Banks have a duty to regain public trust – and it may take a generation December 14, 2015 Trust in the financial services sector remains stubbornly low. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, only half of the countries surveyed put their faith in financial services. And the picture is even worse for banks. From 2014 to 2015, trust in banks declined in two thirds of the countries covered, with the highest levels of [...]
Financial workers are the most likely to miss the last train after the office Christmas party December 14, 2015 It's no secret that the City’s high-flyers are not the best at day-to-day life admin, but it would appear that as soon as a drink touches a financier’s lips all ability to take any mode of transport evaporates. Recent research has revealed that City workers and those in finance are the absolute worst for missing [...]
Greene King boss Rooney Anand joins Morrisons’ board December 14, 2015 The chief executive of Greene King, Rooney Anand, has been appointed as non-executive director and senior independent director of the supermarket Morrisons. Anand, whose career includes stints at United Biscuits and Sara Lee, before joining Greene King as managing director in 2001, will join the board from 1 January. His appointment is one of several key hires [...]
Cashless Britain: Mobile payments are transforming our society – cash could be obsolete in the UK by 2020 December 13, 2015 A woman waves her watch at the automated barrier to gain entry to the train. When she exits she will do the same and her fee will be automatically calculated. Apart from the one-time set-up of her account, she has nothing else to do. No ticket to order, no card to carry, no ticket to [...]
Crown Estate sitting on £800m of vacant London properties December 11, 2015 The Crown Estate is sitting on over £800m worth of empty properties in London alone, a City A.M. investigation has revealed, exposing the scale of the developer’s property footprint in the capital. The monarchy’s portfolio of property and land includes 312 vacant properties in the Greater London area, according to a Freedom of Information request, [...]
How’s the hangover? Tesco launches hangover stations for all your post-office party needs December 11, 2015 While PRs at Buchanan and Lansons are already dealing with the hangovers from their Christmas parties this month, last night was one of the busiest evenings for corporate dos in the Square Mile this season. This can only mean one thing: a very hungover workforce on Friday. Tesco is giving London's financial district a helping hand [...]
What the SAS can teach even the hardest of City workers December 10, 2015 Matthew Ollerton and Jason Fox give examples from their life in the Special Forces "Team away day” normally puts the fear into people. Hotel function rooms, bizarre motivational speakers and the compulsory bonding football match. But what if the experience was completely different? As former members of the Special Forces, we’ve undertaken some [...]
‘Tis the season to slack off: Why your month-long Christmas holiday is bad for everyone December 9, 2015 "I will be out of the office travelling and attending events and seminars until 4 January 2016. I will only have intermittent access to email.” I received this remarkable auto-reply on 4 December from a senior marketing executive in a large bank. Unless you are an academic, why would you need to spend an [...]
Serco forecasts trading ahead of expectations for 2015 – but 2016 forecast pushes share price lower December 7, 2015 Is the iceberg-bound supertanker that is outsourcing giant Serco finally turning around? The company said this morning it expects 2015 trading "ahead of previous guidance". But investors weren't impressed: shares fell 8.6 per cent to 104.4p in early trading. Perhaps that was to do with expectations of a "further decline" in both revenues and trading [...]
Cumbria, Appleby and Keswick flooding: UK weather warnings issued as Storm Desmond hits December 5, 2015 Parts of the UK were plunged into chaos today as Storm Desmond swept across the country, bringing heavy rain, gale force winds and flooding. There have been 26 severe flood warnings, indicating a danger to life, issued by the Environment Agency. Read more: Insurers already ready for bad weather and Storm Desmond And the Met Office issued its highest red warning for [...]