BLUE-BLOODED CAZENOVE AND THE MYSTERY OF A TRUE ANCIENT RELIC November 19, 2009 BLUE-blooded City stockbroker Cazenove might have officially agreed to surrender the rest of itself to US investment bank JP Morgan, but something tells The Capitalist the die-hards won’t be ready to forget the firm’s noble heritage in a hurry. Lunch yesterday was with a City chum who remembers Caz’s days at its old headquarters in [...]
Best City spots for a winter warmer November 18, 2009 When there’s a nip in the air, there’s nothing quite like getting your mitts around a nice, hot glass of mulled wine. In these days of online shopping and alternative Queen’s speeches, not a lot remains of the traditional Dickensian Christmas – so when you see a spot of hot wine infused with spices, you [...]
JPMorgan eats up 1bn Caz leftovers November 18, 2009 US INVESTMENT bank JPMorgan Chase & Co is expected to seal its £1bn buyout of the remainder of Cazenove today. JPMorgan will pay around 500p per share for the last 50 per cent of the 190-year-old British brokerage, valuing the total business at £2bn. The deal will land a multi-million pound windfall for many Cazenove [...]
Mothercare to focus on larger stores November 18, 2009 MOTHERCARE, the pregnancy and early childhood retailer, will increase the number of its large-format stores as it prepares to close up to 90 smaller high street locations. Chief executive Ben Gordon said the company’s out-of-town parenting centres, which combine the Mothercare and Early Learning Centre brands under one roof, account for 40 per cent of [...]
House prices set for a rise November 18, 2009 SIGNS of a tentative economic recovery have given a boost to consumers’ confidence in the housing market, a survey from property website Rightmove has shown. Rightmove said yesterday that 56 per cent of consumers now expect average house prices to be higher in 12 months time, marking a sharp upturn in confidence since January, when [...]
OUT OF OFFICE November 17, 2009 FAHRENHEIT TWINS AT THE BARBICANThere’s seasonal fun of a very cold kind at the Barbican, taking you into the world of two siblings who live with their scientist parents on a remote Arctic exploration station. This adaptation of Michel Faber’s novel is devised and performed by two person stage company Told By An Idiot (Hayley [...]
Burberry to target shoes and purses as recovery takes hold November 17, 2009 BURBERRY is targeting growth in non-clothing ranges like shoes and purses in the economic recovery, the luxury goods group said yesterday, as it posted a smaller-than-forecast fall in first-half profit. Profit for the six months to the end of September fell 24 per cent to £56.8m from £74.8m a year ago. The 153-year-old group, sketching [...]
FIGHT FOR CITY OPENS UP WITH A GOOD CUPPA November 17, 2009 IF THERE’S one City high-flier who finds it hard to say no to a new opportunity, it must be Stuart Popham, the jovial senior partner of legal giant Clifford Chance. Popham – in addition to his role at the head of the world’s largest law firm, his chairmanship of the CBI’s London council, and his [...]
BA pension trustees meet to decide the chairman’s future November 17, 2009 BRITISH AIRWAYS’ retirement scheme trustees will meet with chairman Roger Maynard today to discuss his future at the helm of the fund. Maynard has come under fire for combining his role as chairman of both BA’s pension funds with board positions at BA and Spain’s Iberia, suggesting a conflict of interests. A spokesman for the [...]
FOOD & BOOZE NEWS November 16, 2009 SERPENTINE BAR & KITCHEN GOES FESTIVEHyde Park’s Serpentine Bar & Kitchen has opened a Christmas restaurant to coincide with the park’s Winter Wonderland. The restaurant, in its own festive marquee, will offer traditional English food and drink – hog roasts, stuffed guinea fowl and the like, with mulled wine, ciders and cask ales – from [...]