SMEs’ Optimistic Outlook Offset by Gloom of Manufacturers

Bownmark Capital, a private equity investor specializing in mid-sized companies, has recently questioned chief executives or managing directors of 132 companies with fewer than 500 employees and annual sales of £10m-£100m. According to a survey, it is revealed that there is a brightening mood among most small business leaders.
Anticipating a recovery in the economy in [...]

Is UK in for Double Trouble?

The prospect of a double-dip recession is a reality. Banks have made a fortune buying each others’ shares to up their value and are selling them quietly at the current high to cash in on that increase.
Banking restrictions, late sellers and short sellers will cause shares to plummet, at which point the banks will acquire [...]

Bankers Still Rake in the Billions

Banking giant Morgan Stanley, employer of 6000 staff in the UK, put aside $14.4bn for staff benefits and compensation in 2009, an increase of 31%. The firm posted annual profits of $1.3bn in the 12 months to December 31, from a loss of $246m in 2008.
Chief executive James Gorman said employees had “delivered substantially improved [...]

Recession Hits Bumper Pay Rises for Top Bosses

Research revealed that the bosses at UK’s biggest listed companies saw growth in basic pay fall behind the national average for the first time in a decade last year.
Average executive director pay within FTSE 100 companies rose by 1% in 2009, falling short of the 2.5% national average. According to PwC’s annual report on executive [...]

Yahoo Rapped by Chinese Partner

Google’s revelation of its not willing to censor search results has turned the spotlight on western technology companies such as Yahoo and Microsoft that do business in the largest internet market by user numbers. No other companies have followed Google’s lead in threatening to pull out or refusing to comply with China censorship rules [...]