Weekend Round-Up February 1, 2010
Glaxo Smith Kline set to slash 4,000 jobs The British pharmaceuticals giant is expected to axe workers in an attempt to refocus on emerging markets. The bulk of job cuts will be in Europe and the US. The move follows rival Astra Zeneca's layoffs last week.
Adam Crozier to get £15m - but only if he can save ITV The outgoing boss of Royal Mail has a super-payout written into his new salary, providing he can turn the fortunes of the flagging broadcaster around. His basic salary is £800,000 but he will receive his bonus in shares only if ITV's performance is improved in three years. Even then, the payout will be deferred for a further two years.
Half of new jobs are created by the state Nearly three-fifths of the jobs created in the first 10 years of the Labour government were directly or indirectly paid for by the public purse. More than 80 per cent of new jobs for women nationally were created by the state and no new jobs in the West Midlands were created in the private sector during that time, says research. Finance -- the UK's highest growth private sector market -- has had a negligible effect on job creation for the country.
City of London loses 10% of senior staff in two years Redundancies, insolvencies and early retirement have claimed 17,000 senior roles in the financial services sector. The job losses are equivalent to the population of Weybridge in Surrey, a commuter-belt town.
Independent on Sunday
Cambridge Boring Bank or Boring Bank of Cambridge? An entrepreneur banker has set up a lending bank in East Anglia by raising £50m. Founder Nigel Brown has recruited former Coutts head Peregrine Banbury as its first chief executive and bank manager. Former HSBC head of IT David Gill has also been taken on. The bank will lend money to businesses specialising in technology.
Former BAE agent charged with bribery An Austrian count and former employee of defence giant BAE has appeared before magistrates on a charge of trying to bribe officials in Central and Eastern Europe. The Serious Fraud Office has charged the individual with conspiracy to corrupt. A spokesman for BAE said the company could not comment on the case.
Sunday Telegraph
Pepsico's Health Drive Indra Nooyi, Pepsico's chief executive, is making a £19bn move into healthier food. Nooyi wants the company to treble revenue from ranges such as Quaker Oats and Tropicana, which is where she sees the market moving.
Cadbury Job Fears "Overstated" Kraft boss Irene Rosenfeld claims worries of UK job losses as a result of the company's Cadbury acquisition are "greatly overstated". She also dismissed criticism (from major shareholder Warren Buffett) that Kraft had overpaid for the UK business. At the World Economic Forum at Davos, she also said that Kraft was looking at doing more work with development agencies in emerging markets to promote sustainable agriculture and affordable nutrition.
HSBC's China Bid HSBC is shopping for Chinese acquisitions and are looking to acquire 51 per cent of one of the big three banks there -- ICBC, Bank of China or China Construction Bank. At the moment, the Chinese government limits foreign ownership of banks to 20 per cent.
The Observer
Shareholders Call for ITV Break Up ITV's New Boss Faces Rebellion He's barely in the chair but shareholders are already calling for ITV's new boss, Adam Crozier, to break up the business. Options they've put forward are a sale to a rival such as Fox, a separate listing for ITV Productions or a partial sale or float so ITV's broadcasting arm could retain control. Chairman and former MP Archie Norman is also trying to form a coalition of channels and content producers to lobby for deregulation of broadcast media.
London an "Insolvency Brothel"? A partner at law firm Cadwalader claims lax UK regulations surrounding insolvency are turning London into an "insolvency brothel". Foreign companies need only be resident in the UK a few weeks and have a UK address to take advantage of Britain's winding-up process.