Cable vetoes a Southern Cross bailout June 9, 2011 STRUGGLING care home operator Southern Cross will not receive a government bailout, but the department for business is making sure its banks maintain its flow of credit properly, Vince Cable said yesterday. The news came as Southern Cross told its creditors that it plans to hand back 132 care homes to their landlords, which would [...]
Companies hit the brakes on recruitment in May June 7, 2011 PERMANENT employment in the UK grew for the 22nd month in a row in May, yet the rate of jobs growth slowed to its weakest level since October last year, a report revealed today. Temporary jobs continued to rise, yet at a remarkably sluggish rate. The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to 52.4 for temporary [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 7, 2011 KPMG David O’Hara has been appointed as a principal investment consultant to lead KPMG’s newly established Scottish advisory team. O’Hara, who will be based in Glasgow, joins from Hymans Robertson, where he provided investment advice to a range of private and public UK pension schemes. DOLPHIN CAPITAL INVESTORS The emerging markets resorts investor has appointed [...]
JP Morgan is City’s number one adviser May 30, 2011 JP MORGAN Cazenove has maintained its place at the top of the City’s broker advisory tables despite losing five clients since last quarter, according to the latest figures from financial data firm Hemscott. The company now has 239 clients – still a fair way off its peak of 251 in early 2010 but streets ahead [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 30, 2011 BDO The accounting and professional services firm has appointed Tom Taylor as a risk director. Before joining BDO, Taylor worked at Lloyds Banking Group for four years, where he worked as chief risk officer and operations director in the bank’s European insurance operation. Prior to that, Taylor spent seven years as a director at Ernst [...]
THE TALE OF PIPPA MIDDLETON, ALEX LOUDON AND THE BEERMAKER May 23, 2011 COULD Pippa Middleton be persuaded to relocate to leafy Woking? The Capitalist only asks because a finance professional with the same name as her boyfriend and rumoured fiancé, Alex Loudon, is currently employed by the Woking UK head office of brewing giant SABMiller. Recent press reports have described the younger Middleton sister’s love interest as [...]
Banking set for Asian jobs boom May 22, 2011 CITY workers are looking towards the Far East for the fastest expanding job opportunities, a survey from a top headhunting firm out today reveals. Almost three quarters of banking or hedge fund staff named eastern Asian cities as the leading job-creators for financial services, according to recruiters Astbury Marsden. Singapore will create the most financial [...]
New FSA to be EU’s enforcer May 19, 2011 FSA chief Hector Sants yesterday unveiled plans for a new UK regulatory authority that critics say will gold-plate European regulation by “second-guessing” the management of financial institutions. The new Prudential Regulatory Authority, which will take over a portion of the FSA’s functions next year, is to adopt a “forward-looking” approach and will have powers to [...]
Care home firm reveals profit slump May 19, 2011 EMBATTLED care homes operator Southern Cross yesterday said it hopes to turn its fortunes around, despite revealing a £311m half-year loss. The UK’s largest care homes provider has been squeezed by a fall in the number of patients placed by local authorities and a real terms cut in fees, due to public sector austerity. Revenues [...]
Fraud against government costs £700m, says KPMG May 19, 2011 FRAUD against the UK government is costing the public purse almost £700m a year, leading consultant KPMG will announce today. Fraud had reached a peak of £679m in 2006-07, before dropping to £286m in 2008-09 following a VAT-related clampdown. Yet fraud surged to a fresh high of £693m in 2010-11. “Financial criminals are now becoming [...]