Homeward bound HSBC, City Hall race and oil glut make a busy 2016 January 7, 2016 Forecasting events in the City is frequently a fool’s errand but one thing’s clear from the first week of 2016: it is going to be a tough year for much of corporate Britain. Here’s where I think most of the action will be. 1. Among the first big decisions of the year will be delivered when [...]
Interest rates, a Fintech revolution and more investment in the UK: what former Lord Mayor Roger Gifford predicts for the City of London January 6, 2016 Sir Roger Gifford, member of Multrees Investor Services Board and former Lord Mayor of London, tells City A.M. what he expects for the City of London in 2016. The Fintech revolution The importance of Fintech to London can perhaps be seen most clearly through the 44,000 plus people who are employed in the sector – [...]
A bad start to the year for Sainsbury’s, Anglo American, Aberdeen Asset Management and Burberry, who top the list of most shorted shares of 2016 January 5, 2016 Sainsbury's yesterday revealed it had made an approach to takeover Home Retail Group, the owner of Argos and Homebase, in a bid to reverse its faltering fortunes. The report came as the extent of the Big Four supermarket’s woes were laid bare by new data revealing that its shares were the most shorted on the [...]
Hipsters and Mindfulness: Ladybird books prove a hit for bookseller Foyles January 5, 2016 Publisher Ladybird's series of spoof guides helping adults to make sense of modern day themes from hipsters to hangovers have proved a hit for bookseller Foyles this Christmas. The family-owned retailer said like-for-like sales jumped by 4.7 per cent for the month of December with seven of Ladybird's for grown up series making it into the [...]
Beware mayoral wannabes pledging a Tube fare freeze: The numbers don’t stack up January 5, 2016 While most resolutions – especially those involving regular gym attendance – do not last beyond January, there is one New Year tradition that is guaranteed to be with us for the whole year: Transport for London’s annual fare increase. Londoners will be familiar with the routine. Sometime between singing Auld Lang Syne on New Year’s [...]
City A.M.’s journalists take a look at what 2016 has in store for the world of finance and business January 4, 2016 BANKING Strengthening outlook despite more regulatory bumps ahead Bank of England governor Mark Carney may have declared the banking crisis officially over at the end of last year, but 2016 looks to be far from a challenge-free year for Britain’s biggest banks. To be sure, all seven of the UK’s leading lenders passed the Bank’s [...]
Legal & General sale of Dutch retail unit possible in 2016, as company sheds non-core businesses after last year’s disposals of Egypt and Ireland ventures January 3, 2016 Legal & General is mulling over the decision to sell its Dutch retail business. The financial services giant is considering a sale in 2016 as part of a wider plan to leave non-core businesses. In November last year, Legal & General, which is headquartered in London and had 10m customers worldwide at the end of [...]
New Year Honours 2016: Natalie Massenet, Carolyn McCall, Alan Yarrow and the men and women in business awarded Damehoods, Knighthoods, OBEs and CBEs December 30, 2015 Natalie Massenet, Carolyn McCall and Alan Yarrow are among the business leaders to make 2016's New Year honour list this year. Massenet, the entrepreneur who founded Net-a-Porter and McCall, chief executive of EasyJet, were made Dames, while Lord Mayor of London Yarrow was knighted. Outgoing Nationwide chief executive Graham Beale was awarded an CBE, as was [...]
New Year’s Eve 2015/16 tickets for London fireworks on sale from midday – here’s where to buy them December 30, 2015 If you're feeling uncomfortable about the fact retailers have already started promoting Christmas (including putting out advent calendars…), look away now. Tickets for New Year's Eve fireworks in the centre of London are going on sale at midday today (2 October). And you might want to get your skates on because the 100,000 available [...]
Amazon expands Pantry online supermarket as it lays out fresh challenge to UK’s Big Four supermarkets Asda, Tesco, Sainbury’s and Morrisons December 29, 2015 Amazon’s foray into the supermarket sector has quickly become a success, after the online retail giant announced plans to expand its new Pantry service in the UK next year. In other words, there's more disruption ahead for the UK’s troubled traditional supermarkets. The “Big Four” – Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons – are struggling to keep up [...]