Is Flexibility the Main Driver of Growth for Identity Verification Solutions?
In this interview, Gus Tomlinson, Managing Director, Identity Fraud, GBG sat down with FinextraTV to discuss some of the progress being made when it comes to identity verification. Speaking about an increasingly fragmented landscape, Tomlinson explained how the history of technology has tended to encourage fragmentation, but that now it is important to focus more on finding solution that is designed not just for the industry, but for the end customer in mind. At the heart of all of this, Tomlinson holds flexibility up as being the primary driver of growth.
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BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Council approves 149 homes after making amendments
A major new settlement south of a city has taken a small step forward following the approval of 149 new housing will form part of the wider Great Haddon development of 5,350 homes, which was approved by Peterborough City Council in site will also include a district shopping centre, three primary schools, one secondary school and other latest addition will see 149 new homes built on land north of Norman Cross, as part of the settlement's third phase. Outline permission had already been granted, but the next stage saw Vistry South East Midlands submitting an application for "reserved matters".That included details of the development's appearance, layout, landscaping and scale, according to the Local Democracy Reporting new homes will be a mixture of one to four bedrooms, with 24 of the properties being affordable City Council said in its decision document that the proposal "was not in accordance with local and national planning policy", but that it had worked with Vistry on amendments."The local planning authority has worked with the applicant in a positive and proactive manner based on seeking solutions."Amendments were discussed and agreed with the applicant to bring the proposal into compliance with policy, and the application can therefore be approved." Elsewhere in Great Haddon, construction of a 420-place primary school is due to begin in late summer and finish in September 2026, subject to planning permission being granted in May, the Hampton Academies Trust was appointed by the Department for Education to operate the new Helen Price, executive headteacher of the Hampton Academies Trust, said: "We are really looking forward to delivering a fantastic school for the new community of Great added: "From our many years of operating on the Hampton development, we understand how schools can put the heart and soul into new communities." Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Smithfield and Billingsgate market redevelopment plans begin – but traders' future in doubt
Smithfield and Billingsgate food markets in London will be turned into new homes and a cultural destination under plans by their owner – but the future of the meat and fish traders housed on each site remains in doubt. A council within the City of London Corporation, which is responsible for running the capital's Square Mile, has voted to task a team to oversee the regeneration of 28 hectares (70 acres) of land across Greater London. However, it has not allocated any new money for the project. The corporation decided in a separate vote last November to permanently close Smithfield and Billingsgate when it pulled the plug on a planned £740m relocation to a new site in the east of the capital at Dagenham, blaming rising costs. The markets will continue trading in their current locations until 2028, but the closure will mark an end to centuries of meat and fish trading in the city. The corporation, which is exceptionally wealthy compared with typical UK local authorities, has faced a backlash over the decision and objections to the plans to permanently close London's ancient food markets and build on the sites. The corporation has previously offered compensation to Smithfield and Billingsgate traders and said it would help individual businesses to find new locations, but the newly created team will also be tasked with helping to find a new site for the meat and fish markets. Chris Hayward, the corporation's policy chair, said: 'A bright future lies ahead for these markets, and their redevelopment will contribute billions of pounds in economic growth, thousands of new jobs and thousands of new homes.' The redevelopment of the Smithfield and Billingsgate sites will add £9.1bn in gross value added (GVA) to the UK economy in the coming years, according to the corporation's calculations. The history of a food market around Smithfield – close to Farringdon train station – goes back more than 800 years. The London Museum is in the process of moving to part of the site. The corporation wants the new team, which will mostly include current corporation staff, to oversee a masterplan for the remainder of the site and its Victorian listed buildings, which will aim to turn it into a cultural hub, potentially housing bars, restaurants and venues. Greg Lawrence, the chair of traders at Smithfield market, who has worked on the site since he joined at the age of 16 in 1966, said: 'Smithfield market is a very special place. It will be emotional to leave the site, it has been people's lives.' Despite this, he is in favour of the markets moving to a new, modern location. 'We have outgrown it now, there is no room for anyone to expand or grow,' he said. The 5.6-hectare Billingsgate site close to the Canary Wharf financial district has been earmarked for housing, and the corporation believes 4,000 new homes could be built there. The corporation's new team, which will comprise 11 members, will also be responsible for working with local representatives to work out how to redevelop the 17-hectare site at Dagenham Dock, in one of London's most deprived boroughs, where it had intended to build a new market complex. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion The corporation spent just under £230m of the project's £741m cost before it cancelled the Dagenham move late last year, including buying and cleaning up the site. It blamed inflation and rising construction costs for the decision. It will use the remaining £511m to fund other major projects including a law court complex it is building for the Ministry of Justice at Salisbury Square, which the Guardian understands is over budget. The corporation manages assets worth billions of pounds, and collects £1.3bn in business rates annually, most of which it passes to central government. While the corporation is the owner and operator of the Smithfield and Billingsgate sites, it does not have the power to autonomously close them down and use the land for other purposes. The capital's ancient markets were established by acts of parliament and can only be shut when parliament passes a private bill. This process has been complicated by the objection of three fishmongers from Ridley Road market in east London, who say they depend on Billingsgate for their business and will go bust if it closes down. They say they have the support of a small group of MPs who are opposed to the closure. Alicia Weston, the founder of the food poverty charity Bags of Taste and a spokesperson for the fishmongers, said the new plans appeared to be 'a positive move towards what the fishmongers have always wanted. They have asked for a suitable replacement for Billingsgate to be up and running before the closure, so they can go and buy their fish every day.'
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Entrepreneurs should be terrified by Starmer's benefits about-turn
Officials at the Treasury will be fretting over how they are going to fill the latest 'black hole' to open up in the public finances. Economists at the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) will be worrying over how long they will have to forecast the impact on debt. And the Bank of England will be worrying about how the UK can possibly sell £100bn or more of gilts backed only by the promises of a government that has clearly lost control of the public finances. There are plenty of people with good reasons to feel worried about Sir Keir Starmer's latest reversal on welfare cuts. But it is Britain's entrepreneurs who should be most afraid. Why? Because one way or another, they will have to pay for it all. It remains to be seen whether the Prime Minister has done enough to get his welfare reforms through Parliament, or whether he will have to offer the rebels on his backbenches even more concessions by next week. One point is already absolutely clear, however. This is an expensive about-turn. According to the Resolution Foundation, an impeccably Left-of-centre think tank, the changes will cost at least £3bn, and of course, the real total could be a lot higher. It comes on top of the concessions on the winter fuel allowance to pensioners, the above-inflation pay rises for the public sector, and the big rises in defence spending planned for the next few years. Add it all up, and the extra spending runs to tens of billions, for a government that was already racking up record debt. We all know what is going to happen next. In the autumn, Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor – or Yvette Cooper, if the Home Secretary has already taken over by then – will be forced to announce another punishing round of tax rises. It may well need to be more than the £40bn that the Chancellor squeezed out of the economy last time around. Where is the money going to come from? The Starmer Government promised at the election not to raise any of the three main taxes: income tax, VAT or National Insurance (NI). It has already twisted that by claiming that the increase in NI for employers was not included in the pledge, and given the catastrophic impact on jobs of the last increase, it will be reluctant to raise that again. It will almost certainly freeze thresholds beyond 2028, but while that will flatter the OBR forecasts, it won't raise extra money immediately. There is only one target left to raise any serious cash. Small businesses and entrepreneurs will have to end up paying the bill. There are four big ways the Chancellor can target anyone who has started or owns a business. First, we can expect another big increase in the capital gains tax (CGT). In her first Budget, a major increase in CGT was widely forecast. In the end, the increases were relatively modest, with the lower rate of CGT pushed up from 10pc to 18pc, and the main rate from 20pc to 24pc. With money so tight, we can't expect the Treasury to pussyfoot around with a few tweaks to the system. The obvious move is to equalise CGT with income tax, so that a 40pc rate will be imposed on any gain of more than £50,000, and 45pc on any gain over £125,000. It can be levied overnight, so that business owners and investors won't have the option of selling out before it comes into effect. Next, we can expect a big rise in dividend taxes. The tax-free allowance for dividends has already been reduced to a meagre £500, and after that they are taxed at 8.75pc for basic rate taxpayers, and 33pc and 38pc for the high rate. The difference with income tax is meant to reflect the fact that corporation tax has already been paid on that money. But why not just equalise it with income tax, and get rid of the allowance completely, as has already been proposed by Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister, who is increasingly the backseat driver in charge of the Treasury. It can be spun as 'simpler' and 'fairer', and will raise serious money. Thirdly, expect a temporary 'surcharge' on corporation tax. The French have helpfully pioneered this wheeze for the Treasury, with last year's 'solidarity levy' on companies with an extra 20pc or 40pc added to existing tax bills depending on the size of the business. It raised some serious cash, with the luxury goods giant LVMH expected to pay an additional €800m (£684m) as a result, and the infrastructure giant Vinci €400m. It is hard for companies and entrepreneurs to get around that, and of course, ministers can deny, just about plausibly, that it is a tax on 'working people'. Finally, the Chancellor will be painfully aware that many of the country's wealthiest people are leaving the country. So why not impose an exit tax? Germany, Norway and Belgium have already imposed levies of up to 45pc on anyone leaving the country for somewhere a little less punishing, so there is nothing to stop the UK doing the same. Either they stay and pay the corporation tax surcharge? Or do they pay the exit tax? Either way, the Treasury gets to collect a lot of money. The important point is this. Reeves already had very little fiscal room left. Her tax rises are collecting less money than forecast, and spending has started to spin wildly out of control. Taxes will have to go up, and the only way that can be done is by hitting the UK's dwindling band of business owners and entrepreneurs. There is nowhere else to go. True, it will be terrible for confidence, and will damage investment even more. But that doesn't mean it won't happen – and everyone in the firing line should be terrified of the latest about-turn.
