Investors: fracking will cut bills January 6, 2014 MOST FUND managers believe fracking will lower energy bills and transform the global power market, according to a survey out yesterday. Hydraulic fracturing, which uses high-pressure water to extract shale gas that cannot be reached using traditional tools, has come under fire after it caused small tremors in Blackpool in 2011. The method is currently [...]
Virgin Active to spend £100m to kit out gyms January 5, 2014 VIRGIN Active, one of the world’s largest gym chains, today said it will invest £100m in its UK sites over the next three years, part of a campaign to lure the traditional post-Christmas influx of new gym users to sign up to the chain. The company, which was founded in 1999 and is controlled by [...]
HTC misses fourth quarter target despite aggressive cost cutting January 5, 2014 STRUGGLING Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC missed expectations yesterday with a worse than expected fourth quarter profit, despite the firm’s aggressive cost cutting measures and the sale of its 2.5bn Taiwanese dollar (£50.8m) stake in Beats Electronics. The company reported profit of 300m Taiwanese dollars, compared to a net loss of 2.97bn Taiwanese dollars in the [...]
11,000 Britons still use black and white TVs January 5, 2014 JUST 11,550 black and white TV licences are still in force in the UK, down from 13,000 last year, with London remaining a stronghold for black and white licensees. Despite colour television having been around for nearly 48 years – and the digital switchover that forced black and white TV owners to buy additional digital [...]
Banks compete less after big hit from 2008 crisis January 5, 2014 THE BRITISH banking system saw a much more serious drop in competition after the financial crisis than other European countries, according to a study released today. While many European countries saw a drop in financial competitiveness following the 2008 crash, the decline recorded in the UK was particularly severe. Comparing the years between 1998 and [...]
Workers start to look for new jobs as labour market improves January 5, 2014 NEARLY a fifth of workers plan to move to a new job this year as the UK labour market continues to improve. A survey released today by the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM) suggests that 19 per cent of workers are planning to leave their current employment. One in 10 of those who want [...]
City Moves for 06 January 2014 | Who’s switching jobs January 5, 2014 Akin Gump The law firm has announced the appointment of Lisa Leiman Hearn as a partner in its London office. She specialises in cross-border mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance. Hearn joined in 2005 and was formerly counsel at the firm. Jones Lang LaSalle The property company has hired Helen Gough as head of its [...]
The Queen’s list honours the City January 5, 2014 THE NEW Year’s Honours List of OBEs, CBEs, Knighthoods and everything in-between contains more decorations than Claridge’s Christmas Tree, and this year the City had a number of notable inclusions. Former Bank of England deputy governor Paul Tucker got a knighthood, as did former Lord Mayor Roger Gifford, while chair of Land Securities, Alison Carnwath, [...]
Three things you didn’t know about… January 5, 2014 Silicon Valley Bank’s UK chief executive PHIL COX 1 Born and bred in Cornwall, if Cox didn’t go into banking he would have become a farmer. “Farming’s pretty cool you know,” he told The Capitalist recently. He cut his agricultural teeth working at a local market garden when he was at school. 2 A self [...]
The year in preview: Our in-depth guide January 5, 2014 City A.M.’s journalists take a wide-ranging look at what 2014 has in store for the world of finance and business BANKINGRestoring faith means costly overhaulsA CAUTIOUS optimism pervades the British and European banking system at the start of 2014. The incoming economic recovery is at last improving customers’ creditworthiness, while the hard work running down [...]
