If the chancellor stands up for small firms, he’ll be standing up for society as a whole March 6, 2020 Ever wondered how much small businesses hand over to the Treasury each year? Try £145bn in corporation tax and VAT alone. Factor in business rates, national insurance contributions, fuel duty, clean air charges and the insurance premium tax, and this big figure becomes, well, astronomical. We small business owners are resilient. We have continued to [...]
HSBC evacuates over 100 from Canary Wharf HQ after employee contracts coronavirus March 5, 2020 HSBC has evacuated more than 100 staff from one floor of its Canary Wharf headquarters after one of its research analysts contracted coronavirus. City A.M. understands that an analyst in the bank’s research department tested positive for Covid-19 late last night, and informed the bank of his diagnosis this morning. Read more: City of London [...]
Flybe passenger Q&A: What should I do if I was due to travel with Flybe? March 5, 2020 Any Flybe passenger will not be able to fly after the budget airline collapsed into administration in the early hours of this morning. It failed to obtain a £100m loan from the government to stay afloat. The airline issued a statement saying that “all flights operated by Flybe have been cancelled with immediate effect”. But [...]
Coronavirus: FTSE 100 falls lower amid investor concerns about global growth March 5, 2020 The FTSE 100 tumbled after the open as investor sentiment was dampened by concerns over global economic growth being hampered by the coronavirus epidemic. Britain’s blue-chip index opened slightly up, but soon reversed gains and fell as much as 1.31 per cent in morning trading. The FTSE 250 slipped as much as 1.10 per cent. [...]
City of London braces for coronavirus: Banks, insurers and audit firms activate contingency plans March 5, 2020 With health secretary Matt Hancock warning that the UK should prepare for “widespread transmission” of coronavirus, City of London firms have braced for impact. Banks, insurers, law firms and accountancy giants have dusted off contingency plans, instituted travel bans and cancelled events to try and mitigate the effects of the coronavirus outbreak. HSBC and Deloitte [...]
Admiral chief executive and co-founder to retire as it announces record profit March 5, 2020 Insurer Admiral said today that its chief executive and co-founder David Stevens would retire from the business in the next year. The company has appointed UK and European insurance head Milena Mondini de Focatiis as his successor. Admiral also today announced record profit before tax of £526.1m for 2019. Earnings per share rose eight per [...]
Saga warns travel business hit by coronavirus-related cancellations and fall in bookings March 5, 2020 Over 50s travel and insurance business Saga warned today that coronavirus-inspired cancellations and low demand in its travel arm could hit its full year earnings. The cruise ship-operator said it had seen a “higher level of cancellations for departures in the near-term and more generally a lower level of bookings for departures further out”. It [...]
Aviva shares rise on record profit but insurer takes £500,000 coronavirus hit March 5, 2020 Insurance giant Aviva this morning reported a jump in profit but said it had taken a £500,000 hit from coronavirus claims. Shares rose 3.42 per cent as the company announced record profit, but it also warned that the outbreak of coronavirus had exacerbated the “significant uncertainty” at the beginning of the year. So far Aviva has [...]
Corporate governance at Travelex owner questioned over links to NMC Health founder March 4, 2020 Ongoing financial turmoil and questions over its corporate governance structures have caused analysts to downgrade the credit rating of money transfer giant Travelex, amid ties to troubled firm NMC Health through its founder. NMC founder and former chief executive BR Shetty and his son own 66 per cent of shares in Finablr — the sole [...]
Lloyd’s of London has emergency coronavirus plan in case building locked down March 4, 2020 Lloyd’s of London has “emergency trading protocols” to ensure business continuity if access to its building is restricted due to the coronavirus epidemic. The 330 year-old insurance market will encourage electronic placing, it said in a market notice dated yesterday. Lloyd’s is one of the last bastions of face-to-face trading in the City, with insurance [...]