How this UK discount retailer nearly beat Prada June 12, 2014 A budget department store founded by a shopkeeper in Blackpool during the late 1970’s has today become the biggest retailer to come to the stock market since fashion house Prada three years ago. According to fresh figures released this afternoon B&M Retail, which started life in the seaside resort in 1978, raised £1.1bn ($1.8bn) in [...]
City of London recruitment drops despite UK job market boom July 5, 2014 Cost cutting at European and UK investment banks has led to a fall in new vacancies at the City of London, as the capital's financial district lags behind the country's recent roaring employment growth. The latest monthly analysis by international recruiter Astbury Marsden points to an 11 per cent drop in new vacancies at the City [...]
Inside Track: London is ready and waiting for the Royal Mail flotation September 24, 2013 THE FORTHCOMING privatisation of Royal Mail is the biggest post-financial crisis test so far of the market for new issues in London, which was virtually closed for business just a couple of years ago. In the years following the financial crisis, London became a notoriously difficult place on which to list shares in a new [...]
Bank of Cyprus weighing float May 29, 2014 THE FORMER boss of Royal Bank of Scotland’s investment banking arm, John Hourican, is reported to be considering a London float for the Bank of Cyprus Group, of which he is chief executive. The float, if it goes ahead, is unlikely to happen for at least 12 months, according to Sky News reports. In March [...]
Package services push UK Mail revenues north of £500m May 21, 2014 UK MAIL, the London-listed delivery group, said yesterday that its annual revenues have passed £500m as more online retailers use its parcel services. The firm said turnover was up seven per cent to £508.5m, while pre-tax profits rose 28 per cent to £22.8m in the year to the end of March. As well as parcel [...]
London Report: Putin’s Crimea comments help to calm FTSE August 14, 2014 THE FTSE yesterday rose after being bolstered by apparently conciliatory comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin on a visit to Crimea, as well as expectations for a continuation of ultra-loose monetary policy. On a trip to Crimea, the Ukrainian region annexed by Russia in March, Putin said his country would stand up for itself but [...]
Foreign investment into UK is highest in Europe and second highest in world July 20, 2014 The UK's foreign direct investment (FDI) stock was greater than that any of its European neighbours last year, according to a government report. Called Inward Investment for 2013/2014, it also shows that globally the UK came second only to the USA. More than 1,773 new projects were established using funding from overseas, setting [...]
Restaurant Review: Ten Room July 22, 2014 I wonder if Ten Room at Café Royal saw it coming. A multi-million pound restaurant in an iconic London hotel… If you listened carefully in the days leading up to opening week earlier this year, you could hear the faint, metallic screech of knives being sharpened. And by all accounts, it was more than deserving [...]
Burberry and asset managers lift FTSE to 7,000 – London Report April 9, 2015 BRITAIN’S FTSE 100 rose yesterday, as a recovery in emerging market-exposed stocks and gains in Burberry, driven by bid speculation, kept the index near all-time highs. The blue-chip index .FTSE closed up 1.1 per cent at 7,015.36 points. It hit a record high of 7,065.08 in March. With just weeks to go before the 7 [...]
Spurs target a Champions League place via back door August 20, 2014 TOTTENHAM boss Mauricio Pochettino is focused on the bigger picture as Spurs take their first step towards securing Europa League football this season with a first-leg qualifier against AEL in Cyprus tonight. Pochettino dismissed the Europa League as an unattractive competition while in the Southampton hotseat but has changed his tune now a rule change [...]