My crush is ruining my concentration June 9, 2009 DEAR VEXED: I’m working hard and am on track for promotion. The only problem is that a beautiful woman has joined the company and I cannot stop thinking about her. You could call it a crush – I’m worried it’s an obsession. I can barely concentrate. What should I do? Mark, 32, wealth manager FIRST [...]
Guilty plea in banker death June 9, 2009 TWO men have pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Barclays Wealth chief operating officer Frank McGarahan, who died after trying to break up a street fight in the early hours of 28 September last year in Norwich. Tom Cowles, 22, and his brother Ben, 21, admitted to manslaughter after initially denying a charge of murder. [...]
HSBC launches Russian project June 9, 2009 HSBC is moving into retail banking in Russia, in a bid to take advantage of the country’s burgeoning middle class, which the bank said was “relatively undamaged” by the recession. Europe’s largest bank opened its first retail branch in Moscow yesterday and is planning three more in the Russian capital and another in St. Petersburg. [...]
The winner from the tuna debacle? Nobu June 9, 2009 THE speed with which Pret a Manger and M&S have put to use The End of the Line, a film about the overfishing of bluefin tuna that hasn’t even been released yet, is astonishing. Another movie points the finger at our cruel, environment-wrecking ways and before you can say “skipjack”, the tuna sandwich is struck [...]
Banks are becoming more popular despite crisis June 9, 2009 AS a pollster, it’s not so often that survey results fly in the face of your expectations, but preparing some BrandIndex data for a talk at the Association of British Insurers conference, I had two surprises. Looking at the “buzz” tracking for three baskets of brands – banks, utilities, and separately financial services (providers of [...]
Anglo Irish’s stabilisation will be tough June 9, 2009 THE stabilisation of Anglo Irish Bank will be difficut but if the nationalised lender was wound up taxpayers would be left with the bill, its chairman warned yesterday, helping fuel a spike in Irish borrowing costs. Once a darling of investors during the height of the “Celtic Tiger” economy, Anglo Irish has become the bane [...]
FSA’s Turner ends insurance regulation fears June 9, 2009 ADAIR Turner, head of City regulator the Financial Services Authority (FSA), reassured the insurance sector yesterday, saying there was no need for a rules “revolution” in the sector equivalent to the one banks are facing. He told the Association of British Insurers’ biennial conference that liquidity risks – which caused the banking collapse – are [...]
Osborne hits out at City in key speech June 9, 2009 TORY shadow chancellor George Osborne yesterday said the City’s focus on “illusory” short-term gains had damaged the financial sector and the entire economy. Speaking at the Association of British Insurers (ABI) conference, Osborne said that City regulation needed to be reformed to “reduce the risks the financial sector poses to the rest of the economy”. [...]
CRITICS DO A U-TURN ON HORNBY’S REPUTATION June 9, 2009 A RINGING endorsement of Andy Hornby, the besieged former chief of HBOS who is now joining retailer Alliance Boots, from the most unlikely of quarters. John Thurso, the Lib Dem spokesman for business, enterprise and regulatory reform, has been among Hornby’s harshest critics as a member of the Treasury Select Committee that harangued various bankers [...]
REVENUES FIZZ AT IRN BRU June 8, 2009 DRINKS maker AG Barr, which makes Irn Bru, said yesterday its sales from 1 February to 29 May rose 22.5 per cent from a year ago, boosted by a strong performance in the Rubicon fruit juice unit it bought last year. Like-for-like sales, taking out the effect of the Rubicon acquisition, also jumped by 7.9 [...]
