Next defies retail gloom with sales rise August 1, 2012 Next, Britain’s second-biggest clothing retailer, beat its target for first-half sales growth, helped by a particularly robust performance from its Directory home shopping business as the wet summer weather encouraged shoppers to go online. The firm, which trades from over 500 stores in the UK and Ireland, nearly 200 stores in over 30 countries overseas, [...]
London is suffering as Olympic boost outweighed by losses July 31, 2012 SOMETIMES, we don’t need statistics to tell us what is happening to the economy. London during the past few days has been a case in point: the Olympics are a great success, of course, and those retailers and companies positioned to cash in (such as the Westfield Stratford shopping centre) are doing a roaring trade. [...]
REGENT STREET SUFFERS IN STRATFORD BOOM July 31, 2012 Some retailers have been left pondering the whereabouts of the city’s Olympics tourists, as the normally bustling West End fell quiet yesterday. Londoners were told ahead of the Games to avoid the city centre.
PROPERTY GROUP OF THE YEAR July 31, 2012 IT HAS been another testing year for most industries, not least for the property sector. The main theme has been the continued lack of available debt, which has dried up development projects, while ongoing uncertainty in the global economy has shaken confidence and in turn stifled demand for space. But it has not all been [...]
INSURER OF THE YEAR July 31, 2012 OUR INSURER of the year award celebrates firms from across the industry, ranging from small specialists to global giants. Lloyd’s of London firms such as Lancashire qualify for their commitment to innovation and personal service in a global marketplace. Meanwhile the changing face of the British insurance business is recognised with the nomination of firms [...]
Westfield co-chief plans £3bn future investment into Britain July 30, 2012 AUSTRALIAN shopping mall developer Westfield plans to invest some £3bn expanding its presence in Britain, its co-chief executive said yesterday, providing a vote of confidence in the country’s struggling retail sector. The figure include the expansion of £2bn Westfield London in Shepherd’s Bush, proposals to redevelop Croydon’s Whitgift Centre and the development of the Broadway [...]
Few disasters as Hiscox appoints new chairman July 30, 2012 INSURER Hiscox returned to profit in the first half of this year, assisted by the absence of major disasters, the firm announced yesterday. The Bermuda-based firm made a pre-tax profit of £125.8m against a loss of £85.6m for the same period last year. “The lack of catastrophes has helped but but there has been a [...]
FUND MANAGER OF THE YEAR July 30, 2012 Our fund manager of the year award, sponsored by S&P Capital IQ, will go to a company or individual who has demonstrated strong performance or has taken a headline-grabbing stance during a high-profile corporate issue. Well-judged deals against a complex economic backdrop, a commitment to shareholder activism or a canny ability to weather the near-constant [...]
RISING STAR OF THE YEAR July 30, 2012 TODAY’S shorlists for City A.M.’s third annual awards present our pick of the best rising stars and fund managers in the Square Mile. Even in economically straitened times, there are plenty of young men and women in the City on the rise, as shown in the Rising Star category. From entrepreneurs and private equity experts [...]
What Team GB really needs is international investors July 30, 2012 AFTER years of cynicism, Londoners appear to have finally taken the Olympics to their hearts. Yet there is an uncomfortable air of the Roman “panem et circenses” – keeping the common people happy with bread and games – about the spectacle. At a time when GDP figures suggest there’s less bread to go round than [...]