Let’s get kraken: How the Octopus Group is making waves October 22, 2018 For a long time, it seemed like the bosses of finance, energy, and property corporations were laughing – the heartless belly laughs of those raking in stacks of money at the expense of their customers. Now there’s a growing trend for companies that care about the people they serve, a feeling that this should be their [...]
UK Finance makes £15m loss following merger of six trade groups October 14, 2018 UK Finance made a £15m loss following a merger of six financial services trade groups, its accounts revealed. The trade association, which represents nearly 300 firms in the banking and financial services sector, received a membership income of £13.7m – and total income of £17.2m – but suffered the loss due to the costs of the [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Ross McEwan calls for small business lending regulation October 9, 2018 The chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has called for small business lending to be regulated in the UK, despite avoiding disciplinary action for the mistreatment of SMEs by the bank's Global Restructuring Group (GRG). The lack of oversight for SME lending allowed RBS to dodge punishment by the Financial Conduct Authority this year, despite a report by the [...]
Greg Clark’s flawed and feeble remedy will fail to stamp out the late payment problem October 4, 2018 Brexit confusion, in-fighting, and leadership peacocking have marred both the Labour and Conservative Party conferences this year, but business secretary Greg Clark provided a glimmer of hope for SMEs this week. Large companies could be forced to nominate a board member to ensure that invoices are paid properly as part of a planned crackdown on [...]
Boss of £775m Royal Bank of Scotland competition payout confirms Santander UK is in running September 27, 2018 The head of a scheme to pay out £775m from Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) to boost banking sector competition today confirmed that Santander UK and other large lenders are in the running for multi-million-pound award, in spite of criticisms from rival banks. The scheme, designed by the Treasury but run independently by Banking [...]
Treasury launches review into potential barriers in business for women September 21, 2018 The Treasury has launched a review into barriers for women in business in an effort to utilise untapped talent in the workforce. Women could be facing unfair obstacles not experienced by their male counterparts according to government research. Only one third of UK entrepreneurs are women, who remain half as likely as men to [...]
Don’t be afraid to finance your firm’s growth through equity or debt, there are options out there for British businesses September 21, 2018 Having successfully run and invested in many businesses myself, an aversion to seeking finance to fund business growth is difficult for me to understand. But according to research highlighted in the British Business Bank’s Small Business Finance Markets report earlier this year, 70 per cent of small and medium sized companies in the UK [...]
Regulator calls in Paypal’s $2.2bn iZettle merger on day it completes September 20, 2018 The UK's competition regulator has called in Paypal's $2.2bn (£1.7bn) acquisition of Swedish payments firm iZettle on the day it completes. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will investigate whether the merger would lessen competition between payment platforms in the UK, with the firms remaining separate until the CMA concludes its probe. Nevertheless, Paypal said the [...]
How the UK’s regulatory framework protects P2P investors December 7, 2017 | Sponsored The peer-to-peer (P2P) lending market was established in 2005, when Zopa became the first platform to connect individual lenders directly with borrowers. Since then, the market has evolved rapidly, as have the regulations underpinning investor protection – and this looks set to continue. In the UK, the sector has been overseen by the [...]
Small firms less upbeat as skills gap gets wider September 6, 2015 The supply of skilled workers available for London firms to hire is plunging at its fastest rate for 18 years. The skills shortage adds to the headache of small businesses, which have had a worrisome summer after the introduction of a national living wage and higher dividend taxes. The Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s (REC) barometer [...]