Stuart Rose cheers One New Change October 28, 2010 CITY shopping centre One New Change attracted thousands of workers from across the Square Mile when it opened for trading yesterday. Outgoing Marks & Spencer chairman Sir Stuart Rose officially opened the mall, which is home to 60 shops and restaurants on Cheapside opposite St Paul’s Cathedral. Topshop owner Sir Philip Green and representatives of [...]
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 [...]
Uniq’s unique escape trick October 20, 2010 Convenience food maker Uniq has devised a unique way of resolving its crippling pension deficit – by effectively selling itself to its pension trustees. The firm, which supplies sandwiches to Marks & Spencer, is waiting on regulatory clearance to finalise a deficit for equity swap that will sign over 90 per cent of the firm [...]
RBC makes £963m offer for Bluebay October 18, 2010 BLUEBAY Asset Management has accepted a takeover offer from Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), it said yesterday, in a deal which values the fixed income investment firm at £963m ($1.5bn). Bluebay shareholders, if they agree to the deal, will receive 485p per share representing a premium of 29.1 per cent on the fund manager’s closing [...]
M&S profits up but warns over future October 7, 2010 MARKS & SPENCER said yesterday that its sales were rising but that “it is far from clear” what impact forthcoming government cuts would have on its customers. Like-for-like sales in the UK, which strip out the impact of sales from new stores, rose by 5.3 per cent in the three months to the beginning of [...]
M&S sales up – but warns over tough times ahead October 7, 2010 Marks & Spencer has seen total group sales rise in the UK by 6.5 per cent in the second quarter but warned that trading in the coming months will get tougher. Clothing rose by 7.8 per cent while homeware surged by 9.36 per cent in the 13 weeks to 2 October. Marks & Spencer food [...]
Christmas will come early to the high street October 6, 2010 HIGH-STREET retailers have every reason to be cautious right now. If it isn’t the government squeezing households’ disposable incomes with one hand and hiking VAT with the other, then surges in the prices of commodities such as cotton, which is at a 15-year high, are threatening margins. Only last month Next chief executive Simon Wolfson [...]
Restructuring cuts Northern Foods’ costs October 5, 2010 food manufacturer Northern Foods saw sales growth accelerate in its second-quarter and said it was changing the structure of its business to save money as it braces for a possible double-dip recession. “We don’t know whether there’s going to be a double-dip or not but we are planning for it and keeping a weather eye [...]
NatGrid hires finance boss from Cadbury October 4, 2010 National Grid said yesterday it had hired Andrew Bonfield, who was Cadbury’s chief financial officer during its takeover by Kraft, as new finance director at its energy transmission business. Bonfield will take over the post from current finance director Steve Lucas at the start of next month as Lucas prepares to retire. Lucas will leave [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 3, 2010 THE SUNDAYS The Sunday Telegraph EURO MAY NOT SURVIVE, CAUTIONS STIGLITZ One of the world’s leading economists has warned that the future of the euro is “looking bleak” and the fragile European economic recovery could be irreparably damaged by a “wave of austerity” sweeping the continent. Joseph Stiglitz, the former chief economist of the World [...]