The Business Matrix: Saturday 12 April 2014

Clifford launches third Geiger MBO

Neil Clifford is heading a management buyout of Kurt Geiger for the third time. The MBO is being backed by the US private-equity firm Sycamore Partners, which has just bought Geiger’s current owner Jones Group. He first bought out Kurt Geiger from Harrods in 2005.

Weather causes drop in building

Builders were forced to down tools by February’s floods and storms, official statistics showed yesterday. Total output fell by 2.8 per cent from January as exceptionally bad weather afflicted large areas of the country, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Firm to find new boss at Centrica

Centrica, the owner of British Gas, has begun the search for a new chief executive after its £2m-a-year boss Sam Laidlaw indicated that he wants to step down this year. The company is believed to have hired the headhunters Spencer Stuart.

JPMorgan Chase earnings drop 19%

JPMorgan Chase posted a 19 per cent fall in quarterly earnings yesterday as uncertainty about the US economy weighed on trading volumes and consumer borrowing. The US bank’s bond-trading revenue plunged 21 per cent.