High street giants facing shareholder revolt over low wages March 27, 2025 Investor groups and City giants have teamed up to target high street giants Next, M&S and JD Sports with shareholder resolutions over their low wages. Seven institutional investors managing over £1 trillion in assets have joined the campaign, including Axa, Scottish Widows and the Greater Manchester Pension Fund. The campaign is being led by responsible [...]
Vitality: Profit on the up at health and life insurance giant March 4, 2025 Health and life insurer Vitality returned to profit growth during the first six months of its current financial year, it has been revealed. The company, which is UK’s third-largest health insurer behind Bupa and Axa, has posted a normalised profit from £40m for the final six months of 2024. Its UK health division reported a [...]
The 13 skyscrapers set to redefine the City of London’s skyline March 4, 2025 The City of London Corporation has released new images visualising how the Square Mile’s skyline will look.
‘Once you legislate, people will rebel’: Why a vibes-based WFH policy is working for Vitality February 13, 2025 The debate-stirring issue of working from home (WFH) has never been far from the headlines so far in 2025. The likes of FTSE 100 giant WPP, Lord Alan Sugar and London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan have all made waves with where they stand on the topic. Now Neville Koopowitz, the chief executive of health and [...]
Vitality to offer discounted weight loss drugs in UK first February 12, 2025 Customers are to be offered discounted weight loss treatments through insurance giant Vitality in a UK first. The group, which is UK’s third-largest health insurer behind Bupa and Axa, is to offer discounts of up to 20 per cent for medications such as Wegovy and Mounjaro to its 1.9 million members. The offer is to [...]
UK private medical insurance sign-ups near-record high amid NHS backlog February 7, 2025 Nearly one in eight Britons now have medical insurance, a near-record high, as delays to NHS care drive customers to go private. The number of people with private medical insurance rose to a record high of 4.68M by the end of 2023, according to the latest figures from healthcare analysts LaingBuisson. But a total of [...]
Donald Trump’s tariffs: Here are the three important points February 4, 2025 There's a lot that could be said about tariffs, but there's three points that really matter.
Howden’s insurance conference disrupted by climate activists January 29, 2025 An insurance conference held at Howden’s City office was disrupted this morning following a slew of protesters from Extinction Rebellion
Wonks think a wave of asset management mergers is inevitable January 22, 2025 Across the European continent, a surge of mergers and acquisitions among asset managers has begun. Yesterday, Italian and French giants Generali and Natixis agreed to a €1.9 trillion (£1.61 trillion) merger to create the second largest asset manager in Europe. Meanwhile, BNP Paribas recently bought out AXA’s investment arm, and rumours continue to swirl about [...]
Back to the office helps City of London’s tallest tower to full capacity January 20, 2025 The City’s tallest tower, 22 Bishopsgate, has been fully let after four years as the financial district continues to prove its ability to command premiums for best-in-class sustainable spaces. There’s little sign of the gloom pervading other areas of the commercial office sector in the City, with rents at 22 Bishopsgate the highest ever achieved [...]