WH Smith and Currys Digital hit with label of being worst retailers May 27, 2010 TWO of Britain’s best-known high street chains have been named and shamed as the worst shops in the UK in a new consumer poll. Retailer WH Smith and electronics store Currys Digital (formerly known as Dixons) came bottom in the survey by consumer experts Which? More than 14,000 people scored 100 shops on factors including [...]
Pullman pulls off Jesus triumph May 26, 2010 THE GOOD MAN JESUS AND THE SCOUNDREL CHRIST BY PHILIP PULLMAN Canongate, £16.99 by Joanna Elias A book about Jesus? Risky business. The son of God has inspired libraries of works on the quest for his true historical life. Geza Vermes’ controversial Jesus the Jew, which takes Jesus back to his Jewish roots, proved JC [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 24, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES AIA CHIEF IN THREAT TO QUIT OVER PRU DEAL AIA’s chief executive has told friends and industry executives that he would quit if the UK’s Prudential succeeded in its $35.5bn (£24.6bn) takeover of the Asian businesses of AIG. Mark Wilson has said he would step down once the deal closed because the proposed [...]
A champion of British grub May 20, 2010 FOUNDING a restaurant would test the nerves of even the most hardened entrepreneur. Ensuring the food and décor are both delicious and attractive is one thing, but in London a new restaurant can sink or swim based on a review. Iqbal Wahhab, founder of Borough Market’s Roast, which opened in October 2005, swam, but not [...]
DSG cashes in on World Cup May 13, 2010 Currys and PC World owner DSG yesterday said TV sales ahead of the football World Cup had fuelled a six per cent rise in group sales in the 28 weeks to 1 May. Europe’s second-biggest electricals retailer faces stiff competition from Best Buy which opened its first UK store this month in Thurrock, Essex. DSG [...]
Comet sales fall but retailer keeps grip on market share May 12, 2010 COMET maintained its market share in the first four months of the year despite a fall in sales, its parent company Kesa said yesterday. The electrical goods company, which saw like-for-like sales fall four per cent, is facing increased competition from Currys – owned by DSG International – while American chain BestBuy has launched a new [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 5, 2010 Advent International The private equity firm has hired Kevin Beeston, the outgoing chairman of Serco Group, as an operating partner. Beeston will be tasked with helping Advent identify investment opportunities in the business services sector, and will also continue in his role as chairman of Advent’s portfolio company Domestic & General. He has worked for [...]
BIG CURRY FETCHES A FORTUNE FOR ARMY April 29, 2010 OFF to the Guildhall yesterday for the Lord Mayor’s annual “Big Curry”, a Bacchanalian feast in aid of ABF The Soldiers’ Charity. City types in attendance dug deep into their pockets for Britain’s brave soldiers – the event’s committee featured such business luminaries as Lloyd’s of London chairman Lord Levene, Bernard Cazenove, Sir Trevor Chinn [...]
OUT OF OFFICE April 28, 2010 SAMSONITE POP-UP AT HARRODS Call yourself a travel buff? Like a good suitcase as you swish through the business lounge at Heathrow? Then pop along to Harrods where this massive luggage brand is celebrating its centenary with a showcase of the brand’s evolution, from rare vintage cases, collectors’ items from the 20s and 30s through [...]
Solid first quarter boosts private equity hopes April 28, 2010 IT is not all doom and gloom for private equity. That’s how one senior private equity partner described the current outlook to me over breakfast earlier this week. Yet it is an argument that has seemed without foundation during the early part of 2010, which in terms of both the number and value of deals [...]