How did Sir Philip Green end up paying £363m towards the BHS pension scheme? Key episodes in the BHS box set March 1, 2017 Sir Philip Green finally stumped up some (well, quite a lot of) cash for the BHS pensions black hole yesterday, after a year of publicly fighting with MPs, Goldman Sachs bankers, journalists, and former race car driver and bankrupt Dominic Chappell. The sorry saga started two years ago, when Green was seeking advice from Goldman Sachs about [...]
BHS pension scheme: Sir Philip Green has said he will contribute £363m, but what happens next? February 28, 2017 Sir Philip Green might be paying up £363m to sort out the gap in the BHS pension schemes, but that’s not the end of the saga for the fallen retailer. What options do those with BHS pensions now have? The 19,000 scheme members have three options to mull; transferring to a newly created pension scheme, [...]
Sir Philip Green agrees to contribute £363m to BHS pension scheme February 28, 2017 Controversial retail tycoon Sir Philip Green has sought to put a torrid period of parliamentary and media scrutiny behind him, agreeing to put £363m in cash towards BHS’ substantial pension scheme deficit. MPs investigated the sale of BHS last year and labelled Green the "unacceptable face of capitalism" for selling the high street store to [...]
Go-Ahead’s rail division profit slumps 35 per cent as it counts the cost of Southern rail strike troubles February 28, 2017 Go-Ahead shares have slumped 14 per cent after it warned over full-year profits. Interim earnings at its rail division plummeted 35 per cent on the back of months of Southern rail disruption. The transport giant, which owns 65 per cent of the Southern franchise through Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), said full-year results were lowered due to "the [...]
Southern rail claims victory over the RMT, giving itself a pat on the back for its service February 24, 2017 Southern rail has labelled the ongoing industrial action by the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) as "impotent and ineffective", while bragging about how many trains it had managed to run in spite of the strikes. The RMT held its latest walkout on Wednesday, this time a 24-hour downing of tools, taking its tally to 29 strikes. Fears have resurfaced that [...]
As Lloyds posts its highest profit in a decade, have British banks got over the financial crisis? February 23, 2017 Fahad Kamal, senior market strategist at Kleinwort Hambros, says Yes. In the latest stress tests conducted by the European Banking Authority, only two of the 51 banks tested – neither British – would fall below the minimum capital level required in an “adverse” scenario. Admittedly, some UK banks still have a hangover from the pre-crisis [...]
Great Western Railway launches golden ticket hunt for passengers to win return tickets for city breaks across the South West February 21, 2017 Here's some cheerful news for rail travellers (no, not an end to the Southern saga, sadly). Great Western Railway (GWR) has done some research, polling 2,000 people between 16 and 35, revealing many of the UK's young people (47 per cent) admitting they daydream of getting away and exploring a new place – at least once [...]
Fresh talks to go ahead between Southern rail and Aslef union to try and put the brakes on the strike saga February 20, 2017 Fresh talks will be held between Southern rail and train drivers' union Aslef after members of the union rejected a previously agreed deal last week. The agreement was expected to bring the row over the so-called driver-only operated trains to a close and end the ongoing industrial action that had disrupted the network, subject to the referendum [...]
The strike saga continues: Members of train drivers’ union Aslef have rejected the Southern rail deal February 16, 2017 Members of train drivers' union Aslef have rejected the deal their union and Southern Rail had agreed. Earlier this month, a TUC-brokered deal was agreed in the long-running dispute between Southern rail and Aslef over the role of the guard, in the wake of fresh talks. It was expected to bring the row over the so-called [...]
Scandal-hit Francois Fillon could gift Marine Le Pen the French presidency February 9, 2017 His campaign is in serious crisis, but Francois Fillon – candidate of the centre-right after a convincing victory in the primaries – said on Monday that he will continue to fight to become the next President of France despite a scandal engulfing him and his family. Trying to save his campaign, he apologised to the French [...]