Lloyds to bank £1.5bn if TSB sale to Banco Sabadell goes ahead March 12, 2015 Lloyds is set to receive a final total of £1.5bn for TSB if the Banco Sabadell sale goes ahead – twice the £750m for which it had previously agreed to sell the lender to the Co-op Bank. The giant bank was forced to sell off TSB under the terms of its 2008 bailout. The [...]
TSB share price leaps 27 per cent as Lloyds backs £1.7bn takeover talks with Spanish bank Sabadell March 12, 2015 Lloyds appeared to give its blessing to an offer by Spanish Banco de Sabadell for challenger bank TSB this morning, in which it has a 50 per cent stake. TSB said it had been offered 340p in cash per share, about a 30 per cent premium on last night's closing price, valuing the lender at [...]
Allan Leighton confirmed as Co-op chairman February 19, 2015 ALLAN Leighton has no qualms about taking the toughest jobs in business. The self-style pluralist has experienced several, including Leeds United (where he organised a rescue takeover) and Asda (which he turned around after near-bankruptcy) to name a couple. The boardroom veteran added another to his list yesterday after the Co-operative Group confirmed the appointment [...]
Co-operative Group appoints former Asda man Allan Leighton as chairman February 19, 2015 The Co-operative Group has brought in former Asda chief executive Allan Leighton to chair its board. Leighton will take over with immediate effect from Ursula Lidbetter, who was parachuted into the role at the end of 2013 after then-chairman Len Wardle stepped down. It's another string for Leighton to add to his bow: as well as [...]
Arsenal injury record: Gunners players have missed more games than Chelsea and Tottenham put together February 13, 2015 Aaron Ramsey is the latest Arsenal player to find himself back on the treatment table after suffering his third hamstring injury of the season during the Gunners’ 2-1 victory over Leicester earlier this week. It’s a story that’s become all too familiar for Arsenal fans. The team takes a step forward in the league, [...]
SuperGroup stuns investors with operations chief’s swift extraction February 12, 2015 THE OWNER of the Superdry clothing brand SuperGroup was hit during early trading yesterday after its operations chief Susanne Given’s shock departure from the firm. SuperGroup said her role would be “absorbed by the executive team”, with the heads of UK retail, IT and logistics reporting directly to CEO Euan Sutherland. In October Superdry founder [...]
How London is leading the charge on a radical employee rent scheme February 5, 2015 Two years ago, Vodafone became one of the first big businesses to issue a warning over Britain’s housing costs. It said that the sheer cost of renting was making it harder for firms to attract talent. Within weeks, its concerns were echoed by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and KPMG’s London Business Survey. London’s [...]
Why doing the right thing shouldn’t be a tough choice January 27, 2015 This year, individuals trying to do the right thing have already hit the headlines on several occasions, from the playground cries of David Cameron refusing to debate without a representative from the Greens Party, to Al Gore coupling with PR Super-Hero Pharell Williams to deliver news of Live Earth 2015. In the Square Mile, [...]
Co-op Bank gets set to reject even more businesses – but is its ethical policy viable? January 20, 2015 How seriously do we take this? Pretty seriously.” So says the stern man getting “ethics and values” tattooed on his back in the Co-op Bank’s cinema ad boasting about its ethical policies. Even more serious than a tattoo – which was not actually tattooed on to the actor, by the way – is the fact [...]
The Co-op Bank puts pay-day lenders, irresponsible gamblers and tax avoiding firms on its naughty list as it updates its ethical policy January 20, 2015 Irresponsible gambling firms, pay day lenders and companies “which do not responsibly pay tax in the UK” have been put on the Co-operative Bank's new naughty list of firms it will not finance. As part of an extended ethical policy, the bank will also detail how it operates, covering everything from the products and [...]