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 [...]
Search for BP chair nears end June 14, 2009 OIL giant BP’s tortuous two-year slog to find a new chairman is finally drawing to a close, and mining and energy heavyweight Paul Anderson is tipped to be the man to end it. While BP refused to comment on who might fill the post – one of the most prestigious in corporate Britain – Anderson [...]
Defender of the realm June 9, 2009 THE FACTS: Land RoverDefender 90 XSStation Wagon6-speed manual PRICE (MODELTESTED): £26,8150-62MPH: Figuresnot availableTOP SPEED: Figuresnot availableMPG COMBINED/CO2: 28.3/266g/km A FEW years ago I was in mid-Wales for a weekend of tyre-testing, speed and lessons in the laws of physics with Welsh rally driver Mark Higgins and his team at the Forest Experience School. Having been [...]
The devil’s in the detail: the trials and tribulations of a property sage June 3, 2009 THERE comes a time in your life when you can draw a line and say: ‘I’ve done a lot of things in my life’, barks Gerald Ronson, thumping a gnarled fist on the table for emphasis. He’s not wrong. Now the undisputed Sage of Property, Ronson, 70, has spent the past half a century constructing [...]
Small car, big noise June 2, 2009 WHEN I covered the Geneva Motor Show back in early March, I said I wasn’t a fan of the shape of the new Polo. Now in its fifth generation, it looks like a new Golf from the front but with the Lupo attached to the rear. I just don’t get it. I want to get [...]