City mourns Sir Brian Pitman March 11, 2010 SIR Brian Pitman, one of the most respected bankers of his generation, has died aged 78. Pitman, who was latterly chairman of Virgin Money, led Lloyds Bank for 18 years before retiring almost a decade ago. In his time as chief executive and then chairman of Lloyds, Pitman built the bank from a £1bn business [...]
Media Corp is buoyed by Google truce January 17, 2010 INTERNET advertising company Media Corporation will announce strong first quarter trading numbers today after search giant Google lifted a penalty on two of its websites. The group, which is expected to report a £1.3m loss for the year to September 2009, said pre-tax profits swung from the red to £370,000 in the three months to [...]
Sky sells contested ITV stake February 9, 2010 BSKYB last night sold the majority of its controversial stake in ITV after a long-running legal battle. The pay-TV group had been ordered to reduce its shareholding in ITV from 17.9 per cent to 7.5 per cent after rivals complained it was harming competition. Morgan Stanley placed the 10.4 per cent stake, raising around £196m. [...]
Crozier named as new ITV chief January 28, 2010 ROYAL Mail boss Adam Crozier is to become ITV’s new chief executive. He will replace Michael Grade who announced last April that he wished to give up the role. Crozier is also a former boss of the Football Association. He returned the Royal Mail to profitability but the service has been hit by strike action. [...]
Trinity Mirror upbeat after profits slide March 4, 2010 NEWSPAPER giant Trinity Mirror saw profits slide 41 per cent year-on-year as the advertising drought continued to batter the industry. It posted profits of £72.2m for 2009, above most expectations, but sales fell 14 per cent to £763.3m and operating profit dropped 30 per cent to £101.2m. The beleaguered firm embarked on a series of [...]
Our City panel is worried about the public purse March 17, 2010 HUGE FEARS over the state of the public finances underpin our panel’s view that the government should cut spending soon after the general election. The majority of panelists (59 per cent) said they were very worried about the public finances, while 32 per cent said they were fairly worried. Just eight per cent of respondents [...]
It’s D-Day for Terry as boss Fabio flies in February 4, 2010 JOHN TERRY will finally discover whether he will remain as England captain today following showdown talks with boss Fabio Capello. The Chelsea defender is set for talks with the Italian coach after stories emerged at the weekend of an alleged affair with an ex-partner of England colleague and former Chelsea team-mate Wayne Bridge. Capello touched [...]
Woods fears hostile crowd reaction on his return March 21, 2010 “I tried to stop and I couldn’t – it was horrific” Therapy has given world No1 new-found strength CRESTFALLEN world No1 Tiger Woods last night admitted he is nervous about his impending return to competition following the scandal over his numerous affairs. In his first media interviews since the storm surrounding his private life broke, [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS (AND SOME OF THE BLOGS) SAY TODAY May 7, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES ELECTION ENDS IN HUNG PARLIAMENT David Cameron was facing the prospect of a constitutional stand-off with Gordon Brown on Friday morning over who would get the keys to Number 10 as a hung parliament in the UK appeared inevitable. The Conservative party leader insisted that Labour had “lost its mandate to govern” as [...]
A fly-away internet success March 4, 2010 THE entrance to Cheapflights, the flights comparison website, is based just off Baker Street and contains little more than a vintage advert for Pan Am that hangs on a wall and a couple of leather chairs. Its understated style is also embodied in executive chairman Hugo Burge. The Bedales and Cambridge-educated geographer was in his [...]