Foreign firms rush to buy up UK businesses December 3, 2013 THE ECONOMIC recovery is making the UK an increasingly attractive investment destination for overseas firms, analysts said yesterday, as official data showed a sharp rise in foreign firms buying UK businesses. In the third quarter 46 UK firms were acquired by overseas buyers, a rise of 39 per cent on the previous three-month period. The figure is also [...]
City A.M.’s bumper Autumn Statement preview December 3, 2013 As chancellor George Osborne gets set to unveil this year's Autumn statement on Thursday, we've pulled together all the expected announcements, and what others are hoping for. Ladbrokes have 11/5 odds on the speech to run for 45 to 50 minutes (it's scheduled to start at 11.15am). You'll get 6/4 odds on the speech running [...]
UK exports to pick up as rich world recovers December 1, 2013 BRITAIN will increase its sales to traditional trading partners in the rich world over the next decade, reversing the trend of recent years, according to forecasts out today from EY’s Item Club. Sales to China and Brazil will start to slow down as the market matures, but will still see healthy growth. But despite the [...]
City Moves for 28 November 2013 | Who’s switching jobs November 27, 2013 Harrington Cooper The fund distribution firm has appointed Henry Foster as sales manager in its discretionary sales team. He joins from Neptune Investment Management. Foster has also held roles at Citigroup Asset Management and Western Asset Management. MassMutual Gary Smith has been appointed head of sovereign wealth funds and official institutions for MassMutual’s asset management [...]
Global business flocking to UK after reforms November 25, 2013 AS MANY as 60 multinational companies are predicted to shift their headquarters to the UK over the next 18 months, according to new research from accountancy firm EY. EY says it is now working with 60 companies that wish to relocate global and regional head offices to the UK by the middle of 2015. That number [...]
Businesses warned of changing attitudes to online data privacy November 24, 2013 CONSUMERS are becoming increasingly cautious about the data they share with companies following the increasing number of high profile data breaches, according to research from EY. Over the next five to 10 years changing attitudes around personal data could see companies restricted from collecting data that drives advertising business models used by Google and Facebook. [...]
EY to snap up rival KPMG’s Danish arm… November 20, 2013 THE DANISH arm of KPMG announced yesterday that it is to be merged into EY’s global operations, a major victory for the firm formerly known as Ernst & Young over its big four rival. Jesper Koefoed, head of KPMG’s branch in Denmark said that the organisation’s strong local market position would be beneficial in combination [...]
…as it expands eastwards into Canary Wharf to fit in new staff November 20, 2013 ACCOUNTANCY group EY is taking 200,000 square feet of office space in Canary Wharf, becoming the latest City firm to move staff to the Docklands. EY, formerly known as Ernst & Young, confirmed yesterday that it will keep its offices at More London near Tower Bridge, where it has been based for almost a decade. [...]
Bank keen to play down talk of a rate hike November 20, 2013 THE BANK of England’s interest rate-setting committee voted unanimously this month to keep the rate at its historic low, while emphasising that it may not tighten policy even when unemployment falls below the seven per cent threshold. Governor Mark Carney introduced forward guidance this summer, saying that the Bank does not intend to lift rates until [...]
Letters to the Editor – 19/11 – UK entrepreneurs, Best of Twitter November 18, 2013 UK entrepreneurs [Re: Entrepreneurs now have their own pressure group – at last, yesterday] Our recent G20 Entrepreneurship Barometer found that, while the UK is one of the top five countries to be an entrepreneur (with a competitive tax system and business-friendly regulation), we still have close to the lowest score for “co-ordinated support”. The 130 finalists of [...]