Swannell is the right man for M&S August 23, 2010 WHEN I had breakfast with Robert Swannell, the newly appointed chairman of Marks & Spencer recently, it was clear that the former investment banker was in anything but wind down mode. After three decades of working on mergers and acquisitions, sometimes over seven-day weeks involving late nights, Swannell could have been forgiven for putting his [...]
EMPLOYMENT August 12, 2010 Q. I have been running my own business for two years and am looking to take on my first employee, how do I go about writing a legal contract and how much does it cost? A.It is absolutely crucial to set up a contract, which sets out the arrangements between the employee and employer in [...]
Porn star takes centre stage in the ousting of HP boss Mark Hurd August 9, 2010 A glamorous former porn star set in motion the chain of events that last week ended with the downfall of one of America’s most powerful chief executives. HP boss Mark Hurd, 53, was forced to resign after it was found $20,000 (£12,500) of expense claims in his name were inaccurate. It then emerged the married [...]
When relocation becomes a nightmare August 4, 2010 ON the first day of my new job my new employer has told me that they want me to move to Birmingham. This was never mentioned in the interviews and I assumed I would be staying in London. I don’t want to move. I am single, and I feel that if I had a family [...]
Ex-BP traders in court fight August 2, 2010 SIX former BP traders sued by the oil major for breach of contract in Singapore have applied to the court to set aside a search order that had allowed BP’s lawyers to seize their personal computers and mobile phones, according to court documents yesterday. BP has accused the six of engineering the mass departures of [...]
Hayward sent off to Siberia July 26, 2010 BP’S BELEAGUERED chief executive Tony Hayward will stand down in October and is expected to be nominated for a non-executive board directorship with TNK-BP, the group’s Russian joint venture. The oil major is set to announce Hayward’s departure this morning and will reveal that Mississippi-born Bob Dudley, the man in charge of the oil spill [...]
H&S LAW July 22, 2010 Q. Does my company need to worry about health and safety law? A.The main requirement for small companies is to draw up a written risk assessment if you employ five or more people. There is no legally required form that a risk assessment must take, but it must involve assessing potential risks to one’s employees, [...]
Pressure from the bottom line will make firms female-friendly July 20, 2010 A COUPLE of weeks ago I was told a story about a law firm Christmas party. The senior partners took part in a game where pictures of their children were projected onto a screen, and they were asked to identify the cute faces. Presumably this was meant to show them to be rounded human beings, [...]
Our national neuroses require a subtle cure July 13, 2010 LAST week, David Cameron condemned what he calls a “national neurosis” driving health and safety regulation. He was quoted in the Daily Mail saying: “The rulebooks keep getting thicker. The restrictions keep getting sillier.” Presumably, he is paving the way for the summer release of Lord Young’s inquiry into “the rise of compensation culture (and) [...]
Stewarts Law signs merger with Masseys July 8, 2010 LITIGATION specialist Stewarts Law has acquired City banking disputes boutique firm Masseys. The merger, which is set to go live next month, will see Massey’s founding partners Jane Colston and Sean Upson alongside, Fiona Gillett and Fiona Stewart move their team to Stewarts to create a new 35 partner law firm. Massey’s, which was launched [...]