Festive cheer at Enterprise as sales rally January 21, 2010 PUB group Enterprise Inns yesterday reported improving sales after many of its struggling licensees saw a long-awaited upturn in business. The UK’s second largest pub company said average net income per pub declined by four per cent in the 16 weeks to 16 January – compared to eight per cent in the last financial year. [...]
Sky was right to buy ITV stake despite losses January 21, 2010 WHEN BSkyB bought a 17.9 per cent stake in ITV for £940m in 2006, Rupert Murdoch was hailed a genius. For it was Rupert – not son James – who masterminded the move, even if the latter took public credit for it. In one foul swoop, the mogul blocked the newly merged NTL / Telewest [...]
BlueBay sees renewed credit appetite January 21, 2010 INDEPENDENT fixed-income fund manager BlueBay Asset Management said yesterday that investors had flocked to the credit markets over the past quarter as assets under management soared 10 per cent higher. Assets under management at the group beat analyst forecasts as they rose to $34.3bn (£21.3bn) over the three months to December, boosted by net inflows [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS January 21, 2010 UK MAIL Seymour Pierce reckons UK Mail had a good Christmas and has upgraded its full-year profit forecasts for 2010 as a result. The broker notes UK Mail shares had a strong rise at the end of last year thanks to the postal strikes but have slipped to a level which looks under-rated. It has [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 21, 2010 Berwin Leighton Paisner The law firm has appointed James Duncan as a partner, tasked with launching a standalone derivatives practice for the firm. Duncan has been at rival Linklaters since 1997 and specialises in derivatives and structured products. He recently advised audit firm PwC on the administration of Lehman Brothers. He has also worked with [...]
Q&A INSOLVENCY January 21, 2010 Q. I’m thinking of setting up a business, but what would happen if it all went wrong? Will I be declared bankrupt? A.The best way to protect yourself is to set up as a limited company right from the start, says Tim Carter, head of insolvency at law firm Stevens & Bolton. By doing this [...]
Dragon takes to the barricades January 21, 2010 CONTESTANTS on the BBC’s Dragon’s Den dream of getting one of the show’s successful entrepreneurs on board to support their business. They could be in luck. Earlier this week, former Dragon Doug Richard launched the rather grandly titled The Entrepreneurs’ Manifesto and Declaration of Rights. “A spectre is haunting the United Kingdom – the spectre [...]
The billion pound money manager January 21, 2010 LIFE could have been different for Chris Oulton, but in 1982 he answered an advert at the back of the Saturday Telegraph, which offered an “unusual opportunity” to a bright young graduate. He applied and within weeks he had the job and was thrust into the world of commodity trading. He found himself working for [...]
Spend £3m to live in a former youth hostel January 21, 2010 PROPERTIES at Wellgarth Manor, a luxury residential development in north London’s Hampstead Garden Suburb, start at a cool £3m. Cynicism might be your reaction – it’s a hefty price tag for a development in a former youth hostel who’s closest Tube station is scruffy Golders Green in Zone 3. But not every re-vamped youth hostel [...]
Q&A: BUYING January 21, 2010 Russell Hunt MANAGING DIRECTOR, PROPERTY HUNT Q.Dear Russell, I am after a standard London property but am short on time. Even if I’m not after something high-end, is it still worth me using a buying agent? A.Even if you aren’t after an expensive property, there’s no reason why you can’t use a buying agent – [...]
