May launches fresh inquiries into child abuse July 7, 2014 HOME secretary Theresa May has announced a wide-ranging inquiry into historic child sex-abuse scandals and the way they were handled by UK institutions. The inquiry will be headed up by an independent panel of child protection experts and will not report before the general election next year, May told the House of Commons yesterday. It [...]
Spire Healthcare lays out price range amid Bupa contract talks July 7, 2014 The UK’s second biggest private hospital chain Spire Healthcare set a 210p to 300p per share price range yesterday on its looming stock debut. The group, made up of 39 private hospitals and 13 clinics, is hoping to raise £315m from investors in the share issue to cut debts and provide an exit route for [...]
Blackstone poised to buy City watchdog’s Canary Wharf HQ July 7, 2014 PRIVATE equity giant Blackstone is poised to buy the Financial Conduct Authorities headquarters in Canary Wharf in a deal thought to be worth around £165m. The company is understood to have placed 25 North Colonnade under offer for around £15m below the initial price set by its owners Evans Randall when it was placed on [...]
Shareholder spring reduces top pay awards July 7, 2014 The legacy of the shareholder spring has reduced top executive pay in the FTSE 100 by seven per cent, according to new research. The pay packages of top bosses fell by five per cent in 2012 and seven per cent last year, the report from remuneration experts Manifest and MM&K suggested. The research also listed [...]
Massive surge in salary increases contradicts government figures July 7, 2014 New salaries are surging, according to a major survey of recruiters, clashing with the government’s official measure of wage growth and providing an uncertain signal on when interest rates will start to rise. The latest figures from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG’s survey show starting salaries climbing at the fastest pace in [...]
Burberry to push ahead with pay proposal amid fall in share price July 7, 2014 BURBERRY is expected to push ahead with a vote on Friday to award its new chief executive Christopher Bailey a £20m-plus pay deal after opposition from one of the UK’s biggest shareholder bodies hit shares yesterday. Burberry’s share price fell two per cent yesterday after the Investment Management Association put an “amber top” rating on [...]
Top Boohoo staff get share awards July 7, 2014 ONLINE fashion retailer Boohoo has granted share options to senior managers for a total of 988,000 shares. The company, which listed on Aim in March, said the options granted had a vesting period of three years, a total exercise period of 10 years, and will be subject to the firm hitting certain goals. Its shares [...]
Starting a bank costs less than a flat in Chelsea July 7, 2014 New banks now require just £1m of capital to kick-start their establishment, the Bank of England and the City watchdog said yesterday, down from £5m under the previous rules. Regulators have slashed the amount of red tape involved in setting up a new lender in a bid to boost competition in a sector, after decades of [...]
Big lenders win back customers’ loyalty with year of special deals July 7, 2014 BRITAIN’S biggest banks have upped their game in the face of new competitors, turning around their reputations after years of scandal, a study claimed today. Five of the biggest eight banks made progress in the past year, impressing their customers, according to the survey carried out by Grant Thornton. By contrast, only four of the [...]
Mobile and online money transactions hit £1bn per day July 7, 2014 Mobile and online banking transaction volumes are close to £1bn per day, the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) revealed in a report out today. That includes 2.6m transactions per day on mobile apps, though customers tend to use computers for major transactions. Overall, £1.7bn per week is transferred through mobile apps and £6.4bn over other internet [...]