End of shareholder revolt register ‘will help UK firms bury pay controversies’

UK-listed companies will be able to bury controversies over executive pay for the first time in eight years, a thinktank has warned, after the Labour government shut down a public tracker meant to curb “abuses and excess in the boardroom”.The public register was launched under the Tory prime minister Theresa May in 2017 to name and shame companies hit by shareholder revolts at their annual general meetings (AGMs). That included rebellions over issues such as excessive bonuses or salary increases for top earning bosses.However, the Treasury – under the chancellor, Rachel Reeves – instructed the Investment Association (IA), the UK asset management trade body that maintained the register, to shut it down this autumn as part of a wider regulation action plan to increase economic growth by cutting “red tape” for businesses. The closure of the public log follows lobbying campaign by companies including the London Stock Exchange, whose bosses claim bad publicity over executive pay is harming the City’s competitiveness and deterring UK listings

‘Nostalgic and calming’: lava lamps are groovy again as sales glow

Depending on your age, you may remember them from Doctor Who and The Prisoner in the 1960s, or from TFI Friday and the Big Breakfast in the 90s. Or if you’re young enough, you might not remember them at all. But now it seems lava lamps are back.Rising sales would suggest a third wave of the lava lamp phenomenon is on the horizon, thanks to the ongoing trend towards mid-century interiors and gen Z’s fascination with the late 90s and early 2000s.Cressida Granger, the managing director of the British lava lamp pioneers Mathmos, said there had been a surge in interest in its lamps

Security bosses warn of rise in UK building site thefts by organised crime

Thefts of tools and equipment from building sites are increasingly being carried out by organised criminal groups, according to security bosses, amid warnings that the crimewave could accelerate during the Christmas construction shutdown.Copper cables, tools and even telehandlers and diggers costing tens of thousands of pounds have been stolen in recent months, according to the security firm Kingdom Systems.Now there are concerns that there could be a spate of thefts during the annual closure of construction sites, which sometimes last as long as two weeks over the festive period.Criminals often exploit long winter-nights as they look to break into sites, hoping to make off with the most costly tools and equipment stored there.“Darkness helps thieves to move in the shadows,” said Paul Worsley, the chief services officer at Kingdom Services, which runs temporary CCTV for more than 100 construction sites across Scotland and northern England

S&P 500 and Dow hit record highs as Santa rally reaches Wall Street – as it happened

The fabled Santa rally has reached the New York stock exchange!The S&P 500 index of US company shares has hit a record high today, on a shortened Christmas Eve trading session. It touched a new intraday record high of 6,921.42 points, surpassing its previous peak in October.The rally comes as investors continued to bet on more interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve next year.There’s also lingering relief that yesterday’s GDP report showed the US economy grew rather faster than expected in the July-September quarter

Alexander Wishart obituary

My father, Alexander Wishart, who has died aged 81, began at the foot of the banking ladder aged 16, eventually becoming general manager and director of Harrods Bank in the 1980s, and regional managing director of the Bank of Beirut (UK) in the 90s. He was a proud member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland.Born in Edinburgh to Margaret (nee McDonald), a munitions worker, and Alexander Wishart, a draftsman and sergeant in the Royal Air Force, Alex grew up in Leith and the Edinburgh suburb of Colinton with his two younger brothers; he went to Leith academy and the Royal high school.Fascinated by aeroplanes, he wanted to join the RAF, but his father, a Battle of Britain and Siege of Malta veteran, instead arranged a meeting with the manager of the National Commercial Bank (later Royal Bank of Scotland) on Leith Walk. Alex began as a junior clerk and, in 1966, while working at the Shandwick Place branch, met Myra Thomson, a secretary, from Kirkcaldy

BP to sell majority stake in $10bn Castrol business to US investment firm

BP has agreed to sell a majority stake in its $10bn (£7.4bn) lubricants business Castrol to the US investment company Stonepeak, as the new chair, Albert Manifold, rapidly reshapes the under-pressure oil and gas company.Stonepeak will acquire a 65% stake in Castrol, in a deal that values the division at $10.1bn including its debt. The deal, in which BP will retain a 35% stake in the business through a joint venture, is expected to close at the end of next year, the company said on Wednesday