Cable ups the heat on banks October 17, 2010 BRITAIN’S biggest banks are today set to face up to small business organisations and business secretary Vince Cable in an attempt to show that they are committed to rebuilding trust between the sector and smaller firms struggling to get access to credit. Cable will chair the first meeting of the Small Business Economic Forum, which [...]
Morgan Stanley in recruitment freeze September 28, 2010 Morgan Stanley, which employs more than 5,000 people in London, has put a freeze on hiring staff for the rest of the year. The US investment bank said although it was not hiring it had no plans for large-scale lay-offs this year. THE Royal Bank of Scotland earlier announced the axing up to 500 back-office [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS November 10, 2010 Aveva The engineering software group has appointed James Kidd to its board as its new chief financial officer, effective from the beginning of next year. He replaces Paul Taylor, who has been finance director for the past decade. Kidd, 40, has been at Aveva since 2004, including four years as head of finance. A chartered [...]
Big banks top High Court appearances October 3, 2010 THE UK’S largest four banks were repeatedly in court last year as the number of High Court cases involving FTSE 100 companies jumped by 16 per cent. Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and HSBC collectively made up 43 per cent of all High Court appearances by the UK’s largest companies, [...]
Commodity prices are not all that they seem November 22, 2010 THERE’S a tiny corner of pessimism in the commodity investment world. Amid a multitude of bulls, a few bears are pointing at what they think might be the unnoticed elephant in the room: large institutional investors. With the possibility of that demand reversing, should contracts for difference (CFD) traders perhaps be a little worried? Certainly [...]
British Land boosted by bounce back in office lets November 16, 2010 British Land said it had been boosted by an increase in occupancy rates in its buildings in the first half. The landlord’s Net Asset Value (NAV) rose 4.2 per cent to 525 pence a share in the six months to 30 September, against 504 pence at end-March 2010. In the previous half-year period, its NAV [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS October 19, 2010 LADBROKES Royal Bank of Scotland rates the betting group a “sell” with a target price of 90p. The broker says Ladbrokes is facing limited growth in betting shops as well as tighter European restrictions on internet gambling. RBS forecasts a 10 per cent growth in revenue over the next two years, but expects competition from [...]
Real estate shares surge as bid for CSC sparks appetite November 25, 2010 BRITAIN’S leading shares pushed higher yesterday, buoyed by strength in heavyweight miners and banks, and by gains from real estate issues as Capital Shopping Centres bounced on bid interest. At the close, the FTSE 100 was up 41.83 points, or 0.7 per cent, at 5,698.93, dipping back in the closing auction after hitting a late-afternoon [...]
Hicks halts Reds sale October 13, 2010 LIVERPOOL owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett last night dramatically halted the sale of the club at the 11th hour by obtaining a temporary restraining order from a Texan court over what they called an “epic swindle”. In the same lawsuit Hicks and Gillett also claimed damages of more than £1bn from the rest of [...]
RBS to quit its 199 Bishopsgate office by end of the year October 10, 2010 ROYAL Bank of Scotland will vacate its Bishopsgate office, while a second lease on its Regent’s House building hangs in the balance. The bank is scaling back its property portfolio as it prepares to shed thousands of jobs. It is understood RBS will leave 199 Bishopsgate before the end of the year. It will keep [...]