Financial Director articles from July 2007

Financial Director archives from July 2007

Shop around.
July 12, 2007... Byline: Peter Bartram shop around Volatile supply chains and fluctuating prices mean companies are looking around for the best deals to reduce energy costs When supermarket chain Somerfield embarked on a programme of store...

allchange.
July 12, 2007... Byline: Alex Blyth allchange Increased competition and technological advances mean businesses have to change just to survive words Alex blyth illustration david lyttleton These days, they say that change is the only constant....

Driving ahead.
July 12, 2007... Byline: Catherine Chetwynd driving ahead Technology has helped car manufacturers to build cleaner cars. The challenge now is to change people's driving habits For organisations with a large fleet of company cars, the prospect of...

Playing low-ball.(auditing firms)
July 12, 2007... Byline: Peter Williams playing low-ball The Big Four have a stranglehold over the audit market and it's a position they are not about to relinquish easily The Big Four say they welcome the idea of more audit choice for large...

One step forward.(international financial reporting implementation)
July 12, 2007... Byline: Robert Bruce one step forward IFRS implementation brings global comparability a step closer, which is good news for UK finance directors One of the insights to come out of the implementation of international financial...

MPG is Whitbread's forte.(miles per gallon, Whitbreat PLC)
July 12, 2007... Byline: Catherine Chetwynd MPG is whitbread's Forte In 1999, Whitbread undertook a car policy review with a view to motivating drivers to choose fuel-efficient cars. "It was an opportunity to save money for the business and do our...

Energy Drain.(Brief article)
July 12, 2007... Byline: Peter bartram energydrain Could Britain be heading for an energy gap, where the juice simply dries up? The government's 2005 Energy Review suggested that by 2025 peak energy demand could exceed supply by 30%. But a study by...

Successful transformation.(Brief article)
July 12, 2007... Byline: Alex Blyth Brendan Cahill, chief executive officer at consultancy firm Trinity Horne, says: "Managing business transformation is not straightforward. It involves people and is therefore complex. A structured, rigorously employed...

Home truths.
July 12, 2007... Byline: Dennis Turner home truths The trouble with managing the economy with interest rates is that it might come back to slap you in the face The housing market is never far from the press headlines or the thoughts of...

Affirmative Dave.(computers trading in stocks)
July 12, 2007... Byline: Charlotte Moore Affirmative Dave HAL-like computers are making share trading decisions -- and a killing in the market. But FDs needn't be afraid words Charlotte moore It sounds like a plot line plucked from the pages...

Clipped wings.
July 12, 2007... Byline: Tony Harrington clipped wings Corporates are under pressure to cut non-essential trips. But can anything halt our love affair with budget air travel? One of the murkiest areas in the energy debate at present is centred...

merry quants.
July 12, 2007... Byline: Charlotte Moore merry quants Over the past three decades, the financial markets have evolved rapidly, making it hard work for a finance director to keep track of the changes. All aspects of financial markets have been...

hedgehogging the agenda.
July 12, 2007... Byline: Charlotte Moore hedgehogging the agenda Hedge fund managers know that with just the tiniest stake in a company they can make big demands -- and they're getting their way, writes Charlotte Moore The sheer audacity is...

standards delivered.
July 12, 2007... Byline: Colin Wright standards delivered Standard Life finance director David Nish is helping to inject new life while maintaining old standards Words Colin Wright Portraits Nick Sinclair Standard Life has long been...

Bond market rout heightens credit crunch fears.
July 12, 2007... Byline: David Kern Bond market rout heightens credit crunch fears The sharp increase in bond yields seen in the first half of June was unusually large and abrupt. It is too early to talk about the ending of the cheap money era. But the...

FDs tasked with upholding companies' financial reputation.
July 12, 2007... Byline: David Rae FDs tasked with upholding companies' financial reputation Equity analysts and fund managers have significantly changed their views of what makes a company an attractive investment, with focus shifting from pure...

Favourable conditions tempt private business owners to sell.
July 12, 2007... Byline: David Rae Favourable conditions tempt private business owners to sell It is the most attractive time to sell a private business for ten years, as many are being sold for multiples of 15 times earnings, according to UHY Hacker...

Strategic investment an FD focus.(finance director)(Brief article)
July 12, 2007... Byline: dr Strategic investment an FD focus Research into the changing role of public sector finance directors has revealed a significant shift in focus from one of cost control to strategic investment. According to the study,...

The three bottom lines.
July 12, 2007... Byline: Rachael Singh the three bottom lines It seems that one bottom line isn't enough -- you need three to improve your company's green footprint By Rachael Singh Finance directors should adopt a triple bottom line...

US and China hinder post-Kyoto deal.(Brief article)
July 12, 2007... Byline: Rachael Singh US and China hinder post-Kyoto deal The world's leading countries fail to reach agreement on emissions The G8 Summit drew to a close in June, with no real global emissions reductions set in place post-Kyoto,...

UK tackles 'cyber warming'.
July 12, 2007... Byline: Rachael Singh UK tackles 'cyber warming' The government has announced plans to tackle "cyber warming" with the introduction of a public-private "green shift" taskforce led by Manchester City Council. The PC industry...

stewardship relaunched.
July 12, 2007... Byline: Peter Williams stewardship relaunched The IASB has forced a debate on whether stewardship should be an objective of financial reporting. Peter Williams says it's not getting the answer it wanted The International...

Sarkozy Baguettes himself a seat.(Nicholas Sarkozy)
July 12, 2007... Byline: Anthony Harrington Sarkozy Baguettes himself a seat As long as France's new man in the top seat doesn't alienate either side of the political spectrum, his tax reforms should make it through Parliament. Tony Harrington examines...

iWant iNeed.(iphone frenzy)
July 12, 2007... Byline: David Rae iwant ineed The iPhone frenzy proves that businesses would do well to adopt cutting-edge consumer technology In case you've just got back from Mars, Apple has launched a phone. And even if you have just...

UK SUPPLY CHAIN TO PULL ITS SOX UP.
July 12, 2007... Byline: Andrew Sawers UK SUPPLY CHAIN TO PULL ITS SOX UP More than 5,000 UK companies had to take on the burden of complying with the US Sarbanes-Oxley regulations. A new report says that many thousands more might do so voluntarily,...

so much interest in private equity.
July 12, 2007... Byline: Andrew Sawers so much interest in private equity First, a declaration of interest. In February, the publishing company behind Financial Director was acquired by Incisive Media, a B2B magazine group that exited the stockmarket...