Alliance Boots and the ex-banker: Pessina’s most daring appointment June 8, 2009 IT’S been quite a busy couple of days,” says the 67 year-old Stefano Pessina, in a somewhat understated sort of way. The executive chairman of Alliance Boots was supposed to have spent the weekend by the sea in his native Italy before flying off to a conference in the US. Instead, he’s in his financial [...]
Global recovery sparks interest in commodities June 8, 2009 AS THE prospects of a global recovery have returned, so have rising commodity prices. And while it is oil that is dominating the headlines, the surge is happening across the board. According to the S&P/Goldman Sachs Commodity Index, raw material prices rose 20 per cent in May and the Baltic Dry Index – a measure [...]
Emerging market strength means luxury is down but far from out June 8, 2009 FOR a while it seemed like the luxury goods retailers would escape the global recession relatively unscathed. The rich would still remain relatively rich and any loss of custom in developed countries would quickly be replaced by growing demand in emerging markets like China. That hope has vanished in the past two weeks as the [...]
MARKETS HIT BY BROWN CONJECTURE June 8, 2009 MARTIN SLANEYHEAD OF DERIVATIVES, GFT IS the recession over? The debate over whether the current stock market rally continues to rage. The good news on the economic front just keeps on coming and investors are lapping it up. The FTSE 100 is up nearly 30 per cent from its March lows on the perceived belief [...]
Sweat in the City June 8, 2009 THERE is only so much good that you can do to your body with pilates, and other such exercises where lying down features heavily. Those people who rattle on about the importance of “strengthening the core” really need to know one thing: the only way to get properly fit is to feel some lung-busting pain. [...]
CITY BOYS COME UP TRUMPS FOR SIR ALAN’S NEWEST APPRENTICE June 8, 2009 BEADY-eyed Apprentice followers may have noticed a bevy of City boys getting behind the camera last night for a cameo on the final episode of the show. Pelham PR’s Gavin Davis, Alisdair Haythornthwaite and Alex Walters appeared on screen, with Funsho Allu from insurer AIG and freelance hack Jack Dyson, to advise winner Yasmina on [...]
Impeccably sourced City sarnies June 8, 2009 FARM91 COWCROSS STREETEC1M 6BHTEL: 020 7253 2142 Cost per person without wine: £3-£8 IT’S hard to imagine a lunch enterprise that is more on message, on trend, on the pulse and on just about anything else you can think of. The Farm (not to be confused with the good restaurant and bar in Fulham, a [...]
Daredevil for a day June 8, 2009 ANYONE who has marvelled at the aerial spectacle of the Red Bull Air Race must surely have wondered what it is like to hurtle along in a small aircraft at high speed just feet above the ground. The airborne equivalent of Formula One, the event has attracted millions of spectators around the world. But while [...]
Pressure will not faze me, says Murray June 8, 2009 BRITISH No1 Andy Murray insists he is not worried about the added pressure of playing in front of his home fans at Wimbledon this year. The Scot arrives at SW19 with a career-high ranking of three and many believe he’s in good shape to become the first Briton to lift his home trophy since Fred [...]
Haye eyes Vitali title bout June 8, 2009 BOXING: British hope David Haye has turned his attentions to WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko. Londoner Haye was scheduled to fight Vitali’s brother Wladimir on 20 June but suffered a back injury in training. Wladimir is now taking on WBA champion Ruslan Chagaev instead, leaving Haye to pursue other options. Manager Adam Booth said: “David’s [...]
