Storm Dennis and Storm Ciara could cost insurance industry £425m February 20, 2020 The cost to the insurance industry of Storm Dennis and Storm Ciara which battered the UK in recent weeks could hit £425m. Storm Ciara swept across the UK on 9 February bringing heavy rain and gusts of wind of up to 97 mph. It was followed by Storm Dennis on the weekend of 15 February [...]
Burford Capital issues warning on 2019 profit February 3, 2020 Burford Capital, the litigation funder locked in a stand-off with short-seller Muddy Waters, has warned 2019 profit will fall lower partly due to a fall in potential earnings from certain investments. The AIM-listed company said it finished the first half of its financial year with an “unusually high” amount of settlement, $173m, thanks to investment [...]
Law firms lead Stonewall’s top LGBT-inclusive employers January 30, 2020 City law firms are some of this year’s most inclusive employers for the LGBT community, with 15 topping Stonewall’s employers of the year. Legal organisations were the second most inclusive sector, with fifteen firms on the list. Last year’s winners Pinsent Masons topped the private sector employers at fourth place. Mayer Brown and the Solicitors Regulation [...]
Aviva Investors buys Docklands hotel site for £106m January 15, 2020 Aviva Investors’ Lime Property Fund has bought a £106m hotel development site near Canary Wharf. The asset management arm of Aviva has acquired the freehold interest in the site next to Westferry DLR station, where developer Rockwell will build a 30-storey Premier Inn Hotel. Read more: London luxury hotel market booms Whitbread, the owner of [...]
Debenhams in talks with Aviva to offload executive pensions January 12, 2020 Struggling retailer Debenhams is in talks with Aviva about the insurer buying out its executive pension scheme, which holds more than £200m assets. Debenhams is closing in on the deal as it shutters dozens of its department stores around the country, Sky News reported. It would guarantee that members of the executive pension scheme enjoy [...]
Burford Capital shares rise after US lawsuit against it is dropped January 7, 2020 Litigation funder Burford Capital’s share rose this morning after it said a US lawsuit against it had been dropped. Burford’s shares plunged over the summer after it was targeted by shortseller Muddy Waters which questioned its governance and accounting standards. Today, Burford said a securities lawsuit filed in August following its share price drop had [...]
Sports technology in 2020: the key trends to watch this year January 6, 2020 Drama is the currency of sport but if current trends continue in 2020, below-the-radar work will be the stuff really making the hard yards. Last year, forward-thinking organisations have been focused on leveraging newer media platforms better and tailoring engagement better, often with a social slant. Two stand-out performers were AS Roma, which used the [...]
The Big Sport Quiz of 2019: How much do you remember from a vintage year of sport? December 19, 2019 World Cups of cricket, rugby union, netball and women’s football. The end of Tiger Woods’s long wait for another Major. An epic men’s Wimbledon final. More success for Lewis Hamilton. Liverpool’s re-emergence as a football superpower. The return of Andy Murray. This has been a vintage sporting year all right. But how closely were you [...]
Trellis tower: London’s second-tallest skyscraper gets green light after planning battle November 25, 2019 Plans to build London’s second-tallest skyscraper, the Trellis, have been given the nod after a three-year planning war. The tower, whose real name is 1 Undershaft, will be 1,000 feet tall when completed, standing just 17 feet shorter than the Shard. Read more: Was Sadiq Khan right to reject plans for the Tulip tower? After [...]
FTSE 100 falls one per cent after Donald Trump trade comments November 20, 2019 European stock markets have fallen today following President Donald Trump’s threat to raise tariffs on Chinese goods if no deal can be reached between the two sides, with the FTSE 100 leading the bunch downwards. The FTSE 100 was down 1.09 per cent by 12.45pm UK time. In Germany, the Dax index was 0.70 per [...]