Webster to step down as IHG chairman February 5, 2012 DAVID Webster, the long-standing chairman of Intercontinental Hotels Group, is to stand down after eight years at the helm of the world’s largest hotel group. A source close to Webster said that no date had been set yet for his departure, but that he is likely to leave later this year. The owner of Holiday [...]
Tory MPs rebel over subsidies for wind farms February 5, 2012 NEW Liberal Democrat energy secretary Ed Davey is already under political pressure, after more than 100 Tory MPs called on the government to slash subsidies to wind farms. The 101 Conservative signatories wrote to Prime Minister David Cameron to demand a re-think of the coalition’s energy policy. “In these financially straitened times, we think it [...]
Call for Deutsche Boerse boss to quit after failed merger February 5, 2012 DEUTSCHE Boerse’s chief executive Reto Francioni should step down following the collapse of its $7.4bn (£4.7bn) plan to merge with NYSE Euronext, a member of the German exchange operator’s supervisory board told a newspaper. “The question needs to be asked whether there have to be consequences (for management),” Johannes Witt, a board member representing the [...]
Olympic Media Buzz LONDON 2012 PARTNERS February 5, 2012 IN ASSOCIATION with Repskan.com, the media monitoring and analytics platform, City A.M. is measuring the relative Olympic media buzz around the partners for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, week by week. The leaderboard, right, reflects their ranking over the past week, in this case from Wednesday 25 January to Wednesday 1 February. Coca-Cola [...]
EU competition law thwarts Vodafone’s Greek merger deal February 5, 2012 VODAFONE will scrap a $1bn merger of its Greek business with a local competitor due to the belief that EU regulatory authorities will block the deal. The deal with Wind Hellas will be called off due to “regulatory uncertainty” on EU competition law. The turmoil of the Greek economy, which is in a deep recession, [...]
Queen marks sixty years on the throne February 5, 2012 THE QUEEN will today celebrate her Diamond Jubilee anniversary, with 6 February marking exactly 60 years since her accession to the throne. Yesterday the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, who is recovering from treatment for a blocked artery over Christmas, attended a church service in Sandringham, as her traditional winter break in Norfolk comes [...]
City panel concerned about the impact of Financial Services Bill February 5, 2012 AS MPs debate the new Financial Services Bill in the Commons today, almost 60 per cent of our Voice of the City panel have confessed to being concerned about the overall impact it could have on the UK. Fifteen per cent of our panel – surveyed in association with PoliticsHome.com, said they were “very concerned” [...]
THE FIRST CLASS WAY TO MARK THE JUBILEE February 5, 2012 AS USEFUL as a bank holiday might have been today for those of you valiantly battling to make it to work through the snow, we’re all going to have to wait another few months before the Queen’s official Diamond Jubilee festivities afford the City a four-day weekend. But for those wanting to start the celebrations [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK February 5, 2012 A GROUP of six Credit Suisse bankers took themselves to Gaucho for an early lunch last Thursday – and left more than £2,000 poorer after a rather unusual last-minute addition to their bill. After a traditional steak dinner mixing and matching the restaurant’s meat offerings – from the modestly priced sirloin to a more flashy [...]
Cables finally lead to profit February 5, 2012 CABLE television is set to announce its first profitable year in the UK after almost 30 years of operation which have swallowed up investments of £13bn. Virgin Media, the nation’s main cable operator, is expected to report its first annual net profit on Wednesday, compared to a loss of £141.4m last year and £357.8m the [...]
