International end for Boucher July 10, 2012 CRICKET: South Africa’s Mark Boucher has retired from international cricket because of an eye injury suffered on Monday. “Due to the severity of my eye injury, I will not be able to play International cricket again,” Boucher said. “I wish the team well in the UK, as I head onto a road of uncertain recovery.”
Team GB can expect 62 medals July 10, 2012 OLYMPICS: London Business School PhD candidate Emily Williams has used an economic formula to predict that Team GB can expect to win 62 medals at this year’s Olympic Games. The formula is based on population, GDP per capita, medal share from previous Olympics and which country is hosting the games, and predicts Team GB will [...]
Forest takeover completed July 10, 2012 FOOTBALL: The Al-Hasawi family, of Kuwait, have sealed their takeover of Championship club Nottingham Forest. “It is an honour and a privilege to assume control of this great club,” their statement read.
Libor myopia risks missing the big picture of regulatory failure July 10, 2012 PRICES keep markets sane. The information they provide connects the decisions made by traders, investors and managers to reality. Markets become delusional, and can fail spectacularly, when those price signals are interfered with and distorted. What we have sadly learned with the recent scandal at Barclays, and other major banks, is that the distorted price [...]
Fragile networks: Why the RBS computer glitch could happen anywhere July 10, 2012 RECENT events have been catastrophic for Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). A computer glitch caused complete mayhem in its subsidiaries, leading to a collapse in the payments systems. Money was not processed, 17m customers were unable to access their accounts and pay their bills. An incident of this magnitude must surely have been caused by a [...]
M&S sales fall flat as it fails to carve a fashion identity July 10, 2012 THE RETAILER famous for £10 meals and the Per Una brand has stumbled. In this age of austerity, it may come as little surprise that a firm like M&S is falling short. But in reporting its weakest quarterly figures for seven years, its challenges run far deeper. Although M&S’s food sales grew by 2.9 per [...]
Should the government consider removing state benefits from wealthier pensioners? July 10, 2012 YES Alex Burghart The pinch on public spending is, very likely, going to have to get tighter. When it does, the government will need to ask itself some searching questions. Questions like, does Lord Sugar really need £200 for his heating bills this winter? Could Sir Bruce Forsyth afford his own TV licence? Would Lord [...]
RAPID RESPONSES July 10, 2012 Top level failure [Re: Osborne and Tucker have both been damaged by Libor row, yesterday] I’m staggered that both Paul Tucker and Bob Diamond didn’t take notes of their telephone conversations, or indeed have them recorded. Under Financial Services Authority regulations, many of us have to. We’d get fined or disbarred if we didn’t. Quentin [...]
A retailer with a view: Long term partners in London’s 2012 Games July 10, 2012 COUNTDOWN TO THE LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES 16 DAYS TO GO Q What are your reasons for being involved with the Games? A The history of our involvement goes back years. We signed up to opening our new shop in Stratford before we even knew that London was successful. That decision was generated by our [...]
The new A-Class really is all class July 10, 2012 It’s fair to say the A-Class didn’t exactly set the world alight when Mercedes-Benz first launched it back in 1997. It has always seemed like the odd one out in the Mercedes-Benz line up and the poor relation to its larger siblings. Matters weren’t helped by a stuffy image and poor performance compared to its [...]
