Former HBOS non-executive directors including then-chairman Lord Stevenson and Sir Charles Dunstone slam FCA report November 19, 2015 Former non-executive directors of HBOS have put out a statement condemning a report by the Financial Conduct and Prudential Regulation Authorities today, saying they disagree with a number of the conclusions. In a statement from law firm Ashurst, former non-execs including Lord Stevenson, the bank's chairman between 2005 and 2008, said the report "downplays the unforeseen [...]
The frustration of innovation: Lessons from history September 12, 2016 It seems that innovation is now an imperative for every company and every chief executive. Leaders all stress the importance of agility, entrepreneurship and innovation in their organisations, yet most of them are frustrated by slow progress. What can we do to boost our lateral thinking and creativity? How can we and our teams become [...]
Bilderberg meets today: Here’s the full guestlist June 9, 2016 It may not be quite the shady organisation of conspiracy theorists' fevered imaginations – but the traditionally secretive Bilderberg conference nevertheless courts a certain amount of intrigue. This year, presumably in an effort to increase transparency, the conference's organisers have published a list of everyone attending (lizard people notwithstanding). The list, according to Bilderberg, is about [...]
EU referendum: Asda, HSBC, Vodafone and nearly 200 sign letter saying Brexit would threaten jobs – but Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s are not on the list February 23, 2016 The bosses of HSBC, BT, Vodafone and Asda are among those to have put their name to an open letter backing the remain camp and Prime Minister David Cameron's reforms in Europe. More than a third of the UK's biggest companies were represented in the letter, which was published in The Times this morning, saying they represented [...]
Media giant Vivendi set to announce Telecom Italia deal June 21, 2015 French media giant Vivendi is expected to announce next week it is raising its stake in Telecom Italia to 14.9 per cent and will likely get two board seats, according to a source close to the situation. The announcement could be made as early as tomorrow, the source said. A Vivendi spokesman declined to comment [...]
Universal Music to move UK headquarters from Kensington to King’s Cross October 6, 2015 Universal Music is moving its UK headquarters to King’s Cross, in a major coup for Argent, the developers behind the regeneration of the 67-acre scheme. The music giant, which is currently based in Kensington, confirmed it has signed a long-term lease for the entire office space at Four Pancras Square, a ten-storey building totalling around [...]
Peter Schoenfeld tells Vivendi: start to splash the cash March 24, 2015 Peter Schoenfeld touched down in Paris yesterday as he sought to pile further pressure on Vivendi in his bid to force them to spin off Universal Music Group, headed by Lucian Grange. Known on Wall Street as the “quiet professor of merger arbitrage”, Schoenfeld has recently found his voice in his ongoing battle to secure [...]
Golden touch: Global Group founder Johnny Hon talks Kung Fu Panda, the Northern Powerhouse, Glenn Close and human rights November 15, 2015 Did you sell sweets to all your classmates? I ask Johnny Hon, interjecting as he talks about his childhood. “Yes, I did actually,” he chuckles, before moving back to explaining how he never took money from his parents after the age of 18, and ended up selling second-hand cars to fund his education. “They taught [...]
Wonder.land at the National Theatre is a visual delight… but where are all the songs? December 18, 2015 National Theatre | ★★★☆☆ Wonder.land takes as its starting point that the world inside our smartphones, with its cat memes and its gaudy virtual worlds, is as mad as a hatter. Mad as the Hatter, in fact. The Alice in this production doesn’t tumble into a literal rabbit-hole: she falls into the world of chatrooms and [...]
Christmas quiz 2015: How much do you remember of the year in business, politics and economics? December 23, 2015 Deloitte chief economist Ian Stewart asks some of the trickiest business, politics and economics questions of the year. Answers can be found below. 1 According to the OECD, Mexicans work the longest hours. In 2014, the average Mexican worker put in 2,228 hours, equivalent to a 43-hour working week with no holidays. Which country’s workers [...]