Professional job sector boom is led by finance and engineering July 26, 2015 The finance industry is leading the way in a professional sector jobs boom, new figures show today. Professional recruitment firms now have 12 per cent more vacancies on their books than this time last year, according to survey data from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (Apsco). The number of permanent jobs available rose the [...]
Permira in race to buy UK debt collector Lowell Group for £1bn July 26, 2015 PRIVATE equity firm Permira is the frontrunner to acquire Lowell Group, the Leeds-based debt collection company. The group, which currently owns businesses like Dr Martens, is in talks to acquire Lowell for about £1.1bn from current owner TDR Capital. Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan also owns a big minority stake in the firm. Lowell buys packages [...]
Economist Joseph Stiglitz not shocked by Labour lurch: The rise of Jeremy Corbyn gets a big supporter July 26, 2015 A cosy, dimly-lit Mayfair cocktail bar with a stage for live music is not the first place you would expect to find a Nobel prize winning economist on a Sunday morning. Firebrand American polemicist Joseph Stiglitz was in town during an eyebrow-raising period for the British left. But while many in Westminster are shocked by [...]
Pearson commences talks to sell off majority stake in Economist July 26, 2015 UK PUBLISHING empire Pearson is in talks to sell its 50 per cent stake in The Economist to the journal’s other shareholders, with Italy’s Agnelli family announcing an interest in increasing its stake. The news comes shortly after Pearson’s sale of the Financial Times newspaper to Japanese media group Nikkei. According to a statement released [...]
Flexi-time and compressed hours on the rise as City firms ditch 9 to 5 to compete with fintech July 26, 2015 City employers are loosening their ties and becoming less rigid over staff working hours, according to research that shows a jump in the number of workers being given more flexibility. A third of men working in the City (34 per cent) say they now have some flexibility over the hours they work, either through flexi-time [...]
Three things you didn’t know about… July 26, 2015 Nikkei chairman Tsuneo Kita 1 Back in 2012 he tangled with a Japanese gossip mag that had printed rumours about his private life. 2 The 68-year-old has had his eye on the Financial Times for a while, registering his interest in the paper with Pearson execs over several years. 3 Kita first joined publishing house [...]
Bloomberg writers raving and misbehaving July 26, 2015 Financial brains got their festival on over the weekend at Bloomberg’s annual summer “picnic” on Saturday night. What started as a garden party with meze and Scrabble quickly became a rave and night of debauchery in the grounds of a Hertfordshire mansion. Well jel.
Second quarter profit warnings fizzle out as confidence picks up July 26, 2015 UK PROFIT warnings fell to a near two-year low last quarter after May’s decisive general election result spurred better earnings for corporates, figures out today show. FTSE-listed companies issued 57 profit warnings between the start of April and the end of June – down 26 per cent on the prior quarter. Profit warnings hit a [...]
British consumers becoming more upbeat on their finances July 26, 2015 UK shoppers felt more confident about their finances in June, according to a survey by a major British bank. Lloyds Bank’s spending power index climbed to a record high of 164 points from 160 in May, it said this morning. The survey has been running since 2011. People were more confident about their personal financial [...]
City Moves for 27 July 2015 | Who’s switching jobs July 26, 2015 Fulcrum Asset Management The asset manager has appointed Matthew Wright as director in its sales and marketing team. He joins from Newsmith Asset Management, where he was partner. Wright has 16 years’ experience, and has also held roles at Fidelity, UBS Global Asset Management and Carmignac. International General Insurance Holdings Stuart Elliot has been appointed [...]
