Flotations jump three-fold as Europe takes off April 8, 2014 FLOTATIONS on Europe’s stock markets in the first quarter of this year raised more money than floats in the same period of the last five years combined, PwC data showed today. Increasing confidence in the economic recovery is behind the boom, and the UK is in the lead – 32 of the 68 floats were [...]
Bank of England sits on its hands as rates held at historic lows April 10, 2014 No change from the boffins over at Threadneedle Street. The Bank of England's interest-rate setting committee has, as widely expected, elected to hold both interest rates and quantitative easing this month. That sees rates at their historic lows of 0.5 per cent, and asset purchases at £375bn in April. Ben Southwood, head of policy at [...]
City Moves for 06 May 2014 | Who’s switching jobs May 5, 2014 Squire Sanders The law firm has hired Mark Gleeson, formerly head of the data and information practice at Addleshaw Goddard, as a partner in the firm’s global intellectual property and technology practice. Gleeson, formerly head of data protection for Barclaycard, has more than 15 years’ experience within the financial services industry, including time at consulting [...]
In a field of his own: FarmDrop’s Ben Pugh talks crowdfunding and the future of our food July 27, 2014 In the time it’s taken FarmDrop founder Ben Pugh to discuss his company with me, it crowdfunded £13,000. After just eight days on crowdfunding platform Crowdcube, FarmDrop raised more than its £400,000 investment target. A new way of doing food is, it seems, quite popular. The FarmDrop concept is simple: it streamlines the food [...]
The days of out of control pay hikes are over for FTSE bosses March 31, 2014 WE all know that bosses keep awarding themselves bigger and bigger pay rises, right? And that FTSE 100 CEOs’ comp keeps on rocketing? Wrong. The facts paint a far more complex picture, and deserve a proper airing. PwC has crunched the numbers, and the outcome is striking. CEOs’ median bonus payouts for 2013 were one [...]
City Moves for 15 April 2014 | Who’s switching jobs April 14, 2014 Mount Anvil The property developer has appointed Jon Hall as sales and marketing director. He joins from Berkeley Homes, where he has been a sales and marketing director since 2011. Hall has also held roles at St Modwen Properties. PwC Ian Oakley-Smith has been appointed head of PwC’s charity sector team in the UK. He [...]
City Moves for 08 May 2014 | Who’s switching jobs May 7, 2014 PwC The professional services firm has announced the appointment of Will Brown as a director in its enterprise resilience practice. He was most recently at KPMG, where he ran its business continuity team. Simmons & Simmons The law firm has appointed Mahrie Webb to its funds practice. She has over 12 years’ experience advising fund management [...]
City types swap offers for opera at glitzy awards April 7, 2014 “I LEFT my glasses in the taxi on the way here,” said Sanlam Private Investors’ UK boss Craig Massey, as he stepped towards the autocue at the International Opera Awards (which his company sponsors) last night. “But I’ll try avoid the faux pas I made last year – like mentioning Maria Callas and Katherine Jenkins [...]
A worrying drop in trust is endangering business March 30, 2014 TODAY marks the start of Responsible Business Week, Business in the Community’s annual initiative to inspire and equip businesses to do more to meet the world’s most pressing challenges. As society faces up to demographic changes, resource scarcity, the shift in economic power, and accelerating urbanisation, business has a powerful opportunity to make a positive [...]
City Moves for 29 April 2014 | Who’s switching jobs April 28, 2014 Interactive Investor The execution-only stockbroker has announced the appointment of Linda Summers as chief marketing officer. She was most recently at Skype, where she was director of product and partner marketing. Prior to that, Summers held roles at O2/Telefonica and BT. GLG Partners The investment management firm has appointed Andy Li as co-manager of its [...]