Call for flexibility on UK minimum wage April 16, 2012 THE MINIMUM wage should be varied by region to reflect the different costs of living in different areas, a think-tank claimed today. The Resolution Foundation praised the flexibility of the minimum wage, which has declined in real terms in reaction to the UK’s recent economic weakness. This year’s planned increase from £6.08 to £6.19 will [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS April 16, 2012 Fleming Family & Partners The private equity firm has appointed two new investment directors. Llewellyn John joins from Nova Capital Management, where he was associate partner. He previously worked at Deloitte from 1999 to 2006, and reached the position of assistant director within corporate finance. Dan Walker has been promoted to investment director, following four [...]
Polar Captal assets jump to £3bn April 16, 2012 Fund firm Polar Capital saw its total assets rise above $5bn (£3bn) after another quarter of client inflows, as a number of investment managers benefit from a rebound in financial markets and investor sentiment this year. The London-based firm, which has been winning clients to its mutual funds while seeing outflows from its hedge funds, [...]
Daisy to buy Wordlwide for £28m April 13, 2012 The FTSE 100 edged down in early trading as investors digested data showing a slowdown of growth in China’s economy. Official figures released overnight showed that China’s economy grew at its slowest rate in almost three years. Gross domestic product increased by a rate of 8.1 per cent in the first quarter, down from 8.9 [...]
FTSE down as China growth slows April 13, 2012 The FTSE 100 edged down in early trading as investors digested data showing a slowdown of growth in China’s economy. Official figures released overnight showed that China’s economy grew at its slowest rate in almost three years. Gross domestic product increased by a rate of 8.1 per cent in the first quarter, down from 8.9 [...]
John Lewis reports “stunning” Easter week April 13, 2012 Britain’s biggest department store chain John Lewis said it enjoyed a “stunning” week’s trade in the seven days to Easter Saturday as poor weather made shopping an attractive pursuit. The employee-owned retailer said on Friday its sales jumped 27.5 per cent year-on-year to £66.7m in the week to 7 April. “In comparison with the Good [...]
Bidders close in on Trainline as rail travel sees surge in demand April 12, 2012 A SERIES of private equity houses including Bridgepoint and Blackstone are considering a bid for ticket agency thetrainline.com. The bookings website, currently owned by British buyout firm Exponent, is up for sale with first-round bids expected to be in by later this month. It could go for up to £400m after environmental concerns and record [...]
Sainsbury’s to buy 18 Total petrol stations from Rontec April 11, 2012 J SAINSBURY said yesterday it will buy 18 Total petrol stations across the country from Rontec as the retailer looks to expand its fuel business and grow the number of convenience stores. The deal, which is subject to approval from the Office of Fair Trading, includes seven Total-branded stations in London, as well as sites [...]
No life of luxury for the City IPO market April 10, 2012 When it comes to the flotation of luxury goods companies these days, bankers are fast getting in the habit of avoiding London. Hence, when the London-based private equity group Doughty Hanson and other shareholders revealed they were set to sell shares in Tumi, the premium travel bag company, it came as little surprise that the [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS April 10, 2012 OpCapita Stephen Alexander has been appointed operating partner at the private investment firm, which over the past six months has acquired Comet, the electricals retailer, and Game UK, the video games retailer. Alexander has more than thirty years’ experience in European consumer businesses. He began his career with Imperial Foods, before moving to Allied Domecq, [...]