The best universities in the world: The nine top in the UK according to the QS 2018 World University Rankings June 8, 2017 Nine universities in the UK have been named among the top 50 best in the world according to a new ranking – but cuts to funding and the potential impact of Brexit have seen institutions lose ground to other countries. Cambridge, Oxford, University College London and Imperial made the top 10 of the annual QS [...]
RPC Group’s annual profit doubled, but shares just tumbled June 7, 2017 Annual profit more than doubled at plastic packaging firm RPC Group, but sceptical investors caused the company’s share price to tumble. The figures Profit before tax increased 105 per cent to £154.7m in the year to the end of March due partly to acquisitions made since the launch of a new strategy in 2013. The [...]
London is home to more of the hottest fintech startups than ever before according to the Fintech50 2017 June 7, 2017 London’s status as the world leading centre of fintech has been questioned in the wake of Brexit, but new figures suggest the capital continues to be a global powerhouse for financial technology. The city has produced more of the hottest fintech startups than ever before, with over half of the Fintech50 calling it home. Challenger [...]
Lloyds Banking Group has agreed a huge deal outsourcing nearly 2,000 tech jobs to IBM June 6, 2017 Lloyds has finally inked a long-negotiated deal to outsource nearly 2,000 tech jobs to IBM. The deal estimated to be worth more than £1.3bn over the next 10 years, but is expected to save the bank £759m. Negotiations have come to a a conclusion and a deal was agreed today The Register first reported. Read [...]
Europe’s airports record soaring passenger traffic growth in April as Turkey bounces back to “full recovery” June 6, 2017 European airports recorded a surge in passenger traffic in April, growing by 14.1 per cent compared with the same time last year. According to European airport trade association ACI Europe, ongoing strong demand as well as airline capacity expansion helped, along with air traffic picking back up in Turkey. Read more: Airline industry bumps up [...]
Forced relocation of euro clearing from London would be “severely detrimental” to EU, global trade body warns June 6, 2017 A global trade association has told the European Commission it holds “grave concerns” over the proposal to force euro clearing activity away from London to the EU. The Futures Industry Association (FIA) warned that it “strongly believe[s] that a forced relocation of euro-denominated derivatives clearing would be severely detrimental to the economic interests of the [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland trial looks to be off: Shareholder group votes to accept 82p-per-share compensation offer June 6, 2017 The Royal Bank of Scotland trial appears to be off, with the shareholder action group said to have accepted a settlement offer this morning. The High Court judge was informed of the decision at 11am today, a source close to the group told City A.M. Directors of the shareholder group voted to accept the 82p-per-share [...]
UK rents have fallen for the first time in eight years with London seeing the most “substantial” dip June 6, 2017 May saw rents in the UK falling for the first time since December 2009, according to Homelet’s rental index. Last month, rents in Britain slipped 0.3 per cent compared to the same month a year ago with the average monthly rent now standing at £901. Five out of 12 regions in the UK reported rental [...]
UK retail sales slide as consumers cut discretionary spending, according to British Retail Consortium June 6, 2017 Retail sales fell back again last month as consumers started counting the pennies and cut their discretionary spending. Like-for-like retail sales were down by 0.4 per cent in May, according to figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC), falling back from the sales boost the sector received over the Easter holiday. Non-food retailers dragged on [...]
Apple reveals HomePod, a smart home speaker to rival Amazon Echo and Google Home powered by Siri – price, release date, spec June 5, 2017 Apple has confirmed the rumours and unveiled a home speaker taking on rivals Google and Amazon – it’s called HomePod. “No one’s quite nailed it yet” said Apple executive Phil Schiller of the increasing number of home speakers and voice assistants on the market. “Just like iPod reinvented music in our pockets, HomePod will reinvent [...]