O2 tops rivals and grows in third quarter November 12, 2009 Mobile operator O2 said yesterday that it was the only UK network to grow its revenues in the third quarter, as it benefited from its since-expired deal to be the exclusive seller of Apple’s iPhone. The UK arm of Spain’s Telefonica said that it saw demand for its mobile data services – customers accessing the [...]
Tesco looks East for growth and plans new Chinese stores November 12, 2009 TESCO yesterday announced a £100m tie-up with Asian investors to build three shopping centres in China as the first stage of a larger building programme. Britain’s biggest supermarket has signed an agreement for a 50-50 venture with investors including HSBC Nan Fung China Real Estate Fund, Singapore’s Metro Holdings and Hong Kong’s Nan Fung Group. [...]
Japanese whisky, the spirit of Christmas November 11, 2009 IF JAPANESE whisky sounds like a joke – something akin to the Jamaican bobsleigh team, or Indian wine – then you clearly don’t know very much about spirits. At last year’s World Whisky Awards, Yoichi 20-year-old was voted the best whisky in the world, while Suntory’s Hibiki was voted the best blended whisky. If you [...]
Professional services are a bedrock of City success November 11, 2009 AN insurer talking to accountants may not sound like much of a crowd-drawer in the traditional sense. But when Lord Levene, chairman of Lloyd’s of London, addressed a breakfast briefing at Chartered Accountants Hall yesterday, his comments were enough to spark real interest among the audience. Levene’s salient point was that we cannot allow one [...]
ORANGE BREAKS IPHONE RECORD November 10, 2009 ORANGE sold more than 30,000 iPhones yesterday, just hours after it became the first network to break O2’s two year UK monopoly on the phenomenally successful Apple handset. The France Telecom-owned firm said that the level of sales booked by 4pm set a new record for a mobile phone launch in Britain. It is selling [...]
Koffman’s pop-up proves that he’s still the king of London fine dining November 9, 2009 NOSTALGIA is a wonderful thing. When it was announced that Pierre Koffman would come out of retirement to run a restaurant on the roof of Selfridges for one week only, the phones rang off the hook with former customers who remembered his Chelsea restaurant Tante Claire, which closed several years ago. But the crowd wasn’t [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK November 8, 2009 Little Bay played host to a group of 16 colleagues from a well-known accountancy firm, who treated themselves to a long lunch in honour of one of the party’s 30th birthday celebrations. Readers may remember the Farringdon Road venue after owner Peter Ilic ran a “pay what you think” promotion in February. No such frugality [...]
Hard day’s night for Bluebeat as EMI sues over copyright November 4, 2009 MUSIC label EMI, which is owned by Guy Hands’ Terra Firma, said yesterday that it is suing a US-based website that is selling unauthorised downloads of Beatles songs. EMI filed a copyright infringement suit against Bluebeat.com, a small website based in California, which was selling the fab four’s music for download at just 25 cents [...]
WHERE TO GO FOR A TOP SAUSAGE November 4, 2009 HG WALTERPremium butchers supplying Hibiscus, Arbutus and top schools in London. Their sausage maker has been making the same traditional recipe for 30 years using free-range Surrey pigs for juicy, fatty cuts of belly and shoulder, plus rock salt and white pepper. The sausages are 80-85 per cent meat, depending on the presence of leek [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 2, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES VODAFONE’S GHANA DEAL ATTRACTS SFO INTERESTThe UK Serious Fraud Office has contacted Vodafone about its controversial deal to buy a controlling stake in Ghana’s third-largest mobile phone operator. The SFO has not launched an investigation into the deal, but is monitoring allegations of irregularity that have been made in Ghana. INDIAN SURGE BENEFITS [...]