CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 4, 2010 Coutts & Co The private bank has appointed Maggie Bradley as a client partner for its Oxford office, focusing on the local entrepreneur, professional and executive markets. Bradley joins from Coutts’ head office in London, where she has worked for the past five years, latterly as a business partner for international clients. Prior to that, [...]
Mining and oil stocks drive London to a 16-month high January 4, 2010 Strength in commodity stocks and banks drove Britain’s leading share index to a 16-month closing high yesterday, the first session of 2010, outweighing falls from real estate firms and life insurers. The FTSE 100 closed up 87.46 points, or 1.6 per cent, at 5,500.34, its highest close since Sept. 2, 2008 – the month when [...]
FOOD & BOOZE NEWS January 4, 2010 PARADISE PUB’S BOOT CAMP Every Sunday morning throughout January, devotees of West London’s plushest boho gastropub, Paradise By Way of Kensal Green, can work off their Christmas roasts with a training session organised by the pub. A personal trainer will host workouts in Queen’s Park, and rather than paying to join in, the Paradise will [...]
It’s still possible to build a business in a recession December 21, 2009 THOSE of us who were there in the early part of this century when Alastair Lukies was walking the streets of the City of London with his vision for Mobile Money can remember the days before the banks adopted the Monilink platform. Last Thursday, the Aim-listed firm announced a new joint venture (JV) deal with [...]
Shoppers defy cold to set Christmas record December 21, 2009 SHOPPERS are coming out in force in the run up to Christmas, setting records in the capital and throughout the country. The New West End Company, representing more than 600 traders in central London, declared sales have been even higher than expected. Jace Tyrrell, head of communications, said: “We have had a good weekend. We [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING December 21, 2009 THE SUNDAY The Sunday Telegraph TEST FOR DEFENCE SPENDING PLEDGE The government’s pledge to direct £900m of defence spending into better equipment for Afghanistan will be tested next month when it announces the replacement for the controversial Snatch Land Rover. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is understood to be choosing between four vehicles, and industry experts say the [...]
HSBC Shanghai plan to boost expansion December 20, 2009 HSBC is poised to become one of the first foreign companies to list on the Shanghai stock exchange, returning to its Asian roots. The bank wants to raise its profile in China as it opens more branches and considers taking stakes in Chinese lenders. It first announced in May last year that it wanted to [...]
Recession over but tough 2010 for UK December 16, 2009 THERE will be so many challenges confronting the British economy next year that it is hard to know where to start. The last remaining hard-core bulls, who still believe in a v-shaped recovery, will be bitterly disappointed; to a lesser degree, so will the perma-bears, who are still convinced that the UK banking system is [...]
Laura Ashley price cutting boosts sales December 16, 2009 LAURA ASHLEY, the womenswear and home furnishings retailer famous for its floral prints, continues to defy the hardship on the high street, with sales rising nearly five per cent since August. With the latest UK sales data showing improved retail sales in London in November but sluggishness across the rest of the country, Laura Ashley [...]
Moulton raises £143m for investment vehicle to target distressed companies December 15, 2009 PRIVATE equity industry veteran Jon Moulton has raised £142.4m to invest in struggling businesses through his new investment vehicle. Moulton, perhaps best known for his involvement in an unsuccessful bid to buy collapsed Midlands car maker MG Rover, will advise Better Capital, which will list on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) on tomorrow. The group’s [...]