KP tells Aussies: Adelaide show is just the start December 7, 2010 ENGLAND batsman Kevin Pietersen has warned Australia’s attack to get used to seeing him raise his bat in celebration after claiming to have rediscovered his ruthless touch in Adelaide. Pietersen ended a personal drought of 18 Tests without a century by recording his biggest international score of 227, inspiring England to an innings victory and [...]
Retailers look for Christmas sales lift December 6, 2010 CONSUMER spending showed another month of modest growth in November, according to data released today. Yet shop vacancies have risen compared with last year as the high street cuts back on costs. Prospects for Christmas sales remain “delicately poised” following the early winter freeze, said the British Retail Consortium (BRC), which conducted the survey with [...]
CITY VIEWS: WILL YOU BUY NOW TO AVOID THE VAT RISE? December 6, 2010 MARK RODDIS | HISCOX “No, I won’t make any big purchases because I don’t have any big purchases to make before then. I’m not really bothered by the 2.5 per cent increase in costs to my everyday life. The post-Christmas sales might help to counter the effect as well.” ASHLEY STRATTAN | CRS YACHTS “I [...]
SCENTS FOR CHRISTMAS December 6, 2010 Guerlain: Arsene Lupin fragrances Exclusively available at Harrods’ brand new centre of male indulgence, the Gentleman’s Lounge, and inspired by the French gentleman thief. £135 (100ml) www.harrods.com Carthusia: Uomo A subtle, luxurious fragrance with light refreshing top notes of sea air and fresh fruit, with warm, refined tones of leather and musk. £55 (100ml) from Avery [...]
4m to buy tablet this Christmas December 6, 2010 Over 4m Brits plan to buy a tablet computer like Apple’s smash hit iPad over Christmas, spending a total of £1.4bn, according to a survey. The research from price comparison site USwitch found a further 21 per cent of people plan to buy one within the next year – even though 94 per cent already [...]
OUT OF OFFICE December 6, 2010 SAVILE ROW SUIT UP FOR GRABS Fans of fine tailoring can get their hands on an exclusive bespoke suit made by Savile Row legends Norton & Sons in an online auction being held by industry body the Campaign for Wool. The suit will be made from wool woven by cloth merchants Taylor & Lodge from [...]
Shoppers return to stores after snow December 5, 2010 SNOW may have kept people at home for much of last week, but consumers hit the stores as soon as milder weather returned, according to data released yesterday. John Lewis recorded falls in sales on Wednesday and Thursday, compared to the same days last year. However, a weekend surge saw the department store surpass £100bn [...]
Twin imposters triumph and disaster lurking December 5, 2010 So here we are just a few weeks before Christmas and those twin imposters triumph and disaster lurk behind every corner. England lose a brilliant World Cup bid that they could never win, only for the cricket team to comprehensively outplay Australia and take control in the Ashes. On Coronation Street four actors will lose [...]
It’s snow fun for the shops, but a winter wonderland for gas December 5, 2010 WITH THE great freeze ongoing this morning, a lot of people will not be too happy struggling through the cold to work. 73 per cent of companies had staff off work last week, and many more undoubtedly will have failed to get to work today. The costs of cold weather to the economy are far [...]
Sterling rewards when surfing silver December 5, 2010 SILVER traders might feel like the comic book character the Silver Surfer (pictured above) when they sit down to Christmas dinner this year. Surfing the silver wave has been a very profitable affair. The precious metal hit a 30-year high in August and has even outperformed gold as shown by the gold: silver price ratio. [...]