IT’LL BE ALRIGHT ON THE NIGHT: THE PITFALLS OF LIVE BUSINESS TELLY December 2, 2009 So the countdown is firmly underway; but unfortunately this one doesn’t include an advent calendar or any nice surprises at the end. Or even a man with a beard. I’m talking of course about the Pre Budget Report. The midnight oil may be burning at HM Treasury as they try to work out how to [...]
Best of British November 24, 2009 I’M CURRENTLY feeling like a WAG. To clarify, this is purely down to my current motor, and not because I’ve hooked up with a Chelsea striker. You see I’m driving around in a Bentley (times are hard). I haven’t been in one for a long time and I’ve always associated them with elder statesmen, people [...]
CITY ON THE CUSP OF APPOINTING NICK ANSTEE AS NEXT LORD MAYOR September 23, 2009 UNDER a week to go until the appointment of the man who will replace Lord Mayor Ian Luder at the helm of the City of London. The new boss won’t officially take up residence in his swanky Mansion House digs until his official inauguration in November, though the election – if you can call it [...]
F&C DITCHES THE DORCHESTER FOR A LEANER SHOWING AT PING PONG November 25, 2009 THINGS may be looking up in terms of the economy, but the corporate Christmas goose is looking just as lean as it was in the depths of the financial crisis last year – and a little bird tells me that asset management firm F&C Investments is among the companies trimming its budget. Usually, F&C staffers [...]
CITY’S BIG SPENDERS PROVE EASY TARGET FOR DEN OF DEBAUCHERY November 3, 2009 AFTER all the talk of City types shying away from blowing their cash in lap-dancing clubs in these bleak post-crisis days, it comes as a bit of a surprise to see that one such chain has opened up yet another den of debauchery on the fringe of the Square Mile. Yes, club operator Secrets, which [...]
EX-BANKER TRIES HIS LUCK WITH SEX TOYS November 9, 2009 OF ALL the career paths followed by former City types who have lost jobs in the recession, this one really does take the biscuit. Matt Thomas, a former manager in corporate finance at Seymour Pierce, decided to make the most of the opportunity when he was made redundant last November by setting up a joint [...]
RYANAIR’S CHIEF O’LEARY PROVES HIMSELF A SUCKER FOR PUBLICITY October 13, 2009 RYANAIR boss Michael O’Leary isn’t exactly renowned for taking criticism lying down, so the BBC’s Panorama programme will probably have seen yesterday’s tirade coming. After Monday evening’s programme on the airline, Ryanair unleashed a campaign to maximise publicity from the episode – offering 1.1m free flights, labelling the show a “hatchet job” and slamming 11 [...]
A pull back on gold is on the cards, or so the cycles say October 4, 2009 THERE seems to be a general consensus that gold is going to continue its recent powerful rally. All sorts of projected targets have been mentioned, from the not too far away $1,050 all the way through $1,200 and even as high as $2,300. Such elevated levels may eventually be reached but for the time being [...]
Sun, sea and Arabian Delights November 1, 2009 THERE are many parts of the world about which I am pessimistic but Dubai, despite its recent economic woes, is not one of them. Nobody else in the Middle East has pulled off what Dubai has achieved: a peaceful, capitalist, multi-ethnic state based on commerce, property, finance, entertainment and tourism. While it has been engulfed [...]
Trying to second-guess stocks is harder than ever October 4, 2009 EQUITY investors haven’t had much time for cliché this year. Earlier this year, they ignored dire predictions – coming from anyone with a keyboard or a microphone – that financial markets might never recover. Instead, they seized upon historically low valuations – and the trillions spent by governments around the world – and began the [...]