Wishes and predictions for Osborne’s budget March 17, 2014 Business and accountancy advisers BDO has drawn up a wishlist for neglected middle-market firms, looking for a tax allowance for spending on factories and a reduction in employers’ national insurance for manufacturers. BDO also believes that the chancellor could reform business rates in a revenue neutral fashion and announce a fresh review. BDO say that [...]
Royal Mail wins work with 14 London boroughs March 17, 2014 ROYAL Mail has seen off competition from two other postal companies to sign a two-year deal to deliver council documents for nearly half of London’s boroughs, the firm confirmed yesterday. The postal group, which was part-privatised in a stock market float in October, has provided the service for several boroughs previously, but the new contract [...]
City A.M.’s bumper Budget preview March 17, 2014 As chancellor George Osborne gets ready to unveil the penultimate budget before the general election, we've pulled together all the expected announcements, and what others are hoping for. Deficit Due to the scale of the budget deficit Ernst & Young believe the chancellor has little room for manoeuvre in terms of giveaways. While the Office [...]
FCA urges new rules for add-on policies March 11, 2014 THE FINANCIAL regulator has called for tighter restrictions on the sale of add-on insurance, which it believes is poor value and often sold to customers who don’t need it. Christopher Woolard, director of policy at the Financial Conduct Authority, said this £1bn market is not operating competitively, adding that there is a clear case for [...]
Small firms get raw credit deal March 11, 2014 SMALL businesses get a bad deal from the banking industry because it is too hard to set up new lenders, the Office of Fair Trading said yesterday. The agency said the lack of competition in the market is combined with a lack of information on alternative sources of funding, together damaging business customers. The OFT is handing over its [...]
What you need to know before the open March 11, 2014 European markets are expected to open higher this morning, with more economic data to focus on today – although there are still concerns over Ukraine and growth in China. The UK's Competition and Markets Authority has said it’s starting a new review into retail banking, focusing particularly on banking for SMEs. Corporate news Barratt Developments [...]
New competition regulator to begin review of banking March 11, 2014 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK's new competition regulator, has announced today that it’s starting a short programme of work into the banking sector, with a decision on whether or not to make a market investigation by the autumn. It’ll publish its work on person current accounts and SME banking in the summer, [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 11 March 2014 March 10, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Seplat plans IPO in London and Lagos Seplat, the Nigerian oil company, is set to announce today plans for initial public offerings in London and Lagos, marking the return of natural resources listings to the UK stock market – some of which have proved controversial. The group, founded in 2009 by two Nigerian [...]
Bottom Line: A fruitful combination that could slip up March 10, 2014 IN POPULAR word game Bananagrams, players compete against their opponents to create a grid of connected words – like a crossword – in the shortest possible time. It’s a race to use up all the tiles on the table, and a breeding ground for familial disputes as speedy players let phoney spellings slip (unintentionally or otherwise) through [...]
UK’s new payments watchdog to launch by start of April 2015 March 5, 2014 A BODY to regulate the UK’s huge payments industry will be fully operational by the beginning of April 2015, according to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA says that the sector processes seven billion transactions each year, collectively worth over £75 trillion. The regulator also says that the new body will be focusing on competition, [...]