Workspace grabs slice of London tech market with Clerkenwell buy November 12, 2013 SMALL business landlord Workspace has snapped up an office block near Farringdon for £18.1m as it looks to tap into booming demand for space in the area from technology firms. Chief executive Jamie Hopkins said yesterday that the acquisition of Verulam House on Gray’s Inn Road, whose tenants include Tesco’s Blinkbox, marked its first major [...]
CRH cheers investors as it builds up quarterly sales across Europe November 12, 2013 BUILDING materials group CRH said yesterday that like-for-like sales were up two per cent in the third quarter of the year, while earnings were up three per cent on last year as the decline in Europe bottomed out. The FTSE 100 firm said sales for the first nine months of the year are now three [...]
Oxford bid shot down instantly by Andor board November 12, 2013 OXFORD Instruments was hit with a blunt rebuttal from Andor Technology yesterday, just hours after it published details of a £159m bid proposal to buy the company. “The board of Andor is disappointed that… Oxford Instruments has chosen to make today’s announcement which the board of Andor considers to be premature and unhelpful in light [...]
Tory grandee Heseltine backs High Speed 2 November 12, 2013 LORD Heseltine threw his weight behind the High Speed 2 (HS2) rail project yesterday, urging politicians to back a “really imaginative project” that will “rebalance the country”. The former deputy prime minister said we should be using “the same sort of money to help the rest of the country” as London is spending on Crossrail [...]
Raspberry Pi chips in sales rise for distributor Premier Farnell November 12, 2013 ELECTRONICS distributor Premier Farnell yesterday said the Raspberry Pi had helped drive sales in the three months to 3 November. The firm said the gadget, which allows users to build a computer from a basic credit card-sized motherboard, pushed sales per day up 3.3 per cent in the quarter. Sales excluding the Raspberry Pi were [...]
Third Point takes stake in FedEx November 12, 2013 ACTIVIST investor Dan Loeb, founder of hedge fund Third Point, gave a fillip to FedEx stock yesterday when he revealed that his investment firm owns shares in the delivery company. Loeb, whose hedge fund oversees $13bn (£8.2bn), said at a Dealbook conference that he met with FedEx chief executive Fred Smith recently. Shares in New [...]
John Menzies shares slump as distribution business deteriorates November 12, 2013 JOHN Menzies, the airport services and logistics firm, warned yesterday that poor trading in its magazine distribution arm has meant profits will be slightly lower than expected, prompting a 6.4 per cent fall in its share price. The firm said Menzies Distribution had not improved since its results in August, when it reported a 10.8 [...]
Bovis snaps up former Balfour boss Tyler as its new chairman November 12, 2013 HOUSEBUILDER Bovis has hired Ian Tyler, the former boss of construction group Balfour Beatty, as its new chairman. Tyler led Balfour for eight years until he stepped down in March, following a profit warning. He replaces Malcolm Harris, who in February announced his plan to retire from Bovis after almost 40 years at the firm. [...]
Heritage arm dragging on Resolution November 12, 2013 LIFE insurance group Resolution has seen new business growth constrained by its Heritage business, which offset a strong performance from the core UK unit, the firm announced yesterday. Resolution said the value of new business slipped one per cent to £136m during the first nine months of 2013. Heritage was set up in 2011 to [...]
Babcock shrugs off cuts to UK defence budgets November 12, 2013 ENGINEERING group Babcock yesterday posted a 17 per cent rise in profit in the first half of the year, helped by a scheme to share cost savings with government on deals to maintain navy submarines and warships at a time of defence cuts. Pre-tax profits at the FTSE 100 firm rose to £141.7m in the [...]
