JJB warns that sales stalling September 28, 2010 Sportswear retailer JJB Sports said trading conditions had got tougher in recent weeks as shoppers brace themselves for higher taxes and big cuts in public spending. The group, which teetered on the brink of insolvency in 2009, said sales at stores open at least a year rose 18 per cent from August 2 to August [...]
Government cuts herald tough times for services firms September 12, 2010 CONNAUGHT’S high-profile collapse has ushered in a period of intense difficulty for other services companies, according to the latest monthly City A.M./Begbies Traynor health monitor for the Square Mile. The social housing maintenance specialist, which fell into administration last week, is not alone in having felt the pressure of impending government spending cutbacks and poor-quality [...]
Connaught “on brink of administration” September 7, 2010 Connaught, the property services group that specialises in social housing, is on the brink of going into administration, the BBC has reported. The company, which employs 10,000 people, has suspended trading of its shares, and said a further announcement would be made “in due course”. Connaught has £220m of debt, provided by six banks and [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 28, 2010 Collins Stewart The financial advisory group has appointed a new equity research, sales and corporate broking team, focused on the mining sector and headed by John McGloin (pictured). McGloin has worked as an analyst for the past eight years at Beeson Gregory and Evolution. He is joined by mining analysts Tim Dudley and Andrei Kroupnik; [...]
UK insolvency down as business picks up July 18, 2010 INDICATIONS that the UK’s business community is starting to stabilise have come from new data that shows the number of company insolvencies in June has declined by more than 13 per cent from last year. Information from data services group Experian shows that 1,771 UK businesses failed last month down from the 2,044 that became [...]
Pension trustees wait for court to decide what happens if BT goes bust July 14, 2010 Pension trustees at BT were last night awaiting a High Court ruling over how much of the telecom giant’s liabilities would be guaranteed by the state if it were to collapse. The former state telecoms monopoly was given a guarantee when it was privatised in 1984 that the government would back its pension scheme in [...]
Financial companies left behind in upturn July 11, 2010 STRESS levels are mounting at financial services firms even as corporates across the board begin to recover, according to the latest monthly City A.M./Begbies Taynor health monitor for the Square Mile. While companies in Greater London showed a marked improvement in June, with 23 per cent fewer suffering from serious problems, woes continued to pile [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 7, 2010 Religare Enterprises The Indian financial services group has appointed Stuart Pearce, pictured, and Kathryn Matthews as independent board directors. Pearce has over 35 years of experience in the sector and was previously chief executive and director general of the Qatar Financial Centre Authority. He has also worked as chief executive of UK investment management at [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 6, 2010 Clifford Chance The legal giant said yesterday that Simon Tinkler has been elected leader of its London corporate practice, for a term of four years. Tinkler has been at Clifford Chance since 1995. A private equity expert, he has recently advised on deals such as Duke Street’s disposal of Simple, Sandpiper on its sale of [...]
Mid-market firms feel the upturn strain June 13, 2010 MIDDLE market lawyers and consultants are struggling to tap into the nascent economic recovery, according to the second monthly City A.M./Begbies Traynor health monitor for the Square Mile. While bigger players are benefiting from the return of property development and corporate activity, our numbers show smaller operations are fighting to survive as clients demand more [...]