Stephen Catlin will take senior role at new company if XL Group deal succeeds December 17, 2014 If the deal with XL Group goes through, Catlin boss Stephen Catlin will take on the role of executive deputy chairman at the new combined firm. Catlin built his namesake business up from the two-person Lloyd’s syndicate he established in 1984, into a London-listed business with 55 offices in 21 different countries. He was born [...]
Europe close to deflation December 17, 2014 EUROZONE inflation fell to 0.3 per cent in November, in line with previous estimates. The figure confirms the currency union’s lowest rate of inflation for five years and marks the 14th consecutive month in which annual inflation in the bloc has been below one per cent. It is now widely expected that the European Central [...]
Inflation hawks stand ground December 17, 2014 BANK of England policy makers voted seven to two to hold interest rates at the beginning of December. The decision was announced two weeks ago but the discussion and vote split were only revealed yesterday along with the minutes of the meeting. The two who voted for a rate hike were Ian McCafferty and Martin [...]
MySale share price rallies as founder Carl Jackson eyes £3m share-buy December 17, 2014 MySale shares recovered some lost ground yesterday after one of the founders of the flash sales website pledged to buy £3m shares following a profit warning which wiped £150m off its market value. Chief executive Carl Jackson, who started the company with his brother James, said he was considering acquiring shares equivalent to around three [...]
Tuesday to be UK’s busiest shopping day December 17, 2014 THE UK high street will have its busiest shopping day of the year two days before Christmas, with Visa Europe predicting spending to peak at £1.3bn for the day. Spending is forecast to rise six per cent and transactions seven per cent from last year. Tuesday 23 December is predicted to see 34m transactions in [...]
Nigel Farage, The Brand New Heavies and Innocent Drinks founder shake it up at Jim Mellon’s Christmas party December 17, 2014 What do nineties band The Brand New Heavies, Nigel Farage and Innocent Drinks founder Richard Reed have in common? They were all at millionaire fund-manager Jim Mellon’s Christmas party last night, of course. The shindig took place in Mellon’s pub in Notting Hill. The Capitalist had the pleasure of meeting the man the boozer was [...]
Dixons CEO Sebastian James: Forget Game of Thrones we’re all Octopus December 17, 2014 No one enjoys management speak (well except for compliance teams). Thankfully for us, Sebastian James, chief executive at Dixons Carphone, has not let the heat in the post-merger kitchen sweat out his colourful cultural references. Speaking about Black Friday at the firm’s results conference yesterday, James likened the company’s website to a certain spaceship. “It [...]
Upstairs downstairs: KPMG bosses Simon Collins and Jane McCormick pop on aprons and serve up for staff December 17, 2014 Bosses over at KPMG were taken down a few pegs yesterday. UK chairman and senior partner Simon Collins (left) donned a hat and a “trainee” badge to serve up skinny cappuccinos and hazelnut lattes to staff. Meanwhile head of tax and pensions Jane McCormick (right) was peddling cupcakes to people at their desks. No careers [...]
Black Friday has eclipsed Boxing Day, says Dixons Carphone boss Sebastian James December 17, 2014 Dixons Carphone boss Sebastian James said Black Friday was the new Boxing Day, after feverish demand for cut-price televisions and gadgets turned the American-made sales event into its busiest shopping day ever. The group said at its peak on 28 November, the retailer had five times the web traffic of an average day and put [...]
Premier League auction turns heat up on Sky December 17, 2014 Sky’s reliance on Premier League football rights was highlighted again yesterday after a leading broker reiterated its “sell” rating on the company by reminding investors about the significance of the sporting contract to the company’s future. Broker Liberum Capital published fresh research identifying the auction for the Premier League’s viewing rights – which began last [...]
