Britain must punch its weight within Europe November 20, 2011 THE political tensions and divided philosophies across Europe have once again returned to the spotlight, following David Cameron’s visit to Berlin last Friday. Strong language has been used on both sides of this debate, but understandably so, given the high stakes. Volker Kauder, of the Christian Democratic Union, made the provocative claim that “suddenly Europe [...]
RAPID RESPONSES November 20, 2011 Think global I agree with Matthew Sinclair [The carbon floor price needs to be scrapped]. Introducing a carbon floor price is wrong. With the UK facing the troubling prospect of a decade of stagnant growth, the government must prioritise: rescuing the economy, tackling the chronic level of youth unemployment and putting us firmly back on [...]
Trading on global risk sentiment November 20, 2011 AS IS the case across all asset classes, sentiment in the commodity markets hinges upon the belief, or lack thereof, in the ability of politicians and policy makers to find a solution to the European debt crisis. With no sign of a meaningful, long-term cure for Europe’s ills on the cards, cyclical commodities, like industrial [...]
THE TIPSTER November 20, 2011 THE hawks have been circling over Mitchells & Butlers, seeing them as a potential takeover target, but the bid was so low that it was rejected without much thought. After a large spike in the price mid-September, the excitement of potential offers has worn off Mitchells and Butlers’s shareholders and the price of the share [...]
A LONG CHAIN OF DISAPPOINTMENT November 20, 2011 I SUPPOSE many would call me a cock-eyed euro-optimist. Certainly I’ve been supportive of the common currency since the early days and had high hopes for the euro – a novel concept in its inception. But I have to admit, I am beginning to lose all hope that the euro, at least the euro we [...]
THE WEEK AHEAD November 20, 2011 COMPANY NEWS ● Mitie Group announces its half-year results today. The facilities management company offers a range of building and support services, from industrial painting and engineering, to catering and cleaning. ● Mitchells & Butlers announces its final results and De La Rue announces its interim results tomorrow. M&B runs about 2,000 pubs and restaurants [...]
A weekend in Johannesburg November 20, 2011 THERE’S too much history in this town.” So says my tour guide Zac as we speed away from Johannesburg airport. He’s not wrong. Just 125 years old, South Africa’s largest city has developed as though on steroids. The often bloody events that mark its relatively short lifetime read like those of a much older city. [...]
Journalist to lawyer to two-time entrepreneur November 20, 2011 DANA Denis-Smith is accustomed to starting new careers. She began professional life as a journalist, before changing tack and training as a solicitor with Linklaters in 2005. Just three years later she left to set up her own business and then three years after that she set up another. “I left journalism because I often [...]
IT IS TIME TO CLOCK UP MORE NEW BUSINESSES November 20, 2011 FOR anyone running or thinking of starting a business right now, the landscape is undeniably pretty bleak. The Eurozone is in crisis, our politicians are bickering and we’re in the midst of what might be a decade-long deleveraging across the economy – growth is hard to come by. But there is one point on which [...]
ENTREPRENEURS NEWS | IN BRIEF November 20, 2011 BOOST FOR YOUTH ENTERPRISE EDUCATION Youth Business International and the RBS Group are sponsoring Global Entrepreneurship Week this month. The event will involve over 200,000 participants around the UK and will involve schools, colleges and universities focusing on teaching enterprise skills. The week follows the recent trend of encouraging young entrepreneurs to build on their [...]
