DATABANK INSIDE the CITY SABAH MEDDINGS the WEEK in the MARKETS the ECONOMY Consumer Prices Index Current Rate Prev

10 The Sunday Times February 28, 2021 BUSINESS Jamie Nimmo BEN GURR FOR THE TIMES; DAVID CANNON says up to £7 million will be and patience, qualities that Arora’s drive for fees spent on the club this year. Knight Frank: women are known for FUNNY BUSINESS “You will get the odd person seeking Ruperta having.” Anyone hoping for who’s unhappy,” he sighs. female empathy as they riles Bucks golfers The property industry has inquire about buying the been working hard to clean lavish piles in the magazine Are times really that hard for scrapping its cheaper five- English blip on up its image in the wake of will be disappointed, though. Surinder Arora’s empire? day membership and the Presidents Club scandal. On the next page, there is a When he bought the cranking up annual fees — to equality tsar’s CV Cue Knight Frank’s Country list of contacts: only two of Buckinghamshire Golf Club £5,000 from April, £6,500 Jess Butcher is used to ups View magazine, which the 32 are women. in 2018, the billionaire next year and £7,500 the and downs as a digital includes an interview with a Knight Frank insists the hotelier promised not to “do year after. The joining fee is entrepreneur. The new female partner who claims: list is not representative of a Wentworth” — a reference going up to £5,000, then will equality commissioner was a “Gender balance is very the business, but admits it to the Surrey course’s new rise “over time” to £10,000. co-founder of augmented- important to Knight Frank. still has work to do. Indeed: Chinese owner, whose plan One member says it is reality start-up Blippar, When the main drivers to the at one point it was said the to jack up fees sparked fury “bizarre” fees are rising when which had to be rescued by market are the result of agency had more partners among members such as Sir the club has largely been shut property developer Nick difficult and potentially called Rupert than women. Michael Parkinson. Whoops! for a year. Another fumes: Candy after going into upsetting life changes, what’s An irate Bucks golfer “The heart and soul of our administration in 2019. But often needed is someone on forwards Prufrock a letter club is being ripped out so it there’s one venture that side with plenty of empathy Bookseller’s sent by general manager Ben can be used exclusively by a doesn’t make it onto her CV. Ludwell last week that could billionaire and his friends.” While at Oxford University Darwinian win put Arora in the rough. Ouch. Arora, 62, and his in 1999, she co-founded a Buoyed by a surge in demand After some preamble family are valued at almost website called One England. — not least to pep up Zoom about “increased service £1.3 billion in The Sunday Butcher, 43, tells Prufrock backgrounds during the TWITTER POLL levels and improved golf Times Rich List — though the that the site was supposed to pandemic — bookseller Yes No course conditions”, Ludwell pandemic has not been kind be a “positive place to talk William Pryor is raising cut to the chase: the club is to his empire. The founder Surinder Arora is in the rough over membership price rises about a modern, progressive, funds. The owner of multicultural England”. Bookbarn International, 29% 71% 6 Has the pensions watchdog finally answered one of the However, a Prufrock mole which has more than a great questions of our time? Observers wondered whether it JUST SAYING . suggests that while One million second-hand titles in would have pushed for Sir Philip Green to lose his knighthood England struggled to take off, a barn in Somerset, is looking had he not finally paid £363 million into the BHS pension it did gain unfortunate to raise £250,000 via a scheme in 2017, a year after the department store collapsed. Covid-19 represents a tiny traction in far-right circles crowdfunding campaign, Last week, the Pensions Regulator quietly revealed its key proportion of our profits. All the thanks to its name — valuing it at £2.5 million, with role in stripping Patrick McLarry, boss of Yateley Industries something Butcher denies. a further £750,000 planned. for the Disabled, of his MBE. The regulator said it gave reasons for not paying a dividend She says the site folded Pryor, 76, who is a great- Goldman Sachs’ boss evidence to the honours committee about McLarry, 72, who have gone within a month or two. “It great-grandson of Charles called WFH an “aberration” was jailed for using pension scheme funds to buy property failed spectacularly to attract Darwin, has one eye on a — but HSBC and Lloyds are and invest in an antiques business owned by his wife. While Serco chief Rupert Soames on the any readership,” she says, float in the near future. He’ll slashing office space. there was no crime committed in the BHS scandal, if Green outsourcer’s decision to resume payouts “let alone from any particular soon learn that in the City, it Is the office dead? hadn’t coughed up he might have reverted to being plain Phil. political persuasion.” Jess Butcher: dotcom flop really is survival of the fittest. @ST_Business DATABANK INSIDE THE CITY SABAH MEDDINGS THE WEEK IN THE MARKETS THE ECONOMY Consumer prices index current rate prev. month FTSE 100 DOLLAR Johnson has said schools will which have recovered 70 per FTSE 100 USD > GBP 0.7% 0.6% be able to reopen on March 8, cent since their October low. CPI including housing current rate prev. month Bite back 7,000 meaning parents might soon Despite the rally, they are still $1.39 0.9% 0.8% be tempted to go out for a 30 per cent below their pre- 6,500 V 0.01 into M&S’s lunchtime bite. They will not pandemic level, closing on 12-month high: $1.41 Retail prices index current rate prev. month low: $1.15 be able to eat indoors at cafés Friday at 152p to value the 6,000 1.4% 1.2% or restaurants until at least company at £799.8 million. EURO sandwich 6,483.43 Average weekly earnings on prev. month on last year EUR > GBP May 17, so M&S or Tesco Pasty rival Greggs is now 140.59 H: 7,042.5 5,500 producer might be their only options. trading on multiples similar 2.12% L: 4,993.9 £571 U 0.5% U 4.7% Unemployment current rate prev. month Although the longer-term to 2019 levels, but Greencore 5,000 €1.15 shift to working from home has not jumped so high on FTSE 250 V 0.01 12-month high: €1.19 1.74m 5.1% 5.0% After a coronavirus outbreak means inner-city sales will the back of the rapid vaccine 2020 2021 low: €1.06 Source: Thomson Reuters Eikon Manufacturing output on the year on last month halted production of Marks & take time to rebound, roll-out. Its broker, Shore, YEN RISERS FALLERS Spencer sandwiches at a neighbourhood food outlets believes this makes it V 2.5% 0.3% Hammerson: 26.1p U 26.4% on budget Scottish Mortgage IT: £11.35 V 15.7% on YEN > USD U factory in Northampton last will remain busy. undervalued, and says the support hopes Rank Group: 177.2p tech sell-off Edinburgh Worldwide IT: Retail sales on the year on last month August, customers took to Greencore’s products are firm is at the “darkest stage U 24.4% on sentiment Cineworld: 98.2p 350.5p V 14.3% on tech sell-off Ocado: Twitter to complain. stocked at supermarkets but before a quick brightening of U 21.5% on pandemic optimism Tui: £22 V 14% on Covid easing Allianz Tech ¥106.55 V 5.9% V 8.2% 20,910.37 431.8p U 21% on lockdown relaxation Trust: £27.45 V 13.9% on tech sell-off U 1.12 “Why have M&S stopped it is also increasing its trade the commercial sky”. hopes EasyJet: 985.6p U 18.6% on Baillie Gifford US Growth: 324pV 12.9% 12-month high: ¥111.21 125.59 H:21,418.9 low: ¥102.34 selling sandwiches at Salford with cafés. It inherited Caffè It has certainly been a dark 0.60% L:12,829.7 vaccination progress on tech sell-off Source: Refinitiv/AJ Bell UK trade latest 3 mths prev. 3 mths latest 12 mths hospital?” griped one. Nero as a customer when it 12 months. In November, OIL balance (£bn) -17.52 -3.90 -9.57 This was more than a mere bought part of Adelie Foods — Greencore announced that DOLLARS/BARREL DOW JONES FTSE EUROFIRST Gross domestic latest quarter prev. quarter annual change PR problem for Greencore, which was Britain’s third- adjusted pre-tax profits for HANG SENG product the FTSE 250 company that biggest sandwich maker — out the year to September 25 had 30,932.37 28,980.21 1,559.48 $64.42 U 1% U 16.1% V 7.8% 1.51 churned out 700 million of administration. plunged from £92.3 million to 561.95 H:31,961.9 1,664.52 H:31,084.9 38.34 H:1,615.6 U Budget deficit latest month prev. month year-to-date 1.78% L:18,591.9 5.43% L:21,696.1 2.40% L:1,096.5 12-month high: $67.70 (PSNB) in £bn sandwiches for M&S and Recent optimism has £17.3 million on sales down low: $15.98 -8.8 -26.8 -270.6 others last year.

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