Lloyds seeks buyers for its €1bn Irish Halifax deposits February 17, 2010 LLOYDS Banking Group has put its Halifax retail banking assets in the Republic of Ireland up for sale as it gives up its attempt to break into the tough local market. Earlier this week the bank said it would close 44 branches and lay off 750 staff by July. Its Irish intermediary business, which sells [...]
Q&A CHOOSING A NAME February 4, 2010 Q. I’ve got a great idea for a business, but I’m struggling to find a name. How do I go about it? A.The first step is to look at the nature of the service you are providing and use that as a way to come up with conceptual themes, says David Haigh, CEO of Brand [...]
Toyota plans quick fix as crisis grows February 1, 2010 TOYOTA detailed plans yesterday to fix 2.4m vehicles equipped with faulty accelerators in the US as the first lawsuits landed on its desk. Lawyers claimed the world’s largest carmaker had endangered drivers by ignoring signs of trouble. Toyota, scrambling to contain the fallout from the sweeping recall on its finances and reputation, said it would [...]
Car sales plunge despite scrappage scheme January 21, 2010 CAR production plunged last year despite a late surge fuelled by the Government’s scrappage scheme. Many companies cut back on manufacturing early in the year as recession-hit Brits cut back. Honda was one of the companies badly hit – reducing production at its plant in Swindon, Wiltshire, for four months from February. The introduction of [...]
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 [...]
Bidders consider making joint offer for GM’s Saab January 17, 2010 LUXEMBOURG investment firm Genii Capital and Dutch sports-car maker Spyker were considering a joint bid for Saab, after weeks of bidding separately for the loss-making car manufacturer. Parent company General Motors began to liquidate the Swedish company last week, saying previous bids were not strong enough to finance Saab in the long term. This is [...]
GM says death of Saab is a foregone conclusion January 7, 2010 General Motors joint chief executive Ed Whitacre said yesterday he is not hopeful a deal can be reached to sell Saab and said the American carmaker will start to wind-down the Swedish brand. GM is dropping its Pontiac, Saturn and Saab brands and selling Hummer as it restructures to return to profitability after emerging from [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 4, 2010 Coutts & Co The private bank has appointed Maggie Bradley as a client partner for its Oxford office, focusing on the local entrepreneur, professional and executive markets. Bradley joins from Coutts’ head office in London, where she has worked for the past five years, latterly as a business partner for international clients. Prior to that, [...]
GM goes for outsider as finance chief December 21, 2009 GENERAL Motors yesterday hired Chris Liddell, the chief financial officer of Microsoft , as its new finance chief, filling a key position with the carmaker’s highest-profile hire since its July bankruptcy. The hire brings another well known car industry outsider to GM’s shifting senior executive team at a time when it has been struggling to [...]
Wood eyeing Esure deal December 6, 2009 Insurance pioneer Peter Wood is understood to be preparing to buy out his Esure motor insurance business from Lloyds Banking Group. Esure, known for its “Calm down dear” TV ads starring celebrity Michael Winner, is thought to be worth £200m to £250m. Wood has lined up financing from buyout firm Penta Capital and hedge fund [...]