RETAIL BANK | OF THE YEAR September 21, 2011 LLOYDS BANKING GROUP The programme of change under new leader Antonio Horta-Osorio won the day for Lloyds, as it accelerates the sale of 632 bank branches. It also won praise for its bold stance on Payment Protection Insurance. SHORTLIST Santander UK Virgin Money Tesco Bank Co-op Bank
QUAFFER’S CORNER November 14, 2011 HEAD SOMMELIER AND MANAGER OF LUTYENS RESTAURANT BEING from the New World, I’m accustomed to thinking of grape growing as a specialised activity but, in fact, in parts of Europe it is the norm to grow grapes as part of a pattern of mixed agriculture, combining it with fruit or nut trees, perhaps a cow [...]
G4S investors vent ire after ISS deal scrapped November 1, 2011 INVESTORS in security firm G4S started to call for the chairman’s scalp yesterday after the company abandoned its takeover of Danish cleaning group ISS at the eleventh hour. Shareholders welcomed the decision to abort the unpopular £5.2bn merger, but called for chairman Alf Duch-Pedersen to resign over his handling of the deal. G4S pulled the [...]
HSBC gets loophole in Vickers proposals December 19, 2011 HSBC scored a major lobbying victory yesterday after the government inserted a loophole into the Vickers Commission proposals that could exempt the bank from its most onerous capital requirements. The bank had warned that issuing a swathe of new debt instruments as per the Vickers recommendations could cost it $2.1bn extra a year. In response, [...]
Thomas Cook takes axe to its dividend September 29, 2011 THOMAS Cook yesterday ditched its dividend as it tries to shore up its finances before a series of banking covenant tests in December. The travel firm has been hit by the consumer downturn in the UK and unrest in the Middle East and north Africa regions. Thomas Cook has issued a series of profit warnings [...]
Thomas Cook takes axe to its dividend September 29, 2011 THOMAS Cook yesterday ditched its dividend as it tries to shore up its finances before a series of banking covenant tests in December. The travel firm has been hit by the consumer downturn in the UK and unrest in the Middle East and north Africa regions. Thomas Cook has issued a series of profit warnings [...]
Lloyds gets just one bid on branches September 28, 2011 LLOYDS has received just one formal bid on the 632 branches it is selling. NBNK Investments, the buy-out vehicle set up by Lord Levene, bid substantially below the £2bn that Lloyds is hoping to get. As part of the conditions of the bid, City A.M. understands that NBNK would agree to buy only a portion of [...]
ROTHSCHILD GIVES STAFF ITS TURKEY OF A BONUS October 23, 2011 EVERY little helps, as the Tesco slogan goes. So the price-conscious supermarket giant will be pleased to learn that the competitively remunerated London employees of Rothschild receive daily luncheon vouchers for the sum of £3 that can be refunded in any of its stores. But Rothschild’s solicitous attempts to ensure its workforce is well fed [...]
ROTHSCHILD GIVES STAFF ITS TURKEY OF A BONUS October 23, 2011 EVERY little helps, as the Tesco slogan goes. So the price-conscious supermarket giant will be pleased to learn that the competitively remunerated London employees of Rothschild receive daily luncheon vouchers for the sum of £3 that can be refunded in any of its stores. But Rothschild’s solicitous attempts to ensure its workforce is well fed [...]
Retailers: Shop floor beats uni September 25, 2011 SHELF-STACKING in a supermarket from 16 can be a better career move than studying for A-levels and a degree, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) will claim today. On-the-job training and good career prospects can be preferable to a longer formal education with higher debts, the industry body will say. Retailers invest an average of £1,275 [...]