CITY MOVES Who’s switching jobs August 10, 2009 TravelodgeThe hotel chain has appointed Charlie Herbert as its new e-commerce director. Herbert has been working at the group on a consultancy basis since March. In his new role, he will sit on the executive team and report directly to UK managing director Guy Parsons. He has previously worked with a number of top consumer [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 6, 2009 LUUPTory MP Michael Howard has joined independent global mobile financial provider LUUP as chairman. The former home secretary is retiring from Parliament to develop an international business career. The position adds to his current business profile as chairman of Northern Racing, deputy chairman of Entrée Gold and a non-executive director of Helphire group. Tenon RecoveryTenon [...]
Not all banks were given state handouts August 4, 2009 ANOTHER day; another row about banking profits, bonuses and the future of the City. The nationalised Northern Rock’s numbers were poor as expected – but for some reason, the pundits are more concerned with banks that are doing reasonably well. And not any institution: they couldn’t care less about Standard Chartered, a well-managed group which [...]
Meet the deal-maker extraordinaire who hopes the crisis will end in 2010 July 26, 2009 It is hard to escape the feeling that Slaughter and May’s Nigel Boardman is ever so slightly bored. Given that he is London’s top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) lawyer, and that we are still in the midst of a bitter recession which has led to a dramatic reduction in deal-making, this is not exactly surprising. [...]
The bankruptcy timebomb is waiting to explode July 22, 2009 WHEN Peter Mandelson was trade and industry secretary, he came back from a trip to America on a mission to foster a greater spirit of entrepreneurialism in Britain by introducing a US-style insolvency regime. He wanted to create a “nation of entrepreneurs” and his belief was that everyone deserved a second chance if they failed. [...]
CITY MOVES Who’s switching jobs July 6, 2009 BDO Stoy HaywardThe accountancy firm has hired three new partners to its London business restructuring team. Danny Dartnaill joined BDO in 2003 and has recently been involved in high-profile restructurings in the retail and asset management sectors. Nick Goldstone, who joined the firm in 2002, specialises in the leisure and hospitality sector, while insolvency practitioner [...]
Deloitte ends Setanta’s run June 23, 2009 ACCOUNTANCY firm Deloitte was called in yesterday afternoon to act as administrator of Setanta Sport, ending weeks of speculation over the future of the Irish pay-TV broadcaster. “After a huge effort by the Setanta board, management team and its backers, it has not been possible to save the Great Britain (GB) business, which will be [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 18, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES GLENCORE WEIGHS UP FLOATATIONGlencore, one of the world’s largest private companies had held preliminary talks with bankers about an initial public offering as it reviews its partnership structure, to a person familiar with the company. While an IPO is not is not considered imminent, a move into the public spotlight would mark a [...]
Morgan Stanley in Keydata interest June 15, 2009 MORGAN Stanley, the US investment banking giant, has joined a growing list of parties expressing interest in buying collapsed structured product provider Keydata. The bank already offers its own structured products to UK investors through the Morgan Stanley IQ brand, but it is thought to be keen to snap up the £2.8bn of assets Keydata [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 10, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES RIKSBANK BORROWS €3BN FROM ECBThe European Central Bank (ECB) stepped in yesterday to help avert a Baltic financial crisis by lending €3bn (£2.6bn) to the central bank in Sweden, whose banks dominate the region’s financial sector. The ECB move signalled the Frankfurt institution’s willingness to shore up official European help for countries such [...]