Banks need to make Brexit job decions in the first half of 2017, says Citi’s European chief January 24, 2017 Citigroup’s European boss has said his bank, and others, will make decisions on Brexit-motivated job moves in the first half of this year. James Cowles, Citi's chief executive for Europe, Middle East and Africa, said his firm’s issue is with its broker-dealer business, which is currently headquartered in the UK. “We come into this actually from [...]
British Gas agrees to pay a £9.5m penalty for its customer service failures January 24, 2017 British Gas has agreed to pay £9.5m in compensation to customers after a faulty billing system gave tens of thousands of business customers incorrect bills. The company reported itself to energy regulator Ofgem in 2014 after implementation of its new £40m system didn't go to plan, causing late and inaccurate bills, registration delays and a high number of [...]
EasyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou announces protest vote against fleet expansion as shares slide January 24, 2017 EasyJet founder – and largest shareholder – Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou is not impressed with the airline's latest update and is making a protest vote at the upcoming annual general meeting (AGM). He said EasyGroup, which owns a third of the airline's shares, had noted the airline's first quarter update "and the share price slump that has ensued" [...]
HSBC to close another 62 branches this year January 24, 2017 HSBC is set to close another 62 branches across the UK this year, the banking giant announced today. This takes the total number of branches closing this year to 117. The move marks the end of "HSBC's branch restructuring programme", Antonio Simoes, chief executive of the banking giant, said. “We now feel we have the right branch network that [...]
Do you travel with the UK’s worst train company? January 24, 2017 It's official: Southern is the UK's worst train company, according to a new study. The National Rail Passenger Survey, conducted during Autumn last year, found passengers using Southern train services were the UK's most miserable, with 19 per cent saying they were dissatisfied. Just 65 per cent said they were satisfied – the lowest of [...]
Dixons Carphone reports fifth consecutive Christmas of growth January 24, 2017 Dixons Carphone today reported its "fifth consecutive year of Christmas growth" and said it's on track to meet expectations with its full year profits. The figures Like-for-like revenue in the UK & Ireland was up six per cent in the 10 weeks to 7 January, while southern Europe saw a five per cent increase. The Nordics recorded [...]
The Supreme Court Article 50 decision should help Brexit rather than hinder it January 24, 2017 As I've said in these pages before, the fact that our Parliament is required to have a debate about Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union before the British government exercises our right under it to begin the process of leaving the EU is not a great surprise; nor do I think that the [...]
Supreme Court ruling pushes sterling down despite forcing Parliamentary vote January 24, 2017 The Supreme Court’s decision to force the government to allow a vote on triggering Article 50 has provided scant consolation to the pound, which has extended losses in volatile trading. Sterling fell to lows of $1.2438 against the US dollar at the time of publication in response to the ruling. It had risen sharply ahead [...]
London must lose clearing crown after hard Brexit, warns BlackRock boss January 24, 2017 London will not be able to play a central role in the core functions of European financial markets like clearing in the event of a so-called hard Brexit, the vice chairman of the world’s largest asset manager has warned. BlackRock's Philipp Hildebrand suggested at the European Financial Forum that the UK cannot “have the cake and [...]
The Italian job: Analysts react to BT’s £530m accounting slip-up January 24, 2017 BT warned on its outlook for the year this morning, after revealing that the impact of impropriety in its Italian business would be much bigger than previously expected. Shares in the company had fallen 18 per cent by mid-morning following the announcement that the financial impact of problems in its Italian business has inflated to [...]