Salesman who still has faith in the high street February 17, 2013 SOME entrepreneurs stumble upon their calling accidentally. Not this one. The founder of one Britain’s few contemporary retail success stories describes himself as the archetypal entrepreneur. Jason Bannister had always wanted to start his own company, but didn’t always know where. A brief stint working in a golf club pro shop when he was 15 [...]
Fed comments soothe jitters on Wall Street February 26, 2013 NEW YORK REPORT US stocks rebounded from their worst decline since November yesterday after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke defended the Fed’s bond-buying stimulus and sales of new homes hit a four and a half year high. The S&P 500 had climbed six per cent for the year and came within reach of all-time highs [...]
Luxury rifle maker loses its aim January 7, 2013 William & Son, the Mayfair jeweller and gunsmith founded by William Asprey of the eponymous jewellery dynasty, sunk into the red in the year to March 2012. The luxury goods firm made a £421,563 loss before tax compared with a £23.6m profit in 2011, filings on Companies House show. A spokesperson said the loss “was [...]
Grainger sees a house sale jump October 13, 2011 PROPERTY developer Grainger yesterday said its sales were up by almost a quarter to £223m in the year to September, as sales of property occupied by businesses rose 60 per cent. Grainger, the UK’s biggest listed property owner, said its margins were better than in 2010 and it had started the new financial year with [...]
US homes are snapped up June 25, 2012 NEW HOME sales in the USA shot up sharply according to Commerce Department data published yesterday. Annual house sales were 7.6 per cent up in May compared to April. This came with a surge in the Texas manufacturing outlook survey in which 24 per cent of firms reported improved business activity and 21 per cent [...]
City Moves for 13 February 2013 | Who’s switching jobs February 12, 2013 RBS The bank has announced the appointment of Jonathan Barrow as regional director for the east of England in its corporate and institutional banking coverage team. Barrow joined RBS 17 years ago, and has worked in various regional corporate locations in the UK, as well as at RBS’s New York office. Smith and Williamson The [...]
HR Owen shares accelerate as the car seller beats its forecasts January 21, 2013 SHARES in upmarket car seller HR Owen roared nearly four per cent ahead yesterday after it revealed that it was set to beat profit forecasts for the year. The FTSE-listed firm said a particularly good sales run at its Rolls-Royce and Bentley franchises had driven its performance in the second half of the year. HR [...]
Why some businesses will fail to see the writing on the wall February 17, 2013 IMAGINE you invent the pen in a world of only pencils. You are so excited – you are going to change people’s lives! Pens are easier to write with, easier to read, and don’t need sharpening. You dream of success. Mixed in with your excitement is a dose of paranoia. Of course, anyone could steal [...]
Britain’s Facebook is already here but we lack the tools to identify it February 18, 2013 IT’S been described as “the $4.2 trillion (£2.7 trillion) opportunity”. According to the Boston Consulting Group, there will be 3bn internet users globally by 2016. If it were a nation, the internet-based economy would rank in the world’s top five. And the UK sits at the forefront, with 8.3 per cent of GDP now online [...]
Coalition needs to do more to kick-start ailing property sector July 15, 2012 BRITAIN’S planning and property tax laws should be ripped up and banks should be forced to offer more mortgages in order to boost the country’s moribund real estate market, the country’s largest property services group argued yesterday. The number of house sales remains near historic lows, with figures from LSL suggesting June was the second [...]