Uncertainty hits UK jobs market as hiring wanes August 8, 2019 Hiring remained subdued last month, as ongoing political and economy uncertainty continued to cast a cloud over the UK’s job market. Permanent staff appointments tumbled for the fifth consecutive month in July. Read more: US employment reaches new high The rate of growth in starting salaries awarded to newly placed permanent staff also slumped to [...]
Car crash: Hastings share price sinks as rate change hurts profit August 8, 2019 Insurer Hastings saw shares fall seven per cent this morning as profits were slashed nearly in half over the first six months of the year. Last month, the government changed the Ogden discount rate, which determines how much insurers have to pay out to people who have been injured in accidents, to a level which [...]
Co-op Bank narrows losses but warns over mortgage competition August 8, 2019 The UK’s Co-operative Bank cut its losses in the first half of the year but said “margin headwinds” due to mortgage competition were holding it back. Read more: Metro Bank share price plummets in wake of profit drop The figures Co-op Bank made a statutory pre-tax loss of £38.5m in the first half, its interim [...]
‘Enough is enough’ says police chief, after Leyton machete attack August 8, 2019 A police officer is in critical condition after being stabbed with a machete multiple times during a “frenzied, unprovoked and shocking attack” in east London late last night. The injured officer managed to defend himself with a Taser, but not before being stabbed in the head and body “a number of times”, police said. He [...]
Rics: UK house prices ‘flatlining’ over no-deal Brexit concerns August 8, 2019 UK house prices are “flatlining” in a weak housing market, according to an influential group of chartered surveyors. A headline price indicator slipped deeper into negative territory in July, according to the latest survey by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (Rics). Read more: UK house prices ‘tread water’ as they slip for another month [...]
Property investment plummets in first half as Brexit uncertainty hampers market August 8, 2019 British commercial property investment plunged by a third in the first half of the year because of Brexit-related uncertainty, while residential transactions were at their lowest since the global financial crisis, according to real estate giant Savills. Investment activity in greater London commercial property fell 31 per cent in the first half of 2019, while [...]
Aviva confirms strategic review of Asia units as UK life insurance profits fall August 8, 2019 Aviva confirmed it is reviewing its Asian insurance arms with the potential for a sale as it revealed what its chief executive called a “mixed” bag of half-year results today. The figures The insurer saw operating profit climb one per cent year on year to £1.45bn in the first six months of 2019, beating forecasts [...]
Credit providers must learn to embrace new technology August 8, 2019 Personal finance has a legacy problem. Until now, those who weren’t familiar with its inner workings have never truly understood financial products and services. A combination of technical jargon and a lack of clarity concerning the impact that certain decisions might have on a person’s credit rating has often left consumers very confused about exactly [...]
Banks, don’t forget about the human touch August 8, 2019 Technology is transforming how we all live our lives. This is true in every part of the country and in every sector, and banking is no different. But the challenge for banks is to harness the possibilities of rapidly-evolving technology for the benefit of our customers. New banking tech affects how we live our lives, [...]
Dominic Cummings is behind Number 10’s new startup-mindset August 8, 2019 “What we want to hear is their conquer the world strategy,” said Scott Kupor, managing partner of American venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Kupor was talking about wannabe entrepreneurs knocking on the company’s Sand Hill Road door in California and looking to become the next Twitter, Lyft, or Airbnb. If Boris Johnson’s right-hand man Dominic [...]