WPP continues its Chinese push March 25, 2014 Advertising giant WPP bought Chinese marketing agency XMKT Group for an undisclosed sum yesterday. XMKT specialises in customer experience management for a list of clients in the region including Diageo and Uniqlo. Last year XMKT’s 254 staff brought in revenue of 126m yuan (£12.3m). WPP companies in Greater China generated revenues of $1.4bn for WPP [...]
KCOM says trading is on track March 25, 2014 Hull’s communications and IT services provider KCOM yesterday said trading for the year to 31 March remains in line with expectations. The company also said it has reached an agreement with trustees of its pension scheme to fund a £16m deficit. KCOM said it is looking to appoint an additional non-executive director, as executive chairman [...]
Ubisense losses doubled in 2013 March 25, 2014 Real-time location intelligence firm Ubisense said yesterday its losses has doubled to £1.7m last year, despite revenue growing 11 per cent to £27m. Ubisense chief executive Richard Green described the year as one of promising progress for the company. “The group enters 2014 with increasing momentum,” added Green. Ubisense shares rose 0.51 per cent to [...]
Hodder & Stoughton set to take over publishing group Quercus March 25, 2014 PUBLISHING group Quercus is being taken over by a subsidiary of Hachette, two months after putting itself up for sale. The publisher of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo will become part of the Hodder & Stoughton imprint once the 60p per share takeover completes. The offer is more than double Quercus’ share price in [...]
Businesses call for another Thames bridge in the east March 25, 2014 LONDON firms and politicians yesterday renewed calls for a new Thames bridge to be built in the east of the city, after decades of delays and cancellations. Businesses including Leyton Orient football club signed a letter to the Mayor of London yesterday asking him to commit to a road crossing at Gallions Reach. Boris Johnson [...]
City Moves for 26 March 2014 | Who’s switching jobs March 25, 2014 BNP Paribas Securities Services The investment custodian has hired Linda Morsia as head of its depositary banking business in the UK. She joins from State Street Trustees, where she was head of client management, sales and business development. KPMG The professional services firm has appointed Maria Maher to its competition economics advisory practice. She was most [...]
Flybe partners with Stobart March 25, 2014 Regional airline Flybe has agreed to let Stobart use two of its planes to serve short-haul routes from Southend Airport. Stobart, which recently agreed to split from its road haulage business, owns Southend and has a similar franchising agreement with Aer Lingus. “It promises to be the start of an exciting relationship with Flybe, with [...]
Balfour chief’s pay rises in 2013 March 25, 2014 Balfour Beatty’s chief executive Andrew McNaughton was paid around £120,000 more in 2013, having been promoted from chief operating officer last March. The FTSE 250 infrastructure firm raised his total pay to £909,126. Balfour said the adjustments reflected the promotion and challenges in a number of markets. But finance chief Duncan Magrath’s pay fell from [...]
Aviva sells Turkish general unit March 25, 2014 Insurer Aviva said yesterday it has agreed to sell its Turkish general insurance business Aviva Sigorta to a private equity consortium led by venture fund EMF Capital Partners. The firm said its life and pensions business in Turkey, AvivaSA, was unaffected by this transaction. The statement was made on the London and Istanbul stock exchanges [...]
Topps Tiles predicts sales leap after positive start to the year March 25, 2014 TILING specialist Topps Tiles expects to post a near 70 per cent leap in first-half profit after a strong start to the year, in a further sign of improving consumer sentiment. The retailer, which has 330 stores across the country, said it expects to report profits of £8m in the 28 weeks to 29 March [...]