Insurers including Direct Line, Aviva and Admiral band together to examine future of driverless cars January 18, 2016 Some of Britain's largest motor insurers, including Direct Line, Aviva and Admiral, have banded together to plan for a future when driverless cars are the norm. The Automated Driving Insurance Group, which will be led by trade body the Association of British Insurers (ABI), is assessing the insurance implications of the rise of driverless technology. The group [...]
City Moves for 18 January 2016 | Who’s switching jobs January 18, 2016 Ardian Olivier Piani (pictured) has joined the real estate arm of independent private investment company Ardian as senior adviser and chairman of its investment committee. He joins from Allianz Real Estate where he was chief executive since 2008. Olivier has also been chief exec at GE Capital Real Estate Europe, chief exec of UIC-Sofal and [...]
Family debt jumped 42 per cent to more than £13,500 in six months January 13, 2016 With growth in the economy looking shaky, it seems the amount people are borrowing has increased: new figures showed family household debt rose a whopping 42 per cent to £13,520 in the final six months of last year. The figure, which excludes mortgages, is up from £9,520 in summer 2015, and £9,050 last winter. It's also [...]
City Moves for 13 January 2016 | Who’s switching jobs January 13, 2016 Mount Anvil Mount Anvil, a residential-led central London developer has announced the appointment of Hilary Wells as its first people director. Hilary joins from wine and spirits merchant Berry Bros & Rudd, a family-owned business dating back to 1698 with a turnover of more than £200m, where she led the transformation of the company’s approach [...]
Treating death as taboo is leaving many Londoners poorly prepared, and capital dwellers are more likely to think they don’t want or need a will January 13, 2016 Londoners' taboos about mortality have left them inadequately prepared for the financial impact of death. According to a report released today by Aviva, six out of ten of London adults said that they felt death was still a taboo subject and just less than half (49 per cent) said that they do not want to [...]
City Moves for 12 January 2016 | Who’s switching jobs January 12, 2016 RPC Consulting Chris Carson has joined RPC Consulting – the insurance consultancy arm of RPC – as a partner from PwC. Chris has over 28 years’ experience in the insurance sector and while at PwC, he led the Big Four accountancy firm’s insurance advisory practice across EMEA. Chris has worked at board level with Direct [...]
Saracens swell forward ranks with capture of South Africa World Cup winner Schalk Burger January 4, 2016 Saracens boss Mark McCall revelled in his capture of “one of the world’s finest” after the club announced the signing of influential South Africa back-row forward Schalk Burger on a two-year deal ahead of next season. World Cup-winner Burger, who has won 86 caps for the Springboks, will link up with his new side ahead [...]
RSA Insurance and Aviva share prices hit as experts warn Storm Eva could knock 0.25 percentage points off UK growth December 29, 2015 As people in Yorkshire and Lancashire spent a second day recovering from once-in-a-generation flooding, experts have warned the damaged wreaked by Storm Eva could hit the UK's GDP growth. Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS, suggested the impact could be felt both this year and next. "Looking at the extent of the [...]
Harlequins chasing the American dream: Why the Premiership rugby club is moving pre-season to California December 24, 2015 Rugby is the fastest growing sport in the USA and Harlequins are looking to ride the wave of its new found popularity by swapping the suburbs of West London for the sun of California in upcoming summers. The 149-year-old rugby club is planning to play pre-season warm up games in America for the next four [...]
UK-headquartered law firm DWF to acquire German BridgehouseLaw at start of 2016 December 16, 2015 UK-headquartered law firm DWF announced today that it is acquiring BridgehouseLaw, a German commercial law firm, on 1 January 2016. The newly combined firm will boast a turnover of £194m and will employ 2,360 staff members across 16 locations. Andrew Leaitherland, DWF's managing partner and chief executive, will continue to lead the overall business post-merger, while Michael Falter, [...]