British Gas loses executive who was taken to task by Twitter December 19, 2013 THE BRITISH Gas executive who led the company’s disastrous Twitter Q&A two months ago is leaving the firm to return to the Netherlands, the energy group said yesterday. Bert Pijls, British Gas’s managing director of customer services, decided to depart after his team was restructured and another role he was offered did not “match his [...]
Complaints fall at most of UK’s train operators December 19, 2013 COMPLAINTS about Britain’s trains fell sharply in the three months to the end of September, which the regulator hailed yesterday as part of a long-term decline in passenger grievances. Train operators got 26 complaints for every 100,000 customers in the quarter, down 19 per cent on a year ago, the Office of Rail Regulation said. [...]
London hotel industry set for record revenue growth in 2014 December 19, 2013 LONDON hotels are set to have a record 2014 according to the latest hotels forecast from PwC, after tough comparisons with the 2012 London Olympic Games caused a sluggish start last year. Revenue per available room (revpar), a key industry measure, is expected to rise 2.4 per cent to a record £112.80 thanks to a [...]
Trinity Mirror appoints two new board members starting in 2014 December 19, 2013 TRINITY Mirror, publisher of the Daily Mirror and more than 100 regional titles, yesterday appointed two new non-executive directors to its board. Helen Stevenson and Lee Ginsberg will join the Trinity Mirror’s board from 1 January 2014. Stevenson was previously marketing chief at Yell and Lloyds TSB, and currently serves as a non-executive director at [...]
City Moves for 20 December 2013 | Who’s switching jobs December 19, 2013 Herbert Smith Freehills The law firm has announced the appointments of Sonya Leydecker (right) and Mark Rigotti as joint chief executives. Leydecker joined the firm in 1984 and was promoted to partner in 1991. Rigotti joined in 1988, and has since held senior roles including head of banking and head of corporate. KPMG The professional [...]
Best of the Brokers for 20 December 2013 December 19, 2013 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com XCHANGING Panmure Gordon has picked the IT and outsourcing firm as one of its top picks for 2014, with a buy rating and 190p target, up from 160p. The broker thinks Xchanging will start to show underlying growth next year after several years of [...]
London Report: Pharma giants and Fed move lift FTSE to a two-week high December 19, 2013 BRITAIN’S main share index rose to a two-week high yesterday, helped by gains in pharmaceutical stocks and by a pledge from the US Federal Reserve to keep interest rates low. Some investors expect the blue-chip FTSE 100 index to rally into the end of 2013, forecasting gains of roughly 50-150 points between now and the [...]
New York Report: Stocks flat in Christmas lull December 19, 2013 US STOCKS finished mostly flat last night as investors paused after a rally in the previous session, though the Dow Jones Industrial Index closed at its second record high in a row. The Nasdaq declined slightly on weakness in tech shares, though its loss was limited by a rally in Oracle shares a day after [...]
Any Other Business – 20/12 December 19, 2013 Need help getting home after that Xmas party? Apple announced its top apps of 2013 this week and one of the editor’s picks was London-born travel app Citymapper. For those who haven’t already used the app – it takes your destination and gives a range of options for getting there. For giggles, it also includes [...]
UAE pulls out of BAE Typhoon aircraft deal December 19, 2013 The UAE government has decided not to proceed with a BAE deal for the supply of defence and security services, including the supply of Typhoon aircraft. The deal would have been worth around £6bn. BAE had not "built this prospect into its planning assumptions." The company says that a timely agreement in 2014 would be [...]