Budget 2020: Government will raise living wage and lift floor for National Insurance March 11, 2020 The chancellor Rishi Sunak said today that the government will raise the national living wage to £10.50 by 2024 and will raise the minimum threshold for National Insurance. In his budget speech Sunak announced a goal of raising the national living wage to two thirds of median earnings by 2024 – which would be equivalent [...]
City Moves for 9 March — Who’s switching jobs at Quintet, Leo Burnett and R3? March 9, 2020 Today’s City Moves includes Quintet, Leo Burnett and R3 Quintet Quintet Private Bank has announced the promotion of Rachel Macfarlane to group head of legal, with immediate effect. Macfarlane joined Brown Shipley in 2018 with responsibility for legal, corporate secretarial and corporate governance work. Prior to that, she served as legal manager at Santander UK [...]
Flybe’s last flight: How Europe’s biggest regional airline met its demise March 9, 2020 At 8.30pm on Wednesday evening, passengers were still being ushered onto planes bearing the indigo livery of Flybe. Half an hour later, members of the cabin crew on one of its last ever flights, from Manchester to Belfast, were crying, having just lost their jobs. “Staff in tears. This is so grim,” tweeted Holly Hamilton, [...]
Lord Ashcroft’s Devonshire Club set to appoint administrators March 8, 2020 A luxury private members’ club co-owned by Tory peer Lord Ashcroft could be on the brink of insolvency after launching a hunt for administrators. The Devonshire Club, close to Liverpool Street station in the City, has filed notice with the High Court of its intention to appoint an administrator. It has also hired insolvency experts [...]
Short-term rentals firm Hostmaker heads for administration March 2, 2020 Hostmaker, a London-based lettings company, has entered administration. The company’s staff are now facing potential redundancy, while Houst — formerly known as Airsorted — is believed to have bought Hostmaker’s client base, according to industry website Shorttermrentalz. The news followed a week after the Sunday Times reported Hostmaker was facing a potential insolvency battle. Sign [...]
Financial Conduct Authority admits major data breach February 25, 2020 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has admitted that it revealed confidential consumer information on its website in a data breach last year. The City watchdog published details of roughly 1,600 people who filed complaints about it between January 2018 and July 2019. In some instances the information included names, addresses and telephone numbers. The FCA [...]
Jingye to cut 400 jobs as part of British Steel takeover February 18, 2020 Jingye will cut a tenth of British Steel’s workforce at its Scunthorpe plant as the Chinese firm gears up to take over the embattled manufacturer. The company, which is in the process of finalising its £50m deal for the insolvent firm, is looking to implement a range of cost saving solutions. The Daily Telegraph reported [...]
City Moves for 18 February – Who’s switching jobs at Dechert, Secure Trust Bank and Hill Dickinson? February 18, 2020 Today’s City Moves includes Dechert, Secure Trust Bank and Hill Dickinson Dechert Dechert has announced the apointment of Alastair Goldrein as a partner in the firm’s London office. Alastair currently advises creditors and debtors, as well as sponsors, in a broad range of complex international restructurings and insolvencies. He also has significant experience advising on [...]
City grandee Michael Spencer among losers after collapse of startup Laundrapp February 17, 2020 City grandee Michael Spencer has lost millions after a laundry startup he was a key backer for went into administration on Friday. Laundrapp was sold in a pre-pack administration on Friday after running out of cash. Spencer’s private investment group IPGL was a cornerstone investor in a £4m 2015 funding round in Laundrapp in which [...]
Insolvency firm FRP Advisory appoints broker for London float February 12, 2020 Insolvency firm FRP Advisory has appointed broker Cenkos Securities for an upcoming London listing. The insolvency practitioner, which also advises clients on corporate finance matters, is planning to raise £30m in a float that will value it at £200m. Recent mandates for FRP include acting as administrator for cake chain Patisserie Valerie. FRP took over [...]