FORD DRIVES HARDER BARGAIN June 24, 2009 FORD will be putting up the price of cars across its UK range by four per cent, it said yesterday, blaming the sustained weakness of the pound against the Euro. The price increases will begin on 1 July. “The total revenue impact of the currencies has been huge — well into nine figures — on [...]
Tanfield gets green car funding June 24, 2009 Electric carmaker Tanfield said yesterday it will develop and trial 16 new green vehicles after being deemed eligible for half the funding total allocated by the government to the Ultra Low Carbon Vehicle Demonstrator Programme. Tanfield will receive half of the projected total project cost of £3.2m. It will develop five people carriers and one [...]
US in green boost for Ford and Nissan June 23, 2009 FORD, Nissan and start-up company Tesla will reap the benefits of a $25bn (£15bn) loan programme from the Obama administration, designed to help them overhaul their US factories and make more eco-friendly cars, it emerged yesterday. The news came as Nissan unveiled plans to mass-produce electric vehicles at its Tennessee plant. Chief executive Carlos Ghosn [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 22, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES BRAMDEAN FUND POSTS HEAVY FALLBramdean Alternatives, the listed fund of alternative funds, has posted its worst monthly fall in net asset value in sterling terms since its inception two years ago. The fund, which is managed by Nicola Horlick’s Bramdean Asset Management, suffered a 7.7 per cent fall in net asset value to [...]
Williams not ready to end Lions career June 22, 2009 BRITISH and Irish Lions winger Shane Williams has admitted that tonight’s game against the Emerging Springboks could be his last in a Lions shirt. Williams has failed to live up to his IRB player of the year accolade in South Africa and insists he needs a big performance if he is to force his way [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 21, 2009 FormjetThe alternative software firm has appointed Andrew Monk, the former chief executive of stockbroker Blue Oar, as its new chief executive. Monk previously founded and jointly ran Oriel Securities, which, like Blue Oar, he named after his rowing exploits at Oxford University. Blue Oar has since been rebranded as Astaire under new chief executive Edward [...]
GLORY DAYS FOR ROYAL ASCOT CITY RACING SET June 16, 2009 IT WAS smiles all round for the property world’s keenest racegoers yesterday, as a group of City real estate heavyweights toasted a win (and a hefty £167,472 prize pot) for their horse Paco Boy in the Queen Anne Stakes at Ascot. I hear Parkwood Property Investments partner Derek Lucie-Smith, one of the owners, was in [...]
60,000 drivers take up scrappage offer June 15, 2009 MORE than 60,000 orders for new cars have been made under the government’s scrappage scheme, in a rare piece of positive news for the struggling sector. The drive to encourage spending on motors, which began in May, offers consumers £2,000 on cars over 10 years old. Half of the incentive money is supplied by the [...]
O’Callaghan handed his June 15, 2009 COACH Ian McGeechan insists his British Lions squad have reached the “business end” of their South African tour as they prepare for the first Test against the world champions on Saturday. McGeechan has long maintained his final selection for the Durban clash will not be decided until after tonight’s tour match with the Southern Kings [...]
Anna Mann enlists top businesswomen to help crack boardroom glass ceiling June 14, 2009 ANNA Mann, one of the City’s most respected head-hunters, will today launch a new initiative called Women on Board, aimed at tackling the problem of gender imbalance on the boards of Britain’s biggest companies. Mann, co-founder of Whitehead Mann and senior partner at MWM Consulting, argues that women bring “valuable diversity of thinking and a [...]