Executive pay rises should not outstrip staff salary bumps, Aviva warns February 5, 2023 Aviva Investors has warned company directors that it would be “inappropriate” to award themselves bumper pay rises and urged them to recognise that record high inflation puts far greater pressure on the budgets of their frontline staff. In a letter to the 1,600 firms in which it has stakes, including many in London, the fund [...]
Peel Hunt joins forces with rival brokers to launch retail capital markets and IPO investment platform February 2, 2023 Peel Hunt is set to launch a new independent retail investment platform alongside other brokers in the second half of 2023, as it seeks to broaden access to capital markets amongst retail investors. The investment bank will establish RetailBook as a new legal entity which will own and operate a deal platform based on Peel [...]
London digital lender Zopa bags £75m for dealmaking push February 2, 2023 Digital lender Zopa today said it had raised £75m as it looks to kick off a major growth push and flurry of dealmaking in the coming months. The London-based fintech said the fresh funding round would be used to meet the capital requirements of its “growing balance sheet” as well as fund a major acquisition [...]
Future of UK tech talent visa uncertain after controversial closure of Tech Nation February 1, 2023 Tech chiefs have sounded the alarm over the future of Tech Nation’s lauded visa programme today after the start-up body announced it would wind down after controversially losing a major government contract.
Tech Nation to shut down after government controversially gives funding to Barclays January 31, 2023 Start-up network Tech Nation is to be wound down after the government controversially withdrew its funding and handed it to Barclays, the organisation announced today. Tech Nation, founded by the coalition government in 2010, said it would cease operations from the end of March after the Department for Culture Media and Sport confirmed it had [...]
Hambro SPAC ditches merger talks with biotech firm January 30, 2023 Hambro Perks Acquisition Company (HPAC), a pioneering special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), has abandoned plans for a merger with biotech firm Istesso. HPAC, which became the first SPAC to float in London in November 2021 after regulators overhauled UK rules, had been in talks with Istesso over a planned merger. Istesso is part-owned by London-listed [...]
FCA landed on ‘suspiciously round numbers’ to justify greenwashing rules, top MP claims January 30, 2023 The chair of the influential Treasury committee has slammed the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) over its planned 'greenwashing' rules, claiming the regulator landed on "suspiciously round numbers" to justify the plans and questioned the methodology it used to reach its conclusions.
Sir Nigel Wilson: City grandee to step away after decade of success at Legal and General January 30, 2023 Respected City grandee Sir Nigel Wilson will step away from the top job at Legal & General after more than a decade at the helm. The insurer and pensions provider announced Wilson’s planned retirement to markets this morning. Wilson will stay with L&G until a successor is found, with the firm expecting that process to [...]
Is this the end of law firm IPOs? January 30, 2023 British law firms have traditionally stayed away from public markets. Yet following a series of IPOs over the past eight years, there are now six UK law firms listed on the stock exchange. Gateley became the first UK law firm to launch an IPO in 2015 after floating on London’s alternative investment market (AIM). In [...]
UK investors facing dividend drop-off as inflation squeezes profits January 30, 2023 Investors in UK firms are facing a drop-off in dividends this year as rising costs cause firms to rein in their payouts following a bumper 2022, according to new data.