Down on the farm for the (lucrative) good life July 21, 2011 MOST of us have days when the fresh air and slower pace of country life appeals. Days when we would rather watch wheat sway in the breeze than its future price move on a Bloomberg terminal. This need not be a pipe dream though. It’s not just the wheat product’s price that is rising at [...]
Harry Potter nets £300m July 17, 2011 THE final Harry Potter film has shattered worldwide box office records with $476m (£295m) in global ticket sales since it opened last week. And the $168.6m US and Canadian takings for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2” is the best three-day opening for a film ever, distributor Warner Bros said yesterday. It [...]
FOCUS ON: EAST GRINSTEAD, SUSSEX July 14, 2011 ACORN HOUSE, MILL FIELD Price: £499,000 This four-bedroomed family home with a garden has a living, dining and utility room downstairs. The upstairs houses the bedrooms and a family bathroom. The master bedroom has its own en-suite facilities. Contact: Hamptons on 020 7236 8398 or go to www.hamptons.co.uk POETS PLACE, HOLTYE ROAD Price: £575,000 This [...]
Where country piles come grand …and affordable July 7, 2011 A 40-bedroom castle, supposedly haunted as well as being a 2005 location for Doctor Who, is on the market for £1.5m. Sure, there may be ghosts roaming its hallowed halls, but by any standard, Craig y Nos Castle, in the Upper Swansea Valley, is going for a song. To anyone used to London prices, the [...]
ALSO OUT THIS WEEK | FILM, MUSIC, GAMES July 7, 2011 FILM TRUST David Schwimmer (yes, Ross himself) directs this nuanced look at a family crisis, with Clive Owen. SUPER Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page and Kevin Bacon star in yet another post-modern, post-Kick Ass superhero romp. LAST YEAR IN MARIENBAD Alain Resnai’s classic of French New Wave cinema from 1961, on re-release. DVD THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU [...]
Independent probe launched into Olympic Stadium controversy July 5, 2011 LEGACY chiefs have responded to fears over the transparency of the decision to award West Ham the Olympic Stadium by commissioning an independent investigation. The Olympic Park Legacy Company, which earlier this year voted unanimously for West Ham’s proposal over a rival bid from Tottenham, has appointed auditors Moore Stephens to carry out the probe [...]
Knight Vinke has plan for Comet July 4, 2011 Kesa Electricals’ largest investor said it has put forward a plan to the retailer’s board for its loss-making Comet business in the UK that it wants considered as an alternative to disposal. Activist shareholder Knight Vinke, which has a 19.3 per cent stake in Kesa, Europe’s third-biggest electrical goods retailer, said yesterday it met with [...]
CBI calls for probe into the cost of ring-fencing proposal July 4, 2011 BRITAIN’S biggest business lobby has demanded an investigation into how much proposals to ring-fence the retail operations of UK-based banks will cost the economy. The CBI called on the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) to carry out a “rigorous cost-benefit analysis” of the plans, adding it remained “unconvinced” the policy will support recovery. John Cridland, [...]
London defies slow UK real estate market July 4, 2011 GROWING demand for office space and a booming London market are offering some hope for the UK’s ailing commercial property market, a new survey revealed today. And while the residential property sector continues to slump across the UK, house prices at the top end of the London market are expected to rise by nine per [...]
Jon Moulton’s Better Capital to inject a further £3m into Reader’s Digest July 3, 2011 JON Moulton will plough a further £3m into Reader’s Digest after his white-knight £13m bid saved the iconic magazine from bankruptcy a year ago. He told City A.M. yesterday the firm is undergoing radical changes and the cash injection will help it realise its ambitions of turning around its fortunes. He said: “The changes to [...]