UK quoted companies issued 76 profit warnings during the first three months of this year – down from 77 in Q1 2015, and 24 fewer than Q4 2015. However, according to EY restructuring experts, this is remarkably high given the substantial downgrade in profit expectations at the end of 2015. In the twelve months to…
Lloyds Bank has announced cuts to 625 jobs across several divisions including commercial banking, according to Unite. The trade union also reports that the move includes the offshoring of up to 82 roles in IT across the bank’s departments. In addition to commercial banking, other impacted divisions include consumer finance, group risk and legal &…
The EU Commission has published details on how businesses, including those in the UK, can get better access to the technologies that will help them to modernise. The package includes improving access to cloud computing and services, data analytics and the Internet of Things. Four areas of working are suggested as follows: •digitising European industry,…
Tracey McDermott is to leave the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) following a stint as its acting chief executive. She has previously been the regulator’s director of supervision and authorisations and prior to that director of enforcement and financial crime. Andrew Bailey was appointed as the new chief executive in January and is due to take…
Growth in output and employment was slightly higher in March compared to February, but the first quarter of 2016 as a whole was the worst in almost three years, according to the latest Lloyds Bank Regional Purchasing Managers’ Index. The business activity index for England – which tracks changes in the combined output of manufacturing…
Highways England has set out plans to create a connected corridor or “wi-fi road” that will see cars and infrastructure wirelessly connected and drivers receiving advanced news of road closures or congestion warnings. The strategy builds on the announcement by Chancellor, George Osborne, in the March Budget that driverless cars will be tested on motorways…
UK construction companies indicated a sustained upturn in overall business activity during March but the pace of expansion remained relatively subdued in comparison to the trends seen for much of the past three years. At 54.2 in March, the Markit/CIPS UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index posted above the neutral 50.0 value for the thirty-fifth month…