Business
Stormy October: Germany stumbles, shares fall and bankers take another bashing
October is always a turbulent month, and I’m feeling uneasy about this one. The FTSE100 index, which looked set to…
Wonga lent too easily at shocking rates, but it was often the borrowers who lied
‘Payday Lady is not trading at this time,’ says her website, sounding a little like La Dame aux camélias. Indeed (since…
Botín’s not-so-dark secret of banking success: simple rules, smart technology and team spirit
Four years ago, I wrote that I knew no dark rumours about Santander, the rising force in UK high street…
Applause for the Beeb’s new leading lady – but did the male runner-up deserve such a kicking?
Hats off to Rona Fairhead, the former Financial Times executive who will succeed Lord Patten as chairman of the BBC…
You don’t have to be a left-wing think tank to believe the bosses’ pay boom is unhealthy
The FTSE100 index stands precisely where it did in the first week of December 1999. Whichever way you look at…
A challenge for Centrica’s new boss: persuade the public we need to get fracking
Iain Conn, who will succeed Sam Laidlaw as chief executive of Centrica, would have been a dead cert for the…
Sanctions rarely work, but they might make oligarchs whisper in Putin’s ear
‘Sanctions,’ said Kofi Annan, ‘are a necessary middle ground between war and words.’ Neither the EU nor the US will…
I’m celebrating Glasgow’s Games as my forecast comes true at last
‘Perhaps I should shift my prediction to 23 July 2014,’ I wrote in April 2012. ‘That’s the opening of the…
Let’s stop slavery – again
Who would have expected to find slavery on the outskirts of Cardiff? Not the locals, who were shocked when police…
The end of estate agents
The internet can – and should – bring it about
Are investment bankers being kicked to death? And should we care – or cheer?
Do we really mean to kill investment banking, or are we trampling it by accident in a fit of righteous…
Pfizer’s boss is winning the spin game while Miliband is losing all credibility
Pfizer will almost certainly have to offer more than its second bid of £50 a share for rival drug giant…
Investment: Confessions of a share tipper
When I get it right, I shout about it. And when I get it wrong? Well, just between us…
Turn down those token directorships, girls, and tell them you want to be chairman
Last Saturday was International Women’s Day, but we celebrated early in Helmsley when my Yorkshire home town was featured in…
We optimists aren’t always wrong but I’m keeping watch for black swans
A reader likens me to Dr Pangloss, the quack philosopher in Voltaire’s Candide who insisted that ‘all is for the…
A man who creates 1,000 rewarding jobs out of a £1 bet deserves to win a fortune
At a charity lunch in Manchester, I meet a cheerful ‘engagement manager’ from AO.com, formerly Appliances Online, a fast-growing internet…
The halo slips further
Tom Bower’s first biography of Sir Richard Branson, in 2000, was memorable for its hilarious account of the Virgin tycoon’s…
The hapless stationmaster watches France’s future prosperity depart
I’ve always respected stationmasters, but that sentiment is not universally shared. A distinguished friend of mine across the Channel described…
If a bank looks dull, it probably isn’t: so what’s new at Standard Chartered?
The cautionary tale of the Co-operative Bank, its black hole and its naughty chairman has recently taught us that if…
Brand loyalty, or lack of it: why I’d rather run Marks & Spencer than Tesco
This first working week of January is apparently the time when we’re most likely to think about a change of…
Dickensian misery at the pawnbrokers’ — but now it’s on the other side of the counter
While attention has focused on the sudden ubiquity and alleged iniquity of payday lenders, boom and impending bust has infected…
Not so much a property bubble, more an opportunity to improve London’s transport
Everyone —including me, if I’m honest — has been talking about a new property bubble. But is it for real?…
Twitter looks much more expensive than Royal Mail, but which one will last longer?
Royal Mail delivers to 29 million UK addresses; last year it generated £9 billion of revenues, of which £324 million…
What Vodafone should do with its huge windfall: invest it in the next Vodafone
Vodafone, which has just collected an £84 billion windfall from the sale of its 45 per cent stake in Verizon…
Barometer
Other people’s rocks Spain threatened to introduce a €40 border-crossing charge and find other ways of making life difficult for…
