Don’t let the Christmas curmudgeons dampen your holiday hedonism December 19, 2013 CHRISTMAS has become a magnet for miserabilists. Those sections of society that make a living from fretting over what the rest of us are eating, drinking and doing in our bedrooms are drawn to Christmas like moths to light, spying an opportunity to hector us about our gluttony and hedonism. It’s got to the stage [...]
Saxo boss Lars Seier Christensen opens Pandora’s box with jewellery startup investment August 12, 2014 Saxo Bank’s chief exec Lars Seier Christensen has got chins wagging in the Danish press. The banking boss has made a personal investment into jewellery startup Endless Jewelry – a company run by well-known Danish entrepreneur Jesper Nielsen. Nielsen made his name as a reseller of jewellery brand Pandora. He sold his Pandora distributorship for [...]
The good, the bad and the ugly: What the analysts say about Tesco October 23, 2014 It’s another dark day for Tesco. The supermarket's estimated £250m profit black hole was even larger than expected at £263m, £70m of which came prior to the period it initially identified as problematic. Profits collapsed 91.9 per cent as it took the hit of the accounting error, it completely ditched its forecasts, cash flow was [...]
Dixons Carphone share price falls on first day of trading after £3.6bn merger August 8, 2014 Shares in Dixons Carphone rose yesterday morning only to close down 1.8 per cent in their first formal day of trading since Carphone Warehouse and Dixons Retail merged to create a £3.6bn consumer electronics empire. The FTSE 250 company aims to exploit the ever-growing presence of consumer electronics in people’s lives and the so-called [...]
Royal Mail share price falls on parcel revenue warning July 22, 2014 Freshly privatised Royal Mail has been suffering from more parcel delivery induced headaches, today warning that parcel revenues are likely to be below expectations. Chief executive Moya Greene says that the company has seen a "weaker than expected performance in UK parcels" in the first three months of the delivery firm's financial year. Parcels revenue [...]
Radamel Falcao transfer may mean Manchester United switch for Robin Van Persie or Wayne Rooney September 1, 2014 Towards the end of my career Walter Smith, the Rangers manager, would sometimes ask me to play as a wing-back. I didn’t enjoy it one little bit – at an age when running was getting harder I was being asked to do more of it – but I did it. Now it looks like one [...]
I mince pie with my little eye… December 17, 2013 This week, we salute the humble mince pie. They’re as much a part of a British Christmas as Buck’s Fizz, crackers and pigs in blankets. Here, the City A.M. team gives their verdict on the best luxury pies in the run up to the big day Konditor & Cook Mince Pie Dozen 7.8/10 With the [...]
City & Gild: Has Gary Barlow shattered a dream brand? May 16, 2014 When I was a child and believed in Father Christmas, I bought into the whole “Ho ho ho” thing hook, line and sinker – to the point where I would lie awake on Christmas Eve, terrified that a complete stranger was going to come down the chimney and pad about the house. (To be honest, [...]
Taking the Harlequins to new heights with launch at Shard July 30, 2014 The mighty Harlequins may be based out in Twickenham but its stars schlepped across to the Shard for an 8am launch to their season yesterday, with sponsors DHL Express and Adidas joining along for the ride. With the ‘Quins often referred to as the City Slickers, chief exec David Ellis thought the view was fitting. [...]
Risk savvy: Why simple rules of thumb are best July 22, 2014 A new book lays bare the pitfalls of complex decision-making. Imagine you’re a turkey – one that understands basic probability theory. Each day, a farmer brings you a bucket of corn, and any initial wariness over the human’s presence turns into an expectation that you’re about to be fed. This confidence increases week by week, [...]