CRH share prices rises as Irish aggregates firm nets Holcim Lafarge assets February 2, 2015 Irish building materials group CRH’s deal to buy the assets being offloaded by cement firms Holcim and Lafarge ahead of their planned merger was “too good to turn down”, the company’s chief executive Albert Manifold said yesterday. CRH announced on Sunday that it had entered into a binding commitment with Holcim and Lafarge to acquire [...]
With P2P lending passing £1bn in 2014, is it a real alternative to traditional financial services? February 1, 2015 Christine Farnish is chair of the Peer-to-Peer Finance Association, says Yes. Alternative finance is growing and the current regulatory and consumer environment in the UK means it is set to grow even further. Last week, the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Finance Association put out figures showing that, in 2014, our members had lent more than £1.2bn in [...]
McDonald’s Big Cheese: UK makeover chief Steve Easterbrook now has the whole world on his plate January 29, 2015 Steve Easterbrook, who used to play cricket at Durham University alongside ex-England captain Nasser Hussain, has long been viewed as one of McDonald’s star players – obtaining a captaincy of his own yesterday at the world’s biggest fast food chain. McDonald’s new Watford-born chief executive will take on the challenging task of reviving the group’s [...]
Mobile market activity booms as Sky eyes deal with O2 or Vodafone January 26, 2015 Mobile consolidation is set to be a hot topic again this week as European pay-TV operator Sky has been linked in talks with O2 and Vodafone to launch its own mobile offering on one of their networks. The talks come as BT races to finalise more details around its £12.5bn takeover of EE, which it [...]
Tax competition is good for Europe: Don’t let Jean-Claude Juncker muddy the waters January 21, 2015 At the end of last week, the European Commission disclosed a preliminary finding that Amazon’s tax arrangements in Luxembourg could have constituted “state aid”. While Amazon has said that it had received no special treatment, this is not good news for the Duchy’s former Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, now president of the Commission. Yet the [...]
Pure Gym hires ex-Wiggle boss Humphrey Cobbold January 20, 2015 Budget fitness chain Pure Gym is making sure it stays in shape after hiring the former boss of Wiggle, the online cycling retailer, to become its new chief executive. Humphrey Cobbold, who stepped down as chief executive of Wiggle in 2013, has taken over the reins from Pure Gym’s founder Peter Roberts, who is now [...]
Five delusions holding business back January 19, 2015 From strategic planning to managing their staff, companies are following false dogmas. We're now several weeks into January, and many people’s well-meant New Year’s resolutions will have already fallen by the wayside. But how refreshing would it be if our businesses committed to ridding themselves of some common – but disastrous – delusions in [...]
Davey urges review of North Sea oil sector after BP cuts 300 jobs January 15, 2015 ENERGY secretary Ed Davey yesterday demanded an urgent review into the state of the North Sea oil industry, after a collapse in prices that has prompted BP and other companies to cut hundreds of jobs. Speaking after meeting oil company representatives in Aberdeen, Davey said he had asked Andy Samuel, the chief executive designate of [...]
City Moves for 16 January 2015 | Who’s switching jobs January 15, 2015 Baker Tilly The accountancy firm has appointed Ian Williams as a director in its restructuring and recovery service line. A solicitor with over 25 years’ experience, he previously worked at SGH Martineau, specialising in international corporate recovery cases. ING Investment Management The investment management firm has appointed Bart Oldenkamp to its integrated client solutions team. [...]
JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon: Banks are under assault January 14, 2015 The flood of megafines and regulations being inflicted on banks amounts to an “assault” by a multitude of authorities, JP Morgan’s boss Jamie Dimon claimed yesterday. Such a sustained attack threatens the competitiveness of the US as a whole, the chairman and chief executive said in an unusually outspoken defence of the industry. “Banks are [...]