Uniqlo owner in talks to buy out Cath Kidston April 14, 2014 THE OWNER of high street fashion chain Uniqlo is leading a pack of suitors hoping to take control of UK homeware company Cath Kidston. Japanese company Fast Retailing, which is listed in Hong Kong and Tokyo, has approached Cath Kidston’s private equity backers TA Associates about acquiring its 65 per cent controlling stake in the [...]
Private View: On the market in Elephant & Castle this week March 28, 2014 ELEPHANT PARK, SE17 From £380,000 These are the first 360 homes to go on sale in Elephant Park, part of the regeneration scheme in SE17. On sale in early April, the one-to-four-bedroom homes ranging from townhouses to apartments, in a 16-storey tower.It is located near the largest public park to be built in central London [...]
Don’t silence Lord Lawson: We can’t leave climate change policy to the scientists July 14, 2014 The row between former chancellor Lord Lawson and the BBC has escalated over the past week. In a letter to a green activist, the head of the Beeb’s Editorial Complaints Unit Fraser Steel has reportedly apologised for Lawson’s appearance on the BBC Today Programme to discuss climate change and the extensive flooding at the start [...]
Mike Ashley in talks to buy 33 LA Fitness sites May 14, 2014 SPORTS Direct’s billionaire owner Mike Ashley has set his sights on expanding into the health and leisure industry, with plans to buy 33 sites from LA Fitness. The health club chain confirmed yesterday that it was in talks with the Newcastle United football club owner over the 33 sites, which had been put up for [...]
Any Other Business – 14/05 May 14, 2014 SOME of the capital’s tech heavies gathered at the LSE for the opening of the market yesterday to launch Summit: The Future of Growth, an event run by Seven Hills this Friday to talk, well, growth. Angel investor Sherry Coutu was there, along with education minister Elizabeth Truss and Decoded founder Kathryn Parsons – banging [...]
Mitchells & Butlers pulls off £266m Orchid deal June 16, 2014 HARVESTER and All Bar One owner Mitchells & Butlers yesterday announced it has acquired rival pub operator Orchid Group for £266m in cash, in a deal that the firm expects will lead to a double digit boost to earnings. Orchid’s 173 pubs will join Mitchells & Butlers’ existing estate of 1,592 managed pubs and 52 [...]
British retailers lure overseas online browsers April 28, 2014 THE NUMBER of overseas shoppers browsing the web for British clothing and footwear retailers has surged in the past year, with department stores grabbing a greater share of the attention, new figures released today show. Retailers have been pushing ahead with international expansion plans to offset slowing growth and weak consumer spending at home, using [...]
Meet Yuan Yafei: coming to a high street near you March 31, 2014 HOUSE OF Fraser is set to be snapped up by a former Chinese government employee who developed his £5bn conglomerate Sanpower from humble origins selling computers in the eastern city of Nanjing. Yuan Yafei, who Forbes estimates has a personal fortune of $485m (£291m), is currently the chairman of Sanpower, a Nanjing-based company that owns [...]
Joining the dots from east to west May 22, 2014 High speed rail network Crossrail will arrive in 2018. Here are the new homes cropping up along the route ACTON MAIN LINE NAPIER SQUARE from £975,000 A luxury development of 23 new three, four and five-bedroom town houses in a gated community. 020 8811 2336 / napiermews.co.uk FARRINGDON GAZZANO from £920,000 This new development seven [...]
Joining the dots from east to west May 22, 2014 High speed rail network Crossrail will arrive in 2018. Here are the new homes cropping up along the route ACTON MAIN LINE NAPIER SQUARE from £975,000 A luxury development of 23 new three, four and five-bedroom town houses in a gated community. 020 8811 2336 / napiermews.co.uk FARRINGDON GAZZANO from £920,000 This new development seven [...]