Admiral profits dented £33m by insurance regulation change August 14, 2019 Car insurer Admiral has taken a £33.3m hit to its profits following the introduction of changes to how compensation for those injured in accidents is calculated. The figures The government changed the Ogden rate, which governs how much insurers pay to people seriously injured in car accidents, in July. Admiral said the changes had cut [...]
Gap between Tory and Labour tax plans hits its biggest in a generation November 13, 2019 The Conservatives and Labour’s plans for taxes are the most different in a generation, a new report has said, with a “tax pledge gap” of £60bn set to become a key election battleground. Labour is expected to call for tax increases of at least £50bn a year in its manifesto, while the Conservatives’ are likely [...]
Hola, Ola: Meet the latest app to fight for Uber’s London crown February 10, 2020 Transport for London’s (TfL) decision not to renew Uber’s operating licence late last year split commuters down the middle, but the controversial ride-hailing app’s rivals have seized the opportunity to stake their claim to the capital. Uber’s effective ban came over concerns it had not done enough to protect Londoners after TfL identified a “pattern [...]
Follow the yellow brick road: the investment case for gold February 19, 2020 Investing can often feel like a rollercoaster, with the value of stock investments rising and falling sharply based on breaking news and geopolitical events. Certainly, the last few months may have felt bumpy. From the build-up to the UK General Election in December, to the tit-for-tat missile volleys between the US and Iran, to the outbreak [...]
TfL: Crime on London public transport soars December 5, 2019 Crime on London’s public transport network has surged by 30 per cent in the past year. Transport for London (TfL) today released statistics for the first quarter of 2019-20, revealing the increase in crime on its services was three-times as large as the increase for the capital as a whole. Read more: London Night Tube [...]
Chancellor Rishi Sunak needs to step back and rethink IR35 February 27, 2020 When Philip Hammond announced in 2018 that IR35 would be extended to the private sector, he heralded it as a move that would “open a new chapter in our country’s economic future”. But fast-forward two years, and the new chancellor, Rishi Sunak, is still facing a huge headache over the tax legislation changes, effective from [...]
How to unleash the potential of the health data revolution February 26, 2020 Danny Boyle’s tribute to the NHS at the Olympic opening ceremony in 2012 didn’t feature doctors with filing cabinets or nurses with laptop computers. That’s understandable — at the time the data-driven healthcare boom was only just beginning. But today, there is growing interest in the data about the 55m patients for whom the NHS [...]
Legal & General boosts profit and revenue in first half of 2019 August 7, 2019 Legal & General boosted profit and revenue in the first half of 2019, as it said the UK represents an “enormous opportunity” for its growing pensions market. The figures The insurer saw profit before tax rise 12 per cent year on year to hit £1bn in the six months to June. Earnings per share grew in [...]
Here’s to another 10 years of City success December 20, 2019 It has been a decade of great upheaval for the City. January 2010 saw the UK economy just starting to come out of recession, with unemployment at its highest in 15 years, and a raft of regulations and inquiries into the financial services sector imminent, not to mention an election that would mark the start [...]
Direct Line profits drop after £16m blow from discount rate change July 31, 2019 Motor insurer Direct Line reported a 10.2 per cent drop in first-half profits today amid aims to cuts costs and as it took a hit from government changes to insurers’ discount rate. Read more: Insurers voice dismay over government change to personal injury discount rate The figures Operating profit sank to £274.3m for the six [...]