SPORT IN BRIEF October 7, 2009 Lions reneage Shaw interestRUGBY UNION: South African side Golden Lions have ended their interest in signing England second row Simon Shaw. The franchise stepped up their bid to sign the 36-year-old lock after he impressed on the recent British Lions tour, but the Wasps star has since suffered a metatarsal injury. A Golden Lions statement [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK October 4, 2009 IT was off for Britain’s favourite munch – curry – on Wednesday lunchtime for these six American businessmen at Mayfair Indian restaurant Gaylord. At £1,373.25, the banquet probably wasn’t the cheapest of working lunches, but our diners did start off with the fine stuff, knocking back two bottles of Louis Roederer Cristal and one of [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 30, 2009 ERNST & YOUNGThe accountancy firm has hired Luke Reeve as a director and Chris Lowe, pictured, as an associate director to beef up its capital markets advisory group in the face of the ongoing liquidity challenges faced by firms in the downturn. Reeve was previously head of private debt capital markets for the EMEA region [...]
Orange finds juicy deal for Apple iPhone September 28, 2009 ORANGE has landed the rights to carry Apple’s flagship product the iPhone, ending rival O2’s exclusivity deal with the firm. The mobile operator, which is owned by France Telecom, said it would start selling the iPhone later this year, although it has yet to decide on pricing and exact release date. Orange said yesterday that [...]
Sri Lanka’s beauty reborn September 27, 2009 Ask British travellers why they return to Sri Lanka again and again and they will enthuse about the friendliness of the people, the stunning scenery, the incredible variety packed into an island roughly the size of Ireland. Even through long years of civil war, the tourists kept coming, lured by cheap beach holidays and whistlestop [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 23, 2009 HSBC Private BankHSBC has appointed Willem Sels to head up its fixed income strategy for the UK private banking division, focusing on building bond-focused client solutions in sovereign and credit markets. Sels, who in his spare time is an accomplished pianist, holding five Belgian national awards in classical music, joins from Dresdner Kleinwort, where he [...]
SEE YOU IN McCOURT September 8, 2009 MCDONALD’S yesterday lost an eight year legal battle to prevent a Malaysian restaurant calling itself McCurry. The Kuala Lumpur eatery, which sells biryani rice and fish head curry, won the case on the grounds that there was no evidence to show it was trying to pass itself off as part of the McDonald’s empire. McCurry [...]
DSG hires ex-Majestic Wine boss September 8, 2009 DSG International, which owns the Currys and PC World chains, has drafted in former Majestic Wine boss Tim How as a non-executive director to help it get back on track. How previously led a management buyout of the wine warehouse chain in 1989, taking it through an Aim flotation in 1996 until he eventually left [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF DSG’S TRADING UPDATE? September 2, 2009 MATTHEW MCEACHRAN SINGER CAPITALDSG indicates that revenues are slightly ahead of expectations. Overall, and ahead of the all-important winter trading period, and the World Cup next summer, this statement is encouraging. But, within this, like-for-like sales in the UK were down by 14-15 per cent. JOHN STEVENSON KBC?PEEL HUNTUK like-for-like sales remain challenging at both [...]
Sales outlook starts to improve for DSG… September 2, 2009 DSG, the electrical retailer behind Currys, Dixons and PC World, yesterday posted a smaller-than-expected fall in quarterly sales and said that the outlook had improved slightly. The firm also confirmed it had sold its loss-making Polish division for a nominal €1 (60p) to IDMSA Brokerage House, following the shedding of its other loss-making Swedish and [...]