Marks & Spencer to enter Beijing as it shuts five Shanghai stores March 2, 2015 Marks & Spencer is poised to open stores in Beijing and Guangzhou – but will reduce its presence in greater Shanghai. Currently M&S has around 15 stores in China, but this will be the first time it has entered the country’s capital city. The high street giant said it had “firm intent” to enter those [...]
Fifth coin portrait of the Queen unveiled by the Royal Mint March 2, 2015 The Royal Mint has unveiled the latest coin portrait of the Queen – the fifth since she ascended to the throne in 1952 – ahead of it entering circulation later this year. The new portrait was designed by 33-year-old Jody Clark, the first engraver to be chosen to create a “definitive royal coinage portrait” in [...]
Housebuilder shares rise as Conservatives promise 200,000 cheap starter homes for first-time buyers March 2, 2015 Shares in the UK's largest housebuilders bounced this morning, after the Conservatives pledged to make 200,000 "starter homes" available cheap for first-time buyers if they win the election. Shares in Taylor Wimpey rose 1.54 per cent to 147p in early trading, while Barratt rose 0.87 per cent to 520p and Persimmon rose 1.36 per cent [...]
Eurozone manufacturing flat in February March 2, 2015 The Eurozone's manufacturing sector showed disappointing growth in February, figures out this morning have shown. Markit's Eurozone manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) hit 51 in February. That's down from the flash estimate of 51.1, and flat on the 51 it hit in January. Still, at least the region's manufacturers can take some solace in the [...]
Olympic Park development: Balfour Beatty just agreed to build two new neighbourhoods in East London March 2, 2015 Builder Balfour Beatty has signed a deal to construct 1,500 homes at East Wick and Sweetwater, the next two neighbourhoods to come out of the Olympic Village. The project, at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, will deliver 450 affordable homes, 530 for private sale and 500 to be rented out under a similar model to the [...]
European shares soar to seven-year high as Germany approves Greece bailout February 27, 2015 European markets soared this morning after Germany approved plans to extend Greece's bailout loan by four months – causing investors to shed concerns about a Grexit. For the time being, anyway. The German Bundestag approved Greece's bailout deal, which will prevent it from defaulting when its current programme of loans ends on Saturday. The FTSEurofirst [...]
Google Ventures just invested $60m in Paul McCartney and Sam Smith’s music rights company Kobalt February 27, 2015 More fuel to add to the Apple vs Google music streaming fire. Google's investment arm, Google Ventures, has just invested $60m (£39m) in music rights and publishing company Kobalt. As part of the funding round, the business also got investment from Dell founder Michael Dell. The company, which has more than 8,000 songwriters and more [...]
Boris Bikes see red: Santander is the next sponsor of Boris Johnson’s cycle hire scheme February 27, 2015 Say goodbye to the blue Boris bikes: Santander about to paint the town red as the new sponsor of London's cycle hire scheme. They're even renaming them "Santander Cycles". Under a seven-year sponsorship deal worth a cool £6.25m a year, Santander will pay £6.25m a year for the rights to naming the bikes, then add [...]
Quindell share price plummets as it asks for patience as it conducts independent review February 27, 2015 Shares in embattled insurance claims processor Quindell opened 10 per cent lower after it asked for patience from its shareholders while it completes an independent review. The Aim-listed company, whose share price leapt last year before losing 90 per cent of its value, said the review was taking longer than expected because of "the high [...]
Barclays Investment Bank poaches Goldman Sachs man Phil Shelley February 26, 2015 Barclays has poached Phil Shelley from Goldman Sachs to work in its investment arm in a senior UK banking role. In his job as managing director at Goldman, Shelley worked on IPOs last year including Saga and Virgin Active. He was also previously a joint-head of corporate broking at UBS. However, it is thought his [...]
