Sara Lee renamed Hillshire June 5, 2012 Sara Lee will change its name to Hillshire Brands later this month to reflect its focus as a North American meat company after it spins off its coffee and tea unit. Sara Lee revealed the company’s name and its financial and strategic goals in a meeting yesterday with investors in New York. The business being [...]
JK ROWLING BRINGS SPELLS TO LIFE WITH SONY June 5, 2012 JK ROWLING is penning the first release for Sony’s new Wonderbook, an augmented reality device that brings books to life. The Book of Spells, due for release in November, will immerse the player in the world of Harry Potter, using the PlayStation 3’s Move controller as a wand. “Book of Spells is the closest a [...]
Shoppers stay at home while prices creep up June 5, 2012 SHOP prices increased again in May while footfall kept dropping, industry data showed today. Overall shop price inflation hit 0.4 per cent in May, up from 0.2 per cent in April, according to British Retail Consortium figures, taking the annual price rise up to 1.5 per cent. Food price inflation jumped to 0.6 per cent [...]
Resurgent Eurozone crisis drags down UK business confidence June 5, 2012 BUSINESS confidence fell sharply in May as worries grew over the impact of the ongoing Greek and Eurozone sovereign debt crisis, survey data showed today. Firms’ confidence in the country’s economic prospects fell 47 points from a net balance of 26 per cent to minus 21 per cent, Lloyds’ business barometer showed. The share of [...]
London property surges as cash flows out of troubled nations June 5, 2012 INVESTORS fleeing the Eurozone crisis have helped push prime London property prices even higher, according to figures out today from Knight Frank, although the new higher rate of stamp duty on houses above £2m has slowed the pace. Prices rose 0.7 per cent in May, taking the annual rise to 10.7 per cent and leaving [...]
How an explosive setback put one legal firm on the path to international growth June 5, 2012 TWENTY years ago, you’d have been hard pressed to find anyone prepared to bet that Norton Rose – one of London’s oldest City law firm’s – would eventually rank in the top five largest international practices in the world. Unless perhaps you’d asked Peter Martyr, the firm’s group chief executive. Back in 1992, he was [...]
Britzerland: The UK’s relationship with the EU needs some Alpine air June 5, 2012 AS THE Eurozone staggers from crisis to crisis, it is time to take a longer-term view of the relationship Britain should be developing with the EU in the twenty-first century. Firstly, there is the idea that Britain should use its influence to “reform” the EU as a glorified trading relationship, along the lines of the [...]
A reminder of the ancient ties of the crown to the City June 5, 2012 IT WAS a magnificent spectacle on the river in 1662. On Saturday 23 August, Samuel Pepys records in his diary that King Charles II brought his new Queen, Catherine of Braganza, to London in a celebratory flotilla that almost paved the surface of the Thames: “Anon come the King and Queen in a barge under [...]
We have no obligations to future generations: They’ll be better-off than us June 5, 2012 DAVID Cameron and Nick Clegg visited a tractor factory last month to re-launch their coalition government. Defending the austerity policy to the workers, Clegg said that it was aimed at eliminating government debt by 2017. He claimed that we have a moral duty to “wipe the slate clean” for future generations. He is confused. It [...]
Has the Leveson Inquiry degenerated into a show trial of journalists and politicians? June 5, 2012 YES David Bowden Supposedly set up to curb the excesses of the scurrilous tabloids, Leveson increasingly resembles a soap opera for broadsheet readers than a public inquiry. Breathless reports of “flame-haired vixen” Rebekah Brooks, sinister French lobbyists and secret back-room meetings with the all-powerful villain Rupert Murdoch: it’s a cracking watch. Yet, voyeuristic thrill of [...]
