Tata Steel boss warns UK jobs could be at risk after the sales process for assets is suspended July 11, 2016 A Tata Steel group executive director has said job cuts cannot be ruled out after the sale of the UK business was put on hold. In an interview with Channel 4 News Koushik Chatterjee, Tata Steel’s group executive finance director said “there can’t be guarantees” and compared the situation to when Tata laid off thousands [...]
Austin Reed’s creditors set to shed large sums after high street retailer’s collapse July 10, 2016 Austin Reed's creditors face big losses due to the collapse of the high street store, accounts from the administrators have revealed. Documents filed in Companies House by the administrators for Austin Reed, Alix Partners, show the company's unsecured creditors will be given £600,000 between them after the collapse of the chain. Read more: Austin Reed employees found out [...]
Energy lifeboat to be paid for by customers proposed by Ofgem in case of supplier insolvency July 10, 2016 ENERGY customers may have to pay into a new industry lifeboat fund that will bail out customers of any suppliers that fail. Ofgem, the energy watchdog, has proposed the reimbursement fund after a plethora of smaller suppliers joined the market. The proposal is part of a consultation launched last month to pre-empt a potential supplier insolvency. [...]
Unintended consequences: Tinkering with Solvency II July 8, 2016 Tinkering with things is in the nature of regulators. Inevitably, however, well-intentioned tinkering often delivers unintended consequences. Today, the unintended consequences of tinkering are emerging in London’s international specialty insurance market, notably following Solvency II, which specifies the amount of capital that insurance companies must hold to reduce the risk of insolvency. While the impact of the EU referendum [...]
Government to mull over what to do next for insolvency rules, including what respite to give companies in trouble July 5, 2016 Government is to take a long, hard look at the UK's insolvency rules, as a consultation on the topic closes tomorrow. The consultation, which is reviewing the current corporate insolvency framework, was launched on 25 May and is being jointly overseen by The Insolvency Service and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Among the proposals [...]
Lady Barbara Judge, the outgoing chairman of the PPF, on the need for more female executives and pensions protection July 5, 2016 Lady Barbara Judge CBE, the outgoing chairman of the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), starts our interview by paying tribute to Ros Altmann, the pensions minister. “Without her, there would be no PPF. She campaigned extremely hard for it to come into being. She is the perfect choice to be pensions minister. I have the utmost [...]
Sports Direct’s Mike Ashley steps in for eleventh hour BHS chats June 12, 2016 Sports Direct's Mike Ashley is trying to reopen talks to save BHS from liquidation. A source told City A.M. that Ashley had written to the administrators in a bid to reopen a dialogue in a move that could save a number of stores along with the BHS name. City A.M. also understands that the administrators will be [...]
City Moves for 6 June 2016 | Who’s switching jobs June 6, 2016 Deloitte Deloitte has announced Matt Ellis as new managing partner for tax in the UK and Switzerland. He takes over from Andy Hodge who led the practice for the past five years and is retiring from the firm. Matt has held a variety of positions in Deloitte, including in regional offices in Southampton and Reading as well as London. Most [...]
Archaic laws surrounding UK defined benefit pension promises are not fit for purpose June 4, 2016 The proposed and unprecedented plan to change the basis for Tata steel members’ future pension increases from Retail Price Index to Consumer Price Index is another reality check of the real pressure faced by companies which are trying to remain competitive and, at the same time, honour generous legacy defined benefit (DB) pensions, which in many [...]
End of an era: thousands of jobs to go at BHS stores to close as administrators call time on sale June 2, 2016 BHS is being wound down today after administrators revealed no deal was found to rescue the store, likely putting 11,000 staff out of work. In a statement this afternoon, administrators Duff & Phelps said it had "not been possible to agree a sale of the business". BHS is now being “wound down” because no buyer would [...]