Nationwide chief executive Graham Beale to retire next year as profits jump 54 per cent May 22, 2015 Nationwide's chief executive Graham Beale will step down next year, the building society has confirmed. Beale, who is expected to retire “at or around the date of the AGM in July”, will have been at the helm of the lender for nine years and a board member for 13 years. Nationwide is now looking [...]
This pro-immigration group has launched a nationwide poster campaign April 9, 2015 If you're fed up with the anti-immigration rhetoric surrounding this year's General Election … (ahem, Ukip) then here's a group that's actually doing something about it. The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI), which consistently campaigns against discrimination, is spending £44,000 on posters highlighting the importance of immigrants to British society. "The poster campaign [...]
Nationwide House Price Index: UK house prices hit a new record high April 29, 2015 UK’s house price growth rose by an annual rate of 5.2 per cent in April, a small rise from March’s figure of 5.1 per cent. This put the average cost of a house in the UK at £193,048, the highest since records began. The figures According to data from Nationwide, UK house prices rose one per [...]
High street banks plan to help Treasury offload £17bn of Bradford and Bingley loans March 1, 2016 Britain’s largest high street banks are planning to help the Treasury offload £17bn of Bradford and Bingley (B&B) loans. The proposal would see Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland, Nationwide and Santander guarantee around £17bn of financing to the purchasers of the loans. It emerged at the beginning of this year that a sizeable part [...]
Bank of England sets out UK bank stress test scenario and reveals plans to raise the countercyclical buffer rate for British banks in 2017 March 29, 2016 British banks, building societies and investment firms will need to build up their cash piles under new rules revealed today by the Bank of England. In a statement today, the Bank’s Financial Policy Committee (FPC) said that even though British banks have improved their “resilience” in spite of global and domestic headwinds, investors expect weaker [...]
How to do things differently in the pub industry: An interview with Marston’s chief executive Ralph Findlay June 1, 2016 It's fair to say it’s been a challenging decade for the UK's pub sector. First it was hit by the smoking ban in 2007, then by the recession in 2009. Revenues across the industry have also been affected by broadly falling levels of alcohol consumption. Pub companies have been forced to rethink their strategies to stay [...]
Here’s why mums go to Iceland: Supermarket beats Tesco, Asda and Morrisons to be named the best online retailer in consumer survey, and boss Malcolm Walker is clearly pleased February 15, 2016 Iceland, favourite of mothers across the nation and anybody else looking for decently priced party snacks they can stock in their freezer, has been voted the UK's best online supermarket. The league table released today by Which? gives Iceland an impressive overall customer satisfaction score of 77 per cent, ranking it above Waitrose, Ocado and [...]
Will Brexit knock house prices? Not in prime central London May 13, 2016 In a bid to sway voters, George Osborne is predicting Armageddon in every economic sector as the collateral damage of Brexit. This week he pointed the finger at property prices, predicting a significant dampening if the UK votes to leave. The chancellor is correct that the property market does stall in the face of investor uncertainty, [...]
Five of the best: Ethical banks to stash your savings June 22, 2016 Banks have been mired in scandal over the last decade. The 2008 financial crisis has been followed by countless investigations and fines. Big banks have variously been caught out for mis-selling products, violating sanctions and manipulating prices of gold, silver, currencies, and libor interest rates. Not surprisingly, headlines have been filled with ire over banks’ unseemly [...]
City Moves for 18 December 2015 | Who’s switching jobs December 17, 2015 TOGETHER Andrew Murdoch has joined specialist lender Together as group valuations manager, after 12 years with Eddisons. A Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors-registered valuer and registered receiver, he has extensive experience in valuation, asset management and value enhancement. At Eddisons, he spent eight years specialising in corporate recovery, insolvency and LPA receiverships, including two year-long [...]