British business groups signal support European Commission’s “action plan” for capital markets union October 1, 2015 British business groups have largely welcomed a new report from Brussels this week on plans to put together a capital markets union (CMU) by 2019. The European Commission’s “action plan” aims to make it easier for markets across the EU to raise funds from within the Single Market. Sir Jonathan Hill, the European [...]
Markets can help end discrimination – but name-blind recruitment would help November 3, 2015 The Prime Minister recently announced that the civil service will introduce name-blind recruitment. When people apply for public sector jobs, their name will not appear on the documents sent to the appointment panel. Major organisations such as HSBC, KPMG, the BBC and the NHS are following suit. Economists have produced a substantial body of evidence [...]
Iran comes closer to opening economy as parliament approves nuclear deal October 13, 2015 Iran has moved a step closer to opening up its economy for business, after its parliament passed a bill approving a nuclear deal with six world powers this morning. The deal, which requires Iran to curb its uranium enrichment programme in return for an easing of economic sanctions, was passed with 161 votes in favour, [...]
Employee exodus: The housing crisis is now a dire threat to the future of London’s businesses October 11, 2015 Tomorrow will see a key intervention in the housing debate. Business leaders from across the capital will launch a major campaign called Fifty Thousand Homes. That’s the number of houses we need to build a year to keep up with London’s growing population. Housing costs are becoming a problem for employers as much as [...]
President Xi Jinping’s UK visit: How Britain can truly become China’s best partner in the West October 19, 2015 As the Queen welcomes the President of China to Buckingham Palace today for a state visit, both leaders can reflect on the significant progress made in UK-China relations. Indeed, much has changed. The Chinese economy, despite its slowdown, has grown massively in recent decades; it is eight times larger today than in 1999, when the [...]
Mind the skills gap: Talent shortage costs UK economy £10bn a year September 18, 2015 The economy is losing billions of pounds a year because firms cannot access the skills they need, one of the country’s top economists has warned. There are currently 170,000 more unfilled job vacancies compared with the average for the 2001-14 period, PwC senior economic adviser Andrew Sentance writes in City A.M. today – a [...]
Professional and partisan: Should firms do politics? Be wary of taking a line on social issues outside your sector October 9, 2015 Businesses have always needed politicians to understand their concerns. But excessive interference by companies in politics may threaten their neutrality, long considered key to appealing to the broadest customer base possible. But in today’s fight for market share, businesses have more than just the dividend to think about. Indeed, the pressure on firms to [...]
Lloyds Banking Group sell-off continues as government reduces stake to 13 per cent August 24, 2015 The government has sold a further one per cent of its stake in Lloyds Banking Group, taking its total holding to less than 13 per cent. It has now realised £14.5bn from the share sale, which began in December last year and will end no later than 31 December. All sales are used to [...]
Autumn Statement and Spending Review 2015: The verdicts on George Osborne’s proposals November 26, 2015 THE BUSINESS GROUP HEAD CAROLYN FAIRBAIRN, CONFEDERATION OF BRITISH INDUSTRY, DIRECTOR-GENERAL The apprenticeship levy will be a big extra payroll tax on employers and widening the net will hit Britain’s smaller firms. This was a good spending review for longer-term investment in the economy but there’s a sting in the tail in the size and [...]
City Moves for 13 October 2015 | Who’s switching jobs October 12, 2015 CITY NOBLE The pensions and investment advisory firm has appointed Mike Webb as associate in its advisory business. He was previously head of distribution and marketing for the Axa corporate investment platform, and senior business development manager in Standard Life’s corporate pensions division. CBRE The commercial real estate services and investment firm has appointed Milan [...]