City economists urge Bank of England to avoid interest rate cut January 29, 2020 For the whole of 2019, the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee (MPC) held interest rates steady despite a slowing economy as parliament wrestled with Brexit. Yet with Britain now leaving the EU, there is a real possibility the MPC will cut rates for the first time in four years tomorrow, in what will be [...]
HSBC to move top brass out of Canary Wharf in ‘pivot to Asia’ February 22, 2021 HSBC will accelerate plans to increase its presence in Asia, as the bank prepares to shift some of its senior executives from London to Hong Kong, according to reports. Chief executive Noel Quinn is expected to begin marketing HSBC’s “pivot to Asia” when he announces the bank’s 2020 earnings tomorrow. Under the plans, a raft [...]
US investment giant Fidelity in talks over £100m Starling Bank stake January 29, 2021 US finance giant Fidelity is said to be in discussions over taking a £100m stake in Starling Bank amid surging interest in digital lenders. Fidelity Management & Research (FMR), which manages trillions of dollars in assets, is in advanced talks to lead a fresh round of funding worth £200m, Sky News reported. The US investment [...]
Banks claw back fraudulent bounce back loans January 24, 2021 High street banks are scrambling to claw back emergency coronavirus loans linked to suspected fraud. Banks including HSBC, Barclays, Natwest and Lloyds are among those that have started to freeze accounts over fears that government-backed bounce back loans have been obtained fraudulently. They have reclaimed up to £50,000 from customers, according to the Mail on [...]
Meet the influential women building the future of Britain March 6, 2020 With International Women’s Day on the horizon, we celebrate some of the UK’s most influential women, and how their contributions are shaping the future of the nation. It’s been over a month since the UK entered the transitional period between leaving the EU and confirming a final deal with Europe. Although the pound has remained [...]
Ranked: Britain’s best and worst bank accounts November 30, 2019 Brits now enjoy a larger choice of bank accounts than ever before, with rival offerings from time-honoured high street stalwarts to exciting new fintech upstarts. But if the choice at times seems overwhelming, a new league table has revealed which banks score highly for customer service and communication – and which leave a lot to [...]
Mitie’s clients hold back on spending until after Brexit and the General Election November 21, 2019 Outsourcing giant Mitie has warned that its clients are holding back on committing to new projects, amid ongoing Brexit uncertainty and the upcoming general election. The firm, which provides cleaning, security, facilities management, energy and healthcare services, said the uncertainty could affect revenue growth in the coming months. Read more: Mitie to continue managing Lloyds [...]
Barclays profit more than doubles to £2.4bn, as it shifts call centres to UK from India April 30, 2021 Barclays’ profit more than doubled in the first quarter despite not releasing cash set aside to cover bad loans from the pandemic like its British rivals. The bank posted a pre-tax profit of £2.4bn for the first three months of the year, up from £923m in the same period a year earlier and beating an [...]
London business confidence falls in May as Brexit chaos continues May 31, 2019 Business confidence in London fell nine points in May to 10 per cent, according to a study published today. Companies in the London region reported lower confidence in their business prospects, with a 12 point fall to 16 per cent, the report from Lloyds Bank showed. London firms’ hiring intentions showed a net balance of [...]
Global dividend payments fared better than expected due to strong fourth quarter February 22, 2021 Global dividend payouts fared better than expected last year after a strong fourth quarter kept total cuts to $220bn. Janus Henderson’s latest Global Dividend Index reveals that although payments fell 12.2 per cent over the year, it was better than the previously forecasted $1.2 trillion. This was largely because fourth quarter cuts were less severe, [...]