Novus toasts Xmas party lift as revellers splash out January 17, 2011 CHRISTMAS revellers helped the owner of the Tiger Tiger bar chain to a boom in sales. Novus Leisure, the privately owned bar and restaurant operator – it also has Babble, Jewel and the Zoo Bar in Leicester Square – enjoyed an almost eight per cent surge in revenues in December and late November. Chief executive [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 17, 2011 RSM Tenon The financial services firm has appointed two new directors and an associate director in London. Nick Atkinson has been promoted to a risk management director, specialising in internal audits of the NHS. Nick Davies (pictured) has been promoted to business advisory director in the audit, tax and advisory team, specialising in corporate clients. [...]
Cameron says bank bonuses not a “done deal” January 17, 2011 Prime Minister David Cameron said that he was still talking to banks about their bonuses and that big payouts at state-backed lenders were not a “done deal.” Asked about reports of a £2.5m payout for Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Stephen Hester, Cameron said: “It isn’t a done deal … You will have to [...]
FTSE dampened by commodities and banks January 14, 2011 LONDON eased to a close just over the 6,000 mark after stronger Wall Street sentiment failed to shake off concerns over China’s monetary policy tightening. The FTSE 100 ended down 21.81 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 6002.07, having closed 0.4 per cent lower yesterday, pulled lower by commodity stocks and banks. China’s central bank [...]
Santander pulls out of Merlin deal January 13, 2011 SANTANDER UK last night pulled out of collective banking industry talks with the government designed to secure specific lending targets, instead entering into direct negotiations with the Treasury. The industry initiative, known as “Project Merlin”, centres around a truce whereby banks will commit to lend more to small and medium-sized businesses in return for no further [...]
BarCap to cut 200 UK staff as revenues fall January 12, 2011 BARCLAYS Capital will lay off two to three per cent of its workforce this week, with a third of the cuts to fall on its London offices. In all, 600 front and back office staff will be given notice at the investment bank, with around 200 of those in the UK. The downsizing will include several [...]
Fed: Economy is recovering January 12, 2011 AMERICA’S end of year economic uptick was confirmed by the Federal Reserve beige book last night. The report, based on anecdotal accounts from businesses across the Fed’s regional branches, painted a “positive, although still generally cautious” picture. “Economic activity continued to expand moderately from November through December,” the report said. “Conditions were generally said to [...]
City responds to calls to make a commitment to personal finance January 12, 2011 SINCE the launch of City A.M.’s Campaign for Financial Literacy yesterday, the number of positive responses received from City firms that are already engaged in education initiatives has been incredibly encouraging. Financial planners Killik, for example, has been developing a web-based tutorial known as Money in Mind. The site uses simple graphics and language to [...]
Do as we say, not as we do, says the Mirror January 12, 2011 EDITORS at the Daily Mirror could barely contain their excitement at the coming of bonus season yesterday, splashing their front page on the beleaguered chief executive of RBS, Stephen Hester under the headline “Do the right thing: give up your obscene £3m bonus”. “The Mirror calls on Mr Hester and all the other fatcat bankers [...]
London hits 31-month closing high as Portuguese fears fade January 12, 2011 BRITAIN’S top share index hit a 31-month closing high yesterday, boosted by banks after a successful bond sale in Portugal eased investor concerns over Europe’s sovereign debt crisis, and as miners tracked metals prices higher. The FTSE 100 ended up 36.69 points, or 0.6 per cent, at 6,050.72, its highest close since early June 2008, [...]