Cameron lends hand to England World Cup bid November 18, 2010 PRIME MINISTER David Cameron has embarked on a charm offensive after England’s ailing bid to host the 2018 World Cup suffered further blows yesterday. England is thought to have lost at least one vote, perhaps two, after governing body Fifa banned two top officials, Amos Adamu and Reynald Temarii over corruption allegations. To make matters [...]
Northern and Greencore agree merger November 17, 2010 FOOD retailers Greencore and Northern Foods revealed plans to merge yesterday, in a deal that will produce one of the biggest chilled food players in the UK. The firms, responsible for Goodfella’s pizzas, Fox’s biscuits and the Weight Watchers range, will be rebranded Essenta once the proposed tie-up is complete in March 2011. Management said [...]
FIT IN THE CITY November 1, 2010 FITNESS & DIET EXPERT DIET-to your-door. Even in the current economic climate, demand for diet meal delivery services is on the rise. We’re a time-poor, nutritionally-savvy city of workers who want to maintain our waistline – but not to the detriment of our health (and rightly so). So what’s the very best in meals-on-wheels the [...]
Best Buy bullish over the UK’s consumer climate October 25, 2010 US electricals giant Best Buy has said its UK launch has been a success with new stores trading ahead of expectations. The retailer opens a new store in Croydon on Friday and insisted it was upbeat about the long-term prospects for the consumer sector, despite data showing a bleak picture as the government’s cuts hit [...]
RBC makes £963m offer for Bluebay October 18, 2010 BLUEBAY Asset Management has accepted a takeover offer from Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), it said yesterday, in a deal which values the fixed income investment firm at £963m ($1.5bn). Bluebay shareholders, if they agree to the deal, will receive 485p per share representing a premium of 29.1 per cent on the fund manager’s closing [...]
Premier Foods confirms suitors are circling October 4, 2010 Premier Foods has confirmed that it has received takeover approaches for its meat-free business, which includes its Quorn brand of products. The company did not name the parties that had approached it over a possible sale and said that no deal was guaranteed. Premier Foods added that “there can be no guarantee that such a [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK September 26, 2010 TO THE Nipa Thai restaurant at the Royal Lancaster Hotel last week for a spicy mid-week lunch feast, where our diners whetted their appetites with two bottles of Louis Roederer Cristal Brut before gorging themselves on traditional Thai delicacies. They started with soups, soft shell crab and fishcakes, moving on to sample sweet and sour seabass, [...]
HOLLYWOOD DIRECTOR HAS POP AT GOLDMAN September 22, 2010 HOLLYWOOD director Oliver Stone is clearly a very brave man, having taken a figurative pop at not one, but two of the world’s most successful businessmen in the past week. Just a few days ago, it emerged that Stone – currently on a publicity flash tour to coincide with the opening of his new film, [...]
Standard Life closes fund September 21, 2010 STANDARD Life’s private equity arm has closed its latest fund of funds on €700m (£594m), around €200m below its previous investment vehicle. SL Capital Partners’ European Strategic Partners 2008 fund, which will invest in western European buy-outs, received €200m more than its original target. SL Capital chief executive David Currie said: “That we have successfully [...]
Games crisis after British stars pull out September 21, 2010 BRITISH track stars Phillips Idowu and Christine Ohuruogu pulled out of the Commonwealth Games last night amid growing fears the event in Delhi will have to be cancelled. In a disastrous 24 hours for organisers, already fraught preparations were plunged into crisis when a bridge outside the stadium collapsed, injuring 23, and a row erupted [...]