Having written down its stake in its troubled banking division, Co-op has swung back into profit for 2017. The conglomerate has reported £72m of profits for 2017, on the back of £132m loss the year before. Insurance sales dropped by a quarter, but the firm has put this down to a change in the way […]
Chancellor Philip Hammond earmarked more cash for affordable housing in his Spring Statement today. The Chancellor assigned an extra £1.7bn for affordable housing in London, equating to 26,000 new homes. Hammond said the extra cash would take the total planned affordable housing levels in London to 116,000 by the end of 2021/22. Hammond also added that […]
In today’s Spring Statement Chancellor Philip Hammond announced the forecast for UK GDP in 2018 revising it upwards compared to previous data. Estimates from the Office for Budget Responsibility say the UK economy has grown 1.7 per cent in 2017, compared to the previous forecast of 1.5 per cent announced in the Autumn Budget in November. […]
Barclays has remained quiet on potential plans to re-enter the retail advice market. The bank closed its advice arm, Barclays Financial Planning, in 2011, but last February Money Marketing reported on plans that it would re-enter the market through a combination of online and face-to-face advice. This would build on the success of direct-to-consumer platform […]
The Bank of England has held the base rate at 0.5 per cent, but its committee minutes suggest rates will rise more quickly and more sharply than previously expected. Monetary Policy Committee members voted unanimously in favour of leaving interest rates unchanged for now. Their report released today says: “Were the economy to evolve broadly […]
RBS shareholders have called for the creation of their own governance committee to liaise with the board. Shareholder associations ShareSoc and UK Shareholders’ Association will submit the resolution on Friday on behalf of 136 investors, the Financial Times reports. The purpose of the committee would be to improve corporate governance and shareholder engagement. RBS said […]
Royal Bank of Scotland is shutting 259 branches, one in four of its physical offices, and making 680 people redundant. The firm says more customers bank online, reducing remand for face-to-face services. RBS is closing 62 branches and NatWest 197. The banking group will have 744 branches left after the changes take place in late […]
Lloyds Banking Group is to close a further 49 branches – resulting in 99 job losses. The union Unite said the bank has informed staff of the closures, which will involve Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Bank branches. Earlier this year Lloyds announced that it would close 100 branches between July and October this […]
London Stock Exchange chief executive Xavier Rolet has left the business months ahead of his planned exit next year after escalating tensions with the board and investors. Rolet has “agreed to step down with immediate effect” at the board’s request, the business said this morning. Chairman Donald Brydon will also leave the board in 2019 […]
Productivity growth continues to be stagnant, resulting in the lowering of growth forecasts, Chancellor Philip Hammond has announced in his Budget today. Hammond announced that the productivity estimates from the Office for Budget Responsibility had remained “stubbornly flat”, meaning that GDP growth will have to be revised down. In 2017, growth is now expected to […]
Today’s historic Bank of England rate increase will give pensions a “modest boost” but heralds a warning for those planning to transfer out of their final salary pension. The bank today announced an increase in interest rates from 0.25 per cent to 0.5 per cent; the first rise in a decade. While many pointed to […]
The Bank of England has voted to hike rates for the first time in a decade with the monetary policy committee voting to nudge the rate up to 0.5 per cent. The decision reverses the drop to 0.25 per cent last August in response to Brexit. Markets were pricing in a 90 per cent chance […]
A flat tax relief rate of 30 per cent should be introduced to help the self-employed and low to middle earners to save more for retirement, according to the Royal Society of Arts. In a report published today, the RSA proposes rebalancing pensions tax relief away from higher earners to lower ones. While its findings […]
Lloyds Banking Group is closing a further 49 branches, resulting in the loss of 305 jobs. In total more than 1,230 jobs will disappear from its branch network and central office. But the UK’s largest bank says it is also creating 925 new roles and existing employee will be encouraged to apply for these positions. […]
Mortgage lending is forecast to reach the highest level since the financial crash of 2007 despite Brexit uncertainties, according to the latest annual market review from the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders’ Association. If its predictions are correct, 2018 will see the eighth year of mortgage lending growth. IMLA is forecasting gross mortgage lending will reach £265bn […]
Productivity could surprise markets, giving the economic recovery and equity rally room to run The recent bout of market volatility demonstrates just how alert investors are to the risks posed by higher inflation. As former Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen so eloquently put it: “recoveries do not die of old age”. Instead, they tend to […]
New adviser trade body Pimfa has expressed concerns that a 21 month transition deal to leave the EU may not be long enough to reach a final deal firms can use to plan ahead. The Government announced yesterday that it had agreed a “large part” of the deal for the UK to withdraw from the […]
Data that shows the appetite for UK equities is back has left analysts and investors wondering whether the asset class has pulled through its Brexit slump. UK equity funds saw net retail sales of £114m in November, their first inflow of 2016. They had suffered £5.1bn outflows since the previous January, £3.8bn of which followed […]
From endless trade disputes to long drawn out speeches from unelected bureaucrats clinging desperately to power – there are some stark similarities between the Star Wars saga and the EU. But as Disney’s latest instalment cleans up at the box office, Prime Minister May has her own cabinet rogues to keep under control. Whether its […]
At the Conservative party conference last week, Theresa May announced she will trigger Article 50 by the end of March 2017 and that a Great Repeal Bill will be brought forward at the next Queen’s Speech. While some were calling for more time before pressing the big red Article 50 button (notably one Mr George […]
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Changes in the way long-term care is paid for was the dog that did not bark in Chancellor Philip Hammond’s first Autumn Statement. It failed to get even a mention, despite many telling us there is a crisis in long-term care for older people. There have been calls for tax subsidies for those who save […]
The UK will be living the consequences of Brexit for years to come – yet the rest of the world seems to have moved on. At least that is the conclusion you would draw when observing recent moves in global stock markets. That said, there is no getting away from the fact the global recovery […]