Latest news with #CityofLondon
CTV News
2 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Two road closures in south London lasting until fall
Florence Street between Eleanor Street and Ashland Street and a section of Eleanor Street between Florence Street and Frances Street will be closed for construction. (Source: City of London) Starting Monday, Londoners can expect more detours to the east part of the city, as two roads will be closed until late November. Florence Street between Eleanor Street and Ashland Street and a section of Eleanor Street between Florence Street and Frances Street will be closed. The road closures are part of the Florence, Eleanor and York infrastructure renewal project, an initiative to replace aging infrastructure. Work being done includes replacing the watermain and underground sewers, adding new curbs, catch basins and gutters. According to Renew London, the construction will also close bike lanes, create an LTC detour and close and restrict sidewalks. Business will remain open, and pedestrians are encouraged to follow posted signage. Those using London transit are encouraged to check out the LTC website. This closure follows last month's closure of nearby Rectory Street for construction lasting until fall.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Married city banker sacked after brief affair with junior colleague claims she became ‘unhinged' when she learned his wife was pregnant, tribunal hears
A married city banker who was sacked over an affair with a junior colleague claims she became increasingly 'sinister and unhinged' after finding out his wife was pregnant. Stanislav Stepchuk, a former director at Merrill Lynch, is suing the US investment giant for sex and age discrimination after it dismissed him for 'reckless and inappropriate' behaviour. He claims the bank decided it was 'safer' to get rid of him, a man in his 30s, than a woman in her 20s. At an employment tribunal in London, Mr Stepchuk said the woman pursued him relentlessly at the bank, her first job after university, in 2022. Talia Barsam, for Mr Stepchuk, said the woman - known as Colleague A - became 'increasingly hostile' when Mr Stepchuk tried to break off their 'brief, consensual relationship'. When he told her that his wife was pregnant, the woman began to 'taunt and threaten' him with 'sinister and unhinged remarks', it was claimed. She sent him text messages including 'any lie is suicide' and 'you need to stay alive to take care of your family'. On one occasion, it's claimed, Colleague A told Mr Stepchuk she would not mind being a 'murderer' of his unborn child. Merrill Lynch is an investment and wealth management subsidiary of Bank of America, with offices in the City of London Ms Barsam said: 'In contrast to the support received by Colleague A, [Mr Stepchuk's] concerns regarding Colleague A's threats were ignored. The difference in treatment is explained by [his] sex and age.' She said the decision to sack him was 'rooted in discriminatory and gendered assumptions about the way men and women conduct sexual relationships', adding Merrill Lynch had assumed a man in his 30s was more likely to be 'the aggressor in a sexual dynamic' and a woman in her 20s 'an innocent victim'. The tribunal heard Mr Stepchuk invited the woman to a WhatsApp chat on January 3 2023. Within an hour, he started sending her overtly sexual messages. Days later he sent her two intimate photos of himself and persistently asked her to send nudes, which she declined. Claire Darwin KC, for Merrill Lynch, suggested the woman had been shocked and uncomfortable by the advances. But Mr Stepchuk insisted: 'She was engaged in flirtatious behaviour and showed no sign of discomfort about me sending the messages. The day before she said she wanted to have sex with me even though she knew I was married. 'It was clear to me that she liked me and was attracted to me. The way she looked at me, her invitation to go for a drink, her chats with me in the office - she was pursuing advances towards me. I did not pursue her.' Asked about a message the woman had sent him revealing she was a virgin, Mr Stepchuck said: 'She was throwing more coal on the fire. When she found out my wife was out of town, she immediately asked me for a date.' Ms Darwin suggested he was lying about the woman making the first move, telling him: 'You realised that unless you an invented an invitation, the aggressive way you went about approaching Colleague A was reckless, risky and inappropriate.' The tribunal continues.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Genetec supports global growth with new office expansions
Company expands key locations worldwide to meet rising demand, accelerate innovation, and support a 65% increase in global headcount since 2020 Genetec supports global growth with new office expansions MONTRÉAL, July 16, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Genetec Inc. ('Genetec'), the global leader in enterprise physical security software, today announced the expansion of its Montreal headquarters and UK office to meet rising customer demand, support continued innovation, and accommodate rapid workforce growth. This global expansion reflects a long-term strategy to align operations with customer expectations for constant innovation and to build a work environment that attracts and retains top talent. Since 2020, Genetec has grown its global headcount by 65%, now employing more than 2,150 people across 20 offices on four continents. The team continues to grow, with over 100 roles currently open across multiple departments, including R&D. The expanded Montréal campus, now totaling 395,000 square feet, includes five buildings, housing research and development, commercial and operational teams, as well as an Experience Center and two private bistros for employees and guests. Internationally, Genetec has also added another floor to its City of London UK office as part of a broader growth strategy that includes recently opened locations in Sydney, Dubai, Mexico City, and Washington, D.C. Expanding its UK footprint strengthens the company's position in the United Kingdom and underscores its commitment to innovation and support for its customers in this fast-growing market. 'We believe in the power of collaboration and have designed our offices as centers of innovation and connection,' said Andrew Elvish, Vice President of Marketing at Genetec Inc. 'Well-designed and well-appointed offices help us attract and retain the creative, driven individuals who deliver exceptional work. The Wrecking Crew is, after all, about people and innovation—and when our people thrive, our business does too.' To learn more about Genetec, explore career opportunities, or discover its latest innovations, visit About GenetecGenetec Inc. is a global technology company that has been transforming the physical security industry for over 25 years. The company's portfolio of solutions enables enterprises, governments, and communities around the world to secure people and assets while improving operational efficiency and respecting individual privacy. Genetec delivers the world's leading products for video management, access control, and ALPR, all built on an open architecture and designed with cybersecurity at their core. The company's portfolio also includes intrusion detection, intercom, and digital evidence management solutions. Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, Genetec serves its 42,500+ customers via an extensive network of accredited channel partners and consultants in over 159 countries. For more information about Genetec, visit: © Genetec Inc., 2025. Genetec™, and the Genetec logo are trademarks of Genetec Inc. and may be registered or pending registration in several jurisdictions. Other trademarks used in this document may be trademarks of the manufacturers or vendors of the respective product. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at CONTACT: Press Contact: North America Véronique Froment Bubble Agency veroniquef@ Tel: +1 603.537.9248 or North America Kim Velasco Bubble Agency kimv@ Tel: +1 760.587.9916Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
The Independent
6 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
The ghost at the feast haunting Rachel Reeves' bombshell speech to the City
It never rains but it pours for Rachel Reeves – today's rise in inflation to 3.6 per cent was higher than expected, and there was a ghost at the feast as the chancellor delivered her Mansion House speech last night – her Budget in the autumn. The audience at her City of London dinner broadly welcomed her relaxation of financial services regulations but wondered whether her next act in this arena will be hostile: there is speculation the Budget will include a levy on the banks' profits and a wider wealth tax. Remarkably, for a second year running, the government has sparked a summer of speculation about which taxes will rise in the autumn. Cue four months of damaging headlines. This is a government that doesn't learn from its mistakes. True, lots of the media speculation will prove wide of the mark. But some mud sticks, and a Labour Party struggling in the opinion polls can't afford to have much more chucked at it. Ministers don't help themselves, firstly struggling to define the 'working people' they will protect from tax rises, and secondly failing to rule out a wealth tax. I suspect the chancellor will not announce a new one – but that her Budget will target the wealthy, and that her allies will quietly tell Labour MPs she is achieving the aim of a wealth tax by other means. Reeves offered a clue in the Commons in May: When Labour's Brian Leishman called for an annual wealth tax on multimillionaires to raise £24bn a year, the chancellor replied: 'At the Budget last year, we increased the rate of tax on non-doms, we increased capital gains tax, we increased the carried interest on bonuses and we introduced VAT on private schools. This government is ensuring that the wealthiest pay their fair share, because that is a basic Labour principle.' After the humiliating climbdown on welfare, Reeves knows she has to keep the Parliamentary Labour Party onside. The financial markets made clear they want her to remain chancellor after her teary Commons appearance, but some Labour MPs do not. Reeves urged people to take more risks by investing more savings in the stock market and promised she would be "bold in regulating for growth". Yet she should be bolder in addressing the long-term risks to the public finances – by ending the freeze and emergency 5 per cent cut in fuel duty; scrapping the triple lock; filling the looming £40bn gap from motoring taxes as drivers switch to electric vehicles and trying again to control the ballooning welfare budget with more carrots and fewer sticks. A genuinely bold approach would mean levelling with the public about the trade-offs needed to balance the nation's books instead of repeatedly scrambling together tax rises and spending cuts to stick to Reeves's fiscal rules in every Budget. This hand-to-mouth approach makes the Starmer government look like it lacks a grand economic strategy and is picking on groups like pensioners or the disabled. Reeves said in her speech that the world is changing, and I'm told that some government figures favour a ' defence precept ' – an earmarked tax rise to fund the 5 per cent rise in the defence budget by 2035 to meet the UK's NATO obligations (as I proposed recently). The problem: it would breach Labour's manifesto pledge not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT. But there could be a way of not breaking its letter: raising the 45 per cent rate on taxable incomes of £125,140 to 50 per cent. Labour could claim it would not hit ordinary "working people." This "bold" approach would raise tax for defence to leave more money for other public services. Reeves should reform council tax, which becomes more unfair every year. The charge for a home worth £2m in England is the same for one worth £320,000 in the same local authority, and it's based on 1991 property values. This is bonkers. More than half of homes are effectively in the wrong band. New higher bands would cut bills in the north and Midlands and raise them in the south. True, it would be dubbed a 'mansion tax' by the media, but something has got to give, and Labour could win an argument on 'fair tax' on property. Reeves should live up to her own words last night – take more risks and be bold. I don't mean risking economic stability but taking political risks – with some short-term tax rises coupled with long-term reforms to break out of the doom loop of ever-rising taxes which hamper growth. As Helen Miller, the new director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, put it: "The government cannot afford not to be bold."
Irish Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Reeves pledges to extend purge of City red tape to rest of UK economy
Rachel Reeves said Britain has a 'culture of risk aversion to the point of obsession with stamping risk out', as she vowed to extend a purge on City of London red tape to the rest of the economy. The UK chancellor of the exchequer said an excessive safety-first approach was not seen in any of Britain's global competitors, adding: 'It is bad for businesses, bad for growth and bad for working people.' Ms Reeves, who is under intense pressure to pull levers to boost growth as Britain's fiscal position deteriorates, unveiled what she claimed was the biggest cut in financial services regulation in a decade. She said Britain needed a cultural change, and that the 'pendulum has swung too far in the opposite direction' after the re-regulation of the City following the 2008 financial crisis. 'The same flawed judgment that has seen newts and bats block major infrastructure projects is the one that requires almost 140,000 finance professionals to certify they are fit for their roles on an annual basis,' she added. Her comments followed her annual speech at the Mansion House in the City on Tuesday evening, in which she called on watchdogs to 'boldly regulate in the service of prosperity across our country'. 'It is clear we must do more,' she told City grandees. 'In too many areas, regulation still acts as a boot on the neck of businesses, choking off the enterprise and innovation that is the lifeblood of growth.' Ms Reeves' overarching message was Britain needs to take more risks. In the City, that meant reforming ring-fencing rules that force UK banks to separate their retail and investment banking activities – a change introduced after 2008. She also announced cuts to capital and reporting requirements, the scaling back of the onerous senior managers regime in the City, and an overhaul of the much-criticised financial ombudsman service. Ms Reeves also launched a new taskforce to support businesses to list and grow in the UK as part of efforts to revive the London Stock Exchange. She said she had retained reserve powers to mandate pension funds to invest in a wider range of riskier assets – but did not expect to have to use them – and was still considering 'further changes to ISAs' to encourage more investment in stocks and shares and less in cash. In the meantime, the public will be encouraged by banks and through a national advertising campaign to take more risks with their savings, investing in stocks and shares to boost returns. Ms Reeves is grappling with a deteriorating fiscal situation and the prospect that she will have to raise taxes significantly in her autumn budget. She said that a riskier regulatory environment would be married to an ongoing commitment to economic stability, reassuring the City that she would not be blown off her fiscal course by increasingly rebellious Labour MPs opposed to spending cuts. 'Fiscal stability is a choice that reflects economic reality,' Ms Reeves said, noting that national debt was at its highest levels since the 1960s. 'That's why the prime minister, this government and I remain committed to our non-negotiable [fiscal] rules.' She made light of her recent tearful appearance in the House of Commons. 'Recently on a visit to a school, a girl asked me 'What job would you do if you could do any job in the world?' Given the events of the last few weeks, I suspect many of you would sympathise if I had said 'Anything but chancellor'. But I didn't.' Her comments on growth drew a sceptical reaction from observers who said Labour had failed to deliver reforms on the scale needed to transform the economy during its first year in office. Despite policies to boost public investment that would pay off in time, 'it doesn't feel like a radical change', Helen Miller, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies think-tank, said earlier on Tuesday. 'Growth should be the number one mission,' she added. 'We should be throwing the kitchen sink at it but it doesn't feel like that.' Ms Miller said the government's new focus on raising defence spending had overtaken other priorities, limiting the scope to invest in areas such as local transport or non-military research and development. Meanwhile Richard Hughes, chairman of the office for budget responsibility, struck a gloomy note about the state of the public finances. Mr Hughes said there were 'reasons to worry' about the level of public debt in the UK given the country's exposure to economic shocks and the hefty impact of events such as the financial crisis and the Covid pandemic. 'We have also already raised taxes quite a bit in this country – the tax burden is getting close to an all-time high, so we have used some of that policy flexibility,' he told MPs. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
