Take the plunge, don’t be afraid January 14, 2010 SITTING in a leather armchair in the atrium just below his office in Chancery Lane, Grant Challis is musing on the last two years. In that time he has gone from working for a listed investment bank to starting up his own firm, Frostrow Capital: “The scary part is taking the plunge, the reality is [...]
Factory data weak but UK set to grow January 13, 2010 BRITAIN’S manufacturing output failed to grow in November, raising yet further concerns about the strength of the recession-hit producers and the sustainability of the UK’s still fragile recovery. More positively, the wider industrial production measure managed to post a gain of 0.4 per cent, official data showed. But this was entirely a reflection of increased [...]
Even in 2010, some gay lawyers say coming out can damage your career January 12, 2010 AN article counselling young gay lawyers on the tricky matters of etiquette for coming out at work includes the following advice: “Do take your significant other to the firm’s Christmas party… probably best to avoid getting heroically drunk and snogging to slow numbers”. Perhaps it’s no surprise that it has proved a controversial New Year [...]
Cooking up an idyllic holiday January 10, 2010 THERE’S no getting away from the fact that it takes a long time to get to the Cook Islands. Located between Samoa, Fiji and Tahiti, they are as remote as it gets. The flight from London is over 20 hours. However, they are a perfect stop-over to stretch your legs on the way to Australasia [...]
HUMAN LIE DETECTOR BOOSTED BY CITY COMPANIES ON THE WARPATH December 20, 2009 WE ALL know businesses are rather jumpier than usual given the difficult ride they’ve had over the course of the recession, but I hear some are taking truly unprecedented steps to counter risky office behaviour. Darren Stanton, who calls himself a “human lie detector”, tells me he has seen a surge in requests from corporates [...]
Taking a punt on industrial strife can be a winner December 20, 2009 THE High Court may have helped restore Christmas cheer for passengers of British Airways by ruling that the proposed 12-day strike by the airline’s cabin crew was invalid, but investors should arm themselves with trading strategies for a 2010 that could be rife with industrial action. But the dispute is far from over. After the [...]
BoA finally names insider for its top job December 17, 2009 BANK of America (BoA) has promoted Brian Moynihan as its new chief executive to be given the task of nursing the stricken lender back to health. The appointment of Moynihan – who heads the bank’s retail division – follows the retirement of Kenneth Lewis. His promotion comes after the bank posted two quarterly losses in [...]
Slow start for Christmas sales season December 17, 2009 The Christmas shopping season has got off to a slow start, with retailers reporting a fall in sales volumes in November, dampening hopes of a bumper festive period on the high street. Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that retail sales volumes unexpectedly fell by 0.3 per cent in November. Department stores [...]
NEWS | IN BRIEF December 17, 2009 FedEx puts out negative forecast FedEx forecast third-quarter profit below analysts’ expectations yesterday, casting doubt on the sustainability of its holiday volume surge, and sending the package delivery giant’s shares down 4.5 per cent. The company, an economic bellwether, said it shipped 14.1m packages on Monday, its busiest day of the year, which was a [...]
Retail sales fall dampens hopes of festive boost December 17, 2009 The Christmas shopping season has got off to a slow start, with retailers reporting a fall in sales volumes in November, dampening hopes of a bumper festive period on the high street. Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that retail sales volumes unexpectedly fell by 0.3 per cent in November. Department stores [...]