Entertainment One set to pick Allan Leighton as new chairman September 2, 2013 CITY heavyweight Allan Leighton is in line to take the top job at media group Entertainment One, it emerged last night. The ex-Royal Mail chairman and former Asda chief executive is reported to be preparing to take the job at the business which co-owns television sensation Peppa Pig, and which backed the Twilight film series. The [...]
Walkie Talkie has few design solutions as beam warms shops to 70°C September 2, 2013 EXPERTS yesterday said the hot ray of light reflected by the Walkie Talkie is on an “unprecedented” scale – as City A.M. found the heat on Eastcheap in mid-afternoon is hitting 70°C. “I’m flabbergasted,” said Dr Philip Oldfield, an expert in tall buildings at the University of Nottingham’s Department of Architecture, who warned other parts of [...]
Walkie Scorchie sets carpet on fire, cracks tiles and melts paint September 2, 2013 THE GREAT Fire of London began on Pudding Lane on 2 September 1666. And yesterday – exactly 347 years later – there was once again smoke in the vicinity, as the Walkie Talkie’s beam of hot light set the carpet of a nearby barber shop on fire. “We want the developer to fix it somehow,” Ali Akay of [...]
Eurozone factories back to solid growth for first time since 2011 September 2, 2013 MANUFACTURERS in the euro area saw the strongest growth for over two years last month, with Spain’s factories growing for the first time since early 2011. According to Markit’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ indexes (PMI), this is the fourth month of growth for the Eurozone’s producers overall, and the first for the embattled Spanish economy since [...]
Mary Portas hits back over lobbying claims September 2, 2013 RETAIL expert Mary Portas yesterday hit back at critics of her review of the high streets and rejected claims that she had lobbied the government to pick Portas Pilots towns that would be popular with TV audiences. When asked by one member of the communities and local government select committee yesterday whether, together with her [...]
Long summer boosts August retail sales September 2, 2013 UK RETAIL sales continued their strong run in August after the summer heatwave helped sales smash expectations the previous month. Total sales increased by 3.6 per cent in value last month compared with a year ago, when sales were up 1.6 per cent, according to data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG released [...]
Anglo Irish Bank flogs off art collection September 2, 2013 THE LIQUIDATION of failed former Anglo Irish Bank kicks off today – with the sale of its contemporary Irish art collection. The auction, at Dublin’s 125-year old auctioneer Adam’s, will raise money to pay back taxpayers who helped prop up the bank. The sale represents the first step in the liquidation of the bank, which [...]
Firms circle Spanish banking unit September 2, 2013 US PRIVATE equity group Centerbridge and London-based Anacap are among the bidders in late-stage talks to buy one of Spain’s smaller nationalised lenders, it emerged last night. The two firms are in a consortium, and one other US buyout group is also in the running to buy EVO Banco, a subsidiary of state-rescued NCG Banco. [...]
Conviviality Retail buys Wine Rack September 2, 2013 Conviviality Retail, the Bargain Booze chain owner that recently listed on Aim, has bought a London-based off-licence chain to boost its footprint in the capital. The north west-based company announced yesterday it has acquired Wine Rack and its 22 stores for £1.65m in cash. Conviviality, which runs over 610 convenience stores, raised around £64m in [...]
ThyssenKrupp denies sale veto September 2, 2013 Germany’s ThyssenKrupp has denied a media report that it planned to scrap the sale of its Steel Americas business, the loss-making unit it has tried for more than a year to offload. “The sales process is continuing,” a spokesman for the steel maker said late yesterday. In an article to be published today in German [...]
