Tube strike causes gridlock and costs economy £48m September 7, 2010 Millions of commuters across London struggled to get to work on Tuesday as a 24-hour strike by workers on the underground rail system crippled much of the network, hurting the city’s convalescent economy. Passengers took to bikes, buses, walked, or made use of extra boat services on the Thames that runs through the city in [...]
Connaught “on brink of administration” September 7, 2010 Connaught, the property services group that specialises in social housing, is on the brink of going into administration, the BBC has reported. The company, which employs 10,000 people, has suspended trading of its shares, and said a further announcement would be made “in due course”. Connaught has £220m of debt, provided by six banks and [...]
Sports Directs sales hike fuelled by World Cup September 7, 2010 Sporting goods retailer ports Direct posted an 8.8 per cent rise in first-quarter sales – fuelled by the World Cup in South Africa The firm, in which Newcastle United club owner Mike Ashley has a 71 per cent stake, said on Tuesday sales were £408m in the 13 weeks to July 25, up from £375m [...]
Whitbread boosted by Premier Inn September 7, 2010 Britain’s biggest hotel operator Whitbread said it was confident for the full year after its budget Premier Inn chain saw a surge in demand from business customers and Costa Coffee delivered strong growth. Whitbread, which also owns the Beefeater and Brewers Fayre pub restaurant chains, said comparable sales across the group were up by 7.9 [...]
Ocado sales surge by 30pc after flotation September 7, 2010 ONLINE grocer Ocado reported a 30 per cent jump in third-quarter sales as it seeks to boost confidence in the business following a turbulent initial public offering (IPO) in July. Ocado, whose shares are trading 13 per cent below an IPO price which had already been cut by almost a quarter from the company’s original [...]
Car sales plunge by 17.5pc September 6, 2010 UK Car sales plunged by 17.5 per cent in August compared with the same month last year. The Society of Motor Manufacturers (SMMT) data showed that sales had dropped for a second consecutive month after a 13.2 per cent fall in July. Howard Archer of Global Insight said: “In contrast, new car registrations had increased [...]
REH to offload German wind farms September 6, 2010 Britain’s Renewable Energy Holdings (REH) will sell its German wind farms for just under 40m euros (£33m) to pay off debts and pump more money into Polish and Welsh projects. The news sent shares in REH, which have slumped 64 percent this year, were up almost ren per cent to 9.75 pence following the announcement. [...]
REH to offload German wind farms September 6, 2010 Britain’s Renewable Energy Holdings (REH) will sell its German wind farms for just under 40m euros ($54m) to pay off debts and pump more money into Polish and Welsh projects. The news sent shares in REH, which have slumped 64 percent this year, up almost TEN percent to 9.75 pence at 0816 GMT. Windpark Kesfled [...]
easyJet passenger numbers up in August September 6, 2010 Budget airline easyJet carried 5.2m passengers in August – a rise of 8.4 per cent from the 4.8m people it carried a year earlier. The airline’s load factor – which measures the number of passengers against available seats – was up by 1.5 percentage points to 86.9 per cent.
Asian stock buoyed by US jobs data September 6, 2010 Asian stocks touched one-month highs after the latest US jobs data pacified for now investors who worried a second recession in the world’s biggest economy was nigh. Investor relief that the US employment report was not as bad as some had thought tempered demand for traditional safe-havens such as gold and government debt. But investors [...]
