Blow for Boris as island airport is rejected September 1, 2014 LONDON Mayor Boris Johnson was dealt a blow last night after his plan for an island airport in east London was rejected by the Airports Commission. The Mayor’s transport advisor Daniel Moylan called the decision not to back the scheme, dubbed Boris Island, “shortsighted” but said the campaign to build a four-runway hub in the [...]
Neil Woodford dumps entire HSBC holding September 1, 2014 Neil Woodford, one of the City’s top performing fund managers, has sold his entire stake in HSBC just 16 months after buying into the group. Woodford sold his holding due to the rising number of fines HSBC faced, a trend he dubbed fine inflation. He bought the shares in May 2013. HSBC was fined $1.9bn [...]
Putin has won in Ukraine – but the West can still salvage the long game September 1, 2014 There’s only one way to make a fortune, and that’s to down the fellow who’s up against you." W Somerset Maugham, on poker ONE OF the many wonderful traditions at St Andrews University is that, if a student did well, they did not have to sit final exams until their last year. As a result, [...]
“Dear colleagues”: Dave Lewis’ letter to Tesco staff on his first day as chief executive September 1, 2014 On his first day at Tesco, new chief executive Dave Lewis has written a letter to staff outlining his initial plans for the supermarket. Lewis introduced himself to Tesco’s more than half-a-million staff, telling them he would be doing “a lot of listening,” to staff, customers, shareholders and investment analysts, and the most important thing [...]
“Boris Island” or Heathrow expansion: Did the CBI just back Heathrow? September 1, 2014 The CBI looks like it has put its weight behind an extension to Heathrow airport in a blow to the London mayor's Thames Estuary airport plans, otherwise known as “Boris Island". It comes just days ahead of a decision due from the Airports Commission as to whether the concept of a new airport on the [...]
Three charts showing the challenges facing new Tesco boss Dave Lewis September 1, 2014 New Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis starts his job today, a month earlier than originally anticipated. The supermarket is clearly desperate: on Friday it issued a profit warning saying it expected full-year profits to hit £2.4bn, rather than the £2.8bn expected. The company has been battling against the increasing might of discounters Aldi and Lidl, [...]
Dreary Eurozone outlook raises pressure on Draghi August 31, 2014 The policymakers of the European Central Bank (ECB) will meet again this week, faced with an increasingly dismal economic outlook and a growing chorus of disapproval. Grim figures released on Friday confirmed that consumer price inflation in the euro area dropped to just 0.3 per cent in August, the lowest level in nearly five years. [...]
EU warns Russia to withdraw from Ukraine as Putin steps up rhetoric August 31, 2014 EUROPEAN leaders, backed by America, have warned Russia’s President Putin that he has a week to withdraw from Ukraine and calm the crisis between the two countries, or face tough new economic sanctions. The warning comes as Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said his country is at breaking point. “We are very close to the point [...]
Dave Lewis begins first day as Tesco boss August 31, 2014 Former Unilever executive Dave Lewis has taken up his role today as chief executive of Tesco – a month earlier than planned – after the troubled food retailer issued its second profit warning in six weeks on Friday. Tesco slashed its interim dividend by 75 per cent and said it would cut its capital expenditure [...]
Nato can save us from Putin – but only if Europe gets serious about its military August 31, 2014 For my sins, early in my Washington career I was sent to literally scores of high-level North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) meetings, frustratingly all on the same beside-the-point topic. Stripped of its finery, basically every conclave revolved around finding another mission for the most successful politico-military alliance in the history of the world, now that [...]