DFS Furniture targets £585m market debut February 23, 2015 DFS FURNITURE has set a price range of 245p to 310p per share as the sofa retailer pushes ahead with plans for a float on the London Stock Exchange next month. The price range would mean that, at its mid-point, DFS would be valued at £585m although it is understood that its enterprise value including [...]
Charterhouse executives pocket £32m despite investment flops February 22, 2015 Top dealmakers at City private equity firm Charterhouse Capital Partners took home £32.3m last year, it emerged yesterday, despite some of the buyout specialist’s key investments falling into lenders’ hands over the period. Top executives at the firm pocketed an average of £1.24m last year, according to accounts filed on Companies House. Charterhouse – one [...]
City Moves for 23 February 2015 | Who’s switching jobs February 22, 2015 JLL The real estate-focused professional services firm has announced the appointment of two investment agents from Colliers International. Richard Servidei (pictured) joins its alternatives team. Oliver Jordan joins its retail investment team. PineBridge Investments The investment management firm has announced the appointment of Anik Sen as global head of equities. He joined PineBridge’s London office [...]
Why competence will always beat charisma at work February 19, 2015 In an age when soft skills are all that matter, Elena Shalneva still prefers ability and rigour. A headhunter calls about a job. It’s in Amsterdam, starts next month, requires fluent Dutch and pays about half of what I used to earn when I last worked in an office. The job is fairly basic, but [...]
God save McQueen: Savage Beauty exhibition celebrating Alexander McQueen comes home February 19, 2015 Duck feather dress from McQueen’s 2009 Horn of Plenty show A world beholden to mercantile concerns, where in follows out with bewildering arbitrariness and where genius gets distorted, compressed and subsumed into the commercial vortex that is the retail industry – fashion is no place for an artist. But an artist is what Alexander McQueen [...]
Asda sales drop as boss Andy Clarke admits “pace and scale of change exceeded expectations” February 19, 2015 The boss of Asda has warned that the retail sector is in “one of its most challenging and changeable periods in history” as the supermarket today posted a drop in sales in 2014. The figures Like-for-likes at Wal-mart owned Asda dropped one per cent in the 12 months to December 31, while fourth quarter figures [...]
FTSE stalls on route to record high after Greek talks falter – London Report February 18, 2015 After touching a 15-year peak yesterday morning, the FTSE 100 ended the trading day unchanged. London’s blue-chip index hit 6,921.3 at one point, but then fell back to close at 6,898.08 – just 0.05 points down on the previous day. The index’s record closing high of 6,930.2 was reached in December 1999, while the record [...]
Counterfeit Glen’s Vodka being sold in London, Midlands and Scotland: Here are two ways to spot the fakes February 18, 2015 The Food Standards Agency is warning about counterfeit Glen's Vodka on sale “in several locations around the UK” – but it has highlighted a few tell-tale mistakes that should alert customers. The fake drink is being sold in “a number of small independent retailers, corner shops and petrol stations” in London, the Midlands and North [...]
Tycoon Desmond Bloom makes property market return with £12.5m haul February 17, 2015 A listed cash shell set up four years ago to make acquisitions in the music and media industry has been resurrected, this time with the aim of spending £100m on UK property. Imperial Music and Media, which is run by property tycoon and one-time boxer Desmond Bloom, said yesterday it had bought a portfolio of [...]
Sports Direct shares drop with M&A chief’s sudden exit February 17, 2015 SPORTS Direct’s share price fell more than four per cent in morning trading yesterday after it emerged that its mergers and acquisitions boss Jeff Blue was leaving the retailer. Blue, a former Merril Lynch banker, was hired two years ago to spearhead takeover deals for Mike Ashley’s high street giant. He was also standing in [...]