Lloyds brings in the machines with plan for mini-banks February 20, 2014 LLOYDS is looking at setting up a range of mini-branches across London with fewer staff and more machines, City A.M. understands. The aim is to plugs gaps in the bank’s coverage across the capital, while keeping costs low. It marks a new stage in the banking sector’s plans to cope as branches receive fewer visits [...]
You won’t recognise your high street bank in five years’ time February 20, 2014 Small branches with more machines than staff are the future of banking for Britain’s biggest lenders, as Lloyds joins Barclays in creating a new kind of store. Lloyds is understood to be looking into opening new branches in London – a radical change from the industry trend of cutting back on expensive stores in favour [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 20 February 2014 February 19, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES ‘Boomer bulge’ hits US jobs data The drop in the percentage of Americans at work in recent years is often cast as a story about the long-term unemployed who give up trying to find jobs. But declining workforce participation rates, which have sharply reduced headline unemployment calculations in the world’s largest economy, could [...]
City Moves for 20 February 2014 | Who’s switching jobs February 19, 2014 Santander Corporate & Commercial Andrew Whelan has been appointed managing director for regional real estate finance at Santander Corporate & Commercial. He joined in 2010 from Bank of Ireland, and has previously held roles at Barclays. Aldermore Asset Finance The challenger bank has made three appointments to its asset finance team. Carey Hansford joins as a business [...]
Bottom Line: London just needs to wait a bit for lift-off February 18, 2014 ON ONE level and after a superficial look at developments, it might seem as if London is in danger of missing out on the impending flood of new issues that are about to hit the financial markets. Yesterday’s flurry of statements revealed that ISS, the giant services group, is floating in Copenhagen; King.com has chosen [...]
Poundland hires retail veterans to propel float February 18, 2014 DISCOUNT retailer Poundland yesterday unveiled a heavyweight board lineup and its first female non-executive director as part of plans to float on London’s stock market next month. The Birmingham-based company, which currently has around 500 stores, has recruited former Travelodge chief executive Grant Hearn and Merlin Entertainments group HR director Tea Colaianni, who will become [...]
Major rail firms fail to impress UK commuters February 17, 2014 FED-UP passengers have hit out at delays, fare rises and cramped carriages in a national poll that found most rail companies are keeping less than half of their customers happy. Around 16 per cent of passengers suffered delays on their last journey, rising to 26 per cent for commuters, while one in five people travelling [...]
Inside Track: Rothschild shows independent advisers are on a roll February 13, 2014 AT THE top of Rothschild’s impressive and relatively newly-built London headquarters, a modern building set in the 17th century St Swithin’s Lane in the heart of the City, is an auditorium which the firm’s bankers use to host what are known as kick-off meetings for the flotations they’re working on. Over the past few months, [...]
London Report: Barclays, Bank of England and Lloyds in focus February 9, 2014 BRITISH banks will be under the spotlight this week as Barclays and Lloyds deliver their full-year results and Bank of England governor Mark Carney updates the markets on its forward guidance policy for setting rates. Lloyds has already provided an update on its progress, predicting an underlying profit of £6.2bn for 2013 compared to £2.6bn [...]
Forex rate-rigging scandal 2015 probe: Foreign exchange crisis engulfs London February 5, 2014 City foreign exchange desks were thrown into turmoil yesterday as top traders at Goldman Sachs and Citi resigned, while Deutsche Bank fired three New York traders. Banks are being lent on hard by regulators over alleged FX benchmark manipulation, adding to chaos in the sector. The New York Department for Financial Services (DFS) has become [...]