One in four UK deals broke down last year, and more M&A collapses are expected in 2017 March 20, 2017 One in four deals involving UK listed firms broke down in failure last year, new analysis today shows. And, with further economic and political uncertainty on the way, more disrupted deals are thought to be on the cards this year. Read more: Jupiter boss plays down M&A rumours: "We’re not looking to be acquired" Accountancy firm [...]
Worrying mood music on global free trade from the G20’s summit in Baden-Baden March 20, 2017 The way in which the world’s most advanced economies understand and attempt to order global trade policy underwent a quiet revolution over the weekend. The German spa town of Baden-Baden hosted the annual meeting of the G20 at a critical and sensitive time. China has started to talk the talk on free trade, even if [...]
Unilever and the confused priorities of the Davos elite March 20, 2017 If Angela Merkel epitomises the overrated in terms of international statesmanship, her equal in corporate terms must be Paul Polman of Unilever. As is true with the German Chancellor, it is unfathomable to me that the leader of a major corporation with a record this hapless should be lionised. For the larger point is that both [...]
London’s Islamic finance boom shows that flexibility and innovation are in the City’s DNA March 20, 2017 In recent years, the UK has stepped up its game in Islamic finance. In 2014, for example, it became the first country outside the Islamic world to issue a sovereign sukuk, the Islamic equivalent of a bond. With such significant developments taking place here in the UK, I was very much looking forward to a trip [...]
More gloom for retail parks and shopping centres but High Street footfall bounces back March 20, 2017 High Street footfall rose 0.1 per cent in February, compared to a drop of 2.9 per cent in the same period last year. The figures, released in Springboard’s monthly footfall report, also showed a small recovery in overall footfall, which fell by 1 per cent in February compared to 1.3 per cent in January. However, [...]
Britain needs a smart state, not big government, to lead the Fourth Industrial Revolution March 20, 2017 In her first party conference speech as Prime Minister, Theresa May declared it was “time to remember the good that government can do”. Setting out a new approach to the role of the state, she rightly acknowledged that Whitehall doesn’t have all the answers but should instead be a proactive “force for good”. That’s certainly the right [...]
Consumer spending growth heading for four-year low as wages stagnate March 20, 2017 Real earnings growth is forecast to be up just 0.1 per cent in 2017, slowing sharply from 1.8 per cent in 2016. As a consequence consumer spending will rise by only 1.7 per cent, its weakest rate since 2013, according to the EY ITEM Club. Last year saw a 12-year high of 3.1 per cent [...]
More than half of firms facing hiked business rates are already planning cutbacks March 20, 2017 Six out of 10 firms facing increased business rate bills are already planning cutbacks, new figures reveal. The revaluation of business rates is due to come into force next week, and after building pressure chancellor Philip Hammond introduced some transitional protections for firms in his Budget. However, a survey of London's firms has now laid [...]
Financier Bill Browder, thorn in Putin’s side, is on the verge of securing a UK Magnitsky law after a five-year push March 20, 2017 Since Sergei Magnitsky was killed in a Russian jail in 2009, financier Bill Browder has campaigned vociferously to bring those responsible for his former lawyer’s death to justice. This high-profile activity has set him on a collision course with the Russian authorities and specifically Vladimir Putin. In apparent retaliation against his justice campaign, the Russian [...]
Businesses risk being thrown into legal chaos post-Brexit if deal doesn’t ascertain how cross-border disputes will be settled, House of Lords warns March 20, 2017 Businesses risk legal headaches if the government does not consider how cross-border disputes will work post-Brexit, a report out today warns. The House of Lords EU Justice Sub-Committee research cautions disagreements which span more than one country are currently settled with judgments that are enforceable across the EU as a whole, but it is less clear what the [...]