Christmas comes early in the Singleton house: Sports Direct non-executive director gives wife £244,300 in shares December 22, 2014 A non-executive director at Sports Direct has given £244,300 worth of company shares to his wife “by way of gift”. In a company announcement made earlier today, the British retailing group revealed that David Singleton gave 35,000 of the shares to Elizabeth Singleton. The shares, each worth 698 pence, were held beneficially by him. [...]
Kingfisher sells off B&Q business in China for £140m December 22, 2014 Kingfisher has agreed to sell a controlling stake in its Chinese B&Q business to Wumei Holdings for £140m. The retail group had been looking for a “strategic partner” for its business in China in order to focus on the larger and more lucrative European market said newly installed Kingfisher chief Véronique Laury. B&Q first opened [...]
Bailey and the jets: Burberry boss attends Elton’s wedding December 22, 2014 CHRIS Bailey, the Burberry chief executive, was a guest at Elton John’s wedding yesterday to long-term partner David Furnish. Bailey, who went to the event in Windsor with his partner, the actor Simon Woods, joined a sparkling guest-list that included the Beckhams, David Walliams, Elizabeth Hurley and Evening Standard owner Evgeny Lebedev. Romeo Beckham recently [...]
Barclays’ Asian investment arm cuts clients list December 22, 2014 The Asian arm of Barclays’ investment bank has cut down its list of possible clients by close to a third following a review into its activities in the region, it emerged yesterday. The move comes after the British bank started a process in May to restructure its under-performing investment banking business, which will include the [...]
After a dismal year for the FTSE 100, could 2015 finally see it go past the 7,000 mark? December 21, 2014 Laith Khalaf is senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, says Yes. As we enter 2015, the prospects for UK stock markets and the FTSE 100 in particular are finely balanced. There are a number of destabilising events at play. First, the general election in May is likely to give the markets a case of the jitters, [...]
Nigel Farage claims Vince Cable is a “Marxist” after Royal Mail sale December 19, 2014 During his regular phone in with LBC radio Nigel Farage gave it business secretary Vince Cable with both barrels. The Ukip leader slammed the Lid Dem cabinet minister saying we've got a "Marxist in charge of the business department". Farage was answering a question referring to the privatisation of Royal Mail. He added that Cable [...]
Carillion poised to win £100m Kings Cross contract December 19, 2014 Construction group Carillion is the preferred bidder to win a lucrative contract to produce three “prestigious” buildings as part of the Kings Cross regeneration. The business, which earlier this year attempted a £3bn merger with competitor Balfour Beatty – looks set to pick up the £100m contract, which involves the design and construction of [...]
Serco in the clear: City of London Police find no evidence of any “corporate-wide conspiracy” December 19, 2014 Outsourcing firm Serco has finally received some good news after a disastrous year. After being asked last year to conduct an investigation into whether Serco staff had been misleadingly recording prisoners as ready for court when they were not, the Crown Prosecution Service has accepted the view of the City of London Police and put [...]
Lord Myners report rescues Vince Cable over Royal Mail IPO December 18, 2014 The government received unexpected praise over Royal Mail’s float. But the City is being told to make some changes. One quick glance at the share price told the City’s critics’ everything they wanted to hear. The Royal Mail privatisation was another classic case of over-paid charlatans ripping the taxpayer off to the tune of [...]
Rudd returns to the FTSE 100 as Meggitt’s chair December 18, 2014 City grandee Sir Nigel Rudd is to become non-executive chairman of military and aerospace engineer Meggitt, leading the charge on a bumper day of chairmanship announcements. This signals his return to the FTSE 100, having led the board of BAE Systems and Invensys previously, as well as having held deputy chairmanship at Barclays until 2009. [...]