It’s time we ended the pretence that planning rules come without a price September 2, 2013 MOST agree that the UK housing market has long been stuck in an affordability crisis. Despite a fall in prices since 2007, Nationwide recently calculated that the typical house now costs 5.1 times average earnings, up from 3.9 a quarter of a century ago. In London, the ratio has risen from 5.7 to 7.7. And [...]
King of the supermarket: The long-serving boss of Sainsbury’s talks shop September 1, 2013 Justin King speaks to Elizabeth Fournier as he nears 10 years at the top of the UK’s third-biggest retailer IT’S not been an easy 2013 for Britain’s supermarkets. From January’s discovery of horsemeat in the UK food chain to the disastrous collapse of a Bangladeshi clothing factory in April, retail bosses have been forced to [...]
Sainsbury’s sales boost retailer to a larger share of the market August 28, 2013 SAINSBURY’S has successfully raised its share of the market through 2013, with sales growing as other retailers slip behind. In the 12 weeks to 18 August, Sainsbury’s saw a 49 per cent hike in sales, when compared to the same period last year, rising from £3.86bn to £4.05bn. According to the figures, collected from 30,000 [...]
City Moves for 27 August 2013 | Who’s switching jobs August 26, 2013 Lloyds Bank The bank’s commercial banking arm has announced the appointment of Jacqueline Keogh as director of global trade. Keogh has over 25 years’ experience in the banking industry. She was most recently at Standard Chartered, where she was managing director, and regional head of banks for Europe in its transaction banking division. B Capital [...]
Card firms on hook for £1.3bn mis-selling bill August 22, 2013 THIRTEEN of Britain’s biggest lenders yesterday unveiled plans to repay consumers £1.3bn for mis-selling credit card protection products. Seven million customers bought the products which came from CCP and were sold through high street lenders and retailers. They either provided loss protection already covered by the bank, or were misleadingly advertised. If customers bought card [...]
Regulator agrees redress of up to £1.3bn for mis-sold insurance products August 22, 2013 Regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has reached an agreement with several firms to provide redress to consumers mis-sold Card Protection Plan's (CPP) Card Protection and Identity Protection policies. This follows the mis-selling of 23 million policies to seven million customers. Those customers will now receive a letter from CPP explaining the process with a [...]
Speed is not of the essence in the disposal of RBS branches August 20, 2013 THE ROYAL Bank of Scotland (RBS) was yesterday called upon to get a move on in the disposal of 316 branches it has been required to make as a condition of its 2008 bailout by the UK taxpayer. Urging it to make a speedy decision are two of the three short-listed bidders who are vying [...]
RBS bidders at war over bank branches sale August 20, 2013 THE WAR of words between investors vying to buy 316 RBS branches intensified yesterday as the groups tried to discredit their opponents. W&G Investments’ Andrew Higginson claimed his is the only viable bid, while John Maltby, from the consortium including Corsair, argues he is in a better position to move ahead. Former Tesco Bank boss [...]
City investors finalise plans for RBS branch bid August 19, 2013 ONE OF the bidders vying for a shot at winning a portfolio of RBS branches is expected to submit a formal offer for the network this morning, after listing on the London stock market to fund the deal. W&G Investments, headed up by former Tesco finance chief Andy Higginson and backed by institutions including Schroders [...]
Strawberry fine for Tesco August 19, 2013 TESCO was fined £300,000 yesterday for misleading customers over a “half price” promotion for strawberries in the summer of 2011. The case, brought by Birmingham City Council, relates to the price of a 400g punnet of strawberries at stores in 2011. They were marked at half price longer than the original price – breaching the [...]