US retail growth grinds to halt in August after slow summer September 14, 2011 HURRICANE Irene and low confidence made retail and food sales stagnate last month, according to figures released yesterday by the US Census Bureau. Advanced estimates indicate overall sales did not grow at all during August, compared to monthly growth of 0.3 per cent and 0.2 per cent in July and June respectively. Sales of vehicles [...]
Financial services roles remain at a premium as hiring levels slump September 14, 2011 HIRING for financial services roles in London fell to its lowest point so far this year during August, with just 4,095 vacancies compared to the 10,291 job seekers that entered the market, a report said yesterday. New opportunities in the financial sector fell 18 per cent month-on-month from July, and were down a huge 26 [...]
Moody’s: UK bank ratings safe for now September 14, 2011 CREDIT rating agency Moody’s said proposals from the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) to ring-fence the retail operations of UK banks and get them to hold more capital would not lead to any immediate rating changes on the sector. Moody’s said, however, that the ICB’s proposals would have a negative impact in the longer-term for [...]
Tower 42 put up for sale for by PE owners September 14, 2011 CITY landmark Tower 42, an icon of the London skyline since it was completed in 1980, has been put up for sale, with its private equity owners hoping to get £290m for the building on Bishopsgate. BlackRock UK Property Fund and LaSalle Investment Management yesterday announced they were looking for buyers of their freehold in the [...]
Lewis seeks out Irish tycoons in brewing battle September 14, 2011 JOE LEWIS has told associates he wants to meet JP McManus and John Magnier, his friends and fellow shareholders in Mitchells & Butlers, to enlist their support in his fight to take full control of the pub chain. According to one source who was yesterday at a meeting on Lewis’s boat Aviva, the financier expressed [...]
Unions plot more pension strike action September 14, 2011 BRITISH unions yesterday gave notice that up to a quarter of the country’s workforce could go on strike in November in protest at the government’s public sector pensions reform. The Trades Union Congress, a group of unions that represent 6.5m workers, voted unanimously in favour of industrial action yesterday. Leaders chose the 30 November as [...]
Clegg under fire after calls for infrastucture spending September 14, 2011 DEPUTY Prime Minister Nick Clegg’s proposals to boost the economy by prioritising infrastructure spending were rejected by several economists and business leaders yesterday. Clegg’s plans for speeding up spending on projects like Crossrail and boosting the M25’s capacity “will not bring about growth,” warned Mark Littlewood from the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA). “What we need [...]
Clarke challenges EU on plans for a unified European contract law September 14, 2011 JUSTICE secretary Ken Clarke yesterday poured scorn on EU plans to harmonise contract law across Europe, calling the initiative “unnecessary, disproportionate and damaging”. In a wide-ranging speech, during which he outlined an “action plan” to promote UK legal services across the globe, Clarke said efforts to establish a unified law across the single market would [...]
PUBS WAR CAN WAIT AS JOE LEWIS EXPECTS NEW GREAT-GRANDCHILD September 14, 2011 ALL EYES remain on financier Joe Lewis, whose surprise appearance in London on his superyacht Aviva ten days ago has been satisfactorily explained by this week’s hostile move to take control of pub chain Mitchells & Butlers. Case closed. Or is it? As ever with the enigmatic Bahamas-based billionaire, the truth is rather more surprising [...]
Danone dairy chief to run Louis Vuitton September 14, 2011 LOUIS Vuitton, the star brand within the world’s biggest luxury group LVMH, yesterday unveiled a succession plan which will see a former Danone executive, Jordi Constans, take the executive reins as of 2013. Yves Carcelle, 63, chief executive of the French leather goods maker since 1990, will remain on the executive board of LVMH and [...]