Murray seeded third at SW19 June 17, 2009 TENNIS: Britain’s Andy Murray has been confirmed as the No3 seed for Wimbledon. World No1 and defending champion Rafael Nadal is the top seed for SW19, which starts on Monday, followed by five-time winner Roger Federer.
Boucher eyeing T20 final spot June 17, 2009 CRICKET: South Africa wicketkeeper Mark Boucher insists they are ready to end their semi-final curse against Pakistan at the World Twenty20 today. The Proteas have repeatedly lost in the last four, but Boucher said: “We hope this time we can go the whole way.”
COUP FOR D’ETAT June 17, 2009 LAST year’s French Derby winner Vision d’Etat (above) scooped the most valuable prize on offer at Royal Ascot yesterday by claiming the Prince of Wales’s Stakes. Ridden by Olivier Peslier, the four-year-old edged favourite Tartan Bearer into second. Elsewhere, 10-1 shot Spacious, ridden by Johnny Murtagh, edged out Heaven Sent to win the Windsor Forrest [...]
Premier Inn’s sales tumble June 16, 2009 WHITBREAD, Britain’s biggest hotel operator, yesterday blamed the worst hotel recession in three decades for a sharp fall in first quarter revenues at budget hotel chain Premier Inn. The group said Premier Inn’s like-for-like sales fell by 7.9 per cent, after revenue per available room (Revpar) slumped by 9.6 per cent. Chief executive Alan Parker [...]
Game Group benefits from flight to home entertainment June 16, 2009 VIDEO games retailer Game Group yesterday said its trading since the start of February was in line with company forecasts, thanks to an increase in the number of consumers staying at home in the downturn. “The overall trading performance for the group remains in line with the board’s expectations” the firm said in an update [...]
Mediation flourishing in downturn June 16, 2009 LORD Woolf reported an intriguing statistic this month when he said that mediation delivered “a £1bn cost-saving” a year for business by diverting cases from the courts. The former Lord Chief Justice added that commercial litigation costs UK Plc £33bn per year. An average case going through the courts costs £1m and consumes three years [...]
BOOST FOR HANDBAGS AND GLADRAGS June 16, 2009 ANGELA Ahrendts, the chief executive of Burberry, Britain’s largest luxury-goods company, yesterday said that the drop in demand for luxury goods was bottoming out. Ahrendts said: “Things are stabilising. They’re not getting any worse, they’re not getting significantly better.” Burberry last month fell to a full year loss after being forced to market its handbags [...]
Ted Baker confident on outlook June 16, 2009 Fashion brand Ted Baker said it was confident full-year results would be in line with expectations as it posted a 7.6 per cent increase in revenue for the 19 weeks to 12 June. The group said gross margins were also in line. But Seymour Pierce yesterday warned of tough times ahead: “As a retailer that [...]
WHY LIBEL TOURISM IS A BIG WORRY June 16, 2009 MAX COLEMEDIA LAWYER, MISHCON DE REYA SOLICITORS THE practice of libel shopping has been coming under scrutiny recently. Libel tourism is a type of forum shopping, the practice of finding the foreign jurisdiction which is most friendly to the claim, and the courts in this country are an appealing destination if you are a foreigner [...]
Kesa nears 11m Swiss sell-off June 16, 2009 Kesa Electricals, Europe’s third-biggest electrical goods retailer, said yesterday it was close to selling its loss-making Swiss operation as its new chief executive moves to clean up its portfolio of businesses. The firm said it was in exclusive talks with Swiss electrical retailing chain FUST regarding the sale of its local business for about £11.4m.
