HEDGE FUND FASHION GURU HAS A SALES BOOM February 11, 2010 WE ALWAYS knew women were good at multi-tasking, but Britt Lintner really does take the concept to a new extreme. Regular readers may remember Lintner, who heads up her own flourishing womenswear label while managing to hold down a tough job in hedge fund sales at GLG Partners. And now I hear that not only [...]
Brushing up on your email etiquette can make you more successful and efficient February 9, 2010 LAST week, I received an unsolicited email that began, “Alright mate”. I did not read on. Email etiquette can be tricky, and it is easy to inadvertently cause offence. Lawyers, I am told, often receive emails from their superiors ending with “pls dl”, shorthand for “please deal with this”. Something which is more likely to [...]
Defender of business says a hung parliament would be disastrous February 7, 2010 HE MIGHT have parted company with the CBI four years ago, but Lord Digby Jones is still one of the staunchest defenders of the private sector. When he gives me his business card at the opening of a Vodafone store in the City, it is emblazoned with a motto that sums up his philosophy: “Only [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 21, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES MUSIC INDUSTRY CLAIMS 95 PER CENT OF DOWNLOADS ILLEGAL AS CD SALES FALL A quarter of all recorded music industry revenues come from digital channels but online file-sharing continues to undermine the global music industry, with sales of physical and digital music falling last year, according to trade body the International Federation of [...]
The City’s most fearsome litigator still has plenty of fire in his belly January 19, 2010 Change is on the way at Herbert Smith as David Gold, who over the last 36 years has built a reputation as one of the most fearsome commercial litigators in the country, will stand down after five years as the City law firm’s senior partner in April. In a distinguished career, Gold has represented Abbey [...]
Know the perils of poaching January 14, 2010 ANYBODY working in a client-facing business and thinking of starting their own firm has to be aware of the legal tangle surrounding “poaching” your former clients. What is allowed all hinges on the contract you signed with your former employer. If you have a contract with “restrictive covenants” then you need to tread carefully. A [...]
Even in 2010, some gay lawyers say coming out can damage your career January 12, 2010 AN article counselling young gay lawyers on the tricky matters of etiquette for coming out at work includes the following advice: “Do take your significant other to the firm’s Christmas party… probably best to avoid getting heroically drunk and snogging to slow numbers”. Perhaps it’s no surprise that it has proved a controversial New Year [...]
Why the UK’s factories are back to 1973 January 4, 2010 EVERYBODY knows that financial services have been the hardest hit sector during the recession, right? Wrong. Manufacturing has been by far a greater drag on UK plc than services, including finance; factories have suffered more than offices, including trading floors. Virtually all our beliefs about the slump turn out, on closer scrutiny, to be incorrect. [...]
BoA finally names insider for its top job December 17, 2009 BANK of America (BoA) has promoted Brian Moynihan as its new chief executive to be given the task of nursing the stricken lender back to health. The appointment of Moynihan – who heads the bank’s retail division – follows the retirement of Kenneth Lewis. His promotion comes after the bank posted two quarterly losses in [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING December 14, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES COUNCILS THREATEN ICELAND BANK ACTION Council leaders have threatened to launch legal proceedings against a failed Icelandic bank which they fear will not repay £150m in deposits made by local authorities before the credit crunch. British councils had £900m of deposits in Iceland when a trio of its banks collapsed. So far barely [...]