Boris to hike prices for TfL and C-charge October 15, 2009 LONDON Mayor Boris Johnson yesterday blamed the recession and the “mistakes of the past” as he unveiled sweeping hikes to Transport for London’s (TfL) fare package. Johnson said tube fares would rise 3.9 per cent overall next year, while bus prices will jump by 12.7 per cent. The changes come alongside a proposed increase to [...]
No timetable to sell UKFI bank stakes boss admits September 22, 2009 UK FINANCIAL Investments (UKFI) – the company set up to manage the government’s stakes in recapitalised banks – has not set a timetable for disposing of its holdings, one of its top officials said yesterday. John Crompton, head of market investments at UKFI, said the government was keen to avoid making predictions about the price [...]
Braving choppy waters: World Cup bids and marketing in a downturn November 29, 2009 ENTREPRENEUR extraordinaire Sir Keith Mills does seem to relish a stiff challenge. Having led the successful bid to bring the Olympic Games to London in 2012, the business brains behind Air Miles and Nectar’s latest goal is to see his sailing team win the America’s Cup – something no British crew has managed. And if [...]
Lawson: The Tories need to find the bottle to cut public spending July 2, 2009 FORMER chancellor Lord Lawson is feeling hot under the collar. It’s not just because he’s finished delivering a lecture in a stuffy, airless room at the London Stock Exchange. He’s also fed up with travelling on the underground in the sweltering heat. “The problem with the tube is not so much the heat,” he tells [...]
MAKING HOLS EASY September 3, 2009 Sara HollambyStyle Counsel HAVING just come back from a blissful two-week break on a beach in the sun, I’ve washed and ironed all my beach holiday clothes. It dawned on me that year after year, on beach holidays, I wear more or less exactly the same things – items of clothing perfect on holiday, but [...]
Tesco slams Competition Commission July 16, 2009 TESCO, Britain’s biggest retailer, yesterday hit back at plans by the Competition Commission to introduce a new test into the planning system to combat the dominance of big supermarket chains. Tesco supermarket director Lucy Neville-Rolfe said the move “will cost jobs by deterring investment in the areas that need it most, in what is already [...]
DRESSES IN THE OFFICE July 16, 2009 Sara HollambyStyle Counsel IWAS talking to a friend the other day about wearing dresses at the office – are they suitable and high-powered enough for the City? Dresses are certainly very comfortable when the weather is hot, you don’t have to worry about co-ordinating tops with bottoms, and they are a great way of injecting [...]
Sustainable living finally comes of age July 2, 2009 A PROPERTY developer called Morpheus recently revamped three super-luxury homes on Clareville Street in South Kensington, complete with all mod-cons. Even in this climate, they sold within days of going on the market in June, at an average price of £5m. A pretty normal story for the top end of London’s property market. But what [...]
Regeneration is taking off in the Olympic quarters June 25, 2009 STRATFORD has long been one of those London areas that is supposedly on the verge of gentrification. The coming of the DLR, then the Jubilee Line, were meant to turn it into an up-and-coming area attractive to thrusting young professionals. It never quite happened. But last week, two things took place which mean that Stratford [...]
A SIGH OF RELIEF FOR FUND GURU DUFFIELD August 4, 2009 AFTER months of being down on his luck, perhaps the tide is starting to turn for veteran fund management guru John Duffield and his newest business venture, Brompton Asset Management. Duffield, who also previously set up Jupiter and New Star, originally named the firm Hyde Park Asset Management, before hedge fund marketing firm Hyde Park [...]