for immediate success are even greater than they have ever been.

The new television deal negotiated by the Premier League, which rewarded the promoted clubs with an estimated £120million cash injection, may certainly have been a factor in the actions of twitchy owners, anxious that their clubs get a slice of the lucrative pie before Financial Fair Play really kicks in.

Those that receive vast amounts in the Premier League will now have a distinct advantage over the rest of the Championship should they be relegated if they are prudent with the money.

But it isn't just the Championship where the pressure told on many managers.

In the Premier League, the average tenure is 2.81 years but, according to the LMA, the figure is raised by the dismissal in May of Tony Pulis after 6.94 years. Without this, average tenure for the season would be 1.72 years.

That figure is still better than League One, where the average is 1.37.

League Two fairs better at 2.57 years although, again, the LMA say this is down to the reigns of Terry Brown, of Wimbledon, and Mickey Mellon, at Fleetwood Town, who served for several years in non-league.

Taking that into account, they say the actual figure should be 1.66.

In total, there were more than 100 managers and coaches dismissed during the last campaign across all four divisions.

It is hard to think of any other profession where there exists such a hire and fire culture.

It must surely say more about the ability of those hiring to spot the right candidate than it does about the manager's own ability.

Leicestershire ultimately went down to a four-wicket defeat at the hands of Essex at Grace Road yesterday.

But that statistic barely tells the story of an enthralling final day, which could have gone either way.

The visitors, having been set 161 to win in 40 overs, eventually won with 22 balls remaining.

However, when they were tottering on 47-4 in the 22nd over of their run chase there was a whiff of victory in the air for County.

That had seemed highly unlikely during the opening stages of the day. Leicestershire resumed on 91-4, just 37 runs ahead, and needed to bat a good deal of time as well as score runs to stave off the threat of a second Championship defeat.

Yet they plunged to 135-8 midway through the session and the writing looked pretty much on the wall.

It was at that point that Jigar Naik dropped anchor and, with the support of Matthew Hoggard and Alex Wyatt, he frustrated Essex for the rest of the morning's play and a further 90 minutes into the afternoon to give County an outside chance of salvaging a draw or, should Essex fold, even a win.

Naik finished unbeaten on 47 from 141 balls adding 43 in 21 overs with Hoggard (24) and a further 36 with Wyatt (17), whose wicket was the last to fall as Leicestershire were dismissed for 214.

On the face of it, a run chase at four-an-over looked pretty straightforward.

This was an Essex side, though, who had been rolled over for just 20 in their second innings against Lancashire in their previous match and a couple of early wickets were always likely to raise the ghosts of that debacle.

Hoggard and Wyatt both bowled superbly asking questions of the batsmen with the new ball.

Wyatt captured the wickets of both openers, Jaik Mickelburgh and Tom Westley, as well as removing Owais Shah while Hoggard's opening spell really ought to have earned him more than just the scalp of Nick Browne.

Even so with Essex rocking on 47-4, Leicestershire were back in the hunt and they further raised the stakes when Mark Pettini was caught at cover off Ollie Freckingham to leave the visitors on 79-5 with 13 overs remaining.

How County dealt with the likes of Ryan ten Doeschate, James Foster and Graham Napier was always likely to be key – and the batsmen won that battle and with it the war.

Ten Doeschate and Foster went through the gears adding 66 in just eight overs and when Foster, who was the major difference between the sides in the game, was out for a 28-ball 42 Essex needed just 16 more runs from five overs.

Ten Doeschate held his nerve with an unbeaten 37, Napier hitting the final runs as he made a brisk 13 to see Essex over the line.

It wouldn't have taken Leicestershire much more to fight their way out of bother on the final day, maybe half-a-dozen overs more at the crease.

However you look at it, though, they came up short and remain rooted to the foot of the Second Division.

A leaking council road sweeping vehicle has left a long dirty streak of oil through the heart of Leicester's Cultural Quarter.

The sweeper has deposited a dark snaking trail on the streets, including the paving outside Curve theatre in the city centre, where the plaques in the city's Walk of Fame have been installed in the ground.

At one point, the oily line passes over the steel plaque to commemorate Leicester playwright Joe Orton, after whom the square outside Curve was named.

The stain begins at Humberstone Gate, runs up the length of Rutland Street, circles round Orton Square and carries on down Halford Street, passing through the pavement dining area of the Chutney Ivy restaurant.

Simon Postlethwaite, owner of Chutney Ivy, said: "You'd think the person driving the sweeper might have noticed what a mess was being made.

"I've complained to the council quite often about the state of the pavements because they do get really dirty but this is bad.

"It just doesn't look good for visitors, especially in such a prominent place."

Cassie Soulsby, chairman of the Cultural Quarter Business Association and owner of the Exchange bar, said: "I haven't seen it myself but I'm not surprised. The state of pavements is an ongoing issue.

"I'm confident the council is dealing with it. We work very closely with them."

Shopper David Fraser, 56, from Stoneygate, said: "It's pretty grotty. I can't believe the dust cart didn't conk out after losing all that oil.

"From the way the trail loops back on itself I find it hard to believe the person driving did not see what had been happening. Perhaps they did see but didn't care."

Hannah Carswell, 23, from Aylestone, who works in the Cultural Quarter, said: "It will be a nightmare to get off. It looks pretty scruffy. Street sweepers are supposed to make things look better not worse."

Leicester City Council spends some £3.3 million a year on cleaning the streets and has a £300,000 contract with a firm to deep clean pavements.

Adrian Russell, the council's director of environmental and enforcement services, said: "This was the result of the failure of a steering pump on one of our street cleaning vehicles.

"The officer was cleaning in the rain and was not aware of the oil leak.

"When he did become aware, he stopped the vehicle and it was collected on a recovery truck and taken to the depot.

"The stains will be cleared over the next few evenings as part of our existing city centre street cleaning contracts at no additional cost."

Leicester City's home friendly with AS Monaco has been chosen for live television coverage by Sky TV.

The game is scheduled for Saturday, July 27 and will be screened from 3.45pm on Sky Sports 1HD.

City have yet to officially announce the fixture, although Monaco have confirmed they will be visiting the King Power Stadium.

Monaco are splashing the cash and have recruited Colombian striker Radamel Falcao from Atletico Madrid for £51million. They have also spent heavily on Joao Moutinho and James Rodriguez from Porto for a combined total of £60million and have also bought former Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho from Real Madrid.

The game is City's most prestigious friendly since they entertained Jose Mourinho's star-studded Real Madrid two years ago.

It is the second City game to be picked for live television coverage as their first home Championship game of the season has been switched to Sunday, August 11, kick off 4.30pm.

Meanwhile, anticipation for the new campaign, which kicks off a week after the Monaco fixture with an away trip to Middlesbrough, has led to increased season-ticket sales.

City have so far sold 14,074 season tickets, 294 ahead of their total for this time last year.

The vast majority of the sales were supporters renewing through the Early Bird scheme, which offered a freeze on prices from last season in nearly all areas of the ground.

The sales indicate City fans expect their team to be challenging for promotion again this season.

City have yet to make their first summer signing, but the first significant exit of the close season is imminent with striker Jermaine Beckford holding talks with Bolton Wanderers over a move to the Reebok Stadium after City agreed a deal with the Trotters, believed to be under £1m.

However, Doncaster Rovers manager Paul Dickov has told BBC Radio Sheffield he will not be signing City midfielder Richie Wellens.

Wellens was tipped to make a move back to his former club after being made available by City, but Dickov is not following up his initial interest.

Wellens's name was on a list of seven players who have been made available for transfer this summer.

Another is midfielder Paul Gallagher, who was yesterday linked with a move back to his former club Blackburn Rovers.

Goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, who was the subject of failed transfer bids from Premier League Hull City, has also quashed rumours he has asked to leave this summer.

The Denmark international yesterday tweeted he was not looking for a way out of City.

"Contrary to reports, I have never put a transfer request in and won't be," he tweeted.