Greenpeace blocks BP’s London headquarters on Bernard Looney’s first day February 5, 2020 Bernard Looney’s first day as BP boss got off to a challenging start this morning as the firm was forced to shut its headquarters after Greenpeace activists blocked the doors to the oil giant’s London office in St James’ Square. A hundred Greenpeace activists delivered 500 solar panels with a total area of over 800 [...]
Lookers makes changes at the top after ‘challenging’ 2019 February 5, 2020 Car dealership chain Lookers today announced a raft of changes to its senior leadership, with Mark Raban and Cameron Wade announced as the firm’s chief executive and chief operating officer. In November Andy Bruce and Nigel McMinn stepped down from Lookers’ board after the firm issued a profit warning. Raban moves into the top job [...]
Babcock chief steps down after four years in top job February 5, 2020 Babcock, the UK-based defence infrastructure company, today announced that its chief executive Archie Bethel will retire after four years in the top job. Bethel joined the FTSE 250 firm in 2004 and held a variety of posts, such as head of its maritime and technology division, before becoming the group’s chief in 2016. While at [...]
Record number of cheap energy deals available for UK households February 5, 2020 UK households now have a far wider choice of cheap energy deals, with 78 tariffs now priced under £1000 a year. According to consumer group Which, the number of these tariffs has exploded since the energy price cap was introduced last January, when there were only 12 available. There are also 25 deals now under [...]
Employment bodies hit out at FTSE boards over lack of diversity February 5, 2020 Employment bodies have hit out at the UK’s largest companies after today’s Parker report review found that it will be “challenging” for FTSE 100 firms to hit diversity targets by next year. In 2017 the initial report recommended that all FTSE 100 boards should have at least one director from an ethnic minority background by [...]
Fuel prices rise in January despite wholesale price drop February 5, 2020 Despite hefty falls in diesel and unleaded wholesale prices in January, the UK’s four largest supermarkets increased fuel prices every day until a last-gasp cut on 29 January. The drop in wholesale prices, which saw unleaded fall 4p and diesel 7.5p, should have been good news for UK drivers, but prices at supermarkets increased £1.51p [...]
BP profit plunges but oil giant beats expectations in Bob Dudley’s swansong February 4, 2020 Bob Dudley bowed out after a decade as BP’s chief executive today as the firm outperformed analyst expectations in the face of a challenging macroeconomic environment. Despite a 26 per cent fall in profit in the final quarter of 2019, the oil giant’s underlying replacement cost (RC) figure – BP’s definition of net income – [...]
Donald Trump blasts Iowa delay as ‘unmitigated disaster’ February 4, 2020 US President Donald Trump has blasted the Democratic party’s Iowa caucuses as an “unmitigated disaster” after technical issues delayed the results. Writing on Twitter, the president said added: “Nothing works, just like they ran the country. Remember the $5bn Obamacare website, that should have cost 2 per cent of that. “The only person that can [...]
Oil price edges up on Opec production cuts hopes February 4, 2020 Oil prices showed signs of recovery this morning as officials from oil cartel Opec were set to meet in Vienna to discuss the rapid fall in prices due to China’s coronavirus outbreak. Brent crude clawed back 0.7 per cent to reach $54.92, whilst West Texas Intermediate, which on Monday breached the $50 mark, gained 1.5 [...]
Glencore shares rise as cobalt production offsets copper drop February 4, 2020 Shares in global miner Glencore rose five per cent this morning as the firm brushed off lower production volumes of metals such as copper, gold and silver. Production of the red metal slipped six per cent in 2019 to 1.37m tonnes, whilst gold production fell 15 per cent to 848,000 tonnes. The company has been [...]
