Confidence in economy climbs to highest level for four years April 27, 2015 People are more confident about the state of the economy than at any other time since 2011. Lloyds Bank’s spending power index climbed to a record high score of 158 in March, according to figures published today. This marks a four point gain on February’s 154 and is now the highest since the index began [...]
Brexit and the City: Business and Brussels – to stay or split? April 27, 2015 HSBC chairman Douglas Flint entered a political firestorm last week when he said Britain’s biggest bank was considering moving its headquarters out of the UK. Speaking at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) in London on Friday, Flint said the bank was looking to relocate in part due to uncertainty over the UK’s relationship [...]
Warm reception for HSBC boosts chance it will move to Hong Kong April 27, 2015 HSBC’S bosses received a substantially warmer welcome from investors in Hong Kong than at its annual general meeting (AGM) in London on Friday, City A.M. understands. It comes at a crucial time for the UK-based banking giant as it considers moving its headquarters out of the UK, in response to the rising tide of regulation [...]
Elliott Advisors: The activist US hedge fund shaking up Britain April 27, 2015 Elliott Advisors is the UK subsidiary of a much larger American group, which began life in 1977 when it was established by Paul Elliott Singer. Its British arm has a reputation for activism which is not always welcomed by companies’ executives, as the hedge fund analyses performance and pushes for changes to squeeze better returns. [...]
BHS hires 250 new staff in food retail push amid withheld credit insurance rumours April 27, 2015 BHS announced its intention to take on 250 staff yesterday, and denied rumours its suppliers were seeing their credit insurance withheld. The struggling department store is hiring the extra staff as it seeks to expand into food retail following a successful trial in its Romford, Staines and Warrington stores. BHS has signed a contract with [...]
Citigroup floods market in Yorkshire Water shares as it prepares to sell £2bn stake April 27, 2015 Yorkshire Water is set to become the focus of an investor scramble for shares after Citigroup announced its intention to sell its £2bn stake in the utilities company yesterday. In what would be one of the largest utilities deals in years, Citi is seeking to offload its 30 per cent holding in the company which [...]
K&C REIT IPO: London house fund set to list April 27, 2015 A group of City veterans is looking to raise £6m on the Alternative Investment Market (Aim) to kick start a fund which will invest in the central London property market. The K&C REIT (real estate investment trust) issues its intention to float document today, notifying investors of its plans. It hopes to raise £6m at [...]
More shoppers are supporting living wages April 26, 2015 Public sentiment toward the living wage campaign – the campaign to get employers to pay workers a calculated wage higher than the minimum wage – is on the climb. A survey published today by financial services firm KPMG found that seven out of 10 UK adults would consciously shop in favour of a retail chain [...]
Adobe considering £200m bid for UK special effects firm The Foundry April 26, 2015 US tech giant Adobe is set to make a £200m bid for UK special effects firm The Foundry, it emerged yesterday. The British firm, which boasts 20,000 clients including Pixar, Sony and Warner Bros, was put up for sale last year by private equity firm Carlyle. Its cutting edge effects programme, Nuke, has been used [...]
CafePod seeks new funding as it takes on $15bn global market April 26, 2015 London based start-up CafePod is seeking to raise £1.5m to take its coffee brand global, the company has announced. The UK company, which manufactures coffee capsules, was set up by two former City workers, Peter Grainger and Brent Hadfield in 2012 and has since seen its value rocket by 700 per cent. CafePod managed to [...]