How the Queen of support services wants to turn UK companies green January 6, 2010 GOING GREEN may not be the most original of strategies but that doesn’t make it any less lucrative. So Mitie Ruby McGregor-Smith’s decision to bet the future of her support services giant on cashing in on the trend for all things environmental has gone down well with investors. The FTSE 250 company is still busy [...]
VT is spurned by Mouchel in takeover bid December 14, 2009 MOUCHEL, the highways and government services company, yesterday confirmed it had rejected two takeover approaches from its larger rival VT Group, but said the larger group was still interested in making a deal. Mouchel said the offers, which were understood to have been at around 250p per share, were “wholly inadequate”, undervalued the company, and [...]
Cash rich VT eyes buyout of Mouchel December 13, 2009 VT GROUP, the shipbuilder-turned-support services company, has made two takeover approaches for a rival, it emerged over the weekend, as it shifts focus away from its defence roots. Outsourcing and engineering group Mouchel, whose share price moved massively on Friday after an interim management statement, is thought to have snubbed the secret offers. The move [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS November 25, 2009 ElectraThe private equity group has appointed Roger Perkin as a non-executive director. Perkin is a former senior partner at Ernst & Young, where he spent 40 years of his career. He was previously lead auditor to UBS from 1998 to 2005 and has worked for clients including 3i, Resolution and Henderson. He also recently advised [...]
Four business leaders tell the CBI of their vision for the future November 23, 2009 SERCOCHRIS HYMAN“To have transformative change in any government we need to see some bravery. We need brave and radical thinking. I see a vast need for services to improve everywhere from education to infrastructure. For too long the delivery of public services has focused on the delivery rather than the user.” PFIZERJEFFREY KINDLER“The political environment [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS November 2, 2009 Close Brothers Corporate FinanceThe independent corporate finance advisory firm has appointed Will Thompson to head up its support services sector team. Thompson joined the firm in March this year to lead the European healthcare services team, having previously been at Morgan Stanley. He has also worked at Lazard and Barings. He has advised on numerous [...]
Business leaders urge political party heads to balance the budget by 2015 November 1, 2009 LEADERS of the three main political parties will face calls for urgent action to balance the national books at the annual conference of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) later this month. The business lobby group will urge Conservative leader David Cameron, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg and an as-yet unidentified “senior member of the [...]
Tomorrow’s DLRStrike called off September 28, 2009 The planned 48-hour DLR strike by the RMT union due to begin tomorrow has been called off. The union had threatened a walk out over proposed changes in rosters at the control centre in Poplar. Talks were held over the weekend and the union Serco said an agreement had been reached. Managing director of Serco [...]
Eurasian leads the miners higher while Lloyds shines August 19, 2009 THE FTSE 100 share index inched higher yesterday, helped by oil producers, which gained on firmer crude prices as US demand recovered, but banks fell after HSBC traded ex-dividend. The index closed up by 3.89 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 4,689.67, after trading as low as 4,625.44 earlier in the day. Volumes on the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 12, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES BHP CALLS FOR MARKETS TO SET IRON ORE PRICESBHP Billiton, the world’s biggest miner, has made a plea for the “emotion and anxiety” to be taken out of the iron ore business with a shift to market-based pricing like oil or coal. The plea by Marius Kloppers, chief executive of BHP, came a [...]