Premier to axe 900 jobs across bread division November 20, 2012 PREMIER Foods, the maker of Hovis bread, announced yesterday it is to close two bakeries and axe 900 jobs as part of plans to overhaul its troubled bread division and pay off debt. The company said bakery sites in Birmingham and Greenford will close during the course of next year, on top of the previously [...]
New Look’s earnings rise by 25 per cent as recovery plan pays off November 20, 2012 VALUE fashion retailer New Look posted a 25 per cent rise in underlying first half earnings yesterday, as it removed costs and improved margins as part of a recovery plan following a slump in earnings in 2011-12. The firm, owned by private equity groups Apax, Permira and founder Tom Singh, also said that its current [...]
Profits surge at Big Yellow November 20, 2012 BIG Yellow, the self-storage provider, yesterday posted a 20 per cent jump in half-year profits but warned that the addition of VAT to storage costs will continue to weigh down earnings growth in the short term. Chairman Nicholas Vetch said the group focus on London and the south east, where it operates 58 of its [...]
Telecom Plus in revenue jump November 20, 2012 BRITISH utility Telecom Plus reported an eight per cent rise in first-half profit yesterday as it added more customers and said it expects to post a record profit and turnover for the year. The company, which provides gas, electricity, fixed line telephone and broadband internet services, said customer numbers rose by 22,657 to 438,146 during [...]
Cable and Caan cheer City ladies November 20, 2012 TO the Marriott hotel in Grosvenor Square last night for the seventh annual Women of the Future awards. The City’s fairer sex were celebrated at the black tie drinks and dinner do, and unsurprisingly there was no shortage of both men and women turning out to show their appreciation for Britain’s outstanding ladies aged 35 [...]
Calling all Mo Bros – one week left to send your best specimen November 20, 2012 BARELY more than a week left in The Capitalist’s hunt to source the fairest and furriest moustache in all the City land. As we are now past the halfway point in our hairy little challenge, it is time for an update. The Bank of America Merrill Lynch boys, who have banded together on the fundraiser’s [...]
Property magnate Uri Heller calls for shareholder backing November 20, 2012 URI Heller, the chief executive and founder of real estate developer Ablon Group, yesterday issued an impassioned plea to shareholders urging them to vote against plans to remove him from the firm. One of the company’s major shareholders and lender to the firm, Volksbank Group, has proposed removing Heller as director from the company and [...]
Coulson and Brooks to be charged over illegal payments to the MoD November 20, 2012 DAVID Cameron’s former media chief Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks, the former boss of Rupert Murdoch’s UK newspaper business, will be charged with conspiring to pay officials for private information on the royal family, prosecutors said yesterday. The charges against Coulson relate to his time as editor of the Murdoch-owned News of the World tabloid. [...]
HomeServe up after pivoting away from UK November 20, 2012 HOMESERVE, the home repairs group currently being investigated by UK regulators, yesterday stormed to a £25.6m half year profit after swivelling its focus off the UK market towards selling to people overseas. The group announced in May it was being investigated by the Financial Services Authority over its UK telephone sales and marketing tactics. Yesterday [...]
Paragon profits soar as bigger lenders cut back on buy-to-let November 20, 2012 MORTGAGE firm Paragon increased profits by 22.5 per cent in the last 12 months, according to full-year results published yesterday. The specialist buy-to-let and consumer finance group reported record pre-tax profit of £95.5m, up from £80.8m in the previous year. Paragon benefited from bigger lenders cutting back credit, allowing it to expand. The results allowed [...]
