Headcount at six largest UK banks ticks up for first time since pandemic July 5, 2023 The number of employees at the six largest UK banks increased slightly last year, the first increase since the pandemic. According to statistics in the Banker’s Top 1,000 World Banks report, the six largest UK lenders – HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds, Standard Chartered, Natwest and Nationwide – increased their headcount by 0.6 per cent last year. [...]
London IPO market shows ‘green shoots of recovery’ after barren start to the year July 5, 2023 The amount of cash raised on the London Stock Exchange has begun to creep upwards this year as the “green shoots of recovery” begin to appear after a barren period on the market, new data shows.
Wine sector reeling as price of a bottle set to be taxed 20 per cent more July 5, 2023 Wine lovers will be taxed 20 per cent more on their favourite bottle of red or white in a month’s time, as the government steams ahead with its alcohol duty tax hikes, spelling further pain for customers and businesses. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced the measures as part of the Spring Budget back in March, which [...]
Britons are worst investors in Europe and have £1.8trn sitting idle in savings July 5, 2023 Britons’ are the worst investors in Europe and have around £1.8trn sitting idle in savings accounts, around the entire value of the FTSE 100, a new report released today has found.
Natwest calls for greater commercial incentives to boost open banking take-up July 5, 2023 Natwest has called for a “step change” in the regulation of open banking as the sector moves towards the next stage of its life. Citing research from consultancy firm Oxera, Natwest argued there should be greater commercial incentives for expanding the reach of open banking. Claire Melling, head of bank of APIs at Natwest, said: [...]
The Notebook: Neil Bennett on Thames Water’s future, Iceland’s remarkable recovery and Twitter’s new rival July 5, 2023 The Notebook is where interesting people say interesting things. Today it’s Neil Bennett, global co-chief executive of advisory firm H/Advisors Where next for Thames Water? However big and powerful they appear, businesses are in reality fragile creatures. Many thousands of them fail every year for all sorts of reasons, and today’s behemoth is tomorrow’s insolvency [...]
The UK must protect Hong Kong activists from China’s wrath July 5, 2023 Not too long ago, our opinion pages featured Nathan Law, the pro-democracy protestor and youngest ever Hong Kong legislator. He lives in the UK now, alongside thousands of others from the territory, hounded out of their homes by ever more draconian crackdowns ordered by Beijing and enacted by Hong Kong’s supine authorities.Now Nathan, and seven [...]
Ofwat boss fails to rule out more supplier struggles after Thames Water woes July 5, 2023 Water suppliers will not be allowed to rack up debts and underinvest again following Thames Water’s financial troubles, Ofwat vowed yesterday.
Our mobile network is unsafe but Ofcom won’t be able to fix it by itself July 5, 2023 Cyber-attacks on mobile phones are dangerous because they exploit the vulnerabilities of the network itself. To stop them, Ofcom needs help from governments and businesses, writes John Hughes
If politicians keep ignoring economists, our strategies will never be cost-effective July 5, 2023 Politicians need to learn from some of the mistakes made during the pandemic and learn to include economists in the policy-making process, writes Paul Ormerod
