Quality of Quins’ European win stuns even triumphant players December 8, 2013 HARLEQUINS No8 Nick Easter admitted the quality of their performance in Saturday’s bonus-point 32-8 win at Racing Metro shocked even their own dressing room. With two defeats to open up their Heineken Cup campaign, Quins gave their qualification cause a huge boost as Nick Evans, Easter, Charlie Walker and then Karl Dickson all went over. [...]
Firstgroup set to appoint new chairman December 5, 2013 FIRSTGROUP is set to hire Aviva chairman John McFarlane to take the same role at the transport group, replacing Martin Gilbert. FirstGroup is expected to make an announcement today, according to Sky News. Gilbert said he would step down following First’s fundraising in May. He’s been at the firm since its 1995 foundation.
Uni pals set for European clash December 5, 2013 HARLEQUINS centre Matt Hopper is relishing the chance to finally go head to head with former Cardiff University mate turned British and Irish Lion Jamie Roberts in the Heineken Cup tomorrow. Roberts, who completed his medicine degree and joined French club Racing Metro this year, got his break with Cardiff when Hopper was captain of [...]
Insurers’ £25bn growth pledge December 3, 2013 SIX CITY insurers have today announced a major investment into UK infrastructure projects, committing £25bn over the next five years. The money, which does not include finance for existing schemes, signals a commitment to new large-scale projects, following the successful negotiation of changes to EU insurance regulation that had been holding back investment. Changes to [...]
Infrastructure deal: December 3, 2013 ■ Six major insurers have announced plans to collectively invest £25bn in UK infrastructure over the next five years. They are: Legal & General, Aviva, Prudential, Scottish Widows, Standard Life and Friends Life. ■ The government has unveiled a new national infrastructure plan containing over £375bn of public and private sector projects in the pipeline. [...]
Tidjane Thiam: from Paris with love December 3, 2013 PRUDENTIAL boss Tidjane Thiam sent a pretty overt message to his French countrymen when he accepted his Grand Prix de l’Economie award last week. Facing a packed Parisian audience (which included Christine Lagarde), Tidjane – a graduate of France’s top universities – chose to extol the UK’s business practices, describing the UK as having a “unique [...]
Harlequins rout hands Richards a grim reunion December 1, 2013 RUTHLESSNESS and patience were Harlequins boss Conor O’Shea’s watchwords yesterday after his side showed their killer instinct to seal a 35-9 bonus-point Aviva Premiership Rugby win at Newcastle. An early Tom Williams try, a double from fellow wing Sam Smith and scrum-half Danny Care’s cunning score gave Quins their fourth straight top-flight victory, moving them [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 29 November 2013 November 28, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Apollo in Aviva’s UK property deal Apollo Global Management is closing in on the purchase of a £400m block of distressed UK property holdings put up for sale by Aviva, the FTSE 100 insurer, said people familiar with the matter. The private equity house has emerged as the preferred bidder for the assets. [...]
Ojo: Big name Irish backline is best I’ve seen November 28, 2013 LONDON Irish back Topsy Ojo is convinced the current squad is the finest he has played alongside as he prepares to make his 200th appearance for the Exiles in the Aviva Premiership against London Wasps tomorrow. Ojo forms an exciting back three that includes Australian James O’Connor and England international Marland Yarde. And, despite having [...]
Best of the Brokers for 27 November 2013 November 26, 2013 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com HALFORDS UBS has a “buy” recommendation on the bike and car parts retailer and has raised its price target to 530p from 435p. The broker said that Halfords is beginning to improve its specialist credentials but the majority of the turnaround plan is [...]