BUSINESS LIVE: Matches goes into administration; Pollen Street makes bid for Mattioli

Sexists and bullies in the City of London are operating with ‘impunity’, a damning report by MPs warns today.

The Treasury select committee found a ‘shocking’ prevalence of sexual harassment and bullying within finance, which it said ‘holds back progress for women’.

The UK mortgage market is uniquely flawed as it’s overly dependent on short-term, ‘cheap’ products. This structure bars individuals of all ages from buying the home they want.

Working from home helped blow a £3billion black hole in public finances last year due to the fall in rail travel.

A damning National Audit Office report warned that taxpayers are propping up the railways in an ‘unsustainable’ way as costs exceed revenue from ticket fares.

Matches Fashion has fallen into administration less than three months after its acquisition by Frasers Group.

Given the mass of warnings from one-star reviews that you may see unknown charges on your card, it seems it is fortunate that Adam chose to check with a friend before committing to a lifetime subscription.

The wealth of reviews slamming the app in question indicates that many drone owners have not been so lucky.

The departing boss of Marks and Spencer has been tipped to run John Lewis.

Katie Bickerstaffe, who was the first woman to lead M&S when she was made co-chief executive two years ago, is leaving the company in July.

Women up and down the UK are being stung with ‘pink pricing prejudice’ at car garages, according to new undercover report.

Caura, the car management app, recently conducted a blind survey of garages and service centres, and the gender pricing disparity it identified has been described as ‘shocking’.

Our financial services sector is world-beating and well-paid. It’s a part of the economy that benefits women and men across the UK and its growth, competitiveness and profits rely on attracting and retaining the very best people.

I enjoyed a successful 20-year career in the City before politics, so I’m no stranger to the issues which affect women in financial services.

Informa has raised its earnings forecast for this year after its 2023 profit more than doubled, as the British events organiser benefited from the return of live events post a pandemic-led slump and strong performance across its markets.

The world’s largest exhibition group raised its adjusted operating profit forecast for 2024 to a range of £950million to £970million, higher than its January forecast of between £945million and £965million.

Informa said that it would continue to deliver shareholder returns in 2024, with dividend growth and minimum share buybacks of £340million.

British private equity investor Pollen Street Capital has agreed to buy wealth manager Mattioli Woods for about £432million, betting on the UK’s wealth management market.

The deal, which valued Mattioli at about 804p a share in cash, represents a premium of 34 per cent to the London-listed firm’s closing price on Thursday.

Insurer Admiral said motor premiums have peaked in a welcome relief for drivers.

Car insurance prices hit an all-time high last year as inflation pushed up the cost of claims. But Milena Mondini de Focatiis, chief executive of the UK’s largest motor insurer, said it has stopped hiking car cover costs.

The FTSE 100 firm has even cut some prices to attract customers from rivals.

Matches Fashion will be put into administration after ‘consistently’ missing its targets and making ‘material losses’, less than three months after it was bought by parent company Frasers Group.

Matches, which was bought by Frasers in December for £52 million, would need ‘too much change’ to restructure it. And Sport Direct owner Frasers said that the money that Matches needs to continue to operate would be ‘far in excess’ of what it considers viable.

‘In light of this, Frasers has been informed that the directors of Matches have taken the decision to put the Matches group into administration,’ Frasers said on Friday.

‘Frasers remains committed to the luxury market and its brand partners.’