Morgan Sindall and Arup net £1.1bn Sellafield contract October 12, 2012 Building group Morgan Sindall and engineering consultancy Arup have secured a £1.1bn services contract at the Sellafield nuclear site, Cumbria. The joint venture will improve and develop key infrastructure assets at Sellafield including the maintenance of steam and electricity generation, water supply, chemical storage and distribution, drainage networks and all transport infrastructure at the nuclear [...]
Online retailers face OFT action October 12, 2012 Over a third of the UK’s top online retailers could be breaking consumer laws, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) announced today. The OFT conducted checks on 156 popular websites, finding that 62 retailers may not be fully compliant with distance-selling regulations and other consumer protection guidelines. In particular, the OFT expressed concerns that 33 [...]
Gazprom sells Manchester unit for £13.5m October 12, 2012 Energy Assets has bought Russian energy giant Gazprom’s Manchester unit for £13.5m. The London-listed gas meter specialist will acquire Gazprom’s subsidiary, Gazprom Global Energy Solutions (GGES), for £6m in cash, a bonus payment of £3m and existing debt of £4.5m that will be refinanced upon acquisition. The transaction will more than double Energy Assets’ portfolio. [...]
FTSE 100 weighed down by engineering stocks October 12, 2012 The leading blue chip index opened modestly down this morning, as enthusiasm over positive US jobs data was pared back by weak UK construction data. Engineering companies felt the pressure on the FTSE All-Share this morning. Materials group Morgan Crucible dropped 12.51 per cent this morning. It warned on profits across its businesses, with Europe [...]
Construction output sinks 11.6 per cent year on year in August October 12, 2012 Construction output in the UK fell by 11.6 per cent year on year in August, official data from the Office for National Statistics said this morning. Construction fell 0.9 per cent from July, after a surprise 2.1 per cent bounce the month previously. The main drag came from new work, which fell by 15.6 per [...]
British Gas confirms price hikes October 12, 2012 British Gas this morning confirmed it is to hike gas and electricity prices by an average of six per cent, adding £80 to the average annual dual fuel bill. The increase, equating to £1.50 a week for customers, is blamed on rising wholesale prices. British Gas last raised prices in August 2011, and today’s increase, [...]
Bad weather hits Travis Perkins sales October 12, 2012 Building materials supplier Travis Perkins this morning posted a 3.5 per cent decline in like for like sales over the three months to September, blaming poor weather and tough competition. The firm, whose brands include City Plumbing, Keyline, Tile Giant, BSS and Wickes, said that sales were down in all but one of its divisions, [...]
Chemring grants Carlyle Group extension for bid talks October 12, 2012 Chemring has granted private equity company Carlyle Group an extension to make a firm offer for the defence equipment maker. Carlyle now has until 5pm on 9 November to table a bid for Chemring. The deadline was originally 5pm this afternoon. Chemring, which makes flares, equipment to detect improvised explosive devices and mechanisms used in [...]
Rothschild told to give up £40m October 11, 2012 INFLUENTIAL Indonesian family the Bakries yesterday called on financier Nat Rothschild to give up his 12 per cent shareholding in miner Bumi, worth more than £41m. The Bakrie brothers, who own 23.8 per cent of London-listed Bumi, want Rothschild to give up his 16m bonus shares in Bumi, which he was awarded when his acquisition [...]
London back on top as best financial city October 11, 2012 LONDON has won back its crown as the best financial city on earth after climbing to the peak of a global ranking of the best places to do business, a heavyweight study showed yesterday. The capital climbed four spots from last year to claim joint first position with New York in a ranking of 27 [...]
