When process becomes more important than any one person June 16, 2010 FOR better of worse, some businesses become identified with their bosses. Look at Steve Jobs at Apple, whose share-price dropped when rumours about his health circulated last year. Or BP when it was run by Lord Browne, a man whose attitude towards the business he ran is often compared to that of Louis XIV’s towards [...]
Zurich mulls Irish move for UK life business June 13, 2010 INSURANCE giant Zurich has taken another stride towards making Ireland its overreaching business hub, approaching the Financial Services Authority with a view to moving the domicile of its UK life assurance business over to Dublin. The move comes after Zurich last year brought all its European general insurance businesses under a single Irish “risk-carrying” domicile. [...]
BP TOP DOGS SPOTTED OUT ON A TOP-SECRET MAYFAIR MISSION June 7, 2010 A STERLING spot by one of The Capitalist’s army of spies yesterday, on the way to a meeting at an office building on Old Burlington Street. Stepping out of the lift in the building were none other than beleaguered BP chief executive Tony Hayward and his finance director Byron Grote – taking some time out [...]
BP TOP DOGS SPOTTED OUT ON A TOP-SECRET MAYFAIR MISSION June 7, 2010 A STERLING spot by one of The Capitalist’s army of spies yesterday, on the way to a meeting at an office building on Old Burlington Street. Stepping out of the lift in the building were none other than beleaguered BP chief executive Tony Hayward and his finance director Byron Grote – taking some time out [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 1, 2010 Hermes The asset manager has appointed Chris Goudie as an executive director for global business development and chief executive of Hermes Fund Managers in North America. Goudie joins from Pyramis Global Advisers, the fund management firm he helped to establish for Fidelity. Hermes has also hired Heiko Dahse, pictured, and Marcus Money-Chappelle from Fischer Francis [...]
Osborne: UK is back open for business May 20, 2010 GEORGE Osborne last night said Britain was “once again open for business” as he pledged to draw a line under strained relations between captains of industry and the previous Labour government. In his inaugural speech to employers’ group the CBI, the chancellor said his “guiding principle” would be to support a private sector recovery by [...]
Hosting World Cup could give £3.2bn to UK May 12, 2010 THE economy would be £3.2bn better off if England hosts the 2018 football World Cup, according to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Business leaders including Sir Alan Sugar cited the findings yesterday as they backed the bid. Sugar from BBC1’s The Apprentice and British Airways chief Willie Walsh said winning the bid to hold the tournament [...]
Vive la France: banks are looking good value April 26, 2010 RISKS to the financial sector are finally starting to abate, according to a report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published earlier this month. It also reduced its estimates of bank writedowns caused by the financial crisis by $0.5 trillion. But banks still face a mountain of challenges, and the future of the sector is [...]
Sorrell: Advertising spend has stabilised April 26, 2010 SIR Martin Sorrell, boss of the world’s largest advertising agency WPP, said the worst appears to be behind the industry after revenues “stabilised” in the first quarter of this year. Speaking at the Numis media conference, Sorrell said he was “relieved” that the industry had levelled out after “staring into the abyss” during 2009. He joked [...]
TV firms and ad agencies bounce back April 18, 2010 ALL it took was a bullish note from Goldman Sachs analysts and the European media sector went into a buying frenzy at the end of last week. ITV saw its share price rise to the highest level in two years while advertising giant WPP gained almost 4 per cent last week, taking its stock to [...]