Ski Seefeld’s winter wonderland November 13, 2011 TO MY mind, downhill skiing is too much like hard work. Long journeys from the airport to reach the resorts; dawdling in queues to take lifts up to the slopes; expensive ski passes; complicated clothing; the constant risk of a nasty accident. I have always wanted to enjoy everything skiing has to offer without all [...]
Hornby profits up November 11, 2011 Hornby posted an 80 per cent jump in first-half pre-tax profits with a turnover of £28.4m, increasing 11 per cent from the same period last year. The owner of model railway, model car brands, and Airfix models, Hornby said it is expecting positive results from the full year. Christmas traffic and a new line of [...]
Wm Morrison warns Xmas will be tough November 10, 2011 WM MORRISON chief executive Dalton Philips warned of “a very tough Christmas” ahead, with consumer sentiment at its lowest in a generation, as the group posted a rise in its underlying sales. Philips said “people were being very frugal” but he expected this to play to Morrison’s strengths, as it continues to outperform it rivals [...]
COLD COMFORT AS CITY SLEEPS ROUGH FOR CENTREPOINT November 10, 2011 DECEMBER 15, 2009 is a night that Seyi Obakin will always remember – the night he spent sleeping rough with the future King of England near Blackfriars Bridge. “It was not a pleasant experience,” said Obakin on the sub-zero conditions, who said Prince William was particularly struck by how the “sense of drift” could contribute [...]
IMPROVE November 10, 2011 CREATIVE DIRECTOR AT DESIGN CONSULTANCY APD INTERIORS Q.We have just moved from a house with high ceilings to a new home with low ceilings. How can we make the rooms appear taller? A.High ceilings are a feature of many period properties but unfortunately newer properties often lack ceiling height. But fear not, by following a [...]
Sainsbury’s boss defends growth plan as sales rise November 9, 2011 SAINSBURY’S chief executive Justin King said the supermarket chain shouldn’t be “apologising for investing in the UK economy” as he defended the group’s decision to open more than 1.4m square feet of new store space this year. The UK’s third biggest supermarket has been driving an ambitious expansion strategy and spent £682m in the first [...]
Moody’s warns of possible downgrade after chief takes sick leave November 9, 2011 Moody’s said it may cut its ratings for Lloyds, given chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio being on sick leave may hinder the part state-owned British bank’s restructuring plan. Lloyds shocked investors last week when it said 47-year-old Horta-Osorio was taking a break due to stress-related illness, leaving a potential power vacuum at the top of Britain’s [...]
Sainsbury’s in profits boost from new stores November 9, 2011 New stores and demand for online and convenience shopping helped grocer J Sainsbury to meet forecasts with a rise in first-half profit in a tough trading environment that the group said was set to continue. Britain’s third-biggest supermarket group behind Wal-Mart’s Asda and industry leader Tesco said profits before tax and one-off items rose 6.6 [...]
Prices tumble at UK’s stores November 8, 2011 PRICE wars between supermarkets are driving down the cost of food and other items, as stores fight for the attention of increasingly squeezed shoppers. Food was half a per cent cheaper last month than in September, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) revealed this morning. Tesco has been pushing its “Big Price Drop”, while Asda’s “Price [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: HOW DO YOU RATE LLOYDS? November 8, 2011 FRANK BRADEN | S&P EQUITY RESEARCH Non-core assets have been reduced 22 per cent year to date, but further reductions of the £151bn balance will prove challenging in the current environment, in our view… With António Horta-Osório out on medical leave until Christmas and interim Tim Tookey leaving the company in February, management succession remains [...]