Senior Tory Eric Pickles hints at new Budget in coming weeks May 11, 2015 A Conservative member of the last coalition Cabinet said yesterday that chancellor George Osborne could unveil a new Budget “relatively soon”. Eric Pickles, who served as secretary of state for communities and local government, said that the move would be needed to outline Tory attempts to reduce the state’s huge annual deficit. Osborne revealed his [...]
Tax-and-spend plans: What to expect from the new Tory Treasury May 10, 2015 With the Conservative party winning a majority and George Osborne returning to his position as chancellor of the exchequer, the UK now faces another five years of Tory-led tax-and-spend plans. But without the competing visions of coalition partners, how will this Tory Treasury be different from that of the last government? When looking for answers, [...]
Barclays joins banks paying fines over forex-rigging scandal May 10, 2015 Barclays, RBS, JP Morgan and Citigroup are all expected to settle forex manipulation accusations with US regulators as soon as this week. Shares in the sector have been held down by uncertainty around the scale of the fines, which are expected to come in at around the £3bn mark. It comes six months [...]
Investec Comment: Why the future is bright for SME finance May 10, 2015 NO ONE needs to be told that it’s been a difficult few years for small businesses seeking finance, and economic recovery has done little to change this picture. The Bank of England’s latest Trends in Lending report found that the annual rate of growth in the stock of lending to small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) [...]
Wellbeing success in the workplace May 10, 2015 Webinars for those who work from home and regular sessions on seasonal illnesses can help. The total number of working days lost due to stress, depression or anxiety was 11.3m in 2013-14, according to recent statistics from the Health and Safety Executive. In our “always-on” world, it is perhaps unsurprising that we are [...]
End in sight for RSA as Hester’s turnaround plan nears deadline May 7, 2015 STEPHEN Hester, credited with bringing RBS back from the brink of collapse, is continuing to make similar progress in turning insurance group RSA around. Shares in the firm went up by 2.2 per cent yesterday to 427.3p after it reported a one per cent increase in core premium income during the three months to 31 [...]
Aviva ahead of schedule with refocusing plan May 7, 2015 AVIVA boss Mark Wilson said yesterday that the UK insurer’s turnaround plan is running ahead of schedule, with new business in the life arm up by 14 per cent to £247m in the first three months of 2015. On the general insurance side net written premiums grew by one per cent from £845m in the [...]
City Moves for 08 May 2015 | Who’s switching jobs May 7, 2015 Cording Real Estate Group The real estate investment management firm has appointed Ewan Montgomery as director of investment in its London office. He joins from Aberdeen Asset Management, where he was a property fund director. Montgomery has also held roles at CBRE. Lloyds Banking Group Richard Jones has been appointed managing director for Black Horse [...]
Strong pound leaves insurer RSA struggling May 7, 2015 The figures Insurance company RSA said today that net written premiums rose one per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2015. RSA revealed it took about £1.5bn of premium income in the three months to March and expects to deliver about £380m of investment income in 2015. Why it's interesting Today's results show the recovery [...]
Tidjane Thiam’s last Prudential results put spotlight on Asia while UK business lags May 6, 2015 Outgoing Prudential boss Tidjane Thiam yesterday said the company was no longer seeking to grow in the US and UK, and would instead focus on expanding in the Asian market. Thiam delivered his last set of results as the head of the insurance group, which detailed the firm’s 22nd consecutive quarter of growth. Sales across [...]