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WikiCorporates pages

Cookies Statement

Best page I've seen, https://www.nacro.org.uk/home/cookies/

About

Needs sorting - appears in search results, but when clicked on, nothing is there.


Government Policies

Lawes Agricultural Trust

Misc Stuff

  • World Telecomms + Undersea Cable Infrastructure Map, see here for an eg.
  • Finance in Motion, link, link
  • Eco Business Fund, link, link, link
  • Blockchain Technology. link
  • Government Buildings website, UK Government properties database. But impossible to find out who runs it, which I don't like.
  • Find government property and land to rent or buy, https://www.gov.uk/find-government-property
  • People 20 Conference: The reason to organise this conference, is to discuss issues which should be part of the G-20 agenda according to civil society organisations and engaged academics. The conference will be held in Buenos Aires in the same week during which central banks and ministries of finance will have their G-20 meetings. link
  • Jul.13.2018: The People 20 conference: are our democracies compatible with financial globalization? On July 16 and 17, Buenos Aires (Argentina) will be the venue for the ‘People 20’ conference: a new initiative which will unite (finance, investment, trade and sustainability) experts from all over the world to discuss and promote an alternative agenda for the G-20 summit later this year in Argentina. Rodrigo Fernandez, SOMO.
  • Jul.14.2018: The inconvenient truth about cancer and mobile phones. We dismiss claims about mobiles being bad for our health – but is that because studies showing a link to cancer have been cast into doubt by the industry? On Mar.28.2018, the scientific peer review of a landmark US govt study concluded that there is “clear evidence” that radiation from mobile phones causes cancer, specifically, a heart tissue cancer in rats that is too rare to be explained as random occurrence. Not one major news organisation in the US or Europe reported this scientific news. But then, news coverage of mobile phone safety has long reflected the outlook of the wireless industry. For 25 years, the industry has been orchestrating a global PR campaign aimed at misleading not only journalists, but also consumers and policymakers about the actual science concerning mobile phone radiation. Indeed, Big Wireless has borrowed the very same strategy and tactics big tobacco and big oil pioneered to deceive the public about the risks of smoking and climate change, respectively. And like their tobacco and oil counterparts, wireless industry CEOs lied to the public even after their own scientists privately warned that their products could be dangerous, especially to children. ... ... The Internet of Things will require augmenting today’s 4G technology with 5G technology, thus “massively increasing” the general population’s exposure to radiation. Mark Hertsgaard, Mark Dowie, The Guardian.
  • May.13.2018: Tories may scrap civil partnerships. The govt is considering scrapping gay people’s rights to civil partnerships rather than extending them to heterosexuals. It has intervened before a Supreme Court hearing tomorrow when Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan, a couple with two young children, fight for the right to enter a civil partnership rather than having to get married. Penny Mordaunt, the women and equalities minister, has commissioned research to find out if demand for civil partnerships is so low that the “govt should consider abolishing or phasing out civil partnerships entirely”. In a paper slipped out quietly in parliament, she points out that the introduction of same-sex marriages in 2014 led to a slump in the number of civil partnerships. They averaged 6,305 from 2007-2013 but fell to a low point of 861 in 2015 before recovering slightly to 890 in 2016. Mordaunt’s move has put the government in conflict with Stonewall, the homosexual, bisexual and transgender rights pressure group. Tim Loughton, the Conservative MP who has brought forward a private member’s bill seeking to extend civil partnerships to heterosexual couples, said: “There is absolutely no excuse why the government is not getting on with it and equalising civil partnerships. Nicholas Hellen, Caroline Wheeler, The Sunday Times.

Companies

San Leon Energy plc

San-Leon-Energy.svg
San Leon Energy is an an oil and gas company, which developed conventional and unconventional (shale gas) assets in Europe, North Africa, Poland, Morocco, Ireland (North Celtic Sea), and France. The company has interests in the Tarfaya and Zag license areas, Foum Draa and Sidi Moussa, Cantabrian-Pyrenees basin, in the Ebro basin, and in Duero.

Headquartered in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, with offices in London and Warsaw.

Timelines

  • 2011: Realm Energy International Corporation, a British Columbia-based shale gas exploration company, was acquired.[1] Realm’s key assets were two licences in the Baltic Basin and one licence in the Podlasie Basin.[2] realmenergy.caArchive-org-sm.svg

KCOM Group Ltd

KcomGroupLtd.com, KCOM GroupWikipedia-W.svg, Craft Machine Inc, KCOM Group (formerly known as Kingston Communications, and latterly KC) is a UK communications and IT services provider. Its headquarters are in the city of Kingston upon Hull, a unitary authority in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, and it serves local residents and businesses with Internet and telephony services. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange but is now privately owned by Macquarie Group. (WP)

ToDo: link, link, DDG, link, CH, link, link, link, link, link, ...

Hibu Group Ltd

ToDo †

Sofa Brands International Ltd

Sofa-Brands-International.svg

Feb.2015: Sofa Brands International was bought by private equity firm Promethean Investments.

WIP: DDG: "sofa brands international", Promethean Investments LLP; ; King & Spalding Acts on Buyout of Sofa Brands International; CH; link; sofabrandsfactoryoutlet.co.uk; link; link; G-Plan; link.

Brands: Collins & Hayes; G-Plan, G-Plan History; The Lounge Co; Parker Knoll; Duresta.

Zoopla

ToDo: link

Alliance Select Foods International Inc

Newell Rubbermaid Inc

Newell Rubbermaid Inc announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell three businesses (Burnes Picture Frame, Anchor Glass and Mirro Cookware) to Global Home Products LLC, an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management LP.ref

JM Smucker Company

ToDo: link, link, link, link
  • divested its Pillsbury baking mixes to a private equity firm.ref

Scotts Company

ToDo: link, link > uploaded
  • 1995: United Industries Corporation obtained an exclusive license on the Peters and Peters Professional brands of plant food from The Scotts Company.

Burts Potato Chips Ltd

  • Website, CH, History, DDG
  • Jan.2018: Burts Potato Chips has purchased Leicester-based popcorn and healthy snacks firm Savoury & Sweet in its first acquisition since the company was founded in 1997.ref

Otsuka Holdings Company Ltd

The Otsuka group is engaged in 4 main businesses:

  1. the pharmaceutical business: focuses on the key areas of central nervous system and neurology, and oncology
  2. the nutraceutical business
  3. the consumer products business
  4. other business.

Website, Otsuka PharmaceuticalWikipedia-W.svg, AR-Dec.2016

Bloomberg LP

360 Media Direct

Subdirect LLC

ToDo: OC (Jul.2009), LinkedIn, Subdirect.comArchive-org-sm.svg, 360mediadirect.com, Subdirect and Subco Announce Company Rebrand to 360 Media Direct (Feb.2020, Subdirect Acquires Covalent Media Group, CMS acquired WRSS, Subdirect Acquires Waiting Room Subscription Service, bPerx Announces Brand Relaunch, Acquires Budget Reading Service (a division of the Hearst Corporation Periodical Publishers Service Bureau)
  • Subsids: Waiting Room Subscription Services (WRSS); Covalent Media Group LLC, Subco; bPerx; RewardBee; [AdSmith].ref
  • Jan.2004: Periodical Publishers’ Service Bureau Inc acquired American Publishers Inc, a Devon, Pennsylvania-based fund-raising company. PPSB has been involved in the magazine subscription industry since 1910, and is the largest paid-during-service agency in the USA, handling 140+ publisher clients. PPSB's subscription sales are generated from a large national network of independent agents.[3] PPSB

Periodical Publishers' Service Bureau provides diverse and innovative circulation/subscription sources and marketing support services.

  • PPSB'S Paid During Service division was founded in 1910 in Elgin, Illinois as "The Mother's Magazine Home Reading Club". This was at a time when magazine subscriptions were sold door-to-door and paid for weekly, or "during the service" of the magazines. In 1918, George E Cook, Vice-President of David C Cook Publishing, purchased the company, along with The Mother's Magazine, and moved the operation to New York City where it was organised under its new name, Periodical Publishers Service Bureau Inc. PPSB Inc was then purchased by the Hearst Corporation in 1924 and remained in New York City until its move to Sandusky, Ohio in 1941. PPSB was purchased by Subco in 2012.[4]

Subco Inc: https://www.subco.com/, http://www.subcoinc.com/ Subco is a magazine clearinghouse and fulfillment center. We process magazine subscriptions submitted by independent sales agent offices nationwide. In addition, Subco partners with retailers, e-commerce websites and loyalty reward companies. Helps magazine publishers increase circulation through direct mail, e-commerce, inbound and outbound telesales, trade show sales, corporate sponsorship, and strategic partnerships. ? https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_de/73110 ? https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_tx/0800699874

  • Periodical Publishers' Service Bureau, Inc. (PPSB), a unit of The Hearst Corporation, has announced the purchase of American Publishers, Inc. (API), a Devon, Pa.-based fund-raising company. American Publishers will offer magazines and other products to organizations for use in fund-raising campaigns. PPSB has been involved in the magazine subscription industry since 1910. PPSB's subscription sales are generated from a large national network of independent agents.ref
  • M2 Media Group - are they connected to Subdirect LLC?
    • American Publishers, subsid of M2 Media Group. Is this the same "American Publishers" acquired by PPSB in Jan.2004?

HDM Finance SA

link, link, link, link, link, link, link, link, link, link, link, ...., DDG

Organisations

Tax Watch UK
Tax-Watch.svg
TaxWatch is an investigative think tank which aims to broaden public participation in the debate on tax. It monitors and reports on the tax payments of large companies working in the UK, and research tax strategies used by companies and wealthy individuals. The aim is to provide the unbiased and independent information necessary to allow the public to hold the govt and major taxpayers to account. TaxWatch also analyses and puts forward policy proposals for improving the tax system, with the goal of creating a fairer tax system for all.

Richard Brooks is an investigative journalist with Private Eye magazine and a former tax inspector. He chairs TaxWatch’s editorial committee. He is the author of “The Great British Tax Robbery: How Britain became a Tax Haven for Fat Cats and Big Business”, pub. Oneworld Publications, 2013; Review, WorldCat. His book "Bean Counters", pub. Atlantic (2018) is an expose of the accountancy profession, including its instrumental role in tax avoidance. Atlantic, [WorldCat] ref

David Craig and Richard Brooks co-authored "Rip-Off!: the scandalous inside story of the management consulting money machine" (2006). See The Management Consulting Money MachineArchive-org-sm.svg, WorldCat.

Excellent article: "Is Tax Avoidance Legal?". Spoiler: not when a scheme has been devised for the purpose of tax avoidance.

WIP: Reports
World Socialist Web Site

The World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) is an international socialist news site that is the online news and information publication of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI).[3] The World Socialist Web Site publishes articles and analysis of news and events from around the world, updated daily. The site also includes coverage of the history of working class political and organized labor movements. Owned by the International Committee of the Fourth InternationalWikipedia-W.svg's Socialist Equality Party (United States)Wikipedia-W.svg (Website), a Trotskyist international organisation.

Anglo-Jewish Association

Anglo-Jewish AssociationWikipedia-W.svg, website, ref

Bank Information Center

Bank Information Center + Bank Information Centre Europe. BIC Europe was established in recognition of the important role of European governments and European civil society in the international financial institutions, such as the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. https://bankinformationcenter.org/en-us/about, https://bic-europe.org/#news-and-updates

Energy Technologies Institute LLP

Energy Technologies Institute LLP, a public-private partnership between global energy and engineering companies and the UK Government. "Our role is to act as a conduit between academia, industry and the government to accelerate the development of low carbon technologies."ref We are a £400m industry and govt-funded research institute into low carbon energy system planning and technology development to address UK energy and climate change targets. website, Energy Technologies InstituteWikipedia-W.svg, about, ETI: State Aid

Global Energy Group

GEG (Holdings) Ltd CH > Global Energy (Group) Ltd, CH, subsids = p.31, MacGregor Family =. Atlantis Resources is a client of theirs.ref

Fresh Start Group

In 2011 the Fresh Start Project was formed by over 100 Conservative MPs who shared a vision that fundamental reform of the EU was possible... ref. Fresh Start report here, more info here.

FoodChain ID Certification

link

European Atlantic Group

A non-party Westminster based group with charitable status that organizes meetings on a wide range of topical and significant international relations and related matters, The EAG aims to strengthen trans-Atlantic links, ... https://www.eag.org.uk/

Panel on Takeovers and Mergers

The Takeover Panel are a very interesting lot. website, Reports, Panel on Takeovers and MergersWikipedia-W.svg, ref, ref, SSG search. Can't find anything about the Panel being answerable to Parliament. Seem to be entire autonomous, can't be right. The board etc are all busine$$ execs; the conflict of interest must be huge.

Elderly Accommodation Counsel

website. See also HousingCare.org, run by them.

The Climate Coalition

website

Samaritan's Purse

website, Operation Christmas Child, This Christmas, beware evangelical Christians bearing gifts

ComfortDelGro Corporation Ltd

link, ComfortDelGroWikipedia-W.svg, ref, ref

Virgin

ref

  • Virgin Money, link
  • Virgin Money Giving, link, ref
  • Virgin RED, link
  • Virgin Atlantic Airways, ref
FoodWatch

link FoodWatch is a citizen-based watchdog in the food sector. We uncover and challenge food industry practices that violate the rights or interests of consumers, with the aim of forcing political decision makers to address loopholes in European and national food policies.

Green Deal Finance Company

Now Hiber Ltd, website. See Energy_Policy#Renewables re where the company fits in. CH, archive.org, The Green DealWikipedia-W.svg, Which? The Green Deal,

TGI Fridays UK

Now just a brand, operated by Thursdays (UK) Ltd.CH, website,

  • History and Development of the UK sugar market, link
Smithfield Foods

uk website, website.us, ref, ref, ref, uk brands, ref, DDG, WP, WH Group, China, Cayman Islands, ref Cayman Islands, Takeover by China's Shuanghui Group, now known as "WH Group", Who’s behind the Chinese takeover of world’s biggest pork producer? Spoiler: the Chinese govt.; How China purchased a prime cut of America’s pork industry

Lead Not Leave

website. We do not seek to turn back the clock, but to allow it to start moving forward once more.

CAOBISCO

CAOBISCO is the Association of Chocolate, Biscuit and Confectionery Industries of Europe. Objective: to influence public policy at European and global levels via proactive and effective networking and communication with external stakeholders. Use aligned internal policy frameworks to influence current issues and to develop positions on future issues. So, a lobby group. http://caobisco.eu/

Business vs. Citizens

Not sure yet how this all fits together. Below is a list of various organisations that are relevant in one way or another.

Surveillance Capitalism

For the Arms Industry's business model to make money, fear must be instilled into the minds of citizens. Consider, for example: in 2018, 42 people died from terrorist incidents,ref and 1,770 died from road traffic deaths.ref £s spent on terrorism: £731m;ref £s spent on improving traffic safety: £0 (but many fine words).ref Arte's documentary is well worth watching: 7 Billion Suspects: The Surveillance Society.
  • Jan.20.2019: 'The goal is to automate us': welcome to the age of surveillance capitalism. Shoshana Zuboff’s new book is a chilling exposé of the business model that underpins the digital world. 1. Surveillance capitalists no longer rely on people as consumers; instead, supply and demand orients the surveillance capitalist firm to businesses intent on anticipating the behaviour of populations, groups and individuals. 2. By historical standards the large surveillance capitalists employ relatively few people compared with their unprecedented computational resources. 3. Surveillance capitalism depends upon undermining individual self-determination, autonomy and decision rights for the sake of an unobstructed flow of behavioural data to feed markets that are about us but not for us. Surveillance capitalism is a human-made phenomenon and it is in the realm of politics that it must be confronted. John Naughton, The Guardian.

Genomics plc

Genomics plc, CH, ws Shareholders, 8,937,228 Ordinary share, Confirmation statement, Jan.2019

  • 13.05% Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (1,166,667)
  • 11.2% IP2IPO Portfolio (GP) Ltd (996,592) >> Top Technology Ventures Ltd >> IP Group plc
  • 10.5% Nortrust Nominees Ltd A/c WIZ01 (934,444) >> Nortrust Nominees Ltd >> Northern Trust Corporation (USA)
  • 8.1% Bank of New York (Nominees) Ltd Designation: UKREITS (723,333), B'berg >> BNY International Financing Corporation >> Bank of New York Mellon Corporation
  • 5.7% Peter Donnelly (514,500)
  • 4.9% Foresite Capital Fund IV LP (444,444) >> Foresite Capital
  • 4.9% David Norwood (441,000)
  • 4.8% IP Venture Funds II (GP) LLP (427,111)
  • 4.8% Lansdowne Develope Markets Master Fund Ltd (426,300)
  • 4.4% Landsdowne Developed Markets Strategric Investment Master Fund Ltd (397,033)
  • 3.7% Oxford Sciences Innovation plc (333,333)
  • 3.7% F-Prime Capital Partners Life Sciences FUND VI LP (333,333)
  • 3.4% Gilean McVean (308,700)
  • 3.4% University of Oxford (303,800)
  • 2.9% John Colenutt (267,834)
  • 2.7% Gerton Lunter (249,900)
  • 2.7% Chris Spencer (249,900)
  • 1.6% MDFSSSSF Co Pty Ltd (147,000)
  • 1.3 Tamorer Pty Ltd (122,844)
  • 1.2% F-Prime Capital Partners Health IT and Services Fund LP (111,111)
  • 0.3% Alex Buelau (26,642)
  • 0.08% Ivan Griffin (7,350)
  • 0.04% Mark Warne (3,724)
  • 0.003% IP2IPO Nominees Ltd 333

Internet Regulation

aka Web Regulation

  • Sept.21.2018: Digital giants face big fines under plans for web regulator. The govt is developing plans for the UK’s first internet regulator, responsible for policing “online social harm”. The new regulator could have the power to impose punitive sanctions on social media platforms that fail to remove illegal material including extremist content, child abuse images and hate speech, according to Buzzfeed News. Ministers are under pressure to devise a workable system for regulating the “Wild West” of the internet without restricting free expression. The web giants argue that they should not face strict regulation because they are, they say, platforms for content posted by others, not publishers. Penalising companies if they fail to quickly remove illicit content when it is flagged to them appears to be the government’s favoured model. Ministers are understood to have scrutinised a German law that lays down fines of up to €50 million (£44 million) if platforms do not remove “obviously illegal” hate speech within 24 hours of receiving a notification. Matthew Moore, The Times.

Artificial Intelligence / Robots

  • Dec.16.2018: If tech experts worry about artificial intelligence, shouldn’t you? People who understood the empowering potential of the technology are concerned. They see widespread use of AI as leading to a loss of human agency, as decision-making on key aspects of life is ceded to code-driven “black box” systems. They fear the potential for abuse in surveillance systems designed for profit (aka social media), effects that are already much in evidence. They see existential risks for many kinds of employment. While some expect new kinds of jobs to emerge, others worry about massive unemployment, widening economic divides and the social upheavals and populist uprisings that could be triggered by that. Some fear that our increasing dependence on the technology will erode our capacity to think for ourselves, take independent action or interact effectively with others. And some foresee mayhem as the technology’s capacity to disrupt democratic processes increases. John Naughton, The Guardian.

Deregulation

MegaCorps

List of conglomeratesWikipedia-W.svg

Chiquita Brands International

Chiquita Brands International is now controlled by Brazilian orange juice giant Cutrale and financial conglomerate Grupo Safra SA[1], controlled by the Safra family (Jan.2015).ref

  • Stokely's Corn was established in 1898. Stokely USA Inc was acquired by Chiquita Brands International Inc in Jan.1998.
  • See also "The Century of the Self" on how Edward Bernays (Sigmund Freud's nephew) used various techniques to con Guatamala so the United Fruit Company could continue pillaging the country. Govts were complicit. ~1:20, YouTube link.

Pioneer Foods

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company

ADNOC is the state-owned oil company of the United Arab Emirates. ADNOC is one of the world's largest energy companies measured by both reserves and production. It has 16 subsidiary companies in upstream, midstream, and downstream stages of production. ADNOC develops both onshore and offshore gas fields. The company operates two oil refineries, Ruwais and Umm Al Nar. ADNOC exports natural gas in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in addition to producing supplies for local electricity and water utilities, to other domestic industries including petrochemicals plants, and for re-injection into reservoirs. (WP)

Conflicts of Interest

Cambridge Analytica

  • Feb.10.2016: How big data got the better of Donald Trump. Recently, Cambridge Analytica has teamed up with Leave.EU – the UK’s largest group advocating for a British exit (or ‘Brexit’) from the European Union – to help them better understand and communicate with UK voters. We have already helped supercharge Leave.EU’s social media campaign by ensuring the right messages are getting to the right voters online, and the campaign’s Facebook page is growing in support to the tune of about 3,000 people per day. Alexander Nix, Campaign Live. archive.org

Non-Profit Organisations (NPO)

  • Difference Between NGO and Non-Profit Organizations, Difference Between
    • What is the difference between an NGO and a non-profit firm? Quora
    • Difference Between NGOs & Non-Profits, NGOs.org

Good Law Project

Good-Law-Project.svg
The Good Law Project is a not-for-profit membership organisation that uses the law to protect the interests of the public. It challenge abuses of power, exploitation, inequality, and injustice. Priority issues are: Environment, Migration, Poverty, Workers’ Rights, Tax, Brexit, and democracy.

Change Finance

Change Finance is a civil society network across 67+ countries. "Our financial system remains as rigged and dangerous as ever, from casino trading to recklessly funding fossil fuel projects, treating nature as free to waste. 10 years after the financial crash, we're calling on our governments to change finance for good. We recognise that finance impacts our lives in many different ways and, to get the society we want, we must come together to change finance. Right now, an army of lobbyists are working relentlessly to get finance rules written in banks’ favour, rather than citizens. We want our future Members of the European Parliament to know that this community is looking for real leadership when we head to the ballot box."

The Change Finance coalition is managed by Finance Watch, which is funded by its members, philanthropic foundations, public donations, and the EU.ref

Ellen MacArthur Foundation

Website, Policies, About, Mission, WP, Plastics

Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO)

Unemployment

  • Jul.25.2017: More on the 'lie' behind the unemployment numbers. Here is my second attempt to explain why it is worth examining exactly how "unemployment" is defined by economists, and why I referred to it as a "lie" in my headline. Jim Edwards, Business Insider.
  • Jul.23.2017: Unemployment in the UK is now so low it's in danger of exposing the lie used to create the numbers. Govt statistics put unemployment in Britain at just 4.5% — a low not seen since the 1970s. But the real rate of unemployment is four times that. We walk you through the evidence that shows why official unemployment numbers are so misleading. Economist Danny Blanchflower and Richard Clegg of the ONS challenged this article. The ONS also produced household data suggesting that the true rate of unemployment is 3 times greater than the govt's preferred statistic. More data here on the effect of chronic underemployment of the unemployment rate, and the depressing new reality of the gig economy. Jim Edwards, Business Insider.

Basic Income

Wages

University Pay

  • Sept.04.2018: Reduced salary for Bath University’s next vice-chancellor. Bath University has appointed a new vice-chancellor on a vastly reduced salary of £266,000 after allegations of excessive pay across the sector. Ian White’s pay packet will come in at more than £200,000-a-year less than his predecessor, Dame Glynis Breakwell, 66, who was the country’s highest-paid vice-chancellor with a salary package of £468,000. She stepped down last month after becoming the focus of the controversy over university salaries and the target of protests by Bath students and staff. Henry Vaughan, The Times.
  • Mar.16.2018: "Fat cat" pay rises for university heads twice that of staff. The pay of university principals is rising twice as quickly as the salaries of their staff, leading to claims that senior academics are profiting from a "fat cat culture" common in the private sector. The salaries are well in excess of pay levels for many senior figures in comparable public sector roles, and far above the first minister's yearly entitlement of £151,000. Individual universities are spending up to 66% more on principal salaries compared with 6 years ago, while pay for the average worker has risen by £3,500, below the rate of inflation. The Times, Daniel Sanderson
  • Mar.11.2018: University vice-chancellors are paid far more than public sector peers Analysis shows vice-chancellors’ salaries outstrip those of leaders of NHS trusts and local authorities/ Richard Adams, Elisabeth Gamperi, The Guardian.
  • Mar.11.2018: Labour’s plan to curb runaway university vice-chancellor pay. Research from the University and College Union (UCU) has shown that 50+ vice chancellors take home £300,000-plus, 11 are paid £400,000+, and 23 universities have increased their VC's pay by at least 10% in a year. 151 out of 158 vice-chancellors either formally sit on or are entitled to attend the remuneration committees that decide their own pay, and just 25% of universities would release full minutes of their meetings. Meanwhile, front-line university staff are forced onto the picket lines to defend their pensions after years of real-terms pay cuts. Labour’s alternative: (a) 20:1 pay ratio for the public sector — what we say should be the maximum ratio between the highest and the lowest-paid — will be applied to all publicly-funded higher education institutions; (b) ban vice chancellors from sitting in judgement on their own pay, and ensure there both staff and student representation in decision-making. Tags: Sam Gyimah, Jo Stevens, Universities UK, Universities Superannuation Scheme, Jo Johnson, Toby Young, Office for Students The Times, Angela Raynor
  • Feb.25.2018: Vice-chancellors’ £8m bill for luxury trips. University vice-chancellors are enjoying fine dining, luxury travel and other perks on expenses, according to an investigation by Channel 4. Vice-chancellors and senior colleagues claimed almost £8m in expenses in 2 years, with Surrey University paying £1,600 to relocate a vice-chancellor’s pet dog from Australia. Other claims were £1,300 for a work of art, £110 for a Fortnum & Mason hamper, £32.50 for four Laura Ashley mugs and £79 for a silver salver. Channel 4's Dispatches received some 197 FoI responses from 157 universities. They show university chiefs claimed about £400,000 in dining and entertainment expenses over two years, including a claim for a “porn star martini”. Professor Graham Galbraith, vice-chancellor of Portsmouth University, claimed £5,187.33 for flights and four nights at the five-star InterContinental Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Sir Keith Burnett, vice-chancellor at Sheffield University, claimed £3,107.54 for a five-night stay at a five-star hotel in Singapore for him and his wife. Guardian article here. The Times, Sam Griffiths
  • Feb.23.2018: University pension chief got pay rise despite £6bn deficit. Bill Galvin, chief executive of the vast universities pension scheme at the centre of the nationwide strike was given an £82,000 pay rise this year despite claims that there is a £6 billion hole in the fund. Galvin's pay package rose by 17 per cent from £484,000 to £566,000, according to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS). Two staff earn more than £1 million, the annual report shows, and running costs for the scheme are £125 million. Mr Galvin has previously described the pension scheme as "excellent value". Sally Hunt, leader of the University and College Union (UCU) lecturers’ union, which organised the strike, said it was hard to see what justified such high pay. Sam Gyimah, the Universities Minister, said "UCU and UUK need to find a way through this damaging and avoidable impasse ASAP". The Times, Rosemary Bennett
  • Feb.09.2018: Elite universities attack 'disproportionate' plans to force them to publish salaries of staff earning more than £150,000. The new Office for Students has pledged to tackle the ‘excessive pay of vice chancellors’ and proposes that universities publish data on the highest salaries. Institutions must also disclose 'full details of the remuneration packages of those staff, including bonuses and pension contributions' and provide a justification of this pay that references 'performance against outcome measures'. In its response to the OfS consultation, the Russell Group says that 'around 75% of those paid over £150,000 are on academic contracts (including clinical academics where the pay scales are set by the NHS)'. The Russell Group has urged the OfS to allow universities to continue with current arrangements under which they sign up to the Committee of University Chairs' voluntary code on pay, which is currently under review, according to the Times Higher Education magazine. The University of Birmingham, which paid 48 staff more than £150,000 last year, said it had concerns about the regulatory burden of publishing salaries. At the University of Cambridge, four staff members were paid more than the £355,000 salary earned by Sir Leszek Borysiewicz in 2016-17. The highest-paid earned between £640,000 and £650,000, university accounts show. Three staff members at the University of Oxford earned more than Louise Richardson, its vice-chancellor, whose salary was £366,000 that year, with the highest-paid earning between £880,000 and £890,000. Daily Mail Online, Eleanor Harding
  • Feb.01.2018: Edinburgh University offers new Vice Chancellor a staggering £410k – as lecturers fight 40% cut to pensions. Edinburgh University has catapulted its new Vice Chancellor on to the list of best paid UK university bosses with a 33% salary hike, in a move unions say has ‘made a mockery’ of attempts to curb excessive pay packages for fat cat principals. Professor Peter Mathieson gets a welcome package worth £410,000 — along with a five-bedroom grace-and-favour home in the city centre. The University and College Union (UCU) described the figures as extraordinary. Left Foot Forward, Charlotte England
  • Jan.18.2018: More than £200k - ie almost every Vice-Chancellor - is too much. Period. Twitter, @AndrewAdonis

Executive #FatCats

  • Aug.15.2018: Top pay in UK up by 11% as workers’ wages fail to match inflation. FTSE 100 CEO earnings rise six time faster than the average worker, High Pay Centre's annual review says. Pay for chief executives at Britain’s biggest listed companies rose more than six times faster than wages in the wider workforce last year as the average boss’s pay packet hit £3.9m. The two largest and most controversial pay awards: the £47.1m awarded to Jeff Fairburn of the housebuilder Persimmon, last year’s biggest earner; and £42.8m for Simon Peckham, the boss of industrial turnaround specialist Melrose. City investors said the report showed that companies were not listening. Andrew Ninian, director of stewardship and corporate governance at the Investment Association, which represents major fund managers, said: “Investors have repeatedly highlighted their concerns with excessive CEO pay, so it is frustrating that the message does not appear to be getting through to some FTSE 100 boardrooms. This year we have seen more FTSE 100 companies get significant votes against their remuneration reports than in previous years.” Almost half the votes cast at Persimmon’s annual meeting in April opposed Fairburn’s pay package. Uproar over his pay forced Fairburn to say he would take about half this year’s payout, which could be worth about £60m. At Melrose, which bought the engineering company GKN in May, more than a quarter of shareholder votes failed to back Peckham’s pay deal. Pay at Persimmon and Melrose sent the mean figure for chief executive pay – which divides total pay for FTSE 100 bosses by the number of CEOs – up 23% to £5.7m in 2017, which is 9 times the rate of mean wage growth. Rob Perrins, Berkeley Group. Jeremy Darrock, Sky. Martin Sorrell, WPP. Zoran Bogdanovic, Coca-Cola HBC AG. Rakesh Kapoor, Reckit Benckiser. Andre Lacroix, Intertek. Nicandro Durante, British American Tobacco. Bob Dudley, BP. The mean figure for women bosses was £2.8m – less than half the £5.9m average for men. Theresa May vowed to crack down onhigh executive pay when she became prime minister, but the govt has watered down its proposals and scrapped a pledge to put workers on boards. Frances O'Grady, general secretary of the TUC, said: “Pay for most people is barely rising at all. So working people will find it hard to understand why fat cat executives are splashing the cash for themselves.. Workers should get seats on boardroom pay committees to bring a bit of common sense to pay decisions. And the government should put the minimum wage up to £10 an hour to give more workers a fairer share of the wealth they create.” Sean Farrell, The Guardian.
  • Mar.04.2018: May attacks 'perverse incentive' of housing industry bonuses. PM to criticise focus on profits rather than homes built as she aims to rewrite rules on planning. Theresa May will hit out at the “perverse incentive” of housing industry bonus structures paying out millions of pounds to chief executives as a result of company profits rather than the number of homes built. The prime minister will make the comments as she unveils a series of measures, previously outlined in the government’s housing white paper, to rewrite the rules on planning in an attempt to boost the speed of housebuilding and ease prices. The prime minister will make the comments as she unveils a series of measures, previously outlined in the government’s housing white paper, to rewrite the rules on planning in an attempt to boost the speed of housebuilding and ease prices. May, who wants to make housing her number one domestic priority, will say she expects “developers to do their duty to Britain and build the homes our country needs”. The comments come after a decision to pay the chief executive of housebuilder Persimmon a £110m bonus was widely criticised, with some describing it as “corporate looting”. Steve Turner from the Home Builders Federation said: “We welcome measures to speed up the planning system and stimulate all parts of the market from starter to retirement homes". John Healey argued that May should be embarrassed to be “fronting up these feeble measures first announced a year ago”. May will promise to retain protections for the green belt, saying boundaries can only be changed if every “other reasonable option” for places to build needed homes had been explored. Downing Street pointed out that only 10% of England has been built on and only 13% is covered by green belt. But Mark Littlewood, Director General at the Institute of Economic Affairs said the commitment to the Green belt meant the proposals fell “at the first hurdle”. Anushka Asthana, The Guardian.

Other

  • Jun.03.2018: SNP plan to limit bosses’ pay. An SNP proposal would target so-called fat cat bosses with a legal mechanism to control wages and bonuses. The proposal, to be debated at the party conference in Aberdeen this week, involves a wage ratio that would limit executives’ pay depending on the earnings of their lowest-paid employees. As an example, a maximum pay ratio of 20:1 in the public sector and for companies bidding for public contracts would mean that if the lowest-paid worker earns £10 an hour, the highest-paid person on the payroll would get no more than £200 an hour. The idea mirrors UK Labour Party policy and follows an analysis by the Equality Trust last year, which said FTSE 100 chief executives earn an average of £5.3m a year, 386 times more than a worker on the national living wage. Glasgow SNP MSP Ivan McKee welcomed the conference resolution from the party’s Glasgow Provan branch, which wants the power to set wage levels to be devolved to Holyrood, with ministers allowed to implement wage ratios in the public and private sector. The SNP could quickly implement the idea under existing powers to set maximum salaries within the Scottish government, the Scottish parliament, health boards, quangos and local councils in which it has a majority. This year a “town hall rich list” created by the Taxpayers' Alliance showed that 21 local authority executives were on more money than first minister Nicola Sturgeon, who receives £135,605 a year. South Lanarkshire chief executive Lindsay Freeland was named top earner on £180,862, while Peter Duthie, head of Glasgow council’s Hydro and SEC venues, received £171,666 — nearly £4,000 more than Annemarie O’Donnell, the authority’s chief executive. John Boothman, The Times.
  • Mar.15.2018: Corporate greed and the new robber barons. Direct Line, Aviva, Admiral and Esure have just reported full-year earnings. All have delivered increases in profits and hikes to their dividend payouts. These profits come at a time when car insurance premiums are at their highest level since 2012. Many insurers have attributed these premium increases to rising claims costs, but if claims costs really were increasing, profits would surely be lower. In fact, govt figures show the number of claims is falling sharply. Yet some insurers continue to blame claimants for putting prices up and are urging the govt to crack down on injured people making claims for personal injury, so as to save themselves more money. The PM's words will have a hollow ring for thousands of injured people... The Times, Letters
  • Mar.07.2018: Workers dragged beneath poverty line by low wages. Britain is experiencing an epidemic of in-work poverty as weak wage growth and part-time jobs have left many of those in employment struggling. Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) found that 57% of Britons in poverty live in a household where someone is in work, up from 35% in 1995. The Times, Philip Aldrick
  • Nov.15.2017: UK pay squeeze tightens but unemployment dips. Wages continue to lag behind the cost of living in the UK, while unemployment remains at a 42-year low. BBC News, '
  • Nov.13.2017: UK pay squeeze to last five more years, warns thinktank. Average pay packet will be more than £20 lower than when financial crisis started in 2007, says Resolution Foundation report. The Guardian, Larry Elliott
  • Aug.02.2017: Pay squeezes need to be looked at through a wider lens. The big numbers around general pay rises which we see the BBC, TUC and CIPD commenting on hide a more complex and nuanced picture than it might appear. REBA, Deborah Rees
  • 2013.12.01: My week as an Amazon insider, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/dec/01/week-amazon-insider-feature-treatment-employees-work

People

Oil / Gas / Fossil Fuels

Financial

Interactive Investor Ltd

Interactive Investor provides direct-to-investor investment services in the UK, through its flat-fee digital investment platform branded as interactive investor or ii (previously Interactive Investor International or iii). The group offers retail investors an investment service to manage and trade shares, funds, investment trusts and bonds via trading accounts, ISAs and SIPPs. Its website provides content which is intended to support investors in making decisions associated with online trading and investment.ref CH, Website

Flag-UK.svg Interactive Investor Ltd[]

Grupo Safra SA

The Safra Group is an international network of companies controlled by the Safra family, comprising banking and financial institutions, industrial operations, real estate and agribusiness. It is present in the US, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, Asia and the Caribbean. Safra GroupWikipedia-W.svg, Website, Reports, Safra Family

Flag-Brazil.svg Grupo Safra SA

ITC Capital Partners LLC

ITC-Capital-Partners.svg
ITC Capital Partners is a privately held, entrepreneurial investment firm that was formed based upon the ITC Holding Company LLC, which was founded in 1896. ITC Capital Partners invests in entrepreneurs whose ideas and values are consistent with those of our founders.ref ITC Capital Partners incorporated in 2013, and is based in West Point, Georgia.ref, Portfolio, ITC Capital Website, ITC Holdco Website, ITC Holdco.arch, History, link, link, ITC Security Partners: Website, Website.arch
  • Oct.2017: Argo Contact Centers: ITC Capital Partners LLC and LJMN Holdings LLC partnered in the acquisition of Argo Contact Centers, adding BPO Contact Center Services to the ITC Capital Partners and LJMN portfolio of businesses.ref
  • Jun.2017: AMK9's Govt Services Division was acquired by Constellis Holdings Inc. ITC retained the VaporWake division.ref
  • 2014: American K9 Detection Services LLC was acquired from ??[ref]

Altamont Capital Partners Inc

ACP Inc, doing business in California as Altamont Capital Partners Inc, is a private equity firm based in the San Francisco Bay area, focused primarily on making long-term investments in middle market businesses. The ACP investment focus is middle-market sized businesses where they can partner with the management team to help companies reach their full market space growth potential. Its approach relies on partnering with strong management, supporting the business with its considerable resources, and bringing a constructive and pragmatic mindset to drive significant long-term value. Portfolio, Website.arch, B'berg, OC, CW

CapVest Partners LLP

The (designated) members of the partnership are also directors of CapVest Ltd, designated members of CapVest Associates LLP, and members of MV Credit Partners LLP.(AR-Mar.2018) B'berg, capvest.co.ukArchive-org-sm.svg, capvest.co.ukArchive-org-sm.svg, capvest.co.uk Where does MezzVest fit in? Also CapVest Associates LLP, CapVest Equity Partners LP, Capvest Ltd.

Current portfolio companies (Jun.2019):

Historic:

  • FoodVest:
    • Jul.2008: Foodvest sold to a Lion Capital LLP-led consortium.ref
    • Jan.2006: CapVest formed FoodVest to combine the businesses of Young's, Findus and The Seafood Company.
    • Jan.2006: buying the UK-based Findus operations from EQT Partners took Young's total sales to around £1bn, before FoodVest was sold to Lion. Lion now shares ownership of Young's with HPS Investment Partners and Bain Capital Credit.ref
    • Jul.2008: Sold to Lion Capital LLP.ref
    • 2004: Took a 34% stake in the Macrae Food Group.
    • In 2003, the company made its first acquisition, snapping up the chilled seafood division of Albert Fisher Group. Later the same year, Young's bought Pinegain and its Marr Foods division.
    • 2002: CapVest backed a management buyout of Young's (Young's Bluecrest Seafood) from Legal & General Ventures.link

Pendal Group Ltd

Cooper Investors Pty Ltd

website, link, Bloomberg, DDG

Investors Mutual Ltd

Investors Mutual LimitedWikipedia-W.svg, Australian asset management limited company. Natixis Global Asset Management holds "an interest" in IML. website

Perpetual Ltd

Perpetual is an Australian diversified financial services company. The firm operates in 3 areas: Perpetual Investments, Perpetual Private and Perpetual Corporate Trust.ref

Perpetual Investment Management Ltd
Not to be confused with Invesco Perpetual.

Perpetual Investment Management Ltd is an Australian, privately-owned, investment manager, primarily providing services to institutional and retail clients. The firm operates as a subsidiary of Perpetual Ltd, an Australian investment and trustee group which provides investment products, financial advice, philanthropic and corporate service to individuals, families, financial advisers and organisations.MarketScreener-sm.svg website, Bloomberg, link, Perpetual LimitedWikipedia-W.svg, DDG, DDG

AMP Ltd
AMP Capital Investors Ltd
AMP Capital is an investment manager, headquartered in Sydney, Australia. Its majority shareholder is AMP Ltd (est. in 1849), which is one of Australia's largest retail and corporate pension providers. AMP Capital has a strategic alliance with Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation, which is also a shareholder. (WP)
  • 2013: Towercom Holdings Ltd was purchased by the Irish Infrastructure Fund,[2] co-managed by AMP Capital and Irish Life Investment Managers.[3] Towercom was formed in 2007 when Threefold Project Management, a venture run by the businessman Tony Killarney and Goodbody Private Equity, bought 338 masts (MastCo) from Eircom.ref Towercom Holdings also owns wind farms, healthcare centres and the telco Enet.

link, link, link, link, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/phone-mast-firm-towercom-rings-up-29m-dividend-5gzfpbhl2 link]. towercom.ie

  • Sept.2005: AMP Ltd exited the UK by selling its remaining 11.3% stake in Hendersons.ref
  • Dec.2003: HHG plc: AMP Ltd demerged its Australasian and UK-based businesses (but retained a 15% stake). Henderson became part of HHG plc,OpenCorporates-sm.svg a new UK holding company listed on the London and Sydney Stock Exchanges.
  • Mar.1998: AMP Ltd acquired Henderson plc.
  • Feb.1996: Virgin Money Group Ltd: AMP (UK) plc entered into a joint venture with Virgin Direct.ref
  • Flag-Australia.svg AMP Capital Investors Ltd

Alberta Investment Management Corporation

Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) is one of Canada's largest and most diversified institutional investment managers. AIMCo operates independently from the Govt of Alberta and invests globally on behalf of 26 pension, endowment and government funds in the Province of Alberta, including the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund. AIMCo is expanding its global private equity investments with a focus on direct transactions.[4]

AIMCo's UK investments (link):

Rates

  • Nov.10.2018: Retailers in line for £500m cashback after winning ATM battle. Leading high street retailers are due tax refunds of up to £500 million after appeal judges ruled yesterday that business rates should not be imposed on cash machines in shops. Sainsbury’s, Tesco and the Co-op defeated the government over its attempt to place separate rates on thousands of cash machines in stores. Jonathan Ames, The Times.

Islam Issues

  • Feb.07.2018: Judge orders demolition of Abbey Mills mosque in Stratford, East London. Abbey Mills mosque was built as a temporary Islamic centre on the site of a former chemical factory bought in 1996 by a group of Islamic missionaries from the Tablighi Jamaat. The movement began in India in the 1920s and has been accused of spreading an isolationist interpretation of Islam. It has said that it is apolitical and wants Muslims to return to the core principles of Islam. The group drew up plans for a large UK HQ, including a so-called "mega mosque" for tens of thousands of worshippers. The Times, Kaya Burgess
  • ^ San Leon Energy Completes Acquisition Of Realm Energy. OilVoice, Nov.14.2011. Original archived on Nov.18.2011.
  • ^ Acquisition of Realm Energy International Corporation. Natural Gas Europe, Aug.2011.
  • ^ Periodical Publishers' Service Bureau, Inc. Acquires American Publishers, Inc. Press Release, Hearst Communications Inc, Jan.05.2004.
  • ^ PPSB Division History. Press Release, Periodical Publishers Service Bureau Inc. Original archived on Oct.09.2007.