We’re never afraid to blaze a trail
City PM has broken some of the biggest business stories since we launched, moving markets, forcing companies to reveal their intentions before they would have liked and causing rows in the corridors of the Bank of England and the Treasury. Here we remember a few of our best.
THE TAX EXODUS BEGINS
Back in April 2008, we revealed that drugs giant Shire was quitting the UK for tax reasons, a story that the rest of the press followed up the next day. The maker of treatments for attention deficit hyperactivity disorders was forced to put out a statement to the stock exchange, confirming it was considering moving its headquarters from Basingstoke to Dublin. Commentators said that Shire’s decision, which followed similar moves from insurers Hiscox and Amlin, would prompt a tax exodus – and they were right. Later that month, United Business Media announced it was moving offshore, while advertising giant WPP went to Dublin. Henderson also upped sticks, as did Beazely, Charter and Regus.
MYNERS STRIKES
In an exclusive interview with City PM in July, City Minister Lord Myners lashed out at Tory plans to abolish the FSA and hand the power to regulate the financial services industry to the Bank of England. “The Tories have misjudged the competence and culture of the Bank of England. The Bank is a very academic institution. It is not actually about doing things,” he told us. The rest of the media seized on his comments, provoking a furious response from the Tories.
AUNTIE’S BIG MOVE
The BBC had been planning its move to Salford for years, but no one knew how much it would cost the taxpayer – until City PM revealed that the price tag was a staggering £876m. Worse still, documents leaked to this newspaper revealed that the BBC expected the costs to rise further still, prompting a furious response from commercial rivals who were struggling in the recession. The news provoked an extraordinary outburst from Channel 4 chairman Luke Johnson, who said: “This is typical of the politically correct, Stalinist behaviour of the BBC, which is embarking on a grand scheme for political reasons.”