Ad industry to fight back October 18, 2009 Advertising Association chief executive Tim Lefroy will this week urge members to retaliate against dwindling public trust in advertising, after a survey found that only 15 per cent of adults “generally” trust advertising. Lefroy blames lobbyists for the lack of trust. Advertisers such as Barclays, Unilever and Diageo are uniting to provide a fund into [...]
Shortage tips house prices 2.8pc higher October 18, 2009 AVERAGE asking prices in the UK are now higher than they were a year ago as a shortage of stock pushed up property prices by 2.8 per cent, the biggest October rise in six years, according to recent data from Rightmove. London asking prices also surged by 6.5 per cent to a record high of [...]
BAA lawyers start airport sale appeal October 18, 2009 AIRPORT owner BAA will today challenge the Competition Commission’s (CC) ruling to make it sell three of its seven UK airports. The CChad said Spanish-owned BAAshould dispose of Gatwick, Stansted, and either Glasgow or Edinburgh, as it dominated the UK airport market.But BAA, eager to hold on to Stansted airport at least, is challenging the [...]
Financial officers believe future looks promising October 18, 2009 FINANCIAL optimism is at its highest level for two years, according to a new survey of chief financial officers by Deloitte released today. But while those polled are full of optimism for their own companies, they do not foresee a strong recovery throughout the sector. Growth next year is expected to remain sluggish by 73 [...]
Tide of business bankruptcies to halt next year October 18, 2009 THE tide of businesses sinking into bankruptcy over the financial crisis will be stemmed by early next year, a new report shows today. The report, by accountancy firm BDO, said the rise in the number of firms going bust – over one in 60 businesses this year – would end next year as the UK [...]
Nat Express attracts bid October 18, 2009 STAGECOACH, the bus and rail group, has made an approach for its ailing rival National Express. The £1.65bn all-share merger proposal was made in a letter from Stagecoach’s chief executive Brian Souter, and chairman Robert Speirs to John Devaney, chairman at National Express. A tie-up between the two would leave Stagecoach, which is due to [...]
Earnings season is like X Factor for the City stars October 18, 2009 TWO important events have collided this autumn: X Factor and earnings season. So I’ve cast myself as CNBC’s Cheryl Cole. I’m not half as glam as Mrs Cole. I’m a foot taller and decidedly more pregnant, but I’m going to roll with it and leave my colleagues to argue over who wants to be Dannii, [...]
US authorities bail out 99th struggling bank October 18, 2009 REGULATORS have shut down San Joaquin Bank in California, marking the 99th failure this year of a federally insured bank. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was appointed receiver of San Joaquin Bank, based in Bakersfield, California. It had $775m (£474m) in assets and $631m in deposits as of September 29. The FDIC said the [...]
SHELL?TALKS October 18, 2009 IRAQI oil officials are in talks with Royal Dutch Shell once more, over revising its offer to operate the Kirkuk oilfield.Talks have resumed after Europe’s biggest oil company failed to win the licence in Iraq’s first bidding round in June. Meanwhile, Iraq’s cabinet yesterday ratified a contract with BP and China’s CNPC to develop the [...]
West End delivers boost for London sales growth October 18, 2009 LONDON retail sales in September had their strongest growth since August last year due to a wave of renewed consumer confidence, according to figures out today from the London Retail Consortium. Retail sales in central London were 7.5 per cent higher on a like-for-like basis in September than a year ago, when sales nosedived to [...]
