Formula One shows real experts should be driving our companies July 19, 2012 NEW research into the success of Formula One teams shows that a leader’s genuine expertise in a company’s core business really matters. Being a capable general manager alone is not sufficient. This is a hot topic – there is recent evidence that major firms have moved away from hiring chief executives with technical expertise, towards [...]
Admiral boss’ £116m loss as stock plunges November 9, 2011 THE CHIEF executive of car insurer Admiral saw more than £115m wiped off the value of his stake in the business yesterday after the group finally succumbed to the industry-wide slump in profit growth. Shares in Admiral, which also trades under the Bell, Diamond and Elephant brands, closed down 25.61 per cent at 887.5p after [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: ARE PROBLEMS LOOMING FOR INSURANCE GROUP ADMIRAL? November 9, 2011 JONATHAN JACKSON | KILLIK & CO The claims environment remains tough, with the frequency and expected cost of new large personal injury claims remaining above historical levels – consistent with the first half of 2011 KEVIN RYAN | INVESTEC It remains our view that significantly outperforming a commoditised market for sustained periods is impossible. It [...]
ADVISERS DEUTCHE BANK June 28, 2012 GLOBAL head NATURAL RESOURCES M&A Nigel Robinson was one of the advisers from Deutsche Bank who advised Veolia. Robinson is no stranger to big deals and is currently also working on the mega merger between commodities giant Glencore and FTSE 100 miner Xstrata. Robinson joined the bank in 2007 as managing director and head of [...]
Marriage abounds this week but these lacklustre movies are on the rocks August 16, 2012 FILM THE WEDDING VIDEO Cert 15 ** THE trailer for The Wedding Video is awful. The adverts are awful. Even the name is awful, inspiring the unique kind of dread that clings to movies about weddings. At first glance it looks like a low-rent remake of the stereotypical American “wedding movie,” which places a hord [...]
Admiral’s FD ups stake after shares plunge November 10, 2011 THE FINANCE director of Admiral and his wife spent nearly £150,000 on shares in the insurer after a gloomy update prompted a slide in its stock market value. Yesterday Kevin Chidwick bought 9,736 shares at £8.36 each and Rowena Chidwick bought 8,000 at £8.29 each in deals worth £147,713 together. Last night shares in Admiral [...]
Admiral’s FD ups stake after shares plunge November 10, 2011 THE FINANCE director of Admiral and his wife spent nearly £150,000 on shares in the insurer after a gloomy update prompted a slide in its stock market value. Yesterday Kevin Chidwick bought 9,736 shares at £8.36 each and Rowena Chidwick bought 8,000 at £8.29 each in deals worth £147,713 together. Last night shares in Admiral [...]
It’s not just any sales fall, it’s an M&S sales fall July 8, 2012 MARKS & SPENCER’s trading update tomorrow is likely to suggest that the high-street stalwart has been particularly weather-beaten in the first quarter of the year. Not only in the face of the wettest spring on record – which it is expected to blame for a 6.7 per cent decline in non-food sales – but also [...]
How computer science will rescue fashionistas September 16, 2012 WHAT PROBLEM DOES YOUR BUSINESS SOLVE? Due to the boom in online shopping that’s taken place over the last five years, the internet is swarming with items of clothing for us to buy. If you’re trying to find something similar to an item that you’ve seen in a magazine, or on the catwalk, it can [...]
Biggest deal in years for WPP as it buys digital agency stake June 20, 2012 SIR MARTIN Sorrell’s ad company WPP yesterday agreed to buy a majority stake in AKQA, one of the world’s most prestigious digital marketing agencies. In an deal that gives AKQA an enterprise value of $540m (£343m), WPP bought General Atlantic out of its 80 per cent stake and took an undisclosed amount of the 20 [...]