Regulators make Mike Ashley backed firm pay £12.5m back to customers February 17, 2017 A division of Findel, the London-listed firm backed by Sports Direct, has agreed with financial regulators to pay £12.5m back to customers for insurance products that "offered little or no value". Personal shopping firm Express Gifts, one of the two main divisions of Findel, sold either property insurance or purchase protection insurance products to customers between 2005 and 2015. [...]
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. [...]
Business groups have joined forces to fight the government’s business rates plans February 16, 2017 Thirteen business groups and industry associations including the Confederation of British Industry, British Chambers of Commerce and British Retail Consortium have formed a united front to fight the government's proposed changes to business rates. Commercial property taxes have been re-evaluated for the first time in seven years and are set to soar for many firms [...]
Business secretary Greg Clark heads for Paris talks with French government and PSA over possible GM deal February 16, 2017 Business secretary Greg Clark has travelled to Paris for talks with the French government and PSA over the french company's prospective takeover General Motors’ European Opel operations, including Vauxhall. Clark is to meet with French industry minister Christophe Sirigue and PSA just hours after Unite’s Len McCluskey said he was seeking “urgent talks” with PSA. The union leader [...]
The City of London’s policy chair is taking up the chairman role at the firm which runs the UK’s cash machine network February 16, 2017 The firm responsible for running the UK's 70,000-strong cash machine network has appointed the City of London's policy chair as its new chairman. Mark Boleat, who will chair the policy and resources committee at the City of London Corporation until May and is also deputy chairman of think tank TheCityUK, will join Link Scheme as chairman shortly. [...]
The UK’s construction industry started 2017 on a high February 16, 2017 The UK's construction industry started the year strongly as housebuilding dominated activity. The value of new building contracts rose to £6bn in January, according to analysts Barbour ABI, with London accounting for over a quarter of contract value. The capital was boosted by the One Nine Elms project in Vauxhall, the most valuable development in [...]
A weakening diamond market has pushed Gem Diamonds to mothball a mine February 16, 2017 Low diamond prices have pushed Britain's Gem Diamonds to mothball its Ghaghoo mine in Botswana. Gem Diamonds, which works in the Letseng mine in Lesotho and the Ghaghoo mine, will place the mine on care and maintenance with immediate effect, resulting in an annualised care and maintenance cost of $3m (£2.4m), post settlement expenses. Shares in the [...]
All change at Bob Diamond’s Atlas Mara as chief exec steps down February 16, 2017 Atlas Mara, the African investment vehicle co-founded by former Barclays boss Bob Diamond, has unveiled plans for a shake-up. The investor, which in October reported a 70 per cent slide in pre-tax profits, said chief executive John Vitalo had stepped down, with a replacement to be announced in "due course". Vitalo, who joined the company in [...]
Westminster becomes first council to request higher retention of business rates for £409m investment programme February 15, 2017 Westminster council has become the first in the UK to urge the government to allow it to keep a higher proportion of its commercial property taxes. A conglomerate representing the West End has put in the application on behalf of the Westminster council and others, City A.M. can reveal. The West End Partnership (WEP), which represents [...]
The pound has fallen well below $1.25 on bad inflation news February 14, 2017 The pound plunged below $1.25 this morning, after disappointing figures showed inflation was weaker than expected in January. The pound fell as low as $1.2457 in mid-morning trading, 0.55 per cent down. Meanwhile, it fell 0.68 per cent against the euro, dropping to €1.1739. Inflation had been expected to hit 1.9 per cent in January, [...]