City Moves for 23 May 2016 | Who’s switching jobs May 23, 2016 Together Specialist lender Together has appointed Colin Kersley to its retail board. As an independent non-executive director, Colin will also chair the retail audit committee. Colin was previously chief executive officer of M&S Bank (a wholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC) where he worked closely with the independent board to convert the card company to a bank, [...]
Commercial development approvals stall in 2016 as lack of finance for small developers bites May 23, 2016 Planning permissions for commercial property developments across the UK hit their lowest level since 2009 last year. The dip has been blamed on a lack of available finance for smaller developers, according to peer-to-peer property funding platform Saving Stream. Large developments have held steady at 2,000 per year since 2010 though the number of smaller [...]
Aldi taps into UK craft beer market in £600m deal with 18 new offerings May 22, 2016 Cut-price supermarket Aldi has launched a £600m initiative to tap into the UK's burgeoning craft beer industry. From 29 May, the bargain grocer will stock 18 UK brewed craft beers in its English and Welsh stories. The beers will be sold as a "Specialbuy" purchase, meaning a limited number of beers have been brought in as [...]
Here’s what got us talking this week May 20, 2016 We had a glimpse of the future (at least as far as house prices are concerned) and found some of us would be in a fight to the end with robots. And we learned stress wasn't always a bad thing – which is just as well because it's not just prosecco that's getting more expensive just in [...]
One in three young people are moving back home after being priced out of London rent May 20, 2016 Over a third of young adults in London are opting to live at home with their parents because they can't afford rent, a new study has shown. The new study from online retailer Direct Blinds showed 36 per cent of young adults in London could not afford to move out and pay rent, while more than 40 [...]
The City is irresistible for scores of firms – and we’ll keep doing business regardless of Brexit May 20, 2016 We hear most days how the City will be ruined if Britain votes for Brexit. It is said that there will be flight of capital to Frankfurt, trade will plummet, and international businesses will lose faith in London’s financial predominance. In the last week, Bank of England governor Mark Carney announced that, in the Bank’s view, a [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open May 19, 2016 Markets are still reeling from the Fed's warning that they're not taking the possibility of a June interest rate hike seriously enough and ratings agency Moody's has downgraded US growth prospects. Here's what you need to know before the US market open at 2:30pm London time. The pre-market is not looking strong this morning follow [...]
What you need to know about the new vaping legislation coming into force on 20 May May 19, 2016 From tomorrow, new legislation will significantly clamp down on and choke off e-cigarettes throughout the European Union. Here's everything you need to know about what will change, where the laws have come from and where you can still vape. What will change tomorrow? The maximum capacity of nicotine in an e-cigarette will now be 20mg, [...]
New domestic and EU laws will stub out menthol cigarettes and 10-packs from tomorrow May 19, 2016 Smokers are in for a bitter cocktail of regulation tomorrow as EU and UK laws come into force, phasing out 10-packs, menthol cigarettes and introducing new plain packaging rules. Manufacturers will be banned from producing 10-packs of cigarettes under the European Union's Tobacco Products Directive, which will be implemented on Friday after the European Court of [...]
Coffee nation: The UK’s caffeine addiction revealed as coffee chains take over May 19, 2016 Over-caffeinated Brits are fuelling a boom in coffee shops, according to new data from CBRE. Over the past 17 years, there has been a massive 20-fold increase in coffee chain outlets, from just 215 in 1998 to 4,234 in 2015. And the coffee shop trend shows no sign of abating, with an increase of six per [...]