City boffin with X-factor invents economist rock August 5, 2013 EARLIER in the year The Capitalist invited readers to send word of any business-related songs they had come across in the workplace. The request led not only to the door of economist-slash-rocker Andrew Sentance, but also ex-MBA tutor – and friend of Sentance – Peter Cook. Cook, who gives musical leadership lectures to firms like [...]
Microsoft co-founder joins opera buffs at Holland Park August 5, 2013 AS THIS year’s season of the long-running Holland Park Opera comes to an end, any City opera-goers who were in attendance at the summer run might have spotted a familiar face in the audience. The Capitalist hears that eagle-eyed afficionados spotted none other than Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in the audience. No confirmation from Allen himself, [...]
More competition sends profits at Morgan Sindall plummeting August 5, 2013 CONSTRUCTION company Morgan Sindall yesterday said its half-year profits had slumped 95 per cent as increased competition hurt margins. The company said that an exceptional charge of £13m taken as a provision against amounts recoverable on a small number of older construction contracts also hurt profit. Morgan Sindall, which builds houses, refurbishes offices and undertakes [...]
Mazars faces accounting tribunal over First Quench pension advice August 5, 2013 THE ACCOUNTANCY watchdog is investigating Mazars and the managing partner of its London office over pension advice given to the now-defunct drinks firm First Quench Retailing. The Financial Reporting Council has made a formal complaint about Mazars and partner Richard Karmel, claiming their conduct “fell significantly short of the standards reasonably to be expected”. The [...]
Insurance firm Hub bought by private equity August 5, 2013 INSURANCE broker Hub International will be sold to funds managed by private equity firm Hellman & Friedman in a deal that values the firm at about $4.4bn (£2.87bn), Hub said yesterday. Hub, which has more than 6,500 employees in the United States, Canada and Brazil, was formed through the merger of 11 privately held Canadian [...]
Flybe loses finance boss as part of reshuffle under its new CEO August 5, 2013 EUROPE’S largest regional airline Flybe, which appointed a new chief executive last month, said yesterday its chief financial officer and three board members had resigned. The group said that Andrew Knuckey, who has been CFO since 2007, would leave the company after his successor is appointed and a suitable handover period is completed. Flybe appointed [...]
Serco confirms new £810m US health contract August 5, 2013 SERVICES company Serco yesterday confirmed that it has been awarded a new contract by the US Department of Health, worth $1.25bn (£810m). The FTSE 100-listed firm will handle applications for a number of insurance affordability programmes including Medicaid services. The contract has a one-year base period valued at around $115m with four further one-year options, [...]
Train operators say traffic rising in tandem with UK jobs market August 5, 2013 BRITAIN’S railways carried 344.4m passengers in the three months to the end of June, up five per cent on last year – and train operators credited some of the rise to an uptick in the jobs market. Trains in London and the south east of England took 235.8m people in the quarter, a rise of [...]
Fastjet rejigs shares to prevent a drop below nominal 1p value August 5, 2013 AFRICAN airline Fastjet is planning to consolidate its shares in order to keep on the right side of UK company law and try to stabilise its share price. Fastjet’s shares, which had fallen from 4p at the start of the year to 1.16p yesterday, will be subject to a one-for-ten consolidation and then split into [...]
Glencore sells Australian malt producer Joe White to Cargill August 5, 2013 GLENCORE Xstrata yesterday said it has agreed to sell Australia’s largest malt producer, Joe White Maltings, to agriculture giant Cargill. The sale is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close by the end of 2013. The deal value was undisclosed by Glencore in yesterday’s announcement but is reportedly worth A$420m (£244m). Joe White [...]