CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 31, 2010 Sainsbury’s Finance The supermarket personal finance business yesterday said interim chief executive David Fisher has been appointed as its new permanent chief. Fisher, who has been in the interim role for five months, joined the group in January from Lloyds Banking Group, where he was group HR director for HBOS. He spent a total of [...]
It’s the most open race for many a year August 4, 2010 MANAGERS will have one just word embedded in their minds when they open their Championship campaigns this weekend: Blackpool. Ian Holloway’s achievement in taking the Seasiders to the promised land on a shoestring budget and a team of grafters will certainly not have gone unnoticed among bosses of the so-called smaller sides in the second [...]
L&S in £215m property bid April 27, 2010 Property investment firm London & Stamford will snap up £215m of former HBOS-backed properties from Warner Estates and Lloyds Banking Group. It will buy the Radial distribution fund, which was a 50-50 venture between HBOS and Warner.
Markets in turmoil May 25, 2010 SHARES worldwide plunged yesterday as fears that Europe’s sovereign debt crisis would lead to a fresh collapse in the banking sector, and rising tensions between North and South Korea took their toll on jittery investors. The FTSE 100 index plummeted, ending the day 2.5 per cent lower at 4,940.68, below the psychologically important 5,000 level [...]
ABB pounces with surprise Chloride offer June 8, 2010 CHLORIDE, the UK power protection group that is being courted by Emerson, yesterday shocked the markets by announcing it has tied up a £860m deal with Switzerland’s ABB. ABB is offering 325p a share, plus the payment of a 3.3p dividend, and its bid easily beats an earlier rejected offer of 275p a share from [...]
Ex-OFT expert brought in to probe banks June 16, 2010 SIR John Vickers, the former boss of the Office of Fair Trading, has been appointed to lead a wide-ranging review into the future shape of the banking industry. Announcing the appointment in the Commons, chancellor George Osborne said Vickers would be asked to investigate the best “size, scale and function” of banks in the future. [...]
How to learn from Capello’s mistakes June 30, 2010 POOR defending, non-existent marking, a lack of passion – there are numerous reasons for England’s horrible World Cup performance. Interestingly, though, many have argued that all the problems on the field were symptoms of troubles off it. The team, it appears, didn’t get on with the manager. Capello’s boot-camp culture clashed with the laid-back attitude [...]
Boots tops reputation poll as banks languish April 28, 2010 Alliance Boots knocked Marks & Spencer off the top spot, in a survey of company reputation. The Reputation Institute’s UK Pulse Report 2010 ranked retail brands highly but the list of 140 firms made torrid reading for the finance industry. Royal Bank of Scotland languished at 138, with Lloyds at 136 and Barclays at 129. [...]
QUICKIE DIVORCES GET QUICKER WITH HELP OF NEW IPHONE APP June 21, 2010 FIRST we had divorce “gift vouchers”, with a company charging £125 for half an hour with a lawyer; now, it’s divorce apps for your iPhone. Dallas-based company Brainwash already offers one divorce application in its range – a “Cost & Prep” product for just under ten dollars, explaining to would-be divorcees how much it costs [...]
QUICKIE DIVORCES GET QUICKER WITH HELP OF NEW IPHONE APP June 21, 2010 FIRST we had divorce “gift vouchers”, with a company charging £125 for half an hour with a lawyer; now, it’s divorce apps for your iPhone. Dallas-based company Brainwash already offers one divorce application in its range – a “Cost & Prep” product for just under ten dollars, explaining to would-be divorcees how much it costs [...]