Thomson Local bought out of administration August 22, 2013 DIRECTORY services brand Thomson Local was bought out of administration by two serial entrepreneurs yesterday. Thomson Local, which sends out 22m copies of its UK business directory and maintains several websites, appointed Grant Thornton as administrator on Wednesday, following several tough years. The Hampshire-based firm posted a net loss of £732,000 for 2011, down from [...]
Strong London rents help boost UK Commercial Property Trust August 21, 2013 UK Commercial Property Trust, the largest UK-focused trust of its kind, said yesterday its net asset value (NAV) per share had dipped 1.2 per cent to 68.9p in the six months to 30 June, as the value of its property portfolio fell. The Guernsey-based trust, which owns retail and office properties across the UK, posted a [...]
City Moves for 22 August 2013 | Who’s switching jobs August 21, 2013 Squire Sanders The law firm has announced the appointment of Mark Thomas as a partner in its financial services practice group. Thomas specialises in structured finance and capital markets. He was most recently at Addleshaw Goddard, where he was head of structured finance. PwC The professional services firm has hired Charlie McMurdie as senior crime [...]
M&S’s new ad campaign will struggle to reverse slumping fashion sales August 21, 2013 YOU CAN visualise the meeting at Marks & Spencer’s headquarters when its new campaign, advertising its make-or-break Autumn collection, was finalised. An ad agency suggests the idea of female empowerment and the boardroom battleground. Any actual brand idea is forgotten, as the rolodex spins and agents are called. Actress Helen Mirren, artist Tracey Emin, author [...]
Weather hits internet retail as high streets boosted by heat August 18, 2013 ONLINE sales fell two per cent in July, in a reversal of fortunes for internet retailers as shoppers returned to high streets during the heatwave. According to the IMRG Capgemini retail index for July, sales were up by nine per cent in the 12 months to July, but dipped in the month itself, making it [...]
Alternative Orlando is blooming August 18, 2013 There is more to the Sunshine State’s theme-park capital than Disney Land I WAS in Orlando for the Florida Film Festival. A film I had produced called The North London Book of the Dead was in the British Shorts Now! programme. Great, right? Except… Orlando? Seriously? It’s hardly renowned for its thriving arts scene. But [...]
Markets in turmoil over taper fears August 15, 2013 ■ Mixed US data leads to new fears over when Fed will start tapering stimulus ■ Dollar dives from one week high as uncertainty stalks trading desks ■ FTSE 100 suffers worst day in almost two months after retail sales rise GLOBAL markets were sent reeling yesterday, as strong US economic data reignited [...]
Retail sales jump to £7bn per week as UK recovers August 15, 2013 BRITISH retail sales grew at the fastest pace since 2011 in the year to July, official figures showed yesterday, giving further hope that consumer confidence is on the mend. Shoppers spent £7bn in an average week in July, pushing up sales volumes by three per cent on the year, driven by food sales and [...]
Thomson Local bought out of administration August 15, 2013 DIRECTORY services brand Thomson Local was bought out of administration by two serial entrepreneurs yesterday. Thomson Local, which sends out 22m copies of its UK business directory and maintains several websites, appointed Grant Thornton as administrator on Wednesday, following several tough years. The Hampshire-based firm posted a net loss of £732,000 for 2011, [...]
UK needs to stop deliberately inflating residential land prices August 14, 2013 MY column yesterday revealing that the French are building three times more homes than the British every year – an astonishing fact which highlights the gravity of our housing supply crisis – elicited a number of typical counter-arguments. The most common was that the French have plenty of land, and we don’t, so it isn’t [...]