Industry groups call on chancellor Philip Hammond to cut businesses some slack in the Spring Budget next month February 6, 2017 Businesses large and small are calling on chancellor Philip Hammond to ease the mounting burden on firms in next month's Budget. Business rates, the apprenticeship levy, the national living wage and pensions auto-enrolment are some of the rising costs highlighted by two influential business groups today. In its submission to the Treasury ahead of the Budget [...]
Government kicks off next stage of £12bn student loanbook sell-off February 6, 2017 The government formally kicked off the next stage of its bid to sell £12bn-worth of student loans today. City A.M. revealed bankers from Barclays had been appointed to advise on the deal last month. Read more: Bankers appointed by government for latest student loans sell-off push The sale, which is being structured as a securitisation, is being [...]
Top dogs: 37 of the hottest startups to watch right now January 25, 2017 Nearly 40 UK tech startups have been branded "ones to watch" and will be mentored by top entrepreneurs, founders and investors to get them scaling up to become tech giants. A startup which lets wannabe pet owners borrow other people's dogs, BorrowMyDoggy, and an innovative mapping company which just landed backing from Daimler, What3Words, are [...]
With reports Barclays has chosen Dublin for its EU HQ, will Ireland be the beneficiary of any City Brexodus? January 30, 2017 Daniel Mahoney, head of economic research at the Centre for Policy Studies, says Yes. Although Theresa May has provided a degree of clarity on the Brexit negotiations, remaining uncertainties mean that financial service firms will, inevitably, seek to implement some restructuring and contingency planning. Ireland is well placed to take advantage of this. Ireland shares [...]
BHS hires 250 new staff in food retail push amid withheld credit insurance rumours April 27, 2015 BHS announced its intention to take on 250 staff yesterday, and denied rumours its suppliers were seeing their credit insurance withheld. The struggling department store is hiring the extra staff as it seeks to expand into food retail following a successful trial in its Romford, Staines and Warrington stores. BHS has signed a contract with [...]
Big five banks run up £100bn bill in bad loans and legal costs over the last five years February 16, 2017 The UK's big five banks, which report full-year results next week, have run up a bill of nearly £100bn over the last five years for a toxic mix of fines and bad loans according to a new analysis. However, the era of sour loans and megafines that dwarf the banks' dividend payouts could finally be [...]
So Moneysupermarket? Comparison site is on track for a “record year” November 1, 2016 It looks like the men in hotpants are working for Moneysupermarket.com, whose chief executive said today it is on track for a "record year". The figures The company's main site, MoneySupermarket.com, reported revenues of £76m in the three months to the end of September, up 13 per cent on the same time last year. That was pushed up by a 12 per [...]
Lloyds Banking Group snaps up Bank of America’s MBNA credit card firm for £1.9bn in first acquisition since financial crisis December 20, 2016 Lloyds Banking Group has beaten off other bidders to snap up Bank of America's UK credit card company MBNA for £1.9bn, in its first acquisition since it was bailed out by taxpayers in 2008. The UK lender emerged as the frontrunner to take over MBNA, which holds assets of £7bn, in late November. The takeover is a [...]
Credit Suisse and Italian authorities agree to settle after offshore transfer investigation October 21, 2016 Credit Suisse has paid €110m (£98m) to settle allegations by Italian prosecutors that it helped clients divert undisclosed funds to offshore bank accounts. Italian authorities believed that the Swiss bank had helped some 13,000 clients transfer up to €14bn abroad using certain insurance products. An investigation has been running since 2014 and under Italian law today's settlement does not constitute an [...]
City Moves for 13 April 2016 | Who’s switching jobs April 13, 2016 Peel Hunt Peel Hunt, the independent corporate broking, advisory and trading house focused on UK mid and small caps, is pleased to announce the appointment of Simon Gardner-Bond (pictured) to the role of natural resources specialist sales, effective immediately. Simon joins from Investec Asset Management, where he worked for five years as a senior analyst [...]