IT’S DOG EAT DOG AMONG TOP RETAIL BANKERS February 1, 2010 IF THE government wants more competition in the retail banking sector, it’s more competition it’s gonna get. Hot on the heels of yesterday’s heart-warming tale about new High Street lender Metro Bank planning to welcome dogs into branches – and offer them free bowls of water and chewy bones – comes a response from Metro’s [...]
Jobs market is on the up, says City recruiter February 1, 2010 SQUARE Mile headhunter SThree said the fourth quarter saw signs of recovery in the jobs market even as it unveiled a sharp fall in profits. Underlying pre-tax profits at SThree slumped by 87 per cent in 2009 to £4.8m, with revenues down 18 per cent to £519.4m. The firm said its advertising spend, already halved from [...]
FULL DISCLOSURE February 1, 2010 SOME passengers using Heathrow and Manchester airports must now pass through new full body scanners or be they will be barred from boarding their flights. New rules drawn up in the wake of the failed attempt to bomb a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas day stipulate that selected passengers must agree to be scanned.
VCTs in for a lucrative year February 1, 2010 Venture capital trusts (VCTs) are looking forward to a bumper year due to the coming rise in the top rate of income tax and reduction in pension tax relief for high earners, the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) predicts. Matthew Woodbridge, head of investment products for Chelsea Financial Services, said: “The Budget bombshells that were [...]
Balfour Beatty buys hotel firms February 1, 2010 Balfour Beatty announced yesterday it has acquired Multibuild Hotels and Leisure and Multibuild Interiors, based in Stockport, for £1.9m. The firms specialise in the construction and fit-out of hotel and leisure facilities. The international infrastructure group operates in construction services, professional services, support services and infrastructure investments.
Cashmere firm jumpers for joy February 1, 2010 Dawson International, the cashmere and bed linen company, saw its share price rise nearly 30 per cent yesterday to 2.25p after it announced that full-year results would be ahead of expectations. The company, which supplies cashmere to the world’s leading fashion designers, said that knitwear sales had been helped by the timing of high margin [...]
RBS ponders sale of HQ at Gogarburn February 1, 2010 JUST five years after the completion of Gogarburn – Royal Bank of Scotland’s vast headquarters near Edinburgh and the darling of disgraced former chief Sir Fred Goodwin – and the £350m office complex may already be heading for the block. RBS is considering the merits of a sale and leaseback of the property to shore [...]
Catalyst February 1, 2010 Steve Currie advised on the £44m sale of Minivator from Gresham to Handicare. He is a partner at finance house Catalyst and has over 15 years’ corporate finance experience working at private equity and corporate advisory firms. He recently advised on the management buyout at Farrow & Ball, which was funded by European Capital. He [...]
Handicare in £44m deal as private equity rush continues February 1, 2010 THE private equity resurgence continued yesterday as Gresham Private Equity prepares to sell stair-lift company Minivator to Handicare Group in a deal worth £44m, City A.M. has learned. The UK buyout firm made a return of more than three times the £14m it paid for the mobility aid manufacturer in 2004. The mid-market deal comes [...]
Confidence rises among corporates February 1, 2010 Corporate confidence is increasing, but the majority of companies are still taking a cautious approach in 2010, research has found. The survey by Ernst & Young, which polled senior executives at nearly 900 companies, found that, despite consensus that restricted access to capital will constrain growth this year, nearly a third said they intended to [...]