Growth in China on the cards at Boots November 7, 2010 HIGH STREET health and beauty retailer Boots hopes to make headway in China when its executive chairman travels to the country as part of David Cameron’s first official visit as Prime Minister. Stefano Pessina has reportedly organised talks with potential partners in Beijing and Shanghai while he is in the country, as part of a [...]
ECONOMIC WEEK HEAD August 30, 2010 IT IS a busy week for the markets crammed with the usual start-of-the month economic data releases. The most eagerly awaited of these will be from the US. Manufacturing data out on Wednesday and Friday’s US non-farm payrolls figures are crucial pieces of the jig saw of US growth. Fears about the economy stepped up [...]
More than Voho, darling: Vauxhall is in for an overhaul September 23, 2010 SANDWICHED between the South Bank and the Battersea waterfront, it was never going to be long before Vauxhall took off. Until now Vauxhall has traded on two cards: “Voho” – Gayer Soho – and housing London’s politicos. However, this week’s launch of St George Wharf, more commonly known simply as The Tower, is a sign [...]
PROPERTY NEWS August 26, 2010 BACK TO THE BOOM YEARS FOR PUTNEY The property boom years are back, at least in Putney. An eight-bedroom house in Heathview Gardens has just sold for £5.3m, one of the highest prices ever paid for a property in SW15. Russell White, franchisee of Winkworth Putney who handled the sale, said: “The Putney sales market [...]
The seaside bohemia that’s in your backyard September 16, 2010 EVEN the most devoted Londoners can tire of the big smoke – especially those raising families. But rather than heading to established commuter havens in Kent, Hampshire and Hertfordshire to pursue your pastoral dream, you could do far worse than consider Brighton. It’s cheaper, cheerful and offers a totally unique combination of sea, beautiful countryside [...]
House of Fraser to revitalise Swinging Sixties brand Biba September 5, 2010 DEPARTMENT store House of Fraser is this week set to breathe new life back into Biba, the cult clothing brand which defined the 1960s. Biba, which will now be fronted by model Daisy Lowe, is to relaunch on Wednesday at the group’s Oxford Street store, featuring leopard print, faux-fur and denim clothing, party frocks and [...]
UK housing market shows more signs of stabilisation as prices surge in July August 5, 2009 HOUSE prices in Britain rose 1.1 per cent in July in the latest sign of growing stability in the property market, data from Halifax showed yesterday. The mortgage lender reported that in the three months to July, house prices jumped 0.8 per cent, the first rise on a quarterly basis since October 2007. The rise [...]
Rise in house prices grinds to sharp halt August 10, 2010 THERE was further proof that the property market is cooling down yesterday, after government figures showed house prices were flat on the month in June. Figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) showed that seasonally adjusted average prices were unchanged across the UK in June. That cut the annual rate of increase [...]
Facebook couldn’t have been British October 18, 2010 IT is simply untrue that Britain doesn’t produce any wealth and job creating entrepreneurs any more. Take some of the stories in today’s City A.M.; they demonstrate that Britain retains a vibrant start-up and growth culture. Hugh Willis, 50, and Mark Poole, 49, who founded BlueBay in 2001, are today each £82m richer after they [...]
Unloved, unowned but undervalued: Emerging Europe shakes off its past October 19, 2010 SANDWICHED between the bright stars of emerging Asia and the fading light of the West lies Eastern Europe, an investment destination that is often forgotten and perennially unfashionable. This is partly because the region has struggled to shake off its Soviet legacy – at least in the minds of Western investors it is still tainted [...]