With Japan’s economy likely to have entered a technical recession, has Abenomics failed? November 8, 2015 Freya Beamish, an economist at Lombard Street Research, says Yes. Abenomics is failing, but the technical recession doesn't prove it so much as confirm Japan's exposure to China. In fact, Shinzo Abe has achieved some significant successes: strides have been made in improving corporate governance, although there is still a long way to go; the [...]
A conscious decoupling: Paperhat Group CEO Tim Peppiatt talks CGI, direct mail and building wraps November 8, 2015 They used to have to cut the roof off, but when you see a car seat in a sports car advert, it's likely to be CGI," says Paperhat Group chief executive and founder Tim Peppiatt. "They reproduce the same leather and stitching using the same wire frame used to build the vehicles in the factory. [...]
John Lewis and Argos Christmas adverts 2015: Sentimental or rational? The Christmas campaign conundrum November 8, 2015 Brands have long used sentimentality to draw custom at Christmas. John Lewis has been a standard-bearer for emotional Christmas placements, and this year's offering, which encourages donations to Age UK, is no different. Last year's "Monty the Penguin" spot has received 24m YouTube views, and the retailer's like for like sales grew by 4.8 per [...]
Michael Dell talks EMC deal, leadership style, cyber attacks and how to prevent digital fear among companies November 8, 2015 Imagine striking the biggest tech deal of all time. Well, Michael Dell, founder of the eponymous tech company, is trying to do exactly that. Three weeks ago, the giant announced a $67bn bet on digital storage company EMC. “We believe that scale matters,” says Dell. “We believe that converged infrastructure is real. The software-defined data [...]
How the Northern Powerhouse could boost SMEs – Investec Comment November 8, 2015 Critics of the chancellor's ambition to create a Northern Powerhouse often dismiss the idea as a gimmick. The challenge of rebalancing the UK economy is certainly immense. A recent report by the Centre of Cities showed that gross value added per worker in 2013 in the areas covered by the Northern Powerhouse was 13 per [...]
Culture clash: How to avoid a feedback faux pas in the office November 8, 2015 Understatement is a well-known British trait, and often frames the way people give negative feedback. Brits often use what linguists call "downgraders" when delivering criticism – words that soften the blow, such as "kind of", "sort of" and "a little bit". In London, where the workforce is one of the most multicultural in the world, [...]
Marks and Spencer, Randgold Resources, Partnership Assurance: Best of the Brokers for 6 November 2015 November 6, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com MARKS AND SPENCER Canaccord Genuity has changed its rating for Marks & Spencer to “hold” with a target price of 570p, after it was briefly “under review” and previously “speculative buy” at 550p. M&S released interim results on Wednesday that the broker thought [...]
FTSE 100 falls after interest rates are left on hold – London Report November 6, 2015 The Bank of England’s (BoE) decision to keep interest rates at record lows for the 80th month wasn’t able to prevent the FTSE closing down last night, finishing with a loss of 0.8 per cent at 6,364.9 points. The FTSE had been trading in negative territory throughout the morning ahead the BoE’s announcement but rallied [...]
How you build well-being into an office: Thinking beyond design makes economic sense for businesses November 6, 2015 Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, recently launched an initiative to improve health and well-being among NHS employees – designed to tackle the £2.4bn annual cost of sickness absences among its 1.3m staff in England. Stevens’s plans include giving staff access to Zumba classes, promoting cycling to work, and efforts to improve workers’ stress [...]
City Moves for 6 November 2015 | Who’s switching jobs November 5, 2015 JULIUS BAER The private bank has appointed Annabel Bosman, Damien Crommie, Matthew Garnham and Jamie Banks to its relationship management and wealth planning team in London. Bosman (pictured) joins as managing director senior adviser from Deutsche Bank, where she has been a senior banker since 2009. Crommie joins as executive director from Deutsche Bank, where [...]
