MERCEDES’ NEW COUPE IS A TRUE MILE-MUNCHER October 13, 2009 WITH increasing frequency, I get into a new car and find myself banging my head or elbow on something that’s infringing on the space inside the cabin. Take this latest coupe. As I lean forward to adjust the steering column, my head connects with some protrusion above as soon. Airbags, impact protection bars and no [...]
SPORT IN BRIEF October 7, 2009 Lions reneage Shaw interestRUGBY UNION: South African side Golden Lions have ended their interest in signing England second row Simon Shaw. The franchise stepped up their bid to sign the 36-year-old lock after he impressed on the recent British Lions tour, but the Wasps star has since suffered a metatarsal injury. A Golden Lions statement [...]
The private equity boss who says credit is about to flow once again October 5, 2009 THE economic downturn has meant that private equity business Duke Street, like the rest of the industry, has spent the last 12 months treading water – and its managing partner Peter Taylor is keen the firm gets on with things over the coming year. Cutting deals is meat and drink to London’s private equity industry. [...]
FIRMS HIT BY TAX HIKE ON OFFICE SPACE October 1, 2009 CITY firms are bracing themselves for a crippling increase in business rates after new valuations for their premises were released yesterday. The tax hikes led to fury after it emerged that the majority of businesses will see increases of between 25 and 40 per cent. From April next year, the new business rates will be [...]
Fresh tax hikes on business are senseless October 1, 2009 IF you want a taste of things to come, look no further than the devastating tax hikes that are about to hit London’s struggling private sector firms. Business rates are about to jump, in many cases by 30-40 per cent or more. The reason: the tax, which is set by the Treasury but collected by [...]
Sandler joins Pearl as chair September 24, 2009 PEARL, the insurer founded by pubs-to-pizza entrepreneur Hugh Osmond, has confirmed Northern Rock head Ron Sandler is joining as chairman. The group has taken on Sandler ahead of its planned secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange in the fourth quarter. Sandler was put in charge of failed mortgage lender Northern Rock after it became [...]
A savage satire of corporate crime September 24, 2009 TheatreENRONRoyal Court TheatrePOST credit crunch, the Enron collapse might seem like a disaster from another age. But in Lucy Prebble’s scintillating play the scandal is shown as the blueprint for the meltdowns that came after it. “There’s a strange thing goes on inside a bubble,” says one character. “People inside it can’t see outside, don’t [...]
Dollar’s days as the world’s only reserve currency could be numbered September 23, 2009 OVER the next two days, world leaders gathered at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh will attempt to address the issue of the persistent global imbalances that have been cited as a long-term cause of the recent economic downturn. Integral to this debate has been the long-standing issue of the US dollar’s hegemonic status as the [...]
Bank on Green’s for top-notch nosh September 21, 2009 Green’s Restaurant and Oyster Bar14 Cornhill, London, EC3V 3NDTel: 020 7220 6300FOODSERVICEATMOSPHERECost per person without wine: £35 THERE are precious few dinings rooms in the City with the “cor blimey” factor, so the news that a new restaurant was opening in the old Lloyds Banking Hall set us nodding like the dog on the Churchill [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 20, 2009 Land SecuritiesThe property group has appointed Robert Noel, 45, as managing director of its London portfolio, effective from next January. Noel, who will also join the group’s board, has been property director at rival Great Portland Estates since 2002. He also currently holds positions as chairman of the Westminster Property Association and as a non-executive [...]