Time to move to Chatham? Best value commuter towns cut thousands off London house prices July 29, 2015 A one hour commute can knock around £450,000 off the average price of a house, according to new research published today by a major UK bank. Towns which are an hour’s commute from central London, which include Crawley, Newbury, Colchester and Chatham have an average property price of £272,000 – a significant contrast to the average [...]
Business in Britain: London firms’ confidence dips against UK average July 5, 2015 Lloyds Bank today released figures showing that business confidence in London has fallen slightly against the national average. The biannual Business in Britain report surveyed 1,500 UK SMEs and found companies in London expected increased orders and profits over the next six months. However, limited growth meant the overall measure of confidence fell [...]
Rescued banks are not out of the woods yet: New FCA rules to improve account transparency for customers July 23, 2015 The City watchdog put more pressure on the financial sector yesterday with new rules that could see banks and building societies named and shamed for paying poor interest rates to longstanding customers. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said that from next year, firms will have to provide clear information on how much interest savers are paid [...]
City Moves for 4 September 2015 | Who’s switching jobs September 3, 2015 EY Ajay Rawal has been appointed partner within the professional services firm’s financial services transaction advisory practice. He joins from Alvarez & Marsal, where he was a partner in its European financial industry advisory services group. Rawal has over 15 years’ experience consulting in financial services. LONDON Advertising Bruce Haines has been appointed chairman at [...]
City Moves for 15 September 2015 | Who’s switching jobs September 14, 2015 Societe Generale Societe Generale Corporate and Investment Banking has announced two appointments in its global finance division. Alvaro Huete (pictured) becomes deputy head of global finance and head of global finance for the UK. He was previously global head of syndications and has also worked at Nomura, Banco Urquijo and Lloyds Bank. Terence Shanahan, previously [...]
Fintech is booming – but where are the insurance tech startups? September 17, 2015 As a technology investor, I spend my days scouring Europe in search of the next big thing. London’s fintech scene has been a profitable hunting ground of late. With the UK fintech industry generating $20bn in revenue annually, it is not surprising that $5.4bn has been invested in British fintech companies since 2010. [...]
Odd Shares Awards nominees August 2, 2015 NOMINATIONS have just opened for this year’s annual Shares Awards, and some of the nominees may already raise a few eyebrows. Last month, customers were up in arms after several banks failed to sign on to mobile payment system Apple Pay, despite many believing that some, such as HSBC, were meant to be launch partners. [...]
City Moves for 21 July 2015 | Who’s switching jobs July 20, 2015 Legal & General Property Richard Poyser has been appointed leasing manager at Legal & General Investment Management’s real assets division, and will be responsible for its Bracknell Town Centre development. He joins from Argent and has also worked at Hammerson. The Channel Managing Agency The Lloyd’s managing agency responsible for running The Channel Syndicate has [...]
Seabrook Crisps snapped up in Lloyds buyout July 20, 2015 BRADFORD-BASED Seabrook Crisps has been sold to Lloyds Bank for £35m in a management buyout, after the family-owned manufacturer returned to growth with a post-tax profit of £1.3m last year. Seabrook, which employs 150 staff and produces 20m crisp packets per year, has been bought by its senior management and Lloyds’ buyout branch LDC. LDC [...]
Nomura opens doors for disengaged kids August 16, 2015 DISADVANTAGED kids celebrated a victory this weekend as investment bank Nomura hosted a graduation ceremony in their own offices for those enrolled in a rigorous programme from education charity ThinkForward. The course has a big City backing, including from Barclays, EY, ICG, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan and UBS. Go team! ■ WANT to see something [...]