Pay row: M&S accused of threatening to sack staff who reject new contracts July 12, 2016 Marks & Spencer has become embroiled in a dispute over staff pay as it grapples with a sales slide in its clothing division. Chief executive Steve Rowe told shareholders at yesterday's AGM that the retailer faces "tough decisions" in the coming months. M&S is consulting staff over the axing of premium pay on Sundays, and cuts [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open July 12, 2016 Major US markets are on a tear hitting record highs and the UK blue-chip index is in bull market territory. Here's what you need to know before the US market open at 2:30pm London time. It seems nothing can stop the equity ball rolling now, with futures pointing yet higher ahead of the open. The [...]
City Moves for 12 July 2016 | Who’s switching jobs July 12, 2016 UBS UBS has appointed Chris Gibson-Smith vice chairman of corporate client solutions, EMEA.Chris brings to UBS more than 40 years' experience across a wide range of sectors including oil, aviation and banking. He has nearly 30 years’ cumulative FTSE 100 main board experience, 20 of which in the role of chairman. Most notably, Chris [...]
UK vote fails to float Europe’s IPO boat July 7, 2016 The EU referendum has been blamed for slowing flotation activity levels across Europe in a new report. Mergermarket tracked 77 initial public offerings (IPOs), with €11.6bn (£9.9bn) raised, across the continent during the first six months of the year. This was down from 115 floats, which raised €27.1bn, in the first half of 2015. Read [...]
Amazon will plough ahead with UK data centres plan despite Brexit July 7, 2016 Amazon has said it remains committed to the UK and will continue with plans to build new data centres in the country after the Brexit vote. Speaking at its annual summit in London, Amazon Web Services (AWS) UK boss Gavin Jackson reassured thousands of attendees, including executives from British clients, that the country’s decision to [...]
City Moves for 7 July 2016 | Who’s switching jobs July 7, 2016 Marsh Insurance broker Marsh has appointed Jeremy Cooke as vice chairman of global placement. In his new role, Jeremy will focus on critical growth areas including complex market negotiations on facilities, quota shares and key accounts. He was previously head of placement for Marsh’s international division. Prior to joining Marsh in 2003, he held senior executive positions at insurers in the US and [...]
This is no new financial crisis – but Britain needs to show the world that it’s open for business July 6, 2016 The UK economy was on a reasonably firm footing going into the referendum, though growth had lost some of its momentum from last year. While uncertainty was already affecting business confidence, household spending was supported by stable job creation in a low inflation environment. Since then, the falls in financial markets partly reflect expectations of [...]
Amazon is going on a pre-Christmas hiring spree as it gears up for another bumper festive period July 6, 2016 Amazon, the US online retailer that has been ruffling feathers with its aggressive expansion plans, is upping its UK staff head count by a further 1,000 this year. It today announced plans to add 1,000 permanent jobs across the UK, on top of 2,500 permanent roles previously announced in January. The latest increase means it will [...]
Columbia Threadneedle’s property funds become the latest to suspend trading July 6, 2016 Columbia Threadneedle has become the latest firm to suspend trading on property funds. Both the Threadneedle UK Property Authorised Investment Fund (Threadneedle PAIF) and the Threadneedle UK Property Authorised Trust suspended at 12pm on Wednesday. It follows Aviva, M&G, Henderson, Standard Life and Canada Life in suspending trading on UK property funds. Read more: Fourth property fund suspension announced [...]
Supermarket sell-off: grocers’ share prices fall as HSBC analysts predict Asda will cut prices July 6, 2016 The big grocers' share prices fell today after analysts said Asda may cut its prices, trimming the industry's profits and intensifying the supermarket price war. HSBC analyst David McCarthy said: "We believe there are signs that Asda may be about to fundamentally reposition on price, bringing down sector profits. Read more: Traders betting against troubled supermarkets "Asda has been [...]