Halifax shocks bears with rise in house prices September 8, 2010 HOUSE prices rose for the second month running in August, mortgage lender Halifax said yesterday, confounding expectations for a fall though it still expected house prices to stagnate overall this year. House prices rose 0.2 per cent in August, Halifax said, which, coming after a 0.7 per cent rise in July, had helped to reverse [...]
PROPERTY FIRM OF THE YEAR | September 8, 2010 THE City’s skyline is changing. Skyscrapers are springing up – okay, more slowly than before, but they are coming. Added to that the commitment to opening retail space and the whole character of the Square Mile is changing. At a time when it might have been easier to abandon their projects, they have shown confidence [...]
RETAIL BROKER OF THE YEAR | THE SHORTLIST September 8, 2010 WITHOUT brokers like the ones on our list, money would sit in bank accounts gathering dust. They are the soul of the UK’s investment strategy. At the moment, when people are looking for stability, they are more vital than ever. Innovative, forward-looking and offering great personal service, these five are stars. Don’t miss the City [...]
Virgin ends strike threat September 8, 2010 VIRGIN Atlantic averted the threat of the first strike in its 26-year history yesterday, after it reached an agreement with pilot’s union Balpa over the time off its members take. Under the deal Virgin pilots remain entitled to “at least 120 days off” a year, equivalent to an office worker’s weekends and bank holidays. Virgin’s [...]
Kirsh fails as Minerva wins vote September 8, 2010 SOUTH African billionaire Nathan Kirsh has lost his campaign to oust the chief executive and chairman of property developer Minerva, after other investors rejected calls for a boardroom shake-up and greater financial disclosure. About 64 per cent of Minerva investors voted to keep existing management in place at an extraordinary general meeting yesterday, and Kirsh’s [...]
Anglo Irish to be split into two September 8, 2010 IRELAND’S government outlined a compromise solution for winding down troubled Anglo Irish Bank yesterday but failed to put either a price or a timeline on its plan. Yielding to political pressure, finance minister Brian Lenihan ditched Anglo Irish’s own plan to carve a functioning niche lender out of what is left of the nationalised bank [...]
Lupus forgets Hutchings with £17m profit September 8, 2010 LUPUS CAPITAL, the building materials supplier, raised its operating profit 43 per cent for the first half, a year after seeing off controversial tycoon Greg Hutchings. Lupus, which makes fittings for doors and windows, notched up an underlying gain of £17.3m in the six months to July. Group sales defied tougher conditions in the key [...]
GT reveals non-executives September 8, 2010 GRANT Thornton (GT) has become the first large accounting firm to comply with new governance rules by revealing its new non-executives. The three non-executives are Richard Eyre, chairman of the Eden Project; Caroline Goodall, a consultant to law firm Herbert Smith; and Ed Warner chairman of UK Athletics. The UK’s biggest eight audit firms – [...]
RBC plans for growth as hits City century September 8, 2010 ROYAL BANK OF CANADA (RBC) is looking to expand its wealth management and investment banking arms as it celebrates its 100th anniversary in the City of London. RBC, Canada’s largest company by revenue, is hiring bankers to push its private client business in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. It also plans to bolster its [...]
Ex-AIG chief Sullivan to head risk at Willis September 8, 2010 Former AIG chief executive Martin Sullivan, who was ousted three months before the US government bailed the insurer out, is joining Willis Group, the London-based insurance broker said yesterday. Sullivan will head a new unit that will oversee brokerage and risk management advisory services for Willis’ multinational and global accounts. He will also be deputy [...]