Selfridges to buck the high street gloom November 6, 2011 SELFRIDGES, the British chain of high-end department stores, will this week report a surge in profits thanks to the resilience of the luxury goods market. The company, which is owned by Canadian billionaire Galen Weston, is expected to report a 19 per cent jump in profits later this week, after sales at is stories in [...]
Crown Estate unveils its £300m redevelopment November 6, 2011 The Crown Estate today unveiled its £300m redevelopment of Regent Palace Hotel, just behind Piccadilly Circus in London’s West End, into luxury offices and shops. The Queen’s property company said it has signed its first office tenant, the fund manager Generation, co-founded by former US Vice President Al Gore, to its 200,000 square feet of [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS November 6, 2011 Segro The European real estate investment trust has promoted Andy Gulliford (pictured) and Phil Redding to the new roles of chief operating officer and chief investment officer respectively, reporting to chief executive David Sleath. Gulliford, who will oversee the group’s operational property teams in the UK and continental Europe, was formerly managing director of Segro’s [...]
FTSE weak as investors eye G20 November 3, 2011 The FTSE 100 tracked falls in Asia as leaders of the world’s biggest economies gathered in France for a G20 summit set to be dominated by the threat of Greece falling out of the Eurozone. The leaders of France and Germany, angered at Greece’s shock move to call a referendum on its latest bail-out plan [...]
Arbuthnot’s £102m Secure Trust Bank starts life on junior market November 2, 2011 SECURE Trust Bank, the retail banking arm of Arbuthnot Banking Group, started life as an independent entity yesterday after floating successfully on the alternative investment market of the London Stock Exchange. The float, which at 720p per share valued Secure Trust at £102m, raised £25m, with Secure Trust gaining £12m to plough into growing the [...]
H&M swoops on Carnaby St November 1, 2011 SWEDISH Fashion retailer H&M yesterday signed for the first UK stand-alone stores for its Monki and Cheap brands on London’s Carnaby Street. West End property company Shaftesbury has let its two newly-built stores for a ten year term, which will produce a total rental income of £965,000 per year. Last month H&M took full control [...]
Weaker mining and energy prices drag the FTSE down October 31, 2011 BRITAIN’S top share index fellback yesterday, led by weaker miners and energy issues, as commodity prices retreated under the influence of a firmer dollar and worries over demand from China, with banks also under pressure after recent gains. Miners and integrated oil stocks took over 30 points off the UK blue chip index, as they [...]
Treasury looking to LSE to boost lending to small firms October 30, 2011 BOOSTING access to debt markets and forcing state-owned banks to lend to smaller firms are among plans being discussed by the Treasury to increase lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). One idea is to use the London Stock Exchange’s (LSE) order book for retail bonds (ORB) market, allowing smaller debt issuances with lower minimum [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS October 30, 2011 Premier Cru Fine Wine Investments Serial entrepreneur Sir Eric Peacock has joined the board of Premier Cru Fine Wine Investments, the fine wine investment adviser, as a non-executive chairman. Sir Eric is a non-executive director of UKTI and the chairman of Baydonhill Fx, Buckley Jewellery, Halo Furniture and Stage Technologies. Earlier in his business career, [...]
Meat and the City: why Barbecoa is thriving October 27, 2011 Q.One year in, can you shed light on the City’s love affair with beef? A.It’s a funny one, beef. It seems to be the most robust thing through these difficult economic times. Certainly there’s something very manly about red meat – in an environment dominated by suits and business, having a big steak on your [...]