Metro Bank arrives on the UK high street July 29, 2010 THE WORLD and his dog queued up outside Metro Bank’s first branch in Holborn yesterday morning for the opening of the UK’s first high street bank for over a century. Metro, which freely admits it will not offer the best rates for savers, is counting on a dedicated customer service and convenience-based approach to lure [...]
Derwent London snaps up Central Cross for £146m July 28, 2010 LANDLORD and developer Derwent London said yesterday that it is stepping into the market for the first time in three years with the £146m purchase of a building in one of London’s busiest shopping streets. The deal indicates that banks slowly are beginning to sell real-estate assets that are weighing on their books. Derwent is [...]
LSE’s Indian adventure gives hope for future July 28, 2010 Stock exchanges continue to be a hot topic for debate both in the City and the wider global markets. Global equity issuance may be at its lowest point since 2005, with just $309bn (£198.2bn) raised in the first half of 2010 as sovereign debt fears weighed heavy, but interest in market developments and competition remains [...]
New retail boss hired for Habitat July 27, 2010 HABITAT has hired Gary Waldron – a former executive at Fat Face – as its retail director. The furniture and homeware chain is in the middle of a huge shake-up. The restructuring specialist Hilco bought Habitat in December from its former owner, ICAF, in a deal that involved writing off debts. Under the agreement there [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 26, 2010 Deloitte The accountancy giant has appointed Nick Sanderson to head up its real estate corporate finance advisory business. Sanderson joins Deloitte as a partner from Japanese bank Nomura, where he was a managing director and head of real estate investment banking. He has also previously worked at Lehman Brothers and UBS and has 10 years [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 25, 2010 Chartered Insurance Institute Chris Hanks, currently a management board member at Allianz UK, has been elected as the 114th president of the CII, taking over from Fortis UK chief executive Barry Smith. Hanks, pictured, joined Allianz in 1999 and is currently general manager responsible for the commercial business at Allianz UK. In addition, Julian James, [...]
The father of the UK’s transport business sees recovery on the way July 25, 2010 Stagecoach’s chief executive Brian Souter has seen it all in the 30 years since he founded the bus and rail operator – but even he admits the industry is undergoing a difficult period. The transport sector, which is only just emerging from a painful recession, is about to face more pain. Chancellor George Osborne’s emergency [...]
Metro Bank targets 10pc of London market July 23, 2010 METRO Bank, which will be Britain’s first new High Street lender to launch in more than 100 years, has a long-term goal to grab up to 10 per cent of the capital’s retail and commercial banking market. “It is a reasonable aspiration to say that, after 10 years, we will have between five and 10 [...]
Bank and industry stocks up as FTSE 100 breaks 5,300 July 22, 2010 The FTSE 100 index jumped 1.9 per cent yesterday, boosted by strong banks ahead of today’s European stress test results, and by firmer miners and oils as US stocks rallied on earnings and data. Britain’s top share index closed up 99.17 points at 5,313.81, ending above 5,300 for the first time since 18 May, the [...]
Development Securities eyes £100m rights issue July 22, 2010 BRITISH property firm Development Securities yesterday said it planned to raise about £100m through a share placing and rights issue to fund future projects. The company, which specialises in office and retail development projects, said it would place about 4.1m shares at 250p a piece, a discount of 8.8 per cent to their closing price [...]