New Lloyd’s boss John Neal apologises for ‘unacceptable’ results as he sets out his vision for the future January 29, 2019 The new chief executive of Lloyd’s of London apologised for the insurance markets’ “unacceptable” performance and unveiled a plan to get it back on track in his first public speech today. John Neal, who joined Lloyd’s four months ago from insurer QBE, took the job against a backdrop of poor results at Lloyd’s which suffered [...]
MJ Hudson launches Milan office to strengthen EU business January 29, 2019 MJ Hudson has opened an office in Milan as the asset management consultancy strengthens its European presence and targets further expansion. The firm launched a fund management solutions team in Luxembourg in 2017 to act as a gateway to Europe after the UK leaves the EU in March this year. Read more: 60 per cent of asset [...]
Interserve washes its hands of first of four loss-making waste projects January 29, 2019 Troubled outsourcer Interserve is making headway in offloading a series projects which had a substantial hand in plunging the firm into more than £600m of debt. Today the public sector contracting giant said it has finally finished one of four plants which turn waste materials into energy, hailed as “an important milestone” for the firm. [...]
Sammy Tak Lee reignites feud with West End landlord over freedom to raise cash January 29, 2019 Hong Kong billionaire Sammy Tak Lee has ratcheted up a shareholder feud at one of London’s biggest landlords this morning, after telling investors to vote against resolutions that would allow the company to raise money through allocating more shares. West End property group Shaftesbury is bracing itself for its second investor revolt in two years after Lee, [...]
Nomura plans to cut up to 50 staff from global trading division January 29, 2019 Japanese bank Nomura is expecting to cut up to 50 jobs across its trading division, with roles in London likely to be affected. The bank plans to slash staff numbers across Europe, Asia and the Americas, however Europe is expected to be hit hardest. Read more: Nomura to slash hundreds of investment banking jobs in London [...]
Facebook’s popularity among children wanes as social media safety concerns deepen January 29, 2019 Facebook’s popularity among children slipped in 2018 as more young people look to Instagram for their social media updates, according to an Ofcom report. While Facebook remains the most popular social media site among 12 to 15-year-olds, only 31 per cent of people in this age range named it as their main site or app, [...]
Fyre Festival is a lesson for all event planners about what not to do January 29, 2019 In its new documentary, Fyre: The Greatest Party that Never Happened, released last week, Netflix pulled back the curtains behind one of the most infamous stitch-ups in the event industry. Entrepreneur Billy McFarland had ambitions to create the “most insane festival ever seen” to spread consumer awareness of his talent booking platform. A strategic and [...]
Transport misery: Passenger satisfaction with Britain’s railways drops to 10-year low, says Transport Focus January 29, 2019 Passenger satisfaction with the UK's railways has fallen to a 10-year low, a new survey out today has found. Independent watchdog Transport Focus warned that overall satisfaction with services stood at 79 per cent, the lowest since 2008, according to its latest national passenger survey of 25,000 passengers. More than one in five passengers were [...]
Budget airline Norwegian takes a beating as it turns to shareholders in bid to raise cash January 29, 2019 Shares in Norwegian Air Shuttle crashed this morning as the company went cap in hand to shareholders after a potential bid for the struggling airline fell through last week. The 3bn Norwegian krone (£268m) fundraise comes as the business tries to move away from the rapid growth which has characterised it in recent years. Read [...]
Boeing and Airbus to deliver $4.3bn worth of jets to Japan in deal with airline ANA January 29, 2019 Japanese airline ANA Group confirmed this morning it is to buy 30 aircraft from US manufacturer Boeing and 18 from European competitor Airbus, nudging the latter’s shares up one per cent this morning. The orders from Boeing and Airbus are worth $2.3bn and $1.99bn respectively, according to list prices, but airlines typically get large discounts. [...]