These are the seven deadly sins of the workplace February 17, 2017 Perhaps it was inevitable that someone would try to rebrand the seven deadly sins. After all, it’s 1,700 years since monk Evagrius Ponticus came up with the eight evil thoughts generally credited with the concept. These were whittled down to seven by Pope Gregory I in AD590 – vainglory was the one to go. Now [...]
First time buyers, close your eyes – in 1996, you could buy a house in Hackney for £75,000 February 17, 2017 House prices in the London borough of Hackney have rocketed 700 per cent in the last 20 years. It may seem hard to believe now, but in 1996 the average house price in Hackney was just £75,569. Now, the average price is £606,269 – a jump of 702 per cent. Read more: This tiny house [...]
The Lloyd’s of London lunchtime drinking ban will backfire: As a recovering alcoholic, I should know February 17, 2017 The announcement this week that Lloyd’s of London has banned booze during office hours adds to the slightly Orwellian atmosphere currently infiltrating 2017. It smacks of a nanny-state approach, using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, and as a recovering alcoholic myself, I don’t think it’ll work. Why not? Because you don’t change behaviour, let [...]
Editor’s Notes: Lloyd’s has bigger things to worry about than staff nipping out for a drink February 16, 2017 When I started working at a Westminster PR firm eight years ago, I had to learn how to drink at lunch. It wasn’t exactly a hardship. We were a small office (just three people when I joined) and every day we would decamp to the Italian next-door and see off a few bottles of red. [...]
Bruce Carnegie-Brown recommended as Lloyd’s of London chair February 16, 2017 Bruce Carnegie-Brown is to be recommended as the next chairman for Lloyd's of London, the insurance market. A Lloyd's Council meeting is expected to be convened shortly, probably one day early next week, to ratify the decision. The Council has historically followed the recommendation of the Nominations Committee on important appointments. The appointment is also [...]
AIG’s share price Trump bump halted by worse than expected losses February 15, 2017 Insurance giant AIG reported a worse than expected quarterly loss of $3bn after having to ramp up reserves to cover possible claims against commercial policies it has already written. The group said it had set aside an additional $5.6bn in its fourth quarter trading statement, published overnight. AIG also revealed plans for a $3.5bn share [...]
Workers at this City stalwart have been banned from drinking during the day February 14, 2017 Looks like it's going to be dry January all year long for the boozers at Lloyd's of London. City workers at the historic institution have been banned from drinking during the day because alcohol has caused so may disciplinary cases, according to the Evening Standard. Lloyd's, known for its world-class work in insurance, now has [...]
Inflation: How far will UK consumer prices rise this year? February 14, 2017 Inflation has already hit a 31-month high, but economists are almost universally predicted a steep rise in consumer prices over the coming year. The Bank of England (BoE) expects consumer prices to rise to 2.7 per cent by the end of this year, but other economists think that might be at the more conservative end [...]
Lloyds Banking Group eyes Berlin for new EU base post-Brexit February 13, 2017 Lloyds Banking Group is closing in on Berlin as its new EU hub post-Brexit. It was reported last December that the bank, which is the only major UK retail lender without a subsidiary in another EU country, was looking into establishing a base in either the Netherlands or Germany to make sure it still had access [...]
Job openings in financial services just jumped February 13, 2017 If you're thinking about changing jobs, now may be the time to pounce, after new figures found the number of openings in the financial services sector almost doubled in January. Morgan McKinley's London Employment Monitor found the number of openings in the sector rose to 9,015 in January, up 81 per cent from the 4,980 [...]