Serco wins £415m contract to build a new London prison July 5, 2010 SERCO has signed a contract to run a new London prison, despite concerns that public spending cuts could mean fewer deals for support services firms. Serco, which runs the DLR and detention centres in Australia, said its consortium signed a contract worth £415m with the Ministry of Justice to build and manage a prison at [...]
Bank and industry stocks up as FTSE 100 breaks 5,300 July 22, 2010 The FTSE 100 index jumped 1.9 per cent yesterday, boosted by strong banks ahead of today’s European stress test results, and by firmer miners and oils as US stocks rallied on earnings and data. Britain’s top share index closed up 99.17 points at 5,313.81, ending above 5,300 for the first time since 18 May, the [...]
Bank and industry stocks up as FTSE 100 breaks 5,300 July 22, 2010 The FTSE 100 index jumped 1.9 per cent yesterday, boosted by strong banks ahead of today’s European stress test results, and by firmer miners and oils as US stocks rallied on earnings and data. Britain’s top share index closed up 99.17 points at 5,313.81, ending above 5,300 for the first time since 18 May, the [...]
Sarkozy and Merkel call for tougher rules June 21, 2010 FRANCE and Germany renewed their calls for tougher regulation of the global financial sector yesterday, ahead of the G20 meeting in Canada later this week. “Since our first meeting in Washington in 2008, we have made solid progress in implementing the financial regulatory reform agenda,” French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said [...]
Taylor Wimpey sees house sales rebound June 28, 2010 HOUSEBUILDER Taylor Wimpey said sales have recovered after a lull around the time of the general election but political uncertainty is leading to caution in the sector. The UK’s third-largest volume housebuilder said private sales rate for the year to date are broadly flat year-on-year at 0.58 sales per site per week, while its order [...]
Lloyds misses brunt of £2bn levy on banks June 22, 2010 STATE-OWNED Lloyds Banking Group emerged as the relative winner from an annual £2bn levy on banks’ balance sheets announced yesterday. The tax will apply to British banks and building societies, such as Barclays and the Skipton, and the UK operations of foreign institutions like JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs. From January 2011, banks will be charged [...]
Lloyds misses brunt of £2bn levy on banks June 22, 2010 STATE-OWNED Lloyds Banking Group emerged as the relative winner from an annual £2bn levy on banks’ balance sheets announced yesterday. The tax will apply to British banks and building societies, such as Barclays and the Skipton, and the UK operations of foreign institutions like JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs. From January 2011, banks will be charged [...]
Compass buys Southeast Service Corp for £45m June 8, 2010 COMPASS Group yesterday continued its acquisitive streak, snapping up Southeast Service Corporation (SSC) in the US. The global catering firm will hand over £45m for SSC, a “soft service” support firm for business and education with a turnover of £106m. Compass chief executive Richard Cousins said: “Building on the success of our significant education food-service [...]
IMF tells Spain to introduce wide-ranging labour reforms May 24, 2010 SPAIN must make far-reaching, comprehensive reforms, including labour market reforms, and its economic recovery remains fragile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said yesterday. “The challenges are severe: a dysfunctional labour market, the deflating property bubble, a large fiscal deficit, heavy private sector and external indebtedness, anemic productivity growth, weak competitiveness, and a banking sector with [...]
CITY VIEWS: HAVE YOU SEEN SIGNS OF A HIRING BOOM IN THE CITY, AND IF SO ARE WE BACK AT PRE-CRISIS LEVELS YET? June 15, 2010 ALEXANDER LUSTOV | MGAP “I think that the jobs market is exactly the same as it was. Companies seem to still be quite reluctant to hire, the same as last year. I’m not looking for a job though, so I can’t say for sure whether it’s the same everywhere. I work in the legal sector; [...]