Koffman goes for one final foodie push November 2, 2009 WE ARE the Napoleons of the kitchen,” chuckles the affable Pierre Koffman. He is sitting with his trusty lieutenants, fellow Michelin-starred chefs Eric Chavot and Bruno Loubet, in the lounge area of his restaurant on the roof of Selfridges, sipping a ristretto after the lunchtime service. They have certainly earned it. Since Koffman came out [...]
Englishness and ethics the rebirth of luxe November 2, 2009 KEVIN Baker is getting extremely excited about a pair of leather eyeshades. You might think those crinkled polyester items you nab off the plane are all that’s needed to keep the light out, but those created by Baker’s company, Thomas Lyte, are another proposition all together. Made from fine, vegetable-tanned leather, lined with flower-patterned silk [...]
HENDERSON GROUP TO RID ITSELF OF ITS FALLEN NEW STAR’S LEGACY November 2, 2009 AS FUND management veteran John Duffield gets busy with his new venture, Brompton Asset Management over in Knightsbridge, having completed FSA registration for the name last week, it looks like those lording it over his old employees are preparing to eradicate his legacy for good. Duffield’s second venture, New Star, was taken over by asset [...]
Ford registers surprise profit November 2, 2009 FORD surprised Wall Street with a third-quarter profit yesterday and raised its 2011 outlook to “solidly profitable”. Ford, the only large US automaker to avoid bankruptcy in 2009, said the third-quarter results were supported by cost-cuts, improved credit results and increased market share in North America and other key areas. Ford burned through $4.7bn (£2.9bn) [...]
Ruiz to stand aside as Globalfoundries chairman November 2, 2009 HECTOR Ruiz will step down as chairman of chip maker Globalfoundries, following reports linking the former Advanced Micro Devices chief executive to the largest insider trading scheme in decades. Ruiz will immediately take a voluntary leave of absence and will be resigning from the company on 4 January, Globalfoundries said in a statement yesterday. The [...]
Boost for TNT as mail strike lures business November 2, 2009 DUTCH parcel firm TNT, which is trying to cash in on the disruption caused by the UK’s postal strikes, yesterday posted better-than-expected quarterly results due to cost-cutting and highlighted signs of revival in its business parcels arm. TNT, which has lobbied the government to allow it to launch a door-to-door postal service to challenge the [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS November 2, 2009 ALTERNATIVE NETWORKSInvestec said Alternative Network’s acquisition of Aurora Kendrick James Group for up to £5.5m, 82 per cent in cash, is a ringing endorsement of its market-leading capabilities and platform. It upgraded its 2010 earnings per share estimates for the firm, increased the target price to 150p and reiterated its “buy” rating. PUNCH TAVERNSKBC Peel [...]
Private company M&A deals plunge as confidence and bank lending dries up November 2, 2009 MERGERS and acquisitions among private companies in the UK plunged 65 per cent over the past year as funding from the banks dried up and firms entrenched themselves for the recession, new research has shown. M&A activity among unlisted firms fell to £6.8bn in the year to July, down from £19.5bn the previous year, according [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS November 2, 2009 Close Brothers Corporate FinanceThe independent corporate finance advisory firm has appointed Will Thompson to head up its support services sector team. Thompson joined the firm in March this year to lead the European healthcare services team, having previously been at Morgan Stanley. He has also worked at Lazard and Barings. He has advised on numerous [...]
Hard work will define the TwentyFirst century November 2, 2009 THIS WEEK I spoke at Deutsche Telekom’s Innovation Day in Berlin, celebrating the fifth year anniversary of its Innovation Labs. The theme was Connected Life and Work, and there were a lot of interesting discussions about work-life imbalance in the future. One of the speakers said that the rest of society would learn from workaholics [...]