FTSE ends day flat on debt jitters as Vodafone rises and travel groups fall May 17, 2010 BRITAIN’S top shares ended flat yesterday as jitters over Europe’s debt eroded early gains, with miners weak on demand concerns and travel firms hit by the Icelandic ash cloud. The FTSE 100 closed down 0.3 points at 5,262.54 after it fell 3.1 per cent on Friday, punished by anxiety over the euro zone debt crisis. [...]
The doyenne of British fashion talks Ascot style May 13, 2010 GOD knows how I’ll manage to be in heels for Ascot,” says Amanda Wakeley, OBE for services to British fashion, savvy businesswoman and recent recipient of knee surgery following daredevil skiing. Something tells me that she’ll rock flats just fine. After all, her clothing line – which she learned to design the old fashioned way [...]
London & Stamford snaps up property from Lloyds May 10, 2010 LONDON & Stamford Properties has bought 16 distribution properties from a Warner Estate and Lloyds Banking Group joint venture for £208.5m. The Aim-listed property investor, formed in late 2007 to exploit steep discounts carved out during Britain’s recent property slump, bought the portfolio using a combination of existing cash resources and debt provided by the [...]
FOOD & BOOZE NEWS May 10, 2010 M. ROUX GOES TO WESTMINSTER As the post-election fall-out rolls on, Michel Roux Jr (below), chef patron of London’s most famous French restaurant and feared critic of Masterchef’s professionals edition has moved into politics – sort of. Yesterday saw the opening of the Le Gavroche maestro’s new project, Roux at Parliament Square, in a grand [...]
LONDON TURNS OUT IN FORCE TO WATCH FINAL ELECTION SHOWDOWN May 6, 2010 FITTINGLY for one of the most important elections in this country’s history, turnout smashed expectations yesterday – and we’re talking of the bars, pubs and restaurants of London, rather than of the polling stations. The City, eager to know what the next government will have in store for them, flocked to parties as the results [...]
ON IN LONDON | SIX OF THE BEST May 6, 2010 ART: Angela de la Cruz Head along to the Camden Arts Centre to decide for yourself whether de la Cruz, a painter who inflicts deliberate damage on her canvases, is worth her nomination for the Turner Prize as announced this week. THEATRE: Posh The Royal Court’s cracking show offers a satirical look inside the privileged [...]
Boots tops reputation poll as banks languish April 28, 2010 Alliance Boots knocked Marks & Spencer off the top spot, in a survey of company reputation. The Reputation Institute’s UK Pulse Report 2010 ranked retail brands highly but the list of 140 firms made torrid reading for the finance industry. Royal Bank of Scotland languished at 138, with Lloyds at 136 and Barclays at 129. [...]
FLASHING THE CASH IN THE CITY’S STRIP CLUBS April 27, 2010 FANS of this column’s Bill of the Week feature are in for a treat this week, as a second receipt dropped onto The Capitalist’s desk yesterday that was simply too juicy to stay under wraps until Monday. Feast your eyes on the gem to the right, which came from the Secrets table dancing club at [...]
Bribery law heralds welcome scrutiny April 27, 2010 EARLIER this month, the Bribery Act 2010 received its Royal Assent, and it is currently anticipated to be in force by the latter part of the year. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is on record as saying that the Act will greatly assist its efforts in combating corruption both here and overseas. Certainly, the act [...]
BACON TOP OF THE CROP OF RICH LIST HEDGIES April 22, 2010 IT’S been rich pickings indeed for the hedge fund community this year, if leaked information from the Sunday Times Rich List’s rundown of the wealthiest hedgies in town is anything to go by. Apart from two individuals whose wealth has stayed the same over the past year (Nat Rothschild at Atticus and Steven Heinz at [...]