Aviva makes £320m bulk annuity deal with pension fund September 16, 2021 Aviva has today announced the completion of a bulk purchase annuity deal, worth £320m, with the John Laing Pension Fund. John Laing, a manager of infrastructure projects, is an active investor in large transport, social and environmental infrastructure projects and renewable energy projects globally. The transaction marks the second buy-in between the two firms after the [...]
Wave of redundancies looms for older workers as furlough nears end September 14, 2021 Research suggested that 31,000 workers aged 50 or over were made redundant between May and July. Now fears are growing of a wave of redundancies among over 50-year-olds when the Government’s furlough scheme ends. The unemployment rate for 50 to 64-year-olds has increased from 2.8 per cent to 3.4 per cent since the start of [...]
Home office hazards: Shoffices and pizza oven related fires jumped during lockdown August 18, 2021 Insurer Zurich has warned that outbuilding fires – in sheds, garages and conservatories – rose by 16 per cent last year when national lockdowns resulted in a surge in people turning their sheds into offices, or ‘shoffices’. New data revealed through freedom of information requests by insurer Zurich to UK fire authorities have shown that [...]
UK GDP soars in second quarter as Covid unlocking turbo-charges economy : CityAM August 12, 2021 The burst in consumer spending triggered by the gradual lifting of Covid prevention measures in April and May boosted the UK economy in the second quarter, according to fresh official data released today. Figures from the Office for National Statistics reveal the UK economy grew 4.8 per cent in the second quarter of this year, [...]
UK GDP up 4.8 per cent in second quarter : CityAM August 12, 2021 The UK economy grew at a rate of 4.8 per cent in the second quarter, data from the ONS said today, as the bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic continues. As a result, GDP is now 4.4 per cent below where it was in the last quarter of 2019, before Covid-19 struck. Also Read: PwC [...]
City Moves: Who’s switching jobs in the Square Mile this week? July 21, 2021 City A.M.’s Millie Turner provides a roundup of the most important hires and job moves across the City, every Wednesday afternoon. Email citymoves@cityam.com to be featured. Ex-UBS and Canary Wharf Group chiefs join construction-tech firm British construction technology company Modulous has bolstered its London workforce with former Canary Wharf and UBS leads this week. Former director of the Canary Wharf Group Chris [...]
Weekend Read: Job market tension threatens to derail Britain’s economic recovery July 17, 2021 The UK labour market is roaring back to life. After months of being shuttered due to Covid, businesses are finally welcoming customers back through their doors – and ramping up hiring to cope with soaring demand. Companies added 356,000 workers to payrolls over the last month. Total weekly hours worked has reached its highest level [...]
Seventy per cent of FTSE 350 companies have no female exec board members July 15, 2021 The pandemic has set back gender parity prospects for top jobs by four years, according to a new report. Seventy percent of companies on the FTSE 350 have no female executives on their main board and will lag behind men until 2036 amid the pandemic. There has been a sudden slow rise for female appointments [...]
Aviva warns government on building safety hit to UK property market July 14, 2021 Aviva warns the government that institutional investors could be scared away from the UK residential property market because of its new safety proposals for high-rise buildings, prompted by Grenfell. The UK insurer asked the government to consider how its new “Building Safety Bill” would financially affect their owners last year in a letter in November [...]
London homes: Pandemic panic-buying property leads to homeowner regrets July 13, 2021 London property: Pandemic panic-buying property leads to homeowner regrets