Posted by William C on January 19th, 2012
It is the addictive email phone that became a must-have for high flying executives. But service outages and failure to keep up with the iPhone mean the BlackBerry’s popularity is waning and its creators have paid the price.
Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie have stepped down from their roles as co-chief executives and co-chairs of Research in Motion, the Canadian company they brought to international prominence by inventing the first successful smart phone, years before Apple appeared on the telecoms stage.
Hoping to pacify investors horrified at the 88% decline in RIM’s share price since its $148 peak in June 2008, the board has named long-serving chief operating officer and former Siemens employee Thorsten Heins as chief executive.
“As with any company that has grown as fast as we have, there have been inevitable growing pains,” said Heins in a statement. Read Full Post…
Posted by James Campos on January 17th, 2012
I just spent the last six days on the road for work. I do not like business travel. Anything that takes me away from my family is not my first choice. Having said that, I get to do work that I truly love and enjoy so it makes it easer to crank thru the weekend and into the work week from the road. This trip caused me to learn and think a lot about what is going on in business, entrepreneurship, technology and the economy of America.
I’m inspired.
I started the trip in a small town in Southern Utah called Cedar City. Cedar City is a beautiful place. Many of you know it due to the proximity (about an hour away) to world famous Zions National Park and other great natural beauties that this part of the state has to offer. T
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Posted by Margaret Gerber on January 13th, 2012
Public education could contribute to Connecticut’s economy more than it already does, a prominent economist and the president of the University of Connecticut told an audience of 600 people at the annual Connecticut and Business Industry Association/MetroHartford Alliance economy summit.
UConn President Susan Herbst said there was a time when universities thought their economic contribution was as an employer and through spending by out-of-town parents on visits.
But now, she said, they understand that investments in science and engineering are major economic engines.
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Posted by Margaret Gerber on January 10th, 2012
It happens everyday. Well-prepared entrepreneurs are walking into the banks with brilliant business ideas backed by well developed business plans and are walking out empty-handed. Many of these professionals are ultimately able to obtain small business financing from private lenders, such as Tom McKenzie, through business capital brokers such as Lil Sawyer.
For individuals who do not want to give up a certain percentage ownership in the business as is often required by venture capitalists and deal with angel investors who may demand a board position or significant day-to-day control, the private lender may be a small business financing alternative worth considering.
On the whole, when it comes to small business financing, private lenders are looking for the same information and will conduct a similar due diligence as the banks to make a positive funding decision.
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Posted by William C on January 8th, 2012
THE Grange Hotel in York has launched a new short break package to coincide with new TV drama Eternal Law, the first episode of which was shown on ITV on Thursday.
The Eternal City Break, created by The Grange Hotel, on Bootham, aims to attract viewers who are expected to tune into the drama, by the writers of Life On Mars, in their millions.
It includes a one-day York Pass, which gives free admission to many of the attractions featured in Eternal Law, and an exclusive Locations Information Sheet, which highlights other films and TV series which have been shot in York.
Comments(23)
The Mc says…
9:44am Sat 7 Jan 12
And what a load of crap that programme turned out to be….. And what a load of crap that programme turned out to be….. The Mc
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Posted by James Campos on January 7th, 2012
Today is no ordinary Monday — it’s 7/11, the unofficial birthday of the 7-Eleven convenience store chain and Free Slurpee Day.
The largest chain of convenience stores, with over 40,000 locations worldwide, 7-Eleven will be giving out 5 million free, 7.11-ounce servings of its famed Slurpees all day long. Droves of Slurpee devotees and newcomers are expected to flood stores, filling their cups with the flavor of their choice then happily skipping the checkout line on their way out.
So will giving out free Slurpees hurt 7-Eleven’s sales? The statistics say no. Last year, Slurpee sales increased 38 percent on Free Slurpee Day. Read Full Post…
Posted by James Campos on January 4th, 2012
Mergers and acquisition activity in pubs, bars and restaurants is likely to surge in 2012, according to new research from the business advisory consultancy, BDO.
Head of restaurants and bars at BDO, David Campbell, said that they expect to see many private equity companies looking to cash in on consumers continuing to eat out.
“Eating out has been relatively unaffected in the consumer downturn and we see casual dining continuing to grow,” Campbell told the Financial Times. “With banks looking to offload pub assets and a number of profitable restaurant chains approaching the point where we would expect an ownership change, the market is ripe for M&A activity.”
He said that many companies will be looking to invest in restaurant chains and outlets in 2012, as they anticipate an easing of consumer spending in 2013. Campbell predicted that major high street chains including Pizza Express and Yo! Sushi c
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