Power 100: KPMG’s Michelle Quest – “Be your best self and let others be themselves” October 14, 2016 Michelle Quest is the UK head of tax, pensions and legal services at KPMG. In the latest in our series of interviews with Power 100 winners, she gives her take on impostor syndrome, unconscious bias and feminism. Power 100: These are London's 100 most powerful women Are you doing what you always imagined you'd be doing? [...]
City Moves for 14 October 2016 | Who’s switching jobs October 14, 2016 London Bullion Market Association The London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) has appointed Andy Quinn as non-executive director. He currently serves as a director of Randgold Resources, the Africa focussed FTSE 100 gold mining company, where he chairs the remuneration committee and is also a member of the audit committee. Having served on the board since 2011, he takes up [...]
What Brexit? UK startup funding has bucked a global slowdown October 13, 2016 Cash being ploughed into the UK's tech startups has defied a global slowdown as the impact of Brexit turns out to be limited – so far, at least. Venture capital investment inched up 10 per cent to $834m in the third quarter of the year, fueled by high profile rounds for several star startups including Deliveroo and Darktrace. [...]
Former Sainsbury’s boss warns of imminent price hikes October 12, 2016 The ex-boss of one of the UK's leading supermarkets has warned shops will have to start hiking prices soon in response to the plunging pound. Justin King, who spent a decade as chief executive of Sainsbury's, told a conference on Wednesday it would be impossible for shops to absorb the higher costs of raw materials and imported products without charging [...]
Giraffe Concepts snaps up 1950s-style restaurant chain Ed’s Easy Diner in pre-packaged deal that will result in 379 redundancies October 12, 2016 Giraffe Concepts has snapped up Ed's Easy Diner in a pre-packaged sell-off of the 1950s-style restaurant chain. The purchase includes 33 of the company's 59 restaurants and will result in the immediate closure of 26 restaurants and 379 redundancies. The deal, for an undisclosed sum, also includes the Ed's Easy Diner brand and the group's head [...]
Private equity-backed accountancy firm challenger expands with new investment October 12, 2016 A newly-formed private equity-backed accountancy group has announced a new investment. CogitalGroup, which was founded this summer by private equity firm HgCapital and former Deloitte UK chief executive John Connolly, this morning announced a deal with Baldwins. The accountancy firm has 27 offices across the UK, employing 650 people. Connolly will join the board of the company, [...]
Summer sun and price cuts drive best quarter for food sales since 2013 October 11, 2016 The food sector has had its best quarter of sales in two years, according to new figures. Like-for-like sales across all retail categories increased 0.4 per cent year-on-year in September, according to data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG. Read more: Rosé wine, gin and ice cream sales gave Waitrose a summer boost last [...]
Fast sell-off could be on the cards for 1950s-style casual restaurant chain Ed’s Easy Diner October 8, 2016 Casual dining chain Ed's Easy Diner could imminently be sold off in a quickie sale for as little as £15m, according to reports. The hard-and-fast sale will probably take the form of a pre-pack administration could be announced in the coming days after the group suffered a trading slump over the summer, sources told The [...]
Digital doors officially open at Atom Bank October 6, 2016 Brits who wish to give mobile banking a whirl have another option on the table from today, as Atom Bank has officially opened to all customers. The bank, which is built exclusively for mobile, initially launched in "invitation only" mode but the app could only be used by those who had expressed interest previously and [...]
Equivalence can’t trump passporting, warns boss of bank trade body October 5, 2016 Many of the alternatives to passporting would not allow the financial sector to continue business as usual, the chief executive of the British Bankers' Association has warned. Writing in his monthly newsletter, Anthony Browne noted that the passporting rules have "been a key factor in enabling the UK to grow as the financial capital of Europe". [...]