Regus profits fall but bright outlook ahead March 22, 2010 SERVICED office provider Regus yesterday said full-year pre-tax profits fell 42 per cent as the recession took its toll on small business, and warned its outlook remained unclear. Regus said the UK workspace picture remains hazy as it posted a fall in turnover from £1.077bn to £1.055bn with pre-tax profits of £86.9m compared with £149.2m [...]
Icap to close its full-service cash equities division March 22, 2010 ICAP, the world’s largest inter-dealer broker, yesterday said it would axe 114 jobs and shoulder a £51m accounting charge from the wind-down of a large part of its struggling cash equities business, scuppering hopes of a sale of the division. Icap is to cut the sales and research portion of its full service agency cash [...]
The stunning spectacles of 2010 March 22, 2010 AFTER what seems like the most drawn-out and oppressive winter in living memory, even the briefest chink of Spring sunlight can be enough to have one blinking as though into a bright new dawn. Well, good – all the more excuse to indulge in those most seasonal of fashion accessories, smart sunnies. Whether you’re whisking [...]
Insolvencies dip as firms see out storm March 22, 2010 THE number of companies declared insolvent fell last month, research showed today. A total of 1,834 firms went insolvent during the month – 15 per cent down on February last year, according to business information services group Experian. The group said the fall brought the overall rate of insolvencies down from 0.11 per cent to [...]
OUT OF OFFICE March 22, 2010 THE WHITE GUARD Following the success at the National Theatre of last year’s tales of communist Russia, Burnt by the Sun and Tom Stoppard’s Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, comes Mikhail Bulgakov’s The White Guard. A lesser-known work by the Master and Marguerita author, adapted by Andrew Upton, it’s a story of the madness of [...]
Home prices hit a record high of £2.2m in London property hotspots March 22, 2010 HOME prices in London’s most upmarket districts have hit a record average of £2.2m, a survey showed yesterday. The most desirable areas in central London saw a 2.4 per cent monthly rise as wealthy foreign buyers circled for the properties. Among the biggest climbers this month was the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea which [...]
New venture for ex-Morgan Stanley man March 22, 2010 JONATHAN Chenevix-Trench, once investment bank Morgan Stanley’s most powerful executive in Europe, has stepped back onto the business radar by setting up an investment company focused on sub-Saharan Africa. Chenevix-Trench formerly spent 23 years at the bank, latterly as chairman of Morgan Stanley International. He left after the promotion he had been coveting – to [...]
City favourite banking on a revamp March 22, 2010 IT’S hardly as if the City’s been short of “sign of the times” changes, but another came late last year when Prism, the Harvey Nichols outpost that was one of the Square Mile’s grandest and most lauded fine-dining restaurants, was reborn as a brasserie and bar. That meant a back-to-basics menu emphasising cosy ingredients including [...]
Virgin secures funding for RBS branch offer March 22, 2010 Virgin Money has secured financial backing as it seeks to press ahead with a bid for RBS branches. The consumer credit arm of Richard Branson’s Virgin group has arranged financing from Abu Dhabi-based sovereign wealth funds and private equity firm Blackstone, ahead of a bid for 320 Royal Bank of Scotland branches. The branches have an [...]
THREE OTHER RESTAURANTS IN FORMER BANKS March 22, 2010 1 LOMBARD STREET You could argue that 1 Lombard, with its palladian entrance opposite the Bank of England, has the most desirable restaurant location in the City, and it also has some of the best food. Under a fabulous neoclassical dome you can enjoy some serious haute cuisine from chef patron Herbert Berger. 1 Lombard [...]
