Remember special relationships? The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator wants one with the City of London January 14, 2017 The EU's chief Brexit negotiator has indicated signs of a softening his previously hardline stance of the UK's exit from the union, letting slip a desire to allow member states access to the City. Michel Barnier wants a "special" relationship with London financial powerhouse as part of any Brexit deal, according to unpublished European parliament [...]
Mike Ashley’s patience runs out: Sports Direct appoints law firm despite previous investor sentiment January 14, 2017 Sports Direct has controversially appointed RPC to take control of its eagerly anticipated corporate governance review after two failed attempts at appointing alternative candidates. In an announcement to the stockmarket after it closed yesterday evening, Mike Ashley's firm said it had appointed the law firm, despite previous concerns from key investors over RPC's impartiality. Read more: [...]
Small business “backbone of economy” under threat from ill-thought through plans, conclude MPs January 14, 2017 Government plans for sweeping changes to force the UK’s businesses to “digitise tax” should be delayed due to significant shortcomings, a select committee of MPs has urged. The treasury select committee highlighted plans to require businesses to keep tax records in digital format, submit quarter updates to tax authorities and provide an end of year [...]
Tata Steel pension scheme edges towards safety January 13, 2017 Tata Steel is one step closer to saving its £15bn retirement scheme from falling into the government's pension lifeboat. A statement from the British Steel Pension Scheme trustees revealed Tata Steel had initiated talks with both scheme trustees and "relevant regulatory bodies". Read more: German steel giant in talks with Tata hit by "massive" cyber attack Tata Steel, [...]
Government wants to restore faith in Britain’s businesses by shaking up corporate crime laws January 13, 2017 The government has unveiled plans to get tough on corporate crime in an attempt to hold businesses to account for any unscrupulous behaviour. The Ministry of Justice is concerned the bar is set too high for proving criminal offences such as fraud, money laundering and false accounting, meaning many prosecutions are successful. "Companies must be held [...]
Best and worst: The UK cities that are most and least likely to follow through on New Year’s promises January 13, 2017 For many of us, a couple of weeks into January and we're ready to bin those well intentioned promises made on New Year's Day. But new research by Amex has revealed which UK city is most confident about following through on their New Year's resolution. Read more: This is how much you're going to spend on getting [...]
Football clubs represent high integrity risk to banks, says Dutch regulator January 13, 2017 Financial institutions need to up their game to combat football corruption, an investigation by the Dutch central bank has concluded. Reporting today, the regulator said banks were exposed to greater "integrity risks" when taking on football clients. And the central bank said this meant financial institutions should "apply a higher risk classification" when dealing with football [...]
Brickmaker Forterra boosted by high housebuilder demand in late 2016 January 13, 2017 Shares in Britain's second largest brickmaker cemented gains made in 2016 and jumped nearly four per cent after announcing full-year results would be in line with forecasts. Forterra said brick sales in the last two months of 2016 were ahead of the same period in the previous year. The firm, which listed in April, went on [...]
Britons face more price hikes with Sky next to increase costs January 13, 2017 Sky has jumped on the bandwagon of companies hiking prices, with line rental charges set to increase from 1 March. The news comes just days after free-to-air competitor Freesat pointed out that since 2010 the cost of Sky TV had risen at four times the rate of inflation and twice the pace rail fares have increased. [...]
Muller slims headcount as part of UK corporate restructuring of milk division January 12, 2017 Yoghurt giant Muller has binned nearly 400 London jobs as part of £60m shake-up of its fresh milk and butter operations. After consulting with unions, Muller confirmed the job losses at its north east London dairy in Chadwell Heath. Operations at the plant, which was bought from Dairy Crest dairies in late 2015, will be wound [...]
