Mazars faces accounting tribunal over First Quench pension advice August 5, 2013 THE ACCOUNTANCY watchdog is investigating Mazars and the managing partner of its London office over pension advice given to the now-defunct drinks firm First Quench Retailing. The Financial Reporting Council has made a formal complaint about Mazars and partner Richard Karmel, claiming their conduct “fell significantly short of the standards reasonably to be expected”. The [...]
Entrepreneur of the year September 11, 2013 The City A.M. Entrepreneur of the Year award recognises those individuals or groups who set up a successful new venture and are now growing it as a profitable business. With close to 400,000 new businesses launched in 2013 so far, the spirit for entrepreneurship in Britain is alive and well. From entertainment to retail, our [...]
UK needs to stop deliberately inflating residential land prices August 25, 2013 MY column yesterday revealing that the French are building three times more homes than the British every year – an astonishing fact which highlights the gravity of our housing supply crisis – elicited a number of typical counter-arguments. The most common was that the French have plenty of land, and we don’t, so it isn’t [...]
British Land ups its dividend on upbeat outlook July 24, 2013 BRITISH Land, the property giant behind the Cheesegrater skyscraper in the City, has raised its dividend in a display of confidence as the economy shows signs of improving. The UK’s second largest listed property firm said yesterday it is raising its quarterly dividend by 2.3 per cent to 6.75p and 27p for the year, “reflecting [...]
FTSE surges upward to join US stock markets July 18, 2013 Following record breaking gains from US stock markets (the S&P also broke new highs shortly after posting), the FTSE is up over one per cent, driven by rallies in the Royal Bank of Scotland, Aberdeen Asset Management, Barclays and the London Stock Exchange. Lloyds Banking Group, Kingfisher and ASOS have also hit new highs. This [...]
National Minimum Wage turns 15 – but it still fails to help those most in need August 1, 2013 YESTERDAY, the National Minimum Wage (NMW) celebrated its fifteenth birthday. It has not been the disaster some feared – largely because the Low Pay Commission set rates conservatively, taking ability to pay into account – but nor has it entirely helped those it was designed to. Today, there is pressure to push the minimum upwards. [...]
City Moves for 04 September 2013 | Who’s switching jobs September 3, 2013 SJ Berwin The law firm has appointed Paul Stothard as a partner in its litigation practice. He was most recently at Dentons, where he was a partner in its litigation and dispute resolution group. Prior to that, he was an associate at Denton Wilde Sapte, and Allen & Overy. Quadrant Estates James Bidwell has joined the property [...]
Going West: London welcomes a new FX brokerage October 13, 2013 Annabel Palmer meets the founders of Monex Capital, who are targeting tech savvy traders DESPITE the Asian Development Bank lowering its growth forecasts for emerging nations in the region earlier this month, European brokers are launching Asian-based subsidiaries in droves (forex and commodities brokerage MIG Bank, for example, opened a Hong Kong arm this year). [...]
The range of premium mixers produced to raise gin’s spirits October 21, 2013 Annabel Palmer talks luck, liquor and a lightbulb moment with Charles Rolls, co-founder of drinks label Fever-Tree WHILE gin may not be the most popular global spirit (that prestigious title goes to Korean rice wine brand Jinro), the world consumes 440m litres of it each year. But back in 2000, Charles Rolls, co-founder of the [...]
Skanska wins contract for The Scalpel July 22, 2013 CONSTRUCTION firm Skanska has won the contract to build the 190m tall office building known as The Scalpel. The Nordic firm, which has also built the Gherkin and the Heron Tower, is due to start work immediately on the Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) designed high-rise, with completion set for early 2017. The building, at the [...]