TAKING AFTERNOON TEA WITH THE GRAND DAMES OF THE BUSINESS WORLD September 21, 2009 THE City’s most illustrious ladies flocked to the House of Commons yesterday for afternoon tea at the launch of “Women for Boards”, the new initiative from super-recruiter Anna Mann to get more women onto the boards of Britain’s biggest firms. The idea was hatched in the middle of last year, when Mann, a founder of [...]
Ford on track in $15bn cost cut September 16, 2009 Ford is on track to have cut structural costs by up to $15bn (£9.1bn) since 2005, but has room to make further reductions, the carmaker’s chief financial officer said yesterday. Ford, which remains on track to reach at least break-even in 2011, has focused in its cost-cutting on producing higher volume global platforms to take [...]
CITY VIEWS: SHOULD THE BBC BE FORCED TO SHARE THE LICENCE FEE? September 10, 2009 GRAHAM NYMAN S&H CONSULTING“The BBC is a great institution and a great brand. That may be because they get funding, but the other companies are all commercial and can find their own funds. Idon’t think we should have to pay for the iPlayer though.” MARK LOVEDAY CAPITAL EPC“I don’t think they should have to share [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 10, 2009 WH IrelandThe stockbroker has appointed Lindsey Hamilton as head of wealth management. Hamilton brings with her a team from her previous employer Allied Irish Bank, where she led the national high net worth independent regulated sales force in the UK. “We have previously set out our intention to grow the private wealth management offering and [...]
Koenigsegg inks Saab deal with BAIC September 9, 2009 LUXURY sportscar maker Koenigsegg yesterday said that China’s Beijing Automotive Industry Holding (BAIC) would take a stake in the group to help finance its purchase of Saab Automobile from General Motors. Koenigsegg said in a statement that the memorandum of understanding signed with BAIC would see the Chinese firm take a minority stake in Koenigssegg [...]
Emerging car markets near in size to US September 8, 2009 PASSENGER car sales in China during August rose 90 per cent year-on-year, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said yesterday, as the emerging market comes ever-closer to topping the US as the world’s biggest car market. Car sales, including sport-utility and multi-purpose vehicles, hit 858,300, compared with 451,300 units sold a year earlier and [...]
Ford to make more cars in US August 13, 2009 Carmaker Ford said yesterday it planned to build more of its popular Focus and Escape vehicles this quarter, in order to meet increasing demand from the US government’s “cash for clunkers” programme. The company now expects to produce 495,000 vehicles in the third quarter, up two per cent from its prior forecast of 485,000. The [...]
Land Rover wins debt lifeline August 9, 2009 Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has secured a £75m finance lifeline by mortgaging its stock of Land Rover parts.Burdale Financial, Bank of Ireland’s finance division, has granted a three-year debt facility of up to £75m to the carmaker, which is owned by Tata Motors, of India.The loan is secured on the inventory of Land Rover’s parts [...]
Razorfish bought by Publicis for $530m August 9, 2009 FRENCH advertising group Publicis yesterday agreed to buy Razorfish advertising agency from technology giant Microsoft for $530m (£317m) in cash and stock. Publicis beat off around eight interested companies for Microsoft’s unit, including the UK’s WPP plc and Japanese firm Dentsu. The Paris-based group’s chief executive Maurice Levy said the price paid was the result [...]
THE TIPSTER RESULTS AND BUYOUTS TO FUEL MARKET August 9, 2009 Interim results are still dominating the headlines and the markets at the moment so spread betters should be well aware of which companies are reporting and what the market is expecting from them. Insurance company Friends Provident reports interims on Tuesday and investors will be hoping for an update on the Resolution situation. For investors [...]