CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 3, 2011 Savoy Investment Management The wealth management subsidiary of Syndicate Asset Management has hired James Bowles (pictured). Bowles will be responsible for providing tailored services for the north west of England. He was formerly with Anglo Irish Bank, where he had a similar regional brief, and Levi Solicitors in Yorkshire. The firm specialises in portfolios invested [...]
The budget hotel chain boss who says that bigger is certainly better January 30, 2011 NO wonder Guy Parsons, Travelodge’s boss, was feeling so chipper about life when we met earlier this month. He had just announced that very same day a £300m investment to build a further 35 hotels this year, which will expand his empire to 495 hotels with 35,841 rooms by next Christmas. Also, the key part [...]
Mount Gay, Barbados: a tour round rum’s natural home January 30, 2011 THE heart of the Barbados rum trade is perched at the northernmost tip of this small Caribbean island. High in the mountains in the St Lucy district sits the Mount Gay refinery, surrounded by a nine feet tall sugar cane plantation and gazing out over wild Atlantic waves which crash into the Florida coast 1,600 [...]
DLA Piper to be biggest law company January 27, 2011 DLA Piper is to merge with Australian partner DLA Phillips Fox to create what it says could be the world’s largest law firm. The combined entity will create a 700-strong legal empire in the Asia-Pacific region. DLA Piper already employs around 4,000 lawyers across 30 countries and generates revenues of £1.4bn. It will jump ahead [...]
Lawyers warn employment claims may spike after tribunal reforms January 27, 2011 PROPOSED changes to employment tribunal laws risk encouraging lengthier, more expensive claims that could mean businesses having to pay uncapped compensation fees. The employment tribunal reforms – announced yesterday by the government – aim to reduce unfair dismissal claims by changing the qualification period from one to two years. But the changes could lead unhappy [...]
Banker linked to WikiLeaks goes on trial January 19, 2011 Former Swiss banker Rudolf Elmer has started his trial for breaching bank secrecy, admitting he sent private client data to tax authorities but denying blackmail and a bomb threat against Bank Julius Baer. Elmer, 55, among the first to use WikiLeaks to publish private bank documents, said he took his information to the website after [...]
Firms attack changes to paternity law January 17, 2011 DEPUTY Prime Minister Nick Clegg was accused of risking a bureaucratic nightmare yesterday, after outlining plans to expand impending paternity leave regulations. Clegg wants to “transform” paternity leave so that fathers can take regular chunks of their wives’ or partners’ maternity leave – yet the policy was attacked as unworkable by business groups and employment [...]
Sacked Renault manager vows to fight his dismissal January 16, 2011 ONE of three Renault managers sacked for allegedly leaking electric vehicle secrets, is planning to fight the company’s decision to dismiss him, his lawyer said yesterday. Michel Balthazard, a member of Renault’s management committee and a leader of its electric vehicle programme, received a letter of dismissal on Saturday, which accused him of receiving money [...]
Tribunals cost firms £8,500 each, says BCC January 5, 2011 EMPLOYERS face costs of thousands of pounds from spurious employment claims, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) claimed yesterday. Tribunals are “overwhelmingly weighted in favour of the employee,” causing companies to pay large settlements even for claims with no substance, the BCC’s report said. The average cost for an employer to defend themselves at tribunal [...]
Before bonuses come firings, so watch your back January 4, 2011 STEWARTS LAW The decorations are back in the loft, the shops would be full if it wasn’t for the VAT rise. It must be January. And that also means that it is bonus season, the time when managers start to take a close look at the bonus pot and wonder how to divide it between [...]