Retail sales slump in August September 20, 2012 UK retail sales fell in August as consumers stayed at home to watch the Olympics rather than spending on the high street, official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed today. Overall sales fell 0.2 per cent over the month, although year-on-year, the ONS recorded an annual rise of 2.7 per cent. Non-store [...]
Who’s switching jobs September 19, 2012 Canaccord Genuity The broker has appointed Peter O’Malley as chief executive of Canaccord Genuity Asia. He joins from Kenosis Capital Partners, where he was chief executive and founder. O’Malley has previously worked at Deutsche Bank as a managing director, and has also held senior roles at HSBC. Mizuho International The London-based securities and investment banking [...]
JJB carve up set to give the lion’s share to Sports Direct September 16, 2012 THE SALE of doomed sports retailer JJB is set to be completed early this week, with the biggest slice of the firm’s 180 UK stores to go to Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct. Sources close to the deal said last night that the sale to Sports Direct, being handled by KPMG, was nearing completion although talks [...]
Firms claim they are held back by lack of infrastructure action September 16, 2012 BRITAIN’S transport network, energy system and water infrastructure are all likely to stagnate rather than improve, a new business survey shows today, despite the government’s claims that it wants to boost the sector. Investment in the UK may be hit as a result – the study from the CBI and KPMG shows 61 per cent [...]
Who’s switching jobs September 13, 2012 Arbuthnot Latham Linda Amili Clack has been appointed to the position of international banking director and head of Middle East private banking. She was most recently head of Mubarakia Limited Family Office. Amili Clack has over 30 years’ experience in banking, and has also held senior roles at Coutts and the Bank of Bahrain & [...]
What the other papers say this morning September 10, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Risky groups face outsourcing ban The performance of troubled Olympics contractor G4S will be reviewed “very carefully”, the Cabinet Office has warned, in a shake-up of outsourcing contracts across government that has already seen two IT companies struck off its list for future tenders. The department’s decision to look at G4S’s record comes [...]
Travelodge can sleep tight as it wins CVA deal September 4, 2012 BUDGET hotel chain Travelodge has been saved from the brink of administration after landlords yesterday agreed to a controversial rescue deal that sees their rent takings slashed. The company voluntary arrangement (CVA) – voted through by 97 per cent of creditors and 96 per cent of landlords – allows Traveldoge to offload 49 of its [...]
City women slam EU plans to slap gender quotas on boards September 4, 2012 BRITISH businesswomen and City figures yesterday lined up to oppose European Commission vice-president Viviane Reding’s plan to impose EU gender quotas on UK businesses. Helena Morrissey, who founded the 30 Per Cent Club, which aims to put more women in boardrooms and was a nominee for City A.M.’s personality of the year award, rubbished the [...]
PwC overtakes KPMG as Britain’s biggest auditor September 3, 2012 BIG FOUR auditor PwC has leapfrogged its rival KPMG to become the top British auditor by client numbers, according to figures out yesterday. PwC only added three net new listed clients in the third quarter, but with a total of 370 it was enough to overtake KPMG, which lost a net 12 clients to put [...]
Business bank could raise risk of hit to state coffers September 3, 2012 CITY analysts, consultants and MPs yesterday rejected George Osborne’s plan for a business bank, claiming it would fail to help the economy and could end up doing more harm than good. Conservative Douglas Carswell argued this is not the time for the government to take financial risks by underwriting firms’ debts. “It is not as [...]