Lloyd’s of London loses £1bn in year of natural catastrophes as it grapples with harassment scandal March 27, 2019 Insurance market Lloyd’s of London, currently embroiled in a sexual harassment scandal, said today it had made a loss of £1bn for 2018. Lloyd’s said it paid £19.7bn in claims last year, leading to an aggregate loss of £1bn, down from £2bn the year previously. The exchange had gross written premiums of £35.5bn last year, [...]
No, the Norway option won’t turn Britain into a vassal state March 27, 2019 Think of all those Victorian statutes which are still good law today: the Partnership Act 1890, for example, or the Bills of Exchange Act 1882. There are many others. All were passed under a legislative system which we no longer recognise – indeed, which is now repugnant to us: no women could vote in elections; [...]
DEBATE: Should companies link executive pay more closely to that of ordinary employees? March 27, 2019 Should companies link executive pay more closely to that of ordinary employees? Rachel Reeves, Labour MP and chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, says YES. When a business does well, workers should share in the rewards, not just the boss. Too often, superstar salaries are waved through by remuneration committees that pay too [...]
Why I’m proud that the art industry has taken a stand against the Sackler family March 27, 2019 When I heard that the Tate Group was following the National Gallery’s example by refusing to take further donations from the Sackler Trust, funded by the Sackler family, I felt a sense of both relief and pride in the arts industry. The Trust has for many years made generous donations to leading artistic and philanthropic [...]
London-listed Goals Soccer Centre suspends trading due to historical accounting errors March 27, 2019 London-listed football pitch operator Goals Soccer Centres has suspended trading in its shares following a “substantial misdeclaration of VAT” totalling approximately £12m. In a statement released this morning, the company – which counts Sports Direct as its biggest shareholders – said that “historical accounting errors” meant it could not be clear on its exact financial position, [...]
Looking for Brexit consensus? You won’t find it – and this Nobel-winning economist can tell you why March 27, 2019 Should pure blue sky research be funded? Certainly, the answer from government-backed research councils seems to be “no”. The emphasis is increasingly on research which has immediate practical applications. Yet seemingly esoteric research can shed light in quite unexpected areas. For example, a PhD thesis written by a then obscure research student 70 years ago [...]
Commuters face fresh rush hour misery with severe Tube delays March 27, 2019 Overrunning engineering works have left commuters facing a miserable commute this morning as a key Tube line suffered disruption. The late finish left the Circle Line with severe delays in a clockwise direction, while Londoners travelling the other way face minor delays this morning. Transport for London (TfL) advised passengers their tickets would be accepted [...]
Debenhams shares skyrocket as Sports Direct mulls £61.4m bid March 27, 2019 The future of Debenhams is up in the air this afternoon as Mike Ashley battles with creditors to take control of the embattled department store chain. The Sports Direct boss and retail tycoon, who owns a near 30 per cent stake in Debenhams, revealed yesterday that he was mulling a £61.4m bid to take full [...]
Losing out: British finance bosses leaking £6.7bn a year by failing to update accounting systems March 27, 2019 Outdated accounting systems which prevent British companies taking advantage of early payment discounts are costing them £6.7bn a year, according to research. More than one-fifth of finance bosses (22 per cent) surveyed by Opinium believe their accounting software is out of date, while 16 per cent said it did not allow them to use early [...]
Barclays unveils £14bn lending fund to help businesses through Brexit uncertainty March 27, 2019 Barclays has unveiled a £14bn lending fund to help small and medium-sized businesses through the uncertainty of Brexit. The bank, which has held more than 100 “Brexit clinics” for businesses in recent weeks, said the fund would provide loans, commercial mortgages and cash flow funding for investments. Read more: Barclays: No-deal Brexit would 'significantly' hurt [...]