Mysterious Pears dynasty backs new venture to build £1bn of London homes March 27, 2014 One of the biggest and most private landlords in London and the South East has thrown its weight behind a £200m joint venture that aims to build £1bn of new homes in central London over the next five years. The Pears family, which owns the Coutts bank building on London’s Strand and the Coronet theatre [...]
Boris hits Twitter launching new yellow Barclays bikes and professing love for the Queen March 27, 2014 London’s favourite blonde bombshell took to Twitter this afternoon, with a new, grown-up profile pic, launching a yellow Barclays bike and answering questions from the Twittersphere. The canary-hued bikes, 101 of them to be exact, are to celebrate Le Tour de France’s British leg on 7 June (not because Barclays is ending its sponsorship – [...]
John Laing-backed green fund raises £160m in London float March 26, 2014 A JOHN Laing-backed infrastructure fund yesterday said it has raised £160m in an initial public offering and will invest the proceeds in a portfolio of renewable energy, waste and waste water assets in the UK. John Laing Environmental Assets Group (JLEN) will acquire the portfolio of assets from infrastructure group John Laing and a fund [...]
Are you a secret sexist? Take this test and find out March 26, 2014 At this morning’s launch of the latest Cranfield FTSE Women report, unconscious bias was a hot topic. Put very simply unconscious bias controls that bit of our brain that – like it or not – sorts people into categories. Man = manager. Women = secretary. And so on. Neurologists claims that not only are our [...]
Any Other Business – 26/03 March 26, 2014 Aldeburgh, in Suffolk, played host to an event called Names not Numbers this week, mixing novelists with journos, academics, actors and er, a paucity of bankers. The trip, which ended yesterday, involving Brompton bike rides and fish and chips on the beach, couldn’t be further away from flashy boardrooms and Sushi Samba. But Jenny Grey [...]
Pawnbroker Albemarle & Bond appoints PwC as administrator March 25, 2014 ALBEMARLE & Bond called in administrators yesterday, just a day after the struggling pawnbroker said that its lenders no longer supported the management’s turnaround plan. Albemarle’s board said that the decision had been made due to Albemarle’s inability to regain the support of its lenders on Monday – including Lloyds Banking Group and Barclays to [...]
French bounce keeps Eurozone growth on track March 24, 2014 FRENCH firms have reported an unexpected burst of growth this month, while German companies suggested a slowdown in Europe’s powerhouse economy’s expansion. Purchasing managers’ indexes (PMI) from data firm Markit indicate that growth in the Eurozone is broadly unchanged from February: the headline PMI figure was down 0.1 points to 53.2 in March, marginally above [...]
Albemarle stock is suspended as lenders pull out March 24, 2014 TROUBLED pawnbroker Albemarle & Bond yesterday suspended its shares from trading on London’s Alternative Investment Market after lenders said they would no longer support the firm’s turnaround plan. Albemarle shareholders could face losing their money while the firm’s 1,000 staff could lose their jobs. “These remaining options open to the company, which could include the [...]
City Moves for 25 March 2014 | Who’s switching jobs March 24, 2014 Barclays Business UK The bank has appointed Judith Gage as head of real estate for its business division. She joined the retail team in 1986, and was appointed manager in the business team in 1996. Charles Stanley The investment management firm has hired Simon Davis as a director of wealth management in its financial services [...]
Academies are transforming education: Here’s how March 24, 2014 AS SOON as you walk into a great school, you can feel the buzz. Children are confident, staff are passionate, and high academic achievement and exciting extra-curricular activities sit side by side. As an academy sponsor, and chair of the Department for Education’s Academies Board, I’ve visited many schools like this. Schools like Great Yarmouth [...]