Virgin eyes Scottish RAF base for Galactic take off October 25, 2009 VIRGIN GALACTIC, the commercial space flight project from Richard Branson, is seeking government support to launch flights from Scotland. The group’s president, Will Whitehorn, has been in talks with science minister Lord Drayson about opening an operation at RAFLossiemouth in Moray. Virgin says there is great potential for launching into polar orbit from Scotland, but [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS October 25, 2009 BELLWAYKBC Peel Hunt says that Bellway played both the upswing and the downswing better than its competitors, but still issued a “Sell” recommendation for the home construction company. It says valuations have been based on the wrong metric and it cannot justify the current share price. It has set a target price of 600p. NESTLEDespite [...]
Turnaround force tasked with rescuing JAL as it slashes jobs and subsidiaries October 25, 2009 JAPAN AIRLINES (JAL), the ailing carrier which is getting a massive handout from the Japanese government, will be run by a state-owned body in charge of turning it around, it emerged over the weekend. The airline is striving desperately to avoid bankruptcy, seeking aid from banks and the government. Liabilities at the carrier would exceed [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS October 25, 2009 AvivaThe insurer has appointed Patrick Regan as its new chief financial officer, effective from February next year. Regan is currently group chief operating officer and chief financial officer of Willis Group Holdings, the insurance broker. He has also previously held positions within the industry as group financial controller at RSA and as finance and claims [...]
Campari’s chief is taking a breather before returning to the M&A trail October 25, 2009 Having forked out a cool $2bn (£1.2bn) on 16 separate acquisitions over the past 15 years, it is no wonder that Campari – the world’s sixth largest drinks firm – is now calling for a temporary halt to the spending. Its chief executive, Bob Kunze-Concewitz, recently struck a cautious note due to the downturn that [...]
On women, work and savoir faire October 25, 2009 MEETING the author of French Women Don’t Get Fat, the bestselling diet book, is a rather daunting prospect for someone who is neither particularly thin nor remotely French – certainly not when it comes to Gallic standards of stylishness. I expected Mireille Guiliano to be scary – judgmental, fearfully immaculate and devastatingly tiny. I was [...]
We find the City thrilling and we know you do too October 22, 2009 BUSINESS is exciting: the cut and thrust of a huge deal; the terror when things start to unravel; the knowledge that agreements made in a Square Mile office have global implications. That’s why we’ve always believed that business news should reflect this, that it should be punchy, brash, colourful and loud. We find it thrilling [...]
The tributes pour in as City A.M. gets to 1,000 October 22, 2009 GORDON BROWNPrime Minister“Congratulations to City A.M. on reaching a thousand editions. Your paper has kept both Westminster and the City informed at a time of great turbulence in the world economy.” SIR VICTOR BLANKFormer chairman, Lloyds Banking“City A.M. has developed into a quality newspaper which sparks boardroom debate with its insight and analysis. It is [...]
The City’s biggest names read City A.M. every day October 22, 2009 SIR RICHARD BRANSONVirgin“Well done to the team at City A.M. on reaching your 1,000th edition – it is an impressive achievement in an industry almost as tough as the airline one.” AMANDA STAVELEYCEO, PCP“Well done City A.M. on reaching this important milestone. Whenever I’m in the UK I try to see a copy. You report [...]
We’re never afraid to blaze a trail October 22, 2009 City A.M. has broken some of the biggest business stories since we launched, moving markets, forcing companies to reveal their intentions before they would have liked and causing rows in the corridors of the Bank of England and the Treasury. Here we remember a few of our best. THE TAX EXODUS BEGINSBack in April 2008, [...]