Britain’s Got Talent finds itself in a fix June 3, 2011 POP music mogul Simon Cowell has called in the police over allegations , first spread over the internet, that his firm groomed a contestant on “Britain’s Got Talent” and that the popular TV show is therefore fixed, police said yesterday. Cowell’s lawyers made the complaint to officers after an anonymous blogger on a web-site called [...]
Rough diamond with gem in hand June 3, 2011 FRED Done has risen from Salford bookie to one of the UK’s biggest business hitters with his steady leadership of Betfred – and with the Tote win he has staked his claim on the UK’s racing establishment. Done’s personal determination to win the Tote auction has been apparent throughout the race and his joy at [...]
Cadbury apologises to Campbell after chocolate comparison slur June 3, 2011 CADBURY apologised to supermodel Naomi Campbell yesterday after she complained that an advert likening its chocolate bars to her contained racist slurs. The advert for Cadbury’s Bliss range of Dairy Milk bars used the strapline: “Move over Naomi, there’s a new diva in town”, with an image of the chocolate bar sat on a pile [...]
City of London blasts English Heritage over Broadgate move June 3, 2011 THE City of London yesterday hit out at English Heritage’s decision to recommend listing the Broadgate estate, saying that such a listing would “damage the City’s reputation as a global financial centre.” The comments, made by the City of London’s policy chairman Stuart Fraser, follow a long-awaited announcement by English Heritage yesterday. The City of [...]
Groupon float to make three billionaires June 3, 2011 GROUPON’S three founders are set to become dollar billionaires when the online coupon phenomenon lists on the New York Stock Exchange. In the latest blockbuster dotcom listing, Groupon’s planned sale of $750m (£459m) to $1bn of its stock assumes an overall company value of about $20bn – only slightly smaller than Google when it listed [...]
THE DOT COM WORLD June 3, 2011 ● LINKEDIN The most recent of the blockbuster dotcom IPOs, professional-networking site LinkedIn saw its share price more than double in value on its listing date of May 19. Shares rose as much as 171 per cent in the first day’s trading on the New York Stock Exchange and closed at $94.25, 109 per cent [...]
Weak US jobs data sparks talk of easing June 3, 2011 UK STOCKS crashed within minutes of receiving shock US employment figures showing a bigger-than-expected slowdown in job creation yesterday. The FTSE 100 fell more than 50 points to 5,820 shortly after 13:30 yesterday before recovering later as the government’s non-farm payroll data showed private sector payrolls grew just a quarter as much as anticipated in [...]
Halfords hit by Focus collapse June 3, 2011 BICYCLE and car parts retailer Halfords is facing a £7.5m charge following the collapse of the Focus DIY group, it admitted yesterday. The charge stems from lease guarantee made by Halfords when it and Payless DIY – now part of Focus – were part of the same group. Halfords said the non-recurring expense would be [...]
Four killed in blast at Chevron’s Welsh refinery June 3, 2011 FOUR people were killed and one was seriously injured in an explosion at an oil refinery in southwest Wales, the plant’s owner Chevron said yesterday. The blast occurred at the 220,000 barrel per day Pembroke refinery on Thursday. A Chevron spokeswoman said the refinery remained fully operational. Police said a fire had broken out after [...]
High Street retailers see falling sales June 3, 2011 MAJOR high street retailers Laura Ashley and John Lewis both yesterday reported falls in sales over the past four months. Home and womenswear retailer Laura Ashley said total sales fell 4.5 per cent and like-for-like sales fell 1.3 per cent in the four months to the end of May as falling real incomes and price [...]
