Aberdeen to pursue tax row with HMRC October 16, 2011 ABERDEEN Asset Management is taking its long-running £8m tax dispute to a new tribunal hearing. The claim, which attempts to overturn an £8m tax ruling related to an options scheme used to compensate chief executive Martin Gilbert and other senior staff, is expected to be heard before the Upper Tax Tribunal later this month. It [...]
Businesses need to plan for the Olympics if they want the summer to run smoothly October 16, 2011 London 2012 TIME TO GET READY THERE’S no general piece of advice.” I’m with Transport for London’s no-nonsense commissioner, Peter Hendy, and if he has one message he wants people to grasp about public transport during next year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games, it is that every day and every part of town will be different. [...]
DOWNTON’S CREATOR IN NEW DRAMA AT NOMURA October 16, 2011 SUNDAYS have taken on new meaning for Nomura’s joint head of global equities Benoit Savoret, ever since Downton Abbey returned to the nation’s screens. So let’s hope the twists and turns of the First World War drama haven’t been spoiled for Savoret and his colleagues William Vereker, Paul Spanswick and Brett Olsen, after Nomura’s senior [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK October 16, 2011 NO MATTER that Gracechurch Street is 53 miles from the sea – Loch Fyne still aims to serve “the freshest seafood you will find anywhere”. A big claim, and one that six stockbrokers were keen to put to the test when they visited the seafood restaurant that started life as a small oyster shack in [...]
Why unpaid internships are a good thing – they help the young get a foot in the door October 16, 2011 MY COMPANY is currently looking for an intern (don’t all apply at once). The reason is simple. We have a job that needs doing that we cannot get our clients to pay us for and, in the current climate, we cannot afford to pay an experienced person to do it. The work we want doing [...]
Private equity is emerging as the friend of Africa October 16, 2011 THE reputation of the private equity industry has been under attack once again. In the UK, troubled private equity backed companies such as Southern Cross care homes have been the subject of high-profile negative press coverage; internationally, music giant EMI has struggled to service its debts. But private equity in emerging markets is a reminder [...]
The City needs to stay the world’s top choice October 16, 2011 BEING the Lord Mayor of the City of London is an all-consuming role; in the past 11 and a half months, I have visited 40 cities in 22 different countries across the globe, delivering around 900 speeches promoting not just the Square Mile, but the whole of the UK-wide financial and professional services industry. I [...]
RAPID RESPONSES October 16, 2011 Heathwick critic Despite Victoria Borwick’s defence of the “Heathwick” scheme on Friday [To keep the economy flying we need more air capacity], the idea is flawed in our view. British Airways already tried the idea of a dual hub a few years ago and it did not work, in part because connection times were uncompetitive [...]
FTSE 100: Trading in a channel October 16, 2011 FOR weeks the FTSE 100 has been trading in a channel – proffering clues on price action for spread betters. The UK index has certainly seen its fair share of ups and downs over the years. From its 1984 base level of 1,000 it peaked at 6,950.6 on 30 December 1999. The financial crisis saw [...]
THE WEEK AHEAD October 16, 2011 COMPANY NEWS ● On Wednesday, Diageo will hold its AGM where it will make its interim management statement. If the £1.6bn that the drinks company spent on emerging market acquisitions has paid off, then shareholders will be celebrating with doubles all round. ● In Petrofac’s interim management statement on Thursday, it will be hoping to [...]
