Financial news

• Tiger makes millions for couple who brought Danish store to UK

  02-01-2017 19:45
  
  Philip and Emma Bier sell stake in homeware retailer for many millions 11 years after opening first shop in BritainThe couple who brought the Danish homewares retailer Tiger to Britain have received a multi-million-pound windfall after selling their stake in the business.Philip and Emma Bier opened the first Tiger shop in the UK in Basingstoke in 2005 after Philip Bier gave up a career in photography because he thought the quirky Danish brand could thrive in the UK. Continue reading...
  
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• 5 Big UK Financial Services Cases To Watch In 2017 - Law360 (subscription)

  02-01-2017 19:03
  
  5 Big UK Financial Services Cases To Watch In 2017
  Law360 (subscription)
  Law360, London (January 2, 2017, 6:03 PM GMT) -- For the U.K. financial services industry, this year may very well mark the point that the five-year cloud cast by the benchmark-rate rigging scandal begins to disperse. But as Britain's banks finally ...
  
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• Shops 'face perfect storm of rising costs and falling spending'

  02-01-2017 18:57
  
  Property agent JLL warns of closures this year for retailers already struggling with rise of online shoppingShops in Britain face a perfect storm of rising costs and falling consumer spending in 2017, one of the world’s leading commercial property agents has warned, raising the possibility of more closures after the demise of BHS last year.
  Retailers will have to contend with rising inflation, labour costs and taxes at the same time as consumers tighten their belts, piling on the pressure
  
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• European shares hit highs as manufacturing sectors grow

  02-01-2017 18:52
  
  Stock markets in Italy, Germany and France rise after thin trading as PMI index reaches highest level since 2011
  Major European equity indexes climbed to new highs in thin trading on Monday, with strong manufacturing reports from the region lifting sentiment on the first trading day of 2017. Italy’s FTSE MIB index closed up 1.7%, rising to its highest level since January 2016. Germany’s Dax was up 1% after reaching its highest point in nearly 17 months, while France’s Cac gaine
  
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• BHS liquidator pores over details of Green and Chappell property deals

  02-01-2017 17:16
  
  Insolvency specialist is said to be making huge exercise in data collation relating to whether directors breached legal dutyThe liquidators of BHS are conducting a detailed investigation into property transactions that took place during the regimes of Sir Philip Green and Dominic Chappell, including whether the directors of the retailer breached their duties.Insolvency practitioners have a legal duty to review the conduct of the directors of a collapsed company, but the scope and depth of the BH
  
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• Harrods workers say company keeps up to 75% of restaurant service charge

  02-01-2017 16:33
  
  Waiters and kitchen workers to take part in protest at Knightsbridge store calling for more openness about tips at 16 outletsHarrods has been accused of shortchanging its restaurant staff in the latest row over how service charges added to diners’ bills are shared among workers.The union representing Harrods waiters and kitchen staff believes the Qatari owner of the upmarket London department store retains up to 75% of the service charge, a situation it says reduces their pay by up to &pou
  
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• Chancellor failing to cancel ‘tax giveaway’ to banks, says Labour

  02-01-2017 15:18
  
  John McDonnell accuses Philip Hammond of handing Britain’s biggest banks a rebate by not reversing cuts to the bank levyJohn McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, has accused Philip Hammond of failing to cancel a “tax giveaway” by his predecessor to Britain’s biggest banks, worth more than £1bn this year.In his summer budget after the 2015 general election, the then chancellor George Osborne announced deep cuts to the bank levy, which was introduced after the financial
  
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• Bitcoin tops $1,000 for first time in three years as 2017 trading begins

  02-01-2017 13:31
  
  Digital currency outperformed all its central-bank-issued counterparts in 2016 with 125% rise in value Bitcoin has started 2017 with a bang, with its value hitting a three-year high of more than $1,000 (£815).The nascent digital currency, which has been criticised as a vehicle for a range of nefarious characters from drug dealers to tax evaders to operate, outperformed all its central-bank-issued counterparts with a 125% climb in value in 2016.Continue reading...
  
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• Payday loans are capped. Now let’s tackle other high-cost credit | Gillian Guy

  02-01-2017 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The Financial Conduct Authority has protected consumers from payday loans. It’s time for all lenders who exploit the vulnerable to be brought into lineIt’s not so long ago that newspapers were awash with horror stories of how payday loans were pushing people into dangerous cycles of debt and fuelling a raft of social problems. By helping thousands of people with payday loan problems, Citizens Advice saw at first hand the devastation caused by extortionate interest rates and the haras
  
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• Dublin hoping to reap Brexit windfall in financial services - Belfast Telegraph

  02-01-2017 10:41
  
  Belfast Telegraph
  Dublin hoping to reap Brexit windfall in financial services
  Belfast Telegraph
  The Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) has begun laying the groundwork to accommodate a significant number of London based financial services firms looking to move their operations to Dublin in the wake of Brexit. Gerry Cross, the CBI's director of policy ...en meer »
  
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• Whirlpool added insult to injury with parking charge

  02-01-2017 08:00
  
  It initially said my Hotpoint tumble dryer wasn’t a potential danger. Then it was. Now it’s trying to charge me for parkingHaving read your articles about the potential fire risk of Whirlpool tumble dryers, I contacted the firm to see if my Hotpoint machine was part of the recall. I had been told previously it was not, but decided to double-check. It said it had made a mistake and that it did require a fix – in itself not impressive. When I booked an engineer, however, I was to
  
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• Happy new year? 2017 rings in more commuter misery and higher bills

  02-01-2017 07:59
  
  The outlook may be a little bleak, but with a rising national living wage, the lifetime Isa and more protection for savers it’s not all badMany people will be understandably relieved to say goodbye to 2016, a year when the currency and stock markets went into flux at Britain’s decision to leave the European Union. Unfortunately, in personal finance terms at least, 2017 also looks bleak as consumers are expected to start seeing the full effects of the Brexit vote and how the drop in v
  
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• Retail pay drops sharply in 2016

  02-01-2017 01:01
  
  Average advertised wages fell by 17% as low-paid temporary jobs rise and other sectors experience pay cuts, says Adzuna reportAdvertised salaries fell 2.7% in the year to November, with the biggest drop in wages hitting workers in the retail sector, according to a new report.The average advertised salary fell to £32,221 in November from £33,118 a year earlier according to Adzuna, the jobs search engine. They were down 1.5% compared with October’s £32,725. Continue reading
  
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• Rail fares: train operators accused of milking the system as rises kick in

  02-01-2017 01:01
  
  Average increase across the country of 2.3% prompts calls from campaigners for the fares and ticketing system to be overhauledHigher rail fares have come into effect, with passengers across Britain facing an average rise of 2.3%, prompting renewed outcry from campaigners.The overall rise in prices will outstrip the increase in season tickets set by the government, leading unions to accuse private train companies of milking the system. Continue reading...
  
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• Post Office workers brand OBE for chief executive 'a disgrace'

  02-01-2017 00:29
  
  Thousands of postal workers have denounced the honour, which comes after months of strike actionA row has broken out over a New Year honour given to a Post Office executive while the organisation is involved in an industrial dispute over jobs, pensions and branch closures. Kevin Gilliland, the chief executive of the retail business, was awarded an OBE. He started as a counter clerk almost 38 years ago and has worked for the Post Office ever since.Continue reading...
  
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• The five innovations that shaped sustainability in 2016

  02-01-2017 00:00
  
  From edible cutlery to drone vaccines, we celebrate the technologies and innovations that promise to advance sustainability efforts in the years aheadIt’s been a rollercoaster of a year. In the world of sustainability alone, we saw the landmark Paris climate change agreement come into force; learned how rising temperatures in the Arctic are negatively impacting local residents; and watched as the world’s top conservationists mourned the declining state of Australia’s Great Barr
  
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