For much of the period since the end of the summer, I have been travelling around the world for my exciting but demanding job. I have been to Brazil, China, twice, once on a very long trip, Hong Kong, Singapore, Turkey and to many places in Europe. One constant surprise for me is the emotional state of the discussions I encounter about the health of the UK economy.
Vodafone is experimenting with a new system that enables business customers to pay a premium for priority access to the network during peak times.
When Gap, the clothing store, held a “one day only” sale for four out of seven days this month, it set the tone for this year’s all-important Black Friday sales in America.
Landlords of Blacks Leisure, the outdoor clothing retailer that owns Millets, are expected to vote today in favour of a deal that would save 5,000 jobs.
Investors in a hedge fund run by one of the sector’s biggest hitters have reacted angrily after it was put into liquidation by the managers, leaving them to pay the winding-up costs.
Lloyds Banking Group is in talks with Execution, the stockbroker, about building a sizeable presence in the UK equity-broking market. Discussions are at an early stage, but it is thought that a deal could create a joint venture.
Confidence among British businesses has risen to a six-year high, a new survey suggests today, boosting hopes that the recession is over.
The Christmas lights are being switched on, signalling for many the start of a festive shopping season that, after a turbulent year, could not have come early enough for retailers. As companies seek new ways to grab the consumer’s attention and re-ignite their desire to spend, the high street is seeing mainstream brands embrace the phenomenon of pop-up shops.
You can’t help but notice. The first Christmas without a single Woolworths on the high street for 100 years has sparked a fierce scrap among retailers for the £1.7 billion that the one-time Woolies customer has to spend.
There are an estimated three million golfers in the UK, and this year more than 100,000 of them will have booked a golfing holiday online with Your Golf Travel (YGF).
A scarcity of private sector construction contracts contributed to a decline of nearly 20 per cent in the number of new commercial developments begun last month.
He is certainly ambitious. Not content with PricewaterhouseCoopers being Britain’s biggest professional services group, Ian Powell, its chairman and senior partner, wants it to be heard and admired beyond the sector, influencing policy and setting practices for others to follow. He doesn’t just want it to be big — he wants it to be “iconic”.
The biggest insider-trading inquiry in France will reach its climax today as the cream of Europe’s aerospace industry makes a last-ditch effort to avoid fines running to millions of euros.
The Director-General of the CBI will say today that businesses in Britain are set for the biggest root-and-branch shake-up in more than a decade.
Kraft Foods, the US food giant at the centre of a £9.8 billion takeover struggle for Cadbury, was last night considering raising its offer for the chocolate maker if a rival offer emerges.
The future of National Express could be decided this week by short-selling hedge funds and the banks that have lent them 18 per cent of its stock, in what will be seen as a key test for shareholder democracy.
Thames Water, Britain’s largest water company, is set to square up to Ofwat as the industry regulator unveils price controls that could cost the industry up to £1 billion in fines.
Woolworths could return to the high street under a plan by Shop Direct group, the owner of Littlewoods, to establish a chain of 200 stores.
How long is too long? “Well, there is a limit, depending on circumstances,” admits Graham Mackay, slowly. It has been 12 years since he became boss of SAB Miller — 10 years since he listed the firm in London. Back then, it was just plain old South African Breweries. Now it is a global beer giant, with £15 billion revenues and brands such as Peroni, Grolsch and Miller Lite under its belt.
The word “nutter” and Bank of England are only occasionally used in the same sentence. It was used soon after Bank independence in 1997 when Diane Abbott, the Labour MP, accused the governor, then Eddie George, of being an inflation nutter.
It is time for Roger Carr, chairman of Cadbury, to get on the front foot. The group is beginning to look more like a victim in this drawn-out bid battle waged by Kraft than the iconic international confectioner that it is.
GATWICK’S new owners have gone into orbit in their hunt for a board for the London airport. They are understood to have hired James van Hoften, a former astronaut who runs the airports business of Bechtel, the American engineering giant.
WATER bosses have warned they will be forced to cut thousands of jobs if Ofwat, the regulator, pushes ahead with its tough price review.
CONCORDE may have to leave Heathrow, its spiritual home, because British Airways is struggling to find space to put it on display.
MILLIONS of bank customers will be in line for payouts totalling up to £6 billion if a Supreme Court judgment on current account charges goes against the banks this week.