February Events: The City Culture Corner March 2, 2020 | Sponsored Meet van GoghAfter captivating audiences in Beijing, Barcelona and Seoul, the official Meet Vincent van Gogh Experience will arrive in London soon. Date: 7th February – 29th FebruaryTime: 10am – 5pmVenue: 99 Upper Ground, London, SE1 9PPClick here to find out more. Samuel Beckett: Fail BetterWhen is failure a good thing? Poet in the City’s 2020 programme contemplates failure [...]
Airline stocks push FTSE 100 back into the red as coronavirus fears mount March 2, 2020 Airline stocks continued to plunge this morning as more flights were suspended on the back of growing fears over the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. British Airways owner IAG was the FTSE 100’s biggest faller, shedding another nine per cent this morning to land at 426.20. The fall means that since 23 February IAG has [...]
Teddy Sagi’s Labtech sells Holborn Links Estate for £245m March 2, 2020 Labtech, the property investment firm owned by billionaire businessman Teddy Sagi, has completed the sale of Holborn Links Estate, which includes the historic Sicilian Avenue, for £245m. Investors Tristan Capital Partners and Cording Real Estate Group have bought the West End office and retail portfolio to capitalise on the opening of Crossrail stations at Tottenham [...]
Twitter bans ‘non-critical’ business travel over coronavirus fears March 2, 2020 Twitter has rolled out a ban on all “non-critical” business travel and events as the social media firm ramps up its health precautions amid the coronavirus outbreak. In a blog post published yesterday, Twitter’s chief HR officer Jennifer Christie said the company had informed staff of the new measures at the end of last week. [...]
UK-US trade deal set to devalue UK’s financial services sector March 2, 2020 The government has admitted a free trade deal with the US is likely to lead to a drop in the value of the UK’s financial services sector, as other parts of the UK economy begin to expand. Number 10 this morning published its negotiating mandate for talks with Washington. Those discussions, expected to be spearheaded [...]
Nokia replaces chief executive as 5G strategy fails to win over investors March 2, 2020 Nokia today announced plans to replace its chief executive as the Finnish telecoms firm battles escalating 5G costs and fierce competition from rivals. Rajeev Suri will step down as president and chief executive after more than a decade in the role, and will be replaced by Pekka Lundmark. Lundmark, who currently leads Finnish energy company [...]
Brexit and international trade policy leader joins EY’s trade team March 2, 2020 | City Talk EY has strengthened its International Trade and Brexit team with the key appointment of leading global trade specialist, Sally Jones. Specialising in trade policy, from both a global and Brexit perspective, Sally joins EY as partner and trade policy leader, having previously worked at Big Four competitor, Deloitte. Sally has worked with clients across multiple industries [...]
UK mortgage approvals hit highest in four years March 2, 2020 UK banks approved the highest number of mortgages for four years in January, official statistics have shown, in a sign the housing market is recovering after a rocky 2019. Mortgage approvals for house purchase rose to 70,900 in January, up 4.4 per cent from December’s 67,930 figure, the Bank of England said today. The jump [...]
Activist investor demands removal of Barclays boss Jes Staley over Epstein links March 2, 2020 Barclays should remove chief executive Jes Staley from its board over his ties to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, according to activist investor Sherborne. In a letter to shareholders, Sherbone, which is led by Edward Bramson, said the decision by Barclays’ board to nominate Staley for reelection amid an ongoing regulatory investigation was “ill advised”. Sherborne, [...]
Coronavirus threat plagues Eurozone factory output March 2, 2020 Italy’s factory output slumped for the 17th month in a row in February, it emerged today, as economists warned the coronavirus outbreak could deepen the Eurozone’s manufacturing downturn. The embattled economy’s manufacturing industry activity fell from 48.9 in January to 48.7, according to IHS Markit’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI). Anything below 50 represents a contraction. [...]