The man putting new power into Battersea Station April 7, 2014 Rob Tincknell talks to Kasmira Jefford about British buyers and a new breed of nesters ROB TINCKNELL is leading the way up a flight of steps to the roof of Battersea Power Station’s marketing suite. “We have got to be really quiet,” he whispers, as he opens the door onto the terrace and points to [...]
Persimmon profits more than double on booming demand February 25, 2014 Another house builder riding the wave of surging demand. Following bumper results from Bovis yesterday, Persimmon has said this morning that its profit before tax more than doubled in 2013. The 54.5 per cent increase to £337.1m came about as the group “responded quickly” to growing customer demand, outperforming its original long term plan. Chairman Nicolas [...]
Raw ambition: Meet Yo! Sushi founder and ex-Dragon Simon Woodroffe June 16, 2014 Harriet Green talks Yo! Sushi and embracing disaster with ex-Dragon Simon Woodroffe For one of Britain’s most ebullient entrepreneurs, Simon Woodroffe is modest about his first steps into business. “The initial motivation was desperation”, he says. The founder of Yo! Sushi, Yo! and former BBC Dragon says that he “started a restaurant in a world [...]
Down to a Fine Art March 23, 2014 Annabel Palmer talks to Patrick van der Vorst, the ex-Sotheby’s art expert who used a £100,000 investment from Dragons Den to build online valuation service Value My Stuff THE INTERNATIONAL art market is having a ball, as investors flock to the perceived safer asset. A Sotheby’s sale last month totalled £163m, with demand coming from [...]
Sweden’s Espresso House sold by UK owners to Norway fund September 5, 2012 COFFEE chain Espresso House, known as the “Starbucks of Sweden”, has been sold by its UK private equity owners Palamon Capital Partners to a Norwegian private equity fund, it was announced yesterday. The popular coffee haunt, which has 120 coffee bars dotted around Sweden, was snapped up by Norwegian fund Herkules Private Equity III after [...]
Record sales lift Poundland float prospects January 23, 2014 POUNDLAND has boasted record sales over the key Christmas trading period, further paving the way for a potential initial public offering (IPO), expected to take place within the coming months. The bargain chain, which plans to double its UK presence over the next decade, said new shop openings helped sales rise more than 12.4 per [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 10 March 2014 March 10, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Spotify’s credit line hints at IPO Spotify has secured a $200m credit facility from lenders including Morgan Stanley, bringing the Swedish music company a step closer to a potential initial public offering in the US, according to people close to the deal. The Stockholm start-up, which last year sold equity that implied a [...]
Behind the curve: Beware of Fed-induced asset bubbles May 5, 2014 Yellen risks making the same mistake as Greenspan in 2004 FEARS that the US recovery may falter were reawakened last week, with the advanced estimate of first quarter GDP coming in at an annualised 0.1 per cent, down from 2.6 per cent in the final quarter of 2013 (see chart). The dollar fell by 0.4 [...]
Net-a-Porter losses narrow as plans pay off January 6, 2014 NET-A-Porter, the luxury online retailer, said it narrowed its losses by around £4m last year as its investment in growing its presence overseas began to pay off. The group, which is owned by Swiss luxury conglomerate Richemont, made a loss before tax of £23.2m in the year to 31 March 2013. That compares with a [...]
The government owns far too much land. It must sell a lot off January 7, 2014 SELL, sell, sell – or so we must hope. With a bit of luck, the government is finally about to kick-start a massive and long-overdue sell-off of its vast estate. All of central government’s land and property holdings – worth £330bn – will soon be available for perusal on a Rightmove-style website. Individuals and companies [...]