TAKEOVER DRAMA FOR STAGECOACH March 12, 2012 PERFORMING arts group Stagecoach has agreed to be bought by Lifeskills Education for £6.5m. Aim-listed Stagecoach will be taken private under the deal, with management exchanging their shares for stock in Lifeskills. Shirin Gandhi, owner of Lifeskills, said the firm has prospects for expansion “without the confines of the public markets”. Lifeskills is being advised [...]
Tiffany ramps up Swatch spat March 12, 2012 US jeweller Tiffany has filed a $590m (£377m) counter-claim against Swatch Group, the Swiss watchmaker said yesterday, in the latest volley in the companies’ feud over a failed deal to sell watches together. Tiffany’s claim in a Dutch arbitration court comes three months after Swatch, the world’s largest watchmaker, sued it for lost profits it [...]
Laird sells Chinese arm for £20m March 12, 2012 Engineering firm Laird has sold off its loss-making handset antennae business in China for £20m. The firm, which said it would exit the business last year after a strategic review, has offloaded the assets to Shenzhen Sunway Communications. It expects the deal to complete in the second half of the year.
Begbies says insolvencies falling March 12, 2012 Professional services group Begbies Traynor cut 30 of its insolvency practitioners last year as fewer UK companies went bust, it said in a trading update yesterday. The firm said low interest rates had helped to keep the insolvency market “subdued”, though it has been trading in line with expectations thanks to improved cost control and [...]
GOLDMAN GOES TO INDIA FOR A BOARD MEETING March 12, 2012 Goldman Sachs’ directors will be trading downtown Manhattan for upstart Mumbai as they hold their annual meeting in India for the first time ever. The 12 members of the board, including Indian steel billionaire Lakshmi Mittal (pictured), have decided to make the highly symbolic trip to the subcontinent in order to emphasise their “commitment” to [...]
TIME TO PUT ON THE RUNNING SHOES March 12, 2012 Now in its eighth year, the 2012 Standard Chartered City Race, to be run on 12 July at 19.15, is open for admission. Last year the 5km race through closed streets across the Square Mile attracted a record 6,500 runners from nearly 400 companies. Those who have raced before get priority places, while others can [...]
Firms hiring as the economy improves March 12, 2012 UNEMPLOYMENT has stopped rising at last, as employers gain confidence and take on staff, according to a study out today. After flatlining in the current quarter of 2011, Manpower’s employment outlook rose for the second quarter of 2012, with a net balance of two per cent of firms increasing their headcount. The Federation of Small [...]
House prices begin to stabilise after 22 months of falls March 12, 2012 REAL estate professionals have delivered the most upbeat forecast on house prices since May 2010, with predictions of a stable market in the next three months. The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) found those questioned were evenly split between expecting prices to go up and down, leaving a net balance of zero. The neutral [...]
OECD sees fresh signs of growth in UK and Eurozone as the States boom March 12, 2012 THE UK should start seeing growth in the next six months, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). After 10 months of decline, the OECD’s index stabilised in December and grew 0.1 per cent in January. The world’s leading economies are showing signs of expansion this year, with the Eurozone, US, and [...]
FISHER PLAYS DOWN FPC HOPES March 12, 2012 THE BANK of England’s new financial policy committee (FPC) should not be expected to maintain stability continuously, FPC member Paul Fisher said last night. “Just as monetary policy makers will never be able to abolish the business cycle, financial policy makers will never be able to abolish the credit cycle,” he said.
