Industry voices scepticism over pension policy January 27, 2014 GOVERNMENT plans to encourage a new type of pension system got a tepid response from the industry yesterday, with concerns about how it would work and the risk it would expose savers to. Pensions minister Steve Webb promoted the collective defined contribution (CDC) schemes this weekend, which would allow people to pool their savings and risk, [...]
Why Britain’s changing economy needs a fresh monetary strategy April 9, 2014 THE PICK-UP in UK economic growth, which started last year, has continued into 2014 and appears to have gathered further momentum. Earlier this week, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) Economic Survey painted a picture of strong demand at home and abroad in both manufacturing and services industries. The survey also showed that companies are [...]
RSA says Ireland issue isolated January 7, 2014 Insurance group RSA announced yesterday that it believes its £200m capital hole is confined to its troubled Irish arm, promising to disclose more detail tomorrow. The firm was commenting on a PwC report it commissioned last year, which determined that the capital hole was an “isolated incident” that did not reflect on the group more [...]
City Moves for 20 February 2014 | Who’s switching jobs February 19, 2014 Santander Corporate & Commercial Andrew Whelan has been appointed managing director for regional real estate finance at Santander Corporate & Commercial. He joined in 2010 from Bank of Ireland, and has previously held roles at Barclays. Aldermore Asset Finance The challenger bank has made three appointments to its asset finance team. Carey Hansford joins as a business [...]
Britain’s tax on flying is causing serious economic damage March 18, 2014 IT’S THAT time of the year when the chancellor confirms that Air Passenger Duty (APD) is set to rise once again, ensuring that passengers flying from London’s airports will pay the highest departure tax of any country in the world. After the publication late last year of the Airports Commission’s interim findings, debate has rightly [...]
Insurers count the cost of recent floods as bill tops £400 million January 28, 2014 THE INSURANCE industry looks set to pay out millions of pounds worth of claims after the country was hit by bad weather and flooding over the Christmas period. Figures released by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) put the estimated insured cost of the damage at £426m. The figure is the result of 174,000 claims between [...]
ABP establishes global headquarters in Newham February 6, 2014 The bosses of Advanced Business Park, the Chinese developer that wants to overhaul London’s Royal Albert Docks, unpacked their bags and moved into Newham today after a striking a deal to open new global headquarters there. At a formal signing ceremony this morning between ABP Chairman Xu Weiping and Mayor of Newham Sir Robin Wales [...]
City Moves for 13 February 2014 | Who’s switching jobs February 12, 2014 LGP Legal & General Property has announced the appointment of James O’Neill as head of international distribution. He was most recently at Grosvenor Fund Management, where he was director of capital markets. Prior to that, he held business development roles at PwC. KPMG The professional services firm has appointed Jim Grover as a senior adviser in [...]
Costain to raise £75m as plans acquisitions to drive growth February 27, 2014 ENGINEERING and construction firm Costain yesterday unveiled a £75.1m capital raising yesterday, which it said it would use to accelerate its growth prospects. Costain said it would raise £25m via a firm placing, while the remaining £50.1m is set to be raised through a placing and open offer. The engineer’s ambitious growth ambitions come after [...]
British business still too weak to fund pensions December 8, 2013 BRITAIN’S biggest businesses are struggling to support their defined benefit (DB) pension schemes despite rising stock markets and renewed confidence in the economy, a study out today reveals. The ability of FTSE 350 companies to fund their DB schemes – a type of pension plan tied to final salary – has failed to rally alongside [...]