City workers turning to careers in teaching March 5, 2010 RECORD numbers of City workers are retrain as teachers in the wake of the financial crisis, new figures have shown. Data from the Government’s Training and Development Agency for Schools revealed that there has been a 23 per cent surge in the number of applicants to teacher training courses in London Luke Graham from the [...]
Iceland economy returns to growth after banking meltdown March 5, 2010 ICELAND’S economy grew by 3.3 per cent in the last quarter of 2009 but contracted by 6.51 per cent over the whole of last year, according to official data. The figures were released as the country was poised a referendum on plans to repay the UK and the Netherlands debts owed from the collapse of [...]
Port of London in worst trading for 18 years March 5, 2010 The Port of London had its worst year for trade since 1992 last year. Terminals handled 45.4m tonnes of cargo in 2009 – 14 per cent less than in 2008. The most significant decline was with containers and lorry trailers – which were down 16 per cent. Port of London Authority chief executive Richard Everitt, [...]
Glencore buys back mine from Xstrata March 5, 2010 SWISS-based commodity trader Glencore has bought back its Prodeco coal operations in Colombia from mining group Xstrata. The purchase price still has to be finalised as it is partly based on capital Xstrata spent on the mines and Prodeco’s earnings. Analysts estimate it will be around $2.5bn (£1.8bn). Xstrata chief executive Mick Davis said: “The [...]
M&B finance chief to join Rentokil March 5, 2010 THE finance director of pub group Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) is leaving to join Rentokil. Jeremy Townsend will leave to become chief financial officer of the pest control and parcel delivery goods group within six months. He took over as finance director of M&B in January 2008 M&B chief executive Adam Fowle said: “Jeremy has [...]
WPP profits plunge in “brutal” year March 5, 2010 ADVERTISING giant WPP saw pre-tax plunge by 11 per cent to £663m last year. Like-for-like revenues fell by 8 per cent as Sir Martin Sorell’s company suffered what it branded a “brutal year”. But the company said the economic environment was improving and like-for-like revenue in January was stable. “We seem to have moved from [...]
Interest rates frozen again March 4, 2010 THE Bank of England continued to sit tight in March as fears of a double dip recession diminished. Interest rates were left at a record low of 0.5 per cent while its quantitative easing programme, which finished last month, has been put on ice. However, the Bank has left the door open for further action [...]
Housing market dips on stamp duty return March 4, 2010 THE housing market recovery hit a stumbling block in February as poor weather, more properties being put up for sale and the end of the stamp duty holiday took their toll. House prices dropped 1.5 per cent last month, taking the value of the average home down to £166,587, according to the latest data from [...]
Petrofac plans London IPO March 4, 2010 Oil services group Petrofac is planning to float its North Sea oil assets in a new venture with Swedish partner Lundin Petroleum. The FTSE 100 heavyweight will spin off its exploration and production division, Petrofac Energy Developments and combine it with the UK Continental Shelf assets of Lundin in a new company called EnQuest. This [...]
VT pulls out of chase for Mouchel March 4, 2010 SUPPORT services firm VT Group has announced that it will not be making a takeover bid for infrastructure firm Mouchel. VT had made an approach to the company about a takeover last month. However, no formal negotiations were held. Meanwhile VT has been trying to stave off a takeover boid for its own business from [...]
