BILL OF THE WEEK August 2, 2009 PERHAPS it’s just me, but there seem to have been an awful lot of City types eschewing their fine dining venues recently for local Indian and Chinese haunts where they can splash out, safe in the knowledge it won’t cost the earth. At £1,229.85, a curry for four people might sound like a pricey night [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 20, 2009 KewillKewill, the provider of software and solutions that simplify global trade and logistics, has announced the appointment of Karen Bach to the board as chief financial officer (CFO) with effect from 17 August. Bach joins Kewill from Advanced Computer Software, where she was CFO, where she was closely involved in its over the last year [...]
CITY PETROLHEADS WHIZZ OFF TO GOODWOOD FOR FESTIVAL OF SPEED July 2, 2009 GOODWOOD’S glorious Festival of Speed begins today, continuing City socialites’ merry lurch into the silly season after the combined joys of Epsom, Ascot and Wimbledon. This year’s motor extravaganza is themed “True Grit – Epic Feats of Endurance”, and is celebrating the 100 year anniversaries of petrolhead favourites Bugatti, Audi and Morgan. Apparently, ticket sales [...]
La Vie en Rose July 1, 2009 SOMETHING is up with rose wine. Its image as the cheap and cheerful, distinctly low-brow summer tipple is evaporating like water on a hot summer’s day. It’s gone from being the sort of thing you’d drink on holiday in Great Yarmouth or Blackpool while getting sunburned to the colour of a lobster to the drink [...]
DSG warns of further tough times ahead June 25, 2009 DSG INTERNATIONAL, the owner of electrical goods chains Dixons, Currys and PC World, yesterday posted its second annual loss and warned the economic gloom shows no sign of easing over the coming year. DSG chief executive John Browett said current internal forecasts at the firm assume there will be no upturn in the UK economy [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 25, 2009 DLA Piper The law firm has elected Janet Legrand, an 18-year veteran of the firm, as senior partner. Legrand succeeds Peter Wayte, who retires at the end of June. She joined the firm in 1991 and specialises in commercial litigation. Her most recent high-profile cases include completing successful anti-corruption proceedings on behalf of the government [...]
THE LONDON REPORT June 21, 2009 THE JUNE gauntlet of retail company statements is set to continue this week, with two UK electronics giants due to issue full-year 2009 results. DSG, Kesa and Inchcape are lining up to report, following last week’s announcements from Tesco, J Sainsbury, Whitbread and Morrison. Kesa Electricals, which runs electronics store Comet among its Europe-wide retail [...]
‘POLO IN THE PARK’ FOUNDER PUTS HIS CITY BROKERAGE ON THE BLOCK May 28, 2009 EXCITEMENT is hotting up around next week’s Polo in the Park extravaganza at Hurlington Park – the brainchild of Daniel Fox-Davies, founder of the City broking firm of the same name. Fox-Davies – or Foxy, as some cheeky colleagues like to call him – recently set up the World Polo Association with the intention of [...]
EXPENSES IN CITY CAN’T HALF GET EXPENSIVE May 20, 2009 ALL THIS palaver over outrageous Parliamentary expenses has got Square Milers reminiscing about the good old days in the City, when sky-high monthly expense bills were de rigueur. Of course, there are the usual tales of drink, drugs and girls, as well as a few quirkier ones – one gentleman who went to Ascot to [...]
DSGI offloads Hungarian stores May 19, 2009 DSG International, the owner of the Currys and PC World chains, has cut its losses and agreed to sell its nine Electro World stores in Hungary to EW Electro Retail for the nominal sum of €1 (65p). The deal comes as part of a push by DSGI to rid itself of costly or underperforming overseas investments, [...]