L&G secures big retail lettings November 20, 2012 Legal & General Property yesterday revealed it has secured Swedish retail giant H&M and restaurants Wasabi and Kim Chee Korean as tenants at its Covent Garden estate on the Strand. The group said it has also signed New Look, Pandora and Sports Direct to its Jackson Square shopping centre in Bishop’s Stortford, which it bought [...]
Administrator works to save Comet stores November 18, 2012 COMET’s administrators will this week begin pulling down the shutters on some 40 stores as eleventh hour talks to save the stricken electricals giant’s remaining stores and brand continue. Accountancy firm Deloitte, which was called in earlier this month, said it is still in talks with a couple of potential buyers who have expressed an [...]
Qualifying in Formula One? I say draw lots November 4, 2012 A VERY well argued email in response to last week’s column in which I advocated summer rugby union accused me of being “a serial offender in the art of peddling idiotic and preposterous ideas” – a phrase worthy of Danny Baker, and as such I thought it deserved a wider audience. So a decadent Sunday [...]
Scottish rugby chiefs invite bids for Murrayfield naming rights October 30, 2012 MURRAYFIELD could become the latest stadium to be rebranded by a corporate sponsor after Scottish rugby chiefs admitted the naming rights were up for sale. Scottish Rugby Union chief executive Mark Dodson said they would be “crazy” if they did not seek a multi-million pound deal similar to Arsenal’s with airline Emirates. “The single biggest [...]
Work up a sweat and prepare for a challenge in this Egyptian paradise October 28, 2012 REMEMBER that week back in August, the one just after the Olympics when it wasn’t dark by 5pm? The Eurozone crisis had gone on its summer holidays and the whole of London — starry eyed with Team GB’s success — was convinced that being an Olympian was the best job ever. I do. Partly because [...]
Gunners fans rap Kroenke in dividend row October 25, 2012 ARSENAL majority shareholder Stan Kroenke was last night accused of plotting to reward himself with a dividend despite the club’s failure to end their trophy drought following a tempestuous AGM. The American sports mogul, who spoke only three times on a rare visit to north London, refused to rule out issuing a dividend when pressed [...]
Olympic boom fuels sales lift at Sports Direct October 24, 2012 BRITAIN’S biggest sporting goods retailer Sports Direct yesterday reported an 18 per cent rise in recent sales as customers caught London Olympics fever and kitted out children for a return to school. The group, which owns Sports Direct.com and Lillywhites stores as well as brands such as Slazenger, Lonsdale and Dunlop, said yesterday group total [...]
Starbucks suffers more than Nike after reputational hits October 23, 2012 WE have recently seen two of the world’s biggest brands hit by potential PR crises. First up was Nike, which first continued to support and then ended their sponsorship of cyclist Lance Armstrong in the wake of doping revelations, followed shortly afterwards by ubiquitous coffee chain Starbucks, which was hit by allegations of (legally) avoiding [...]
The darling of the high street October 22, 2012 THE rocket that has gone off beneath Debenhams’s share price shows little sign of running out of fuel. Having breezed past a 2009 high around 100p per share, it now sits at levels not seen since late 2007. Overseas expansion and a store revamp have helped drive sales growth, providing a welcome change from the [...]
UK set to celebrate the official end of the recession after Games boost October 21, 2012 THE UK is this week expected to officially exit recession, with news from the Office of National Statistics set to confirm the double dip is over. The ONS will publish its first estimate of third quarter GDP, with analysts predicting impressive growth, due in part to the Olympics. Howard Archer, of IHS Global Insight, said: [...]