Birds Eye boss to step down January 7, 2013 MARTIN Glenn, the boss of Iglo Group, which includes Birds Eye foods, is quitting after six years running the company. The chief executive will leave in the next few months, Sky reported last night, after leading the company through the recession and austerity. Birds Eye products have done well in straitened times, as cash-strapped consumers [...]
Is this the new(er) normal? Government faces higher borrowing costs as bond yields rise September 10, 2013 (Tradeweb) Most economic data has bounced since Mark Carney arrived at Threadneedle Street, but since the Bank of England's adoption of forward guidance, so have government borrowing costs. After hitting July 2011 highs of three per cent last Friday, the yields on gilts have now moved back above three per cent today (pictured). These 10 [...]
Lofty characters fail to lift musical’s acrobatic spectacle October 13, 2013 THEATRE THE LIGHT PRINCESS Xenobe Purvis, The National Theatre Three Stars THE NATIONAL Theatre turns to fairy tale in its latest production, The Light Princess, written by songwriter Tori Amos and playwright Samuel Adamson. The musical elaborates on George MacDonald’s story of the same name; this version finds two kingdoms grieving for lost queens, and [...]
Brand Index: Price-conscious shoppers are feeling festive about Aldi October 1, 2013 ALDI has been on the rise this week. The discount grocer said its pre-tax profits had more than doubled in 2012, and during the year it attracted 1m additional shoppers. The company also revealed that it is launching a new own-brand line of cut-price luxury foods in time for the Christmas season. Aldi has a [...]
Unilever offloads salad dressing August 12, 2013 PINNACLE Foods, the US packaged food business behind brands such as Birds Eye and Hungry Man, said yesterday it has agreed to buy Unilever’s Wish-Bone salad dressings business for $580m (£374.7m). The deal is the latest sale of a well-known food brand by the FTSE 100 consumer group, after it sold its iconic peanut [...]
Markets seeing a Larry rally as Summers announces he won’t contend Fed job September 16, 2013 An announcement by Larry Summers that he won't be contesting the role of Federal Reserve chairman has sent the dollar down and US stock futures up. Markets are now expecting a more dovish chairman (although Summers is by no means a hawk), and the favourite is Janet Yellen. Kit Juckes, Societe Generale: Five (long) years [...]
Persimmon profits up as Help to Buy boosts mortgage market August 20, 2013 Housebuiler Persimmon has seen pre tax profits up from £96.5m to £132.9m in the six months to June from the same period last year (release). The firm said that Help to Buy had boosted mortgage approvals "providing the necessary medium term support to demand in the UK housing market". Our economics reporter Michael Bird: There [...]
Bank of England’s Carney and Dale defend first part of Help to Buy August 7, 2013 Bank of England governor has said he is watching the Help to Buy scheme and the housing market closely. He said it's important to see the recent developments in context – with mortgage applications still below the long term average for example. The MPC’s Spencer Dale, executive director and chief economist at the bank, said [...]
Cook happy Hot Spot will stay for final Ashes Tests August 8, 2013 ENGLAND captain Alastair Cook supports the International Cricket Council’s decision not to scrap the use of Hot Spot technology for the remainder of the Ashes series, despite continuing concerns about its reliability. Ahead of the fourth Test between England and Australia, which begins this morning at Durham, the ICC sent a representative to speak with [...]
Cook calls for England to score historic 4-0 win August 20, 2013 ENGLAND captain Alastair Cook has urged his players to achieve “something special” this week and seal an unprecedented 4-0 series win against Australia at the Kia Oval. With the destination of the Ashes urn long since confirmed, England could be forgiven for ringing the changes and losing motivation. However, with the chance to inflict the [...]