On Tuesday Securicor will move from its position in the FTSE 100 into the FTSE 250, when its market capitalisation drops from £3.6bn to £600m. The reason for this startling reduction in company value is due to Securicor’s attempt to concentrate on its raison d’etre of security-related services. It aims to do this by selling […]
The new firm will be called Finers Stephens Innocent and will operate from Finers’ offices in Great Portland Street from December 14. Richard Gerstein, Finers’ managing partner will remain in that position in the new firm, while Stephens Innocent senior partner, Mark Stephens, will head up the international and media department. Stephens enthuses: “Sometimes firms […]
And according to a damning report by the National Audit Office (NAO), records fail to identify the rightful owners of nearly £10 million worth of funds. The funds – managed by the Court Funds Office (CFO) – includes cash paid into court to cover costs and winnings arising from litigation, both modern and ancient. The […]
Michelle Howie, property partner at Herbert Smith, advised BSkyB in relation to the acquisition of a new lease for the West Cross House in Brentford from Brixton Estates. The lease has been taken for a term of 20 years at an initial annual rent of £1.35m.
The Government is heading for a new legal duel with former gun owners who complied with the post-Dunblane gun surrender regulations. They claim the Government has failed to honour its part of the deal to compensate them. The Home Office has now been given leave to challenge three earlier court decisions, in which Government moves […]
The Solicitors Indemnity Fund (SIF) is suing Michael Clarke, of London SE6, in respect of a collapsed £2.2m property deal. The writ says Clarke agreed to buy property called Lake View at Farnborough, in Kent, with additional land, for £2.2m in December 1995, and instructed solicitors Streathers to act for him. It alleges that Mr […]
Chris Bates, Clifford Chance Haydn Puleston Jones, Linklaters Bill Richards, Lawrence Graham Much has been said about the potential strengths and pitfalls of the euro, now the world’s second-biggest currency. But the creation of euroland, an 11-nation bloc with a population of 290 million and an economic output equivalent to that of the US, is […]
Not so long ago the word in the legal marketplace was that big was no longer beautiful. The multi-firm mergers that created City-dominating giants were on their way out and clients were instead looking for boutique services and concentrated expertise. All that may have been wishfulthinking. Multi-skilling and global reach are still big news. PricewaterhouseCoopers’ […]
The beleaguered Solicitors Property Centre Network Services (SPCNS) is nearly out of money and it claims that attempts to launch the first Solicitors Property Centre (SPC) in England were sabotaged by estate agencies. SPCNS director Tony Bogan says that the first SPC – which will offer a property selling service in house – would have […]
Keith Vaz MP was born in in South Yemen in 1956. He is the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Attorney General and MP to Leicester East. What was your first job? Sales assistant, household goods, Dickens & Jones, aged 16. What subject(s) did you fail at school? All science subjects. What was your first ever […]
Simon Staite led the team at Nabarro Nathanson which acted for Henderson Investors, on behalf of Pearl Assurance, on its funding of the £21m Virgin Megaplex scheme in Glasgow. Property partner Diana Courtney at Denton Hall represented Virgin Cinemas, while Pearl Assurance was represented in Scotland by Stuart Tait at Dundas & Wilson.