NEWS in Brief
There was much excitement amongst students this week, following the announcement that an Ann Summers store is soon to open in the Clarendon Centre, writes Natalie Toms.
The shop is due to stock a selection of lingerie, sex toys and 'erotic accessories'. Ann Summers parties have long been popular events in Oxford, with recent successes held by J-Soc and Teddy Hall JCR.
Despite surveys showing that less sex is had in Oxford than any other University in the country, most students welcomed the introduction of the store. OUSU VP (Women), Mel Marshall, was however one of many women who derided the stores merchandise as "cheap and tacky", believing that the shop would most likely be full of men buying comedy birthday presents.
Whilst other retailers have suffered huge losses over the past year, Ann Summers profits have risen by 65%.
PowderJect, the needle-free injection and vaccine company spun out of research at Oxford University in the early 1990s, is set to be bought by US pharmaceuticals group Chiron for over half a billion dollars, which will yield a windfall of over £100 for the Drayson family which holds the major stake. Brian Bellhouse, the brains behind the company's needle-less injection technology, will pocket £20m for his 3.6% stake, whilst his son-in-law Paul Drayson, who is Chief Executive, will pocket over £40m. Drayson has courted controversy in the past. He is a major donor to the Labour Party, whose decision to award the company a £32m smallpox vaccine contract was widely condemned due to this.
22nd May 2003