Lending for home loans rises in April June 2, 2009 MORTGAGE approvals for house purchase rose in April for the third consecutive month, according to data released yesterday by the Bank of England, providing further evidence that housing market activity was recovering. But approvals remained at a level that suggests further house price falls are still ahead. The Bank of England said that the number [...]
English wine comes of age June 2, 2009 KETTNER’S in Soho is one of the best-known wine bars in London, with a champagne list of over 100. So it was intriguing to hear that, for one week only, it was having an English Wine Festival. It was a small affair, with four wines on the list, but I was curious. If even Kettner’s [...]
OUT OF OFFICE June 2, 2009 SISTER ACT AT THE PALLADIUMWhoopi Goldberg, star of the 1992 hit comedy Sister Act, has produced the new production of the singing nuns-in-habits taking the West End by storm (just in case it needed another musical). American actress Patina Miller has taken the baton from Ms Goldberg in this production as its star; with Sheila [...]
Sport on TV June 1, 2009 Tennis: French Open, quarter-finals, British Eurosport and BBC Interactive, from 10am. Cricket: ICC World Twenty 20 warm-ups, Bangladesh v Sri Lanka, Sky Sports 1, 1pm; England v Scotland, Sky Sports 1, 5pm. Racing: Ripon, Southwell, At The Races, 1.45pm; Folkestone, Sedgefield, At The Races, 6pm
PINEWOOD TAKES ON HOLLYWOOD June 1, 2009 PINEWOOD Studios, where the Dark Knight and Quantum of Solace films were made, yesterday submitted its final planning application to double in size, in a bid to rival Hollywood and cheaper rivals elsewhere. It plans to invest £200m to develop permanent state of the art film facilities – including a Parisian square and a Venice [...]
Shoppers keep clicking to boost online revenues June 1, 2009 ONLINE spending continues to be a star performer in the recession, despite the downturn battering the high street, according to a report out today by Verdict Research. Online retail purchases are set to rise in 2009 by 13.3 per cent to £20.9bn. In a stark contrast, overall retail growth is expected to contract by 0.6 [...]
GARRETT-COX: DEFENSIVE June 1, 2009 BUSINESS “superwoman” Katherine Garrett-Cox, boss of the giant Alliance Trust, said yesterday she stuck with her focus on defensive stocks in the first quarter. She added a healthy 2.5 per cent to the fund’s assets over the quarter to £2.17bn, aided by a strategy of cutting its cash position from 10.5 per cent to 4.7 [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 1, 2009 HermesThe fund manager has appointed Saker Nusseibeh as head of investments. Nusseibeh, who will also join the Hermes main board, joins from Fortis Investments, where he was global head of equities and chief information officer for global equities. He was previously managing director of international equities and chief information officer for global equities at TCW/ [...]
HOME RETAIL CHIEF MISSES OUT ON BONUS June 1, 2009 TERRY Duddy, the chief executive of Argos-owner Home Retail Group, saw his pay packet fall by over £900,000 last year after he failed to hit performance targets. According to the firm’s annual report, Duddy’s total remuneration in the year to end February was £858,000, down from £1.77m a year earlier. No other executives at the [...]
Iberdrola to sell 352m stake in wind turbine firm June 1, 2009 SPANISH utility Iberdrola said yesterday it was selling 10 per cent of wind turbine maker Gamesa, a stake worth about €408.3m (£352m), based on yesterday’s closing price. Iberdrola said it had hired investment bank Morgan Stanley to find institutions and qualified investors to buy 24.3m shares. It currently owns 23.95 per cent of Gamesa, which [...]
