Global fintech investment in 2015 hit $13.8bn as end of year slowdown fails to derail best year yet March 9, 2016 A slowdown at the end of 2015 failed to derail a bumper year for fintech as investors ploughed $13.8bn into startups in the sector across the globe – more than double the amount of the previous year. Investors made greater bets on disruptive technology in the finance sector than ever before, committing more money to each deal. The number of mega-deals – those worth [...]
Retail sales run out of steam in February despite half-term and Valentine’s Day boost March 8, 2016 RETAIL sales slowed in February after a strong start to the year that was boosted by the January sales. Like-for-like sales rose by 0.1 per cent last month compared with February in 2015, when they had increased 0.2 per cent, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG’s monthly data released today. The February [...]
South African retailer Foschini eyes fashion chain Whistles March 6, 2016 Another South African company could soon step up its presence in the UK retail industry, this time with upmarket high street brand Whistles as the target. Foschini, a Cape Town-based retail conglomerate which bought Phase Eight last year, is said to be eyeing a bid for Whistles after its owners hired advisers at KPMG to sound out [...]
BHS to cut a third of head office jobs, as the department store chain March 4, 2016 BHS is planning to axe around a third of its head office jobs, as part of measures to keep the business afloat. The department store chain has placed around 150 jobs from its 450-strong head office into consultation this morning, a spokeswoman told City A.M. this morning. She declined to comment further. Around 100 roles have [...]
BHS appoints KPMG as it pursues CVA in bid to end deadlock with landlords over unsustainable rents March 3, 2016 Struggling department store chain BHS is set to enter into a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) in an effort to deal with "unsustainable" rents, which could see the group, previously owned by retail mogul Sir Philip Green, disposing of a number of stores. A CVA allows insolvent companies to pay creditors over a fixed period, while continuing [...]
City Moves for 3 March 2016 | Who’s switching jobs March 3, 2016 Watson Day Chartered surveyor firm Watson Day has appointed Richard Turnill as a partner. He joins partners Nick Threlfall, Ian Gutteridge, Julian Scannell and Kevin Dempster, who founded Watson Day in 1989. Richard qualified as a chartered surveyor in 2007, following a graduate position at Cluttons. In 2009 Richard joined Glenny’s south east London and [...]
Redmayne-Bentley sees walk-outs one week after hiring KPMG’s James Andrews as its head of investment March 1, 2016 Four members of the investment team of brokerage Redmayne-Bentley have walked out, one week after the firm appointed its new head of investment. The stockbroker confirmed four investment managers and two support staff – including business development manager Jon Moody – have left the business with immediate effect. The staff are on gardening leave until [...]
Techies and retailers beat the bankers to win 100 free lunches in Deliveroo’s corporate competition February 29, 2016 IT’S SAFE to say that City workers are bracing themselves for a disappointing bonus season. Reports earlier this month found that banker’s bonuses could plummet by almost 10 per cent, but City firms are trying to make up the difference by winning free lunches for their workforce. Up-market fast food transporter Deliveroo has launched a competition [...]
City Moves for 29 February 2016 | Who’s switching jobs February 29, 2016 KPMG KPMG has appointed Sue Kershaw as a director in the UK firm and UK head of infrastructure programme and project management. Sue, who is a board member of the Association for Project Management, brings over 30 years’ experience as a civil engineer and programme manager to the role. Sue joins from CH2M HILL where [...]
CoalFace Capital’s Declan McEvoy on clichés, robo-advisers, and pink hair February 29, 2016 Plenty of people must have sat in their banking job thinking about what could be done better and wondering if they should just pack it all in and start their own business. Declan McEvoy, founder of innovative trading platform CoalFace Capital, first realised he wanted to be this person back in 1999, while doing his [...]