CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS October 11, 2010 Throgmorton The professional services group has hired Roger Looker, the former chair of Harlequins rugby club, as a non-executive director, and Adam Hewitson as its new internal legal counsel. Looker, pictured, previously founded two corporate finance boutiques, Gilbert Elliot Corporate Finance and Stafford Corporate Consulting, and chaired Harlequins for a decade between 1987 and 1997. [...]
The City is a vital component in UK prosperity October 10, 2010 Now that we have reached the end of the 2010 Party Conference season, it is perhaps time to take a step back and reflect on some of the rhetoric directed at the City in a calm, rational manner. The hostile political environment facing financial services is – to a degree – understandable given the public [...]
Why Gatwick Airport’s new chief has Heathrow lined up in his sights October 10, 2010 SOME people need to have a lot on their plates if they are to thrive – and Stewart Wingate, Gatwick’s newish boss, is clearly one of these. The 39-year-old took up his post last December when the airport was bought by US investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) for £1.5bn from Ferrovial-owned airports operator BAA, which [...]
Saturated sat nav market hits sales October 7, 2010 EVERY driver seems to own a sat nav these days. Sitting in night-time traffic is like being at a festival with everyone holding their lighters in the air, each car emitting an unearthly glow from the dashboard. Their popularity accounts for the scorching growth rate of sat nav makers in recent years, but their ubiquity [...]
M&S success fails to stop a drop in the FTSE 100 index October 7, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index closed lower yesterday, as weaker metals prices hurt mining stocks, while Marks & Spencer rose as investors warmed to a trading update from the retailer. The FTSE 100 closed 19.26 points, or 0.3 per cent, lower at 5,662.13, after rising 0.8 per cent on Wednesday to a five-month closing high. Mining [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS October 7, 2010 Jefferies The investment bank has hired Simon Hampton from Bank of America Merrill Lynch as its new European head of real estate, gaming and lodging investment banking. Hampton spent over 13 years at BoA Merrill Lynch, including eight as head of the real estate, gaming and lodging investment banking group for the EMEA region. Prior [...]
FTSE rises on stimulus expectation October 6, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index closed higher, at a fresh five month peak yesterday led by miners and energy issues as commodities rose on optimism governments will act to stimulate economies around the world. At the close, the FTSE 100 was up 45.63 points, or 0.8 per cent at 5,681.39, its highest close since 26 April. [...]
Russian grocer O’key planning a £315m London share offer October 5, 2010 RUSSIA’S third biggest food retailer O’key plans to raise up to $500m (£315m) in a London share offer to fund expansion, making it the latest Russian firm to revive IPO plans. O’key, which operates a 52-store chain, will launch a global offering of global depositary receipts (GDRs), with each GDR representing one share, by the [...]
Buy City offices for steady income October 5, 2010 CONFIDENCE in UK property has plummeted over recent months. The recent commercial property confidence survey conducted by Lloyds showed that almost half of property professionals now think that property prices will stay flat over the next six months (up from 36 per cent in May). So is now the time to ditch commercial property and [...]
ENLARGED RETURNS TO GREET M&S SHOPPERS October 4, 2010 FINALLY – the working man’s answer to the wonderbra has arrived: M&S has just unveiled its brand new range of “enhancing underpants” for men. The pants come in two styles: “a bum-lift pant” and a “frontal enhancement pant”, one intended to project the image of a well-firmed posterior and the other giving City money men [...]