Almost all UK housebuilders’ revenues fell as fewer homes built during covid July 13, 2021 Only one of the biggest housebuilders in Britain has seen an increase in its revenue and built more homes in 2020, new research shows. The latest research from Warwick Estates has revealed that Vistry Group was the only major house builder which saw improved performance in terms of the number of houses delivered, and in revenue. The [...]
Foxtons buys West London rival Douglas & Gordon for £14.25m March 2, 2021 London-listed estate agent Foxtons has confirmed it has acquired West London-based firm Douglas & Gordon for £14.25m. It comes just a week after the FTSE firm confirmed it was in discussions to “reflect the company’s stated ambition to acquire high quality businesses with strong lettings books.” Douglas and Gordon, which is run by former Foxtons [...]
Travis Perkins restarts Wickes demerger process as profit slumps March 2, 2021 Travis Perkins has recommenced the process to demerge its Wickes home improvement business, the company said on Tuesday. The group had put the process on hold at the start of the pandemic in March last year. CEO Nick Roberts believes it is the right time for Britain’s biggest seller of building materials to restart the [...]
What are the best FTSE 100 dividend stocks for September 2022? August 30, 2022 In this new inflationary reality, the best FTSE 100 dividend stocks are not just those which are highest yielding, but also those which are most likely to continue to pay their dividends through what could become a severe recession. The FTSE 100 is by its nature defensive, down a mere 1% year-to-date. But with the downturn almost [...]
AJ Bell buys mobile platform Adalpha March 19, 2021 AJ Bell has bought startup platform Adalpha to enhance its mobile offering for advisers and their clients. The investment platform, which has £55bn assets under administration, said the “simplified proposition” has the potential to complement its existing adviser platform business AJ Bell Investcentre. “Financial advisers need a variety of propositions to match a diverse range [...]
Persimmon and Aviva agree to make leasehold payments fairer for homeowners after CMA probe June 23, 2021 Following an investigation by the UK’s markets watchdog, housebuilder Persimmon and financial services group Aviva have agreed to overhaul their leasehold contracts to make payments fairer for homeowners. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigation into Persimonn’s leaseholds pushed the housebuilder to cap the price of freehold at £2,000 in its Right to Buy scheme [...]
18 energy suppliers pay out £10.4m for overcharging customers March 2, 2021 Ofgem has this morning charged 18 energy suppliers, including British Gas, Shell, and Scottish Power, a combined £10.4m for overcharging their customers. In total, over 1m customers were wrongly charged £7.2m for firms’ failures to correctly protect customers’ tariff prices when they decided to switch supplier or tariff. The watchdog said that most of the [...]
£11.05 per hour in London: 300,000 Brits get pay rise following hike in real living wage November 15, 2021 The new hourly Real Living Wage rate will be £11.05 in London and £9.90 outside the capital from today, increases of 20p and 40p respectively, it was announced. As a result, more than 300,000 workers are set to receive a pay rise as higher rates were announced for the Real Living Wage, a voluntary rate [...]
Watchdog opens probe into major homebuilders over leasehold practices September 4, 2020 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) today said it was opening enforcement cases against four of the UK’s biggest housebuilders over suspicions they may have broken consumer protection law in relation to leasehold homes. The CMA today said it was opening enforcement actions focusing on the practices of Barratt Developments, Countryside Properties, Persimmon Homes and [...]
Fresnillo triples profit on back of booming gold and silver prices March 2, 2021 Mexican miner Fresnillo this morning said that its profit tripled in 2020 as booming gold and silver prices offset a slight fall in production. The FTSE 100 firm said that profit before tax jumped to $551.3m (£397.3m) for the last financial year, up from $178.8m in 2019. That’s considerably ahead of analyst predictions of profit [...]