Insolvencies to peak in 2010 as state props are withdrawn January 18, 2010 THE rate of corporate failures will accelerate in the second half of 2010 as government stimulus measures are unwound, insolvency specialist Begbies Traynor warned yesterday. The firm said 140,000 British companies suffered significant financial problems in the fourth quarter despite measures such as quantitative easing and the 2.5 per cent VAT cut. Begbies Traynor executive [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 17, 2010 FINANCIAL SERVICES CITY’S ROLE AS FINANCIAL CENTRE SET FOR NEW BOOST, SAYS TOP HEDGE FUND London will thrive as a financial centre over the next decade by becoming the natural western hub for emerging market growth, according to one of the City’s best-known hedge funds. In stark contrast to bankers’ doom-laden predictions about the City’s [...]
If it’s control and independence you want, then boutique is best January 13, 2010 A GENERATION ago boutique financial firms were viewed with suspicion. Unless you were the owner, then if you were involved with a boutique firm you probably earned less, and had fewer career opportunities than your peers who worked for large, well-known institutions. But in the last decade boutiques have been revolutionised and the previous reasons [...]
Businesses are not out of the woods just yet January 13, 2010 DAVID HUDSON LONDON HEAD OF CORPORATE INSOLVENCY, BAKER TILLY WHILE businesses fail during recessions, many also fail coming out, having spent the cash reserves during the hard times that they so crucially need when they have to grow again to serve a more confident customer base, against revitalised competition. The underlying message of Baker Tilly’s [...]
Tories unveil plans to help small firms January 10, 2010 DAVID Cameron yesterday announced a raft of measures to help small businesses, as he attempted to portray the Tories as a party of entrepreneurship. He said a Tory government would end the “anti-aspiration” culture that had been fostered under Labour, by increasing the insolvency threshold and reducing the number of days it takes to get [...]
Winterhill set to raise £6m in Aim float January 10, 2010 INSOLVENCY services specialist Winterhill will today announce its intention to raise £6m through an initial public offering (IPO) on London’s Aim market, as it seeks to capitalise on the spate of corporate bankruptcies coming out of the recession. Directors Andrew and Neil Duckworth, who founded asset valuation and disposal firm Winterhill Asset in 1998, intend [...]
M&A activity prompts further flurry of delistings from London’s Aim market January 3, 2010 LONDON’s junior stock market saw the flood gates reopen in the final quarter of last year as the number of companies delisting rose almost 16 per cent, new research from law firm Trowers & Hamlins and accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young has shown. The unexpected jump in firms leaving the Aim market up to 73 [...]
Proposals out on living wills December 16, 2009 EMPLOYEES will be guaranteed the option of working out a notice period and clients promised swift access to their money in the event of a future high-profile investment bank failure, under the terms of proposed government legislation unveiled yesterday. City minister Lord Myners launched the consultation paper on so-called “living wills” – measures for an [...]
SOVEREIGN SCORES A COUP AS IT NETS BANK GRANDEE BOB WIGLEY December 16, 2009 MY MY , but hasn’t it been an eventful few months for Aim-listed home equity release firm Sovereign Reversions? Back in August, Countrywide chairman Harry Hill and a couple of fellow dissident shareholders caused a touch of controversy by trying to oust Sovereign’s board and put the company into run-off by sending out pre-ticked proxy [...]
Government’s RBS policy may cost the taxpayer December 16, 2009 ALISTAIR DARLING’S attack on bonuses last week has caused a furore in the Square Mile. However, the pre-Budget Report is perhaps in the long-term not the most important bonus-related event that has taken place in recent weeks. That was when the government acted to limit bonuses at RBS, of which it owns 84 per cent. [...]