Last of the Miller family Keith retires as Miller Group’s boss February 5, 2015 Keith Miller announced yesterday he will step down as chief executive of Miller Group, ending 81 years of family leadership at the UK’s biggest privately-owned housebuilder. The Edinburgh-based company, which has operations across the UK but outside of London, was founded by Miller’s father and his uncles in 1934. The 65-year-old sailing enthusiast joined [...]
England hockey captain Kate Richardson-Walsh set to take on a new role in the City at EY February 5, 2015 England and Great Britain hockey captain Kate Richardson-Walsh is to take on a new kind of challenge by joining a City consultancy. The triple Olympian will be joining EY’s business development team based in London while at the same time training for the Rio 2016 Olympics. Consultants EY have partnered with Athlete Career Transition [...]
£147m of cuts at Smith & Nephew fail to lift profits February 5, 2015 SHARES in UK medical equipment manufacturer Smith and Nephew rallied yesterday, despite a decline in profits over the course of 2014, brought about by increased sales and administration costs. The 158-year-old company has been implementing a change of strategy in recent years aimed at rebalancing the firm by strengthening its higher growth platforms, which now [...]
Sanofi signs off on a strong year with further dividend growth February 5, 2015 SANOFI celebrated a strong end to a positive 2014 by rewarding shareholders with a proposed dividend of €2.85, making it the 21st consecutive year of dividend growth at the company. The pharma giant saw robust growth in sales of its key product ranges with sales growth in its Genzyme products recording the biggest increase at [...]
2014 was the best ever for banking deals February 5, 2015 CHALLENGER banks, new disruptive technology and changes to regulation made the financial services sector the busiest in terms of deals in 2014, according to new research from BDO Corporate Finance. The latest PCPI/PEPI index from the accountancy and advisory firm shows that out of a total 4,936 UK deals completed last year, 27 per cent [...]
Shanks expands Dutch operation February 5, 2015 INTERNATIONAL waste-to-product business Shanks Group announced yesterday it had signed a binding agreement to acquire a hazardous waste treatment facility in the Netherlands for €3.75m (£2.8m). UK-headquartered group said it chose the site as it is close to its regional headquarters at Veendam and its locations that serve the onshore industrial cleaning market. The acquisition [...]
Near-doubling of gains at McBride sends shares higher February 5, 2015 SHARES in McBride surged yesterday as profits at the company almost doubled in the last six months of 2014 Growth in Germany derived from prior year business wins was offset by a weaker performance in Italy and Spain and subdued revenues in UK and France. The company, which specialises in making household and personal care [...]
Singapore fund boosts stake in TV firm Nielsen February 5, 2015 SINGAPORE’S sovereign wealth fund GIC has increased its stake in data company Nielsen, and now holds five per cent of the firm’s common stock. According to a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing, the stake comprises of 18,788,010 shares, which has a market value of $16.7bn (£10.9bn). The amount paid by GIC to increase its [...]
World records: DJ Gilles Peterson on why Ibiza is dead February 5, 2015 Gilles Peterson gets around a bit. He’s like a globe-trotting John Peel, one of the few mainstream DJs who can get away with playing everything from Sierra Leonean psychedelic afro to Japanese punk-jazz. On top of his BBC 6 Music show he runs the Worldwide Festival in Sète and spins records at some of the [...]
PwC under attack from MPs over extent of tax planning services February 5, 2015 PWC’S tax advice service is too aggressive in helping clients avoid payments to the Revenue, MPs claimed today. “We believe PwC’s activities represent nothing short of the promotion of tax avoidance on an industrial scale,” said Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chair Margaret Hodge MP. “Contrary to its denials, the tax arrangements PwC promotes, based on [...]
