Government set to restart Urenco sale August 7, 2011 THE GOVERNMENT is thought to be preparing to sell its stake in Urenco, a uranium enrichment specialist, to help raise money for the Exchequer. Gordon Brown tried unsuccessfully to sell the government’s holding in Urenco in 2009 but the coalition is understood to be lining up advisers for a beauty parade ahead of an auction [...]
Varde in deal to take Crest Nicholson on August 7, 2011 HOUSING firm Crest Nicholson will be taken over by a US distressed debt specialist within the next few weeks, a source close to the firm confirmed yesterday. Minneapolis-based Varde Partners has been working for months with advisers Lazard and Bingham McCutchen to assess the options for the firm, which became 90 per cent owned by [...]
Tax benefits on equity would help SMEs thrive August 7, 2011 MARKET sentiment turned dramatically for the worse last week as political worries and disquieting economic data on both sides of the Atlantic outweighed relief at the threat of a US debt default being narrowly averted. Amid concerns deficit reduction plans will hit global growth prospects, UK politicians have focused on how the financial services sector [...]
London grows at fastest rate for 16 months August 7, 2011 BUSINESS activity in London grew at its fastest rate for 16 months in July, according to a Lloyds TSB survey released today. Output grew in all regions except Northern Ireland, but London led the way with “by far the strongest expansion”. “July’s survey data points to an uneven regional recovery, with London advancing clear of [...]
Manufacturers’ confidence dips in third quarter August 7, 2011 CONFIDENCE for the future has dipped among small and medium sized manufacturers, despite rising factory output. While orders rose in the three months to July, according to a Confederation of British Industry (CBI) survey, exports order slowed, with total orders “set to be broadly flat over the next three months”. The gloomy news for the [...]
Buffett unit bids £2bn for Transatlantic August 7, 2011 A UNIT of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway jumped into the bidding war over Transatlantic Holdings, offering to buy the reinsurer for $3.24bn (£1.98bn). Transatlantic’s board said yesterday it would “carefully consider and evaluate” the $52-per-share offer by Berkshire unit National Indemnity. Buffett’s bid tops two rival offers put before Transatlantic. Transatlantic has an agreement to [...]
Tesco fixes Scottish pricing discrepancy August 7, 2011 TESCO yesterday said the grocer is committed to its national pricing policy, following a computer bug that gave Scottish shoppers cheaper prices on hundreds of household items. The alarm was raised when it emerged Scottish families have been paying on average five per cent less on an estimated 800 products for the past three weeks [...]
Nightmare for Dreams as insurer pulls cover despite refinancing August 7, 2011 BED retailer Dreams has been hit with a vote of no confidence from the insurer of its suppliers, which suspended its cover of about a fifth of Dreams’ suppliers last week. Euler Hermes, which insures suppliers against their customers going bankrupt, put Dreams’ suppliers on notice that its cover would end in 30 days, leaving [...]
NET-A-PORTER INVESTOR TAKES STAKE IN LOOKK.COM August 7, 2011 CARMEN Busquets, the luxury-goods investor who made a profit of almost £100m from the sale of Net-a-Porter, is to reinvest some of her gains into social networking clothes design firm Lookk.com. Busquets, 45, will take up a 5.1 per cent stake and a seat on the board of the company, which founded in 2008 under [...]
Bad numeracy is damaging UK economy August 7, 2011 THE FUTURE of the economy is in jeopardy unless the UK’s failing maths education system is radically overhauled, according to Tory maths guru Carol Vorderman who today releases the damning findings of her two-year investigation into financial literacy. Shocking findings from the study, which was commissioned by the Conservative party in 2009 and carried out [...]
