Shivers abound in this Gothic page-turner June 3, 2009 THE LITTLE STRANGERBy Sarah WatersVIRAGO, £16.99 THIS venerable, multi-award winning novelist (shortlisted for the Booker Prize twice with Fingersmith and Nightwatch) has returned to historical fiction with a blazing, immaculate Gothic ghost story set in postwar Britain. Welsh-born Waters is known for her Victorian lesbian drama and fans of that style might be sad the [...]
Sigh of relief as long gilts sell like hotcakes June 2, 2009 ULTRA long-term government bonds flew off the government’s shelves yesterday, assuaging fears about its ability to raise money after its last auction failed in March. The Debt Management Office (DMO), which auctions the sovereign bonds known as gilts, received £4.6bn of bids for the £2bn of 40-year debt it was offering, triggering its new post-auction [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 2, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMESCARLSBERG SEEKS TO EXTEND REACH IN ASIACarlsberg, the Danish brewer, is planning further expansion in Asia to help reduce its substantial exposure to the volatile Russian beer market. “We do see Asia as being a place to expand and invest in,” Jørgen Buhl Rasmussen, chief executive, told the Financial Times in an interview. He [...]
Meet the oil man who is toughing out the harsh new era of low prices May 31, 2009 THE CHIEF executive of oil services business Wood Group Allister Langlands is in remarkably relaxed mood for a man who has seen oil plummet from $147 (£91) a barrel last July to around $65 currently, with all the mothballing of lucrative new projects a slump like that brings. The Aberdeen-based firm may have posted an [...]
Q & A : CVC’S ROYAL MAIL BID May 31, 2009 Q.WHAT IS CVC CAPITAL PARTNERS?A.CVC is one of the world’s biggest private equity houses with 19 offices across Europe, Asia and the US. Since its founding in 1981 it has snapped up stakes in department store chain Debenhams and Formula One Group among over 250 others. It is in line to buy Barclays’ iShares asset [...]
Peep toes and sky high heels make the perfect summer shoe May 26, 2009 WHEN the mercury rises you need to keep your feet cool and summery without forfeiting the professional look. This is hardly an onerous task, thanks to the wealth of Spring/Summer shoes that are both stylish and office-appropriate – simply cut, low on straps and made from good quality leather. Our favourite hot-weather shoes for the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 25, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES OPINIONS SHIFT TOWARDS LONGER WORKING LIVESA majority of Britons now favour longer working lives if it means a more generous pension in retirement, a significant shift of opinion in the few years since the subject was raised by the Pensions Commission report in 2005. A Financial Times/Harris survey of 1,126 adults in Britain [...]
MF Global shares fall on bigger quarterly loss May 21, 2009 FUTURES and options broker MF Global posted a wider quarterly loss yesterday, hurt by a 37 per cent drop in revenue, and claimed $30m (£18.9m) as due from its former parent company, sending its shares down 12 per cent. The company’s commodities businesses, including metals, energy, and agriculture, saw lower volumes and tighter spreads, chief [...]
Museum of fun May 21, 2009 NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM 2Cert: PGTHIS Bank Holiday’s slice of family-centric fodder pulls off that rare cinematic trick – it’s a sequel that’s better than the original. However, given that the original Night at the Museum was a dog’s dinner of a film, the bigger surprise is that it was ever a big enough hit [...]
CITY GRANDEES UNITED IN FOOTBALLING LOVE May 19, 2009 SURELY it’s a sign of the times when even the guest speaker at a City awards bash isn’t quite certain why he’s been invited? Last night saw 300 business world luminaries pack the ballroom at the Hilton hotel on Park Lane for the 2009 M&A Awards, where sports television presenter Ray Stubbs, pictured below, had [...]