Burberry shareholders vote against Christopher Bailey pay deal July 11, 2014 Shareholders have struck a blow to Britain's iconic luxury fashion brand Burberry by voting against the proposed multi-million pound pay package for new chief executive Christopher Bailey. More than 50 per cent of those who voted at the luxury giant's annual general meeting today went against the directors' remuneration report. The lucrative package includes a [...]
Marks & Spencer boss Alan Stewart jumps ship for Tesco after sales drop July 10, 2014 Alan Stewart, chief financial officer at Marks & Spencer, is leaving the struggling retailer for supermarket giant Tesco, it was announced yesterday. Stewart will fill former Tesco CFO Laurie Mcllwee’s shoes at the retailer, where his pay packet is set to rise from £579,000 to £750,000 a year. Mcllwee stepped down from his role at Tesco [...]
Christopher Bailey: The Yorkshireman filling Burberry’s boots July 10, 2014 There was a big elephant in the room – or rather on the line – when reporters dialled into the Burberry first quarter conference call yesterday. The luxury group’s new chief executive Christopher Bailey was conspicuously absent, as he was in May during the preliminary results call, leaving finance chief Carol Fairweather to lead the [...]
Barratt profits double on sales at six-year high July 10, 2014 Barratt Developments, the biggest housebuilder by volume in the UK, yesterday announced it expected annual pre-tax profits to double to around £390m, buoyed by higher demand from a strong property market. The earnings figures would be record-breaking for Barratt, beating analyst forecasts and up from £192m in 2013. The forecast comes as the group saw [...]
City Moves for 11 July 2014 | Who’s switching jobs July 10, 2014 BNP Paribas Real Estate The property adviser has appointed Pippa Evans as UK HR director. She has most recently been working on an interim basis at HSBC. Evans was also formerly HR director at Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe, and senior HR business partner at Schroders Asset Management. KPMG The professional services firm has announced two [...]
London Report: FTSE spooked by euro market fears and LSE stake sale July 10, 2014 UK STOCKS yesterday retreated, with the FTSE 100 index posting its worst four-day slump since January, as London Stock Exchange (LSE) slid while banks extended losses. The FTSE 100 lost 45.67 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 6,672.37, extending its decline this week to 2.8 per cent. The broader FTSE All-Share Index also slid 0.7 per [...]
Germany’s Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank next in line for US sanction fines July 8, 2014 US authorities have begun settlement talks with Germany’s Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank over their dealings with countries blacklisted by the United States, extending a crackdown on European banks at a delicate point in US-German relations. The talks, with state and federal authorities, came after BNP Paribas’ record-breaking $8.9bn (£5.2bn) fine last week for busting US [...]
City Moves for 09 July 2014 | Who’s switching jobs July 8, 2014 Universities Superannuation Scheme Jeremy Hill will be returning to the pension scheme trustee company, taking up the role of group general counsel. A qualified solicitor, Hill first worked for the firm between 2009 and 2011. He has previously held leadership roles at Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Merrill Lynch Investment Management, along with positions at [...]
Wal-Mart reclaims Fortune 500 crown as China snaps at its heels July 7, 2014 Chinese firms are closing in on the top spots in global business, as highlighted by yesterday’s update of the Fortune 500 index of corporate giants, which showed the world’s third and fourth biggest companies are now based in the planet’s second largest economy. Retail titan Wal-Mart regained its spot at the top, swapping places with [...]
Gymbox raises £17m to finance expansion plans across the UK July 7, 2014 GYMBOX, the US-style fitness club chain that offers classes including Yoga Rave, has raised £17m to open more sites in the capital and expand into other UK cities. Business Growth Fund, an investment fund backed by the UK’s five largest banks – Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, RBS and Standard Chartered – is providing the money in [...]