Room-letting app Airbnb hits $10bn valuation March 20, 2014 AIRBNB, the online marketplace that allows homeowners to rent spare rooms from a mobile app, is in late-stage funding discussions that would give the company a valuation of $10bn (£6.05bn). The fundraising round, which is reported to include TPG Capital Management, would place Airbnb on a list of tech start-ups that have recently achieved a [...]
Convenience stores and bookies help slow high street’s decline March 20, 2014 BRITISH high streets lost 16 chain stores a day in 2013, though the pace of closures has slowed and more shuttered shops are being taken over and reopened by other retailers, research out today shows. More than 6,000 shops closed down in UK town centres last year, down from 7,337 in the prior year. Last [...]
Firms suggest UK lagging on re-shoring jobs March 20, 2014 UK BUSINESSES are lagging well behind other major EU economies on intentions to re-shore jobs, according to new research, which also suggests many European firms would look to bring operations home if regulation was less onerous. A report released by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) this morning indicated that 60 per cent of the [...]
Arbuthnot set to gain clients in pension reform March 20, 2014 ARBUTHNOT Banking Group increased customer numbers across its retail finance operations in 2013, the group revealed yesterday as it published its annual results. And the bank expects more clients to use its financial planning services in wake of the shake-up of pension rules in this week’s budget. The lending group – made up predominantly of [...]
Investec profits up as bad debts melt away in Britain’s recovery March 20, 2014 BRITISH and South African bank Investec expects operating profits to leap 28 per cent this financial year, as the recovery takes hold. The specialist lender’s revenues will rise by around 15 per cent when it unveils its results in May, while impairments will drop by around 35 per cent. The fall in bad loans means the [...]
City’s watchdog defends new rules in financial advice sector March 20, 2014 FINANCIAL advisers are increasingly independent and more likely to work on the customer’s behalf as a result of controversial rules brought in last year, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said yesterday. The retail distribution review (RDR) has been criticised for wiping out much of the advice sector by stopping advisers taking commission on products. As [...]
Henderson’s Formica wins share award March 20, 2014 HENDERSON boss Andrew Formica saw his pay package rise to £4.51m last year up from £2.8m in 2012. The majority of the rise came from an increase in a long term incentive plan, which delivered £2.4m of the overall pay.
Witty proves a big hitty with GSK employees March 20, 2014 WHEN you start a new job, it can be quite difficult to know whether you’re walking into the garden of worklife Eden or the gates of Hades. Unless you’ve got someone on the inside. Lucky you. Well thanks to the people at Glassdoor (it’s all about transparency – see what they did there) we have [...]
By-election gives Labour its first ever seat in the City of London March 20, 2014 AN HISTORIC turn of events for the City of London Corporation took place last night, as Labour won its first ever seat at the Square Mile’s council. The outcome – prompted by Ed Miliband’s party winning a by-election for the Portsoken ward – is even more controversial than could be expected, however. It is tradition for hopefuls [...]
Deutsche Bank’s Anshu Jain sees the light? March 20, 2014 ASIDE from announcing a swathe of redundancies, Deutsche Bank has also released its annual report this week. Perhaps the only thing in the report more interesting than the increase in pay for its co-executives is this curious photo of co-chief executive Anshu Jain (as spotted by eFinancialCareers). Where is he looking? Has he seen the [...]