Great Portland Estates offloads 20 St James’s Street for £54.5m December 9, 2013 GREAT Portland Estates has sold a prime West End site between Piccadilly and St James’s Park to a German pension fund managed by US property investor Pramerica for £54.5m. Chief executive Toby Courtauld said yesterday that the group had originally planned to refurbish the building in 2015 to exploit the lack of new space in [...]
McDonald’s US sales disappoint December 9, 2013 MCDONALD’S yesterday reported another sluggish month of sales at established restaurants, results that suggest the famed hamburger chain is losing US market share to rivals. November’s biggest disappointment came from the US, where monthly sales at restaurants open at least 13 months fell 0.8 per cent, versus the 0.3 per cent gain expected. Same-restaurant sales [...]
Sysco snaps up US Foods December 9, 2013 SYSCO said yesterday it will buy US Foods for about $3.5bn from its private equity owners in a deal that will combine the top two US food distributors and create a company commanding about a quarter of the $235bn North American market. Shareholders of US Foods, owned by affiliates of private equity firms Clayton, Dubilier [...]
Luxury designer Louis Vuitton to pack its bags for King’s Cross December 9, 2013 LOUIS Vuitton is to leave its headquarters on New Bond Street, Britain’s most expensive shopping thoroughfare, for new offices near to King’s Cross station. The luxury fashion and handbag maker has signed a 10-year lease for 7,000 square feet in One Pancras Square, one of several schemes that form part of the wider 67 acre [...]
UK to relax visa rules for visitors from Gulf states December 9, 2013 VISA rules for nationals from several Gulf states coming to Britain are being relaxed by the government in a drive to boost visitor numbers and encourage higher tourist spending. The Home Office announced yesterday that short-term visitors from Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will be able to obtain a new electronic visa waiver [...]
Shoppers set to spend twice as much on mobile this Christmas December 9, 2013 CONSUMERS are predicted to spend twice as much this Christmas on their smartphones and tablets as they did last year, new data out yesterday shows. Shoppers will spend £2.9bn through mobile devices on UK websites this December compared with £1.45bn the same time last year, according to industry group IMRG and consultants Capgemini. Around £2.3bn [...]
Governor Carney plays the ghost of Xmas Present December 9, 2013 OVER in New York yesterday, Bank of England governor Mark Carney was not just extolling the recovery of the British economy – he also took the opportunity to peddle some of the UK’s classical literature to the yanks. Speaking at the 106-year old Economic Club of New York, Carney (clearly overwhelmed by the historical clout of [...]
Size definitely matters when it comes to world Christmas trees December 9, 2013 WE’RE all for healthy competition between nations, so with the Olympics a distant memory, The Capitalist thought it would pitch governmental Christmas trees against each other. The festive fir that went up in front of Number 10 over the weekend is from Oxfordshire – Greenfield Farm in Watlington to be exact – and is an 18ft [...]
Cameron flies out for Mandela memorial with three former PMs December 9, 2013 PRIME Minister David Cameron will arrive in South Africa today for the memorial service of Nelson Mandela. He will be joined by coalition partner Nick Clegg, Labour leader Ed Miliband and three former prime ministers; Sir John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. All six will attend the service at the FNB stadium in Johannesburg, [...]
Small business Saturday boosts UK by £468m December 9, 2013 LAST weekend’s small business Saturday boosted the UK economy by £468m according to data from American Express – a figure that exceeded expectations, Labour MP Chuka Umunna said yesterday. The shadow business secretary, who championed the event, visited Earl Grey and Rose in Streatham (pictured) as part of the drive to encourage British shoppers to use [...]
