Ex-Goldman employee’s book set to hit shelves on 22 October September 13, 2012 Just six months after he resigned from Goldman Sachs with a scathing op-ed in the New York Times, Greg Smith’s book is already written and scheduled for release on 22 October. The former employee, who claimed clients were routinely referred to as “muppets”, has rather unimaginatively titled his book: “Why I left Goldman Sachs.” The [...]
Tesco keeps on losing share to cut price rivals February 29, 2012 LEADING supermarket Tesco failed to increase sales as quickly as its rivals in the last 12 weeks, data out yesterday showed, while leaked documents showed the Co-op is well behind its sales targets already this year. Tesco’s sales rose 2.5 per cent in the 12-week period ending 19 February, compared with the same period last [...]
Miners fuel FTSE gains April 16, 2012 The FTSE 100 was in positive territory in early trading with resilient miners lifting the index despite fears over slowing growth in China Investors were more upbeat after markets were also buffeted last week by fears over Eurozone debt, with eyes focusing on Spain and Italy. However sentiment toward banking stocks remained tepid this morning [...]
Vickers report morphs from a fudge to a whitewash April 12, 2012 JUST six months after the publication of the Independent Commission on Banking’s final report, Sir John Vickers’ recommendations on boosting competitiveness are falling on deaf ears. Initially, Vickers recommended in his interim report that Lloyds be made to sell “substantially” more than the 632 branches it is being forced to put on the block to [...]
Thomas Cook gets final go-ahead for Co-op travel deal August 16, 2011 The Competition Commission has cleared a merger between struggling Thomas Cook’s UK retail business and those of the Co-operative group and Midlands Co-operative Society, to create the country’s biggest retail travel operation. The deal will bring together three of the biggest travel agents on the high street. Thomas Cook currently has 780 stores, while the [...]
Get fit… and make a difference too April 2, 2012 FIT IN THE CITY Picture the scene: it’s 6.30pm on a Wednesday evening at the Reebok Sports Club and instead of being full of weary looking execs wishing they were in the pub, the reception is buzzing with an eager group of runners about to head out to a local community garden to enjoy a [...]
Get fit… and make a difference too April 2, 2012 FIT IN THE CITY Picture the scene: it’s 6.30pm on a Wednesday evening at the Reebok Sports Club and instead of being full of weary looking execs wishing they were in the pub, the reception is buzzing with an eager group of runners about to head out to a local community garden to enjoy a [...]
Thomas Cook given nod for Co-op merger July 21, 2011 PLANS by Thomas Cook and the Co-Operative Group to merge their high street travel agent businesses have been given preliminary approval by the Competition Commission. The commission said it did not expect the deal to have a major impact on customers buying package holidays. If the merger gets the final go ahead it will create [...]
Here’s the real Plan B for Britain: We need a competition revolution May 14, 2012 NO ONE can dispute that the UK economy needs more growth. It seems that the coalition’s essential austerity measures are not enough. But despite its cheerleaders, the usual Plan B, based on debt-financed infrastructure spending, won’t make any difference to growth – while denting confidence. One such plan suggested £30bn in spending. Over three years, [...]
OFT tobacco fines overturned December 12, 2011 Imperial Tobacco and several leading retailers have won a court battle to overturn record fines imposed by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) over allegations of unlawful pricing. A fine of £112.3m handed down to Imperial Tobacco last year was reversed, while Morrisons, Asda, Co-Op and Shell also had cases against them overturned by the [...]