Stepping up: New business leaders should remember these eight things August 9, 2016 The rate of change in leadership we are currently seeing in the worlds of politics, business and sport is breathtaking. Theresa May, Sam Allardyce and Jan Frykhammar at Ericsson have all taken on top jobs in recent weeks, but how can they make sure they’re not left standing in this game of musical chairs? Anyone [...]
Meggitt share price leaps on news of second major investor increasing stake August 8, 2016 Activist investor Elliott Management increased its position in Meggitt this morning driving up the share price of the struggling engineer nearly nine per cent. Elliott is the second major investor in Meggitt shares over the last few days. Norges Bank took a three per cent stake on Friday and Elliott, who had already built up a considerable interest [...]
Smallest businesses face £22m of fines over auto-enrolment pensions confusion August 8, 2016 UK micro-businesses are collectively facing fines of up to £22m due to a lack of understanding around auto-enrolment pensions, a new report has warned. The Pensions Regulator estimates that around 262,000 micro-businesses, defined as firms employing between one and four people, are set to “stage” – or be required to set up a workplace pension [...]
Work and Pensions committee takes next step in inquiry into state of play of pensions August 8, 2016 MPs have today issued a call for evidence for an inquiry on the state of defined benefit (DB) pensions, with the roles of the pensions watchdog and lifeboat in particular thrust under the microscope. The inquiry by the Work and Pensions committee was sparked by its recent investigation into the pensions situation at BHS. The retailer had [...]
Lloyds Bank faces legal action over equal pensions for men and women August 8, 2016 A trade union at Lloyds Bank is undertaking legal action to address the pension pay gap between men and women. The case could set a precedent for other companies, potentially costing them over £13bn, the FT has reported. Read more: Lloyds Banking Group to cull a further 3,000 jobs Lloyds Trade Union has described the gap [...]
City A.M. Unregulated podcast: Property entrepreneur Rob Moore on the joys of being disruptive August 8, 2016 Uber's Travis Kalanick has done it. Amazon's Jeff Bezos did it two decades ago. Tesla's Elon Musk does it on a regular basis. This week property entrepreneur Rob Moore, host of the Disruptive Entrepreneur podcast, takes on the topic of disruption. He tells us the story of his failure and subsequent success – and why despite everything, [...]
Lex Deak talks mums on Facebook, setting up a hotel in Marrakech, Dragons’ Den and bitcoin August 8, 2016 I never really considered working for someone else. At 12, I was buying electronics in bulk and selling them at school and via Loot.” This was the start of a fascination with business for serial entrepreneur Lex Deak. Most recently, the 33 year-old launched OFF3R, an aggregator for alternative finance deals. The year before that – [...]
Fintech founders choose their favourite business books August 8, 2016 Stuck for what to read this summer and want to use the time improving your business acumen? City A.M. has asked five of London’s leading fintech founders what they’d recommend. Hiroki Takeuchi, co-founder of GoCardless, the online direct debit provider Five dysfunctions of teams, by Patrick Lencioni I love books that introduce me to [...]
Meetings in the mud: Can you work from a festival? August 5, 2016 Do you like to listen to music while you work? Listening to Spotify in the office is one thing, but what about answering emails at a festival? As more and more businesses embrace the agile, flexible working culture, more employees are free to work from their location of choice. But is it really acceptable to [...]
Superstar investor Neil Woodford accepts trust results will “disappoint” investors August 4, 2016 Neil Woodford has said he understands why some investors in Woodford Patient Capital Trust will be “disappointed” with its performance. The trust today reported that its net assets had fallen to £717.9m in the first half of 2016, down from £814.9m a year ago. Launched in April last year, Woodford raised a record £800m for [...]