It’s true, Paris isn’t far behind London but we can still win the race to be the top city February 6, 2023 Since Brexit, Londoners have feared the moment Paris would overtake the city for the crown of financial services, but we can still keep our advantage if we compete with France’s regulatory environment, writes Chris Hayward.
Dragons’ Den reject Trunki to be sold for over £12m February 5, 2023 Trunki, the well-known children’s suitcase brand, has been sold in a deal thought to be worth over £12 million. Founder Rob Law, who was once told his company was “worthless” on the BBC’s Dragon’s Den, has now sold over 5 million Trunki suitcases and built a successful portfolio of travel gear, with the group’s revenue [...]
UK shouldn’t start a ‘regulatory race to the bottom’ to lure Arm into London float, top City group warns February 5, 2023 A top City lobby group has hit out at the UK’s financial watchdog over claims it is planning to bend its own rules to persuade microchip designer Arm to float on the London Stock Exchange. The Institute of Directors (IoD) warned the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA’s) offer to waive market rules “undermines the integrity of both [...]
Bank of England not poised to slash interest rates until middle of next year despite inflation cooling February 5, 2023 A year of interest rate pain is still in store for households, businesses and mortgagors even after Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey and his team of economists have already lifted borrowing costs 10 times in a row. That is according to several top City economists, who do not expect interest rate cuts until early [...]
Digital pound coming this decade, unpublished Treasury and BoE report suggests February 5, 2023 The Bank of England (BoE) and the Treasury are convinced that a central bank digital currency (CBDC) is becoming increasingly necessary, an unpublished report seen by the Daily Telegraph suggests. “On the basis of our work to date, the Bank of England and HM Treasury judge that it is likely a digital pound will be [...]
Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group to buy two shopping centres in £100m deal February 5, 2023 Mike Ashley is gearing up to purchase two shopping centres in an £100 million deal, in a sign that the retail sector might be starting to stabilise. Frasers Group, majority owned by Ashley, is in the final stages of negotiations to acquire The Mall in Luton and the Overgate centre in Dundee, The Sunday Times [...]
Barclays boss recounts criticism of refusing to stop work amid cancer treatment February 5, 2023 Barclays chief executive CS Venkatakrishnan said that some people accused him of “CEO swagger” when he said he intended to work through his cancer treatment. Writing in the Financial Times for World Cancer Day, Venkatakrishnan – who prefers to be known as Venkat – said he received some messages after his diagnoses that suggested his [...]
Executive pay rises should not outstrip staff salary bumps, Aviva warns February 5, 2023 Aviva Investors has warned company directors that it would be “inappropriate” to award themselves bumper pay rises and urged them to recognise that record high inflation puts far greater pressure on the budgets of their frontline staff. In a letter to the 1,600 firms in which it has stakes, including many in London, the fund [...]
Week ahead: UK economy to narrowly avoid recession but GDP still expected to shrink February 5, 2023 The UK economy narrowly avoided a recession at the end of last year, new official figures out this week are expected to reveal. City traders think new GDP numbers from the Office for National Statistics on Friday will show the economy contracted 0.3 per cent in December, meaning the UK will have just about skirted [...]
UK spent £60bn on gas to stave off winter energy crunch February 5, 2023 The UK spent £60bn importing gas in just four months to stave off a winter energy crunch, according to analysis from Highview Power.
