Cider proves bad apple of Darling’s eye March 24, 2010 CIDER drinkers will bear the brunt of the chancellor’s latest “sin” tax swoop, after Alistair Darling yesterday said the drink had enjoyed a disproportionately lengthy tax holiday. From midnight on Sunday, cider will face a tax increase of 10 per cent above inflation, a move the chancellor said would address a “long-standing anomaly which has [...]
How an MBA can make you an entrepreneur March 24, 2010 SURVEYS of this newspaper’s readers always show that a large proportion of them hope to start up their own business one day. But if that is your dream, how do you go about it? Can you learn to be an entrepreneur? There is a mystique around entrepreneurialism and those who have succeeded often promote the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 23, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES POKER PROVES TOUGH GAMBLE FOR 888 888 Holdings took a near 30 per cent hit on poker revenues last year, but the online gambling operator said it was confident of tapping into its well of social players and predicted a return to poker growth in the second half of 2010. Poker was the [...]
CITY TAKES AN OUTSIDE PUNT ON THE BUBBLY March 23, 2010 AMUSED ripples radiated from the City yesterday following this column’s speculation as to what tipple George Osborne – likely to be the country’s next chancellor if the Tories win the election – might drink if he ends up presenting the next Budget. It seems most readers agreed with The Capitalist’s prediction that Osborne would stick [...]
Caterpillar leads as US stocks move up March 23, 2010 US stocks rallied yesterday, led by the tech, industrial and materials sectors, driving the Dow and the S&P 500 to 18-month highs. Signs of improved demand in the semiconductor industry and a broker’s positive commentary on Caterpillar lifted blue chips, while tech bellwethers Apple and Cisco hit 52-week highs, indicating increased optimism among investors. Kraft, [...]
City favourite banking on a revamp March 22, 2010 IT’S hardly as if the City’s been short of “sign of the times” changes, but another came late last year when Prism, the Harvey Nichols outpost that was one of the Square Mile’s grandest and most lauded fine-dining restaurants, was reborn as a brasserie and bar. That meant a back-to-basics menu emphasising cosy ingredients including [...]
Palm warns on revenues March 18, 2010 Palm warned yesterday that revenue for the current quarter would be far below Wall Street’s expectations, after tepid demand for its smartphones left wireless carriers with piles of excess inventory. Palm said that fourth-quarter revenue will be less than $150m (£98.3m). Palm has struggled to generate interest in its Pre and Pixi smartphones and is [...]
Ashkazar and Any Given Day can land the spoils March 18, 2010 It’s hard to separate Irish raiders Alaivan and CARLITO BRIGANTE in the opener, but I marginally prefer the latter at around 9/2. The faster the ground the better for this fellow, who just keeps on improving and he has now won his last three. I’ll also be having a small each-way bet on BARWELL BRIDGE [...]
Google prepares to fight on regulatory front March 17, 2010 GOOGLE is a company of contradictions. It claims to be open, but guards its secrets fiercely. It presents itself as a green company, but owns the world’s largest cluster of computers, using huge amounts of power to keep them cool. It is a quintessentially modern company that is run by like a feudal kingdom, with [...]
Currying flavour with fine wines March 17, 2010 FOR a nation that loves its booze as much as its Indian food, we have a strangely limited approach when it comes to alcoholic accompaniments for Asian cuisine. It’s not because we only like cheap wine and pints – new figures show that the UK is the biggest importer of Champagne in the world. But [...]