Local elections 2018: It was meant to bruise Theresa May, but Jeremy Corbyn’s the one with the bloody nose May 4, 2018 As the dust settles on yesterday’s local elections, the picture that is emerging is one of status quo. Incremental gains have been made by the two main parties – but mostly at the expense of Ukip. None of the councils targeted by Labour in its much-hyped Unseat campaign have turned red. Instead the Tories have [...]
You can find love with Facebook, if you’ll just trade data for dating May 4, 2018 “We have a responsibility to do more, not just to connect the world but to bring the world closer together.” So spoke Mark Zuckerberg in June 2017, announcing Facebook’s new mission statement. Almost a year later, in the midst of an ongoing scandal about privacy and data, you’d be forgiven for questioning whether the social [...]
HSBC’s share price falls as bank reports surprise fall in profits May 4, 2018 HSBC’s share price opened down this morning after the bank reported a surprise four per cent fall in profits, despite a growth in revenues, citing a rise in expenses. Shares were down 1.4 per cent on the open and continued to tumble to 2.3 per cent, becoming the biggest faller on the FTSE by mid-morning. [...]
Tax and Business Law: Professional Insights on the release of the OECD’s interim report on tax challenges arising from digitisation May 4, 2018 | City Talk Industrialisation has been hugely beneficial to humans. It has enabled huge leaps in the improvement of physical health and wellbeing, creating the productive surpluses that fund research, hospitals, free healthcare – but not without cost, and in many cases perversely a specific cost in harm to the physical environment on which we rely for that [...]
TSB crisis may have sting in the tail, Andy Hornby’s near-miss with the Sainsbury’s-Asda merger and the FA’s trophy buyer May 4, 2018 The System’s Broken. Try Surrendering Bonuses. TSB customers who found themselves locked out of their accounts for parts of the last fortnight might have devised less polite acronyms for the custodian of their savings. Conspiracy theorists about recent banking history might also trace the origins of the current meltdown to an ill-fated decision in 2010 [...]
Pension pots of one in 10 people aged over 55 targeted by scammers May 4, 2018 One in 10 over-55s say they have been targeted by scammers since the launch of Pension Freedoms in 2015. A study conducted by Prudential warned that a high number of pensioners have been approached by suspected scammers offering to unlock or transfer funds to defraud people of their retirement savings. One third of those surveyed [...]
The sour notes from the Sainsbury’s boss show that business must do better May 4, 2018 “We’re in the money.” Lyrics made famous by Ginger Rogers and 42nd Street, more recently appropriated by Sainsbury’s boss Mike Coupe in an unguarded off-mic moment at ITV. But whereas the musical focused on the travails of those trying to make it on Broadway in the depths of the Great Recession, for Coupe it came [...]
The nanny state is over-egging childhood obesity rates to weigh in on our home lives May 4, 2018 It may no longer be just parents and children that face “naming and shaming” when it comes to childhood obesity. Schools themselves could be added to the list, as part of the government’s wider strategy to tackle obesity. According to The Times, “schools across England could be required to weigh and measure their pupils every [...]
Asset managers celebrated their best performance since 2010 last year – but fees are still being squeezed May 4, 2018 Asset managers may have experienced their best performance since 2010 last year, but they cannot afford to take their eye off the ball according to one advisory firm. Preliminary data from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) shows that global assets under management grew by 14 per cent in 2017, as net new inflows of cash stood [...]
Form alliance with Switzerland, Hong Kong and Singapore to boost City after Brexit, Shanker Singham argues in new report May 4, 2018 The City should forge alliances with other major financial hubs to strengthen and boost its position in the post-Brexit world, a new report by influential trade wonk Shanker Singham argues. According to Singham and co-author Catherine McBride, both of whom left Legatum to join the Institute of Economic Affairs in March, the UK should use [...]