City Moves for 12 February – who’s switching jobs at CMR Surgical, The Ozone Project and Deloitte? February 11, 2019 Who’s on the move today? CMR Surgical CMR Surgical, the British company developing a next-generation surgical robot, has announced the appointment of Ingeborg Øie as chief financial officer and member of the Board of Directors, effective from 25 February 2019. Ingeborg joins CMR Surgical from Smith & Nephew, the FTSE 100 global medical technology business, [...]
Busting the millennial myth February 11, 2019 Last month I was invited to present at a conference in Berlin; I spent a couple of days preparing and got up at 4am to fly over. The speaker before me confidently told the audience that millennials lacked their elders’ work ethic so would drag down productivity and GDP growth. As I took to the [...]
Telford Homes to develop £160m Stratford project February 11, 2019 London developer Telford Homes has ramped up its investment in East London this morning after announcing plans for a £160m housing site in Stratford. The housebuilder, which specialises in non-prime London property, has snapped up the 1.2 acre development for £20m as it looks to tap into recent regeneration following the arrival of Westfield shopping [...]
Government housing targets under fire from UK watchdog February 8, 2019 The government’s method used to assess the number of homes needed to fix Britain’s housing crisis is "flawed", according to the UK's public spending watchdog. In a damning new report published today, the National Audit Office (NAO) has said that the government’s planning system “is underperforming and cannot demonstrate that it is meeting housing demand [...]
How to capitalise on China’s luxury boom February 8, 2019 As many companies experience a slowdown in China, luxury brands are surely smiling as they look at their sales performance. Last week, LVMH – the world’s largest luxury group, which includes brands like Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Moet & Chandon – surprised everyone by announcing an increase in sales during its fourth quarter earnings, and [...]
Shareholder feud mounts as Samuel Tak Lee plans to vote against re-election of Shaftesbury bosses February 7, 2019 The war of words between one of London’s largest landlords and a Hong Kong billionaire has escalated this morning in the run-up to an investor showdown set to take place tomorrow. Samuel Tak Lee, who owns a 26 per cent holding worth £700m in West End property group Shaftesbury, has revealed today that he will [...]
Bellway set for revenue bump despite Brexit jitters February 7, 2019 Bellway said this morning that it was expecting a rise is sales over the year ahead, despite echoing the cautious sentiment over Brexit from many of its peers within the property industry. Buoyed by demand for affordable homes and government schemes such as Help-to-Buy, Bellway said in a trading update this morning that it expected total [...]
Segro appoints Mondelez chocolate boss Mary Barnard to the board February 6, 2019 Property group Segro today said it has appointed a veteran of confectionery company Mondelez to its board. Mary Barnard, who is currently president of European chocolate for Mondelez, will take up the position of non-executive director from the beginning of March. Read more: Segro rent soars amid rising e-commerce demand for warehouse space The British [...]
Munich Re boosts profit despite impact from typhoons and fires February 6, 2019 Reinsurance titan Munich Re today said it had beaten profit targets for 2018, delivering profit of €2.3bn (£2.02bn) during the year. Gross written premium stayed flat at €49.064bn Munich’s reinsurance business contributed €1.74bn to the consolidated result in 2018 and the operating result leapt from €73m to €2.464bn. Gross written premiums fell slightly to €31.286bn. [...]
Redrow hails record profit as founder bows out on a high February 6, 2019 Housebuilder Redrow hailed record half-year profits before tax this morning, striking a resilient tone despite fears of greater uncertainty over Britain's imminent departure from the EU and a “subdued” Christmas. The figures In Steve Morgan’s final trading statement as chairman, the FTSE 250 developer said that pre-tax profits rose five per cent to £185m in [...]