PROFESSIONAL SERVICES NEED AN EYE ON RISK October 10, 2011 HEAD OF CORPORATE, ZURICH INSURANCE THE UK is a world leader in professional services and the sector has grown rapidly on the back of corporate and property deals as well as private and public sector businesses outsourcing work. According to the Professional and Business Services Group, professional service firms such as accountants, actuaries, engineers, surveyors, [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 3, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES M&S ASKS SUPPLIERS TO AID STORE REVAMPS Marks and Spencer has asked its top clothing suppliers for a multimillion-pound contribution to its store revamp plans and a step-up in advertising. At a gathering on Friday of M&S’s top 60 clothing and homewares suppliers, Marc Bolland, chief executive, asked them for a one-off contribution [...]
ROGUE TRADING TALENT PULL IN THE CROWDS AS CITY ENTERTAINMENT September 26, 2011 SOMETHING to look forward to for UBS alleged fraudster Kweku Adoboli, once he has emerged from the trauma of the courts: following in the footsteps of the original rogue trader Nick Leeson by entertaining drunken clients at corporate events. Leeson has been quietly raking it in on the after-dinner speaking circuit for years, says celebrity [...]
It is always the perfect time to start a business September 21, 2011 WHY would now be a good time to start your own business, when the economy is weak and all around is pessimism? Well the truth is that plenty of great companies were started in downturns. In the depths of the Great Depression in the 1930s, Walt Disney launched his eponymous animation company, now almost the [...]
New takeover rules set to test the City September 18, 2011 ALMOST two years after Kraft’s unsolicited bid for Cadbury, changes are being introduced today designed to strengthen the hand of companies that find themselves the subject of unwanted advances. But critics fear the changes will further damage the UK’s stalled M&A market, proving onerous for bidders and diverting investment away from the UK economy. Shortly [...]
New evidence set to reignite tabloid phone hacking row August 16, 2011 RUPERT Murdoch must have been “confused or misinformed” over the role of Harbottle & Lewis in the phone hacking investigation, the law firm claimed yesterday in an intervention that looks set to reignite the row. The firm dismissed Murdoch’s claims that a 2007 report it carried out suggested phone hacking was not widespread at News [...]
Netiquette: how to get it right at work August 10, 2011 AS NEW Zealand accountant Vicki Walker found out, emails can be treacherous when used improperly. Fired for using all caps in her messages, she is a perfect example of why old-fashioned etiquette has a place in the digital age. There are rules to apply to emails, just as you would to a handwritten letter. 1 [...]
Nowadays you need to monitor your online presentation just as closely March 30, 2011 THE online you is important – 70 per cent of human resources (HR) professionals have rejected potential candidates because of their online information, according to a Microsoft survey. Or put more positively, 86 per cent said that good online information could work in a candidate’s favour. This makes having a clean reputation on the internet [...]
Clarke plans no win no fee legal reform March 29, 2011 JUSTICE minister Ken Clarke yesterday announced plans to reform the UK’s no-win-no-fee system, lifting the ban on contingency fees that lawyers can claim for the work. Instead of taking a so-called success fee solely from the losing side, lawyers will now be able to claim an agreed percentage of any damages won – sharing the [...]
Why jet-setting employees are a legal headache March 29, 2011 SUPPOSE an employee – let’s call her Snow White – works in Paris but lives in London. How much “home” or “train” work does White need to do to be covered by English laws? In the recent case of British Airways v Mak, the Court of Appeal decided that English tribunals have jurisdiction to hear [...]