The emperor’s new H2Os: Bottled water will offset slowdown in other areas of Europe’s food and beverage industry, according to Moody’s September 14, 2016 Move over fizzy drinks, there's a new favourite beverage in town – and it's a classic. Fast-growing demand for bottled water will help Europe's food and beverage firms to offset declining growth in sugary drinks sales and other areas, according to a report from Moody's Investors Service. Nestle, Danone and Coca-Cola are some of the [...]
London’s insurance industry will thrive globally post-Brexit with the right competitive boost September 13, 2016 Rebalancing the economy away from financial services and our capital city has been the preoccupation of successive governments since 2008’s financial crisis. The sheer size of the banking sector, so the thinking went, alongside the absence of any second, truly global city beyond London, had made the UK too reliant upon the dominant industry of our [...]
Interdealer broker Icap makes new chief exec appointment after Tullett Prebon deal is waved through September 9, 2016 Interdealer broker Icap has named Seth Johnson as the new chief executive of its foreign exchange trading and fixed-income business, EBS BrokerTec. Johnson will take over from Gil Mandelzis, whose departure from Icap, which is soon to be renamed Nex Group, was announced in July. Read more: Brexit has been brilliant for this broker The [...]
City passporting rights must be at the top of the government agenda on Brexit talks, according to an influential think tank September 7, 2016 City passporting rights must become the government's first priority following Brexit, according to an influential think tank, which also argues that London can remain Europe's leading financial services centre. A paper from the Margaret Thatcher founded Centre for Policy Studies today argues that while Brexit will bring challenges for the UK's financial services industry, it [...]
Andrew Tyrie blasts banks as they come clean on overdraft fees September 6, 2016 Influential Tory backbencher Andrew Tyrie has blasted UK banks for their bewildering array of overdraft fees and charges and called for customers to be given more information about their accounts. Tyrie, who chairs the Treasury Select Committee (TSC), also criticised recent proposals from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to encourage customers to switch bank accounts. [...]
Private health market will not get treatment September 5, 2016 London's private healthcare market will not be subjected to further remedies, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has decided. The Competition Commission, a predecessor to the CMA, started a market investigation into private healthcare in April 2012, which reported in April 2014 and required HCA International Limited, the largest private hospital operator in central London, [...]
In from the cold: Russia’s Chinese strategy could hurt European stocks September 5, 2016 Since the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, western sanctions have choked the Russian economy. Though Russia is considered to be the biggest loser from these trade and service restrictions, the sanctions are thought to have cost western firms billions of dollars in lost business too. And with the greatest share of Russia’s market, it [...]
More than a third of corporate debt is now with challenger banks, but London firms yet to be convinced September 5, 2016 Challenger banks are giving the incumbent players a run for their money, as figures out today show over a third (34 per cent) of UK business mortgages and charges are now issued by the smaller, newer lenders. In particular, 32 per cent of corporate debt is handled by what Avention, which carried out the research, classifies as smaller [...]
A free market think tank has joined calls to scrap “inefficient” corporation tax September 2, 2016 Margaret Thatcher's favourite think tank has joined calls to abolish corporation tax, blasting the failure of politicians to grasp the impact of the charge. The free market backing Institute of Economic Affairs said long overdue reform of the system has been held back by a “fiction” that the bill is foot by companies, instead of [...]
Gala Coral stays in the red in last results before Ladbrokes deal August 31, 2016 A 10 per cent uptick in revenue wasn't enough to push Gala Coral Group into the black in the 12 weeks to 2 July, with the bookmaker's losses widening ahead of its merger with Ladbrokes. The figures Net revenue was up 10 per cent to £264m in the third quarter, up from £241m in the same period [...]