OFT goes on hiring spree August 10, 2009 THE Office of Fair Trading (OFT) yesterday announced the appointment of the Treasury’s head of financial stability, Clive Maxwell, to run its services division as it continues a reshuffle started last month. Maxwell, a key player in the government’s bailout of the banking sector, will join the watchdog as senior director of services on secondment [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 10, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES BBC ARM WINS COURT RULING ON 2ENTERTAINBBC Worldwide, the BBC’s commercial arm, has won a court case against the administrators of Woolworths over the value of their 2Entertain joint venture. The decision at the High Court in London is likely to face an appeal by Deloitte, the administrators, who are fighting to maximise [...]
Are you more optimistic about the construction sector? August 10, 2009 MARK HOWSON RBS“Morgan Sindall’s update has provided some good news in the shape of heightened enquiries in the fit out business going forward as the lack of readily available Grade A properties starts to see the fit out market perk up. Property agents will be wanting to tart up properties to achieve faster sales. But [...]
Morgan Sindall points to signs of improvement amid slump in profits August 10, 2009 CONSTRUCTION group Morgan Sindall yesterday boosted optimism in the sector after announcing “encouraging signs of improvement”, despite unveiling a 28 per cent fall in profits. The group reported pre-tax profits of £20.8m for the six months to 30 June, down from £28.6m the year before. The group’s revenues also slipped eight per cent to £1.1bn. [...]
Lloyds battles to keep Treasury at bay August 10, 2009 BACK in March when Lloyds Banking Group was first negotiating the terms of a deal to insure £260bn of its most toxic assets, there were constant suggestions that chief executive Eric Daniels would resist anything that resulted in the government taking its 42 per cent stake in the bank to more than 50 per cent. [...]
Slowdown continues for builders August 10, 2009 THE construction industry has experienced further decline across all sectors during the second quarter of 2009, according to the yesterday’s Construction Trade Survey. Sixty-six building contractors reported that output in the commercial sector fell in the second quarter of 2009 while 55 per cent reported output fell in the private new housing and industrial sectors. [...]
Funds buy up UK property August 10, 2009 PROPERTY fund managers are storming back into the UK market, believing the correction has now ended and bricks and mortar assets are looking cheap. Managers believe the collapse of the property bubble has created a wealth of investment opportunities, with Henderson’s Herald fund and F&C’s Commercial Property Trust both diving back in to the UK [...]
Portmeirion upbeat on half-year August 10, 2009 Pottery firm Portmeirion said it remained confident of a £12m boost to revenues following its rescue of the Spode and Royal Worcester brands. Announcing upbeat half-year results, the firm said the addition of the historic fine china names, after a £3.2m deal with administrators in April, had provided it with a “great opportunity” for growth. [...]
Liechtenstein cuts tax deal August 10, 2009 HM REVENUE & Customs (HMRC) is set to sign a ground-breaking deal today with the tax haven of Liechtenstein designed to unlock £2bn to £3bn of cash from the secret bank accounts of British citizens in the tiny European principality. HMRC will ask around 5,000 UK investors to volunteer the details of their deposits. Banks [...]
Defence groups fight over MoD August 10, 2009 Defence companies in the UK are preparing to pitch for one of the biggest contracts to be handed out by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) this week. The MoD outlined its requirements for the next batch of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at a recent meeting.
