Coryton site sold to Shell June 26, 2012 CORYTON refinery, which was formerly run by now insolvent Petroplus, will be turned into a fuel import terminal after administrator PwC agreed to sell the site to the joint venture of Vopak, Shell and Greenergy. PwC said the new owners will now start “significant reconfiguration of the existing site” in Essex. Energy minister Chris Hendry [...]
Smaller firms are feeling the pinch more June 24, 2012 NEARLY 2,000 British businesses collapsed in May, according to figures from Experian. The rate of insolvencies was stable compared to a year ago at around 0.09 per cent of the overall business population, but the stats showed that firms with between six and 10 staff saw the biggest rise in failures. Experian’s Max Firth said: [...]
Case against Farepak directors and parent company collapses June 20, 2012 A GOVERNMENT companies watchdog yesterday abandoned its bid to penalise directors of a Christmas saving scheme which collapsed in 2006 leaving tens out of thousands of savers out of pocket. The Insolvency Service, part of business secretary Vince Cable’s department for business, innovation and skills, said it was discontinuing High Court action against both former [...]
WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 20, 2012 Sciens Tim Wilkinson has been appointed president of Sciens Fund of Funds Management Holdings, part of the Sciens Capital Management Group. Prior to joining the firm he was managing director at Russell Investments, and spent 15 years with Citigroup, latterly as global head of transition management. Wilkinson started his career at SG Warburg Securities. Banque [...]
Reform, not a bailout, will save Italy June 20, 2012 WITH Greece on life support from the European Union and Spain squirming in the financial vice grip of its insolvent banks, talk of an Italian bailout is nigh. Without a growing economy to generate wealth, Italy is having a hard time convincing current and prospective bondholders that it can pay its debts. But throwing money [...]
Jump in demand and pay for accountants June 17, 2012 DEMAND for finance and accountancy workers increased last month, a recruitment industry study shows today, starting to reverse the downward trend of the past year. The sector also received a boost as the majority of accountants received pay rises in the last year, a separate study showed, with many also receiving a bonus. Vacancies in [...]
Building firms going under June 17, 2012 BUILDING firms are more than twice as likely to go into liquidation as those in other sectors, according to Graydon UK’s insolvency predictor for this quarter. “Construction firms are being hit hard as many long term capital expenditure projects, particularly those funded by the government, are coming to an end,” said Graydon UK’s Gordon Skaljak.
Technicolor rejects new offer from JP Morgan June 11, 2012 French set-top box maker Technicolor rejected a revised offer from a JPMorgan Chase investment fund to buy a 30 per cent stake for 179m euros (£143m) and opted instead for an original, lower offer which it said was better structured. Technicolor, which is trying to pay down debt and enact a turnaround plan, said it [...]
It’s time governments stopped bailing out bankrupt banks June 11, 2012 IF you are tempted to celebrate Spain’s bailout, or if you agree with its football-mad PM that it was a “triumph”, a great European “victory”, I would urge you to reconsider. Sure, chucking at least €100bn at insolvent, incompetently managed second-tier Spanish banks will pour oil on stormy Eurozone waters. It will reduce the immediate [...]
It’s time governments stopped bailing out bankrupt banks June 10, 2012 IF you are tempted to celebrate Spain’s bailout, or if you agree with its football-mad PM that it was a “triumph”, a great European “victory”, I would urge you to reconsider. Sure, chucking at least €100bn at insolvent, incompetently managed second-tier Spanish banks will pour oil on stormy Eurozone waters. It will reduce the immediate [...]