The law firm boss who’s not moving anywhere but up April 1, 2012 LAST weekend, Bryan Hughes found himself hanging 50ft above the ground, attached to nothing but a rope. In an effort to face his son’s fear of heights he’d taken him on the high wires at Center Parcs, but when they reached the highest point Hughes found himself feeling a growing sense of panic. “I made [...]
Queen’s reign over after 25 years at 3i March 29, 2012 SHARES in 3i jumped almost three per cent yesterday on hopes of a more aggressive strategy after Michael Queen announced he would stand down as chief executive. The stock closed 5.7p higher as analysts said “fresh blood” could be good for 3i, Britain’s oldest private equity firm and the owner of stakes in architecture firm [...]
Laura Ashley offers shoppers a place to stay with a new hotel March 29, 2012 ENGLISH fashion and interiors designer Laura Ashley said yesterday it has bought a hotel in Hertfordshire for £5.8m as the company shrugged off tough high street conditions to post a rise in full year sales. “Our plan is to turn it into a Laura Ashley boutique hotel that will showcase our products from fabrics to [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 29, 2012 Assura The UK’s leading primary healthcare property company has announced the appointment of Graham Roberts as its new chief executive, with immediate effect. Roberts has worked in the property sector for the last sixteen years, most recently as finance director of British Land, one of the UK’s largest real estate investment trusts. Roberts replaces Nigel [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 28, 2012 First Reserve The leading global investment firm dedicated to the energy industry has appointed Alex T. Krueger as president, the next milestone in its senior management succession plan. Krueger has been with First Reserve for thirteen years, most recently serving as managing director in London. He was previously co-head of the company’s buyout funds. Krueger’s [...]
Bernanke’s words boost US markets March 26, 2012 THE S&P 500 rebounded from its worst week so far this year to retake a four-year high yesterday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signalled supportive monetary policy will remain even though the job picture has begun to improve. The three major US stock indexes climbed 1 per cent or more and all 10 S&P [...]
What was in Osborne’s red box: our quick summary March 22, 2012 THE ECONOMY/PUBLIC FINANCES The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts that UK GDP will grow by around 0.8 per cent this year, the same rate as in 2011, up from its earlier forecast of 0.7 per cent. The beneficial effects of falling inflation are expected to be offset by uncertainty over the Eurozone and tighter [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 21, 2012 Ashurst The leading international law firm has announced that James Collins has been appointed as managing partner, with effect from 1 May 2012. Collins trained at Ashurst and became partner in 2005. He is currently a banking partner in Paris, with particular expertise in cross-border acquisition finance and restructuring transactions. He succeeds Simon Bromwich, who [...]
KEEPING THE FIGURES IN THE CHOTE FAMILY March 21, 2012 CHANCELLOR George Osborne makes much of the endorsement given to his Budget by an independent quango he set up to monitor Treasury number fudging, the Office of Budget Responsibility. “These days the direct costing the Treasury applies to every Budget measure is independently assessed and certified by the OBR,” he yesterday declared pointedly to shadow [...]
Compliance isn’t the easy path to fortune March 21, 2012 A RECENT Thomson Reuters survey of 500 compliance officers at financial services firms emphasised two things about the extraordinary growth in the importance of the profession in today’s job market. Firstly, it showed how lucrative compliance roles have become – 70 per cent expected the cost of senior compliance staff to be higher in 2012. [...]