Cassin moves from adviser to finance head at the data firm March 1, 2012 BRIAN Cassin (pictured inset) is to leave Greenhill after 14 years at the end of April. And though the jump from investment bank to UK-listed data specialist Experian will be a change of pace, it won’t be a total culture shock for the Irish-born banker. Cassin has spent years advising the company, working with predecessor GUS [...]
Barclays Capital wins another client as G4S switches advisers March 1, 2012 BARCLAYS Capital’s investment banking ambitions were given a further boost yesterday after being appointed as joint financial adviser to the FTSE 100 security group G4S. The news comes just hours after the group poached Mark Astaire, the former head of corporate broking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Although G4S will not count as a [...]
City recruiter sees UK fees growth slow March 1, 2012 THE CITY jobs market is unlikely to improve this year, according to the chief executive of recruiter Robert Walters, which yesterday posted slowing growth in its UK business. Despite net fee income growing just three per cent in the UK in 2011 compared to 36 per cent the previous year, a strong performance by the [...]
Asian boost helps profits at Jardine Lloyd Thompson March 1, 2012 PROFITS at insurer Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT) increased by 13 per cent to £147.6m during 2011, assisted by strong growth from its emerging market units. Overall group revenue was up 10 per cent at £818.8m. Although European retail sales declined, the firm managed to increase revenue from its Asian division by 28 per cent to [...]
Blackstone goes to Bedfordshire for £250m Center Parcs venture March 1, 2012 CENTER Parcs, the private equity-backed holiday village operator, is to open a fifth site in Britain after a £1bn refinancing. The group said construction of the £250m park, in Woburn in Bedfordshire, will create 1,500 jobs and a further 1,200 in construction. Blackstone, which bought Center Parcs in 2006, will put another £100m into the [...]
CLASH OF THE PARTIES (SECOND PART) FOR RUDD March 1, 2012 Roland Rudd is not one for being fazed by party clashes. The formidable spin-meister’s splendid fiftieth birthday party last summer in his country-house near Glastonbury famously clashed with chancellor George Osborne’s fortieth birthday celebrations. One suspects some guests had a difficult choice to make but that didn’t stop around 500 of London’s business community, including [...]
SOUND OF THE CITY: BABBLE BAR OPENS ITS DOORS March 1, 2012 Babble Bar: so good they launched it twice. The Mayfair-established watering hole, sister of the LateNightLondon website, opened the doors to its new City location last Friday – and the celebrations continued last night. The venue was full to capacity with City workers and burlesque dancers wandering cocktail in hand between Babble’s four bars: the [...]
UK factories see rate of growth slow March 1, 2012 MANUFACTURING output and employment increased in February, new data showed yesterday, but the pace of expansion was slower than in January. The sector’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) from Markit fell from 52 to 51.2 in the month as new orders from the Eurozone fell. Any figure above 50 indicates expansion. Input prices rose at their [...]
House prices reverse January fall as confidence increases March 1, 2012 HOUSE prices rose across the country in February, according to data published yesterday – although asking prices for prime properties have taken a hit from the seasonal dip in buying activity. Average prices rose 0.6 per cent in the month, Nationwide figures showed, rebounding from the 0.3 per cent fall in January. Prices were up [...]
Xchanging profits slump after transition year for outsourcer March 1, 2012 OUTSOURCING firm Xchanging said yesterday it had seen an increase in potential contracts in the first weeks of 2012, as a restructuring implemented last year began to pay off. Xchanging posted an expected 23 per cent fall in adjusted operating profit to £43.2m but aims to return to growth next year. Cost cuts at the [...]
