Lords recommend closing pubs without disabled facilities in select committee report reviewing Equality Act of 2010 March 24, 2016 A House of Lords report has recommended that pubs, restaurants and clubs that do not provide disabled toilets and and disabled-friendly facilities should be shut down by local councils. The select committee report reviewing the Equality Act of 2010 and Disability said disabled people are being "let down" by inadequate facilities in transport, such as taxis, and public [...]
RSA Insurance Group chief executive Stephen Hester takes home £2.5m as key management bonuses grow 66 per cent March 24, 2016 The chief executive of RSA Group raked in £2.5m in 2015, up from £2.2m he brought in the previous year after joining the insurance heavyweight in February 2014. Stephen Hester took home a bonus of £1.2m, 76.5 per cent of the maximum, after the group reported a pre-tax profit up 17 per cent at £323m in 2015. Operating profits [...]
Deutsche Bank appoints new corporate governance chief and expands role March 24, 2016 Deutsche Bank has appointed a new head of corporate governance and has significantly expanded the role, the bank announced today. Daniela Weber Ray, who has been head of global governance since June 2013, will be succeeded by Florian Drinhausen on 1 April. The expanded role will unite "[a]ll functions that have responsibility for governance matters", bringing together [...]
Met police commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe sparks backlash over cybercrime comments made to The Times March 24, 2016 Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Metropolitan police commissioner, sparked an immediate backlash after he suggested banks should consider no longer refunding online fraud victims. While discussing how banks could improve security awareness, Britain's most senior police officer told The Times that the system of refunds "rewards" customers. "The system is not incentivising you to protect yourself. If [...]
This February was the best for remortgaging since 2009, according to research from LMS March 24, 2016 The value of remortgage lending topped £4.4bn last month, the largest amount recorded in the month of February since 2009. The number of remortgage loans rose 23 per cent year-on-year in February, although this was a 16 per cent fall from January, according to new research from LMS. The value of gross remortgage lending is [...]
Fruit juices, drinks and smoothies might not be one of your “five a day” according to new sugar study March 24, 2016 Just a few weeks after it was revealed how much sugar was lurking in your Starbucks coffee drinks and a fortnight since George Osborne announced a sugar tax on soft drinks, it seems fruit juice could be another villain too. The authors of a new study have even gone so far as to suggest that [...]
Adnams reports 39 per cent increase in spirits sales and profits despite slow first half of 2015 March 24, 2016 Spirits sales lead the way at the Suffolk-based drinks company Adnams as it recovered from low turnover in the first half. The figures The brewer, distiller and retailer posted a rise in operating profits of 7.3 per cent, reached £4.1m. The company's pre-tax profit reached £4.72m, up from £4.44m in 2014. Because of its rise in operating profits, [...]
Next warns year ahead will be worst since 2008 despite posting rise in full-year revenues and profits March 24, 2016 Next has warned the year ahead could be the most challenging since the recession, as it reported rises in both full-year revenues and profits today. The figures Next reported a five per cent increase in underlying profit before tax, totalling £821.3m from £782.2m last year. Operating profit rose by almost the same level, 4.9 per cent, to £851.8m [...]
Dollar advance during Thursday trading puts pressure on Asian shares and commodities March 24, 2016 The dollar rose for a fifth straight session on Thursday, putting pressure on Asian shares and commodity-rich markets such as Australia. The dollar advance, seeing it up around 0.47 per cent against other major currencies during Thursday trading, was prompted by another Federal Reserve official indicating there could be more than one increase in US interest [...]
Wine and Spirits Trade Association members say industry will benefit more from EU membership than Brexit March 23, 2016 The UK's alcohol industry would benefit more from Britain remaining in the European Union than leaving, the industry body Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WTSA) has said. Britain's wine and spirits industry is worth £45bn and supports nearly 600,000 jobs. The EU export market was worth £1.8bn in 2015. Staying in the EU was endorsed by 90 per cent [...]
