news 11 Shareleague Thames Valley Presented by in association with Business T H E M A G A Z I N E In line with the national and
time for Thames Valley company share prices, with none of the large regionally-based groups managing to move in a forward direction.
Newbury-based Micro Focus managed to buck the trend, however, with shares rising 8% during a month in which it announced the launch of a new product.
The company explained: “A lack of pragmatic software development lifecycle (SDLC) project models is
IT project failures in organisations across industries and geographies.” To address this, Micro Focus launched an online self-assessment tool “which helps software organisations begin the process of making strategic and continuous improvements to the SDLC”.
Most successful small company was Maidenhead group Costain, the engineering solutions providers, which spent £16.4 million to acquire Promanex, a Midlands industrial support services business that provides facilities management, installation, repair and maintenance and general asset management in a number of high growth, specialist markets.
The group also announced “another strong performance” in interim results
23% to £10.1m.
Once again the star performance came from a sub-£50m turnover company, with Milestone Group showing a 23% rise in its share price. The AIM-quoted provider of digital media and technology solutions acquired Oil Productions, a multi- platform digital media design studio, for up to £600,000.
Large (over £1 billion) Closing price
CENTRICA
GLAXOSMITHKLINE SERCO GROUP
ULTRA ELECTRONICS HDG. RECKITT BENCKISER GROUP WOLSELEY
ICTL.HTLS.GP. HALMA SEGRO
INTL.CONS.AIRL.GP.(CDI )
31/07/11 306.6 1364 540
1573 3457 1815 1208 405 302
237.3
Closing price 31/08/11 299.2
1310.5 513
1491 3275 1602 1046 347.9 258.7 174.8
Medium (£250 million to £1 billion) Closing price
MICRO FOCUS INTL. DE LA RUE
AVIS EUROPE GENUS
DAIRY CREST DIXONS RETAIL
MORGAN CRUCIBLE
OXFORD INSTRUMENTS CABLE & WIRELESS WWD. ASHTEAD GROUP
31/07/11 290
780.5 311.9 973.5 375.5 14.16 329
985.5 41.87 160.4
COSTAIN GROUP
PINEWOOD SHEPPERTON TIMEWEAVE MCBRIDE
ALBEMARLE & BOND HDG. OXFORD BIOMEDICA ACAL RM
XP POWER (DI ) YELL GROUP
31/07/11 211.5
222.75 25.88
131.25 375
7.12
302.13 119.25 1528 6.81
Sub £50 million Closing price
MILESTONE GROUP PARSEQ
BEZANT RESOURCES IMMEDIA GROUP NORTHAMBER OMG
PROLOGIC
ZINCOX RESOURCES CORAC GROUP VERNALIS
31/07/11 0.73 5
35
8.87 55.5 26
35.5
77.75 13.5
47.88 THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – OCTOBER 2011
Closing price 31/08/11 312
806.5 313.7 945
363.2 12.08 275 818
34.75 117.8
Small (£50 million to £250 million) Closing price
Closing price 31/08/11 238
241.25 27
131 370
5.75 240
91.25 1135 4.97
Closing price 31/08/11 0.9 6
40.75 9.12 56.5 20.5 27.5
58.38 10.13 34.63
Change in share price -2% -4% -5% -5% -5%
-12% -13% -14% -14% -26%
Change in share price 8% 3% 1%
-3% -3%
-15% -16% -17% -17% -27%
Change in share price 13% 8% 4% 0%
-1%
-19% -21% -23% -26% -27%
Change in share price 23% 20% 16% 3% 2%
-21% -23% -25% -25% -28%
People in focus i EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATES
Gender & equal pay - is there still a wide chasm?
Despite over 40 years of equal pay legislation, it seems the gender pay gap is widening rather than shrinking, with a recent report indicating that it could take up to 100 years for the chasm to close!
A recent study by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) shows
£10,500 between male and female managers doing the same job. The study speculates that it could take 98 years for women to reach the point where they receive equal pay.
So: 1, what more needs to be done to achieve pay equality between the sexes and 2, why is it that women are still paid less than their male counterparts despite the existence of legislation which is intended to avoid this very issue?
The Government recognises that more needs to be done to address the issue of the gender pay gap. Whilst the Equality Act 2010 was an opportunity to introduce more legislation to address this it was decided, following consultation, that businesses should be encouraged to introduce voluntary measures instead.
In December 2010, the Government published The Equality Strategy - Building a Fairer Britain, which sets out the government’s new approach to tackling inequality through transparency and behaviour change. The key proposals include: positive action in
working; parental leave; removal of the default retirement age; lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality; and voluntary gender pay reporting in the private sector.
Voluntary gender pay reporting is aimed at all businesses, particularly those with 150 or more employees. The Equality and Human Rights Commission has put forward proposals with guidelines on how this reporting should be carried out, including disclosure of pay
in the median hourly earnings of men and women. To date, these proposals have been met with criticism and resistance, including from the CBI, which has refused to support the plans and described them as “narrow and prescriptive”. It is speculated that if by 2013 these measures have not shown much success, the Government may bring into force section 78 of the Equality Act 2010 which requires mandatory publication of information relating to employees’ pay.
How well these voluntary measures will be adopted and their success remains to be seen. The Government has set up a ministerial group to oversee the implementation of this strategy and to review its progress annually. If the voluntary approach does not work, it is likely that the Government will take steps towards making these measures compulsory.
For further information about this update or any other employment law issue, check our website: www.
boyesturner.com.
Details: Barry Stanton partner, employment
bstanton@boyesturner.com www.boyesturner.com 0118 -9527284
Follow us on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/btemplaw To request our weekly employment law updates email:
elg@boyesturner.com Listen to our employment law podcasts:
www.boyesturner.com/services- employment.html?pgid=349
www.businessmag.co.uk
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