WH Smith boss Kate Swann to leave retailer October 11, 2012 WH Smith yesterday announced Kate Swann is to step down as chief executive next year after heading the retailer for almost a decade. Swann will hand over the reins to Steve Clarke, managing director of the group’s high street division, next July after overseeing its crucial Christmas period and ensuring “a smooth transition” of the [...]
Taking a long view: Radical ideas for the Conservative’s manifesto October 8, 2012 IF YOU’RE keen to catch sight of what the Conservative party might look like in a decade’s time, you should make your way to the Sonata room at the Hyatt Hotel in Birmingham at half past seven this evening. A fringe meeting there, organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs and the Free Enterprise Group [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 29, 2012 Lloyds Bank Matthew Packham has been appointed head of the trade, industrials and services sectors at Lloyds Wholesale Banking and Markets. He was previously regional director of the bank’s business support unit, and has also served as head of credit for Lloyds’ US structured finance and financial institutions business. Norton Rose Neil O’May has been [...]
Dixons plans to shut 40 shops as profits sink June 21, 2012 THE CHIEF executive of Dixons Retail said the group is planning to axe a further 40 stores on UK high streets as it reported a 17 per cent fall in pre-tax profits to £70.8m. Sebastian James, who replaced John Browett in February, said he intends to trim down its estate of 557 shops to about [...]
Dixons on track to make £160m bond repayment May 25, 2012 Europe’s second-biggest electrical goods retailer, said it was well placed to make a crucial £160m bond repayment this year and had agreed a new 300 million pound banking facility. Shares in the firm, which trades as Currys and PC World in the UK, rose seven per cent after it said it was on course to [...]
Olympic pie and mash for £8 as London Games menu revealed May 30, 2012 LONDON 2012 spectators will be charged £8 for fish and chips or pie and mash at this summer’s Olympic Games, with a 500m bottle of Coca-Cola to wash it down costing £2.30. The most expensive dishes on sale to the public will be the Singapore noodles and the lamb curry with rice, which are both [...]
Roast still does British cuisine (pretty) well July 2, 2012 RESTAURANT ROAST The Floral Hall, Stoney Street, SE1 1TL Tel: 0845 034 7300 FOOD *** SERVICE **** ATMOSPHERE *** Cost per person without wine: £45 Roast has been around for six years. There was a time when it was one of the foodiest restaurants in London, by which I mean the sort of place those [...]
Scandal is devastating blow to every bank July 1, 2012 IN THE bad old days of 2007 and 2008, at 11am each day, we’d wait with mounting anticipation for the London Interbank Offer Rate (Libor). Queues formed outside branches of Northern Rock, HBOS, RBS and Lloyds teetered on the edge of unsustainability, and we (foolishly) looked to Libor to tell us quite how bad things [...]
Dixons Retail beats forecasts with sales rise May 10, 2012 DIXONS RETAIL has shrugged off the high street gloom and managed to win over cash-strapped shoppers as the owner of Curry’s and PC World reported better-than-expected sales. The group, which runs 640 stores in the UK and Ireland as well as outlets across Europe, yesterday said improved customer service and better ranges of products had [...]
Obama is banking on Latino votes but the economy is the issue that unites June 20, 2012 THOSE expecting Barack Obama to provide a rousing campaign speech in Ohio were left disappointed. Instead, the President decided to make headlines the following day, issuing an executive order halting the deportation of illegal immigrants who meet certain criteria. It’s a move that may well have reinvigorated the President’s re-election prospects. Immigration is one of [...]