Sunny skies help retail sales in May June 7, 2010 SUNNY weather and preparations for the World Cup helped retail sales rise on a like-for-like basis in May, but nervous consumers are still holding off on purchases of big-ticket items, the latest survey from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) reveals today. On a like-for-like basis, retail sales values rose 0.8 per cent in May on [...]
BSkyB in £160m deal for Virgin Media channels June 4, 2010 BSkyB has agreed to buy Virgin Media’s basic channels as the two former fierce rivals develop strategies to compete with the soon-to-arrive free Internet-connected TV services. The satellite group BSkyB will pay up to £160m cash to expand its portfolio of basic pay TV channels, which will include Living, Bravo and Virgin1. It will also [...]
CITY BOSS DRUMMING UP SUPPORT FOR TALENTED POLE-DANCING WIFE June 3, 2010 FANS of ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent, which has whipped up millions of Britons into a frenzy yet again ahead of this weekend’s final, will be surprised to know that one of the City’s own has a claim to fame via the show. Those who’ve been following the series may remember Alesia Vasmitzel, the scantily-clad blonde [...]
Dalglish ideal man to rebuild troubled Reds June 3, 2010 LIVERPOOL legend Phil Thompson believes Kenny Dalglish is the ideal man to take them forward in the wake of Rafael Benitez’s exit. Dalglish, 59, has not managed a side since leaving Celtic 10 years ago, but ex-assistant boss Thompson insists his former Anfield team-mate is the perfect candidate to lead the club through uncertain times [...]
ISPs slam Ofcom’s piracy rules June 1, 2010 OFCOM yesterday confirmed it will apply tough new anti-piracy laws only to internet service providers (ISP) with over 400,000 subscribers. The controversial Digital Economy Bill (DEB), passed after Gordon Brown had dissolved his government, will force ISPs to write to users suspected of piracy and could eventually force them to cut the users off. The [...]
Lions can slay Robins to win vital promotion May 27, 2010 MILLWALL vs SWINDON TOMORROW – 3.00PM SKY SPORTS 2 HAVING seen Norwich and Leeds go up, Millwall and Swindon lock horns tomorrow in the quest to join them in the Championship. The Lions are 4/7 favourites to clinch promotion with Swindon 5/4 to inflict more Wembley misery on the Londoners who lost 3-2 to Scunthorpe [...]
It’s party time May 25, 2010 SOUNDWAVE When: 23 to 25 July Where: Petrcane, Croatia What: Soundwave is an idyllic holiday and festival in one. Set in a small fishing village on a Croatian peninsular where the Dalmation Coast meets the Adriatic Sea, the event offers an inland amphitheatre for bands, a beachside terrace that transforms into a nightclub after the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 24, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES AIA CHIEF IN THREAT TO QUIT OVER PRU DEAL AIA’s chief executive has told friends and industry executives that he would quit if the UK’s Prudential succeeded in its $35.5bn (£24.6bn) takeover of the Asian businesses of AIG. Mark Wilson has said he would step down once the deal closed because the proposed [...]
Unleash your inner Borg this summer May 24, 2010 OF ALL sports, tennis is surely the one best enjoyed in summer, or the few weeks of the year when the sun deigns us worthy of a few rays. Who wants to dust off their racket to play indoors or under grey skies on some unforgiving-to-the-knees all-weather court? Very few people, if our dearth of [...]
Room with a brilliant view May 24, 2010 Paramount Centre Point, 101-103 New Oxford Street WC1A 1DD. Tel: 020 7420 2900, www.paramount.uk.net Cost per person without wine: £45 IN the food’n’drinkosphere, the days of exclusivity seem to be numbered – just last week, private casino Les Ambassadeurs opened its restaurant, The Milroy, for the hoi polloi’s lunchtime pleasure. Bureau, another swanky bar/lounge that [...]