BATTERSEA REDEVELOPMENT GETS OKAY December 22, 2010 MAYOR of London Boris Johnson gave the go-ahead yesterday for the redevelopment of Battersea Power Station and its surrounding area. The new scheme is part of a wider £5.5bn development that involves an extension to the Northern Line and the construction of thousands of homes, plus retail and office space. The proposal will now go [...]
What the other papers say this morning December 21, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES EMERGING MARKETS DEALS LEAD 16 PER CENT RISE IN M&A Dealmaking in emerging markets helped power a 16 per cent rise in global mergers and acquisition activity this year as companies moved to spend their cash piles outside of their home markets. Companies in developing countries struck 2,570 deals worth a total $502.6bn [...]
The City is back but under new management December 21, 2010 BRITAIN’S financial landscape has been transformed since we last shone a light on the City’s most powerful figures two years ago. The City A.M./CityJet Power Hundred 2011 list ranks the most influential figures in UK finance as we head into the new year. It should be no surprise that it is very different from 2009. [...]
Retailers feel chill winds of arctic conditions December 20, 2010 FOR retailers, it never rains – it snows and snows and snows. The industry had been hoping that the latest blast of freezing weather would hold off until after Christmas. Instead, the snow that blanketed London in the small hours of Saturday morning thwarted one of the biggest days on the retail calendar. Persistent sub-zero [...]
Tube strike to hit west end sales December 20, 2010 London’s retailers could be severely affected by tube strikes on Boxing Day, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has warned. Almost one fifth of retail spending takes place in the capital, providing 380,000 jobs, they said. And the strike could damage the industry at a crucial moment, as shops try to tempt customers ahead of the [...]
Are Manchester United really about to become Qatar’s latest high-profile buy? December 19, 2010 WHEN Manchester United visited Qatar in January it was touted as a sunshine break, a chance for their title-chasing players to escape from the freezing conditions gripping England at the start of the year. But it also prompted whispers that the country’s most famous club were sounding out appetite to invest in United, or even [...]
Hammerson in exclusive talks to buy British malls worth £400m December 16, 2010 PROPERTY firm Hammerson has entered exclusive talks to buy six shopping centres worth around £400m from Kuwaiti property company St Martins, a source familiar with the deal said yesterday. Retail-focused Hammerson is the preferred bidder for malls including Centrale in Croydon and West 45 in Hammersmith, as well as several retail parks that includes Riverside [...]
London misses rates ballot December 14, 2010 RETAILERS across the UK will be balloted on whether they want to pay extra on their business rates to help bankroll local projects – but London has missed out because a rate has already been imposed. The government – under pressure from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) – has made it a legal requirement for rate-setting local [...]
FTSE 100 nudges higher on oil firms but miners miss out December 14, 2010 BRITAIN’S leading share index pushed higher yesterday, led by energy stocks with BP boosted by Royal Dutch Shell bid interest talk. The FTSE 100 index ended up 30.46 points, or 0.5 per cent at 5,891.21, a closing level not seen since June 2008. “Volumes remain thin, but the FTSE keeps going up, with oils adding [...]
FTSE closes highest since June 2008 December 14, 2010 LONDON’S stock indices advanced again today after UK inflation figures and thin volumes failed to hold back its gains. The FTSE 100 index closed up 30.46 points or 0.5 per cent at 5,891.21, its best performance since June 2008, despite trading which analysts described as “lacklustre”. In contrast, the mid-market FTSE250 hit three year high, [...]