Lloyds announces 1,000 job losses

Lloyds secures London project Verde premises

Lloyds Banking Group has finalised the property arrangements for its Verde divestment programme (and the creation of a new bank) by securing a lease of the 5th floor at 20 Gresham Street, London EC2. The location will provide accommodation for around 250 employees and serve as the new bank’s principal hub in London and the [...]

Barclays to acquire ING Direct UK

Barclays has agreed to acquire ING Direct UK in a deal that includes the online bank’s deposits, mortgages and business assets. Following a strategic review parent company, ING Direct N.V., has decided to exit the UK retail banking market, allowing Barclays to buy its deposit book with balances of £10.9 billion and mortgage book with [...]

Lloyds TSB achieves Fairbanking accreditation

Following the launch of its online Money Manager tool last year, Lloyds TSB has achieved a three-star rating from the Fairbanking Foundation for its Classic Account with Control. The Foundation is a research-based charity that encourages banks to develop products that improve the financial well-being of their customers and Classic Account with Control has been [...]

Hospitality & Leisure insolvencies continue to rise

The latest analysis of corporate insolvency numbers from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) shows the UK’s hospitality and leisure (H&L) industry continuing to struggle. In total, there were 1,464 insolvencies in the sector during the 12 months to the end of September, compared to 1,304 a year earlier. Restaurants were the worst hit sub-sector in Q3 2012, with [...]

Coutts appoints International UK managing director

Coutts has announced the appointment of Michael Mount as the new managing director of the firm’s international business in the UK. Mount joins the firm from HSBC where he occupied a range of senior posts within the private banking division, and will be tasked with the leadership of the Asia, Africa and NRI teams in [...]