ELECTION2010 February 7, 2010 Expenses MPs must be tried Home secretary Alan Johnson yesterday said that MPs facing trial over their expenses claims should not use “parliamentary privilege” as a “get out of jail free card”. He said it was vital that Labour MPs Elliot Morley, David Chaytor and Jim Devine were treated in a similar fashion to the [...]
Baugur ends in liquidation February 7, 2010 THE UK arm of Icelandic retail investor Baugur has finally gone into voluntary liquidation, offering a glimmer of hope to its creditors and former employees. PricewaterhouseCoopers, which has looked after the group’s affairs since it collapsed a year ago, said it had recovered funds which would be distributed to unsecured lenders. PwC freed up £1.3m [...]
Hands: New York hearing will mean retention of tax status February 7, 2010 TERRA FIRMA’S legal battle with Citigroup took a fresh twist over the weekend when boss Guy Hands claimed the case would have to be heard in New York as he cannot enter the UK for tax reasons. The colourful entrepreneur is embroiled in a bitter dispute with Citi. He claims the bank misled him in [...]
MEP says hedgie directive will block funding for start-up firms February 7, 2010 EU plans to tighten regulation of hedge funds and private equity firms will starve Google and Amazon-style start-ups of funding, a Conservative MEP has warned. Syed Kamall said proposals to restrict European investors from putting money into Asian or American funds under the Alternative Investment Fund Managers directive could result in retaliatory measures, where overseas [...]
UP, UP AND AWAY February 7, 2010 SIR RICHARD BRANSON’S hopes to launch Virgin Galactic, his venture to send paying passengers into space from Britain, has won the backing of a joint industry and government report. Andy Green, the chief executive of IT firm Logica who led the Innovation and Growth Team report, believes allowing Virgin to launch from Britain would stimulate [...]
Ocado bullish about spring public listing February 7, 2010 ONLINE grocer Ocado will launch an audacious IPO in May which could value the company at £1.2bn. The firm, which delivers Waitrose food to doorsteps, hopes to raise an initial £160m from the flotation. This will wipe out its £55m debts and provide it with £100m to build a new distribution centre. A source close [...]
Rose: We had to pay Bolland his £15m golden handshake February 7, 2010 THE outgoing head of Marks & Spencer has defended the £15m “golden hello” offered to his successor Marc Bolland. Sir Stuart Rose, who will be replaced by Bolland in May, said M&S needed to pay the sum in order to remain competitive. He told a Sunday newspaper: “At the end of the day, if you’re [...]
Future is sweet for Nectar as it ranks top of the loyalty schemes February 7, 2010 NECTAR has become the country’s most popular loyalty scheme, with 16.8m subscribers. A staggering 50 per cent of households now swipe their Nectar card when shopping in stores and online and it has become more popular than both the Tesco Clubcard and the Boots Advantage card. Gwyn Burr, Sainsbury’s customer director, said: “Customers are increasingly [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK February 7, 2010 OFF to the Covent Garden branch of cheery Japanese joint Hi Sushi this week, as our diners celebrated a big deal in understated style. They ordered bottle after bottle of Laurent Perrier champagne to go with a selection of dishes specially prepared to complement the bubbly. Healthy salmon carpaccio, seabass and tuna sashimi, caviar, black [...]
FOOTBALL FUND LAUNCHES OUT TO CHAMPION THE BEAUTIFUL GAME February 7, 2010 GIVEN the City’s penchant for all things football-related, it’s something of a miracle that the new London Nominees Football Fund has managed to keep its launch virtually entirely under wraps – particularly as it’s got some of the beautiful game’s best known names on board. The fund officially launched at the beginning of the month, [...]
