Tories under siege as polls show Labour closing gap February 22, 2010 WHAT a difference a couple of months can make. At the start of 2010, the Tories looked unassailable, with a consistent ten point lead in the opinion polls that would have translated into an outright majority at the election. Labour was imploding, while Gordon Brown was fighting yet another coup attempt, the terribly-planned “snow plot” [...]
Gordon Brown under pressure after new claims of bullying and violence February 22, 2010 GORDON Brown was under pressure yesterday, after it emerged that his violent temper forced cabinet secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell to launch an investigation. Whitehall’s most powerful civil servant is said to have reprimanded Brown early on in his premiership, after Downing Street staff said they were being bullied. The revelations are detailed in political journalist [...]
EU markets chief Barnier set for pacifying UK visit February 22, 2010 EUROPE’S internal markets commissioner Michel Barnier is set to woo politicians and business leaders in London next week in his first UK visit since he was appointed in November. Top of the agenda for Barnier, one of the most powerful men in Brussels, will be the raft of new EU regulation that many claim will [...]
Metro Bank in hiring drive February 22, 2010 METRO Bank, the new high street lender set up by US billionaire Vernon Hill, has selected a team of City veterans as non-executive directors to beef up its board, ahead of an imminent final decision from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) on its banking licence. The bank – which is led by Financial Services Forum [...]
Taking stock of massive economic turbulence February 22, 2010 Excuse my philosophical mood – but there are times in life when you feel the urge to take stock of the world. I’m at one such crossroad. On Friday I’ll hang up my microphone for the last time this year before I leave CNBC to have my first baby. It all makes me wonder what [...]
Minoan raises £500,000 in share offer February 22, 2010 MINOAN, the Aim-listed resort developer, has raised £500,000 through a share placing. Two thirds of the cash will be put to work in Minoan’s stalled Cavo Sidero holiday park project in northeast Crete, which has been on hold since a legal challenge in early 2009. The remainder will go towards the company’s effort to diversify [...]
Factory data will push GDP data higher February 22, 2010 AFTER official data showed that the UK had barely limped out of recession in the fourth quarter, the hope was that the pitiful 0.1 per cent growth would be revised slightly higher when the full figures were released. On Friday, we will find out whether those hopes were well founded or little more than misplaced [...]
MGPA winds up global property fund with $5bn asset sale for 15 investors February 22, 2010 MGPA, the private equity real estate investor which grabbed headlines in January by buying up Polish shopping centres, has wound up its $480m (£310m) Global Fund I. The fund has sold $5bn of assets on behalf of 15 institutional clients worldwide. Set up in 1999 as the global property market was in mid-bull run, MGPA’s [...]
Icelandic prime minister optimistic on Icesave debt repayment arrangement February 22, 2010 Iceland’s Prime Minister has insisted that a new Icesave debt repayment deal from Britain and the Netherlands would considerably ease the island nation’s financial burden. The two countries have offered new terms for repaying more than $5bn (£3.23bn) lost by savers during Iceland’s financial crisis, potentially heading off a politically risky referendum on the Icesave [...]
Germany’s Tui rules out buying up British entity February 22, 2010 Germany’s TUI yesterday denied a weekend report that claimed it was planning to bid for the minority stake in TUI Travel it does not already own, with a view to delisting the UK business. “There are neither plans nor decisions as to how we want to develop our core tourism business in the future,” a [...]
