Ofgem finds E.ON guilty of overcharging November 27, 2012 BRITAIN’S energy regulator yesterday ordered supplier E.ON UK to repay customers £1.4m for wrong charges it applied after they switched energy provider in 2008 and 2011. The energy supplier, one of the UK’s so-called big six, also agreed with regulator Ofgem to pay another 300,000 pounds into a consumer fund to help old people in [...]
The early bird catches the right information April 2, 2012 WHEN the social media site Twitter started making headlines, the cynics came out in force to lambaste it. Most jibes were based on the myth that people were only tweeting and following the mundane – they were then ignorant of the fact that some of the world’s great thinkers were using the site. Most of [...]
WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 3, 2012 KPMG David Ellis has been appointed as a partner and head of KPMG’s UK reward practice, which specialises in advising companies on how to most effectively pay their executives. He joins from BDO, where he was head of human capital and a partner since 2004. Ellis has also previously worked for Ernst & Young and [...]
How to eat well and cook little this festive period December 17, 2012 Head chef, Paternoster Chop House ONE OF the things I love about the festive period is the opportunity to do very little cooking at home. Yes, there is the main Christmas Day meal to be prepared and perhaps some party food for evenings with friends. But after all that, I relish being able to graze [...]
Paradise found at Canyon Ranch February 24, 2013 Newsreader Emma Crosby finds Canyon Ranch is the perfect antidote to the punishing daily newsbeat IT’S 7AM and the thermometer is already pushing 80 degrees centigrade. I’m cycling in what must be one of the most stark but beautiful places on Earth, the Sonora desert in the foothills of the Rincon Mountains in Arizona. My [...]
Birds Eye is on block for €3bn March 25, 2012 THE company that owns fish finger maker Birds Eye is being put on the block for a possible €2.9bn (£2.42bn) by Permira, its private equity firm owner. It is understood that Permira has received a number of approaches for Iglo and has appointed Credit Suisse to handle the process. Private equity firms such as Blackstone [...]
Mothercare UK rescue strategy helps cut losses November 22, 2012 MOTHERCARE narrowed its losses in the first half of the year as international sales growth and efforts to turn around its troubled UK division helped boost business. The baby products retailer yesterday reported a pre-tax loss of £27.4m in the six months to 13 October, an improvement on its £81.4m loss in the same period [...]
Ditch the tired old turkey this Christmas December 3, 2012 Head chef, Paternoster Chop House Call me an old Scrooge but the thought of eating turkey at Christmas fills me with dread. I know I’m in the minority here but I find it dry and tasteless, even if turkeys have come on a lot in recent years (more succulent birds include black or bronze turkeys). [...]
Row your boat gently down the Atlantic say three City boys November 25, 2012 THREE City boys and former army officers – Ed Janvrin, consultant at PwC, Alex Mackenzie, consultant at McKinney Rogers and Will Dixon, business manager at Barclays – stripped off their suits to row across the Atlantic in aid of charity Row2Recovery earlier this year. The mission, conceived by Janvrin and Mackenzie, was undertaken by a [...]
Permira set for Iglo finance restructure October 15, 2012 IGLO Group, the maker of Birds Eye frozen foods owned by private equity firm Permira, is set to restructure its finances by extending its loan maturity and issuing more debt to boost the company’s growth potential. Permira is set to get the thumbs up from its lenders to extend the maturity of €1.4bn (£1.12bn) of [...]