City Moves for 28 October 2014 | Who’s switching jobs October 27, 2014 Piper The private equity firm has announced the appointment of Richard Moore as investment manager. He joins from Magenta Partners. Moore is a chartered accountant, and spent four years working in financial due diligence, M&A, valuations, business modelling and distressed situations at EY. RBS Martin Knott has been appointed head of trade, global transaction services [...]
Curb “patent privateers” to protect intellectual property October 24, 2014 Effective intellectual property protections are imperative to maintaining a robust economy and promoting innovation—and patents are an important facet of this regime. Unfortunately, bad actors are exploiting loopholes for personal gain and threatening the health of the current system—one that is generally working well. Lurking in murky legal waters, “Patent Privateers” are abusing protections and [...]
Foxtons hit by cooling London housing market October 23, 2014 ESTATE agency Foxtons yesterday warned on future earnings, as the firm fell prey to London’s property market slowdown. Third quarter property sales commissions were £16.4m, down from £17.8m in the same period last year, according to the firm’s interim management statement. The sales figures mark a fall of 7.8 per cent year-on-year in the third [...]
New mortgage hurdles begin to make impact on property market October 23, 2014 THE NUMBER of mortgage approvals fell for the third month in a row as housing market activity continued to slow. Data released yesterday by the British Bankers Association, a trade body for UK banks, revealed that the number of mortgage approvals in September was 39,271 – a 14-month low. The figure marks a 10 per cent [...]
Volution Group results strong for first post-IPO report October 23, 2014 Fan manufacturer Volution Group has reported an 18 per cent increase in revenue during 2014, from £102m to £121m. Of this total, the company’s ventilation segment posted revenue of £101m, up 23 per cent on last year. The firm also reported a pre-tax loss of £15.5m, compared with a £4.2m loss in 2013. These [...]
City Moves for 24 October 2014 | Who’s switching jobs October 23, 2014 Johnson & Johnson The health and beauty products maker has appointed Yana Ignatova as head of marketing for northern Europe. Prior to joining the firm, Ignatova spent 17 years at Proctor & Gamble, where she held a senior marketing position. Aviva Investors Charlie Diebel has been appointed head of rates strategy by the asset management [...]
Mortgage approvals fall again in September as cooling measures take effect October 23, 2014 The number of mortgages approved by banks fell 10 per cent in September compared with a year ago, figures published by the British Bankers' Association showed. The fall came after "cooling measures" introduced by the Bank of England, which make prospective borrowers undergo "stress tests" to figure out whether they can afford a loan, came [...]
Foxtons share price plummets as it issues profit warning on cooling London house prices October 23, 2014 What a difference a year makes. Just over a year after its massively oversubscribed IPO, shares in Foxtons have plummeted more than 16 per cent after it issued a profit warning saying "constrained" growth in London's housing market is likely to hit volumes in its second half. The upmarket estate agent, known for its trendy, [...]
London’s prime housing market hits the brakes October 22, 2014 PRIME London house prices will stay flat until the end of year, estate agent Marsh & Parsons (M&P) said today. Prices grew by just 0.5 per cent over the past three months. The buyers-to-property ratio has halved since the start of the year and now sits at 12 for each property for September. Meanwhile, the [...]
City Moves for 10 October 2014 | Who’s switching jobs October 22, 2014 Innesco John Heawood has been appointed non-executive chairman of the marketing communications agency. Heawood is former group executive director for UK property at Segro, partner at DTZ Debenham Tie Leung and managing director of the Ashtenne Industrial Fund. KPMG The professional services firm has appointed Neill Thomas as head of corporate finance and Andrew Nicholson [...]