Labour makes new push for higher wages November 4, 2013 LABOUR leader Ed Miliband has pledged to offer tax breaks of up to £1,000 per worker for companies that move low-paid staff onto the living wage. Miliband said the scheme would cut poverty while saving money on benefit payments – but the Conservatives and some business groups said the plan was impractical. More than 400 [...]
City Moves for 04 November 2013 | Who’s switching jobs November 3, 2013 Alvarez & Marsal The professional services firm has announced the hire of William Beer as a managing director and head of its South American cyber protection division. He was most recently at PwC, where he led its UK information and cyber security practice. Northern Trust The investment management firm has appointed Matthew Peron as managing [...]
City Moves for 30 October 2013 | Who’s switching jobs October 29, 2013 KPMG The professional services giant has announced the appointment of Gary Reader as global head of insurance. Reader is a KPMG veteran having been at the company for 28 years, and was most recently its UK head of insurance advisory. Capco Christopher Geldard has been appointed head of the global banking practice and member of [...]
Research shows huge gulf in UK jobs estimates October 22, 2013 THREE well-established surveys of the UK’s job market suggest that official figures may be overestimating UK employment by over a million jobs, according to research released by Markit last night. The huge divergence between estimates made by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and a number of other sources has opened up since 2010. The gauges [...]
Desktop users fall as shoppers move to mobile October 21, 2013 THE NUMBER of Britons searching for goods on their desktops has dwindled in the past year as tablet ownership booms and more consumers shop from the comfort of their sofa. Retail searches on desktop computers were down by 10 per cent in the third quarter compared with the same time last year, according to data [...]
Quindell Portfolio seeks full listing October 21, 2013 Insurance claims processor Quindell Portfolio announced yesterday it is seeking a full listing on the London Stock Exchange in March, with the possibility of a dual listing in Canada. The firm said it is now involved in one in four claims being handled by UK insurers. In its third quarter trading statement, the firm said [...]
Think tank says HS2 must link up with regions October 20, 2013 NEW research on the controversial High Speed 2 project has found that the scheme could benefit the British economy – providing it is properly joined up to the rest of the rail network. The Independent Transport Commission found that the £42.6bn link between London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds will help regenerate regions near the route [...]
Tech companies push ahead in UK job creation October 20, 2013 UK TECHNOLOGY companies have outpaced the rest of the private sector as a whole in terms of job creation for the past 10 years, according to a report out today from KPMG and Markit. The Tech Monitor UK report reveals that the number of jobs in the technology sector grew by 4.3 per cent in [...]
Just Retirement launches £300m market listing October 17, 2013 LIFE INSURER Just Retirement yesterday became the latest UK company to tap buoyant stock markets after announcing plans to raise £300m in an initial public offering (IPO) The company, which goes head to head with recently floated insurer Partnership in offering enhanced annuities, will launch a road show in the UK and America in the [...]
Accountants relieved as audit shake-up plan watered down October 15, 2013 THE COMPETITION Commission yesterday watered down its audit reforms, pleasing big accountants and their clients but putting itself at odds with tougher reforms looming from the European Union. The Competition Commission now wants FTSE 350 companies to put their book-keeping out to tender at least once a decade, to shake up a market dominated by [...]