Floor price for alcohol will hit poor hardest November 28, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT yesterday unveiled plans to introduce minimum prices for alcohol, despite concerns that such a move will penalise ordinary drinkers. The home office proposals include a ban on multi-buy promotions and a minimum unit price of 45p in England and Wales. As a result a one litre bottle of Gordon’s gin – currently available from [...]
Gatwick looks to grow through single runway as traffic rises November 28, 2012 GATWICK executives talked up the airport’s chances of competing with London’s biggest hubs yesterday as the firm posted rising revenues and traffic. Britain’s second-biggest airport said passengers rose 1.2 per cent on last year to 19.9m in the half-year to the end of September. Turnover jumped 3.6 per cent to £325.8m, helped in part by [...]
City scheme wins consent November 27, 2012 JAPAN’S second largest property developer has won consent for the redevelopment of an office block at Finsbury Circus in the City. Mitsubishi Estate Company announced yesterday that the City of London Corporation had granted planning consent for the 240,000 square feet scheme at River Plate House. The Wilkinson Eyre designed project will be redeveloped into [...]
Best of the Brokers November 26, 2012 BRITISH LAND UBS has upgraded the property firm from a “neutral” rating to “buy”, citing reduced risk from the company’s “ageing portfolio”. UBS upped British Land’s target price to 580p. COMPASS GROUP Analysts at Nomura have upped their guidance on the caterer, increasing the price target from 800p to 832p on the back of improving [...]
Row your boat gently down the Atlantic say three City boys November 25, 2012 THREE City boys and former army officers – Ed Janvrin, consultant at PwC, Alex Mackenzie, consultant at McKinney Rogers and Will Dixon, business manager at Barclays – stripped off their suits to row across the Atlantic in aid of charity Row2Recovery earlier this year. The mission, conceived by Janvrin and Mackenzie, was undertaken by a [...]
Online shopping for an enterprising capitalist November 25, 2012 NOT many early-stage companies justify an equity research note. And few get described as “one of the most exciting growth stories in the market”. But the recently-listed Blur Group – led by Philip Letts – is deservedly attracting the right kind of attention. Only three technology firms have joined London’s Aim market this year. Blur’s [...]
Hancock twins make sweet deal after selling the family business November 22, 2012 THE TWIN brothers behind the pick ‘n’ mix company Hancocks have sold the family business to a Dutch private equity firm for £50m. Andrew and Adrian Hancock have sold the Leicestershire-based cash and carry business founded by their parents 50 years ago to H2 Equity Partners, the group said yesterday. The sweets and chocolates specialist [...]
Topshop tycoon says retail must raise its game November 21, 2012 ARCADIA yesterday posted a 25 per cent surge in profits as its billionaire owner Sir Philip Green told retailers to stop moaning about the economic downturn and get on with it. “We’ve got to trade. I can’t keep listening to all these people making it up as they go along,” Green said yesterday at his [...]
New image reveals London skyline after Nine Elms makeover November 21, 2012 THE BATTERSEA Power Station and the new US embassy are just two elements in a huge regeneration plan set to transform a vast stretch of the River Thames between Battersea Park and Lambeth Bridge. The Nine Elms Opportunity Area, which straddles the boroughs of Lambeth and Wandsworth has been coined “The New South Bank” and [...]
New chair for British Land as profits increase November 20, 2012 BRITISH Land, the UK’s second-largest property company by market value, said yesterday that its chairman will step down at the end of December, as it reported a solid growth in profits for the first half of the year. Underlying profit before tax at the real estate investment trust rose 3.8 per cent to £137m in [...]