News

Your daily news update straight from the City PM newsroom in London

Land Secs revives development

November 2, 2009

Britain’s biggest property developer Land Securities yesterday said it has earmarked £200m for two big developments in London next year – the biggest commitment to off-plan projects since the start of the downturn. It will begin work on an Oxford Street site and 1960s tower block Selborne House.
Mark Warner considers sale

November 2, 2009

Package-holiday operator Mark Warner yesterday asked accountants PwC to assess a number of approaches from interested parties over a sale of the business. The private company has asked its long-term adviser to review the business, which has suffered due to weak demand from holidaymakers.
Postal union in legal fight over temps

November 2, 2009

THE Communication Workers Union (CWU) will on?Friday ask the High Court to issue an injunction against Royal Mail to stop it from taking on 30,000 agency workers. The CWU believes that Royal Mail is breaking the law because it is illegal to take on staff to cover workers involved in a lawful industrial dispute, according [...]
Rival buys Black &Decker in an all-stock deal worth 2bn

November 2, 2009

POWER tool maker Black & Decker was last night bought by rival Stanley Works in a $3.46bn (£2.11bn) all-stock deal. The two tool makers said that a merger would mean the companies would benefit from higher margins and cost savings. Stanley shareholders will own about 50.5 per cent of the combined company, to be named [...]
Eurostar hit by strike action

November 2, 2009

Eurostar services to Brussels on 5 November were cancelled yesterday, as a strike on Belgian railways means the entire rail network in the country will close. There will be no rail services operating between Lille and Brussels Midi station. There will also be no high-speed onward rail connections from Brussels to destinations in France, the [...]
Consumers plan thrifty Xmas

November 2, 2009

Consumers are planning to spend less on gifts this Christmas than last year as they worry about rising unemployment and taxes, putting into question signs of a recovery in consumer spending, a survey showed yesterday. Broker Execution interviewed a representative sample of 2,000 Britons in October and found participants on average plan to spend £358 [...]
RBS to face unexpected divestments

November 2, 2009

A RADICAL restructuring of part-nationalised Royal Bank of Scotland due to be unveiled today will include unplanned disposals, the bank admitted for the first time yesterday, amid speculation it could be forced to sell off some of its most profitable assets. The European Commission is today expected to detail divestments it expects RBS and Lloyds [...]
MPs to hear from UKFI and Walker

November 2, 2009

CITY GRANDEE Sir David Walker and UK Financial Investments (UKFI) will be quizzed by the House of Commons Treasury committee today. As part of its continuing investigation into financial regulation, the committee will take evidence from Walker on the recommendations he put forward in his Walker Review of banks and financial institutions earlier this year. [...]
Deutsche and Santander bosses warn against carving up banks

November 2, 2009

CUTTING big international banks down to size would not solve problems raised by the financial crisis and would create a sector unable to offer services required to support corporate clients, a top banker said yesterday. “Size is not an end in itself and it is not necessarily evil either,” Deutsche Bank chief executive Josef Ackermann [...]