When it rains, it pours: Storm Christoph strikes up to £120m of insurance damage across the UK January 22, 2021 UK insurance losses could reach up to £120m in the wake of Storm Christoph with Wales hit the hardest, according to a PwC insurance leader. Residents have been forced to leave their homes and a major incident declared in Wales after enduring the highest rainfall of the four UK nations. Around 80 people, including care [...]
Lloyd’s lures Aviva’s MD for new chief of markets role January 22, 2021 Lloyd’s said this morning it has created a new chief of markets role which will oversee performance and distribution at the insurance giant. Patrick Tiernan has been hired for the position once he has seen out his current stint as managing director at Aviva, where he was previously chief financial officer. Tiernan has 24 years [...]
UK retail sales stage tentative recovery over Christmas January 22, 2021 Retail sales made a tentative recovery over the Christmas period as the UK emerged from its second national lockdown. Retail sales volumes rose 0.3 per cent in December following a 4.1 per cent fall in November as the country moved into the more relaxed tier restrictions. It is 2.7 per cent higher than February’s pre-lockdown [...]
Vaccine hopes fail to inject consumer confidence during lockdown January 21, 2021 The nation’s largest ever vaccination programme failed to buoy UK consumer confidence during the latest national lockdown, a new survey has shown, as widespread gloom about current Covid restrictions prevailed into the New Year. The closely-watched consumer confidence index from researcher GfK fell two points to minus 28 in January after a slight uptick over [...]
London sees biggest drop in Covid case rate as capital stays indoors January 21, 2021 London has reported the biggest drop in Covid case rates among English regions, as scientists’ warnings that hospitalis may soon be overwhelmed reverberate around the capital. The average number of infections in London fell to around 630 per 100,000 people last week, according to the latest official figures — down from 865 in the first [...]
Did fewer Christmas parties drive an end of year boom at Keystone Law? January 21, 2021 Keystone Law was surprised by a better than expected Christmas period this year, and is now expecting to report profit before tax of above market expectations. Full year revenues to 30 Jan 2020 were £49.6m, and analysts at Panmure Gordon are now anticipating FY21 revenues of £55m for the law firm, which will issue its [...]
Transferwise picks banks ahead of blockbuster IPO January 21, 2021 Transferwise has reportedly picked two of Wall Street’s biggest banks to lead its London listing this year. The payments unicorn has hired Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley as joint global coordinators for its IPO later this year, Sky News reported. Transferwise secured a $5bn valuation following a secondary share sale last summer, cementing its place [...]
Hipgnosis adds Metallica and Michael Buble rights as it launches share sale January 21, 2021 Music royalties fund Hipgnosis has acquired the producer rights to a string of tracks by Metallica and Michael Buble as it announced a new share issue to help fund its non-stop buying spree. The London-listed firm has acquired 100 per cent of a catalogue of songs made by Canadian record producer and mixer Bob Rock. [...]
Third lockdown ‘far more challenging this time around’ for auditors January 21, 2021 The timing of England’s third national lockdown has posed new and more difficult challenges for audit firms to overcome, that could see annual results delayed or even qualified. With lockdown rules urging people to stay home to stop the spread of coronavirus, auditors are struggling to physically carry out necessary tasks to perform an audit. [...]
Pets at Home sales surge as animal ownership soars January 21, 2021 Pets at Home has reported an 18 per cent leap in revenue to £302m for the third quarter of 2020. The UK’s leading pet care firm showed a strong performance despite coronavirus lockdowns effecting store openings on both a regional and national level. Trading built momentum over the festive period, with like-for-like sales seeing a [...]