GREAT ESCAPES September 20, 2009 Gothic Temple, BucksThis exquisite temple was built in 1741 and now belongs to Stowe School. It has one of the most important and beautiful landscape gardens in the country: it is one of the last additions to the garden at Stowe formed for Lord Cobham by Charles Bridgeman and his successor, William Kent. That same [...]
Noble latest oil group to sell its assets September 13, 2009 NOBLE Energy, the US oil group, is pulling out of the North Sea, it is understood, as it auctions off its European arm. The sale, which has a price tag of $350m (£210m), follows a series of firms leaving the area as a slump in production and tax increases at the Treasury hit the sector. [...]
UK set for square root-shaped recovery September 6, 2009 IT is almost official: we are out of recession. The economy is growing again, albeit at a snail’s pace, the equity and debt markets have bounced back, some firms are posting higher profits and there has been a mini-renaissance in City deal-making. All of which is great news but certainly not enough to uncork the [...]
Bag a bargain and get some late summer holiday action August 16, 2009 THAILANDAnantara, on the north of the island of Mai Khao Beach, is wonderfully tucked away from the main tourist areas of Phuket and Kuoni is now offering seven nights for the price of five, a saving of £366 per person. Each of the 82 villas comes with its own 33 square metre pool, set either [...]
UK is in need of a nuclear boost August 5, 2009 A report commissioned by Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said that the UK needs to more than double the amount of electricity generated by nuclear power, as well as boosting renewables, energy efficiency and gas storage to guarantee energy security. Nuclear power should provide between 35 per cent to 40 per cent of the UK’s [...]
St Lucia’s most spectacular retreat is taking luxury to new levels August 2, 2009 ONE OF THE remaining signs of St Lucia’s colonial past (and Commonwealth present) is the fact that, by law, the first 40 feet inland of every stretch of coastline belongs to the Queen. That doesn’t mean sunbathing is restricted to Her Maj and Philip, should they deign to drop anchor in these parts, but it [...]
Centrica sees profits slump in downturn July 30, 2009 CENTRICA said yesterday its first-half profits had dropped 5.6 per cent but that a good performance at British Gas had offset weak commodity prices. Operating profits at British Gas jumped 56 per cent to £476m on the back of low commodity prices and a cold snap in January and February. Centrica said its British Gas [...]
Results season begins as BT and National Express report July 26, 2009 THE company reporting season gets into full swing this week, with a slew of companies issuing numbers including BP, Shell and BT to name just three FTSE 100 giants. National Express, the rail and coach operator that recently became a takeover target after losing its franchise for the East Coast main line, reports on Thursday [...]
BP forecasts drop in output July 21, 2009 BP said yesterday that its North Sea output will drop around nine per cent in 2009 – but said that it remains committed to the region despite rising costs and dwindling reserves. Europe’s second-largest oil and gas company said production from its UK and Norwegian fields will be equivalent to 320,000 barrels per day, down [...]
Investors rebuff Venture offer from Centrica July 13, 2009 CENTRICA, the owner of British Gas, faced a setback in its battle to take over Venture Production yesterday, when the North Sea gas producer’s two largest investors backed management’s rejection of the $2bn (£1.2bn) bid. US investment firm ArcLight Capital Partners and one of Venture’s founders, Larry Kinch, which between them control 12.8 per cent [...]