We need a new entrepreneurial revolution to rescue Britain November 15, 2012 IT is all too easy to despair about everything that is wrong with Britain. But one ray of light is our slow-burning, yet increasingly profound shift towards becoming a more entrepreneurial society. Britain counts 4.8m private firms, 99.9 per cent of which are small to medium-sized businesses (SMEs). Most are micro businesses. The rise of [...]
Black Monday and why confidence is the key to revival October 18, 2012 TODAY is the twenty-fifth anniversary of Black Monday, when stock markets around the world spectacularly crashed and the FTSE 100 plunged from over 2,300 to depths of near 1,500. Although 1987 is long ago, and we’ve reasonably moved on to consider more recent financial disasters, Britain’s return to confidence then holds lessons for politicians and [...]
Black Monday and why confidence is the key to revival October 18, 2012 TODAY is the twenty-fifth anniversary of Black Monday, when stock markets around the world spectacularly crashed and the FTSE 100 plunged from over 2,300 to depths of near 1,500. Although 1987 is long ago, and we’ve reasonably moved on to consider more recent financial disasters, Britain’s return to confidence then holds lessons for politicians and [...]
Banks will protect your reputation in the online market October 17, 2012 PEOPLE are becoming increasingly empowered in their interactions with companies. But this is only the beginning. Soon, people will be using the assets of their reputations to make all their dealings with businesses easier. And banks are well placed to be the custodians of this data. For example, buying a car is currently a headache. [...]
City jobs bloodbath shows that backlash has gone too far November 5, 2012 IT is time to start worrying about London’s financial and business services industry. The City is in crisis, with job cuts spiralling out of control. As we report on our front page, City-style jobs – investment banking, securities, corporate finance, trading, research, derivatives and forex, fund management (including hedge funds and private equity), insurance and [...]
High childcare costs needn’t give you a case of baby blues November 25, 2012 RISING childcare costs are deterring British mothers from returning to work. According to a 2011 Eurostat survey, 48.8 per cent of women with three or more children are in employment in the UK, compared with 71.3 per cent in the Netherlands and 68.2 in Finland. But family formation patterns have changed over the past few [...]
City Moves | Who’s switching Jobs September 4, 2012 DAC Beachcroft Anthony Menzies has been appointed as a partner in the law firm’s London-based global insurance team. He joins from Taylor Wessing, where he was a partner in its insurance and reinsurance group. Menzies is a specialist in marine, energy and engineering law, and has also previously held roles at Clyde & Co and [...]
City Moves | Who’s switching Jobs September 6, 2012 BNP Paribas Real Estate Mike Chadburn has been appointed senior director of international investment at the real estate division of BNP Paribas. He was previously the UK partner to Azimuth Global Partners, where he sourced and acquired UK assets for Malaysian and Korean investors. Chadburn has also previously worked as director of Central London acquisitions [...]
Virgin Money aims for 5m bank customers by end of the year August 19, 2012 VIRGIN MONEY said yesterday it is on course to reach 5m customers by the end of the year as it reaps the benefit of rival banks’ scandals and payment problems. Virgin, which had around 4m customers after it spent £747m buying Northern Rock from the government in November, said that since the January merger it [...]
What the other papers say this morning September 2, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES CIC sells bulk of its BlackRock stake China Investment Corp has sold most of its stake in BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, as part of a wider strategy by the sovereign wealth to cut its holdings in global financial institutions. CIC bought just under 3 per cent of BlackRock’s shares, worth about [...]