The man who could be chancellor plans radical changes for the City May 3, 2010 Allister Heath and David Crow pay a visit to Vince Cable ahead of the last week of the election campaign FEW politicians have emerged from the financial crisis with their reputation intact. Vince Cable must be the only one who has actually enhanced his, with his brand of left-wing policies playing perfectly to the shifting [...]
Tokyo happy Toyota February 21, 2010 JAPAN’S transport minister, Seiji Maehara, has expressed relief at Toyota president, Akio Toyoda’s decision to testify in US Congressional hearings on Wednesday. “It’s good that he has decided to accept [the invitation]. This is a safety issue on which people’s lives depend and it’s a manufacturers duty to respond firmly,” minister Seiji Maehara told a [...]
Business models now matter more than sales February 22, 2010 When I was in my late twenties, I had a baptism of fire while trying to establish the Power PC chip as a new industry standard. In early 1992, IBM, Apple and Motorola announced that they would be developing a new microprocessor – to be called the PowerPC – to power the Apple Macintosh and [...]
To understand the future of law, look back April 6, 2010 LAW firms are currently experiencing change like never before. In the last two years, many firms have seen their revenues and profits decline for the first time in over a decade. They’ve had to let go many talented lawyers, both at partner level and below. Clients who used to accept above-inflation fee increases each year [...]
Troubled Virgin Media turns the corner at last February 25, 2010 VIRGIN Media is a company with a troubled past. Having posted a full-year loss of £94.4m, it obviously still bears the scars. After 25 years of pain, however, the firm is finally turning a corner. The most impressive detail in yesterday’s results was the 28,600 net subscribers the firm signed up to its cable TV [...]
All-girls schools lead to bright businesswomen March 1, 2010 EARLIER this week, I met a new friend for breakfast – an M&A man for some of the biggest media executives. He told me all about his daughters; one will represent the UK at the Olympics, while the other is an accomplished actress. He explained how he had raised them, and two of the things [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 18, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES RIPOSTE BY 60 ECONOMISTS TO CALL FOR CUTS More than 60 leading economists have backed Alistair Darling’s decision to delay spending cuts until 2011, creating a dividing line within the profession on the crucial general election issue of how to tackle the UK’s huge public debt. Two letters in today’s Financial Times warn [...]
Top US brands win as results beat forecasts February 9, 2010 AMERICAN brand giants McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Walt Disney reported stronger-than-expected results yesterday, though the food and drink profits are increasingly coming from outside the US . McDonald’s beat expectations with a 2.6 per cent increase in January sales compared to a year earlier. The US market, which fell 0.7 per cent, was propped up by [...]
Mobile firms unite to offer apps platform February 15, 2010 A GROUP of 24 telecom companies are clubbing together to build a mobile phone application platform in a bid to compete with Apple. The alliance – which includes O2, Orange and Vodafone – is hoping that its combined customer base of 3bn will allow it to steal market share from Apple’s App Store. Mobile applications [...]
Prudential is back in black as deal looms March 1, 2010 PRUDENTIAL swung back into the black as it reported a £1.7bn pre-tax profit yesterday, marginally ahead of consensus estimates. Bullish after performing solidly through changeable market conditions, the British insurer upped its total dividend by five per cent to 19.85p per share for 2009. However, traders were unsettled by a 24 per cent fall in [...]