John Lewis to open “Olympic” store February 1, 2010 DEPARTMENT store John Lewis is to open a shop next to the 2010 Games site as part of its sponsorship deal. The shop, in Stratford, will sell Olympic merchandise and become the 26th home-grown sponsor. An estimated 10,000 licensed products which will be on sale. The john Lewis Flagship store in Oxford Street will also [...]
London’s new power couple March 4, 2010 THE day I meet Carolina Herrera and her business partner and daughter, also called Carolina Herrera, I am foolishly wearing trainers. It is the wrong choice. Not because they are in any way snooty, but because I forgot when getting dressed this morning that I am meeting two of the most elegant women alive today. [...]
Cable: carve up retail and investment banking in UK January 25, 2010 VINCE cable yesterday called for British banks to be broken up, in a move that will further alienate him from the City. He said he would use the crisis to transform the economy into a system that was beneficial to the whole country and “not just the Square Mile”. He distanced himself from the two [...]
Live above the rooftops in City’s sleekest building March 18, 2010 THE Heron, the City’s first residential development in 30 years, will be second to none, from Hong Kong to LA, in terms of style, views and overall quality of design and finish. This assertion is made in a matter of fact way by Lisa Ronson, head of marketing at The Heron’s mothership, Heron International, and [...]
AstraZeneca agrees to pay £500m in HMRC settlement February 23, 2010 ASTRAZENECA has paid Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) £505m to settle a tax dispute. The Anglo-Swedish drugs company owes the government over so-called transfer pricing – the price at which a group sells goods or services from one section to another. Astra will pay £350m next month and a second installment of £155m in [...]
Ocado denies problem with upcoming IPO February 15, 2010 ONLINE groceries firm Ocado hit back last night at reports its £1.2bn initial public offering (IPO) was under threat. The shadow of doubt was cast after reports emerged Waitrose is planning to launch a rival delivery service in central London. But Ocado chief financial officer Andrew Bracey told City A.M. the firms are not in [...]
We will soon find out whether the Bank is right February 14, 2010 AMERICAN markets are closed today for Presidents Day but that does obviously not equate to nap time for London traders. With an exceptionally busy economic calendar, this should be a very active week for everybody in the UK. Some of the big, potentially market moving releases include consumer prices, employment numbers, retail sales and the [...]
Clegg calls for break-up of biggest City banks January 11, 2010 LIBERAL Democrat leader Nick Clegg will try to break up large banks like Barclays and HSBC if he finds himself in government after the next election. “The age of universal banking has to come to an end,” Clegg said as he launched his general election campaign yesterday. Asked if he was making an implicit threat [...]
Hornby sales back in the fast lane January 24, 2010 THE popularity of Scalextric sets helped to put toymaker Hornby’s sales into the fast lane over Christmas. Hornby said the racing game had received a boost after current Formula One grand prix teams were introduced. Toys from Disney/Pixar’s Cars has also helped to fuel the sales rise. The company said demand for its brands from [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 3, 2010 GLG Partners The asset management group has appointed Raffaele Costa as its new co-head of marketing. Costa, 40, has worked at GLG since it was founded in 1995, when he joined as a portfolio manager specialising in US and European equities. Prior to that, he was at Goldman Sachs. Costa will now work alongside co-chief executive [...]