In pictures: Inside Leeds’ new Netto store November 6, 2014 It was several months ago that Sainsbury's decided if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, and launched a tie-up with Danish discounter Netto. Today, the first of 15 new stores opened in Leeds. Lest we forget, the retailer beat a retreat from the UK market back in 2010, selling its 193 stores to Asda for [...]
Save money on your overseas transfers November 5, 2014 Whether you’re dreaming of buying a place in the sun, emigrating abroad or need to send money to family and friends overseas, you could save money with a currency specialist. For many people their bank would be the obvious choice when moving money overseas, but banks do not traditionally offer the most competitive exchange rates. [...]
Lord Hill should not fear ambition in pursuing capital markets union November 2, 2014 Today is Jonathan Hill’s first day as European commissioner for financial stability, financial services and capital markets union. He takes on the role at an inflection point: there is broad recognition that Europe needs deep, healthy, and diverse financial markets if it is to unlock economic growth. Banks still provide the major proportion of Europe’s [...]
Save money when buying overseas October 31, 2014 Whether it’s a villa in the sun-kissed Côte d'Azur, a chalet in the Alps or a pied-à-terre in Paris, France has long been a favourite destination for second home owners. And that desire shows no sign of abating, as trends in the French capital are showing: “In Paris, foreign buyers are now accounting for nearly [...]
HSBC unfairly sold loans to small firms October 22, 2014 HSBC and First Trust Bank broke competition rules by wrongly indicating that small businesses had to have an account with them if they wanted a loan, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said yesterday. Former regulator the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) began the investigation, last year telling HSBC to review its sales process. In response, [...]
Competition and Markets Authority chastises HSBC over small business loan “bundling” October 22, 2014 HSBC is one of two banks chastised by the government's new competition watchdog over the way it sells loans to small businesses. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said today it had previously warned banks over "bundling", the practice of forcing small and medium-sized firms taking out a loan with them to open business accounts, [...]
Index expecting $10bn EU startup October 21, 2014 LONDON’S top venture capitalists expect the European startup scene to continue turning out hit tech firms, with a partner at Index Ventures predicting Europe will produce a $10bn (£6.2bn) firm within three years. “We will likely see a couple of European $10bn exits in the next two or three years. The pipeline of European companies [...]
Bad business tactics out as economy grows October 19, 2014 COMPLAINTS about anti-competitive behaviour by businesses in the UK are down as the economy begins to recover, new research has shown. The Office of Fair Trading, now the Competition and Markets Authority, recorded a 50 per cent fall in complaints about bad practice in 2013. The number of businesses prompted to phone in and report [...]
Patent trolls are a threat to competitive markets – and the UK may not be immune October 16, 2014 LONDON’s technology sector is booming. Driven by big venture capital investments (tech firms attracted a record $1bn in the first nine months of 2014), and encompassing everything from finance to fashion, it is one of our greatest recent success stories. But this nascent sector also faces a worrying potential threat. A fresh menace to the [...]
Competition in the office: Does it boost results? October 15, 2014 Infighting can be distracting, but helps keep a company nimble. City firms are no strangers to internal competition. The leading investment banks and Big Four accountancy firms reportedly allocate year-end bonuses in part through staff ranking each other’s performances, while numerous companies (elite strategy consultancies included) have adopted some variant of the “rank and [...]