The Restaurant Group boosted as sales surge November 1, 2012 RESTAURANT Group, the owner of the Garfunkel’s and Frankie & Benny’s chains, yesterday said sales bounced back in the third quarter after a quiet summer, driven by an uptick in consumer spending. Reporting a 3.9 per cent rise in like-for-like sales in the first nine months of the year, chief executive Andrew Page said growth [...]
Property firms turn to insurers for financing October 23, 2012 PROPERTY developers are turning to insurers for finance as banks become reluctant to lend, according to a report released yesterday. According to research by law firm DLA Piper, the amount of money lent by insurers in the form of UK commercial real estate (CRE) loans will almost double to £52bn over the next five years. [...]
City A.M. Awards 2012 Winners October 17, 2012 City A.M.'s third annual awards celebrating the best and brightest of London's business, financial and investment communities. Over 500 guests from 116 different firms attended the celebration, held at the Grange Hotel in St Paul's. PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR Lord CoeLocog chairman Former Olympic middle distance runner and politician Lord Coe was a clear stand-out [...]
MegaFon holds back its London market listing October 22, 2012 RUSSIAN telecoms firm MegaFon yesterday postponed its London-Moscow listing, striking another blow to hopes that a flood of firms from the country could kick-start the sluggish initial public offering market in the City. The group hopes to raise $2bn (£1.25bn) from the sale of up to 20 per cent of its stock, listing global depository [...]
Surveyors say commercial rents will slip further in third quarter October 11, 2012 A LACK of demand in commercial property will bring rents further down, according to survey data released by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) today. Eleven percentage points more of those surveyed expected rents to fall over the next quarter, than thought rents would rise – but this was the most optimistic result since the second quarter last [...]
UBS poaches Nomura exec September 25, 2012 SWISS bank UBS has hired Shaun Treacy from Nomuraas co-head of its all industries group in Asia, according to an internal memo. In June the bank appointed Nick Hassall as global head of its consumer products and retail group, moving him from Hong Kong to London to take advantage of non-Asian companies’ interest in the [...]
UBS poaches Nomura exec September 25, 2012 SWISS bank UBS has hired Shaun Treacy from Nomuraas co-head of its all industries group in Asia, according to an internal memo. In June the bank appointed Nick Hassall as global head of its consumer products and retail group, moving him from Hong Kong to London to take advantage of non-Asian companies’ interest in the [...]
The most eligible people in the City: Tatler’s Little Black Book for 2012 November 7, 2012 ANNABEL’S private members’ club in Mayfair was where the most eligible people in the land gathered yesterday evening, in order to celebrate the publication of Tatler’s Little Black Book. The Capitalist was pleased to spot some City names on the inaugural most wanted list, and indeed just as many business bachelorettes as bachelors gracing the [...]
Hammerson to present revised proposals for Whitgift Centre October 22, 2012 HAMMERSON will this week reveal revised plans for the redevelopment of Croydon’s Whitgift Centre, stepping up its battle with rival Westfield over the highly-contested shopping mall. The developer will return to Croydon council’s strategic planning committee with amended proposals for the tired 1960s mall on Thursday before submitting a planning application in December. Westfield submitted [...]
Several bidders line up for JJB Sports in race to buy the chain September 13, 2012 DEBT-LADEN JJB Sports said last night that it was in talks with several parties who have offered to buy it but ordinary shareholders were unlikely to see any value from a deal. The sporting goods retailer’s shares more than doubled to 0.79p but closed up 30 per cent at 0.45p on the London Stock Exchange [...]