Now you can live in the apartment where D-Day was planned – if you have a cool £4.7m May 24, 2016 It's the ultimate piece of war memorabilia: an apartment in the building that served as a base for the Special Operations during the planning of D-Day has just gone up for sale. The only catch? You'll need a cool £4.75m to live in it. The five-bedroom duplex apartment is in Montagu Mansions, used as a headquarters [...]
Investment banks endure worst first quarter since financial crisis May 24, 2016 The world's 12 largest investment banks endured their slowest start since the financial crisis, in what's typically their most lucrative period. Their revenue fell 25 per cent in the first quarter from a year ago as a wave of volatility rippled through financial markets, according to research by industry analytics firm Coalition. European bank shares hit multi-year lows [...]
JD Wetherspoon’s boss is going on a pub crawl to convince you to vote for Brexit May 24, 2016 JD Wetherspoon chief Tim Martin is going on a pub crawl around all 100 of the company's drinking-holes over the next month to convince punters to vote for Britain to leave the EU. Martin is a staunch Brexit campaigner – he has signed several business-led letters calling for Brexit – and hopes to spread the word [...]
Why Brexit won’t be a disaster (and as former City minister, I should know) May 24, 2016 As someone who spent 25 years working in finance, four years scrutinising the Treasury as a backbencher, and then two years first as City minister, now as Energy Minister, I've seen at first hand the economic cycles, the disasters and triumphs. These experiences tell me that the UK has an outstanding future as a free trading global [...]
CYBG: PPI pushes on for the UK’s latest challenger bank May 24, 2016 Clydesdale Yorkshire Bank, one of the UK's latest challengers after it was spun-off by National Australia Bank earlier this year, said net interest margin rose in the six months to the end of March – but it reiterated that PPI is still taking its toll. Read more: Public hungry for challenger banks, research finds The figures [...]
Now Donald Trump has been rejected…. by North Korea May 24, 2016 Donald Trump is getting used to having politicians around the world reject him. Not only has he ruffled feathers at City Hall for his comments about Muslims (in the form of both Boris Johnson and his successor Sadiq Khan) now it seems he can't even catch a break in North Korea. The Republican Presidential hopeful had proposed that [...]
Rio Tinto exec Stephen McIntosh swaps exploration for tech May 24, 2016 FTSE 100-listed miner Rio Tinto's head of exploration is swapping this troubled sector for tech and innovation as the commodity rout rumbles on. Stephen McIntosh has been appointed as acting group chief exec for technology and innovation, succeeding Greg Lilleyman who will leave the firm after a 25-year career there. McIntosh has been with Rio Tinto for almost 30 [...]
De La Rue reports rise in revenue but dip in profits May 24, 2016 Banknote printer De La Rue has reported revenue growth for the year to 26 March 2016, as the company continues with a concerted five-year turnaround attempt. The almost 200-year-old business is moving away from cash printing and plans to grow its identification side, using many of the same techniques it uses to make bank notes secure. [...]
B&Q owner Kingfisher says it is still on track with its “ambitious” five-year plan May 24, 2016 DIY retailer Kingfisher posted growth in the majority of its markets in a trading update released this morning and said it was on track to deliver its "ambitious" five-year plan. The figures Total sales rose 5.1 per cent for the group to £2.73bn, including new openings in the three months to April, in line with expectations. [...]
Nationwide posts strong profit growth as mortgage lending reaches pre-recession levels May 24, 2016 Nationwide lent more money to house-buyers last year than it has done since the financial crash starting in 2007, helping the society to post strong profit growth. The figures Gross mortgage lending at the building society was up 20 per cent to £32.6bn, as the firm helped 57,200 first time buyers into a home of their own. [...]