TESCO TO BET £500M ON UK FIGHTBACK January 12, 2012 A RATTLED Tesco is set to splash around £500m on revamping its UK store network and recruiting new staff after it stunned the City with its first profit warning in twenty years. Chief executive Philip Clarke is ready to sanction an investment of “hundreds of millions” of pounds in Britain after the supermarket yesterday posted [...]
Tyrie: new watchdog is already in need of reform January 12, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT’S new consumer watchdog for financial services must break away from the “bureaucratic” and “box-ticking culture” of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), according to a stark warning this morning from Andrew Tyrie MP. Tyrie, chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, has blasted the past failures of the FSA to protect consumers — and fears [...]
Clegg in push for blind CVs January 12, 2012 JOB APPLICATIONS would be fairer if CVs were made anonymous and schools were not mentioned, Nick Clegg claimed yesterday. The deputy Prime Minister believes racist HR staff may judge applicants on their names, and the “old boys network” means having a prestigious school on the form helps some applicants to the disadvantage of others. Clegg [...]
Boris pledges new tunnel January 12, 2012 LONDON MAYOR Boris Johnson has pledged to build a new tunnel under the Thames within the next decade as part of a plan to ease congestion problems for commuters into the city. Addressing government leaders last night, Johnson said a crossing between the Greenwich peninsula and Silvertown in the Royal Docks, could see 2,400 vehicles [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 12, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES SFO TARGETS CRIMINAL COMPANY DIVIDENDS The UK’s fraud investigator intends to confiscate shareholder dividends paid by companies convicted of criminal offences, after it won approval for a landmark court action. The Serious Fraud Office won a civil recovery order yesterday against the principal shareholder of a company that had admitted corruption. GROUPAMA TO [...]
EU set to phase ban on Iran’s oil January 12, 2012 COMMODITIES fell broadly yesterday, with oil tumbling in a late sell-off on the news that Europe would phase a ban on imports of Iranian oil, part of the latest Western efforts to increase pressure on Tehran over its nuclear programme. EU diplomats had said a consensus was emerging to grant a grace period before banning [...]
RBS retreats from global ambitions January 12, 2012 ROYAL Bank of Scotland and Barclays both finalised new rounds of job cuts yesterday, with nearly 4,000 posts to go between the two lenders. RBS, which is 83 per cent state-owned, said it would cut 3,500 people from its investment bank through lay-offs or asset sales “in light of a changed market and regulatory environment”. [...]
Lloyds wholesale bank hires former MF Global Europe boss January 12, 2012 LLOYDS has hired the man who used to head up the European operations of bankrupt broker MF Global, despite the firm currently being investigated by US authorities in relation to missing client money. Richard Moore will join Lloyds as head of trading in its wholesale division in March, provided his appointment is approved by the [...]
FORMER POLLY PECK BOSS DENIES £33M THEFT January 12, 2012 BUSINESS tycoon Asil Nadir, who returned to Britain last year after 17 years abroad, yesterday pleaded not guilty to 13 charges of theft from his collapsed Polly Peck conglomerate. The 70-year-old Turkish-Cypriot appeared at the Old Bailey and denied theft of £33.1m from the business between 1987 and 1990. He had been due to face [...]
Home Retail to slash divi January 12, 2012 HOME RETAIL GROUP warned it was set to slash its dividend after a declining electronic goods market caused Christmas sales at Argos to slump by more than £150m. The near-nine per cent fall in sales at Argos stores open more than a year in the 18 weeks to 31 December means the group now expects [...]