Banks give FTSE a boost as pre-Christmas rally continues December 22, 2010 BRITAIN’S leading share index pushed higher yesterday, supported by gains from banks as reports China is ready to buy Portuguese bonds eased European debt concerns. At the close, the FTSE 100 was up 31.69 points, or 0.5 per cent, at 5,983.49, edging ever closer towards the 6,000 level last seen in June 2008. The blue [...]
Barracuda looks to Costa to fuel sales November 1, 2010 BARRACUDA is to launch Costa coffee at its pub estate – and will now open at 9am for breakfast. Costa coffee is expected to be available in 100 of its 217 pubs by Christmas with the rest launching in 2011. Barracuda, which also has the Smith & Jones brand, is pursuing a more food-focused policy [...]
RUBENS AND CHARLES I WATCH LUXURY GONGS November 15, 2010 THE great and good of the British luxury brands industry gathered for one of the biggest events of the year last night, as its lobbying group, Walpole, held its annual awards. In Whitehall’s Banqueting Hall, under the glow of a delicately lit ceiling of Rubens masterpieces and near the site where King Charles I was [...]
RUBENS AND CHARLES I WATCH LUXURY GONGS November 15, 2010 THE great and good of the British luxury brands industry gathered for one of the biggest events of the year last night, as its lobbying group, Walpole, held its annual awards. In Whitehall’s Banqueting Hall, under the glow of a delicately lit ceiling of Rubens masterpieces and near the site where King Charles I was [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS November 25, 2010 TRYING TO TIME THE MARKET IS COSTLY Research commissioned by Barclays Wealth has revealed that investors’ habit of chasing performance is costing more than one percentage point a year in returns. The study, which analysed fund flows between 1992 and 2009, discovered that market timing decisions by retail investors (when investing in equity mutual funds) [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS November 25, 2010 TRYING TO TIME THE MARKET IS COSTLY Research commissioned by Barclays Wealth has revealed that investors’ habit of chasing performance is costing more than one percentage point a year in returns. The study, which analysed fund flows between 1992 and 2009, discovered that market timing decisions by retail investors (when investing in equity mutual funds) [...]
FASHION NEWS IN BRIEF October 28, 2010 WOMEN’S FAVOURITE SPANX NOW FOR MEN Spanx, the undergarments with a cult following among women keen to have their wobbly bits held in place, has just released a range of the hold-in pants for men. The male undergarments have been designed to help men “firm and flatten”’ and quash “beer bellies”. Selfridges has reported waiting [...]
Home-builders ramp up incentives to lure hard-up first-time buyers December 2, 2010 HOME-BUILDERS have always offered buyers deals, but some are more valuable than others. Take, for example, the West Bromwich Building Society’s offer in 2004 of a free Rover car worth over £7,000 – a year before the car-maker went into administration. The downturn has left house-builders with new-builds sitting empty all over the country, and [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 13, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES F&C OPPOSES US POLITICAL DONATIONS BY NEWS CORPORATION F&C, the UK asset manager, will vote against the re-election of News Corp’s audit committee chairman at its upcoming annual meeting on Friday over the media group’s million-dollar political donations to the Republican Governors Association and the US Chamber of Commerce.“We are concerned to see [...]
ODD JOBS November 10, 2010 GENERAL MANAGER, THE MERCER Before he made the move to Threadneedle Street restaurant The Mercer, Bedford ran restaurants such as Dakota in Notting Hill, The Collection in Chelsea and Mocota in Knightsbridge. Although he enjoys all aspects of managing a restaurant, wine is a special interest that has only intensified during his time in the [...]