No World Cup magic June 10, 2010 WITH the start of the World Cup just days away, fans have been splashing out on flat-screen TVs. It’s strange then that the bigger-than-expected slump in Argos revenues was driven by weak TV sales. If the catalogue retailer can’t shift tellys in the run up to the year’s biggest sporting event, when can it? This [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 24, 2010 Hogan Lovells The law firm has boosted its banking team by hiring Stuart Brinkworth from rival SJ Berwin. Brinkworth is a partner at SJ Berwin, where he specialises in leveraged buy-outs, public bids, trade purchases and recapitalisations. He recently acted on key deals including advising lenders to Manchester City FC in connection with the £210m [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 24, 2010 Hogan Lovells The law firm has boosted its banking team by hiring Stuart Brinkworth from rival SJ Berwin. Brinkworth is a partner at SJ Berwin, where he specialises in leveraged buy-outs, public bids, trade purchases and recapitalisations. He recently acted on key deals including advising lenders to Manchester City FC in connection with the £210m [...]
DSG cashes in on World Cup May 13, 2010 Currys and PC World owner DSG yesterday said TV sales ahead of the football World Cup had fuelled a six per cent rise in group sales in the 28 weeks to 1 May. Europe’s second-biggest electricals retailer faces stiff competition from Best Buy which opened its first UK store this month in Thurrock, Essex. DSG [...]
Former Matalan boss joins Hut April 15, 2010 Angus Monro, the former Matalan chief executive is to join the board of online retailer The Hut Group. Monro is already among a list who have invested in the company, including fund managers Artemis and William Currie, and technology venture capital group Balderton Capital. Hut Group has been earmarked as the UK’s fastest growing online [...]
GOODHART: IF I WERE ON TODAY’S MPC, I’D WANT TO BE PUT TO SLEEP August 3, 2010 ATTENDEES at the London School of Economics’ (LSE) monetary policy conference yesterday morning were treated to an A-list talking heads line-up, with former members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) Sir John Gieve and Charles Goodhart joining Fitch Ratings’ Brian Coulton to discuss interest rates. Unfortunately, the audience was not about to flatter its illustrious [...]
Not flashy, but still good July 19, 2010 The Capital 22 Basil Street, SW3 1AT Tel: 020 7591 1202 FOOD SERVICE ATMOSPHERE Cost per person without wine: £50 IT’S all happening in Knightsbridge. Pierre Koffman, the cook who dazzled Eighties London with La Tante Clare and Noughties London with last year’s pop-up restaurant on the roof of Selfridges, has just opened an eponymous [...]
OUT OF OFFICE April 28, 2010 SAMSONITE POP-UP AT HARRODS Call yourself a travel buff? Like a good suitcase as you swish through the business lounge at Heathrow? Then pop along to Harrods where this massive luggage brand is celebrating its centenary with a showcase of the brand’s evolution, from rare vintage cases, collectors’ items from the 20s and 30s through [...]
Comet sales fall but retailer keeps grip on market share May 12, 2010 COMET maintained its market share in the first four months of the year despite a fall in sales, its parent company Kesa said yesterday. The electrical goods company, which saw like-for-like sales fall four per cent, is facing increased competition from Currys – owned by DSG International – while American chain BestBuy has launched a new [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 24, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES AIA CHIEF IN THREAT TO QUIT OVER PRU DEAL AIA’s chief executive has told friends and industry executives that he would quit if the UK’s Prudential succeeded in its $35.5bn (£24.6bn) takeover of the Asian businesses of AIG. Mark Wilson has said he would step down once the deal closed because the proposed [...]