Gordon Dadds agrees Ince merger to create UK’s largest listed law firm October 29, 2018 Gordon Dadds has agreed a merger with Ince to create the UK’s largest listed law firm. Following the merger, which was revealed by City AM last month, the firm will have a combined revenue of more than £110m, with 100 partners and offices in nine countries. The business, which will be renamed Ince Gordon Dadds, [...]
Floored: Victoria shares plummet 18 per cent as profit projections slip October 29, 2018 Flooring company group Victoria suffered an 18 per cent drop in its shares this morning after revealing that profit margins would be lower than market expectations. First-half revenue had risen “in a challenging market” by more than three per cent in the six months to the end of September when compared with the same period [...]
Hammond to announce special 50p coin to commemorate Brexit October 29, 2018 The Chancellor Philip Hammond is expected to announce a commemorative 50p coin to mark Brexit later today. The coin will be available from 29 March – the day Britain leaves the EU – and will have the phrase “Friendship with all nations” written on one side with the Queen's head on the other. Hammond is expected [...]
Unexplained wealth orders: The UK’s newest weapon in the war against dirty money October 29, 2018 It’s not easy to spend £1.6m a year in Harrods. Head to the website of the iconic department store – a shopping staple for London’s extremely well-to-do – filter the gift selection by the aspirational “Over £2,000” category, then sort them from highest to lowest price, and the most expensive thing you will find is an [...]
Consumer credit growth stutters to three-year low as UK house purchases fall back October 29, 2018 Consumer borrowing grew at its lowest rate for three years last month after car sales dropped 20 per cent, the Bank of England revealed today. The annual growth rate of consumer borrowing hit 7.7 per cent last month, the lowest it's been since June 2015, and far below the 10.09 per cent growth rate in [...]
HSBC profits soar as bank keeps a ‘strong grip’ on costs and flourishes in Asia October 29, 2018 HSBC reported a 28 per cent profit rise as strong revenue in Asia and efforts to keep costs down paid off. The bank reported a pre-tax profit rise of 28 per cent to $5.9bn (£4.6bn) in the third quarter of the year – with $4.6bn of that generated in Asia. For the first nine of [...]
DEBATE: Should Hammond keep the Tory promise and increase the higher-rate tax threshold to £50,000? October 29, 2018 Should Philip Hammond keep the Tory promise and increase the higher-rate tax threshold to £50,000? Ben Ramanauskas, researcher at the Taxpayers’ Alliance, says YES. People earning £45,000 (the current threshold) can no longer be considered wealthy, particularly considering the high cost of living in our major cities. There is a housing crisis in the UK, [...]
Happy birthday, bitcoin: Onwards to a brave new crypto-fulled world October 29, 2018 A decde ago this Wednesday, just weeks after the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the start of the financial crisis, an anonymous figure published the famous essay – “Bitcoin: a peer-to-peer electronic cash system”. Bitcoin’s mysterious creator, known under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, has to this day never been unmasked, but his invention has since [...]
Today’s Budget is a chance to reinvigorate domestic policy October 29, 2018 It has been a year of momentous change for department titles. The Department for Health has added Social Care to its name, while the Department for Communities and Local Government has recently become a Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. So far, those changes have not been accompanied by a new and much-needed domestic [...]
Looking back on my year as lord mayor, I am fully optimistic about London’s future October 29, 2018 As I approach the end of my year as lord mayor, the pace of activity across the City is accelerating rather than slowing down This week, the governor of Tokyo will visit the Square Mile, further strengthening ties with our Japanese friends after my trip earlier this year. This visit follows the Dutch King and [...]