Tchenguiz to seek service station sales January 15, 2012 ROBERT Tchenguiz, the high-flying property entrepreneur, is looking to sell a portfolio of Welcome Break motorway service stations in a deal that could be worth more than £300m. Tchenguiz bought the sites eight years ago through his company, Rotch Property Group, for around £24.7m, with backing from Royal Bank of Scotland. He is understood to [...]
Manufacturers look past weak UK to grow in emerging markets January 15, 2012 MOST British manufacturers believe emerging markets offer growth opportunities in 2012, while half worry that the UK’s economy will worsen, according to data out today from industry organisation EEF. The economy will deteriorate according to 49 per cent of firms, while just 21 per cent expect an improvement this year. The Eurozone remains a major [...]
Cairn Energy eyes oil deal in Falklands January 15, 2012 CAIRN Energy, the cash-rich oil explorer, is one of several independent firms considering a deal to invest in the Falkland Islands. The Edinburgh firm, run by ex-Scotland rugby cap Sir Bill Gammell, has spoken to Rockhopper Exploration as it continues to look for ways to grow. Rockhopper has caught the eye of several larger explorers [...]
Pay for in-house lawyers lagging behind inflation January 15, 2012 IN-HOUSE lawyers are facing a real-terms cut in salary for the second year running, new research has revealed this morning, with average pay increases across the sector failing to match the rate of inflation in the UK. In-house heads of legal have seen their salaries rise by an average of 2.5 per cent over the [...]
Value of M&A deals halves in five years January 15, 2012 HOPES of a recovery in the deals market have been tempered today by new research showing the end of a rally in buyouts involving British companies. The value of mergers and acquisitions targeting privately owned British companies has fallen by four per cent to £12.1bn. The level of deals for the year to July 2011 [...]
Banks are missing a trick by failing to provide digital banking for customers January 15, 2012 BANKS are failing to keep up with the digital demand of their customers and missing out on potential revenue, according to survey results released today by PwC. The report suggests that digital banking will become the main way of managing finances – overtaking physical bank branches – by 2015. Of the 3,000 bank customers asked [...]
JAMIE OLIVER SLICING INTO NORTH AMERICAN MARKET January 15, 2012 CELEBRITY chef Jamie Oliver is planning to expand his Jamie’s Italian restaurant chain into the US and Canada. The move follows a year of solid growth for the chain in the UK, with profits for the year to January of £4.65m, up from £1.65m the previous year. Oliver has formed a new company, Jamie’s Italian [...]
Eurozone crisis still as muddled after two years January 15, 2012 TWO years into the Eurozone crisis and still no more clarity and so many moving parts. Almost everyone we speak to seems to think the euro/dollar exchange rate is headed down to 1.20, but for all sorts of different reasons. Let’s start with the European Central Bank’s (ECB) long term refinancing operation (LTRO) last month. [...]
EZW mulling sale of Gazeley January 15, 2012 Economic Zones World (EZW), a unit of Dubai World, is considering the sale of its UK-based warehouse property developer Gazeley, as it looks to repay some of its debt of over $2bn (£1.3bn) this year, banking sources said. Gazeley is one of the four businesses held by EZW, which operates technology, logistics and industrial parks [...]
Everything Everywhere could thrash rivals in bringing 4G to British shores January 15, 2012 ORANGE and T-Mobile customers could be the first to welcome the next generation of mobile network to the UK, despite Ofcom’s recent refusal to guarantee the service providers a section of the new 4G airwaves. Everything Everywhere, the combined Orange and T-Mobile networks, has applied to communications regulator Ofcom for permission to upgrade its current [...]
