L’Oreal UK chief executive Michel Brousset says the group’s bad hair days are behind it February 12, 2015 Michel Brousset takes a good look at my hair and sits back in his chair again. L’Oreal’s charismatic UK chief executive, himself perfectly coiffed, seems satisfied with what he sees: “You have fine hair, like 65 per cent of British women,” he declares. Hair is far from a trivial matter for the 41-year-old photography and [...]
Hornby steams ahead as train sets boost sales over Christmas February 10, 2015 Model railways and Scalextric train sets were on people’s wishlists this Christmas, helping toymaker Hornby deliver a five per cent rise in third quarter sales. The Kent-based company said UK sales over the three months from 1 October were seven per cent ahead of the same time last year and that the year ahead looked [...]
Hotel cancels Rangers’ shareholder meeting over Mike Ashley’s involvement following concerns about “significant disruption” February 10, 2015 The hotel that was to host the upcoming general meeting for Rangers shareholders has pulled out over fears it would result in “significant disruption” to other guests and neighbours. The meeting is expected to be something of a showdown between the club's shareholders and Mike Ashley, who recently lent Rangers more than £10m to [...]
Upper Street aiming to fundraise £200,000 on Seedrs for growth February 8, 2015 LUXURY made-to-order shoe firm Upper Street has launched a £200,000 fundraising round using the London-based crowdfunding platform Seedrs as it looks to grow its online platform. The company, which was founded five years ago by Katy Chandler and Julia Elliott Brown, allows customers to design their own shoes online using 3D technology. Shoppers spend an [...]
Spending on contactless cards triples in just one year February 7, 2015 Peoples' penchant for contactless cards pushed total spending on them to a record £2.32bn last year according to data from The UK Cards Association. This was three times more than last year's figure. Shoppers can make contactless payments of up to £20 by touching their cards against a reader. It means small purchases can be made [...]
From Greece to Scotland via BT and EE: What got us talking this week February 6, 2015 It was all Greek to us this week Specifically, Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, who visited London as part of a Europe-wide charm offensive to support his plan for solving the small matter of the country's giant debt. Free market think tank Adam Smith Institute gave its backing to his debt restructuring [...]
Sofa giant DFS confirms £105m IPO on the London Stock Exchange February 6, 2015 DFS Furniture has confirmed plans for an international public offering (IPO) on the London Stock Exchange, through which it hopes to raise £105m to reduce debts and future financing costs. The furniture retailer, which is owned by private equity firm Advent International, says it has a quarter of the share of the UK's £3bn upholstered furniture [...]
Singapore fund boosts stake in TV firm Nielsen February 5, 2015 SINGAPORE’S sovereign wealth fund GIC has increased its stake in data company Nielsen, and now holds five per cent of the firm’s common stock. According to a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing, the stake comprises of 18,788,010 shares, which has a market value of $16.7bn (£10.9bn). The amount paid by GIC to increase its [...]
Fifty Shades of Grey: Surge in adventurous shoppers looking for sex toys, lingerie and bondage gear February 5, 2015 Retailers are preparing for a surge in sales of lingerie, sex toys and bondage gear as the saucy film Fifty Shades of Grey hits cinema screens. The hotly-anticipated film adaptation of the best-selling erotic book by E.L James, timed for release over the Valentine's Day weekend, is spurring retailers to stock up on titillating products [...]
New issues market gets off to a slow start – Editor’s Letter February 4, 2015 After a cracking 2014 in London’s new issues market, this year was always going to be tricky, with expectations higher than usual. At the beginning of the year many bankers envisaged a pretty strong list of companies coming to the market in the early part of the year before petering out around May, because of [...]