Bank of America Merrill Lynch is looking for new space in the City despite Brexit uncertainty February 5, 2017 Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) has started its search for new office space despite the uncertainty of the City of London's future following the Brexit vote. The US banking giant is currently located near St Paul's Cathedral, but as its lease expires in 2022, the bank has started looking at other buildings that could [...]
RMT boss says “fiasco” rail franchise system is beyond reform February 5, 2017 The RMT Union has welcomed the findings of a House of Commons select committee in its damning report on rail franchises. RMT general secretary Mick Cash called the franchise system a “fiasco” and said that the report confirmed the government had covered up Southern Rail’s poor performance. However, he did not think the suggested reforms [...]
Labour donor John Mills could be ejected from the party over Brexit referendum payments to Ukip February 5, 2017 One of Labour's largest individual donors could be thrown out of the party after claims that he financial supported Ukip. John Mills, the millionaire behind consumer products firm JML, created the Labour Leave campaign. But now London MEP Seb Dance is claiming the retailer broke party rules by handing cash to Eurosceptic party Ukip. Labour rules mean that [...]
Boss of troubled newspaper group Johnston Press set for meeting with activist investor February 5, 2017 The under-pressure chief executive of newspaper group Johnston Press is preparing for talks with activist investor Crystal Amber, which recently became the company’s biggest shareholder. Ashley Highfield expects to meet the investor shortly, with chief financial officer David King, after a trading update at the end of last week. Read more: Why Brexit, Trump and [...]
Replace 250,000 public sector jobs with robots, urges think tank Reform in radical workforce overhaul driven by technology February 5, 2017 Automating admin jobs could reduce the public sector workforce by more than a quarter of a million people saving the economy billions of pounds, a leading think tank has suggested. And adopting technology such as artificial intelligence, chatbots and drones, could radically overhaul the public sector and streamline Whitehall even further, according to a new report [...]
Amazon is looking for shop space in London, according to reports February 5, 2017 Tech giant Amazon has reportedly started searching for shop space in central London as part of its move into the grocery market. Amazon first revealed its ambitions to open grocery stores last December under the banner "Amazon Go". In a video, Amazon said it was using technology to create a shop with no check outs. Customers would [...]
BP’s profits set to halve for the second year in a row due to low oil prices February 5, 2017 Energy giant BP’s full-year profits are expected to halve to under $3bn, down from almost $6bn last year. The predicted fall in annual profits comes at the end of a year of low oil prices and a difficult environment for downstream business. BP’s investor relations team projected underlying profit of $560m (£448.5m) for the final [...]
The 10 jobs where you’re most (and least) likely to be replaced by a robot February 5, 2017 It looks like you better get into some sort of medical related career if you want to avoid robots replacing you, but even Homer Simpson would likely be out of a job in future. Doctors, surgeons, audiologists, prosthetics makers and occupational therapists are among the more than 200 middle class jobs least likely to be lost to automation, according [...]
Fund managers plan executive pay crackdown to avert need for government intervention February 5, 2017 A group of fund manager giants have agreed to club together to combat excessive executive pay. Aberdeen Asset Management, M&G Investments and Standard Life Investments were among 13 firms involved in the recent pact. The agreement came after an 18 January meeting of the Investment Association, which came around the time Blackrock, the world’s biggest fund manager, indicated [...]
MPs question government over Green Investment Bank restructuring ahead of privatisation February 5, 2017 A group of MPs is ramping up pressure on the government over the privatisation of the Green Investment Bank (GIB). The Environmental Audit Committee today published a letter condemning the fact “parliament appears to be kept in the dark” over the sale process. The committee, led by Labour MP Mary Creagh, also raised concerns about a [...]