Dating gets personal September 6, 2009 I FEEL like I’ve stepped into a scene from Sex and the City, where Carrie is investigating a new dating technique. Indeed, right now I am the Carrie figure, here to observe how exactly a new matchmaking service does its business. The women I am meeting – all glossy and stylish in sharp designerwear – [...]
BESPOKE SERVICE BEATS NET DATING September 6, 2009 THE online dating experience tends to involve browsing endless pictures of strangers before plumping for someone based on a mutual interest in alcohol. This is not always a successful recipe. I’ve had one date spill an entire pint of beer over me, while another informed me very loudly that she’d slept with her previous date [...]
Swapping blue chips for poker chips September 3, 2009 IN LAS VEGAS the locals have a new term for betting. It’s not gambling, it’s a “contributory anti-recession programme”. Even the bell-boy who attends to your special-price Palazzo suite says not “have a nice day”, but “thank you for contributing to our economy”. They said Vegas would be recession-proof, that even in a downturn people [...]
BORIS ‘CIRCUS’ TAKES A HIT FROM TREASURY RINGMASTER MYNERS September 3, 2009 BORIS Johnson’s visit to Brussels yesterday looks to have ruffled quite a few feathers in the austere halls of the Treasury, which is now claiming it should be hogging the glory for defending the City’s hedge funds against the EU’s evil draft directive on alternative investment fund managers. Lord Myners, the City minister, yesterday got [...]
At last: some competition for the BBC’s iPlayer September 3, 2009 WHEN the BBC released its iPlayer at the tail-end of 2007, few expected it to be such a runaway success. But according to Ofcom, a staggering 15 per cent of consumers with a broadband connection – or some 5.2m people – now regularly use the iPlayer to catch up with BBC shows. To put these [...]
Go-Ahead on track despite profit slump September 3, 2009 TRANSPORT group Go-Ahead said yesterday that it does not expect the economy to recover until 2011, but that its business is healthy enough to keep it on track until then. The firm, which operates bus companies and runs three London rail franchises, saw full year pre-tax profit fall 60 per cent from last year, to [...]
HIGH SPIRITS September 3, 2009 DRINKS maker Pernod Ricard yesterday posted a 12.5 per cent rise in annual profits to €945m (£829m), boosted by its acquisition of Vin & Spirit, the maker of Absolut vodka. Sales increased by nine per cent to €7.2bn. The world’s second biggest drinks maker, known for its anise flavoured liquor, warned of a tough 2009 [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 3, 2009 Pinsent MasonsThe law firm has appointed Raymond Beven as a London-based partner, responsible for leading the transport team within the firm’s projects and international construction group. Beven will be tasked with working across a broad transport portfolio including airports, rail and ports and projects in the Middle East, Caspian region and Europe. He joins from [...]
Eckoh set for board fireworks September 3, 2009 Shareholders in speech recognition technology provider Eckoh are today due to vote at a general meeting on proposals put forward by the firm’s largest shareholder, OCS Management, which is trying to wrest control of the board. OCS has repeatedly criticised the firm’s performance and wishes to elect its own representative, chairman of Tissue Regenix John [...]
Online poker wins for Playtech September 3, 2009 Online casino and poker software firm Playtech yesterday posted a 36.5 per cent rise in first-half pre-tax profit and said its William Hill joint venture was back on track, despite warning in July it was not progressing as well as expected. The group made a pre-tax profit of €32.8m for the six months to end [...]