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 [...]
Boxing day sales 2015: UK shoppers expected to spend over £3bn as John Lewis and Selfridges enjoy strong starts December 26, 2015 British shoppers are expected to spend heavily in this year's Christmas sales, with stores such as John Lewis already boasting of strong trading figures. According to figures from the Centre for Retail Research and vouchercodes.co.uk, around 22m shoppers will spend £3.74bn in sales this festive period – a six per cent increase on last year. Department [...]
Fintech firm Transferwise in early stage talks to team up with banks in the UK December 21, 2015 London fintech firm Transferwise is set to partner up with the banks it has previously accused of “scamming” customers. The money transfer firm has announced it is in early stage talks with up to 20 banks around the world, including established and challenger banks in the UK, to embed its services in their online banking [...]
Last minute Christmas shopping could lead to £1.3bn being spent on UK high streets, and that’s not the end of it: get ready for the Boxing Day and New Year sales December 21, 2015 If you've left your Christmas shopping to the last minute, you're not alone. Britons will spend £1.3bn on 23 December alone, which is set to be the busiest day on the high street. Expect crowds. Shoppers will make 37 million in-store transactions on Wednesday, up 10 per cent from 2014, and total spending is predicted to rise by three [...]
FTSE 100 set to close out 2015 around 6,000 – London Report December 21, 2015 THE FED “feel good factor” and the Santa rally that historically has resulted in 80 per cent of December trading sessions closing positive have not been enough to sustain positive numbers for the FTSE. On Friday the FTSE 100 closed down 50 points at 6052, bringing to an end the brief surge following the Federal Reserve [...]
Countdown to Christmas: From Volkswagen’s emissions scandal and Ed Ball’s surprise defeat at the General Election to the Paris terror attacks, these are the most surprising news stories of 2015 December 20, 2015 Some news you register with perhaps a shrug of the shoulder, while other stories might prompt an arched eyebrow. There are some events, however, that make you sit up and pay attention. This year was not without a few of those key moments – good and bad – that gripped us. Here are the most [...]
City Moves for 18 December 2015 | Who’s switching jobs December 17, 2015 TOGETHER Andrew Murdoch has joined specialist lender Together as group valuations manager, after 12 years with Eddisons. A Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors-registered valuer and registered receiver, he has extensive experience in valuation, asset management and value enhancement. At Eddisons, he spent eight years specialising in corporate recovery, insolvency and LPA receiverships, including two year-long [...]