Direct Line cuts 70 jobs in top management October 29, 2012 DIRECT Line yesterday announced plans to cut 70 senior management positions as it looks to make substantial cost savings. The insurer said that as a result of the changes Jonathan Davidson, chief operating officer, and managing director Sheree Howard, have “decided to leave the organisation”. The news follows last month’s announcement that it would sack [...]
Dev Secs cuts half-year losses October 23, 2012 DEVELOPMENT Securities yesterday said it has reduced its half year loss to £0.7m from £1.3m the same time last year and said it was optimistic about its strategy of realising gains from its property portfolio. The developer said it had generated returns of £11.9m in the six months to 31 August from disposal of assets [...]
Morrisons FD joins The Hut Group October 15, 2012 Richard Pennycook, Morrisons’ outgoing finance director, is the latest high profile executive to join the board of Hut Group, fuelling further speculation that the fast-growing retailer is gearing up for an IPO. The firm, which counts retail veterans Sir Stuart Rose and Sir Terry Leahy among its backers, said Pennycook will join the board immediately. [...]
City Moves | Who’s switching jobs October 15, 2012 Alvarez & Marsal Taxand The tax advisory firm has appointed Stephen Labrum as a managing director and global head of transfer pricing. He joins after 13 years at Ernst & Young, where was a transfer pricing partner. Allianz Global Investors The asset management firm has appointed Andy Wiggins to the newly-created role of head of [...]
City Moves | Who’s switching jobs October 14, 2012 Royal Bank of Scotland John Shelley has joined RBS as chief risk officer, Asia Pacific, for all RBS businesses in the region. Shelley began his banking career with NatWest and RBS in the UK, and he has previously worked for Coutts Private Banking in Asia and has since held a number of senior roles with [...]
FTSE breaks its losing streak as US jobless data provides some cheer October 11, 2012 BRITAIN’S top shares snapped a three session losing streak yesterday, led higher by gains in commodity and financial stocks as a fall in US jobless claims fuelled recovery hopes. The weekly claims figure was the lowest for four years and complemented last week’s fall in US unemployment, providing another piece of evidence that the economy [...]
Paralympic win for Sainsbury’s as its sales rise October 9, 2012 J SAINSBURY’S sponsorship of the Paralympic Games and Brand Match campaign has helped the British supermarket steal market share from its three biggest rivals. New figures from industry experts Kantar Worldpanel showed that Sainsbury’s sales rose 5.6 per cent in the 12 weeks to 30 September, boosting its share of the UK grocery market to [...]
FTSE 100 lower on weak corporate news October 8, 2012 The blue chip index was firmly lower in early trade, as worries over the health of the global economy pulled stocks down. Weaker resources prices and concerns ahead of a meeting of EU finance ministers to launch the latest bailout fund weighed on sentiment. Materials firm Cookson Group and recruiter Michael Page led the index [...]
Wincanton to run Morrisons’ M Local centre October 7, 2012 WINCANTON, the logistics company, has won a multi-million pound contract to run Morrisons’ new distribution centre in West London as the grocer prepares to roll-out 20 convenience stores across the capital by year-end. Wincanton said the five-year contract will see it managing both the 100,000 square feet warehouse, opening in Feltham next year, and the [...]
Tesco posts 10.5 per cent profit drop October 3, 2012 Tesco posted a 10.5 per cent drop in first-half trading profit this morning. Over the six months to 25 August, profit came in at to £1.6bn. A £1bn capital investment programme, to stem a decline in market share to chains such as Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons, was largely responsible for the firm’s first fall in [...]