Lloyds to cut 780 jobs across bank branches February 26, 2020 Lloyds is set to cut 780 jobs across its branches in response to declining demand for high-street banking, in the latest round of job cuts at the banking giant. “As customers are using our branches less often, we are reducing the number of roles across our branch network,” said a Lloyds spokesperson. Read more: Lloyds’ [...]
Direct Line to cut 800 jobs across the UK as it seeks to reduce costs February 26, 2020 Insurer Direct Line is planning to cut 800 jobs across the UK as it seeks to reduce costs. The insurer told staff today about the planned cuts which were first reported by Sky News. The cutting of 800 jobs equates to just over seven per cent of Direct Line’s workforce of about 11,000 people. One [...]
How to unleash the potential of the health data revolution February 26, 2020 Danny Boyle’s tribute to the NHS at the Olympic opening ceremony in 2012 didn’t feature doctors with filing cabinets or nurses with laptop computers. That’s understandable — at the time the data-driven healthcare boom was only just beginning. But today, there is growing interest in the data about the 55m patients for whom the NHS [...]
Zoopla investor ploughs £3.3m into London gig economy startup’s seed round February 25, 2020 Collective Benefits, a gig economy startup which is set to exit Facebook’s London accelerator next month, has closed £3.3m in seed funding. The round was led by Stride.VC, a backer of Zoopla, Secret Escapes and Pill Pack, with participation from Delin Ventures and Insurtech Gateway. Collective said a number of angel investors also joined the [...]
East African states strive for single capital market as Mauritius diversifies February 25, 2020 CFA Institute has examined Africa’s 10 largest capital markets in a major report compiled by Heidi Raubenheimer, CFA, our senior director for journal publications. Here we highlight key developments across East Africa and also take a look at island nation Mauritius. East Africa: Kenya leads way as tech platform links markets The East African Community (EAC) [...]
Prudential faces break up calls from Dan Loeb’s Third Point February 25, 2020 Hedge fund manager Dan Loeb has called for the breakup of insurance company Prudential after taking a near $2bn (£1.5bn) stake. Loeb’s New-York based investment firm Third Point has built a five per cent stake in the insurance firm and is now pushing for it to separate its Asian and US operations. It comes just [...]
Chancellor Rishi Sunak bows to industry pressure on IR35 changes February 24, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has bowed to industry pressure over IR35 tax changes by promising enforcement will not be “heavy-handed”. The IR35 measures were implemented in order to prevent tax avoidance by “disguised employees”, contractors with permanent positions at companies without paying the same tax or national insurance contribution as standard employees. Under the latest reforms [...]
UK PMI: Manufacturing grows at fastest rate in 10 months despite coronavirus February 21, 2020 UK manufacturing grew at its fastest rate in 10 months in February, according to a flash Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) reading, but services fell to a two-month low. According to IHS Markit / CIPS data, manufacturing hit 52.8, up from January’s final rate of 50.1, whilst services fell to 53.3, down from 53.9 last month. [...]
Government looks to expand dormant assets scheme to help good causes February 21, 2020 The government today outlined plans to expand the dormant assets scheme in a move that could unlock hundreds of millions of pounds for good causes across the UK. Under the current scheme, banks and building societies can opt to donate funds to good causes from accounts that have been untouched for 15 years or more [...]
Storm Dennis and Storm Ciara could cost insurance industry £425m February 20, 2020 The cost to the insurance industry of Storm Dennis and Storm Ciara which battered the UK in recent weeks could hit £425m. Storm Ciara swept across the UK on 9 February bringing heavy rain and gusts of wind of up to 97 mph. It was followed by Storm Dennis on the weekend of 15 February [...]