UK digital banks near 20m customers – but growth slows February 24, 2020 Digital banks operating in the UK edged towards 20 million customers in 2019, but slowing customer and deposit growth mean the lenders could face challenges on long term profitability, new figures show. Digital lenders including Monzo, Revolut and Starling gained over six million new customers in the second half of last year to reach a [...]
The cost of redundancy payments in the UK fell 28 per cent last year February 24, 2020 The cost of redundancy payments to UK businesses fell 28 per cent last year, according to analysis published today. Redundancy payments fell to a decade low of £3.3bn in 2018-19, down from £4.6bn the previous year, law firm EMW said. The firm said the sharp fall in the amount paid by UK businesses in redundancy [...]
Camden takes tech crown as it leads UK for new business creation February 24, 2020 Camden has topped the UK rankings for new business creations as London’s booming tech scene continues to drive growth in the capital. A total of 2,110 net new businesses were created in Camden in 2018, according to figures published today by private equity investment firm Growthdeck. This was closely followed by Westminster with 2,100, while [...]
Exclusive: Tory mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey calls for £104m ’emergency crime budget’ February 24, 2020 Tory mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey will attach an amendment to the mayor’s budget in an attempt to inject an extra £104m to the Metropolitan Police’s coffers. The London Assembly will vote on Sadiq Khan’s £17bn 2020-21 mayoral budget at City Hall today. The 25 assembly members can successfully add amendments to the budget, or over [...]
New law to force venues to prepare for terror attacks February 24, 2020 A proposed new law will require the UK’s venue operators to have measures in place to protect the public from terror attacks. The new legislation, labelled as “Protect Duty” by the Home Office, could force operators to increase physical security, conduct training and draw up incident response exercises for staff on what to do during an [...]
FSB calls for small business exemptions to immigration fees February 24, 2020 The government’s new immigration rules can work for small businesses if hiring costs are kept down and the system is easy to navigate, according to a new report. The new points-based immigration system, to be implemented from 2021, will require EU immigration applicants to speak English, have a job offer in the UK and to [...]
JP Morgan scopes former regulator to head up UK digital bank February 23, 2020 US investment bank JP Morgan is said to have lined up a former City regulator to spearhead the launch of its digital bank in the UK. Clive Adamson, who previously served as head of supervision at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), has been elected to chair JP Morgan’s new digital venture set to roll out [...]
France warns of tech tax chaos if global deal not reached this year February 23, 2020 Failure to reach a global agreement on how to tax tech giants such as Google and Facebook would lead to a chaotic mix of different tax regimes, France’s finance minister has warned. Bruno Le Maire today called on international leaders to reach a consensus over tax reform by the end of the year or risk [...]
Estate agents Countrywide and LSL ‘plot £500m merger’ February 23, 2020 Countrywide and LSL Property Services are said to be in talks over a £500m merger that would create the largest estate agency group in the UK. The companies, which are two of Britain’s largest listed estate agents, are in discussions over a potential all-share deal, Sky News reported. The negotiations are said to be “serious”, [...]
Government appoints advisers to oversee outsourcers amid fear of Carillion-style collapse February 23, 2020 The government has reportedly appointed advisers to monitor the health of important outsourcers such as engineering company Kier. The Sunday Telegraph reported that the Cabinet Office has hired accountancy firm Deloitte to assist in assessing the finances of key contractors. The move follows the collapse of outsourcer Carillion in 2018. The Cabinet Office, which employs [...]