iPhone 5 supply threatened by Foxconn strikes October 7, 2012 FOXCONN workers went on strike over the weekend at one of the Chinese factories supplying Apple’s iPhone 5, in a blow to the US firm as it struggles to keep up with demand for the device. More than 200 workers at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant refused to work on Friday, in the latest round of unrest [...]
Nutmeg: We will shake up banks October 7, 2012 INVESTMENT BANKS are stifling innovation and have failed to deliver the benefits of the digital revolution, the founder of a British online fund manager has claimed. Nick Hungerford, the chief executive and founder of Nutmeg, a personal portfolio manager promising to be the “Facebook of wealth management”, told City A.M. that major investment banks lack [...]
SLR Management splashes out on Australian mining adviser October 7, 2012 PRIVATE equity-backed environmental consultancy SLR Management has snapped up an Australian adviser to the coal mining industry, the firm is set to announce today. Oxford-based SLR is buying GSS Environmental, which counts BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata among its clients, for an undisclosed sum. It is SLR’s first acquisition since raising money for its [...]
Wincanton to run Morrisons’ M Local centre October 7, 2012 WINCANTON, the logistics company, has won a multi-million pound contract to run Morrisons’ new distribution centre in West London as the grocer prepares to roll-out 20 convenience stores across the capital by year-end. Wincanton said the five-year contract will see it managing both the 100,000 square feet warehouse, opening in Feltham next year, and the [...]
Jefferies seals First Quantum high-yield October 7, 2012 FIRST Quantum, the copper and nickel mining firm, said at the end of last week that it had completed the pricing for a $350m issue of senior notes due in 2019. Interest on the notes is set to accrue at 7.25 per cent per annum. First Quantum recently hired Jefferies as its broker, having been [...]
Gongs and gags at the Banker’s Awards October 7, 2012 To the Investment Banking Awards at the end of last week, to prematurely welcome in the weekend (“go hard on Thursday or go home in shame” was the sentiment being bandied about). The Banker magazine’s annual black-tie soiree at The Sheraton on Park Lane welcomed many familiar faces from the world of investment banking. The [...]
Firms begin to regain cheer as economy heals October 7, 2012 BUSINESS confidence began to return in the third quarter, data from Deloitte revealed today, but firms are still very wary about the economic environment. Sentiment improved from minus 35 last quarter to minus nine now, the statistics showed, but this still indicated pessimism among the finance chiefs surveyed. And though fewer respondents said they expected [...]
Why I will be in the pink for the Tory Party Conference October 7, 2012 I SPENT this weekend packing for a four-day trip to Birmingham to cover the Conservative Party conference. And I really mean all weekend too. To start with, it turns out chief whip Andrew Mitchell isn’t going, saying he risks being a “distraction”. So much for the Pleb & Proud t-shirt. His absence doesn’t reflect well [...]
Temporary work boosted but permanent roles are stagnant October 7, 2012 THE MARKET for temporary workers is booming, two data releases showed yesterday, but both point to a less positive picture in permanent placements. Temporary jobs growth hit a 14-month high, data from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and KPMG showed yesterday, while permanent appointments inched down slightly. This chimed with data from the Association of [...]
Hopes raised in retail sector as shoppers return to high street October 7, 2012 AFTER YEARS of decline, footfall on high streets was basically flat in September, data from Springboard showed today. Footfall fell 0.4 per cent in the year to last month, Springboard said, a improvement on last year’s 1.2 per cent fall, and the collapses of 5.3 per cent in 2009 and 10.6 per cent during the [...]
