Fairfield Energy boss to depart amid field closures in North Sea May 26, 2015 THE BOSS of North Sea-focused oil firm Fairfield Energy is to leave after two years at the top of the company. David Peattie joined the business from BP in 2013, having spent over 30 years at the oil major. News of his impending departure follows the announcement earlier this month that the company is decommissioning [...]
Slug & Lettuce owner Stonegate gearing up for £1bn float May 26, 2015 Stonegate, the pub company that owns Slug & Lettuce and Yates's, is considering floating on the London stock market next year. The business, which owns more than 600 pubs and bars in the UK, has begun speaking to investment bankers about going public at some point in 2016. The group – the UK's [...]
Ryanair share price jumps as profit soars following new customer service programme May 26, 2015 Ryanair's share price soared this morning as it celebrated its 30th birthday with a 66 per cent increase in net profit for the year – beating analysts' expectations. The figures The low-cost carrier reported net profit of €867m (£614m) in the 12 months ended March 31 from €523m at the same period last year. Revenue rose more steadily [...]
Flying off the scale: Fever-Tree’s Tim Warrillow talks malaria, crane strikes and private equity May 25, 2015 We're seeing a renaissance; it’s incredibly exciting. People are better educated and the market is growing and growing – and quite right too, it’s a great English invention.” Tim Warrillow is talking about the gin and tonic – something the co-founder of maverick drinks company Fever-Tree knows a fair bit about. The gin and [...]
Bank holiday weekend weather: London to see mostly sunshine May 23, 2015 London is set to have some of the best weather in the UK this bank holiday weekend, along with other areas in the South East. The Met Office predicts plenty of bright sunshine and above-average temperatures for the capital on Saturday, possibly reaching 20C. There will be decent weather in the rest of the [...]
Royal Institute of British Architects awards the gongs for the year’s best cutting edge building designs May 21, 2015 If you work in London, you’re spoiled for choice when it comes to great architecture. Whether we’re renaming iconic office buildings like The Gherkin, dining in converted churches in the East End or catching a train from an 18th century masterpiece, we take our superb architectural blend of the contemporary and the historic for granted. [...]
Sky loses key anchor for drama fans as Mad Men final show airs May 20, 2015 DON DRAPER will pour his last scotch tonight, as the seventh and final series of Mad Men reaches its moody denouement. The drama, which features the trials and tribulations of a Madison Avenue advertising firm, moved from the BBC to Sky Atlantic in 2012. The sale gave the programme’s producers, AMC, a nice financial boost [...]
Burberry’s Christopher Bailey proves elusive again – Editor’s Letter May 19, 2015 When the fashion retailer Burberry unveils its full-year results today, it will be unsurprising if its chief executive and chief creative officer Chris Bailey keeps a low media profile, leaving the task of answering reporters’ questions to his finance director, Carol Fairweather. Bailey himself rarely makes an appearance in front of the media to [...]
Well, it makes a change from cloudy skies … May 19, 2015 On yet another day across London when the spring sunshine was washed away by a lot of heavy showers, the relatively rare – and brief – appearance of a double rainbow graced the skies above Tower Bridge yesterday. More settled weather is to return today.
Sir Hector Sants to lead new review into competitiveness of British banks May 18, 2015 A former top City regulator has been tapped to lead a new review of the competitiveness of Britain’s banking sector. The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) has asked Sir Hector Sants to look at whether tax and regulatory reforms in the wake of the financial crisis hurt Britain’s international reputation as a banking centre, Sky [...]