City advisers gearing up for a flood of M&A January 20, 2010 ABBEY National, Rover, Corus. Just three Great British companies that have fallen prey to foreign predators in recent years. You can add Cadbury to that list now that the board has recommended the takeover approach from American rival Kraft – an £11.7bn deal which is likely to be waved through by institutional investors. Forget the [...]
Commercial property sector sees growing signs of improvement January 20, 2010 THE hard-hit commercial property sector is finally showing signs of life, according to a new survey from the Royal Institute for Chartered Surveyors (RICS) published today. In London, the amount of office space available to tenants in London declined for the first time in two years and rents are no longer expected to fall in [...]
First fall in jobless total since 2007 January 20, 2010 THE number of people out of work in the UK has fallen for the first time in 18 months, official figures indicated yesterday. There were 2.46m unemployed people in November, down from 2.49m the previous month. This puts the unemployment rate at 7.8 per cent, down from 7.9 per cent, according to the Office of [...]
Bank’s MPC unites on vote to maintain rates at record low January 20, 2010 THE MPC voted unanimously to hold interest rates at 0.5 per cent and to leave its quantitative easing (QE) target at £200bn at its meeting earlier this month. The unity, revealed in the minutes of the January meeting released yesterday, was widely expected. Although consumer prices surged to 2.9 per cent in December, the Bank [...]
Government wasted hundreds of millions on training places, MPs say January 20, 2010 THE government wasted hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayer money to fund training places that employers would have stumped up for, according to an influential group of MPs. In a highly critical report published today, the public accounts committee will say that the government’s Train to Gain programme has been “mismanaged from the outset”. [...]
Wolseley duo to return with a breakfast pad on city doorstep January 20, 2010 RESTAURATEURS Chris Corbin and Jeremy King, owners of the Wolseley, have managed to keep this extraordinarily quiet, but word reaches The Capitalist that they’re in the early stages of launching another power breakfast hotspot right on the City’s doorstep. Rex Restaurants has long been enjoying the spoils of the Wolseley’s popularity with just about everyone [...]
It’s not Burns’ night without the right dram January 20, 2010 MONDAY night will see Scots everywhere donning kilts, eating offal and downing an awful lot of whisky for Burns’ Night Supper, the annual celebration of the Bard of Ayreshire, Robert Burns. Haggis – served with neeps (mashed turnip) and tatties (potatoes) – may be an acquired delicacy for some, but when washed down with liberal [...]
Ten places to toast the Bard on Monday January 20, 2010 GALVIN AT WINDOWS Basking in the glory of its newly-awarded Michelin star, the Galvin brothers’ stunning restaurant at the top of the Park Lane Hilton is offering a special Burns’ Night cocktail, the Smoke on the Water made with Laphroaig 10 years, and served with smoked salmon, brown bread and lemon, at £15 a go. [...]
Kraft goes on a charm offensive January 19, 2010 KRAFT chairman Irene Rosenfeld is planning a charm offensive to persuade doubters that the US takeover of iconic chocolate giant Cadbury will be a good thing for the UK. Her first task will be to woo Legal & General (L&G), Cadbury’s second-largest shareholder, which sent out a combative message yesterday. L&G slammed the £11.7bn offer [...]
Britain faces years of pain, warns Mervyn King January 19, 2010 THERE are bleak years ahead for the British economy, according to the governor of the Bank of England. Interest rates will have to rise to combat the return of inflation and the standard of living will drop, said Mervyn King in an explosive speech at the University of Exeter last night. He believes it will [...]
