Floor price for alcohol will hit poor hardest November 28, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT yesterday unveiled plans to introduce minimum prices for alcohol, despite concerns that such a move will penalise ordinary drinkers. The home office proposals include a ban on multi-buy promotions and a minimum unit price of 45p in England and Wales. As a result a one litre bottle of Gordon’s gin – currently available from [...]
FTSE 100 edges down as Moody’s downgrades France November 20, 2012 The blue chip index inched lower in trading this morning, as Moody’s downgrade of France stifled investor sentiment. On the FTSE All-Share, platinum miner Lonmin sank more than 40 per cent in early trading. Yesterday its shareholders voted through an $817m (£514m) rights issue at a general meeting. Pub group Punch Taverns fell almost four [...]
FTSE 100 flat as EU budget talks continue November 23, 2012 A lack of headway on the EU budget talks kept the leading share index broadly flat in trading this morning. Eurasian Natural Resources was the biggest blue-chip riser, adding more than one per cent. On the FTSE All-Share, holiday group Thomas Cook rose 5.44 per cent, while credit card CPP Group added 2.88 per cent. [...]
Drinks firm in administration October 2, 2012 DRINKS wholesaler WaverleyTBS has called in administrators, putting 831 jobs into doubt. Waverley, which distributes alcoholic and soft drinks to customers including Merlin Entertainment and Cote Restaurants, has been hit by “tough trading conditions” in pubs and restaurants, according to its private-equity owner Manfield Partners. Deloitte, which has been appointed joint administrator, said it was [...]
Bargains bring home the bacon but bite into profits December 9, 2012 AS DECENT numbers for Nando’s reveal the chain moved into profit last year after three in the red, the cheaper end of the restaurant sector may be turning a corner. The latest figures from BDO indicate that operators including the Restaurant Group and JD Wetherspoon have seen an upturn in trade in September and October. [...]
Shepherd Neame toasts success September 26, 2012 Shepherd Neame, the Kent-based brewer of the Spitfire and Asahi ales, yesterday reported record sales and a 40 per cent leap in profits to £9.1m in the year to July. The company bought seven pubs and hotels over the period, leading to a 10 per cent rise in turnover to £133m. Chief executive Jonathan Neame [...]
Action, culture, and food on the Cornish coastline January 20, 2013 THERE ARE some things that, on visiting Cornwall, just have to be done. Eat a Cornish pasty? It would be rude not to. Wolf down a calorie-laden afternoon tea of scones with jam and clotted cream? Why, yes. Stand gazing at the sky from a golden beach and say: “The light is so amazing here?” [...]
Stadium row has gone on too long, Boris November 18, 2012 THE rage has abated but the anger inside still burns after the announcement last week that it might take until after the Games of Rio in 2016 for the Olympic Stadium to be operational, under whatever guise. This is depressing, outrageous, scandalous, shameful. The “told you so” brigade who were silenced so magnificently in the [...]
Stadium row has gone on too long, Boris November 18, 2012 THE rage has abated but the anger inside still burns after the announcement last week that it might take until after the Games of Rio in 2016 for the Olympic Stadium to be operational, under whatever guise. This is depressing, outrageous, scandalous, shameful. The “told you so” brigade who were silenced so magnificently in the [...]
UK finances in spotlight with inflation data October 14, 2012 BRITAIN’S finances will be brought sharply into focus this week with details of the annual inflation rate, minutes of the October Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) and public finances data. On the corporate front, housebuilder Bellway is expected to extend the sector’s positive run tomorrow, with preliminary results. Today’s news includes a trading update from Fresnillo, [...]