How a fit blonde girl sparked a £200k idea January 13, 2011 OH MY God, have you seen that gorgeous guy in the library? The one that’s always on the third floor, you must have seen him.” Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? If not, it’s probably because you weren’t at university recently and have forgotten the bizarre methods of procrastination students devise to keep them from their books. [...]
Gloomy data for Japan recovery January 13, 2011 Japanese private sector machinery orders, which reflect corporate capital spending, fell by three per cent in November compared to October.
FirstGroup on track despite £7m snow bill January 13, 2011 THE UK’s largest rail operator FirstGroup said it was on track yesterday to hit its earnings and cash targets for the year, with 2010 results in line with expectations. The upbeat outlook comes despite the company’s statement that snow disruption to its UK bus and rail networks made a £7m dent in profits in December. Both of [...]
I LEARNT MORE FROM FAILURE THAN SUCCESS January 13, 2011 AUTHOR AND FOUNDER OF ANTAL INTERNATIONAL IBUILT a recruitment organisation which spanned Europe and then nearly lost the whole thing when the market turned down post 9/11. And the fact that it’s now back on its feet again, with offices in 30 countries, is because I learned a lot more from getting things wrong than [...]
Russians rush to list in London January 13, 2011 RUSSIAN steel pipe maker ChelPipe has become the third company from the former Soviet Union to announce a listing on the London Stock Exchange this week. The company, which is to launch an initial public offering (IPO) of up to $1bn (£635.2m), follows pump manufacturer HMS Hydraulic and coking coal producer KOKS earlier this week. [...]
Non-execs say regulation is their biggest challenge January 13, 2011 THE greatest challenge facing non-executive directors is regulation, according to a survey of more than a hundred board members from FTSE 350 firms. When polled on the most common tests they face, the majority of non-execs cited regulatory requirements as both their biggest challenge and the one that most hinders their role, with a greater [...]
MEET THE EXPERT ON CRISIS MANAGEMENT January 13, 2011 Tim Weller, founder and CEO of the business-to-business service provider Incisive Media will be speaking to an audience of entrepreneurs about how he dealt with the fallout from the banking crisis over a relaxed lunch. This event is hosted by Entrepreneurs World, a peer-to-peer collaboration group for entrepreneurs running businesses that have a turnover greater [...]
GROWING CONFIDENCE IN UK ECONOMY January 13, 2011 The Investec entrepreneur confidence index that tracks the confidence levels of entrepreneurs in the UK economy has seen a small rise of 2 per cent since June. Some 56 per cent of the entrepreneurs interviewed believe that the economy will improve over the next 12 months. Ed Cottrell of Investec said: “The overall findings from [...]
Strong order book and growing cash positions put Balfour Beatty on target January 13, 2011 CONSTRUCTION firm Balfour Beatty is on target to meet its 2010 performance targets, the company said in a trading update yesterday. Balfour said that both its cash reserves and order book were in a strong position, with average cash in the second half of 2010 up to £400m from £342m the year before. The company’s [...]
ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR 2011 January 13, 2011 This year’s Ernst & Young’s entrepreneur of the year award is now open for nominations. The award starts at a regional level. Regional winners then progress to the UK finals, and the overall UK winner then goes on to compete for the title of world entrepreneur of the year in Monte Carlo. Richard Harpin, the [...]
