London firms give mixed views on the benefits of the Olympics August 9, 2012 LONDON businesses think the Olympics provided less of a boost in demand than they anticipated, claims a survey by Deloitte. Some 42 per cent of firms said they have seen a positive impact on demand since the start of the games compared with 27 per cent who reported a decrease. But this is in stark [...]
UK confidence devastated by Eurozone crisis July 8, 2012 THE EUROZONE crisis has battered British business confidence again, influential surveys from both Deloitte and BDO show today, leaving firms unwilling to borrow and invest, and too uncertain to boost hiring. Deloitte’s survey of chief finance officers (CFOs) shows its third major dip in confidence in the last five years, and its sharpest decline since [...]
Coalition must not become complacent on economic growth October 25, 2012 UNLIKE some commentators, I don’t think David Cameron did anything especially wrong yesterday. He hinted at Prime Minister’s Question Time that the economy was improving; he didn’t leak the GDP figures. The statistics will be published this morning; so there is little point speculating about them. But it is worth noting that when the Prime [...]
Coalition must not become complacent on economic growth October 24, 2012 UNLIKE some commentators, I don’t think David Cameron did anything especially wrong yesterday. He hinted at Prime Minister’s Question Time that the economy was improving; he didn’t leak the GDP figures. The statistics will be published this morning; so there is little point speculating about them. But it is worth noting that when the Prime [...]
Australian surplus questioned July 22, 2012 One of the only wealthy economies to be running a government budget surplus, Australia, may fall back into a deficit due to weaker tax revenue, according to a report from Deloitte Access released yesterday. The analysis said that mining, which has significantly boosted Australia’s economy during the global economic downturn, could start to dip, while [...]
Bubbly, Boris and banter all sparkle at our 2012 awards October 17, 2012 To the Grange Hotel in the heart of St Paul’s last night for City A.M.’s third annual awards ceremony. After a day of glorious autumnal sunshine, 500 of the City’s best and brightest worked the red carpet and were greeted in the atrium of The Grange with glasses of bubbly at the champagne reception, sponsored [...]
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES FIRM OF THE YEAR August 6, 2012 TODAY’s shortlists for the third annual City A.M. awards kick off with our nominations for professional services firm of the year. The UK and EU may be planning significant shake-ups to the industry, but the firms on our shortlist aren’t letting that worry them, continuing to win bluechip clients, pursue global expansion and pioneer employment [...]
City Moves Who’s switching jobs September 16, 2012 Bowring Marsh Andrew Chester has been appointed chief executive of the insurance broking firm’s specialist international placement broking division. He succeeds Nick Bacon, who is leaving after 26 years in the company. Chester was previously head of Bowring Marsh’s UK and Ireland divisions. He has over 25 years’ experience in the insurance sector. Simmons & [...]
Facebook exec checks out to front Tech City October 22, 2012 A TOP Facebook executive has fled the social network to head the government’s Tech City project, in a boost for Number 10’s plans to build a Silicon Valley rival in East London. Joanna Shields, Facebook’s vice president in charge of the social network’s European, Middle Eastern and African operations, will become chief executive of Tech [...]
Bad bank debts hit €100bn and rising in Italy August 15, 2012 ITALIAN banks are struggling under the growing weight of non-performing loans as the economy continues to perform poorly, according to a report out today from Deloitte, and are increasingly looking to sell off the bad assets. The survey of senior managers found 70 per cent expect the volume of non-performing loans to rise this year, [...]