Epiris raises £821m for first fund and targets UK-based businesses October 3, 2018 Private equity firm Epiris has closed its first fund, raising £821m, and said it wanted to add to its acquisitions of auction house Bonhams and Time Inc's UK operations. The London-based group said the fund's strategy was to target UK-headquartered businesses with an enterprise value of between £75m and £500m – deploying up to £150m [...]
Great Portland Estates sells off £65m building home to Ottolenghi’s new restaurant October 3, 2018 A West End property block home to Yotam Ottolenghi’s new flagship restaurant was snapped up by an overseas investor for £65m today. Read more: Soho House boss says second City of London venue has not been ruled out Great Portland Estates (GPE), a FTSE property developer, sold off 55 Wells Street to an undisclosed foreign buyer [...]
ITV shares rise as it rules itself out of buying Peaky Blinders maker Endemol Shine October 3, 2018 ITV shares lifted today after the company ruled itself out of the race to buy production house Endemol Shine. Media reports had linked ITV to a bid for the Dutch creator of shows like Peaky Blinders and Big Brother, but in a statement to the market the broadcaster said it was not interested in striking a [...]
Soho House boss says second City of London venue has not been ruled out October 2, 2018 The boss of private members club chain Soho House said the company had not ruled out opening a second venue in The City following the success of The Ned, as the business reported boosted revenue in its 2017 results. Chief executive Nick Jones, who founded the original venue in Soho's Greek Street in 1995, told City A.M. that [...]
Theresa May’s vision-free approach is alienating us all October 2, 2018 An opening day Conservative conference speech by former CBI Director-General Digby Jones might not have been expected to diagnose the Prime Minister’s key weakness. But defending Theresa May’s Brexit approach, the former Labour minister unwittingly exposed the reason that the Prime Minister has alienated much of her party: she is a vision-free zone. Riffing off [...]
Shares in carpet and furniture retailer ScS get a boost as profits rise in full-year results October 2, 2018 Furniture and floorings retailer ScS got a boost to its share price this morning after it reported a strong growth in operating profits in its full-year results. Its share rose 6.5 per cent in early trading after it released the update. Read more: Ted Baker expected to boost revenues despite high street worries The figures In [...]
Selfridges posts record operating profit as investment programme pays off October 1, 2018 A major revamp has helped Selfridges increase sales by 11.5 per cent year-on-year, as operating profits rose to a record £181m for its latest financial year. The department store is now in the final 12 months of its four-year £300m investment programme, transforming its London store and increasing its digital capabilities. Read more: Analysts warn of Debenhams [...]
May’s stamp duty tax on foreign buyers forces down FTSE developers’ share prices October 1, 2018 More than half a billion pounds was wiped off the value of some of the UK’s largest housebuilders today, as the City digested news of Theresa May’s planned property tax on foreign buyers. Shares in Berkeley Group, Barratt Developments and Taylor Wimpey all slid in the wake of the Prime Minister’s weekend announcement to slap [...]
Golden Ferrari goes on sale in first gold-themed auction at Sotheby’s October 1, 2018 A golden Ferrari is expected to sell for up to £450,000 as it goes on sale later this month at auction house Sotheby’s. The 1977 Ferrari 512 BB, which has three previous owners, will be sold at the world’s first auction dedicated entirely to gold. When bought by its most recent owner in 1997 the [...]
Focus On Harrow: Why this west London suburb is popular with families and first time buyers September 28, 2018 With inner city London gradually dividing itself into a series of ‘villages’, mimicking the community, farmers markets and independent high streets of semi-rural life, what’s the point of suburbs anymore? Places like Harrow have traditionally been quite pedestrian places, attracting families to its healthy stock of semi-detached houses and good quality schools. The ultimate – [...]