IPO to value Conviviality at £66.7m July 23, 2013 The owner of the off-licence chain Bargain Booze is set to become the latest company to join London’s alternative investment market next Wednesday. Conviviality Retail which raised around £64m from the placing, said yesterday it will have a market value of £66.7m with shares set to start trading at 100p a share.
Skanska wins contract for The Scalpel July 22, 2013 CONSTRUCTION firm Skanska has won the contract to build the 190m tall office building known as The Scalpel. The Nordic firm, which has also built the Gherkin and the Heron Tower, is due to start work immediately on the Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) designed high-rise, with completion set for early 2017. The building, at the [...]
Fresh economic hopes fuel the FTSE’s late rally July 18, 2013 UK EQUITIES rallied firmly into the close yesterday as bullish economic data both here and in the US calmed fears that the global economy may not be ready for a wind down in stimulus. The FTSE 100 closed up 62.43 points or one per cent at 6,634.36, its highest close since 30 May, while Wall [...]
FTSE surges upward to join US stock markets July 18, 2013 Following record breaking gains from US stock markets (the S&P also broke new highs shortly after posting), the FTSE is up over one per cent, driven by rallies in the Royal Bank of Scotland, Aberdeen Asset Management, Barclays and the London Stock Exchange. Lloyds Banking Group, Kingfisher and ASOS have also hit new highs. This [...]
Sports Direct’s profits surge 40 per cent July 18, 2013 BRITISH retailer Sports Direct today unveiled a 40 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to £207.2m, in what chief executive Dave Forsey called a "record-breaking year for the group and for British sport". The sporting goods vendor posted a 20.9 per cent increase in revenue to £2.19bn. Online revenue grew by 52.1 per cent, now [...]
Walkie-Talkie awaits more calls July 17, 2013 PROPERTY giant Land Securities said yesterday that it expects the Walkie-Talkie skyscraper to be two thirds let by its completion next year, in a sign of growing confidence in the market. The City office market has seen a pick-up in leasing activity in the past year as companies who had previously shelved plans rushed to [...]
Bargain Booze owner to raise £65m in London Aim listing July 17, 2013 THE COMPANY behind Bargain Booze announced plans yesterday to launch on London’s Alternative Investment Market (Aim) as the north west-based off-licence chain looks to target thirsty shoppers in the south of England. Conviviality Retail, which also trades as Bargain Booze Plus, Select Convenience and Thorougoods, said it hopes to raise £60m to £65m through a [...]
The economics and culture of Murray’s Wimbledon triumph July 12, 2013 HE DID it, he did it – and a euphoric nation roared with delight, celebrating a moment many of us feared would never happen and a new, 26-year old national hero. A Brit is Wimbledon champion, and this is real life, not a Hollywood rom-com. Needless to say, Andy Murray’s triumph is about much more [...]
Coming Soon: The death of paper money June 24, 2013 BRITONS did 10 per cent less of their shopping with cash last year as people turn their backs on coins and notes – leading some analysts to predict a cash-free future. Only eight per cent of consumers believe that traditional coinage will be the payment method of choice by 2020, with contactless cards and new [...]
Simplify planning laws and Garden Cities could solve our housing crisis June 19, 2013 BRITAIN’s planning regulations are a lawyers’ banquet. A tangled web of 118 Acts of Parliament govern them and, while the legal profession and a new breed of lobbyists known as “planning consultants” may prosper from this quagmire, the economy suffers. This is the theme of a new policy report on Britain’s antiquated planning regime I [...]