Small business confidence tumbles on swelling costs and weaker demand October 19, 2022 Intensifying cost pressures and a slowdown in consumer spending as a result of cost of living crunch squeezing Brits has led to a collapse in confidence among small firms, a new survey out today shows. Net confidence plummeted to minus 35.9 in the three months to October, down by 11.2 points over the last quarter, [...]
New breed of private capital firms will face performance headwinds October 18, 2022 Under the private equity fundraising model, every few years fund managers secure capital commitments with a 10-year duration and charge management and advisory fees during the lock-up period. While longer-dated products have emerged over time, the basic pattern has remained essentially unchanged. Unfortunately, fundraising is cyclical. Downturns require patience: fund managers must wait until the [...]
In the money: Moneysupermarket.com revenue swells amid travel return October 18, 2022 Price comparison platform Moneysupermarket.com has continued to see buoyant revenue after the return of summer holidays and business travel. In quarterly results on Tuesday, Moneysupermarket said recent performance had exceeded expectations and its full-year EBITDA would sit “towards the upper end of market expectations”. The London-listed company celebrated revenue of £101.9m, up one third, for [...]
City Moves: Who’s switching jobs in the Square Mile? October 18, 2022 City A.M.’s Millie Turner provides a roundup of the most important hires and job moves across the City, every morning. Email citymoves@cityam.com to be featured. Knight Frank Knight Frank has poached a new head of central London property management from real estate advisory JLL. Andrew Child, who spent over 13 years at JLL, will help expand the existing central London property management [...]
Uncertainty over timing of UK announcement of Big Bang 2.0 financial services reforms October 17, 2022 There is now uncertainty over when the UK will unveil its post-Brexit changes to EU financial services regulations amid the current government turmoil. The Treasury said last month that former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng would announce the long-awaited reforms, which will include changing the EU’s Solvency II directive on insurance firms, in October. This target may [...]
UK borrowing costs tumble after Hunt shreds Truss’s mini budget October 17, 2022 UK borrowing costs scaled lower today after new chancellor Jeremy Hunt ripped up prime minister Liz Truss’s tax cutting mini budget. The yield on the 30-year UK gilt, which has suffered heavy selling since the mini budget last month, fell around 40 basis points to 4.33 per cent. Rates on the 2-year and 10-year UK [...]
Analysis: Truss can’t buck the markets October 14, 2022 Around eight minutes is how long prime minister Liz Truss today allocated to explain why she sacked her chancellor for implementing her tax cuts and signed off her second mini budget U-turn. She clarified neither. She answered four questions and committed to her “mission” to boost growth in the UK at a Downing Street press [...]
Liz Truss U-turns on mini budget plans to reverse corporation tax hike October 14, 2022 Liz Truss signed off another U-turn today, rolling back on plans to reverse corporation tax rising to 25 per cent from 19 per cent. The move marks a second embarrassing climb down from the government’s tax cutting mini budget, which was characterised by Truss and former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng as their blueprint for growth. Financial [...]
City bonuses rise at more than twice the rate of wages since 2008, study says October 14, 2022 The City has proved its resilience to challenging economic headwinds, with bonuses increasing at more than twice the speed of wages since the financial crash. The rapid growth in bonuses reflects the continued activity in the Square Mile and the lack of real-terms growth in people’s salaries. While most workers’ salaries had effectively plateaued, TUC [...]
Tony Matharu: Meet the hotelier on a mission to get London back in full force October 14, 2022 From the floor-to-ceiling glass of suite 725 at Tony Matharu’s Tower Suites hotel on a sunny October morning, one can see flocks of tourists heading towards the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. It looks for all the world like London is back on its feet, and for Matharu, that’s no surprise. “Where we sit [...]