MBA and masters courses: How to make the choice September 11, 2013 The difference goes beyond required skills THE MBA programme has long been a gold standard of business education, signalling analytical, managerial and teamwork skills to prospective employers. The popularity of masters in finance courses, however, has increased dramatically in recent years. Cass Business School’s Chris Johnson says that “we have had to enormously expand the [...]
From prison cells to helter-skelters September 11, 2013 Office design has come a long way since the days of windowless boxes THERE’S a point, around half way through university, when all the conscientious students put down their pints of lager, cease their earnest conversations about Middle-Eastern geo-politics and begin applying for jobs. My housemate was one of those students. Concerned at my relative [...]
Five of the UK’s coolest offices September 11, 2013 Google Located behind Tottenham Court Road station, Google’s UK headquarters features Union Jacks, allotments where employees can grow veg and outdoor workplaces called “secret gardens”. Mother London There’s only one desk at ad agency Mother: a 240ft concrete work surface that stretches through the entire building. Workers change positions every six weeks thanks to a randomly [...]
The 5S: Apple goes for gold September 11, 2013 New features of the tech giant’s latest smartphone, reviewed by Melissa York APPLE unleashed its newest smartphone at an international launch in Berlin this week to an audience eager to hear about the latest innovations from the world’s most secretive technology company. Here, we unravel the hype and review the main new features of the [...]
Plastic fantastic: Apple hopes iPhone 5C will crack international markets September 11, 2013 APPLE CEO Tim Cook told the audience at Apple’s live-streamed launch that the company was thriving and looking forward to shipping their 700 millionth iOS device next month. But South Korea’s Samsung is leading the way with around 30 per cent of the market share worldwide. Apple is lagging behind in second with around 18 [...]
UK drops down post-Lehman financial transactions leaderboard September 11, 2013 UK financial transactions have dropped by two-thirds over the past five years, according to a newly-published paper. In 2006/7, they were valued at $1.7 trillion (£1.1 trillion). Law firm Allen and Overy have developed the Life after Lehman Index which looks at the value of global financial transactions, including bond and equity sales, five [...]
London investors feeling left out as Verizon’s sterling bond plans are scrapped September 11, 2013 Verizon's $49bn (£31bn) is already the largest investment grad corporate bond sale on record, dwarfing the former title spot (held by Apple's $17bn (£11bn) issuance). There's been such strong demand that Reuters reports that planned euro and sterling offerings have been scrapped. The final size was at the top end of the $45-$49 billion range [...]
Analysts think Apple has gone rotten: Three banks downgrade to neutral September 11, 2013 A disappointing reveal from tech giant Apple last night has seen analysts downgrade their buy recommendations in the company's stock to neutral. No surprises last night despite promises from chief executive officer Tim Cook in May last year that security was being ramped up. Crucially, Apple's budget iPhone 5C turned out to not be that [...]
Syria tensions ease allaying fears of oil price spikes September 11, 2013 Ishaq Siddiqi, market strategist, ETX Capital on the likelihood of US intervention in Syria and possible market reaction: Syria tensions ease considerably overnight as US President Obama in his speech acknowledges drumming support in Congress for a strike at Syria was hard found and has opted for diplomacy with Russia to disarm the Middle Eastern [...]
Historic real wage squeeze drags on whilst declining public sector remains insulated September 11, 2013 Data published today by the Office for National Statistics shows that the second quarter has seen a continued decrease in UK public sector employment but an increase in the private sector. Figures suggest a continued push by government to whittle down the public sector. Whilst it is encouraging that public sector jobs are [...]
