Tories slam Brown’s latest car tax hike July 11, 2008 The Conservatives party yesterday slammed government plans to raise vehicle duty for polluting cars after it emerged the drivers of up to nine million vehicles could be left worse off. The news that so many hard pressed drivers of older and second hand cars will be hit has raised the spectre of another revolt by [...]
Hays cautions on slowdown July 11, 2008 British recruitment giant Hays yesterday warned that UK growth was slowing and that it would have to cut jobs, although it said it still predicted profits in line with market expectations. Hays, which generates around half its fees in the UK and Ireland, grew total net fees by 16 per cent in the quarter ending [...]
Sports Direct owner comes out fighting July 11, 2008 Mike Ashley, the boisterous billionaire owner of Sports Direct, yesterday pledged to become a “good guy on corporate governance” as the retailer saw its full-year profits halve as consumers tightened their spending. The retailer’s lack of transparency in failing to provide like-for-like sales in its quarterly results has been heavily criticised by City analysts. But [...]
Auntie’s problems run deeper than executive bonuses July 11, 2008 The case of “trebles all round” for top BBC executives, after a year in which viewers were deceived and trust damaged, rightly dominated news about the Corporation’s annual report this week. But an eyebrow should be raised at the scale of the bonuses. The overall pay of director of vision Jana Bennett rose by 24 [...]
Inside the private world of Citigroup’s bankers July 11, 2008 Private bankers over at Citibank are in a bit of a stew – and with good reason. Staff at the bank’s personal banking division have learned that anti-money laundering measures (AML) are to be stepped up suddenly to prevent criminals taking advantage of the private bank’s services. In an internal document seen by City A.M., [...]
Signet moves share listing to New York July 11, 2008 Jewellery giant Signet Group yesterday announced it would move its primary listing to the New York Stock Exchange, as part of a raft of changes to focus its business on the American market. The jeweller, which owns the H Samuel and Ernest Jones chains in the UK, said it hoped to complete the move – [...]
Herz backs GfKin fight against WPP July 11, 2008 German billionaire Guenter Herz is believed to be backing market researcher GfK in its bid for rival Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS), which fought off a fourth approach from Sir Martin Sorrel’s advertising giant WPP earlier in the week. Herz, 68, is estimated to be worth $2.3bn (£1.15bn). He and his sister Daniela own Hamburg-based private [...]
Vaughan: We won’t back out of Lord’s war July 10, 2008 England captain Michael Vaughan has issued a battle cry to South Africa ahead of the first Test at Lord’s this morning, insisting: We will not be bullied by you. Relations between the sides have been strained in recent years with visiting captain Graeme Smith having been involved in exchanges with both Vaughan and South African-born [...]
Chelsea tell Lampard to forget Inter July 10, 2008 Chelsea last night risked deepening their differences with Frank Lampard by publicly telling the unsettled midfielder to forget about a summer transfer to Inter Milan. In an interview published on Chelsea’s official website, chief executive Peter Kenyon insisted long-serving Lampard would stay at the club next season even if he refused to sign a new [...]
West warns Iran over nuclear tests July 10, 2008 Iran test-fired nine missiles yesterday and warned America and Israel it was ready to retaliate for any attack over its disputed nuclear projects. Washington, which says Iran seeks atomic bombs, told Tehran to halt further tests. Iran says its nuclear programme is only for electricity. Iran’s missile tests rattled oil markets, helping crude prices to [...]
