Work and Pensions Committee to pick over Vauxhall pension scheme and its £840m deficit, as well as retirement funds at BHS and Bernard Matthews March 7, 2017 A group of MPs revealed today they are having a closer look at Vauxhall's pension pot, the day after it was announced the European unit of the motoring brand's owner was being purchased by French car firm PSA. The Work and Pensions Committee also said it is scrutinising the status of Bernard Matthews' retirement funds and the recent £363m settlement [...]
Comparethemarket owner bumps up sales giving Aleksandr and Sergei something to write home about March 6, 2017 The owner of price comparison website Comparethemarket today revealed double-digit revenue growth during the first six months of its financial year. The figures BGL, which also owns Beagle Street and Budget Insurance brands, said group revenue jumped 14 per cent. Comparethemarket.com revenue increased by 15 per cent, while lesfurets.com (literally, the ferets) revenues soared by 34 per [...]
Here’s how we build P2P firms that actually service the poor March 2, 2017 Is payday lender Wonga the only alternative finance business that actually addressed credit demand among poor people? A regulatory crackdown on the industry has pushed the most disadvantaged in this country towards hire purchase firms, where they “buy” something on credit, sell it on almost immediately to obtain ready cash, then end up paying back [...]
Britons are expected to splash out £108bn on cars during 2017 February 28, 2017 Britons will spend £108bn on cars this year, according to research by American Express. The poll found that 19 per cent of adults will spend an average of £11,094 buying a brand new or second hand car. Londoners spend the most on cars at £14,557 each, followed by the East Midlands (£13,831) and Scotland (£13,191). [...]
Government cuts discount rate: Experts react to move by justice secretary Liz Truss and warn on implications February 27, 2017 The government's decision to slash the insurance discount rate caught most of the sector's largest firms by surprise this morning. In particular, large motor insurers such as Direct Line (shares dropped by more than six per cent) and Admiral (down more than two per cent) were hit. [stockChart code="DLG" date="2017-02-27 15:08"] What is the discount rate? The [...]
The City boss running around for retirees: Clive Bannister on being a Phoenix from the ashes and providing a happy ending for pensioners February 27, 2017 Phoenix Group’s chief executive wasn’t looking forward to his morning commitments on 28 March 2014. “I was due to make a presentation to a rather hostile audience,” says Clive Bannister, the head of the FTSE 250 closed-book life insurer. “They didn’t want to think very kindly about Mr Bannister.” And Bannister’s day was about to [...]
Storm Doris: Insurers reveal a spike in claims after the UK’s worst storm of 2017 makes landfall February 24, 2017 The insurance sector has started to count the cost of the 100mph plus gales that have lashed the British Isles over the last few days. Storm Doris has led to a spike in activity for insurers, primarily in relation to land and buildings cover, with one provider saying it had already seen a 300 per cent increase in [...]
Now Santander lets you make payments using just your voice February 13, 2017 More proof that voice control is the future… Santander is now letting customers make payments just by asking their phone, along with several other new functions that work in a similar way to Apple's Siri or Amazon's Alexa Users of the bank's SmartBank app can use their voice to check their account balance, report a lost [...]
Investing in automation: If robots are coming for your job, how can you make money out of it? February 7, 2017 "Robots are coming to take our jobs,” scream the headlines. The debate around automation has become alarmingly dichotomous – either your job requires skills which are resistant to computers and machines, or you’re destined for the scrap heap. The reality is probably more nuanced. According to the McKinsey Global Institute, it is unlikely that specific jobs [...]
Six Nations 2017: Selling jersey sponsorship for the first time is a controversial but lucrative move for France February 4, 2017 The end to a 98-year tradition was signalled last week when the French Rugby Federation (FFR) quietly slipped out that it was finally going to sell the front of the French national rugby team’s shirt to a sponsor – the last major rugby-playing nation to do so. When rugby union turned pro in the mid-1990s, [...]