The top team must drive a hard bargain with News Corporation June 15, 2010 THE eight independent directors charged with looking after interests of BSkyB shareholders are an experienced stellar bunch. But the group will come under scrutiny because they may be perceived as being too close to News Corporation head Rupert Murdoch who was chairman of Sky until 2007, and was replaced by his son James. The gang [...]
ALSO OUT THIS WEEKEND June 10, 2010 FILM LETTERS TO JULIET Romantic drama set in picturesque Italy, with Amanda Seyfried. BLACK DEATH Medieval twaddle – you know, swords, mud, plague – with Sean Bean. H2OIL Documentary about the oil industry. Did someone say “timely”? DVD A SINGLE MAN Colin Firth is on Oscar-nominated form in Tom Ford’s super-stylish drama. A PROPHET Magnificent, [...]
Don’t let City living dull your good looks June 7, 2010 A FRIEND visited from the country this weekend and claimed to have blown dirty snot into a tissue after spending just two days in London. Like most long-term Londoners, I’m in denial about black phlegm, but she had a point. Living between the office, the Tube, the fumes of the street and the boozy, salt-and-sugar [...]
Shocking but scintillating: a look into the dark heart of Americana June 3, 2010 Film THE KILLER INSIDE ME Cert: 18 WITH this psychological thriller, Michael Winterbottom – the prolific English director whose work includes 24 Hour Party People and Angelina Jolie-starring A Mighty Heart – has made a film even more controversial than his 2004 film 9 Songs, which gained notoriety for featuring real sex. An adaptation of [...]
How to have the perfect World Cup at home June 2, 2010 1 Slingbox Pro With World Cup viewing forecast to cost businesses £11.6m this year as matches collide with the working day, make sure you can skive with the best of them. The Slingbox Pro enables you to channel your TV through the internet to your computer or mobile device, wherever you are. Simply set up [...]
Office affairs are rarely wise June 2, 2010 IN OFFICE HOURS BY LUCY KELLAWAY Fig Tree, £12.99 **** by Zoe Strimpel STELLA, Bella, Rhys and James are four employees at fictional City-based oil giant Atlantic Energy. Stella is an executive in her mid-forties with two kids and a stable – if slightly unexciting – marriage. Bella is a PA, with an alcoholic ex-boyfriend [...]
Shell to buy East Resources for £3.2bn May 28, 2010 ROYAL Dutch Shell has agreed to buy US natural gas explorer East Resources for £3.2bn. The cash offer was made to East Resources and its private equity investor Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR). East Resources holds more than 650,000 acres in the Marcellus shale – a rock formation in the US which is believed to have [...]
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 [...]
Ford expects solid profits May 13, 2010 FORD Motor expects earnings improvement in 2011 after solid profits in 2010 as its turnaround gains traction, executives said at its annual meeting of shareholders yesterday. Ford chief executive Alan Mulally said improvement in the economy globally and a strong new vehicle lineup gave him confidence in expecting a “continuing improvement” in 2011. “It’s a [...]
The return of iconic lips May 10, 2010 WHEN Tom Ford brings out a line of clothes, perfume, makeup – or even a film, as he did earlier this year – we all instantly know it’s going to be the season’s must-have (or must do). So with the launch of his Private Blend range of lipsticks, it has become blazingly obvious that any [...]