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neotherbusiness is a business blog where you can share views and opinions about business news and developments in Newcastle and the North-East.

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James MillsJames Mills is a web developer in the North East of England and founder of Refresh Teesside »

Mike HughesMike Hughes is the Head of Business for the Evening Gazette. He will be blogging on all matters of importance to Teesside businesses - and some that are just worth knowing »

Jez DavisonJez Davison, business writer at the Evening Gazette, is a regular blogger on all things business - particularly finance, entrepreneurship and the state of the Teesside economy »

Karen McLauchlanKaren McLauchlan is the Evening Gazette's deputy business and features editor - with special interest in all things industry, property and arts related »

Jeremy MiddletonJeremy Middleton is a venture capitalist and the co-founder of FTSE-200 company HomeServe »

DeloitteDeloitte, which has 23 offices across the UK including Newcastle, is among the country's leading professional services firms »

ClimateNEClimateNE & Climate Change Schools Project support the move to a low-carbon, resilient economy and help businesses avoid risk and realise commercial opportunities. Posts by Jen Atkinson, Krista McKinzey and Harriet Thew »

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Andrew Hebden


Rock sell-off questions

Posted by on August 3, 2010 9:55 AM

On the face of it today's results from Northern Rock are very much in line with what we expected.

Although apparently incongruous, it is not surprising that Northern Rock Asset Management - the 'bad bank' where the most toxic of its loans are deposited - has raced into the black ahead of the 'good bank' which made a relatively small loss of £143m.

Continue reading "Rock sell-off questions" »


Rock numbers very encouraging

Posted by on March 10, 2010 8:59 AM

I have just come off the phone from a conference call with Northern Rock chief executive Gary Hoffman, and it's fair to say he is in an upbeat mood about the bank's annual results announced this morning.
The bank has comprehensively beaten targets set down by the Government for its performance during 2009 by some £500m on an underlying basis.
The headline figure of a pre-tax loss of £257m is also a huge step forward following the £1.4bn loss made in 2008.
Inevitably much of the commentary on these results will focus on the bonuses paid to staff.
The vast majority of the bank's workers will get payments of around £3,000 but Mr Hoffman rightly points out that to confuse these with the enormous sums being paid to investment bankers is misleading.
The average member of staff at the Rock earns less than £25,000. It is surely right that they are rewarded in a relatively modest way for helping the Rock smash its targets in an impressive fashion,


Nissan move is a huge blow

Posted by on January 8, 2009 3:45 PM

Today's decision by Nissan to make around 1,200 of its Sunderland workforce redundant is a real blow to the North East but, sadly, it comes as little surprise.

Continue reading "Nissan move is a huge blow" »


Shareholders won't be only ones seething at Bellway bonuses

Posted by on January 5, 2009 2:18 PM

THERE will be plenty of red faces at Newcastle housebuilder Bellway today after the decision by the Association of British Insurers to issue its most serious warning to the company amid concern over the size of the bonuses being paid to its directors.

Continue reading "Shareholders won't be only ones seething at Bellway bonuses" »


A sad, but predictable, end to the year

Posted by on December 23, 2008 3:07 PM

The apparent fire-sale of the stores belonging to The Officers Club represents a sad end to 2008 for North East business.

Continue reading "A sad, but predictable, end to the year" »


Concern surrounds speed of Nissan move

Posted by on December 9, 2008 7:08 PM

The biggest surprise about Nissan's announcement tonight that it is cutting production at its Sunderland plant in the run up to Christmas is the timing.

Continue reading "Concern surrounds speed of Nissan move" »


RBS move puts pressure on Rock

Posted by on December 1, 2008 10:29 AM

Last night's surprise move by RBS to give a six-month grace period to homeowners falling in to arrears on their mortgage repayments puts pressure on other lenders to follow suit.

Continue reading "RBS move puts pressure on Rock" »


A biiter taste in the mouth

Posted by on November 5, 2008 5:27 PM

As a Yorkshireman and a fan of real aleas, I should be crying into my pint tonight over the decision announced by Carlsberg today to shut down the historic Tetley brewery in Leeds.

Continue reading "A biiter taste in the mouth" »


A momentous day

Posted by on October 8, 2008 10:06 AM

True, we've had a few momentous days over the past few months, but today surely will be the one that goes down in the history books after the government finally confirmed that it was part nationalising Britain's leading banks.

Continue reading "A momentous day" »


Welcome back Peter, what a surprise to see you

Posted by on October 3, 2008 1:48 PM

Not many of us saw that one coming - Peter Mandelson is making a return to the Cabinet.

Continue reading "Welcome back Peter, what a surprise to see you" »


Rock now discourages new savers

Posted by on October 2, 2008 10:30 AM

Northern Rock has confirmed this morning that it is withdrawing a range of its saving products having been inundated with customers wanting to deposit cash over recent days.

Continue reading "Rock now discourages new savers" »


B&B demise a sad loss

Posted by on September 29, 2008 10:39 AM

There will be plenty of sympathy in the North East for the plight of Bradford & Bingley employees who are turning up for work this morning completely in the dark about what the future holds for them.

Continue reading "B&B demise a sad loss" »


Workers will pay price of HBOS salvation

Posted by on September 18, 2008 9:56 AM

With the Lloyds TSB takeover of HBOS confirmed, the focus now inevitably shifts to the implications of this mega deal.
What is immediately apparent, and has been confirmed this morning, is that the implications for the vast workforce of these two institutions combined stand to be significant.

Continue reading "Workers will pay price of HBOS salvation" »


Lehman collapses one year on from run on Rock

Posted by on September 15, 2008 8:51 AM

The news overnight that Lehman Brothers, the top US investment bank, is filing for bankruptcy will send shockwaves not just throughout Wall Street but across global financial markets.
It is truly a seismic development in banking history; the most significant development to date in this most exceptional financial crisis.

Continue reading "Lehman collapses one year on from run on Rock" »


BAA break-up makes sense

Posted by on August 20, 2008 10:07 AM

The Competition Commission's decision that BAA will likely have to sell off three of its UK airports is the only logical outcome of this long overdue inquiry.

Continue reading "BAA break-up makes sense" »


Exports offer hope as King avoids R word

Posted by on August 13, 2008 3:29 PM

"Don't mention the R word" was probably the edict from Downing Street as Bank of England Governor Mervyn King prepared to unleash his much-anticipated quarterly report on the state of the economy.And, for what it's worth, he didn't.

Continue reading "Exports offer hope as King avoids R word" »


Mixed sentiments as 800 told to go by Rock

Posted by on July 30, 2008 5:57 PM

The news that 800 compulsory redundancies are to be confirmed at Northern Rock cannot, in any sense, be regarded as welcome. Ever since the scale of this crisis first emerged, the prospect of a major jobs cull has been on the cards - but that doesn't make it any easier when the worst is confirmed.

Continue reading "Mixed sentiments as 800 told to go by Rock" »


New man at the Rock

Posted by on July 23, 2008 1:59 PM

It can't have been the easiest recruitment job in the world, but Northern Rock chairman Ron Sandler got his man today when he named Barclays director Gary Hoffman as the bank's new chief executive.

Continue reading "New man at the Rock" »


Great to hail so many success stories

Posted by on July 16, 2008 10:50 AM

So it's hats off to Nissan for being named the North East's number one business at the Top 250 launch this morning.

Continue reading "Great to hail so many success stories" »


Legacy of crisis will be fewer banks in High Street

Posted by on July 14, 2008 2:50 PM

The emergence today of a £1.26bn offer from Spanish banking giant Santander for high street rival Alliance & Leicester is the latest significant development in the troubled sector.
The deal seems to make sense for all parties - certainly for A&L and its shareholders who must have felt vulnerable in the current climate. A&L is far from the car wreck that Bradford & Bingley has proved to be over recent weeks, but even so its shareholders were probably watching events there unfold from behind the sofa.

Continue reading "Legacy of crisis will be fewer banks in High Street" »


ScS saved - but Journal's North 40 is shrinking!

Posted by on July 3, 2008 3:29 PM

It is great news that a deal has been thrashed out today to secure the immediate future of Sunderland sofa retailer ScS.
The deal - full details of which you can read in Friday's nebusiness section of The Journal - will see investment group Sun European Partners acquire the retail business for an undisclosed sum. It should hopefully secure the futures of most of the company's 1,300-strong workforce.

Continue reading "ScS saved - but Journal's North 40 is shrinking!" »


This is not just any economic downturn...

Posted by on July 2, 2008 10:55 AM

Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse... Marks & Spencer this morning added to the woes of the Stock Market by delivering a profit warning.
The high street retailer's unexpected announcement only reaffirms that the current economic situation is dire to say the least - and things aren't going to get much better any time soon. As executive chairman Sir Stuart Rose put it: "This is more of a two-year problem than a two-month one".

Continue reading "This is not just any economic downturn..." »


Will $140-a-barrel oil turn us all green?

Posted by on June 27, 2008 5:12 PM

It's barely six months since I was running the newsdesk at a newspaper in Aberdeen and each day we were excitedly tracking the cost of a barrel of oil to see if (or more like when) it would breach the $100 mark.
At the time is seemed a very significant milestone - especially for a business community whose fortunes are so tightly connected with the price of oil - but now it seems like a lifetime ago.

Continue reading "Will $140-a-barrel oil turn us all green?" »


Now ILVA pays the price

Posted by on June 25, 2008 5:51 PM

Despite being intrigued by its quirky brand name and high-profile advertising campaign, I haven't yet found the time to make a trip to ILVA since I moved to the North East.
And today it transpires that I'm not the only one.

Continue reading "Now ILVA pays the price" »


Gieve gives little away

Posted by on June 20, 2008 3:34 PM

Was he pushed or did he jump?

That was the topic of conversation in the wake of Sir John Gieve's address to the North East Chamber of Commerce Durham and Tees Valley annual dinner in Sedgefield on Thursday night.

Continue reading "Gieve gives little away" »


Gieve announces quit plan as he heads to North East

Posted by on June 19, 2008 10:24 AM

There will be extra interest in what Bank of England Deputy Governor Sir John Gieve has to say to members of the North East Chamber of Commerce tonight after he announced shock plans to stand down early.

Sir John, who has been criticised recently for his part in the handling of the Northern Rock debacle, is due to speak at the NECC Durham Tees Valley dinner at Hardwick Hall, Sedgefield, tonight (Thursday).

Continue reading "Gieve announces quit plan as he heads to North East" »


Brace yourselves for a hike in rates

Posted by on June 17, 2008 2:11 PM

Bank of England governor Mervyn King has raised the possibility of consumer inflation soaring to more than 4% before the end of the year.
This is grim news, indeed, even if it was widely expected. But what does it mean for interest rates?

Continue reading "Brace yourselves for a hike in rates" »


Get scribbling, Mr King

Posted by on June 16, 2008 2:38 PM

Bank of England Governor Mervyn King will tomorrow be forced to write a letter to Chancellor Alistair Darling explaining why inflation has broken through the 3% barrier.
Most analysts are convinced the Consumer Prices Index shot up to 3.2% in May, prompting the note - only the second of its kind since the Bank of England was made independent in 1997.

Continue reading "Get scribbling, Mr King" »


Inside the Rock

Posted by on June 9, 2008 4:49 PM

The fate of Northern Rock may still hang in the balance, but the lack of any firm outcome to the crisis has not prevented former employee Brian Walters from writing what I assume is the first book on the subject ("The Fall of Northern Rock", published by Harriman House).

He promises to deliver “an insider’s storyâ€? on the bank’s demise, although it quickly transpires he was not even inside Northern Rock House as the crisis unfolded, but instead working in the bank's commercial division in a Leeds branch office.

Unsurprisingly, aside from one or two quirky anecdotes, the account from a Rock employee of less than three years casts little fresh light on the subject and the most telling conclusion is that the bulk of the staff had no idea how bleak the situation was.

Because he was physically remote from Newcastle you don't even get a feeling for the atmophere inside the corridors of power. More authoritative and enlightening accounts will undoubtedly follow.

This page contains an archive of all entries posted to nebusiness by Andrew Hebden. They are listed from newest to oldest.