PROFESSIONAL SERVICES FIRM OF THE YEAR June 27, 2011 ON the back of the Office of Fair Trading launching its investigation into the market dominance of the “Big Four”, it’s never been more important for professional services firms to prove their worth. Never far from the centre of the City’s biggest deals, strategic reviews and financial reports, our shortlisted entrants are favourites of UK [...]
FTSE gains after commodity rally and flurry of M&A bids June 21, 2011 BRITAIN’S leading shares pushed higher yesterday, led by rallying commodity stocks and banks as investors awaited a vote of confidence in the Greek Parliament. The vote, due after the London market close, is seen as a key step towards the passage of more spending cuts in exchange for foreign emergency loans. “What equity markets need [...]
FTSE gains after commodity rally and flurry of M&A bids June 21, 2011 BRITAIN’S leading shares pushed higher yesterday, led by rallying commodity stocks and banks as investors awaited a vote of confidence in the Greek Parliament. The vote, due after the London market close, is seen as a key step towards the passage of more spending cuts in exchange for foreign emergency loans. “What equity markets need [...]
Why Greece is the new Lehman Bros June 16, 2011 IT is a tale of two economies and two very different responses to catastrophe. Last week, the Icelandic government borrowed $1bn on the bond markets, paying only just over 3 per cent interest. It is an astonishing recovery for a country that just two years ago was written off as a bankrupt, discredited pariah, its [...]
Stepping into the property market of the new world order August 11, 2011 WITH debt and financial turmoil gripping the economies of Europe, North America and Japan, it’s not hard to look at the rise of India, China and Singapore and sense a coming shift in global power. Recent headlines have been staggering: last year, David Cameron led the largest British trade delegation to India in living memory, [...]
Stepping into the property market of the new world order August 11, 2011 WITH debt and financial turmoil gripping the economies of Europe, North America and Japan, it’s not hard to look at the rise of India, China and Singapore and sense a coming shift in global power. Recent headlines have been staggering: last year, David Cameron led the largest British trade delegation to India in living memory, [...]
Why the NHS needs to be reformed May 31, 2011 FOR once, some good news for the government’s proposed healthcare reforms. They may have been slammed in most quarters but members of our special panel of business and financial professionals love them. Over 500 took part in our latest survey (in partnership with PoliticsHome), as we report on page 1, and two-thirds backed the idea [...]
AirAsia inks £11bn deal with Airbus June 23, 2011 AirAsia thundered into the Paris Air Show with a record order for 200 revamped A320neo jets on Thursday — an $18.2bn (£11bn) deal that makes the Malaysian firm Airbus’s largest airline. AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandes, who is also trying to invest in West Ham, flew into France overnight to sign off on what one Paris [...]
City must engage in debate over Big Society May 30, 2011 LAST week, the coalition government published a White Paper that puts further flesh on the bones of the Prime Minister’s vision for the Big Society. The proposals in the Paper are designed to spur growth in charitable giving and in volunteering. It included an additional £40m in support for the voluntary sector. It is imperative [...]
Weak miners dip FTSE below key 200-day moving average June 8, 2011 MINING stocks, dented by heightened investor concerns about the strength of the global economic recovery, pushed Britain’s top shares below a key technical level yesterday, a bearish signal for the index. The FTSE 100 closed down 55.76 points, or one per cent, at 5,808.89, having breached its 200-day moving average of 5,815. US Federal Reserve [...]