Internet firms warn of online sales tax risk July 21, 2013 A GROUP of leading online retailers has hit out against calls from some bricks and mortar retailers for a new online tax to level the playing field, condemning such a move as “nonsense” and a risk to jobs and growth of small businesses. In a letter sent to the chancellor George Osborne, the chief executives [...]
Panmure says goodbye to Dorgan July 22, 2013 PANMURE Gordon has said goodbye to the well-known retail analyst Philip Dorgan, after making him redundant last week. Dorgan is not normally known for biting his tongue – he famously said in advance of the Ocado initial public offering three years ago that the shop: “Begins with an O, ends with an O, and is [...]
Inside Track: London is ready and waiting for the Royal Mail flotation September 24, 2013 THE FORTHCOMING privatisation of Royal Mail is the biggest post-financial crisis test so far of the market for new issues in London, which was virtually closed for business just a couple of years ago. In the years following the financial crisis, London became a notoriously difficult place on which to list shares in a new [...]
Grocer Ocado dismisses loan breach fears November 18, 2012 OCADO, the online grocery shop, yesterday brushed off market speculation that it is seeking to renegotiate its debt covenants with its lenders, saying there was “no threat” it would breach its covenants. A weekend report suggested the online supermarket, which floated to much fanfare in 2010, was seeking to reset its debt or extend the [...]
The unlikely bedfellows driving a cab revolution November 24, 2013 Annabel Palmer talks taxis with Russell Hall and Ron Zeghibe, two of the founders behind Hailo IN 1639, a licence was granted to the Corporation of Coachmen, allowing its members to compete with the then-dominant licensed sedan chairs. Today, there are over 23,000 licensed taxi drivers in London. They’ve become a British institution – described [...]
Discovering the entrepreneurial spirit behind Argentine wine November 24, 2013 Laura Ivill travels to Mendoza in Argentina to experience the wine-making journey from humble grape to fine-dining staple DRAW a line on the map from the bustling streets of Buenos Aires west across Argentina’s interior and you reach the soaring 6,000-metre peaks of the Andes. In the foothills, the low-rise sprawling city of Mendoza lends [...]
Ocado investors prop up £36m capital raising November 19, 2012 OCADO’S shareholders ploughed more money into the online grocery chain yesterday to support a £36m placing that will keep the firm financially stable for at least 18 months. Existing shareholders including Jorn Rausing of the Tetra Pak dynasty and Ocado’s management team took up around 19 per cent of the shares placed, in line with [...]
Ocado delivers on its debts but profits aren’t in the bag November 19, 2012 BEFORE anyone gets too excited about Ocado’s share price rising by more than a fifth yesterday, the troubled online grocer is still trading at less than half its original float price of 180p, which was itself at the bottom of the hoped-for range back in 2010. Yesterday’s raising of £35.8m staved off Ocado’s most immediate [...]
The former trader hailing in a new way to book your minicab August 18, 2013 Annabel Palmer talks getting about town with Justin Peters, founder of minicab price comparison website Kabbee OUR City’s cabbies have been hit hard by the recession. London residents’ trips by licensed taxis and private hire vehicles (combined) fell by an estimated 23 per cent between the 2007-08 and 2008-09 financial years – and have [...]
Ocado blames slowdown on Olympic effect September 20, 2012 OCADO yesterday blamed a slowdown in sales on the disruption caused by the Jubilee and this summer’s sporting events, but said it expects sales to pick up in the last quarter of the year. The online supermarket said sales rose 9.9 per cent to £163m in the 12 weeks to 5 August, down from first-half [...]