CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 16, 2010 Oppenheimer Investments Iain Morpeth, one of Clifford Chance’s most senior private equity lawyers, is joining the Swiss project financing adviser as its new chief operating officer, based in London. Morpeth has been at Clifford Chance for the past 23 years and specialises in the real estate sector. His track record includes advising on Meridian Delta [...]
HP poaching row shows limits of employment law September 14, 2010 THE business world continues to monitor with interest what appears to be a growing rift between technology giants Oracle and Hewlett Packard (HP), competitors who have until recently enjoyed a relationship of cooperation and collaboration. The apparent animosity arises out of Oracle’s decision to appoint to its board former HP CEO, Mark Hurd, only a [...]
STRIP CLUB BOSSES STAKE OUT THEIR TURF September 8, 2010 LOOKS like The Capitalist ruffled a few feathers yesterday with a tale about former Spearmint Rhino managing director Simon Warr setting up a new strip club, Platinum Lace, on his previous employer’s territory in the heart of London. Spearmint Rhino bounded in immediately with a robust defence of its business, which is apparently booming at [...]
Top 10 UK law firms see fees slump in 2009 September 6, 2010 PARTNERS at the City’s top 10 law firms saw average billing fees fall by almost £1m per partner during the downturn, according to newly published figures. Average billable fees per partner plunged by £875,000 across the ten largest law firms in the UK, including the elite Magic Circle, said recruitment consultant Ambition. Last year the [...]
Q&A September 2, 2010 Q.I am a small business owner and am wondering what exactly is the 2010 Equality Act? A.The new Equality Act is coming into force on 1st October. It compiles the last 30 years of gender, disability, sexuality, religious and ethnic discrimination legislation into a single act – with some added extras. The Department for Equalities [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 31, 2010 Russell-Cooke LLP The London law firm has continued its expansion by hiring Edward Wanambwa as employment partner. He joins from CM Murray LLP, having trained at Bryan Cave and previously worked at Clifford Chance. He has been tasked with building the firm’s business immigration practice, having worked on immigration issues throughout his career. This brings [...]
Lawyers are still taking home big salaries despite a dip in revenues August 30, 2010 REVENUES at the top law firms have declined dramatically since the boom years, but senior lawyers at the UK’s top 100 firms are still taking home record salaries. According to an annual survey for Legal Business magazine, released tomorrow, combined revenue at the UK’s top law firms came in at £14.18bn in 2009-10. That was [...]
After a slump and a court case the Virgin airline boss is ready for more August 30, 2010 Virgin Atlantic boss Steve Ridgway is still dealing with the fallout from the collapse of a price-fixing trial involving his airline. Despite not actually facing any charges, his firm, which has always styled itself as the people’s champion, was battered and bruised by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) case, which alleged collusion between Virgin [...]
Immigration cap will prevent the City flourishing August 24, 2010 GROUP CEO, NORTON ROSE GROUP LIKE many other international businesses in the City, Norton Rose Group is managing the impact of the new immigration caps, which were introduced this summer by the UK government. A new temporary cap was announced on 29 June and interim limits came into force on 19 July, lasting through to [...]
Swannell is the right man for M&S August 23, 2010 WHEN I had breakfast with Robert Swannell, the newly appointed chairman of Marks & Spencer recently, it was clear that the former investment banker was in anything but wind down mode. After three decades of working on mergers and acquisitions, sometimes over seven-day weeks involving late nights, Swannell could have been forgiven for putting his [...]