Charity watchdog opens inquiry into City & Guilds’ sale of business arm

The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into City & Guilds’ sale of its qualification awards business to a private company last year.The announcement has been made after the Guardian revealed last month how City & Guilds bosses were handed million-pound bonuses after the charity privatised its business arm.The payments – which are understood to include a £1.7m award for the chief executive, Kirstie Donnelly, and £1.2m to the finance director, Abid Ismail – emerged after reports of how the privatised City & Guilds business has also embarked on a £22m cost-cutting drive and is shrinking its UK workforce after being sold by its charity owner to PeopleCert, an international certification company

Starmer rules out EU financial services alignment talks

Keir Starmer will exclude financial services from negotiations on closer alignment with the EU, prompting a sigh of relief from Brexit-weary City lobbyists.A government spokesperson said officials would continue to explore cooperation “where it is in our economy’s interest”, but it is understood there will be no push for City firms to return to the Brussels rulebook.The exclusion, first reported by the Financial Times, comes despite City bosses having largely backed EU membership in the run-up to the 2016 referendum and later warning of widespread disruption and job losses moving to the continent. Today, however, few are keen to face another period of uncertainty and potential unwinding of post-Brexit changes.UK regulators have been under pressure to dismantle a series of EU-era rules that politicians argue have hampered competitiveness and growth

Sainsbury’s blames ‘significant headwinds’ for drop in Argos sales at Christmas

Sainsbury’s has blamed “significant headwinds” from weak consumer confidence, heavy online competition and widespread discounting for a fall in sales at its Argos chain over the all-important Christmas quarter.The UK’s second-largest grocer said its supermarkets increased sales by 3.4% at established stores in the three months to 3 January but Argos sales fell 1% in the period.Argos, which has more than 600 stores and 400 collection points, most of which are within Sainsbury’s outlets, performed particularly badly in the crucial final six weeks, with total sales down 2.2% compared with the Sainsbury’s chain’s 4

Mining firms Rio Tinto and Glencore restart $260bn merger talks

Rio Tinto and Glencore have restarted talks over a merger that would create the world’s largest mining company.The talks come almost a year after previous discussions between the two mining companies collapsed. If a deal is agreed, it would create a global mining business with an enterprise value of more than $260bn (£193bn).The two companies said on Friday that they were in “preliminary discussions” about a “possible combination of some or all of their businesses, which could include an all-share merger”.Rio Tinto, which has an enterprise value of $162bn, said the deal under discussion would potentially result in it acquiring Glencore

What is Modella Capital? Firm in spotlight as Claire’s and The Original Factory Shop face collapse

The expected collapse of the high street retailers Claire’s and The Original Factory Shop, with 2,550 jobs at risk, has put the previously little-known investment firm Modella Capital in the spotlight.The UK-based firm, which bought the two troubled chains within the last year, was set up by a group of restructuring professionals four years ago and has risen to prominence.It bought the arts and crafts retailer Hobbycraft in August 2024 and last March agreed to buy the high street business of WH Smith, now renamed TG Jones.Modella has stepped into a gap in the market for investors in medium-sized struggling retailers left by the likes of Hilco, which once bought HMV and Homebasebut has now moved on. It has chosen to take risks on troubled businesses with few potential buyers as private equity is largely steering clear of a tough consumer market

Treasury has ‘limited grasp’ of concerns over booming shadow banking sector, peers say

The UK Treasury has a “limited grasp” of concerns linked to the booming shadow banking sector and may not be prepared for risks the unregulated industry poses to financial stability, peers have said.While a lack of data makes it hard to say whether the $16tn (£12tn) non-bank financial sector could bring the wider financial system to its knees, officials do not seem to be alive to the potential risks, according to a Lords financial services regulation committee report.It says the department’s evidence “demonstrated a limited grasp of the concerns raised during this inquiry, which suggested passivity in the face of potential risks to the UK’s financial stability arising from the growth of private markets”.That raises concerns given the Treasury’s responsibility for “ensuring overall financial stability so that the taxpayer does not serve as a backstop to the financial system”.The report says the UK could be one of the first countries to feel the fallout from a downturn in the US-dominated shadow banking sector, which has quadrupled in value from $4tn in 2008