X FACTOR CAST GET FIRST LOOK AT SOHO’S £25M NIGHTCLUB LAUNCH December 14, 2011 CRISIS, what economic crisis? Piccadilly, at least, is experiencing a revival, says clubs entrepreneur Fraser Donaldson, who tonight opens the £25m Dstrkt on Soho’s Rupert Street. “If you look at Hakkasan, Nobu and Roka, they all have two to three-week waits for tables,” reasons Donaldson, the former owner of Prince William’s favourite club Crystal on [...]
New Olympus filings reveal a £700m hole December 14, 2011 FORMER Olympus chief executive Michael Woodford said he wants to recapitalise the troubled camera and equipment maker within months, after it staved off the immediate threat of being de-listed. Woodford, who is seeking investor support to be reinstated, said: “You have to look at improving the capital structure of the company. Because of the litigation [...]
Pressure is on Pulli to push up Pace’s profits December 14, 2011 SET-TOP box-maker Pace, a front-runner for an “unluckiest UK tech firm” prize, has made Mike Pulli its new chief executive after his long-standing boss succumbed to pressure and stepped down. Pulli inherits a company on the ropes, with a series of share-price lurches wiping out as much as 80 per cent of its value over [...]
Investor kicks off row at a Blackrock mining fund December 14, 2011 A MAJOR shareholder in a key Blackrock mining fund is trying to kickstart an investor revolt over its share price performance. Fund manager City of London Investment Group has sent a complaint to the directors of Blackrock World Mining Trust. City of London, which has a 7.1 per cent stake in Blackrock WMT, recognised the [...]
Pru boss: seize Opportunity to grow December 14, 2011 Q. Why support Opportunity International? A. I have always had an interest in microcredit. When I was in government in Africa it was something I promoted very strongly. I did a lot of work with a very successful microcredit organisation with 20,000 women in it in Abidjan in the Ivory Coast. Microcredit is a very [...]
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL UK December 14, 2011 It’s that time of year when the high streets switch on the festive lights and, despite the economic gloom, the shops become busier with Christmas shoppers out in force. Queuing to pay at a cash till here in Oxford yesterday lunchtime, I was reminded of Beauty Munthali, one of our supervisors in the southern region [...]
£265,000 NOW RAISED December 14, 2011 DONATIONS to our Christmas appeal are still flooding in and we are proud to say that these gifts have now taken our total to more than £265,000. With just one week to go, we are calling on all our readers to contribute using any of the methods below to help support loans to entrepreneurs in [...]
Logica shares hit three-year low over cuts December 14, 2011 SHARES in technology consultancy firm Logica plummeted to a three-year low yesterday as the company sped up its internal restructure due to worsening conditions in European markets. Logica cut its 2011 forecast for the second time in just over a month, expecting around three per cent growth – down from above three per cent in [...]
Betfair gets lift from football December 14, 2011 BETFAIR Group, the world’s largest betting exchange, reported first half core earnings at the top end of expectations yesterday, driven by a good start to the football season and a surge in mobile phone betting. Betfair, founded 10 years ago by one-time professional gambler Andrew Black and former JP Morgan trader Edward Wray, said the [...]
Daily Mail group offloads loss-making Teletext arm December 14, 2011 DAILY Mail General Trust (DMGT) yesterday agreed to sell its majority stake in its loss-making Teletext business for an undisclosed sum. DMGT will retain a minority stake in the company, which broadcasts on Freeview, while the majority holding will be sold to A&N Media, Teletext’s current management. Teletext has also appointed a new chairman, Chris [...]