Icelandic saga takes a new twist for staff of Teathers

Staff have dubbed it "the post-Icelandic support group". Employees at Mayfair stockbroker Teathers, who have taken a double hit from Iceland's banking meltdown, are today on the verge of getting a new employer - Singer Capital Markets, itself rescued from the country's chill.

Teathers chief executive Nick Stagg is hammering out a deal with Singer, with an announcement expected later today or tomorrow.

Teathers, formerly Teather & Greenwood and one of the City's oldest stockbroking firms, was bought by Landsbanki in 2005. It pumped money into the broker, including splashing out on lavish staff jaunts to the homeland.

But the festivities come to a halt last October when Teathers was forced to stop trading after Landsbanki's nationalisation. Then white knight Straumur-Burdaras arrived - the only Icelandic bank that had not fallen under state control. Teathers' name was revived and 75 of its 220 staff were hired. Last week, the reprieve proved all too temporary, when Straumur bowed to the inevitable and was taken under government control.

Singers was likewise hit by the cold wind blowing from the North West. Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander went into administration in October after parent Kaupthing collapsed. Chief executive Tim Cockroft then led a management buyout, renaming the investment bank Singer Capital Markets.

Staff in Teathers' Berkeley Square office are now waiting to find out how many of them will be taken on by Singers.