There’s nowhere to hide for Marks & Spencer’s shop-floor boy turned chief executive Steve Rowe January 8, 2016 It was only a matter of time before Marc Bolland left Marks & Spencer, and with his tenure at the retailer nearing six years, many will be asking how he lasted as long as he did. Under Bolland, times have been tough: general merchandise has been in decline for 17 of the past 18 quarters, [...]
City Moves for 8 January 2016 | Who’s switching jobs January 8, 2016 Whistl Postal operator Whistl has appointed home delivery specialist Christine Key to grow its packets and parcel division. Previous roles held by Christine in the delivery sector include sales director at Yodel/ Home Delivery Network, sales director DPD/GeoPost UK and commercial director at Parcelnet. Earthport Earthport, the cross-border payment specialist based in London, has appointed [...]
Homeward bound HSBC, City Hall race and oil glut make a busy 2016 January 7, 2016 Forecasting events in the City is frequently a fool’s errand but one thing’s clear from the first week of 2016: it is going to be a tough year for much of corporate Britain. Here’s where I think most of the action will be. 1. Among the first big decisions of the year will be delivered when [...]
More to capitalism than good economic growth January 7, 2016 What are the hallmarks of capitalism? Typically you might think of cities, skyscrapers, banks, insurers, people in sharp suits, and so on. These are some symptoms of a market-orientated economy, for sure, but they do not tell the whole picture. There are two factors that accurately signal the degree to which a society is free [...]
Nearly 500,000 unbuilt homes with approval caught in backlog – LGA January 7, 2016 Close to 500,000 potential new homes with planning permission are caught up in a giant backlog that is contributing to the country’s housing crisis, according to the Local Government Authority (LGA). A study commissioned by the LGA shows that 475,000 homes with planning permission are waiting to be built in England, a rapid increase on [...]
City Moves for 7 January 2016 | Who’s switching jobs January 7, 2016 Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy has announced that John Goldfinch, a London-based member of the firm’s alternative investments practice group, has been elected to the firm’s partnership effective 1 January. John has a broad structured finance, securitisation and transactional derivatives practice covering the full spectrum of products. He joined Milbank [...]
The gloves are off: Sadiq Khan launches latest attack on London mayoral election rival Zac Goldsmith January 7, 2016 The race to replace Boris Johnson as mayor of London is descending into a war of words, as Labour candidate Sadiq Khan launches his sharpest attack yet against Conservative rival Zac Goldsmith. Khan will slam Goldsmith in a speech today at the Resolution Foundation think tank, saying that the Richmond Park MP “doesn’t get how to work with business.” [...]
London facing more Night Tube strikes as unions threaten action – while insiders believe project will “wither on the vine” January 6, 2016 Commuters are facing the prospect of more Tube strikes this year, after the dispute over the Night Tube flared up once again – with one union source telling City A.M. that the project may never get off the ground. Transport unions RMT and Aslef have both flexed their muscles with threats of further industrial action [...]
Sainsbury’s should focus on its core offer January 6, 2016 Sainsbury's and Home Retail Group do not at first glance appear obvious bedfellows. If perceptions count for anything, and they do in retail, then Sainsbury’s is very much a supermarket that attempts to cater for the British middle class. Home Retail Group’s Argos doesn’t. But for both the high street and supermarkets, these are desperate [...]
City Moves for 6 January 2016 | Who’s switching jobs January 6, 2016 Victoria Michael Scott been appointed group finance director of Aim 50-listed floorcovering designers and manufacturers Victoria. Michael joins after eight years at Rothschild, where, as part of its global financial advisory business, he worked across a wide range of public and private company transactions, mergers and acquisitions and debt and equity-related fundraisings. He qualified as [...]
