WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 21, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES MACQUARIE MOVING TO DRAPERS GARDENSMacquarie has agreed a deal to occupy one of the largest developments in the City of London, raising expectations of a surprise shortage of new office space in the Square Mile. The Australian financial group will move into the majority of the Drapers Gardens scheme near the Bank of [...]
CELEBRITY LAWYER CEMENTS HIS STATUS March 15, 2010 CELEBRITY LAWYER CEMENTS HIS STATUS SHOWBIZ and the somewhat more drab world of the law aren’t usually professions that share column inches, but a City immigration lawyer is doing his level best to change that perception. Philip Trott, head of immigration at Bates Wells & Braithwaite solicitors, has been enjoying more than his usual share [...]
Boris Johnson taps business for 4.1bn of Crossrail funds July 30, 2009 MAYOR Boris Johnson yesterday outlined details of his plans to tap London firms to fund the Crossrail scheme, under which around half of the total tax revenue will be met by businesses on the City, Canary Wharf and Westminster patch. The plans state that from April 2010, an initial levy of 2p in the pound [...]
Riverside views and posh Euro nosh March 8, 2010 Battery 34 Westferry Circus E14 8RR Tel: 020 8305 3089 Cost per person without wine: £55 YOU have to really want to go to Battery to make it inside. In the Phillipe Starck-designed space formerly occupied by the now-defunct restaurant Ubon, it’s at the top of a building within the cloistered Four Seasons complex in [...]
MILLION-DOLLAR MAN THAIN LEARNS ERROR OF HIS PRICEY OFFICE WAYS February 8, 2010 HAPPY days for John Thain, the former Merrill Lynch chief executive who demonstrated yesterday that not only has he managed to stage an impressive comeback on Wall Street, but has actually learnt a lesson on the way as well. Thain, of course, is best remembered among the financial community for the dual distinctions of having [...]
BORIS ‘CIRCUS’ TAKES A HIT FROM TREASURY RINGMASTER MYNERS September 3, 2009 BORIS Johnson’s visit to Brussels yesterday looks to have ruffled quite a few feathers in the austere halls of the Treasury, which is now claiming it should be hogging the glory for defending the City’s hedge funds against the EU’s evil draft directive on alternative investment fund managers. Lord Myners, the City minister, yesterday got [...]
Pets at Home snapped up for nearly £1bn by KKR January 27, 2010 PETS at Home was snapped up by private equity firm KKR yesterday in a deal worth an astonishing £955m. The sum was well above the £800m being touted by analysts in the lead up to the acquisition. KKR beat stiff competition from Apax Partners, Bain and TPG, who had all tabled offers in the second [...]
HSBC Shanghai plan to boost expansion December 20, 2009 HSBC is poised to become one of the first foreign companies to list on the Shanghai stock exchange, returning to its Asian roots. The bank wants to raise its profile in China as it opens more branches and considers taking stakes in Chinese lenders. It first announced in May last year that it wanted to [...]
BRUNSWICK CAUSES A STIR WITH PUBLIC AFFAIRS ROLE IN BRUSSELS August 6, 2009 A COUP for City PR outfit Brunswick, which is on the cusp of a lucrative new contract to advise HSBC on its public policy over in Brussels. Brunswick boss Alan Parker has long been chummy with HSBC chairman Stephen Green, so the tie-up shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. But though some in [...]
The good times are rolling again February 17, 2010 IT’S been a rough couple of years for restaurants, many of whom – beginning life bright-eyed and bushy-tailed – were stopped in their tracks by the credit crunch. High-gloss French restaurant Ambassade de L’ile and swanky Japanese restaurant Aaya were two casualties, along with Nobu’s sister restaurant Ubon in Canary Wharf. But it’s a far cheerier [...]