House prices to rise in 2010 December 21, 2009 HOUSE prices will continue to creep up in the New Year but end next year just one to two per cent higher than where they are now, according to new research published today. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) predicts that the housing market will revive, with transactions rising to a monthly average of [...]
PwC fights to get cash for FlyGlobespan January 5, 2010 ADMINISTRATORS of collapsed Scottish airline FlyGlobespan are taking legal action against a firm responsible for the carrier’s online ticket sales. PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is pressing ahead with a High Court petition filed around the time when the airline entered administration last month to force E-Clear to reveal whether it holds £35m withheld from the carrier. A [...]
Commodities and banking stocks lead Santa Claus rally December 21, 2009 BRITAIN’S top share index closed sharply higher in thin pre-Christmas trading yesterday, buoyed by commodity stocks on firmer metals and crude prices and a rally in banking equities. The FTSE 100 index ended up 97.18 points, or 1.9 per cent, at 5,293.99, posting its biggest one-day percentage gain since 1 December, with trading volumes just [...]
3i sits pretty on cash pile as M&A returns January 28, 2010 LISTED buyout titan 3i said it was entering 2010 with “increased firepower” for new acquisitions as it reported a drop in disposals and investment activity yesterday. The group raised £270m from realisations in the third quarter, bringing the nine-month total to £777m – below the sum of £942m generated in 2008. Net cash inflow of [...]
Golden girls are back on the glory trail February 7, 2010 NICOLA Minichiello set her sights on Olympic gold the moment the curtain fell on the 2006 Turin Games – but with her day of destiny looming the bobsleigh star is lucky to be seeing at all. The 31-year-old former heptathlete, and partner Gillian Cooke, looked nailed on for a podium place in Vancouver after storming [...]
BA set for fresh spat on pensions December 21, 2009 BRITISH Airways is on a fresh collision course with union leaders over plans to address the gaping deficit in its retirement scheme, experts warn. The troubled airline has until June to agree a solution with its trustees to the £3.7bn shortfall in its two defined benefit funds, which together cover around 100,000 retired and working [...]
BA in fresh talks with its unions December 16, 2009 BRITISH Airways (BA) will find out today whether its bid to block a devastating 12-day Christmas strike in the courts has been successful. The decision comes after the airline reopened talks with its unions yesterday, following the admission by Unite boss Derek Simpson that the length of the strike was “over the top”. Bruce Carr [...]
Family time or fun in the sun for Xmas? November 10, 2009 VEXED IN THE CITYSOLVING YOUR RECESSION PROBLEMS DEAR VEXED: I’ve been with my new girlfriend for six months and I’m absolutely mad about her. I planned to take her away for a surprise blast of Caribbean sun over Christmas – I’ve even put down a deposit on a room in a gorgeous hotel in Turks [...]
Denman set for Aon showdown November 29, 2009 CHAMPION chaser Denman will prepare for the Cheltenham Gold Cup by running in February’s Aon Chase at Newbury instead of heading to Ireland for the Lexus Chase. The Paul Nicholls-trained nine-year-old galloped to a sensational Hennessy Gold Cup win at Newbury on Saturday and will now be giving a well-earned break, sitting out the Christmas [...]
OUT OF OFFICE December 14, 2009 BOO SAVILLE British artist Boo Saville has created a collection of prints that should be unsettling but are actually calming and contemplative – and quite beautiful. Her Ghost series works from images of dead bodies that Saville has found in books and the internet, but she lifts and changes the images through drawing and burning [...]