Auditors as you’ve never seen them before: EY’s UK financial services leader Omar Ali explains how the big four firm is shaking up the accountancy world November 30, 2015 Shoreditch: it’s home of hip art galleries, a vibrant nightlife and, following its acquisition of digital design consultancy Seren this summer, some of EY’s most cutting-edge offerings. “We spent a lot of time working out what we wanted to do in digital,” explains Omar Ali, when he meets with City A.M. in the Hackney offices. [...]
City Moves for 4 September 2015 | Who’s switching jobs September 3, 2015 EY Ajay Rawal has been appointed partner within the professional services firm’s financial services transaction advisory practice. He joins from Alvarez & Marsal, where he was a partner in its European financial industry advisory services group. Rawal has over 15 years’ experience consulting in financial services. LONDON Advertising Bruce Haines has been appointed chairman at [...]
The future of the FTSE 100: What next? The quarterly reshuffle has changed the complexion of the leading index September 23, 2015 The Bloodbath continued yesterday as mining shares plummeted further and the FTSE dipped below 6,000 points. Glencore, whose shares fell by 10.63 per cent yesterday, only graduated to the elite index in 2011, but the commodities supercycle has come to a juddering halt, depressing the internationally exposed FTSE. This week also saw one [...]
It’s a golden era for UK-China relations: Our transparent markets are at its heart October 18, 2015 On Wednesday night, I have the great privilege of hosting a Chinese delegation for a State Banquet at the Guildhall. I am delighted to return the wonderful hospitality that I, and my delegation of British business leaders, received in China last month, to celebrate the strong relationships that have been forged between our countries’ financial [...]
London house prices: First-time home buyers face nightmare market as deposits soar and supply lags July 31, 2015 We all know how tough the housing market is for first-time buyers, and one of the main reasons is lack of supply. Much has been said about how the government is looking to tackle this problem by encouraging housebuilders to ramp up construction of new builds. But figures out this morning show that far from [...]
Frazer Thompson of Chapel Down: Why I’m crowdfunding again January 7, 2016 The crowdfunding industry isn’t old enough to have veterans, but it does have experienced players. Frazer Thompson, the chief executive of Chapel Down, is now on his second campaign, raising £1m in return for 5.88 per cent equity on Seedrs to fund a new, state-of-the-art brewery in which the firm will make its Curious Brew beer [...]
Derwent London secures its first lettings for White Collar Factory July 13, 2015 Derwent London said yesterday it has snapped up an office block at the heart of the capital’s fintech district in Aldgate at the same time as it announced its first lettings at the White Collar Factory scheme in Old Street. The developer has bought Aldgate Union on Whitechapel High Street from the Royal Bank of [...]
At the close: FTSE 100 marginally up despite slides from housebuilders and Standard Chartered November 3, 2015 The FTSE 100 closed marginally up on Tuesday after energy stocks rallied to counter to slides in housebuilders' stocks and Standard Chartered's share price. The FTSE 100 ended the session 0.2 per cent up at 6,374. Housebuilders were hit after being downgraded by Liberum, a broker, to "sell" saying the largest housebuilders' valuations were "too optimistic". Barratt [...]
City minister Harriett Baldwin wants financial services to secure economic recovery – but not at the expense of trust June 30, 2015 Economic Secretary to the Treasury Harriett Baldwin said she wants the UK to retain a "globally competitive finance sector", but added that it must also focus on building trust. Financial services are "visibly successful", contributing to economic growth at a high level, she said. Her vision for the sector, however, is for it to play [...]
Alkane Energy share price soars 41 per cent as Balfour Beatty Investment Partners reveals £61.4m takeover September 16, 2015 Alkane Energy's share price has soared more than 40 per cent this morning after Balfour Beatty revealed it was buying the smaller firm out for around £61.4m. Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Partners (BBIP) is buying Alkane – which runs mid-sized gas to power electricity plants and has onshore petroleum licences that allow it to run coal [...]