City hit by chemical leak October 25, 2010 THE City was hit by traffic chaos in the rush hour after a chemical spill at the New Change shopping mall on Cheapside. The London Fire Brigade in an alert said 30 people were evacuated as specialist teams combed the building to assess the cause of the spill. Land Securities, which owns the shopping centre [...]
All change for Square Mile shopaholics October 24, 2010 SHOPPING centre One New Change opens its doors to customers on Thursday, though up to 30 per cent of the shops will not be ready for the launch. Several people close to the development have said between 70 and 90 per cent of retailers will open on Thursday, with the rest aiming to complete their [...]
Burlington Arcade is sold for £104m October 24, 2010 BURLINGTON Arcade, one of the world’s oldest shopping centres, has been sold to European real estate firm Meyer Bergman and US property tycoon Joseph Sitt for £104m, the pair said yesterday. The centre near Bond Street, which opened in 1918, will be Sitt’s first purchase in Europe through his investment vehicle Thor Equities. Thor will [...]
When unusual dinners turn into business ideas October 21, 2010 WHO on earth is born with Mexican restaurant chain abilities in their DNA?” asks Eric Partaker. He and Dan Houghton decided to make it part of theirs when they launched the Mexican restaurant chain Chilango. Neither are Mexican or had run a restaurant before. But they found they made a good team when working at [...]
JP MORGAN BOSS DIMON WARNS ON UK REGIME October 20, 2010 MUCH has been made of rumours that JP Morgan is to abandon plans to build itself an all-singing, all-dancing new HQ in Canary Wharf, with talk rife that the UK’s punishing tax regime and regulatory changes are behind the bank’s reluctance to commit. And in a little-noticed interview aside recently, JP Morgan’s chief executive Jamie [...]
Chile’s business-minded president calls for free trade and innovation October 18, 2010 THE daring rescue of 33 miners against apparently impossible odds under the full glare of global media attention has helped Chile to capture the world’s imagination. The question for Sebastian Pinera yesterday was whether his country’s economic prospects are also bold and bright enough to make Chile attractive to European investors. The Chilean President’s long-planned [...]
FASHIONABLE WEST END October 17, 2010 RETAILERS in London’s West End have reported an 8.5 per cent year-on-year sales surge in September thanks to fashion-conscious shoppers seeking out new clothes for the Winter season. The New West End Company, which represents stores on Bond Street, Oxford Street and Regent Street, said revamped stores and new lines were behind the sales.
John Lewis sales stalled by strike and sunshine October 15, 2010 RETAILER John Lewis said sales growth slowed last week, as a strike on London Underground and a brief Indian summer meant fewer shoppers in its stores. The employee-owned company, traditionally seen as a bellwether of the UK retail sector but which has outperformed competitors for over a year, said on Friday sales at its 28 [...]
City’s small businesses are crying out for help October 14, 2010 IT IS a known fact that when recession strikes there is a lag between companies beginning to feel the pain and actually getting into real difficulties. This time around it is no different and, with just days to go until the Comprehensive Spending Review is unveiled, many UK businesses that are already struggling are hoping [...]
A good quality MBA should be all about broadening horizons October 13, 2010 TRADITIONALLY, an MBA has been a generalist qualification which teaches fresh skills and opens up avenues. But a new breed of focused MBAs has emerged in recent years. These concentrate on a specific area such as the energy industry, defence, financial services, the BRIC countries or even corporate and social responsibility (see box). They are [...]