A hotel that’s fit for a king January 24, 2010 ON walking into the lobby of Paris’ George V you can tell it’s a grande dame, but it has a twist which makes it immediately memorable. There’s the immaculately designed wrought-iron door frame, 17th century tapestries adorning the walls and acres of marble lining the floors, but it is far from stuffy. Smartly-suited staff smile [...]
Sky’s the limit for Brailsford January 24, 2010 CYCLING: Team Sky principal Dave Brailsford insisted his new team had “arrived” on the circuit after celebrating a one-two in the final stage of the Tour Down Under in Adelaide. Australian Chris Sutton held of New Zealand’s Greg Henderson to help the Sky team to a second Tour victory. Germany’s Andre Greipel finished fifth to [...]
Sky was right to buy ITV stake despite losses January 21, 2010 WHEN BSkyB bought a 17.9 per cent stake in ITV for £940m in 2006, Rupert Murdoch was hailed a genius. For it was Rupert – not son James – who masterminded the move, even if the latter took public credit for it. In one foul swoop, the mogul blocked the newly merged NTL / Telewest [...]
Stoke could prove tough nut to crack at Britannia January 21, 2010 STOKE CITY vs ARSENAL SUNDAY – 1.30PM, ITV1 ARSENAL did readers of this column a favour with their 2-0 win against Bolton at the Reebok last Sunday. It was a fairly comfortable victory for the Gunners, but they had to fight to come from two behind against the same opposition at the Emirates on Wednesday [...]
UK banks hit by over-regulation, says HSBC boss January 20, 2010 BRITAIN has penalised its banking sector by attempting to tighten regulations too quickly after the financial crisis, the head of Europe’s biggest bank said yesterday. HSBC chief executive Michael Geoghegan said he accepts that the industry needs new regulation but criticised the world’s failure to coordinate measures to try to prevent a repeat of the [...]
Carphone ups profit target January 19, 2010 CARPHONE Warehouse yesterday upped its full-year forecasts for the second time in a matter of months after strong trading at both its retail and broadband arms during the third quarter. The FTSE 250 group, which is splitting into two businesses in March, says earnings per share to the end of March are likely to be [...]
Japan Airlines to slash 15,700 jobs as part of its bankruptcy protection deal January 19, 2010 JAPAN Airlines Corporation filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday owing more than $25bn (£15.2 bn), and vowed to slash 15,700 jobs in an effort to survive in an industry hit by volatile fuel costs and financially-pressed flyers. JAL, Asia’s largest airline by revenues, will remain in the skies thanks to nearly £6.7bn in support from a [...]
Miners lend muscle to FTSE as banks shake off US blues January 18, 2010 BRITAIN’S leading share index took on 0.7 per cent yesterday, as heavyweight mining issues rallied with firmer metal prices, while banks moved higher awaiting further earnings news from US peers. At the close, the FTSE 100 index was 39.02 points higher at 5,494.39, albeit in subdued trade with US markets closed for Martin Luther King [...]
JAL files for bankruptcy and begins to restructure January 18, 2010 ASIA’S largest airline by revenues, Japan Airlines, is expected to file for bankruptcy this week as part of a restructuring crafted by a state-backed turnaround fund. Some analysts think a bankruptcy filing would make it easy for Japan Airlines to abandon its deal with AMR, the holding company for American Airlines, in favour of membership [...]
Sky vows to fight plans to force it to wholesale premium content to rivals January 17, 2010 SKY yesterday vowed to fight “through every avenue possible” attempts to force it to sell its premium channels to rivals at regulated prices. Media regulator Ofcom is meeting tomorrow to discuss plans to make Sky wholesale its movies and sports channels to competitors like Virgin and BT Vision. It will give a final decision in [...]