Cameron’s anger as unions mull mass strike action during London Olympics February 29, 2012 DAVID Cameron has condemned calls from the leader of the UK’s biggest trade union for strike action during the Olympics as “completely unacceptable and unpatriotic”. Len McCluskey, head of Unite, had said workers should consider disrupting the Games as a protest against the government’s planned slowdown of public spending. McCluskey said people coming to Britain [...]
CVC is set to break private equity dry spell across Europe February 29, 2012 CVC Capital Partners is to buy Nordic construction products and machinery distributor Ahlsell from Cinven and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners for €1.8bn (£1.5bn), in Europe’s biggest private equity deal since last summer. “Our acquisition of Ahlsell offers an exciting platform for growth, both organically and through acquisitions,” CVC partners Peter Tornquist and Soren Vestergaard-Poulsen said [...]
CITY VIEWS: SHOULD TUBE DRIVERS GO ON STRIKE DURING THE OLYMPICS? February 29, 2012 YILMAZ OZTURK | ENIGIN UK “It’s unfair. It’s part of their role – they get paid all through the year and extra passengers would not be coming into their cab.” JAMES WADDELL | CITY OF LONDON “The Olympics is a time for Londoners to come together and unite. It’s important that all Londoners help to [...]
Telco boss did hard job well, say analysts February 29, 2012 INDUSTRY figures came to the defence of former Everything Everywhere chief executive Tom Alexander yesterday after a senior executive at parent company France Telecom criticised his short-lived tenure. Alexander quit the firm just a year after it was formed from the merger between Orange and T-Mobile in the wake of a series of lacklustre results. [...]
James Bond studio slumps to £3.9m loss February 29, 2012 PINEWOOD Studios, home to iconic British film series including James Bond and Carry On, has reported an annual £3.9m loss, despite posting record revenues for 2011. The studio enjoyed a bumper year of filming, with scenes for new Bond movie Skyfall and Tolkien adaptation The Hobbit shooting on its sets, but was hit by the [...]
ZIGGO PLUMPS FOR STJ IN BUMPER FLOTATION February 29, 2012 THERE was a terrible rumpus last year after City A.M. unearthed and published documents showing that independent bank advisory group STJ Advisors had been accusing some of the larger investment banks of distorting investor feedback in the course of running IPO transactions. So sore were some of the big banks that they even considered squeezing [...]
ED BREWSTER MAKES A START ON HIS LATEST PR ADVENTURE February 29, 2012 FORMER Pru spinner Ed Brewster has made an appearance at giant telecoms event Mobile World Congress. Brewster is now tasked with looking after PR for Chinese behemoth Huawei as it attempts to conquer the consumer handset market. Attempting to break Apple and Google’s stranglehold over the industry may seem like a tall order but it’s [...]
Insurer Brit turns a profit against odds February 29, 2012 BRIT Insurance yesterday announced a profit for 2011 despite a generally miserable year for the industry. Profit before tax was £75.8m, down a third on 2010’s figure of £116.4m. Most of this was due to a doubling of one-off catastrophe-related claims to £141.9m, a result of earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand and tornados in [...]
Woodford in legal bid over Olympus job February 29, 2012 THE BRITISH former chief executive of Olympus is due to open employment tribunal proceedings against the Japanese technology firm today. Michael Woodford, who said he was sacked after blowing the whistle on an accounting scandal, is due to appear for a preliminary hearing at East London Tribunal Service in Stratford. Woodford was based in Japan [...]
Interserve targets new markets drive February 29, 2012 OUTSOURCING giant Interserve said new markets and growing support services work would balance another weak year in its construction division. The company, whose services range from cleaning Sainsbury’s supermarkets to building shopping centres in the Middle East, posted a 4.6 per cent rise in 2011 underlying pre-tax profits to £72.8m, meeting analysts’ expectations. The FTSE [...]
