Homes4U: Phone entrepreneur wins approval for mega-mansion January 15, 2014 CHAMPAGNE corks can probably still be heard popping from Phones4U founder John Caudwell’s house. The entrepreneur has won approval for a mammoth extension to his adjacent Mayfair properties which will see Caudwell join London’s ever increasing billionaire’s basement club. The plans will add an additional 938 square meters of space by connecting the two properties [...]
Co-operative comes out top in Stonewall survey January 15, 2014 THE CO-OPERATIVE has scooped top spot in a Stonewall study into how well private sector employers support gay, lesbian and bisexual staff. The research, which saw housing company Gentoo named overall top employer when including both the public and private sectors, also praised Accenture, EY and IBM for their engagement, support and attitude towards sexuality at [...]
Apple falls out of favour with UK consumers January 15, 2014 APPLE fell out of favour with UK consumers in 2013, losing its coveted spot last year as one of the UK’s top ten brands. In 2012 Apple’s iPad held the No 6 slot on YouGov’s BrandIndex report, but this year the technology giant is nowhere to be found. “Samsung has risen the most places as [...]
Laura Ashley raises £8m after selling entire stake in Moss Bros January 15, 2014 LAURA Ashley parted ways with suit-maker Moss Bros yesterday after selling its entire holding in the company and raising £8m. The womenswear and home furnishings store started building up its stake in 2008, which sparked talks of a possible takeover, but a bid never came to fruition. Laura Ashley is taking advantage of Moss Bros’ [...]
H&M reports good Christmas as starts making clothes in Africa January 15, 2014 SWEDISH budget fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) said yesterday its total sales rose 10 per cent in December, right in line with market expectations. H&M said it would no longer report comparable sales for stores open at least a year, saying total sales were more relevant. December is the first month of H&M’s fiscal [...]
Huawei expects 40pc jump in operating profit January 15, 2014 CHINA’S Huawei Technologies, the world’s second-largest telecommunication equipment maker, yesterday said revenue is likely to have risen last year by around eight per cent, less than its original target of 10 per cent. Huawei, which ranks behind Sweden’s Ericsson in telecom equipment sales, said unaudited global revenue reached around 238bn yuan to 240bn yuan (£24.16bn) [...]
Ex Co-op chief executive steps down from Thomas Cook board January 15, 2014 FORMER Co-op Group chief executive Peter Marks has announced his resignation from the board of Thomas Cook, according to the tourism firm. Marks will finish his time at the company after the group’s AGM in February, and be replaced by Emre Berkin, currently a non-executive director of Thomas Cook. “I would like to thank Peter [...]
EU commissioner ups pressure on Google in antitrust dispute January 15, 2014 THE EU wants Google to come up with more concessions within weeks if it is to avoid formal charges in an investigation into alleged anti-competitive behaviour, a top official said yesterday. EU competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia said he was still waiting to receive Google’s response to his opinion that concessions offered so far by the internet [...]
Tullow climbs on new Kenyan oil discoveries January 15, 2014 FTSE 100-quoted Tullow Oil’s share price edged up yesterday, after mixed updates unveiled new discoveries in Kenya alongside mammoth exploration write-offs that startled analysts. The oil explorer said it made “significant oil discoveries” at the Amosing and Ewoi wells in Kenya and updated its estimate of discovered resources in the basin to over 600m barrels [...]
Analyst Views: What did you make of Tullow Oil’s mixed bag of corporate updates? January 15, 2014 BRENDA KELLY | IG There has been a major pullback with Tullow over the past couple of years, so yesterday’s rise in share price came off quite a low base. The new discoveries are positive for the company but lower oil prices continue to weigh down on the stock. 2014 production guidance was a bit [...]