Saracens swell forward ranks with capture of South Africa World Cup winner Schalk Burger January 4, 2016 Saracens boss Mark McCall revelled in his capture of “one of the world’s finest” after the club announced the signing of influential South Africa back-row forward Schalk Burger on a two-year deal ahead of next season. World Cup-winner Burger, who has won 86 caps for the Springboks, will link up with his new side ahead [...]
The rate of change: Oliver’s Simon Martin on speed, Starbucks and the in-house model February 29, 2016 Whether it’s time to market or a reactive social campaign, speed is of the essence in business today. But while a catalyst remains unchanged after accelerating a chemical reaction, marketing agencies must transform to meet the evolving needs of their clients. “We created all the content around educating Starbucks customers about pre-ordering their drinks,” says Simon [...]
City Moves for 18 January 2016 | Who’s switching jobs January 18, 2016 Ardian Olivier Piani (pictured) has joined the real estate arm of independent private investment company Ardian as senior adviser and chairman of its investment committee. He joins from Allianz Real Estate where he was chief executive since 2008. Olivier has also been chief exec at GE Capital Real Estate Europe, chief exec of UIC-Sofal and [...]
City Moves for 20 November 2015 | Who’s switching jobs November 19, 2015 COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL The commercial real estate services firm has appointed Shane O’Reilly as associate director in its investment property management team. He joins after 10 years at King Sturge/JLL, where his mandates included Crown Estate, Urban Regional Portfolio, and Ropemaker Properties. DEUTSCHE ASSET AND WEALTH MANAGEMENT Matthew Lamb has been appointed co-head of alternatives coverage [...]
UK-headquartered law firm DWF to acquire German BridgehouseLaw at start of 2016 December 16, 2015 UK-headquartered law firm DWF announced today that it is acquiring BridgehouseLaw, a German commercial law firm, on 1 January 2016. The newly combined firm will boast a turnover of £194m and will employ 2,360 staff members across 16 locations. Andrew Leaitherland, DWF's managing partner and chief executive, will continue to lead the overall business post-merger, while Michael Falter, [...]
Insurance giant Axa planning to sell off wealth management division in UK November 22, 2015 Axa has brought in advisors to help it sell off some of its UK businesses, including parts of their wealth management division, the Sunday Times reported today. Sources told the Sunday newspaper that the insurer, who is headquartered in France, had grown weary of the UK’s regulatory environment and had called in bankers at Barclays and [...]
Uber’s $62.5bn valuation means it’s worth more than BT, Prudential and Barclays – and 86 other FTSE 100 constituents December 4, 2015 Uber is reported to have filed paperwork outlining plans to raise as much as $2.1bn (£1.4bn) in its latest funding round. Were the company to complete that funding round (and according to the Bloomberg report, the wheels are very much in motion for that to happen – with Tiger Global Management and T Rowe Price both [...]
Immigration powers the City’s competitiveness: Don’t cut off the supply in the pursuit of an arbitrary migration target January 25, 2016 For centuries, the City has thrived on being open – open to those who want to come to a leading financial and business centre, work hard and contribute to the growth of the economy. And this openness is not limited to people from fellow European countries, but also to those spread across the globe. This [...]
Profits drop by 26 per cent for British packaging company DS Smith, causing share price to tumble too December 3, 2015 Profits have unraveled at DS Smith, as the packaging company today announced a fall in profits before tax of 26 per cent on a reported basis to £91m for the six months ended 31 October 2015. Revenue at the company dropped one per cent on a reported basis to £1.95bn, although this had increased by [...]
Aviva ensures FTSE stays near its record high – London Report March 5, 2015 ARALLY by insurance giant Aviva and same sector shares pushed the FTSE100 closer to record highs again yesterday. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed up 0.6 per cent at 6,961.14 points, near the 6,974.26 record it set this month. Traders said that European equities were further supported by confirmation that the European Central Bank (ECB) [...]