Beaten English readjust targets April 9, 2012 SARACENS boss Mark McCall has backed his team to bounce back from European disappointment and focus on their Aviva Premiership title defence, starting this weekend at London Irish. Defeat against Harlequins at Wembley 10 days ago followed by a 22-3 Heineken Cup exit to Clermont Auvergne on Easter Sunday leaves the domestic champions with just [...]
ONE FOR THE TROPHY CABINET April 2, 2012 Over the past few days, the Aviva Premiership Rugby trophy has been making its way into City offices, where busy executives have tried to see for how long they can raise the silverware. Martin Smith (pictured above) of recruiting group Hydrogen has taken an early lead in the challenge, which will reward the lucky winner [...]
Robshaw lifts Quins for Saracens clash March 30, 2012 HARLEQUINS stand-in skipper George Robson believes the return of captain Chris Robshaw is the perfect fillip ahead of tomorrow’s Aviva Premiership table-topping clash with Saracens at Wembley. Robshaw, 25, is back to bolster the Quins pack for the first time since captaining England to second place in the Six Nations, with revenge on the menu [...]
Leicester leave it late to ruin Irish Heineken hopes March 25, 2012 LONDON IRISH head coach Toby Booth refused to show remorse for not shutting up shop as the Exiles squandered an Aviva Premiership victory and a losing bonus point against Leicester yesterday. Tom Croft’s last-gasp breakaway try put the gloss on a 41-32 Tigers win at the Madejski Stadium, after Irish had led 32-31 with just [...]
Exiles eye final flourish as season nears climax March 22, 2012 London Irish star Topsy Ojo wants five from five, starting against Leicester Q.WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME YOU PLAYED LEICESTER IN THE AVIVA PREMIERSHIP? A. We drew 24-24, scoring a charge-down kick late in the game. I went off injured, so that wasn’t great. We started well, Leicester came back but we picked up a bit [...]
Aviva chief exec gets 9pc pay hike as shares suffer March 21, 2012 AVIVA chief executive Andrew Moss saw his total pay rise by nine per cent in the year to 1 April, despite the insurer’s shares having fallen by more than 20 per cent over the past 12 months. Moss’s (pictured) basic pay rose 3.8 per cent, increasing from £925,000 to £960,000. He then earnt a £1.16m [...]
FTSE posts slim gain after Budget March 21, 2012 London’s blue chip index posted a marginal gain on closing after a volatile session as strength in market heavyweight Vodafone countered weaker commodity stocks hit by below par US data which revived concerns over demand for metals. The UK blue chip index closed up 0.54 points, or 0.01 per cent, at 5,891.95, surrendering a 0.3 [...]
FTSE buoyed by retailers as investors eye Budget March 21, 2012 THE FTSE 100 headed up in early trading as retailers regained some momentum while investors were turning their attention to the Chancellor’s budget speech. George Osborne is expected to rejig taxes while seeking to keep his austerity plan on track. However figures showing that that public sector net borrowing hit a record for February cast [...]
SVG shake-up as rebels fail to win vote March 20, 2012 PRIVATE equity investor SVG Capital has faced down a shareholder revolt and will continue with plans to diversify beyond Permira, the buyout firm in which it has traditionally invested. SVG won 66 per cent backing for the change yesterday although nearly 34 per cent of the votes went against it. It also won virtually unanimous support to [...]
Direct Line Group set to name Biggs as chairman March 20, 2012 ROYAL Bank of Scotland (RBS) has offered the role of chairman at Direct Line Group, its insurance unit, to Mike Biggs, a former finance director at Aviva. It is understood that Biggs has not yet formally accepted the job but he will be tempted by the chance to lead a firm that is set to [...]