Lehman crisis should have changed the world more than it did September 15, 2013 FIVE years ago, like every Sunday night, I was in the City A.M. newsroom, supervising the production of the newspaper. Traditionally, Sundays are a quieter day for business news: while there’s always lots to write about, there are few on-diary corporate announcements. Not that Sunday. It was the most manic day any business journalist can [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 12 September 2013 September 11, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Libor control to remain in London Brussels has ditched its plan to put the scandal-mired Libor lending rate under the direct control of a European supervisor in Paris, in a concession that removes a serious political nuisance for Britain. Early drafts of the European Commission regulation, which is to be unveiled next week, [...]
The real Willy Wonka is as experimental as ever September 10, 2013 Think you love chocolate the most? Elizabeth Fournier meets choc-God Paul A Young IT’S NOT hard to be passionate about chocolate, but Paul A Young takes it to a whole new level. Reviewers and customers alike may wax lyrical about his imaginative creations, which include Marmite brownies and Eccles cake truffles. Get him talking on [...]
Review: Rock Lobsta at Mahiki August 20, 2013 RESTAURANT 1 Dover St, Mayfair, W1S 4LD Tel: 020 7493 9529 FOOD Four Stars VALUE Three Stars ATMOSPHERE Three Stars Cost for two with drinks: £100 Once upon a time I worked for a newspaper in Bermuda called the Mid Ocean News. I say “worked” – we didn’t actually do very much. Every Friday we’d [...]
Population growth is irrelevant: Institutions and incentives matter August 11, 2013 THE UK now has one of the fastest-growing populations in Europe, according to a new report by the Office for National Statistics. In just one year, the population grew by over 400,000 people (to a total of 63.7m), adding the equivalent of a city the size of Bristol. A growing population means growing demand for [...]
Greece’s latest austerity measures could push government over the edge July 18, 2013 The narrow approval of fiscal reforms demanded by troika lenders in the Greek parliament late last night will put further pressure on Antonis Samaras’s government, potentially resulting in early elections. Robin Bew, chief economist and editorial director of the Economist Intelligence Unit, said today: #Greece agrees civil service layoffs to keep bailout alive. But politics [...]
Google pays $1.3bn for sat-nav app Waze June 14, 2013 GOOGLE has pipped both Apple and Facebook to buy Waze, an Israeli social mapping service popular amongst commuters. Waze, which has almost 50m members, uses a smartphone’s location data to improve its maps and create real-time traffic information, allowing drivers to take the fastest route to a destination. It is now expected that Google will [...]
Lloyds ploughs £20m into new restaurant fund September 3, 2012 LLOYDS Banking Group’s private equity arm said yesterday it has agreed to provide £20m for a new restaurant fund set up by the former boss of The Clapham House Group. Paul Campbell is setting up the fund through his vehicle Hill Capital in partnership with LDC to invest in restaurant businesses with a small number [...]
Walkie-Talkie awaits more calls July 17, 2013 PROPERTY giant Land Securities said yesterday that it expects the Walkie-Talkie skyscraper to be two thirds let by its completion next year, in a sign of growing confidence in the market. The City office market has seen a pick-up in leasing activity in the past year as companies who had previously shelved plans rushed to [...]
McDonald’s revenues miss expectations as European sales remain suppressed July 22, 2013 McDonald’s has reported second quarter revenues of $7.08bn, or $1.38 per share, missing analyst expectations of $1.41 per share (release). Year-on-year, second quarter revenues were up 2.4 per cent, and earnings per share rose by seven per cent. Net profits were up five per cent to $1.40bn. In the US, comparable sales were up one [...]