WestLB receives 10 bids March 2, 2010 WestLB has received 10 non-binding bids for its real estate finance unit Westdeutsche Immobilienbank but the offers are below book value, sources said yesterday, stoking fears that a fire sale could spoil real estate asset valuations. There is no current book value for the unit but at the end of 2008, WestLB valued it at [...]
Luxury comes to Abu Dhabi’s glorious desert February 28, 2010 THE Liwa Desert is in the area known as the Empty Quarter, and is the largest uninterrupted stretch of desert in the world. This vast area, which extends into the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, was made famous through the adventures of the late British explorer Sir Wilfred Thesiger who wrote about [...]
An MBA is the gateway to the international marketplace February 24, 2010 AN Australian-born executive based in London and married to a South African banker, Nick Kontopoulos could be seen as the very essence of today’s globe-trotting business internationalist. However it wasn’t until his MBA studies led him to China that he thought that he might end up living and working there. Kontopoulos, a marketing business developer [...]
Meet the man who would be king: a radical dressed in Liberal clothing February 23, 2010 THE Liberal Democrats have never held much sway in the City. Their traditional supporters prefer a sleepy, polite way of life – not the cut and thrust of the Square Mile. If the opinion polls are to be believed, however, Nick Clegg is set to play the role of kingmaker in a hung parliament after [...]
OUT OF OFFICE February 21, 2010 HENRY MOORE AT TATE BRITAIN Opening this week, the Tate’s new retrospective revisits the legacy of one of the giants of British art in the twentieth century, and arguably the country’s greatest-ever sculptor. In the age of Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin, it’s easy to forget the dramatic experimentation and poetic power of Moore’s strange, [...]
The good times are rolling again February 17, 2010 IT’S been a rough couple of years for restaurants, many of whom – beginning life bright-eyed and bushy-tailed – were stopped in their tracks by the credit crunch. High-gloss French restaurant Ambassade de L’ile and swanky Japanese restaurant Aaya were two casualties, along with Nobu’s sister restaurant Ubon in Canary Wharf. But it’s a far cheerier [...]
Westfield sales up February 17, 2010 SALES at Westfield shopping centre were up 11 per cent last month lifting some of the gloom from the retail market. The mall in West London’s Shepherds Bush also saw spending in the run-up to Christmas soaring by 18 per cent compared with the same period in 2008 when the UK was in the grip of [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 16, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES YOUNG GENERATIONS FACE WEALTH DEFECIT Baby boomers hold so much of Britain’s wealth that a prosperity gap is opening between the generations, with people born after 1970 unlikely to acquire the wealth their parents enjoy, a Conservative shadow cabinet member has warned. David Willetts said in a speech to the London School of [...]
Hodgson’s harbouring a cup dream February 14, 2010 FULHAM boss Roy Hodgson is daring to dream of leading Fulham to a first-ever FA Cup success after a comfortable victory over League Two Notts County took them to within two matches of a Wembley final. Goals from Simon Davies, Bobby Zamora, Damien Duff and new signing Stefano Okako signalled the end of brave County’s [...]
West End booming for landlord Shaftesbury February 12, 2010 WEST End landlord Shaftesbury has seen buoyant trading over Christmas and New year, with lettings exceeding predicted prices. The company, which owns large areas of theatreland, said the West End had enjoyed a booming Christmas period. Around 70 per cent of the company’s portfolio comprises shops, restaurants and leisure and property for leisure uses but [...]