Where country piles come grand …and affordable July 7, 2011 A 40-bedroom castle, supposedly haunted as well as being a 2005 location for Doctor Who, is on the market for £1.5m. Sure, there may be ghosts roaming its hallowed halls, but by any standard, Craig y Nos Castle, in the Upper Swansea Valley, is going for a song. To anyone used to London prices, the [...]
Aegis snaps up MediaVest in £95m deal July 11, 2011 LONDON-LISTED marketing group Aegis has bought media planning and buying agency MediaVest, in a deal valued at about £95m. The communications firm has acquired 75 per cent of the company and has an option to buy the remaining 25 per cent it does not own from 2016. Aegis paid an initial £27m, which gives consideration [...]
It is time to investigate your options for financing your commercial needs September 15, 2011 HEAD OF TRADE AND WORKING CAPITAL, UK AND IRELAND, BARCLAYS CORPORATE IN THE current economic climate, efficient cash flow management must be at the top of the agenda for UK small and medium enterprises (SMEs). With the slowdown in the economy and increasingly high inflation, cashflow suffers, as customers take longer to pay their bills. [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 31, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES TOBACCO TRADE GROUP CHIEF QUITS The head of the UK tobacco industry’s main trade body has resigned after failing to persuade the coalition government to rescind anti-tobacco measures introduced under Labour. Christopher Ogden will step down in October following a review of the organisation’s structure initiated by its members, British American Tobacco, Imperial [...]
Virgin could prefer Rock bid to Lloyds July 11, 2011 VIRGIN Money has submitted a bid for some 600 branches being sold by Lloyds, but could drop the offer after it sees Northern Rock’s sales document this week, City A.M. has learned. The information memorandum detailing the Rock assets on sale is due “imminently”, according to a source familiar with the situation, after George Osborne [...]
PROPERTY NEWS January 20, 2011 HYDE PARK PROPERTY FLOURISHING Over 55 per cent of the mega-luxe, much-hyped Hyde Park development the Lancasters (competing with the even-more hyped One Hyde Park), has been sold in advance of its opening in June, making developers Northacre the second best performing retail stock in Europe. Klas Nilsson, Northacre’s chairman, puts this down to “a [...]
Relief over debt deal is short-lived August 1, 2011 It didn’t take long for the relief caused by Sunday evening’s US debt plan to dissipate. First, there’s the dawning realisation that the plan itself, passed by the House late last night, is unlikely to help the US avoid some sort of debt downgrade. Nor is it likely to repair the wounds caused by weeks [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 1, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES SUPER RICH TO GET NEW LONDON ADDRESS A leading European hedge fund is preparing to build one of London’s most expensive housing developments as global investors scramble to gain a foothold in the capital’s resurgent residential market. In a deal completed over the weekend, Orion Capital Managers acquired an acre of prime residential [...]
Public sector borrowing at £14bn in June July 21, 2011 RISING government spending saw public borrowing hit £14bn last month, official figures unveiled yesterday showed. Public sector net borrowing (PSNB) was up £300m from the same time last year, and “about £1.5bn above market expectations”, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). Central government spending was £51.96bn in June – up from £49.54bn in [...]
Public sector borrowing at £14bn in June July 21, 2011 RISING government spending saw public borrowing hit £14bn last month, official figures unveiled yesterday showed. Public sector net borrowing (PSNB) was up £300m from the same time last year, and “about £1.5bn above market expectations”, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). Central government spending was £51.96bn in June – up from £49.54bn in [...]