The angry wannabe queen August 25, 2010 THE RED QUEEN BY PHILIPPA GREGORY Simon & Schuster, £18.99 MEGA-novelist and Tudor historian Gregory returns to her new series, The Cousins’ War, with an instantly, electrically gripping story about Margaret Beaufort. Who? Indeed. Beaufort, the grandmother of Henry VIII, was merely a shadowy character on the edge of The White Queen, Gregory’s previous book [...]
Petrofac gains from Middle Eastern work August 23, 2010 OIL services group Petrofac said it forecast a 20 per cent rise in pre-tax profit for 2010 yesterday, thanks to a strong backlog of work and new operations in the Middle East built up over the last half year. The FTSE 100-listed firm posted revenues of $2.13bn (£1.37bn) for the last six months, which is [...]
The car insurance boss who wants to motor into new foreign markets August 22, 2010 It is a case of ‘Recession? What recession?’ for motor insurance firm Admiral, which is in the middle of taking on 750 staff in the UK alone this year. And that means an awful lot of meetings for the Cardiff-based firm’s 53-year-old chief executive Henry Engelhardt. The Chicago-born boss meets every one of his new [...]
NatWest 3 put the spotlight on extradition August 16, 2010 LAWYERS have warned that the spirited defence mounted by two of the “NatWest Three” against their prosecution in the US should act as an eye-opener for the government ahead of a planned review of extradition policy. David Bermingham and Gary Mulgrew, two of the former NatWest bankers convicted two years ago of cooking up an [...]
Britain should support banks, not vilify them August 15, 2010 AS fears over a double-dip recession have intensified in the past week, with economic data in the UK, US and elsewhere suggesting the global recovery is slowing, many commentators have again turned their attention to the banks. Even as the banks return to profit, the argument goes, they are constraining growth by reducing lending to [...]
The energy chief who has £22bn to spend over the next five years August 15, 2010 NATIONAL Grid’s surprise £3.2bn rights issue, which successfully closed in June, still touches a raw nerve with chief executive Steve Holliday. Large investors said he had spent the previous 18 months telling them the firm did not need to come to them for cash. And then in May, alongside its results, it announced the largest [...]
Wall Street drops on jobless numbers August 12, 2010 US stocks ended down for a third straight day yesterday as an unexpected rise in jobless claims and a sobering revenue outlook from Cisco underscored the hurdles to economic recovery. The drop comes a day after all three major indexes posted their worst percentage declines in more than a month, erasing gains for the year [...]
UKTV appoints new boss as Virgin seeks a buyer for the JV August 12, 2010 UKTV yesterday announced a major shake-up of its board just days after it emerged Virgin will sell its stake in the joint venture. Darren Childs will take the helm at the profitable broadcaster, stepping down from his post as managing director of BBC Worldwide Channels. He will replace David Abraham, who stepped down in April [...]
LETTING August 12, 2010 CEO of online lettings agent www.upad.co.uk Q.My first ever tenant is nearing the end of their first six-month fixed tenancy. Should I get them to sign a new agreement? A.It’s entirely your choice whether you sign a new Assured Shorthold Tenancy?(AST) agreement or not. If you don’t, the tenancy becomes a “statutory periodic tenancy”. This [...]
International Power to get higher rating August 10, 2010 INTERNATIONAL POWER (IP) will get a healthier credit rating through its long-awaited merger with GDF Suez, shaving £40m from its annual financing costs, the firm said yesterday. IP is confident of improving its credit rating to “investment grade”, at least BBB–, meaning it will be able to borrow at cheaper rates. The lowered funding charges [...]