RBS prunes another 54 branches from its network of high street banks September 5, 2018 Royal Bank of Scotland is to close another 54 branches, expecting to make 259 people redundant. The closures, which will take place in January, come after the announced closure of 162 branches, resulting in an expected 792 redundancies. They are a consequence of RBS deciding against spinning off two banks as a challenger bank operating [...]
UK car sales grew 23 per cent in August as regulatory changes triggered deals September 5, 2018 New car registrations soared by nearly a quarter last month, with dealerships selling 94,094 vehicles. That’s a 23 per cent rise from 76,433 sold in August 2017, data released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) today revealed. Regulatory changes were credited with the unexpectedly high growth in a traditionally slow month before [...]
Housebuilder Berkeley warns UK housing market ‘lacks urgency’ September 5, 2018 Housebuilder Berkeley Group has warned of Brexit “headwinds” harming the UK housing market’s prospects for growth, with London and the south east particularly affected. However, it expects to post strong financial performance for the four months to the end of August, the construction firm said in a trading update it will share at its annual [...]
Lord Mervyn King labels Brexit preparations ‘incompetent’ September 5, 2018 Former Bank of England governor Lord Mervyn King has condemned the government’s Brexit preparations, claiming they leave the UK in a weak negotiating position. Calling plans to stockpile food and medicine in the event of a hard Brexit “incompetent”, the Brexit voter told the BBC that “a government that cannot take action to prevent some [...]
Petrol prices have risen for eight of the last 12 months, warns RAC September 5, 2018 Rising oil prices and a weakening pound are sending fuel prices rocketing, RAC warned today. Petrol has seen price hikes in eight months of the past year, while the cost of diesel has increased in nine of the last 12 months. Read more: Petrol station merger could drive up fuel prices, watchdog finds Prices at [...]
Russian bank boss apologises for calling Boris Johnson a ‘prat’ September 4, 2018 The boss of one of Russia’s largest banks has apologised for calling former foreign secretary Boris Johnson a “prat”. Andrei Kostin, chief executive of VTB, made the comments at Moscow State Institute of International Relations University, with foreign minister Sergei Lavrov also in attendance. “Look at, excuse me, the prats in the West, say at [...]
Paul Pester steps down as TSB CEO after IT outages September 4, 2018 TSB boss Paul Pester is to step down from the UK high street bank, following seven years of service that ended amid a prolonged and ongoing IT crisis. However, the bank insisted Pester was not a “fall guy” for the outage that began in April, impacting around 1.9m customers. Read more: TSB apologises to customers [...]
FTSE 250 housebuilder Redrow boosts profits but calls for Brexit clarity September 4, 2018 Housebuilder Redrow called for clarity over Brexit and the government’s Help to Buy scheme today to improve the health of the UK housing market, as it reported its full-year results. The figures Despite the deflating nature of the UK housing market, the FTSE 250 firm managed to buck the trend, posting a 16 per cent [...]
Magazine publisher Future looks ahead as earnings tipped to beat market expectations September 3, 2018 Future said today its full-year earnings should beat market expectations, fuelled by three acquisitions as it bought up rivals and expanded into the US. The specialist media publisher credited the World Cup and larger-than-expected product launches for its performance in the 12 months to the end of September in today’s trading update. What Hi-Fi?, FourFourTwo, [...]
Funding Circle confirms IPO that could value it at £2bn September 3, 2018 Small business loans platform Funding Circle this morning confirmed its intention to IPO in a move that could value it at £2bn. The firm plans to float 25 per cent of its shares to generate £300m on the London Stock Exchange, with its debut being underpinned by Danish billionaire Anders Povlsen, who has committed to [...]
