Myners: more women will get on boards March 28, 2011 EX-CITY Minister Lord Myners expects women to make up the majority of board members in at least five FTSE100 companies by 2021, without quotas necessary to bring about the change. Speaking at tonight’s Business Woman of the Year awards, Lord Myners will say that the failure by the private sector to recognise and mobilise female [...]
The next Boots chief must like foreign deals March 28, 2011 ALLIANCE BOOTS is on the hunt for a new chief executive to make international deals after Andy Hornby suddenly stepped down on Friday, a source close to the pharmaceutical and beauty group said yesterday. Executive chairman Stafano Pessina, viewed as the driving force behind Boots, is understood to be chasing new contracts in China and [...]
Waterstone keen on HMV March 28, 2011 TIM Waterstone may be poised to buy back the bookshop chain that bears his name after he and his business partners entered into exclusive talks with its owner, HMV Group. Waterstone, 71, has teamed up with Russian millionaire Alexander Mamut in a a bid to seize control of the debt-laden chain. HMV Group issued a [...]
Southern Cross aims for rent deal March 27, 2011 STRUGGLING care home operator Southern Cross is preparing for “hardball negotiations” with landlords to cut its massive rental bill, a person close to the firm said yesterday. Southern Cross last week wrote to around a third of its landlords to request a switch from quarterly to monthly payments, after taking on KPMG’s Richard Fleming and [...]
BA could face Easter walk-out March 27, 2011 British Airways could face yet more staff strikes, with the result of the latest ballot due out later today. Workers represented by Unite voted again on whether to organise a staff walk-out, with members expected to overwhelmingly back the action. The ballot raises the possibility of a fresh wave of strikes over the Easter break [...]
Schaeffler sells down Continental stake March 27, 2011 FAMILY-OWNED German ball-bearings maker Schaeffler is working on a major refinancing plan through which it will sell some of its indirectly held shares in German automotive supplier Continental AG, it emerged yesterday. The proceeds from the sale of the Continental shares will be used to partly repay some of its debt. Interest rates and maturities [...]
Socrates is voted back March 27, 2011 INTERIM Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates has been voted back in as leader of his Socialist Party after quitting last week. He had walked out after parliament voted down the Socialists’ austerity budget, but his victory in the party vote means he will lead them into an election in two months’ time. He won 93 [...]
Budget sends the right signals to UK business March 27, 2011 PRIOR to last Wednesday’s announcement, George Osborne said he wanted to produce a Budget for growth. With a gaping hole in public finances, it was always clear that any growth could not be funded through Government largesse. It will be up to the private sector to generate wealth and offset public sector job losses. Unless [...]
Services look for a rebound March 27, 2011 PROSPECTS for economic recovery in 2011 will be clearer this week, when official data is released on the UK’s largest sector. The index of services fell 0.6 per cent in the final month of last year, yet is expected to rebound in 2011. January’s data is released on Wednesday, by the Office for National Statistics. [...]
ECONOMISTS’ VIEWS: IS THE UK SERVICE SECTOR IN GOOD HEALTH? March 27, 2011 DAVID KERN | BRITISH CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE I think there will be some bounce back in this week’s figures on the service sector, since what happened in December was distorted because of the severe winter weather. And financial, creative and business services are areas which can benefit from growing exports. ANDREW GOODWIN | ERNST AND [...]
