Apple Pay in the UK: These are the retailers and restaurants signed up for the July launch June 9, 2015 Some of the UK's biggest retailers are lining up to start accepting Apple Pay when it launches in the UK next month. As well as being able to use your iPhone or Apple Watch to seamlessly glide through ticket barriers on the Tube, the Silicon Valley giant has its finger hovering over the button [...]
Government to sell its share in Green Investment Bank June 21, 2015 The Conservatives are set to step up their privatisation push, with the first sale of shares in the Green Investment Bank (GIB). Read more: Green Investment Bank to set up £1bn offshore wind projects Advisers from Bank of America Merrill Lynch have been coordinating with Whitehall officials to sell the GIB, which lends money to environmentally-friendly [...]
Who will pay Edward Bramson’s tab for TGI Fridays bid? September 23, 2015 Perhaps Edward Bramson just likes caravan holidays. There are few other obvious reasons why the prominent activist investor is returning for a second bout of City-style pugilism with Electra Private Equity. Electra, the owner of Park Resorts and TGI Fridays, has barely recovered from its bruising (but victorious) encounter with Bramson’s investment vehicle, [...]
Government hires Goldman to advise on sales of bank shares June 18, 2015 Goldman Sachs will advise the government on the sale of its remaining stakes in Britain’s banks. Goldman was hired as the privatisation adviser to UK Financial Investments (UKFI), a holding company tasked with managing the taxpayer stakes in businesses across the economy, Sky News first reported last night. Chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne [...]
Mark Carney keeps quiet on Bank of England’s Brexit contingency plans February 4, 2016 Bank of England governor Mark Carney refused to speculate on the economic impact of a referendum on EU membership or disclose any information regarding the Bank's contingency plans. "It serves no-one at all to talk at length about the specifics of those contingency plans in advance," he told journalists after the monetary policy committee decided [...]
The government’s RBS share sell-off is about to begin: Here’s what you need to know August 2, 2015 This week, George Osborne is due to kick start the government's sale of its 78 per cent stake in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). Read more: Mansion House Speech 2015: Chancellor George Osborne will start government RBS sell-off as soon as possible The chancellor's plan to offload the shares was announced during his Mansion [...]
There’s nothing fishy about the government selling its stake in RBS August 4, 2015 Red herrings, known for their pungent odour, are said to have been used by escaping prisoners as a way of throwing the pursuing bloodhounds off their scent. Who knows if it ever worked. But if your nose tells you that there’s something fishy about the government’s decision to start selling off its shares in the [...]
Government could sell half its RBS stake within two years to raise £16bn July 6, 2015 The government could sell half of its stake in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) within two years, raising £16bn in the process. Read more: RBS' share price falls as it could face $13bn penalty over mortgage-backed securities The Chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne announced last month it would begin to sell off a stake in [...]
Summer Budget 2015: Barclays, HSBC, RBS share prices rise as Osborne reveals levy will be ditched July 8, 2015 Banks share prices lifted this afternoon as George Obsorne confirmed the levy would be phased out over the next six years. In a move widely seen as looking to sway HSBC, Standard Chartered et al from leaving the UK, Osborne's first all-Tory Budget confirmed that the levy would be cut gradually until 2022. Instead [...]
Job vacancies fall in April due to National Living Wage May 17, 2016 UK companies are hiring less staff due to the National Living Wage, a new report has concluded. The higher minimum wage was introduced on 1 April and means workers aged 25 and above must be paid at least £7.20 an hour, which equates to a pay rise for 1.3 million workers this year, according to [...]