SAUSAGE MAKER SIZZLES ON CELEBRITY DEAL February 1, 2010 SAUSAGE-maker Cranswick yesterday cheered investors as it posted a 31 per cent rise in sales in the last quarter of 2009 and announced a new agreement to supply celebrity chef Jamie Oliver (pictured above with Cranswick CEO Bernard Hoggarth) with the pork for his new food range. Cranswick’s turnover increased to £200m over the three [...]
John Lewis opens Olympic store February 1, 2010 Department store John Lewis is to open a shop next to the 2010 Olympics site as part of its sponsorship deal. The shop, in Stratford, will sell Olympic merchandise and become the 26th home-grown sponsor. An estimated 10,000 licensed products which will be on sale. The John Lewis flagship store in Oxford Street will also [...]
BA and Iberia up on deal hopes February 1, 2010 Shares in British Airways rose yesterday on hopes its planned merger with Spanish carrier Iberia will go ahead, despite the European Union (EU) deepening its investigation into the plan. BA, Iberia and American Airlines offered to modify their plans to share more of their lucrative trans-Atlantic routes in an effort to settle a competition dispute [...]
Fears over boiler-room scam February 1, 2010 Thousands of investors’ personal details have been discovered on a “master list” circulating between fraudsters involved in boiler-room scams. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) and City of London Police have warned that the list contains the names of around 10,000 investors, some with addresses and phone numbers. This has led to the launch of Operation [...]
John Lewis to open “Olympic” store February 1, 2010 DEPARTMENT store John Lewis is to open a shop next to the 2010 Games site as part of its sponsorship deal. The shop, in Stratford, will sell Olympic merchandise and become the 26th home-grown sponsor. An estimated 10,000 licensed products which will be on sale. The john Lewis Flagship store in Oxford Street will also [...]
Manufacturing activity at 15-year high February 1, 2010 MANUFACTURING activity expanded at its fastest pace in 15 years in January, according to a new survey. The CIPS/Markit manufacturing purchasing managers’ index jumped to 56.7 last month from an upwardly revised 54.6 in December. It was the highest since October 1994 and well above analysts’ forecasts for a reading of 54.0. The improvement came [...]
Ryanair raises profit forecast February 1, 2010 BUDGET airline Ryanair increased its profit forecast for the year after posting a smaller than expected third-quarter loss. Europe’s biggest low-cost airline said a drop in fuel prices had helped to improve the company’s figures. Ryanair’s loss of €10.9m (£9.5m) in the three months to the end of December compared with a €118.8m net loss [...]
Bid battle breaks out for DFS stores January 31, 2010 SEVERAL private equity players are lining up for a bidding war over DFS, the furniture chain owned and chaired by Conservative party donor Lord Kirkham. European rivals Permira, Cinven and Advent International are in the running for the sofa superstore in a development that could steer it away from a mooted stockmarket flotation. The news [...]
Greek jibes anger Mandelson January 31, 2010 BUSINESS secretary Lord Mandelson yesterday dismissed Tory claims that the UK was facing a Greek-style sovereign debt crisis and accused the Conservative opposition of being “unpatriotic”. Mandelson’s comments came as Conservative leader David Cameron softened his stance on fiscal tightening, saying that he did not plan “swingeing cuts” immediately after the election. Cameron said that [...]
Think-tank: the price of homes to jump 20pc January 31, 2010 HOUSE prices are set to rise by a fifth in the next four years as mortgage availability improves and interest rates stay low, although 2011 is expected to be tough, a survey showed. Average prices should grow more than six per cent in 2010 before slowing next year and then rising again in 2012 and [...]