Sants signed off from Barclays with stress October 15, 2013 FORMER top regulator Sir Hector Sants is on leave from Barclays suffering from exhaustion and stress. Sants was hired at the start of this year to run the bank’s compliance operations, after spending five years at the Financial Services Authority and re-moulding much of the regulatory system. Sir Hector is expected to take three months off, [...]
Shares suffer as Burberry boss trades handbags for handsets October 15, 2013 BURBERRY lost £770m off its stock market value yesterday after the luxury group announced that chief executive Angela Ahrendts will be stepping down. Ahrendts, a 53-year-old American who has been at the helm of the luxury group since 2006, will leave in the middle of next year – swapping her London offices for Silicon Valley [...]
Apple hands its retail empire to fashion veteran October 15, 2013 APPLE’s appointment of Burberry’s Angela Ahrendts as head of its retail and online stores is much more than just another hire for the technology titan. Apple’s retail business is an empire in itself, making revenues of $6.4bn (£4bn) in the first quarter of 2013 – making it just under half the size of Amazon’s entire [...]
Bottom Line: New boss has big shoes to fill and very little experience October 15, 2013 IT MIGHT seem churlish to assume that just because Christopher Bailey is a fashion designer, he might not know his way around a financial statement. Plenty of designers before him have founded labels and led them to commercial success – notably Tom Ford, the former Gucci and YSL creative director who jumped ship in 2004 [...]
Profile: Christopher Bailey October 15, 2013 WHEN Christopher Bailey emerges onto the catwalk at the end of a Burberry fashion show, the audience erupts with loud applause. However yesterday’s share price fall following his appointment as both chief executive and chief creative officer suggested a less warm reception. The 42-year-old Yorkshireman, who was described by outgoing Burberry boss Angela Ahrendts yesterday [...]
Stubborn price rises still above inflation target October 15, 2013 SOARING energy bills helped keep inflation firmly above its target in September, official figures showed yesterday. Prices increased by 2.7 per cent in the 12-month period, above the Bank of England’s two per cent and the same rate as in the year to August, according to the Office for National Statistics’ consumer prices index (CPI). The [...]
UK set to speed up in next year October 15, 2013 A NEW forecast suggests that the UK’s economy will grow by 1.6 per cent this year, ahead of the expectations of major international groups. According to stats out today from the Centre for Economics and Business Research, UK growth will speed up to 2.7 per cent next year. The CEBR expects that such rapid growth [...]
FCA will name firms in probes October 15, 2013 THE CITY watchdog will begin publishing the names of companies it suspects of wrongdoing before deciding whether to take enforcement action. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it will begin publishing warning notices that set out outline accusations and even name some individuals who are suspected of market abuse. At the moment the FCA must wait until it decides [...]
Chinese bank to issue first London bond October 15, 2013 CHINESE lender ICBC will issue the first ever offshore renminbi bond in London, chancellor George Osborne announced yesterday. The bond is part of a package of new measures to open up the Chinese currency to the world markets, which will also see UK investors allowed to apply to invest in the country directly. The new [...]
Accountants relieved as audit shake-up plan watered down October 15, 2013 THE COMPETITION Commission yesterday watered down its audit reforms, pleasing big accountants and their clients but putting itself at odds with tougher reforms looming from the European Union. The Competition Commission now wants FTSE 350 companies to put their book-keeping out to tender at least once a decade, to shake up a market dominated by [...]
