What’s more, last November the Bank of England revealed a gender pay gap of almost a quarter.
When asked about the pay gap, governor Mark Carney maintained men and women were paid equally for the same work.
“However, the greater proportion of men than women in senior roles creates a gender pay gap,” he conceded.
“We are working hard to address this imbalance… addressing the disparity in gender representation at senior levels will take time, but it will help close the current gender pay gap at the Bank.”
The Bank of England’s latest appointment follows the release of a government-backed report on gender balance in the workplace.
The report collated some responses from various FTSE-350 companies.
Amanda Mackenzie, chief executive of Business in the Community, said:
“As you read this list of excuses you might think it’s 1918, not 2018.
“It reads like a script from a comedy parody but it’s true. Surely we can now tackle this once and for all.”
Mothercare rescue plan disrupted, risking further 300 jobs
Mothercare’s (LON: MTC) restructuring plan was rejected by creditors, leaving a further 300 jobs at risk.
The struggling group said on Monday that reduction proposals for 21 stores had been turned down by landlords and creditors.
Shares in the group were down over four percent on Monday afternoon following the news.
The retailer said on Friday that it had won the backing of creditors and landlords to commence with the CVA, however, plans for Children’s World were rejected by 73.3 percent of those who voted – 75 percent of the vote was required.
“KPMG have confirmed the votes relating to Mothercare UK and Early Learning Centre CVAs passed by a clear majority, however it is now clear that the CVA of Children’s World was not carried by creditors by a narrow margin,” said Clive Whiley, Mothercare’s executive chair.
“This will neither unsettle the UK restructuring and refinancing nor jeopardise our future transformation plans, which are already under way. As a board, we are now considering our next steps with respect to Children’s World.”
News of the closures came a few days following permission for the group to close 50 underperforming stores, risking 800 jobs.
Clive Whiley, the interim executive chairman, said the deal was a “crucial step forward to achieve the renewed and stable financial structure for the business that will drive an acceleration of Mothercare’s transformation”.
The group has been in turmoil following £72.8 million loss in its most recent financial year.
CVAs are becoming increasingly common on the high street as retailers are struggling to make a profit.
In 2018, Maplins and Toys R Us both fell into administration. Retailers Carpetright and New Look have entered into CVAs and announced store closures.
Microsoft to acquire GitHub, say reports
Business Insider has reported on talks between Microsoft and the code-sharing site GitHub.
According to reports Microsoft is hoping to acquire the code-sharing website, which would cement Microsoft’s role as a company built around tools for developers.
It is unclear whether the talks between the companies are still ongoing, however, confirmation could be revealed as soon as Monday.
GitHub was last valued in 2015 and was worth $2 billion. The cost of an acquisition could be over $5 billion, based on a price that was floated in 2017.
An analyst of Stratechery, Ben Thompson, wrote: “The enterprise offering will fold nicely into Microsoft’s other businesses but … the real win for Microsoft is not incremental peanuts in enterprise revenue but winning hearts and minds with developers broadly.”
“In other words, not only should sceptics not be worried about Microsoft unduly favouring their own platforms, they should also be excited that, more than any other potential acquirer, Microsoft is likely to push the individual and community aspects that make GitHub so unique,” he added.
GitHub has been without a CEO for the past year after CEO and founder Chris Wanstrath, stepped down 10 months ago. The group has faced a net loss of tens of millions as revenues have been outpaced by the company’s expenditure.
Over 24 million developers worldwide use the platform to host codes and work together on programming tasks. The paid features reportedly bring in $200 million in annual revenue.
According to the group’s user report, 52 percent of Fortune 50 corporations are GitHub Enterprise customers.
According to reports, this is not the first time that Microsoft has approached GitHub and the groups were in talks in 2016. GitHub has denied those reports.
European stocks up as investor confidence returns
Europe’s markets opened up on Monday, with Spain’s Ibex leading the way after the country swore in a new Prime Minister over the weekend.
After a disappointing week last week, hit by political uncertainty in both Spain and Italy, European shares recovered on Monday morning.
The FTSE 100 gained 37 points in early trading to hit 7740, currently up 0.73 percent to 7,758.24 (0910GMT).
Europe’s Stoxx 600 index is up 0.5 percent, with shares in France’s Societe Generale and Italy’s Unicredit holding up European markets as they consider a merger.
Strong US employment data also caused Asian shares to rally overnight, with Japan’s Nikkei gaining having its best day in almost six weeks and gaining around 1.4 percent.
Sirius Real Estate share are 3pc on strong rental incomes
Sirius Real Estate (LON:SRE) reported a 17 percent rise in annual profit on Monday, after increasing both its rental income and property portfolio.
Pre-tax profit increased to €89.6 million, up by €76.4 million on the year previously, total annualised rental incomes up 12 percent. Like-for-like annualised rental income rose by 6.3 percent, with the company reporting a dividend increase of 4.6 percent to 1.60c.
“We are delighted to have delivered a 17 percent total shareholder return based on adjusted NAV and dividends paid in the year,” said Chief Executive Officer Andrew Coombs.
“Equally, a record 6.2 percent increase in like for like annualised rental growth, the highest performance in the group’s history, in a period when our key focus was on recycling and reinvesting is an exceptional performance and reflects well on the strength of our in-house sales and marketing platform.”
The company, which is listed in both London and South Africa, focuses most of its attention on Germany.
“We still have the financial capacity to acquire over EUR100 million of assets for which we have a healthy pipeline of opportunities located in our target areas around Germany’s big seven cities where we have extensive market knowledge and expertise”, Coombs added.
Shares in Sirius Real Estate (LON:SRE) are currently up 3.34 percent at 68.00 (0859GMT).
DS Smith announce plan to buy Spanish Europac
DS Smith (LON:SMDS) became one of the biggest gainers on the FTSE 100 on Monday, after announcing a deal with Spanish packaging group Europac.
The deal will be worth around 1.9 billion euros, comprising of an offer price of 16.80 euros per share as well as taking on Europac’s debt. DS Smith are hoping to strengthen their business in Europe and take advantage of Europac’s supply chain.
“Europac’s Board of Directors has confirmed that the acquisition is friendly and attractive,” DS Smith said in a statement, adding that it expected annual pre-tax cost savings of 50 million euros, and further integration benefits.
The deal is still subject to approval, but sent DS Smith shares up over 3 percent in early trading. Shares are currently up 3.27 percent at 580.80 (0947GMT).
Big Sofa narrows losses by 8pc
Video content management group Big Sofa (LON:BST) reported narrowing losses in the year to December, dropping by 8 percent to £4.3 million.
Revenues also increased during the period by 72 percent, hitting £1.3 million, with gross margins up 65 percent from 30 percent in the previous period.
“We started 2017 with just a single MSA in place with Unilever and by the end of the year we had secured a place on the global rosters of multinationals such as P&G, McDonald’s, 84.51° and Target, in addition to signing a global MSA with Ipsos,” Simon Lidington, Chief Executive Officer of Big Sofa.
Big Sofa received a £3 million investment from Ipsos just over two months ago, who one of their biggest clients and a strategic sales partner. The investment was made at a premium with Ipsos paying around 18.3p per share.
“The strategic steps we have taken in 2017 and more recently in 2018 to forge relationships with large global organisations, successfully securing a £3 million investment from Ipsos and investing further in our technology platform, leave us well-placed to capitalise on the industry’s growing adoption of video research techniques.”
Shares in Big Sofa Technologies have stayed steady in the wake of the news, up 0.48 percent at 13.83 (0926GMT).
Dignity shares fall 11pc following announcement of CMA investigation
News of the Competition and Markets Authority’s plans to investigate the funeral market sent shares in one of the UK’s biggest funeral providers Dignity (LON: DTY) tumbling almost 11 percent.
The competition regulator will review the £2 billion a year market to investigate issues including the rate at which prices have soared in recent years.
James Daley, managing director at consumer group Fairer Finance, said: “Profit margins in the ‘at-need’ funeral market have been inflated for years.”
“Customers who buy funerals are grieving and have no idea what a fair price for a funeral is. And sadly they have proved far too easy to take advantage of. This market needs tighter regulation and better protections for consumers.”
“Everyone will need a funeral eventually, and it’s important that we can be confident we are paying a fair price for a good quality service.”
UK funeral provider Dignity issued a profit warning in January and has seen shares slide 50 percent over the past year.
Retail analyst Nick Bubb said: “The Dignity share price has recovered a fair way of late, after the bashing it took at the beginning of the year on the back of the price war, so it will be dismayed to hear this morning that the wretched CMA has the time (despite having to look at the Sainsbury’s/Asda merger) to launch a review into the £2 billion funerals market ‘to ensure that people are not getting a bad deal’.”
“An interim report, presenting initial findings and views on potential remedies, will be published in six months, ahead of the final report in a year’s time,” he added.
The FTSE 350 company cut its cheapest funeral package by 25 percent in 2016 following Co-op’s rival funeral service.
The Treasury will also be launching an investigation into the pre-paid funeral sector.
“People can understandably be very emotionally vulnerable when planning a funeral,” said Daniel Gordon, the senior director of markets at the CMA.
“We therefore think it is important that, at what can be a particularly challenging time, the process is made as easy as possible.”
US economy creates 223,000 jobs in May
The US economy created 223,000 new jobs in May, despite Donald Trump’s concerns for steel and car manufacturing workers.
According to the country’s latest employment report, the unemployment rate fell 3.8 percent compared to the month previously and is at an 18 year low.
“The job numbers are very strong, widespread, or broad-based, that was an indication of strength from the report,” said Michael Arone of State Street Global Advisors.
“The really good news for markets is the average hourly earnings continues to be very steady and does not signal a buildup in inflationary pressures, so overall a very solid report.”
Wall Street analysts predicted the creation of 188,000 jobs in non-farm payroll.
Job gains were seen across all job sectors in the US. 25,000 were created in construction and 18,000 jobs were gained in manufacturing.
As well as the lower unemployment rate, the average hourly pay of private-sector workers increased by 2.7 percent in May, compared with 2.6 percent the month previously.
On Friday, the US government imposed tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from the European Union, Mexico and Canada due to “national security” threats they placed on the US industry.
Paul Ashworth of Capital Economics said: “Trade wars could be damaging but, in a relatively closed economy where exports account for only 12 per cent of GDP, things would have to get a lot worse for the White House’s protectionist sideshow to alter the interest rate outlook.”
Trump hinted at the positive news before the data was released, tweeting: “Looking forward to seeing the employment numbers at 8:30 this morning.”
It is the lowest unemployment rate seen in the US since 2000.
Michael Gapen, the chief United States economist at Barclays, has predicted rates to fall to as low as thee percent by the end of 2019 – the lowest rate since the economic boom post World War Two.
Carluccio’s to close 30 restaurants, risking 500 jobs
In attempts to restructure, Carluccio’s has announced plans to close up to 30 restaurants and risk 500 jobs.
On Thursday, 91 percent of the restaurant chain’s creditors voted for a company voluntary agreement (CVA), allowing the group to continue trading while dealing with debts.
“We are pleased that our proposal for a CVA has been approved by our creditors. This vote was vital to protect our strong core business and the Carluccio’s brand,” said Mark Jones, the chief executive.
Will Wright, a restructuring partner at KPMG and joint supervisor of the proposed CVA, said: “This is an important step forward for the business, allowing Carluccio’s to complete its financial restructuring plan and embark on a comprehensive transformation programme.”
Carluccio’s is the most recent high street retailer to be hit by the casual dining crunch. Byron, and Italian-style chains Jamie’s Italian, Prezzo and Strada have all had to close restaurants this year.
“With the support of our new owners, Three Hills Capital, I’m confident that a new Byron can begin to take shape. Byron’s brand and offer remains strong and distinctive, and with a smaller and more efficient restaurant estate we can continue to provide an outstanding burger experience for our customers and to develop and grow a sustainable and innovative business for the long term,” said Simon Cope, the chief executive of Byron.
As well as dining chains, retailers including New Look, Carpetright (LON: CPR) and Mothercare (LON: MTC) have turned to CVAs in 2018.
Bank of England announce Monetary Policy Committee appointment
The Bank of England (BoE) have announced its new appointment to the Monetary Policy Committee.
Prof Jonathan Haskel has been announced as the new member of the committee, as of September of this year.
Prof Haskel is professor of economics and Imperial College Business School, one of the UK’s leading universities.
However, the appointment has been met with criticism, amid concerns that the Bank is not doing enough to address the under-representation of women.
The Treasury said four women and one man were shortlisted for the post.
Currently, only one woman, Silvana Tenreyo, sits on the monetary committee.
Earlier this month the bank came under fire after the Deputy Governor used the term “menopausal” to describe the British economy.
Ben Broadbent said the comments in a Daily Telegraph interview about economies that were, as he described, “past their peak, and no longer so potent”.
Ben Broadbent since apologised for the offensive remark, however, the bank is still under scrutiny for its lack of proactivity with with respect to addressing gender imbalances.