Mounting hope of an Irish bailout drives up the FTSE November 18, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index closed higher yesterday, boosted by banks on growing hopes for a deal to ease Ireland’s debt crisis and by mining stocks which followed metals prices higher. The FTSE 100 closed 76.15 points, or 1.3 per cent, firmer at 5,768.71, in light volume, trading 85 per cent of its 90-day average. The [...]
OUT OF OFFICE November 15, 2010 SCOTTISH ART AT FLEMINGS Mayfair’s most genteel Victorian hotel has teamed up with the Fleming Collection on Berkley Street to offer a first-rate Scottish Art Experience. You’ll take a private tour of the gallery with a guide discovering some of the finest Scottish artists of the 19th century, followed by tea in the Flemings Hotel’s [...]
Robbie and pumpkins: clearly we’re not broke October 31, 2010 THANK God it’s Monday. It’s nice to get back to the doom and gloom of untradeable equity markets, the melting dollar and on-going sovereign debt disasters. So much better than the nonsense of the past couple of days, which included spending a load of money on Halloween rubbish for the kids and phoning up Ticketmaster [...]
Bewitching homes for beautiful living October 28, 2010 WHILE few sane people would relish the idea of cohabiting with a ghost or other supernatural presence, Britain is an old country and has its fair share — perhaps more than its fair share — of spooky residences. We have more graveyards than you can shake a stick at, and plenty of people have died [...]
Shibby loses out as Sugar’s Apprentices meet at dawn October 20, 2010 Just how do the Apprentices manage to be so peppy at 6am? Could it be down to the little motivational chats they give themselves as they stare into the mirror? “Looking good”, “bring it on”, “raring to go” they intoned. Suitably pumped up, they met their master in the genteel surroundings of Fortnum & Mason, [...]
Rovers cling on for draw despite Samba red card October 18, 2010 BLACKBURN (0) vs SUNDERLAND (()) SUNDERLAND manager Steve Bruce berated his toothless side after they were held by 10-man Blackburn in torrential conditions at Ewood Park. Rovers defender Christopher Samba was dismissed in first-half stoppage time for bundling over Danny Welbeck on the edge of the penalty area. But the Black Cats could not take [...]
Company name disputes increase by 43 per cent October 17, 2010 LEGAL disputes over company names have shot up 43 per cent this year according to new research by Sweet & Maxwell. Companies being taken to tribunal over the registration of a similar, or misleading company name has leapt from 54 last year to 77. Disputes typically occur when one company is thought to be using [...]
The past lives on as Agatha Christie’s top hotel reopens October 17, 2010 ONCE you’ve been to Istanbul, Paris, Berlin and even London seem somehow paltry, a bit small-scale and even a touch banal. The enormity and seductiveness of the Bosphorous, especially at sunset, and the mesmeric mixture of ancient history, Ottoman splendour and Islamic architecture beguile every traveller. Its appeal was just as strong for the most [...]
BAA to sell two airports after losing court ruling October 13, 2010 AIRPORT operator BAA is set to take its battle with the Competition Commission to the Supreme Court, after the regulator won a High Court ruling forcing it to sell off two more airports to satisfy competition concerns in the industry. BAA’s Spanish owner Ferrovial will now have to sell off Stansted and either Glasgow or [...]
Time to offload Lloyds to save the City’s skin October 12, 2010 Politics can be so unpredictable that a week seems a long time, but there is one prediction that can be made with certainty: a car crash between bankers and politicians just in time for Christmas. The fall out could be so severe that it could lead to the demise of London as a financial services [...]