Ted Baker buys Ugly Brown Building headquarters for £55m December 17, 2015 Ted Baker's founder Ray Kelvin and his staff have become very attached to their quirky King’s Cross offices they call the Ugly Brown Building. So much so, the fashion brand has bought the freehold to the property, formally known as Block B, Canal Reach on St Pancras Way, for £55.25m through its subsidiary, Big Lobster, after [...]
IMF chief Christine Lagarde ordered to face trial over Bernard Tapie affair December 17, 2015 International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief executive Christine Lagarde has been ordered by a French court to face trial for alleged negligence over her handling of a controversial €400m payout to French business tycoon Bernard Tapie during her time as finance minister. The case will be heard by France’s Court of Justice of the Republic, a court spokesperson confirmed, although [...]
M&G Real Estate buys Bloomberg’s new European headquarters in the City for £93m December 17, 2015 M&G Real Estate has bought Bloomberg’s new European headquarters near Mansion House in the City, in a £92.5m deal. The fund manager said it has bought the freehold ground lease of Bloomberg Place from Legal & General Property, which put the site up for sale two months ago after more than 60 years of ownership. The vast 750,000 square feet [...]
More than 600,000 UK homeowners are now property millionaires December 17, 2015 More than 600,000 UK homeowners are now so-called property millionaires as escalating prices pushed more homes over the £1m-mark. Research released by property website Zoopla said the number of homes worth £1m or more increased by 75,796 – up 14 per cent – since January, taking the total number of property millionaires to 622,939. This [...]
Panic Saturday shoppers to splurge £1.1bn on last-minute Christmas presents December 16, 2015 Retailers are bracing themselves for a stampede of last-minute shoppers this Saturday, with more than 12.6m customers tipped to spend over £1.1bn on last minute Christmas presents and food. Consumers will splash out £2.2m every minute on so-called Panic Saturday, leading to a £6bn shopping spree over the six days to Christmas overall, according to research [...]
SuperGroup shares jump 12 per cent as profits beat expectations December 16, 2015 Shares in fashion retailer SuperGroup, the maker of Superdry clothing, have soared by nearly nine per cent after unveiling a better-than-expected 54.4 per cent rise in profits. The group made an underlying pre-tax profit of £19.3m in the 26 weeks to 24 October, with revenue up 22.3 per cent to £254.7m. Excluding its ailing North [...]
Dixons Carphone hails bigger than ever Black Friday as profits beat forecasts December 16, 2015 Dixons Carphone shares climbed three per cent higher this morning after the high street electricals giant beat City expectations with a 23 per cent jump in first-half profits. The FTSE 100 company, which trades as Currys, PC World and Carphone Warehouse in the UK and Ireland, said strong performance in the UK helped it outperform the [...]
Americans bring Thanksgiving to UK retailers as spending soars December 16, 2015 Black Friday’s online bargain frenzy may have dampened sales on the high street. But international shoppers helped to keep tills ringing, with spending up by 10 per cent in the year to November. The biggest jump in spending came from US tourists, up 55 per cent, despite still accounting for just five per cent of [...]
Starbucks serves up £8m in UK corporation tax after record results December 15, 2015 Starbucks served up £8m in corporation tax to the UK last year after brewing up £34.2m in pre-tax profits. The Seattle-based coffee chain has faced fierce criticism for paying minimal corporation tax since launching in Britain in 1998, after claiming to have never made a profit until last year. In its latest set of results, [...]
Carpetright shares rally as half-year profits jump by a third December 15, 2015 Shares in Carpetright leapt this morning as the floorings and beds specialist revealed a 34 per cent rise in underlying pre-tax profits in the first half of the year. The retailer said efforts to win over my customers through its revamped website, stores and better product ranges were bearing fruit, with group revenue rising by 1.4 per cent to £231.2m, and [...]
