SIGNED, SEALED, UNDELIVERED October 12, 2009 IN A FURTHER blow to Royal Mail’s reputation, the department chain and supermarket-owner John Lewis yesterday said it would use other firms to deliver its wares. The firm said: “We have ensured that postal strikes don’t affect our customers by switching the business to other carriers.” Royal Mail is considering a series of rolling strikes [...]
Health fears hit Lazard’s Wasserstein October 12, 2009 BRUCE Wasserstein, the 61-year-old chairman and chief executive of Lazard who is leading the team advising Kraft on its £10.2bn bid for Cadbury, has been hospitalised with an irregular heartbeat. Lazard yesterday said Wasserstein is in “a serious but stable condition and is recovering”. Lazard shares yesterday dropped two per cent to $41.01 on the [...]
Co-operative enjoys mutual benefits October 12, 2009 THE CO-OPERATIVE Group, Britain’s biggest mutually owned retailer, yesterday reported a 17 per cent rise in profits, boosted by strong food sales and acquisitions. The Co-op, which bought rival food retailer Somerfield and the Britannia Building Society earlier in the year, said pre-tax profits had jumped to £229m in the six months to 25 July. [...]
CITY VIEWS: WOULD YOU EXPECT CO-OP BANK TO PROSPER IN THE DOWNTURN? October 12, 2009 CHRIS CLARKE BRITISH LAND FINDERS“It would be interesting to see where the people opening the new accounts are coming from. Are they people who cannot get accounts elsewhere, or is there a north/south divide? I think the man on the street probably sees that the Co-op is doing well and has not had any bad [...]
Treasury pays 6.5m to KPMG for advice on APS October 12, 2009 ACCOUNTANCY firm KPMG has been paid more than any other adviser for its work on the Treasury’s Asset Protection Scheme (APS) for bailed out banks, according to a freedom of information request. Seven firms have been paid a combined £26.5m for their advice on the APS, the Treasury revealed, of which KPMG alone picked up [...]
JONES GETS HARVEY NASH ROLE October 12, 2009 DIGBY Jones, the former head of employer’s body the CBI, has been named as senior adviser to recruiter Harvey Nash in his first role since quitting the government last year. A House of Lords cross-bencher and chairman of HSBC’s international business advisory board, Lord Jones will try to boost the firm’s overseas growth.
Climate body calls on UK to change tack October 12, 2009 BRITAIN needs a “step change” in its environmental policy to meet its own targets, the government’s chief climate change adviser said yesterday. Presenting its first annual report to parliament, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) urged more aggressive intervention in the energy markets. To meet its own target of an 80 per cent reduction in [...]
Tootsies folds after Clapham House hires administrators October 12, 2009 TOOTSIES, the restaurant chain, yesterday fell casualty to the credit crunch after its parent Clapham House called the administrators in. Clapham House said it had put Tootsies into administration because “there was little prospect of the Tootsies business as a whole generating a profit in the near future”. The group said it was acting to [...]
Boris unveils plan to shape City’s future October 12, 2009 MAYOR Boris Johnson yesterday reiterated his desire to be a “champion for London” as he unveiled a definitive strategy to improve the capital and promote the City’s competitiveness as a global economic powerhouse. Johnson’s three-pronged strategy includes interlinked documents on the capital’s overall strategic development, transport and economic development. He said he was “determined to [...]
BAE secures Saudi Typhoon support deal October 12, 2009 BAE Systems, Europe’s biggest defence contractor, yesterday said it had signed a three-year deal to provide support and maintenance for Typhoon warplanes sold by Britain to the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF). BAE, one of three major contractors involved in building the multirole Eurofighter Typhoon, said it had agreed to provide a “full availability service [...]
