The number of mortgage completions made through Help to Buy fell year-on-year in June September 29, 2016 The number of mortgage completions made with the government's Help to Buy scheme has fallen by eight per cent year-on-year in June, according to figures from the Treasury. Completions made through Help to Buy reached 3,118, a monthly increase of 27 per cent. Read more: Government Help to Buy Scheme under fire over deposit clauses [...]
This is how Deutsche Bank is getting in on the fintech scene, with the launch of a digital factory in Frankfurt September 29, 2016 After a string of bad news stories for Deutsche Bank, the German giant has today announced a new initiative to boost its digital edge. The bank's digital factory in Frankfurt will act as a centre for creating digital products for the lender, currently housing 400 software developers, IT specialists and financial experts from around the world. [...]
Treasury committee chairman seeking assurances from high street bank bosses on IT health September 29, 2016 The chairman of the influential Treasury Select Committee (TSC) Andrew Tyrie has written to the chief executives of two of the UK's biggest banks over recent IT failures. City A.M. understands Tyrie will publish letters to the bosses of Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC tomorrow morning. Tyrie has also written to the heads of the financial regulators the Financial Conduct [...]
First masters degree in offshore decommissioning launched in Aberdeen September 29, 2016 What's believed to be the world's first masters degree in decommissioning has been launched by the University of Aberdeen in partnership with Robert Gordon University. Both universities said today that they are developing a suite of joint masters degrees focusing on key aspects associated with safely dismantling old oil rigs and platforms such as engineering, project management, business, [...]
Liam Fox has hinted at the end of EU customs union membership, promising the UK will lead the charge for free trade September 29, 2016 One of Theresa May's "Three Brexiteers" has today suggested the UK is set to exit the EU's customs union, vowing the country would lead the charge for free trade. International trade secretary Liam Fox, alongside foreign secretary Boris Johnson and Brexit secretary David Davis, is one of the most Eurosceptics in government, and he made the case for [...]
#Tube_Chat: Someone’s trying to get Tube commuters to converse and Londoners hate the idea September 29, 2016 It's every Londoner's nightmare. An underground campaign may be trying to get Tube commuters to actually converse with one another. Well-meaning though it may be, London Underground users hate the idea. The mysterious campaign emerged on social media this morning – although the majority of images seemed to be from the campaign's Facebook page, suggesting few badges [...]
Bank of England announces latest details of landlord crackdown September 29, 2016 The Bank of England's crackdown on landlords kicked up a notch this morning, with a set of tough new lending restrictions for buy to let mortgages. Threadneedle Street's banking supervision arm, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), has long been concerned with the risks the UK's buy-to-let sector poses to financial stability and has again tightened [...]
British steel “on track” to shake off multi-million pound losses and return to profit September 29, 2016 British Steel said today that it’s on track to go from making multi-million pound losses to returning a profit in this financial year. The firm successfully completed the first stage of its turnaround plan which included efficiency and cost-cutting measures, 270 new employees as well as a £50m capital investment. Read more: Union calls on Tata Steel [...]
Here’s how many people are using UberEats in London (and it’s expanding to zone 2) September 29, 2016 Uber now boasts more than half a million users of UberEats in London as it expands the food delivery service further across the capital. The service which launched in June to rival homegrown Deliveroo will now be available in parts of zone 2 beyond its initial launch area of central London. In the three months since launching, the billion-dollar startup [...]
France and Germany take Eurozone confidence to eight-month high September 29, 2016 The recovery in the Eurozone might still be on track as confidence jumped to a eight-month high in September. The EU's official economic sentiment indicator (ESI), the broadest measure of optimism among businesses and consumers across the single currency area, rose to 104.9 from a score of 103.5 recorded in August. Economists had expected confidence to flat-line after a string [...]