CAREER CASE STUDY June 24, 2009 CARMEL BOURKE, SENIOR PA AT GLOBAL INSURANCE FIRMI didn’t go to secretarial school or anything, but that’s not really what it’s about now. Most people think of it as filling in calendars and taking dictation, but it’s not that anymore. It’s really about understanding the message being put across to the client, asking lots of [...]
CAREERS CLINIC June 24, 2009 LINDA JACKSONMANAGING DIRECTOR, FAIRPLACEI used to work in fund management, but quit three years ago to bring up my children. I’m looking to return to work, but have lost touch with most of my old contacts and am worried, in this job market, that I’ll have trouble getting employed. What can I do to improve [...]
Bullets, bombs and books on the front line June 24, 2009 THE JUNIOR OFFICERS’ READING CLUB: KILLING TIME AND FIGHTING WARSBy Patrick HennesseyPENGUIN, £16.99PATRICK HENNESSEY is a 27-year-old trainee barrister, who happens to have spent the past five years as an officer in the Grenadier Guards, fighting his way through the horrors of Iraq and Afghanistan and – as the title of his book suggests – [...]
Frugal food hits the top table June 24, 2009 A RESTAURATEUR who grew up in the South of France once told me that the reason that French cuisine is superior to English simply because the produce is better. In the Mediterranean world, he led me to believe, tomatoes as big as your hand grow effortlessly, exotic fish jump straight out of the sea and [...]
RECIPES ADDING VALUE TO DULL INGREDIENTS June 24, 2009 ONIONS by Jeremy Lee, Blueprint Cafewww.blueprintcafe.co.ukWe get these lovely pink onions from Lincolnshire, and we fry them for as long as possible – we are talking about 30 to 40 minutes – so that they go really soft and turn a golden brown. When they are done, we then add lots of chopped parsley, cider [...]
Comet owner Kesa plunges into the red June 24, 2009 KESA Electrical, the owner of Comet, yesterday said it had plunged to a £81.8m full-year loss due to a slump in demand for electrical goods. The group, which owns a number of European electrical retailers including Darty in Frnace, boasted a pre-tax profit of £128.8m a year ago. The losses were largely due to a [...]
CAN KESA ELECTRICALS RECOVER FROM ITS NOSEDIVE INTO THE RED? June 24, 2009 DAVID JEARY INVESTECIt is clear that trading conditions remain challenging. The company has already announced cost cutting measures for Comet and its Spanish division, and cost reduction is to remain a key focus. Much will depend on the continued resilience of the key Darty division, which has performed solidly.” MATTHEW MCEACHRAN SINGER CAPITALThese results look [...]
KESA’S SLUMP June 24, 2009 LOSS BEFORE TAX£81.8m2008: Profit £128.8m DARTY FRANCE REVENUE&9660;5%like-for-like basis OPERATING PROFIT£77m2008: Profit £141.3mCOMET REVENUE&9660;7.7%like-for-like basis GROUP REVENUE&9660;6.2%like-for-like basis OTHER REVENUE&9660;6.3%
BAE wins $124.8m US contract June 24, 2009 Defence company BAE Systems won a $124.8m (£70m) US army contract yesterday to reset, upgrade and maintain M113 vehicles – armoured personnel carriers. During the reset process, BAE Systems will repair existing vehicles to pre-deployment condition and provide some upgrades to enhance survivability, mobility and communications.
Madoff victims told to wait June 24, 2009 Decisions over compensation for the thousands of investors defrauded by Bernard Madoff will be deferred for three months, the US judge who will sentence the confessed swindler on June 29 ruled yesterday. US prosecutors argued they needed more time to calculate the amount of money lost and the number of those swindled in Madoff’s alleged [...]
