HSBC says women will hold 50 per cent of senior jobs at new headquarters November 25, 2015 HSBC UK is upping the ante on its gender equality initiatives by announcing a new "50/50 recruitment target" to have half of senior management roles occupied by women. Britain's biggest lender revealed the new policy this morning, saying that while female employees account for 54 per cent of HSBC UK’s overall workforce, women are "significantly underrepresented at a senior [...]
Autumn Statement 2015: Play George Osborne’s interactive buzzword bingo game November 25, 2015 George Osborne is preparing for a "knock at the door" fiscal update in the space of just a year (that's number four) , and that means we get to play another round of buzzword bingo. The chancellor is really spoiling us. Be prepared for the "long-term economic plan" – again – but will he make a dig at [...]
EU referendum: UK property and construction sector does not want Brexit, with only 15 per cent saying it would have positive impact November 25, 2015 The UK’s property bigwigs overwhelmingly support staying in the EU, according to figures released exclusively today to City A.M. by professional services firm Smith & Williamson. In a survey of 200 property and construction senior executives, just 15 per cent said that leaving the EU would have a positive impact on the industry. “The industry [...]
Thomas Cook share price rises after it posts first annual profit in five years November 25, 2015 The figures Thomas Cook Group revenue increased 1.1 per cent to £7.83bn in the year ended 30 September, reflecting continued customer demand for differentiated holiday offering. The FTSE 250 listed group's profit after tax crept to a positive £19m, up from a £115m loss in 2014, marking its first positive annual profit after tax since 2010. And while Thomas Cook temporarily [...]
Black Friday 2015 UK: John Lewis will have to beat sales on iPads, Nutribullets, Samsung TVs and De’Longhi coffee machines to improve on last year’s bargain bonanza November 25, 2015 Black Friday 2015 is around the corner and many retailers – including Amazon, EBay and Currys PC World are already offering huge discounts on a wide array of TVs, computers and other must-have electrical devices. John Lewis has so far kept its powder dry and will only be unveiling its offers on the day itself [...]
Chinese insurers to splurge $73bn on real estate November 25, 2015 Chinese insurers could splash out as much as $73bn (£48.4bn) on the global real estate market by 2019, new research shows, as companies look to protect themselves from volatile equity markets and take advantage of relaxed rules on overseas investment. According to Cushman & Wakefield, top insurance companies in China had just 0.8 per cent of [...]
Energy and oil drive Wall Street higher – New York Report November 24, 2015 Arise in energy stocks due to an increase in oil prices after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border yesterday pulled New York indices up. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 19.51 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 17,812.19, the S&P 500 gained 2.55 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 2,089.14 and [...]
Tesco threatened with Christmas strike action after Unite denounces frozen pay for delivery staff in Belfast and Doncaster as “pitiful” November 24, 2015 Tesco faces a new headache as over 700 of its drivers and delivery staff are threatening to strike right over the busy Christmas period. Belfast and Doncaster staff are gearing up to vote on strike action over a pay dispute, as the supermarket giant has frozen pay for its delivery staff in both regions. Unite [...]
Genel Energy and New Age in early stages of merger talks November 24, 2015 Genel Energy, which is chaired by former BP boss Tony Hayward, today entered merger talks with exploration group New African Global Energy (New Age). According to Sky News, the two companies are in the early stages of discussing a merger that could be worth £2bn, although sources added the talk was just one of many [...]
Rolls-Royce’s Warren East admits investor confidence “not good” upon announcing major restructure to cut costs by £200m annually November 24, 2015 Rolls-Royce’s chief executive Warren East admitted today that his company must become more transparent towards its shareholders, after several profit warnings have sent its stocks plummeting. When announcing restructuring plans that will cut costs by up to £200m, East said investor confidence was “not in a good place”, and added that the company would begin [...]