Rapid responses December 16, 2012 Interest protection [Re: European banking union will be no friend of vibrant financial services, Thursday] A banking union in the Eurozone makes a lot of sense. The very basic monetary union Europe had before has shown its limits under pressure. As the crisis heated up, European banks were encouraged to restrict cross-border lending and become [...]
Boost for GDP as retail sales bounce back October 18, 2012 RETAIL SALES climbed in September, data showed yesterday, defying their flat long-term trend. Sales volumes grew 0.6 per cent between August and September, the Office for National Statistics said, after a 0.1 per cent fall between July and August. This means 2.5 per cent more goods are being sold than a year before. The amount spent [...]
Boost for GDP as retail sales bounce back October 18, 2012 RETAIL SALES climbed in September, data showed yesterday, defying their flat long-term trend. Sales volumes grew 0.6 per cent between August and September, the Office for National Statistics said, after a 0.1 per cent fall between July and August. This means 2.5 per cent more goods are being sold than a year before. The amount spent [...]
D&D owner plans a dynamic future December 17, 2012 We are building restaurants to last several business cycles… it shouldn’t matter when you build them” DES GUNEWARDENA peers into his wine glass and wrinkles his nose. The chairman and chief executive of D&D London has invited me for lunch at the Angler, the group’s new seafood restaurant at South Place Hotel in the City [...]
Internet is the new meteorite that extinguished the dinosaurs January 16, 2013 IN the grand scheme of things, the news that JP Morgan’s profits hit a record high, while Goldman Sachs massively smashed expectations, was the most significant business story of the week. Wall Street is back; the US financial system is in much better shape than Britain’s. At the same time, the fact that Jamie Dimon, [...]
Bursting bond bubble will destroy wealth on a giant scale January 21, 2013 ONE of the greatest risks facing the world economy is a wholesale crash in government bonds markets. Yields on UK gilts, US Treasury bonds and others are still much too low – and that means that capital values are too high (the price of fixed income securities move inversely to their yield). Given the extraordinarily [...]
New image reveals London skyline after Nine Elms makeover November 21, 2012 THE BATTERSEA Power Station and the new US embassy are just two elements in a huge regeneration plan set to transform a vast stretch of the River Thames between Battersea Park and Lambeth Bridge. The Nine Elms Opportunity Area, which straddles the boroughs of Lambeth and Wandsworth has been coined “The New South Bank” and [...]
Topshop tycoon says retail must raise its game November 21, 2012 ARCADIA yesterday posted a 25 per cent surge in profits as its billionaire owner Sir Philip Green told retailers to stop moaning about the economic downturn and get on with it. “We’ve got to trade. I can’t keep listening to all these people making it up as they go along,” Green said yesterday at his [...]
Hancock twins make sweet deal after selling the family business November 22, 2012 THE TWIN brothers behind the pick ‘n’ mix company Hancocks have sold the family business to a Dutch private equity firm for £50m. Andrew and Adrian Hancock have sold the Leicestershire-based cash and carry business founded by their parents 50 years ago to H2 Equity Partners, the group said yesterday. The sweets and chocolates specialist [...]
Why sterling’s decline could push up inflation once again January 17, 2013 THERE was a time when a weaker pound used to boost exports. These days, it doesn’t appear to make a noticeable difference, in the short term at least. Last year’s brilliant growth in car exports – the UK sold more cars abroad than ever before in its history, one of the most cheerful news stories [...]