Postal strife hurts Barratt October 27, 2009 PROPERTY group Barratt Developments yesterday voiced concerns that national postal strikes might affect the take-up of its £720m rights issue. Barratt Developments issued a notice to shareholders urging them to promptly take up their share entitlement, or use another courier service to return their applications. In a statement to the stock market yesterday, the company [...]
Supermarkets to dominate this week October 4, 2009 It’s off to the supermarket this week, with Tesco and J Sainsbury both due to give investors a taste of how the year is shaping up. Tesco reports its interims tomorrow, which will include Tesco Personal Finance (TPF) as a consolidated entity for the first time. UBS expects the chain to indicate that it is [...]
M&S searches for next Rose September 20, 2009 Marks and Spencer yesterday hit back at claims that shareholders were wary of an internal candidate being appointed to succeed Sir Stuart Rose. Earlier this month Rose’s key ally and food boss of the retail chain, John Dixon, was elevated to the main board – suggesting to observers that he will be in the running [...]
City Moves for 15 September 2009 | Who’s switching jobs September 14, 2009 White & CaseThe law firm has appointed London partner Oliver Brettle to its global executive committee. Brettle will retain his responsibilities as executive partner in the London office, which he has led for the past year. He replaces New York-based partner Dimitrios Drivas on the committee. Drivas is stepping down from the post to devote [...]
Marks & Spencer promotes Dixon to the board fuelling Rose succession talk September 9, 2009 MARKS & Spencer (M&S) has promoted its head of food, John Dixon, to its executive board, strengthening his chance of succeeding Stuart Rose as chief executive next year. M&S has always said it would prefer an internal candidate to succeed Rose, and signs of recovery at the group’s upmarket food business in recent months have [...]
UBC buys Radio Lynx for 2.4m August 20, 2009 UBC Media, the radio-content company, has bought marketing group Radio Lynx for a total of £2.4m, it said yesterday. Radio Lynx provides advertisers with marketing campaigns to put out on radio stations and websites. Clients include P&O Ferries, Coca-Cola, Lloyds Bank and Sainsbury’s. The deal allows UBC to extend its share of the marketing services [...]
COURT O’CLOCK August 16, 2009 DRINKS giant Diageo is taking legal action against supermarket J Sainsbury’s after alleging it broke copyright of its Pimm’s brand. The move follows the supermarket launching it’s “own version” of the summer cocktail named “Pitcher’s”. Sainsbury said yesterday it would “vigorously defend these allegations”.
SHAREHOLDER VIEWS: WHAT SHOULD SAINSBURY’S DO DIFFERENTLY? July 15, 2009 BERNIE FIELDING“I think they could do more to boost the share price. Despite all the updates and improved trading, it still hasn’t lifted the market value by much. Tesco and Morrisons have achieved that. I don’t understand why Sainsbury’s is lagging and I want answers.” DIANA DENNIS“I think under the current conditions Sainsbury’s have done [...]
Supermarkets that reacted to slump are strongest July 21, 2009 THE usual assumption is that the stock market is a “leading indicator” for economic confidence. But as today’s cut of YouGov data shows, it doesn’t lead public sentiment, but is actually behind. The graph shows the BrandIndex scores for public perception of “value for money” (rolling monthly average) for Waitrose, J Sainsbury and M&S, alongside [...]
TAKING AFTERNOON TEA WITH THE GRAND DAMES OF THE BUSINESS WORLD September 21, 2009 THE City’s most illustrious ladies flocked to the House of Commons yesterday for afternoon tea at the launch of “Women for Boards”, the new initiative from super-recruiter Anna Mann to get more women onto the boards of Britain’s biggest firms. The idea was hatched in the middle of last year, when Mann, a founder of [...]