Why Ocado shares have been chased sharply higher July 9, 2019 | City Talk A costly warehouse fire hasn’t dented enthusiasm for the shares. Our head of markets explains. Ocado (LSE:OCDO) transformation from online retailer to cutting-edge technology provider remains clear for all to see. The Andover fire in February was an unwelcome distraction and has come at a cost both in actual terms as well as in lost [...]
Noises Off at the Lyric Hammersmith is a farce in all the wrong ways July 5, 2019 Noises Off is either the worst professional production I’ve seen in some years, or something so groundbreakingly metatextual that I am simply unable to comprehend its brilliance. Noises Off is clearly a huge success; at least historically. The farce debuted at the Lyric in 1982, before going on to multiple runs in the West End [...]
Midsommar review: follow up to Hereditary is an unqualified triumph July 5, 2019 The instant Midsommar finished, I knew I would need to see it again. It has that rare, painterly quality of great horror, the sense that the images you’re seeing will never leave you. Director Ari Aster’s debut Hereditary had it too, though Midsommar is probably the superior film. It has a richer, more constituted vision, [...]
London’s decadent Tramp club sets out to woo Mayfair’s bankers July 5, 2019 Private members club Tramp has put out the call from Piccadilly to the Mall for well-heeled neighbours to celebrate its 50th anniversary in style – with an annual membership slashed to just £50. The nightclub, a hotspot for A-listers since its early years in the 1970s, usually costs members £1,000 per year. But in celebration [...]
High-yielding Greene King shrugs off weather warning July 4, 2019 | City Talk Bad weather is bad news, but the dividend is attractive and Greene King typically excels in winter. On balance, Greene King (LSE:GNK) full-year numbers edge into the “glass half-full” category, as the pub owner and brewer continues to extract value from its brand and estate. Apart from a healthy return on capital of 8.5 per cent, Greene King [...]
Are labelling rules about designation of origin just a form of protectionism? July 3, 2019 Are labelling rules about designation of origin just a form of protectionism Matt Kilcoyne, head of communications at the Adam Smith Institute, says YES. Loyalty is not won by being first. Nor should it be won by locking out competitors by law. It is won by being best. Brand matters. This is not the case [...]
Bonmarche surrenders, while Creightons makes dramatic charge July 2, 2019 | City Talk By Graeme Evans from interactive investor. The UK consumer is the driving force behind very different outcomes for this pair of tiddlers. Over 50s fashion chain Bonmarche (LSE:BON) raised the white flag last week after seeing the British weather scupper its defence against a £5.7 million takeover by billionaire Philip Day. The retailer, which was valued at £100 million when [...]
Drive a Lambo around the UK thanks to Dream Collection and the City A.M. Club June 28, 2019 My stable of cars is filled with the latest models, allowing me to choose the perfect ride to suit my lifestyle. “For a weekend away with the kids – their bags, bikes and trikes – I chose the Range Rover Autograph or Audi Q7; both are perfect companions for a family adventure. “For a stress [...]
Arctic film review: A grim but powerful slog through the frozen wilds June 28, 2019 A minimalist tale of man-versus-nature, Joe Penna’s debut feature immerses us in the daily routine of Overgard (Mads Mikkelsen), the survivor of a cargo-plane crash in the Arctic (actually, Iceland). How long he has been stranded in the frozen wastes is uncertain, as we join his story in media res, but his missing toes suggest [...]
The Damned at Barbican review: More of the same good stuff from Ivo Van Hove June 28, 2019 The Damned continues Dutch theatre director Ivo van Hove’s obsession with adaptations, with his oeuvre now including four Bergman screenplays, versions of Oscar-winning films Network and All About Eve, and now four works from Italian filmmaker Luchino Visconti. And while this French-language play occasionally veers close to a van Hove ‘greatest hits’ compilation, it’s excellently performed by [...]