Inside Track: Don’t fret: there’s no doubt the deals are on their way January 23, 2014 ONE banker told me the pipeline for new issue deals is as big as he has seen it over the past decade. While another deal-maker says he’s been getting up at 4.30am every morning. And that’s not to watch re-runs of The Wire or Mad Men. It’s the only way to get his work done. [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 23 January 2014 January 22, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Microsoft to shield users’ data Microsoft will allow foreign customers to have their personal data stored on servers outside the US, breaking ranks with other big technology groups that until now have shown a united front in response to the American surveillance scandal. Just Eat gears up for £900m IPO London’s start-up cluster [...]
Bottom Line: Spread this: I can’t believe it’s not better January 21, 2014 IT DOESN’T look bullish for UK waistlines that Unilever, the world’s biggest ice cream maker, just recorded its twenty-fifth successive quarter of UK growth. Americans have more willpower. Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Monkey wasn’t enough to keep the US market from slowing consumption of the firm’s frozen treats, helping to send its refreshment division down [...]
40pc of rail passengers are upset by this commuter nightmare January 21, 2014 The state of the toilets on Britain’s railways is the biggest bugbear for passengers, according to the latest national rail passenger survey. The biannual poll, which quizzes thousands of passengers, found that four in ten are dissatisfied with the toilet facilities and just 36 per cent were happy with the loos, down three percentage points [...]
Saga tests water with customers for market float January 20, 2014 SAGA, the over-50s insurer, has appointed Bank of America Merrill Lynch to help plot a share offering for its 2.7m customers as part of a mooted £3bn stock market float. The cruise ship specialist, which is led by boss Andrew Goodsell, will test the water with customers this week to gauge interest in the plan [...]
Bottom Line: Just-Eat.com whets the LSE’s appetite January 20, 2014 THE HIRING of advisers by Just-Eat sounds like good news for Joanna Shields. In a surprise announcement at the end of last week, the former Facebook exec said she is becoming a non-executive director at London Stock Exchange Group, which is hungry for tech listings. She is stepping down as the chief executive of Tech [...]
Springbok spicing up the wine market January 19, 2014 Annabel Palmer talks to Rowan Gormley, the South African taking on wine’s giants with venture Naked Wines THE DAYS of the wine snob – so brilliantly caricatured by Richard E Grant’s the Hon Simon Marchmont in the BBC’s Posh Nosh – could be coming to an end. It’s an industry long characterised by an assumption [...]
Golf Comment: Super Swede the man to beat as Euro stars begin Gulf Swing January 13, 2014 ALL eyes will be on 2013’s indisputable star Henrik Stenson this weekend as the European Tour begins its Gulf Swing with the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. The golf world will be fascinated to see whether the Swede can maintain the form that saw him win both the European and US tours last term in his [...]
11 things to know about Val d’Isere January 12, 2014 It’s the ski destination to the great and good. Slopes veteran Cally Squires gives the lowdown on how to get the most out of this stunning downhill paradise 1. Ski with the crème de la crèmeThe resort hosted the Alpine Skiing World Cup last year, which saw golfer Tiger Woods turn out to support girlfriend [...]
Mix it up: The perfect way to break those healthy New Year resolutions January 7, 2014 JUST as November has become Movember – the ritual month in which every male is expected to don a moustache in order to prove they are inferior to Burt Reynolds – January is fast becoming “Dry January” or Dryathlon: 31 days of repenting the sin of having enjoyed ourselves a little too much in December. [...]