TRAVEL NOTES September 27, 2009 Marrakesh’s home of luxury reopensOne of Morocco’s most famous hotels, La Mamounia in Marrakech, will be reopening its doors this week after a three year restoration project. The place has hosted all manner of royalty, celebrities and jet setters over the years, having established a reputation for opulent, colonial-style luxury and glamour. As well as [...]
ITV investors oppose Davis September 27, 2009 Embattled broadcaster ITV faces another struggle as shareholders prepare to block the appointment of Sir Crispin Davis as its new chairman. Ex-Reed Elsevier chief executive Davis and former Channel 4 chairman Sir Michael Bishop are said to be ITV’s favourites for the role. However, it is understood that some shareholders are against Davis as a [...]
City airport set to launch first NY flight September 27, 2009 BRITISH AIRWAYS (BA) is launching its business class only London to New York service tomorrow, despite the massive slump in business and first class travel that has resulted from the downturn. The service, which will run from London City airport, will cost those wanting a return trip, in a fully-flat bed, on one of two [...]
Ryanair says rival needs a big shake up September 24, 2009 BUDGET carrier Ryanair is willing to “invest more money” into Aer Lingus, but is unlikely to make a third bid for its rival, chief executive Michael O’Leary said yesterday. The flamboyant boss, whose company is a 29 per cent shareholder in Aer Lingus, said the Irish airline will need major reorganisation. “They will come to [...]
VT Group sells off stake in its BVTFleet to BAE for 346m September 24, 2009 VT GROUP has sold off its 45 per cent share in the shipbuilding unit BVT Fleet to BAE Systems, it said yesterday, for £346m. The figure comes after adjustments for £600,000 of so-called “notional interests”, and deductions of £12.2m for pensions liabilities. Of the £346m, VT Group will put £43m into BVT for costs incurred [...]
PRIVATE EQUITY MOGUL MOULTON CRASHES THE PARTY FOR ALCHEMY September 24, 2009 IT’S always good to spot a familiar face, right? Well, perhaps not for private equity firm Alchemy, which was co-sponsoring the Investor AllStars awards at the Park Lane Hilton on Wednesday evening. Bigwigs arrived at the hotel to the sight of former boss Jon Moulton happily schmoozing the crowd, just weeks after sensationally quitting the [...]
Liberty launches a second fundraising September 23, 2009 SHOPPING centre operator Liberty International yesterday rattled analysts and investors after tapping shareholders for the second time this year in a £280.5m fundraising. The group announced a placing of 56.1m shares, representing 9.9 per cent of Liberty issued share capital, at 500p each. The price is an 11.3 per cent discount to Tuesday’s closing price. [...]
OFT SENDING OUT MESSAGE TO BUSINESS September 22, 2009 MICHAEL GRENFELLCOMPETITION LAW PARTNER AT NORTON ROSE LLP THE huge fines imposed yesterday by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) on UK construction companies for cartel activity send a strong signal to British business generally: the authorities will penalise anti-competitive behaviour, even in a recession. The fines totalling £129.5m on 103 construction firms for bid [...]
Scandals do little damage to Renault and JJB September 22, 2009 BRAND INDEXSTEPHAN SHAKESPEARE WE’VE discussed before the stability of brands: British Airways is a great example of those that have suffered all sorts of media squalls and yet always return to their same high BrandIndex score. They are in the overwhelming majority: it’s one of the key reasons to invest heavily in brand-building, that it [...]
BA boss pledges emission cuts September 22, 2009 Willie Walsh, the chief executive of British Airways, yesterday pledged that the entire aviation industry would see its carbon dioxide emissions slashed to half of 2005 levels by 2050. He said the proposals were the “best option for the planet”, although air fares could rise.