High-end house prices on the rise in London January 8, 2012 TOP-END house prices in London have kept rising despite global economic uncertainty, according to data seen by City A.M. Properties worth between £5m and £10m grew in value by 3.5 per cent in the year to the end of September 2011, research from Investec reveals. Houses worth between £1m and £2m increased in value by [...]
Retailers’ warning: more woes to come January 8, 2012 RETAILERS fell into administration at a faster rate last year, with a leading industry body warning that tax hikes will see even more high street stores going bust in the months to come. Retail administrations totalled 183 in 2011, according to data released today by Deloitte — an 11 per cent rise on the previous [...]
Footfall still declining on the UK’s high streets January 8, 2012 FOOTFALL on the UK high streets fell by 1.1 per cent last year, according to data released this morning. The decline was not as steep as the 3.5 per cent drop recorded by Springboard — which conducts the research — in 2010. “Despite year-round negative news from retailers, footfall on UK high streets declined at [...]
Self-employed would let SMEs avoid red tape January 8, 2012 SMALL and medium sized companies should be able to swerve burdensome regulations by employing their workers as self-employed contractors, a think tank will argue today. “SMEs currently face prohibitive levels of regulation and taxes, and the government must focus on reducing these costs rather than pushing a myriad of schemes of government assistance and support,” [...]
Tesco set to unveil bleak Christmas January 8, 2012 TESCO is set to deliver its worst Christmas trading performance for decades this week after the supermarket’s £500m price cutting campaign failed to gather pace in the fierce battle for supermarket sales. Deutsche Bank, a house broker to Tesco, is forecasting a two per cent decline in like-for-like sales from UK stores in the six [...]
Morrison eyes Best Buy deal January 8, 2012 SUPERMARKET giant Wm Morrison is in advanced talks with Carphone Warehouse to buy 11 “big box” stores occupied by electronics chain Best Buy in order to convert them into its fast-growing Kiddicare brand. Britain’s fourth-biggest grocerbought the online baby products retailer Kiddicare last year for £70m in its first step to building a business selling [...]
Don’t be unnerved by this retailer’s blip January 8, 2012 IN A WORLD of fierce supermarket price wars, and in the words of a well-known supermarket chain, every little helps. And every percentage point change in sales growth or underperformance can send alarm bells through the industry. Tesco’s own house broker signalling a two per cent decline in UK sales has surely raised some fears [...]
Santorum attacks Romney’s big business background January 8, 2012 REPUBLICAN candidates for their party’s presidential nomination clashed in a fractious debate over the weekend as polls showed Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney maintaining a clear lead in New Hampshire, the next state to vote. During the debate, Romney was forced to defend his background in finance when rival Rick Santorum said: “Business experience doesn’t necessarily [...]
Olympic Media Buzz LONDON 2012 PARTNERS January 8, 2012 IN ASSOCIATION with Repskan.com, the media monitoring and analytics platform, City A.M. is measuring the relative Olympic media buzz around the partners for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, week by week. The leaderboard, right, reflects their ranking over the past week, in this case from Wednesday 28 December to Wednesday 4 January. Again [...]
MELLON’S ASIAN CV IS NO BARRIER TO NEW GIG January 8, 2012 THE WELL-RESTED Lloyds boss António Horta-Osório is not the only City name making a new start this morning. Today is also the first day for veteran fund manager Jim Mellon (right) as non-executive director of Aim-listed urological manufacturer Plethora. Chairman Bill Robinson tells me: “We look forward to [Mellon’s] input at the board with his [...]
