OUT OF OFFICE February 17, 2010 FASHION STILLS AT SOFITEL ST JAMES In honour of Fashion Week, Sofitel St James’s is hosting a photo exhibition, a poignant vision of the fashion world through the lenses of famous fashion snappers who have captured unique instants from the secretive world of haute couture, including behind the scenes shots at Dior, Chanel, Jean-Paul Gaultier [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS January 10, 2010 TED BAKER Singer Capital maintains a “buy” rating for Ted Baker after strong trading from 1 November to 24 December. Retail sales growth for this period was 19.1 per cent and trading was up 14.3 per cent year-on-year. It says Ted Baker’s collections are doing well and has revised its target price from 505p to [...]
Fowle secures the top post at M&B pubs August 3, 2009 PUBS group Mitchells & Butlers yesterday announced it has appointed Adam Fowle as chief executive, who has been acting in the role since 21 May. Fowle was parachuted in as acting chief executive after an ill-fated 2007 joint venture with property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz forced the resignation of then executive Tim Clarke. Under Clarke pre-tax [...]
Pubs call time at record rate July 22, 2009 PUBS in Britain are closing at a record rate of 52 a week, costing 24,000 jobs over the past year, the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) said yesterday. The new figures show that in the last 12 months alone 2,377 pubs have called time on their business. There are now 53,466 pubs in Britain, [...]
FOOD & BOOZE NEWS January 4, 2010 PARADISE PUB’S BOOT CAMP Every Sunday morning throughout January, devotees of West London’s plushest boho gastropub, Paradise By Way of Kensal Green, can work off their Christmas roasts with a training session organised by the pub. A personal trainer will host workouts in Queen’s Park, and rather than paying to join in, the Paradise will [...]
Enterprise boss earns £811k December 14, 2009 CHIEF executive of pub group Enterprise Inns Ted Tuppen was handed a total remuneration package of £811,000 last year – even as the pub group’s profits dipped by more than a fifth. Pre-tax profits at Enterprise dropped from £263m to £208m in the year to September but Tuppen’s pay package was still raised. Tuppen will [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: HOW ROSY IS THE OUTLOOK FOR GREENE KING? January 27, 2010 MARK BRUMBY | ASTAIRE SECURITIES “Greene King is performing strongly. There is a note of caution regarding the remainder of the year, but the group is confident it will hit targets. The economic environment is uncertain and the employment outlook in Scotland is set to worsen but Greene King, which trades at ten times earnings, [...]
Osmond vehicle blames poor markets as it raises £80m less than expected February 4, 2010 HUGH Osmond, the entreprenuer behind Pizza Express, the Punch pub group and Pearl insurance, has raised less than he hoped for his new acquisition vehicle Horizon. Osmond, who originally hoped to raise £500m from equity investors, revealed yesterday that the group had raised £417.7m from new shares at £10 a share. Advisers to the share [...]
Beauty parades are no way to recruit April 21, 2010 THERE is some very bizarre behaviour going on,” says David Sims, professor of organisational behaviour at Cass Business School in London. He has heard of one HR department that threw away any applications written in blue ink, not because anybody believed there was anything wrong with those candidates, but just as a way of whittling [...]
I don’t have time to get into a relationship March 15, 2010 DEAR VEXED: I am desperate for a relationship but my work is so demanding I have no time during the week and tend to be exhausted at weekends. Work is really important to me and I’m not willing to switch down a gear or change professions – does this mean I must make my peace [...]