Government mulls handing watchdog more powers over struggling pension schemes, but experts warn suggestions not enough to prevent another BHS-style fiasco February 20, 2017 The government is considering handing the pensions watchdog more powers to regulate struggling or badly governed pension schemes. The Department for Work and Pensions' green paper on 'Security and Sustainability in Defined Benefit Pension Schemes', which was published today, is asking for feedback on a variety of pension issues. These include whether to extend the Pension [...]
Interserve shares are hurtling on the soaring cost of exiting its energy-from-waste business February 20, 2017 Interserve's share price has fallen more than 26 per cent after the firm said it will more than double the expected charge for exiting its energy-from-waste business to about £160m. After a review of operational developments and the impact of a "lengthy period of litigation", the British support services and construction group said its original provision of [...]
Check out: 1,800 hotel firms could go bust in the next three years February 20, 2017 Nearly 2,000 UK hotel companies could go bust over the next three years as a result of the Brexit vote, according to new research from accountancy firm Moore Stephens. The accountancy firm predicts 1,800 UK hotel companies have at least a 30 per cent chance of going insolvent within the next three years as food and beverage [...]
It’s time to turn to fintech to solve the late payment problem February 17, 2017 The UK is a nation built on small businesses, with SMEs accounting for a staggering 99 per cent of all businesses in the private sector. While many of these businesses thrive, a significant number suffer as a result of late payment, impacting their ability to invest and ultimately grow. Late payment is a chronic problem for [...]
A victory for Marine Le Pen in France could spell the end of the European Union February 17, 2017 As the Brexit Bill’s passage through Parliament in the coming weeks appears a foregone conclusion, the UK’s timeline for invoking Article 50 has become clearer – but what remains unclear is the extent to which Brexit is mobilising voters in other EU member states. Indeed, from an economic standpoint, the UK’s inconsequential post-referendum performance poses a [...]
Help! My firm’s gone into administration. What do I do now? February 16, 2017 The collapse into administration of King & Wood Mallesons’s European arm has left creditors enraged, and competitors salivating in the business and legal press. But most sympathy was reserved for its staff, particularly after news that the firm’s bank had rejected a proposal to release funds to pay January salaries. This highlights how vulnerable staff [...]
Trivago’s boss on how the travel group finds the hotel that fits you perfectly February 13, 2017 While Trivago was meeting American investors ahead of its December listing on the Nasdaq stock exchange, chief executive Rolf Schroemgens realised many of the people he met had a very limited understanding of the company. Despite a boost to the hotel search engine’s profile in 2013 when American travel giant Expedia snapped up 63.5 per cent of the company [...]
After BHS: MPs eye stricter transparency rules for private companies February 12, 2017 The UK's biggest private companies and those with large pension schemes should have to abide by the same financial reporting rules as listed firms to ensure the fallout from the collapse of BHS is not repeated, MPs have said. Any private company with more than 5,000 members of a defined benefit pension scheme, or those defined as large [...]
Insolvency Service ramps up investigation into collapse of BHS February 9, 2017 The Insolvency Service has ramped up its investigation into the collapse of BHS, and has told MPs that if it decides to take action against the company's former directors, it will do so before April 2019. BHS fell into administration in April last year after retail tycoon Sir Philip Green sold the store to serial [...]
City Moves for 7 February 2017 – who’s switching jobs? February 7, 2017 Today's City Moves cover cyber security, energy and tax. Take a look at these movers and shakers: PwC PwC has hired Kate Macmillan as a director in its rapidly expanding cyber security and data privacy legal team in London. Kate joins from Collyer Bristow with 20 years’ experience in data protection and privacy litigation, specialising [...]