John Lewis continues to win market share August 26, 2011 John Lewis bucked the general gloom in the retail sector with another rise in weekly sales as it continued to win market share from rivals. The employee-owned business, which has been outperforming competitors for over a year, said on Friday sales at its department stores increased 2.6 per cent to £53.4m in the week to [...]
Great Portland swoops on two London offices September 12, 2011 GREAT Portland Estates unveiled plans yesterday to expand into London’s West End by buying two properties for more than £250m. The London property developer has agreed to buy a 2.3-acre site near Oxford Street from the Royal Mail Group for £120m in cash – its largest deal to-date. Royal Mail will lease back the site [...]
AN AWKWARD MOMENT AS BANK CHIEFS RETURN TO PARLIAMENT October 11, 2011 BRITAIN’S bank chiefs were lucky enough to be called before another parliamentary committee today, following several outings already this year. Seated in the stuffy House of Lords hearing room, banking maestros were put through their paces on topics ranging from capital buffers to some “curious nexuses” that HSBC chair Douglas Flint wanted to discuss. Is [...]
Share price is undervalued, says Diamond October 4, 2011 THEY could not have timed it any better – or should that be any worse? Some of the biggest names in banking came together in London yesterday as industry shares fell over fears politicians are failing to tackle the Eurozone crisis. Bob Diamond, chief executive of Barclays, told the Bank of America Merrill Lynch conference [...]
Sportmaster looks to float in London in spite of turbulence August 18, 2011 RUSSIA’S largest sports equipment and clothes retailer Sportmaster is considering an initial public offering in London next year, financial market sources said yesterday. Sportmaster could attract up to $700m (£424m) in the IPO based on its own valuation of between $2.5bn and $3bn, the sources said, adding the retailer has not yet picked organisers for [...]
UK set for a decade of deleveraging November 14, 2011 WELCOME to modern Britain, a nation of over-leveraged debt junkies only just waking up to the urgency of mending its ways. Realising the scale of the UK’s long-standing addiction to credit is vital to understanding why growth forecasts are being cut left, right and centre. The real drag on demand in the UK won’t come [...]
UK set for a decade of deleveraging November 14, 2011 WELCOME to modern Britain, a nation of over-leveraged debt junkies only just waking up to the urgency of mending its ways. Realising the scale of the UK’s long-standing addiction to credit is vital to understanding why growth forecasts are being cut left, right and centre. The real drag on demand in the UK won’t come [...]
UPCOMING | EVENTS October 27, 2011 First Birthday Celebrations • The West End says happy birthday to One New Change, with two exclusive performances in one week. What: The Wonderful West end will perform hits from Chicago to Mamma Mia to Jersey Boys plus many, many, many more. Where: One New Change, EC4M 9AF (lower ground floor atrium) When: Two exclusive [...]
British Land sees asset values jump to almost £10bn August 4, 2011 BRITISH Land, one of the country’s biggest landlords, saw the value of its assets rise as it made more acquisitions and pressed ahead with its £1.1bn office development pipeline that includes the Cheesegrater skyscraper in east London. The property developer said its portfolio value increased by 1.5 per cent to £9.9bn during the quarter, with [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 23, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES BOSTOCK IN TALKS TO QUIT M&S FOR ASOS Kate Bostock, the head of Marks and Spencer’s clothing and homewares business, is in advanced talks to take up a senior role at Asos. People familiar with the situation said Bostock was talking to the online fashion retailer about becoming its managing director. Losing Bostock, [...]