Schools becoming academies at rate of one a day, says Gove October 11, 2010 STATE schools are converting to academies at a rate of one a day, education secretary Michael Gove said yesterday, as the government’s plan to free headteachers from local government control gathers pace. In total, 121 academies have opened since the election, bringing the total number to 324. A further 90 schools will get academy status [...]
Barking up the wrong tree: a spotty record for Dow’s dogs October 11, 2010 THERE is no such thing as the Holy Grail of investing or trading; there is no strategy that guarantees you an endless stream of profits. But if you are looking for an approach which doesn’t require you to be a mathematical or technical genius, then there are some medium-term strategies that have enjoyed some degree [...]
CITY VIEWS: SHOULD UNIVERSITIES BE ALLOWED TO CHARGE WHAT THEY WANT? October 11, 2010 DHUGAL ROBERTSON | AXE “No. If you are going to pay for university, then you should be provided with job opportunities at the end of your degree and not with a load of debt.” GABI MASON | TESTPLANT LTD “University fees should be capped. If they aren’t, we’ll end up with a large division of [...]
Civil servants need to be accountable October 11, 2010 WHAT a surprise. Sir Philip Green has found that the Government is “lamentably bad” at the procurement of goods and services and the management of its property portfolio. The budgets he looked at are worth £191bn in total, and he believes billions could be saved. He argues that the public sector is spending £700m a [...]
THE TIPSTER October 11, 2010 THE search giant Google has seen its share price rallying hard since the start of September, helped somewhat by recent broker upgrades. Google’s global audience has the potential to be recession proof. With this in mind there is something of an expectation for the company to deliver the goods on Thursday — at least virtually [...]
Topshop boss finds waste in Whitehall October 11, 2010 THE government is wasting staggering sums of money by failing to take advantage of its size and credit rating to get the best deals from suppliers, Topshop tycoon Sir Philip Green said yesterday. Prime Minister David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said it “made for pretty chilling reading”, while ministers said the report showed that [...]
World Cup lift for Ladbrokes boosts shares October 11, 2010 Ladbrokes, Britain’s biggest listed bookmaker, got an earnings boost from the soccer World Cup and the company added yesterday that it was on track to meet full-year targets, sending its shares higher. Operating profit for the three months to 30 September rose 128 per cent from a year ago to £51.1m. The World Cup resulted [...]
Betfair October 11, 2010 Betfair may be getting all the press at the moment with its upcoming float and its threats to leave the UK, but Ladbrokes reminded us it is still here yesterday when it announced a whopping 128 per cent hike in operating profit. This is obviously to be taken strictly within the context of incredibly weak [...]
FTSE gains on hope of more banking stimulus measures October 11, 2010 Britain’s top shares rose yesterday as hopes that governments around the world would take steps to bolster economic recovery fuelled investor optimism. Meanwhile, bullish broker comment helped lift Petrofac and Weir Group, while Prudential, Autonomy and BP were hit by broker downgrades. The FTSE 100 closed up 14.79 points, or 0.3 per cent, at 5,672.40. [...]
Bain pays $2bn for kids clothes firm Gymboree October 11, 2010 CHILDREN’S clothing maker Gymboree is selling itself to buyout firm Bain Capital Partners for $1.8bn (£1.14bn), it said yesterday, as cheap valuations and clean balance sheets make specialty apparel companies attractive takeover targets. Bain beat other private equity bidders such as Apollo Global Management, which also had been pursuing the firm, two sources familiar with [...]
