John Lewis sales boost shows confidence is back November 15, 2009 Bellwether retailer John Lewis provided fresh signs of confidence seeping back into the high street by reporting a 17.1 per cent rise in sales last week compared to last year. And the group said that the past week’s trading is also £500,000 up on 2007, pre-credit crunch, when shoppers spent £71.98 on average each. John [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS November 15, 2009 Berrymans Lace MawerThe law firm has hired Chris Fitton to its professional indemnity team as a partner.Fitton joins from rival Pinsent Masons, where he was also a partner and headed up its Birmingham insurance team. He specialises in resolving professional negligence claims against solicitors and financial intermediaries, with clients including Lloyd’s underwriters, composite insurers, IFAs [...]
DO YOU THINK WE WILL SEE A LULL IN THE HOUSING MARKET? November 15, 2009 HOWARD ELSTON AYLESFORD INTERNATIONALWe nearly always get a lull once November turns into December unless the market is absolutely roaring. But I suspect the market is not strong enough this year for it to be a good month. I don’t think we will see activity picking up again until the middle of January. ED STANSFIELD [...]
Google scales back online library plans November 15, 2009 Google and the Authors Guild have filed a new version of a proposal to create a massive online library, hoping to avert antitrust and copyright concerns in the US and overseas. As part of the amended deal, books in the registry would be reduced to those copyrighted in the US or published in the UK, [...]
A stylish new hotel comes to the Square Mile November 15, 2009 There’s a new hotel in the City – and about time too. Considering the area’s global pre-eminence as a centre of finance and business, with people constantly jetting in from around the world to do deals, it’s surprising how light it’s been on good places for them to stay. That’s about to change thanks to [...]
Sweet success is on the horizon for G founders November 15, 2009 CHOCOLATE mousse firm Gü is in the final stages of its proposed sale, with Noble Foods believed to be the front-runner for the deal. Gü founder James Averdieck founded the brand back in 2003 with £100,000 of personal funds, but appointed Cavendish Corporate Finance in May this year to work on a sale of the [...]
Superdry set to smash its way into FTSE 250 November 15, 2009 Supergroup, the fashion retailer behind the Superdry brand best known for its urban style and for gracing David Beckham’s body, is set to strut its way into the FTSE 250 next year with a stock market listing valuing the business at £400m. The retailer has hired City broker Seymour Pierce to advise on the float, [...]
Beer-bellies meet spread bets as arrows fly this week November 15, 2009 MENTION the name Mervyn King in the City and most readers of this newspaper will think of the chap who’s in charge of the Bank of England. But there is another fellow with the same name, who is far more at home on the oche than discussing the finer points of quantitative easing. This other [...]
Copper looks red hot for next year November 15, 2009 COPPER’S status as a widely used industrial metal meant it was always going to do well in 2009. Restocking, East Asian growth and growing confidence in the global economic recovery saw the price of the red metal on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rise to as high as $6,700 a tonne earlier in the year. [...]
YUAN’S PEG A PROBLEM FOR STRONG EURO November 15, 2009 JANE FOLEYRESEARCH DIRECTOR, FOREX.COMCURRENCY flexibility in Asia is a contentious issue, so the appearance of US President Barack Obama and US Treasury secretary Tim Geithner at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) meetings last week immediately brought the topic back into the spotlight. Geithner made the most of the opportunity to stress the importance of flexible [...]
