The mayoral debate: Boris and Ken issue their final message to voters April 30, 2012 THIS election comes when we have been going through the toughest times that anyone can remember. The big question is therefore blindingly simple. It is about who has the best plan for the jobs and growth that will help bring prosperity to all. It is about who will deliver the investment – from central government [...]
COMEBACK KID December 14, 2011 THE EXHAUSTED boss of Lloyds Banking Group is to jump back in the saddle of the beleaguered lender after doctors said he made a “full recovery”, chairman Sir Win Bischoff has announced. The bank also said that it has entered exclusive talks with the Co-operative Group over the sale of 632 branches, leaving rival bidder [...]
Sleepless in the City: Lloyds boss explains his absence December 15, 2011 LLOYDS chief António Horta-Osório admitted that he had not been able to sleep for five days in a row before going on sick leave last month. The exhausted executive returned to his bank’s HQ in Gresham Street yesterday to shake hands and demonstrate what chairman Sir Win Bischoff called his new, “bushy-tailed” condition following almost [...]
Thomas Cook to close 200 stores November 20, 2011 THOMAS Cook is set to close about 200 high street travel agencies as the troubled tour operator prepares to unveil a massive overhaul of its UK operations. The closures follow Thomas Cook’s recent merger with Co-op’s travel business that left the operator with 1,350 high street shops. At the time of the deal, the group [...]
Big Society role for Co-op March 28, 2011 DAVID Anderson, former chief executive of Co-operative Financial Services, is to head up a non-profit organisation that will provide a major source of funding for David Cameron’s Big Society Bank, City A.M. can reveal. The Reclaim Fund, which will manage up to £400m in assets from “dormant” bank accounts that have not been accessed for [...]
Big Society role for Co-op March 28, 2011 DAVID Anderson, former chief executive of Co-operative Financial Services, is to head up a non-profit organisation that will provide a major source of funding for David Cameron’s Big Society Bank, City A.M. can reveal. The Reclaim Fund, which will manage up to £400m in assets from “dormant” bank accounts that have not been accessed for [...]
A wake-up call for board of Lloyds December 14, 2011 SIR Win Bischoff nailed his colours to the mast yesterday: if António Horta-Osório has to beg off sick again due to exhaustion, he, Sir Win, will “consider his position”. An impressive gambit, perhaps – except that Sir Win is already on his way out. He’s likely to retire in the next year. And little was [...]
G4S chief in last-minute battle on deal October 31, 2011 SECURITY group G4S will not back down from an investor vote on its controversial £5.2bn takeover of ISS despite the Co-operative Group and Harris Associates joining the growing ranks of those against the deal. Sources said G4S has received the backing of several unnamed investors and that chief executive Nick Buckles will press ahead with [...]
Lloyds reports £3.8bn loss November 8, 2011 Lloyds Banking Group , the part-nationalised lender which has been hit by its chief executive’s temporary absence due to health issues, reported a nine-month loss and said it may have to put back some financial targets due to the economic turmoil. Lloyds, which is 41 per cent owned by the government after being bailed out [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING December 18, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES FACEBOOK SET FOR SUIT OVER US PUBLICITY LAWS Facebook’s practice of showing people that their friends “like” specific products could run afoul of a California law that gives both celebrities and ordinary citizens the right to control how their names and pictures are used for commercial endorsements. A federal judge in San Jose [...]