Royal Mail float review to back Cable price view March 31, 2014 BUSINESS secretary Vince Cable was right to dismiss calls by some investment banks to value Royal Mail at billions of pounds more than the firm’s eventual float price, the spending watchdog is expected to say this week. The National Audit Office (NAO) will tomorrow publish the findings of its investigation into the government’s privatisation of [...]
RBS close to hiring Credit Suisse banker as its new finance chief March 31, 2014 STATE-BACKED RBS is thought to be in advanced talks to poach Credit Suisse banker Ewen Stevenson as its new finance chief. The bailed-out bank is expected to make an announcement within days, according to sources cited by Sky News. The appointment, which is subject to approval by the Prudential Regulation Authority, will end a search [...]
Competitive edge March 30, 2014 Annabel Palmer talks tech with Vizeum’s managing director Richard Morris VIZEUM is one of eight companies in the Dentsu Aegis network. While iProspect does digital performance media and Posterscope Out of Home media, Vizeum provides integrated media planning services. When Richard Morris, then at sister company Carat, was offered the role of managing director, he [...]
Celebrating the art of living March 28, 2014 Here are some of the public artworks commissioned by property developers to inspire Londoners at home THE TOWER AT SAFFRON SQUARE, CROYDONThis 43-storey skyscraper in Croydon is set to grace London’s skyline in 2016. Residents can expect “five-star hotel living” set against arty interior design. The architecture of the building is inspired by the iconic [...]
Property prices set to rise by a third at tech hub March 28, 2014 Melissa York introduces the high-concept tower capitalising on Tech City’s success THE thriving tech industry clustered around Silicon Roundabout hasn’t just attracted investment from the Treasury in recent years. It’s now starting to attract the gaze of premium property developers who plan to modernise the landscape around Old Street to persuade people to live where [...]
How one man battled the bureaucrats to save a billion lives March 27, 2014 THE 1960s was a decade of explosive change, but the most important revolution wasn’t sexual: it was green. While Western intellectuals looked the other way, lost to well-meaning doom-mongering, one visionary saved a billion lives. Private foundations supported his work; rich governments’ aid programmes often thought it was wrongheaded. But Norman Borlaug (it’s pronounced Bor-log), [...]
Key BT TV chief leaves in media division revamp March 26, 2014 BT’S TELEVISION chief, Marc Watson, an instrumental player in BT’s multi-million pound assault on the Pay-TV market, will leave the firm as part of a revamp of the telecoms giant’s media divisions. Watson took over BT TV in 2007 and played a central role in the negotiations to secure key sporting rights – including the [...]
Inside Track: Cenkos is driving an AA float, but the handbrake is still on March 26, 2014 YOU KNOW things are getting toppy when Cenkos is hawking accelerated IPOs around the City,” a fund manager told me over lunch last week. While he said it half in jest, he had a point. The investment bank whose rainmakers pioneered the technique during their time at Collins Stewart are back in their old routine. [...]
Santander braced for £12.5m fine for bad investment advice March 25, 2014 SANTANDER is expected to be hit by a £12.5m fine today as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) clamps down on bad investment advice. The bank has disputed some of the watchdog’s findings, according to Sky News. Meanwhile the global Santander group pledged to increase small business lending by at least 10 per cent in each [...]
Centrica buys Irish firm as UK review looms March 25, 2014 CENTRICA yesterday said that together with two investment firms, it has agreed to buy Bord Gais Energy (BGE), in a long-speculated deal that will pump €1.1bn (£920m) into the Irish government’s coffers and mark the energy giant’s first foray into the neighbouring market. The FTSE 100 firm will buy BGE’s gas and electricity supply business [...]