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Quilter share price rises amid cash inflow spike

January 21, 2025

Quilter saw a sharp increase in the amount of cash flowing into its coffers over the last year, as the wealth manager reported its assets under management shot up to £119.4bn. In a trading update, the FTSE 250 firm reported £1.8bn in new business over the last quarter, bringing its take-in for 2024 as a [...]

Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin calls on Keir Starmer to reduce pub taxes

January 21, 2025

Wetherspoons chairman Tim Martin has once again called on the government and Keir Starmer to reduce the tax gap between supermarkets and pubs in his company’s latest trading update. Martin said following the government’s decision to hike the national minimum wage, business rates and employers’ national insurance, costs at Wetherspoon will increase by around £60m [...]

British wine industry calls on Eurostar to bring back Kent services

January 21, 2025

Britain’s wine industry has called for Eurostar to restart services from two Kent stations to boost the South East of England’s vineyards. The high-speed operator suspended operations from Ashford International and Ebbsfleet in the early stages of the pandemic. But it has faced mounting pressure to bring back the popular routes over the last year [...]

Covid BI: Final stage for lawsuits that put insurance lawyers into the spotlight

January 21, 2025

Following covid pandemic, an influx of business interruption cases put insurance lawyers into the spotlight. Now these cases are facing the stage of the law.

Trump should read Javier Milei’s 2024 Davos speech

January 21, 2025

This year, perhaps more than ever, the global gathering at Davos offers something of a safe space for those still reeling from the 47th President’s inauguration, his speech and subsequent flurry of Executive Orders. Sessions scheduled at this year’s World Economic Forum include Investing in Diversity, Safeguarding Nature, The Road to COP30, Equity Beyond Identity [...]

More good news for pubs as December splurge delivers crucial growth

January 21, 2025

A rush of pubgoers in the last two weeks of December brought much-needed growth across the industry in a “big relief” for businesses. Pub sales were up 4.7 per cent ahead of December 2023, while bars bounced back from soft trading throughout most of 2024 to post growth of 1.3 per cent, according to the [...]

HMRC ‘degrading’ services and ‘eroding’ confidence, MPs warn

January 21, 2025

The UK’s tax authority is “degrading its own services as a matter of policy” and damaging the public’s confidence, a report by MPs into HMRC has warned. Growing concerns have been raised about HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) delivering poor customer service, which MPs claim is intentional, failing to pursue debts and reducing its prosecutions. [...]

Frasers Group set to accuse Boohoo of undisclosed payments to founder’s son

January 21, 2025

Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group is set to open a new front in its war of words with Boohoo this evening, accusing the fast fashion firm of allegedly paying its founder’s son £2m-a-year but failing to tell shareholders, City AM has learned. In the latest attack of a long-running spat between the two companies, Frasers is [...]

Howden and founder hit with fresh lawsuit by insurer PIB Group

January 21, 2025

Insurance intermediary group, PIP, along with its subsidiary Acquinex has launched legal proceedings to the High Court against rival Howden and several individuals

London terrace conversion brings colour and fun to Victorian flat

January 21, 2025

The Hot Property team love nothing more than a London conversion that takes the awkward spaces of a period flat and turns them into something modern and fun. This conversion of a first floor Victorian terrace located within the Cobourg Conservation Area next to Burgess Park in Southwark, manages to accentuate the period details of [...]

Is your Netflix subscription price about to rise?

January 21, 2025

Netflix is to increase its prices in several countries after reportedly gaining nearly 19 million subscribers during its last quarter. The streaming giant confirmed price hikes in the US, Canada, Argentina and Portugal. On whether price rises could soon be made in the UK, a Netflix spokesperson said there is “nothing to share as of [...]

President Trump says he’s open to X owner Elon Musk buying Tiktok

January 21, 2025

President Donald Trump said he was open to the idea of X-owner Elon Musk buying TikTok as well, as the app navigates attempts to ban it in the US. The social media platform with links to the Chinese government, which boasts over 170m American users, briefly went dark on Sunday after the Supreme Court upheld [...]

Wonks think a wave of asset management mergers is inevitable

January 21, 2025

Across the European continent, a surge of mergers and acquisitions among asset managers has begun. Yesterday, Italian and French giants Generali and Natixis agreed to a €1.9 trillion (£1.61 trillion) merger to create the second largest asset manager in Europe. Meanwhile, BNP Paribas recently bought out AXA’s investment arm, and rumours continue to swirl about [...]

Saba Capital falls at first hurdle in activist trust campaign

January 21, 2025

Saba Capital’s first battle over the board of a UK investment trust has failed, with investors widely rejecting its attempt to unseat the board of a targeted trust. In a shareholder vote today, 65 per cent of Herald trust shareholders voted to kill the activist hedge fund’s proposals, which aimed to depose and replace the [...]

Inheritance tax on farms: Lidl, Tesco and Aldi join demands for consultation

January 21, 2025

Supermarkets Lidl, Tesco and Aldi have added their names to calls for a consultation over the government’s reforms to inheritance tax, citing concerns the changes would dent farmer confidence and choke off investment. In an unusual string of interventions, the retailers rode to the defence of farmers’ calls to pause the changes to Agricultural Property [...]