City Moves for 30 September 2016 | Who’s switching jobs September 30, 2016 KPMG KPMG has appointed Paul Martin as UK head of retail. Paul will succeed David McCorquodale who has led KPMG’s retail practice in the UK since November 2012 and will be retiring at the end of April 2017 after 32 years with the firm. Paul is managing director of KPMG Boxwood and was formerly managing director of Planet Retail, [...]
Massive business rate hikes will be a disaster for growth and investment in London September 29, 2016 Hundreds of thousands of companies across the UK are nervously awaiting today’s release of new property valuation data that will determine how much they will have to pay in business rates. As if the prospect of having their rateable values reassessed after a seven-year gap wasn’t scary enough, government announcements this week create a toxic [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open September 29, 2016 Oil has given up some of its gains after the first Opec deal to curb supply in eight years sent it higher last night and it's not just Deutsche Bank that's in trouble as Commerzbank announces nearly 10,000 jobs are set to go. Here's what you need to know before the US market open at 2:30pm [...]
City of London braced for £2bn business rate hike September 29, 2016 The City of London is bracing itself for a tax hike estimated at more than £2bn when new business rates are revealed tomorrow. Details of new business rates represent the first re-evaluation since 2010. Due to rocketing rents in London over the past six years, businesses in the capital are expecting huge increases for the [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open September 28, 2016 Germany has been forced to deny reports of a possible Deutsche Bank bailout after investors abandoned the troubled bank and megabrew is on after investors voted to approve the deal. Here's what you need to know before the US market open at 2:30pm London time. US futures are pointing up ahead of the open, though not by [...]
“Sainsbury’s footfall is falling short” – analysts react to the retailer’s trading update September 28, 2016 Sainsbury's issued a 1.1 per cent fall in like-for-like sales this morning, and analysts' reactions have been pretty scathing. The retailer boosted its volumes, but the supermarket price war has eroded any benefit Sainsbury's might have wanted to see in its like-for-likes as a result. Sainsbury's share price has dropped 3.67 per cent today following [...]
Hunter Boot reports 19 per cent revenue growth as North America goes mad for wellies September 28, 2016 Hunter Boot, the company behind the iconic wellies beloved of countryside dwellers and fashionable festival goers, has reported a jump in revenue in 2015, driven by strong sales on the other side of the pond. Revenue grew by 19 per cent to £113.7m, up from £95.7m in 2014, off the back of a 33 per cent increase [...]
Wells Fargo chief executive forfeits millions in wake of internal investigation into fake accounts September 28, 2016 Two leading Wells Fargo executives have agreed to forfeit $60m (£46m) over the ongoing bank account scandal as Janet Yellen came under pressure to order a break-up of the lender. Chief executive John Stumpf will forego shares worth $41m and Carrie Tolstedt, the former head of the retail division, will miss out on $19m of shares after the company board [...]
Weak pound draws tourists to London’s Westfield centres September 28, 2016 Westfield shopping centres have been inundated with Chinese customers bulk buying Burberry handbags on the back of the weak pound. In July, Chinese spend in Westfield Stratford jumped 116 per cent year on year. Chinese spend in Westfield London, White City, increased by 16 per cent. Read more: Westfield Stratford set for more visitors in [...]
London’s the best place in the world for fostering fintech as industry eyes new success measures September 27, 2016 London is the best city in the world for fostering fintech, ahead of New York, Silicon Valley and Hong Kong – but it faces a run for its money from Singapore – as the industry pushes for better measures for assessing its contribution to the economy and the government's new industrial strategy. The two cities were ranked highest based [...]