Lord Bell’s Chime agrees to merge its Bell Pottinger unit with Pelham PR November 9, 2009 CHIME, the communications firm led by former Tory spin-doctor Lord Bell, has agreed to merge its Bell Pottinger Corporate and Financial business with rival Pelham Public Relations. Chime will own a majority stake in the enlarged business, which will be called Pelham Bell Pottinger. Pelham chief executive James Henderson – who launched the firm five [...]
PartyGaming gets ready for US with poker deal November 9, 2009 ONLINE gaming group PartyGaming said yesterday it had completed the acquisition of the World Poker Tour brand, positioning itself for a return to the US market when legislation allows it. PartyGaming paid $12.3m (£7.3m) for the World Poker Tour (WPT) brand and other assets – including the rights to a business with over 16,000 subscribers [...]
Cusiter to lead Scots November 9, 2009 RUGBY UNION: Scotland coach Andy Robinson has chosen Chris Cusiter to captain the side for the first of their autumn Tests, against Fiji at Murrayfield on Saturday. Cusiter will lead a side which includes Worcester centre Alex Grove for the first time, while prop Moray Low will make his first home start.
BACKLASH MOUNTS AGAINST TOBIN TAX November 8, 2009 OPPOSITION politicians and City figures slammed Gordon Brown’s talk of a ‘Tobin tax’ yesterday, dismissing it as a “theoretical proposal” that would be impossible to put into effect without disastrous consequences for London. The Tories are understood to oppose Brown’s plan and are believed instead to favour levying a small fee on banks’ balance sheet, [...]
Cadbury set for Kraft bid November 8, 2009 THE board of Cadbury was this morning readying itself for a last-ditch hostile bid from Kraft, the American food group, which is expected to table a takeover offer worth £10bn. Kraft, the maker of Oreo Cookies and Dairylea cheese, has until 5pm under Takeover Panel rules to make a bid or walk away for six [...]
Dyson’s kids clean up cash November 8, 2009 SIR James Dyson, the man who pioneered the bagless vacuum cleaner, has given £45m of his fortune to his three children. Each of the Dyson offspring, all in their thirties, have received £15m from a shares deal, according to documents filed at Companies House. The Dyson company bought back shares for £150m in February 2008 [...]
Why Brown is wrong about a Tobin tax November 8, 2009 IT is hard to know what Gordon Brown was thinking when he called for a Tobin tax on financial transactions at the weekend. More so than any other large nation, Britain is dependent on finance for its prosperity; Brown’s task should be to try and fix the system to make sure there is no repeat [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPER SAY THIS MORNING November 8, 2009 THE SUNDAYSThe Sunday TelegraphBAE HIRES PINOCHET LAWYER FOR SFO FIGHTBAE Systems has instructed General Pinochet’s former QC to handle its defence if the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is successful in persuading the Attorney General to proceed with a fraud prosecution against the arms manufacturer. GOVERNMENT PLANS FAST-TRACK NUCLEAR EXPANSIONThe government is set to hand an [...]
Age shall not wither them November 8, 2009 Remembrance Sunday services took place across the country yesterday to pay respects to Britain’s war dead, marking the anniversary of the end of the First World War. Two-minute silences were held throughout the UK at 11am, following earlier services at military camps in Afghanistan, where flags flew at half-mast on a day when another British [...]
Wal-Mart’s Asda re-shuffle November 8, 2009 The ownership structure of Britain’s second biggest supermarket, Asda, has been re-vamped after Wal-Mart let its subsidiary sell the supermarket chain to a fellow Wal-Mart owned investment vehicle called Corinth Services. Last night it was revealed that the world’s largest retailer Wal-Mart embarked on a technical group restructuring. While Wal-Mart is still the parent company [...]