Banks in retreat after Portugal downgrade July 6, 2011 The FTSE 100 lost ground on opening today after Moody’s cut Portugal’s credit rating to “junk” sending banking shares down. As the Eurozone crisis deepened investors abandoned risky equities as banks’ exposure to the crisis in the eurozone came under the spotlight. The euro fell sharply after the Moody’s four-notch downgrade to Ba2, with the [...]
Sports Direct in £7m move into premium market July 6, 2011 Sports Direct said it has purchased majority stakes in two companies controlled by Tom Hunter, dipping its toe in the premium and luxury sector of the market. The firm, controlled by Newcastle United soccer club owner Mike Ashley, said Wednesday it has acquired 80 per cent shareholdings in Hunter’s West Coast Capital, a branded fashion [...]
Ashley in upmarket bid July 5, 2011 MIKE Ashley’s Sports Direct is close to buying an 80 per cent stake in two of Scottish billionaire Sir Tom Hunter’s fashion retail chains, in a deal valued at about £7m. Sports Direct is looking to buy the holdings in USC and Cruise, chains that specialise in higher-end consumer fashion, from Sir Tom’s private equity [...]
FIT IN THE CITY July 4, 2011 FITNESS & DIET EXPERT NO need to quiver in fear at the prospect of sporting a pair of Speedos/a bikini (delete as appropriate) this summer – we’ve sourced the very best ways to whittle that tum into shape in double time for your summer hols. GO TECHNO If state-of-the-art equipment in heavenly surroundings is your [...]
Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Coupé June 14, 2011 IT’S fitting that the driver leading us around the racetrack Circuito Monteblanco in Spain, is Susie Stoddart, a Scottish racing driver competing in the German DTM touring car championship. This is because driving the new Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Coupé on track is as close as I’ll ever get to driving a touring car. Not than [...]
The stress test: why great leaders find opportunities even in a crisis June 12, 2011 TO LEAD in today’s environment, you must go beyond tolerating stress and fear to actually using them as a motivator and tool to enhance your focus and your people’s focus. Even though it can render intelligent people incapable of complex thought, adrenaline is one of the most useful tools in the human arsenal, and in [...]
Serenity and decadence at Dubai’s hottest new hotel June 12, 2011 DUBAI seems an unlikely place for a relaxing holiday at first. Even 2,700 feet up, at the top of the Burj Khalifa tower, the whirr of cranes and speeding Jeeps in every direction makes the sea view throb with activity. My guide points past the hollow half-built skyscrapers jutting across the city skyline to the [...]
Cars, horses, glamour: a glorious summer awaits at Goodwood June 12, 2011 IN his famous song the Stately Homes of England, Noel Coward noted of the nation’s country piles that “the fact that they have to be rebuilt / And frequently mortgaged to the hilt… certainly damps the fun / Of the eldest son…” Try telling that to Charles Gordon-Lennox, eldest son of the 10th Duke of [...]
Betfred sets out Tote’s future June 5, 2011 SENIOR executives from Betfred will meet with management from the Tote this week to set out the future direction of the company. The bookmaker has assured Tote staff that no more than 150 redundancies will be made when the two firms merge, with jobs instead being cut from head office over the next 12 months. [...]
On the road: It-buggies put through paces June 5, 2011 Forget the gleaming red sports cars – the four-wheeled mean machines creating the most envy on the high street right now are… prams. These aren’t just any prams though: they’re double prams – de rigeur for London parents forced to nanny share to reduce extortionate childcare costs; or, having left it later to start a [...]