Sweat in the City June 8, 2009 THERE is only so much good that you can do to your body with pilates, and other such exercises where lying down features heavily. Those people who rattle on about the importance of “strengthening the core” really need to know one thing: the only way to get properly fit is to feel some lung-busting pain. [...]
CITY BOYS COME UP TRUMPS FOR SIR ALAN’S NEWEST APPRENTICE June 8, 2009 BEADY-eyed Apprentice followers may have noticed a bevy of City boys getting behind the camera last night for a cameo on the final episode of the show. Pelham PR’s Gavin Davis, Alisdair Haythornthwaite and Alex Walters appeared on screen, with Funsho Allu from insurer AIG and freelance hack Jack Dyson, to advise winner Yasmina on [...]
Daredevil for a day June 8, 2009 ANYONE who has marvelled at the aerial spectacle of the Red Bull Air Race must surely have wondered what it is like to hurtle along in a small aircraft at high speed just feet above the ground. The airborne equivalent of Formula One, the event has attracted millions of spectators around the world. But while [...]
BP’s head of green fuels to step down June 8, 2009 THE CHIEF of BP’s alternative energy division, Vivienne Cox, is to retire at the end of the month as the oil giant scales back its financial commitment to green fuels. Cox, BP’s most senior female executive, will be replaced by the chief operating officer of the division, Karina Landis. The company has faced criticism over [...]
Labour routed at the ballot box as centre-right gains traction in EU June 8, 2009 LABOUR suffered its worst performance in a national election since World War II, as it was left trailing in third place by the Conservatives and the UK Independence Party (UKIP) in this week’s European elections. Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s party polled just 15.7 per cent of the vote, undershooting Labour’s worst expectations, as David Cameron’s [...]
Lloyds stalls on dividend June 8, 2009 LLOYDS Banking Group will not resume dividend payments to shareholders this year, despite freeing itself of £480m a year in interest payments by redeeming £4bn in government-held preference shares. The bank confirmed yesterday that it had sold 87 per cent of a £4bn share placing to existing shareholders at 38.43p, with a 13 per cent [...]
Shell chief hits out over pay June 8, 2009 JEROEN van de Veer, the outgoing chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell, has called for a reform of the firm’s executive pay structure. Van de Veer, who was himself the subject of a shareholder mutiny over a €1.35m (£1.16m) bonus he received despite failing to reach key performance targets, said lower pay would not have [...]
City of London profits tumble June 8, 2009 CITY of London Investment Group, the emerging markets fund manager, has warned investors its pre-tax proffell by half in the year to end May to £5.4m, as “significant market declines” took their toll. In an unaudited trading update it warned it is likely to report the fall in profits, from £10.7m in the period to [...]
CITY VIEWS: WHAT IMPACT DO YOU THINK THE CURRENT POLITICAL TURMOIL WILL HAVE ON THE ECONOMY? June 8, 2009 STEFAN SZECSEI DEUTSCHE BANK“A resolution to the turmoil in the Labour party and some political stability would boost the economy and international investors’ perception of the UK. The unrest is not great in the short-term but there could be long-term gain to be had from it.” BILL MAXTED DE MONTFORT UNIVERSITY“I think that interest rates [...]
Hornby lands top Boots job June 8, 2009 FORMER HBOS chief executive Andy Hornby, who was criticised for allowing the bank to ring up huge corporate losses, was yesterday named as chief executive of high street giant Alliance Boots. The failed banker is likely to receive a pay package of around £1m. Although the company refused to give a precise breakdown of Hornby’s [...]