Microsoft buys $1.2bn Yammer June 25, 2012 MICROSOFT yesterday finally admitted it was buying online networking firm Yammer for $1.2bn (£770.5m), allowing the tech giant to offer a social network to corporate customers. Four-year-old Yammer has 5m users of its private, in-company social networks and counts Deloitte and Ford among its clients. The service should fill a gap that Microsoft was struggling [...]
Technology only boosts growth if countries can exploit it effectively September 25, 2012 OVER the last five years, the British economy has experienced its worst growth since the 1920s. Yet, in important respects, the economy is faring far better than it did back then. Part of the reason lies in low interest rates and forbearance on the part of lenders, which have both helped to soften the damage [...]
In sickness and in health: An illness won’t ruin your career July 11, 2012 ANTONIO Horta-Osorio has been back as chief executive of Lloyds Bank since January. His absence began in November 2011, and was famously attributed to exhaustion caused by the pressures of his job. His is a reassuring story – a successful executive, overcome by poor health, could reveal it to colleagues and return to his previous [...]
Law firms show strong growth in tough year June 21, 2012 LAW firms have toughed out a challenging year to grow their fee income by an average of 6.6 per cent – a healthy increase on the previous 12 months. An annual survey released today of the top 100 law firms by global revenue has shown that growth in improving across the sector despite operating against a [...]
Tip-top resources worth exploiting July 29, 2012 WITH the Olympics in full flow, the government is determined to drum up business from our foreign guests. After all, trade is what the wealth of nations is built upon. For its part, StartUp Britain has a free event on 6 August in City Hall on how start-ups and small businesses can explore overseas opportunities. [...]
Quick guide to the platform crackdown June 27, 2012 Q What’s an investment platform? A It’s a “one stop shop” for an individual to hold their pension, shares and other investments in one place. Customers can invest through advised or execution-only platforms. Q Sounds straightforward enough. What’s the FSA’s problem? A The watchdog wants platforms to stop taking money from product providers, in exchange [...]
Car insurers in black for first time since 1994 May 28, 2012 HEFTY increases in premiums could cause the UK car insurance business to record an underwriting profit for the first time since 1994, according to a new report by Deloitte. Last year the sector had a combined ratio of 106 per cent – meaning it paid out £106 for every £100 it earned in premiums, equivalent to an [...]
Trial run of Olympics working routines highlights problems June 17, 2012 LONDON businesses that tested alternative working arrangements last month in preparation for this summer’s Olympic Games suffered problems with technology and travel arrangements, a survey showed. A “stress test” in which more than 100 companies asked staff to experiment with remote working or changes to their journeys failed to dispel concerns about how smoothly the [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 2, 2012 Carmignac Gestion The asset management firm has appointed Cora Pfab as sales manager for southern Germany and Austria. She joins from F&C Thames River and relocates from London to Carmignac Gestion’s German office. Pfab has extensive experience in financial services, and has also worked at ABN Amro Asset Management. Duff & Phelps The financial advisory [...]
WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 19, 2012 Houlihan Lokey The investment bank has appointed Kristian Terling as a managing director and head of Nordic coverage. He was most recently managing director and co-head of Nordic investment banking at Credit Suisse in London. Terling has also served as sector head in the corporate finance group at Handelsbanken Capital Markets, and started his career [...]