UK car factories rev back into life February 14, 2012 JAGUAR Land Rover underlined the rebound in the British car industry yesterday when it posted a record quarterly profit. Just three years after it turned to the European Investment Bank for a £340m crisis loan, JLR reported a 57 per cent rise in net profit to £440m for the final three months of 2011. Demand [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 14, 2012 The Salamanca Group Jeremy Wrathall has been appointed as managing director of Salamanca Resources, the recently formed division of Salamanca that will focus on the metals and mining sector. He joins from Renaissance Capital, where he was head of investment banking for the London operation and had responsibility for metals and mining, focusing on Africa. [...]
New payout for clients of failed broker MF Global February 13, 2012 THE administrators of the British arm of MF Global said payments to clients of the defunct brokerage will reach $31m (£19.6m) in the coming days. KPMG said $19m will be released this week after it agreed on Friday to hand back $12m. The interim payouts will affect about 1,900 clients in total. Staff from KPMG [...]
Peacocks braced for job cuts February 12, 2012 PEACOCKS administrator KPMG was locked in rescue talks with the remaining bidders this weekend to decide the fate of the collapsed discount fashion retailer. The firm is expected to make a final decision on the sale of the 600-store chain as early as this Wednesday. But even if a sale is agreed, hundreds of underperforming [...]
Three bidders left in Peacocks sale February 9, 2012 Edinburgh Woollen Mills has pulled out of talks to buy Peacocks, a source said last night, leaving three potential bidders in the race to buy the collapsed retailer out of administration. KPMG, the administrators to Peacocks, is expected to make a final decision early next week.
Four bidders in the battle to save Peacocks February 8, 2012 ADMINISTRATOR KPMG has received four second-round bids to buy the collapsed retailer Peacocks – or parts of it – out of administration, it is understood. Edinburgh Woollen Mills is thought to be one of the bidders still in the running, while Pakistani textiles tycoon Alshair Fiyaz also emerged as a surprise bidder this weekend. KPMG, [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 8, 2012 Hogan Lovells Hogan Lovells has appointed Nicholas Cheffings as chairman, effective from 1 May 2012 for a three-year term. Cheffings will take over from current co-chairs Claudette Christian, who will continue with her practice, and John Young, who will retire on 30 April. Cheffings joined Lovells in 1999, becoming a member of the Lovells Partnership [...]
Glimmer of hope in UK job market as builders hire February 7, 2012 PERMANENT jobs increased in January for the first time in four months, according to recruitment consultancy data from KPMG, published yesterday. However, unemployment continued to climb despite the rise in permanent placements, the report showed. The study’s permanent staff placement index rose from 48.5 in December to 51.2 in January, recording growth in placements for [...]
Strong car registrations boost outlook for the UK February 6, 2012 RESILIENT car sales have provided a boost to the UK’s outlook, economists said yesterday. New car registrations edged up by 0.03 per cent last month, compared to January 2011, figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) showed. “This is surprising because almost 200,000 cars were pre-registered by the industry in December 2011 [...]
Textile tycoon makes move on Peacocks February 5, 2012 A PAKISTANI textile billionaire is understood to be putting together a surprise bid to rescue Peacocks with the collapsed retailer’s management team. The fashion chain went into administration last month in the biggest retail collapse since Woolworths, after plans to restructure the company broke down and banks pulled the plug on funding. Alshair Fiyaz, who [...]