Low inflation in 2015 battered businesses as consumers rejoiced January 18, 2016 Businesses lost out to the tune of £16.8bn last year due to low inflation, new research given to City PM shows. Prices were only 0.1 per cent higher in November than a year ago, well below the Bank of England’s two per cent inflation target, and hovered around zero per cent for most of 2015. [...]
Profits looking strong for the financial services industry but outlook remains weak January 18, 2016 Financial services firms reported strong profitability for the last quarter of 2015, although the sector is slightly cautious in its outlook. A survey of 100 financial services firms out today from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and professional services firm PwC has discovered that financial services firms are reporting strong profitability for the three [...]
Overseas regulators increasingly asking the Financial Conduct Authority for assistance, hiking up the compliance burden for UK businesses January 18, 2016 The number of requests for assistance from foreign enforcement agencies received by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has risen over the last year. According to figures released today from City law firm RPC, the FCA received 1,073 such requests in the year to 30 September 2015, up four per cent compared to the year before, [...]
London small business confidence booming but UK north-south divide becomes apparent January 18, 2016 London’s small businesses are in a buoyant mood and are expecting a strong start to 2016, new survey figures published today reveal. In the fourth quarter of 2015, the Federation of Small Businesses’ (FSB) gauge of confidence – compiled from a survey of 144 London firms – climbed to a score of 25 points from [...]
UK footfall slumps in December as Britons spend Christmas online January 18, 2016 Britain's high streets suffered their biggest drop in footfall in over a year in December, as Britons shunned stores in favour of buying Christmas presents online. Traffic fell by four per cent year-on-year, which is far greater than the drop of 1.8 per cent in December 2014 and marked the biggest drop since November that same [...]
Lack of finance keeps smaller housebuilders trailing behind their bigger rivals January 18, 2016 Profits at the top UK housebuilders may have hit a pre-crisis high but their smaller rivals are still struggling to recover as funding for larger projects remains scarce, new research suggests. A construction boom has helped profit margins at larger housebuilders reach an average of 11.7 per cent for 2015 compared to their 2007 peak of 11.2 [...]
Equistone takes £100m prime cut of Argentinian steak house Gaucho January 17, 2016 The Gaucho chain of Argentinian steak restaurants has been snapped up by a hungry buyout firm in a deal thought to be worth around £100m. Equistone, the private equity firm previously owned by Barclays, is said to have beaten other interested suitors to buy a majority stake in the chain. Gaucho’s founder, the Dutch entrepreneur Zeev [...]
Clydesdale Bank gears up for next month’s IPO with roadshow and expected price range this week January 17, 2016 Clydesdale Bank is set to reveal the price range of its London listing this week, with investors expecting shares to be offered at a discount from the bank’s book value of between £2bn and 2.5bn. The British banking business, which is currently owned by National Australia Bank (NAB), announced its intention to float on both [...]
Oil price rout and Iran sanctions lifting send Middle East markets lower January 17, 2016 Middle East markets have fallen after the lifting of Iranian sanctions and the country's promise to resume crude oil exports. It stokes worries of the market's over supply which has already sent oil prices below $30. The Saudi Tadawul All Share Index fell 5.4 per cent to its lowest since March 2011. The Qatar Exchange, the second largest in the Gulf after [...]
Average pay in Scotland is now higher than England for the first time January 17, 2016 Average pay in Scotland has overtaken that of England for the first time, a new think tank report has found. Average hourly pay north of the border has risen at a faster rate over the past two decades, closing the gap between pay in the two locations. That means average pay now stands at £11.92 per hour [...]
